What I Learned From Travelling Alone in Europe

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Restaurant recommendations at the bottom of this post!

Somehow, some way, I managed to muster up the courage and will to take a solo"backpacking" trip around Europe, specifically France, Italy and Lisbon, Portugal. I say "backpacking" because I ditched the backpack a week into my trip and bought a suitcase.

But that's for later. For now, let's start with lesson #1.

#1. Be stronger and braver than you think you are. 

Here’s the thing: you’re already aware of all the dangers that come with travelling alone. 

Before you leave, everyone will tell you to hold on to your wallet and to watch out for pickpockets. And this is very practical advice that you will get from at least 5 different people before you leave. 

But here’s the bottom line: be aware, not fearful.

With everything going on around the world the worst possible scenarios kept running through my mind. But with my parents worried and super emotional leading up to the trip, I did my best to hide my worry. From waiting in line for security to holding back all my tears, it was a lot.

What really helped while I waited for my flight were these letters my best friend wrote for me to open at each leg of my trip. Even though I hadn’t technically left Toronto yet, having a tangible piece of home with me to keep me grounded was comforting. 

✎ Set a FaceTime or video chat schedule, if your loved ones are worried or clingy like mine. I tried to FaceTime my parents at the same time every night, even if for only a few minutes. 

✎ Bring a piece of home with you, especially if it's your first time solo travelling. Just make sure it’s compact! 

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Onto the trip.  First stop: Paris.

If you’re considering travelling around Paris, here are a few tips for finding your way:

✎ Choose an accommodation near a metro station. I found this AirBnB that is a 5 minute walk away from the Gare de L’Est, and from there, anywhere else I needed to go was about a 10-30 min metro ride. The Paris metro system is AMAZING compared to the mess that the TTC is here in Toronto. 

✎ At restaurants in France, the menu is often referred to as “la carte”. An "entrée" is the starter or appetizer and "plat" is the main course. Most restaurants will have a special of the day. This is called “le menu” or “la formule”.

! ! Context matters. "Une carte" can mean map. It can also mean credit card, greeting card, and playing card.

✎ Ask your server for recommendations and take them.  So long as you don't have any dietary restrictions, I recommend you take a gamble and surprise yourself — even if you don’t know what’s in it.

#2. Plan as much as you want but don’t expect anything.

This lesson was one of the most difficult for me to accept. I planned so many details and sites to visit in my itinerary, which you’ll see in my next video, but I didn’t plan for the unexpected. 

✎ Note that sometimes two apartments share one entrance and lobby. I learned this the hard way and ended up going up and down the same staircase multiple times, only to find out it was the wrong staircase to the wrong apartment. 

Initially, I was going to check in at my AirBnB, grab lunch, then explore the city. Not only did I get lost walking in circles for an hour before checking in, I got lost IN the apartment and was so exhausted from travelling that I devoured a quick meal at a restaurant nearby and KO’d at 4pm.

I was so disappointed. I don’t know why I thought I could escape the effects of a 6 hour layover and 8 hours of flying. I overestimated myself. But as soon as I started to let go of all my expectations, I felt a lot lighter. 

Flexibility is FREEING and the sooner you learn that when you travel, the less you’ll stress out and the more you will begin to actually enjoy yourself.

The next day was my first and last full day in Paris. I had planned to explore around Montmartre, which is where you can find the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur. It’s a nice quiet area to wander around.

✎ Wear comfortable walking shoes. There are a lot of stairs in and around the town, and most roads are sloped and covered with cobblestones. 

✎ Beware of nice people. This is not a pickpocket warning; this is a genuine friendly person telling you you have a cute face and they want to draw you — true story.It sounds Titanic-y, and I promise it wasn’t! But this gentleman began to draw me while we had a nice conversation, and it turned out that I owed him €40, which is $60 CAD. 

Does the drawing look like me? Kinda. Did I want to pay for this? Absolutely not! But I did. Because nice people need to make a living too. 

✎ Pay-what-you-want (or don't) on free walking tours. I went with Sandeman’s New Europe and got to see highlights of the main attractions around Paris. The tour was about 2 hours and the guides work off tips. 

Visiting the Louvre

✎ Free admission if you’re 26 or under, on Fridays after 6pm with ID.

✎ Plan out the exhibits you want to visit beforehand. Take a look at the map and try to plan out your route. I ended up getting lost for about an hour looking for this Ducreux painting from this meme, not knowing it was closed for restoration. But luckily, I came across Napoleon’s apartments which were nice to get lost in. 

Of course, take a quick peek at the Mona Lisa just so you can say you saw it, but remember — it’s the story, and not the painting, that made it famous.

At this point, I still had not seen the Eiffel Tower up close. So, I headed out at around 10:30pm and ventured to the tower. 

Now, you may be thinking...

You went out after dark?! Alone?! But you’re a GIRL! You’re foreign! It’s dangerous! Other irrational worries!

And if you’re not thinking that, now you know what my internal dialogue was. 

