Grand Train Tour Of Switzerland. Touring Switzerland has never been as easy as this.
28/10/2024 .
Trip Reviews
Foligno. Still undiscovered in Umbria
Early evening and the ancient Palazzo Candiotti in Folingno has a big smile on her face. It’s just like old times. A proper baroque banquet. The Festa d’Oro e di Vento no less, with 250 guests commemorating the 70th anniversary of the modern Quintana joust. I can almost feel this grand old dame sighing in contentment in her Sunday best. If I didn’t know better, I would think I’d been teleported back to the 17th century.
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Rio de Janeiro. There’s more to Rio than beach
“Rio de Janeiro is a magical place to be” many people told me. I remembered this as I crossed the road from the eminent Copacabana Palace Hotel and lay on the legendary shoreline, enjoying the sun and glancing up the hill towards the iconic outstretched figure of “Christ the Redeemer”.
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Samoens. The French Alps’ beautiful little secret
Mention the French Alps and a few famous names spring to mind; Chamonix, Val d’Isere and Courchevel perhaps, but there is one village tucked away in the Giffre Valley which has been a firm favourite with those in the know for many years, in both winter and summer. Yes, Samoens is the French Alps little secret.
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Six secret Paris treats
Even if guided tours don’t appeal, there are secret treats for those prepared to hop a Metro to less-travelled parts of the city or bag a perch offering a ringside view of the most famous landmark in the world. Here are six secret ways to get the most out of la belle Paris:
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Chamonix for Non Skiers
It is not often the French thank the English for anything, but in the case of Chamonix for non skiers and good skiers alike, they cannot thank us enough. It was a bunch of intrepid Englishmen in the 1800s, men like Whymper, Kennedy, Ball, Wills and Tyndall, who, armed with precious little equipment, first explored the Alps and Mont Blanc in particular. They formed The Alpine Club and returned many times to climb the peaks.
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Hello to Hanoi. 5 top tips. Unmissable Insider guide.
For me, saying hello to Hanoi for the first time was like opening up a box of chocolates; it all looked good, but until you took a few bites you wouldn’t know if you were going to enjoy it. I had my doubts, after all, it was, before unification, Ho Chi Minh’s seat of power as the communist capital of north Vietnam, and although Vietnam remains a communist country, it doesn’t really feel like one, if my experiences in Ho Chi Minh City and Hoi An were anything to go by.
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