My Paris Shopping Haul
The What, Where, & Why of My Shopping Plan
There’s a million different blog posts about what to buy in Paris, but if you’re like me, you’re more interested in the “why” and where of what to buy while there. What I mean is that everyone has a different budget, different taste, and different interpretation of what something “special” means. Sure, if you have the money to purchase a Channel handbag while in Paris, by all means, do it, but despite how romantic that may sound, it’s not in my budget.
So… where in Paris can a frugal fashionista, that enjoys cooking, and acquiring curated souvenirs, go to shop?
The Why
Gifts - There are so many things you could purchase while traveling, and everything might feel extra special while you’re there, but why should you buy it? Some great advice I heard from a Rick Steve’s lecture, was that you shouldn’t purchase souvenirs for other people… “let them acquire memories from trips that they take.” While I don’t hold fast to that wisdom, I do purchase WAY less than I used to, in favor of sending a postcard or purchasing some sort of unique treat (candy or a cookie of some kind) for them to try. In other words, I’m not going to check an extra bag for gifts… after all, I’m a carry-on girl and don’t want to struggle under the bulk of extra luggage.
While it can be difficult in the moment, I try to only buy things that I either can’t get anywhere else, or that are of substantial quality. What do I mean by that? Here’s a breakdown of two items that I bought while in Paris, one which I treasure, and one which I regret:
The Poor Purchase - I had waited to make a “special” item purchase until we had time to shop, a.k.a the days in Paris at the tail-end of our 16 day trip to France. I was eager and maybe a little nervous that I may have waited too long and had already passed on a number of items that could have served as my “treasure” from the trip. Well, the day came that we finally found ourselves in Le Marais (a district famed for it’s many vintage, resale, and boutique shops). One of the very first resale shops we went into, I found a faux cardigan that was helled closed with two metal links. I hadn’t seen anything like it before, thought it was cute, but the tag had been removed at some point, so I had no idea as to the original brand or material content. The sweater was being sold for 69 euros (which is roughly $81 at the current exchange rate). I bought the sweater. This purchase isn’t a terrible “fail,” but had I been thinking with a clearer head, I would have noted that the sweater was 100% synthetic, making it a poor quality, $80, used sweater… it was not a good purchase due to it’s lack of quality in relationship to the price.
The Great Purchase - A little while after making the sweater purchase, we entered a much higher quality resell store. Upon crossing the threshold, a heavenly light shown down on a coat, hanging on a rack, on the back wall of the shop. I was magnetically drawn to it, as it was exactly the kind of coat that I’d been coveting for YEARS, but only ever found as a fake replica, or in the $2k range. It was a vintage, sheepskin bomber jacket, and it was exactly my size, in near perfect condition (other than a strong “in storage” smell), and it was priced at 480 euros.
For context, I’m an extremely frugal person that is never flush with extra cash. Any item that costs more than $100, is likely to make my pulse race and require me to mental math to make sure that I’ll be able to cover my bills. Additionally, I rarely purchase anything new, but like nice things… but had never spent that much money on any item of apparel before.
However, I had been saving for this shopping experience, and I knew full well the average cost for level of quality that I wanted in this style of coat. Any yet… it was a ton of money and I just needed some air before blowing it on a single item. We left the store and continued walking down the endless street of resale shops, ducking into many of them while thinking that perhaps I’ll find something I love just as much, for less money. Six blocks later, I began to feel a sense of panic that it might take us too long to walk back to the coat and someone else would scoop it up! With my feelings acknowledged and my mind made up, we hiked back and I bought the coat. In fact, upon our return to the store, there was a group of three Amerian tourists inside, who upon seeing me beeline it to the back and pulling the coat back off of the rack, all verbally validated me for having noticed it in the first place and what a fantastic find it was.
That’s my long winded way of saying that I try to buy less, but buy better, unless you have money to burn and have a Sherpa for your bags, in which case, go crazy.
The What
We found some great treasures on this trip, probably more than on any of our trips in recent years. My husband really enjoyed clothing shopping in Bordeaux, while the bulk of what I purchased for myself, as well as what we bought together, was in Paris, so I’ll mainly focus on what we bought together, as I’ve already mentioned the above two items that I bought for myself.
Art - We bought two pieces of art on this trip. The first was a framed ink and oil pastel, which we found in an antique store in Bordeaux. It’s an original of the character, "‘Puss n’Boots.” It was simply too whimsical to pass up! The second piece we purchased, was an original impressionist landscape of Paris, done in oil paint, with a pallet knife. We bought it from a street artist in Monmartre.
Kitchen Supply - We visited the famous E.Dehillerin, kitchen supply store. While I would have loved to have purchased a copper pan, we opted for an embroidered kitchen towel, an etched wooden spoon, and monogrammed silicon baking sheet. All items which we would use regularly, were inexpensive, and would serve as functional reminders of our visit to the store.
Beauty - This was another personal purchase, but anytime we go to France, I try to stock-up on the french made items that simply cost more in the US, due to import tariffs and shipping in general. This includes not just the french perfume that I wear, but also my skincare products.
Gifts - While I did talk about buying gifts for other people earlier, i also mentioned making exceptions. In this case, we stopped into s Parisian pet store and purchased Paris themed stuffies for the dogs belonging to the person watching our dog while we were away, as well as purchased them a small box of macrons for themself.
The Where
My most treasured travel finds are rarely things that were mass-produced and bought in a store. A travel treasure is as much about the story of how you came to acquire it as it is about the thing itself. "I bought it in a gift shop" doesn't illicit the same feeling as "I found it in a box of items being sold by a street vendor in Vietnam." I like to own things that people ask about — things that have a story attached to them.
Don't get me wrong, I love shopping, but there's a line between shopping as an experience and shopping for the sake of shopping. You can shop when you're at home, but when you're in Paris… BE in Paris. In other words, don't spend your entire day in one place or one frame of mind. The right items (if any) will present themselves, and if they don't, at least you've been somewhere!
I'm fortunate in that my husband enjoys shopping at brocantes, flea markets, and antique stores, which makes finding unique items much easier. And as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I'm a bit of a fashionista on a budget, which makes resale stores an attractive option for my wallet. To that end, Paris has many areas where antique shops tend to cluster and where sidewalk flea markets pop up. However, we did the majority of our brocante and antique shopping while we were in Bordeaux, so we didn't visit any while in Paris — instead, we focused on clothing resale boutiques in the Le Marais neighborhood. I didn't know where to start when I went, but once there, everything reveals itself. Simply find an address for a single shop and then go from there. Feel free to start at the store where I found my coat: The Statement — 51 Rue de Turenne, 75003 Paris, France.
At the end of the day, the memories you make and the photos you take are your greatest treasures. I always create a digital photo album of each and every trip, which I then have printed and place on my bookshelf. It's a souvenir that you don't have to fit in your luggage. 😉
In conclusion: be present while you're traveling, don't bog yourself down with stuff, and certainly don't spend your time doing the same things you could do any other day. You may never find yourself in this place again — go see and experience as much of it as you can. The mental pictures are priceless.
5 Fall Days in Paris
A Return Trip for Some of What Was Missed
My first time in Paris was a quick three days (more about it here), just before my wedding in the French countryside in 2017 (more about the wedding here). We flew into Paris with some friends and family in tow and stayed together in a large Airbnb. As you might imagine, there was a lot going on, and while we did make it to Notre Dame — thankfully, since it burned down the following spring — we left Paris having barely seen anything. I've been longing for another crack at the City of Light, for the past eight years.
Fall 2025 finally presented that chance.
The Second-Chance Plan
As part of a larger trip to the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of France, our time in Paris was split into two parts: two nights and three days at the front end of our trip, and three nights and four days at the back end. We clustered two "must-do" tourist sites into the front end so that we could follow our bliss during the back end, knowing we'd be feeling a bit travel-weary by the time we returned to Paris nearly two weeks later.
The travel plan looked like this:
Day 1 – Depart USA
Day 2 – Arrive in Paris / Visit Eiffel Tower
Day 3 – Evening visit to the Louvre
Day 4 – Depart Paris by train / visit other cities
Day 15 – Arrive in Paris
Day 16 – Shopping
Day 17 – Shopping
Day 18 – Depart Paris for USA
The Front End: Visits to Paris's Top Two Tourist Destinations
I'm a huge advocate for going off the beaten path while traveling, but let's face it — sometimes things are popular for a reason, and there's just no getting around joining the herd. That said, there are ways to mitigate some of the chaos of visiting crowded places, especially if you're flexible and book early.
The Eiffel Tower — Ordinarily, I would never advise making structured plans on your arrival day somewhere new. Too many things can go sideways when traveling, and the last thing you need is the added anxiety of running late for a reservation while stuck in a customs line. I also don't recommend scheduling multiple activities on the same day — but sometimes rules must be bent, and this was one of those occasions.
A bit of backstory: our flight from the US to Paris changed a few days before we left. We were still departing at the same time, but our arrival in Paris shifted by nearly four hours. Unfortunately, when that change happened, we only noticed that the departure time was the same and missed the later arrival time — and the ripple effect it would have on our first day. But such is international travel: you have to expect and accept that things will go wrong.
We landed much later than anticipated, and by the time we were off the plane, through immigration, and on our way to the hotel, we had already missed our prepaid appointment with the travel photographer we had booked. I also learned that Viator has little sympathy for travel hiccups, so re-booking was not an option. Anyway, having missed our first reservation, which was an hour-long walking tour and photo shoot, that was supposed to end at the Eiffel Tower — we still arrived in time for our (pre-booked) tickets to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
Despite our reservation for the tower being at 5:30 p.m. on a Tuesday in mid-October, there were still more people than I would have liked, but it was awesome.
One piece of advice: book your tickets directly through toureiffel.paris, there is no other legally authorized vendor for the tickets, so anyone else selling them or offering skip the line, is just a reseller.
The Louvre — Did you know the Louvre stays open late a couple of evenings per week? I'd heard horror stories about how crowded this museum can get, and I really didn't want to spend our limited time waiting in long lines at an already massive place, where we'd only get to see a fraction of, under the best of conditions. With that in mind, we chose a late-entry visit — which, as it happens, was the evening before the tragic theft of the French crown jewels.
