Travel Diaries
Beyond Mont Blanc: 8 Days Across the Alps
An eight-day itinerary through three countries, tracing the flanks of the highest peak in the Alps. Starting in the Aosta Valley, we wound our way through the charming medieval streets of Aosta, crossed into Switzerland via mountain passes, lingered in Nyon and Geneva, and peered into the mysteries of CERN before descending into France — stopping at the jewel-box town of Yvoire on Lake Geneva and the luminous canals of Annecy. The Haute-Savoie countryside closed the journey with lavender fields, alpine meadows, and endless skies.
Between Borders and Cultures
A two-week family road trip taken with our daughter — three travellers, three countries, countless memories. From the gentle hills of north-eastern Italy we crossed into Slovenia, where Ljubljana’s dragon bridges and Bled’s island church left us speechless. Austria welcomed us with Baroque abbeys, Mozart’s Salzburg, and mountain villages where time seems to slow down. A journey about borders that dissolve when curiosity and an open heart lead the way.
Discovering Tuscia in Six Days
Tuscia is one of central Italy’s best-kept secrets — a landscape of volcanic lakes, Etruscan cliff towns, and medieval alleyways largely untouched by mass tourism. Six days were barely enough to absorb the mirror-still waters of Lake Bolsena, the cathedral towers of Orvieto perched on its dramatic tufa plateau, the “dying city” of Civita di Bagnoregio, the sunflower-yellow tufa houses of Pitigliano, and the fountains and papal palaces of Viterbo. Every corner told a story thousands of years old.
Three Days in Turin
Turin surprises every first-time visitor. Behind the arcaded avenues and grand Savoy palaces lies a city of many personalities: the Baroque capital of a kingdom, the industrial engine of modern Italy, a hotbed of underground culture and contemporary art, and a passionate sporting city whose football rivalry is legendary. Three days were enough to discover the Egyptian Museum, the Holy Shroud, the Mole Antonelliana, the riverside Parco del Valentino, and the espresso-fuelled elegance of its historic cafés.
The Elegant Lakes of Northern Italy
A one-week road trip around the most aristocratic waters of northern Italy. Lake Como rewarded us with its Liberty-style villas, steep terraced gardens, and the romantic villages of Bellagio and Varenna. Lake Maggiore offered the fairy-tale extravagance of the Borromean Islands — Isola Bella, Isola Madre, Isola dei Pescatori — each a world unto itself. The journey wove between lakeside promenades, mountain backdrops, and the particular light that has drawn painters and poets to these shores for centuries.
The Romantic Road
Germany’s Romantische Straße stretches nearly 400 kilometres from Würzburg in Franconia to Füssen in the Bavarian Alps, threading together medieval walled towns, half-timbered market squares, Baroque churches, and some of Europe’s most storybook castles. Rothenburg ob der Tauber appeared straight from a fairy tale; Neuschwanstein materialised out of the pine forests like a dream. Between them, enchanting villages and magnificent forest scenery reminded us why this route has captivated travellers for generations.
