God knows what it’s like living in a village like San Gimignano. Every day residents have to cope with a tidal wave of tourists flocking in from Tuscany’s big cities and ports to visit its trademark towers. Yes, they bring business to the shops and cafes and keep people in work but the daily influx…
Tag: UNESCO World Heritage
Pisa: A one-trick pony?
Some cities are easy to define. Bilbao is the Guggenheim Museum, Jerez is sherry and Pisa is the leaning tower. Ask Mr or Mrs Average to name another reason for visiting any one of them and they’d struggle. That doesn’t mean they don’t have other attractions but while Pisa throbs with tourists, most of them…
Heat and cold: Salzburg in summer
The irony about a city that celebrates Mozart with such uncontained commercial hysteria is that the young composer hated Salzburg. He couldn’t wait to escape the clutches of its Prince-Archbishop and find fame and freedom elsewhere. Wherever you look in Salzburg, Mozart’s ghost lurks. We landed at Mozart airport in our BA A319, we could…
Brussels, beer and beautiful buildings
The Belgians have a reputation for being just a little bit boring, but I saw precious little proof of it during our city break in Brussels. A jazz festival was in full swing throughout the city and the squares were crowded with music fans, dancers and drinkers. In Place Sainte Catherine we joined them, beer…
A walk through Thessaloniki and its history
Thessaloniki looks impressive from the old city walls in the hills of Ano Poli. Beyond, the bay shimmers in the sunshine and the distant mountains are capped with snow. But the city is not quite as neat and tidy close up. Our walk from the centre to the upper town revealed evidence of decay, economic…
Iceland’s Golden Circle
I can see why Iceland’s tourism business has taken off. A trip around the Golden Circle and its many geological attractions is worth the price of the air fare alone. And I’m not going to let the extreme cold or the stomach bug I was suffering, which qualifies me to write the ultimate guide to…
Tasmania: The penal colony of Port Arthur
Australians became well practiced in the art of forgetting that many of the country’s founding mothers and fathers were convicts, transported from the overcrowded gaols of Britain. These days they embrace their history, however grim. Many of the key convict sites across Australia are banded together as a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of…
Valletta: A city in transition
I look forward to returning to Valletta one day. And perhaps then it will be finished… Because our trip coincided with a huge building and restoration programme, being carried out in preparation for the city’s role as European Capital of Culture in 2018. Quite a few of its popular tourist destinations, such as St John’s…
Exploring Luxembourg old town
Small but perfectly formed, Luxembourg is one of the Low Countries, a founding member of the EU and our choice for a hot and sunny August bank holiday weekend. Its capital, Luxembourg City, is equally modest but turned out to be a real charmer, easily walkable and attractive. Our first day in town was spent…
Singapore’s glorious gardens and luxury hotels
We could never be accused of taking it easy. On just one sweaty Singapore day we visited the Botanic Gardens, tucked into a fine afternoon tea at the legendary Raffles Hotel and spent an evening gambling at one of the city’s most extravagant new destinations, the Marina Bay Sands. It was another hot and humid day so it was a…
Berlin: Palaces and Pride
In 2004 we went on our first holiday together, to Berlin. It was January, blisteringly cold and snow fell periodically on the grey city. But I fell in love with it. We always said we’d return to see the German capital in summer and we finally got round to it in July 2016, when we found a…
Life among the trulli of Alberobello, Puglia
Puglia is famous for its strange, conical-roofed trulli. They pepper the landscape, peek out from olive groves and stand lonely in the fields. But Alberobello is the place to see them in all their glory. In the heart of the town, nestled on both sides of a shallow valley, they pack the streets and alleys….
The magic of Matera
For an ancient Italian town perched on the edge of the Murgia National Park, Matera didn’t look promising when we drove into its unremarkable suburbs. But then came the historic centre and one of the most remarkable places I’ve been to anywhere in Europe… We’d driven up from the modest airport on the industrial edge…
The extraordinary amphitheatre of El Djem in Tunisia
The horror of terrorism in Tunisia closed much of the country to tourists in 2015, bad news for locals and holidaymakers alike. It meant that the glories of El Djem went undiscovered by many. The majestic Roman amphitheatre is one of the best surviving examples of its kind and even in the 21st century it…
The castle at Sintra in Portugal
Sintra’s an easy day trip on the train from Portugal’s wonderful capital Lisbon. Hilly, with great views and some fairy tale architecture, it’s easy to see why the rich, the famous and royalty built their mansions around the village as an escape from the city. Sintra itself is touristy and busy but the real attractions…