Sointula began because a group of Finnish immigrants were tired of being oppressed in the Nanaimo area coal mines at the beginning of the 1900s. These miners wanted a place of their own and… Read More

Alert Bay is a 40-minute ferry journey from Port McNeill across a very flat part of the Pacific Ocean although this benign water is due to the protecting influence of the much larger Malcolm… Read More

I flew to Port Hardy airport from the South Terminal at Vancouver Airport. Take the Skytrain to the airport and then catch the shuttle bus from outside International Departures to the South… Read More

Quadra Island, Cortes Island, Read Island, Maurelle Island, Sonora Island, and East and West Thurlow Island, are between Campbell River and the mainland of British Columbia. They are known a… Read More

Campbell River is on the east coast of Vancouver Island, about 155 kilometres north of Nanaimo. I caught the Tofino bus between the two places and the trip took just under 2.5 hours. When I… Read More

I caught the bus to Ucluelet from Nanaimo via Port Alberni. Ucluelet is on the west coast of Vancouver Island, and sometimes people refer to the town as a blue-collar version of Tofino. Ther… Read More

The waves have come a long way when they hit the beaches on the west side of the Tofino peninsula. The view north from the town is of forests and mountains with, in the foreground, Meares Is… Read More

Gabriola Island is located three miles east of Nanaimo and reached via ferry from the downtown ferry terminal. The island’s name derives from Punta de Gaviota (Cape Seagull), the name… Read More

Protection Island shelters Nanaimo harbour from the waters of the Strait of Georgia. I visited the island via a small ferry from the harbour, a privately owned service not run by BC Ferries… Read More

Nanaimo is on the east coast of Vancouver Island. The two major ferry terminals are Departure Bay in the north of Nanaimo, where the ferries leave for Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver and Duk… Read More

First, some information about Pender Island. A Captain Richards named Pender Island after Staff Commander (later Captain) Daniel Pender, R.N. who surveyed the coast of British Columbia aboar… Read More

The first European to see the area around Galiano Island was the 18th Century Spanish explorer and naval officer, Dionisio Alcala-Galiano, while on a coastal mapping expedition. In 1792, he… Read More

Salt Spring Island is seventeen miles long, nine miles wide, and has eighty-three miles of shoreline. With 12,000 residents, it is the most populous of the Gulf Islands. Officers of the Huds… Read More

At 9am, I caught the number 75 bus from downtown Victoria to Butchart Gardens. On board, I wondered where I should get off and which stop was nearest to the gardens. I need not have worried… Read More

Victoria is the capital of the province of British Columbia.  The BC legislature building overlooks the city’s harbour. The grand architecture is admirable during the day, but… Read More

After the establishment of Soviet rule in Armenia and especially during the reign of Stalin, talk of the Armenian-Turkish conflict was proscribed. Any talk about the Armenian Genocide or wes… Read More

The northern part of Yerevan has some outstanding sights, which visitors should not miss. The first place is called the Matenadaran, displaying Armenian manuscripts of varying degrees of ant… Read More

Batumi is Georgia’s attractive summer capital that sits on the shores of the Black Sea. It attracts visitors from both Turkey and Russia, though the Russians you may meet are probably… Read More

Superb message – I hope you can read this! Read More

The book 9 Canadian Cities is available on a discount A description is as follows: Canada is the world’s second-largest country and is justly famous for its great outdoors… Read More

Mystical and atmospheric sites from County Fermanagh to Cornwall Read More

If you’re heading towards Azerbaijan, then there are several places to visit on the way to the border. The first is the city of Telavi.  Telavi is unusual because it has four c… Read More

Hello: I’m also writing travel pieces on Substack at the following URL: https://julianworker.substack.com Thank you Julian Read More

Stalin’s original Georgian name was Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili. The Russian equivalent of this is Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili. During his years as a revolutionary, he adopt… Read More

Vardzia is one of Georgia’s most significant sites.  First though, if you’re coming from the Akhaltsikhe direction, stop at Khertvisi Fortress, dramatically sited on a cl… Read More

