Amsterdam

Everyone told me Amsterdam was overcrowded and touristy. And yeah, around the Anne Frank House at 11am? It absolutely is. But here's what they don't tell you: the best version of Amsterdam is 20 minutes outside of it.

I took a quick train from Centraal Station out to Zaanse Schans — a living, working village of windmills, green wooden houses, and the kind of scenery that makes you feel like you've accidentally stepped into a painting. It's technically a 17-minute train ride, but it feels like you've traveled centuries. I walked along the Zaan River with windmills actually turning behind me, tried fresh Dutch cheese straight from the source, and watched a clog being carved out of a single piece of wood by hand. Equal parts surreal and deeply charming.

Back in the city, I skipped the museum queues and just walked. Vondelpark on a sunny day is one of the best free things you can do in Amsterdam — locals picnicking, dogs everywhere, people reading on the grass. It feels like the real city breathing. From there I wandered into the Jordaan neighborhood and followed whatever looked interesting. Tiny galleries. Canal bridges. Coffee that tasted like it was made specifically for me.

Lisbon

I went to Lisbon for a wedding. Which sounds like a flex, but honestly the real flex was that I had 72 hours there and used every single one of them. Between the welcome party and the wedding itself, I was essentially a solo tourist in a beautiful city with nowhere to be.

The wedding was at the Palácio dos Marqueses de Fronteira — a 17th-century palace with ornate gardens, stunning blue azulejo tile walls, and a facade that almost doesn't look real. I walked into that garden and genuinely needed a moment. The kind of place that makes you understand why people fly across the world to get married somewhere.

In between events I just wandered. Lisbon rewards that completely. One afternoon I found myself in Alfama just climbing — and laughing at myself because the steps are notoriously steep and genuinely slippery. There is a whole TikTok genre of tourists discovering this the hard way and I was nearly one of them. Worth it. The views from the top are unreal.

I tried pastéis de nata still warm from the oven — something like €1.20 each, absolute highway robbery that they're that good at that price. I got around everywhere by Uber for basically nothing — €4–6 across the whole city — which as someone based in Germany made me emotional. But the thing I'll remember most about Lisbon is the people. Genuinely one of the friendliest countries I've ever visited, and I've been to Ireland, which is my gold standard for human warmth. Top tier destination.

Vienna

I went to Vienna for my 27th birthday, and it delivered in every possible way. My friend and I walked around that city feeling like we were in a movie — a grand, old-world European movie where everything is slightly more beautiful than it has any right to be.

We went to the Albertina, spotted the most adorable pedestrian crossing signals — little couples holding hands inside a heart on the walk signs — and genuinely stopped to photograph them like full tourists. No shame. The Sissi Museum was the emotional highlight of the trip for me. I have loved Empress Elisabeth of Austria for years, and anyone who truly knows me knows this. Walking through that museum, seeing her actual possessions and the story of her life up close, almost brought me to tears. She deserved so much more than what she got. Give yourself time in there — don't rush it.

We stayed in a gorgeous modern hotel right near Schloss Belvedere, and on our last morning just sat in the palace gardens doing nothing. The formal gardens, the fountains, the view of the upper palace — one of those moments where you think, I live in Europe, and sometimes I genuinely forget what that means.

Then there was the Café Sacher situation. Hotel Sacher is home to the original Sachertorte and you are basically required to try it. We thought we had made a reservation online. We had not — we had started one and never quite confirmed it. So we walked in confidently and told them we had a reservation. They looked us up. Paused. Looked again. Gave each other a very polished Viennese look. And then they seated us anyway. Five minutes wait, one of the best tables in the room, chandeliers, red velvet, oil paintings everywhere. The sachertorte was rich and dense and completely worth the minor accidental fraud.

Venice

Yes I went to Venice. No I didn't take a gondola. Yes I regret nothing.

This was my first ever solo standby trip, and when I booked it I had actually imagined spending three days in Verona and just one day in Venice. I'd romanticized Verona completely. And it was fine. But I wasn't as moved as I expected, and after a day I found myself on a train back to Venice with nowhere to be and no plan. Best unplanned decision I've ever made.

I walked for hours. Got completely lost in Cannaregio in the best possible way. At one point I got a private boat ride through the canals at night — just me, a local boatman, and the dark water reflecting the city lights, completely silent except for the sound of the engine. I genuinely do not have words for what that felt like. You just have to do it.

To anyone nervous about solo travel: I understand, I was too. But Venice is one of the safest, most walkable, most obviously beautiful places I've ever been. You literally cannot get lost somewhere ugly. I'll be honest — I don't see myself as a long-term solo traveler, and not every destination would feel the way Venice did. But that trip? Nothing but happiness. If you're on the fence about going somewhere alone, let Venice be your first.

Nice

Let me say something controversial: if you really want to experience France, start with the south. I know — Paris is on everyone's list and it should be, I genuinely want to go. But as someone who has connected through CDG airport and can confirm the Parisian airport energy stereotype is very much real, I am here to tell you the south of France operates in a completely different emotional register. Warm. Easy. Ridiculously beautiful.

I was in Nice for New Year's — one of those standby gambles that completely paid off. The food alone justified the trip. I ate socca (a thin chickpea pancake from the street market) for breakfast and felt like I had unlocked a secret. The Cours Saleya market in Vieux Nice is one of the most sensory experiences — flowers, cheese, olives, fresh produce, everything piled high in the morning sun.

As an American who went in half-expecting to be subtly looked down upon — everyone was so kind. The stereotype does not apply in the south. People went out of their way to help me, laughed with me when I fumbled my French, and seemed genuinely delighted I was there. It completely reframed how I think about visiting France.

From Nice I took the train to Monaco — 20 minutes along one of the most scenic coastlines in Europe. Monaco is its own thing entirely, tiny and glamorous and slightly surreal, but doing it as a day trip from Nice makes it completely accessible without the price tag. There's a whole separate Nice post coming because I genuinely barely scratched the surface. But start here. Go south first.