The most beautiful capital cities in Europe

In this last post related to the "places I've been to"-theme, I want to share with you my favorite European capital cities. Since you are probably aware of what the cities look like (and because it's hot outside and I don't feel like writing so much today), I won't discuss each of them individually and just present my top 5 straight away:

1. Tallinn, Estonia
2. Prague, Czech Republic
3. Stockholm, Sweden
4. Paris, France
5. Rome, Italy

The number 2 position of Prague will not come as a surprise for most of you because I used to live there for 1.5 years and of course know all the beauties it has to offer, but Tallinn may be a bit of a surprise.
I must admit that I may be a bit biased because my trip to Tallinn was one of the first trips that I made on my own and the first city in which I met up with a local who showed me around. The inner city is lovely and makes you feel as if you are in a medieval German city. Of course it helped that there was an event going on for which people dressed up in medieval clothes while I was there, so you may not get the exact same experience that I got when I was there, but I have very good memories of this city and wish to go back there some day.

That's all for the travel-stories so far, if you have ideas about other things I can write about here, let me know via Facebook. Have a good rest of your Sunday!

Hidden treasures on the Balkans

As a teenager and in my early twenties I traveled a lot to the Balkans. In today's post I will share some hidden treasures from this region with you: places that not that many people know about, but that are still very much worth a visit. Enjoy!

Peleș Castle, Transsylvania, Romania

The first places that comes to my mind when I think of such hidden treasures is Peleș Castle in Romania. This may not be the most special castle, but its location on a hill within walking distance from the train station in Sinaia makes it worth a visit if you ever find yourself in Romania. I really enjoyed my short visit to this castle. In fact, I love this place so much that the following picture is on the wall of my living room:

Actually the entire region of Transsylvania is one big hidden treasure. The region is mostly famous for being the home of Dracula, but it has so much to offer. The region is scattered with lovely castles and beautiful (mountaineous) landscapes. The region's main city - Brașov - the region's capital - is a lovely city with a very calm atmosphere and on the countryside you can still find many people who use a horse and carriage as their main form of transportation. In short: this region has it all.

Mostar, Hercegovina, Bosnia & Hercegovina

Mostar is famous for the old bridge (Stari Most) right in the center of the old town. In fact the city was named after the bridge keepers (mostari) who guarded the bridge during medieval times. This bridge was one of the must-sees for me in Europe and I visited it in 2013. Even though the bridge was bombed during the war in 1995 and reconstructed afterwards you still get the feeling that this is a really special old bridge. Combined with the blue waters and the old stone buildings around it, this bridge really is a treasure. And even though not that many tourists will visit Bosnia & Hercegovina, the bridge can still be quite crowded in high season because it's such a small place.

Mostar itself may not be so much a hidden treasure, as it is quite well-known. Few people know however that the are around it (called Hercegovina) is also worth visiting. There is Međugorje, a Catholic pilgrimage after the Virgin Mary was spotted here in 1981, a medieval town called Pocitelj and some very nice waterfalls called  Kravice Falls. If you hire a car or book a day trip via your hostel, all sights can be seen in just one (long) day.

Should you be inspired by my blog post and wanting to visit Hercegovina now, I recommend to stay at Hostel Majdas in Mostar. I have visited many hostels over the years, but this place really is one of the best places I stayed at and the owners are also very kind people.

Kotor, Montenegro

Montenegro is a relatively new country and therefore it's still relatively unknown as a tourist destination. This small country does have its beautiful places though. While capital city Podgorica may not really be worth a visit, the small town of Kotor does have the potential to become a major tourist attraction. Located on day-trip distance from Dubrovnik, Kotor has a lot to offer: a lovely old town, a beautiful bay and a mountain next to the old town that you can climb for a great view over the entire bay. A perfect place for a perfect picture.

Travel plans for the future

People often ask me what will be my next destination. To be honest, at the moment I don’t know yet what will be my next big trip. I prefer to travel in low-season because in summer the weather in the Netherlands is nice enough too and there is enough to do. And I got a weekend in London planned as well for the end of this month. So my next big trip will not be very soon. I can tell you about the countries that are still on my must-see list though.

South Africa

Recently I started to be more and more into South Africa as a travel destination. More than 5 years ago I had a penpal from there who invited me over and kept on sending me pictures of the most beautiful places in South Africa, but I never went there and am not really in touch with him any more. Maybe it’s high time to revitalize this friendhip and start making plans for a trip to South Africa though. I am very curious about both the language (as you may know, Afrikaans is very similar to Dutch and when it’s written down or spoken slowly I can understand almost all of it) and the beautiful places this country has to offer, so I am quite sure I want to go here within the coming 5 years. I just need to find an appropriate time for it.

Thailand and Vietnam

They say that a true traveler will never finish his to-go-list. Whenever he crosses off one country, he adds two more. And that’s also the case for me. Usually when I talk to other people who traveled a lot I ask what has been their most beautiful destination. Often I get the answer that Thailand is a true paradise. I was never that curious about this country, but the more people recommend it to me the more my curiosity is provoked. Vietnam has been on my to-go-list for a long time already though, but after I was in Arashiyama at a place that reminded me a lot of Hoi An I really want to go to this special country. And there are signs that Vietnam will loosen up its visa policy, so hopefully I can even go there in the near future without having to go to the embassy first to arrange my visa.

Australia, New Zealand and Fiji

One might say that I am too much of an ambitious person for wanting to visit Australia, New Zealand and Fiji in one trip. But nothing is impossible. I already have a plan to save up enough holidays for a 6 week trip Down Under. Although with those distances and the amount of things to see in both Australia and New Zealand even 6 weeks may not be enough… And I just remembered I would also love to see Bora Bora, which is also in the neighborhood. Gosh, there are too many amazing places on this planet...

Argentina and Brazil

Argentina and Brazil: the two largest countries in South America. So far I have not visited many countries on this continent yet (only Peru and Bolivia), so I would love to visit these two countries. I can’t wait to see Rio de Janeiro and those smaller colonial cities in Argentina that look just like a Spanish city of 200 years ago. Some day…

Cruise through the Caribbean

For several years I have been saying that I want to have a honeymoon on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. It would be the perfect way to combine romantic moments with lots of traveling and exploring, wouldn’t it? Now I just need to find that one amazing woman who is willing to marry me and make that enormous sacrifice of going on a cruise to the Caribbean for our honeymoon…

You know what the best thing about making such a list of dream destinations is? A few years from now I will be able to look back at this blog post and hopefully see that I visited most of these countries already.