JANUARY 2022
I can’t believe it is 2022 already! 2021 was another year that flew by, not in the least because little Hugo Xabi joined our lives. Right now he is 11 months old and he already visited 7 countries in his first year on earth, a true travel baby. To be honest, I had no idea what traveling with a baby would be like and it turned out much more fun than I expected. Traveling with a baby gives you new perspectives on things and I note that people are much more friendly when they see a little smiling baby entering their restaurant. Even though travel was still not as easy as before in 2021, we tried to make the most out of it. We went on several roadtrips with our van and two times we took the plane (oh how I missed that!). I found it really difficult to compile this list as I had many great travel experiences this year, but I tried anyway!
10) Goeree-Overflakkee
I will kick off this list with a very underrated Dutch travel destination: the island of Goeree-Overflakkee. We visited Goeree as part of our Dutch roadtrip and the first time that we truly went away with our van. If you visit Goeree in April/May you are visiting during tulip season. I absolutely loved the tulip fields in Goeree as they are much more extensive than in other regions and are located in such a quiet area, with no ugly buildings in the backgrounds of your pictures. Another thing I really recommend in this region is visiting the interestingly designed bird watching tower Tij in Haringvliet.
9) Salzburg
I had already visited Salzburg once in wintertime, but little did I know that it is absolutely stunning in summer as well. Salzburgerland is one of the most beautiful regions in Austria and I love how the mountains create a beautiful backdrop to this charming city. I was surprised at how little visitors Salzburg had in summer and how accessible everything was, from the free Mirabellgarten to no queues at the city elevators, this definitely adds to that relaxed holiday feeling!
8) Bilbao
I found Bilbao to be another unexpected hidden gem. I was mainly interested in visiting Bilbao for the Guggenheim museum, but quickly discovered there is much more to do than just that. We were lucky to have a local guide, a colleague of Hielke showed us around town, which definitely added to our fun experience. Bilbao is a fine example of solid urban planning and how a popular museum can transform a whole city. Even though we visited in summer, it was relatively relaxed and you did not need dinner reservations for good restaurants.
7) Baumwipfelpfad
In contrary to last year I was able to do lots of fall trips in October. I loved all areas that we visited to spot the colorful leaves, but the Baumwipfelpfad turned out to be my favorite spot! The Baumwipfelpfads are look-out towers, often in a beautiful nature location, that gradually incline so you can really take in all of your surroundings. We visited the one in Das Schwarzwald and were super happy with our choice.
6) Aqua Dome
Another one of the bucket list items I was able to tick off in 2021: the Aqua Dome hotel in Tyrol. The Aqua Dome is a luxury spa hotel that comes with a half board option with delicious food. At first I was a bit hesitant whether this would be a good location with a baby, but I could not be more wrong. As the hotel is connected to the spa and swimming pools by an underground tunnel, it turned out to be super easy to go swimming with Hugo. We had a lovely room overlooking the mountains and soaked in all luxury that Aqua Dome has to offer.
5) Malta
I am terribly behind with the blog and have not been able to write my blogs about Malta yet, but I still wanted to include this gorgeous destination. You can see this as a little preview of what’s yet to come. We visited Malta in November for a week and ended up being super lucky with the weather and having weather of over 20 degrees all week. We were even able to visit the Blue Lagoon, which is not always the case in November. We made the most of our week and the great weather and have seen all corners of the island. I think I can say that I found Malta the most exotic destination that I have visited within Europe yet, as it reminded me of Morocco, Sri Lanka, Mexico and Cuba!
4) Douro Valley
The Douro Valley is my new favorite wine destination! We added it as a last minute destination to our summer road trip and were super glad that we did. In the Douro valley you will find one of the most scenic drives in the world, which was great to experience with our van. Again, this seemed like such a hidden gem as it wasn’t overcrowded at all and we were able to have a spontaneous lunch at Sandeman’s Quinta do Sexto.
3) Lanzarote
Lanzarote was our first foreign travels of 2021. It was never truly on my radar, but as it was one of the first destinations that opened up to tourism we decided to bring it a little visit. My favorite sights on the island were the rock pools and the black sand volcanic vineyards. Besides beautiful nature, you can also find many cute villages on Lanzarote, because the architect Manrique found it very important that all the (lowrise) houses would be in the same style, giving the island a very coherent feel.
2) Ile-de-Ré
Still have to write a blogpost about the best kept French secret: Ile-de-Ré. Though very famous with the French, it is still under visited by foreign tourists. We visited in September, just after the peak tourists season while the French had already gone back to work. I think it is one of the most idyllic places I have ever visited, I loved the white houses, the pastel colored doors surrounded by hollyhocks, the antique markets and the fancy beach restaurants. One of the most stylish destinations I have ever been too!
1) Porto
Number one on the list: gorgeous Porto! You probably already knew I have this thing with tiles and in Porto you can find the most beautiful blue and white tiled churches, so it is no surprised I loved Porto! As I had been wanting to visit for years and it lived up to the expectation, I think it deserved the number one spot in this list. I can’t even decide if I ever want to go back to Porto, because it is absolutely perfect in my memories as it is.