I would still describe the museum as "busy," but those who have seen it at peak capacity have assured me that it was, in fact, not. If you watch my vlog of our Paris visit, you'll get a sense of what I mean — lots of people, but never enough to keep us from reaching any area we wanted to see. Before our visit, we had drafted a short list of artifacts, sculptures, and paintings that we wanted to see, and had also decided ahead of time not to stay longer than it took to see them, so we wouldn't burn out and leave on a sour note.
In the end, we spent about two and a half hours in the Louvre, which included a stop at the café for a sandwich. We left having seen everything on our list except one piece (which was in a closed exhibit), and felt genuinely thrilled with the experience. Afterward, we walked to a nearby crêpe shop — an absolute gem — followed by an evening stroll along the Seine. Perfect.
Did Someone Say "Shopping?"
It should be considered a minor crime to go to Paris and not go shopping. I'm not saying you have to buy anything, but the experience of shopping in Paris is a whole thing unto itself — magical window displays, niche little specialty stores, and don't even get me started on the fashion. Shopping in Paris is like a love story, and to skip it, a tragedy.
Back in 2017, my only brush with retail was a brief stop at Galleries Lafayette, to help my mother-in-law buy underwear she'd forgotten to pack, as well as a quick detour into a hat shop, where I bought a beret. The tragedy of having gone to Paris without really shopping has hung over me like a dark cloud ever since, and I was not going to miss my chance this time around.
For our final few days in Paris before heading home, I had three things on my shopping agenda:
Visit E. Dehillerin — the famous restaurant supply store where Julia Child once shopped
Explore the vintage and resale shops in Le Marais
Make the trek up to Montmartre to see the street artists
I'm happy to say that not only did all three get accomplished, but a few extras as well — including a stop at a Fragonard store to pick up another bottle (my fourth) of what has become my everyday scent, ever since I discovered it on our trip to Grasse in 2022 (more here).
Also worth noting if you're planning a Paris trip in October: the weather can be wildly variable. Of the 16 days we spent in France, the only days it didn't rain were our very first day (when we went up the Eiffel Tower) and the final two days we spent shopping. The dry days were glorious — sunny, crisp, fall weather that only called for a cardigan — while the rest of the trip was spent keeping our feet dry and our rain jackets on. The rain did give those of us willing to brave it a slight advantage out on the streets, but the sheer number of wet, windy, rain-in-your-face days will give me pause when planning my next autumn trip.
In Conclusion
To say I've now seen and done everything I want to do in Paris would be completely inaccurate. Paris is one of those places where the more you look, the more you find. Between 2017 and this most recent trip, I've checked off a few of the biggest must-dos, but still not enough to say I truly know the city, even as a traveler. The best I can say is that a combined seven days in Paris is barely enough to scratch the surface.
I'll have more detailed posts about where I shopped and other places we visited coming soon.
Questions? I'd love to hear from you — leave a comment below!
Paris 2025 Vlog
Follow us through the streets of Paris, as we spend a combined five days in the City of Lights and shopping! See the below three videos!!
French River Cruise Vlog
Follow us on our first European river cruise, and see if it might be the answer to your “where next” question.
Autumn River Cruise in Bordeaux
We Took a River Cruise (And No, We Didn't Fall Asleep)
Let's address the elephant in the room — or rather, the elephant on the river: river cruises have a reputation. And that reputation involves a lot of cardigans, early dinners, and people named Gerald. Our hesitation wasn't about the age of our fellow passengers, it was about whether the programming designed for them would leave us staring at the ceiling by 8pm.
Reader, we did not stare at the ceiling.
So Why a River Cruise at All?
We love travel in the chaotic, exhausting, luggage-hauling, jet-lagged sense of the word. But when the idea came up of bringing along family members who couldn't quite keep up with our usual pace, we needed a different approach. River cruising is basically travel on easy mode — you unpack once, and Europe comes to you. For anyone who loves the destination but could do without the physical marathon of getting there, it's a genuinely brilliant option.
Why CroisiEurope?
There are river cruise companies you've heard of, and many more that you haven't. The well-known ones market heavily to American travelers, which means they know exactly what American travelers expect — and they price accordingly. We went a different direction entirely, choosing CroisiEurope, a French company that is actually the oldest river cruise operator in Europe and doesn't particularly bother advertising to the US market.
That decision came with real advantages — and a few quirks. More on that in a moment.
The Good Stuff
The Price — Because CroisiEurope isn't spending a fortune on marketing to North America, their prices genuinely reflect that. This is not a budget cruise in the "you get what you pay for" sense — the ship was perfectly comfortable, with nothing worn or sad about it. They've simply been doing this longer than anyone else, and they've gotten very efficient at it.
The Options — The sheer variety of routes and durations was staggering. Three-night cruises, fifteen-night cruises, and everything in between. Whatever level of commitment you're ready for, they've probably got it.
The People — Here's where it gets genuinely interesting. Of the roughly 100 passengers on our sailing, only 10 were native English speakers — and only 6 of those were American (all from our group). The rest were European, mostly French. If you want to actually meet people you'd never otherwise encounter, this is a surprisingly effective way to do it.
The Food — Nobody warned us. This was supposed to be a non-luxury cruise line. Someone in that dining room clearly missed the memo, because every single meal was generous, impressive, and honestly a little dangerous. We were not going hungry. Not even close.
The Crew — October in Bordeaux delivered relentless rain and high winds, which wiped out a good chunk of the outdoor spaces and some planned excursions. In a hotel, you'd just be stuck watching French television. On the ship, the crew stepped up with alternative entertainment — much of it performed by the crew themselves, or local musicians brought on board for the evening. It was small-scale and unpretentious, and it worked. Those people genuinely saved the trip.
The Not-So-Good Stuff
Here's where being an American on a cruise designed for Europeans gets a little bumpy.
The excursions were included in the price, which was great. The information about those excursions was... less great. The crew told us where to be and when, but once we were handed off to tour guides, communication became sparse. The most memorable example: our very first excursion involved a two-hour bus ride each way — information that was never mentioned beforehand. For those of us prone to motion sickness, that would have been rather useful to know before boarding the bus.
The language situation was also a factor. My husband and I have scraped together some very approximate French and enjoy attempting to use it — the French passengers, to their enormous credit, played along graciously. But for the rest of our group, the language barrier felt genuinely isolating in casual social settings on the ship. That's worth knowing going in.
And then there's the organized excursion problem, which is really a problem of pace. Some stops stretched on for hours; others — the ones we actually wanted to linger in — were allotted 30 minutes with no option to return. For those of us who like to decide how long we spend somewhere, that loss of control can be quietly maddening.
The Cruise Itself
We booked a 4-night, 5-day cruise through Bordeaux aboard the MS Cyrano de Bergerac, sailing in mid-October to coincide with our wedding anniversary. We arrived a couple of days early to explore Bordeaux itself and stayed an extra day after the cruise ended — both decisions we'd make again.
Our cabin was a double room on the main deck — the very last room at the end of the hall, next to the navigation room. The crew told us it was the best room on the ship, and honestly, they might be right. Minimal foot traffic, no neighbors on one side, surprisingly spacious, good storage, a real window, and a shower that actually had room to turn around in. The price difference between the lowest and highest cabin categories is modest, so if you care about location, book early.
One note on timing: October is the end of the season, which brings lower prices and, as we discovered firsthand, the very real possibility of rough weather. Go in with realistic expectations, and maybe pack an extra layer.
The Verdict
Would we recommend river cruising? Broadly, yes — with the caveat that it's not for everyone, and knowing what kind of traveler you are matters.
Would we recommend CroisiEurope specifically? Also yes — especially if you're curious about the authentic European version of this experience, don't mind being the minority language on board, and appreciate value for money. Just do yourself a favor and ask every question you can think of before each excursion. Every. Single. One.
Spending New Years in Rome
An Italian Holiday
Classically, New Year is not a favorite holiday of mine for several reasons. Perhaps it’s the expectation of expensive party dresses and heels during a time of year that I would rather be wearing flannel and snow boots, or maybe it’s the complications of transportation, drunk drivers, or what to do with your coat when you arrive at some overpriced booze fest?
A couple of years ago, my husband and I spent New Year in Austria (you can see more about that trip HERE) and we had an amazing experience without any of the aforementioned complications. For Christmas 2023 and New Year 23/24, we needed to distance ourselves from our normal lives (but that’s for a different kind of blog) and we decided to lean on our past experience by spending New Year once again in Europe.
What You Need To Know About Spending New Year in Rome
I don’t care what anyone else has said, if Rome isn’t the most tourist dense city in the world, it certainly felt that way. What I mean by that, is while other cities may actually receive more tourists per year, if the infrastructure of the city is prepared for those people, it may actually feel like less people, does that make sense? Not so with Rome. We were here from December 28th to January 3rd and were repeatedly told by various locals and tour guides that we had come at the right time of year because the crowds were so much smaller. If what I experienced during our time there was truly “low season,” I’m horrified to think what it must be like at any other time of year.
Most of these tips should be applicable for any time of year that you decide to visit Rome, but two are specific to New Year:
Book Everything in Advance
Any skip the line, “pre-opening” or “after hours” tour you can get your hands on is a must. You will spend SO MUCH TIME standing in lines if you don’t take the time to make these arrangements beforehand.
If you want to visit St. Peter’s Basilica, go mid-day on New Years Eve (be sure to check the schedule online first) and attend a Vespers service officiated by the Pope himself (you can see more about our experience at this service and our tour of the Vatican HERE).
The fireworks show at Midnight in Rome is the most spectacular display I’ve seen anywhere in the world. Do yourself a favor, book an AirBnB or Hotel that has a rooftop from which you can watch the display, because being at street level is to rob yourself of something truly magical.
There’s a parade on New Years Day which starts mid/late afternoon. We went because we knew someone in the parade, but it’s not the kind of parade that has floats or showy displays, it’s was almost exclusively made of American high-school marching bands.
If you want to see a video about our New Year experience, you can see it HERE.
Other questions or Concerns? Feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email!
