Arrived in Marseille. Explored the city on foot. Beautiful neighbourhood Le Panier. Also Vieux-Port, the Old Port Of Marseille.

historic city set in the middle of Provençal villages and surrounded by vineyards, lavender fields and cliffs. NIght in Aix-en-Provence

considered one of the most beautiful villages in France. Walked around the town, visited ancient churches and Château des Baux de Provence, a 10th century fortified castle.

Visited Châteauneuf du Pape - ruins of the Pope's formal summer residence.

Last moments of strolling, with, of course, famous bridge Pont d'Avignon

Provence !

Headed to the medieval village of Eze situated up on a steep hill overlooking the Mediteranean Sea.

Spectacular views of the coast from Jardin Exotique d’Èze, a cactus garden at the top of the village.

Visited ancient some ancient castles in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin.

Continued the journey on the cost towards Menton. Arrived just in time for a Mediterranean sunset. Spent the night here.

Today was the day with hilltop towns. We walked up and down the streets of the cities all day long. First Gourdon.

Moved to Grasse - another hilltop lovely town. Spent the night.

Then headed back to the coast, in Port Grimaud, the so called 'Venice of Provence'.

In the afternoon took a hike in Massif des Maures.

French Riviera Trip

Bari was the starting point of our holiday travel in Puglia region of Italy. Italy is gorgeous ans Puglia is among my favourite regions of the country. Located in the south of the country, right at the heel of the Italian boot, the region is famous for its white cities along the Adriatic coast, its old olive groves and perfect beaches. 

From Bari, we rented a car and headed along the coast to our first stop, Polignano a Mare. It's a supreb small town perched on a limestone cliff. Beautifuil old town with fine white buildings and the most spectacular views over the sea.

This is the point with the most panoramic view in the city.

We took time to relax at the most beatiful beach, Lama Monachile, which is actually a cove with a small pebble beach flanked by dramatic cliffs.

We spent the first night in Polignano a Mare.

On the second day, after breakfast, we jumped in the car and headed to nearby coastal town of Monopoli.

We visited the lovely small town of Monopoli and had a walk along beautiful Lungomare sea-front promenade and towards the small port with fishermen and fishermen boats.

Ostuni is known as The White City because of its white buildings in the old town. It's a beautiful town with its center sitting on a hill. It's a lovely town. We took the time to visit its super narrow streets and admired every corner of it and every small cafe we we found pretty much around every corner of the town.

At the end of the day we arrived in the unique town of Alberobello, which is a spectacular town with particular architecture, the famous "trulli", traditional Puglian stone huts with cone-shaped roofs. We visited the gorgeous town and spent the night in one of these magical trulli.

After the breakfast, it was time to hit the road again.

We headed to Gallipoli, on the Ioanian Sea. The cutest thing about Gallipoli is that the old town is situated on a small island you can access via an old bridge. We checked the photogenic Gallipoli Fish Market and visited the old town.

We then drove to one of the most beautiful spots on this part of Italy, Grotta della Poesia. It's a natural swimming pool, a hole in the cliffs by the sea, where you can swim in crystal claer waters.

At the end of the day we arrived in Otranto, where we spent the night.

We were a bit tired of so much sightseeing from previous day, so we decided to spend the entire day by the beach.

We drove to Baia dei Turchi. After we parked the car, we had a short walk through a pine forest and the arrived at this absolutely gorgeous beach, Baia dei Turchi, with sand beach and shallow clear water. It was pure pleasure to spend the day here.

In the evening we drove back to Bari and spent the last night here.

It was our final day in Puglia region. Before leaving to the airport we had just enough time to wander through Bari old center and have something to eat.

Road Trip in Puglia

We arrived in Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia somewhere in the afternoon. As we planned to spend our first night in the capital, we checked in and then went to take a few steps in the city. We visited the capital's main square, Macedonia Square, the famous Old Baazar and walked the streets of the bohemian neighbourhood of Debar Maalo.

