5 WEEKS IN EUROPE
In 2023, I was fortunate enough to do a condensed version of my 3 month 2019 Europe trip! We went to Portugal, Spain, Croatia, Greece and Malta.
Check out the itinerary below with travel, accommodation, food, activities and pricing guidelines and tips!
If you’ve got more time in Europe,
check out my 3 month itinerary.
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Travel: 22 hr 5 min flight from Sydney
Accommodation: Selina Secret Garden Lisbon (Really social hostel in a great location)
Food: Portuguese Tarts | Breakfast Burrito from Comoba
Restaurants: Dear Breakfast | Comoba | Lisboa for sunset | Time out Market
Activities: Get lost walking through the streets | Carmo Convent (pay to go inside) | Rossio Square | Praça do Comércio | FX Factory | Bars and clubs along Pink Street
Weather: July | 28 - 30 degrees
Price: $ (Very reasonably priced. Portugal was the most affordable country of our trip)
Tips: Walk everywhere - Although hilly, Lisbon is a very walkable city and it’s the best way to see everything! You can hire Lime/Dott scooters if you prefer that option.
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Travel: 3 hr 50 min Flix bus
Accommodation: Airbnb
Food: Buteo Bar and Kitchen (great steak) | Pepperino (best Italian) | Osaka (all you can eat sushi)
Activities: Kayak | Praia de São Roque | Praia da Prainha | Praia dos Estudantes | Skybar for sunset drinks | Walk through old town
Weather: July | 25 - 30 degrees. The water is still freezing in July
Price: $ (The cheapest party place in Europe!)
Tips: Joe’ Garage is the best pub/club. They also have beer pong competitions
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Travel: 3 hr 50 min Flix bus, 1 hr 20 flight to Madrid, 1 hr flight to Pampalona (Full travel day)
Accommodation: Pension Pampalonabed (a 20 minute walk to the centre of town but it was a much cheaper option. There’s still plenty going on in the area, and it was a lot better than the photos)
Food: Sangria
Activities: Opening ceremony | Bull fight | Running with the bulls | Street parties
Weather: July | 27 degrees
Price: $
Tips: You can purchase your white clothes from any store around the centre
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Travel: 3 hr train
Accommodation: Pierre & Vacances Apartamentos
Food: Bel Mondo (book 3 months in advance)
Activities: Tour Bernabéu | Flamenco show | El Retiro Park
Weather: July | 32 degrees (it’s VERY hot)
Price: $$
Tips: When we were in Madrid, Bernabéu was under construction which is a good reminder to check whether stadiums and attractions are open in their full capciy before you book!
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Travel: 1 hr 20 min flight
Accommodation: White Beach Ibiza Apartment
Food: The Fish Shack - fresh seafood on the rocks 5m from the ocean. Enjoy amazing and simple seafood and then dip in the ocean. They only accept cash and it’s hard to get back from the restaurant so ask them to call you a taxi.
Activities: Amnesia | See a headline show at Ushuaia | Hi Ibiza
Weather: July | 35 - 45 degrees (we were there in a heat wave)
Price: $$$$ (Outside of the clubs it’s reasonably priced but inside the venues is the most expensive place in the world)
Tips: If you’re in a big group, it’s often worth getting a table at the big events as it’s cheaper than all buying individual tickets and drinks.
Also, pre-drink hard. A 2.25L bottle of Greygoose is €145 outside of the clubs and inside it’s €1,600.
When planning your trip, look at the residencies and events to line up with your trip.
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Travel: 1 hr flight
Accommodation: BCN Condal Hostal (Great budget option in a perfect location)
Food: La Rambla Markets | Prawns from n°30
Restaurants: Taller de Tapas
Activities: Walk around and explore the city; La Rambla Markets, Gaudi District, La Sagrada Familia | Park Guell | Dow Jones Bar
Weather: July | 30 degrees
Price: $$
Tips: If you want to go into any of the main attractions, pre book you tickets as they’ll be sold out on the day.
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Travel: 2 hr flight
Accommodation: Airbnb that’s no longer available but try and stay in or close to the Old Town
Food: Prawn Pizza from Bokamorra Haute Courture Pizza & Cocktails
Restaurants: Bokamorra Haute Courture Pizza & Cocktails
Activities: Krka Waterfalls, food and wine tour | Explore the Old Town | Bacvice Beach | Pub Crawl
Weather: July | 35 degrees (we were in a heatwave)
Price: $$
Tips: You can no longer swim in Krka Waterfalls. All tours now go down the river to Skradin which is a old town and you can swim here. I’d recommend doing the wine tour otherwise you’ll have a lot of free time and there’s not much to do.