Six Days in Rome - Vlog
How We Spent a Week in Rome
To read more details about how we spent our time in Rome, you can find my whole post HERE.
Spend A Week in Rome
Touring A Bucket List City
There are typically two kinds of kinds of people; those that travel and those that do not. Regardless of which travel camp you fall into, certain destinations will pass through the lips and land on some cosmic list of places worth seeing. It’s not that these places are necessarily better or more significant than other places it’s just simply that some places adopt an aura of importance in the minds of those who aren’t from those places, but I digress.
Rome is a “bucket list” city that (like many others) made its way onto my list. Serving as a pivotal place in human history, Rome (and Roman cultural history) is still commonly referenced in our modern society by way of sports teams, pizza restaurants, and feature films. It stands to reason that visiting Rome is akin to a right of passage for those who consider themselves as “travelers.”
St Peter’s Basilica
How Many Days Should Be Spent in Rome?
If you’ve been here long, you’ll probably know that I’m the queen of cramming places into our trips, repacking our bags every 2-3 days to move on to another location. I would like to say that the pace of travel is linked to your energy level (in some respects, it is), but the more I travel, the more I realize that to see anything, you must SLOW DOWN. What I mean by that is not do less, but move less. As I travel more, I am beginning to embrace the merits of doing day trips or a single organized activity per day. After all, it’s not the quantity of plans that makes for a good trip; it’s the quality of the experience that makes for a great trip.
Spending six days in any city may sound like enough, but days and cities are not all created equal. Having just returned from spending New Year in Rome, I almost have to laugh when I try to conceptualize “seeing Rome in 3 days,” which is a roughly average allotment of time for us in the past. Do yourself a favor and follow a general rule of thumb, I recommend that you make a list of what you want to see and if the number of places matches the number of days (assuming one per day) you plan to be there, you’ll be on the right track, if not, good luck.
When in Rome…
To say that Rome is a “big city” is an understatement, it may be nicknamed the Eternal City for more lofty reasons, but it also feels appropriate for its sheer size. Like a bowl of spaghetti, the streets twist and tangle in a seemingly endless maze that eventually runs you into a church, historical monument, or piazza. I can’t stress enough the importance of wearing supportive shoes.
During of six-day stay in Rome, we toured the following sites which I’m ranking from Most Enjoyable to Least. My score is a combination of my enjoyment of the site itself and the experience of the tour itself (getting tickets, the crowds, etc.):
Castel Sant'Angelo (Also known as the Mausoleum of Hadrian)
Inexpensive “skip the line” tickets, low crowds, fascinating architecture, rewarding views of Rome from the top.
The Pantheon
Inexpensive timed entry tickets, impressive architecture, and the quick nature of which it can be visited and seen in the entirety.
The Vatican Museums
Regardless of how you might feel about religion or the Pope, the Vatican museums are a breathtaking 'Must-see.' However, do yourself a favor and book a skip-the-line tour (make sure it includes access to St. Peter’s Basilica) either first thing when they open or late at night, when the crowds will take your breath away for a different reason.
Palatine Hill, Circus Maximus, & The Roman Forum
All three of these sites are close together and are outside, so you’ll enjoy the park-like setting where you can reach out and touch history. The crowds are also minimal, so it’s someplace where you can take your time and enjoy some personal space.
The Colosseum
Probably the most iconic ruin in the world, no trip to Rome would be complete without seeing the Colosseum. However, seeing it and touring it are very different beats. We purchased Skip the Line tickets for touring both the basement and upper decks. One would like to believe that skip-the-line tickets mean that you skip the line, but the sheer number of tourists at this time meant that our skip-the-line tour was twenty minutes late by the time we navigated the line for such groups. The trouble with our delay is that groups entering the basement of the Colosseum have set times and are only sent down one group at a time. Fortunately, we were still allowed in, but we were rushed through every stage of our tour to get back on track, a reality which my husband can attest that I was NOT a fan of. Not to put too fine a point on it, but our tour guide told us that 80 million tourists visited the Colosseum that year (2023). As a reminder, we were there during the low season.
Other Activities and Places
As with any big city, there is much more than just museums and tours. While not exhaustive, here are a few things I enjoyed (in no particular order):
Visit the Jewish Quarter
The history here is heartbreaking but the resilience of the community that lives here is beautiful. There are charming shops, bakeries, and restaurants that serve Jewish Style Artichoke Hearts (trying one these should be on your “Not To Miss” list.
Take a break from the city and visit one of the many outlying vineyards, neighboring cities, or historical sites. Thanks to the speedy trains, there’s no shortage of reachable destinations within a day. We took a day trip to a family owned winery located just outside of Rome.
Pompeii
Florence
In Summary
Rome belongs on the bucket lists, but it’s a place to see thoroughly once and then not again. I feel privileged to have seen the sites, but in the way that certain places touch a places in your heart or capture your imagination, Rome did not yield this result for me. Glad I went but equally glad to cross it off the list.
To see some video footage of our time in Rome, please click HERE.
French Christmas Vlog
Watch how we spent the week of Christmas in the Alsace region of France!
Watch How We Spent Christmas in Colmar
More Information
If you would like more details about our week in the Alsace, consider reading my other posts “Seven Days in The Alsace,” and “Spend Christmas in France.”
Seven Days in The Alsace Region of France
A Week In The Alsace-Lorraine
We love having travel experiences that deviate from the traditional, so it was only a matter of time before we went ‘all-in’ on visiting the Christmas Markets by spending Christmas in Europe.
For our first visit to the Alsace-Lorraine region of France, we decided to hit three cities, two of which had major holiday markets and one having an entirely different reason for visiting. For visiting the Christmas Markets, we made our plans based on the time frame for our visit (you can read more about the “Christmas” portion of our trip HERE).
Where to Stay and Go
For our purposes, we stayed in Colmar, located just 40 minutes south of Strasbourg and just 45 minutes north of Basel Switzerland (the nearest international Airport). Colmar is very conveniently situated for quick access to many towns along the rail line as well as by bus. If you want to stay put, Colmar is also a charming place with plenty of ways to spend several days soaking up the charm of the area.
Day Trips
Taking the train, we spent one full day in Strasbourg, though in hindsight, I would recommend spending at least three days investigating the many attractions the city has to offer, if not more. We went to the Christmas Markets, catching the last full day before they shut down for the season, but we also paid a visit to the Galleries Lafayette (which are shopping destinations that are not to be missed).
In addition to Strasbourg, we also took a 30-minute bus ride (departing from a stop right next to the Colmar tourist office) to the town of Kaysersberg-Vignoble. If you’ve been following our past travels you’ve probably seen me refer to Anthony Bourdain on more than one occasion but Kaysersberg also has a connection to Mr. Bourdain (although very macabre).
Kaysersberg is a charming town, much smaller than neighboring Colmar, tucked away in the Alsatian hills and surrounded by vineyards. A combination of the slightly more remote location, the smaller size of the town, and the marginal increase in elevation from that of its larger neighbors leave you feeling much further away from the hustle and bustle of daily life than just 30 minutes.
Perched above the town, but only a short, easy walk, is a partially restored ruin of a 13th-century castle. If you walk up, you’ll be charmed by the beautiful views of the town below, the vineyards that seem to stretch on forever, and the only sounds being the chatter of your fellow walkers and the sound of the raging waters of the Weiss River that cuts through the town. You may choose to climb the steps of the restored castle tower for a further elevated view of the surroundings.
Back in town, you’ll find a long main corridor of shops, boutique hotels, and restaurants. Cars are relegated to the outskirts of old-town, so feel free to absentmindedly meander your way from charming shop window to shop window. We were visiting just after Christmas (December 27th), the vestige of their small holiday market still on site but now shuttered. I can only imagine how romantic it must be to stay in this town when the market is open.
We visited many shops, most still selling holiday decorations, but one being decidedly different. Verrerie d’Art de Kaysersberg was a local artist studio featuring a glassblower workshop and attached gallery. We stood and watched as a man spun the hot glass in the oven, working quickly but patiently in front of a small crowd gathered to watch his work from behind the barriers set up for this purpose. We visited the gallery of beautiful glass baubles and unique holiday ornaments, one of which we purchased and then invoked the favor of the gods to get home without breaking.
Our final stop in Kaysersberg was to peak through the windows of Le Chambard Restaurant and adjoining hotel, the location of which was the last dining location and accommodation of the aforementioned Anthony Bourdain. Why we felt compelled to see this place, I couldn’t tell you, but as travelers and ardent admirers of his sage travel advice, it felt like an oddly necessary pilgrimage.
Where we Stayed
As previously mentioned, we selected Colmar as our home base from which we explored the surrounding areas. Visiting the holidays also drastically narrowed the scope of what we saw, but I would venture to say that it would also serve as an excellent base during the warmer months of the year.
Colmar offers a wide array of shops, restaurants, hotels, and activities, but being that we were there primarily for the Christmas markets, endeavored to stay in a classic example of the half-timbered architecture for which the area is famous, in addition to being near the Christmas markets. We ultimately booked an Airbnb in the Tanneurs district of the old town, a fifth-floor walk-up apartment that, fortunately, was worth the huffing and puffing (bags in tow) involved with each trek up and down the stairs.
Old Town feels more like the set of a movie than that of a real place. Winding streets lined with half-timbered houses, buildings with ornamented slate and tile roofs, each window bordered with shutters and flower boxes, overlook the cobblestone (car-free) streets below. Small canals wind through the town, though mostly disused, some are still in partial use for shuttling tourists around on small wooden boat tours (which I highly recommend).
As with most cities in Europe, a church (or two) typically anchors the center of the city, and given that we were there over Christmas, we decided to take the opportunity to attend a service instead of just passing through and taking pictures. No one in our party spoke enough French to understand what was being said during the service, however, the experience was still very special.
Our Seven Day Itinerary
Day One -
Arrived in Zurich and then boarded an SBB train from the Flughafen rail station (below the airport) bound for Basel Switzerland. Change trains in Basel and continue to Colmar (total train travel time was roughly two hours). After arriving in the Colmar, get checked into our Airbnb and then take a preliminary look at the neighborhood where we were staying.
