One of my very favorite places to travel (and eat) is Europe. Full of history, culture, and great food, I am always happy planning a trip there.

There is such a glut of information on the internet that planning a trip - and packing - and going there - can be overwhelming. I've recently found a great site that provides us with excellent content - and incredible, downloadable audio tours to 5 great places in Europe. The site? Noambit.com. The treasures? Innumerable. Noambit provides great articles on planning your trip, getting around, good stuff to know, accommodations, food and drink, countries, product reviews, useful printouts, and a Q&A type letters to the editor. It is an excellent resource for travelers heading to Europe.

The audio tours focus on 5 different areas  in Europe - Alhambra, Essential Florence, Florence beyond the guidebook, Prague's Old Town Square, and Sachenhausen. Created by Noambit.com site owner Chris Cook and  assisted by Ryan Sexton, these audio tours are different than any other audio tours I've seen - with great detail, printable maps, and more. I highly recommend these tours, to learn more about a place than you can get from a guidebook (or just walking around).

We were lucky enough to sit down with Chris and talk about Noambit.com, traveling, and more. Here's what he had to say...

WE:  Please tell us about your site, noambit.com...

CC: At first the site started out as just a simple blog.  I was bored one day and decided to see what blogging was all about, so I picked my favorite topic, travel, and started typing away.  It only took a few weeks before I realized not only did I enjoy the whole blogging experience and marketing my site but that people were actually reading it!  I started getting comments, questions and praise, so I just kept going.  The deeper I got into the process of building my site, I began to notice a gap in the information available online.

There are a lot of sites out there about travel.  But I found two things, that I at least was interested in, missing:

1. There were very few that dealt just with traveling just Europe; especially on a budget.  Those that were out there I came to learn were not updated very regularly and poorly put together; just flooded with ads.  It seemed that most of the established independent sites had a focus on traveling the world and I simply was not interested in information about the places they were writing about. Not that it isn’t great that that information is out there; it just wasn’t the niche I was interested in.

2. Most other sites out there were not written from a practical perspective.  I wanted to offer articles that gave you the sense you were getting advice from a fellow traveler on the road who was in the same boat as you.  This came easy to me because I have traveled everywhere I write about and done everything I suggest or advise against.  My motto has always been that the best advice comes from the traveler who was just there.  

Guide books for sure are indispensable on the road but it is the inside information from someone who generally can't afford those places that the guide books recommend that I think is valuable (I think of my site as a supplement to books such as Lonely Planet and Rick Steves- a supplement that offers personal advice like you won’t find in the books).  So I began putting the site together the same way I would a trip to Europe.  I started with the planning, packing, itinerary, etc.,  and moved on to specific destinations and accommodations.  Today, there is a lot of info in all my site's sections, and article ideas are often inspired from friends and readers asking questions about specific destinations or aspects of travel. I’ve even put together some printable worksheets to help one pack and choose between a rail pass or point to point tickets.

As someone who enjoys understanding what he has flown 13 hours to see, I try to include a bit of background or history in each of my articles as well as relevant sites to get more info.  There is nothing worse than the guide books that just tell you which path to take on a walking tour and leave it up to you to figure out why you're actually standing in front of a giant pillar of concrete erected for some reason by some one at some time.   

After about a year into it, I ran across a free audio tour online and decided to give it a try while in Europe last May.  Immediately I saw how great the idea was.  Everyone has an ipod or mp3 player nowadays, but not everyone has tons of money to hand over to a tour guide.  The concept worked really well with my aims for noambit.com, as well as suited my own personal background in research (the last decade or so I’ve  been working on a Bachelors and two Masters degrees).   I could provide practical information of specific destinations and provide listeners with that bit of historical background that really makes an old church part of world history.  

So, I found the cheapest possible way I could produce quality tours…doing it all myself …and went for it.  I write each tour from personal experience and only after thoroughly researching each topic.  I then record the tour in a make-shift studio in a spare bedroom of my Apt on USB microphone; edit the recordings on my laptop with sound effects and music and viola ... an audio tour which I can offer at a cheaper price than most out there.   

