Travel guides
34 guides for planning a trip that actually suits you
Written to be read before you book: what things cost, how long to stay, which trains to take and where the common planning mistakes are.
Destination Guides
7 articles
Destination Guides
Italy in 10 Days: How to Split Your Time
Three cities is comfortable, four is a stretch and five is a mistake. Here is how to decide which three, based on what you actually want.
7 min read
Destination Guides
Rome for the First Time: What to Book and What to Skip
Four sights genuinely need advance tickets. Most of the rest of Rome is free, and the city rewards planning around heat and opening hours.
8 min read
Destination Guides
Lisbon or Porto: Which One Should Be Your Base?
They are three hours apart and very different in character. If you only have time for one, the choice depends on hills, day trips and how much you like a crowd.
6 min read
Destination Guides
Venice Beyond the Day Trippers
Venice empties twice a day. Staying two nights and learning the rhythm gives you a completely different city for the same ticket price.
6 min read
Destination Guides
Tokyo by Neighbourhood, Not by Sight
Tokyo makes no sense as a list of attractions. Treat it as a dozen small cities and pick two per day.
7 min read
Destination Guides
Chiang Mai: What to Do With Four Slow Days
Temples in the morning, a cooking class, one day in the hills and a market evening. Northern Thailand at a pace that suits the heat.
6 min read
Destination Guides
Choosing an Italian Coast: Amalfi, Cinque Terre or Puglia
Three coastlines with very different logistics, prices and crowd levels. What each one is actually like to stay on for four nights.
7 min read
Travel Planning
5 articles
Travel Planning
Andalusia and the Heat: Choosing the Right Month
Seville and Cordoba in July are genuinely difficult. Here is what each season actually feels like, and what it does to prices.
6 min read
Travel Planning
How to Choose Accommodation That Does Not Ruin the Trip
Location beats everything, reviews need reading sideways and there are four specific things worth paying extra for.
7 min read
Travel Planning
The Case for Shoulder Season
April to early June and September to October, in most of Europe. Better prices, better temperatures and fewer compromises than the summer.
6 min read
Travel Planning
One Week or Two: How Trip Length Changes Everything
A week is one country and two cities. A fortnight is not simply double, and it is where slow travel starts to pay.
6 min read
Travel Planning
How to Plan a Trip, Step by Step
Nine steps in a deliberate order: dates, style, shape, transport, accommodation, the two or three things that need booking, and then nothing.
8 min read
Budget Travel
2 articles
Budget Travel
What a Day in Europe Actually Costs in 2026
Realistic daily figures for accommodation, food, transport and sights across southern and western Europe, with the numbers broken down.
8 min read
Budget Travel
Eating Well on a Small Budget in Southern Europe
Markets, set lunches, bakeries and standing at the bar. The tactics that let you eat like a local for half what visitors usually pay.
7 min read
Food & Culture
3 articles
Food & Culture
Food Markets Worth Planning a Day Around
Markets are the cheapest way to understand a region's cooking. Which ones repay a whole morning, and how to use them.
7 min read
Food & Culture
Visiting Wine Regions When You Do Not Know Much About Wine
Two tastings a day, a driver or a train, and the questions that make a visit interesting rather than intimidating.
6 min read
Food & Culture
Coffee Culture Across Europe, and How Not to Annoy Anyone
What to order, when to order it and why standing at the bar costs a third of sitting down.
5 min read
Travel Styles
6 articles
Travel Styles
How to Choose Your Travel Style Before You Book Anything
Four questions that tell you more about the right trip than any destination list: your energy, your budget priorities, your pace and your company.
7 min read
Travel Styles
The Two Base Rule: Why Slow Travel Beats Coverage
Choosing two places for a whole trip and using day trips from each one is the simplest way to make almost any itinerary better.
6 min read
Travel Styles
Hiking the Dolomites in Summer: A Practical Primer
Refuges, cable cars, afternoon storms and how to plan days that a fit walker can enjoy without technical gear.
7 min read
Travel Styles
Travelling in Europe With Young Children
One activity a day, apartments over hotel rooms, and the specific practical details that make or break a family trip.
7 min read
Travel Styles
Planning a Romantic Trip That Actually Works
Fewer stops, later mornings, one booked dinner rather than five. The logistics of a trip that feels unhurried.
6 min read
Travel Styles
Your First Solo Trip: Practicalities Nobody Mentions
Eating alone, choosing accommodation for company, safety habits that are not paranoia, and how to structure the first two days.
7 min read
Transportation
4 articles
Transportation
European Train Travel: What to Book, When and How
Advance fares, reservation rules, rail passes that no longer pay off and the small habits that stop a rail trip going wrong.
8 min read
Transportation
Planning Greek Island Ferries Without Losing Days
Ferries, not hotels, decide the shape of a Greek itinerary. How to read the schedule, which island groups connect and where the buffer day goes.
7 min read
Transportation
Renting a Car in Europe: When It Helps and When It Hurts
Restricted city zones, insurance excess, fuel policies and the regions where a car is genuinely the only sensible option.
7 min read
Transportation
Train, Plane or Bus: Choosing Between Them Honestly
A four hour rule, the real door-to-door numbers and when an overnight bus is a false economy.
6 min read
Practical Travel Tips
4 articles
Practical Travel Tips
Why Early Mornings Change Kyoto Completely
The same temple at 07:30 and at 10:30 is two different experiences. Shifting your day by two hours is the cheapest upgrade in Japan.
6 min read
Practical Travel Tips
Two Weeks in a Carry-On: A Packing Method That Works
A colour rule, a laundry plan and a short list of things people carry that they never use. Built for multi-city trips with trains and stairs.
6 min read
Practical Travel Tips
Phones, Money and Admin Abroad
eSIMs, card fees, cash habits by country and the five documents worth having offline before you leave.
6 min read
Practical Travel Tips
Better Travel Photos Without Buying Anything
Light, timing and one compositional habit matter more than the camera. Plus where the photos you actually keep come from.
5 min read
Inspiration
3 articles
Inspiration
Same Destination, Different Journey: What That Means in Practice
Six travellers, ten days, one country, six almost unrelated trips. A worked example of how style reshapes an itinerary.
7 min read
Inspiration
City Breaks That Genuinely Work in Three Days
Cities small enough to feel complete over a long weekend, with short airport transfers and something to do in the rain.
6 min read
Inspiration
Where to Go When You Cannot Decide
Start from a feeling rather than a map: warm sea in October, mountains without altitude, a city that is cheap in December.
6 min read