the getAwayZ Podcast
Real travel stories and practical guides for exploring Europe the way people actually travel. Welcome to the getAwayZ. We’re Erin and Lisa, friends and roommates who moved from the U.S. to Europe in 2017. Since then, we’ve spent years traveling across the continent, mostly by car, figuring out what’s worth your time and what isn’t. Sometimes that travel includes Erin’s teenage son and Lisa’s dog, Rex. Sometimes it doesn’t. Either way, we talk honestly about where to stay, what to skip, what to eat and drink, when to go and what you need to plan ahead for. Whether you’re planning a trip to Europe or thinking about living abroad, the getAwayZ shares realistic, practical advice based on real experience.
Episodes
We’ve been traveling to the Dolomites and South Tyrol since our first trip in 2017, and it’s still one of our favorite parts of Italy. This week, we’re talking mountain hotels, incredible hikes, traveling with kids and dogs, alpine food, cowbells, Christmas in Trento and why we keep finding reasons to go back.
We traveled to Finnish Lapland in winter hoping to see the Northern Lights, but the weather had other plans. We stayed at the Star Arctic Hotel above Saariselkä, went on a reindeer safari, snowmobiled through the snow and took on the long toboggan run down Kaunispää Fell.
In this episode of The Getawayz Travel Podcast, we’re sharing what it was really like to visit Lapland between Christmas and New Year’s...
Our very first episode back in November 2024 was about Christmas markets, and we have been to a lot more since then. This one picks up there, starting with glögi and lit-up reindeer in Helsinki and the Christmas version of Tivoli in Copenhagen, which we had been wanting to do for years.
From there we get into Paris at the end of the Champs-Élysées, Winter Wonderland in London, and the Dutch markets that are now home ...
Iceland Part 2 picks up on the glacier, where we went snowmobiling for the first time and discovered that an hour on a snowmobile is a much bigger workout than it looks. From there, we get into the ice cave tour and the helicopter ride that became one of the most memorable parts of the entire trip.
We also talk about Reynisfjara and the black sand beach near Vík, the puffin cruise from Reykjavik and our last night in...
We went to Iceland in July 2016 after finding a $99 fare from Los Angeles on the newly launched WOW air.
In Part 1, we talk about arriving in Iceland and heading straight to the Blue Lagoon, staying in Reykjavik and spending a very long day driving the Golden Circle and South Coast.
We stop at waterfalls, geysers and black-sand beaches, get stuck behind a herd of Icelandic horses on the road and somehow get pulled ove...
Rotterdam is not the Netherlands most people expect, and that’s exactly why we love it.
After living in Rotterdam for four years, we have a LOT to say about this city. In this episode of The Getawayz, we’re sharing the best things to do in Rotterdam, from the Cube Houses, Markthal and Erasmus Bridge to the museums, food halls and some of our favorite ways to get out on the water.
We’re also talking a...
We’ve covered Munich and Oktoberfest before, but this episode is about another side of Bavaria: Franconia. We talk Würzburg, a Baroque wine town where we stumbled into a wine festival at the Würzburg Residence, and Bamberg, a UNESCO-listed old town known for its smoked Rauchbier at Schlenkerla and the hike up to Altenburg Castle. Plus, we talk Nuremberg, our December Bavaria plans and what it’s like trav...
In this episode, we go to the second biggest city in Austria that most tourists skip on the way to Vienna or Salzburg. We stopped in Graz on our road trip to Croatia and liked it so much we came back a week later with Dylan.
We cover the Schlossberg clock tower with its backwards hands, the largest underground slide in Europe, a church with Hitler and Mussolini in the stained glass, a modern art museum that looks lik...
SUMMER REWIND: We are wrapping up our summer rewind series with Corsica. Wild beaches, canyoning, natural pools you have to hike to and an island that feels more rugged than anywhere else in the Mediterranean. We talk about how to get there, what surprised us and why Corsica does not get nearly enough attention.
For more, visit www.thegetawayz.com
SUMMER REWIND: This week we are replaying our Croatia beach guide while we are actually in Croatia right now. We cover the water (it really is that clear), the rocky shores, where to swim and the beaches that are worth the effort to find. If you are planning a Croatia trip this summer, this is the episode to listen to before you pack.
For more, visit www.thegetawayz.com
SUMMER REWIND: This week it is Puglia. We have spent multiple summers in this region and it is one of our favorite places in all of Italy. We talk about the beaches, the towns, the burrata situation and why Puglia keeps pulling us back. If you listened to our recent Matera episode, Puglia is right next door and the two pair perfectly.
For more, visit www.thegetawayz.com
SUMMER REWIND: This week we are bringing back our Sardinia episode. We have been three times and each trip taught us something different about the island. We talk about the beaches (some of the best in Europe, honestly), how to get around, where to stay and what we would do differently if we were going for the first time. Three trips worth of honest advice in one episode.
For more, visit www.thegetawayz.com
SUMMER REWIND: We are replaying some of our favorite summer episodes while we are on the road. This week it is Sicily. We cover the best towns for a summer trip, the beaches worth finding, the street food that will ruin you for any other Italian food and why Sicily deserves way more than a day trip from the mainland. If you are planning a trip to southern Italy this summer, start here.
For more, visit www.thegetawayz...
We have been to Cologne twice now and somehow the cathedral still surprises us every time. In this episode we cover everything you need to know about one of Germany's most underrated cities: the Kölner Dom and the remarkable story of how it survived World War II, the Kölsch beer culture that only exists here and the very specific way you have to order it, Old Town, the Rhine Promenade, the chocolate museum on its ow...
In this episode, we go to one of the oldest continuously inhabited places on earth and one of our favorite spots in all of Italy. Matera is built into limestone caves that people have lived in for at least 9,000 years, it's been called the second Jerusalem and it went from being the shame of Italy to a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We talk about the history of the forced evacuation in 1952, the cave churches with medi...
In this episode, we go back to the city we called home for over five years, Turin. We make the case for why we think it's the most underrated city in Italy and walk you through everything from the French inspired piazzas to the second largest collection of Egyptian artifacts in the world outside of Cairo. We talk about the Shroud of Turin, the Egyptian Museum, the Mole Antonelliana with its incredible cinema museum ...
In this episode, we continue our two-part Tuscany series by heading beyond the famous hill towns. We talk about Lucca, Pistoia, Pisa, Viareggio, Greve in Chianti and Pienza, along with the beaches, festivals and food that made us keep going back while we lived in Italy. From Lucca Comics and the giant Carnevale floats in Viareggio to the eight course meat feast at Dario Cecchini and the natural hot springs of Saturn...
In this episode, we start our two-part Tuscany series by exploring some of the region’s most unforgettable hill towns and wine villages. We talk about Cortona, Montepulciano, Montalcino, San Gimignano, Volterra and Siena, along with the festivals, food and moments that made each place stand out to us. From Christmas markets inside castles to medieval festivals, underground wine caves and pici pasta in Siena, t...
Paris is one of those cities everyone has an opinion about, which is exactly why we put off recording this episode for so long.
In this episode, we’re breaking down how we would plan a first trip to Paris if you have three or four days. This is the actual itinerary Lisa gives people when they ask what to do, based on our own trips, living there for six months and all the things we always go back to.
We talk abou...
Trying to figure out where to stay in Europe and going back and forth between a hotel and an Airbnb? Same. We do this every single trip.
In this episode we talk through how we actually decide. Not the perfect version, the real version. When we book hotels, when we go with Airbnbs and the times we’ve gotten it completely wrong.
We get into how to choose the right area first because that matters way more than the ...
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