It's well known amongst my friends and family how much of a desire I have to travel to Europe with Mr M and see this big awe inspiring world we live in. I set the goal years ago whilst starting out in my degree and always knew (not hoped) that I would get there eventually. This past Saturday night Mr M & I spent it at home, with a bottle of red and a big ole' map of Europe plotting our great big adventure for 2012 - & I could not be more excited.
The adventure begins in August 2012 and will see us off to Europe (& the UK) for a total of 4 months. I have questions at the end of the post for those of you who have travelled before so I wanted to share so far the list of countries we've compiled to explore.
England
Ireland
Scotland
Wales
Netherlands
Belgium
France
Spain
Portugal
Italy
Austria
Hungary
Croatia
Greece
Switzerland
Germany
[ Saturday night in with the map & laptop working out a semi efficient route around massive Europe ]
We don't know everything about the trip yet or exactly where we want to visit in each country but what we do know so far is this.
We want to take in as many sights as we want, not that we can. We want to soak in all of countries we're visitings beautiful culture. We want to taste and drink things we've never tried before. We want to really see and explore all the places we visit, not rush through cities for the sake of saying we've been to another new country. We want to kiss under the Eiffel tower. We want to find a little cafe in the heart of an old Italian city and eat traditional pizza and pasta and drink authentic Italian wine. We want to swim in oceans we've been dreaming about.
We want to be free souls roaming our big beautiful planet. And that's exactly what we will be doing.
What I want to know though is what are some of your favourite places you've travelled? What are some of your best holiday memories and if you have any travel tips for Mr M & I as we busily plan our own adventure please let me know! Have I left a country off that you have visited and highly recommend? I want to hear it all!
[ Little miss excited plotting our way - Mr M & I documenting our whole process for memories ]
[ p.s Yes, the Simpsons Movie was on in the background that night ]
[ p.p.s Excuse the tragic state of me, but this is the attire for a cosy Sat night in ]
Photo sources from Pinterest found here, here, here, here & here.
The most amazing place I have ever traveled was Prague. If there's any way you can work it into your trip, I HIGHLY recommend it. Prague is such a magical (and relatively affordable) city, and it is full of cafe culture, old architecture around every corner, and - of course - beer...I'm so excited for you and the fact that you guys get to travel to Europe for a whopping four weeks! I think you are so right to want to soak up the cultures and atmosphere of the places you go, and not to have a mile-long itinerary. I do have two recommendations for your destinations, though: the National Gallery in London and the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam. (There are some unforgettable paintings in these places.) Have a splendid Monday full of travel day dreams! :) -Jennifer
ReplyDeleteOh fantastic plans. I'm a big fan of visiting cities and some of the best ones (in my opinion and all for different reasons) are Paris, Lisbon, Munich, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Venice... There is so much to do and see in each one, you will have to plan it a bit more and then look at the details. Great plans, very exciting :-) xo
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing refreshing and inspiring than packing your bag and to just leave for new places. Especially if that place is any European cities. xoxo
ReplyDeletehttp://hellofridaybypaik.blogspot.com/
How fun! So jealous!
ReplyDelete-Samantha
http://thisfashionista.blogspot.com
Hi Anna! I see you have great plans for your trip around Europe! Hopefully I will be able to fill you in on some of Ireland and Scotland when the time comes! Have a lovely week:)
ReplyDelete~Anne
I don't blame you, I would be so excited if that was me! As for the Simpsons Movie that's one of the best animated movies made! Looking forward to the travel pics : D
ReplyDeleteC.ULT FRIDAY.
Aahhh this is so amazing! I've been dying to do this as well! And now you've inspired me to get on top of it and make things happen!
