A Very European Summer!

I am fortunate enough to have Italian family on my Mum’s side, with most of my Mum’s cousins, uncles and family friends living in Rome for most of the year until August. During this month, many Italians return to the rural, Italian countryside villages. I had previously visited my Grandad’s village when I was very young. For our holiday this year, we headed to the region of Abruzzo to visit our family, bringing back memories from my first visit, and a sense of nostalgia for my Mum, as she grew up spending many summer holidays in the village.

We stayed in the family home; the place where my Grandad grew up! An old, rustic building from the outside. The whole week was a very wholesome and special experience, with authentic Italian food, a chance to experience the yearly ‘festa’ (where religious processions occur, music performances and families coming together), trips to the beach with the most stunning landscape views on the way, delicious cappuccinos, a chance to really relax and unwind, and an opportunity

to engulf ourselves into Italian culture. Many people who grew up in the village, became chefs by trade, some leaving to work all around the world, which is very much celebrated by the village; so no bad meals whatsoever!

After the scenic, authentic week, the four of us (my sister and I, and our boyfriends) headed to Rome, to sight-see and explore one of the most historic cities in Europe. Nevertheless, as a recommendation from us, avoid July and August due to the high temperatures this time of year. The heat was unbearable, and the number of tourists visiting during this time of year was incredible.

Tips and Recommendations If You Visit Rome:

Travel during colder and cooler months, the heat becomes unbearable in a city!

If this is not possible, and you still want to visit all the iconic landmarks in Rome during the summertime, wake up as early as possible (one day we began our day at about 6.30am) to avoid the heat and tourists whilst visiting the most touristy parts of Rome.

Stay just outside of the city; cheaper accommodation, cheaper and quieter restaurants, and the transport is incredibly easy to navigate (we stayed in Basilica San Paulo).

Rome is known for its pickpockets! Keep a small bag close and in front of you with all your important items, and most importantly be aware whilst sight-seeing as that is when tourists look most vulnerable.

Book any restaurants you want to go to at least a day in advance, as I said previously, if you want to eat in Rome’s city centre, it can get extremely busy, meaning queues to wait for a table.

If you plan to visit the Vatican, avoid the queues, and use the various companies around the area that can skip the line for you; less cost efficient, but allows you to avoid queuing in the heat.

Listen to the locals! They know the best restaurants, bars, and advice! Our family who live in Rome could take us to their favourite recommendations.

Three to four days is more than enough to see everything!

Later in the summer, we headed to Lisbon! A discovery I’ve made this summer, is I love sight-seeing around cities! To be able to have the opportunity to explore and delve into each cities culture, history, traditions, and lifestyle.

Lisbon is a vibrant, architecturally beautiful place. The monuments and landmarks were breath-taking, for example, the Arco da Rua Augusta or the many churches and cathedrals that were painted in delicate art and carved so elegantly.

We spent three days exploring Lisbon (excluding travel days), and similarly like Rome, we used public transport and stayed just outside of the city centre; more cost efficient and meant we were able to have the option of a pool for hotter days. The public transport was even easier than Rome’s, it was simply four different lines; making London’s tube map look extremely overwhelming! If you wanted to explore anywhere else around Lisbon, trains were easy to navigate from bigger stations. On one day we decided to travel to Belem, a stunning, coastal city; definitely worth a visit for at least a day!

From my personal experience, I felt Lisbon was a great place for young people to visit, it felt safe, it was easy to navigate, it had great, affordable restaurants, café’s and bars, and yet still felt relaxing. We even managed to get lucky with the weather as the heat was bearable, the opposite of Rome!

Tips and Recommendations If You Visit Lisbon:

Stay outside the city centre, like Rome; more cost efficient and easy to get to the centre via public transport.

Expect to do a lot of walking. Lisbon is HILLY. Bring a good pair of trainers with you, as most of the landmarks are a distance from each other with a few big hills in between them.

Enjoy the many brunch restaurants and café’s! So many cool and vibey places to have breakfast before a day of sight-seeing! Our favourite was the Copenhagen Coffee Lab.

Enjoy the many restaurants for lunch or dinner. Tik Tok was our best friend here, they had great recommendations. Our favourite was ‘Terraco Editorial’, a roof top restaurant, directly facing the Santa Justa Lift.

Roof Top bars or restaurants in Cais Do Sodre! The best way to appreciate the city at night, have a cocktail and enjoy the vibe of the area.

Pastel De Nata’s! You MUST have one of Portugal’s most famous tarts. There are many places you can try one of these! We had ours at the famous Pastel De Belem, but unfortunately, we felt this was overrated and a tourist hot spot.

Dedicate one day to see all the famous landmarks. Even though each landmark is a distance away from one another, you will still definitely be able to visit them all in a day, allowing you to then have spare time to visit Sintra or Belem. If there are any important ones you would like to visit, book in advance!

Visit Jardim Botanico Tropical. We could have easily spent the whole afternoon here. This was honestly one of our favourite parts of the trip, it was a lovely, peaceful escape from the city and a place not many tourists were aware of!

Don’t be afraid to head away from the touristy spots, when we decided to walk slightly further away from the hour long queue for Castelo de Sao Jorge, we discovered a two minute queue for a tower where we were able to see the exact same view for half the price!

I hope these tips and recommendations can help you in some way if you plan to visit Lisbon, Rome, or any other European city! I am very grateful I got to experience three places this summer and see my family again after so many years!

I highly recommend both Rome and Lisbon to visit if you ever are considering having a European break away!

All Images/Edits/Words By Alice Abel