A few years ago, we were lucky enough to visit the beautiful island of Santorini. Located in the Cyclades Islands in the South of the Aegean Sea, Santorini is one of Greece’s top tourist destinations. It’s also one of the most romantic islands in the world and one of the most photographed. With its white-washed villages, blue-domed churches, multicoloured cliffs and...
The day after visiting Toulouse, “The Pink City”, we made our way across to Albi, “The Red City”. Albi is set on the banks of the Tarn river, about forty minutes drive from Toulouse. Its episcopal old town, located right in the middle of Albi became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2010. The episcopal old town is built almost entirely from Languedoc-style red bricks...
Recently we briefly visited Toulouse to catch up with family. We knew that we wouldn’t have enough time to see much of the city but we were still keen to spend a couple of hours checking out its main attractions. Toulouse is a lovely city to walk around, especially on a nice summer day. The locals call it “la ville rose” (the Pink City) because of the pink stones...
During our recent trip back to France, we took a day-trip to the medieval hill-top village of Rocamadour. Strangely we had never heard of Rocamadour before, even though it is a UNESCO listed site and one of the most popular tourist attractions in France. Arriving there in August, it certainly felt that way! Even though the day was cloudy and rainy, the village was...
I doubt anyone would visit Slovenia without taking the time to experience the world famous glacial Lake Bled. With a stunning backdrop of the Julienne Alps and with its beautiful clear turquoise water, Lake Bled is one of the most photographed lakes in the world. So when we spent three days in Zagreb at the end of our holiday, visiting Lake Bled was near the top of...
Lake Bled gets most of the attention of travellers to Slovenia and Ljubljana is very often forgotten. Only a thirty-minute drive from Bled, Ljubljana is Slovenia’s capital city and is one of Europe’s smallest capitals. With a population of just 250 thousand, Ljubljana is small for a European capital but what it lacks in size it certainly makes up for in charm. Seated...
A popular day tour from Dubrovnik is a trip into nearby Bosnia and Herzegovina to visit the city of Mostar. Mostar is located in the south of Bosnia and is the fifth largest city in the country. Only two hours drive from Dubrovnik, it is relatively easy to get to. You can either hire a car or take one of many private or group organised tours. As we had always wanted...
During our recent stay in Dubrovnik, we took a private day tour to the Bay of Kotor in nearby Montenegro. Montenegro is a country just south of Croatia. Originally part of the former Yugoslavia, its border is just one hour from Dubrovnik. Unlike Croatia Montenegro has been relatively undiscovered by tourists. However this has changed in the last few years as the word...
The Plitvice Lakes National Park is Croatia’s second most popular tourist destination after Dubrovnik. With over one million visitors every year, the park is a picture-perfect destination with a fairytale feel to it. Located in central Croatia, it is roughly half way between Split and Zagreb (Croatia’s capital); about two and a half hours from Split or two hours from...
Our final stop in Croatia was Zagreb, Croatia’s capital city. Arriving early morning around 7am, it felt completely different from Dubrovnik. There were no sea views, no old city walls and barely any tourists. It felt so quiet! The architecture was also very different with Austro-Hungarian buildings that reminded us of Vienna or Budapest. Zagreb’s city centre is...