Of course we got hungry after the walk, so we stopped at this place, Kosmos Kebabchilnica, and tried some local food, cevapcici, delicious grilled minced meat. We then had some good baklava from a blaklava shop nearby.

The next day, after breakfast we headed to the bus stop to get to our main destination of the trip.

We had a bus ride from Skopje to Ohrid that lasted about three hours. The ride is really nice and the landscapes on the way are very beautiful. The town Ohrid is situated on Lake Ohrid shore. The beautiful Lake Ohrid is shared with Albania and it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We stayed at Villa Ohrid, which offered a spectacular view over the town and the lake from our balcony. After we checked in and rested on the balcony a bit, we went outside to take a few steps. 

We got lost on the town's streets for a bit and ended up at Beach Potpesh on Lake Ohrid. It's a nice pebble shoreline, with a small dock and beautiful views.

We had dinner at Kaj Kanevche, a nice reastaurant by the lake with traditional good food. We watched a beautiful sunset from there, as well.

And headed to our accommodation in the evening.

We explored the charming old town of Ohrid, filled with beautiful Ottoman buildings, restaurants, wine bars and shops.

We visited the Antique Theater in Ohrid. Built in 200 BC, the thatre is the only Hellenistic type theatre in the country.

We then visited the fortress on top of the town offering great panoramic views of the whole area. It was the capital of the First Bulgarian Empire during the rule of Tsar Samuel of Bulgaria in the 11th century.

From the fortress, we walked to Labino Vista Point, a beautiful viewpoint with the coast and the lake in sight.

From the viewpoint, it's a nice walk to Church of Saint John the Theologian, the most famous and most picturesque church in Ohrid. It'a a beautiful Orthodox church perched on a hill overlooking the lake.

We spent the rest of the day on the beach, relaxing in than great landscape.

The next morning we went to Terazza Aquarius, by the lake, overlooking the old town.

After the breakfast, we took a boat ride to Bay Of The Bones. It's a reconstructed village of stilt houses displaying ancient items recovered from Lake Ohrid. It was a really beautiful visit.

Back to Ohrid by boat and spent the afternoon on the beach lake again.

We had breakfast in the old town, walked its streets for a bit before leaving the place.

We returned to Skopje by bus and went home from here.

Lake Ohrid, North Macedonia

In February, I managed to had a dream come true. I finally was able to visit Lapland, the home of Santa. Here it is our itinerary for those few days.
Arrived in Helsinki. Had the evening just to take a short walk in Helsinki.

From Helsinki we took a flight North to the magical land of Lapland.

Flight to Ivalo, Lapland. Yes, it's where Santa Claus lives. :) :) :)

Transfer to Kakslauttanen. We arranged with the host to come and pick us. Then we took a reindeer safari. Spent the night in a glass igloo.

Spent time exploring and walking around the resort, I mean wonderland, and took part in a sledge racing. In this second night spent in this magical place, we were lucky enough to se the northern lights. #heart

Bus transfer to Rovaniemi. We stayed at the Arctic Snow Hotel. We received a tour of the Arctic Snow Hotel when we arrived. We tried snow sauna or snow jacuzzi, such an experience!

Magical Lapland

Lanzarote is a mesmerising island in the Canarys, off the coast of Morocco. It's known for its year round warm weather, beaches and volcanic landscape. We arrived on the airport late afternoon. We rented a car and drove to our base on the island.

We settled in Puerto del Carmen, in Lanzarote. After we checked in, we went to spend what remained of the day on the beach.

We simply relaxed at Playa Chica Beach before the day ended.

The next day, we took the car and started to tour the island.

We drove from Puerto del Carmen, where we stayed to Le Jardin de Cactus. The garden has some  4500 species of cactus. We walked the paths with beautiful cactus flowers.

After the garden of cactus flowers, we went to see a fantastic spot. Jameos Del Agua is a volcanic site with tunnel and caverns and an underground concert hall, plus a restaurant and salt lake.

Cueva de los Verdes are caves created from the eruption of the Volcan de la Corona.

Our last visit for the day was at Caldera de Los Cuervos, the volcano crater that has a trail around it. We walked the trail and admired the surresl scenery.

