Europe a la Carte Blog

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I’m delighted that my blog has scored 8.4 out of 10 and been rated as great by Blogged.com and comes top of the list in the Europe travel blogs category. I know this may sound like bragging but it’s reassuring when an unbiased third party, who reads a lot of blogs, likes what you’re doing.

Blogged.com is a blog directory which aims to make it easy for you to find better blogs with reviews, ratings and comments on popular blogs. Bllogged.com also gives you the opportunity to communicate with bloggers and readers with similar interests through their social networking facility.

Since l reviewed the Real Travel blog I’ve been reading their blog posts about Europe. The entry entitled, “Top 10 off the beaten track destinations in Spain” was right up my street, as the aim of my travel business, Europe a la Carte. is to help you see more of the real Europe by venturing, even slightly, off the beaten track. Could this be the start of a turf war between Real Travel and Europe a la Carte? Of course in some ways I’d rather keep the niche to myself but you’ve got to be realistic and I think it just highlights the desire of many travellers to do and see more than just whizz around the tourist traps.

Another recent entry in Real Travel blog in a similar vein was about the Chateau de Loches in France. Loches sounds like a charming walled town in the valley of the River Indre, a tributary of the Loire.

What I like about reading the Real Travel blog is that it makes me have itchy feet and want to visit the places written about in their blog. However this poses the dilemma that if too many people get off the beaten track then these “authentic” locations will soon become part of the well worn tourist trail.

Norway - An American in Oslo is written by Kristie who has recently moved from Los Angelos to Oslo. The blog has various themes. Kristie’s relocation and personal settling in experience in Norway, general advice and support for ex-pats and information about visiting Norway.

Kirstie’s recounting of her recent experiences is pretty honest, insightful and amusing with tales of woe of trying to master the Norwegian washing machine and assuming that there was a free drink refill policy at MacDonalds. There are also upbeat entries with photos about exploring the beautiful city of Oslo.

I’m interested in reading more about Norway. It’s a country I’d love to visit but high prices have put me off. Unforunately this is confirmed by Kristie when she finds that a session to apply acrylic nails costing £25 in the US costs $130 in Norway. The videos about about whale watching and the Ice Hotel are worth watching.

I enjoyed reading the “Norway - An American in Oslo” blog as it was entertaining, it’s great when someone can laugh at themselves, as too many people take themselves far too seriously. It’s a very human account of the highs and lows experienced when adjusting to a new environment and culture.

This review was arranged through the free blog review exchange service Reviewback.com.

Real Travel is a travel guide and trip planner full of trip stories and tips from real travellers. The Real Travel blog is a selection of blog posts, photos and recommendations from members of the community, selected by the Editors to feature in the blog.

It’s always interesting for me to read other travel blogs to look at what they have on offer to readers.  I decided to look at three most recent posts about Europe, as that’s the region which I know best. The most recent European posts were about Rila Monastry in Sofia, Bulgaria, Sightseeing in Strasbourg, France and Corwen in Wales. I did like the fact that none of the recent posts were about really well known destinations/tourist traps.

Each post contains a photo of the day, an introduction by the Editor and an excerpt of the post by the travellers with a link if you wish to read the whole post. There are also links to travel guides and tips pertaining to that area at the bottom of the post.

I felt that the posts were written from a very personal perspective which is to be expected if it’s taken from a personal travel blog. The posts were of varying length and detail. However I’m not sure of their utility or relevance to many readers precisely because of this very personal angle. For example I am not interested in reading about how cheap it is to buy beer in Bulgaria and how many cocktails and beers you can purchase for 20 euros. The post about Strasbourg was so sketchy based on a brief stopover, saying “it would have been fun to explore given more time”. I felt I knew nothing more about Strasbourg after reading the post.

My overall impression is that the blog entries and posts are an excellent, cheap way for Real Travel to get content for their site provided by their community. From a business perspective I think it’s a very effective model because the appeal of the posts being written by “real” travellers versus travel writers. This appeal will bring many visitors to the blog, a certain percentage of whom will go on to make a booking through the affiliate links on the site or click on the Google Ads. I’m just not convinced that reading the posts will necessarily provide the information for which the reader is looking.

