Category Archives: Europe

Places you need to visit at least once in your life!

Paris;

I really wanted to visit Paris ever since I was a kid specially because of Disneyland. I am so glad when the first time I went to Paris I was 22 and the memories I have are so clear. Kids don’t remember anything!! The best age to travel is actually when you can remember what you did, where you went and all those amazing strolls down the aesthetically pleasing streets! You need to stay in a good neighbourhood so that you can actually walk and enjoy your trip. Shopping and cafe culture is something you cannot miss out on in Paris. You need to dress a bit formally in Paris; unlike Los Angeles. They have the biggest Sephora in Paris and you can literally find anything! There was even a cute little Sephora next to our hotel as well. I hate how convenient shopping is in Paris and you literally end up buying whatever catches your eye. Which means you end up buying things you don’t need.

Amsterdam;

This is definitely the most safest city after Zurich. Literally everyone is so sweet and kind. I love the tram culture in Amsterdam, you can never get lost in this amazing dutch city. The canals, weather, food and super easy going lifestyle is what attracts people to visit this amazing place over and over again. You need to try seafood here, particularly the famous SeaFood bar. The weather is super pleasant and you might even need a jacket after sunset (that is if there’s no heat wave). Avoid going to Amsterdam in June & July since chances are you might get caught in middle of a heat wave and it might just ruin your trip. Personally for me, I hate summers and I hate hot weathers. The best time to visit Amsterdam is definitely Autumn and spring.

Norway (Fjords);

I have never visited Norway but this is on my bucket list for the future. Not every trip has to start and end at Champs-Élysées or Rodeo, You need to experience naturally aesthetically pleasing sites too. Fjords are a slice of what heaven would look like. If you don’t know what an amazing piece of land Norway is you need to start looking up (specifically their Fjords). I am grateful to my father to have told me about this amazing piece of land and one day I plan on going there with him and the rest of my family. I’ve always traveled with my entire family and I don’t understand how people can just fly off themselves whilst leaving their families on one side of the world. My father always included us in his plans and I will forever be grateful to him.

Los Angeles;

Flights to LA can be hell tiring and the the jet lag takes at least a week to get over. But is it worth it? HELL YESS!! As soon as you get out of LAX the cool breeze can make you forget about the long flight and how tired you actually are. You just need someone who knows all the places. You need to stay in a safe neighbourhood. I absolutely loved Glendale. The apartment where we stayed was a 5-6 minutes walk from Americana The Brand. I used to walk by myself every single time. People are extremely warm and welcoming. Three things I loved the most was my salt & straw ice cream, In-n-out burgers and Boiling crab. You need to try these things if you’re in Los Angeles(or some other city). I prefer walking when I’m travelling, I hate using any sort of transportation. Absolutely loved Laguna beach and Malibu Beach there, you just need to make sure you don’t slip when a wave comes right at you, just hold your ground. I once had my back towards the ocean, a huge wave just came right at me and I had to make sure I didn’t budge and stand perfectly still( i’m extremely bad at swimming); almost went into the pacific. Sharks are on of my major fears ever since growing up (probably because I watched ever single scary shark movie) I was the only one that close to the water. But oh well I was brave I guess. I just love walking on the beach, soaking my feet in the water and enjoy the sound of the waves. The skies in California are literally out of this world.

Iceland;

This place is yet again on my bucket list. You’ll see geothermal hot springs billowing with white smoke, moss-covered lava fields stretching into the distance, dazzling white glaciers slicked over mountainsides and if you’re lucky you’ll see the Northern lights too.

Nothern lights – Iceland

Peak viewing season for the northern lights is always September through March when the nights are long, during winters darkness can extend for approximately 19 hours. Arrive about five days before a new moon, and you will have a very dark week ahead, perfect for seeing the lights. List of places in Iceland where you can witness Northern lights;

– Hella

– Reykjavík

– Höfn

– Skógar

– Snaefellsnes

Next attraction is the Blue Lagoon. It’s a a geothermal spa, located in a lava field near Grindavík and in front of Mount Þorbjörn.

