Europe a la Carte Blog

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We”re flying to Pisa for a seven night trip to Tuscany and Umbria the last week in May 2008. I want to stay at comfortable accommodation and pay an average of 70 euros, around £55 sterling or 108 US dollars for an ensuite double room including breakfast. The idea of our trip is to see some of the less well known areas and towns such as Lake Trasimeno, Gubbio and Arezzo so we’re hiring a car to get around.

Lake Trasimeno by Schwarzkater

Here are the hotels I’ve selected, all 3 or 4 star, found by using the HotelsCombined price comparison site which searches through more than 30 accommodation suppliers sites.

Grand Hotel Golf Pisa through gtahotels 62 euros

La Vela, Trasimeno though booking.com 60 euros

Class Hotel Terni through gtahotels 62 euros

Holiday Inn Perugia through venere 65 euros

Hotel Planet Arezzo through venere 59 euros

Hotel Villa Maya Pisa booked direct with hotel 74 euros

It does take a bit of time and effort to select hotels that fulful your criteria. I ordered my initial search on HotelsCombined by price but you have to watch out for booking fees, check the cancellation policy and if the rate includes breakfast. I then read a few user reviews just to check that the hotel doesn’t receive consistently low ratings and if I can find a cheaper rate on the hotels own website.

There’s an increase of visitors from European countries where the Euro is the currency as sterling drops in value against the Euro. While I suspect that London may receive a high proportion of the visitors, I’d urge would be bargain hunters to look at other less obvious destinations. Not only will you see more of the “real” Britain, if you venture, even slightly, off the beaten track, you’ll find that accommodation is generally cheaper than in the tourist hot spots. However if you prefer to stay near the popular attractions and plenty of shops, you could still enjoy some great day trips.

You could enjoy the river walks and seaside at Berwick upon Tweed in North Northumberland and be in Edinburgh or Newcastle in 45 minutes by train on the main East Coast Line.

Berwick upon Tweed

If you stay in the small city of Stirling in central Scotland there is a pretty good shopping centre and a beautiful castle and you can be in Edinburgh or Glasgow is under an hour by train.

Valley Cemetery, Scotland

From Edinburgh it’s easy to reach North Berwick or Dunbar in East Lothian for a day out by the sea,

North Berwick Beach, East Lothian, Scotland

Afternoon tea consisting of jam sandwiches, teacakes, chocolate wafers, scones, pancakes and Irn Bru trifle. I’m surprised that deep fried Mars Bars are not on the menu.

Scone by mararie

The Glasgow Grosvenor Hotel has enraged advocates of healthy eating and attempts to change the high calore and fat content of the Scottish diet with the introduction of the £8.95 “Glasgow Afternoon tea” which contains masses of fat and sugar. Is this really the typical Scottish diet or just a light hearted occasional treat?

Will you be making a beeline for the Grosvenor for afternoon tea?

Would you like to show me around the hidden gems where you live? It could be anything - street art, an urban or rural walk, a characterful pub, an interesting museum or exhibition. I’d like to highlight just how much there is to do and see in the UK once you venture, even slightly off the beaten track. I plan to travel around the UK with locals showing me around their home turf. I’ll be writing blog posts during my trip, posting photos and podcasts.

There’s been a lot of verbal support during British Tourism week for domestic tourism from high profile figures such as MPs. I’m asking them to practise what they preach and volunteer to be my guides in their local area.

I’m also looking for sponsors for the tour.

I talk a lot about authentic travel in Europe in my travel business Europe a la Carte. You may wonder what I mean by this. My definition of authentic travel is not spending all your time elbow to elbow with other tourists at well know tourist traps. I’m not aiming for 100% authenticity during a holiday, just an injection of some elements to enable you to see more of the real or genuine Europe during your visit. It really is a pick and mix approach.

Lake Iseo, Italy

You might take advantage of a cheap package holiday deal for your flight and accommodation but do some day trips off the beaten track by hire car or public transport to see a bit more local colour. You might stay in small family run B&B or hotel rather than a hotel which is part of a standardised chain. You might spend your entire trip in a less well known destination or area. You might venture into the suburbs of a city to try a restaurant or bar there, where you have the possibility to meet some locals. You could even spend some time exploring what’s in your own back yard.

North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland

Authentic travel can take more time, you really can’t see Europe in 10 days, you can easily spend a couple of weeks in one region of a country. You need to give yourself some time to just wander around and soak up the local atmosphere, if your itinerary is too packed and rigid you could end up really seeing very little.

I’m planning a Europe a la Carte UK Tour where I’ll travel around the UK meeting travel bloggers and members of the public to get the low down on the “Best of Britain off the beaten track”. I think we’re all looking for more authentic travel, not just visiting the tourist traps. I know that I’ve discovered so much about my home country of Scotland when I’ve travelled around researching Scottish destination guides for Europe a la Carte.

I was inspired by the post from the Happy Hotelier about the Guardian’s budget travel columnist Benji Lanyado’s “Travel Bloggers Hopping” initiative on my first Europe Travel Blog Carnival. I had a virtual conversation with Heather of Heatheronhertravels, (another contributor to the Europe Travel Blog Carnival) about this initiative where she mentioned that Benji should undertake a tour of the UK to meet all the travel bloggers. I thought I could do that.

So here I am proposing the “Europe a la Carte Best of Britain off the beaten track” UK tour. So if you would like to meet me and give me the tour and low down on the best hidden gems in your area please email me karen(at)europealacarte.co.uk

I needed to revise the strap line and introductory text in my travel site, Europe a la Carte to make the purpose of the site clearer to visitors. My site focuses on authentic travel in Europe by venturing, even slightly, off the well worn tourist track and visiting less well known destinations.

