You Know You're in Europe When... ~ Cheap Travel for Women

Whichever part of Europe you visit, there will always be these mainstays. You know you're in Europe when you are surrounded by the following...

.street performers.

Be it budding musicians or artists in their own way, you'll find them in streets, or in corners of main tourist hubs wowing the crowd. If you can't get enough of these, click here for video clips of their performances.

in their traditional garb {Brussels}

musician playing a stringed instrument in Bratislava

musical band in bike {Brussels}

cellist in the Louvre {Paris}

. bicycles .

In the Netherlands, bicycle is the MAIN mode of transportation, and the locals can be quite inconsiderate even if you unintentionally walk on their lane. In other countries however, they can be more forgiving.

even tourists can rent a bike! {Belgium}

if cars have baby seat, why not bicycles? {Germany}

this is me dreaming of
my own bicycle with a girly basket

uitgezonderd: "except".
This road is one way except for bicycles. {Holland}

. cobblestones .

If you plan on skipping the tourist buses, then you better ditch those high heels travel sisters. There's not a country here where you won't encounter cobblestone streets.

fancy shopping in flea markets?
notice they're laid out on cobblestones {Belgium}

Brussels' Grand Place

Budapest's Castle Hill gives you
a view of earlier times' Pest side {Hungary}

comfy shoes needed in Florence, Italy

. churches .

Except for the throng of tourists, I imagine these churches would usually be empty of regular church goers

inside colorfully lighted church {Vienna}

Stephansdom {Austria}

St Stephen's Basilica {Budapest}

Duomo in Milan, Italy

bird's eye view atop the Duomo {Milan}

. efficient public transportation .

The operative word being efficient. Define trains leaving and arriving on time. And buses having on-the-dot time schedules.

street car or Straßebahn {Germany}

U-Bahn (not your white hair)
is German for their metro.

. cheese .

Need I say more? My favorite by far, is the braided string cheese from Slovakia which has a soft and chewy texture. Best paired with white wine for an appetizing aperitif!

cheese platter! i cannot resist. {Paris}

personally, I like to name this "to die for" cheese. Ha! {bratislava}

. castle .

Every girl loves a damsel-in-distress-being-rescued-by-her-prince-charming story. So while you're crafting your own fairy tale, a trip to one of these European castles will surely keep your creative juices flowing.