As I have evolved as a traveler, I have come to understand and appreciate the benefits of traveling at a slow pace. Many experiences with an overly ambitious itinerary have taught me that the age-old slogan, “slow and steady wins the race” reigns true. Slow travel forces you to emphasize quality over quantity, and the result is a more full and substantive experience.

To maintain a relatively slow yet steady pace, all AstridTravel Club trips focus on one city or otherwise confined geographic area. We have found that focusing on one place tends to create a more relaxed and immersive experience.

Many travelers are skeptical of limiting themselves to one city, but we believe that single city travel leads to an overall better experience for several reasons:

1. It’s less stressful.

Getting to your destination is often the most stressful and exhausting aspect of traveling. Imagine that after a long day of traveling you arrive at your destination, check-in to a fabulous hotel, unpack your bags and get settled. Finally, you breathe a sigh of relief.

But imagine that this is the start of a week-long vacation and you’ve allotted just 48 hours to relax in your destination before you have to move on to the next place and go through the hassle of yet another travel day.

And repeat.

If this sounds stressful, tedious, and exhausting, that’s because it is.

The feeling of unpacking your suitcase and knowing that the next time you have to touch them is when you head for home is liberating. Until that moment, all you have to do is be present in the moment and simply enjoy where you are.

2. Travel days are often more time consuming than you might think.

We all know that travel days are stressful, but they are also almost always more time consuming than they seem on paper. There are many time-consuming factors to consider when traveling from one destination to the next, especially if you intend to use public transportation.

For example, the train ride from London to Paris is only about 2.5 hours, but the entire trip will take you much longer.

You’ll want to arrive at the train station at least an hour early, and give yourself plenty of time to check-out of your hotel in order to arrive at the station on-time. Then there’s the train ride itself, the transfer upon arrival, and the check-in process all over again. Altogether, this process would take you at least 4.5-hours, which might not sound like much, but this process is tedious and tiring, and that 4.5 hours will quickly begin to feel like a drag.

Unless you intend to spend an extended period of time in Destination 2,3, etc. you’d be better off saving secondary and tertiary destinations for an entirely different trip.

3. You’ll have a more substantive and meaningful experience.

A talented street performer on the streets of Lisbon.

Often times, travelers attempt to fit as many destinations as possible into one trip out of a fear of missing out. This is understandable; if you’ve traveled across the world, it’s only natural to want to squeeze the most out of your journey and see as much of the area as possible.

However, I believe that this mentality sets you up for failure because the experience is often not as imagined.

What ends up happening is travelers wind up with a superficial or surface-level view of many places, rather than an enriching and more developed understanding of one place.

Spending more time in one place means you’ll have a greater opportunity to get past any culture shock, take a deep dive into the culture, and leave with a more comprehensive understanding of the place you’ve been.

4. You’ll have more time to enjoy that dream hotel.

The fabulous Hotel Regina, featured on the ATC Trip to Paris.

Choosing the right accommodations while traveling is something that many travelers deprioritize, but your accommodations can make or break your experience. Being disappointed by an underwhelming or low-quality hotel automatically puts a damper on things. But finding a top-notch, phenomenal hotel that really blows your socks off can greatly enhance your travels.

In addition, fabulous hotels do not have to come at an astronomical price.

In fact, one of our specialties at the AstridTravel Club is finding affordable, yet luxurious hotels that pack a punch with loads of character and charm.

The hotels we choose are so phenomenal, you’ll be wishing you could stay just a little longer. For example, I can personally testify that leaving the Dar Ayniwen, the luxury riad featured on the ATC trip to Marrakesh after 1 week is downright painful!

If you’ve chosen the right hotel, you’ll want to maximize your time there in order to truly and fully relish in the experience.

5. Skip the packing and unpacking and take a day trip instead!

Bilbao, Spain. Seen on a day-trip from San Sebastian

Choosing to focus your travels on a single city does not confine your travels to city limits.

Quite the contrary! Single city travel simply means that you choose one city as a hub from which to base your explorations. This limits your explorations to a smaller geographic area, but it also expands your opportunity for a fuller and richer travel experience.

For example, the ATC Trip to San Sebastian allows travelers to comfortably explore the best of Basque Country including the nearby city of Bilbao, the French Basque city of Biarritz, and the wine region of Rioja without ever having to give up San Sebastian as their home base.

A case-by-case basis

Only a handful of ATC Trips involve multiple destinations, the ATC trip to Belize being one of them.

Ultimately, the “single city travel” concept is not a rule but merely a suggestion. In some cases, it might be feasible or even beneficial to extend your trip to multiple destinations. However, I challenge you to think critically about your travel decisions and consider whether or not a single city travel approach might help you achieve a more meaningful and enriching travel experience.

The Benefits of Single City Travel