A few years ago I made a crazy goal of visiting twenty countries in under two years. I sat down with Antz and Liv and we looked through our MAPS book to decide which countries interested us most and what we would do in each destination.

I have the obvious must-see locations but I also wanted to challenge myself to see places that aren’t frequently visited. After reading about the rad landmarks and festivals across Europe I put together my dream list. In the back of my mind I sort of thought of it as a silly fantasy but now that I am actually living in Europe, it feels like we can certainly accomplish it!

The best part is since we are already  here, airfare and trains are a fraction of what it would cost flying from Los Angeles. YAY! After surviving driving in London, I feel brave enough to handle road trips so we can experience more cities in France. As long as we have reliable wi-fi and a clean/cool place to swap, I would love to visit these incredible destinations.

1. France – Calais, Lille, Normandy, Cherbourg, Nantes, Aix-en-Provence, Rouen, Riems, Dijon, Poitiers, Lyon, Biarritz, Marseille, Brittany, Bordeaux, Deauville, Nice, Cannes, Strasbourg, Arles, Gordes, Montpellier,  Avignon,  Annecy, Alsace region Antibes and St. Tropez *quite possibly more cities!
2. Italy – Rome, Florence, Pisa, Milan, Venice, Turino, Naples, Capri, Positano, Sorrento, Cinque Terre, and Sicily *Malta (technically not Italy but close)
3. Spain – Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Málaga, Seville and Granada
4. Portugal – Lisbon, Porto, Madeira Island and Sintra

   
   Look at this colorful castle in Sintra, Portugal 

5. Morocco – Marrakesh, Fez, Essaouira, and Casablanca *Rock of Gibraltar
6. Germany – Berlin, Cologne, Munich, Leipzig, Bavaria, Frankfort, Heidelberg, Trier (to see the Burg Eltz Castle) and Saxony (Die Rakotzbrück/Devil’s Bridge)
7. Ireland – Dublin, Cork, maybe Giant’s Causeway in Bushmills (Northern Ireland)
8. England – London, Salisbury, Bristol, Brighton, Bath, Oxford and the Cotswolds
9. Scotland – Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Lochs
10. Austria – Salzburg, Innsbruck, Hallstatt and Vienna
11. Switzerland – St. Moritz, Geneva, Zürich, Montreux, Grindelwald, Lucerne, Interlaken, Chur, Basel and Lausanne
12. Belgium – Brussels, Brugge, Ghent and Antwerp
13. Netherlands – Utrecht, Rotterdam Delft and the Hague
14. Russia – Moscow and St. Petersburg
15. Denmark – Copenhagen
16. Sweden – Stockholm, Gothenburg, Gotland Island and Mälmo
17. Norway – Oslo and fjords
18. Finland – Helsinki and the Arctic Circle (My friend Aura lives there so I’m sure she will know cool places to visit)
19. Poland – Warsaw, Krakaw and Oświęcim (Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau)
20. Czech Republic – Prague, of course!

Bonus Destinations

21. Japan – Tokyo, Kyoto, Hokkaido, Osaka and Yokohama
22. Romania – Bucharest (we are dying to see Dracula’s Castle)
23. Turkey – Istanbul
24. Croatia – Dubrovnik, Split and Dalmation Coast
24. Singapore (Antz has been 3 times!)
26. Faroe Islands
27. Australia – Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth
28. New Zealand – Auckland and Wellington
29. India – Agra, Mumbai and Jaipur
30. South Korea – Seoul and Busan

**Bonus: US – New Orleans, Alaska, Hawaii, Florida (for DisneyWorld and Harry Potter) and somewhere cool in Maine.

I have dreamed of seeing the world my whole life, so living in Europe feels surreal. We have so many beautiful and historic places right at our fingertips. I tend to get overwhelmed when I plan our trips because there is so much I want to see and unfortunately, we don’t have a limitless budget or time so I must contain our trips to weekends and school holidays. That’s always been the hardest part for me, waiting to find the best deal during the time Liv has off of school.

This is the beautiful town of Hallstatt, Austria

Do you have any must-see places in Europe I have missed? Would you prefer visiting the city or the countryside?

Bon Voyage!