Located in the north-western Ishikawa Prefecture on the island of Honshu in Japan, Kanazawa is a modest city of exceptional gardens, historic geisha and samurai districts and buzzing nightlife. It was my favourite stop on our 2025 Japanese tour. It had long been my plan to visit – even as far back as our first…
Tag: Gardens
Nara – a mind-blowing temple and too many deer
Nara has many claims to fame. It was Japan’s first permanent capital, has one of the largest wooden buildings in the world, boasts a world-class collection of temples and shrines, and is home to large numbers of semi-tame deer. It’s an easy day trip from Osaka by train and a popular stop on the tourist…
Hiroshima and its legacy
The reason so many of us travel to Hiroshima is obvious – to witness the site where the world’s first atomic bomb was exploded in anger. Around 70,000 people died instantly when it was dropped on 6 August 1945, many thousands more followed in the years after. On our first night in the city after…
Providence, the modest capital of Rhode Island
After spending a few days in big, bold Boston, Providence in Rhode Island comes as a bit of a relief. The capital of the USA’s smallest state has a population of fewer than 200,000 souls and is pleasant and walkable, full of street art and history. It’s also an example of urban regeneration done well….
Madeira – island of gardens and mountains
You’ve got to be fit to live in Funchal, the capital of Madeira. Befitting an island that’s actually the peak of massive summit volcano, it’s all hills and challenging terrain. The setting is spectacular but going for a walk can be tough. For every stretch downhill there’s a climb back up. We stayed in the…
Oaxaca – creativity and colour
Oaxaca must rank as one of the most colourful cities on earth, offering rewards with every step. Its buildings are painted a multitude of glorious shades and it has some of the best street art in Mexico. Famous for its Day of the Dead celebrations at the beginning of November, in the weeks leading up…
A week in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina
I expected many things of Buenos Aires, Argentina’s sprawling capital, but I didn’t expect it to be quite so grand. It’s a city of epic public buildings, grand mansions, wide boulevards and generous public squares. Perhaps I’d been put off the scent by all the economic traumas, dictatorships, persecutions and politically-motivated murders that Argentina has…
A spring break in Montreal
Quebec’s largest and most energetic city has a charming old town, great bars and restaurants, but also a touch of the chaotic about it. It’s not a city that’s easy to fall in love with. Much like Toronto, it feels like it’s been thrown together with little thought to the whole. A motorway ploughs through…
The gardens of Norfolk
2020 has been a year of lockdowns and social distancing, confinement to base and almost no travel. Our garden and allotment has been a lifesaver for us, allowing us to get out and appreciate nature and fresh air. And during our staycation in East Anglia, we visited a collection of magnificent gardens that gave us…
The Alhambra, Granada
The guidebooks tell us that the Alhambra in Granada is one of those sights that just has to be seen at least once. But is it worth the aggravation, worth putting up with the crowds? Is it worth the hype? During our week in Andalusia we had the chance to find out. A mix of…
Cordoba: A palace, patios and tapas
Visiting Cordoba is like visiting an old friend. It’s a recognisably Andalusian city with its cobbled alleys and white-washed terraces highlighted in reds and ochres. Like Seville and Jerez, Cordoba has an historic heart with obvious Roman foundations and a street plan that reflects the medinas of Arab cities. There’s an atmospheric Jewish district of…
Cordoba’s Mezquita, an architectural masterpiece
The magnificent Mezquita in Cordoba is without doubt one of the world’s great buildings, once a mosque and now a cathedral. It’s also somewhere to shelter from the city’s oven-like heat, for even at the end of September the thermometer was recording late 30s centigrade. I really struggle with the heat and spent much of…
Art and history in Nantes
Tomatoes of all shapes and sizes bulging and bursting with flavour, heads of broccoli larger than any I’ve seen and oysters from all points along the French coast. This can’t be a British supermarket… In fact it’s the Marche de Talensac, one of Nantes’ oldest and biggest markets on a typical Saturday morning. Browsing the…
Exploring Jodhpur’s mighty Mehrangarh Fort
Set on a massive volcanic outcrop 400ft above the city of Jodhpur, Mehrangarh Fort is unmissable. It’s one of India’s greatest monuments, an imposing complex of palaces and fortifications that would’ve impressed and intimidated the friends and enemies of the ruling family. It was built in the 15th century by Rao Jodha, the then ruler…
The temples and gardens of New Delhi
Delhi assaults the senses. It’s polluted, noisy, smelly and can look as rough as fuck but just when you think you can’t take it anymore, there are glorious gardens and majestic temples that restore one’s faith in the city. Many are in the districts to the south of the historic centre, in New Delhi, Mehrauli…