With the summer solstice this week, Nicky Gardner and Susanne Kries turn their thoughts to axial tilt and other astronomical matters: Now here’s a thought. Europeans heading north to cross the Arctic Circle, anxious to catch the mid-summer midnight sun, have to make longer journeys than their parents did. For the Arctic Circle is slipping » Read more

Hands down, one of the most interesting airlines in Europe right now is Iceland Express, the Icelandic budget airline with brand new Reykjavik-Newark and Reykjavik-Winnipeg routes launching this week. While Newark is an obvious expansion target, Winnipeg, Canada’s seventh biggest city, located midway across the continent, may not be, not at least until one considers » Read more

Some arrivals are just too good to miss. Dropping down out of the skies to land at some of Europe’s trickier airports can be challenging for even the most experienced pilots. And, even from the passenger cabin, the steep glide down into the airstrips at Innsbruck (Austria) or Lugano (Switzerland) can be very impressive. Funchal » Read more

It is almost time for us to put down our quill pens and leave the scriptorium for the last time this year. Three weeks of quiet retreat are in the offing, a chance for us to recharge our batteries and plan a few journeys for 2010. So a good moment, perhaps, to look back and » Read more

Nature galore in Iceland’s wilderness. Photos © hidden europe. Where has Iceland been of late? There has been hardly a mention here on EuroCheapo in 2009 of the island nation that has, over the last year, been through greater financial turmoil than any other country in Europe. The plummeting Icelandic króna has wrought havoc across » Read more

For chilling out in the middle of a long Europe trip, just take a boat. The Baltic, Black Sea, North Sea, and the Mediterranean are all criss-crossed by regular scheduled routes, with ships varying from chic cruise ferries to humble boats that carry tourists, locals, livestock and the mail. A day or two on board » Read more

  I awoke this morning to hear a story on National Public Radio about the financial crisis affecting certain Eastern European countries, especially Latvia, Hungary, and the Ukraine. Edward Lucas, of The Economist magazine, pointed out that Latvia’s situation is pretty dire: a bank recently collapsed, the nation’s debt is swelling, and the country’s economy shrank » Read more

Iceland Naturally has launched a website aimed at Brits, geared towards promoting Icelandic culture both at home and in the UK. While we’re not British, we gave the Web site a look-see. Our favorite components? Free music and video downloads from Icelandic bands (we especially liked Mugison), recipes for culinary delights from the land of » Read more

Iceland Express, our favorite Icelandic carrier, is launching five new routes to and from Reykjavík. Over the summer, Iceland Express will fly between Iceland and Basel, Billund, Eindhoven, Paris, and Oslo. Flights between Reykjavík and Paris and Oslo will run from May 15 through August 31; flights between Reykjavík and Billund will run from June » Read more