The feedback I’ve gotten has been that students love the tours when they are overseas.  We all know how much students studying abroad travel before, after, and in-between classes (not to mention during).  Our tours are inexpensive enough and the savvy ones work it out that they split the price with another travel partner and just put the tracks on two different mp3 players.  (I encourage creative ways to travel cheaply always).  It would be my hope someday to work closely with study abroad programs and be able to offer these types of tours to any student going abroad.  It could be a nice perk that International Programs could include in skyrocketing abroad program prices.

I’m always trying to improve the site.  In fact, just recently I was able to redesign the layout (banner, etc).  And it seems to be working since we’ve been singled out by the Head of Tourism in Istria Croatia to tour the region at their expense and write articles and produce some audio tours for them.  We’ve also been featured in the FSU newspaper and nominated for several different blogging awards.

When it’s all boiled down, I was compelled to build the site because I love travelling Europe and want to excite others to do the same.  It may not be the cheapest place to go right now but everyone can afford it by knowing a few tricks and planning ahead.

WE: What is your background in traveling Europe?

CC: My first trip to Europe was when I was 25.  I grew up with a huge fear of flying but eventually this was overwhelmed by my desire to see Europe.  So I had a few Martinis and hopped on a plane.  If I had to do it over, I would have gone at a much younger age...there are a lot of discounts that I could have taken advantage of when I was younger.  That trip lasted 35 days and went from England to France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Czech Republic, and the Netherlands.   By the time I was done, I had promised myself I would come back.  35 days is simply not enough and I felt I missed out on a huge amount of sights and experiences.  So I came back, finished my Masters Degree at California State University Long Beach and tried to figure out how to live abroad.  The best way I could find to make that happen was to put off filing to graduate, so that they would continue to give me financial aid, and study abroad in Germany.  With this plan, I spent the next year of my life living in Tuebingen, Germany, just south of Stuttgart - and had what I consider to be the best year of my life.  I traveled a lot then, seeing much in Germany, Spain and Portugal.  I even returned to the Czech Republic several times.

When I got back all I could think about was returning, so I applied myself and finished my second Masters degree at FSU and headed back with my colleague Ryan Sexton.  This time I spent 45 days overseas in a trip much like my first, adding a few extra cities and experienced the culture a bit more in-depth.  Since Ryan had not been overseas before, I got a taste for acting as sort of a guide and fell in love with idea of offering advice and help to others who want to travel.

Soon after, noambit.com was born.  Then last May, my dad approached me and asked if I would take him to Italy and show him around.  So, I planned out that whole trip and worked it out that we could also visit Spain too.  It was on this trip that I became familiar with the whole audio tour gig.

Now I'm back for another two weeks in Germany and Croatia where I’ll be truffle hunting, sampling the local wine in rustic wineries and visiting the 2nd best example of a Roman Collosseum.

WE: What audio guides do you offer your readers?

CC:  Currently we offer two tours of Florence, one of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, The Alhambra and our new tour of Prague, Old Town Square.

Each tour comes with a printable PDF map which I created to be used specifically with our tours.  Also right now we’re offering $2.00 off each order.  Travelers just have to enter the coupon code R6277232 during check out from our site.

Our tours of Florence were our first and we’ve even gone back and rerecorded them when we were able to afford better equipment than we started out with.  Florence: Beyond the Guidebook takes listeners to sights that many never even know are there.  We visit one of the world’s oldest pharmacies, point out the petrified woman of Florence, see where Dante’s “home” and church are, and tell travelers why there are a bunch of pad-locks on the Ponte Vecchio.

Our Essential Florence tour takes folks from the big sights like the Duomo to the Loggia and Palazzo Vecchio where the copy of Michelangelo’s David stands. It’s probably the most straight forward and mainstream tour we have.

After Florence, we wanted to try to offer tours that really can’t be found anywhere else but would appeal to those people who make it off the beaten path…like students studying abroad for example…they're always like young explorers with time and money to venture.