Lake Tahoe, Nevade;

I went to Lake Tahoe last year, it was summer the season, the lake had all shades of blue and it was so pretty. South Lake Tahoe is a more touristy spot and but you can definitely spot some secluded places with minimal or no people for your photography. Emerald bay was a bit crowded but definitely worth the views. Tahoe has lakes, Greenery and snow capped mountains at the same time. If you plan on going to The States do add driving to Lake Tahoe, you’d love it.

Yosemite National Park, California;

If you truely want to be awed and experience mother natures true beauty you need to visit Yosemite National Park. It includes peaks, canyons, cliffs, domes, rivers, lakes, immense waterfalls, lush green meadows, wildlife, and forests. If you’re lucky (or unlucky) you can also spot a bear just strolling around you. Just don’t feed them and don’t walk off by yourself since the park is packed with wildlife. I saw the biggest squirrels at Yosemite. Literally huge and fat. You’ll see the worlds tallest sequoia trees here too. You’ll feel like you stepped into a fairytale.

I’ll be adding more places to this amazing list. Stay tuned for more✨

Sehr 🩷

P.s if you’ve ever been to any of these places don’t forget to reach out and share your experience!

Paris 🇫🇷

Hey guys! I hope you’re all having an amazing day. Today i’ll fill you in about how amazing this beautiful city of love/lights is! If you’re on your Euro Tour you cannot skip Paris. I remember the first trip we had planned for my 22nd birthday and everyone loves this city since then. On both our trips we stayed for at least 10 days in this city more than a week. Staying less than a week in Paris is of no use. There’s always so much to do and see.

Firstly it’s very important to choose a good place to stay specially safe and clean. I would not recommend staying in the middle of heavy crowds or sort of downtown areas since they get quite unsafe later at night. Safety is number one priority when it comes to travelling. And there is no point of staying in Paris if you cannot go out all by yourself regardless of what time it may be. We stayed in Saint-Germain. I absolutely loved our hotel location, we had Galeries Lafayette on a 7 minute walk, Le Bon Marché 8-9 minute walk away, Sephora a street away, Zara on a 3 minute walk and tons of outdoor cafes and amazing bakeries. Walking your way through to places is such a nice feeling specially when the weather is amazing, meaning there should not be a heatwave. Or just take a cab if you want to go to far off places. We stayed in this area on both our trips twice. It was super safe, we used to go for late night walks and never found anything off or strange! Prior to staying in Saint Germain our travel agent wanted us to stay right in the middle of Champs-Élysées. Thank God we didn’t. That place is heavily crowded and has too much tension going on. Not a fan of heavy crowds at all. You’re just surrounded with tons of designer stores and Arc De triumph. Whereas we could go to an authentic french cafe and enjoy an amazing cup of coffee, a strawberry and Nutella crepe, a good English Breakfast and the list goes on, that too a couple of minutes or even seconds walk away from our hotel, with less crowd and safer environment.

Next best thing you need to do in Paris is shop. I would prefer going to Champs-Élysées, Galeries Lafayette or Le Bon Marché for shopping (don’t forget to get a tax refund receipt) and a picture of your passport in your phone for all the details. Benefits of shopping in the malls is that you don’t need to keep changing shops in order to get what you want. Or just go to Champs-Élysées if want a full on Paris vibe. French and Italian brands are cheaper in Europe than America or UAE. They have huge variety of products there as all. Literally everything you need or article you need is right there. They also had a disney store there, and it made me want to be a kid all over again. I would have gotten so many things had I been a child, but I ended up buying a Little mermaid mug instead. And I still haven’t used it. Once you’re in Champs-Élysées you definitely need to go to Ladurée for a coffee/dessert or just get their macaroons. This is the prettiest bakery/cafe i’ve ever been too! The interiors and details will blow your mind. The staff is amazing as well.

You definitely need to take a cruise in Paris, particularly right before sunset, in order to see the amazing orange skies and the surreal architecture. Dinner cruises are just fine, you just enjoy the food and forget about enjoying the view completely (wouldn’t recommend that if you want to enjoy the views).

