Written by Don’t make small talk with strangers. Or talk about the weather. Or even ask people you know how they are… I read these social etiquette tips in a Denmark travel guide – four days into a 10-day trip. I’d already blown it on day one. “Look at that!” I said to the couple opposite me […]
Brussels and Bruges get all the attention, but Antwerp is Belgium’s most dynamic city. Shaped by its Flemish heritage, working port and centuries-old diamond trade, it’s a destination that feels both historic and excitingly modern offering a great mix of art – from Rubens masterpieces to avant-garde galleries – cutting-edge fashion and a buzzy food […]
Seabirds fly below the train as it crosses the Firth of Forth with late afternoon light sparking the water. A kestrel hovers over hay meadows near Kirkcaldy. The lumpy Lomond Hills are sun-misted and the woods are touched with autumn gold. The final stretch of the seven-hour train journey from London to Aberdeen runs along […]
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 […]
Street lights strobed through the window, sending shadows sweeping across our faces as our train followed the River Seine through Choisy-le-Roi. Ten minutes earlier, we had pulled out of Paris’s Gare d’Austerlitz. Departing at 9.40pm, the Intercité de Nuit was due on the Spanish border just after 10am, where we would connect to a Barcelona train. It’s […]