Beginner’s Guide to Photography – How to Shoot Manual Mode

Are you a passionate, beginner photographer with a desire to expand your knowledge? Want to achieve more with your camera and produce higher quality images?

If you’ve been dreaming of shooting in manual mode but you’ve been scared of all the complicated settings… I got you! There’s no need to postpone the move to manual or to feel confused by your camera. This complete guide for how to shoot manual mode is here to HELP!

Get ready to set your creativity free with new opportunities only achieved by shooting manual! Sure, using the “Auto” mode is a safe and sound way of getting your pictures done quickly and pain-free, but where’s the fun in that?

To master manual mode, we need to learn how to control the four important elements of photography: ISO, shutter speed, aperture and white balance.

Let’s delve in and get on our way to flawless manual photography. Are you ready?

Why shoot in Manual Mode?

Why shoot in Manual Mode

Let’s say you just bought a new, fancy, professional camera (oooh, eer). You’ve been taking pictures with it for a while, using mostly the Auto mode, and while your pictures are high-quality, you keep looking at other creator’s work (done with the same gear) and it’s just… different. You notice they’re doing a better job, maybe their pictures have a more cinematic look to them or a more professional feel overall. What’s the difference? You might ask. What are they doing differently? Heh, the answer is simple, my friends: they’re shooting in manual mode.

What is Manual Mode?

Okay, but what’s so amazing about shooting in manual mode compared to other modes? Easy: when you do manual photography, you have absolute control over all your camera’s settings – ISO, shutter speed, aperture and white balance. 

These terms sound scary to you? Don’t worry, I’ll cover each of them down below. When you shoot in Auto, you basically let your camera “decide” everything for you. And professional photographers don’t really want that, do we? Nope. We want control.

If you’ve been dreaming of achieving pretty bokeh portraits (those beautiful blurry, artistic backgrounds), taking moody flat lays or shooting movement without ending up with blurred blobs of subjects, your camera’s manual mode is the answer. While the automatic mode is a good way of taking straight-forward pictures, this “universal” mode does not work perfectly in all situations, unfortunately. 

Here’s another situation: let’s say you want to shoot a gloomy portrait in low light. Your camera’s flash will automatically turn on, although you’d prefer to not use any external light. This ruins your setting and it can get pretty frustrating at times. The solution? Once again, Shooting manual.

Sure, there’s a… let’s say ‘downside’ to this shooting mode – everything will take a bit longer. While it’s quick and painless to take a picture on Auto mode, achieving that perfect result will require a bit more patience and experimenting when it comes to Manual mode. At least at first, while you’re getting used to everything!

TIP: I know I’ve mentioned about ten times now that shooting in manual mode is THE best way to go, but if you’re just starting out and you need to shoot something in movement, such as street or sports photography, it’s best to set your camera to a quicker mode such as Auto or Aperture priority. It’s better not to lose your shot completely in these situations, so make sure to set your priorities straight!

Now that you know everything about all the advantages of shooting manual over automatic, let’s dig in deeper and find out how to ACTUALLY do it!

4 Important elements to master for shooting in manual mode

1 – ISO

ISO cheat sheet

ISO. Three letters, an ocean of questions. What’s up with this ISO everyone’s talking about? 

If you want me to get super specific, I can tell you that ISO literally means “International Organization for Standardization”, but that surely won’t be very clarifying. So let me explain it in standard human words. In short, ISO means your camera’s sensitivity to light. Unlike the shutter speed or aperture, which are both physical settings, ISO is a digital adjustment that your camera makes according to the setting you’re photographing. Or, more accurately, a digital adjustment that YOU make! We’re talking about all-manual shooting, baby!

FUN FACT: If you’re familiar with film photography (at least a tiny bit), you might know that different films have different values written on the package (100, 200, 400). This is the film’s sensitivity to light. Exactly like a digital camera’s ISO.

In short, if you set your ISO to a higher number (let’s say 800 or 1000), this means you’re allowing your camera to pick up more light from the environment. This is a great way to compensate for the lack of light in some “harsh” conditions. On the other hand, if you’re shooting on a sunny day, it’s best to set your ISO as low as possible, such as 100.

TIP: After a lot of experimenting with different ISO settings in dark conditions, I recommend to not set your ISO too high (above 1600, for example), as this will result in higher chances of ending up with a lot of noise in your pictures. 

Of course, this depends on how high your camera performs. A way to avoid raising your ISO, for example, would be widening your aperture instead. To prevent your ISO going too high, I’d go for that. If these words still sound strange to you, don’t worry, by the end of this article you’ll understand everything I’m saying here.

What is noise?

what is noise in photography

In photography, “noise” is similar to grain and it pretty much looks like little bits of discoloration or strange-colored pixels. In short, noise makes images look bad and “uneven”. This visual flaw often happens when shooting in low light.

In order to better understand what the HECK I’m talking about, the key is to experiment. Here’s a short ISO challenge that you can try. Go outside at different times of the day. Decide on a fixed shutter speed and aperture, but play with the ISO.

First, set it to 100 – if it’s super sunny outside, you’ll see that your picture ends up pretty balanced. Then raise it to 400 – if it’s a bit cloudy, this ISO value could work best. If it’s dark, let’s get serious and set the ISO to 1600. You can consider this to be your cheat-sheet, but the best way to get used to all this information is to try out different settings and see what each of them does.

2 – Shutter speed

shutter speed

Okay, let’s proceed to the next term. Shutter Speed. This is literally the amount of time your camera’s shutter stays open when taking the picture. During this time, light gets in and “tickles” the camera’s sensor, and then the image is “born”. 

Following this logic, if your shutter stays open for only a super short amount of time, your image will end up being darker. If the shutter stays open for longer, this means more light can get in and reach the sensor, so your image will be brighter.
Easy, right? I told you I can explain this stuff! 

Another conclusion to these facts is that, if your shutter stays open for a short time, your photographed subject will “freeze” in the frame instantly, whilst if your shutter stays open for longer, you’ll end up with some motion blur. 

TIP: If you’re taking action shots, setting your camera to a faster shutter speed is the way to go to get your subjects perfectly sharp and in focus. 

A standard shutter speed to play around is 1/125, which literally means a fraction of a second. By the way, it’s best to not set your shutter speed below 1/60, as you’ll end up with shaky images. If you don’t have any other solution, make sure you’re using a good tripod to avoid blurriness.

how to use shutter speed

EASY CHEAT: No matter which of the settings you are adjusting (ISO, shutter speed, aperture), you’ll want to always be aware of how your changes are effecting the final image. An easy way to keep on top of this is to check your camera’s exposure meter. You’ll find this meter by looking through the viewfinder. It’s basically a long horizontal line with many vertical lines. The bold vertical line in the middle with a “0” underneath is the setting you are aiming for. Think of the meter as a way to gage that you are achieving a balanced image and the central “0” point signifies that you’ve got it “just perfect”,

This is a good place to start when starting off on manual mode, so make sure to check your meter each time you adjust your settings. Of course, this is just an approximation dictated by your camera, so, as I mentioned before, when you’ve gained some confidence, make sure to experiment with this too!

3 – Aperture

Aperture cheat sheet

Okay, here’s where things get a bit more complicated, but please bear with me. The meaning of “aperture” is pretty intuitive. It’s basically an opening in the middle of your camera’s lens that dictates how “open” your lens is. Following this logic, if your aperture is large (wide opening), your image will be brighter; if your aperture is small, your image will be darker. The reason why I’m saying that things are a bit more complicated when it comes to aperture is because the numbers are… the other way around.

Hear me out: a bigger aperture of your lens (also known as an f-stop) is f/1.4, for example. Big aperture equals small value. Counter-intuitive. On the other hand, a smaller aperture is f8, for example. Smaller aperture means bigger value. You get me? Confusing I know. 

Another super important thing to know is that aperture is also responsible for how much of your subject or setting will be in focus – a thing called “depth of field” in photography. Hey, we’re already getting to a PRO level here! 

If you want professional looking images where the subject is in focus and it has a blurry background with lots of pretty bokeh, you’ll want to go for a bigger aperture, so smaller values – such as f/1.4. The same works the other way around: if you want an image where everything is super sharp and in focus (maybe a landscape?), go for a bigger aperture value such as f/8.

TIP: A good, middle value to start experimenting with is f/5.6 And maybe a good idea would be to avoid f/11 or f/16 in the beginning, as your pictures may end up super dark or look dull and boring.

CHEAT-SHEET: 

4 – White balance

White balance cheat sheet

Good news: we’re done with all the complicated terms! White Balance is a simple concept which I’m sure you’ll understand right away. Your white balance settings will basically determine your image’s tones – either warmer or cooler. Of course, this has everything to do with your light source: the sun, a lightbulb, a neon light etc. 

For starters, you might want to achieve a neutral result, good for product photography, for example. This means your tones won’t be neither yellow-ish, nor blue-ish, but something in the middle… meaning balanced! White Balance, get it?! The logical way to do this is to have a colder White Balance if you’re working in a warmer environment and a warmer one in a colder setting. These values will balance each other and you’ll end up with a neutral image. The best way to do this is to look at the white values in your image.

Of course, this isn’t a rule to live by. Your image’s tone is a key element in dictating the mood of your photograph, so you can very well go for warmer or colder tones if this will help your end result. Generally speaking, your WB preferences can’t be wrong! And, after all, you can always tweak this in post-production, especially if you’re shooting in RAW format (more about this below). 

TIP: Tweaking your white balance is a great way to fix red skin in your pictures. So make sure to experiment with different White Balance settings!

There are also useful presets/modes that you can use – such as the Tungsten one (good if you’re shooting under a warm light bulb) or Daylight (good for shooting outside when it’s sunny). For starters, you can grab your camera and start experimenting, starting with a white balance of 5300 if you’re outside, for example. 

CHEAT SHEET: 

Things to keep in mind when shooting in Manual Mode

Things to keep in mind when shooting in Manual Mode

Now that you know everything about the basics and the most important elements for shooting in manual mode, read on to find my list of things to keep in mind when shooting manual:

  1. Don’t be afraid to experiment! Taking digital images is free, so your mistakes will cost you literally nothing!
  2. Don’t rush; take your time to find the perfect settings for your shot each and every time. With time, you’ll get more and more used to the process and everything will be faster!
  3. Make sure you don’t forget to tweak your settings when your shooting conditions change, such as the amount of light you have, moving indoor or outdoor, or the movement of your subject;
  4. And probably the most important advice: make sure you shoot in RAW mode. Ditch the JPEG mode for the RAW one, my friends! When you’re shooting RAW images, this means you’ll have complete freedom when you’re editing and post-processing your photographs. You can freely change the white balance, the exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows and everything in-between. The JPEG format definitely won’t offer you as much freedom in the editing stage. Mark my words, RAW is the way to go! After edits, just export your image as a JPEG and you’re good to post!

RELATED READ: What’s in my Camera Bag – All My Travel Blogging Gear

Step-by-step guide on how to choose your settings on Manual Mode

shooting in Manual Mode
how to choose your settings on Manual Mode

First step: set your camera to Manual Mode, of course! You’ll see that most cameras have a little wheel with some letters on them and M stands for Manual. 

Next, it may be a good idea to start on a sunny day. Here are some good settings for this:

You can start with these settings and see how your final picture looks. Analyse the result and decide if you need to tweak your settings or not. If your picture ends up being too dark, you might want to change your shutter speed to 1/250. Remember to always check your meter, most of the times it approximates correctly!

Again, don’t worry if your picture isn’t perfect. In fact, practice makes perfect and you can always adjust all the 4 settings I was talking about above in order to achieve your desired result. Afterall, photography is art and art is all about preference!