Lastly you need to go to Latin Quarter (it’s not as good as Gothic Quarter in Barcelona, but definitely does the job). Explore it while walking. There are some amazing hand made chocolatiers there and they had Häagen-Dazs there too(our must stop). This is a couple of minutes walk away from the famous Notre-Dame Cathedral(which got closed down due to a fire since 2019) but the outdoor views are still spectacular! Definitely worth exploring. We went inside of it in 2016. But it was closed down on our last trip.

Stay Tuned for more!✨🤍

Ghent Travel Diaries : An Undiscovered Gem

Hey guys,

I hope you all are having an amazing day. So this year i went to Europe for Summer Vacations.

We went to 4 countries;

  • Spain
  • France
  • Belgium
  • Netherlands

Today i’ll be sharing my experience in Gent or Ghent whatever way you want to write it. It’s pronounced as Gent, the h is completely silent.

Okay so we were traveling from Paris to Gent/Ghent. Trust me the trains were not easy, we had early morning trains. First we went to Brussels and then from Brussels we had to switch trains for Gent/Ghent. The train from Brussels to Gent actually didn’t have enough space for bags. We were 4 people with 2 suitcases each. Plus my handbag. It was not easy pushing the suitcases, but Ghent/Gent is such a hidden treasure hence it’s completely worth the hassle.

The location of our hotel was amazing, it was right in middle of everything, food or shopping you name it. We stayed at Hotel NH Gent Belfort. The rooms were huge and the washrooms were spacious, would highly recommend staying there.

Ghent has everything. The best food and the best scenery. I had the best Asian Cuisine there, we went there everyday for either lunch or dinner. It was open till 11 p.m the plus point. It was Pho Saigon Noodle Bar, loved their chicken skewers and vegetable spring rolls. Plus the rice noodles were FANTASTIC 😍

Here’s a picture of it:

Waffles and Fries are something the Belgium people are good at, and they had the most amazing waffles there. Thinking about them right now makes me super hungry, THEY WERE SOOOOO GOOOOOD!!!!!

There were no high end brands in Gent/Ghent. Unlike Paris or other major cities. It’s such a undiscovered gem in Europe. The architecture over there was so beautiful, every street’s hundreds of years old. With beautiful history. Would definitely recommend going there.

Stay tuned for more ❤️

Must try Foods in Paris 🇫🇷💛

Hey guys,

I hope you all are having an amazing day. Today I’ve written about some amazing things you should try whenever you’re in Paris♥

Crepes:

paris 1

If you have a sweet tooth and want something with your evening or afternoon cup of coffee, I would highly recommend an authentic french crepe, preferably with Nutella and Strawberries (YUMM).  We had a lot of restaurants near our hotel, in Saint Germain and the thing I love the most about Paris is their outdoor cafes. The weather in July makes the experience even better. And they have the most amazing Cafe Lattes, I’m a coffee addict so i extremely love a good cup of coffee what else can make it even better? Amazing Nutella and strawberry crepes.

Macaroons:

French_Macaroons

If you have not tried macaroons, or have no idea what they are, you should definitely try these delightful cookies. Trust me when I say this, they are extremely addictive. My favorite flavors were of-course:

  • Chocolate
  • Vanilla
  • Coffee
  • Caramel
  • Strawberry Candy
  • Pistachio

The best places to get these amazing cookies are preferably Ladurée and PAUL. This is the best option for you, if you want something light and sweet with your coffee.

*However if you’re in some french country side I would highly recommend trying macaroons made by local bakers. The macaroons I had in Bayeux (France) were the best! Made freshly at home by local bakers*

Baguette

chicken-caesar-baguettes-32743-1

These are amazing and healthy sandwiches if you’re looking for something local, healthy and yummy. This is a healthy, more fresh and authentic version of subway. They have a variety of flavors and topping and they are all wrapped in amazing french bread. The french are very much careful about their breads and it is amazing. This is the best thing to get if you want something quick for your lunch or mid day snack.

