Cultural travel / Beyond the city
Regional Travel & Itineraries in Europe
Choose a base. Give the places around it some time.
These guides bring together European itineraries, regional travel advice and day trips, from the coast and islands of Campania to Provence and the west of Ireland. Start with a route, or choose an area and build your days around it, with time for the places between the headline stops.
A few places to begin
Three ways to plan your trip
A route through several places, a longer stay in one region, or an outing from the city you have chosen as your base.
Follow a route
Follow the Amalfi Coast
Ten days linking Naples, an island stay and the coast, with ferries doing much of the travelling. Start here if you want a sequence of bases and a clear shape for the trip.
Read the 10-day itinerary
Explore a region
Give Connemara some time
Use the regional guide to choose a base and build days around the coast, walks and places to eat, with room to respond to the weather.
Explore Connemara
Keep a city base
Choose a day trip from Florence
Compare the places you can visit from a Florence base, then choose the outing that adds most to your stay. The city itself still deserves time.
Compare day tripsOne base, a little further
Day trips from your base
Choose an outing that adds something to your stay. You do not need to leave the city every day.
01 / Regions & itineraries
Italy
Tuscany
Florence, Siena and the hill towns give a Tuscan trip its cultural bearings, while Chianti and the Val d’Orcia change the scale of the days between them. Start by deciding where to base yourself and which places belong together. The guides here cover towns, a road-trip route and outings from Florence; there is no need to turn every day into another transfer.
Campania: coast & islands
Naples, the Amalfi Coast and the islands ask for different amounts of time and different ways of getting around. Decide which places deserve an overnight stay before trying to connect them all. The regional routes, island comparisons and day-trip guides help you choose between moving on and returning to the same base.
Routes across Italy
Itineraries linking more than one region, and further regional guides for shaping a trip around several bases.
02 / Regions & itineraries
Ireland
Kerry
The Ring of Kerry is easy to treat as a drive to complete. Its smaller roads, walking stops and places to stay deserve a place in the decision too. Start with the route advice, then choose the detours that interest you; Killarney and a drive through Ballaghbeama Gap serve different purposes in a day.
Connemara
Connemara suits days built around the weather, with beaches, walking country and small coastal places giving you several ways to spend them. I have been coming here since childhood. Use the regional guide to choose where to stay and what you want time for, then add an outing such as the Sky Road without treating the whole region as a single drive.
Westport & Mayo
Westport can be the base for a stay as well as a stop on a western route. Begin with the town guide, then decide whether an outing such as Croagh Patrick belongs in your plans. Give a mountain walk the time and preparation it needs rather than adding it as another quick stop.
Wider Ireland planning
Seasonal advice and broader routes to help you shape a trip beyond one regional stay.
03 / Regions & itineraries
France
Provence
Avignon, the villages around Saint-Rémy and the wine country offer different starting points for a Provence stay. Choose a base with your actual outings in mind, then use the itinerary and day-trip guides to connect the places that interest you. Leave room for the town you are sleeping in as well as the places you travel out to see.
French Riviera
Antibes offers a way to combine a town stay with time on the coast. Its streets and the walk around Cap d’Antibes warrant time of their own, before you start adding excursions. Use the destination guides to decide how long to stay, then choose a base that suits the part of the Riviera you want to explore.
More regional guides in France
Explore further parts of France and plan the places to include in your trip.
04 / Regions & itineraries
Spain
AndalucÃa
Seville, Córdoba and Granada give an AndalucÃa itinerary distinct chapters, with different histories and different demands on your time. Start with the regional route and adjust it to the days you actually have. The aim is to choose the connections that make sense for your trip and give each stay enough room.
More regional guides in Spain
Further routes and regional guides for planning a stay in Spain.
05 / Regions & itineraries
Portugal
Douro Valley
The Douro Valley deserves consideration as somewhere to stay, with time for the vineyards and the place you choose as your base. Start with the destination guide before deciding how much of the valley to cover. A visit from Porto and a stay in the valley are different trips; choose the one you want to have.
Sintra
Sintra can be visited from Lisbon, but the number of palaces is a poor measure of what fits into a day. Begin with the trip-length guide and decide which places you most want to see. Staying longer gives you a different option, with time for the town and fewer decisions made against the clock.
More regional guides in Portugal
Explore further places in Portugal and decide how to connect them.
The Cultured Voyages Edit
Give the places between your stops some time
Choosing a region gives you room to return to a market, take a different road or spend an afternoon in the town where you are staying. What you notice in those hours can matter as much as the route you planned.
The Art of Understanding Places brings together seven principles, each with the travel experience behind it and something to try for yourself. Get the guide free when you join The Edit, my fortnightly letter on how we see and experience travel.
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