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…
Tag: UNESCO World Heritage
Lebanon: Jeita Grotto and Byblos
Lebanon is big enough to pack a punch, but small enough that we could do the trips without having to switch hotels. In one busy morning we got to see a majestic grotto and an ancient city on the coast. But with the country’s roads making a fairground bumper car ride look polite, there was no…
Lebanon and the shadows of Rome
“You can’t drill a hole in Lebanon without finding Roman remains,” our guide explained as we waited to explore the extraordinary temples at Baalbek. He may have been exaggerating for the benefit of his assembled band of tourists but there’s no denying that the country is rich in the remains of empire. From the rooftop…
The towers of San Gimignano
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…
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….