I know consumers want value for money and if you book early and travel off peak you can pick up flights with the low cost airlines for £50 - £60 return including taxes. Accommodation is often the largest constituent of the travel budget. You don’t want to splash out on fancy hotels but neither do you want to rough it camping or sleeping in hostel dorms. You’re looking for best deal on value for money, comfortable accommodation. When you’re travelling you may spend very little time in your room and just be looking for the best deal on value for money, clean, comfortable accommodation.

Therefore I’m focusing on authentic travel on a modest budget but still in relative comfort. Now that sterling is dropping in value against the euro, it’s becoming more expensive to visit mainland Europe from the UK and it’s a similar problem for visitors from the US. That’s even more reason to squeeze the most from your budget.

So my new strapline for Europe a la Carte is “See more of the real Europe on a modest budget”.

Trieste is tucked away in the north eastern corner of Italy, close the border with Slovenia. It was seaport of the Hapsburg empire for many years and even 70% of Italians questioned in a recent opinion poll didn’t know that Trieste was part of Italy.

Trieste seafront in the evening

In Trieste you can enjoy a combination of a sea/beach holiday and the attractions of a cultural city. The sea in the Gulf of Trieste is very clear and clean, with limestone cliffs and rocky beaches. The centre of the city has a mid-European feel, more Austrian than Italian.

The City Hall, Piassa Unita Italia, Trieste

You can sip coffee on Piazza Unita Italia with its grand 19th century buildings, while looking out over the Adriatic. As Trieste is a port it was one of the first European cities to take to coffee in a big way. The first coffee houses in Trieste opened at the beginning of the 18th century. These cafés become very popular with artists and intellectuals. Several of the original cafes are going strong, the Tommeseo and the Cafee degli Specchi. Triestines are very particular about their coffee. If you order a cappuccino the Trieste version will be a black coffee with a little milk. You would need to order an Italian cappuccino. Mixing spirits with coffee is a no-no, viewed as a beverage favoured by foreign lorry drivers!

Of course there’s a lot more to Trieste than cafe society. The Barcolana regatta is held on the second Sunday of October. This is a sailing competition which has run for 30 years and has almost 2000 vessels competing. From October to May the concert and opera season unfolds in the historic neo-Classical Teatro Comunale Giuseppe Verdi (opened in 1801 and designed by Matteo Petch, architect of Milan’s La Scala) and the modern Sala Tripcovich. The festival of Light Opera is held in July and August at the Verdi. Miramare Castle was built for Archduke Maximilian as a residence by the sea and gardens. Probably the best is The Revoltella Museum, which was founded in 1872 when Baron Revoletta left his home and art collection to the city of Trieste.

Miramare Castle

So if you’re looking for somewhere different for an Italian short break or part of a trip around Italy, Trieste is a great destination.

This post was featured in Carnival of Cities, February 13 2008.

I read about one of the wackiest stabs at authentic travel experiences today, a cruise ship with a real grass lawn. Celebrity Cruises decided that having a grassy area would add to cruise passengers enjoyment and that artificial grass would not sit well with the company’s mantra of providing “authentic experiences”, so it had to be the real thing. The lawn weighs 50 metric tons and there’s an additional 50 metrics tons of fresh water to maintain the grass. Certainly not the greenest of moves.

QM2 - on the grass by planetina

Would this feature attract you? I’ve never been on a cruise but it isn’t lack of grass that has deterred me.

In the 15 months that I”ve been researching and writing for my travel blog I’ve become increasingly bemused by the tourist versus traveller debate and the ensuing guidance of how to avoid the horror of being classified as a tourist. Or even, in hilarious perversity, From Traveler to Tourist in 5 Easy Steps.

Of course the worst traits of the stereotypical tourist dashing around the must-see list in five countries in one week appear to make travelling pretty pointless. However the rather pompous, self important, self professed traveller can be just as irritating.

Did You Get It? by timchambers

So how about being a touraveller? I think the term describes many of us. I do go on some package holidays to touristy destinations but will often hire a car so I can explore the surrounding area. I stay at budget chain hotels on some trips. for example Travelodge, on their £19 non refundable Saver rate. Yet I also stay in small family run hotels or Bed and Breakfasts in less well known destinations, for example I”ll go to Lake Iseo rather than Lake Como of Garda in northern Italy. I advocate seeing more of the real Europe by venturing, even slightly, off the beaten track so you can get a more authentic travel experience during your visit to Europe on my website, Europe a la Carte.

The island of Monteisola from the banks of Lake Iseo

I am all too aware that it is more of a scratching of the surface of authenticity during a one or two week holiday but I still advocate that it’s more enjoyable than spending all your time in a resort with other tourists, or doing a whirlwind bus tour of Europe.

So in the time honoured tradition a couple of hints on how to become a touraveller and avoid the ignominy of being mistaken for either a tacky tourist or a pretentious traveller.

1 Get, even a little, of the beaten track. It’ll be less crowded and cheaper too.

2 Have a draft itinerary, which allows time for spontaneity. Ditch the guidebook, you can discover a lot wandering around . Take time to soak up local atmosphere.

3 Remember that it’s you holiday/leisure trip, so relax and enjoy and don’t feel that you have to do anything because you feel under pressure to conform to any labels.  You can pick and mix. For example Edinburgh is pretty touristy but it’s a beautiful city with lots to do and see apart from the Castle and the Festival.

Almond Falls, Cramond, Edinburgh