Wait, what about the focus?

Manual focus vs auto focus? I didn’t tell you anything about them until now! Well, I prefer keeping my focus on auto (AF), even when I’m shooting manual. Your focus is a separate thing from your other settings, so nobody will blame you for keeping it on automatic! In fact, in most scenarios this is better. And quicker! In case your autofocus fails and you’re doing some close-ups of specific areas of your subject then sure, release the beast and go manual with your focus as well (MF).

RELATED READ: Sparkler Photography – The Secret for Perfect Sparkler Pictures

BONUS: Other shooting modes (Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority)

camera modes

I recommend taking things slowly, step-by-step. If you’ve only been shooting on Auto mode until now and you don’t feel comfortable jumping into the world of manual shooting right away, a good idea is to start building your way up by experimenting with the other modes on your camera. Here they are below, explained:

Aaand that was about everything I wanted to tell you in this manual photography tutorial! If you’ve carefully read this article about how to use the manual mode on a DSLR camera, then you’re ready to grab your camera, go out and experiment with all these settings.

P.S.: Sign up to my resource library and you’ll find a great Manual Mode Cheat Sheet there with all the information you need + other useful stuff!

Remember: don’t be afraid to experiment, take your time and take things slowly. If you follow everything I explained above, you’ll be a professional in no time. And practice, practice, practice! I have found that taking my camera everywhere with me helped me get used to doing photography in manual mode much faster. So what are you waiting for?

xoxo,

Melissa 

Want to know more about travelling to Bali?

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Working From Home Guidelines – 7 Essential Tips to Get You Started







If you’re new to remote working, don’t you worry! I’m here to help with some precious working from home guidelines. Scroll down to find my 7 essential tips to get you started with WFH from a remote work veteran (a.k.a. me!).

The pandemic got us all like… “huh, how do I hide my video during a Zoom call?!” during the transition from #officelife to #workingfromhome. Some of you might know a thing or two about this, while others might be complete beginners when it comes to this subject. Worry not, as I’m here to help you with my ultimate guide to working from home!

There are some mornings when I feel unmotivated, while on other days I feel ready to conquer the world. Regardless of my mood when I wake up, one thing’s for sure: if you’re a freelancer, entrepreneur or a new home-based employee, that task list won’t complete by itself!

So let’s get started:

1 – Create a good morning routine

A good day starts with a good morning, right after you wake up. This is the moment when the mood for the entire day will be set. So why not make the best of it, am I right?

In my experience being a digital nomad, I have found that my morning routine is one of the most important aspects of my day, regardless of where I’m based in the world. My routine is actually a key element in completing my task list, so I recommend creating a balanced morning routine that works FOR YOU!

Let me tell you a little bit about my routine, for example. I like to wake up at the same hour every weekday, early at 6.30am. I go to the gym (or do a home workout) at 7.00 before taking a long shower.  Then I make myself a matcha latte, take my time while preparing breakfast. Then I check my e-mails and to-do list for the day. And then I’m ready to go! My aim is to always be ready to work at 9.00am. That’s my official ‘clock in’ time. Depending on what’s on my priority list for the day, I either get dressed to get out of the house or I sit at my desk and open my laptop. And so the day begins!

Your morning routine might look different than mine – and that’s perfectly fine. Some people like to meditate in the morning in order to improve focus or do a quick yoga session. Or maybe you prefer skipping breakfast or drinking some hot tea instead of an espresso. Nothing wrong with that! The key here is to find what works for you and keep it consistent!

2. Get dressed!

work from home morning routine

Wondering how to get started working from home? Simple: get up and get dressed! 

The way we dress has a strong impact on our overall mood and productivity and it is known that getting dressed in the morning plays a key role in our productivity. I like to put on a comfy dress or one of my two-piece loungewear, apply some moisturizer and lip balm, brush my hair or do a messy bun and that’s it! 

Although staying in your pyjamas all day is a cosy thing to do, let’s face it: we don’t always feel like writing that complicated e-mail or finishing that long due report when we’re dressed for getting in bed! Plus, you’ll be much more prepared for those unexpected Zoom or Skype meetings when you’re already dressed up.

RELATED READ: WFH Loungewear: My Cozy must-haves

3 – Set up a proper home workplace

how to set up your work space when you work from home

This is one of the key tips on working remotely that has improved my productivity completely: setting up a proper workspace in my home. This means a separate space (if your house is big enough) or just a separate corner where you set up your desk, a good, comfy chair, your laptop and maybe even some plants as well (you know, for ambiance). This will be your spot where all work should be done – this means no working from bed or from your sofa, regardless of how cosy that may sound. 

Trust me, this will boost your productivity and maybe even your creativity as well and you’ll know that, once you get up in the morning and sit on THAT chair, you’ll be ready to rock the day!

TIP: I found out that, for me, having a minimalist work desk works best, with no clutter or distractions around me. If you need help with this, scroll down to find my recommended items for creating your working station at home!

4 – Create a realistic task list

planning tasks

Heh, this is one of the things I’m still struggling with. It’s extremely easy to overestimate the number of things you can do in one single day. It’s sooo easy to overcrowd your task list in the morning, only to realise by evening that you’re not even halfway to achieve your goal. 

And the main mistake here is not creating a realistic task list. Let’s be honest here: you don’t need to do everything in only ONE day in order to feel proud of yourself. You can spread those important tasks over the course of a couple of days, prioritising everything, and you may end up realising that everything was much easier than you expected.

If you ask me, knowing your limits is an extremely important aspect of feeling productive at the end of the day, so it’s better to prioritise and divide than to overwork yourself for nothing.

RELATED READ: What’s in my Camera Bag – All My Travel Blogging Gear

5 – Plan your work hours and breaks

working from home program

Here’s another key element in organising your work routine for the day: make sure to plan your work hours and breaks. And take them seriously!

When we work at home, it’s super easy to exceed that normal, healthy 8-hour limit for work hours and to end up working until 10 PM without even realising it. Or to be so focused on dozens of tasks at once that you forget to eat, drink water or stretch. But the good news is that there’s a simple solution here: plan your work hours and breaks in advance, preferably at the beginning of your day.

This way, you’ll know that, for example, you’ll work hard from 9 to 12, then have a one-hour lunch break where you enjoy some peace and quiet, then continue working until 3. Then you can take another small break for a snack or another cup of coffee, then finish your day by 5, if that’s a realistic timeframe for you. Just mix and match your work schedule until you find something that works for you, your job and your projects. And, most importantly, make sure to stick to that work-break schedule!

TIP: It’s strongly advised to get up and stretch for 1-2 minutes every hour. Trust me, your body will thank you at the end of the day!

6 – Hold strong boundaries with your housemates

how to work from home efficiently

Working from home full time can be challenging, especially if you don’t live by yourself. Maybe you live with your other half or you have some roommates or housemates. Or kids as well! That’s completely normal, but when you have a work schedule that you have to stick to, it’s important to communicate that with those around you.

Make sure your loved one knows that, even though you love spending time together, you won’t be available to watch movies or cuddle during your work hours, but you’ll be more than happy to spend time together after finishing your tasks. Same goes for your roommates as well. As for your kids, you can always create distractions for them during the day. So make sure everybody knows that, if they respect these boundaries, that will actually help you be more productive and proud of yourself at the end of the day. No negotiations here!

Strong boundaries will help you be more focused on your tasks without feeling guilty and without letting people around you distract you from what’s important when it comes to your work and personal projects. Communication and sticking to the plan are key elements here!

7 – Make sure you have the right home office essentials

Being focused and having a well-organised schedule are important factors, but that’s not everything you need in order to conquer the day! Yep, you also need some proper home office essentials, my friends!

It took me a while to find the best desk for me and the right chair, as well as the ideal laptop stand and the perfect noise-cancelling headphones. But it’s do-able!

In order to make the search MUCH easier for you, I have compiled a list with my recommended essentials that have helped me create the ultimate at-home working station:

Heh, what do you think? This was my complete list with essential remote working tips. If you find yourself asking “how can we work from home without distractions” or if you ended up searching on Google “how to survive working from home” in these pretty confusing times, I hope this article has helped you get started. 

I tried to compile a complete guide to working from home after thinking hard about the tips and tricks that have helped me over the years. And I’m pretty sure you’ll find everything you need here. 

Remember: the hardest thing is to get up and get started. Everything else will be a breeze if you have the right mindset and the right tools to help you. You can do this!

xoxo,

Melissa

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Affiliate Marketing for Dummies – Best Affiliate Programs for Beginners








Are you on a journey of making sense of affiliate marketing? You have arrived in the right place! 

I’m a travel blogger and creator that successfully makes passive income thanks to affiliate marketing. And because all good things in life are meant to be shared, I want to offer you some precious tips and tricks today. And a lot of information I’ve learned by testing and experimenting. Are you ready for my affiliate marketing guide that includes the best affiliate programs for beginners?

Let’s jump right into it.

What is affiliate marketing and how does it work?

What is affiliate marketing and how does it work

I’m sure you’ve heard about affiliate marketing before and you may be dreaming of making huge amounts of money out of it. Who doesn’t want to wake up in the morning, open their laptop and see a big list of commissions? Heh, I know how it is. Although it’s… do-able, please be prepared for a long and often complicated journey. In order to get started, you’ll need to understand a few basic things about affiliate marketing. And I’m here to guide you:

The simple concept behind it

The simple idea behind affiliate marketing is the following: passive income. Affiliate marketing means that you, as the affiliate, promote someone else’s products or services. If they make a sale thanks to you, you’ll receive a small commission in exchange. Simple, right? Affiliate marketing and revenue sharing go hand in hand. 

If you’re still confused, here’s a simple scheme so you can better understand: Affiliate promotes brand -> Brand makes sale -> Affiliate takes a small percentage of sale via tracking link.

Now, speaking of tracking links…

What is an affiliate link?

Affiliate marketing exists in the online world. So you’ll need something to redirect people to a certain product and/or service. And that thing is… a link – or a hyperlink, if you must! Links will take the customer from your platform to the merchant’s site.

Affiliate links have something that’s called a “cookie”, which is a small piece of data that will help the website remember who you are or, more specifically, how you arrived on that website. In short, cookies are magical things that help the website remember that a client has reached the website/made a sale because you directed them there.

A cookie will be active for 30-90 days (it depends on each affiliate platform, of course) to track where the sale came from. So if a sale is made within that time frame, the affiliate gets a commission. Hey, presto! 

Everyone’s a winner: the reader has found a useful product, the brand has made a sale and you have generated a small commission for connecting the two. Easy-peasy!

How to make money with affiliate marketing

How to make money with affiliate marketing

I’m pretty sure you get it by now: you can make income using affiliate marketing by receiving either a fixed commission, or a percentage of the sale. So the key here is to have A LOT of patience and to understand that affiliate marketing is a slow, long-term process. Different platforms offer different payout systems. Here they are below, with explanations for each:

Now, all you need to do is to decide which one of these works best for you and your partners. The most common option is pay-per-sale, as it doesn’t require any upfront investment from the merchant; they only pay you when a sale is actually made.

Benefits of affiliate marketing

Benefits of affiliate marketing

Should you get started with affiliate marketing? Well, that’s completely up to you, but here are some awesome benefits of affiliate marketing:

Some people have got affiliate marketing down and have found a way to make a decent living from it. For the rest of us mere mortals, affiliates will start off as a nice little ‘side gig’ to our main income stream. This isn’t a bad thing at all! Small but passive income! With very little financial risk. Why not, eh?