Day Two -
Took the train from Colmar up to Strasbourg (roughly 40 minutes), went shopping at Galleries Lafayette, explored the Christmas Markets, then took the train back to Colmar.
Day Three (Christmas Eve) -
Did a photo shoot with a local photographer that I found on Instagram (we try to do this at least once on each European vacation), followed by grocery shopping, visiting the Christmas markets, ridding the Ferris Wheel (set up at one of the Christmas markets), and finally, attended a midnight service at the nearby cathedral.
Day Four (Christmas Day) -
Slept late, made breakfast at home, followed by shopping at the Christmas Markets (they were the only things open). Made dinner at home.
Day Five -
Final day of shopping at the Christmas Markets, took a boat tour of Little Venice (in old town), ate dinner at Bord'eau, a Michelin star restaurant along the canal.
Day Six -
Boarded a local bus and went to Kaysersberg-Vignoble for the day.
Day Seven -
Take the early train to the Saint-Louis train station (a town just outside of Basel), and catch the airport shuttle that runs to this station (you’ll need to run to catch it but comes every 30 minutes if you miss it as it’s timed to the train arrival schedule). Board flight at Basel International Airport and depart.
Summary
Here are a few of my thoughts about the places we went, based on my recent experience:
The Food - Do not expect that since you are in France, you will be eating French food in the Alsace. We were lucky to find a couple of bakeries that offered a small number of croissants each day, but the cuisine here leans more heavily German than French. That said, this is Alsace first and French/German second and third, so the food reflects that tradition.
The Shopping - We were here during the holiday market frenzy and made them our priority but Colmar and Strasbourg have tons of shops worth visiting, whether you’re a fashion-minded person (like my husband and me), a home-goods motivated person, or even antiques, there are tons of shops across a wide spectrum of tastes and price points.
What would I do again? I would 100% do the boat tour in Colmar again, but (a word to the wise) there are at least three different boat operators in Colmar with all three leaving from different launch points. Save yourself from waiting in lines by booking in advance, but know exactly which one you’re heading to before you waste a bunch of time at the wrong place and then panic running to the correct one.
Would I recommend going during the holidays? This is a tough question because I had an amazing time, but the crowds were overwhelming. Gone are the days of social distancing, and being crammed against wall-to-wall people is a drag. If you don’t need a lot of personal space, or if you only plan to visit a few holiday markets, I say go for it!
Would I go back to the Alsace? Absolutely! I would love to see more of the area, visit a few of the vineyards, and spend more time in Strasbourg.
Checkout our videos on YouTube or see the video about this particular tip HERE.
Questions or Comments? Leave me a message.
Spend Christmas in France
Why we skipped Christmas at home in favor of the Christmas markets in Colmar and the Alsace region of France.
Skipping Christmas
When planning this trip, I found very little information about the logistics of being in another country over the actual Christmas holiday. Burning questions like “Will the trains be running,” or “How will we feed ourselves?” These are some of the important details that many bloggers seem to fail at answering because they traveled near the time of Christmas but not actually over the holiday itself. For those of you seeking answers, look no further, I have information for you!
To begin, Christmas is my favorite holiday; the food, the colors, the smells, and the sounds fill me with joy each year when I get to untangle my tree garland and cut out cookies that I’ll lose enthusiasm to decorate after the first two. That said, it often gets co-opted by obligations, reciprocal gift-giving, and spending money that hurts for months afterward. None of these later things are in keeping with what I enjoy most about the holiday season. For Christmas 2023, we decided to say “F*** it," and we left town.
With my mother-in-law in tow (It would NOT be Christmas if she were not with us), we packed our bags and boarded a plane on December 21st, bound for Zurich Switzerland.
Our First European Christmas Vacation
If you saw my posts about spending New Year 2022 in Salzburg Austria you might know that I’ve been obsessing over the opportunity to see more Christmas markets in Europe. I’ve been compiling a mental list of the length of my arm of the various trinkets and holiday bobbles I wanted to acquire, so when the time came to pounce, I was ready.
It’s important to know that when planning a visit to the holiday markets in Europe, many of them occur during Advent and conclude before Christmas Day.
However, after much research into the various markets, the cities hosting them, proximity to airports, and a variety of other factors, we determined that of the markets staying open the longest, the Alsace region of France, and most specifically, Colmar, was the place for us. Offering six markets that stayed open until December 28th, which offered us the flexibility to take our time and not have to rush through the markets right before closing for the season.
Another bonus to this location was the classic holiday ambiance baked into staying in a medieval city. Half-timbered houses line the narrow, car-free streets, leaving you feeling as though you are a character in a Charles Dickens novel. Adding to the overall holiday “vibe,” the Alsace region has been under the control of both Germany and France several different times, which has left a distinct impression on the area. People speak both languages, the food is mainly cheese and pretzel-based, and Walt Disney used Colmar as the inspiration for the tiny village that Belle (from Beauty and the Beast) was from.
Holiday Travel Logistics -
Unlike being at home in your own house over a major holiday, there are many logistical factors that need to be considered when traveling abroad. Things like getting your morning coffee, what will be open, how will you actually spend the day. I’m not an expert, but here’s what I can tell you about what Christmas Day was like in Colmar, France.
*An important detail to note, is the transit system has reduced operation on Christmas Eve, no service on Christmas Day, and again, limited service the day after. Make sure that you don’t have to get anywhere that requires more than your own two feet unless you want to deal with a rental car.
What was open on Christmas:
The Christmas market! That’s right, they all opened, including the food vendors within the markets. That said, the regular shops and most restaurants were closed on Christmas Day and the day after. On Christmas Eve, we made a grocery run and got everything we might need for a couple of days, not knowing that we would have options available to us. However, being that most food at the markets was savory or novelty, it was good to be able to make our own breakfast at our Airbnb.
What was there to do on Christmas:
For several years we have made it a point to book a photographer to take nice photos of us on vacation, this trip was no different. I found a photographer on Instagram (her profile can be found here) and reserved her services probably six months in advance of our trip (we reserved a time slot for on Christmas Eve morning). Later that day things started shutting down earlier than normal, with the exception being the holiday markets. We ate dinner at one of the main food tents and then rode the Ferris wheel that was setup nearby and then later that night, (a special activity worth considering) we attended a holiday service at the main church in town, which was a midnight Christmas service., As was expected, the service was totally in French (no one in my party speaks fluently), but they also sang the same classic Christmas songs that we know in our native English, which was very comforting. We’re not frequent church goers, but we greatly enjoyed opportunity to experience a service in one of the many beautiful old churches of Europe.
On Christmas Day, we slept in, made coffee and ate day-old pastries that we had picked up the day before. Back home, we would have opened gifts and then had the television on a continuous loop of holiday movies, but we didn’t find that this was an available option to us on French television, not that we would have been able to understand them any way. Given the time difference, we waited until early afternoon to start making calls back to our loved ones in the US, and then we got dressed and spent the rest of the day roaming around the markets and people watching.
What I bought at the Colmar Christmas Markets
This information may not be of any interest to you, but I was super eager to know what might be available to me before experiencing the markets for myself.
Every market is slightly different (Colmar had six or seven), each with a slightly different emphasis, some had more wine vendors, others offered more children-focused items, while still, others had more hand-crafted decorations. The thing we noticed is that while the overall “theme” of each market was slightly different, the mix of vendors was largely the same at each, so don’t feel that if you missed purchasing something at one market that you’ll not have another opportunity to purchase something similar from a different vendor, there are lots of very similar products and vendors.
With that in mind, hand-painted crockery is the signature item for the Alsace region, you’ll see it everywhere. Beautifully glazed and brightly colored, you’ll find platters, bowls, tureens, teapots, and various other baking dishes covered in patterns consisting largely of hearts and storks (both are heavily used symbols in this area). For our part, we purchased a beautiful blue platter and a small matching crock, but the platter broke into a million pieces on our way home.
Some of the other items that I crammed into my luggage included two springle cookie presses, an embossed rolling pin, one cookie cutter (for the springle presses), a nutcracker, several tree ornaments, two ceramic tabletop village houses, a wooden candle pyramid, and two embroidered table runners. Unfortunately, I failed to take pictures of any of these items during purchase, and are already packed away for the year.
Reflections And Things to Know:
Opting out of gift-giving and much of the other "normal" responsibilities of the Holidays allowed me to just relax and enjoy the season. That said, having skipped Christmas and gone to France, here are a few key takeaways:
Did I spend less money by going on the trip rather than buying gifts?
No. I probably spent more money. The cost of flights so near any major holiday is significantly more expensive than normal and the same is true for accommodations, our Airbnb was triple the nightly rate of what it charges the majority of the year.
Did I feel like I “missed out” by not being at home and seeing more of my family for the holiday?
Also No. This might have been different if we had gone somewhere tropical or someplace that wasn’t so Christmas-oriented, even our Airbnb host had thoughtfully decorated the apartment for us. Stripping back so much of what has become “normal” Christmas stuff made me feel some of the magic I felt as a kid before I had responsibilities.
Did I enjoy the Christmas Markets as much as I thought I would?
This one is tough, but I have to say yes, but with a caveat. I loved the markets, but as someone who struggles with crowds, staying so near to the markets, thereby engaging with the crowds every day for a week, was too much for me. I liked being able to go more than once because it removed the stress of needing to see and find everything in just one day, but I will need to limit my crowd exposure in the future… 2 to 3 days max.
Will I travel over Christmas again in the future?
Probably. I think many of the elements I enjoyed about this trip could probably be just as easily obtained by visiting earlier during Advent (aka earlier in December) and at a lower travel cost than over the holiday itself. However, the stigma of being “home for Christmas” feels much less important now, but maybe I’ll try to talk more of my family into skipping town with us ;)
If you would like to watch a short video about our trip, you can see it HERE.
Have questions or need advice? Leave me a comment or shoot me an email.
Five Days On The French Riviera
My First Trip to The Cote d’Azur
On the heels of a very leisurely week of cruising down the Canal du Midi (details found HERE), we proceeded to make our new home of Nice, our base for five days of exploring the famous French Riviera.
