You have some time to kill over the Christmas holidays? You feel you should go out for a walk – but cannot bring yourself to step into the cold rain, sleet or snow? Then here is a suggestion: just wander with your eyes over this page, stop here or there for a while if you…
Budapest and Vienna have a lot in common. The two cities share a lot of (Imperial) history and architectural influences … … but there is one big difference: the Danube, which is said to bypass Vienna rather than “flow through it”, lies very much at the heart of the Hungarian capital. The Danube also divides…
Book Review Today’s post is about more reading matter, not for quiet contemplation (in contrast to last week’s Christmas reading list) but focusing instead on a single book for your active planning. If you are looking forward to travelling through Europe in 2018, intending to rely on public transport for any part of your journey, this book…
What Made Grasse Famous Has Made a Smell-O-Rama Convert Out Of Me. Few people have ever regretted that Hollywood failed to further evolve its 1950s format of Smell-O-Rama which allowed the movie houses to pipe in scents for the purpose of highlighting the cinematic narrative. Full disclosure: I have always been one of those Smell-O-Rama…
What constitutes a “beautiful landscape”? Opinions on this may vary, but most people will agree on at least one of the five reasons why rivers make great travel companions. A a beautiful landscape must contain some …. 1. Body of water For the simple reason that we are programmed to find beautiful what is good…
Volcano Boarding in Cerro Negro Guest post by Claudia Tavani * I had never seen a volcano before until I travelled to Central America for the first time. Yes, there are many in southern Italy – but none in Sardinia, where I live. As you could imagine, I was really excited to find myself in Nicaragua,…
Dartmoor National Park may be famous for its high security prison and the Hound of the Baskervilles, but it also has its gardenlike features And now, as they say, for something completely different. After the South West Coast Path with its perfect blend of the majestic and the bucolic, Dartmoor National Park provides a sharp…
Today, we shall make one last visit to the South West Coast Path, albeit one with a difference. On this stretch of the trail, you will (probably) meet more people than on all of the other stages together and (certainly) see more concrete, too, but what this part of the path may lack in scenic…
From the sublime to the ridiculously picturesque is but a few steps on Devon’s premier hiking trail Coastal walks come in one of two varieties: there are the idyllic ones, featuring gardenlike landscapes full of picturesque little villages. The Italian and French Riviera is full of such calm and civilized walks. This is nature on…
On country walk from St Paul-de-Vence to Vence, you can experience three different flavours of the fabled French “South” and get a taste of Provence. One of the French things that foreigners often struggle with is the fine distinction between the different regions in “the South”, a large area sometimes misunderstood as a single cultural…
