Welcome to Alonga Travel: Your Guide to European Destinations & City Breaks

Hello and welcome to Alonga Travel, the site for anyone who wants to visit Europe, and learn where to go for most authentic experiences.

If you ended up here, you are most likely not interested to go on a guided tour of Europe. You want to have an adventure of your own. You just need some help discovering where to go and how to get there, right?

You might also want some advice on where to stay (mostly, which areas of a particular city is fun and safe).

I cover all this for the places I’ve visited. I share my personal experiences, pictures, videos and research to help you discover the best places to visit.

My hope is that my tips will help you plan your own European trip without any worries, save you some money, and make your journey even more special.

Hello, I’m Tatiana. I’m hopelessly in love with old uniquely looking buildings, and cozy urban scenes, and finding best places in Europe to go. Check out my travel tips of over 20 years of travel experiences and reviews of the best European destinations and city breaks. Let's connect on social media!

City block with bright old buildings & custom sign: 'Alonga Travel, your guide to best of Europe"

I've seen some amazing places in my travels - beautiful buildings, cozy urban scenes, beautiful trees, and sea beaches. I travel solo and I have no one to share my opinions on this beauty with.

And yet, this beauty just has to be shared (if just to prove to myself it wasn’t a dream?:)

It inspired me to create this website and share my travel tips with you so you can see these places too (and maybe tell me about them afterwards?)

I want to show you the best spots in Europe that made me fall in love with it.

Why I have created Alonga Travel

Hello, I’m Tatiana. I’m hopelessly in love with old uniquely looking buildings and cozy urban scenes.

But what I like the best – is to have authentic experiences.

Living in the US, I still tried to go to Europe as often as I could take time off. Finding cheap flights from Oregon was tricky! :)

But lately, I’m trying a wild thing: traveling full-time while working online.
This gave me a chance to do some slow traveling and getting to know my destinations really well.

I became an insider, and I can provide even better travel tips for you now!

I learn as I go and I share my experience at destinations with you. Join me on my quest?

About me

Are you a visual person? I am a visual person myself; I need to see things, not hear about them. So, I enjoy sharing a lot of pictures, videos and maps, so you can have a better idea of what I am sharing.

And if you are a lover of historical architecture like me, and your emotions are moved by beautiful older buildings, castles and palaces - you might enjoy my blog even more!

Are you a visual person?

Moody narrow street of Madrid with a red door of Taberna Meson is a great European destination

There are many wonderful continents out there and each has great stories to write about (and sometimes I do write them). However, Europe leaves the most powerful impression on me because of its ambience and liveliness of its streets, and the main draw - beautiful old buildings.

I'm heavily into aesthetics. I need to see pretty things for my emotional well-being. Do you feel this way as well? And scenes from European streets give me great aesthetic pleasure! I hope I'll be able to share this pleasure with you through my photos and videos.

One can see some incredible old architectures in Europe. Some are unique to the area, like Mudejar architecture unique to the Iberian Peninsula.

When every street corner is picturesque and the streets are lively and addicting, it’s hard for me to stay away from Europe for long.

I write about Europe because I'm deeply passionate about its beauty and want to share that beauty with you.

Why do I write about Europe?

Fresh seafood and food markets in Europe

Europe is also a great place for food enthusiasts, with delicious seafood and vibrant food markets adding to the experience. This food is often freshly caught from the sea and sold on some picturesque seaside pier or on a vibrant city market, where buying food turns into an entertaining adventure!

These fresh sardines (below) were just caught an hour before and were being sold right from the boat on Lipari Aeolian Island off the coast of Sicily.

Fresh sardines sold from a fishermen boat in Lipari makes Sicily a fun European destination

A vibrant street food market under old mediaeval houses in Palermo is a great hidden gem of Europe

a painting of Venice in National Gallery of London, the gem of a cultural European Destination

Europe is soaked with arts and music. Its museums attract and fascinate and they are considered to be the best in the world for a reason!

Taking all this in, it’s easy to understand why visiting Europe leaves such a powerful impression.

And I want to share with you this incredible European experience that has changed my life in so many ways, as I am sure it will change yours as well!

What You Can Expect from This Website

Lively mediaeval square in Barcelona makes for a best city break in Europe

On Alonga Travel, you will find the info on the best European city breaks and best European destinations to help you choose your destination better! I share with you stories and photos from my personal experiences and from extensive research.

I share my personal favorite destination, as well as some hidden gems you might not find in guidebooks. If you're into off-beat destinations, bookmark my blog and come back later for my new finds.

I also group topics about different destinations by countries, like topics about Portugal, for example.

I cover urban walks where you can discover pretty historical architecture and I advise on things to do at your destination.

I also give in-depth insider's travel tips and practical advice for traveling in Europe:

How to plan your trip.
How to find the best deals and accommodations.
How to get there. Read my post about how to get around Portugal, and how to travel between Portuguese cities, as an example of topics I cover.
Or, read cheapest ways to get around Europe in general and how to use public transportation and rideshare once you are already in the city, to save money.
I also talk about tourist traps, scams and questionable practices some travel companies employ, with kiwi.com as an example.

I offer some tips on where to eat, but I am of an opinion that it's fun to make a foodie itinerary yourself, so I won't deprive you of that!; )

These travel tips will make your trip easier and more fun!

Join me on my quest to find the gems of Europe. Subscribe to my newsletter and follow me on social media (I am mostly active on Twitter and Facebook at the moment). Let's learn from each other's experiences and discover new destinations together.

Tatiana

Join me on my travel explorations!

Let's connect on social media!

If you would like to support my work and this website maintenance cost, that would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

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Alonga Travel the author smiles behind her laptop in her mobile rooftop office in Portugal over

Hi, I am Tatiana—a digital nomad with over 20 years of travel experience, slow traveling around Europe and beyond. Do you like my rooftop mobile office in front of a beautiful church and a storks' nest on its roof? That was such an awesome experience!:) Follow my travel explorations on Alonga Travel and unique findings to learn of places like this!