Our Itinerary:
Day 1 - Arrive by train from Aix-en-Provence, check into our Airbnb, and a very rushed visit to the brocante market at the Cours Saleya Market before it closed at 3 PM (phew!).
Day 2 - Explore the Old Town with a local photographer for some couple's photos (we try to do this at least once on every trip), and do some shopping.
Day 3 - Relax! We chose to spend the majority of this day at the beach.
Day 4 - Spend a half-day in the village of Eze and then visited Monte-Carlo, Monaco, followed by a sunset dinner at Le Plongeoir back in Nice.
Day 5 - A Full-day visit to the town of Grasse, where we did a little exploration, took a Fragonard factory tour, and then a perfume workshop.
Day 6 - We had a morning departure flight from the Nice Airport.
Day 1 - Arrival
Travel days are usually stressful, from the dozen checks to make sure you didn’t leave a charger or your favorite face cream in the bathroom at the hotel you’re leaving, the anxiety of getting settled on to whatever form of transport you’re taking, and finally, getting checked-in and settled at your new and unfamiliar home, there are a lot of things that can go wrong on travel days.
With that in mind, even when everything runs smoothly, the potential of things going wrong can often distract you from the fact that you’re on vacation and should be having fun, but maybe that’s just me?
We had made a pit stop of one night in Aix-en-Provence after completing our barge cruise in Beziers and before arriving in Nice. I’ll write a post about that experience later on but since it was just a single night that happened to also be a Sunday, there’s not a ton of information to add, so I’m skipping ahead to our time on the Riviera).
Having taken a morning train from Aix-en-Provence, we arrived at the Nice Ville train station at around 11:30 am, followed by a brisk 15-20 minute walk (luggage in tow) to our Airbnb. After arriving and getting checked in, we once again hit the pavement in search of the Cours Saleya Market at around a little after 1 pm (much to the chagrin of my now hangry husband). Unfortunately, (despite having readily available and accurate information from Google Maps) the distance and time it took for us to traverse this distance were more than expected (30-40 minutes). So, after a nearly sprinting speed walk, we arrived sweaty, nearly out of breath, and with short fuses. To ensure that my husband didn’t combust on me, I elected that he should go get a nice lunch at one of the cafes that encircle the market and that I would dash around the market and check back in with him at the cafe, frequently (I don’t pay for phone service when we travel) to see if he was finished and ready to join me, but that I would try to make the most of the market before it closed (many vendors had already begun to close by the time we arrived).
Day 2 - Exploring Nice
Feeling more ourselves after a night of rest, we rose early to get coffee before our morning photo shoot. I believe that of the reasons to travel to Europe, morning coffee at the many cafes is among the biggest. Fully caffeinated, we met our photographer, who skillfully guided us through Old Town to all the best places, while giving us great ideas for places to return to after we were finished.
Following the conclusion of our self-imposed paparazzi session, we visited several boutiques in search of items on my wish list, which I was ultimately delighted to have found.
Later in the afternoon, after returning to our Airbnb for a little refresher, we made our way to the iconic (and nearby), hotel Negresco, where a couple of our friends were staying. Once there, a member of the hotel staff graciously guided our small group on a tour of the hotel and the extraordinary pieces of art and history that it contains. When the tour concluded in one of the two beautifully appointed bars, we treated ourselves to espresso martinis (the unintentional cocktail of the trip), and then we collectively made our way back to Old Town for an intimate but likely dinner at a Northern Indian restaurant.
Day 3 - Taking A Day Off
It may sound silly to want to take a day off from vacation, but there is real value in not making any plans for at least one day to allow yourself the unnecessary permission to be spontaneous. I have talked at length about this phenomenon in other posts, but being the planner that I am, I need to be reminded of it regularly.
To that end, we slept late on our third day, and after a quick Google search (using our Airbnb wi-fi) of the best brunch spots in Nice still serving food between 11am-noon, we found the jackpot! It so happened to be that one of the top 10 brunch recommendations for Nice, was located between our Airbnb and a private beach where we could rent loungers, so we had solved the question of how we would be spending the rest of our day. This brunch recommendation was named La Femme du Boulanger.
We arrived a short time later at the restaurant and sat down at a charming, but not overly elaborate, patio table at La Femme du Boulanger. We were greeted immediately by our server who gave us water, menus and asked us if we wanted to get started with anything before consulting the menu. We eagerly requested coffee and I (out of habit at this point in the trip) also asked for a pain au chocolate (a chocolate croissant). The waiter, seeming slightly perplexed and perhaps lacking the English vocabulary to respond to my request, assured us that he would be right back and then quickly left our table. Not a minute later, a young woman came to the table (followed closely by a young man in an apron who bolted out onto the street and then down the block), and explained that the restaurant did not have any pain au chocolates but that they sent a boy to the bakery to get one for me, and that our coffee would be ready momentarily. She then exited stage right and was replaced with our primarily French-speaking waiter, coffee in hand.
The story of this pseudo-comical brunch does not end with just ordering a pain au chocolate, however. Shortly after placing our food orders, an elderly gentleman, looking like what one would imagine as an old French country baker (I will refer to him as "bread man"), brought us a basket containing a variety of thick, freshly toasted bread slices, along with a selection of jars filled with different jams and spreads. I want to point out that I am not talking about Wonder Bread slices or store-bought bread rolls from large trays, but rather, honest-to-goodness, country-style loaves of bread. Now, you might be thinking that the significance of this bready detail is not the style of the bread or the variety of the spreads, rather, it is the man who brought it to our table.
After dropping off this perfectly toasted basket of grain goodness, the bread man proceeded to go and visit with other patrons (I assume them to be regulars given his familiarity). Meanwhile, we leisurely sipped our coffees and commented on how appetizing our newly acquired bread basket and spread assortment was, while we patiently waited for the food that we had ordered to arrive which was the wrong thing to do.
After completing his conversations at other tables, the bread man returned to our table and (to his dismay) discovered that we had not yet eaten all of the bread in our basket (he spoke no English, so I wasn’t sure of just how upset he was). He grabbed our basket and hurried inside the restaurant, leaving both my husband and I thoroughly confused by what had just happened. We had no sooner exchanged looks of confusion when we were rejoined by this perplexing Frenchman with a new basket of hot, toasted bread.
“Chaude,” he stated emphatically while placing pieces of the hot bread on each of our plates, making eye contact with each of us as he went, before setting down the new basket and once again leaving the table.
What finally sunk in after reflection and piecing together what french words we knew, were able to understand that he was the owner of the restaurant as well as the bread baker and that he wanted his bread eaten while it was at its best, a.k.a, warm. The bread man returned much later in our meal to make sure that we had eaten more of the bread in the basket, saw that we had, and gave us a big smile and a nod of approval. By the conclusion of this unusual dining experience, we were stuffed full of delicious food (including my pain au chocolate), had smiles on our faces, and even purchased two jars of one of the spreads they had served with the bread.
The rest of our day was spent stretched out on sun-loungers at Ruhl Plage (one of the many private beaches on the promenade des anglais a long the , where we marveled at not just the beautiful azure-colored water, but at how amazingly lucky we were to be there, together, and at that moment, we were full of carbs and truly at peace.
Day 4 - Village Visits & Sunset Dinners
Eze
Rising early, we booked an Uber Van (Uber+ does not exist in France, but they do use vans, which is better for bigger groups anyway) and made our way to the village of Eze. Reachable by car or train, but the train option requires a hike or a cab ride from the train station at the bottom of the hill on which Eze sits, however, we opted for a van so we could be dropped off directly at the village entrance, and therefore save time.
We arrived around 9:30 am before the shops had started to open (which occurs around 11 am), but neither had most of the tourists, providing us (largely) with the place to ourselves.
Contained within this stunningly beautiful medieval village, are two Chateau. Both of these chateaus are beautiful but serve slightly different purposes. The first of these is the Chateau de Eze (popular as a wedding venue), and the second is Chateau de Chevre d'Or (The Golden Goat). The Chateau de Chevre d'Or is a jaw-droppingly beautiful network of hotel rooms within the village walls and has multiple terrace restaurants and cafes (connected to the hotel). Despite being somewhat pricey, it is my opinion, that the cost of grabbing a drink or a meal at one of these cafes justifies the experience. We opted to get coffee and croissants at the cafe which shares the same terrace as the restaurant that serves the hotel guests breakfast.
After the most epic morning coffee ever, it was now after 11 am and the shops had begun to open, as did our wallets. With a wide variety of shops and art galleries, it isn't difficult to find a memorable souvenir at a price point that fits any size budget.
Monte Carlo - Monaco
After a somewhat frustrating series of driver-canceled Uber rides, we eventually made our way from Eze down to Monaco, but unfortunately, I made a major logistical flaw. I had wrongfully assumed that due to the relatively small geographic area of this famously small city-state, everything would be located near each other (which is true), but when our Uber driver asked if we wanted to go to the city center or the upper town, I defaulted to the “city center.” The result of my uninformed decision was us getting dropped off in front of the Monte-Carlo Casino, which is amidst the big brand shops, but not at all close to the cultural center (which is in the upper city).
At the end of the day, if we had more time to explore the area, I might feel differently, but in general, I was "underwhelmed" by Monaco and found it to feel like an expensive shopping mall near the water. The moral of the story (if there is one), is to research exactly where you want to be dropped off in Monaco before you go.
Le Plongeoir
Easily one of the most memorable dining experiences I've ever had occurred at a little restaurant famously perched out over the water, at Le Plongeoir. Unable to make a group reservation for eight adults, we opted to make reservations in groups of two, which worked out perfectly. Afterward, we all agreed that everything from the food and service to the weather and colors of the sunset, was filled with joy, and collectively created an experience that we will all treasure.
Day 5 - Exploring French Perfume in Grasse, France
I’ll write a post with more specifics of this experience, but suffice it to say that this was a highlight of our time on the Riviera. Referencing back to my earlier mention of transportation challenges to some of the inland villages of this region, we again opted to take an Uber van directly to the Fragonard museum (which also happens to be located in the heart of Grasse). Similar to Eze, there is a train that runs from Nice, however, the train station is (as was the case in Eze) located at the bottom of a big hill, which is much easier to walk down, than it is to walk up.
