Travelling Simply

Travel recommendations, ideas and observations from two simple travellers

Tag: europe (Page 4 of 4)

Four fantastic cities to visit in The Netherlands

29/09/2019 / / 2 Comments

Our driving route in The Netherlands was inspired by a river cruise route

We are not ready for a river cruise and we want to see some of the smaller towns in Holland so we decided to drive part of the route on our way to Luxemburg parallel to the river route.

Our arrival was through Belgium. We had collected our car in Paris and made our way through northwestern France, Belgium and into The Netherlands for six days.

Not wanting to spend all our time in the bigger cities, we had researched some smaller towns to stop and spend time in:

  • Kinderdijk
  • Amersfoort
  • Thorn; and
  • Maastricht

Kinderdijk

Kinderdijk arrived on our list while we were deciding our first stop on the way to Amsterdam. A dull day was instantly brightened by the pretty towns and villages of southern Holland. Doorsteps were brimming pots filled with colourful flowers, as were the gardens.

Cyclists were ambling along the bicycle paths along the banks of waterways and along trails among the dykes. A small space in between some houses gave us our first glimpse. Not one, but half a dozen traditional windmills dotted around the countryside.

Rounding the corner past the village that we saw the extent of the complex. Nineteen working windmills set a typical postcard scene of the Dutch countryside.

On a cloudy afternoon, there were many visitors like us at the UNESCO World Heritage site. There are now pathways to walk or cycle for a close up look at the windmills and learn how the Netherlands has used them to drain their soil for habitation and cultivation for over a thousand years and the important part they still play today in a country where so much of the land is below sea level.

We recommend a visit to see these icons whether it be a day trip from Amsterdam or Rotterdam. Kinderdijk is 100km from Amsterdam and 25km from Rotterdam.

Kinderdijk windmills

Amersfoort

Amersfoort in central Holland has a quaint Old Town. Surrounded by a circular network of canals, we found the Old Town full of medieval buildings, small canals and alleyways opening into squares. It was easy to walk around and relatively people free during our visit. After the maddening crowds of Amsterdam, it was pleasant to take ourselves away from the tourist track and step back in time. There are several significant museums in the city, however, we were happy to wander and take in the atmosphere of the Old Town at our leisure.

Make a stop if you are driving from Amsterdam to Utrecht or further on.

Amersfoort

Thorn

Located in southern Holland, many come to see the extraordinary little “white town” of Thorn and to bicycle along the canals and around the town’s countryside. It was a sunny day, which made the whitewashed houses of Thorn even more impressive.

Most of the visitors were Dutch which made it even more special for us. Not a tour bus or group in sight. We were chuffed to have found this exclusive place which wasn’t overcrowded with tourists.

The town is not just scenic. It has a rich history back to the 10th century and, there is a story about why the houses are white. A beautiful abbey, established as a monastery for noblewomen is a centre point for the town and a wander down a tree-lined path at the end of the town takes you past country homes to a waterway lookout.

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Maastricht

We added Maastricht to our itinerary in the early stages of planning. The city appears on a number of river cruise itineraries.

Not only does the city have a history which dates back to the Neanderthals, but it also holds a place in modern history; the signing of the Maastricht Treaty in the city in 1992 lead to the creation of the European Union.

We put aside a couple of full days to stay and explore. The city was easy to walk around, we did not see any tour buses or groups during our stay and, not a riverboat came into sight on our walks along the riverbanks. We strolled through the town, along the narrow streets and squares on both sides of the Maas River while locals went about the daily business. There was plenty of people-watching and a walking tour with a local Greeter provided us with an insight into the history behind the churches, historic buildings and life in one of the oldest cities in Holland.

It was definitely worth stopping to stay than merely passing through on a day visit.

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Interested in including one or more of these cities on your itinerary? Look for more in-depth blogs on each city with our recommendations on what to see and do. Coming soon.

Our exhilarating day trip to Kotor in Montenegro!

31/01/2019 / / 0 Comments

We have a spare day in Dubrovnik. Do we take a ferry ride to visit some of the charming islands off the coast or spend the day exploring the natural beauty of Montenegro away from the summer crowd?  Kotor is less than 100 km away! We decided to take the quieter option.

Still relatively untouched by mass tourism, this little country has much to offer. It is the ideal place to experience a mix of history and natural beauty.

  • Kotor port and marina
    Kotor port and marina

Rather than rushing from one town to another, we idle away a few hours in the medieval town of Kotor walking along the city walls and then through the labyrinth of streets and alleyways wandering in and out of squares admiring the baroque churches and locals going about their daily life.

  • Baroque church, Kotor Old City
    We spent the day wandering the narrow streets and alleyways, and in and out of the little squares of the Kotor’s Old City

We are concerned about our return journey to Dubrovnik. Our Dubrovnik apartment host advised us to leave early in the morning to avoid the long queues that build up at the Croatian border as Montenegrins and Croatians move between the two countries. At times the wait can be two hours or more. The evening wait time can sometimes be longer!

