Culture, architecture, art, tales of brave pilgrims reaching their final destination, tapas, wine, merriment and much more. Two days in Santiago de Compostela is like two days in paradise. Shall we?

Whitney Richelle is an American journalist based in Florence, Italy. She blogs, hosts and edits videos, and works as project manager for studentsville.it. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

Hamburg’s not on your European travel checklist. You’ve never seen a picture of it. And you’re not even exactly sure where it is. No, you don’t really know anything at all about that German city – not even the fact that you’re dying to get there.

1. You Love Water

Situated on the River Elbe, Hamburg is home to the largest port in Germany. But that means so much more than ships, docks, and cranes – we’re talking canals, and lakes, and beaches. You can cruise down waterways crossed by over 2,300 bridges, and while it won’t be in a gondola, that’s more than any city in the world – even Venice. Getting wetter, in the middle of downtown’s spindly church spires and turquoise copper rooftops, there’s a lake lapping at its palaces. On the Chicago-esque Alster, glide off in paddle boats, kayaks, sailboats and tour boats toward white waterfront villas and swaying weeping willows that make it hard to believe the other shoreline is a city center. And whether you sunbathe at the sand beaches here or along the river, you’ve got to cool down with a tall glass of “lake water.” Alsterwasser (Alster water) is a typical summertime drink of lager beer (usually Hamburg-brewed Astra) and lemonade.

Insider Info:
Alster Lake & Boat Tour Metro Stop: Jungfernstieg
Boat Rental Company List
Alstertouristik Canal & Lake Boat Tours
Sand Beaches: Övelgönne beach, Falkensteiner Ufer, Wittenberge beach, Blankenese beach

2. Your Favorite Color is Green
20% of Hamburg is parks, gardens, nature reserves, and recreational areas, so that’s about a one-in-five chance of finding yourself picnicking on sprawling lawns or strolling along tree-lined, waterfront trails. The city’s most popular park is Planten un Blomen (Plants and Flowers), 47 acres of botanical paradise. Free entrance gets you access to the largest japanese garden and tea house in Europe; tropical and cactus greenhouses; rose and apothecary gardens; and the epic fountain shows, featuring 99 nozzles shooting streams up to 36 meters high (118 ft.) The best performances are the Wasserlichtspiele (Water Light Play) concerts after dark, when the whole production gets illuminated in kaleidoscopic colors and synched to the rhythm of classical music scores – Bellagio style.

Insider Info:
Planten un Blomen (site in German only):
Metro Stop: Stephansplaz
Water Shows: 14:00, 16:00 and 18:00 daily, from the end of April to mid-October
Water & Light & Music Shows: Nightly at 22:00 from the end of April to the end of August, and at 21:00 from September to mid-October
Contact Email: plantenunblomen@hamburg-mitte.hamburg.de

3. You Take It Easy
Hamburg is one of the most affluent cities in Europe, but its wealth isn’t conveyed in designer clothes or luxury cars; it’s celebrated in the simple art of enjoying life. Take a cue from the Hamburgers (not the patties, the people) and lie in the grass, sit by the shore, don’t take your coffee to go. It seems like the locals are the ones on vacation here, which explains all the beach bars in the heart of the city. It doesn’t matter if most of them aren’t actually on the beach/shore, they’ve brought in the palm trees, umbrellas, and sun loungers to fool you. And what’s that between your toes? SAND. Drink a mojito barefoot and ask yourself if you got on the right plane.
Insider Info:
Beach Bars (Free Entrance): Hamburger del Mar (local favorite, port view), Central Park (massage with your drink, no water view), Strandperle (on the riverbank), Strandpauli (closest to the Reepherbahn, port view, always packed)

4. You Know How to Haggle
Hamburg’s most popular market gets the whole city up at the crack of dawn once a week. Some are drawn to the Fischmarkt (fish market) by its volatile low prices, others, by the notorious performance of frantic hand gestures and staccato German cries as one seller tries to out-bid the next – but everyone stays for the same reason: brunch. In the nearby Fischauktionshalle (fish auction hall), squeeze yourself in at a communal table to feast on fresh fish, meats, eggs, cheeses, fruits, and just-baked pastries amongst the locals. With everyone around you knocking back beers and tapping their feet to the live band, it feels like Saturday night never ended (precisely because most of them have been partying on since then). Take your haggling even further at the Isemarkt, which, despite being Europe’s longest market, is still relatively undiscovered by tourists. Stands of traditional sausages, seafood spreads, dark pumpernickel breads, garden produce, sticky sweets, flower blossoms, international specialties, spices, crafts, and clothing take you on a nearly one-kilometer-long (0.6 mi) sensory adventure under the city’s elevated metro rails.

