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…
Tag: Hiking
Mallorca: A walk from Sóller to the coast
It was mum who recommended taking the narrow gauge railway up to the prosperous country town of Sóller while we were staying in Mallorca. The journey itself promised to be as memorable as the destination… But as was the way with our Easter weekend in the Balearic island’s capital Palma, we were to be disappointed…
Zell am See: Lake and mountains
Zell am See has masses of appeal. It’s a typical Alpine town with cuckoo clock chalets, a magical lake and glorious mountains. In winter the slopes are the preserve of skiers and boarders, in summer they’re the playground of hikers and bikers. We arrived in town for five days after a sunny July weekend in…
A day out in Tasmania’s Mount Field National Park
Tasmania is an island of glorious landscapes. And we spent our last day in the state deep in the countryside exploring Mount Field National Park, which is famous for its forests and waterfalls and about an hour’s drive north-west of Hobart. That drive was almost as spectacular as the park itself, hugging the banks of…
Exploring Bukit Timah Nature Reserve in Singapore
There’s something ridiculous about going for a walk in a hilly Singapore nature reserve when the weather is so hot and humid. But we were never going to find out much about the country jumping from one air-conditioned building to another. So visiting the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve stayed on our list of things to do. However, our planned trip to…
Bateman’s and a walk through Sussex
A sweltering weekend offered the chance to escape the urban streets of London for a hike in the glorious heart of rural Sussex. We opted for a 9-mile walk from Stonegate to Robertsbridge, taking in the manorial home of author Rudyard Kipling – Bateman’s. And it was a walk that rekindled a few memories too. The…
Tenerife: The epic Mount Teide
When the clouds weren’t hovering threateningly over Tenerife we couldn’t miss the island’s magnificent volcano, Mount Teide. Descending from 35,000ft in our Airbus on that first day, we saw it dominating the island that it helped to create, its upper slopes covered in snow. And from our hotel grounds in the resort town of Puerto de…
Zurich: Exploring Uetliberg
Sunday dawned bright and sunny in Zurich, a perfect day for visiting the city’s mountain. I’d slept poorly thanks to the people upstairs crashing around at 4.30am, the wailing of police sirens at some point in the night and the crunching of a dustcart at dawn. So I didn’t have the energy to climb up Uetliberg,…
Bakewell, tarts and a walk in Dovedale
Bakewell is famous for its sweet and tasty tarts as well as being the gateway to the Peak District National Park. Fresh from our day in the rain at Chatsworth, we booked into our hotel in the village, enjoyed a night of great French food at Piedaniel’s and drank far too many bottles of Prosecco. Fortunately…
A walk on Bergen’s mountains
Bergen’s unpredictable weather delivered snow on our second day in town. Admittedly there was just a dusting around our hotel, but we could see that the mountains that encircle the harbour were covered with the stuff. So we decided to visit them after a hearty breakfast. Graham was suffering from a heavy cold while I…
Scotland in the spring: A walk around the Rothiemurchus estate
Aviemore proved a disappointment but a walk around the Rothiemurchus estate restored us on a grey day in the Cairngorms. Fortified by a delicious breakfast of porridge and a fry-up, we left the four West Midlanders talking politics in the hotel restaurant to plan our itinerary on a day that threatened both rain and shine….
Summer in the mountains: Kitzbuhel, Austria
Kitzbühel means the Hahnenkamm – the most exciting and terrifying of men’s downhill ski races on the planet. Every January, the World Cup race is beamed around the world from this charming village in the Austrian Tyrol. And I catch all the edge-of-the-seat action on Ski Sunday. But I’ve never skied at the famous resort….
A day exploring Hong Kong’s Lamma Island
Hong Kong is a territory made up of more than 200 islands and we were keen to take a hike across one of its most popular, Lamma. That meant we needed fuel, which was provided courtesy of an excellent breakfast at the Hotel Icon. Throughout our stay we found the food to be delicious, fresh and…
Walking in the hills at Braemar, Scotland
With our much-discussed British weather being so hopelessly unreliable, it’s easy to make an excuse and head abroad on holiday. But on our visit to Braemar and Ballater in Scotland we found the sun and fell in love with Royal Deeside. Braemar was stop number two, nestled in a landscape so spectacular I defy anyone…
Walking in the hills around Morzine
The French Alpine resort of Morzine has grand landscapes and numerous summer walking paths but during our August weekend stay the weather had been mixed. Fortunately our last day delivered sunshine and blue skies so after studying our maps we decided to spend the day walking on Le Pleney – the hill on the other side of…