Nevada, the land of glittering lights and untamed landscapes, captivated me from the moment I arrived. My journey began in the vibrant city of Las Vegas, where neon signs lit up the night sky and the energy was palpable. Exploring the famous Strip felt like stepping into a world of endless entertainment, with iconic casinos, extravagant shows, and bustling streets.
Venturing beyond the city limits, I discovered the rugged beauty of the Mojave Desert. From the otherworldly rock formations of Red Rock Canyon to the tranquil waters of Lake Mead, Nevada’s natural wonders left me in awe. Hiking through winding trails and marveling at panoramic vistas, I felt a deep connection to the timeless landscape.
One of the highlights of my trip was visiting the majestic Hoover Dam, an engineering marvel that stands as a testament to human ingenuity. Standing atop the dam, gazing out over the vast expanse of Lake Mead, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of wonder at the sheer scale of it all.
As the sun set on my Nevada adventure, I found myself reflecting on the unforgettable experiences I had. Whether wandering the neon-lit streets of Las Vegas or exploring the tranquil beauty of the desert, Nevada had captured my heart in ways I never expected. It was a journey filled with excitement, discovery, and moments of pure magic, leaving me with memories to last a lifetime.
It’s not very hard to find a good place for a weekend getaway in western Europe as there are loads of options with stunning sceneries and all types of climates can be chosen throughout the year. Looking a little further down southwest of Europe there are the canary islands, as they are a part of Spain they are frequently served by all major european airlines and this makes them my favorite choice as a weekend getaway for this blog post.
There is a lot to know about the canary islands in general, but also about Tenerife in particular before you go, so telling the story of my trip may give you some useful information for your next one.
Getting around
Since the island of Tenerife has a peak elevation of over 12000ft (3700m), it has a lot of windy mountain roads. The best choice to really enjoy them is by having your own rental car, this will also give you the freedom to make a stop whenever there is great scenery around and there is plenty of it. The roads have little side areas to stop at almost any lookout point making it a joy to just do a day full of driving around.
Weather
My Trip was in late October, but although in most countries this would mean having bad weather that isn’t the case on the canary islands as they usually have 300 sunny days a year. You may not be able to swim in the open sea as the water temperature drops to 21° C and winds can get a bit chilly at night but that’s it with the cons.
Day One
My two-day trip starts at TFS, the international airport of Tenerife. From here I will be heading on by car. Tipp: I’d recommend to book a small car, as this will give you great advantages when driving through narrower streets in small hillside towns.
Day Two
After breakfast I i set off for my day trip around the island of Tenerife. The weather is great and nature shows it’s full palette of mesmerizing sights, be it steep and serrated cliffs or flowers in unique shapes and colors.
The water all around the island is dark-blue and crystal clear, from the various viewpoints along the mountain roads I can see where the water is deep or shallow.
Naturally, when visiting an island water usually is the biggest topic as the open sea is visible almost all the time. Looking at this picture I can literally hear the ocean waves touching the bottom of the cliffs.
Lately, I decided to do a trip to Swedens beautiful and interesting capital – Stockholm. In this Blog I will try to give you some useful information about what you can expect, where to eat and some tips to keep it all on a resonable budget.
Part 1: Arrival
In my case – like probably most of the visitors – I arrive by plane. This means my journey begins at Stockholm Arlanda Airport (ARN) which is located 23 miles (27km) north of the city. There are multiple ways to the center of Stockholm, I recommend to choose between these two options:
Option 1: This is the convenient one. Take the Arlanda-Express-Train (Timetables can be found here), it will cost you around 579 SEK (~ 53$) for a one person round trip and the train takes 18 minutes to Stockholm central station.
Arlanda train station
Option 2: This is the one I will be taking for my trip and although it is not as convenient as option one, it will be very more helpful later on my trip. First I need to download the „SL App“ from the AppStore to my phone and after registering my phone number I have to buy a 24h transport pass. It is very easy to find as it will show up on the first screen of the SL app right after opening it. Public transport from Stockholm city center serves ARN airport by conventional long distance commuter trains, and the easiest and most accurate way to find your next departure time is by using google maps. The 24h pass will cost 165 SEK (~ 16$) and an additional 130 SEK (~ 12$) to pass a special gate connecting arlanda central train station to the arrival terminal. This special access can also be purchased in the SL app under „further options“.
