Gulag tourists line up for ‘KGB beatings’
TOURISTS are lining up at an adventure park which offers a journey back to the Soviet Union with KGB interrogation methods and “beatings”.
Europe
London’s a ripper
EAST London is where it is all at for ex-pat Sinead O’Donnell, now in her second year in the English capital.
Ich bin ein Berliner
IN Berlin, it pays to know your sausages and you’ll get along with the locals if you reveal a soft spot for baby polar bears, writes ex-pat Hugh Burton.
Europe toasts absinthe friends
PARIS to Prague: a time-honoured coach tour of Europe was just the ticket for Vanessa Santer, who discovered absinthe does make the heart grow fonder.
Travelodge builds ‘shipping container’ hotel
A NEW hotel built from shipping container-like structures, complete with bathrooms, is being built in West London. Hayley Platt reports.
Yule school to teach Santa’s elves
ANYONE who aspires to a job as a Santa’s helper can acquire them at a new Elf Academy in Rovaniemi, which Finland claims as home to the “real” Santa Claus.
Chaplin’s home to become museum
SCREEN legend Charlie Chaplin’s Swiss retreat is set to become a museum dedicated to his life, with the signing of a deal to purchase the house.
Fast rail offering hip personalised travel
E-TICKETS, on-board DVD rentals, events, and even new encounters French rail’s new iDTGV trains are testing a new way of travel, writes Sophie Nicholson.
Santa expects 120,000 visitors to Arctic
SANTA Claus is expecting to welcome some 120,000 visitors from around the world in Finnish Lapland above the Arctic Circle this holiday season.
Magic happens in land of legend
FEARSOME fire-breathing mother-in-laws aside, the grass really is greener in Wales. Paul Maughan explores a tiny country renowned for its big scenery.
Eurostar speeds into history
THE Queen launched a luxurious new international rail terminal in London today, marking the beginning of a new era of high-speed train travel linking Britain to continental Europe.
A royal peek, Ma’am?
IT’S not every day you are allowed to peer into the Queen’s bedroom without fear of being arrested but no alarm bells ring when you visit this royal residence.
Bubbly region is a bottler
WITH gorgeous countryside and an enchanting story to tell, France’s Champagne region is as attractive as its namesake, writes Jenny Stevens.
Itching to buy at Paris flea market
FORGET the boulevards of boutiques and wallet-battering high fashion: the best fashion bargains of Paris are to be found in its second-hand markets.
Sky was definitely the limit
STAN Denham hold on to his breakfast as he defies gravity to join those magnificent men in their flying machines in an aerobatic loop over the skies of Portugal.
Etiquette for the World Cup
HEADING to the Rugby World Cup? Stephen Clarke has some words of advice on how to handle Parisian waiters and other French cultural oddities.
Thirst order of day
THE doors to the biggest pub in the world have swung open as bartenders at the 30th Great British Beer Festival poured the first of 340,000 pints.
Magical times at Potter castle
FROM its toxic plants to secret gardens, Britain’s Alnwick Castle is a magical adventure for all ages, writes Brad Crouch from the famous Harry Potter film set.
Saddle up for a tasty ride
THE Tour de France is an epic for observers as well as the world’s top cyclists. Melanie Ball explains how to get into the spirit of it.
Wedding in grand tradition
DOZENS of rich and famous people have tied the knot on the Riviera before James Parker and his bride. Troy Lennon reports on the playground.
Land of literary giants
TESS Livingstone walks in the footsteps of literary greats in and around historical Oxford, England, enjoying quaint English townships and cosy pubs along the way.
Paris gears up to peddle bicycles
PARIS is gearing up for a transport revolution next month when a fleet of 10,000 self-service bicycles rolls out across the city, as part of an ambitious bid to coax urbanites from their cars.
My big, fat Greek 40th
IN the mood to celebrate, Rob Dunlop finds the Greek islands a perfect party destination as he ignores lost youth and enjoys a crash-and-burn holiday.
Vineyard rivals skyscrapers
NESTLED among rows of skyscrapers, a vineyard was opened in Paris’ main business district with the aim of producing a wine harvest in three years’ time.
Let them cook cake in Paris
ATTENDING culinary classes in Paris is a great way to overcome kitchen incompetence and keep your friends on side, writes Garry Marchant.
Dickens of an idea
IN DICKENS World, rat-catchers hunt vermin on London’s cobbled streets, pickpockets roam the alleys and visitors line up for a fun-tastic water ride.
Do drop in for a $238 sandwich
EYEBROWS were raised recently when the Michelin-starred team at Cliveden House, Berkshire, launched the world’s most expensive sandwich.
Knights in a sea of languages
UNRAVELLING the language and history of Malta is one of the great amusements on a visit to this tiny Mediterranean island country, writes Brian Johnston.
Parisian tribute is dead famous
JENNY Stevens finds a faded glory among the crumbling relics of a Paris cemetery where giggling schoolgirls, maps in hand, dash to find the graves of dead celebrities.
Bonjour rugby fans
THE excitement of the Rugby World Cup in France promises to spread beyond the stadiums as the country’s host cities offer fans a feast for the senses.
Passion play in Seville
THE search for pure flamenco was worth it, writes Daniel Hipgrave as the sangria flows and women in swirling dresses slam their high heels onto the tables.
Don’t forget the garlic
YOU don’t have to buy a castle to enjoy sites with bite, writes Jason Nahrung, as he visits Bran Castle – on sale for $99 million – and other vampire hotspots.