Insider Info:
Isemarkt
Hours: Tuesdays & Fridays 8:30 to 14:00
Metro Stop: Between the Eppendorfer Baum and Hoheluft stops
Fischmarkt
Hours: Sunday mornings, 5:00-9:30 from mid March to mid November, 7:00-9:30 from mid November to mid March
Metro Stop: Repeerbahn or Landungsbrücke (10-minute walk from either)
Fischauktionshalle (site in German only):
Address: Große Elbstraße 9
Brunch Hours: 5:30 – noon from April to September, 6:00 to noon from October – March
Price: €16.50-€21.50 per person, depending on the menu
Reservation Email: info@fischauktionshalle.de

5. You’re Not A Vegetarian 
In a city where the people are called “Hamburgers,” it’s a good bet that meat is on the menu. Sources say that the American beef patty itself originated in Hamburg under the name Frikadelle, thicker and without the bun, the way you can still find them in the city’s restaurants and markets today. Then there’s the burger’s wild red-headed cousin, Labskaus, a regional specialty made with corned beef, beetroot, potato, and onion, usually topped with a fried egg. As with all of Germany, pork, from Birnen Bohnen und Speck (green beans with pears and bacon) to currywurst (a hot dog seasoned with curry powder ketchup), is all the rage. But what makes Hamburg a culinary standout is the surf to go with all that turf. Pannfisch (pan-fried fish) is common cuisine thanks to the city’s steady supply of river fish like carp, pike, perch and trout; and sea fish like mackerel, salmon, tuna, and herring (the latter of which you can find fresh or pickled on, and in, practically everything).

Insider Info:
*Try traditional Hamburger restaurant, Deichgraf (site in German only), for heavenly time-tested recipes in an elegant setting on the canal:
-Reservations
-Address: Deichstrasse 23
-Hours: Mon – Fri, 12:00-15:00 and 17:30-22:00; Saturdays, 12:00-22:00; Sundays (July, August, and September only), 12:00-21:00
-Metro Stop: Rödingsmarkt
*For a new take on regional dishes, Fillet of Soul (site in German only) serves up fusion cuisine masterpieces in a modern space next to the city’s contemporary art gallery:
Reservations
Address: Deichtorstraße 2
Hours: Monday, 11:00-15:00; Tues – Sat, 11:00-24:00 (kitchen closes at 22:00); Sunday, 11:00-18:00
Metro Stop: Steinstraße

6. You’re Bored By Traditional Museums
If you don’t like museums, see if visiting a few of these doesn’t change your mind. More than 5 million Europeans set sail from Hamburg to America, and at the BallinStadt Emigration Museum, not only can you search passenger lists for distant relatives, you can walk through period sets complete with talking, costumed mannequins with quite the stories to tell. At Spicy’s, you can smell, taste, and feel your way through 50 crude seasonings at the world’s only spice museum. And who couldn’t appreciate classical paintings with cross-eyed subjects and the pink and blonde (German?) version of Michelangelo’s David at the Diechtorhallen exhibition center for contemporary art and photography – the biggest of its kind in Europe? One last curiosity is the mind-boggling Miniatur Wunderland, the world’s largest model railway museum with more than 12 km (7.5 mi) of tracks. But it’s not at all just trains, there is literally an entire small-scale world inside. If you’ve never seen Austria, Las Vegas, Scandinavia, or the Grand Canyon – this is your tiny chance.

Insider Info:
BallinStadt Metro Stop: Veddel
Diechtorhallen Metro Stop: Steinstraße
Miniatur Wunderland Metro Stop: Baumwall
Spicy’s (site in German only):
-Address: Am Sandtorkai, 34
-Tickets: €3.50
-Hours: Tues – Fri, 10:00-17:00; also open on Mondays, July – October
-Booking: mail@spicys.de
-Metro Stop: Baumwall

7. You’re Ready To Take Nightlife to the Next Level
There’s a street in Hamburg where city nightlife rubs elbows with a bona fide red light district and explodes into a mecca of rebellious debauchery, and it’s called the Reeperbahn. Bars next to strip clubs. Dance clubs in between cabarets and sex shops. The flashing neon lights attract young and old, bachelors and bachelorettes (stags and hens for you Brits), Hamburgers and locals. You don’t have to be a regular to the scene to enjoy these uncommon nights out, but it helps to have a friend in the neighborhood. The St. Pauli Tourist Office offers tours in English by local guides who share the quarter’s unusual history, reveal its hidden sights, tell you where to absolutely go and what’s better left alone, and take you to their favorite bar(s) for a drink (or three) together.