We returned to Puerto del Carmen for the night.

As the previous day was a busy one, we decided to take this one slowly.

We went for some wine tasting at Bodegas Vega de Yuco.

Then moved to a fantasting beach where we spent most of the day. Famara Beach is a gorgeous beach with dunes and the gorgeous mountains behind. You can also take surf lessons there if you're into this.

Today we were anxious to discover some of the main sites of Lanzarote.

Today we went to visit Timanfaya National Park, one of the main attractions in Lanzarote. It's a Mars-like landscape there, made up of pure volcanic soil. The park is part of the Lanzarote Biosphere Reserve.

Then we explored the coastline near the Timanfaya National Park, starting with El Golfo and its green lagoon.

At Los Hervideros, the ocean is so blue, it's a beautiful contrast against the orange landscape. We witnessed a gorgeous sunset from there.

It was our last day in Lanzarote so we hurried to explore some other beautiful spots on the island.

We drove through Valley of a Thousand Palm Trees located in the mountains. The valley with a carpet of palms was created in 17th centuryand is one of the few green areas. We stopped in the village of Haria for a coffee.

It's a viewpoint that looks over the edge of Lanzarote to a small island, La Graciosa.

Awesome Lanzarote

Crete has been on my destinations list for a long time. Finally, I managed to spend five summer days on the beautiful Greek island and fully enjoyed it. I arrived in Chania somewhere in the afternoon. As soon as I checked in and everthing was in place, I got out to explore the city a bit. 

I started with the historic heart of Chania, the Old Town that circles the Old Venetian Harbour. I enjoyed walking on the beautiful winding streets of the beautiful Chania filled with many souvenir shops, cafes and relaxed people.

I made my way to the beautiful old port that dates back to 14th century. It is ringed by a nice promenade along the water lined with many cafes and eateries where they serve fresh seafood dishes.

In the evening, I walked towards the lighthouse, it's a super nice place to witness the sunset and there's also a spot from where you can admire the cityscape, the old port and the old town of the city.

Today I was anxious to go outside the city and explore some of the top attractions of Crete. To do so, I rented a car so that I can move freely without the stress of time. There's also a basu that leaves Chania for Elafonissi Beach and comes back somewhere in the afternoon.

My first destination outside of the city was the famous Elafonissi Beach, known as the pink beach due to the ground shells which have colored the sand into pink. It's a wide sandy beach with shallow turquoise waters. The pink colour of the sand is simply mesmerising. I spent here most of the day, relaxing and propery getting in the holiday mood.

In the evening, I got back to Chania for the night.

On the second full day in Crete, it was time for some action, I prepared for a hiking trail and arranged for a car to take us at the starting point of the trail.

We got to Samaria Gorge Trailhead, the starting point of our hiking trail.

From there, we hiked down through the Samaria Gorge which is about 15 kilometers. Samaria Gorge is a Greek National Park, but it is also part of the world’s biosphere reserve. Most of the hike is going down, but still you have to be in shape a bit and must wear proper boots for the trail. I very much enjoed the hike.

At the end of the trail, we ended up in Agia Roumeli village. It is so fine as it is accesible only by bfooot or by boat. We had enough time to rest, have something to eat at taverna there, but the best part was the swim we took in the sea after the hike, precious.

From the remote village of Agia Roumeli, we took a boat that led us to the point where the car was waiting to take us back to Chania. You can visit the Samaria Gorge also by going there by bus, the olny nasty thing is that il leaves very early in the morning, around 5 or 6.

We returned in Chania at the end of a beautiful and exhausting day.

As we were tired after the previous day, we decided to take the day and enjoy a beautiful beach spot on the island.

We took the rented car and headed to Balos Beach parking point. Be aware that the last 10 km or so are a bit off road! We left the car in the parking, took our luggage for the day and started a short hike.

We arrived at this simply gorgeous beach lagoon with incredible turquise waters. We just relaxed there and spent most of the day on the beach.

And back to Chania at the end of the day. 