✎ Don't be afraid to go out at night. After talking to my AirBnB host, she assured me that there are lots of tourists and locals around, even late at night. So as long as you don’t walk in to a dark creepy-looking alley and stay on well-lit roads, you’ll be fine.

I ended up staying out til midnight that night, and I was exhausted. I was still jet-lagged, so I didn’t sleep til 3am. But I had to meet early with my tour group for Versailles the next morning.

So picture this: it’s the next morning, I had woken up with less than 4 hours of sleep, I’m speed walking to the metro station — only to realize I walked to the wrong one. 

As soon as I rerouted and got off the train, I realized I had 3 minutes until my group was supposed to leave. So I ran up the station stairs, TRIPPED in front of another tour group, and was 30 seconds away from missing my group. Now, Versailles was beautiful. It was a 3-ish hour walking tour and I regret going. 

As I headed back to Paris, I realized I had miscalculated how long it took to get back. Plus, there were delays on the metro. 

So here I am, running back to my AirBnB with less than 20 minutes left to pack all my things, I stuffed everything in my backpack, and ran back to the metro station to catch my train to Lyon. 

Thankfully, I arrived on the platform 10 minutes prior to departure. What I DIDN’T know was that there were TWO trains on the same track, one right behind the other. And I got lost.  Luckily, there was a gentleman nice enough to walk me all the way to my train cart with 2 minutes to spare before departure.

✎ Sometimes, 2 trains heading the same direction will be on the same track, with no specific sign of which train is which, other than the numbers on the train. It might seem obvious that I would have seen two separate trains… but seriously, who has 2 trains on one track?! 

After about 2 hours, I arrived in Lyon Part-Dieu, which kind of felt like Union Station and the Eaton Centre. As if everything from that day was not already exhausting enough, I got lost trying to find out where to buy a bus ticket. Eventually, I got fed up and just walked to my AirBnB. 

At this point it was 8pm, I was hungry, jet-lagged, delirious, and sore from carrying this huge backpack. By the grace of God, I got to my AirBnB in one piece. And this is where lesson #3 comes in. 

#3: You CANNOT do it all. You are but a human and you will learn your limits.

It was in Lyon that I finally began to listen to my body. I cancelled my pre-booked walking tour, I didn’t care to look at my itinerary, and I rediscovered REST. 

✎ Give yourself one or two "bum out" days, especially if you’re travelling for more than 2 weeks. Your body and mind will NEED it! 

The next day, I bummed around the mall, which was super busy and packed. 

✎ Les soldes: if you’re looking for some good shopping, France has “les soldes” in mid January, which is like Boxing Day/Black Friday put together, but with more class. 

Anyway, I looked haggard as hell. I gave up with the whole backpacking across Europe thing and bought myself a suitcase from Primark. I looked really lonely and sad at the mall — but I didn’t care! It was my chill day. 

The next day, I did a walking tour of Vieux Lyon with Paul from Airotour. This tour cost a couple euros to book, but was also tip-based. I definitely recommend him!

✎ If you're going to France, you HAVE to visit Lyon. It is the MOST beautiful city, not to mention older than Paris. Initially, I had regretted how little time I spent in Paris, but I’d trade all my time in Paris for more time in Lyon. It is the gastronomic (fancy word for "foodie") centre of the world!

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I planned a 15-day WorkAway in the middle of my trip. WorkAway is program that allows you to stay with a host family in exchange for work. I stayed in a city in the Haute-Savoie region, along Lac Léman/Lac Genève with a lovely family in a beautiful neighbourhood. 

WorkAway was an interesting experience for me. I was challenged mentally, physically, and emotionally. It left such an impact on me that it’s part of the reason why I’ve taken to so long to film/edit this video. 

I’ll explain my WorkAway experience in more detail in a future video, but this is where I learned another big lesson.

#4. You always have a choice: you can choose to complain, or you can choose joy. 

When I look back, I see how much I was challenged. But I remember FIGHTING for patience and compassion, which I believe are habits that we develop. They don’t have to be impossible standards. 

And this isn’t just a travel lesson, but a life lesson that I’m still learning every day. 

Little town, it's a quiet village...

Next, I had the chance to take a day trip to Evian-les-bains — yes, the place Evian water is named after. And they actually have "robinets" where you can get fresh water from their natural springs.

✎ Take advantage of BlaBlaCar, if you’re going to travel between cities. It’s a carpooling service in Europe, A LOT cheaper than taking the bus or train, and you get to meet pretty chill people and have good conversations.

One city I visited was Annecy, which is known as France’s prettiest medieval town. It was a beautiful town, very relaxed, and I had lots of time to wander and bask in the mountain scape. It’s where I had one of my favourite meals at a restaurant called L’appart du dix-septième. You can follow me on instagram for more shots of what I ate during my trip. 

Next, I spent 2 days in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc. I knew that being near the French alps meant I needed to see them up close, and the best way to do that is to ride up to the Aiguille du Midi — one of the highest viewpoints in Chamonix Village. Luckily, I managed to find this beautiful, affordable AirBnB for my short last-minute stay. 

And anyone who’s asked me what my favourite part of my trip was knows this was it. It was at the top that I just cried at the beauty and vastness of it all. 

