5 Unmissable Experiences For Your European Summer
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There is SO much to do and see in Europe, and when you’re only visiting for a month or two, it can be hard to decide where to go and what to do. Here are 5 experiences we think you can’t miss on your Europe summer itinerary!
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1) FULL DAY BOAT TOUR IN MILOS, GREECE
Every year Milos becomes increasingly popular amongst the Greek Islands for tourists, known for it’s incredible pristine blue waters and the famous Kleftiko. We visited Milos in July 2023, and it did not disappoint. Even though it is becoming more and more popular, Milos still didn’t feel overly crowded and busy, and is definitely worth adding to your Europe summer itinerary.
The famous Kleftiko!
While we only had 2 full days to explore the island, we jammed in so much, and by far, our favourite thing we did was a full day boat tour. This allowed us to visit spots that weren’t accessible by land, and of course, a visit to the famous Kleftiko. The full day tour was quite literally the FULL DAY. We met at the office at 8.30AM and didn’t arrive back into port until 7PM.
We definitely ate VERY well!
While the activities included will depend on the tour you book, generally these tours will include lunch and a variety of snacks throughout the day, some photo spots and then some swim spots.
TIP: If you’re looking for somewhere to stay in Milos, we stayed at eLea and really like it!
We booked through Get Your Guide (the activity provider was Sailing Milos), and we were kept super well fed, with fruit, sandwiches, pasta, grazing boards and more. A variety of drinks were also included like soft drink and ouzo.
We made several stops for photos and had three main swim spots in Poliegos, Gerakas Beach and Kleftiko. We truly had the most incredible day and our guides were so knowledgable and helpful. We made a full video of our experience up on YouTube, and if you’d like to check out the exact tour we did, you can find it here.
Otherwise, you can check out a bunch of different tours below, but this is definitely a must do!
2) LEARN TO COOK PIZZA IN THE BIRTHPLACE OF PIZZA, NAPLES!
Participating in a cooking class is one of the best ways to immerse yourself in a new culture. We all love to try the local cuisine, but there is something different about learning to cook it while in the country and from a local. While there are many different experiences like this in Europe, including many in Italy itself (hello pasta), does it really get any better than learning to cook an authentic Neapolitan pizza in the birthplace of this delicious food?! Well, unless you don’t like pizza, but there are so few of you!
During our time in Naples we marked this as something we absolutely had to do and it was a great experience. There is nothing more delicious than a Neapolitan pizza, in fact, once you have eaten pizza in Napoli you will never enjoy pizza the same again, so why not have the satisfaction of knowing you made it yourself!
NOTE: If you’re looking for some accommodation in Naples, we stayed here in a private room in someone’s house. It was just a train ride away from the city centre, and was more affordable than other options!
We booked our experience through AirBnb and had a great time, however, there are so many different options, so have a browse and see which one stands out most to you! You can even opt to book a private class if you wish - this is a great option for families with kids who might need a little more help and attention!
So what are you waiting for - book that pizza class!
3) TAKE A ROAD TRIP THROUGH IRELAND
There are so many beautiful views along the coast of Ireland!
You’ll be noticing a trend where we say everything was our favourite thing we did in Europe, but seriously, road tripping across Ireland is definitely up there! To be transparent, Rosh is a little biased given she is half-Irish, BUT she did grow up in Australia (except for that one year….), so she still visits Ireland with a bit of a tourist eye. We absolutely love Dublin, but hitting the road and exploring more of the country was one of the best decisions we made.
Kissing the Blarney Stone so we can get the gift of the gab!
There are so many different routes you can take, and really you can make the road trip as long or as short as you want. We were in Ireland in August/September 2023 and opted to do a 3-day, 2-night road trip. Now hiring a car in Ireland is a whole different story - we had a pretty horrible experience (does a 2000 euro deposit seem excessive to anyone else??), so make sure you do your research, read reviews and understand what you’re signing up for.
