2011 was a massive year for 48 Hour Adventure. We started featuring guest writers, covered more destinations than the year before and worked with some great travel companies to smash out more and more awesome travel guides for you guys.
Since January, we’ve brought you 19 guides to spending 48 hours in cities around the world. Nineteen! In addition to that, we also published loads of travel tips and photo posts to keep your want for travel simmering throughout the year. So without further adieu, here’s a breakdown of highlights from each quarter.
January, February and March
I kicked off January with a post about the virtues of hostel accommodation and travelled to Venice in February for the weekend, adding to Milan in our guides for Italy.
In March, I travelled to Norway for a few days and wrote a guide on spending 48 hours in the capital of Oslo.
April, May and June
April saw us partner up with Turismo de Portugal on a trip to Porto in the north of Portugal. This was my first blog trip and I was stoked to get involved with a travel company for the first time. Whilst out there, I also visited the historic town of Guimaraes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Budapest was covered in May, and this post stirred up a bit of controversy via Lonely Planet’s twitter feed.
In June I went back to Australia for a week to visit some family and passed through Dubai on the way there. The result was our first Middle Eastern guide with 48 hours in Dubai.
To close up the first half of the year, I wrote about how to prepare for your first solo weekend trip to help you get yourself ready if you haven’t done a short break trip before.
July, August and September
August was a busy month –  packed with trips to very different parts of Europe. Early on in the month was a weekend trip with bmi to Moscow to visit the Kremlin, Red Square and experience Russian culture. Finishing up the month was a trip to SkÃ¥ne with Visit Sweden and fourbgb with a few other bloggers from the UK to explore the southern part of Sweden.
August also saw our first guest writers come to 48 Hour Adventure. Kate Hopper was our inaugural writer, and she brought us a cracking guide to Edinburgh. This was closely followed up by a guide on Hamburg by Julie Falconer, a fellow Londoner and travel blogger.
When September rolled around, we published an excellent guide to Seattle by another guest writer, Annie Bettis. I also wrote about the Flemish city of Ghent and European beer.
October, November and December
October brought us our second guide from the Middle East with a feature on Amman by the superbly talented Fraser Balaam and in November, we got another tip-top contribution from Kate Hopper with her piece on Dubrovnik. November also saw us add another new guest blogger to the fray when Frankie wrote 48 hours in Perpignan.
December wrapped up 2011 with 2 very different trips in conjunction with more travel companies. First up was a trip to Glasgow with Thistle Hotels and Big Mouth Media. The publishing of this guide meant we now have the two major Scottish cities taken care of.
Finally in the second half of December, I published a third Middle Eastern guide with Beirut after travelling there as part of another really successful trip with our mates at bmi. Expect more content from this trip in the coming weeks.
What’s planned for 2012?
First cab off the rank is a trip to Tunis in January with fellow Aussie, Chris of The Aussie Nomad. I’m excited to check out the Roman ruins, French colonial influence, souks and see how the city feels post revolution earlier this year. Then coming up in March I’ll be going to Hamburg with Generator Hostels to check out their new hostel there and report back on the nightlife in Hamburg.
There’s lots more planned, so stay tuned and I hope you’ve had a cracking Christmas and your NYE is filled with merriment!
