Posts by author hiddeneurope
The Town Hall in the center of Hamina's octagonal square. Photos © hidden europe magazine
The new high-speed rail service linking Helsinki with St. Petersburg, just launched last December, has been an immediate success, with passenger numbers in the first four months of 2011 up over a third on the same period in 2010. With the journey time slashed to 3 hours 36 minutes, it is no surprise that cross-border » Read more
A flight boards in Eday, in the Orkney Islands in Northern Scotland. Photo: Odd Wellies
Last week, we looked at multi-sector hops across Arctic Norway and beach landings on Barra in our review of unusual European scheduled flights. Now we follow up with comments on some of the really small aircraft used on regular island flights around Scotland and Ireland. Shetland Several of the smaller islands in the Shetland archipelago » Read more
London's Canary Wharf. Photo ©hidden europe magazine
You probably saw the recent news that London’s civic authorities are pressing ahead with a plan to span the River Thames with a cable car. This new public transport service across the river will connect two important Olympic venues and should be up and running by this time next year. It is not the first » Read more
Looking down onto Nice's harbour. Photos © hidden europe magazine
Nice’s role as a prime vacation spot was sealed by mid-19th-century artists. Even many guidebooks today reproduce those dreamy sketches and soft watercolors depicting the broad sweep of the Promenade des Anglais, well-dressed couples walking arm-in-arm, the azure Mediterranean to the right, the hills of Mont Alban and striking Mont Boron in the distance. Times » Read more
The main shopping street in Ohrid, Macedonia. Photos ©hidden europe
“Why would I choose Macedonia over nearby Greece or Albania, both of which are much easier to get to?” That was the challenge laid down by one reader when he commented on our blog post last week. So we accept the challenge. Why go to Macedonia? What’s in a name? Similar in size to Massachusetts » Read more
Brig, Switzerland. Photo: Fredrik Rubensson
Brig is one of those places through which every European traveler passes eventually. Strategically placed in Switzerland’s Valais region, this major transport hub lies at the northern end of the Simplon tunnel. It is served by major international express trains such as the services from Geneva and Basel to Milan and Venice. And Brig is » Read more
The Travelodge Covent Garden. Photo ©hidden europe
Cast back 20 years and most Brits who pounded the country’s freeways knew exactly what a Travelodge was. They were the functional hotels strategically placed at major highway intersections across the country. Good for a one-night stop to break a long drive, but hardly the sort of spot you would choose for a cozy weekend » Read more
St. Peter's Line, now with service to Tallinn and Stockholm. Photo: Mifl68
Europe’s ferry schedules are famously fluid, and it’s often devilishly hard to keep pace with new route developments. Here is our choice of a quartet of interesting ferry options for spring and summer 2011. 1. St. Peter Line to Russia The news last week that over 60 ships were trapped in thick ice in the » Read more
Marseille St. Charles train station. Photo: Tran's World Productions
March is the month when many Europeans crawl out from their winter shells and start exploring. And with spring beckoning, we have come up with a handful of easy daytime rail journeys that just clamor to be taken. There is something seductive about climbing onto a comfortable train just after breakfast, knowing that all you » Read more
The Maritime Museum in Szczecin, Poland. Photos © hidden europe
Unsung places are often the most interesting. Enter Szczecin, the Polish port city on the Baltic which lies just a shade east of the German border. This is Poland with a twist, for the city has a complicated history. One-time capital of Pomerania, Swedish until 1720 and then German until 1945, the city now known » Read more
Disembarking a Thalys in Paris' Gare du Nord. Photo: ctj71081
Yes, the weather may still be wintry in New York and Nice, but now is the time to start planning spring and summer 2011 travels around Europe. Many European railway administrations operate on a three-month advance booking horizon, so services on lots of French, German, Italian and Spanish trains (by way of example) are now » Read more
Photo: H. Michael Karshis
Yes, we know it sounds dreadfully sad, but we have been spending the long winter evenings poring over maps. Maps are a must for travel planning, and an essential companion on the road. We count a good map as indispensable on all but the simplest of European journeys. A GPS is great but it is » Read more
An Etihad Airways flight prepares to take off from Sydney. Photo: Superciliousness
