In less than one month, I will be in Europe. It has been more than three years since my last trip, taken right after I graduated university and before I started my job, and I am getting almost giddy as I count down the days until we leave. After years of having to use my vacation days to come home to visit family, I’m finally able to use them to go on a real holiday! I am also excited to be going with my mom, who is my favourite travel companion (and not just because she speaks four languages, though that is useful). We are going for just shy of three weeks and right now I am pulling together information about what we might want to do in the places we are visiting and was hoping you all might have some suggestions!
Here’s our itinerary:
Czech Republic (September 7 – 15) – we’re spending a full week in the Czech Republic, mostly with family in the countryside. We’re planning to spend the final two days in Prague, my mother’s hometown, to catch up with cousins there and to give Mom a chance to wander about her favourite city. We also have tickets for Don Giovanni at the Estates Theatre, which is where the opera premiered in 1787. I’ve been to very few performances in Prague and never one at the Estates Theatre, so I’m really looking forward to this!
Vienna (September 15 – 19) – I have never been to Vienna. I adore what I have seen of Austria and I’m terrifically excited to visit its capital for the first time. We already have tickets to the Staatsoper and are planning a day trip to the Wachau Valley but those are the only fixed events on our schedule. There is so much to see and do; I definitely have a lot of planning to do for Vienna as I sift through our many options and would welcome any and all suggestions!
London (September 19 – 23) – there used to be a time when I was in London every week but those visits were mostly spent just feeling thankful to be a city and not in the middle of the nowhere, surrounded by sheep. Running errands, which is what I ended up doing most weeks, is not the same as being a tourist! I’ve done the conventional tourist sites and, though I’ll certainly be revisiting favourite galleries and museums, am looking to explore a little more this time. So, Londoners, what should I do? I shall have to visit the Persephone shop, obviously, but where else?
Amsterdam (September 23 – 25) – Just a quick stop in Amsterdam before our flight home. We’re flying KLM and are using that as an excuse to revisit the city. My mother used to do quite a lot of work in the Netherlands and is ridiculously fond of the Dutch people. I’ve only visited once before but I loved it.
So what do you think? Any ideas for what I must absolutely see in or around these cities? I’d be particularly interested in your thoughts on Vienna and London!
The Captive Reader 
Ooh! I think you’d love the Geffrye Museum in London, and no trip to Vienna is complete without a ride on that old Big Wheel – the Risenrad ? It’s the one that’s in The Third Man – which you should watch if you haven;t seen it already although the zither music quickly becomes tedious!
Thanks for the suggestion of the Geffrye Museum – I’ve never been and it does look like just the kind of place I’d love. As for the Riesenrad, my fear of heights keeps me far away from all ferris wheels!
I came here to recommend this too! Are you planning any blog meetings while you’re here?? I’d love to say hello…
I hadn’t even thought of blog meetings until Rachel mentioned it but I would love to have a chance to meet some UK bloggers!
We’ll be in London at the same time! I’m looking forward to visiting Highgate Cemetery and Keats House in Hampstead this time around. The Imperial War Museum was a favourite stop during my last trip over and you definitely must buy a book or three at Persephone! The Geffrye Museum is also a place that I wanted to visit last time but ran out of time. Thanks for the reminder, Verity!
You are going to have a super time away and I look forward to hearing all about it when you get back!
I’ll look forward to hearing about your trip too!
Will the Globe still be doing shows in September? If so, do that! That’s the best. I have only very single-minded advice about London, obsessed as I am with the South Bank and all its things. I’m sure you’ve been to the Tate Modern already but if you haven’t go there, it is way the best.
Have to admit that I prefer the Tate Britain to the Tate Modern. The Globe is a great idea!
Oh, this is so exciting! I can’t wait to read your posts and see the pictures! The Czech Republic is on my wish list to visit – oh, my goodness, I’m so jealous!! Have fun!!
Thanks, Natalie! I’m really excited about the trip and will definitely be sharing many, many photos when I get back!
Oh Claire, what a fantastic trip you have planned! I’ll be in London then too so you if want to say hello let me know!
My top tourist sites for London
1. St Paul’s Cathedral – totally worth it and the views are amazing. Walk around the corner to Postman’s Park afterwards – it’s a beautiful little walled garden with Victorian plaques dedicated to the lives of people who died saving others. I love it!
2. The Museum of London – it’s recently been refurbished and it fantastic. It’s near the Barbican and is brilliant – and the area around it – the old City of London – is beautiful to explore.
3. Bloomsbury – just beautiful to walk around. Persephone Books is there and also Bea’s which is a lovely tea shop – and you can walk around all the squares. Lamb’s Conduit Street where persephone is, is gorgeous with lots of amazing little shops and then you can walk from there to the Foundling Museum which is a really interesting little museum about the orphan’s home that used to occupy the building.
4. Portobello Road – try and make it to Portobello Road market on Saturday – it’s really busy but it’s a great sight to see and there’s an amazing Oxfam bookshop, not to mention wonderful food for sale and antiques and things – you could pick up some lovely souvenirs.
5. King’s Road, Chelsea – great shopping, great restaurants, great people watching, and if you wander off down the side streets you’ll see some of the most expensive property in England. Carlyle’s House is nearby.
6. Hampstead – no visit to London can be complete without seeing one of its ‘villages’, and Hampstead is the most beautiful – little winding, hilly streets, beautiful historic homes and divine little shops – lots of old book shops too!
7. Highgate Cemetery – go, go, go! You can walk to Hampstead afterwards. Highgate is a hidden gem and you will adore it – absolutely beautiful and it will be stunning when you visit as the trees will be turning.