ReplyDeleteXx
http://chelseasgirl.wordpress.com/
You should stop by Slovenia! It's become very popular amongst tourists. :) It's quite small but very versatile. A few places are really worth seeing.:)
ReplyDeletehttp://sandra-thepuzzleofmylife.blogspot.com/
That's so exciting for you! I love the list you compiled, your trip is going to be fantastic :) If you ever need to know anything about Hungary just ask - I spent two summers there :D And I adore Budapest! Keep us updated on your planning, I'm sure all your followers will have great advice:)
ReplyDeleteTasia
http://rufflesandsequins.blogspot.com
Hi Anna, and thank you for another lovely comment of yours. Your comments are always great and I´m very glad that I can keep in touch with you in the distant Australia. Anyway speaking about distant places I love travelling and sightseeing as well. I´ve been to Paris twice ( once just wasn´t enough ), also southern France ( Nice, Cannes, Monaco ) also have paid a visit to London and Venice. Also travelled round Toscany - Florence, Pisa, Sienna and it was just beautiful. I´m a history and art history freak so these all were just the trips for me. I had a great time while I was there. Hope you´ll like your Euro trip and just a little tip for you as I saw you plan to go to Austria and Germany. Both of these states are neighbours of the Czech republic where I live. We are small but our capital Prague is also very nice city so if you have time visit it as well. ;) xoxo Eve PS: Sorry for the long comment.
ReplyDeleteAnna you look great no matter how you are dressed. I never been to Europe but I bet it would be awesome. You're going to be gone for 4 months OMG I am going to my miss my sweet Anna.
ReplyDeleteI know you're going to have a great time. Keep us posted!
www.iwouldsorockthis.blogspot.com
AHhh I am SO jealous...this is quite inspiring though. Now I want to do it!
ReplyDeleteI've been to Paris, Barcelona, Hamburg and Berlin Germany and Venice/Cinque Terre (favorite)/Florence/Rome Italy. I would love to share with you my restaurant / other trip recommendations! Leave a comment on my blog and we can coordinate.
Good luck!!
I love these pictures! So cute! Scotland would be amazing-that's on my list as well!
ReplyDeletexx
Erin @ http://www.trufflesnruffles.com/
AMAZING plan! I'd love to help you with any Croatia related plans! Please shoot me an email if you need ANYTHING :))) exciting :)
ReplyDeletexxx,
Fashion Fractions
That's sound so exciting, I'm envious :)
ReplyDeleteI love your plan - it is important to really relish in the country that you are in as opposed to travel hectically trying to increase your country count.
ReplyDeleteThe places in Europe that you really have to spend lots of time and enjoy are:
- Croatia (do this in September if you can - less tourists and the weather is perfect)
- Paris, because well, it's Paris and you'll fall in love with it
- Prague
- London (I loved London - there is so much to do there and try and visit some of the surrounding towns)
Keep us updated on your travel plans!
I want to come with you and be your personal travel photographer. I don't eat much, can carry heavy bags without complaint and will happily sleep on the floor :o)
ReplyDeleteWho doesn't want to travel the world?? :(
ReplyDeleteI'm going to South-Afrika in February..
And i'm staying there for 6 months!!!!
Can't wait to see Cape Town..
So much fun!
ReplyDeleteEngland: make sure you go to London
Italy: Venice is not a quiet-hotel type of place unless you are at one of the more expensive hotels
Austria: Go to Vienna! it's my favourite city in Europe
Germany: Munich has great shopping.
xx
scribblesandsomersaults.blogspot.com
This is an amazing post and good on you for making your dreams come true. You have something amazing to look forward to and your 2012 is going to be great.
ReplyDeletehttp://thekeypieces.blogspot.com
@thekeypieces
Wow - four months of traveling?! I'm so jealous! Looks like a great list you've compiled...
ReplyDeleteLOVE your blog!!!!!! I am so happy you found me and left comment. I am following you, I hope you come follow back.
ReplyDeleteI adore your posts too....darling!
XXXXX to you! Emily of EL Vintage
Looks to me like a fabulous list of places to see!
ReplyDeletex
Michelle
www.michellesstylefile.blogspot.com
I really like your blog and this nice pics!
ReplyDeletegood Luck for the big trip!
I follow you .. do you follow me?
Like this
kiss
Erika
www.myfreechoice.net
i'm following now=) follow me back so we can stay in touch before your big trip!
ReplyDeleteYou're all darlings for your tips! If I could just show you how helpful you've all been.
ReplyDelete@Cotewrites - You have put Prague on the map for us :) We werent sure if we were going to pay it a visit but now we've booked in 5 nights!
