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.

Lake wind on the Bollwerk promenade in Neuruppin

October 30, 2026 by Tom Royce

Vintage postcard-style collage featuring Neuruppin, Germany landmarks framed in oval insets around the text 'Greetings from Neuruppin, Germany'. Aged parchment background with a central church image and a lakeside pier scene.

You feel Neuruppin first in the air off the water. Stand on the Bollwerk — the town’s lakeside promenade — and the Ruppiner See stretches longer than the map suggests, a flat blue band running toward reed beds and low pine. Boats knock against their moorings. A cyclist rolls past with a baguette under one … Read more

Wardown’s short suspension bridge still spans the Lea lake in Luton

October 30, 2026 by Tom Royce

Luton gets sold as airport and football: terminal buses, Parkway taxis, the Kenilworth Road roar. Fine if that is all you need, a bed and a flight. I keep coming back for the short pedestrian suspension bridge over the Lea lake in Wardown Park, one of the shortest in the country, restored and still in … Read more

Judenhof mikveh steps hold groundwater cool in Speyer

October 29, 2026 by Tom Royce

Vintage postcard collage of Speyer, Germany, featuring the cathedral, towers, ruins, and a central 'Greetings from Speyer' message.

Most travelers pin Speyer to a Dom postcard, a Boeing on stilts at the Technik Museum, or a quick Maximilianstraße gelato between Mannheim and Heidelberg. Fine if the city is only red sandstone and a river bend. Less fine if you like Judenhof when the mikveh still cools your ankles before tour groups thicken the … Read more

Villa Shutters Under the Pines in Arcachon’s Ville d’Hiver

October 29, 2026 by Tom Royce

Vintage postcard collage for Arcachon, France, with six round scenes around a ribbon reading 'Greetings from Arcachon, France,' showing seaside pier, beach huts, a domed ornate building, a Gothic church, a coastal chateau, and harbor views.

Most people hit Arcachon for two moves: walk the front, then drive out to the Dune du Pilat until the sand gets in everything. Fair enough. The dune sells itself. The part of town I keep circling sits uphill under pines, where the air cools and the villas still look built for people who meant … Read more

Along the old railway grade above the Boite in Cortina d’Ampezzo

October 29, 2026 by Tom Royce

Cortina d’Ampezzo has a reputation that gets there before you do. Ski fashion, magazine spreads, the hard white of the Tofane in winter light. Fair enough. That stuff is real. I just don’t spend most of my time chasing it. What I keep coming back for sits a little lower: the old railway bed that … Read more

Green water under the Devil’s Bridge in Cividale del Friuli

October 28, 2026 by Tom Royce

Vintage postcard collage of Cividale del Friuli’s landmarks: Tempietto Longobardo, Ponte del Diavolo, Duomo, Palazzo Comunale with Giulio Cesare statue, Casa Medievale del XIV Secolo, Chiesa di San Pietro e San Biagio, and Altare di Ratchis Museo Cristiano.

Cividale del Friuli sits where the Natisone cuts a green trench through limestone. Most people stop on the stone arch first and look down. The water is colder and clearer than it has any right to be this close to the plain. Legend says the Devil built the bridge in a night and left a … Read more