This is where I learned my fifth big lesson. 

#5. You are tiny and creation is beautiful. 

If you don’t already feel small in this grand world, stand at the foot of a mountain, or at the top of one in my case. Whether or not you believe in god, there’s no way seeing views like this won’t make you question his existence. It was so worth the money! 

I also got to see an avalanche happen — felt like Mulan, minus the deaths. In other words, it was pretty cool. 

Some must-try foods in France:

L’andouillette which is a sausage made from pork intestines, sometimes tripe, and has a really distinct odour. This was one of those meals I ordered naively — and I surprised myself with a delicious meal!  

Les pralines roses which are caramelized almonds that are usually bright pink. These are a speciality in Lyon, and you can find them in a brioche, on a cookie, or on their own. They’re super sweet and crunchy and I wish I brought some home.

Escargot —I’ve eaten snails in Toronto, but they are SO much better when French people prepare them. 

Creole food — if you can find a restaurant. Most creole or cajun restaurants I know in North America are more island focused than French cuisine focused, but the one I went to in Evian was really great.

Cheese —Now when I eat cheese in North America, my stomach often hurts.. but not in Europe! Non-pasteurized cheese is so good and there are so many options. I thought I loved cheese until I tried cheese in France. 

Foie gras — I know it’s controversial, I know the whole process of getting it sucks, but it is daaaang good. 

Then there’s the typical stuff: baguettes, croissants, pain au chocolat, crêpes — even if I didn’t tell you to try these, I’m sure you would. 

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Onto the Italy leg of my trip. 

I found a great hostel-style AirBnB so central to everywhere I needed to go. And surprisingly, I never bumped into any of the other guests. 

Florence is a very walkable city. I knew I didn’t have much time and because I didn’t want to get overwhelmed, I booked myself a cooking lesson. 

✎ Take a cooking class. Florencetown is the company I went with, and they include a tour of the market as well. I ended up making a friend and attained pretty good cooking skills. When I got back to Toronto, I kept making pasta from scratch just for the heck of it. 

✎ Go into boutiques and art shops because you never know what you’ll find. I stumbled upon a really nice shop/studio owned by a local artist named Marco Burchi who makes waterproof artwork with soil from Florence. I got a tour of the studio and even brought one of his pieces home! 

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Next was Rome, which was surprisingly FULL of tourists even in the winter. The Vatican Museums were packed and you couldn’t really stop to stand and look at the art because security would yell to “keep moving”. 

#6. Try to do SOME touristy things, even if you're not big on it.

I learned the value of visiting the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, and all the piazzas. I hated the crowdedness, but it was really cool that I got to see the stuff that’s so often in movies and textbooks, and then realize that it was REAL history. 

I hopped around from all the major churches to the major sites and piazzas. But of course, what would a trip be without food? 

✎ Try the traditional stuff, not just pizza and spaghetti. I had trippa alla romana which was pretty much tripe in tomato sauce. It was pretty good! Again, surprise yourself and trust your server.

✎ Note down common translations of food items. I wrote a little sticky note in my travel journal, just in case.

There’s also cacio e pepe, which was my third favourite meal. I had it a restaurant called Pastasciutta near Vatican City. It was so cheap and so simple but it was SO delicious. 

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Finally, the last leg of my trip: Lisbon, Portugal. I booked my flight home with a 9 hour stopover, which gave me 4 hours to explore the city. How I did that and why I did that will be explained in my next video, so stay tuned for that.

#7. Surprisingly, you can see a lot in 4 hours. 

So long as you’re well-rested and you have no agenda.

I ended up meeting a guy in Rossio Square who was holding an umbrella that said “FREE walking tours”. As I approached him, it turned out he only had one arm. 

Was it sketchy? A bit. But he was really friendly, and I ended up being the only one who joined him for a walking tour for about 2 hours; it was a tour specifically tailored to my interests so I can’t complain. 

✎ Go with the man with the umbrella. If you end up seeing him, whose name I completely forgot, I recommend doing a walking tour with him! He doesn’t do any advertising anywhere; he just goes out with his umbrella whenever he feels like it. 

As for must-try food, get a shot or two of ginjinjha, which is their sweet cherry liquor. It’s really good! 

And step into any bakery or café you see and order the first pastry that catches your eye — I don’t doubt that it will be delicious. 

✎ Take one of those bicycle taxis up to the Sé. It’s worth it if you don’t have enough energy for the uphill walk.

And now for my final lesson but nevertheless important.

#8. You can LITERALLY never be too prepared. 

In my next video, you’ll see my planning process. I planned almost every day for 3 months leading up to my trip. Every detail, every turn with Google Maps street view, every restaurant — you’d think I would have been set. But I was so thrown off and so unprepared for the unexpected. And it was honestly a BEAUTIFUL thing when I finally let go of expectations. 

The quicker you learn this as a traveller, the less you’ll feel the need to stress out over the little things.

So that was my month-long trip in Europe! If you got this far, dang - I appreciate you! Stay tuned with all my other adulting adventures by subscribing to my YouTube channel.