8. Columbia Road Flower Market – you’ll love this as you love flowers! This is only running on a Sunday and it’s great fun – proper Landan (that’s London in a London accent!) market stall holders selling the most amazing array of flowers and plants, on a street in Bethnal Green lined with beautiful little independent shops. You can have a proper breakfast in a proper caff – I’m talking a mug of tea and a bacon sandwich – and then potter around the stalls – it’s the best way to spend a Sunday morning!
Enjoy! Can’t wait to hear about what you get up to.
So many great suggestions, Rachel! I’ll be in London on weekdays only, so I’ll have to save the Portobello Road market and the Columbia Road Flower market for another trip. I really, really want to go to Hampstead but, until both you and Darlene mentioned it, I hadn’t even thought of Highgate Cemetery!
I’ve only spent a few days in London and it was so long ago I hardly remember it. The same trip I also visited Amsterdam and a few things do stand out: a canal boat ride and visits to Rembrandt’s house and Anne Frank’s house.
My time in Amsterdam is very limited on this trip, so I’m glad that I did some of the main touristy things – like the canal tour and the Van Gogh museum – on my last trip. How nice to hear that you still have strong memories of your time there!
I am going to sound like a loser here, but I have little recommendations for you in Amsterdam. I almost never visit and just the other day was at the Museumplein for the first time (which was very nice) – but I mean, I’m 24 and can never tell anyone anything about this city.
It does sound like you have an amazing trip planned!
We’ll be staying in the museum quarter again on this trip and it is definitely a very nice neighbourhood. My mother’s not-so-secret plot for our short time in Amsterdam is to hop a train and spend most of the day in Utrecht, which I am not altogether against, so maybe I won’t really end up needing any recommendations!
I’m in Vienna right now, and will be blogging about it – .
I find the city centre very – very beautiful. If you like art, like I do, the Museumsquartier is a must, its right next to Kunsthistorisches Museum and Naturhistorisches Museum.
Lots of great buildings all around town, cafés and churches … Very easy to walk from one place to another. Subway for longer trips.
And the town is also great for shopping …
Thanks for the suggestions!
I did a European trip right after college as well and I am so anxious to get back! You will have a wonderful time. I don’t really have any recommendations – I’ve only been to London and Amsterdam. I do recommend a boat ride through the city and going to Anne Frank’s hiding spot. Very moving. Post pics when you return!
There will be many, many photos, rest assured!
If you visit the Prague Castle (which you must) make sure you get a guide,they are cheap, because you won’t make the most of visit without one.
I do love the Castle but, with only two days in town, might not end up visiting again. I definitely agree that the audio guide is a necessary companion for the full tour!
I haven’t been to Pargue – yet – and my brief visits to Amsterdam and Vienna were so long ago that they’ve blurred a bit in my memory (though I do remember the Anne Frank house). At the top of my list for my next visit to London is Greenwich, and then the Bramah Tea Museum.
I visited Greenwich on my first visit to London when I was twelve and it’s definitely a place I want to go back to one day (though not on this trip). I’d never heard of the Bramah Tea Museum before but I can completely understand why you’d want to visit!
PRAGUE, not Pargue, of course.
How exciting! I love Vienna and visited there years ago. It’s a beautiful city and I think you’ll enjoy wherever you visit–I ditto the Kunsthistorisches museum and across the way is the Naturhistorisches museum–both are wonderful. I also love the two Belvederes. The Upper Belvedere used to have some gorgeous Kilmts but they were repatriated (is that the right term?) back to their rightful owners–the right family anyway and now I think they are in NYC. Anyway–have a really great time–hope you’ll take lots of photos to share.
Thanks for the suggestions, Danielle!
I did London seven years ago and loved it. Just loved it. You go enjoy.
Thanks, Mystica!
What a wonderful itinerary! Having never been to Europe, I can’t help you, but I’m already looking forward to the beautiful pics to come. 🙂
Thank you, Susan! There will certainly be many, many photos posted once I’m back.
Oh man…that looks so awesome. I can’t wait to hear about your trip. And when I travel can I borrow your mom? Four languages…impressive!
She is terribly useful. I can muddle along in French and German but Czech is far beyond me!
Vienna – you should have a slice of Sacher Torte at the Hotel Sacher which from memory is not that far from the Staatsoper? Also after the opera you should go to Ristorante San Carlo, a little Italian place where I spent a lot of my childhood!
In London, walk, walk and walk more. Walk across the bridges (particularly Westminster, Jubilee and Waterloo). Take Boris bikes (they are the public bikes for hire) and mosey about on them. Walk from Embankment to the Ritz via Trafalgar Sq and Buckingham Palace. Gives me goosebumps every time. Have a fantabulous time!
For a museum that’s a little off the beaten path in Vienna I recommend Kunst Haus Wien (http://www.kunsthauswien.com/en). I also recommend checking out the Nauschmarkt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naschmarkt), which I would describe as an American farmer’s market on steroids. The Kunsthalle Wien (http://www.kunsthallewien.at/en/) is located in the same quarter as the museums Danielle mentioned above. Here’s a site (http://www.mqw.at/en/visitor+service/hours+u+prices/cultural+institutions/) that lists hours and combo deals for the museums in the MQ.
Oh no, have come across your blog too late. Alas & alack! When you head to London next look out for a little gem of a bookstore called Nomad in Parsons Green on the Fulham Rd. Sweet little high street with a lovely village feel. Tea, cakes, book browsing, then stroll past a delightful florist shop, interior decor shops, art prints and map shop, vintage clothing stores and it’s only a short walk to the Thames and Putney Bridge where the Oxford Cambridge boat race starts each year. Sit in the gardens of Fulham Palace, watch the life on the river as rowers practice and hear the church bells pealing on a Sunday morn or after a wedding on a Sat afternoon. London, how I miss it, no place like it.