Before leaving home, we spent some more time in the beautiful city of Chania, wandering on the nice streets, eating fish and having coffee.

Summer Days in Crete

Our Costa Brava summer itinerary starts in Barcelona and covers some of the most beautiful coastal lanscapes, hidden gems and gorgeous beaches between the city of Barcelona and the norther coastal point of Spain.

We rented a car from Barcelona and drove to Cadaqués for about two hours. We arrived in the evening in beautiful Cadaqués, so we only found our way to our accommodation in town that evening.

The next day we explored the charming city of Cadaqués with its beautiful whitewashed buildings spreading on the steep hills, its cobblestone streets and the deep blue sea coloured by fishing boats.

After we walked the city streets up and down for a few hours, we went to visit Salvador Dalí House, where famous painter lived and worked for some 50 years. He was not the only famous artist who loved this city so much. Others like Pablo Picasso or Gabriel Garcia Marquez used to spend summers in the beautiful town.

We ate at Compartir, delicious foody prepared by famous chefs. We had some of the best seafood we have ever tried.

We spent late afternoon at Platja del Ros Beach.

Today it was hiking and exploration day. We jumped in the car and followed the coast north.

Half an hour north of Cadaques, we arrived at Cap de Creus Natural Park. It's a beautiful peninsula with amazing views, a lighthouse and nice hiking paths. We spent a couple of hours there hiking and admiring the scenery.

We spent the afternoon at this gorgeous remote beach relaxing and swimming and sunbathing.

We spent the night in El Port de la Selva.

We had dinner at Ca l'Herminda. Beautiful place with delicious food. It was a recommendation from some nice local people.

The next day, just after grabbing a breakfast, we got back on the car and headed to the north again.

We stopped at Platja de Garbet, a beautiful sandy cove. We spent some nice time in that lovely peaceful corner. 

Then we decided to head still to the north, crossing the border with France. Beautiful landscapes on the way. We stopped for a while at Les Clos de Paulilles, a beautiful seaside vineyard established in the 1800s. We tasted some good there.

We then drove a bit inland to the beautiful medieval town Castelnou. We had a nice walk on its lovely cobblestones streets up to Castelnou Castle

Our last day of the trip was mainly the way back to Barcelona.

Back to Barcelona and back home from here.

Costa Brava Road Trip

Arrived in Goreme. It was a long time dream to go to Cappadocia. Finally had the oportunity to see the wonderful Cappadocian landscapes.

Started the first full day with must try hot air balloon ride, the highlight of the trip I would say.

After the baloon ride and after breakfast we went hiking in Pigeon Valley, we were mesmerized by those cone-shaped rock formations.

Up to Uçhisar Castle. Visited the castle and admired the view from up there. Watched a stunning sunset at a panorama point somewhere near. There are several in the area.

Back to Goreme, had a traditional dinner at one of the restaurants.

We went to Ihlara Valley, it's a long beautiful canyon with wonderful landscapes and caves.

We continued the exploration of the area winth hikes in Red and Rose Valleys

Soğanlı Canyon - valley with carved churches and beautiful views of the valley.

Amazing Cappadocia

Corsica Island is one perfect summer destination, with a nice combination of seaside and mountains in the Mediterranean Sea. It has gorgeous coasline, amazing beaches and spectacular mountains.

We arrived in Ajacco by ferry from France, Marseille. The town also has an airport. We checked in and went to hire a car so that we can move easily from one place to another.

Our first destination on the island was, of course, a beach. We drove straight to Agosta Plage, took our time to relax in this wonderful landscape with white sand beach and a view over Ajaccio and the mountains. We witnessed a spectacular sunset here as well.

We returned to Ajaccio in the evening and spent the night here.

The second day, after a late breakfast in Ajaccio, we decided to spend another day at the beach. We chose Mare e Sol.

We drove straight to Plage de Mare É Sole beach or Plage d'Argent. It's a superb beach with crystal-clear water and mountains in the background. It'a a pretty wild beach where we relaxed for hours and hours swimming and reading and sunbathing.