If you choose to visit Grasse and opt to visit a perfumer other than Fragonard, be sure to note the proximity of where they conduct their workshop to that of the old town in Grasse because some of them are closer than others.
In hindsight, I wish we had given ourselves more time just to explore Grasse, which was a warm and charming place with many little shops and cafes I would have loved to have visited, but the length of time it took for us to complete our factory tour and workshop, was longer (by more than an hour) than we had expected. Fortunately, we had enough time to pop into a few of these shops as well as to share the final dinner of the trip, followed by the winding walk down the hill to the train station, where we briefly boarded the wrong train back to Nice. Thankfully, we were corrected by a kindly local we had spoken with on the platform, who, on discovering our error, located us on the train and ushered us back off before the train left the station.
My Top Highlights of The French Riviera
Exploring the various markets held at the Cours Saleya Market in Nice
Breakfast at La Femme du Boulanger in Nice
Our half-day in the village of Eze
Dinner at Le Plongeoir
Our group perfume workshop at Fragonard in Grasse
Did I miss something that you feel should have been added to my “to-do” list during my trip? Add it as a comment below!
Canal Du Midi Cruise Vlog
Follow our experience of cruising on the Canal Du Midi by watching how we spent our time, or you can read more about it Here.
A week cruising from Carcassonne to Beziers.
Two Weeks in Southern France
If you had asked me when I was in my early 20’s what my life would look like at 40, I probably would have painted a very different picture than that of how my life actually looks. Fortunately, I can very honestly say that this newly minted 40 year old has a life that far exceeds the expectations of my younger self.
How We Spent Two Weeks in Southern France
My husband and I are blessed to have multiple friends that, like ourselves, enjoy international travel almost as much as they enjoy celebrating even the smallest of milestones with other members of our circle. It goes without saying, that when I announced my desire to spend my 40th birthday in southern France, everyone was on board.
The 15+ Day Itinerary
*Of the group of eight adults going on this trip, there were a total of 5 different travel itineraries as well as varying departure days, but for the purpose of this post, I will be focusing on my personal travel itinerary.
+MAY 18th - Depart Kansas City, MO USA > Change Planes in Atlanta, Georgia USA > Depart for London, UK
+MAY 19th - Arrive London, UK
+MAY 20th - (Yay, birthday!)
MAY 21st - Depart London, UK > Arrive Toulouse, France > Train from Toulouse to Carcassonne, France
MAY 22nd - Explore Carcassonne
MAY 23rd - Depart Carcassonne for Trebes > Board moored barge in Trebes, France
MAY 24th - Depart Trebes for Marseilette
MAY 25th - Depart Marseilette for Homps
MAY 26th - Depart Homps for Le Somail
MAY 27th - Depart Le Somail for Capestang
MAY 28th - Depart Capestang for Beziers
MAY 29th - Depart Beziers for Colombiers > Depart Barge and take train to Aix-en-Provence, France
MAY 30th - Depart Aix-en-Provence by train for Nice, France
MAY 31st - Photoshoot in Nice
JUNE 1st - Beach Day
JUNE 2nd - Day trip to Eze, Day trip to Monte-Carlo
JUNE 3rd - Day trip to Grasse
JUNE 4th - Depart Nice for London, UK
Highlights of Carcassonne
By far the most exciting fortress I’ve toured in Europe, what really sets this place a part, is the combination of preserved medieval design, and incorporation of modern life within its walls. Anyone can enter this walled fortress and visit the shops, eat at the many restaurants, or stay at the hotels housed in original structures protected by these ancient stone walls. That said, there is a palace contained within this massive complex, which does require a small fee to enter, but it’s absolutely worth paying.
Carcassonne Advice:
Prior to our arrival, I didn’t really know what to expect in terms of food options within the citadel, but there’s a very generous supply of them and a range from sandwich counter, all the way up to Michelin star. If you plant to stay in or near the Narbonne gate entrance of the citadel, you’ll be fine to plan for eating all of your meals inside, so long as you abide the very French business hours.
If you’re arriving by train (as we did), don’t count on easily being able to get a cab or uber, you may need to call a cab company or your hotel to have them send one for you. We chose to walk the mile from the station to our hotel, but it was uphill on poor sidewalks.
With regard to how long you should stay, the absolute minimum should be two nights. I would have really enjoyed staying at least three, but as compared to the rest of our friends who only stayed one night, our experience was MUCH better for having stayed two.
If you want to see a little more of Carcassonne from a personal perspective, you can watch a short video from my recent trip with friends, HERE.
Highlights of Our 7 Day Barge Cruise
Spending a week on a converted barge was never on my bucket list, but it is now the best week of any vacation that I’ve ever had.
Canal Du Midi Cruise Advice:
We traveled from Carcassonne to Beziers (which is a North’ish to South’ish path) for seven days and six nights but after two days on the barge, we wished that we had chosen the 12-day option and continued down through the Camargue region, which our crew said was their favorite stretch of water/landscape.
In general, I don’t have many regrets or things I would do differently, but after having experienced the many water locks on the canal, I'm happy that we chose to book passage on a piloted boat, rather than the much more abundant “self-drive” options.
If you want to see more about the boat we rented, I’ve created a series of videos that document our experiences during our week, as well as our first day on the boat we chartered, HERE, and for a full description of our cruise, you can read more HERE.
Highlights of 5 Days on the French Riviera:
Unlike our barge cruise on the canal, where we visited small rural villages and didn’t encounter many (if any) non-french people when we reached Nice, we found them all. Not to say that anywhere we went was “overrun” with tourists, but it had a distinct tourism-oriented feel to it. The highlights for me were the various markets that operated on different days in Nice, the dining options were out of this world (I particularly enjoyed breakfast at La Femme du Boulangerie and dinner at Le Plongeoir), and the many easy day trips reached from Nice.
Riviera Advice:
Transportation to coastal towns is super simple with the train, however, if you want to venture inland at all, things get a little more complicated, a little more sparse, and a little more expensive. We primarily used Uber for anything inland, but took the train for all coastal destinations.
The village of Eze was an absolute highlight of our time on the Riviera, and despite it being a little pricey, I would suggest trying to spend one night there.
In terms of disappointments, Monaco was a real letdown for me…I don’t know exactly what I expected, and perhaps if I had more than just a few hours, I may have seen something to change my mind, but in general, it felt very much like an expensive shopping mall and was devoid of any real character. If you’re at all limited on time, skip visiting Monaco.
My favorite organized activity was our day trip to Grasse, where we did a workshop at the Fragonard perfumery. I agonized over which Perfumery to reserve a workshop through, but am SO glad I booked the one at Fragonard. I’ll write a separate post about that experience.
If you want to watch some of what we experienced in each of the places mentioned here, you can view a video I put together HERE.
Questions about something you saw here or just want to chat all things “Nice?” Leave me a comment below!
Carcassonne France Vlog
Follow a long as we visit Carcassonne, France!
3 Days in Carcassone.
Birthday Cruise on The Canal-Du-Midi
If the past few years have taught me anything, it’s to treasure the value of reaching milestones. Far too many milestones missed their moments in the sun due to the pandemic, and despite being a bit of an introvert, the significance did not escape my notice. To that end, there’s no occasion quite like turning 40, to take a trip and to share that experience with friends, so it is with this in mind that I planned our recent trip to southern France.
The Canal Du Midi
If you’re never heard of it, I (nor any French person) am totally not surprised, but this gem of a UNESCO site should go on your exploration list. Built during later half of the 17th century, this marvel of a man-made ingenuity, links the Atlantic ocean to that of the Mediterranean, through a series of locks and water bridges that is not only beautiful, but also caught the attention of one Thomas Jefferson, while he was serving as the newly minted United States envoy to France.
River Vs. Canal Cruise
I’ll be the first person to admit that the idea of a “cruise” elicits very different feelings and mental images for people. I, for one, have no desire to spend my precious vacation time trapped on a floating city at sea, with a bunch of people that consider a three hour excursion to a port town, a cultural experience. However, I’m NOTORIOUSLY judgy, so ignore me, and lean into the concept that getting out of the house is better than nothing at all.
That said, outside of ocean-liners, there are those amazing river cruises that we advertised on television, which seem like the perfect opposite of the aforementioned travel nightmares, at least until you go to book one. Most cruises, ocean or otherwise, are basically all inclusive style resorts, but on the water. You can expect to pay upwards of $2000 or more (much, much more), per person, for a week. If the money isn’t a deal-breaker, you can expect a romantic vacation on the water and you have my envy. However, if you don’t have thousands of dollars to spend, or you feel like this option might still be a little too “manufactured,” a canal cruise might be just the ticket for you!
Canals are man-made waterways for the purpose of transporting goods from city to city within a country (think of them as a water highway). Largely out of service for their original purpose, canals are now a lovely way for people to leisurely travel at a much slower pace. In fact, many of the barges which are now retired from service as cargo boats, have gotten a new lease on life as small cruise ships, and when I say “small,” I mean small. For reference, a river cruise may have anywhere from 50 to 200 passengers, but a canal cruise would be a maximum of roughly 20.
So, if you’re looking to unplug and relax, but still want to spend the majority of your time off of the boat, a canal cruise is the perfect balance, and comes in a wide array of options from “self-drive,” all the way up to luxury excursion.
Before it retired and became a cruise ship, this is what the boat we took looked like while it still hauled grain.
A Seven Day Barge Cruise on The Canal Du Midi
If you’re still reading this lengthy post, good job, you finally made it to the reason why you probably clicked on this post, to begin with.
My experience while researching this trip, was that helpful reviews of french canal travel were in short supply, and even fewer were available from English speakers or fellow Americans. Adding fuel to my research frustration (where advice was concerned), where the sheer number of people I encountered that attempted to assist me with second-hand accounts of the "canal" trips that their friends had taken, not realizing that they didn't understand the difference between a river and a canal.
First and foremost, the experiences and bodies of water are different... full stop.
