Minsk is the largest city in Belarus, the country touted as “Europe’s last dictatorship.” With strict visa restrictions and relatively unknown attractions, Minsk sees very few tourists. But now with visa-free travel for 5 days, Belarus may soon be seeing more visitors than ever! Chances are if you’re headed to Belarus, you’ll be visiting the… Read More 17 Things To Do In Minsk
I can barely believe that it’s that time already… but today I’ve been blogging for 18 months! A whole year and a half since I started Away With Maja and invited you all to follow along with my adventures around the world. I can barely remember what my life was like before blogging. I can… Read More 18 Months Of Blogging!
I’ve stayed at a lot of hostels during my travels over the years. Every once in a while, one comes along that you just absolutely love. A hostel so great you just want to keep it to yourself, and you find yourself planning trips just to stay there again. Naughty Squirrel Backpackers Hostel in Riga… Read More Hostel Review: Naughty Squirrel Backpackers Hostel, Riga
Riga, the capital city of Latvia, is an absolute gem in the Baltics that should not be missed on a trip to Eastern Europe. I’ve got a whole lot of love for this city—it was the location of my first solo trip in continental Europe (excluding Britain) and my first solo trip to Eastern Europe,… Read More 24 Hours In Riga, Latvia
As part of my goal to review more accommodation and hostels on the blog, I thought I’d do one on the hostel I stayed at in St. Petersburg. This location, Friends on Dostoevskogo, was part of a popular chain called Friends Hostels—while the hostel I stayed at had a fair few downsides, I think the… Read More Hostel Review: Friends on Dostoevskogo, St. Petersburg
With a city as rich in history as St. Petersburg, there’s no wonder that there’s plenty of great daytrips outside the city center. One of the most popular daytrips is to Tsarskoe Selo, literally “tsar’s village” in Russian, in the town of Pushkin, about 25km (~15 miles) away. Here’s everything you need to know before… Read More A Daytrip To Tsarskoe Selo From St. Petersburg
Peterhof is Peter the Great’s grand palace, located on the Gulf of Finland outside of St. Petersburg, Russia. On my first trip to Russia, I unfortunately missed visiting, due to getting sick and losing several precious days. I told all my friends who visited or studied in St. Petersburg that they absolutely had to go… Read More A Peterhof Daytrip: One of My Favorite Places in Russia
St. Petersburg is one of my favorite cities in the world. It really is yin and yang to the Russian capital, Moscow. Beautiful architecture, picturesque churches, and charming canals—what more could you ask for?! And no time is better to see the city than during White Nights, when the sun goes down for just a… Read More 25 Things You Must Do in St. Petersburg
Red Square is synonymous not just with Moscow, but with Russia itself. Located at the heart of the Russian capital, Red Square (or “krasnaya ploschad” // “Красная площадь”) is a massive square filled with some of the most noteworthy attractions in the country. Red Square is an enigma. You could easily spend several days here,… Read More Red Square: Your Guide To Moscow’s Top Attraction
The White Nights (Белые Ночи, “Beluye Nochi”) is the term for the time of year in summer, from early June to late July, where northern cities in Europe like St. Petersburg experience very long daylight hours. While many other northern countries (particularly Scandinavia) will experience this as well, St. Petersburg is famous for its White… Read More A Guide for St. Petersburg’s White Nights
One of my goals from this big trip is to review more hostels here on the blog. I love hostels—I almost always stay in them, either in dorms or in a private room. I’ve stayed at Godzillas Hostel in Moscow both on my trip three years ago, and again on this trip. I was even… Read More Hostel Review: Godzillas Hostel, Moscow
The Moscow Metro opened in 1935, and is the fifth-longest in the world. It carries up to 9 million people every day! While it serves a practical purpose for daily commuters, it is also one thing you absolutely must do on a trip to Moscow. You can get on and off at as many stations… Read More 10 Moscow Metro Stations You Must Visit
Moscow. The capital of Russia. The biggest city in Europe. Red Square, Stalin’s Seven Sisters, politics and history everywhere. There is a whole lot to see and do in Moscow (pronounced “Moskva” in Russian) that you might not even be sure where to start with a city like this! Have no fear, this is the… Read More 25 Things You Must Do in Moscow
Russia is an absolutely massive country, and one that so many people shy away from visiting due to the complicated visa process and the general “foreignness” of the language and customs. My trip to Russia was absolutely some of the best moments of my life, and definitely worth visiting! Since I only went to Moscow… Read More 20 Practical Tips For Traveling In European Russia
Britain is home to some of the most quaint scenery and cute houses. The county of Yorkshire is no exception! Of all of the charming villages I’ve been to, Thornton-le-Dale in North Yorkshire might be the most picturesque I’ve seen. I combined my daytrip with a great hike in beautiful weather. Thornton-le-Dale is one charming… Read More Thornton-le-Dale: Why You Need To Visit This Charming Yorkshire Village
July has been one of my busiest travel months almost since starting the blog! This month has flown by and, as this post is going live, I can’t believe that I have a little over a week left of this trip. It has been an absolute whirlwind and an adventure I’ll never forget! Where I… Read More July 2017 Recap
In February, the country of Belarus in Eastern Europe introduced a new 5-day visa-free scheme. As Belarus is one of the most closed-off countries in Europe, this was a huge change and one that I knew I wanted to take advantage of. There is next to nothing available (short of the official government websites) about… Read More Visiting Belarus Visa-Free For 5 Days: Everything You Need To Know
The start of this trip in Russia was an absolute dream. With the visa process taken care of, I was so incredibly excited to go back to one of my favorite places in the entire world. There is so much to see and do in Russia, but with limited time I decided to go to… Read More My 30 Favorite Photos From My Trip To Russia
June has been a crazy busy month. As this post is going live, I’m in Russia! And it’s late. Oops. I always try to publish recaps on the first of the month, but this time it just didn’t happen. I didn’t leave the UK for nearly all of June, barely left Yorkshire, and spent most… Read More June 2017 Recap
The time has come, yet again: I’m heading off on a big trip this summer! And whenever I announce I’m going on a trip, it’s only ever a short time before I’m asked the inevitable question: how can you afford it? How do you have so much money to travel? In the last two years,… Read More How I’ve Saved Thousands of Dollars to Travel the World
