Estonia > Tallinn quest for a cool new world edge
Find hot nightclubs and Cold War chic in Estonia’s capital
All cobblestones and teetering spires, narrow alleys and brooding fortifications, the old town of Tallinn is a medieval gem and without doubt the principal tourist attraction in Estonia. But it’s over-marketed and cheapened by those wishing it well.
Wonder bars: Out with the old
In summer, Raekoja [...]
Remembering Rembrandt’s 400th
If you were waiting for something to kick start you into paying a visit to the Netherlands, try this. That busy, compact nation has put on a yearlong party to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the birth of Rembrandt.
The focus is on the artist at Rembrandt 400, holland.com where you can search for activities by city [...]
Sticky trails > Tuscany
With a bee in his bonnet, Piers Moore Ede discovers an obsession with honey in the Tuscan countryside
In early April, I found myself aboard a rickety treno regionale speeding south along the Tuscan coast. I was cadaverously thin and my stomach bore a long purple cicatrisation. Nor had the reconstructive surgery on my right eye [...]
Highland flings > Scotland
Venture over the sea to Skye, following in the footsteps of Bonnie Prince Charlie to learn his true story
The West Highland Museum in Fort William contains three “secret” paintings. They are anamorphic, the meaningless blur of paint only makes sense when viewed as a reflection in a convex surface such as a curved mirror or [...]
Grand views of Gotham City
Looking down on New York City takes some time, but it’s worth the wait
King Kong’s Empire State Building. The Buck Rogers’ spacecraft Chrysler Building. The green valley of Central Park within its trillion-dollar canyon walls. Skyscrapers by the hundreds. The grandest grid of electric avenues and zippy, exciting streets amid some of the most [...]
On a grand scale > Russia’s St Petersburg
Enjoy the architectural glories and convivial spirit of St Petersburg
In 1703, Peter the Great stood tall on the marshy, mosquito-infested banks of the Neva River and envisaged a grand city. More than 300 years later, having endured regime-shattering revolution, a cataclysmic world war, more than 70 years of communism and three name changes, the St [...]
Luxury at the end of a wining road
Room at The Inn > Stirling is one of the prettiest towns in the Adelaide Hills, the gardens of its 19th-century stone bungalows thick with roses and rhododendrons, camellia bushes and old oaks.
At this time of year, there are blooms and berries, too, and a warm softness in the air. Like its twin shoulder-season of [...]
Water whirl > French Polynesia
A cruise around the Society Islands of French Polynesia is irresistible
The thick rope strung across the surface of the lagoon, kept bobbing in place by pink rubber buoys, gives the illusion of a barrier but any such remove is purely psychological. On the other side, six black-tipped reef sharks cruise through the water towards us, [...]
Quiet corners > Bali
Our correspondent attended the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival and said that the shadow of Bali’s uncertain future hangs heavily.
The queue of holiday-makers at Perth airport is uncharacteristically small, unusually subdued for a bunch of folk heading to their favourite holiday isle. News of the latest spate of Bali bombings has come just three days earlier.
Overnight, [...]
The Lure Of Brokeback Mountain
The Mountain Is Make-Believe, But That’s Not Stopping Tourists > There is no Brokeback Mountain. That doesn’t mean people won’t pay to see it.
The mountain, like the Annie Proulx short story in the New Yorker (later in a book) that spawned the much-honored motion picture bearing the name, is fictional. Proulx placed it somewhere in [...]