Another worry I had before this trip was my concern about the looming threat of water-induced nausea. I (like many) suffer from the dreaded travel curse of motion sickness. Motion sickness in the car, sickness on the water, and sickness in the air, which I’ve largely learned how to mitigate for the short duration of time in which conditions may aggravate my symptoms, but a multi-day water excursion made me nervous. The possibility of feeling nauseated for a week, or sleeping away the majority of a week (due to side effects of motion sickness medication), was a HUGE deterrent, for me, toward any water-borne adventure that had been proposed in the past, but this trip felt different. Ultimately, I chose to gamble that the proximity to land afforded by being in a small canal on a very large boat would help me find my sea legs, and fortunately, the bet paid off. Not a single moment was spent nauseated, and absolutely nothing on the barge had to be secured for movement.
I can’t speak for every kind of boat on the canal, but those converted barges are wide, heavy, and going nowhere fast, so in the words of our captain (who spoke very little English) regarding the movement of our boat, “she is big, but she is heavy,” and I'm inclined to agree.
Day 1 of 7 - Boarding in Trebes, France
After spending a few days in Carcassonne, we took cabs the short distance to the nearby canal port town of Trebes. Charming, with a small entertainment district facing the water, Trebes is also a hub for the very popular boat rental company, LocaBoat. Equipped with modest amenities such as a decently sized grocery store, Trebes also served as our meetup point to board Le Haricot Noir. Family-owned, this boat is not part of a fleet and is not managed by any large rental company, it’s lovingly cared for and maintained by the daughter of the couple that converted it from a grain barge in the 1970s, into what it is today (take a video tour HERE.
The cruise option we had selected for our week-long journey on the canal was that of self-catering. We would have a captain and a deckhand for navigation, but we were on our own for meals. I (being a bit of a cook) was very much up in arms about not knowing what the kitchen would be like or what our options at the grocery store would be before boarding, so I hope this helps you.
The market was great and we found everything we would need there, so don’t worry about that. We purchased all of our basic supplies, plus salmon and wine, and brought everything on board with us. The kitchen was chef ready with everything necessary. The fridge is large, a more than adequate freezer, dishwasher, coffee maker, oven, and stove, not to mention pots, pans, and even a mixer!
We were a party of eight adults (four couples), so we only needed four of the six bedrooms and had plenty of space to spread out in the 90-footlong barge but it still didn’t take us long to get unpacked and settled in after our initial orientation upon boarding the ship during the late afternoon. After boarding, we did just a very short stint of navigation on the canal, to get through the three locks (known as an “eccluse” in French) before they shut down for the day, after which we moored at the edge of Trebes and then got back off of the boat to walk into the village for dinner that evening.
Day 2 of 7 - Trebes to Marseilette, France
Our first full day on the boat was cool and rainy, but the excitement of being at the start of our journey prevented our spirits from being dampened by the weather. The crew began navigating us shortly after breakfast, and we made our way to the tiny village of Marseilette, which while being cute, is very small. It appears to have had other shops at some point that were now vacant, but it still had a scenic cemetery, a village church with excellent views over the countryside, a little tiny little convenience shop, and one cafe/tavern/restaurant. We did a quick walk around, ate lunch at the cafe, and then spent the rest of the day on our warm and cozy boat as we chugged toward our end destination for the day. Meanwhile, below deck, we cooked a family-style dinner and toasted my birthday in our pajama pants on a boat in France… I’ll treasure that memory forever.
Day 3 of 7 - Marseilette to Homps, France
The navigation pace of the previous day had been rigorous to ensure our arrival in Homps by 2 pm (not easy to do on a boat as it turns out), because I had made reservations for a cab, and a photography team, to meet us at the marina and then to travel to a nearby town for a wine tasting. Fortunately, the sun was out and everything ran like clockwork.
(I’ll discuss the winery experience in a separate post.)
Sadly, our time in the actual town of Homps was super limited, which was unfortunate because, by all observable evidence, Homps is a charming town with multiple restaurants and other amenities.
Day 4 of 7 - Homps to Le Somail, France
With the most highly planned scheduled day of our trip now behind us, we determined to soak up every last ounce of relaxation that the canal had to offer us. Despite my insistence on being the first of our group to rise each morning, sipping hot coffee and eating a croissant on the top deck of the boat as the crew started the motor and once again resumed navigating us down the canal, was a truly zen-like experience for me. On our fourth day, however, we arrived in the postcard-perfect village of Le Somail. This village has art galleries, boutiques, an AMAZING used book store, and charm coming out of every nook and cranny. We decided to take the recommendation of our crew, however and did a tour of a nearby olive cooperative (which we enjoyed much more than we expected to) and we’re so glad that they suggested it to us. Also in this town, is a small, floating, market barge, on which we placed an order for croissants to be collected the next morning (as is the case with many of the markets in the small towns, bread must be ordered a day in advance). That evening, we had a very lively dinner at a restaurant in town, followed by more late-night shenanigans on the boat.
Day 5 of 7 - Le Somail to Capestang
After collecting our croissant order from the grocery barge, we once again fired up the engines and continued on our journey down the canal. We passed through the final lock that we would encounter during our cruise (a bittersweet reality), which also afforded us the chance to try our hand at the captain's wheel. I was the only soul brave enough to give it a go, but the result was a newly found appreciation for the job that our captain performs. Our deckhand, Estelle, when not working on other barges, lives on a converted barge that she owns with her husband and their two children, which was moored right outside of Capestang (her husband was on their top deck as we passed and greeted us and his wife as we passed). Capestang is a town much larger than any of the other villages we had encountered in days past and was also much less focused on the canal as a revenue source. We enjoyed the more lively “city” feel, however, we were there over a holiday in which most shops were closed. Again on the recommendation of our crew, we visited a restaurant that did not disappoint, although we did get lost in the dark while attempting to make our way back to the boat later that evening. A challenge of mooring in a different place every day is that you never get the opportunity to familiarize yourself with where your home base can be found.
Day 6 of 7 - Capestang to Beziers through the Malpas Tunnel
Today, we passed through the Malpas tunnel, which is a marvelous feat of engineering, but was more than a little nerve-wracking. The tunnel was blasted through solid rock and allows only a single ship at a time to pass. Fortunately for us, all smaller boats must give way to allow larger boats the priority, but it can be difficult to see who might already be in the tunnel when you approach it. After a brief sojourn off of the boat on the other side of the canal, we continued to Beziers. By far the biggest city we encountered, Beziers was both exciting and a little overwhelming given the size and with a much more ethnically diverse population than any other place we had encountered on the canal to that point. After the boat was moored, we marveled at the Fonseranes locks, which are a series of 9 locks that our poor crew would have had to traverse if we had opted for the longer 12-day cruise option. While some of our party utilized the e-bikes available to us on the boat, half of us opted to trek to the highest point of the city, where we toured the cathedral and then mused over our regret at having not rented the bikes as we sipped cold beers at a small cafe. Eventually, we arrived back at the boat and then made our way to a nearby restaurant for the final dinner of our week-long cruise.
Day 7 of 7 - Beziers to Colombiers, France
The final morning was a rush of packing as we traveled back a short distance to a small port town that we had passed the previous day. Let me tell you, the experience of this barge needing to turn around was no small task and one which many passersby also chose to stop and watch. Eventually, however, we covered the short distance and then were whisked off the boat as the dock would not allow us to stay but for just a very short time. We were deeply saddened at our choice to have booked the seven-day cruise because none of us was ready to leave. The experience of having spent a week on this boat, with this crew, with these friends, was truly the most fun travel experience I’ve ever had the privilege of experiencing.
Questions about something I didn’t cover, or questions about something you want more details about? Leave me a comment below!
Foods To Try and Souveniers To Buy in Austria
What To Try
Austria is famous for a lot of reasons other than music in the hills, and here’s a short list of a few of the tasty treats you’ll not want to miss!
Here Are The Top 5 Foods You Must Try In Austria
The Sacher Torte
This chocolate ganache torte, is available all over Austria, but in my opinion, is best had at the Sacher Hotel in Vienna.
2. Buchteln (sweet yeast buns)
There’s a little variety in the way these are made, but are typically very soft pillowy buns served with a vanilla custard sauce.
3. Kaiserschmarrn (Scrambled Pancake)
I’m sure that it sounds weird, but this dessert has the texture of an eggy crepe, and is oh so good!
4. Punschkrapfen (rum soaked cakes)
This little cuties come in a variety of mouth-watering fillings that are all easy on the eyes.
5. Wiener Würstel
Leave all of your preconceived notions of hotdogs and sausages at the door, because it’s a whole other ballgame in Austria. The variety of sausage in profound, and possibly even more mind blowing than the meat offerings, is the bread they put it in. There is basically no similarity between what we call a “bun” and the perfection of toasted loaf, that they use. I ordered a chicken sausage, and what I saw was shocking… the cook grabbed what looked to be an entire loaf of uncut bread, shoved it down on what looked like a hole punch, and then shoved the condiments and sausage down the newly made bread tunnel. Each and every bite was heaven.
Souvenirs To Buy In Austria
The philosophy of what to purchase will differ from person to person, and I would never encourage anyone to buy things they don’t need or necessarily want. However, the criteria that I attempt to follow when making my souvenir purchases are as follows:
Is the item actually from the place I’m visiting (i.e. is this made in China and intended as a cheap souvenir)?
Can I purchase the same item back home, or is it unique to the area (i.e. is it commonly available back home due to export?).
Is this something I can use or display?
What We Purchased in Austria and What I Wish We Hadn’t
As mentioned above, we try to stick to a limited list of criteria when making purchases, but sometimes you can still get swept up in the vacation frenzy might result in you lugging home a few things that don’t.
What We Bought And Love
Holiday Decorations - Christmas and the decorations that go with it are on a level that I had not previously experienced. It seemed to me that every surface of Austria (both indoor and outdoor), was adorned with beautiful ornaments or garlands, most of which were natural (organic matter) and handmade in Austria or at least within Europe. I purchased several of these natural wall garlands and can not wait to display them this coming year.
Market mugs - Many outdoor festivals offer reusable mugs from the drink vendors that are filled with your beverage of choice for a flat fee (which includes a deposit for the mug itself), and are refundable upon return of the mug, or keep it as a souvenir. We opted to keep two of these mugs for this exact reason.
