Milan to Florence – it’s a trip that’s sure to whet the wanderlust. First, you’ll hop churches that have paintings by Leonardo da Vinci and devour saffron risottos in vintage Italiano cafes. Then, you’ll head south to the fabled capital of Tuscany. There, masterworks of Renaissance architecture meet priceless relics in the Uffizi Gallery, while … Read more
Going from Bangkok to Chiang Mai means traveling right through the heart of the fabled Land of Smiles. You’ll leave the glimmering skyscrapers of the capital for a place of temple-capped hills, frenetic bazaars, and mystical shrines. But the journey’s also an adventure in itself, whizzing through rolling rice paddies and elephant-stalked forests. In total, … Read more
The trip from the buzzing capital of Poland to the culture-brimming city of Krakow is one that countless travelers and commuters make every year. It promises to whisk you from a city of skyscrapers and rattling trams to an ancient Old Town that’s a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site, flaunting Gothic spires and the mighty … Read more
Few sights in Spain are as stirring as the honey-hued spires of the Granada Alhambra rising before the snow-capped Sierra Nevada. It’s a place every lover of the Iberian Peninsula should see at least once, which is no doubt why the trip to this historic and wonderful city deep in the hills of Andalusia is … Read more
Loads of travelers each year plan to make the hop straight from Paris to Berlin. The reason? It’s a jaunt that will let you take in two of Europe’s – nay, the world’s! – most awesome capitals. You’ll start by wandering the Louvre in search of the Mona Lisa and finish with glimpses of the … Read more
With its gritty Reeperbahn district and all the energy you’d expect of one of Germany’s oldest port cities, Hamburg is a cracking place to while away a few days on any European trip. Once you’re done drinking in the Brahms and the cold beers by the Elbe River, you should find it easy to hop … Read more
Copenhagen is the fairy-tale capital of Denmark, where cobbled alleys dusted with snow or blooming with flowers wiggle past bohemian cafés and medieval towers. Amsterdam is the first city of the Netherlands, with its barge-filled canals and enthralling Rijksmuseum collections brimming with paintings by the revered Old Masters. Both should be on any must-do list … Read more
With Dam Square and the Vondelpark checked off the list, you’re probably looking for the next awesome European capital to explore. There’s a chance it awaits over 440 miles away, across on the eastern fringes of Central Europe. That’s where Prague sits straddling the Vltava River, spiked with the mighty turrets of Prague Castle (one … Read more
Paris and Milan have a lot in common. They are both fashion hubs, with a reputation for haute couture and beautiful people. They both sport grand architecture and buildings, whether that means the Gothic spires of Notre-Dame or the handsome turrets of the magnificent Milano Duomo. Each has its own unique cuisine, including saffron-scented risottos … Read more
If you’re going to Austria in search of charming, chocolate-box mountain towns topped by the outlines of the Alps and awash with wooden chalets blooming with flowers, Hallstatt is somewhere you should certainly be looking to visit. It’s actually not too hard to get to if you’re based in the city of Vienna. The two … Read more
The journey from Madrid to Valencia takes you straight across the heartlands of western Spain. Between dusty sierras and the lands where one Don Quixote used to roam, it could be a 190-mile, multi-day odyssey filled with flamenco dances and tastes of Manchego cheese. Or, you could smash it in less than 1.5 hours, which … Read more
Once you’re done soaking up the rays on the Algarve’s award-winning beaches and tasting the fresh seafood of the south coast, you might want to plot a course north to the culture-rich, party-mad capital of Portugal. That’s Lisbon, which lies some 218km away, beckoning with its grand Age of Exploration architecture and formidable Moorish castles. … Read more
Hallstatt is a real fairy-tale town. Flanked by the green summits of the Salzkammergut, it’s a medley of gingerbread houses with steep gables and wood-carved balconies, all strung lazily along the edge of a mirror-like lake. Wanderlust stoked? Good. The trip in from the nearby city of Salzburg is easy to make. It’s just 31 … Read more
Charge the camera, prep the walking poles, and wax down those hiking boots – Interlaken is Switzerland at its most adventurous. Straddling a narrow isthmus between opal-hued Lake Brienz and turquoise Lake Thun, it’s the gateway to the wonderful Bernese Oberland, where trekking paths weave around glaciers and the mighty summits of the Eiger and … Read more