easy hiking trails in Europe
There are many ways in which you can divide up human beings meaningfully in two groups: NOT on the basis of whether they hear yanny or laurel or whether the colours on “the dress“ are black and blue or white and gold. But take for example holiday destinations: are you attracted to travel destinations because…
There is no longer any such thing as an “undiscovered” bit of Italy. Entire libraries have been written on the major sights and places, while even small villages produce thousands of hits on a Google search. There are still, however, parts of Italy that do not get the attention they appear to deserve, that are…
Briga is the Italian mountain village from central casting … … that somehow got lost and wound up on the other (French) side of the border where it was subsequently renamed La Brigue. Whatever nomenclature you prefer: this is a pleasant little place, much more charming than gloomy Tende a few kilometres to the north,…
Scars, as a rule, do not make human faces prettier but can make them more interesting. The same mechanism is at work in towns and cities. Many modern cities with long histories bear the scars of old catastrophes in their townscapes: we can still see where the structure of London was altered following the Great…
In certain – generally rather expensive – restaurants, they offer you what they call a menu de degustation: which means that rather than feeding you properly with meat and two veg, they show you a little of their art, teasing your taste buds with one bite of this and two bites of that and indicating…
Ready for more “Cologne through the prism of its Romanesque architecture”? All right then, here we go. This week, we shall visit six more early medieval churches, now turning our attention to the southern half of Cologne’s Old Town. We will walk through some pretty and picturesque streets with much local atmosphere, making sure that…
Why is Germany such an uncool travel destination? One reason, I suspect, is that most of her major cities come across as rather charmless. Not that they lack historical interest or scenic spots. The problem is that any such attractions have been buried in mundane urban fabric and that you have to look for them…
Untouched nature in the French Riviera coast is rare, but it exists. As Exhibit One, we present today’s post. Untouched nature – where it exists – is also, as a rule, well hidden. To find the lush green valley that provides the scenery for this week’s hike, you must go to the back of the…
One of the main tourist attractions of the Italian Riviera actually lies a few miles further inland: no visit to this stretch of the Mediterranean coast would be complete without a trip to at least one of the Ligurian mountain villages with their narrow lanes and dark cobbled alleyways. Ligurian Mountain Villages Ten or twenty…
This week’s post takes a leaf out of your local supermarket’s sale strategy. If “2 for the price of 1” helps shift chickens, deodorant, toilet paper and what-not, it should also attract the punters to the Easy Hiker blog. Today, we shall give you a taste of two of the outstanding Ligurian trails, the north-to-south…