RELATED READ: Working From Home Guidelines – 7 Essential Tips to Get You Started

When you should use affiliate marketing

When to use affiliate marketing

The answer is simple here: when you have a strong connection to a brand or product. Everyone can smell a fraud. Don’t be a fraud. Don’t promote something you don’t believe in. This leads us to one of the most important problems regarding creators and influencers today: a lot of people are tired of seeing brands being mindlessly promoted everywhere. You don’t want to bore or exhaust your audience. You want to provide them with precious recommendations based on your experience instead. So I cannot stress this enough: you should only promote products and services that you actually believe in and that you have tried and like yourself.

So, in short, you can use affiliate marketing when the following two statements are true:

Important things to know before getting started

There are many wrong impressions and assumptions about affiliate marketing. Don’t get fooled and don’t get discouraged either. But watch out:

  1. Affiliate marketing won’t get you rich fast. This is about playing the long game! Your goal is to generate a large, engaged audience who love clicking the links on your content. 
  2. Depending on the products you promote, your commission will be small. So you’re looking to get multiple sales
  3. Choose what products you put your efforts into wisely. Some may bring in $10-30 per sale while others will only give you a couple of cents. None of these options is wrong, you just need to analyse your audience and the products you’re promoting wisely.
  4. Promoting cheap, inferior products is the fastest way to destroy trust between you and your readers. Always prioritise your relationship with your readers above any affiliate partnership. If it doesn’t work for your readers, it doesn’t work for you!
  5. Make sure to update content that is no longer relevant. You will need to go back through old posts and update these to be current to continue to get good results with certain affiliate links.  
  6. Link hijacking – okay, I know this sounds terrifying, so let me quickly explain to you what this is. This is when someone hacks into your website and replaces your link with one of their own. If you’re just starting out, this isn’t likely to happen to you – but it’s worth keeping in mind and if it’s something that worries you, you can think about increasing your website security.

There are plugins you can get to protect your site, such as Jetpack.

RELATED READ: What’s in my Camera Bag – All My Travel Blogging Gear

My best affiliate marketing tips for beginners


My best affiliate marketing tips for beginners 2

This beginners guide to affiliate marketing wouldn’t be complete without some useful tips. Correct? Correct. So, without further ado, here they are:

HOW TO GET STARTED. Think of the brands you already love and you already talk about. Or products that fit perfectly into your niche that you can include seamlessly into your content. This is the best way to choose products to promote. If you’re already promoting a product, why not get paid for it?

TEST THE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES YOU ARE RECOMMENDING. Are you doing a product review? Make sure you have actually tested the product. Once again, no one likes a fraud. This will give you peace of mind that you are backing a good product and give proof to your audience that you actually use it / see it’s value too. 

THINK ABOUT TIMING AND NEEDS. Think of things that your audience needs right now. There needs to be a sense of urgency to their purchase or your links won’t convert to sales. eg. If you’re a fashion blogger, you don’t want to be promoting wooly jumpers in spring. However, promoting beachwear would be perfectly in time for the summer holidays.

BE TRANSPARENT. Affiliates should disclose that they are promoting a brand. You are offering something of value – there is no need to hide or trick your audience into giving you a commission. Also, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) now requires that anyone who promotes a product and receives some form of compensation must do so transparently. Check it out here. If you want, you can hide a specific tracking link with a bit.ly link or other link shorteners, but make sure to not hide any collaborations from your audience.

BE CLEVER ABOUT HOW AND WHERE YOU PROMOTE YOUR LINKS. Use all your platforms – blog, YouTube, newsletters, instagram stories (those swipe up links man!). But, also remember that there are places that you won’t be allowed to use these links. For example, Amazon won’t let you use links in any emails (newsletters included!), PDFs, pop up pages, downloaded guides or e-books (even if they’re free). 

AFFILIATE MARKETING WITHOUT A WEBSITE. Yes, it is possible. You don’t necessarily need to have a website in order to make affiliate marketing work for you. You can use your Instagram account, your Youtube channel, your newsletter or even your Facebook page. 

Okay, now that you know all the basics of affiliate marketing together with some useful advice to make it work for you and your niche, let’s see how other people are successfully using it to create income.

Different ways of promoting your affiliate links

Let’s say that you now have your affiliate links all approved and ready to be posted. How do you promote them in order to not seem obnoxious? That’s a pretty sensible subject because, as I mentioned before, being honest and transparent is an important thing in establishing a strong relationship with your following. You don’t want to spam them with sponsored links all day long. You want to provide precious information and recommendations for them instead.

Here are some affiliate marketing examples that you can use in promoting your links across different platforms:

REVIEWS.

One of the best ways to promote a product or service is to make an honest review about it on your platform (blog, Instagram, Youtube etc). The keyword here is honest, of course. Even if you’re paid to promote a product, it’s important to offer a sincere opinion and, more importantly, it’s mandatory that you have tried the product or service yourself. If the product is good, then it’s worth promoting it and your audience will appreciate it even if you’re not praising everything about it!

COMPARISONS.

This idea is pretty similar to a product review, but you can actually “trick the system” and compare not one, but two good products. You can present them as alternatives, accentuating the differences between the two and recommending them to different categories of people. This is a popular method among beauty bloggers, for example, or people who review web hosting companies – but it can work across a wide range of products/services.

TUTORIALS.

Again, a similar idea to the reviews I was talking about above. The tutorials can actually be more informative and extensive than the reviews, if you wish. The key here is to offer a complete tutorial for a certain product or service and to address all the questions and concerns new users might have.

FAVORITE LISTS.

You can naturally insert affiliate links in listicle-type of articles, such as lists of your favorite products – favorite shampoos, “January favourites”, favorite boots for fall etc. This idea works on a blog or Youtube channel best, if you ask me, because you can naturally insert the affiliate links as hyperlinks on the text or in the description box of your video.

RESOURCE PAGES.

If you have a blog, website or an extensive mailing list, you can create a landing page that would serve as a resource page for your audience, promoting your favorite products/services related to your niche.

These are just some quick ideas that I’ve brainstormed here for you. Remember: you need to create strategies and come up with personalised ideas that will work for YOU and YOUR platforms. In order to do this, analyse your audience and their needs and you’ll quickly understand what to do next.

Best affiliate programs for beginners

Best affiliate programs for beginners

Heh, it’s hard to make a complete list here, especially if you’re looking for top paying affiliate programs exclusively. This really is completely dependent on your personal niche. I would really recommend sitting down and delving deeper into understanding your audience and what they want.

Confused? I got you. In order to help you out, I recommend downloading my free questionnaire to help understand your target audience. 

However, after researching a lot, I found that there are some general beginner affiliate programs that I would whole-heartedly recommend. Here’s my list of the best affiliate marketing programs for beginners:

Best affiliate networks you can join

Best affiliate networks you can join

If you’re still struggling about how to find affiliate marketers, I have another amazing tip for you. Other than individual websites and merchants, an excellent idea is to sign up for affiliate networks. These affiliate marketing companies are specialised platforms that can manage the entire affiliation mechanism for you; they’re basically a link between you and several different merchants. This means no communication between you and the owner of the product/service! You just need to apply and get accepted by your favorite merchants listed in each affiliate network’s database and you’re good to go.

Here are the best affiliate marketing websites for beginners out there:

Most of the affiliate networks above offer you some pretty sweet insights as well, such as average conversion rates and sales for the merchants you can apply to.

In case you were wondering how to get started with affiliate marketing, my guide above is a very good resource to get you up and running – or at least a starting point for further research. I tried to combine all my knowledge and all my best tips and tricks in order to make your life easier! 

Remember: affiliate marketing is a slow process, so you’ll need quite a lot of patience and determination. Do your research. Find your niche and the best products and services for your audience. Don’t expect to get rich overnight. And you’ll be just fine. 

 

xoxo,

Melissa

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Binh Quoi Village, Ho Chi Minh City – Complete Guide and Reasons To Visit

Binh Quoi Village is hands-down one of the best things to do in Ho Chi Minh City if you’re looking for a small dose of rural Vietnam right in the heart of the largest city in the country. It’s Ho Chi Minh’s green paradise, designed to look like a miniature Mekong Delta.

In case you’re planning a trip to the popular Binh Quoi tourist village, you’ll be happy to know that I gathered everything I know and learned after my visit there in this complete travel guide! You’ll find lots of precious information here, from the location of this attraction to the best things to do there, required budget, ways of getting there and more!

Let’s dive right into it!

Quick facts about Binh Quoi Village, Ho Chi Minh City

Quick facts about Binh Quoi Village

It is said that the traditional bamboo village called “Binh Quoi Village” on Thanh Da Peninsula is one of the best-kept secrets of Ho Chi Minh City, but today I’m going to tell you all about it!

Located only 15 minutes away from downtown Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Quoi Village is a real touch of greenery among the concrete and tall buildings of the city. The idea behind this tourist attraction is to bring a piece of the famous Mekong Delta without even leaving the city. And if you’ve already visited the Mekong Delta and its gorgeous scenery, you’ll see just what a wonderful job they’ve done with this space!

Once you arrive here, you’ll be enchanted to see a blue canal, coconut trees, lily ponds, beautiful walking paths, a bamboo monkey bridge and rural cottages. Plus some pretty cool cultural events to join too!

The entire attraction is set up as a tourist village (it’s also in the name, duh!) and some of the best things to do here include fishing and eating at the all-you-can-eat buffet. But more on this in the special section below!

RELATED READ: 12 Things To Do in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam – A Complete Guide To the City

Why visit Binh Quoi Tourist Village?

Binh Quoi Tourist Village
© Photo: binhquoi.vn

In case my brief introduction above wasn’t enough to convince you to add the tourist area of Binh Quoi to your Vietnam bucket list, let me offer you a few more reasons.

Okay, let’s say you’ve already explored a bit of Ho Chi Minh City and you’ve seen its Coffee Apartments, gorgeous buildings such as the Bitexco Financial Tower, the Cathedral and more. After walking all around this modern concrete jungle, doesn’t it feel good to have your fix of nature without having to do a faraway day trip?

And that’s what village Binh Quoi is all about! Imagine a day of relaxation, paddling in the lake, fishing, eating Vietnamese specialities such as fresh fish in coconut sauce or simply walking around and admiring the rustic huts, tucked away behind lush vegetation. To me, this sounds like a little piece of heaven!

RELATED READ: Travel Guide to Cu Chi Tunnels in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam – Tours VS Visiting By Yourself

Where is Binh Quoi Village located?

where is binh quoi village map

Binh Quoi Village is located on the riverside of Saigon, on Thanh Da Peninsula, around 10 kilometres away from the city centre. There are 3 different areas/park branches (more info right down below). 

BINH QUOI VILLAGE ADDRESS: 1147 Binh Quoi, Binh Thanh District. Find it on Google Maps here.

You can see its exact location on the map above.

Area breakdown

binh quoi village areas map

Although most articles on the web (yes, I’ve done my research!) mention that Binh Quoi comprises of two areas, I’ll let you know that there are actually three: Binh Quoi 1, Binh Quoi 2 and, of course, Binh Quoi 3. All of them are on Binh Quoi Street, only a few kilometres away from each other and I recommend visiting all of them in order to get a complete grasp of this wonderful destination. Especially if you don’t want to lose the chance to take plenty of photos, of course!

Binh Quoi 1

Binh Quoi 1 is the most popular and affordable tourist area out of the three. It’s basically an oasis filled with lotus ponds, coconut groves, green grass, cottages and floating markets. It is also the venue for different culinary and music festivals. 

But probably one of the best things about this area is the buffet that takes place on the weekends. Every weekend they organise the “Southern reclaiming cuisine” buffet and it’s an excellent chance to taste more than 100 traditional local dishes.

