Jenny's travel break: architecture, history highlights and travel tips
As promised, the final part of my travel break series... featuring my favourite historical and architectural sites.
First things first… can you believe that there are almost 500 of you?! Not only that, over 70% of you open and read my emails every single time.
It’s been over 7 months since I started writing again. Most newsletters would have dropped their engagement over time but you’ve continued to show so much support even now. Just wanted to give y’all a shoutout and say thank you. 🥹💜
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The Golden Globetrotters Awards (cont.) 🏆
Okay, tears side — I have one last spiel about my trip in Europe before we return to the regular program. This week, I’m highlighting the best architecture, historical sites and wrapping up with some travel tips I learnt along the way.
If you missed Part One where I wrote about my favourite meals and nature spots, you can check it out here.
Amazing architecture
🥇 FIRST PLACE: ITALY
Italy has bred some of the most iconic architects in the world, so this comes as no surprise. For such a small country, the diversity of architecture here is just incredible. Even in these 6 photos alone, you can see different shapes, forms and colours that are unique to each town or city. Pictured from top left to right are some of my favourite places:
The colourful homes in Cinque Terre (specifically Manarola).
A lovely, medieval town called San Gimignano which also houses an award-winning gelato.
A gorgeous Gothic-style basilica, St Mark’s Basilica, in Venice.
The famous duomo in Florence. No photo will do it justice.
The beautiful neutral, beige-tones of Rome.
Vibrant homes and canals in Burano, even on a gloomy day.
🥈 RUNNER UP: PARIS & VERSAILLES
Some of the architecture in Paris (and Versailles) will be etched in my memory forever. I never really knew what “opulence” looked like until I visited Paris. You can tell they were trying to build the world’s most beautiful cathedral, palace, or whatever building it was and push the envelope. Pictured are some of my favourite places I visited:
Saint Chapelle has got to be the most incredible stained glass church I have ever been to.
Sacré-Cœur Basilica may not be the traditional “opulent” Parisian style we’re used to, but that’s what made it special.
The Palace of Versailles was just insane and so over-the-top. But that’s what made it so memorable.
Historical highlights
🥇 FIRST PLACE: CHATEAU DE CHILLON, SWITZERLAND
Who knew Switzerland would rank #1 on my list for historical highlights? I sure didn’t.
What made this castle so special was how well maintained it is. You could visit all of the rooms, basements, battlements and even the secret passages! For the first time ever, I thought to myself: “ah, this is what being a lord in medieval times would’ve felt like”. All of this with unbeatable views of Lake Geneva just outside the castle.
🥈 RUNNER UP: ACROPOLIS, ATHENS
This one is probably less of a surprise. I just loved the idea that there’s these beautiful, significant buildings at the highest point of most major places in Greece. The view up at the top was just breath-taking. The cherry on top was listening to an orchestra rehearsal in a stadium that’s around 2000 years old. 🤯 It was so, so surreal.
🥉 RUNNER UP: ENGLAND
As someone that can’t appreciate history as much as others, storytelling always helps me understand the significance of what I’m looking at. And you know what the British do really well? Really well-told and designed historical tours.
The Beefeater tour at the Tower of London was probably the best historical tower I’ve been to in Europe.
Top travel tips
Planning a 2 month trip is a feat. And I’m saying this as someone that adores the planning phase. Most days, it was awesome. But some days, I was just overwhelmed by choice and exhausted from decision fatigue. Fortunately, I’ve come out the other side as a much more experienced travel planner. 😊
These are the things I’ll definitely do for my next trip, no matter how big or small:
Wanderlog will significantly reduce your planning time by at least half. Wanderlog allows you to explore places of interest, pin them on a map and easily drag and drop into days into your itinerary. I’m exclusively using Wanderlog for all future trips now!
“Free” walking tours are the best way to start your stay in any city.
If you don’t like to plan, just do a free walking tour and ask your guide for an itinerary. It’s always awesome.
Even if you like to plan, walking tours help you understand the history and culture of the place you’re visiting. It makes everything you do afterwards more meaningful.
Note: they’re not actually “free”, hence the quotation marks, but they’re cheap. You decide how much you want to pay and the quality of the guides are always notch.
Just do carry-on. This made things like travelling on trains (especially since certain trains don’t have space for big luggage), walking to and from accommodation so much easier. Of course, the downside is that we had to set aside time to bum around the laundromat for a couple of hours.
Share your travel tips! 🏖️
With vacation season coming up (at least in this part of the world), let me know what your favourite travel tips are:
What tools do you use to plan for travel?
What’s something (a mindset, resource etc.) that has helped you enjoy travel more?
And putting a fun question out there - what would ruin a holiday for you?