So, for my next tour I decided to re-visit Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp.  The material of course wouldn’t be as light and cheery as say, Gelato in Florence, but it was important material.  The site is also very easy to get to from Berlin and in the spirit of budget-minded travel, we were able to point out how the whole cost of transportation could be bypassed.  On this tour we give an extensive history of the Nazi party that one can listen to on the way to the site and then touch on each structure and area of the former camp itself.

With Sachsenhausen done, I wanted to challenge myself a bit more and work on something more up beat.  The Alhambra has always been a magical place for me, but I knew it was going to be a big undertaking.  Still, a few months later we have the only tour aside from the stale walkie-talkie type tours from the ticket sales office at the Alhambra.  It’s probably my favorite tour yet, since we get to see everything from the ruined fortress area through each room of the Nasrid Palace, complete with legends and tales of Arabic life, and on to the Generalife or summer palace of the kings.  I love the fact that people who listen to our tours are getting information on historical and architectural nuances that others are just walking past.

I've just finished the recording of Prague’s Old Town Square.  This tour is a bit different from the others in that it’s a walking tour with hardly any walking.  A “tired of walking tour” if you will.  We call it a “turn ‘n’ tour” since the listener stands or sits pretty much in one spot and just turns clockwise as we point out everything on the square.  This guide is going to be great for those just arriving in the city and wanting a taste of where to go from the center of the city, armed with important historical, architectural and political knowledge of Prague.

I’ve only been recording tours since last June and we already have 5 and they’re coming quicker and quicker every time.  I have plans for tours of Munich and Tuebingen, Germany (where I studied abroad), as well as several from my Croatia trip.  Two tours that I’ve really wanted to get started on are Park Guell in Barcelona and Lisbon by the old rail cars.

WE: What suggestions do you have for travelers just beginning to research
their trips?

CC:  One of the biggest mistakes I see people making is not doing enough research.  Sure you can want to see Rome and just show up, follow the guide book and see the same thing everyone else sees but with a little research you can locate some great finds.  Michelangelo's Moses (the statue that looks like Moses has horns), for example, is in a relatively small and unassuming church, San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome.  Most guidebooks don't even mention it but with a bit of research I was able to find this masterpiece and will be able to show it to my friends who would normally not even know it's there.

Along a similar vein, I see people booking hotels and hostels just because they are at the top of a list on hotels.com or expedia.com.  Look into where you are staying, there are some great finds out there for a lot less money.   Use travel forums like those found on fodors.com or bug.co.uk .  These are travelers just like you that like to talk about travel and answer your questions…you would be surprised at how quick and how many responses you get to a simple question about where to stay overnight.

A huge mistake I've made a couple times is not taking down good directions to my accommodation from my arrival train station.  There is nothing worse than getting off a 4 hour train ride only to have to find an Internet cafe just so you can look up where your hotel is.  Make sure you write down exactly how to get there when you arrive and even googlemap the place.  It will save you time and a lot of grumpy trekking through a city you don't know.   

Worst of all is when people over-pack.  If I'm traveling for two weeks or five I take the same stuff.  No one cares if you wear the same jeans a couple times in a row.  Keep it simple and you'll save yourself a lot of hassle trying to lug two packs on and off trains and planes.  My rule of thumb is that you can go as many days as you bring underwear and socks for before you have to wash clothes; so bring fewer pairs of heavy jeans and more underwear and a pair of sandals to cut down on your sock usage.  And for Christ's sake leave the blow dryer at home...it won't even fit in the power outlet without an adapter...another thing you would have to bring.

www.noambit.com aims to provide advice and tips from someone who has been there and done that already...not some highly paid travel writer but someone just like my readers, who understands the need to save money while not sacrificing a great trip.  Everything I write about is tried and proven to work for me and my readers.  The information is real and practical and does not assume that you already have a salary job making 80 grand a year like other guide books and sites do..."can we say Rick Steves?"   Any links to other travel sites or information is also because I researched and chose to put it there, meaning I trust it; not just because they asked me to or offered to link to my site.  In fact I pursue links that I think would be helpful to my readers, such as FSU's International Programs.  