Binh Quoi 2

Although the first area is the most famous one, there are plenty of interesting, cultural things to do at number 2 as well, especially if you’re a sports lover. There you can find a swimming pool, canoes, a tennis course, folk games and more!

This area is also where you’ll find 45 bungalows and some more comfortable, resort-like services if that’s what you’re looking for. Plus, they organise a weekend buffet as well, this one called “Delicacies in the Coastal Region” that is all about fish dishes cooked by real fishermen and served together with the locals.

Binh Quoi 3

Also known as Quan Xua, this tourist area is more rustic and old school and it’s a great place if you want to enjoy some traditional food or coffee down by the Saigon river. I especially recommend this part of Binh Quoi Tourist Village if you’re a family with children, as they have a big green garden and an outdoor space with lots of activities for them such as swings, seesaw and more. This is also where you’ll find some restaurant options that serve Western European cuisine.

RELATED READ: Where to Stay in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

Binh Quoi evening buffet

Binh Quoi evening buffet

Talking about the amazing food in the village, Binh Quoi is probably most famous for its open-air weekend buffet. You’ll find fresh, delicious dishes here, cooked by locals and sometimes fishermen. I don’t know about you, but I would never turn down the opportunity to try traditional Vietnamese dishes in such a beautiful setting!

Prices start at 300.000 VND (13 USD) per person.

Best things to do at Binh Quoi Tourist Village in Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City
© Photo: binhquoi.vn

I know I mentioned most of these activities in various parts of this article already, but let me also make a short round-up for you in case you need the bigger picture:

RELATED READ: Cafe Apartment Saigon – 3 Best Cafes Worth Visiting

Best time to visit

Binh Quoi Tourist Village

If you’re an experienced traveller or if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you might expect this precious advice coming from my end: if you want to enjoy a place without the usual crowds of tourists, make sure you get there early. This applies to Binh Quoi Tourist Village as well, with some additional notes.

If you’re visiting this site to walk around and take pictures, then Monday mornings (or weekday mornings in general) are your best option, as that’s when there are fewer tourists than usual. But if you’re visiting for the cultural entertainment and buffet, you’ll have to visit on Saturday or Sunday evening, as that’s the only time they take place, although you’ll be joined by many other tourists as well. 

TIP: If you have enough time in your Ho Chi Minh City itinerary to dedicate an entire day to this beautiful green space, then you can arrive on a weekend at the opening time to enjoy the park without tourists, then stay until the buffet is ready. Worth it!

Although Binh Quoi Village can be enjoyed all year round, it’s best to visit from December to March when Ho Chi Minh City has the best weather and the temperatures are ideal for exploring outdoors.

OPENING HOURS: 9:00 AM – 11:00 PM

BUFFET: 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM. Only on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays

Ticket prices

Ticket prices at Binh Quoi Village

You’re not ready for this: there is NO Binh Quoi Tourist Village entrance fee. Free entry! Zero, nothing, nada! 

Instead, you’ll have to pay for the activities you want to do inside, as well as the restaurant buffet. And the cost of the transportation to the village and back, of course. 

Which takes us to my next point…

How to get there

vietnam transportation

As I mentioned before, Binh Quoi Village is located in the Binh Thanh District, on the banks of the Saigon river, around 20 minutes by car from the centre of Ho Chi Minh City. Below you’ll find various ways to get there, depending on your budget and preference:

TAXI

An easy, hassle-free option. You can take a metered taxi (Mai Linh or Vinasun are the most recommended companies) from the city centre directly to the village, which should cost you from 150.000 to 200.000 VND (6.60 to 8.80 US$) one-way. If the driver asks for a higher price, try to negotiate or ask him to turn on the meter. If he refuses, just pick another driver.

GRAB

This is Vietnam’s version of Uber and it works exactly the same. You download the app, add your card and set up your destination. The advantage here is that you’ll know exactly how much you’ll be paying beforehand, as the ride’s price will appear after the app finds a driver for you.

GOVIET

In case you want to ride a scooter to Binh Quoi Village, you can take a GoViet scooter, which is slightly cheaper than renting a regular one from the city centre. 

BUS

Bus no. 44 leaves from Ben Thanh Market (more exactly, the station is on Le Thi Hong Gam Street) and will take you to Binh Quoi Street, which is right next to the village. The ticket price is 5.000 VND (0.20 US$).

BONUS: My top tips

tips for visiting binh quoi

I already told you basically everything I know about the Binh Quoi Tourist Village, but I didn’t tell you my precious tips yet. Which is exactly what I’m going to do now:

This was my complete, detailed guide that everyone should read before visiting Binh Quoi Tourist Village! That, of course, you want to be fully prepared with for all the technical details that will help everything go as smoothly as possible. 

In this post, I have told you all about the opening times and how to get to Binh Quoi Village, which of the 3 different villages are worth visiting and what activities to do in each, how much it costs and everything in-between. So if you’re dreaming of a day of relaxation in Ho Chi Minh City that combines culture, eating in a garden by the Saigon river, walking around thatched bamboo huts, indulging in delicious food and more, search no more than the hidden gem of Binh Quoi Village!

In case you want to learn more about Ho Chi Minh City and its attractions before your trip, I recommend clicking here to find all my posts about the city. And here you will find all my articles and stories about Vietnam.

xoxo,

Melissa

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My Hoi An Tailor Experience – Top Tips & Recommendations

Visiting one of the famou Hoi An tailor shops is one of the best things to do in the city during your trip, I swear! No, really, the tailors and tailor shops here are so good and talented, people from all over the world travel here to get a custom-made suit or dress. The tailoring tradition in Hoi An is rich in culture and is an important part of society today.

If you’re excited to try out a custom tailoring experience in Hoi An (which I definitely recommend!), this guide contains everything you need to know. I have put together all the information I have about the best Hoi An tailors (fittings, process, price, etc), as well as my most precious pieces of advice. 

So regardless if you decide to make some expensive clothes with high-end materials or some more casual, still quality pieces, this Hoi An tailor guide will surely help you along the way.

Let’s proceed!

About the tailors in Hoi An, Vietnam

About the tailors in Hoi An Vietnam

Hoi An in Vietnam is said to be the “tailoring capital” of the world. Custom tailoring is a huge part of the culture in Hoi An and also one of the main attractions for tourists during their trip, especially when it comes to shopping lovers.

But why is tailoring so famous here? The tailors of Hoi An are immensely talented and versatile, they work with a wide range of fabrics (quality ones, too) and they can make clothing for any need you may have. There are tailor shops in Hoi An for any item or style you can think of: elegant dresses, suits, ball gowns, winter coats, casual pants, shirts and even pyjamas!

So, how did everything start? Tailoring in Hoi An is closely connected to its history, largely because Hoi An was a trading port city on the famous Silk Route. It wasn’t until about 20 years ago that tourists began travelling to Hoi An specifically for tailoring.

Nowadays, the amount of tailor shops in the city is literally two times bigger than all other businesses combined. They, of course, range from large tailoring corporations to small, local tailors and from high-end pieces to casual clothing. All of them are an important part of the tailoring experience and history of Hoi An!

RELATED READ:  9 Things to Do in Hoi An, Vietnam – A Complete Hoi An Guide

How to get tailor-made clothes in Hoi An – step-by-step process & tips

Enough with the history, now let’s talk about more serious stuff such as the entire process of choosing and going to a tailor, how to choose the material, and some useful tips to keep in mind along the way:

Step 1 – Find the best tailor in Hoi An

tailor-made clothes in Hoi An

Naturally, the first step in getting a tailored outfit made is finding the right tailor shop for you. Hoi An has more than 500 tailor shops… So making the best decision is kind of a challenge. Don’t worry, as I have my own selection of tailors in Hoi An for you!

BEST TAILORS IN HOI AN – MY TOP RECOMMENDATIONS:

Some other popular choices (that I didn’t get to try out myself, unfortunately) are BeBe Tailor (they have 3 shops in the city now but the most famous Bebe Tailor is probably the one on Hung Dao street), A Dong Silk (they have a customer-friendly, time-efficient 10-minute measuring process ) and Mr Xe.

Step 2 – Discuss what you’d like made

step by step process at hoi an tailors

Once you have your mind and heart set on a tailor shop, it’s time to have a conversation about what exactly you’d like made. Tailors have tons of lookbooks that you can browse, with a huge selection of clothing – anything from dresses, skirts, suits etc. Alternatively, you can also provide them with a photo of the clothes you’d like created. So make sure you spend some time researching and finding inspiration before your visit!

This is also when the tailor will take your exact measurements.

TIP: Always be super specific about what you want, down to the smallest details. They may be talented designers, but they will need your guidance because they can’t just guess the exact details of the clothing you dream of!

Step 3 – Choose the fabric

getting tailor-made clothes in hoi an vietnam

Once the design issue is settled, it’s time to choose the fabric. Many tailors have entire aisles of material with different prices depending on their quality. Of course, some tailors may suggest some materials that will fit your design needs. Just remember that not all fabrics can be tailored the same and not all pieces of cloth work well or move in the same way. I suggest taking their advice into consideration when it comes to this, even if this means changing your mind and adapting a bit!

TIP: You’re getting something tailor-made specifically for YOU. So make sure you choose a quality fabric that screams “I’m perfect for an outfit that is unique to you!”. I know, the pressure is huge, but remember that this will be a one-of-a-kind piece. Don’t waste this awesome opportunity on choosing a dress that you could’ve bought on the highstreet or from the local market.

Step 4 – Pay the deposit

All Hoi An tailors require customers to pay a deposit before they start creating the custom piece.

Step 5 – Fittings and final product at your Hoi An tailor

fittings at hoi an custom tailors

Usually, the tailors will arrange your first fitting for the next day. This means you have to come back to the store and try on your outfit. This is basically the moment when the tailor will see how the garment sits on your body when you wear it, pinning it in the places that need retouching or amendments. 

My most precious piece of advice here is to be really honest about the changes that you want made and to be super clear with your explanations. You can even arrange for a second or third fitting (in fact, I recommend 3 fitting sessions to most customers) to make sure that your final piece of clothing is perfect for you and your style.

NOTE: A basic dress will be ready much sooner, but if you buy a suit or a gown, expect to go to a few fitting sessions before taking it home with you to wear. So make sure you have enough time in Hoi An for this entire process!

TIP: You can arrange for items to be delivered directly to your accommodation once they’re finished, but I always recommend heading to the store yourself to ensure that you are happy with the final version. After all, this is such a special, personalised shopping experience, it would be a shame not to enjoy it to the fullest!

Prices & recommended budget

hoi an tailoring

Let me start with a disclaimer here: prices change massively depending on your chosen tailor in Hoi An, what item you want to be made and how well you negotiate. Yes, the final price always depends on negotiation. Almost every tailor will negotiate on price depending on the number of items you order, so don’t be ashamed to do so.

Here’s the average price range for different types of clothes:

WOMEN

MEN

RELATED READ: 12 Things To Do in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam – A Complete Guide To the City

My best tips & tricks

tips and tricks for tailor made clothes in hoi an

Because I experienced getting tailored clothes made in Hoi An myself in 3 different places, I was able to learn and gather some very useful information that I can now pass on to my readers. So read and learn, my friends!

CHECK MORE THAN ONE STORE

If you’re not pressed for time, shop around at different stores to get a feeling of what you like best. They’re all capable of creating the same outfit, there’s just a difference in cost, quality of the fabric and stitching and maybe the customer service too.

