Elena, creator of the Travel Captures blog, talks about her three favourite countries, part of a series that has featured top bloggers such as Jonny Blair, Ric Gazarian and Henrik Jeppesen.
Hello, I am Elena, the creator of the Travel Captures blog. Born in Ukraine and now with New Zealand citizenship, I love travelling with my family (my husband and our two boys), taking lots of photos and sharing our travel stories on my blog.
Here are my top 3 favourite countries (it’s a pure coincidence that all of them start with the same letter 🙂
1. New Zealand
New Zealand, famous for its picturesque landscapes and coastlines. We moved to New Zealand in 2007 and instantly fell in love with it. After living and travelling there for more than 10 years, we still find lots of new places and unexplored gems.
New Zealand has so much to offer: mountains, beaches, lakes, waterfalls, volcanoes, glaciers and fjords.
The North Island has the best beaches, surfing and ocean views. There are many geologically active areas – geysers, thermal pools, hot springs, dormant and active volcanoes.
And there is the awesome Tongariro National Park with its famous alpine crossing,
The South Island has the best mountains, trekking, glaciers and fjords. New Zealand’s best skiing resorts are in the south near Queenstown.
For wilderness lovers – there are many penguin and seal colonies on the coastlines of the South Island, as well as numerous boat tours to watch dolphins and whales in the wild.
For movie fans, there are many filming locations for the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies, in New Zealand.
2. Netherlands
After living in New Zealand for 10 years we wanted to explore more of continental Europe and what is the best way to do it if not to live there? So in 2017, we decided to move to the Netherlands. We lived in the Dutch city of Utrecht for 3 years.
To be honest, I didn’t expect to like the Netherlands so much before we moved there. But the longer we lived there, the more we liked it. We loved exploring the little towns as well as the big cities.
The Netherlands is a very bike-friendly country. We loved being able to bike anywhere within and around the city. There are many bike rental shops, so if you travel to the Netherlands, consider renting a bike to explore the cities or tulip fields the Dutch way – by bike.
The Netherlands is the home of many famous artists such as Rembrandt, Vermeer and Vincent Van Gogh, whose works you can admire in the museums and galleries around the country.
We’d also recommend that you try the local food especially the traditional Dutch herring (Dutch like it fresh with chopped onions), bitterballen and kroketten or the fresh stroopwafels (thin waffles with syrup), pancakes or oliebollen for the dessert.
3. Norway
Norway is the country I would like to visit over and over again. It won my heart with its breathtaking landscapes and nature.
We visited Norway in summer for a one-week road trip. After only a couple of days of the trip, I understood that I want to spend much longer in this beautiful country.
With picturesque landscapes, snow-capped mountains, fjords cruises, small fishing villages, mountain lakes, northern lights and midnight sun what is there not to like about Norway?
Visit some of the bigger cities in Norway such as Bergen, Alesund, and Stavanger. Take a boat tour in one (or a few) of the stunning fjords in the country. Drive to Trollstigen to see the famous road of The Trolls Path. Take a cruise to Geirangerfjord. Make a road trip to see the Atlantic Ocean Road.
Travel to Lofoten Islands – world-famous for its dramatic landscapes and surrounding scenery. Drive to some of the picture-perfect little villages in Lofoten, and make sure to visit a Viking museum.
Next time we travel to Norway I’d like to visit the northern part of the country and start with Tromso. I’d like to experience the midnight sun in summer or see the northern lights in winter.
