Are you ready to go back to school? Sleep in a brand new hotel located in a former high school! Trust me you will feel like walking through your own former high school and memories will come back to mind! This is AMAZING!

I love seeing old buildings being restored and given a new purpose. Especially when such an old building becomes a new, modern hotel. These unique hotels hold a special story and history. We love these stories and unique places to stay and that is why we love sharing them with you. One of these unique hotels, in an old restored high school is the DoubleTree by Hilton in Sittard.

At Traveltomtom we love to show you all corners of the world. The crazier a destination sounds, the more curious we are. We love to travel the world and show you other countries and cultures. But what’s just as much fun as showing you the world? Showing you Traveltomtom’s home! We have been exploring our own backyard for the past few weeks, and have discovered some hidden gems in Limburg and just recently we reviewed the Merici Hotel in Sittard, a hotel housed in a monastery!

Some things are on everyone’s travel bucket list. The Arctic SnowHotel and Glass Igloos are two of these examples. I think every traveler dreams about staying at places like these. And so did we! Dreaming about traveling to Lapland, the Snow Hotel and these Glass Igloos have always been on top of our wish list.

So, I simply can’t wait to tell you all about this amazing place in Lapland, just keep reading.

Sometimes you don’t have to travel half way across the world to discover some unique hidden gems. In this case we only had to travel 5 minutes from home for a super special accommodation. I knew the medieval Abbey of Rolduc from back in the day when we used to run the annual Abbey Cross running event here with our primary school. But after that I actually hadn’t visited this corner of the Netherlands for years, even though it’s only a 5 minute drive away.

We travel to every corner of our world for Traveltomtom, but now it was about time to explore our own backyard for a change and that is how we ended up staying in the Abbey of Rolduc.

Lisbon has been on my travel bucket list for a very long time. This summer I decided it was about time to visit Lisbon, the second oldest capital city in the world (after Athens). Lisbon is built on seven hills, with the São Jorge hill being the highest of the city. Located on the summit of this hill is the São Jorge Castle, overlooking the city with some breathtaking views. On top of this highest hill, and right next to the castle you’ll find (if you search well) Solar Do Castelo, so be prepared for a climb whenever you go to the hotel! In this blog you can read about my stay, a complete hotel review.

Rovaniemi has been a dream and bucket list destination for us for so long, mainly because it is Santa’s Hometown and simply a magical travel destination for winter. However, little did we expect that we would actually visit Rovaniemi for the first time in the middle of summer.

Rovaniemi in Summer, no snow, no Northern Lights, will Santa even be there? Is there even anything to do in Rovaniemi in Summer? We visited Rovaniemi in July and are completely blown away by it as a travel destination to spend your summer holiday. In this travel blog you can read all about our adventures, places to visit and things to do in Rovaniemi and in the end we will give you some tips for places to stay and lovely restaurants to eat at.

In 2020 Ylläs was awarded with the Scandinavian Outdoor Award for Best Outdoor and Travel Destination. At Traveltomtom we love outdoor destinations and outdoor activities. So when we got the chance to visit Scandinavia's Best Outdoor Destination of 2020, we hopped on a plane to Finland.

This is your travel guide for visiting Ylläs in summer. With the best things to do, hotel recommendation, best restaurants and our travel tips.

My first visit to Washington DC was three years ago, on a day trip from New York City. Back then I thought it was my only chance visiting the capital of the USA, so I didn’t wanna miss it. Looking back at it now, such organized day trips, with limited time for yourself to explore, it’s not my thing at all.

Noise cancelling headphones are a must have essential when you travel. Not all noise cancelling headphones are equally good especially for traveling. The Traveltomtom team is always looking for the best ones to make traveling for us and for you more comfortable and more enjoyable.

Just recently we were introduced to a tech company that was unknown to us at the time: Teufel. Have you ever heard of Teufel?

When it comes to travelling, noise cancelling headphones are one of the top must have travel gear. I thought for a long time that only noise cancelling headphones existed. But I recently found out that there are also noise cancelling in-ears. A world opened up for me.