TAKE TIME INTO CONSIDERATION

You shouldn’t stress too much if you only want a casual skirt or shirt done, as this usually takes around 2 days. But if you want to make sure the entire process is doable during your trip, here are some average times to take into consideration:

FOR CHEAPER TAILORS, DON’T SHOP DOWNTOWN

As you might expect, the most expensive tailors are located in the Old Town / Ancient Town of Hoi An. Avoid that area if you want to save some money from your budget and try to find ‘obscure’ shops on the edge of town that don’t get as much attention. Except for the lower price tag, there’s another huge advantage here: these tailors will have more time to focus on your outfit and will most likely complete it faster!

ALWAYS, ALWAYS BARTER

Here’s an unwritten rule that you should know: the first offer a tailor makes is always MUCH higher than what they expect you to pay. They do it on purpose, of course: they jack up the prices for tourists, a very popular ‘activity’ in many other popular tourist spots around the globe. So make sure you negotiate well to get the most affordable deal and only leave the shop when both parties feel happy with the final tailored piece.

DO YOUR RESEARCH

This means you should know exactly what you want before talking to the tailor. This will eliminate a lot of on-the-spot hassle and your research will help you answer every question your tailor might ask. Plus, this also helps reduce the feelings of disappointment related to the final product. After all, making custom clothing is not an easy job!

DON’T GET TOO SET ON A SPECIFIC OUTCOME

I know… this advice kind of counters the one above, but remember: these guys are tailors, not wizards. Don’t expect them to be able to conjure up an exact replica of that 2015 Dior Gown you ripped out of a Vogue magazine. Be open to changes and keep in mind that this dress will be unique to you.

BUY ITEMS IN BULK

If you are with friends, or if you want more than one item, buy them all from the same tailor. They’ll offer discounts for large orders– especially the smaller, more casual and basic stores.

ATTEND MULTIPLE FITTINGS

Clothes will never be perfect from the first try. Only stop getting your outfit altered when you are happy with it, even if it means wasting a couple of hours from your precious vacation time. If you’re pressed for time, keep getting fittings until you leave town. If anything, the tailor can mail your outfit to you. This is better than getting something that doesn’t fit right and then feeling sad.

RELATED READ: 10 Unmissable Da Nang Tourist Attractions – A Complete Guide To The City

That’s about everything I wanted to share with you about how to get tailored clothes in Hoi An, Vietnam, a very popular and fun activity while you’re in the city. I have told you all the details I know and talked about cost, process, measurements, quality of the fabrics and craftsmanship and lots of useful things to know before stepping foot inside a tailor shop to get a dress, shirt or suit done.

If you ask me, going home with a unique piece of clothing created especially for you and to your measurements, with your hand-picked fabric is one of the most beautiful souvenirs you can bring back home from Vietnam!

Except for getting custom-made dresses and shirts, there are SO many other unforgettable things to do in Hoi An, Vietnam! If you want to read more or need help planning your upcoming trip, I recommend heading here to find all my articles about Hoi An. And here you will find all my posts about other destinations in Vietnam.

xoxo,

Melissa

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A guide to the Hoi An tailors in Vietnam
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Honest Review and Guide to Da Nang Golden Bridge, Vietnam

Are you ready to find out everything you’ll ever need to know about one of the most famous attractions in Vietnam? If the answer is yes, scroll down to find my complete guide on the Da Nang Golden Bridge in Ba Na Hills. You might expect to find long queues and massive crowds here, but no worries, this guide will offer some clever tips on how to skip all that!

Get ready to find out all about the story behind this Insta-famous bridge, the ticket price, the best times to visit it, how to get there and much more. Plus my raw, 100% honest impressions about our experience there and whether it is WORTH IT OR NOT.

Let’s go!

Quick info about Da Nang Golden Bridge

about da nang golden bridge

Did you know that, although you might’ve seen countless gorgeous pictures of this bridge online before, this attraction is actually pretty new? The Golden Bridge (also known as Cau Vang) has become one of the top tourist destinations in Vietnam, even though it was only opened in June 2018. The Golden Bridge and its two giant hands have been on the top of social media platforms ever since it was constructed, which has brought tens of thousands of visitors over the years. Why, though?

RELATED READ: Da Nang Marble Mountain, Vietnam – Everything You Need to Know Before You Go

But what’s so special about this bridge, after all?

I mean… you must look at the pictures to understand! The bridge’s structure is impressive – and that’s not an overstatement at all, considering the construction only took 1 year to complete. Two giant hands that seem carved in gorgeous stone (they’re actually made of metal and fiberglass) suspend a beautiful, gold railing frame – a pedestrian bridge among the lush Ba Na Hills.

The bridge is 150 metres long and it is suspended at 1.400 metres above sea level. If you visit the bridge very early in the morning, you’ll see it’s surrounded by thick fog and golden light, making for unique photo opportunities… but you’ll find more details about When to visit in this special section.

Is there a story behind it?

Sun World Resort bridge

The bridge was designed as the newest addition to the Sun World Resort, an interesting entertainment complex at Ba Na Hills. The aim was to create a symbol of Da Nang tourism – and, if you ask me, the entire idea was an immense success. So successful that it actually got plenty of rewards at multiple architecture contests worldwide. 

I think that one of the best things about this bridge is the fact that it combines both architecture and nature in a really harmonious way. And the striking contrast between the stone hands and the elegantly curved bridge is also something to remember.

Where is the bridge located?

da nang golde bridge map

Okay, enough with admiring the Golden Bridge from an ever-romantic point of view (guilty!), let’s get to some practical information. 

As I mentioned before, the Golden Bridge is at the top of Ba Na Hills. More specifically, it’s in the Thien Thai Garden at Sun World.

RELATED READ: 10 Unmissable Da Nang Tourist Attractions – A Complete Guide To The City

The catch: Sun World Resort at Ba Na Hills

Ba Na Hills

Here’s the catch: because the Golden Bridge is part of this big entertainment complex, it can only be accessed through Sun World, a theme park resort built to resemble a European village during the French Renaissance era. 

You’ll need to pay quite a high entrance fee considering that most visitors solely come to the park to see the Golden Hands Bridge. However, tickets cover the entrance to all areas of the park (and they do offer a lot of attractions!), if that is something that interests you. The park has quite a few zones, so you could choose to spend a whole day here if you wanted to explore and participate in the activities they offer. 

Some of Sun World’s top attractions include:

FUN FACT: Sun World welcomes more than 1.5 million visitors per year!

Getting there

how to get to da nang golden bridge

I’ll tell you right from the start: once you get to the park complex, you’ll see that the Golden Bridge is only accessible via cable car. More on this below, but first let’s find out how to get there from Da Nang. The Golden Bridge is located around 30km West of Da Nang City.

If you’re taking a car, you should get from Da Nang to the bridge’s location in about 30 to 40 minutes one way, depending on traffic, especially at mid-day. If you go there super early in the morning, the ride can be as short as 20 minutes.

TIP: If you want to access the location using Google Maps, you have to add “Sun World Ba Na Hills” as the destination, otherwise you’ll only get the wrong directions. Do not choose “Ba Na Hills” unless you aim to reach the top of the mountains instead of the bridge.

1 – PRIVATE TAXI & GRAB

The easiest way to travel to Sun World is by taxi. You can book a full trip where the driver takes you, waits for you and returns you to your hotel for a negotiated price. – Depending on the wait, this should be about 800,000 VND (35 US$).

In case you want to arrange your transportation online beforehand, I have found this private transfer for the same price as the taxi.

OUR EXPERIENCE: On our visit, we asked a Grab driver that we met the day before how much he would charge to take us to and from Sun World. We worked out a price that suited us both, took his phone number and he was on our doorstep at 6 AM the next morning to start the journey. This is a great way of building connections and bringing down the cost. He ended up being our driver to most of the sites around the city – how awesome is that?

2 – SCOOTER RENTAL

In case you’re adventurous enough to take a scooter or motorbike, you’ll be happy to find out that this is definitely the cheapest option – and maybe even the most fun. The price should be around 150.000 VND (6.50 US$) for an entire day.

TIP: If you are using Google Maps to get there with your scooter (and I’m 100% sure you’ll use it), you should add “Ba Na Cable Car Service Parking Lot” as your destination. This spot is exactly at the park entry.

3 – THE CABLE CAR RIDE

As I mentioned above, the only way to access the bridge is by taking the cable car from inside Sun World, at Hoi An Station. The gondola starts at the bottom of the hill and will take you to the very top, where the resort is located. The entire ride takes about 20 minutes to the top of the mountain.

OPENING HOURS: the cable car runs from 7 AM to 10 PM.

FUN FACT: The cable car at the Golden Bridge holds not 1, but 4 Guinness World Records, did you know that? It’s the longest cable car system in the world (5.771m), as well as the longest cable roll (11.587m), it has the heaviest cable (141 tons!) and it also has the highest altitude from its starting to its ending point (1.369m). Now that’s impressive!

Ticket prices

Sun World vietnam

I already said the entrance fee to Sun World is quite pricey and that you HAVE to pay it if you want to see the Golden Bridge, so it’s now time to tell you exactly how much it will cost.

ONE-DAY TICKET:

This ticket includes everything except the entrance to their Wax Museum, some games in Fantasy Park and the buffet lunch.

You can buy tickets on arrival from their ticket office or online at the official Sun World website.

NOTE: Please note that the tickets must be used on the day you purchased them.

TIP: Their ticket booths often have long queues and a slightly higher price, so I would recommend buying online before going.

Best tours of the Golden Bridge

golden bridge in da nang vietnam

In case you don’t want to arrange transportation yourself, a very good idea would be to take an organised tour. These types of tours usually include transportation, entry fee, lunch, and a tour guide included in the price. 

Here are my recommended, hand-picked options:

When to visit

best time to visit golden bridge da nang

Usually, visitors are able to avoid queues and crowds if they visit sites early enough. However, we quickly learnt that a visit to Sun World does not work that way! Feeling clever, we arrived at 6 AM and thought we had beat the crowds. Once we turned the corner and saw the queue for the gondola, we realised how wrong we were. It was already so ridiculously crowded. There seems to be no real quiet time to come and see this attraction.

We arrived at dawn during the lowest season of the year and the site was still so crowded. We ended up waiting until 7 AM for the cable car to open and then another 30 minutes in the queue to get on the cable car. I dread to think how busy it must be during peak hours or on local holidays (save yourself some angst and avoid!)

Basically, my advice would be to come early, bring a load of patience and expect long queues. 

Some other reviews online mention that you’ll find no queues if you’re there at 7 AM to catch the first cable car ride (and, trust me, I have read lots of them!) and, even though I hoped this would be true, it actually wasn’t. Needless to say that by 9 AM the visitors are already forming a MEGA crowd.

Our experience

golden bridge da nang
golden bridge da nang vietnam

Okay. Time to get down to what I really thought about the whole experience.

Was the Golden Bridge incredible to see? – Yes.

Did we get stunning photos? – Yes.

Would I recommend you go? – HELL NO!

To be blunt, the park was kitschy, tacky and overpriced. Experiencing the Golden Bridge was overcrowded and uncomfortable. Yes, we got good photos – but this was literally down to luck and with much thanks to Photoshop.  

As for Sun World, there was not an ounce of authenticity about the place. It was like a sh*t Disneyland with no rides… and for a country like Vietnam that is overflowing with so much natural, cultural, authentic beauty, Sun World was an overpriced eye-sore that I would highly advise all to avoid.

I know that this is a super harsh review, and I don’t often leave such harsh criticism here on the blog because I usually feel that experiences are opinion based. But the theme park is everything I dislike about travel. Not only is visiting Golden Bridge not worth it, but it goes against responsible travel.

