What makes a great urban walk? First of all, it almost goes without saying, an urban walk should combine natural beauty with some urban rough. All cities are beautiful, says the American poet Christopher Morley, but their beauty is grim, and urban walks should provide an introduction into this grim beauty. But this is…
The Alps are surrounded by large and fascinating cities (such as Turin, Salzburg, Munich) but have themselves little interesting architecture or history to offer. Human settlements in Europe’s highest mountain range have always tended to be small, and most were farming villages until recently – when they became skiing resorts. Either way, there is usually…
Coastal resort towns all over the world are the same – or so I thought before I took a closer look. Since then, I believe that this is a sweeping generalization which, like all sweeping generalizations, contains a grain of truth and a lot of ignorance. In fact, resort towns can be 10 kilometres away…
Any longer journey that is in fact made up of several shorter trips – where you spend one day here and two days there – will, in the end, come out as a mixed bag. Going on journeys like that is the modern equivalent to attending a show in a variety or “vaudeville” theatre where…
Tropea is Calabria’s number one tourist attraction. While this, admittedly, is no reason in itself to go and visit the place, it is also – if you already are in the province – an encouragement to take at least a look. Tropea – the “Pearl of Calabria”, is a beach resort. Popular beach resorts in…
The cities of Calabria rank low on the list of Italy’s travel destinations. Few people would choose Reggio di Calabria or Catanzaro as a base for their tour of the region in the same way that they would structure a trip to Sicily around extended visits of Palermo or Catania. Which is why we approached…
Agropoli is the perfect day trip from Naples. This small and picturesque town, located at the southern tip of the Gulf of Salerno, is only one hour away by train from Naples and will provide you with a much needed balm for your nerves and soul after a few days in Europe’s most anarchic city….
There are two ways of exploring Naples. You can opt to tick off the well-known points of interest: the Caravaggios and the catacombs, the churches and the royal palaces. But you can also venture out into the streets of the city without a fixed itinerary in order to experience Naples on a visceral level: immersing…
In any sequence that is set in time – sequences of any length and type, from songs in a Broadway musical and dishes in a tasting menu to blog posts about a specific destination – two items are of particular importance: the first (to set the tone) and the last (to sum up). So, for…
Not all villages in Provence were built high up on a hill around a castle or an ancient cathedral, although sometimes it may seem that way. This has more to do with the logic of international tourism than the actual settlement patterns of the local folks. Most villages and small towns in southern France, after…