I know it’s an absolute cliché, but I cannot believe how fast 2019 went by! I remember sitting on the couch in January, thinking about my top 5 travel destinations for the year, and bam, fast-forward to the end of December – I’m here on the couch again, with a lot more trips than I imagined and a record number of new countries visited. Wanna see where I wandered in 2019? Then keep reading!
1. Denmark & Sweden
I gave my best friend a travel voucher for her birthday last year. She looked at it, then looked at me and asked “How about Copenhagen?” So we gathered our friends, booked a cute Airbnb that later turned out to be in a basement, bought our tickets to the 2019 World Men’s Handball Championship, and off we went in January. And since Sweden was just a short and cheap bus ride away, we visited Malmö, too. It was definitely a strong start to a year full of adventure!
2. United Kingdom
After cancelling our trip to Cambridge last January due to the flu, we finally got to visit this charming city this year! It was everything I hoped for with its quaint buildings, welcoming stores and pubs with the heartiest meals. I really enjoyed visiting the university campus and its bookstore – the annual Cambridge University Press sale caused serious problems for me and my carry-on suitcase!
3. Austria & Liechtenstein & Switzerland & Germany
This was one of my whirlwind trips again – you know, when you see places on a map and you’re like “Oh this is not far from here! And since we’re gonna be there, we could go to this other country, too!” Never had this feeling? Really? And what if I said we visited all four countries in four days? Ha! The highlights of this trip included an evening walk in Innsbruck, hiking up to Vaduz Castle, visiting St. Gallen and a day spent in Munich.
4. Bosnia and Herzegovina
This trip was a special one for multiple reasons – this was the first time I travelled for work, the first time I visited Bosnia and the first time I saw an operating mosque in real life. I know, I know. We only had an afternoon for sightseeing, but I enjoyed every bit of it – Sarajevo is just stunning! Also, the road trip there and back was a fun ride itself – blocked roads, tunnels under construction, just to name a few highlights!
5. Switzerland again
I booked our trip to Geneva back in January, because I just couldn’t stand living in Europe without ever having been to Switzerland anymore. Little did I know that I’d go to St. Gallen in April, but hey, better twice than never, right? The highlight of this trip was definitely a run we had around Lake Geneva (Lac Léman) before sunset, and hopping on a bus or in our friend’s car and heading to France – which takes me to the next item on the list:
6. France
I’ve been eyeing Annecy for as long as I can remember, so when we decided to go to Geneva, it was a no-brainer that we would hop on a Flixbus and visit Annecy, too. It’s such a charming town with top-notch cuisine, but the highlight of this day came when we rented a waterbike and spent the afternoon on the lake, reading a book I bought a day earlier in Geneva. Our French adventures didn’t end with Annecy, though, as after spending a whole day inside due to a rainstorm in Geneva, we met a friend of mine who took us to Yvoire, a beautiful medieval village full of amazing restaurants – I couldn’t recommend it more!
7. United States
The two weeks spent here were a bit overwhelming, but this trip was definitely one of the most memorable ones this year! This time, my parents came with us to visit my my newborn niece (and the rest of our family, of course), and while we enjoyed every moment of staying in Nebraska, we said goodbye for a week and flew to San Francisco. It would have been a great trip on its own, but we opted for a proper road trip, exploring a bit of Northern California every day. Click here to read about it, if a trip like this tickles your fancy!
8. Italy
This wasn’t my first day trip to Milan, as I spent a day there back in 2014, but this time was special because we did it by plane! Actually, we jumped on the first flight departing from Budapest and got home around midnight. What can you possibly squeeze in a day like this? Some coffee in a not-at-all touristy part of town, the Duomo, the Navigli area, the best pizza ever, some shopping, an amazing Aperol Spritz and a walk of ca. 20kms that cause you very painful and bloody blisters on your heels. You’re welcome.
9. Ukraine
I was really lucky to go on a second work trip abroad this year, but it had its firsts, too: the first time I flew LOT and the first time I missed the last connecting flight back home so we had to stay the night at a hotel close to the airport in Warsaw – also a first, but I didn’t really see much of the city, so it’s still on my list! Kyiv was definitely one of the most interesting cities I’ve visited this year, it’s buzzing, the architecture is familiar yet completely exotic for my Hungarian eyes, and I loved how many cute cafes you can choose from if you wish to slow down a bit during the day!
10. Turkey
Istanbul – the item that has been sitting on the top of my travel wish-list for years and years. Words cannot really express my excitement when we finally landed in Turkey and hopped on the Havabus headed to Taksim Square in Istanbul. I completely fell in love with the city – all the brunch places, the many pretty cafes, the architecture, and the kindness of strangers that made us smile during our trip – especially a woman offering us home made cookies at the airport. We didn’t have a common language to use, but all she had to say was “Mama, mama”, while pointing at the cookies and we just knew they must have been made with love.
11. Germany again
A close friend of mine moved to Hamburg about a year ago, so it was high time I visited her. It was a proper weekend trip, but I actually took the plane to Berlin and a Flixbus from there to Hamburg and back. It could have been solved by a single flight but I had plenty of time and it was way more fun and much cheaper this way! Hamburg itself is an absolutely charming city, and I could even show some new places to my friend. It was the perfect slow trip to end an otherwise pretty hectic year!
If you are interested in a more graphic view of my year, here are the numbers:
Number of countries visited: 13
Number of new countries: 7
Days spent travelling: 49
Now tell me about your year, guys: what were the highlights? Where would you go back in a heartbeat? Any places you maybe wouldn’t recommend?