For me, the experience of seeing the bridge was in no way special enough to justify the cost, but I completely get that many will want to see it for themselves, just like I did. Just wanted to be 100% transparent with you about my thoughts during this write-up.  

My top tips for visiting the Golden Bridge in Danang

Golden Bridge in Danang

I know I’ve been quite harsh with my opinion about the bridge’s popularity, but if you still want to get to the location and experience everything yourself and, basically, test your luck, here are some precious pieces of advice and tricks to keep in mind:

WHERE TO TAKE THE PERFECT INSTAGRAM PHOTO

Once you arrive on the bridge, make sure you don’t waste much time at the first hand (the right one, closest to the gondola station). That’s where 99% of visitors stop to take photos. Instead, you can take a couple of quick snaps and then proceed to the next one (the left hand), which, supposedly, will be less crowded.

You also have some pretty nice photo opportunities at the train station, where the flower garden is located.

TIP: If the bridge is too crowded to take any good photos, just proceed to Linh Un Ba Pagoda and shoot some images there. The other travellers will be so concerned with the bridge, most will even forget there are other spots around them.

CHECK OUT SOME OTHER NEARBY ATTRACTIONS

If the bridge sounds as disappointing to you as it was for me but you still want to go see Sun World, let me offer you some interesting alternatives around:

CHECK OUT THE HOTEL

If you really like this bridge and want to spend the night as close to it as possible, you can book a room at the Mercure French Village, which is located inside the French Village section of the theme park, not far from the Golden Bridge. If you stay at the hotel and wake up early enough, it will be easier to get to the gondola first… but you surely won’t be THE first person in line if you ask me. So the decision is yours.

Here are some really useful things to take with you to the Golden Bridge:

This was my complete, utterly honest guide and review of the Golden Bridge in Da Nang, Vietnam. I’ve told you literally everything I know after going there – price, where to take the best photos, how to get there and particularly if it is worth your time and energy to see the giant “hands of the Mountain God” emerging from the mountains… or not.

If you’re on the search for other more amazing places to visit in Vietnam, I recommend checking out this section on the blog where you’ll find all my posts and stories about this wonderful country.

xoxo,

Melissa

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Cafe Apartment Saigon – 3 Best Cafes Worth Visiting

In case you’re planning a trip to Vietnam, you might’ve heard about the country’s incredible coffee culture. And if you want to set foot in Ho Chi Minh City soon, then you surely know about the Cafe Apartment Saigon on Nguyen Street! If not, worry not, as I have gathered aaaaall the information you need on the Coffee Apartments in Saigon below, including the 3 best cafes worth visiting inside the building!

And, trust me, if you’re a lover of coffee and coffee shops, you just HAVE TO add this incredible attraction to your bucket list. It’s one of the most photographed buildings in the country, after all! 

I have written about it before in my Complete Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam Guide, but this time I’ll tell you about it in-depth, together with my personal experience visiting it.

Let’s go!

Quick info about Ho Chi Minh Cafe Apartment

info about Ho Chi Minh Cafe Apartment

Before jumping into the three recommendations, let me tell you some interesting information about this quirky attraction:

What is the Cafe Apartment Saigon?

Let’s start at the beginning. The Apartment Cafe is basically a 9-storey old apartment building converted into a tourist spot and the epicentre of coffee culture in Ho Chi Minh City (once known as Saigon). 

It has quite an interesting history, I might add. The building is around 60 years old, it has undergone some renovations over time and, at one point, it even housed American officers in the 50s and until the post-war period. 

Putting its rich history aside, it is still an apartment building, but with a twist – ever since Nguyen Street became a pedestrian walkway gaining a lot of popularity in 2015, the owners (which regained ownership of their properties after the fall of Saigon in 1975) started renting their apartments to small businesses. Which are mostly coffee shops, tea houses, fashion boutiques, beauty parlours and even co-working spaces. And it seems they’re growing in number every day!

colourful balconies Nguyen Street

The building looks cool, yet gritty on the outside with its colourful balconies, which is definitely part of its charm. But it’s what is on the inside that counts, right? And once you step foot into this apartment building on Nguyen Hue walking street, you’ll see exactly why it has become so popular. 

This apartment block hosts lots of independent businesses and cool spots to hang out, grab a coffee, work together with other creatives, go on an unconventional date and more! 

NOTE: It is said that, officially, it’s kind of… illegal to rent these apartments for commercial, non-residential use, so all the businesses inside might get evicted at any moment. Which only means one thing: make sure you visit this apartment block while you still can!

TIP: Each level of the building is different and unique and, because of the building’s layout, some shops or coffee apartments might be more visible than others. This is exactly why I advise you to take your time, skip the elevator and explore each level with patience. Oh, and make sure you walk past it at least once at night as well, it looks even more cool when all the colourful signs are lit up!

Where is the apartment building located?

Where is the Cafe Apartment

The location of the apartments is in District 1, on the famous Nguyen Hue pedestrian street, at number 42. It’s iconic and you can easily remember it!

ADDRESS: The Cafe Apartment – 42 Nguyen Hue Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City

Useful info to know once you arrive

RELATED READ: 12 Things To Do in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam – A Complete Guide To the City

3 Best cafes worth visiting

I really loved our visit to the Coffee Apartment block – it’s hip, modern and very good-vibey. After exploring some cute fashion boutiques and shops, we visited some of the coffee shops too and these are the three I loved most (and that I, of course, recommend!). By the way, there are more than 30 cafes here, which makes choosing almost impossible!

1 – Saigon Ơi ($)

saigon oi
Saigon Oi cafe in Ho Chi Minh

Saigon Oi really impressed us with its incredibly flavourful coffee and creative, fun drink options on the menu. The decor is rather simple and natural, with wooden floors and plants forming a real garden inside a bathtub, which I liked a lot! And in case you have some emails to send or calls to make, you can even work in this cosy environment.

You can find various snacks, juices, salads, Vietnamese coffee and other non-caffeinated drinks on their menu (lucky me – reviewing a cafe apartment although I don’t really like caffeine!). Ah! And their balcony has a very pretty view of a bit of the city and Saigon river too – perfect for some photo opportunities!

FIND IT ON: 5th floor

WHAT WE HAD: Yogurt Rainbow Drink & Iced milk coffee

OPENING HOURS: daily from 7:00 AM – 10:00 PM

INSTAGRAM: @saigonoicafe

WEBSITE: https://saigonoicafe.com/

2 – Thinker and Dreamer ($$)

Thinker and Dreamer
Thinker and Dreamer coffee

Intimate, romantic and super cosy, Thinker and Dreamer coffee shop is a real “forest” inside the apartment building! They have amazing coffee and a hip but tiny balcony facing Nguyen Hue Street with a nice view.

TIP: The owners really know how to speak social media, so if you’re browsing the menu and see a little icon of a camera next to a drink, this means that the drink is Instagram-worthy, haha!

NOTE: They now have two locations in the city, one at 42 Nguyen Hue and one on 26B Le Loi Avenue in District 1, very close nearby.

FIND IT ON: 4th floor

WHAT WE HAD: Coffee of Mr Thinker & Coffee of Mr Dreamer

OPENING HOURS: daily from 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM

INSTAGRAM: @thinker.dreamer.coffee

WEBSITE: https://thinkerdreamer.vn/

3 – Partea ($)

partea
partea saigon coffee apartments
© @partea.tearoom

This is probably one of the most famous spots inside the apartment block! Partea (get it? get it?) is an English-style tea house with a really unique, accurate decor – it oddly feels like you’re in England! So if you’re planning on drinking some 5 o’clock tea, this cosy and comforting place is the best choice. They have entire walls full of tea flavours (and coffee too!), lots of teapots to choose from, a cosy atmosphere and lots of yummy, gorgeous cakes to accompany your drink.

FIND IT ON: 4th floor

WHAT WE HAD: a pot of Jasmine Tea & an amazing lava cake with a ball of ice-cream

OPENING HOURS: daily from 9:00 AM – 10:30 PM

INSTAGRAM: @partea.tearoom

FACEBOOK: Partea – Tea Room

Other notable places to check out at 42 Nguyen Hue

42 Nguyen Hue

In case you’re looking for an extensive list of cool spots inside this apartment block other than these 3 cafes, make sure you check out the following too if you have the time:

RELATED READ: Travel Guide to Cu Chi Tunnels in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam – Tours VS Visiting By Yourself

BONUS: Everything you need to know about coffee in Vietnam

coffee culture in vietnam

Vietnam has a rich history – and their love for coffee is no exception. Coffee was introduced in Vietnam by the French in 1857 but it has only become a real “national sport” in 1990, thanks to a program started by the Government. Nowadays, Vietnam is the second-largest coffee exporter in the world. And us, travellers, can’t be anything but thankful!

Although it will be a bit hard to find your classic almond flat white in Vietnam, there are other caffeinated specialities worth exploring here. Which is an amazing thing, as travelling is all about experimenting with new things, right?! 

First of all, you should know about… condensed milk. Yes, the Vietnamese drink their coffee with condensed milk instead of your classic, frothy cow milk or vegan alternatives. Odd or not, it’s really delicious!

Here are some unmissable coffee-related drinks to try while you’re in Ho Chi Minh City, especially at the Cafe Apartment:

RELATED READ: Binh Quoi Village, Ho Chi Minh City – Complete Guide and Reasons To Visit

Aaand that’s absolutely everything you need to know about the famous Cafe Apartment in Ho Chi Minh City! I have told you every tiny detail, from its history after the fall of Saigon to where to park, how much the elevator costs compared to the staircase, what to visit inside and even some drinks worth ordering while you’re there!

In short, this is a hip, modern and creative spot worth visiting at least once in your lifetime – and especially if you’re a lover of caffeinated drinks, tea or cute desserts! Once you enter the building you’ll surely enjoy the atmosphere and grungy style!

In case you’re looking for more exciting things to do in Ho Chi Minh, make sure you click here to find all my articles about this incredible city. And here you’ll find all my posts and stories about Vietnam.

xoxo,

Melissa

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What’s in My Camera Bag – All My Travel Blogging Gear








The most common question I get ever since I started growing on Instagram and getting my blog up and running is centered around my travel blog photography. What blogging equipment do I use? How do I take my photos? And, most of all, what’s the best camera for travel blogging? Today I decided to address all these questions and show you what’s in my camera bag. So get ready, as I’ll show you all my travel blogging gear!

When you’re a travel blogger and content creator, taking flawless photos is one of the most important things. Not the only one, of course – good content and strong ideas are also key elements if you want to gain an awesome, faithful community. But let’s face it: everything starts with a good picture.

After researching A LOT and changing equipment over the years, I have finally created the ideal photography kit for travel blogging that works for me, my style and my content. Let’s get started:

What’s in my camera bag

1 – Camera

what's in my camera bag canon 5d mk4

Everything starts with the camera, of course. Although, if you ask me, if you’re a creative person just starting out, you can still achieve incredible results with the cheapest camera on the market and none of that expensive editing software. 

But in order to make your life easier, purchasing a good camera that will help you get amazing results in all types of lighting (especially low light) will be one of the best decisions you will ever make. Been there, done that!

My Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV – This is one of the top cameras on the market right now, for both photo AND video. I chose Canon as a personal preference, but you can also opt for Nikon or for a mirrorless camera as well, such as Sony Alpha – all of them are fabulous choices.

Cheaper Camera Option: Canon EOS 80D – This one’s a great option as well for both photography and HD video recording.

Mirrorless Camera Option: Canon EOS M50 – This is a brilliant starter DSLR camera opinion and great for travel as it’s powerful, yet small and lightweight.

