Stories behind the stories. By Travel Writer, Amy McPherson
I have previously told you about Surbiton, the little corner of London I have called home for the past two years. I love it, and one of the reasons is that I was close to Kingston upon Thames, a ‘town’ with Saxon roots that make it feel more German than Britain. From Surbiton, we can …
Besides Berlin, Dresden is the most popular destination in the former East Germany. Not only does it has (officially documented) Germany’s oldest Christmas market in town, the city used to be called Florence on the Elbe, as the city is known for its beautiful architecture and a grand collection of art treasures. Today, the city …
Our second Christmas markets destination of the year is Dresden. It is about an hour and a half by Regional Express from Leipzig and is, one of the most interesting former East German cities to visit, outside Berlin. And being so close to Leipzig (and with direct flights from London currently only available to Leipzig) …
I am taking a small break from writing and we are on our annual Christmas Market visit to Germany. Since my first German Christmas markets experience back in 2003, I’ve looked forward to being able to visit the market every year if I ever lived ‘near by’, and the first destination for the year is …
I am procrastinating (a fancy word to use when I hit the writer’s block), so I thought I’d use this time to tell you about my life in Surbiton. Surbiton is on the train line to Hampton Court and is officially a suburb of London, but besides the great transport links into the city, it feels as far …
Kranj is a small town (ok, small but in Slovenia it is probably considered a city: in fact, the fourth biggest city!) between Ljubljana and the airport. It is, truly a historical town, believed (with evidence) to have been settled during the Celtic period in the first millennium BC. The Old Town is nestled on …
I get a lot of questions about how to get around places and plan the itineraries for our trips. So I’ve decided to start sharing itineraries for you to use to plan your own trips! Starting with Slovenia. For our Slovenian journey we had specifically chosen the major sights to visit. While it is my …
We ended our Slovenian journey in the capital Ljubljana. The small, quaint city isn’t all that much of a ‘capital’ as you would imagine, but with only a total of 2 million people in this country, it is still vibrant and full of life! It’s impossible not to love Ljubljana. Having explored the city, Will …
On our Slovenian journey we had the opportunity to travel with Vesna from Slocally around Soca Valley. It was a beautiful day, and the day in fact, begun in the living room of Herbal Rooms, the lovely homestay retreat run by Vesna and family. As we arrived at the Herbal Rooms, we were greeted by the …
One of the best things about travelling off season is that everywhere feels like ‘off the beaten track’ at the moment. The cooler weather is driving most tourists away, and we have been encountering only the intrepid continental visitors who are pretty much keen to go anywhere in any weather. In Bled, there were a …
Lake Bled is the most popular destination for visitors to Slovenia. It is naturally beautiful, historically important and from the first sight of the lake from our accommodation’s window, I was in love. The dramatic mountain ranges that surround the lake is a great backdrop to the castle on the cliff top, the church on …
I’ve stepped through the wardrobe and came to Narnia, and it was magical. It was the combination of colours that made it so special: the orange yellow autumn leaves, the dark green of the pines, the silvery white of the lime stones and the part pale turquoise and part emerald green of the Soca River. …
Ideally, for such a beautiful city you should probably spend more than a day to slowly take in Avignon, however on our recent trip, we were a little restricted on time by the time we got to Avignon, we had a choice of either skipping it all together or, try to see it in a …
We stopped by Aix-en-Provence (aka, Aix) on our recent mini-road trip in France. For 2 nights, we stayed in a cute little villa on the outskirts of town, enjoying the warm sunshine and fantastic food of that Provence region is known for. The place lived up to its reputation and I was quite impressed with …
I hadn’t expected to like the French Riviera. The French Riviera, or Côte d’Azur, refers to the stretch of coast from Nice to Marseille, including the glamorous Saint-Tropez and Cannes. Why I didn’t think I’d like Nice I had classed this part of the France along with beaches of Ibiza, Mallorca, and Tenerife in the same “I’ll …
Lyon is France’s third largest city, and you’ve probably not thought of it when you were there. In fact, it’s easy to forget that Lyon is a city at all if you don’t venture beyond the old town and see all the skyscrapers by the Part-Dieu station. Because you’ll probably be having too much fun …
I have been amazed by Poland’s transformation. The last time I was in Poland was 2003, when I studied in Saarbrücken. I thought it was beautiful, I thought the people were friendly and generous and I thought the food was delicious. I thought of many pleasant things about Poland that I fell in love with …
Back to talking about Cornwall! So here’s the thing. Cornwall is filled with nature’s best gifts. Rugged coastline, beautiful little fishing villages with cute little beaches, wildlife and home to the pretty epic Eden Project, so naturally, there is room for an outdoor theatre constructed in perfect symmetry with the curve of the cove creating the …
We’ve just had the opportunity to visit my (favourite) German city Saarbrücken, for a friend’s wedding. I lived here 13 years ago as a student for a year, and surprisingly have always had an inkling to come back. Saarbrücken is not too well known, in fact, when I mentioned that I would be spending my weekend …
Switzerland Tourism advises travellers to beware of Pokemons when visiting Basel this month. It’s a Pokemon Go revenge! This footage shows a team of four mischievous Pokemons disrupting the peace around the city by throwing and slinging giant balls at unsuspecting humans playing on their phones while walking around Basel’s top attraction spots – in the …
Stayed: 1 night, 12-13 July 2016 Room: Southey Price paid: £110 through Venere.com, includes breakfast “Hi! I am Pete, and welcome to our family home.” When I booked a manor house as an accommodation for our stay in Penzance, I hadn’t expected to be invited into a ‘family home’. As Pete led us through the corridors …
In Cornwall, you can walk to the end of the world (Lands End) on the South West Coastal Path. You can potentially, walk the entire Cornish Coast The entire Cornish coast is served by the South West Coastal Path, England’s longest marked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. The trail begins all the way back in Somerset, …
Have you seen the seagulls here in Europe? They are massive, the size of a small cat. I am not kidding. We’ve just spent a week in Cornwall, south west of England, on a supposedly ‘summer holiday’. Unfortunately the week was mostly cold, and we were rained on for half of our trip, but that’s …
The garden of Eden is no longer forbidden. It’s in Cornwall, and is celebrating its 15 years birthday this year since being opened to public. Eden Project was our first port of call on our Cornish journey, having got a train to Exeter and picked up a hire car for the trip (not advised, but …