Just recently we were introduced to a tech company that was unknown to us at the time, Teufel. You might have seen our review on their noise cancelling headphone. After this blogpost we decided to continue our collaboration, which made us test and review more of their products. We recently also wrote a review about the new Teufel Real Blue Pro.

Earlier this year we got introduced to the brand Teufel. In Spring we tested their Noise Cancelling Headphone. We were very impressed and have only been using this Teufel headphone ever since. We think it leaves headphones from major brands such as JBL and Sony far behind.

And now we have some good news, because Teufel has recently launched the Teufel Real Blue Pro. The even better and more powerful version of the ‘normal’ noise cancelling headphones we tested before.

Sometimes you see things passing by on social media, of which you can only think, who comes up with such a brilliant idea? When I saw the Clock Tower Suite on social media, that was my first thought!

A luxury hotel suite located in a former clock tower, that’s not something you see every day!

Traveling, discovering and exploring new places is one of our favorite things to do. City trips are perhaps our most favorite type of travel. We love to travel to a city for two or three days and fully explore every inch of that city.

Almost every city now offers one or more city passes to explore the city. We recently travelled to London and used the London Pass to explore the city during our stay.

After Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Dusseldorf Airport is my favorite airport to travel from. Dusseldorf is located only an hour away from where I live, so it is very easily accessible for me, and offers all international connections I can think of. Something that always catches my attention when I travel from Dusseldorf Airport is the Sheraton Hotel. When you arrive at Dusseldorf airport by car, you can’t miss the large Sheraton letters covering the P3 parking lot.

The destination was set: Lapland. But that immediately led to the next question. What are we going to wear? When it comes to cold winter destinations, warm clothing is super important. Getting the right travel gear is an essential if you embark on an Arctic adventure.

A jacket is fundamental in staying warm in cold conditions. Picking the right one can be a challenge but is crucial at the same time.

There are a few things the Netherlands is really known and famous for. Cheese, windmills, tulips and perhaps the most famous of them all Delft Blue. Everyone in the Netherlands knows Delft Blue and most grandparents might have some Delft Blue in their home.

Because Delft Blue is often found at our grandparents home it has a bit of a dusty and old fashioned image to it. But, it feels as Dutch as can be, so when we got invited to come to the Delft Blue Museum for a guided tour and workshop, I couldn’t be more curious and enthusiastic.

Dubai has many interesting and fantastic highlights and tourists attractions, but one of the most known and impressive one's is the man-made palm shaped island Palm Jumeirah. Palm Jumeirah is often proclaimed the eight wonder of the world. Ever since we started visiting Dubai back in 2013, we have always wanted to see this impressive wonder from above, from another angle. For the daredevils there is the Dubai Skydive or a Dubai helicopter tour, but if that is a bridge too far there is now a fantastic alternative.

Would I most likely recommend Berlin or Munich if anyone would ask me a cool city trip in Germany? Yes, I probably would! I wouldn't immediately think the harbor city in the north of Germany. But that changed when we recently got to visit and explore Hamburg for a weekend. Did Hamburg surprise and deliver? Oh yes! Would I now recommend this city a Germany travel destination to other travelers? Absolutely! Not as famous as Berlin or Munich, but that's what makes it even more surprising.

Welcome to the ultimate Lapland destination in Winter: Rovaniemi! It has been on top of our bucket list for at least 5 years to visit Lapland in winter. It’s a magical and dreamy destination that we simply wanted to discover ourselves. Little did we expect that we would actually visit Rovaniemi in Summer first. That Summer trip to Lapland however, made us fall in love with this place and was the decisive moment we started to make serious work of traveling to Rovaniemi in Winter.

Good and decent outdoor clothing is a standard part of our travels, wherever we go. Especially when it comes to extreme outdoor destinations, such as our trip to Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland, having the best possible travel clothing is really important.

Revolution Race stands for high quality outdoor clothing at affordable prices. They make a difference in the outdoor industry with their colorful, stylish and affordable outdoor clothing with the perfect fit. And we got to try it out.

Travel and culinary experiences often go hand in hand. For us that's the case anyway. Special travel memories are often linked to culinary experiences you had in a destination. We always look forward to new destinations, also to try and experience the local food. On the other hand, food can also be the reason to return to destinations.

