We recently got the chance to visit the cave dwellings (Höhlenwohnungen) in Langenstein, near Halberstadt, the largest town in Harz district and gateway to the Harz mountains (Saxony Anhalt, Germany). They are likely to break the spell of the idyllic hobbit-style living and shake you back to the reality of 18th and 19th century austerity and frugality.

There’s a spot on La Gomera where you can imagine yourself on Mars, or at least as the last man on Earth in a still, barren, post-apocalyptic world. The stuff Ballard-induced dreams are made of.

Should you ever be summer hiking in East Germany, save a day to visit the Middle Elbe Biosphere, the UNESCO-protected part around Dessau-Roßlau and Wörlitz, where you will find a lush English garden and a falconry.

Former stronghold, monastery, castle, sanatorium and YMCA camp, conquered, pillaged and owned by Romans, Franks, Swedes and Teutons, the little island Mainau on lake Constance started its quiet years in the 19th century when a Hungarian prince bought it…

The first thing that might pop in your head when you you hear “Costa del Sol holiday” is hopping from one party spot to another in Marbella or Torremolinos. The second thing can be - how about having a good time in Málaga for a couple of days?

The hunt for memorable places in Málaga was fruitful. Spain is the country with the most pubs, restaurants and in the world: one for every 175 inhabitants.

Procida, the little island that could, pushed and reached its potential and it was recently chosen the Italian Capital of Culture in 2022.

A long-long time ago, God and the Devil agreed to divide their territories, and the Devil would get the rich Harz Mountains, but only if he could build a wall around it, in just one night…

Leipzig. Like Berlin, only better. Chosen the most livable German city, best city for students and hottest travel tip in 2021, no wonder it has also acquired the tongue-in-cheek nickname of Hypezig.

Driving through Teide National Park and going up Teide Volcano by cable car. An afternoon on Spain's highest mountain peak.

A long, long time ago, when the mountains were just beginning to fold, and the sea was starting to retreat, strange contours rose from the water, like buxom clay sea creatures.

One ancient path, used by shepherds and their flocks to climb up and down the mighty mountain, became Transalpina, the King’s Road.

A spring stroll on the Great Wall of China, the ancient defensive wall held together by sticky rice and old bones. Or so the legend says.

The view over Shanghai, as seen from a transparent observation deck, half a kilometer up in the skyscraper nicknamed the Bottle Opener.

Our favourite thing in Sydney has been walking by the sea on the wonderful Bondi to Bronte coastal walk. We liked it best just before sunset, when the land is golden and the ocean topaz blue.

When you go to Mallorca, don’t just hop off the plane and drive to the most remote secluded beach. Make sure you save some time for a day in Palma de Mallorca. It’s a beautiful city, with a gigantic Gothic cathedral and incredible art nouveau buildings…

“Here, looking out over the bay of Naples we are going to hoist an enormous Egyptian sphinx of red granite, older than Tiberius himself. It is the very place for a sphinx. I do not see where I shall get it from but I am sure it will turn up in time."

And it did.

The Baumwipfelpfade on the Rügen island is close to resorts Prora and Binz, in the forest between the sea and the lagoon. Its wooden path, winding among treetops, is more than 1 km long…

If you’re ever in Rostock, save some time for a day trip at the seaside to Warnemünde, the mouth of the river Warnow. A thousand years ago that used to be a humble fishing village…

Sea walking, not Jesus-style, but on the actual seabed, 4-5 meters under the sea, with an open helmet and fishes tickling your chin. Experience complete with clown fish and biting sergeant major.

Some years ago, during a trip in Bulgaria to the quaint area of Veliko Tarnovo and Arbanasi, we decided to explore the strange monument in Buzludzha, also known as the Buzludzha UFO…

Nothing can prepare you for the overwhelming sight that Angkor Wat is. Majestic and enigmatic, a stony unfathomable presence from afar, warming up and becoming alive with every step closer you take.

The U Bein Bridge is perhaps the best reason to visit Mandalay. It is the longest (and oldest) teakwood bridge in the world, its 1000 pillars stretching over 1.2 km across Lake Taung Tha Man…

In the heart of Burma was the millennium-old city of Bagan, its former glory diminished to roughly one hundred square kilometers of dusty red steppe, sprinkled with some 2000 temples, stupas and pagodas…

Oh, the amazing gum trees! The forests in Otway area are mostly mountain ashes, aka eucalyptus trees, the tallest flowering plant, the preferred snack and abode of the sleepy koala…

Known as the Florence on the Elbe, the exquisitely Baroque Dresden was unrecognizable the morning after. All its central area had been wiped out. 78.000 homes and around 25.000 victims…