Guest Post: Winter Wanderlust by Ashley of Hepburn and Handbags

Hi guys! It’s Ashley from Hepburn and Handbags and I’m so excited to be guest posting today! Christmas break is fast approaching (thank goodness!!) and while I am excited to be home and able to relax, the break means that my travel bug is starting to kick in.

If you’re suffering from a little winter wanderlust like me, here’s a few suggestions for places to travel this winter. Whether you are buying a plane ticket right now or you’re lying on your couch drooling over travel blogs in between Netflix binges, we could all use a little travel inspiration to get us through finals.

1. Iceland. The tiny European island has experienced a surge in tourism in the last few years, in part thanks to its use as a location for Game of Thrones. But who could resist warm hot spring baths, rolling green landscapes, and colorful little cities with impossible-to-pronounce names. Yeah, it’ll be cold, but it’s cold year round so you might as well get the full-on winter wonderland experience.
2. Norway. I visited Norway in April (still cold!) and fell in love. We visited Oslo and Drobak, home to the Santa house, and I can’t wait to return. Even the Christmas-themed Santa house was perfect in April, and you know it can only get cuter around the holidays. I’m dying to hit up the Atlantic highway that snakes through some of Norway’s islands, Trolltunga, and to hike through the countryside.
   
   
3. Venice. In the summer Venice hosts almost 20 million tourists, but in the winter Italy is strangely empty. One of my friends visited Venice on a January backpacking trip and said it was perfect and quiet, allowing the few tourists to roam without feeling like they had to race from site to site with a few thousand of their closest friends.
4. Amsterdam. I love Amsterdam any time of year, but January is a perfect time to visit because you come in between the Christmas crowds and the hordes of tulip-seekers. See the city when it is mostly free of tourists and get the full Dutch experience.
   
   
5. Australia. It’s summer in the land down under in January, so if cold weather vacations aren’t really your thing, head to Australia for a little sand, surf, and sun to beat your winter blues.