@Mademoiselle Poirot - I'm so glad you said Lisbon!! I have been told to absolutley go to Portugal and we picked Lisbon but no friends had been before so I had no proper advice for yay or nay :)
@Anne - you know I'm holding you to that! You're off to Edinburgh now I see so I want to hear all about it on your return.
@TinyDancer - we will need advice on Hungary as we're doing Budapest. In fact, a question already is do we fly from Austria to Budapest or train it. We were thinking travelling through Hungary on the train might offer up soem beatufiul scenery?
@Eve.H - we're now officially coming to Prague. I have only been told amazing things about your city so I am SO excited to visit. I will make sure I catch up with you when I get there :)
@RockerChic - you are SUCH a darling. But I will still be blogging when I go away :) I have a massive family so Morgs and I figured it would be a great way for them to see which countries we're in, hows it going etc. So for 4 months this will turn in to a travel blog. It would mean your all technically on holiday with me right?
@Neris - I have been loving all ur pics that little bit extra since I found your blog as I knew I was coming to Croatia. I will definetly be asking you for lots of advice for gorgeous little towns to visit etc :) xx
@Natasha - That iS SO exciting you said that about Croatia as we have booked a sail croatia for September 8th .. & Then are going to stay on an extra 3 - 4 nights after. We've got a week in Paris too and a week in London :)
@Belinda - you know that you're my favourite person let a lot photographer so I would have you in a FLASH!! We will have to do some yoga before we leave to work out logistics of fitting u in our case :)
@Sydney - We have just added Vienna to our list last night. SOmeone else also said it was their favourite so we thought we cant miss it out :)
@Lou - thank you so much!!
@Shanele - I went and followed you so we will make sure we stay in touch for plans xx
So many wonderful places to see... go south in Spain and visit a small town called Granada to see the Alhambra, the Cinque Terre on the Italian coast is beyond beautiful - 5 towns within 10 kms of eachother, rome is amazing, vienna is a beautiful city I could live in and never leave and Cracow in Poland is stunning. Wildly jealous - you'll have an amazing time. Let me know if you decide to come across the Atlantic to NYC x
ReplyDeleteHello Anna,
ReplyDeletejust discovered your blog. I wanted to say: "you should reserve your one month to France" lol :)
cheers xo
Betül
http://balladofseasons.blogspot.com/
I'd suggest - London, Dublin, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Isle of Skye, Paris, Barcelona and Florence. Have fun planning your trip x
ReplyDeleteEngland - London (check out Covent Garden, Notting Hill, Kew gardens, and Wimbledon for the tennis if you're here in June) and Cambridge (my hometown, a 45 minute train ride out of London, and literally the most beautiful town in the UK. Take a boat out on the river and see all the old university buildings, it's my favourite thing to do)
ReplyDeleteFrance - If you're on the south coast go to St Cyprien and Collioure for amazing, fresh seafood.
Spain - Take a quick flight to the island of Majorca, the capital Palma is so stunning.
Italy - So many incredible places to visit: Perugia (stunning views and insane hot chocolate -literally like drinking melted chocolate, nowhere else in the world compares), Sorrento,Amalfi and Capri (for seaside views), and Florence for shopping.
I could go on!
Polly x
http://covetandcollect.blogspot.com/
Wowww!! I have just discovered your blog and it sure is one of my faves :) You are very inspiring and amazing! I love life as well and my biggest dream in life is to see the world :)So far I have been to Vienna-Austria,France (Strasbourg,Nice and Monaco), London-England, Italy (Venice,Verona,Treviso) and South Africa.
ReplyDeleteI am from Malta, a tiny island south of Sicily (1hr 30mins away by ferry) We are a tiny tiny island but you will be amazed at how beautiful my country is. If you love culture, history, beaches, good food and wine, nightlife and above all a true Mediterranean experience then you should visit Malta. The extra bonus is travelling is very easy and quick as it is a small island :)
If you need any extra info about anything you can contact me, would love to give you extra tips :)
Martha xx
http://marthasdiaryblog.blogspot.com/