easy hiking trails in Europe
The Santuario di Oropa aka Sacred Mountain of Oropa, in the northern Italian region of Piemonte is one of the largest sacred shrines in the Alps – and also one of the most storied. It all started with St Eusebius in the 4th century: on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, as the legend has…
Here is something about Madrid that many people may not know: a river runs through it. But why is the Manzanares so much less famous than, say, the Thames, the Seine or the Tiber? One reason is certainly that all of Madrid – not just its river – flies a bit under the radar, and…
The Centro with the Madrid dos Austrias, the Gran Via neighbourhood, Malasana and Chueca: last week, we gave you a good roundup of the Spanish capital’s “greatest hits” while walking through its central districts. But big cities like Madrid are always a sum of all their parts, not only the three of four that make…
People either love big cities or they don’t. If you are not energized by the noise, the speed, the rapid flow of images – and if the prospect of having to process all the stimuli and information at the same time fills you with dread rather than nervous excitement, you will not love Madrid. There…
Rocamadour in the Dordogne valley east of Bordeaux is one of France’s top visitor attractions, but unlike most of the other entries in tourism’s Top Of The Pops, it has been a hit for centuries. Had visitor numbers been measured in the Middle Ages, Rocamadour would have topped such a statistic year after year, centuries…
Limoges is in possession of not one but two town centres. This does not make the capital of the Limousin province (located about half way between Paris and Bordeaux) unique as such, but its two richly storied ancient quarters, unlike most of the other town centre twins, are not conjoined. Centuries later, they still resemble…
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…
If it is true that geography is destiny (as is often said), the slopes of the Val d’Aosta have always been fated to be stacked with castles. The surrounding mountains make it difficult for a central authority to gain full control, while the valley’s remoteness from the power centres of its neighbouring countries (historically France…
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…
The Alps are a two-faced host. Up to an altitude of 1500 or 2000 metres, they welcome their visitors – at least for parts of the year – with a sunny smile and a warm embrace of lush fauna and colour. The barren wastelands and hostile peaks somewhere on the distant horizon do not impend…