For our route, on our first day, we drove from Dublin to Killarney, making a stop at Blarney Castle and driving through Cork.
NOTE: We stayed in a really cool pod in Killarney which you can check out here!
On day 2, we drove from Killarney, to the main attraction of our road trip, the Cliffs of Moher.
From the Cliffs of Moher we also made one more stop at the Burren, before driving onwards towards Galway. We actually opted to stay about 30 minutes outside of Galway to save a little money, but we are so glad we did because we stayed with the loveliest family. Our room seriously had every possible breakfast and snack option you could want, and the host even offered to do our laundry for us because she knew we had been travelling long-term. The town was super cute and we had a great dinner at the local pub (one of, if not the only local restaurant). It was honestly such a great experience and we highly recommend it if you’re happy to stay outside of Galway and want to save a little cash!
You can’t visit Ireland and not make the trip to see the Cliffs of Moher! One of our all time favourite sights we’ve visited in the world!
We spent so long just admiring the natural beauty!
TIP: Check out our full video of our road trip where we show you our accommodation, plus all the beautiful sights we stopped at!
On day 3, we made our way into Galway where we spent the day exploring before heading back to Dublin. It was a really great itinerary, and perfect if you want to see some key sights in Ireland, and you’re a bit short on time.
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So this is definitely a must-do on your Europe trip, and if you’re not quite comfortable enough to drive in a foreign country, or you’d rather have a stress free day, you can check out one of the tours below that will take you to some of the most beautiful spots in Ireland!
4) RELAX ON A CRUISE DOWN THE CANALS IN AMSTERDAM
There is no more beautiful a way to see the city of Amsterdam than by cruising down one of it’s many canals!
Amsterdam holds a special place in ours hearts because it was our first stop in Europe during our 12-months of full-time travel. While the city is so cool to explore by foot, you can’t visit Amsterdam and not take a cruise down it’s famous canals. The great thing about these cruises are that there are SO many different options - there are budget-friendly cruises, boozy cruises, day-time cruises, night-time cruises and of course, luxury cruises, so you are bound to find one that suits you.
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We opted for a day-time cruise with minimal inclusions (we were super budget conscious even this early on in our travels), but had a great time.
We had a really great host who had a wealth of information about Amsterdam and the canals and we learnt a lot of information that we wouldn’t have otherwise without the cruise.
While Venice might take the cake in terms of being the most-famous city for it’s canals, Amsterdam is definitely a close second, so make sure you had an Amsterdam canal cruise to your Europe itinerary!
If you’d like to check out the exact cruise that we did, you can click here, otherwise, there are plenty of options you can check out by clicking below!
5) THIS ONE IS A GIVEN, BUT VISIT THE EIFFEL TOWER IN PARIS
We know this is cliché, but you just have to visit the Eiffel Tower. While a visit to the Eiffel Tower is definitely an incredible experience in itself, what we’d really recommend is going all the way to the top. Europe definitely isn’t short of structures to summit with great views, but it certainly is a once in a lifetime experience to say that you’ve been to the very top of the Eiffel Tower.
There are so many great photo spots to get the best pictures with the Eiffel Tower!
The views from the top of the Eiffel Tower are incredible!
TIP: If you’re already in Paris, why not spend a day or two at Disneyland Paris! We visited for the first time in September 2023 and made a full video of each park (Disneyland & Walt Disney Studios) - it was truly a magical time.
Fortunately, if you’re not feeling brave enough to go the full 276 metres (or you don’t have anyone to force you up like I did to Rosh), you can purchase a ticket that will take you to the second floor (116m), which still in itself offers some great views over Paris. Something else you might not know as well, is that there are actually some food and drink venues in the tower on both the first and second floors, which is also a pretty cool experience.
So that’s that - 5 unmissable experiences for your Euro summer! Obviously there are SO many more incredible things to do in Europe, and some of the most famous sights in the world, but we’d highly recommend working these in to your next Europe trip!
