The Travel Tinker - Travel Guides & Road Trips

21/10/2026

Brussels gets called the boring one. I don't buy that.

I've put together a full self-guided walking tour of the old centre, and it's basically waffles, b**r and comic books with some very good buildings in between. You start with the view from the Mont des Arts, head down past the cathedral to Victor Horta's art nouveau comic museum (Tintin and the Smurfs both get plenty of space), then through the glass-roofed Galeries, where the praline was invented, to the Grand Place.

After that it's a sit-down waffle at Maison Dandoy, a quick hello to Manneken P*s (yes, he really is that small) and a run of comic strip murals painted on the sides of buildings. The afternoon is for b**r. There's the old stock exchange, now Belgian B**r World with a rooftop bar, then fish at Sainte-Catherine, and you finish at Delirium Café, where the b**r list runs past 2,000.

It's 10 stops and about 4.5km, mostly downhill. There's a free Google Map in there too, plus where to stay and what to eat.

One heads-up: the comic museum is closed on Mondays outside July and August, so plan your day round that.

Full walking tour and free map here: https://thetraveltinker.com/walking-tour/brussels-walking-tour/

**r

20/10/2026

Imagine building yourself a seaside palace to retire in, and 1,700 years later strangers are drying their pants on your walls.

That’s Split. The Roman emperor Diocletian moved in around 305 AD, and once the locals moved in a few centuries later, they never left. People live in flats built into the old stone, there are bars between the columns, his tomb is now a cathedral and his basement is full of souvenir stalls. Oh, and that basement is where Daenerys chained up her dragons in Game of Thrones.

I’ve put together a free self-guided walking tour that strings the lot together in one easy day. It’s about 3.5km and 11 stops, and you won’t need a bus or a taxi once:

Breakfast at Pazar, the morning market outside the Silver Gate
Rub Gregory of Nin’s shiny bronze toe for luck
Climb the cathedral bell tower for the view over the palace rooftops
Breathe in and squeeze down “Let Me Pass”, the narrowest street in Split
Count the numbers on the clock by the Iron Gate (it goes up to 24)
Finish with a drink at the top of the stone steps on Marjan Hill, the whole city spread out below you

It’s all in there with timings for each stop, where to stay, the konobas worth a detour and the one rule that’ll get you fined if you wander into the old town straight off the beach. Free Google Map included.

Full walk here: https://thetraveltinker.com/walking-tour/split-croatia-walking-tour/

Been to Split? Palace first or beach first, that’s the big question.

20/10/2026

Bergen gets a lot of stick for the rain. Fair enough, it’s earned it. But it also squeezes a medieval wooden wharf, a fish market and a mountain-top view into a centre small enough to walk in a day.

So I’ve mapped out a route that does exactly that. You start by the little lake where the airport light rail drops you, head out along the Nordnes peninsula for your first look at the fjord, then loop back along the harbour to the Fish Market for a paper cone of prawns on the quay.

Then my favourite bit. Step off the front of Bryggen into the narrow wooden passages behind it, where the walls lean, the boards creak and the crowds thin right out. After that it’s the 13th-century royal hall at Bergenhus, a cannonball still stuck in the cathedral wall from 1665, and the funicular up Mount Fløyen to see the whole lot laid out below you.

It’s about 6km on foot, so give it a full day (and bring a proper rain jacket, not an umbrella). There’s a free Google Map to follow along.

Been to Bergen? Did it rain on you too?

All nine stops, timings and the free map are here: https://thetraveltinker.com/walking-tour/bergen-walking-tour/

19/10/2026

Stockholm sits on 14 islands, and I reckon the best way to get your head around that is to walk across a few of them in one day.

So I’ve mapped out a route that does exactly that. You start at City Hall (home of the Nobel banquet, where the Blue Hall weirdly isn’t blue), cut through Gamla Stan in time for the midday changing of the guard, squeeze down an alley about 90cm wide, then climb up to Monteliusvägen for one of the best free views in Scandinavia.

Then my favourite bit. Skip the pricey harbour cruise and hop on the normal SL ferry to Djurgården for the cost of a metro ticket. Spend the late afternoon with the Vasa, a warship that sank on her first voyage in 1628 and came back up more than 98% intact. Then finish with a golden hour stroll along Strandvägen and dinner in Östermalm’s old market hall.

It’s about 7.5km, so give it a full day, and there’s a free Google Map to follow along.

Been to Stockholm? Which island would you spend the most time on?

All nine stops, timings and the free map are here: https://thetraveltinker.com/walking-tour/stockholm-walking-tour/

✍️ Helen

Walk Stockholm in a day: City Hall, Riddarholmen, Gamla Stan, the Royal Palace, the Monteliusvägen view, the Djurgården ferry, the Vasa Museum and Strandvägen.

19/10/2026

Copenhagen is the cosiest capital I know. Candles in cafe windows by mid-afternoon, blankets on the outdoor chairs, and water round almost every corner.

I've put together a full self-guided walking tour that links the big sights in one flat line. About 7km from City Hall Square to Christiania, no doubling back, plenty of coffee stops.

A few things on the route that caught me out:

The tallest tower in the city (Christiansborg) has a lift and costs nothing to go up.
The Round Tower has no stairs at all, just a cobbled spiral ramp.
The Little Mermaid is 1.25 metres tall. Adjust your expectations.
The last 150 steps up the Church of Our Saviour spire are on the OUTSIDE. Not one for wobbly knees.