We checked Route des Sanguinaires beach as well, somewhere in the afternoon towards the evening. We admired a great sunset with a view over Sanguinaires islands.

We retuned to Ajaccio after the sunset. In the evening, they have a flea market open in Ajaccio, it's a a nice way to do some shoppings after you spend all your day at the beach or visiting around.

Today was road triping day. We packed our things and left Ajaccio. We drove south through spectacular Corsican landscape with mountains and villages.

Our first stop for the day was Roccapina and its spectacular coastal views. There's also a bar where you can enjoy a drink watching the wonderful landscape. We took our time to enjoy the stunning views of the mountains and the turquoise sea.

We then drove further to Bonifacio, where we spent the rest of the day and the night. Once settled, we walked up the old town Bonifacio and admired those typical Corsican houses. We also went to The Marina for some shopping and had delicious seafood dishes there.

Today we visited some of the great spots on the south coast of corsica with their great views and spent time at the beautiful beaches in the area.

We visited Plage de Sutta Rocca - Arinella di Sutta Rocca, an absolutelly stunnig spot on the island with gorgeous cliffs and rock formations.

We took a hike in another beautiful place, Passaggiata a Picco Sul Mare.

And then went to explore and relax at the beautiful beach of Plage de Saint-Antoine. We had to do a bit of hiking from the parking to the beach. It's an amazing beach. Beautiful sunset.

Today was the last day on the island. We packed and had time for just another beach before leaving.

We went to another paradise like beach, where we spent a few hours before heading to the port.

Summer Days in Corsica

Algarve region in South Portugal in one of the most picturesque coastal areas in Europe with incredible beaches, awesome cliffside views and beautiful small towns. In the short holiday we spent there, we had enough time to visit the area and to relax at the beach.

We arrived in Faro. We checked in and went out to visit the charming town. We wandered the cobbled streets of the town and the beautiful waterfront. Before the day ended we rented a car. It's always better to have a car when exploring an area, especially if you want to visit some remote places.

We spent the first night in Faro. The next day, after the breakfast, we decided to start our holiday with a chill time at a beautiful remote beach.

We took a boat to Praia da Barreta (Mar). It's a remote and pretty wild beach by the Atlantic Ocean. It is very long and beautiful an it is only accesible by boat from Faro. We spent a few good hours on the beach, swimming, sunbathing and relaxing.

We returned to Faro, we enjoyed some fresh seafood and then jumped in the car to do some exploration.

We went to Tavira, visited the serene churches, the beautiful old water tower, wandered the streets of Tavira and visited the castle there which is a Moorish fortress dating back to the Middle Ages that offers stunning views of the area and the nearby national park.

We headed to probably Portimão Harbour, the place where most of the boats depart from to visit one of the most spectacular caves by the ocean.

We took a boat ride to probably the most spectacular place on the Agarve region, Benagil Caves. It is only accesible by boat. It's a large cave by the water with a distinctve hole in the roof. The cave shelters a gorgeous beach. It feels like you're in a beautiful story.

We returned to the car and moved further.

It's a beautiful beach with incredible rock formations and a viewpoint at the top of the beach. You can go down to the beach using the stairs. We walked along the long beach to admire it all.

The next day, we explored the city a bit and then explored the coastal views in the area. We moved from one beautiful panoramic point to another.

It's like the end of the world. It's a beauitiful panoramic point up on the coast. You cand do a bit of hiking here as well. Just be careful that the wind is pretty strong.

We moved to Tonel Beach, a beach based at the bottom of rocky cliffs. It's a beautiful spot with surfers in the water and on the beach as the wind is poweerful and that is just fine for surfing.

We also checked Praia do Beliche, another gorgeous beach with cliffs an steps descending down to the beach and also small beautiful caverns.

In the end we reached Praia do Amado, a fantastic beach. We stayed here till the sunset and watched the beautiful landscape in the golden colours with surfers playing in the waves.

We drove to Lagos and spent the night there.

We visited Lagos and its beautiful walled old town, the cliffs on the shore and its wonderful beaches. 

