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.
Europe
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.
A week in Languedoc
THE dream of spending a year à la Française in Provence might have been truncated to a week in Languedoc, but what a week it was, writes Colin Fraser.
Paradise in the midnight sun
THE air is crisp in Iceland, so fresh it feels alien. Like opening a fridge and drawing a long breath, writes Neil Dowling.
Basquing in Bilbao’s glow
FOR the locals, football comes first and last but, in between, their historic Spanish city offers tourists so much, writes Mike Smith.
St Petersburg’s tsar turn
Life in St Petersburg is lived as if there’s no tomorrow and, during mid-summer White Nights when the sun never sets, the city barely sleeps.
Your best foot forward
LEARNING to waltz like the Austrians for the Mozart festival was a big step for Kevin Pilley.
Step out in Porto
OBSESSED with Lisbon and the Algarve, visitors to Portugal are missing out on the richly textured northern city of Porto.
Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/travel/destinations/europe/page/28