9 Surefire Ways to Ruin Your European Vacation
/After dozens of trips to Europe, we've made all the mistakes so you don't have to! Here is a list of the most common ways to jam yourself up on your own trip.
Read MoreTravel that's Authentic, Immersive,
Memorable, and Affordable
After dozens of trips to Europe, we've made all the mistakes so you don't have to! Here is a list of the most common ways to jam yourself up on your own trip.
Read MoreIn 2015 we spent two weeks in a small medieval village in one of our favorite parts of Tuscany. In the middle of that trip we experienced the most extensive, gloriously delicious, and embarrassingly difficult meals we have ever had. Or as Donatella called it, un po' di cena - "a little dinner".
Read MorePeople always ask us how we afford to travel as much as we do. We spend a LOT of time searching for flights, and we’ve figured out a few pretty good tricks. The field is always changing; airlines and booking agencies alter their practices, so we are constantly having to learn new techniques to hunt out those deals. Here are our best tips, as of October 2017.
Read MoreIreland’s landscapes are legendary for a reason: Sweeping green valleys dotted with sheep and cows; blue-green ocean reduced to white spray on jagged coastal cliffs; and evocative ruins of castles, monasteries, round towers, and stone circles.Here we explore a few of these historic sites. Some are free; all are impressive; and each can be paired with an excellent meal at a nearby gastropub.
Read MoreOur version of "Groundhog Day" involves having the same phone conversations repeatedly with prospective clients. We’ve created itineraries for dozens of clients, and with a few exceptions, they've all come to us with the same travel goals:
1. “I want to see real, authentic places; experience the real Italy without the tourist crowds; and do it affordably.”
2. “I want to visit Rome, Florence, Amalfi, and Venice. And I have 9 days.”
Spoiler alert: Those goals are in direct conflict with one another. Is it possible to visit those famous places and see them in an authentic way?
Travelers to Europe always want to see the same things, checking off boxes on some “must-see” list.: The Roman Forum. Stonehenge. The Cliffs of Moher. It becomes a scavenger hunt, The trouble is, everyone has the same ideas, so these places are often impossibly clogged with tourist crowds. The good news is, there are alternatives to the headline locations - easier to get to, nicer to see, and often cheaper to visit.
Read MoreThe Tennessean (USA Today) recently published Little Roads Europe's article, "10 Impossibly Cute Irish Towns"... Read about it here, and check out the whole article on the Tennessean site.
Read MoreWhen travelers spend a lot of time and money on a vacation, they often discover that they’re in the midst of a pre-packaged, manufactured environment that’s about as authentic as the Las Vegas Egyptian Pyramid. Here are a few ways that travelers can immerse themselves in a place, and a few reasons why this is a memorable way to travel.
Read MoreNervous about driving in the UK or Ireland? Here are our thoughts and tips, garnered from dozens of trips to the other side of the pond...
Read MoreOur recent week in Italy’s famous Tuscany region was a study in contrasts: From renting an entire 11-story, 12th-century tower to a small town B&B; from upscale dining to simple picnicking; from a popular tourist town to a tiny, quiet medieval village. Despite the wide range of experiences, there were common threads: Immersion into the history and the authentic lifestyle of the people who live in this magical and storied country; doing it all in an affordable way while steering clear of tourist crowds; and of course, eating and drinking very well.
Read MoreCheck out our other, award-winning Little Roads Europe travel guides series!
We also have two guidebooks for two different parts of Italy: "Emilia-Romagna, Italy: A Personal Guide to Little-known Places Foodies Will Love" explores the sweeping geography, wondrous castles, and delicious food of this breadbasket region of northern Italy.
“Tuscany: Small-town Itineraries for the Foodie Traveler” is now available from Amazon.com in a new release: A beautiful, full-color, expanded print edition that explores the back roads and great food of this storied region, while avoiding the typical tourist hotspots.
All books are available in print from Amazon, B&N and other outlets. The e-book version is available exclusively through Amazon Kindle.
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