Pictured: Posing for a picture after lighting some candles inside the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

It felt like every day we were in Estonia we got almost 20,000 steps in. The Old Town of Tallinn is so charming and you can lose yourself in the winding and narrow streets (and forget about your feet). The food in Estonia was shockingly amazing and we didn’t have one bad meal (thanks to Max’s detailed research!).

Pictured: Standing next to a locally curated art installation outside the Nativity of Christ Cathedral

Latvia has beautiful scenery, incredible food, great cocktails, and so much character! We missed our opportunity to see a Russian ballet at the opera theatre (just next door to our hotel), but we made up for it in exploring all corners of their capital, Riga.

Pictured: Making our way towards the Trakai Island Castle located about an hour way from Vilnius, Lithuania.

Lithuania is so peaceful and beautiful. We spent a good amount of time walking around the main area, Gediminas Avenue, in Vilnius and driving around the country to see attractions like the Trakai Castle and the Hill of Crosses.

Pictured: Standing in front of the Weiner Rathouse during the Christkindlmarkt time in Vienna

Our love for Austria continues to grow! The summertime beauty is classic and unparalleled, and the wintertime romance makes the city sparkle with glamour! Vienna blew us away, even if we were frozen to the bone.

Pictured: Outside the Schimbarea Orthodox Cathedral located on Saint Stephen The Great Boulevard

Moldova is a beautiful country with many historic remnants of their war torn history. Across the city you can notice markings on buildings that share insight into the inner struggle the country has between respect for the old world way of life (Soviet Union) but also a hope for a brighter and much different future than was their past. 

Pictured: Riding scooters in front of Amager Bakke; the modern incineration plant in Copenhagen

The highlight of our trip to Copenhagen was definitely having the much anticipated meal at their number one restaurant, Noma. We’ve been around the world at this point, and eaten at plenty of high rated restaurants. Noma, without a doubt, has been our favorite. The rest of Copenhagen does not disappoint and we feel like our “to do” list kept growing with each day that we stayed.

Pictured: Posing in front of the Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway

Norway has so much to offer and we look forward to going back and exploring more. The locals call Oslo a small city, but it felt big to us; it has a royal palace, opera house, bustling harbor, buzzing with locals and tourists, and plenty more in the countryside. 

Pictured: Walking across the Skeppsholmsbron Bridge to make our way across the water to the Vasa Museum, ABBA Museum, and Grona Lund.

Of all the cities visited in the Scandinavian countries (so far), Stockholm has been our favorite. It’s no surprise that we like to be near the water and the nautical life that surrounds the city makes it feel both old school and modern all at once. With so much to do, we tried our best to see it all in our limited time; we visited 3 museums and 1 roller coaster theme park. We will be back!

Pictured: Sauna bath at Loyly waiting for locals to warm up to the bone inside before jumping in the ice cold water below. Rinse and repeat.

The furthest north on the planet we’ve been to date was Helsinki, Finland. We lucked out with great weather and were able to walk around all the main highlights of Helsinki in a full day; including partaking in the sauna-to-polar plunge ritual that many Finnish people regularly do. There’s much more to explore in Finland than the capital city, and one day it might be nice to see more of the countryside.

Pictured: VSOE Train in Romania

Climbing aboard the Orient Express is historic from the moment you spot it at the train station. We loved getting to know fellow YPO International and learning more about the worlds around them. We haven’t had an experience quite like the one we did aboard the Orient Express, but we’re glad we were able to be a part of its ongoing history. Watching people snap the trains picture as we traveled along the [mile] journey also helped remind us of the incredible experience we were embarking on.

Pictured: Hviezdoslav Square in Bratislava

We had a great short stay in Slovakia. The town of Bratislava has so much to offer and the city was buzzing with people. There was a promenade style street where art exhibitions were set up, and we were also surprised with a mini classic car show at the end of their Main Street. The watering holes we drank at were creative and delicious and we feel like we only scratched the surface of what Slovakia has to offer.

Pictured: Lake Bled

Slovenia won our hearts over quickly with the incredible capital of Ljubljana. The city felt like a castle itself, surrounded by a beautiful river with tour boats constantly going up and down. The visit to the castle itself was also a dream, remarkably remodeled (we haven’t seen another one like it) and has an entire culture and nightlife of its own. Spending time in Lake Bled was the highlight; no other lake town has a small naturally built historical island in it, with water so clear you can see fish swimming 20 feet away. Lake Bled stole our hearts and gave us the right of relaxation that we needed.

Pictured: Church of Saint Sava in Belgrade

Serbia was one of our favorite large cities to visit in the Balkans. It had it all, both historical and eastern elements as well as modern and western influences to it. The city of Belgrade was so vast and expansive that we didn’t feel like we got to explore it all properly. Belgrade is hailed as the most lively of the Balkan cities and you can see it easily when walking past the many different mom and pop restaurants, bars, and local shops.

Pictured: The Old Bridge in Mostar

The countryside in Bosnia & Hercegovina is some of the most memorable we’ve seen. The natural waterfalls at Kravica and the small town of Mostar were highlights of our trip through the small country. While in Sarajevo we took the time to learn more about the city’s war torn past and how it’s been able to recover over the years.

Pictured: Boat cruise outside of the ‘Blue Cave’ on Kolocep Island

Our road trip through Croatia was as beautiful as can be expected. Driving northbound along the coast, we passed Petrovac, stopped for photos in Sveti Stefan, had lunch and a boat ride around Budva, and settled into our hotel which was about a 10 minute walk outside the city walls of Dubrovnik. We spent most of our days on the water, but otherwise walking around the old town and even walked the entire circumference of the historic city walls.

Pictured: Walking into Sveti Stefan (even though it has been closed since 2020). We look forward to staying here when it reopens!

We immediately fell in love with Montenegro, there’s something mysterious and private about it. We took the coastal route up north from Albania and made a few coastal city stops along the way. Montenegro feels like the spot you go when you’re looking to truly disconnect and stay off the grid. The nature is beautiful, the hospitality is thorough, and the activities to partake in are endless.

Pictured: Walking into Bunk Art 2 in Tirana

We spent 2 days in Tirana, and somehow ended up at a ‘Holi’ festival within 3 hours of arriving. We flew by the seat of our pants and indulged in all that Albania had to offer. There were some incredible food streets, a lot of people outdoors enjoying themselves and the great weather, war museums, and even the occasional casino.

Pictured: Walking through Porta Macedonia in Skopje

North Macedonia had so many different things to offer. We started off in the city of Skopje, of which we had never seen so many statues in one single city before. We then took an excursion shortly out of town to Matka Canyon and were so impressed with this type of natural beauty so close to town! The highlight, of course, was Lake Ohrid… the pearl of North Macedonia.

Pictured: View from our hotel overlooking the Tsar Osvoboditel & Cathedral Saint Alexander Nevsky

It took us a little while to get our bearings in Bulgaria, but once we did we had a great time. We spent 2 nights in the city of Sofia and walked all around town until our feet couldn’t take it anymore. Sofia seems the most unchanged since the soviet era, and we had a great time learning and imagining what life was like during the 70s and 80s.

Pictured: An Orthodox Church of Ukraine near Pnikut, near the border crossing in Medyka

Our trip to Ukraine was unexpected but eventful to say the least. The drive from Warsaw to Lviv took about 5 hours. Once we settled in Lviv we were able to get a glimpse into what ‘normal’ life is like in Ukraine. The countryside was just as beautiful as the city life. The churches like the one pictured are scattered all over the countryside and each one of them was uniquely stunning.