Continuing our late summer road trip to France, we headed to the city of Nîmes, known for its well-preserved Roman monuments such as the double tiered Arena of Nîmes, dating from approximately 70 AD and still in use for concerts and bullfights, and the Pont du Gard...
Aquileia was an ancient city, founded in 180BC, lying at the head of the lagoons, to the east of Venice, on the road to Trieste, as a Roman colony due to its strategic position between the port and the inland area. It is one of the most important archeological sites...
As a child I was really mesmerised by the Camargue. It seemed like a magical, fairy tale place, with white horses frollicking freely on the beach and pink flamingoes, standing serenely in calm waters. Even on the map of France, the Camargue looked like it existed in...
We'd never been to Arles before, a city on the Rhône River in the Provence region of southern France. It's famed for inspiring the paintings of Van Gogh, and was once a provincial capital of ancient Rome, known for many remains from that era, including Arles...
When we book hotel accommodation, top of the list of our priorities is always to find somewhere on the quirky, more unusual and individual side, rather than a chain. Sometimes, circumstances mean the chain option is the most convenient - late night check in, for...
Trieste is now a city we're getting to know well, as it's so close to home. Now that Croatia has joined the Schengen Zone, travelling through the small corridor of Slovenia between us and Italy, means no more border stops and so we can be in Trieste in just over half...
Autumn is our favourite time of year to visit Lake Bled in Slovenia. It's only just over a couple of hours from our home in Istria, and if coupled with a break in Ljubljana, it makes the perfect out of season get away. The little town of Bled, on the shores of the...
Redipuglia is pretty unremarkable Italian town, on the road out from Trieste. We usually pass through it on our way to IKEA. It's one of those Italian towns where the houses sit alongside the road - it always seems as if everyone lives on the roadside, as detached...
Although we've now lived in Croatia (Istria, to be exact) over six years, and we've done lots of exploring, we are still yet to discover the hotspots of Split and Dubrovnik and the more southerly islands. It's not out of lack of interest or for want of trying, but...
Piran, on the tiny sliver of Slovenian coastline, is very close to our home - about 35kms, through beautiful countryside and across the border, which now, thanks to Croatia joining the Schengen Zone, is open and we have free passage. Hurrah! Recently, we visited this...