The Szechenyi Baths in Budapest, Hungary.

First time visitor’s guide to Pest, Hungary

Pest is the more exciting half of Budapest, with unique attractions including the House of Terror and Szechenyi Baths. What’s Pest all about? The city splits like the name - Budapest is really two settlements riven by the River Danube. Buda is the one with…
The Hotel Grande Bretagne in Athens, Greece.

Athens accommodation recommendations (updated for 2025)

From the classic Grande Bretagne to the purpose-built beds of the Nubian Hostel, Athens has interesting accommodation options for all budgets. Best Athens accommodation for backpackers: Nubian Hostel Hostel beds are often hideous, noisy, rattling metal things that groan in the night as someone attempts…
One of Portland's many, many food trucks.

Is Portland, Oregon, really full of hipsters?

Spend a few days in Portland, and you soon realise the craft brewing, coffee roasting and urban winemaking are about passion rather than a desire to be hip. Portland’s hipster reputation In the couple of decades, Portland has burst from basically not having a reputation…
Lindisfarne Priory, Northumberland.

Seals, saints and stars in Northumberland

A journey around Northumberland takes in fledgling guillemots in the Farne Islands, the cradle of Christianity in England on Lindisfarne and stargazing at Kielder Observatory The dogs of Low Newton By Sea There’s no timid tippy-toeing for the gung-ho Jack Russell. It bounds into the…
The Goethe's statue in Berlin's Tiergarten.

A guide to West Berlin for first time visitors

The cool factor of Berlin isn’t solely in the east – pockets of West Berlin are well worth visiting too. What makes West Berlin unique? After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the ‘eastern’ side formerly occupied by the communist German Democratic Republic was ripe…