One of my very favorite sites on Europe is called Europe a la Carte: Authentic travel in Europe on a modest budget. Created by Karen Bryan, this site is a treasure trove of excellent resources, photos, travel tips, and more. Europe a la Carte offers destination guides to:

* Croatia
* Cyprus
* England
* France
* Germany
* Greece
* Italy
* Scotland
* Spain
* Sweden

The site also offers advice for accommodations, transportation, travel deals, travel guides, and more. Whenever I want to get inspired by new locations (or old favorites) in Europe, I head here.

We were lucky enough to sit down and chat with Karen about Europe a la Carte, getting off the beaten path, and more. Here's what she had to say...

WE:  Please tell us about your site, Europe a la Carte...

KB: Europe a la Carte (EALC) aims to inform, inspire and entertain readers who want to see beyond the usual attractions in Europe.  There is also emphasis on travelling on a modest budget and getting value for money.

WE:  What was the genesis of your site?

KB: In 2002 I observed the trend of more UK travellers putting together their own trips within Europe, due to the emergence of the low cost airlines and increased internet usage, meaning that travellers could research and book their accommodation online. The original site contains guides to less well known destinations for travellers who want to venture, even slightly, off the beaten track.  In Autumn 2006 I received an email from a tourism student who was writing a dissertation on travel blogs. I did a bit of research into blogs and everything about blogging sounded so positive I decided
to create the Europe a la Carte Blog, in order to make the site more interactive and search engine friendly.

WE:  What might readers be surprised to find on your site?

KB: I think readers will be surprised to realise all the possibilities of places to visit in Europe in addition to all the well known destinations.  You could easily spend weeks just exploring one region in a country, never mind dashing around several countries within a few days,  not really seeing anything properly and being elbow to elbow with other tourists all the time. 

View of Crieff in Perthshire

WE:  Who contributes to your site?

KB: EALC became a multi author blog in July 2008.  There are five members of the blogging team who each post once a week.  There are also guest interviews and guest posts. I still write some posts for the blog and occasional destination guides.

WE:  How do you suggest travelers get off the beaten path?

KB: I'm not talking about necessarily going to the middle of nowhere.  There are so many places which are overlooked in the rush to visit the "must see" destinations.  In my home country of Scotland, most visitors go to Edinburgh and Loch Ness.  Although I love Edinburgh and would highly recommend it, there is so much to and see in areas such as Perthshire, East Lothian and Angus. 

The low cost airlines also make it easy to get off the beaten path as they often fly into airports some distance from their supposed destination, e.g. Ryanair use the beautiful city of Bergamo as their Milan airport.  Many visitors fly into this region in northern Italy to visit Lake Garda and Lake Como but I'd suggest visiting the smaller Lake Iseo.

Krka Waterfalls, Croatia

WE:  In this economy, travelers are looking for more budget travel activities. Do you have any tips for our readers?

KB: The best way to save is to travel off peak and book in advance.  May and June are my favourite months to travel in Europe. September is also lovely but generally more expensive than the Spring.

If you book flights in advance and fly midweek outwith the high season, you can find very cheap fares with European low cost airlines such as Ryanair and Easyjet. You can generally eat fairly cheaply, if you buy food at a supermarket or seek out fixed price menus at restaurants.  What can erode your budget is the cost of accommodation if you are looking for comfortable lodgings and don't want to stay in a dorm at a youth hostel.  You should use an accommodation metasearch which searches multiple suppliers simultaneously, my favourite is HotelsCombined. Then when you have the best  price from the netasearch, you should check out the price directly with the establishment.  There are some real bargains, e.g. Travelodge UK have family rooms with a private bathroom from as little as £9 a night during their sale promotions.

Rovinj, Istria, Croatia

WE:  Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?

KB: On June 1 2009, I launched a travel aggregation site, Top Travel Content Europe, in partnership with Craig Martin of Indie Travel Podcast. I'd been working on this idea of showcasing the best in travel content from independent, niche sites and blogs since my presentation, "The Future of the Travel Blog" at the Travel Blog Camp in London in November 2008.  We've started with Europe but plan to cover all continents in the future. 

 and -

I've just announced my Summer 09 UK Blogging Tour during which I'll fly
to five UK cities and towns in ten days.  I'm looking for recommendations on what to see and do from locals and also for volunteer guides to show me around.

WE: Thanks so much, Karen. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to Europe A La Carte and spent hours, exploring your site and planning our next trip to Europe! It is nice to learn the backstory of such a great site.

For more information, please see: http://www.europealacarte.co.uk/

All photos courtesy and copyright of Karen Bryan.