It was Mrs. Easy Hiker who drew my attention to the site. I wonder what these ruins are, she mused: not once, not twice, but repeatedly, and in the end – when that had failed to stir me into action or at least a bout of in-depth research – almost every time we passed the…
If you have ever visited the Italian Riviera, aka Liguria, one of the things you will fondly remember is the train that connects the various small resort towns along the coast. This train is not one of those fancy high-speed bullet numbers that dash through the countryside. Instead, it takes its time – this is…
Before you travel to a place – any place – for the first time, you should always try to wipe the slate of your memory clean of everything you have ever heard or read about it. Otherwise, why come at all? You can save yourself the money and effort of actually going there by just…
If you travel to the extreme southwest of France in bleak midwinter, the Pyrenees – whose distant peaks are distinctly visible throughout much of the region – provide something like a permanent tease. Shrouded in clouds and covered with snow, they are clearly not sending out any “come-and-visit-me“ signals, but at the same time they…
The Canal du Midi is one of the greatest feats of civil engineering in the history of the world. Its construction stretched the 17th century’s technological knowledge and ingenuity to its very limits, much as the Channel Tunnel project would 300 years later. For nearly 2000 years, people had been dreaming of a navigable waterway…
This is a despatch from the Central European lowlands where winter is neither the season when snowmen freeze to death – as they currently do in North America – nor the right time to sit outside in some balmy sunshine. This, after all, is not the Mediterranean. Not that you would be in danger of…
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…
Across most of the northern hemisphere, the Christmas season has always been a time for quiet contemplation rather than hectic activity, the time for thinking things through rather than actually doing them. For hikers, it is a time for remembering past adventures and for planning new ones – and for reading about hikes from the…
As those among you who are blessed with the gift of observation may have noticed, we are quickly approaching the climax of the festive season. And it was in the spirit of Christmas that I, on our last visit to Genoa, decided to fulfil myself a long-held wish, descending from the train in the suburb…
Hiking trails on the Riviera generally fall into one of two categories: mountain hikes and coastal walks. Today, we will be offering you an alternative in this fascinating hike in Sasso. The Sasso is a small river, but it nevertheless comes with its own valley and its own patch of wetland. The Sasso’s waters flow…