Category: City Wanders
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Perfect Views & Family Bones-Exploring Hallstatt {Austria}
For as long as I can remember, my mental picture of Austria has been shaped by two places: Salzburg and Hallstatt. Salzburg, of course, came from the hundreds of times I watched The Sound of Music. But Hallstatt entered my imagination later — through guidebooks, travel magazines, and glossy pages filled with impossibly perfect photographs.…
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Strolling & Surprises Through Salzburg {Austria}
We arrived in the beautiful city of Salzburg early in the morning, dropped our bags at the hotel, and headed straight back out. With comfortable shoes and tired eyes, we set off to wander. This was the first day of our two-week trip, and because we love Salzburg so much, it felt like the perfect…
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Cowboys & Cattle Drives at the Fort Worth Stockyards {Texas}
For the longest time, the two places our daughter has wanted to see are Alaska and Texas. So when we told her that on our way home we would be landing in Texas, her excitement was immediate. As we flew into the Dallas–Fort Worth airport, she pressed her face to the window and asked, “Are…
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Historic Sites Around the Shoals {Alabama}
When we planned a last-minute trip to northern Alabama, our original goal was simple: visit Ivy Green, the birthplace of Helen Keller. But as soon as we started exploring, we realized the Shoals—this collection of towns along the Tennessee River—was full of surprises. From historic landmarks and quirky local sites to musical milestones, there’s so…
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Oil History, Cowboy Icon, & Art Deco- Exploring Tulsa {Oklahoma}
Somewhere over the last few years, I became set on visiting Tulsa. Every time I looked at a map of the states I’ve traveled to, Oklahoma stood out as this glaring blank space—right in the middle of places I had already explored. So during a trip to Missouri to visit my in-laws, we decided to…
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Christmas Markets, Courtyards, & Wishes on a Tree in Basel {Switzerland}
Our last stop on this festive trip was Basel—a city uniquely positioned at the crossroads of France, Germany, and Switzerland. It turned out to be the perfect place to end a trip built not on plans, but on wandering—where even something as simple as crossing a border became part of the experience. The logistics alone…
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Old Town Gates & Markets in Freiburg {Germany}
After spending several days wandering through the storybook villages of the Alsace region, we crossed the border into Germany for a day in Freiburg—a city that had quietly worked its way onto our itinerary. We first came across it in a travel book, then again through a fellow traveler’s story, and something about it lingered.…
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Fairytale Towns & Christmas Markets of the Alsace {France}
When we first started planning this trip, we knew we wanted to visit the Alsace region of France. This area is made up of so many beautiful small towns, many of them just a short distance from Colmar, making it easy to set out for a day—or even a couple of days—of wandering, exploring, and…
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Christmas in Colmar {France}
Our next stop in the Alsace region brought us to the beautiful city of Colmar—one of those places that feels almost too picturesque to be real, especially during the Christmas season. Colmar has an impressively long history, first mentioned in 884 by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars. Over the centuries, it has shifted between powers—granted…
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The Capital of Christmas in Strasbourg {France}
After leaving Paris, we made our way east to the Alsace region, where our first stop was Strasbourg—a city that fully embraces the magic of the season as the Capital of Christmas. This is a city shaped by centuries of change. Today, it is known as the seat of the European Parliament, but during the…