MY OPINION: It’s really hard to say which is the best camera for travel blogging. For me it’s the Canon 5D Mark IV, but somebody else might tell you that they’re doing a terrific job with a lower-end camera. Which is completely fine! My advice to you is to make a shortlist adapted to your budget and preferences and maybe rent the cameras for a day or two and make a practical comparison between them. It comes down to personal choice, so it’s worth spending some time trying your options to make an informed decision!

2 – Lens

sigma 35mm

Here’s the hard truth: you can have the most expensive camera on the market, but if you don’t have the right, high-quality lens for it and the type of photography you are planning on creating, you won’t get very good results. A camera body has no use if you don’t attach the perfect lens to it, am I right? …Rhetorical question. I am right. 

Below I’ve made a list with my three lens options that I take everywhere with me. These are the best lens for a photography kit if you ask me:

Of course, you don’t need to have all these in your kit if you find they have no use for you. Maybe you usually use a GoPro for wide angled landscapes and you’ll soon find out that your expensive wide angle camera lens gathers dust on the shelf. So make sure you know your priorities and your style of photography, so you can make a wise choice when it comes to your gear and purchases!

TIP: I quickly found out that I use my Sigma 35mm the most, so if you were to only choose one lens from the list above, get the 35mm! It’s also the best lens for travel, if you ask me!

3 – Tripod and gimbal

what's in my camera bag best tripod

Concerned about your shaky hands? Bummed that you can’t achieve flawless video movements and transitions like all the best creators out there? Heh, I get you, but there’s no need to struggle here! I recommend having the following two items in your photography kit for stabilized, non-shakey images: a good, high-quality tripod and a gimbal as well.

I’m sure you know what a tripod is and why it’s such an important item in your kit. But what’s a gimbal? Google explains it best: it’s basically a pivoted support that allows your camera to rotate on a single axe. Read: steady and super smooth! 

Tripods are an amazing tool that help you get super sharp images, take group photos, and help capture high quality images in low light settings. However, when buying a travel tripod, it’s really important to take a couple of things into account:

Here’s what I have in my kit:

Tripod: Benro Mach3 Tripod Ser 2 Alum 4 Sect

Gimbal: Zhiyun Crane 2 – best gimbal for DSLR cameras in my opinion!

RELATED READ: Beginner’s Guide to Photography – How to Shoot Manual Mode

4 – GoPro

what's in my camera bag best gopro

If you’re a travel blogger, chances are you might need an action camera! And the best and most popular option out there is, of course, the GoPro. Compact, handy and pretty much iconic. In my opinion, they’re awesome little pieces of technology, perfect if you want to shoot some b-rolls or some quick shots when you’re out and about. Plus, they’re waterproof and shockproof, which makes them perfect for those of you who want to climb mountains, kayak, snorkel and more.

Here’s my current GoPro model and two little gadgets I recommend getting for your action camera as well:

My GoPro: GoPro HERO8 Black

Dome: GoPro Hero 8 Dome – lets you capture images half in and half out of the water!

Floating Wrist Wrap for GoPro: CamKix Floating Wrist Wrap – super handy for snorkeling and diving!

5 – Drone

what's in my camera bag best drone

Drones have been a true hype over the last years – and let me tell you: the hype is well-deserved, my friends! Drones are amazing for shooting aerial photography and video and for awe-inspiring landscape shots during your travels. There is no doubt – investing in a drone is the easiest way to level up your content as a creator.

There has been quite a debate lately about the best drone for photographers. While I don’t know how to answer that, as it really depends on your preferences, I can tell you what I have in my bag:

My drone: DJI Mavic Air Fly More Combo – This awesome combo includes the drone, 3 batteries, SD card, landing gear and more. It basically has everything you’ll ever need to fly your drone successfully!

TIP: Flying a drone is not an easy business, so you’ll need a bit of practice if you want to control it in windy weather and land it successfully. But don’t worry and don’t give up. It just takes a bit of practice. Just think about all those incredible shots you’re going to take – it’s all worth it!

6 – SD cards and hard drives

what's in my camera bag best sd card

Now that you hace all that incredible gear and lens, you’ll need something to store all those pictures and videos you’re going to take, right? Here’s where SD cards and external hard drives come in handy. An SD card is a must-have in order to be able to take pictures and videos with your camera, GoPro or drone, while a hard drive is a safe place to store your files for later. 

Hard drive: Lacie Rugged Mini 2 TB – one of the best external hard drive for photographers because it’s drop, crush and rain-resistant!

SD cards: SanDisk Extreme PRO 128GB

TIP #1: The best SD card for photographers is the one that has the most memory. Period.

TIP #2: Trust my word on this: back-up your files. Yes, all of them. Everything that’s important. Make sure you have at least one copy of your files in two different places; you never know if or when your laptop/computer might crush. And if it does… you don’t want to regret not thinking about it sooner! Guga and I went to Mexico. Although you’d never know it. Mistakes were made. Now we always have a second Hard drive.

7 – Camera bag

Ah, yes, the camera bag. The one item in your photography kit that has to be both useful AND pretty looking. After all, it’s an accessory that can compliment your outfit, correct? There are countless options out there for all types of photographers and needs, but here’s what I like to carry with me:

Camera Bag: Manfrotto MB MA-BP-BFR Advanced Befree Camera Backpack – spacious and extremely useful. It’s the best camera bag for travel in my opinion;

Another very good option: Backsmart Anti-Theft Camera Backpack – if you want to be a bit more fashion and a bit less geeky;

Smaller city day bag: Ona Messenger Bag – fashionable all the way! It can carry one camera with lens, plus one or two extra lenses, depending on their size.

RELATED READ: Sparkler Photography – The Secret for Perfect Sparkler Pictures

8 – Other useful accessories & nice-to-haves

best lens filter

The items above are, in my opinion, all must-haves. But there are other handy accessories and tools you might want to add to your photography kit in case you find them useful for your photography style. I’m talking about cleaning kits, lens filters (these can be real life savers!) and shoulder straps for your camera. 

Here’s my list. Feel free to choose whichever of these items you find more useful and/or exciting:

Lens Cleaning Kit: Zacro Professional Camera Cleaning Kit – it’s best to clean your lens from time to time in order to make sure there’s no dust or fingerprints on them, especially if you’re doing action photography;

LED External Light: Iwata LED Bi-Color Video Light – for awesome portraits in low-light situations. Good for video as well;

Camera strap: Waka Rapid Slide Shoulder Strap – simple and minimal;

ND Filter 82mm: Polar Pro 82mm ND Filter – choose this one depending on the diameter of your lens;

ND Filter 67mm: Polar Pro 67mm ND Filter

Aaaand that’s about everything you need to know about my photography gear! In the article above I have told you all about my camera, all my lenses, the best DSLR camera bag for travel (in my opinion, of course), my GoPro, drone and more. I hope this list answers all your questions about my gear and everything else that I use to take my Instagram and blog photos.

And if you want to see more of my images, head over to my Instagram account and say hi!

xoxo,

Melissa

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What's in my camera bag - 15 must have items

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Your Notting Hill Guide – How to Explore This London Neighbourhood

Wondering about the unmissable things to do in Notting Hill, one of the most iconic London neighbourhoods? Heh, this post is the answer you’ve been looking for! Scroll down to find the best Notting Hill attractions, as well as the best accommodations and restaurants in the area, so you will be fully prepared for your upcoming trip to the city! All hand-picked by a local – a.k.a. me!

It would be difficult to name a more vibrant district in London than Notting Hill. It is so much more than a beautiful backdrop for a 90s rom-com (although it certainly lives up to its cinematic hype). If you are looking to get away from central London’s hustle and bustle and enjoy some more village vibes, then Notting Hill is for you.

It’s easy to see why Notting Hill attracts many visitors each year with its world-renowned markets, eccentric backstreets, colourful houses, and trendy restaurants and bars, not to mention the Notting Hill Carnival. In case you’re interested to read more, let’s get right into my Notting Hill area guide:

A bit about Notting Hill, London

things to know about notting hill neighborhood

Notting Hill is steeped in history. It was mostly rural in the 18th century as an area used for piggeries (great word) and brick making. As a fun fact, there’s still one historic brick kiln standing on Walmer road. 

Development began in the early 19th century when a wealthy landowner invested his money in establishing streets and houses. He hoped to create a fashionable neighbourhood to attract affluent Londoners to move into the district. In the 1950s, Caribbean immigrants moved to the area attracted by low-cost living, which led to Notting Hill becoming seen as the slums. The influx of immigrants to the area led to the race riots of 1958 before the gentrification in the 21st century.

Today, Notting Hill is an eclectic and fashionable neighbourhood with a urban-village feel. You might recognise it from modern pop culture such as films like Love Actually and, of course, Notting Hill

RELATED READ: London Neighborhood Guide – 14 Best Areas for Tourists Chosen by a Local

Where is Notting Hill in London?

Notting Hill is located in West London. To be more specific, it’s located in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

notting hill map in london 2

7 Things to do in Notting Hill, London

Did you know that Notting Hill is more than pastel-coloured buildings? Heh, it’s true! There are so many Notting Hill tourist attractions, I don’t even know where to start! Nevertheless, here’s my shortlist of things to see and activities worth adding to your itinerary:

1 – Buy unique items at Portobello Market

Of course I’m starting the list with the famous Notting Hill market, duh! Without a doubt, the most popular street in the district is Portobello Road, the place that hosts Portobello Market as well (also known as Portobello Road Market). 

In fact, Portobello Market is actually several markets in one, as follows:

With over a thousand stalls, you can easily plan on spending the entire day here roaming between them. Technically, the market is open six days a week, but really you need to visit on a Saturday when the market is in full swing. This is the only day when all of the antique arcades are open as well.

Portobello Market hours: The market opens at 8:00 AM and goes until around 6:30 PM. There is limited parking in the area, so I advise you to plan on arriving early or take public transport.

TIP: You can also go to Rough Trade down on Portobello Road if you’re searching for high-quality music records and rare gems.

2 – Explore the numerous Notting Hill book shops

notting hill bookshop london

This may seem like an obvious thing to do for anyone who is a fan of the Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant movie! However, Notting Hill really does have quite a few delightful book shops. 

Although the book shop in the film Notting Hill is fictional, you can visit the book shop in which it was filmed. The book shop’s name in real life is The Notting Hill Book Shop – easy to remember, right? The shop is iconic now and a popular tourist destination. Another crowd-favourite book shop to check out is Lutyens & Rubinstein.

RELATED READ: Your Camden Town Guide – How to Explore This London Neighbourhood

3 – Join the Notting Hill Carnival

notting hill carnival

Notting Hill Carnival is one of Europe’s largest street festivals, attracting over a million visitors every year. 

Here are some facts about Notting Hill Carnival: The carnival started in the 60s with humble origins as a way to celebrate the culture and diversity of the area. The event is held every August over a two-day period, a Sunday and a Bank Holiday Monday. In 2021, the Carnival takes place on August 29th and 30th.

The Carnival is one of the most popular Notting Hill events and it’s a celebration of West Indian culture. If you decide to join, expect the streets to be packed with bands playing reggae and food stalls serving curries and jerk chicken. There is certainly no shortage of food, drink, and music!

Growing up, Notting Hill Carnival was one of the highlights of my year, so if you happen to be in the city during this time, it is definitely worth planning your trip around it. The entirety of Notting Hill is taken over with Caribbean beats, street dancing, food stalls and the parades.

TIP: If you’re hoping to carry on partying into the night, make sure you check out which venues are hosting after parties and book your tickets ahead of time.  

