While we’re in the midst of planning an exciting new trip to Asia for a couple of months over December and into the New Year (sign up to our newsletter to be among the first to hear more about that soon!), we’re also looking ahead to 2016, and to planning our time in Europe.
This year, we definitely felt that we didn’t spend as much time in Berlin as we had hoped to, especially over the summer when we were all over the place! Of course, the summer is a great time to travel in Europe, but it’s also probably the best time to be in Berlin, and since we are aiming to spend more quality time at home in 2016, we have been thinking carefully about our travel plans.
Rather than several longer trips away, we’ll likely make several shorter ones. And being the city boys that we are, pretty much all the places we want to visit in Europe in 2016 are cities, some new for us and others not.
Barcelona
There’s a reasonably strong possibility that directly after our time in Asia, we’ll make a quick stop in Barcelona. Since we’re planning to come back to Europe in late February or early March, this seems like it would be a nice reintroduction to the continent in the tail end of winter, so as to (hopefully) avoid the worst of the weather back north! Zab and I have both been to Barcelona before, but not together, so it would be nice to explore the architecture, food and culture the Catalonian capital has to offer as a couple.
Brno
Having spent a reasonable amount of time in the Czech Republic over the last five years, but only really having visited Prague and Český Krumlov, it seems about time to explore more of the country. We’d love to visit Brno next year because it seems like a really cool, smaller alternative city with an emerging vegan scene, cool cafés and some fun bits of street art.
Warsaw
I’ve been to Warsaw once before (way back in 2004!), but Zab has never been. Seeing as it’s one of the closest capitals to Berlin, it should be easy to make a trip there together happen in 2016. We’ve love to check out the amazing street art in the city, eat all the vegan goodies, find the coolest cafés and check out some gay-friendly spots too. We’d also love to get the chance to meet up with Kami again, if we can manage to catch her while she’s at home!
Paris
We did have the idea of making a city break to Paris this year for Zab’s birthday, but in the end decided to stay at home. Zab is still keen to get back to the French capital soon, though, perhaps for his next birthday or maybe sooner. During the first four or so years we were together, we went to Paris multiple times, and I have not really had a desire to go back since. However, it would be nice to see how vegan-friendly it may or may not be and how my French holds up after not really having used it for at least five years!
Stockholm
This won’t be new for either of us, but it has become something of an annual tradition to spend at least a week in Stockholm each summer, and we’re committed to making it happen again next year. This time, as before, we’d like to spend time with good friends, enjoy the long days, and possibly attend Stockholm Pride again. Additionally, we’d love to (finally!) fully explore the vegan scene in the city, as well as get to know all the cool, hidden cafés, second hand shops and curiosities Stockholm no doubt has hidden away somewhere!
Helsinki
Possibly as a side trip from Stockholm next year, Helsinki has been a city I’ve been keen to visit for a while. I’m not quite sure what attracts me to it other than the fact that I’ve never been, and it’s a in a Nordic but not Scandinavian country, and I’d like to see what that difference boils down to. Also, there are the cafés, the saunas, the nature and the beautiful people!
Where are you planning to visit in Europe in 2016?
