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I can’t believe we’re going to Europe in a week! It’s a bit of a detour from our road trip around the US and North America but we had a good reason to head across the Atlantic and I found cheap flights so it made sense for us to go.
Here are the 20 Things I’m Most Looking Forward to About Europe:
- Paris – “Paris is always a good idea.” It’s been 8 years since my last visit and I can’t wait to be back in this city, this time with a husband and children in tow.
- The Eiffel Tower – It’s one of the most iconic buildings in Europe and I never get tired of seeing it. The Eiffel Tower will feature heavily in our plans for Paris. Picnic under, climb to the top, watch it twinkle at sunset. No wonder it’s one of the most visited paid attractions in the world.
- Seeing Keryn – As luck would have it our friend Keryn from Walking On Travels will be in Paris with her family at the same time as us. We love hanging out with her and her boys and have met them in Seattle and Las Vegas already.
- Tea at the Angelina – The most decadent pastries and hot chocolate in the world. It’s been on my bucket list for a while now!
- Finally Getting to Spain – Spain is one of those countries I’ve just never gotten to yet. I lived in London for 2.5 years but got addicted to Italy and always ended up there instead. I’m excited to finally get there.
- Seeing Izy – Izy from The Wrong Way Home is one of my travelling blogging BFFs. We hung out weekly in Christchurch and talked about blogging, business and life. I can’t wait to spend a week with her in Spain!
- TBEX – TBEX (short for Travel Bloggers Exchange) is the reason we’re headed to Europe. It’s a big conference for travel bloggers to network, learn and grow. It’s my first one so I hope to learn a lot.
- Meeting New People – So many travel bloggers that I love, but have never met, will be attending TBEX. I can’t wait to meet them all. If you’re going, let me know!
- The French Riviera – Nice is somewhere we’ve looked at as a base in Europe when we eventually get there so I’m hoping it lives up to our expectations.
- Cars in Monaco – Lee and Reuben LOVE exotic cars. The more expensive, the better. They will be in heaven in Monaco.
- Travelling Through Multiple Countries – Even with a short trip around Europe like ours, we’re still visiting nine countries and most of them will be new ones. (Lots of little ones like Monaco, Lichtenstein and Luxembourg included.) This will really help my 100 countries before 40 goal.
- Our Eurail Trip – We let YOU decide on the itinerary for our Eurail adventure. I’m excited to see how a reader lead trip works out.
- Instagram Takeover – As part of our Eurail trip we’re going to doing an Instagram takeover of their account. We’ll be sharing posts to Eurail’s Instagram a couple times a day to chronicle our journey across the continent by rail. (Don’t worry, we’ll still be posting on our Instagram too.)
- Taking Lee to Italy – Despite spending the first half of his life in England with many trips to Europe, Lee has never been to Italy. This is almost unfathomable to me as it’s my favourite country in Europe, if not the world. I can’t wait for him to experience the energy, passion and…
- ITALIAN FOOD!! Pizza, pasta, prosecco. Yum! I also have a “two scoops, twice a day” rule when it comes to gelato in Italy. It’s a good thing we’re only there for a few days.
- The Bernina Express – Billed as one of the best train journeys in Europe, if not the world, the Bernina Express travels from Italy to Switzerland through the Swiss Alps and it is stunning.
- Swiss chocolate – I’m a chocoholic so Switzerland was a no brainer for me. The best chocolate in the world? Yes please!
- Belgian chocolate – Naturally, I’ll have to sample a lot to decide who’s chocolate is the best.
- Bruges – Bruges looks beautiful. Hopefully we can squeeze in a day trip to this historic city from Brussels.
- Amsterdam – Even though we technically went to The Netherlands on our cruise last year, we haven’t really been. Amsterdam is another of Europe’s iconic cities that I just never got to while living over there. Also, Lee’s dad might be able to join as for a few days as he’ll be in London on business. Hurray for babysitters.