Transportation budget: 28 $ for a 24h pass including the gate access fee.
Part 2: Welcome to the City
Stockholm has it all, water, historic buildings, modern architecture, beautiful cafes and as a bonus parts of the city lay up on a hill and give you an unobstructed (and free) view over the harbor area and some museums. I will start my city trip by bringing my backpack to the hotel. It is located right inside „gamla stan“ which means old town. Stockholm is known for it’s expensive hotel prices, so I had a closer look and found this hidden gem called Castle House Inn.
The total price for one room with a shared bathroom is 687 SEK (~ 63$) which in my opinion is a decent price for an expensive city like this. At check-in, the friendly receptionist tells me I have been upgraded to a room with private bathroom, that’s great news and I absolutely appreciate that. Furthermore, honestly for this price I would’ve never expected to have a room with this size (Booking.com description says 10sqm but it’s actually more than 25sqm).
Hotel budget: 63$ excluding breakfast for a double room for one night
Part 3: Where can I get cheap food in stockholm?
This is one of the questions I’ve been asking myself the most before my trip. Scandinavian cities certainly are not the cheapest to live in, this may not affect the people living here as they are able to compensate this through their higher wages, but as a visitor I decide to check where I can get the best value for the price. After a little research I found out that there are plenty of places where I could get lunch or dinner for under 10$ so I decided to walk by a few of those venues to check them out and try which value is offered in this price range. However, the selection that i endet up with a fair price / value was manageable. Out of all options there is one for each time of the day which I can certainly recommend:
Treat yourself with delicious shakshuka for breakfast at Eva’s Brunch located up the hill where you are just 3 mins of walking after breakfast from having one of the best city views. This place is not a hidden gem so expect to wait for a few minutes as seating is limited inside but in my opinion it’s worth the wait.
Best price/value for lunch is offered at Pizza Hut right in the center of Stockholm. The restaurant is way better than it may look like from outside. Give it a chance for lunch and you won’t be disappointed, neither of the price nor the value.
Last but not least, dinner was the toughest choice. There is simply no restaurant serving dinner for under 10$ in this city which i could recommend with certainty. But luckily there is a fantastic little vietnamese restaurant called Vi-Na Fresh Drottninggatan and man, the grandmas noodle bowl was a chefs kiss! With 16$ it’s still not that expensive and for me the location itself was worth a visit.
There are so many things do do in Stockholm and I could easily spend a week and several hundreds of dollars here but this time I would like to find out what’s possible without breaking the bank. I was delighted to find out that it is possible to do a round trip through the Stockholm archipelago without spending a single $. Remember the day pass for the metro system I purchased when I arrived to ARN airport? Correct, even ferries are included in this pass. After boarding ferry nr. 83 from Slussen dock I’m on my way to Vaxholm, which is located approximately 10mi (16km) northeast of Stockholm and after just 15 minutes on this little island I take the next ferry back to the city because nature on the way through the archipelago is just so mesmerizing. The ferries have lots of seating available as well as big rooftop decks where I can fully take in this perfect experience.
Of course, there are many great museums – even some which are one of their kind and although they surely are worth a visit, I accept to miss them this time and I have to say I don’t regret it because there is so much else to see and best of all for almost free.
Sunrise in Stockholm in the fall/winter season is at ~7-8am and I use it to capture some time-lapse videos and pictures before heading for breakfast as most of the breakfast restaurants open at 9am. Gamla Stan – the old city with it’s narrow streets and beautiful docks looks incredible in the light of the golden sunrise hour.
The last „attraction“ which I decide to visit is the Drottningholm castle, where the Swedish monarchs are home. No surprises here, the place is awesome, especially the gardens where some parts have been thoughtfully remodeled lately. The slottspark, as the swedish say, is vast and has many differently themed areas, inspired by the conversations King Gustav III had when visiting other countries like Russia, France and the UK. He even appointed a master gardener from Kensington palace.
Sightseeing Budget: 0$
Part 5: My trip ends
After 24h in Stockholm I am now back at Arlanda airport and rethinking all the experiences of this trip while, thanks to my American Express card, enjoying my typical swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes.