I think it’s very important to use multiple sites (noambit being one of them of course) and pick a travel guide that suits your needs.  They’re not all alike and offer information in their own specific ways.  Read through a few chapters and make sure the guide you pick lists things in price ranges you’re trying to meet and has the amount of detail you want.

WE: How do you recommend that travelers give back, while they are exploring other cultures?

CC: I think it’s very important to interact with respect.  As travelers, we are visitors in a strange place.  It’s sometimes the tendency to “party” too hard when students get away from their parents or demand a level of service as an adult that is not customary to the area.  Treat your hosts as if you are a guest at a friend's house, not a paying customer at Disney land.

If you’re invited to stay with a family or visiting friends who live overseas…cook them a dinner that is typical in your country and make it fun.  I’ve made tacos and Buffalo wings for my German friends and they loved them.  I still get letters asking for packets of Ranch dressing mix and taco bell sauce.  

In terms of giving back to other travelers you meet, I always recommend tearing out the pages of your guidebook that cover the city you are leaving and leave them in your hostel or give them to someone.  Then at the end of your trip, leave the whole book.  This way, the next traveler who doesn’t have the info you had can pick it up and maybe see something wonderful that he or she might not have.  There’s also the added benefit of having your guidebook get lighter as you travel.

Then, when you return home, share your trip and help others plan theirs.  Don’t be that guy who tells everyone about each aspect of his trip and makes people sit through slideshows. But post your pics on facebook where people can view at their own leisure while getting excited about their own trip and answer friend’s questions on how to avoid traveler’s pitfalls.

Essentially, inspire others to travel and travel with respect for their hosts.

WE: Where are your favorite places to visit (and why!)?

CC: Having lived in Tuebingen, Germany, and loved every minute of it, I always recommend that travelers to Germany take time to visit.  It is a small University town in Baden-Württemberg that remained untouched during WWII (at least by bombing).  It's a nice tranquil city where you can party with college kids, sip Hefeweizen at the local Brewery/Beer garden or take a boat out on the river that runs through the middle of old town.

Barcelona is great for any one who loves the night life and Amsterdam is for those who love a night life 24/7.

For nature buffs, Interlaken, Switzerland, is beautiful and full of outdoor activities from hang gliding to "canyoning" which is essentially a long nature hike that includes cliff diving and white water rafting.

If you're in Rome, you must see St. Peters Basilica in Vatican.  From the outside, it looks big, but you have no idea until you step inside and see it for yourself.  Catholic or not, this place is truly breathtaking.

Instead of going from Madrid to Barcelona only, take a detour to Granada.  The free tapas with beer tradition is wonderful.  I always make it a game to find the best appetizer. Then there is the Alhambra which is just breath-taking.  I see people all the time skipping this gem of a city.

I completely believe, however, that if you haven't been there you're sure to find some reason to like a place.  Any city in Europe has its own culture, history and sights.  Dig a little and you'll find a reason to go back time and time again.  It’s very hard to list must sees since I would encourage everyone to see as much as possible and then return again to see more.

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

CC: Something that gets asked all the time:
am•bit   ( m b t)
n.limits or boundary [Latin ambire to go round]

And about me: I’m 31, grew up in Long Beach California, received my BA in Religious Studies from Humboldt State University, my MA in Religious Studies from California State University and another MA in Religions of Western Antiquity from Florida State University.  By this time I was done with religious studies but did not want to leave academia, so I grabbed a job at FSU as an academic counselor. I really can’t see myself doing anything other than working with students in some fashion.  To be honest though, I’d love to go back to the West Coast and am looking to transfer from Tallahassee at the earliest University Job offer.

I have had articles published on other sites such as bravenewtraveler.com and thetravelrag.com.  Articles I have written for noambit.com have also been picked up on Reuters.com, as well as Chicago Sun Times online.  In addition to this, I am a regular contributor to vagabondish.com   

For those interested, noambit can be followed through our facebook profile and group as well as twitter (but who’s not on these anymore right?)

WE: Thanks so much, Chris! Your site has a wealth of information, and every time I visit it, I learn more.

For more information on planning a trip to Europe, or any of these incredible audio tours, please see:

www.noambit.com