This article contains affiliate links. If you book through one of them, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Some experiences mentioned are ones I researched but didn’t personally take, and I’ve identified those clearly. Amboise Royal Chateau Loire Valley, France The short answer: Yes, Amboise is worth visiting, especially if you want a walkable Loire Valley town with château history, Leonardo da Vinci’s final home and cafés spilling onto old streets th

Mineral springs, grand colonnades, forest walks and a treatment menu that takes a rather literal approach to wellness. Colourful historic buildings lining the Teplá River in Karlovy Vary, Czechia This post contains affiliate links. If you book through one of them, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. It helps support Tailor Made Travels and the stories shared here. Karlovy Vary may not be a name familiar to many North American travellers. Some may remember it

We were told not to drive our rental car outside Czechia. Then Google Maps welcomed us to Austria and led us back to an unexpected piece of Cold War history.

Wondering what to do in Český Krumlov? Here's what a real day looks like: kayaking past beer coolers on the Vltava, stumbling into a string quartet in the castle gardens, and watching sky lanterns float up while a guy with an acoustic guitar sang Joe Cocker songs on the riverbank. 2026.

Mikulov Czechia This post contains affiliate links. If you book or purchase through these links I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend things I've personally experienced or would book myself. We named our sweet little rental car after a candy. That should tell you everything about how relaxed this trip was, mostly. If you've read the 10-day Czechia road trip itinerary, you already know this trip was years in the making. A promise we made to ou

Hluboka nad Vltavou, Czechia This post contains affiliate links. If you book or purchase through these links I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend things I've personally experienced or genuinely believe in. The castle dream started in France, on the first half of my back-to-back trip through Europe, travelling with two of my closest girlfriends through France, Italy and Germany. In one corner of France we wanted, badly, to stay in an actual c

Cesky Krumlov, Czechia This post contains affiliate links. If you book or purchase through these links I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend things I've personally experienced or genuinely believe in. The first time I stood on Charles Bridge, my son was still a teenager who'd agreed to be seen in public with us, and we did exactly what everyone tells you to do in Prague. Astronomical Clock. Cobblestones. And we climbed a staircase on a whim t

This post contains affiliate links. If you book or purchase through these links I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend things I've personally experienced or genuinely believe in. Korcula old town On our first trip to Korcula we came by ferry from Hvar. Which means we arrived having already seen the Pula amphitheatre for the first time, having wandered through Rome in all its historical glory and having spent days on what is arguably Croatia's

This post contains affiliate links. If you book or purchase through these links I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend things I've personally experienced or genuinely believe in. Rector's Palace, Dubrovnik Croatia is one of those destinations where timing actually matters. Go in the wrong month and you'll spend your holiday fighting cruise ship crowds in 35 degree heat with accommodation prices that make your eyes water. Go in the right month

Dubrovnik Harbour This post contains affiliate links. If you book or purchase through these links I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend things I've personally experienced or genuinely believe in. Dubrovnik is one of those cities that rewards the traveller who uses it as a base rather than just a destination. The old town is spectacular and it'll keep you busy. But step outside those ancient walls and the surrounding region opens up in ways th

Hvar Town Croatia This post contains affiliate links. If you book or purchase through these links I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend things I have personally experienced or genuinely believe in. Before you even enter the harbour of Hvar Town the catamaran ferry slips past the most opulent super yachts you have ever seen in your life. And before you set one foot onto the white marble promenade you already know this place is going to rock yo

Split Croatia This post contains affiliate links. If you book or purchase through these links I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend things I have personally experienced or genuinely believe in. We found Split completely by accident on our first Croatia trip. We were trying to get from Plitvice Lakes National Park to Dubrovnik and needed a ferry. Split was just the place in between. Then we arrived and stood on that white marble promenade with

Hvar's old town This post contains affiliate links. If you book or purchase through these links I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend things I have personally experienced or genuinely believe in. One week in Croatia. It sounds like plenty of time until you start looking at a map and realising this country has more to offer than any seven days can possibly cover. I know this because I have been multiple times and still haven't seen everything

Pula, Croatia This post contains affiliate links. If you book or purchase through these links I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend things I have personally experienced or genuinely believe in. Croatia is one of the most beautiful countries I have visited in fifty countries of travel. It is also a country with a few surprises that nobody quite prepares you for before your first trip. I know this because I watched a stranger learn the sea urch

Rovinj Croatia This post contains affiliate links. If you book or purchase through these links I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend things I have personally experienced or genuinely believe in. Most people planning a Croatia trip head straight for Dubrovnik, Split and the Dalmatian islands. And honestly, they should. That route is spectacular and earns every word written about it. But there's another Croatia sitting quietly in the north that

Dubrovnik Croatia This post contains affiliate links. If you book or purchase through these links I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend things I have personally experienced or genuinely believe in. Four visits. That's how many times I've been to Dubrovnik. And every single time someone finds out, they ask me the same question. Is it still worth it? Here's my honest answer. Yes. But Go Smart. Dubrovnik is genuinely one of the most remarkable p

Croatia island hopping itinerary Split Hvar Korcula Dubrovnik ferry route Adriatic coast This post contains affiliate links. If you book or purchase through these links I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend things I have personally experienced or genuinely believe in. If you're planning a Croatia trip and island hopping is somewhere on that list, this is the itinerary I'd hand you. My husband, my son and I did this exact route, Split to Hvar

Before I ever went to Thailand, the images I saw fell into two very different camps. There were the beaches, with impossibly blue water, long stretches of sand, and hammocks doing their best work. Then, there were the parties. Loud ones. Endless ones. Young ones. The kind that looked less like a holiday and more like an endurance sport. The contrast was hard to reconcile. Beautiful, yes. But also exhausting. Like many people during Covid, I passed the time by watching an impr

Victoria may be British Columbia’s capital of charm by day, but by night, it belongs to its ghosts. A City That Whispers Between Sips By daylight, Victoria is all about teacups, coastal walks, and tidy manners. But when dusk slides over the harbour, the polite façades loosen. The stories begin to breathe again. Over the past weeks, I’ve wandered through the city’s most haunted cafés, pubs, and landmarks for my Haunted Sips of Victoria series. I listened, sipped, and occasiona

If it hadn’t been for a sudden train delay in Vinaròs, Spain, we never would have found Morella. It wasn’t on our itinerary. In fact, we hadn’t even heard of it. After waiting several hours in an overcrowded train station, surrounded by bleary-eyed twenty-somethings returning from the party island of Ibiza, we realized we had two choices: spend the night on the tiled floor of a transport hub that smelled vaguely of beer and sunburn, or find another way forward. While my son r