You might know that you can find Monet’s gardens in Giverny, but did you also know that Giverny actually is an interesting area to explore besides the gardens. I have recently spent a weekend in nearby Vernon and discovered some other cool activities for this area. If you are visiting Monet’s gardens in Giverny, I highly recommend spending some more time in this part of Normandy.

At the end of March I visited Plantentuin Meise to admire the magnolia gardens. On Instagram I had seen that these beauties were about to peak, so I hopped in the car to admire them. What I didn’t know was that Plantentuin Meise is worth a visit outside of the magnolia season too, because it also features spectactular greenhouses that can be visited all year long. If you are a plant lover you must include Plantentuin Meise on your list, it definitely is one of the most stunning botanical gardens I have ever seen (and I visited a fair amount).

I had been to Bavaria before, but mainly explored the western part of it, visiting gems such as Schloss Neuschwanstein, Füssen, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and the Partnachklamm. I loved my previous visits, so I knew I had to see “the other side” of Bavaria as well. I was able to cram in as much activities as possible when we drove back from our skiing trip in Austria and these are my recommendations!