Insider info:
Reeperbahn Metro Stop: Reeperbahn
St. Pauli Tourist Office Tours in English (Fridays and Saturdays at 21:30)
8. You’re a Beatlemaniac
Take it from John Lennon himself, who later quoted, “I was born in Liverpool but raised in Hamburg,” a very significant part of the Beatles early history unfolded in, none other than, the city’s red light district. From 1960 to 1962, the startup band played a total of 281 concerts in the St. Pauli quarter. You can visit the sites where the group once rocked out up to 12 hours a night and 98 days in a row, venue’s like the Top 10 Club, The Star, The Indra, and The Kaiserkeller – the last two of which are still functioning music clubs today. In Beatles Plaz, a city square shaped like a giant vinyl record, no true fan can resist taking their picture framed in the outline of band member-shaped statues (that extra one off to the side is Pete Best). Just make sure you turn around to get the colorful Reeperbahn in the background, not the dull storefront across the street.

Insider info:
Beatles Platz Metro Stop: Reeperbahn
*All sights where the Beatles played are along or near Reeperbahn street

9. You Think Bigger Is – Almost Always – Better 
So you love big cities but could do without how they can be dangerous, dirty, and hard to get around? In Hamburg, you might be alarmed by the overt kindness and English-speaking prowess of strangers, the only trash you’ll see is at the bottom of recycling bins, and it will be difficult to grasp exactly how you’re getting around so quickly in a city seven times larger than Paris and twice as big as London. The metro and bus system runs. like. clockwork. And for those of you traveling with no destination, a sightseeing loop through Hamburg’s most popular neighborhoods on the Die Roten Doppeldecker (Red Double Decker bus) will leave you with quite a few in mind. Observing from your second-story seat under the sun, or hopping on and off at some of the 27 stops delivers a sweeping overview of this XL city in just 90-minutes.

Insider Info:
The HVV: Hamburg’s Public Transportation (Metro & Bus)
Die Roten Doppeldecker Sightseeing Tour
All Die Roten Doppeldecker Tours
*Guides speak German and English. Tell them you don’t speak German and they’ll translate.

10. You Appreciate Good Value
Hamburg is no budget traveler’s Eastern Europe, but for being a big city on the west side of the continent, it’s on the low end of the spending spectrum. Compared to popular tourist destinations like Paris, London, Rome and Barcelona, your money will last longer and get you a higher standard of quality for the same price. Plus, if you like seafood and drinking, you can indulge at absurdly low prices in the city center: around €3.50 for a catch-of-the-day sandwich on a pier, and €2.50 for a beer at a bar. Another great deal is the Hamburg Card, an €8.90 ticket good for 26-hours of unlimited bus and metro rides, and additional discounts of up to 50% at 130 restaurants, tours, and attractions.

Insider Info:
*Brücke 10 has a patio seating on the pier and arguably the best fish sandwiches in town (site in German only):
Address: St. Pauli landing bridges / bridge 10
Hours: Mon – Sat: 10:00-22:00, Sundays 9:00-22:00
Contact
Metro Stop: Baumwall

Makes you want to go, right? Do it! Check out our prices here!

If you are wine lovers, Florence is your destination. And, not only because it is the capital of Italy’s Tuscany region, with one of the most celebrated DOs in the world and their flagship chianti, but because it is packed with wine bars where you can indulge in culinary specialities paired with a huge variety of great wines that can be ordered by the glass. What a treat and, on a reasonable budget – here you will taste and discover the wine treasures of the region and the country.

La Volpi e l’Uva

This tiny wine bar, owned by three Florentines, is a veritable benchmark, ideal for those wishing to avoid the more popular establishments. At the bar counter or on their magnificent terrace, a stone’s throw from the emblematic Ponte Vecchio, you can savour wine by the glass, with over 45 different signature Italian reds and French whites from small local wineries, most of them biodynamic and organic. A luxury which costs from €4.5 to €9 and includes pairings with tasting dishes from a menu of top-quality specialties from the Florence area ­–cured meat (mortadella, salami, ham), cheese served on delicious, dry schiacciata bread and crostini (toast). And, if you fall for any particular wine, you’ve hit the jackpot, as La Volpa et L’Uva is also a wine shop. You can take advice from Ricardo, one of the very friendly owners, who will passionately recommend the ideal bottle from over 1,000 signature wines lining the walls.