Full route, free map, where to stay and what to eat here:
https://thetraveltinker.com/walking-tour/copenhagen-walking-tour/

Been before? Nyhavn or Christianshavn, which side of the harbour are you on?

✍️ Helen

18/10/2026

Roaming bills, airport SIM queues, maps dying at the worst possible junction. I've had all three, so I dug into Holafly to see if unlimited data abroad is worth paying for.

✅ Unlimited data in over 200 destinations, priced by the day (anything from 1 to 90 days)
✅ About £2.90 a day on a week-long plan, dropping to around £1.85 a day on 30 days
✅ Always On gives you 1GB of free backup data every month after your trip
✅ Data only, so no local number for calls or texts
✅ Hotspot is capped at roughly 500MB to 1GB a day, which matters if you work from a laptop
✅ Brits on a short Europe trip: check your own roaming first, it can be cheaper

Code THETRAVELTINKER gets you 5% off (or 10% off Holafly Plans for your first 12 months).

Here's the full review 👉 https://thetraveltinker.com/travel-gear/holafly-esim-review/



So which are you: roaming, local SIM or eSIM convert?

16/10/2026

Most people give Athens one night on the way to the ferry. I think they're missing out.

I've put together a full self-guided walking tour of the city that links the big sights in one line that makes sense on foot. You start at the Acropolis at 8am, before the coaches and the heat turn up, then drop down to the Ancient Agora and stop for souvlaki on Mitropoleos Street in Monastiraki. After lunch it's Plaka and Anafiotika (a tiny whitewashed village hiding right under the Acropolis rock), then the Acropolis Museum when the sun's at its worst.

The second half heads east past Hadrian's Arch and the Temple of Olympian Zeus to the all-marble Olympic stadium, where you can run a lap and stand on the podium. Yes, I'd do it. Then it's the changing of the guard at Syntagma and sunset from the top of Lycabettus Hill to finish.

It's 11 stops and around 8 to 9km. Honestly, I'd split it over two days, and I've marked exactly where to do that. There's a free Google Map in there too, plus where to stay and what to eat.

One heads-up if you're going soon: the old combined ticket has gone, so every site needs its own timed ticket now. Book the Acropolis first.

Full walking tour and free map here: https://thetraveltinker.com/walking-tour/athens-walking-tour/

15/10/2026

Most people land in Zagreb, pick up a hire car and are halfway to the coast by lunch. I get it. But you’re driving straight past one of the best-value city breaks in Europe 🇭🇷

I’ve rewritten my Zagreb guide from scratch. Here’s what you’ll find in it:

✅ A two-day plan that starts at Dolac Market and ends with a rakija on Tkalčićeva
✅ Real prices in £, € and $ (a 30-minute tram ticket is £0.45 / €0.53 / $0.61)
✅ What you can and can’t see at the cathedral since the earthquake
✅ Why a cemetery makes one of the best afternoons in the city (Mirogoj, honestly)
✅ Day trips to Plitvice, Samobor and Ljubljana with real journey times
✅ Which part of town to stay in so you can walk everywhere

Little tip: be up at Lotrščak Tower a few minutes before 12. A cannon fires from it every day at noon, and it’s louder than you’d expect 😄

So, have you given Zagreb a proper go, or did you head straight for Split? 👇

Here’s the full Zagreb guide 👉 https://thetraveltinker.com/croatia/experience-zagreb/

14/10/2026

Slovenia's Soča Valley might be the best three days of driving I've done in Europe. And honestly, the driving is the smallest part of it.

You come over the Vršič Pass (50 hairpins, count them if you like), walk up to where the river pours straight out of the mountain, then just follow it south. Gorges. Waterfalls. An old fortress hanging over a cliff. A WWI museum in Kobarid that's far more moving than you'd expect.

I drove it in September with two mates and I've finally written the whole thing up, day by day:

🚗 Day 1: Vršič Pass, the Soča source and the Great Soča Gorge, into Bovec
🌊 Day 2: Rafting, Boka Waterfall (144 m!) and Kluže Fortress, plus the Mangart road if you're feeling brave
🏞️ Day 3: Kobarid, Kozjak Waterfall, the Tolmin Gorges and a lakeside finish at Most na Soči

It's only about 120 km in total, so you spend way more time out of the car than in it.

Two things I'd tell anyone going. Book the Tolmin Gorges online before you set off. And don't underestimate that river, it sits around 10°C up near Bovec even in summer. Brr.

Full route, drive times, where to stay and a free map 👇

https://thetraveltinker.com/road-trip/soca-valley-road-trip/

14/10/2026

Lake Bled is one of those places you've seen a hundred times on your feed (sometimes on LG tv's), and annoyingly, it's just as good in real life.

I've written up the whole lake as one self-guided walk. The castle climb, the quiet north shore where the rowers train, the free viewpoint at Mala Osojnica (yes, THAT postcard shot), a pletna boat out to the island, then back to town for kremšnita in the hotel where the cream cake was invented.

A few honest bits before you go:
- The lakeside path is about 6km and flat. Add the castle and the viewpoints and you're at 9 to 10km with two proper climbs. It's a full day.
- The Mala Osojnica trail has a near-vertical metal staircase near the top. Go up it, not down it.
- The pletna boat is cash only and doesn't start until 10am.
- Only buy castle tickets from the official site. There are some dodgy resellers about.

Free map, timings for every stop and a sunrise version for the early birds are all here:
https://thetraveltinker.com/walking-tour/lake-bled-walking-tour/

Been to Bled? Castle or viewpoint, which one wins for you?