I always look forward to trips. I mean, who doesn’t? But I’m particularly excited about my upcoming European extravaganza, both because of the itinerary (more on that in a minute) and because it’s my first big trip with my SO (that’s significant other, don’t ya know). We’ve been planning it for several months now and it’s been cool to go through that process with him. I tend to do a fair amount of research on flights, locations, and places to stay, and he was excited to do that with me – hurrah! And since some of the cities are new to me and all of them are new to him, it will be that much cooler to get to experience all that planning first-hand. Now, about that itinerary…
This trip has us going to a bevvy of exciting places, including:
-Amsterdam
-Bruges
-Paris
-Madrid (with a day trip to Toledo)
-Florence (with a day trip to Pisa and the Cinque Terre)
-London (with a day trip to Oxford, Windsor, and Stonehenge)
I’m someone who doesn’t plan every detail of my trips out, instead preferring to get an idea of what things I can do, booking a few things in advance, and taking mental notes of other options. That was something else we agreed on when planning this trip, so we did some research, booked a few day trips, and will be flying out with some good ideas for other things we can do.
Speaking of other things to do, I’d love to hear from you! What suggestions do you have for those cities? Great restaurants? Off-the-beaten path places to visit? Tucked-away squares that tourists don’t normally find? Post a comment with your suggestions!
That One Guy Who Travels 
Trattoria Ponte Veccio has this amazing pasta pouches w pears, cheese and truffle sauce!
Nice! We haven’t looked at many Florence restaurants yet, so this is helpful!
What great places to go! (I’ll assume that about Bruges too, since I haven’t made it there yet). Some recommendations that come to mind (beyond the common ones from the guide books, like advance booking tickets to the Uffizi museum in Florence)…
First, speaking of Florence, it’s well worth it to make the hike to the top of the tower of the Palazzo Vecchio for amazing views of the city. If you want a change from local fare, we had a fun time at a Greek restaurant we found there called Dioniso. And overall, I really enjoyed exploring the city.
In Amsterdam, the “building tour” of the recently re-opened Rijksmuseum is fascinating if you’re at all interested in history and architecture, and it’s likely to be much less crowded than the traditional “art highlights” tours.
I can’t think where to start on London, other than to say that if it’s his first trip there, I’m sure you haven’t booked enough time to see it all there! 🙂 Actually … if you’re there at the right times (typically the last Friday), check out the special evening events at the museums. The “Friday Late”s at the V&A are particularly fun, with themed music, cocktails, lectures, and fun happenings.
Great stuff, Andy! I wish we were going to have more time in Florence, but alas, we don’t. We’ll definitely enjoy what we do see though. And the restaurant suggestion may come in handy as Scott is very excited about the food options! Watch this space for updates. 🙂
Skip Paris and go to Lucerne, Switzerland 🙂
Shel, if we didn’t have several nights around planned around staying Paris, we might be able to do that! 🙂 I’ve never been to Switzerland though, so I’ll definitely have to keep Lucerne in mind!
It sounds like you and your SO will make very good travel partners.
Definitely! It’s going very well so far!