Written by For 20 years, the raft bar Zappa Barka sat on a bend of the River Danube in central Belgrade. Revellers walked a gangplank to board the boat, then danced to live music and DJs on wooden floors, or stayed on deck all night to see the sun rise over the water. But in June 2024 […]
It is a cold, autumnal wee hour of the morning in Istanbul and I am sipping a sweet, orchid-root-flavoured drink called sahlep and smoking a water pipe. I’m lurking outside a nargile (hookah pipe) joint on a small road called Ticarethane Sokak in what is known as the Old City or Historic Peninsula. This is […]
‘Joyce and Hemingway loved lingering here. I can see why’: readers’ favourite small cities in Europe
Winning tip: Trieste, Italy I got off the train to Venice last summer in Trieste, planning to spend a few hours there, but was so knocked over by its beauty that I stayed for a few days. Tucked away in the north-east of Italy, it’s a crosscultural cocktail of Hapsburg, baroque and Slavic views and […]
When the Mediterranean makes its first appearance, it’s through chilly sheets of rain. I spot the not-very-blue waters between the buildings of Marseille as my train from Paris pulls in. By the time we reach Nice the skies are still grey and I’m starting to wonder how far south I’ll have to go before I […]
Whether or not the term Silk Roads is a myth or a handy catch-all for a dauntingly wide geographical network spanning mountain chains, deserts, cities and seas, the idea of it still entices travellers. There are countless extraordinary places to explore along its various strands from Asia to Europe, and these 10 choices represent only a […]
A small mountainous jewel of a country wedged between Afghanistan and China, Tajikistan has changed since I first visited it as a backpacker in 2009. Back then, landing in the diminutive capital, Dushanbe, at 3am, a permit for trekking and letter of invitation in hand, I was met by a virtually deserted airport and a […]
Immersed in antiquity, near Florence, Italy Feeling the need for some brief respite from the crowds and snaking queues in Florence, an afternoon visit to the Etruscan hilltop town of Fiesole fit the bill. The settlement can be found within the archaeological area and could date back as far as the ninth century BC. The […]
Standing on the top of the huge fortress, looking over the rolling landscape, it’s easy to see why Nepi was a prized possession for Roman emperors, medieval popes and Renaissance dynasties. Defended on two sides by river channels and with a commanding position over rich agricultural land and abundant water springs, the town, less than […]
Ligurian charm, Italy The town of San Remo on the Ligurian coast, between Genoa and Nice, has the air of a faded grand old lady, a little bit down on her luck but with plenty of dash still on offer. Blessed with the most enticing and charming streets of a medieval old town that meanders […]