Can you remember the days when booking a plane ticket was fun? That happy anticipation of a journey in the making, the prospect of stopovers in distant cities, the growing realization that for just a few dollars more it might even be possible to detour via Manchuria or Manchester. Cast back to the days of » Read more
The shoreline of Flensburg. Photo by hiddeneurope
The border between Germany and Denmark has fluctuated hither and thither over the years, reflecting the fact that the cultural divide between Danes and Germans is too diffuse to be adequately reflected as a precise line on a map. Nowadays, the border tracks across the Jutland Peninsula, dividing Schleswig in two. This is flattish country » Read more
Celebrate the New Year early on the Orkney Islands. Photo: I Know UK
A lot of folk in Scotland sleep in on New Year’s Day. The indulgences of Hogmanay take their toll on body and soul alike. A long sleep and a cold shower are the only effective remedies. But, quite contrary to the rest of Scotland, Orcadians are often up bright and early on January 1. Kicking » Read more
Birmingham's modern architecture. Photos © hidden europe
The virtues of Britain’s second city, Birmingham, are often overlooked by the majority of Brits who see the city as a place to change trains rather than a spot to linger. Yet the Midlands city with a population nudging a million boasts some of Britain’s most striking modern architecture and cuts a dash in culture, » Read more
New routes are coming for the Ave, Spain's high-speed train. Photo: Matthew Black
Last week we gave a rail service update for Britain, focusing on some of the new train services that started with the schedule changes that came into effect last Sunday, December 12. Now we’ll take a look at how the 2011 schedules look for continental Europe. Discontinued services First the bad news. A number of » Read more
Sunset on the island of Rügen. Photo: martienbrander
Cast your eye over the map of the Baltic Sea and you’ll find a galaxy of islands that tempt the visitor. Of the nine countries that fringe the Baltic, only Lithuania and Latvia do not have populated offshore islands. In total over half a million Europeans live on islands in the Baltic region, with four » Read more
Picturesque Strasbourg. Photo: Randi Hausken
Strasbourg is one of those places that is so easily missed. Fast trains pause there, but Strasbourg deserves at least a day or two. And the Alsace city is at its best in the run-up to Christmas as the German fad for Christmas markets spills over the border and onto the streets of Strasbourg’s historic » Read more
The Dalmatian Coast. Photo: Alex Bikfalvi
Chile wasn’t the only subterranean tale this past week. The news that engineers had burrowed through the Gotthard Massif to create a 57 km-long tunnel deep under the Alps was accompanied by plenty of news reports predicting a revolution in European rail transport. Don’t hold your breath. The first trains will not run through the » Read more
No smoking sign in France. Photo by bishop
By Nicky Gardner and Susanne Kries— During a day or two in a small town in the Czech Republic this summer, we noticed a local gently chiding two tourists for smoking while standing at a bus stop in a small village. The lady’s reprimand was delivered in the politest possible way, and clearly no offence » Read more
The scenic Maramures region in Romania. Photo: Mihai Lucî?
September is our favorite time of year for visiting the Maramures area of Romania. Head for the Iza Valley, where ripe apples hang heavy in the orchards that cluster round every village and the fields are full of distinctive haystacks—little wonders of design in their own right. Fall colors already tint the oak and beech » Read more
Speeding toward Madrid. Photo: Laura Padgett
Spain’s high-speed rail network was inaugurated in 1992 with the opening of the Madrid–Seville link. Latterly the network served by super-fast trains (known as Alta Velocidad Española or AVE services) has been extended to include Málaga (in 2007) and Barcelona (in 2008). A new AVE service to Valencia will start in December 2010. High-speed links » Read more
A memorial for Christoph-Manuel Brombock. Photos © hidden europe.
Amid Europe’s frenzied political turmoil of 20 years ago, there were all manner of landmark dates that were stepping stones en route to a new order. And August 31, 1990 was one of the most significant. For it was 20 years ago today that representatives of the governments of East Germany and West Germany met » Read more
A view of Lviv's Italian Courtyard. Photos © hidden europe
If Lviv were just 50 miles further west, it would be in the premier league of European tourist destinations. The problem is that while Poland oozes youthful chic from every cobblestone, Ukraine does not have the same hip reputation. Lviv’s attempts to style itself as the “the new Kraków” have yet to really bear fruit. » Read more