Books - I typically make it a point to purchase a “classic” children’s book from each country we visit in either the language of the area or translated to English. In this case, I purchased an English translation of classic Austrian fables.
Cultural Outfit - This one is controversial for several reasons and could easily be placed on the "love" or "hate" list, depending on how you approach it. However, in our case, it’s also important to note the cross-cultural significance of the traditional outfit of both Austria and Germany, which is also the cultural background of both my husband and myself. Further, "costume" versus "quality" construction also impacts the value of making a cultural outfit purchase. My husband and I each opted to make these purchases but with differing reasons behind our choices.
Art - We always purchase at least one piece of art from each country we visit because art is typically going to be of a flat, paper, or fabric item making it easy to transport. Bonus is that art is something that we can see and enjoy long after we have returned home from said trip. On this occasion, we purchased a watercolor cityscape of Salzburg.
What I Wish We Had NOT Purchased
I'm happy to report that the list of regrets is short but still worth mentioning as a mental note for next time.
Novelty signage - Frankly, I’m still surprised that we made this purchase, but in hindsight, I think we were both missing our dog when we fell victim to this cliche. One particular day, we came across a souvenir vendor selling novelty signage of Cocker Spaniel dogs with German language sayings printed on them. These signs were mass-produced, heat transfer signs (It will never be hung on our wall at home), and while we should have enjoyed the giggle and saved our money, at that moment, we somehow decided to purchase one (plants palm on face).
Novelty liquor - I’m sure you’ve seen them in gift shops, novelty-shaped bottles of people or buildings filled with generic whiskey or vodka, or who knows what. The ONLY time these expensive little bottles are appropriate to purchase is when it’s a gift shop for someplace that makes the liquor or the bottle it comes in. PERIOD, full-stop. To haul liquid in any quantity across the ocean to give to someone that wasn’t on the trip is a waste of luggage space because the liquor will not be good, and the gift is not personal. Save your money, save your luggage space, and let them go and have their own experience of the place.
Did I miss something that you think should have been on this list? Leave it in the comments below!
Three Days in Vienna Austria
How we spent three days in Vienna.
Relax and enjoy!
Congratulations on your choice to visit Vienna, it’s truly one of the brightest stars in the jewel box of European cities. Rich in culture, it also has clean streets, robust public transit, museums, and parks, saying nothing of the shopping and culinary scene.
For better or for worse, Vienna was the last stop of our Austria trip, which also fell during an Austrian post-new year holiday (like our labor-day), in which all but just dining and medical services were closed. Our short stay, being further constrained by the holiday observation, we consolidated our activities into just a day and a half (due to our first day also being a travel day). That said, not being able to fill every moment of your time with activities doesn’t have to be a bad thing.
Three Days in Vienna
We arrived in Vienna after dark and while the train station was not very far from our hotel, our google maps directions had us walk through a park that was not lit, making the walk feel much longer and more treacherous. It wasn’t until the next day when we realized how unnecessary this route had been, and the walking distance that the route had “saved” us, was shockingly minimal.
Day Two -
For our first full day, our options for activity were limited but also a welcome opportunity for alternative options. The hotel at which we were staying, for example, offered a day spa with all the premium options one would expect. My husband is never one to turn down a massage and opted to spend a few hours enjoying their treatments and amenities, while I, on the other hand, chose a different route. After making some inquiries, I discovered a bookstore at the train station we had arrived in the night before, was open despite the holiday, so I decided to make my way there in search of children’s books to add to my collection.
In addition to my book hunt, I also made it a point to stop at a restaurant to try one of the many desserts that Austria is famous for. That evening, we ventured out of our hotel and walked around the elaborately lit and still festively decorated central 1st District (Innere Stadt). The shops were all closed, but we were delighted to get sausages from one of the many semi-permanent würstel stands, which we enjoyed immensely. We were also thrilled to discover, that a holiday market that was operational next to St. Stephan’s Cathedral, where I was able to purchase a locally made beanie from one of the purveyors, which I happily donned, due to it being much colder in Vienna than it had been during the rest of our trip.
Day Three -
Being our final full day and our only day on which to visit any museums or shops, we decided to prioritize just three things. The first was a visit to the Sacher Hotel Cafe, to try the famous torte bearing their name, which I had been anticipating for the entirety of our trip. The second priority was a visit to the private apartments of the Hapsburg royal family at the Hofburg Palace (otherwise known as the Sisi museum). Lastly, it was a priority for Sam to find a pair of shoes not available in the United States, but also in his larger-than-average size, which eventually caused us to visit multiple shoe stores. Ultimately, completing each of these items filled our day to the brim, but fortunately, culminated in a lovely dinner at one of the excellent restaurants back at our hotel, followed by cocktails at a pop-up bar on the rooftop.
In Summary
Vienna was very cosmopolitan, elegant, and full of things we didn’t get the chance to see or do. Fortunately, Vienna is well located in terms of serving as a jumping-off point for visiting that region of Europe, so we can envision many reasons to visit again in the future. In general, this city is a MUST SEE!
Relax in Hallstatt Austria
A Romantic Mountain Escape
When you’re short on time, it can be challenging to know in advance, where you will want to spend more time at places you’ve never been previously. Sometimes, the places that you think will be fun, aren’t, and sometimes the places you think you’ll get bored, surprise you. There was never a doubt in my mind that we wouldn’t enjoy the scenery of Hallstatt, but with it being so small and our overall trip to Austria so short, I gambled on the conservative side of spending just two days and a single night. Sadly, Hallstatt won the bet and we had to leave before we were ready, but for those reading this, feel free to make a better choice and stay a little longer.
Two Days in Hallstatt
Day One - We arrived in Hallstatt at around mid-day, got checked into our hotel, had a late lunch on the balcony of our room, and then did a preliminary walk around the main shopping area before everything closed for the evening, and then it was dinner and bed.
Day Two - Showers, breakfast, photo shoot, checkout, and then it was off to Vienna.
As a general rule of thumb, anytime you’re extremely limited on time in a place that you want to see as much out of as possible, take a tour from a local, it has been my experience that it doesn’t even really matter what kind of tour it is because the guides will be able to provide you with valuable information that you wouldn’t otherwise have as a tourist just breezing through. My husband and I love to have photos taken in the more picturesque places that we visit, and for us, our photo session was also a walking tour and historical education from the point of view of someone who had grown up there. In just an hour and a half, we were ushered around the town to the most iconic places it had to offer, all while learning the historical and cultural highlights of the place. At the end of our tour, we were armed not just with amazing photographic souvenirs, but also tips on shops and stops we should make, the information and navigation of which saved us valuable time due to the shortness of our stay.
Getting There
There are a couple of ways to get to the remote lake town of Hallstatt, but only one of these options will add to your overall experience. The first of these options is by bus or car, which will take you directly into Hallstatt, but if you’re willing to take on a little bit more of a hike, the other way with usher you into Hallstatt in an unforgettable manner.
Take the train to Hallstatt
From Salzburg, we boarded a morning train bound for Lake Hallstatt with only a general understanding of what might happen when we arrived at the end of our journey. The Hallstatt station is an unmanned platform across the lake from the actual town, where you then must board a ferry (at an additional cost) to reach Hallstatt. The ferry is called the Stephanie boat, and the schedule is synced with the train, so there's no need to swim for it. Be sure to have euros as the tickets must be purchased at the boat and the cost can fluctuate depending on the season, but two roundtrip tickets (for my husband and me) cost us about 21 euros.
Where to Stay
Hallstatt is very small and terraced (meaning that it expands up a hill with no roads), so while the distance from the city center is not a concern you should have, you need to keep in mind your uphill climb for possibly more cost-effective accommodations.
We lucked out HARD with our little hotel because the photos online didn’t do it justice. Located lakefront (the easiest walking level), there was a rustic charm on a scale that American boutique hotels can only aspire to (due to the relatively “new” nature of even the most historical of our structures in the US). Having a “higgledy-piggledy” floor plan, resulting from the connection of rooms and hallways of no fewer than three former salt processing homes, gave this hotel a unique character that would be nearly impossible to replicate.
What was this charming architectural wonder you ask? The Bräugasthof Hallstatt Hotel was also where we ate most of our meals due to most local restaurants in town (most of which are also attached to small hotels) were only offering service to their guests (I’ll come back to this detail). Fortunately, the vibe at the restaurant at our hotel was wonderful, the food was great, and the location couldn’t have been better.
Don’t expect a five-star luxury hotel, but I’ll make a case for places like this being even better. Very comfortable, this is a charming experience that you’ll never get at a more polished establishment. The guest's “front desk” was merely a chalkboard with guest's surnames and room numbers alongside skeleton keys hanging on hooks. Emphasizing the “story-worthy” nature of our stay, was an exchange I had while sitting in the lobby waiting for my husband. An elderly woman came near to where I was sitting and was watering the plants (given the seemingly small staff at the hotel, I made some assumptions about it being a family-run place and then extended that assumption to her) and I asked her if she was the owner of the hotel, she replied (in very broken English) that she was, “the grandmother of all,” made a sweeping motion with her hand, smiled, and then went about her business, I asked no further questions.
Why Visit
As I mentioned earlier in this post, restaurant service was limited to guests staying at the adjoining hotels, and it’s important to note the time at which we visited. Due to the ever-evolving travel restrictions resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, Austria had just lifted a total ban on tourism just days prior t our arrival. For that reason, the number of tourism-based services was very low in an already very small town. That said, our guide informed us that in “normal times,” it’s not uncommon for this town of just 800 residents, to see thousands of visitors per day and that those visitors would often have to wait for hours in a queue to take pictures in the most iconic locations. Fortunately for us, while much was closed, we had no competition for views or service.
Everything about Hallstatt is charming; the swans on the lake, snow-capped mountain peaks, historic landmarks, and romantic vistas make for a dreamy escape from all the trappings of modern life. Take a visit to the Salt-Mine, or ice cave, or perhaps meander your way through the winding paths through town to visit the unique cemetery (with an even more interesting burial practice), or tour one of the two beautiful churches. No matter your plan, Hallstatt is a transporting place to spend time as a restful escape or romantic interlude.