easy hiking trails in Europe
The showcase gardens of the Riviera fall into two categories: for drama and excitement, you can visit gardens like the Giardini Hanbury near Ventimiglia or Menton’s Val Rahmeh, which were conceived for maximum effect on the grandest of theatrical scales. But on the local tourist board’s shortlist of famous Jardins de la Cote d’Azur, you…
If you like forest hikes that are attractive and at the same time not overly strenuous, I bet you will like this one. It has, after all, everything that an Easy Forest Hiker could possibly expect. You will be entertained by glimpses of dense undergrowth that seem to come straight from the primeval woodlands of…
Finally, a few notes about the Veneto’s largest and most famous town. We must talk about Venice: this is as inevitable when posting about the Veneto region as it is inevitable to visit Venice when travelling there. No matter what you may have heard about the floods of water and visitors that threaten to destroy…
Beautiful provincial cities may be the true treasure of Italy, but the country’s beautiful landscapes are at least as attractive. The Veneto – rolling hills and scenic rivers wedged in between the Alps and the Adriatic coast – is near the top in the list of Italy’s most picturesque regions, and it would be a…
Beautiful provincial towns are Italy’s true treasure. Almost every country in Europe has one or two Grade 1 tourist attractions, but only Italy can tempt visitors with a seemingly endless list of Grade B sites, all of which merit a long weekend if not, perhaps, a full-length holiday. Vicenza is another of these hidden gems…
Here is something you probably did not see coming. After last week’s walk – which took in the moat around the old city walls of Treviso, the town’s scenic canals and the statue of a “nude female torso” that is freely dispensing water from her nipples – you probably thought we had dealt comprehensively with…
Here is a warning: If you cannot stand the sight of water … … and if you are particularly allergic against streams that are narrowly framed by rows of ancient buildings … … you should stay well clear of Treviso because, once you are there, you will find no way of escaping your nightmare. You…
Long urban and country walks are great but they do take up a lot of time: time to organize and to prepare, time to travel, time to do the actual walking. Such walks can easily become projects around which you have to structure not only the day itself but your entire weekend break, squeezing other…
What are the must-have ingredients for an entertaining and enjoyable walk? Well, trees and plants, to begin with, … … then wide open spaces with scenic views into the far distance, … … and on top of that, some bright sunshine would help, if only to highlight the colours of the scenery with a radiantly…
The Altes Land, a few kilometres outside of Hamburg, is Europe’s largest fruit orchard. More than 10 million cherry and apple trees are growing here on the southern bank of the Elbe river, inviting you to stroll through a sea of colour and scenic beauty. That was what we had in mind when we boarded…