easy hiking trails in Europe
Chichester: Roman Walls, Cricket’s Babe Ruth and Philip Larkin I normally shy away from dishing out general travel advice, but here is one: rather than picking your destinations according to fashion and the dictates of the travel press, base your choice on expedience and opportunity. If someone, for example, invites you for a job interview…
Once they were giants – Breil and the Roya River. From the train, Breil-sur-Roya looks incongruously large and imposing, with its tree lined riverside avenue and two large churches in the centre of town. Located in that part of the border country between France and Italy that is characterized by perched hilltop villages and their nervous…
All beautiful landscapes and areas have one ugly spot: one place where they concentrate all those warehouses, tyre vendors and utilities that they need – like everybody else – but prefer to keep out of sight. And so, while the glittering towns and beauty spots get themselves ready for the ball (aka the annual tourist…
Sanremo and San Romolo: once conjoined twins, with the Funiculaire of San Romolo. Once upon a time, the remote hillside village of San Romolo was one of the Italian Riviera’s most popular day trip destinations. Mention its name to natives from Sanremo of a certain age only if you are ready to be showered with…
Here is a tip if you face an acute what-to-do-with-the kids emergency in Barcelona. If you are visiting the Catalan capital with teenage kids in tow who have become ever so slightly rebellious after three days of art nouveau, hallucinogenic architecture and the musty smell of museum corridors take them to Girona (it’s a little…
Castellar is a vaguely picturesque medieval village just to the north of Menton on the French Riviera, and on its own (we might as well be honest about this), it is not worth the trip. Castellar’s 972 inhabitants may hate me for saying this, but such are the risks of boldly speaking truth to power….
What constitutes a “beautiful landscape”? Opinions on this may vary, but most people will agree on at least one of the five reasons why rivers make great travel companions. A a beautiful landscape must contain some …. 1. Body of water For the simple reason that we are programmed to find beautiful what is good…
Over the years, this blog has featured many different kinds of walks for different occasions: exhausting hikes as well as gentle strolls, explorations of the wild and urban walks with a cultural theme, walks for summer and walks for winter, walks that you can spread over several days and walks that you can squeeze in between…
Enough about painters and the French Riviera! Entire books have been written about the way in which the great modernists of European painting – from Monet to Picasso – fell in love with the lights and the sights and the colours of southern France. You don’t even have to go to the library to read…
Today’s post sets out to prove that, no matter how gloomy and unpromising the area (and the weather) may look, you can still have fun. Just put on your walking shoes and a raincoat – an extra layer of clothes if it’s cold – and go out for a hike or even a brief walk….