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Accommodation: Contiki Croatia Island Sail (plus boat)
Food: Hvar Gelato | Capriosca Cocktail from Pjaca bar, Hvar
Activities: Activities are organised through the boat. Being on a Contiki tour, the really push you to sign up to all their tours within the first hour and you can’t back out. Definitely don’t get them to get you outfits for Pirate Night - such a waste. Also all of the dinners are in weird spots that they get a cut for.
Weather: July | 30 - 40 degrees (We were there in a heatwave)
Price: $$$$ Sail Croatia is expensive but it is a once in a lifetime experience
Tips: The most expensive part of Sail is the alcohol and your onboard bar tab. Smuggle alcohol onboard and use it to top up your drinks or pay for every second drink so it doesn’t look suspicious.
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Accommodation: Villa Sol
Restaurants: Any restaurant along the port
Activities: Rent a sun lounger and umbrella and spend the day at Beach Dardin
Weather: July | 35 degrees
Price: $ (Cheaper than Split)
Tips: Have a day after Sail Croatia to just relax by a beach. We stayed in Kastel Stari so we were closer to the airport.
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Travel: 4 hr flight to Stuttgart and 4 hr flight to Santorini
Accommodation: Fira Backpackers
Food: Yogi - Gyros (best gyros I had all trip)
Restaurants: 218 Degrees Cafe (amazing view) | Vigla Restaurant and Cafe | Don Angelo
Activities: Imerovigli to Oia hike | Red beach | Hire quad bikes and explore the island | Buy drinks and watch the sunset from the streets of Oia | Sunset cruise | Amoudi Bay
Weather: July | 35 - 40 degrees (We were there in a heat wave)
Price: $$ (If you’re on the cliffs it’s very expensive but you can save money by staying in a hostel and eating Gyros)
Tips: There’s not much to do in Santorini besides staying on the cliff. If you can afford it, stay for a couple of days and get a villa. If you’re only there one night like us, we got a Hostel and went to the cliff for sunset as we weren’t going to have the time to enjoy the villa.
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Travel: 1 hr 10 min ferry
Accommodation: Far Out Beach Club
Food: Gyros from Faros Restaurant
Restaurants: Salt Restaurant Bar | Bamboo Bar Restaurant
Activities: Half day boat tour with Meltemi Watersports | Pathos Sunset Lounge for sunset | Slammer shot at Slammer Bar (you get smacked in the head with a fire hydrant) | Traffic Bar | Get slapped at Flames Bar | Lost Boys | Silent Disco at Shush Bar | Far Out Beach Club | Tubbing at Mylopotas beach
Weather: July | 30 - 35 degrees
Price: $
Tips: Ios is the best Greek Island! Amazing partying, unbelievable food, affordable and so much fun. It also has some beautiful beaches so make sure you explore them. Doing the boat tour was our highligh and you can BYO.
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Travel: 1 hr 15 min ferry
Accommodation: Tropicana
Restaurants: Alemagou
Activities: Sunset in old town | Visit the windmills | Explore Little Venice | Scorpios Mykonos (go to Scorpios for a drink and the experience and then chill at the beach next to Scorpios) | Super Paradise | Paradise Beach | Go to an event at Cavo Paradiso
Weather: July | 30 degrees
Price: $$$$$ very expensive
Tips: Personally, I would avoid Mykonos until you have heaps of money and designer clothes. If you do go, don’t go to Namos - We had a booking but apparently a booking doesn’t guarantee a booking (??) We waited 2 hours before we gave up as they weren’t even updating us. It’s also a hassle to get to so we spent so much money getting their alone.
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Travel: 2 hr 30 min ferry
Accommodation: Plaka Hotel
Restaurants: Attic Urban Rooftop (great view of the acropolis for sunset drinks) | Kayak ice cream
Activities: Acropolis
Weather: July | 40 degrees (we were there in a heatwave)
Price: $
Tips: Avoid going to the acropolis during the heat of the day. Also pre-book your tickets so you’re guaranteed entry.
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Travel: 2 hr 45 min flight
Accommodation: Two Pillows Boutique Hotel
Restaurants: Taste | Maggies | La Vida | Ta Kris
Activities: Blue Lagoon day trip | Spend the afternoon in Valletta | Visit Mdina | St Paul’s Catacombs | Visit Rabit | Blue Grotto | St Peter’s Pool
Weather: August | 30 - 35 degrees
Price: $
Tips: Malta has great Uber service - the most I waited was 5 mins even in the most deserted place. It’s also very cheap so I’d recommend using Uber rather than hiring a car as parking is impossible.