On the way to Akhaltsikhe, I headed through the forested gorges of the Borjomi Nature Reserve to Borjomi Spa, where I visited the Borjomi Mineral Water Park or Ekaterina Park. Just outside t… Read More

Batumi is Georgia’s attractive summer capital that sits on the shores of the Black Sea. It attracts visitors from both Turkey and Russia, though the Russians you may meet are probably… Read More

Close to Kutaisi are two important religious sights, Bagrati Cathedral and the UNESCO-listed monastery complex at Gelati. Bagrati Cathedral is on the outskirts of Kutaisi and was commissi… Read More

Kutaisi is the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Colchis. For many years, when the Arabs occupied Tbilisi, Kutaisi was the capital of Georgia. Its golden age was the period between the reign… Read More

Mtskheta was the ancient capital of Kartli (also known as the Kingdom of Iberia or Iveria), the East Georgian Kingdom from the 3rd century BC to the 5th century AD. The church authorities pr… Read More

Tbilisi is the capital of Georgia, known as Tiflis in Russian. Tbilisi has a lively dining, nightlife, and social scene, a far cry from the days of the Soviet era. The capital’s beauty… Read More

From Noravank, I headed up the Selim Pass towards Lake Sevan. This road is probably at its best in the springtime when the wildflowers bloom in the alpine meadows. This was formerly part of… Read More

Any visit to Armenia has to include a trip to Echmiadzin (or Etchmiadzin), which is the seat of the Armenian Church. This was the place where Gregory the Illuminator saw a beam of light fall… Read More

Hello: Here is a link to my images on the Alamy Photo Library Please find images from Poland, Spain, Portugal and Moldova amongst many others. The most recent pictures are from Powell… Read More

Looking like a mini-Parthenon, the temple at Garni is the only Graeco-Roman type structure in the whole of Armenia. The temple is on a triangle of land thrusting out above the Azat River. Th… Read More

In 2005, the Armenian alphabet celebrated its 1600th birthday. In commemoration, 39 large, carved Armenian letters were placed near the last resting place of the man who created the alphabet… Read More

Ancient Erebuni fortress sits high on a hill overlooking modern Yerevan. King Argishti I of Urartu built this site in 782BC to house a garrison of 6,600 soldiers, the first settlement on thi… Read More

The northern part of Yerevan has some outstanding sights, which visitors should not miss. The first place is called the Matenadaran, displaying Armenian manuscripts of varying degrees of ant… Read More

After the establishment of Soviet rule in Armenia and especially during the reign of Stalin, talk of the Armenian-Turkish conflict was proscribed. Any talk about the Armenian Genocide or wes… Read More

In Yerevan, the statues made me think and provided warnings about what can happen in life. Although understated, all the statues in Yerevan have a story to tell. The first sculpture I notice… Read More

About 11 miles north of the village of Pylos is the Anaktora Nestoros, or the Palace of King Nestor of Pylos, a wise old king who commanded a large fleet of ships at the Siege of Troy. After… Read More

Extending south between the Messinian and Laconian Gulfs, the Mani Peninsula ends at Cape Matapan, the southernmost point of continental Greece. There was a naval battle off Matapan between… Read More

Out of all the sites I visited and all the ones listed in this book, I liked Messini  the best, probably because the layout of the site is open and there’s been enough reconstruct… Read More

Olympia is the place to explain the legend regarding how The Peloponnese got its name, or more correctly, who the Peloponnese is named after and why. The reason for this lies in the archaeol… Read More

From the wilds of Exmoor to the blustery beaches of Northumberland, these characterful pubs offer walks on the doorstep, a pint by the fire, dinner and a bed for the night Read More

The full title of this magnificent building is the Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae. The temple is undergoing extensive renovations, so much so that it’s completely enclosed in a m… Read More

Adventures exploring 10 of Europe’s finest cities Read More

Nemea is roughly halfway between Corinth and Nafplio. The name is famous as it was here that Hercules carried out the first of his twelve labours, namely the slaying of the Nemean Lion that… Read More