Chilling stay at Stalin’s hotel
TOURISTS now frequent the retreat that once played host to the Red Tsar, writes Valerie Leroux from Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Choked-up Paris gets on its bike
THOUSANDS of bicycles will be on hire across Paris to tourists and residents from mid-July as part of efforts to ease congestion ni the French capital.
Pottering about
TERRY Marsh trudges along the rural lanes of northwest England in search of some much-loved characters and is enchanted by what he finds.
Eurostar an underground force
THE journey is uneventful, with neither Tom Cruise nor Hercule Poirot making an appearance aboard the speeding Eurostar train, writes Jodie Minus.
To the manor haunted
IT’S dour and creaking, but film companies love Chavenage. Jenny Stevens visits a stately English house where ghosts feel right at home.
Canal cruise is postcard perfect
BARGE envy is alive and well in the leafy surrounds of the Canal du Midi in France’s south, reports Neil Harvey.
On chime with king of clocks
SEEING Big Ben strike noon is unforgettable, with London as a majestic backdrop but only a few may go behind the scenes of the world’s most famous clock.
Cruisers go with the flow
EUROPEAN river cruises are catching on with Australians, writes Terry Sweetman.
Delight of old Spain
SNOW-capped moutain peaks create a jaw-dropping vista behind the beautiful Moorish palace, Alhambra, which towers over the Spanish city of Granada.
Time to Czech out Prague
FORGET strict schedules. Prague is a city for unscheduled diversions, kitsch and trash, free-range stickybeaking and spontaneous beer and sausage breaks.
Paris by pastries
PASTRIES are an essential part of the good life in Paris so what better way to tour the city than by eating at its patisseries. Garry Marchant tries some of the best.
Eau la la … I’ve been sprung!
KEVIN Pilley travels along France’s famous Water Route to taste the curative spa waters at their source and discovers the meaning of the term ‘water retention’.
Marie-Antoinette’s Versailles
MARIE-Antoinette was a misunderstood queen. Jenny Stevens visits her gilded world on the eve the release of Sofia Coppola’s film about the French monarch.
On the trail of The Godfather
MENTION Sicily and everyone thinks Mafia, or Francis Ford Coppola’s film triology leaps to mind. Diane Armstrong goes in search of the The Godfather.
Passion for fashion
ROB Dunlop treads fashionable Milan’s amazing shopping trail and receives a jolt to his shopaholic instincts.
Celebrity chic on a budget
VISITING a playground of the rich and famous does not have to be a budget-buster, writes Ellen Connolly.
Spin out in land of eternal snow
SUMMER snow is the go when it means tossing snowballs, building snowman and tobogganing in your shirt sleeves, writes Ellen Connolly of her Swiss adventure.
Stately pursuits in the Cotswolds
DESPITE the armada of buses that sail into its villages, disgorging tourists keen to find Shangri-La in this green corner of England, the Cotswolds have a charm.
Rudolf makes the menu
JUST as kangaroo, emu and crocodile meats are popular in Australia, reindeer and moose are delicacies in Finland.
Those racy royals of Ascot
OF all the Queen’s annual engagements, the one she probably enjoys most is Royal Ascot ¿ the racing world’s most traditional and prestigious carnival.
Sin city of indulgence
STOCKHOLM isn’t good for a man’s optic nerve. Or resolve. Kevin Pilley lets his belt out a notch after a ‘pastry crawl’ through coffee-houses of the Swedish capital.
Bus stop blitz of Europe
ANDREW Chesterton signs up for a 14-day coach adventure across eight European countries and returns with countless memories and 34 close friends.
Venice so good for the sole
VENICE has many kilometres of pavements and alleys which means that the best way to explore the secrets and beauties of Venice is to set out on foot.
Danish museum traces history of erotica
AN erotica museum in the Danish capital traces the love life of homo sapiens from the Stone Age to the Space Age.
Sweet life on canals of Venice
SIX nights living aboard a barge as it cruises the lagoon and milky green canals of Venice is a breath-taking way to explore one of Europe’s most romantic cities.
Sex, c’est la vie in gay Paris
HIGH art, low art, it’s all part of the same experience in the bustling French capital, writes Geoff Turner.
Silent flight in Zeppelin is a gas
ZEPPELINS, those cigar-shaped blimps sometimes seen hovering above Australian football fields, are up, up and away again in the birthplace of air travel.
Go Norse
SUSAN Gough Henly fulfils a childhood dream to explore Norway’s majestic fjords, something she would do again in a heartbeat.
Here’s to Prague
VISITING Prague can prove adventurous, writes Richard Finnila after a night flirting with the green fairy in a Czech nightclub and a hungover day at a torture museum.
Living the Parisian dream
HAVING a baby has not impinged on a couple’s travel experience, in fact, it opened doors in Paris, writes Nerida Newton.
Sauna’s clean Finnish
JUST in case you ever wanted to, the Finnish tradition of sauna offers the perfect excuse for rolling around naked in the snow, writes Jonathon Moran.
Bonjour, Paris
IT’S quite possible to fall madly in love on a first trip to France, writes Jodie Minus.
Lapland’s friendly fire
LIZ Johnston was nervous about her solo trip to Lapland to stay at an ice hotel after an elegant couple in Helsinki made no effort to contain their mirth.
Ice safaris with flying Finns
‘TAXIS are for wimps’ was clearly the message, as Jenny Stevens climbed aboard a sleek snowmobile at the start of her Lapland adventure.
Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/travel/destinations/europe/page/27