Praia do Camilo has some 200 wooden steps down towards the beach, beautiful coves and tunnels

Ponta da Piedade is the famous coastal rock formations with caves and grottos. We took all the beauty in before returnig to Faro and back home from there.

Stunning Algarve

Visited Château Royal d'Amboise, a 15th-century chateau, with tapestry rooms and panoramic terrace.

The last castle built during the Renaissance in the Loire Valley.

built on an island with a blend of French tradition and Italian decoration.

former royal palace with multiple towers and cupolas and amazing double spiral staircase leading to the royal apartments.

one of the most famous monuments in the Loire Valley due to its two-story gallery standing over the Loire River.

Back in Amboise, we visited the home of Leonardo da Vinci and walked in the beautiful green park where the artist hosted parties for King Francis 1st.

Loire Valley Château Tour

Because we had just half day in Paris, we took a guided tour around the city. It was quite nice.

Visited the city. It's an attractive town with beautiful 13th to 18th century buildings and a fine gothic cathedral. Visited Bayeux Tapestry.

Visited some of Normandy’s best WWII sites, like Pointe du Hoc

One of Normandy’s coastal battlefield grounds.

Visited German cemetery and the American cemetery in Colleville.

Day trip to beautiful Mont Saint-Michel Island. It was a spectacular day. Visited Mont Saint-Michel Castle on top of the island.

Normandy

Looong boat ride to Amorgos from Piraeus, Athens, but we really enjoy boat rides, so that was part of the plan. :)

We explored Katapola. It's one of the largest natural harbours in the Aegean Sea, build around a sandy beach on the bay. The village houses are beautiful and the white basilica sits among these houses.

Hiking to "Ancient Minoa", remains of an ancient Minoan settlement. Beautiful view from there.

Tried some local food in Katapola, delicious.

Today we explored Chora, the capital of the island. Very beautiful village of the island with traditional houses and alleys.

Stopped for a coffee at Jazzmin. Nice views from there.

Hiked to stunning Monastery of Hozoviotissa, 11th century monastery with a dramatic cliffside location and beautiful views of the Aegean Sea.

Checked the wonderful beach of Aghia Anna.

Went to visit the shipwreck, the remains of an abandoned ship and a picturesque view from there.

Visited beautiful Aghia Paraskevi Church.

Amorgos Island in Greece

This is our Norway road trip. We booked a flight to Oslo even if we did not plan to visit the city just because it was much cheaper to fly to Oslo that anywhere else. So, we arrived in Oslo, just rented a car and headed away.

We booked accommodation in Andalsnes, so we drove directly there from Olso. We arrived in the evening at our airbnb.

We had breakfast and drove further to our first destination in Norway.

We drove towards Trollstigen, this extremely scenic winding road up to the top of the mountain. At the top, there's a panoramic point with spectacular view of the valley below. There's also a spectacular waterfall on Trollstigen road.

We continued our most scenic road till we reached Geiranger Fjord. Geiranger is a cute town on the edge of the Fjord surrounded by mountain peaks and wonderful waterfalls. 

Once in Geiranger town, we went to Geiranger Sjokolade and bought some hot chocolate as we were a bit cold. They have so many different flavours fhat you can choose from. 

We moved further, to our accommodation for the second night, in Hardanger. Be aware that there plenty of ferries to take in Norway. While on the road, make sure you arrive at your destination before they close them for the day.

We drove to Skjeggedal, left the car in the parking lot and prepared for the long hike. The hike in total took us about 12 houres so we had to wake up preatty early in the morning.

We hiked to Trolltunga which was an old dream. We followed the trail marked with "T" and reached the summit with that famous rock projecting high above the lake. Although the trail is long and pretty difficult, there was a loooong line of people queing to take a picture on the rock. We waited for one and a half hours to be able to take a picture on the rock.

The way down was even more difficult that the way up

We got back to our Hardanger for the night.

We drove towards Bergen. We took a walk along Bergen Harbour, which is really nice, and then jumped on the car again.

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