Back before Miss Rona came to town, I was lucky enough to visit London, Amsterdam, and Paris with my boyfriend.  Before going, I’ll admit I was a bit scared that I may not enjoy Europe in the winter as much as if I were to go during a warmer season, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.  Europe was still an amazing trip even in colder weather.  In fact, if you are the type of person to avoid crowds, January is the perfect time to visit to avoid packs of tourists.  In case you’re wondering what to do in Europe, here I’ll be sharing what my boyfriend and I did for our trip as a sample itinerary.  Since we went by ourselves, this itinerary is ideal for couples or for those travelling with just a couple close friends.  Hope this helps if you happen to be planning a Europe trip soon and check out my video on my Europe trip to hear more about my experiences and some stories from my trip!

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10-Day Couple’s Intinerary

DAY 1-2: LONDON

Day 1:

• Arrive in London (morning)
• Visit Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace – all in same area
• Window shopping in Soho
• Ballie Ballerson ball pit bar (Soho) in the evening (must reserve tickets in advance)

For our first day in London, we visited the obvious tourist attractions, then went to a ball pit bar in the evening.  I thought the ball pit bar was such a fun, cool experience (and great for those Insta pics) so I definitely recommend that if you have the chance.

Day 2:

• Breakfast in a glass igloo at Coppa Club (Tower Bridge area)
• Tower Bridge, Sky Garden, Leadenhall Market

On day two, we had breakfast in a glass igloo, which was a really cool experience.  We reserved a spot for 8am and since it was January, it was right around the time the sun was rising.  It was so amazing to watch the sunrise during breakfast, right along the Thames River with a view of the Tower Bridge! My next favorite attraction of the day was the Sky Garden.  We went around 9 or 10 am and entry was free.  I loved the Sky Garden as it had beautiful 360 degree views of London. 

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DAY 3-5: AMSTERDAM

Day 3: 

• Headed for Amsterdam 
• Grabbed food from frietboutique which had excellent croquets and bitterballen!

Of course, you can add more days to London if you’d like, but we decided to spend more time in Paris and Amsterdam – it’s a completely personal choice!  We arrived in Amsterdam in the evening, so we didn’t have much time to do anything touristy. However, we did grab a bite to eat at frietboutique and I have to say trying bitterballen is ESSENTIAL while you’re in the Netherlands.  It is now up there as one of my favorite foods and I am so sad that I can’t find any in California.

Day 4: 

• Free day
• Breakfast at Albert Cuyp market – try some Dutch food!
• Waterlooplein flea market
• Shopping district

This was our free day and we decided to do some shopping.  We went to the Waterlooplein flea market, which was smaller than we expected but had some cool finds.  I would’ve loved to do more thrift shopping as I’ve heard good things about Amsterdam thrift stores, but I guess we’ll save that for a future trip!  We also visited a more mainstream shopping area, which I recommend if you are into more well-known stores!

Day 5:

• Museum(s) – we went to the MOCO
• Anne Frank House
• Canal Cruise

For our last day of Amsterdam, we visited the MOCO Museum.  The Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh are more well-known, but we were already planning to visit the Louvre and Museé d’Orsay in Paris, so we wanted to do something different for Amsterdam.  I loved the MOCO and recommend it if you like contemporary art.  We then visited the Anne Frank House, which you will definitely need to reserve tickets for months in advance – they sell out very quickly.  To end the day and our Amsterdam visit, we took a canal cruise in the evening.  This was my favorite part of the trip.  Since we went in January, we were there for the Amsterdam Light Festival, where artists put up light sculptures around the city.  If you are visiting during this festival, taking a cruise to view the art (or at least walking around to see them) is a MUST.

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DAY 6-10: PARIS

Day 6:

• Hopped on a train yet again to Paris
• Arrived in the evening

We arrived late in the evening, so we didn’t do much other than our laundry at a laundromat near our hotel 😀

Day 7:

• Museé d’Orsay
• Galeries Lafayette + Printemps

We only visited two attractions this day, however you may be able to fit more.  Unfortunately, I had to visit the doctor in the morning due to a UTI (*rolls eyes* damn those UTIs) so we didn’t have more time.  The Museé d’Orsay was amazing and so much bigger than I expected.  Even the building itself was a work of art, with a beautiful clock window that people lined up to take pictures at.  It’s a must if you love art, especially impressionist art.  We also visited the Galeries Lafayette, a high-end department store.  This building was also a work of art and if you go to the rooftop, you get a nice view of the Paris skyline.  If you’re there for actually shopping, you can also visit the Printemps department store and various other stores down the block.

Day 8:

•  Eiffel Tower, Jardins du Trocadero
• Arc de Triomphe
• Louvre

This day was busy.  We went to the Eiffel Tower first thing in the morning but unfortunately found out the top level was closed for renovation (we really should’ve done more research).  Because of that, we decided not to go up at all but instead took pictures around the Eiffel Tower and the Jardins du Trocadero as a mini photoshoot.  Afterwards, we went to the Arc de Triomphe which I really enjoyed for it’s 360 degree views of Paris.  As you can see, I really love my 360 degree views :D.  We then spent the rest of day at the Louvre, which is HUGE.  I feel like you can even spend multiple days there.  

Day 9:

• Versailles Palace
• Tuileries Garden

For this day, we visited the Versailles Palace.  It was really nice to visit off-season as it wasn’t as crowded as usual.  I usually see pictures of the Hall of Mirrors with tourists packed in like sardines, but we were able to explore without feeling claustrophobic.  Afterwards, we headed back to Paris and visited the Tuileries Garden.  While we were there, we stumbled upon a building where a Louis Vuitton fashion show was taking place and saw some celebrities like Migos, Tyga, and Bella Hadid heading in!  Truly the fashion capital of the world.

Day 10:

• Free day
• Thrift shopping

We had our final day marked as our free day and decided to go thrift shopping.  It was a chill day as we strolled around and hit up some thrift/vintage shops as well as a more mainstream mall.  However, you can do whatever you like with your free day, or hit up places you missed earlier in your trip!

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