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Go Ahead — Give Up the Ship! And See Greece Like a Local

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The port of Hydra at twilight From a cruise ship, it’s easy to get a taste of Greece and its 6,000 islands. Thousands do each year, sailing from Athens to Mykonos to Santorini. But they are missing the best part. It’s almost as simple, and quite often considerably cheaper, to island hop on public ferries […]

A Ramble in the English Countryside

A Ramble in the English Countryside

How to Escape London and See the Cotswolds – the England of Calendars and Picture Books The Cotswolds features rolling green hills with 100 stone villages London is magnificent, but it can also be big, noisy and crowded with swarms of international tourists following guides holding up umbrellas. If you want to see the real […]

Around Northern Italy by Train

Around Northern Italy by Train

Varenna has train service. From here you have to take a ferry to Bellagio. The Italians are many wonderful things – but slow, safe and sane drivers, they are not. Italian highways resemble race tracks more than roads, and cars can be expensive and a hassle in the country’s ancient, pedestrian-oriented cities. The solution is […]

Dresden is a “New” Mini-Prague

Dresden is a “New” Mini-Prague

Dresden today has been rebuilt into a gorgeous, Baroque city. They say that no one is building a city like Prague anymore, but that’s not quite true. Most of the gorgeous Baroque, “Old Europe” city you see in the heart of Dresden, Germanytoday is brand new, even though it appears to look centuries old. From […]

Biking and Drinking Beer in Berlin

Biking and Drinking Beer in Berlin

Gendarmenmarkt, the prettiest square in Berlin (photo: Visit Berlin) The best way to see Berlin is by bicycle. For one thing, the city of 3.4 million people is huge – 9 times the size of Paris – and, like any capital city, there are long distances to be covered between monuments and historic buildings. But […]

Island Hopping Along the Coast of Croatia

Island Hopping Along the Coast of Croatia

Many Americans were surprised in 2005 when Lonely Planet guidebook selected Croatia as the world’s number one dream vacation site. To geographically and historically challenged Americans, Croatia was a war zone, some far off Eastern European country.Even today four years later, when Croatia has become one of the hottest destinations for European travelers, there are […]

Drinking Your Way Through the English Countryside

Drinking Your Way Through the English Countryside

There’s no better way to see the English countryside than by walking from village to village on public footpaths, strolling across rolling green hills dotted with sheep and dry-stone walls. And of course, no hike in England is complete without stopping now and then for a rewarding pint of beer, served fireside in a cozy […]