The Austrian city of Linz, midway between Vienna and Salzburg, refuses to be overawed by its two bigger neighbours. It was European Capital of Culture in 2009, and has a fine legacy, in a state of the art opera house. It has also a sparkling museum of the future. The famous Danube runs through it…. Continue reading
Browsing Category Travel
In praise of low season Florence – galaxy-class treasures in Renaissance city
Florence provides one of the most rewarding of European city breaks, It has the universal and eternal appeal of great art and architecture. I hope that erecting barriers will not make it harder for us to see and appreciate such places. This article is based on an article I wrote for the Mail on Sunday, following… Continue reading →
Riding the Heart of Wales Line – one of Britain’s most scenic rail journeys
Riding the epic railway from Shrewsbury to Swansea The whole of the Heart of Wales Line should have been consigned to the history books, along with milk churns, Bernard Cribbins look-alike porters from the Railway Children, and racing pigeons in baskets waiting to be released. But it survived, to become one of Britain’s most… Continue reading →
Ferry force – two villages linked by swift boat across the Towy
The ferry Glansteffan began regular services across the Towy Estuary, from Ferryside to Llansteffan in Carmarthenshire in August 2018. Ferryside and the ferry were the subject of the BBC Radio 4 documentary series, The Patch on Tuesday, September 10th, 2019 – https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0005sxl For years Llansteffan has been a tantalising prospect for people in Ferryside and the many… Continue reading →
Festivals in fields – how WOMAD catches the spirit of Woodstock
As final preparations proceed for the 2019 music, books and ideas festival season, I’m republishing an account I wrote earlier on one of the most international, cheerful and animated jamborees that break out in random, rural corners of Britain, regardless of the weather, throughout the summer. 50 years on, Woodstock cannot be matched. But WOMAD, with or without the mud,… Continue reading →
The great (rail) way west – to Pembrokeshire
The holiday express: through trains are running from Paddington to Tenby and West Wales this summer (2019), continuing a link which began in the days of Queen Victoria. “If there be any one train more than another, the sight of which stirs the patriotic pride of an enthusiastic Great Westernite, it is the Tenby express leaving Paddington… Continue reading →