Fuori Porta

This huge yet congenial wine bar and restaurant, located next to the San Miniato Gate, is descended upon every day by crowds of loyal regulars. This is a must-visit tasting venue when you’re in Florence. Here you can forget about pizza and pasta; the cuisine is simple but delicious, based on gourmet sandwiches, bruschettas (toasted bread rubbed with garlic and oil), meat, salads, pinchos and cheese-and-cured meat boards. Wine is the undisputed leading light of this restaurant, with a choice of over 500 wines to enjoy by the glass – quite a sizeable figure! You will soon discover the variety of Tuscan wines, as well as the other Italian DOs. And, as if that weren’t enough, they renew their menu about five times a year, and you can also buy takeaway wine by the bottle – a must-have souvenir.

Pitti Gola e Cantina

If you are bold enough to ask for the wine list, you will be amazed, as it can hardly fit on the table. This establishment is essential if you think of yourself as a genuine wine lover as it holds veritable gems in its cellar, including labels that go back to 1950! Prices can sting a little, though (from €6.60 a glass), but it is worthwhile if you want to discover the grands crus of Tuscany and Piedmont in particular, and the rest of the peninsula in general, noteworthy for its traditional wines based on local vinestocks. The staff are young and highly motivated and are bound to recommend some superb tasting. They offer an exquisite menu of Italian delicacies to go with it – pasta, lasagna, select meats… You will also be able to soak up the atmosphere while seated on their terrace, located on the majestic Piazza Pitti.

Fratelli Zanobini

A small shop in the heart of the San Lorenzo district which carries both Tuscan wines (accounting for half their stock) and Italian varieties in general, with nearly 500 different labels, in addition to liqueurs and sparkling wines. The store has been open for 44 years and has accrued viticultural knowledge from one generation to the next. Tastings can be ordered at the small tasting counter, which thousands of wine lovers have already homed in on. But, there is not much to nibble on, so best to go there on a full stomach. They also have six house wines.

Casa del vino

Nothing seems to have changed in this wine house since it first opened around the year 1900. In fact, seen from the outside, it actually looks more like an antiques shop, with its marble bar counter, glass cabinets and wooden furniture plastered with black-and-white photos and the odd wooden wine crate covered in dust. The establishment has remained in the same family throughout and decribes itself as a tavern where you can have a glass of red wine from Tuscany, Piedmont or Sicily standing up at any time of the day, while getting stuck into some fresh panini and cured meat. They are also known for stocking some of the best champagnes in town.

Bevo Vino

It has very cosy decor, with a few tables and very young, cool customers. Here, bon vivants can choose from 30 Italian wines served by the glass while munching on some excellent panini or the house menu, made up of meat and pasta dishes crafted from the purest Italian recipe book. Drinks are served generously by a very obliging staff. Average price around €12 for a drink and something to eat, or just €5 if you’ve only turned up for a toast. Via San Niccolò 59R, Monday to Sunday, from 12 a.m. to 1 a.m.

Coquinarius

Right next door to the stunning Duomo, Coquinarius is the closest you’ll get to a bistro. The front is a wine bar, with a restaurant at the back. The aroma wafting out of the kitchen is mouth-watering. Here you can savour an in-season menu, featuring bruschettas,meat and fish dishes as the highlights. Special mention goes to the salads, with unusual ingredients yet exquisite; notably, dried tomatoes, aubergines, sunflower seeds, courgette flowers and pear. This elegant wine bar offers a large variety of mostly Italian wines, as well as the odd label from more unique sources – Argentina, Austria, Chile or California. Wine by the glass or bottle.

Book your Vueling to Florence and get ready to taste the wines of Tuscany.

Text and photos by Laia Zieger of Gastronomistas.com

Even the experts consider it an ‘antinovel’, there is no doubt that Rayuela influenced many generations since it was released and, because of it, Julio Cortázar became a literary benchmark whose centenary of his birth is celebrated this year. If Maga and this unparalleled adventure in Paris also fascinated you, our route through the French capital will help you remembering the most remarkable moments in Horacio Oliveira’s history.

"¿Will I find Maga? Many times I just had to look out coming by rue de Seine, the arch that takes you to Quai de Conti, and only the olive and ash light floating on the river let me distinguish the forms, its tiny shape by Pont des Arts, sometimes walking from side to side, sometimes stopped at the iron parapet, leaned against the water. And it was so natural to cross the street, ascend the steps on the bridge, get in the tiny waist and get closer to Maga smiling unsurprisingly, convinced like me that a chance encounter was the less casual in our life, and that people who arrange dates is the same that needs ruled paper to write each other or that pushes from the bottom the tooth paste”

Quai de Conti: The novel, like our route, starts at rue de Seine, Quai de Conti and Pont des Arts, places where Horacio y Maga met each other, with a special symbolism for the author considering the centric location of this part of the route that take us along the left side of Seine river. Our protagonist also mentions the library Mazarine, located at the other side of the arch and the most antique library in the country.

