Travel Bracelet Keepsake

Here’s a really creative idea for a beautiful travel keepsake. When I travelled all around Europe last year, I collected a charm from every main city/country I went to.

These are the places I visited and their matching charms:

Rome- Colosseum

Venice- Theatrical Mask

Austria (Salzburg)- Pretzel

Germany (Munich and Berlin)- Beer Stein

Amsterdam- Clogs

Paris- Eiffel Tower
London- Double Decker Bus

Oxford/Windsor- Queen’s Crown

Sometimes it was impossible to find a charm or I ran out of time, so places like Florence and Verona in Italy I didn’t bother to buy one, plus I already had two for Italy. So don’t feel like you have to buy one for every single place, just carefully select your charms to be a highlight tour of your trip.

Each charm was around 5-10 Euros, so it was pretty cheap to gather a whole collection of worldly charms! My friend bought me a silver charm bracelet when I returned as a present, so I used that to put the charms on. I just took it to a key cutting type place, and they welded all of the charms on to my bracelet.

I arranged them in order of where I went on my trip, so it follows the same pattern as my holiday did.

I bought most of these charms from little souvenir or jewellers shops in every country. Most of the big sites and attractions have little gift shops where you can find charms relating to the country. Failing that, try markets or popular tourist spots with lots of little shops.

Try to ensure all of your charms are a similar size, and consider the colour when buying (i.e. I selected all silver charms for a silver bracelet)

I absolutely love my bracelet, and it’s the best souvenir that I’ve ever bought (and it’s not even tacky or garish!). It’s truly personalised, a great conversation point, and a long lasting memory of your incredible overseas adventures. I’m headed to America next year, so plan to create my America trip bracelet next!

What’s the best travel souvenir you’ve ever bought or collected overseas?