will and sarah in europe

As you know, Sarah and I are heading to Europe for nine weeks this year. We fly out of Perth on the 21st of July, overnight to Singapore, then connect through Helsinki and land in London on the morning of the 22nd.

Our time in London begins with a couple of days staying with family while we explore the city on the 23rd. On the 24th, we drive out to Oxford to explore its historic universities, old college buildings and surrounding countryside before heading down to Dorset for a few days of camping with family near Swanage and Corfe Castle.

Next up is West Bay for a night, the famous filming location of Broadchurch. On the 27th we cut through Bath in the morning before heading up to the Cotswolds for a night in the village of Broadway.

We continue on into Wales, driving through Snowdonia National Park before reaching Llandudno on the north coast. Then it’s east for a night at Ruthin Castle.

Our next stretch takes us north back into England and into the Lake District. We stay two nights in Windermere and one night in Keswick before continuing on to Cambridge for a night, then back to London for our final couple of days with family.

On the 5th, we head to Harry Potter World for the day — something Sarah is very excited about. The next day, on the 6th, we fly to Oslo, where we spend the afternoon exploring before one night in the city.

We then catch a train north through the mountains — one of Norway’s most scenic railway journeys — taking us to Åndalsnes. After that, a bus along the coast into Ålesund for two nights, where we’ll walk up Aksla Hill to the café at the top for views over the fjords and islands.

We take a ferry through the Geirangerfjord — one of Norway’s great scenic journeys. After exploring Geiranger, we continue on to Hellesylt and then by bus into Stryn for three nights, exploring surrounding villages, lakes and glaciers.

We then travel through Norway’s fjord country before arriving in Flåm, where we stay just outside town in Aurlandsvangen. The next morning we take the famous Flåm Railway through the mountains, before continuing on to Bergen, where we stay for two nights, exploring the district of Bryggen, Mount Fløyen and Mount Ulriken.

On the morning of the 15th, we fly to Sweden. Were we spend a couple of weeks visiting family across Skinnskatteberg, Västerås, Örebro and Fagersta. On our last night in Sweden we stay in Stockholm before flying to Milan on the 1st of September.

Our Italy leg begins with one night in Milan, where we’ll visit The Last Supper first thing the next morning before heading to Lake Como for two nights in the village of Lierna. We take a train down to Cinque Terre for two nights in Manarola, spending a full day exploring the five villages along the coast.

On the 6th we make our way to Florence for a night, where we’ll visit the Duomo and museums, before picking up a hire car and heading into Tuscany.

Our first night is in Montepulciano, a medieval hilltop town perched above the Tuscan countryside. We continue south to Pitigliano — a medieval town built into volcanic cliffs — where we stay at a local agriturismo and take part in a pasta-making and cooking class.

We then drive to Rome, drop the car off, and spend two nights in the Monti neighbourhood, exploring the Vatican Museums, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain.

For our final nights in Italy, we head down to the Amalfi Coast. We stay in Amalfi on the 13th, and the next morning we head out early to hike the Path of the Gods — a seven-kilometre coastal trail down to Nocelle. We make our way back along the coast through Positano and Praiano before catching a ferry back to Salerno for our last night in Italy, ready for an early flight to Helsinki.

We arrive in Helsinki and spend the afternoon and night there before catching the ferry across to Tallinn in Estonia. We’re staying in Vanalinn, Tallinn’s beautifully preserved medieval Old Town, spending the afternoon and the following morning exploring its cobbled streets, colourful merchant houses and historic city walls.

We return to Helsinki on the 16th for our final night in Europe. The 17th is a full day to explore the city before we head to the airport for our midnight flight to Singapore.

We spend one night in Singapore, exploring the city and catching up on sleep, before flying out in the evening of the 19th and landing back in Perth on the 20th of September.

We will be posting photos and updates here along the way so you can follow our trip.