4 – Grab a beer at Churchill Arms pub

Churchill Arms pub in Notting Hill

Churchill Arms pub and restaurant can only be truly appreciated in person. The pub has an elaborate display of flowers spanning the entire exterior of the brick building. 

The pub has a pretty substantial budget that they spend just on flowers every spring. It is truly breathtaking if you ask me! Plus, inside the pub, you’ll find a Thai restaurant. They claim that it is the first London pub to have a Thai restaurant inside, so you might as well give it a go!

5 – Visit some of the art galleries

things to do in notting hill art gallery

If you are a fan of art, then you are in luck! There are plenty of galleries for art enthusiasts to peruse in Notting Hill, which has long been considered an artsy area and home to many London based artists as well. Some amazing galleries to check out while you’re in the area include Portobello Arts Club and Calken Gallery. And for those with more of a taste for contemporary, Graffik is a premier urban art destination.

RELATED READ: London: Complete Guide to Brixton

6 – Take a picture in front of the colourful houses

notting hill neighborhood london
colorful houses in nottinghill london

Is there anything more charming than a row of colourfully, pastel-painted houses? There is certainly no shortage of this in Notting Hill! No need to waste any time and search for these yourself, here’s exactly where to find the best photo locations in Notting Hill:

7 – Catch a movie at the Electric Cinema

electric cinema in notting hill london

Luxurious chairs, traditional decor and a great selection of movies – this is what you’ll get if you decide to spend a couple of hours catching a movie at the Electric Cinema. Trust me, this place is a real hidden gem in Notting Hill, located right on Portobello Road! After the movies, you can stay a bit longer and grab a meal at their Electric Diner – one of the best places to go if you’re in the mood for an American meal!

RELATED READ: London: Complete Guide to Chelsea

Notting Hill tours

Colourful houses in Notting Hill London
Spring time in Notting Hill London

You know how much I love my tours and I couldn’t omit them from this guide to Notting Hill either! In case you want to delve deeper into everything that Notting Hill has to offer, why not take some organised tours? There are tons of options to choose from if you think that taking a walk with a professional guide is the right choice for you:

Where to stay in Notting Hill

Where to stay in Notting Hill

In case you fell in love with Notting Hill already, you might want to consider booking your place here for your London trip! This way you’ll be close to all the action in this neighbourhood and you’ll also be very close to the centre of the city as well. 

Here’s my hand-picked list of hotels in Notting Hill:

LUXURY: The Portobello Hotel

BOUTIQUE HOTEL: The Laslett

MID-RANGE: The Distillery

BUDGET: Ravna Gora

ENTIRE APARTMENT: Lovely 2 bedroom apartment in Notting Hill

Where to eat in Notting Hill

coffee shops in Notting Hill London
Biscuiteers in Notting Hill London

Hungry? No worries, you’ll find no shortage of cafes, bars, and restaurants here! Notting Hill has a plethora of amazing restaurants serving international cuisines from all over the world. And if you’re not sure exactly what you’re craving or if you’re looking for some never-failing food options, I’ve got some recommendations of Notting Hill restaurants for you:

How to get to Notting Hill

The good news is that, like in the rest of London, it’s extremely easy to get to Notting Hill – you can either take the tube or the bus. If you’re coming by tube, the following stops will leave you right in this neighbourhood: Notting Hill Gate, Westbourne Park, Ladbroke Grove, Bayswater and Queensway. It all depends on which line you choose to take (Central, District or Circle). You can also take the train until Shepherds Bush, then walk for about 20 minutes (or just take the central line tube from there).

I hope you enjoyed my Notting Hill neighborhood guide! I have collected all the best bits and advice about this charming little area in London in this post – anything from unmissable things to do, where to stay, what to eat and how to get there. In short, everything you need to know is here!

If you are travelling to London, Notting Hill is a must-see. It is the perfect place to spend a weekend getting lost in the vibrant city streets and sampling the district’s culture. So go and get lost in those colourful streets and maybe even put the phone down from taking photos long enough to soak in all that Notting Hill has to offer. You won’t regret it.

Interested to find out more? If the answer is “Yes!” and you want to read my other in-depth guides about London’s neighbourhoods, I recommend clicking here.

xoxo,

Melissa

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Your Camden Town Guide – How to Explore This London Neighbourhood

Looking for a quirky neighbourhood in London that will keep your head spinning and your heart buzzing? Then Camden Town needs to be the next stop on your itinerary! And if you’re looking for the best things to do in Camden, as well as the best restaurants and hotels here, this Camden Town guide is here to help.

Whether you are looking for a fun and vibrant solo vacation, or a couple’s trip you’ll never forget, Camden promises not to disappoint. With a rich music history, buzzing nightlife, and plenty of art to enjoy, Camden is truly one of a kind. And I really mean it! I fell in love with this neighbourhood a long time ago and, since then, I keep coming back for more. And it sure delivers!

Let’s get started with our Camden guide, read on to hear about London’s hip and quirky neighbourhood!

A bit about Camden Town, London

About Camden Town London

Camden is a place that is bursting with lively energy. You’ll find everything here, from funky street art to traditional pubs and a famous market (Camden Town Market). All these make this place incredible! If you are a music fanatic, then what are you waiting for? Camden is known for its rock and punk history and catching live-music is a must-do while you’re in town. Camden is a coveted place to live among Londoners, and after one visit you’ll see exactly why.

RELATED READ: London Neighborhood Guide – 14 Best Areas for Tourists Chosen by a Local

Where is Camden?

Camden borough is a part of Central London, only one stop away by train from Euston Station.

camden town map in london

Camden Town Guide – 6 Things to do in Camden, London

Camden offers plenty of things to do for all types of travellers. Scroll down through my Camden area guide to find my top suggestions for your itinerary:

1 – Camden Town Market

camden town market in london

Dropping by the famous Camden Market is absolutely non-negotiable. Period!

If you’re over the vanilla look of high-street fashion, then Camden Market will offer the perfect playground for you. It’s important to note that Camden Market actually encompasses a few different markets, such as Camden Lock Market and Stable Market – I recommend reading about the two if you want a complete Camden Market guide. These are all within walking distance and make an afternoon of shopping a world of fun!

If you can, set aside an entire day to explore every inch of these markets and enjoy some bites to eat! Your wardrobe will thank you – and your tummy too!

Camden Market hours: the market is open every day from 10 AM until late. More info about the schedule and how to get there by train or bus – here.

2 – Search and admire some Camden street art

London street art in Camden Town

One of the main attractions of Camden is the edgy, hip street art. Camden North area is the best place to spot these gems while you’re out and about. You should recognize some of the street art – for instance, Amy Winehouse, who used to be a Camden local, is featured in quite a few of the installations. 

FUN FACT: Hawley Mews, a street in Camden neighbourhood, features some giant pieces of art that actually change – one of the many reasons to make a return trip to Camden someday!

TIP: Don’t want to discover all this street art by yourself? No problem! Take the time to take a street art tour and explore these incredible pieces! These guides will take you to the most popular attractions and help you take the best pictures possible. 

3 – Walk down Regent’s Canal

regents canal in camden town

Camden isn’t all about buzz and excitement though. If you’re looking for some relaxing and romantic things to do in Camden Town, I recommend heading over to Regent’s Canal and walking along the riverside – or to Regents Park for a relaxing stroll! Regent’s Canal has been around for over 200 years. It’s the perfect spot to be if you still want to be around the London atmosphere, but want to feel like you’re transported to a scene right out of a movie. 

The perk of having an afternoon or evening stroll on Regent’s Canal is that it’s absolutely free! If the weather allows, you can even pack a romantic picnic for two and sit down and just enjoy the atmosphere.

Alternatively, if you have a few extra pounds to spend, consider taking a boat tour. For the ultimate experience, you can even take a hot tub boat down the river. Quirky, but fun!

RELATED READ: Your Notting Hill Guide – How to Explore this London Neighbourhood

4 – Walk along Camden High Street

camden high street

If you want to witness some unique shop fronts, this is your place to be! Once you’re out of Camden tube station, you’ll quickly arrive at High Street, a place both wonderful and strange where you’ll find all kinds of shops selling souvenirs, vintage items, old music records and grunge clothes. Camden Town shops are a must, I’m telling you!

5 – Experience some Camden nightlife

clubbing in camden town

Have you really visited Camden if you didn’t partake in its nightlife? Spoiler: the answer is no.

If Camden is cool during the day, expect it to be absolutely brilliant at night. There is no shortage of incredible live music, yummy bites to eat, and delicious drink menus for you to make your way through on Friday or Saturday night. 

If you’re there for the first time or you are travelling solo, I highly recommend joining a pub crawl tour in order to make friends and hit the coolest spots in the neighbourhood. But if you’re travelling as a couple or like to see where the wind takes you, here are my recommended spots to check out: 

RELATED READ: London: Complete Guide to Brixton

6 – Enjoy Camden’s live music scene

live music in camden town london

If you didn’t get your fill of live music while you were out enjoying the nightlife, there are enough venues for every taste in the neighbourhood of Camden Town in London! Since Camden is known for their rich music history, enjoying the live music scene while you’re there is sure to be an unforgettable experience.

Whether you are looking for a cosy experience or a rowdy crowd, here are some awesome music venues you simply must explore while you’re in Camden: 

Music lover? Here’s an idea: you can take the Rock ‘n’ Roll History Bus Tour for an in-depth musical experience around the area!

Camden Town tours

Best tours in London, England

Of course, this Camden guide wouldn’t be complete without some tours, right? In case you’re unsure about your itinerary in Camden, a good idea would be to book some tours and fill your days with exciting things to do. Here are my hand-picked suggestions in this amazing area of London:

Where to stay in Camden

Holiday Inn London Camden Lock

In case you’re hooked on this vivid, never-sleeping, never-boring neighbourhood, you might want to make it your base in London. If that’s so, here are the best hotels in Camden Town, London:

LUXURY: Holiday Inn London Camden Lock

BOUTIQUE HOTEL: York & Albany

MID-RANGE: Camden Enterprise Hotel

BUDGET: The Mornington Camden

ENTIRE APARTMENT: Mirabilis Apartments – Bayham Place

Where to eat in Camden Town

Street food in Camden Town London

Oh God, the street food in Camden Town is simply insane! As I mentioned before, if you go to Camden Market, you’ll find tons of food stalls selling international cuisines, so you can easily spend an entire day there just eating your way out. Sweets, fries, burritos, burgers, Chinese noodles and everything else you can think of. But there’s more to Camden Town food than this, my friends.

Except for this foodie-heaven-part-of-the-neighbourhood, here’s my shortlist of Camden Town restaurants worth giving a try:

RELATED READ: London: Complete Guide to Chelsea

How to get there

Camden Lock in London, UK

If you are taking the tube, jump on the Northern Line to Camden Town tube station, Chalk Farm, and Mornington Crescent. These will all get you into the bustling neighbourhood of Camden. Alternatively, you can walk along the canal for around 20 minutes from King’s Cross Station.

Now you know all of the best spots to visit while you’re in Camden!

Enjoying bits and bobs in the Camden Market, snapping pictures of unique street art, enjoying the romanticism of Regent’s Canal, and partying throughout the night are all brilliant experiences that are completely unique to Camden. I hope this guide to Camden was useful to you and I wish you the most amazing time in this part of London!

And here’s a promise: as soon as you’ll tear yourself away from this one-of-a-kind neighbourhood, you’ll be planning your next trip back! Or, even better, you can explore some other parts of London as well. For this, I have created this Complete Guide to London’s Neighbourhoods that I recommend you read before your trip!

xoxo,

Melissa

Want to know more about travelling to London?

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A complete guide to Camden London
Camden Town, a complete london guide.

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