I can’t believe we’re squeezing ALL THIS into just five weeks. We are sure going to be busy!!
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SOOOO much good stuff ahead for you! Especially the Swiss and Belgian chocolate. I can never decide which is better. (Have to keep taste testing I guess!). The ONLY bad thing about your Europe trip is you’re just a bit too early so we can’t meet up 🙁
Sounds like you have a lot of awesomeness to look forward to! 🙂 If you have time, try to make it a bit more inland in the South of France, Provence is my favourite region and June’s probably the best time to visit. Bruges is stunning (my sister lived there for 3 years and I visited as often as I could!) but try to time it on a weekday (quieter), and even better, spend a night there – most visitors come on day tours with buses that get there mid-morning and leave late afternoon, so you’ll get it more to yourselves in the evening and early morning!
Italian food is definitely something to be excited about)) As funny as it sounds, eating in Italy is a real experience! I LOVED the food there!
Bruges is a fantastic city and well worth a day trip from Brussels. I love Brussels but sometimes you can feel like you’re running out of things to see and explore – Bruges is the perfect remedy for that.
You got me at Italian food and chocolates!!! Not to mention the pastries and the awesome desserts… thats what I love going to Europe! 🙂 You made me miss it.
Just got back from Europe and did 8 of these things!
Looking forward to the Eurail Instagram takeover so that I can live vicariously through you aha! Ah the French Riviera, now this is what I call a trip!
Sounds like a whirlwind but I’m sure you’ll have a blast!
I look forwards to seeing some of the photos from the Instagram takeover!
ITALIAN FOOD! Love it. I inter-railied around Eastern Europe in my early 20s and it was an easy way to get around. Sounds like you are going to have a blast. We will be in Europe March 2016 onwards when the money starts to run out, God bless the E.U!
Ooooh I can feel your excitement for the Italian food and Belgian and Swiss chocolates! You will have such an amazing time 😉
Sounds like such a fun trip! I love so much about Europe, it’s always great to visit old favorites and be close enough to so many other countries to throw in some new experiences as well. Hope you have an amazing time and enjoy TBEX–wish we could make it to Spain this time around!
Sounds like you are in for one epic adventure and I’m glad to see food will be playing a big part of it. I can almost taste the pizza, pasta and prosecco now! Audrey was right in saying Paris is always a good idea but maybe she should have said “Europe is always a good idea”!! Bon voyage.
When you take Lee to Italy, make sure you also visit Sardinia 🙂 and eat other things other than pizza and pasta – we have a HUGE variety of food here, that goes well beyond that 🙂
Oh I love Sardinia! It’s one of my favourite places but no time for it on this trip unfortunately.
Hi Bethaney!
Definitely some very nice places you have chosen for Europe. I’m Swiss… and I can totally recommend you the “Schoggi” (chocolate) :-). I like your Blog!
Happy travels!
Get a good map of the city center of Amsterdam. Avoid “Nieuwendijk”, “Kalverstraat” and “Rokin”. Only overpriced shops (that you can find anywhere on the planet), way too crowded and filled with (pushy) tourist death traps.
“Rembrandtplein”, “Leidseplein” and “Muntplein” fall into this category as well. Highly popular and therefore overcrowded.
Rather take the canals around these streets. People still live there, architecture is vivid. It’s especially tranquil after dark.
Public transport is effective. Similar to London and Berlin.
Enjoy your stay. I know I have 😉 (lived there for years)
Thanks for your suggestions! We definitely want to avoid the touristy things. I tried to find a houseboat because I wanted us to stay on the canals but there just wasn’t anything available as it’s a holiday weekend when we’re there.
You’ve got quite an interesting list right there! Looking forward to seeing your photos! 🙂
What a wonderful whirlwind of a trip you’re on! We have many same Europe favorites. I hope you loved Spain, I just returned and am in love. Looking forward to reading about your European adventures!
Now I’m wondering, what was your highlight of Europe during this visit? Did all the places on this list fulfill your expectations? Maaike