As of the time of publishing this post, half of 2017 is behind us. And this first half of the year had some of our most varied and extensive travelling of our lives thanks to a 6-month Schengen visa (thank you Danish Consulate). So we’ve decided to share our highlights of the year so far. For each country, we pick our top activity as well as the best thing we ate (food is a big reason for our travel) along with honourable mentions.
Tip: Some of our top activities have been summarized in an IG slideshow, swipe when needed.
Travel Numbers
Countries travelled: 7 – Iceland, Portugal, England, Switzerland, Italy, France, The Netherlands (all Europe all the way)
Distance covered (air + train + road): 17422 km / 10825 miles = A bit more than Earth’s diameter
Blogposts written: 44 (we’ve toned down the pace, expect around 30 more)
Favourite pictures
This Brienz street was voted prettiest in Europe – can’t argue
Jeronimo’s Monastery in Belem, Lisbon
Flying into Iceland
Spring colours in Lake District, England
An Amsterdam sunset
Country Highlights (In order of visit)
Iceland
Top activity (Blogpost): South coast 1-day ice cave express tour from Reykjavik by Goecco. A 14+ hour long day that includes highlights like Jokulsarlon, the ice caves (cancelled for us but replaced with an awesome glacier walk), black sand beach & Skogafoss. Worth the time & money spent, plan your winter Iceland trip today 🙂
Honourable mention: Walking around Reykjavik, what a fun & quirky city!
Best thing we ate: Skyr – an Icelandic yoghurt for the lack of a better word available in a multitude of flavours from the Bonus supermarket.
Skyr & smoked salmon – yum
Honourable mention: Ice cream – try the salted liqourice from Valdis.
Notes: The Golden Circle is super-crowded, if given a choice visit the South Coast.
Portugal
Top activity (Blogpost): Day trip to Pena Palace, Sintra. A short journey from Lisbon, the palace is very colourful & romantic, perched on the top of a hill and has great views in all directions.
Honourable mention: The National Tile Museum – what a beautiful journey through time for something that defines Lisbon, the Azulejos (tiles).
Tile museum – Lisbon
Best thing we ate: Black pork with tomato rice at Restaurante Cantinho Do Bem Estar – a hidden gem of a restaurant with massive portions and some seriously good food (stood out from all the brilliant food we ate).
Delicious black pork & tomato rice
Honourable mention: All the shellfish at Cervejaria Ramiro especially the Scarlet shrimp & giant tiger prawns.
England
Lake District trip report (rained a lot during this trip)
Top activity: Visiting Dove Cottage in Grasmere, William Wordsworth lived there for a few years and wrote a lot of his famous work (including Daffodils) here.
Looking down Dove Cottage – where Wordsworth lived & wrote
Honourable mention: Walking around the town of Ambleside as this was an hour of no rain.
Best thing we ate: Afternoon tea at Baldry’s tearoom, Grasmere. What a delicious spread and so quitessentially British.
Afternoon tea epitomising Britain
Honourable mention: Beer & pub grub at the excellent Hawkshead Brewery.
Cheers!
Switzerland
3 superb daytrips from Interlaken | A day in Geneva
Top activity: Walking through Brienz village. The first walk was impulsive (we just got off the train) and so nice that we came back the next day. There is woodwork across the village and the lake views are incredible. Must-visit during any Interlaken trip.
Honourable mention: Scaling the Schilthorn moutain to get the views of Eiger, Monch & Jungfrau before the clouds rolled in. Lauterbrunnen was very pretty but it rained hard by the time we got back.
Best thing we ate: The Swiss meat platter at Stagerstubli, Murren. Expensive at 35 CHF but filling and delicious (loved the boiled beef).
Meat place at Murren, Switzerland
Honourable mention: Fondue at Paquis de Bains, Geneva for its lakeside location and affordable prices (50 CHF for 3 people is a steal in Geneva).
Swiss fondue & wine
Italy
Top activity: Colosseum, our first touristy top sight. It is definitely worth spending a lot of time in (including the Palatine Hill & Roman forum included in the ticket price). Reach there by 8 am before it opens at 8:30 AM for minimal lines.
The iconic colosseum
Honourable mentions: The various cathedrals within the city, we are counting the Pantheon as one of them. But some of the best ones were the smaller ones we stumbled into while walking the lanes & bylanes.
One of the smaller cathedrals
Best thing we ate: Cannot decide (all food in Rome was top-notch) so here are our top 4: Pasta at Osteria Dei Colli Emiliani & pizza at Formula 1 pizzeria (near the uni), Pasta at Cesare Al Cassaleto, mains & wine at Ristorante La Campana.
Delicious pasta at Cesare Al Cassaleto
Honourable mention: Choosing from the 150 types of Gelato at Della Palma, heaven.
1/3rd of the choice of Gelato
France
Top activity: Taking the little yellow train from Villefrance-de-Conflent to Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via, it is an old fashioned train chugging its way through forests and mountains to reach France’s highest railway station. Plus the fortified village of Villefranche-de-Conflent is one of the most beautiful in France.
Honourable mention: Daytrip to the sun-kissed towns of Banyuls-sur-Mer & Collioure to drink a lot of the region’s excellent wine. Extremely memorable.
Best thing we ate: French-Catalan food at Casa Sansa in some superb ambience. Don’t miss the chicken & shrimp casserole.
French – Catalan food in Perpignan
Honourable mention: The pastry at Votre Pâtissier Jean-Marie, delightful Saint Honore’s and other pastries by a superb patissier.
Divine pastries & Oysters – our take on French “street food”
The Netherlands
Holland in a day | Amsterdam trip report
Top activity: Buying a Holland travel ticket and seeing a lot of Holland in one day. It was in intense day of travel but very rewarding. Apart from Amsterdam, we highly recommend Delft & Kinderdijk (all 3 were part of the daytrip, pictures below).
Honourable mention: Our daytrip to The Hague & Gouda was surprisingly good, the Hague gave us our museum fix and some awesome food and Gouda was such a charming village (and a great place to buy cheese, obviously)
Best thing we ate: Well cooked & presented fish main course with a crab sauce at De Basiliek, Den Haag – a part of our top Holland meal.
Fish main course at De Basiliek
Honourable mention: Nasi Goreng from Selamat Makan, Utrecht. We were blown away by how good the Indonesian food was before being reminded of the Netherlands colonial past. And a huge portion to boot.
Conclusion
Visit Europe and don’t be afraid to venture to the not as famous places (Villefranche-de-Conflent, Gouda & Brienz mentioned above), these are the ones that we enjoyed quite a lot. Of course, the famous cities remain a must-visit too. Go beyond your foodie horizons, there is a rich variety of cuisines to enjoy.
© 2017 Beyond Our Horizons
I’ve enjoyed your posts. I’m in a Geneva or Amsterdam dilemma as I can’t decide which city to do a stopover at when I next visit home.
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Thanks mistynites@ As you like nature, I’d recommend Switzerland if you have a day+ Amsterdam wins if it’s a less than 24 hours layover, its museums are top. Where are you leaning?
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I’m looking at 48hrs and was originally thinking Geneva but the flights suit better for Amsterdam. It’s a while away yet so plenty of time to mull them both over.
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What a fantastic trip, you would have so many wonderful memories. I agree, do the cities of course but don’t be afraid to explore the smaller towns and villages. 😉
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We do have the memories of a lifetime from these past few months. Hope to find more hidden-treasure towns & villages in the future. Thanks for taking the time to read & comment!
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