For the first time since resuming travel coming out of the Covid shutdown, I didn’t make it to Europe in 2025. And while I had an amazing travel year, that absence was felt, both in that I missed my favorite place in the world and that I didn’t have my “normal” (I’ve only done it five times so it feels weird to say normal) months-long slow trip. I was so eager to resume exploring Europe that for 2026, I decided not to wait and to just begin my year there.

It’s hard to explain just what makes Europe feel so much like home to me. Part of it is lifestyle. I love taking transit and walking as opposed to my Los Angeles driving life. I adore the culture, and how Europeans don’t look down on those who seek it out. (This is obviously an over-generalization. But growing up in the US, I was teased for being intelligent, for reading, for liking history museums and classical music. I’m sure some European children are bullied for these things as well, but it feels like a more accepting society of intelligence and culture, even for me today as an adult.) I like the work-life balance of Europe, and how working 90 hour weeks like I used to in my former life isn’t a source of perverse pride there. I like the democracy, the social welfare, the health coverage.

Part of it is also a sense of belonging since I became a German citizen back in 2019, reclaiming that mantle from my grandparents who were denied theirs by the Nazis. Over the years since, I’ve definitely come to feel a bit more German, and European in general, in my identity in addition to having the paperwork. (Don’t ask me how my German speaking is, though. It’s very much a work in progress.)

Finally, part of it is just getting out of the US right now, and removing the American news cycle from the top of my psyche. Europe has its share of issues, for sure, but commitment to democracy and human rights isn’t one of them on most of the continent. So while being there comes with a new set of news items, it is refreshing for me.

My last few European trips have focused on major metropolises and capital cities. I’m not doing that this time. Rather, this trip will aim to return to my early European experiences, back when I first started The Royal Tour, and spend long periods in smaller places. To be sure, there is still plenty to do and see and eat and write about, but it won’t be like my month in Rome in 2023, trying desperately to get in as much as possible in a city I could spend a year exploring and not see half of my list.

I’m a bit limited by weather. While I love off-season European travel, and will actually be writing about that in more depth later in the year, winter is a thing on most of the continent, and I’m rather squeamish about extreme cold. Berlin might be awesome – and I do intend to go back for even longer than the three weeks I spent in 2022 – but not for me in January. I don’t need it to be warm, and it probably won’t get out of the 60s – if even that – anywhere I’m going, but I’d rather it doesn’t go below freezing on the daily.

So with all that said, what does this trip look like? It is basically a month in each of three cities: Genoa, Nice, and Toulouse. Why these?

The original plan was to do January in Nice, banking on A’s normally slow start to her work year to do language immersion courses in French together. (We both speak enough to get by, but are far FAR from fluent, especially in France itself with the country’s notorious – and earned – reputation for lack of tolerance for those who don’t speak perfectly in the beautiful language of love. We do a bit better in other French-speaking countries.) We were then going to go to Toulouse for February, and spend March in the San Sebastián and Bilbao area of the Basque region of Spain.

Well, Basque Country wasn’t in the cards, as the only two Airbnbs I found that were remotely within my budget were unavailable for long periods. So we debated between Paris in March, or starting on the Mediterranean coast of Italy and then making our way into France. Avoidance of Paris won out. (I’ve been multiple times, and while I love all the city has to offer, I can’t stand the crowds of tourists or the prices, and the Parisians themselves don’t help matters.)

So we begin in Genoa. We actually fly into Milan and then head down, but that’s just for a night. I’ll get into a full itinerary of the month in my next article, but I’m excited to explore the history of the Genoese Republic, Genoese pesto, and something of Christopher Columbus from his birthplace. (I hate the man but he is relevant to the discourse.) There will be a side trip to Turin, as well, for a delve into the Savoy family of Piedmont-Sardinia and their ultimately successful quest to unite Italy into a constitutional monarchy that ended with World War Two. Day trips along the Ligurian coast will also be in the cards, and a possible sojourn into Tuscany to meet up with friends.

Then it’s on to Nice. While no side trips are planned, the city is the perfect base to explore the Côte d’Azur, and we will take in Monaco, Cannes, and several other locations. As for writing, the focus will be on art, with at least four artists’ (Chagall, Matisse, Renoir, and Picasso) time in the south of France being at the forefront. Two of these are in the city, and two necessitate additional day trips.

Finally, it is March in Toulouse, with a side trip to Andorra, the last of the European micro-countries for A to visit. (I was there back in 2019.) In France’s Pink City, we will explore Airbus’ headquarters, the Renaissance palaces that define the city’s style, and discuss humble Occitaine cuisine like cassoulet. And maybe we will take a day trip on or along the Canal du Midi, which connects France’s Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts via the Aude and Garonne Rivers and begins (or ends) here in Toulouse. We also will likely spend a long weekend in Barcelona visiting friends who are spending the year there, but that hasn’t been totally finalized as of this writing.

In addition, we will see friends, connect with family, and catch up with some of the amazing Europeans in our lives after a year of absence. (Three past and current writers here on The Royal Tour are part of that.) And I hope to make new friends as well!

As I said before, full detailed itinerary posts will be coming out separately, with day-by-day draft schedules to the best of my ability for you to all follow along with. I’m not sure if I’ll do two (one for Genoa and one for France) or three (splitting France into two), but I hope you’ll read along regardless.

Until then, happy new year and safe travels to wherever this winter sees you off to!