Buckinghamshire, my adopted county, is a place of minor, restrained tourist attractions. The Chilterns are its main landscape asset, a quiet conglomeration of hill and valley and wood. Not so tall and commanding, but appealing on a small scale, and very convenient to London. There are many attractive small market towns, their old hearts preserved… Continue reading
Browsing Category Travel
British drivers still unsure on Continental roads, surveys show
It was the first night of our holiday in Brittany. Tired, hungry and not concentrating, I drove away from the holiday home we just reached on the wrong side of the road. I realised my mistake within a few hundred metres. There was nobody about, the road was empty and I was able to keep… Continue reading →
Linz’s bold opera vision pays off in new Musiktheater am Volksgarten
Over many visits to European cities, I’ve concluded that two things set them apart from similarly-sized places in Britain. One is public transport. The other is a commitment to culture, and in particular music. We hold our own in fine historic buildings, and archeological remains. It’s when we look at the creations of planners and… Continue reading →
Island-hopping on Sweden’s Bohuslän Coast
The Bohuslän Coast is Sweden’s western strip, 150 quiet miles of fjords and little inlets, pebble-dashed with 8000 islands, stretching temptingly north from Gothenburg to the border with Norway. Leaving Gothenburg, the plan was to work our way quietly up, deviating to the occasional island, and taking in the many small-scale attractions and wide open country. How do you pick… Continue reading →
Leicester savours a Richard III-inspired tourist boom
Leicester struck touristic gold in 2013 when experts concluded that human bones discovered under a car park belonged “beyond reasonable doubt” to Richard III. The King Richard III Visitor Centre opened in 2014, and the king’s mortal remains are being interred in Leicester Cathedral on March 26th in a tomb of Swaledale fossil stone limestone,… Continue reading →
Salcombe sports Riviera style on tip of South Devon
Tucked away in a quiet estuary at the very tip of South Devon is the small, chic town of Salcombe. It has a long waterfront, sheltered harbour, clean, sandy beaches, and that crucial and ancient detail, a ferry to take you over the water. One of the quietest of the county’s resorts, just beyond the… Continue reading →