Tripoli or Tripolis is the capital of Arcadia and the hub of the road system in the central part of The Peloponnese. There are no ancient sites in the city itself as it was burned by The Tur… Read More

Nafplio or Nafplion or Nauplio is the capital of the Argolis region of Greece. From 1829 until 1834 it was the provisional capital of the newly independent country of Greece. The first Gover… Read More

Shingle beach, drained farmland or a bare plain under huge skies; flat spaces distort distance Read More

I’m not sure if you write reviews on Google for places you’ve visited both at home and abroad, but it would appear the AI algorithm used to check the content has some very strang… Read More

This is a lovely book full of wonderful tales and outstanding photographs. I’ve been to most of the areas covered in this travel book and these stories brought back many happy memor… Read More

This is probably the busiest archaeological site on the Peloponnese due to the number of day trippers that arrive here from Athens. Therefore, you might want to get to the site as early as y… Read More

This is the oldest city in Greece with excavations revealing activity dating back 5,000 years to roughly 3000 BC. As you might expect, there’s a legend attached to Argos and it involve… Read More

This site is justly famous for its magnificent theatre. However, there’s also an interesting museum and a full archaeological site to explore, including a stadium and a sanctuary. What… Read More

From antiquity in Spain to modern art in Denmark, via three Erics in Morecambe, these travellers reveal the places that left them feeling inspired Read More

I think there’s a view that Greece has been an independent country since the time of ancient Athens, Sparta, and Thebes two thousand five hundred years ago. This is most certainly n… Read More

Malta’s first art biennale, Copenhagen’s repurposed Carlsberg district, the first Arctic Circle capital of culture … this year promises a feast of cultural activity Read More

Top attractions from cycling, canoeing and surfing to fashion, culture and art – plus an aerial adventure on top of the Principality Stadium Read More

Deep snow, icy pools and cosy hotels in timeless stone villages … this is a magical time in Zagori and Greece’s mountainous north Read More

Gobekli Tepe is an unprepossessing archaeological site in Northern Mesopotamia – the area between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. No postcards of the site are on sale and no… Read More

Extract from Travel Tales from Exotic Places Laying on the verandah of my hotel the crash of the Atlantic Ocean waves is constant. The view both ways along the coastline shows w… Read More

Extract from Travel Tales from Exotic Places Antigua boasts of its 365 beaches, one for each day of the year, so I could understand the pained look on the taxi driver’s fa… Read More

Extract from Travel Tales from Exotic Places Kingstown is the capital of the small Caribbean nation of St Vincent and the Grenadines. It’s quite a shabby place that appear… Read More

A walk threading through the city follows in the footsteps of the Yorkist king vanquished in 1485, whose remains were found – beneath a car park – in 2012 Read More

From a farmer’s market in Clitheroe to freshly-landed fish in Porthleven, these lesser-known spots for gastronomes offer a perfect flavour-filled break Read More

The 2024 Paris Olympics aim to be most sustainable ever. But can the plans to be pro-pedestrian, pro-bike, pro-tree and anti-car succeed? This article should help you decide Read More

This move aims to reduce pressure of thousands of daily visitors to Italian city and protect residents Read More

I’m reading a book called “1821 – The Founding of Modern Greece”. I read a story today about the first Lord High Commissioner to be appointed to Corfu, Sir Thomas… Read More

A loose connection admittedly but I had cause to read the lyrics of the song ‘Vienna’ by Billy Joel and there’s some great advice in the song and not just for travellers… Read More

This is a lovely review of my book called Travels through History : The Balkans on Amazon. Ideal book to read before and after country visit. I didn’t visit all the countries in… Read More

What’s new in the European train timetables unveiled this month (December 2023) Read More

A two-day adventure by rail offers iron age hill forts, Offa’s Dyke and a local straight out of The Archers Read More

Industrial heritage in a place I used to live Read More

Some spectacular winter railway trips are described here Read More

This is a charming seaside town about 30 minutes by train from Edinburgh Read More