Pont des Arts: As a connection between Institut de France and Louvre (previously known as Arts Palace), you can find the centric iron bridge where Oliveira got drunk at the first part of the book. Now full of lockers promising everlasting love, the panoramic views over Cité island and all the bridges is one of the most beautiful pictures you can take of the city.

Louvre Museum: Even Rayuela is full of cultural references, when we are talking about visual arts Louvre museum is the only reference Cortázar gives us about this city on this field. The most visited arts museum in the world appears on our way after taking Pont des Arts. This place is a must to anyone because of its wide collection and masterpieces such as “La Gioconda” by Leonardo da Vinci and a stunning building including, since the 80s, a great glass pyramid that you should visit.

Rue du Jour: The latest partners of Horacio at the city, homeless people, feed themselves thanks to the soup dish that they receive here. By the church Saint Eustache, people in need receives food at this street, located at Les Halles, a gardened area right in the city centre where there are two more places we will pass by.

"Au chien qui fume" restaurant: Located at Rue du Pont Neuf, this is one of the cafés named at chapter 132 and is also a meeting point for Etienne and Horacio on the way to the hospital to visit Morelli. This is a typical French restaurant, with an elegant and traditional decoration and a careful cuisine selection. Following this street we find the next stop…

Pont Neuf: Even it name means new bridge, it’s completely the opposite, and it’s the oldest. Here we say goodbye to Horacio and Maga in this route. Made of arches, the bridge took almost 30 years on the making and during the 18th century it was the centre of crime and commerce in the city. Passing by the bridge we will go back to the left side of the Seine, where we will stay.

Rue Dauphine: Even it’s part of a dispensable chapter, Pola, Horacio’s French lover, lives in this street. The street starts after Pont Neuf, and it was named after France’s dauphine, Henri IV’s son.

Rue de la Huchette: This is another place where Horacio thinks his lover can be at. A must-visit pedestrian street with many famous places like the theatre Huchette and Caveau de la Huchette. We pass through from the boulevard Saint-Michel until we reach Rue du Petit-Pont, before we get to the Notre-Dame cathedral.

Notre Dame: Chance makes the protagonists meet again at this iconic landmark of the city, one of the most beautiful and most visited French gothic cathedrals, which was finished on 1345 and is located at the Cité island. Who hasn’t heard about Notre Dame and its famous hunchback? Either as the Quasimodo by Victor Hugo or by Disney, the gargoyles are part of the collective imaginary

Rue du Sommerard: The street where Horacio Oliveira lives and one of the oldest in the city, which during the Roman age took to the baths at Cluny. Next to the famous Saint-Germain Boulevard, Sommerand is nonetheless more relaxed and perfect to take a relaxed walk.

Rue Valette: This is a magic place for our protagonists, in one of the hotels here they consummate the relationship for the first time and here is also where Horacio took Pola. Rue Valette is at the quarter of Sorbonne University and follows the Rue de Carmes, the meeting point for students.

Rue Monge: One of the places where is believed Maga lived after separation and the death of his son Rocamadour. This is a important street located at the university area on the Paris district nº 5.

Rue Monsieur Le Prince: The incomprehensible chance also takes place at this street, which used to be a road and leads to the Edmond Rostand Square along the Saint-Michel Boulevard. Notice also that Polidor restaurant, where the story of Cortazar’s "62 A Model Kit" takes place, is also here. We pass by this place if we go to Odeon.

Rue l’Odéon: Remember here, with Horacio, parts of his relation with Maga, eating at Carrefour de l’Odeon and riding the bike by Montparnasse. The impressive Odeon theatre gives the name to this street and neighbourhood, full of life by night and day, where we can find all kinds of bars, cafés and restaurants. From here, take Saint-Sulpice Street to arrive to the next stop.

Rue de Tournon: This is the street where we walk back to Madame Trépat house, with Horacio. Even traditionally it was full of old bookstores, many luxury fashion shops moved here on the past few years. It’s one of the most prestigious streets, from the Senate and across Saint-Sulpice street, which lead us to the end of this route. Mario Vargas Llosa lived here too.

Montparnasse cemetery: The last stop in this route is also the location at the last chapter of Rayuela, where Horacio takes a little paper and also where Julio Cortázar was buried. At the hearth of Montparnasse neighbourhood, this was inaugurated on 1824 and is the second in the city, with many remarkable people resting here along with the author, such as Simone de Beauvoir, Samuel Beckett or Jean Paul Sartre.

Image from Henri Marion

A place well worth discovering! Check out our flights here.