easy hiking trails in Europe
So it’s back to lockdown in Europe again, or to “reconfinement” as the French say with their cruel sense of precision and aversion to euphemisms. Not all countries have – like France – already gone back to a full regime of curfews and isolation, but most look sure to follow. We are currently in Sicily,…
Bucket lists are all the rage. You care to find out all about the 1001 Things To See in Outer Mongolia Before You Die? I am sure there is a book or a website somewhere to take you from the World’s Largest Yurt to the Genghis Khan Toenail Museum or whatever. Does anybody ever use…
Travelling, in some ways, is a lot like learning. Done properly, they are lifelong preoccupations. You cannot acquire all the experiences that can be made out there any more than you can find out everything there is to know. And what is more: the mere attempt is a fool’s errand. Much better to paraphrase Socrates:…
Grenoble is the great survivor among French cities. Founded 2000 years ago as a small Gallic settlement around a bridge across the river Isére and relatively difficult to access to this very day (being surrounded by mountains on three sides), it learned to prosper and grow in size and importance by betting on the right…
The High Alps are the best the European countryside has to offer. They are one of Europe’s last genuine wildernesses, bearing only the lightest touch of human hands, majestic and of a sublime beauty. But as always with great beauty, there is a catch. The Alps are not just playing hard to get, they actually are. Hikes on…
The past is a foreign country, as even people know who have not read “The Go-Between” (or seen the movie). But whereas the opening statement of L.P. Hartley’s novel refers to past habits and customs (“they do things differently there”), one can just as easily apply the phrase to the looks and the structures of…
In the final instalment of our Sachsen-Anhalt Trilogy, we will tell you what to do and where to go for a scenic and interesting walk in the state capital of Magdeburg. Magdeburg does not sit in the first row of popular German city destinations, not even in the second row, but chances are that most…
For a federal state that few people outside of Germany have ever heard of, Sachsen-Anhalt has more than its fair share of UNESCO World Heritage sites. There are, to begin with, the sites connected with Martin Luther and the history of the Reformation: Eisleben where he was born and, above all, Wittenberg where he lived…
Germany is a country rich in history and natural beauty, but it does not get the number of foreign visitors it deserves. And what is more: the visitors who do come all gather in the same few places. There are days when you seem to hear more English than German voices in Berlin, the Black…
A little over a year ago, we deconstructed the French Riviera’s mainline railway route and gave you a station-by-station guide to tell you a little bit about the towns and the landscapes that lie on the far side of the stations’ concourses. Today, we are going to do the same for Italy: The Italian Riviera…