The following photos were in The Guardian This has been coming for a few months. It’s no fun for the people in south-west Iceland, but I do like the name Bardarbunga Read More

Amorgos is a lovely, quiet island in The Cyclades. There aren’t too many of your fellow travellers here as most people get off the ferry at Santorini or stay on the ferry until Nax… Read More

If you were inconvenienced in the UK recently by Storm Babet and your train journey was cancelled, did you get a refund from the company you booked the ticket(s) through? My experience wa… Read More

Porto Santo is around 27 miles north east of Madeira and is part of the Madeiran archipelago. The airport is in the centre of the island and the runway is long enough for most types of plane… Read More

If you’re planning on visiting some distilleries on Islay then you should decide whether you’re hiring a car or taking your own car and having a designated driver who won’t… Read More

The Alfama is probably Lisbon’s oldest neighbourhood and almost certainly the best area of the city to wander around in, catching the sights, the views, and the trams. One of the u… Read More

Madeira has many footpaths and hiking trails for all types and fitness levels. A lot of these footpaths are by the levadas of Madeira, the man-made water channels that take water from th… Read More

Figueira da Foz, also known as Figueira for short, is a city and a municipality in the Coimbra District, in Portugal. I reached Figueira on the train from Coimbra. The journey takes an ho… Read More

The three distilleries way is a footpath that heads eastwards from Port Ellen to the Laphroaig, Lagavulin, and Ardbeg distilleries. A brand new distillery is being built between Laphroaig an… Read More

The Portuguese Tourist Board has a campaign indicating tourists should visit Sintra on a day trip from Lisbon, catching the train in both directions. I would advise you not to do this, b… Read More

Recently, I visited Islay (pronounced I La) in the Inner Hebrides, a 25-minute plane journey from Glasgow. I was there to visit seven of the distilleries on the island. The basics of each… Read More

I went to Jura in April and I really liked the place a lot, especially the staff at the Jura Hotel who are incredibly friendly and helpful. This hotel is opposite the Jura distillery and so… Read More

If you’re interested in history and democracy then Lincoln Castle is a good place to visit. If you arrive by train, you’ll enjoy a strenuous walk up to the castle and cathedral… Read More

Some information about the lovely city of Coimbra. Coimbra has Portugal’s oldest university dating from 1290. The university buildings of today are at the top of a hill. There are b… Read More

This is an interesting airport named after Cristiano Ronaldo. There’s a viewing gallery where passengers can see their plane arriving. The runway is supported at the northern e… Read More

Funchal is the capital of Madeira. One of the major attractions of Funchal are the cable cars that take you to some tourist attractions. The cable car from the seaside in Funchal to Mo… Read More

Glasgow is a very walkable city. I visited in April 2023 and it’s really easy to get around. The 500 express bus leaves the airport every 15 minutes for the city centre and takes… Read More

I want to make you aware that paper notes are no longer legal tender in the UK. If you decide to get some pound notes before you leave North America, make sure that they’re not pap… Read More

This is an extract from my newest book called 9 Canadian Cities: Victoria to Montreal via Whitehorse and Yellowknife I found an interesting modern sculpture in the same block as the Victor… Read More

This is an extract from my newest book called 9 Canadian Cities: Victoria to Montreal via Whitehorse and Yellowknife If you’re staying in the centre, then it’s best to take the… Read More

This is an extract from my newest book called 9 Canadian Cities: Victoria to Montreal via Whitehorse and Yellowknife The National Gallery of Canada has a giant spider outside, so you can&r… Read More

This is an extract from my newest book called 9 Canadian Cities: Victoria to Montreal via Whitehorse and Yellowknife Close to the Winnipeg Art Gallery is the Manitoba Legislative Building… Read More

This is an extract from my newest book called 9 Canadian Cities: Victoria to Montreal via Whitehorse and Yellowknife Saskatoon is on the South Saskatchewan River in the Canadian Prairies… Read More