One thing we learned during our travels in Europe is how much lodging affects your experience in a place. We’ve told the story of our worst rental…or as we refer to it our nightmare in Nice, so now we’re sharing something more helpful—what we’ve learned (sometimes the hard way) about how to choose a vacation rental. Pin this post for later > 8 Tips for Choosing a Vacation Rental We’ve stayed in a lot of different lodging types over the…
Where to stay, where to eat, what to do, and why you should add Naples to your Italy itinerary Naples Italy gets a bad rap. While planning our travels I came across a lot of articles saying that Naples is dangerous. Well, it’s a good thing we don’t believe everything we read. I mean, you should believe us, of course, haha! Seriously though, Naples (or Napoli in Italian) ended up being Tom’s favorite city in all of Italy. We put…
We almost made a huge mistake with Venice. We almost skipped it entirely. Venice is crowded, and smelly, and expensive they said. I’m not sure exactly who “they” are, but these were the complaints we’d heard. Thoughts of how to avoid the crowds in Venice swirled around our starting to become travel-weary heads. If you know us, you know that we’re not much for crowds. We’ve even written about how to get away from crowds in national parks. A quiet…
It’s hard to know where to begin talking about Florence. A city renown for it’s art and history. The birthplace of the Renaissance as well as numerous great artists, architectures, and writers. Many who spent their lives creating work that still resides in this opulent city today. Deciding where to start and how to spend your time in Florence is daunting. We knew that we wanted to visit museums, but didn’t know the best places to see art in Florence…
(AKA How to Not be an A$$ in Nature) It’s that wonderful time of year when the days are long and the sun is hot. Summer has always been my favorite season—promising road trips, camping adventures, and many hours in nature. It’s also the busiest time of year at national parks. We’ve already shared some tips for finding solitude in the parks this summer, but with rising national park visitation, comes an increased human impact on these beautiful places. Here’s…
Not long ago I wrote about how expectations are pointless. Now here I am writing about just that—what to expect in Cinque Terre. Perhaps a more accurate title would be: Things we didn’t realize about Cinque Terre before visiting. That doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, though. Hypocritical as it is, I’m sticking with what to expect…or more specifically what “unexpected” things to expect in Cinque Terre. First a little background in case you’re not familiar with the “five lands”…
It’s no secret that we walk…a lot. We hike all around the national parks in the US—sometimes against our better judgement. Many of the free things that we did in Paris revolved around walking. As travelers, what better way to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, than to literally trek around the land? We thought it fitting that our second to last France post includes a walking tour of Marseille. Pin this post for later > A lot of people…
Being surrounded by all this art, history, culture, and of course, food has inspired us! We’re trying something new this week friends (don’t worry, this time it doesn’t involve stinky cheese). We excited to share our first real vlog with you today!!! Yes, lots of exclamation marks. We’re just a bit excited! This vlog is a budget travel guide to Avignon, France located in the lush Provence region. Pin this post for later > France may not be the first…
We’re taking a little break from European posts this week to talk about something really important—how to get away from people. I don’t mean you should become a hermit and live in a van down by the river…oh wait…maybe I do? Kidding aside, if you’re planning to explore the national parks this summer, you likely don’t want to spend your vacation shuffling through a mob of sweaty visitors. Instead you’ll want to find solitude in the expansive vistas, quiet trails,…
As quickly as we were disoriented and even a bit intimidated by the fast-paced Paris, we felt at ease in Lyon. It’s my favorite city that we visited in all of France. Despite being the country’s third largest city, Lyon has a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere. You’ll see locals picnicking in the many parks and squares or taking an afternoon stroll along the river, some will even give a friendly nod as you pass by them. It has the unhurried feel…