As a blog author, I think it would be great to have a variety of posts written by other people from which to choose, instead of writing all the material yourself.

Holidays in Europe specialise in bargain holidays to Europe with savings of up to 40% on High Street prices. Whether you are looking for a beach holiday or a city break they offer a value for money option backed up by their Price Match, where they will refund the difference, if you find the same holiday offered by a UK website on the day you make the purchase.

You can search for holidays, flights or hotels. I found the search facility easy to use and the results came up fairly quickly. If you have any queries you can fill out a contact box asking to be contacted by telephone within a specific time slot. You can also fill out an online form specifying your requirements and they’ll get back to you with suggestions.

I liked all the additional information available on the the website. When I carried out a search for a holiday, the weather for that week last year in my chosen destination came up on the screen. Several destinations have guides giving you general facts, tips and ideas for things to see. There’s also a map and weather data. There’s information such as directions and terminal layout for all UK airports.

However I would have liked to see guides for all destinations on the site. I looked at holidays in the Greek island of Kos but there wasn’t a destination guide for Kos. This is a pity as Kos is an interesting small island. Not only does it offer beautiful beaches there’s a lot of history and culture. Kos was the home of Asclepius, the god of healing. Socrates is believed to have taught students under the shade of the still present oldest tree in Europe. The island has been occupied by Venetians and Turks and the Knights of St John built the fortress at the harbour, When I clicked on the various towns very little information about that specific resort came up. Some photos or virtual tours on would be a useful addition, allowing you to see the resort for yourself.

Staircase in Kos Castle by Ilkhamid

I had a look at some of the featured hotels in Kos. There was a general description of the location, rooms and facilities. There were 3 user reviews per hotel and an overall guest star rating. Reviews can only be made by guests who have booked through the site and stayed at that accommodation. I would have preferred to see more reviews per hotel. I read reviews of 4 hotels, 12 reviews in total and only one review had any trace of negative comments.

I believe that the more information available about destinations the better. Some visitors will only want to search for the cheapest holiday possible and are not interested in reading up about a destination. However if a potential customer is looking for more information they will probably start searching other sites to find this and may end up making the booking on one of these other sites. If potential customers are unsure if they can trust the limited user reviews they are likely to search for other reviews.

Overall I thought that the Holidays in Europe website was user friendly and offered a good choice of low cost holidays but I’d like to see more detailed destination guides, more photos and more user reviews.

This is a sponsored post arranged through ReviewMe.

The Preferred Guest is aimed at luxury leisure and business travellers. The editor, Chris Vassilopoulos, is based in Athens. Some wonderful places in Greece are reviewed, I thought that the restaurant with views over the Acropolis and the apartments on the island of Santorini looked very alluring. However the blog offers global coverage, as Chris has travelled extensively. I found the blog humourous with a post about camping in style, requiring a brand new 4×4, to carry your fridge and stylish folding furniture, off road to that perfect spot. The blog also contains information about flights, cruises and travel technology. The blog welcomes submissions offering tips and advice for luxury travellers. If you are looking for inspiration and ideas for luxury travel head to The Preferred Guest.

Chris and I exchanged reviews through Reviewback.com, a free blog review and exchange service.

The Meeting Continents Blog contains posts on everything about Istanbul, where the continents of Europe and Asia meet. It’s authored by Mert, who lives in Istanbul. I like the fact that it’s a personal blog written by a person who lives in the city and obviously loves Istanbul and wants to showcase the city to a wider audience. I think that you can discover a lot about a destination by reading a local blog.

I was most interested in posts about what to do and see in the city. There are many photos of the city, a several part beginners guide to the city, information about museums, art, history and cultural activities.

I have never visited Istanbul but have heard many reports that it’s a wonderful, lively and fascinating city. Reading this blog has reinforced my ambition to visit there.

I made contact with Mert of Meeting Continents Blog on the Reviewback.com site. I thought it would be a good idea to do mutual reviews of blogs related to travel to introduce other blogs to my readers and give my blog a wider audience.

[tags]blog review, Istanbul, Turkey[/tags]