In June 2023 I visited Istanbul. Below are the 8 things I wish I knew before going. 1) Consider visiting from Monday to Friday Istanbul is known for being a bustling city, full of congestion, traffic jams, erratic drivers, and blaring horns. The infrastructure hasn’t been modernized to cope with the influx of people, including …
Tenerife offers a diverse range of attractions, from a giant volcano to local bars, hiking trails, sandy beaches, a water park, shopping opportunities, historic villages, and even abandoned towns. Before my trip to Tenerife, I sought recommendations from others about the best sights on the island. However, all responses came with, “You’ll have to hire …
Banja Luka first came to my attention when I looked into visiting Bosnia and Herzagovia (my final Balkan country). Initially I only considered visiting Sarajevo the capital and the picturesque Mostar 2.5 hours south by train. However, as I’m based in the northwest of England, flying to Sarajevo was very difficult with no direct or …
Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, was shaken by a 5.5 ML earthquake in March 2020, causing severe damage to many of the buildings. Especially affecting those housing museums and galleries, such as the Mimara Museum. During my visit in May 2022 these buildings were still temporarily closed and if recent media reports are correct, this …
I’ve wanted to visit Slovenia and picturesque Lake Bled since reading about it in the Lonely Planet guide ‘Backpacking Europe on a Shoestring’, when planning the gap year I never took. Slovenia is a small EU country, situated between Italy, Croatia and Austria. Tying it in with a trip to Croatia, I finally went at …
This blog post is a little different from my usual “top 10 things to do”. Given the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, I thought I’d give people an idea of what Lviv was like just before this and how it’s changed. Below is a letter I wrote to a friend after getting back from Lviv …
People have different opinions on how many countries there are in the world but in general there are 193 United Nation member states (I also include the non-UN states Kosovo, Taiwan and the Vatican). How you define visiting a country also varies. Is it – Stepping over the border? Visiting a major city? Staying overnight? …
The West Highland Way is a 96 mile (154km) scenic walk from Milngavie on the outskirts of Glasgow to Fort William at the base of Ben Nevis. It takes you from the relatively flat countryside full of sheep and highland cows, up and over Conic Hill, along the rocky paths by Loch Lomond, and then …
In November I did something I’ve never done before – I went on an 8 day group tour to Egypt. Normally I pick up my backpack, book a hostel and take off with a vague list of places to see based on what looks hot on Instagram. But Egypt hasn’t got the best reputation when …
If you want to visit the arctic circle and you’re looking for a cheap way to do it, then a trip to Svalbard might be your answer. Longyearbyen, located at 78°N, is connected with affordable direct flights from Oslo, Norway. From November 11th to January 30th Polar Nights occur where the Sun falls between 12 …