The north German city of Lübeck was very much built “on the waterfront”. But which water would that be? This is far from clear because there is a confusing variety of rivers, canals and natural waterways that all serve to connect the city to the Baltic Sea as well as to other sea ports. If…
What is it that gives the French Riviera its unique flavour? It cannot be the mix of sunshine and spectacular landscapes, because many other places in the world have that, too. It cannot be a richness of history and culture, because there is – frankly – little of either. No: the one ingredient that gives…
Over the years, this blog has featured many different kinds of walks for different occasions: exhausting hikes as well as gentle strolls, explorations of the wild and urban walks with a cultural theme, walks for summer and walks for winter, walks that you can spread over several days and walks that you can squeeze in between…
Three Easy Pieces for Hikers on Paros Yes, you guessed it : We are in Greece! On the beautiful island of Paros, to be precise, the pearl of the Aegean Sea. And just to prove to you that we are not simply taking it easy – although the temptation to just have a good time and…
Urban Walks in the South of France Walk to the villa where W B Yeats died In general, I don’t believe in the theory that you can acquire an understanding of literature through a process of natural osmosis in the places where it was once written – in other words that you can replace, for…
Walks near Paris An Evocative Riverside Walk The Marne for the Parisians is a mythical river, evoking lazy Sunday afternoons, boat trips, riverbank parties and men in jaunty hats straight out of a painting by Renoir. But above all, the Marne evokes the presence of the legendary guinguettes, small drinking places that serve local white…
Walks in the Netherlands And now, for something completely different. A Vertical Hike in Utrecht Part three in our short series of “Walks in the Netherlands” provides a stark contrast both to the forested lake and windmills of Kralingen and to our delightful urban promenade along the canals of Utrecht. In the first two walks,…
