Tom Royce

Tom Royce writes The Travel Bloggers, guides to lesser-known towns — markets, rivers, neighborhoods, food, and where to stay — for travelers who skip template itineraries. Based in Wilmington, North Carolina, he started traveling young (cross-country trips from New York to California at 15, a solo flight to Australia at 17, and studying in Europe during college) and later built a standby-travel life after marrying a flight attendant. Recent trips include time in Paris and a Rome-based look at Italy, with day trips to Pompeii and the towns around Sorrento.

Afternoon light in Lecce’s cartapesta workshops

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  Lecce gets nicknamed Florence of the South, which is a lazy comparison and not why I come. I come for pale limestone that softens every shadow, espresso cut with almond milk ice, and rooms where people still build saints out of newspaper, glue, and patience. The craft street is short. The work is long. … Read more

Hornbeam theater at Heinekens Park in Oberneuland

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Vintage postcard: 'Greetings from Oberneuland, Germany' with a central windmill and six circular inset scenes of landmarks and gardens.

Most people who treat Bremen as a day trip never leave the Marktplatz orbit. Oberneuland sits on the city’s northeastern edge, past Horn, where the map softens into old merchant parks and dikes that still hold the Wümme. I come here when I want Bremen’s green money history without a ticket queue. The first stop … Read more

Along the Decumanus Maximus in Ostia Antica

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Vintage postcard titled 'Greetings From Ostia Antica, Italy' showing five circular views of Ostia Antica ruins: Decumanus Maximus, Horrea, Forum and Capitollium, Thermopolium, and Castello di Giulio II Ostia.

You feel the shift before you see the stones. Ten minutes after the train leaves Piramide, apartment blocks thin out. Pine and scrub take their place. Then the doors open at Ostia Antica station, and the air smells like river mud and cut grass instead of bus exhaust. The harbor city sits a short walk … Read more