We recently visited Eindhoven, a city in the south of the Netherlands, also called the city of lights. We had a special culinary experience here that we would like to share with you. So keep reading and mark this blog for your next visit to Eindhoven and the Netherlands.

We all know the Big Ben, Tower Bridge and the London Eye as some of the most famous highlights and places to visit in London. But did you know London also has a unique tourists attraction for dare devils and adrenaline rush seekers? It's called Up at the O2, and it does what the name basically says, you go up and walk over the famous O2 Arena. One of the coolest things to do in London right now and even a great activity with kids.

The Dolomites are easily one of our favorite destinations in Europe. Not only in Winter for the endless ski and snowboard opportunities, but also in Summer with lots of outdoor activities.

Previously we visited the South Tyrol part of the Dolomites. This trip we traveled a big part of South Tyrol again, however we also wanted to explore the Trentino part of the Dolomites. After thorough research into which region we wanted to discover the most, we ultimately chose Val di Fiemme. It turned out to be the best choice we could have made. We had good weather, which of course played a major role, but what an incredibly cool destination Val di Fiemme is.

Even though the Netherlands is a small country, and the fact that we have traveled all over the Netherlands the past 18 months, there are still some undiscovered places. One of the places to see in the Netherlands that we hadn't yet explored were the Northern regions of the province of North Holland. When we do travel the Netherlands, we always try to and love to stay at the Dutch hotel chain Van der Valk.

Traveling to Amsterdam is always a good idea, especially when you get to experience the city in a brand new hotel. Valk Exclusief has been building on their newest, luxury hotel in Amsterdam for the past few years. In the summer of 2020 this new and modern hotel opened its doors to the public. It was pretty special to be one of the very first guests of a recently opened hotel. Everything still smells new, looks brand new, and probably also due to the Covid-19 situation, it was very quiet.

As Dutchies at Traveltomtom we are big fans of the Van der Valk hotel group. We love staying at their hotels and have fond memories of previous visits. For a visit to Eindhoven we came into contact with the fairly new hotel Eindhoven - Best.

We have worked with quite a few Valk Exclusief hotels the past few years. Check out our Schiphol, Heerlen, Amsterdam Zuidas, Akersloot, Tilburg & Utrecht blogposts for example. Our blog post about the best places to visit in Netherlands is also full of Valk Exclusief properties.

This new, modern and luxurious Van der Valk hotel opened its doors to the public less than a year ago, in April 2018. Opening Hotel Tilburg also meant the first Van der Valk Exclusive hotel in the province of Brabant (the Netherlands), a unique happening! I was very curious to this brand new hotel and the city of Tilburg and left this place very enthusiastic just two days later. Are you just as curious to this newest Van Der Valk Exclusive hotel? Keep reading about my experiences in this review.

As I usually have an early flight out of Schiphol Airport, I always book a Schiphol hotel, to avoid the long trip from my home to the airport during the night, and to have a relaxed start of my travels.  I always travel by car to the airport, so for me it’s important that the Schiphol hotel offers parking for my car as well.

As a kid in the Netherlands I grew up with the Efteling. Everyone knows it and every child would love to visit. The Efteling is the oldest, largest, best-known and most popular amusement park in the Netherlands. The Efteling is also the largest amusement park in the Benelux in terms of visitor. After Disneyland in Paris and the German Europa Park the Efteling is the most visited theme park in Europe.

When travelling, safety is very important. I always carry a day backpack wherever I go. Hiking through the mountains, or exploring a new city, I always have a small backpack with me. As an admirer of anti-theft backpacks I got to experience using the Bobby Duffle Bag by XD Design and in this blog you can read how I experienced using it.

Rovaniemi is one of the most magical places in the world. Main reason for this, Rovaniemi is the official home of Santa Claus. When you visit this place in Winter, with lots of snow and freezing temperatures, it actually feels like you’re visiting the North Pole.

We consider ourselves very, very lucky, because we got to visit Santa Claus in Rovaniemi twice already. After visiting Santa Claus Village two times now, one time in summer and one time in winter, it became one of my favorite places ever visited. And definitely the most magical place.