Cafe au lait

coffee

I’m extremely careful about my coffee, I extremely love having an amazing cup of Cafe au lait, something not to bitter but also not extremely sweet. I would highly recommend local coffee shops rather than Starbucks, we can get Starbucks anywhere, but if you’re looking for something more authentic and amazing you should try these outdoor cafes. There is a happy hour too, for the ones who’re on a budget. But it is worth every Euro. On average a Cafe au lait costs 3€, and it’s amazing. If you’re a coffee addict i’d highly recommend these outdoor cafes. You can even add a crossiant to it, for breakfast.

Stay tuned for more!♥

Travel Diaries: Barcelona

Hey Guys,

I hope you all are having an amazing day. Today I’ll be telling you about the places you can shop in Barcelona Including various Spanish Brands, sold at comparatively lower prices. Brands like Zara and Massimo Dutti are sold at low prices at Spain. Since both of these brands are Spanish. Zara has three huge stores in Barcelona, and they have a huge variety of Zara products.

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The second brand you should invest on is Massimo Dutti. This Brand is a lot cheaper (in terms of price) in Spain. Though the name may be Italian but this is entirely a Spanish company. These are the brands I would definitely recommend to buy if you’re heading to Spain for holidays. Massimo Dutti deals in clothing and fashion accessories for both men and women.

Besides for shopping, Barcelona has an amazing Architecture. Gothic quarter has some beautiful architecture, it’s also known as Old Barcelona.

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I would recommend going to La Rambla and the Gothic quarter before sunset. The Streets in the Gothic quarter are quite narrow and La Rambla gets a bit unsafe.

I regret not going to the beach, in Barcelona. We were there for about 4 nights including the day of arrival. 4-5 days are more than enough for Barcelona. I will definitely be revisiting Barcelona.

And lets not forget talking about the famous Spanish Churros. It’s a must to try them, specially when you’re in Spain.churro

Stay Tuned for more!♥

Travel Diaries

Hey Guys,

I hope you all are having an amazing day. Today’s blog will be about one of my interests, traveling.

So I love traveling, specially discovering new places. Though I have traveled little within Pakistan but I’ve been to the Northern Areas (Naran) twice or maybe thrice, I think. It breaks my heart seeing man destroy everything. Maybe its human nature? Cutting down trees and polluting everything. We should educate the people of this country of how important it is for them to stop throwing trash wherever it’s convenient for them.

Moving on to the places I’ve traveled outside of Pakistan. And the places I would definitely recommend anyone reading this. So I’ve been to Malaysia ( Kuala lumpur and Langkawi), Middle East (Dubai), England, Europe (Spain, France and Netherlands) and recently went to the United States (California).

I find Dubai highly overrated, I mean it has nothing but malls and a bad weather. Who would want to end up there, that to when you’re on a vacation. Dubai may seem fine at first but trust me, when you see Europe or America, Dubai doesn’t stand a chance. Whenever you go to Europe, you should definitely go to Paris  and Amsterdam. The weather is amazing . And the best time to travel to Europe is in the summers. I was actually shocked when I went to Barcelona, it was in July and the weather was really good, there wasn’t any humidity. All I heard about Spain was that people go there for a good tan in the summers but well the weather was just too good.

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Moving to my trip to the States, I traveled Via Qatar Airways. The service and the flight was amazing. It didn’t seem like a really long journey maybe because I was asleep half of the time. I would definitely recommend Qatar Airways to people traveling to the States. I traveled within America on Amtrak, and boy the views were breathtaking. So you have your own personal room on Amtrak and then there is a dinning area which is just like the train version of The Titanic (Just Saying). Would recommend it to anyone traveling within the United States.

Places I would want to travel or revisit:

  • Iceland
  • Scotland (Edinburgh and Glasgow)
  • Mauritius
  • Bora Bora
  • Italy (Capri, Florence and Rome)
  • Russia (Moscow and Saint Petersburg)
  • France (Paris and Nice)
  • Netherlands (Amsterdam)

Have a great day! Stay tuned for more.