We stop for lunch at a small café in a quiet square in the Kotor’s Old City and were lucky to chance upon an informative café owner. While discussing our apprehension, he suggests we make our return trip through Bosnia and Herzegovina. He often takes this route. He reassures us the journey is scenic. The travel time will be the same so we jump at the opportunity to have a taste of driving through the countryside. Of course, the idea of avoiding languishing in a long queue also helps us make the decision.

With instructions on where to turn off the main road, we set both GPS devices with the details (our lease car’s GPS is more than adequate, however, we also take our trusty TomTom GPS unit with us too when we travel – just in case!).

Both GPS devices instruct us to turn off the road just out of Kotor onto a quiet little backroad which soon turns into a country lane and then into a goat track. We wave down a decrepit ute driving past us in the opposite direction to make sure we were on the right path. He can’t speak English but he waves us on indicating we are going the right way.

We drive on expecting the road to improve and join a major arterial road. To our horror, the road narrows further as climb uphill on this vertiginous track with nowhere to safely turn back. There is no option but to crawl forward at times reaching 20km/hour.  Not to mention the 30 or so hairpin bends we encounter over this hair-raising drive with sheer mountain drops (and stunning views). However, we are intent on staying on the track and don’t dare take our eyes off the road until we reach the top where we came across two hikers taking a relaxed hike along the road. These are the only humans we have seen since the man in the ute. A little further on, join the road we are actually supposed to have been travelling on.

The bypass is so new that it didn’t feature on either GPS units.

We are fortunate.  He is an accomplished driver and contains his racing driver spirit until we arrive on the highway to continue a most enjoyable time through the Bosnia and Herzegovinian countryside surrounded by rolling hills, through green valleys alongside gently flowing streams and creeks and quaint towns arriving back in Dubrovnik without incident.

  • Adriatic sea views
    Fantastic views of the bay and Adriatic Coast at the Bosnia and Herzegovina border

We are, however, curious. A Google search when we arrive back in Dubrovnik reveals that we have just traversed one of the most dangerous roads in Europe!

Why you will love travelling in Europe in the summer if you enjoy music and culture!

25/09/2018 / / 1 Comment

Truly getting to know a new country includes meeting new people, sampling new food, visiting the sights and treasures unique and dear to that country and immersing ourselves in their art and culture.

  • Big Band in Plaza Mayor, Madrid
    An evening at a Big Band performance in Madrid’s main square

In a tour group, the itinerary is sure to include pre-organised events to showcase the country’s uniqueness – a traditional performance over a meal of local dishes, a private concert in a castle for your group, or a guided visit to the theatre or art gallery. We’ve attended and enjoyed many during our travels.

We prefer to travel independently these days,  by-pass the ticket vendors selling tickets to the opera or a music show, and instead join the locals in their town’s piazzas, plazas and placas or sit in on a classical concert in a historic building where we can just wander in to take a seat.

 A European Town square is a centre for gathering – a place to meet, eat, drink and enjoy entertainment. In winter, some will transform into mesmerising night markets but it is in summer where these town squares are the most vibrant.

  • Medieval parade in Arezzo
    Medieval parade in Arezzo, Italy
  • Human towers
    Sunday afternoon entertainment in Barcelona

Preferring to travel to Europe during their summer, we have had the opportunity to enjoy this vibrancy. In almost every major town or city, stages will appear and buskers will hold their position around town squares.

Performances are varied, but all are professional and first class in quality. Anyone can attend, entrance is free, there are no queues, and you don’t have to dress up! Often, a number of these performances are on at the same time and you can wander between them.

We’ve stumbled unexpectedly across many a performance:

  1. On an evening stroll in Madrid, we came across a Big Band concert in Plaza Mayor and were entertained for almost two hours.
  2. On an afternoon walk down La Ramblas in Barcelona, we veered into a square and into the middle of a human tower competition.
  3. Instead of joining the others in the tourist hub of Monastiraki in Athens, we joined locals at an outdoor music concert featuring traditional Greek music and performances.
  4. As tourists queued to enter the opera in Vienna, we walked across the road to join the large crowd at the annual film festival in front of the Town Hall.
  5. Enjoyed a professional fashion show in the enchanting hilltop town of Paola on our drive back to Rome from Sicily.
  6. On the Old City walls of Treviso, we enjoyed two nights of incredible entertainment, Nina Zilli who represented Italy in the 2012 Eurovision performed one night and the Beuna Vista Social Club performed on the next evening. The atmosphere was electric!
  7. Wandering along 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, we stopped to listen to three brothers showcasing their music right at the end of the street. They are outstanding musicians who tour the US performing at schools and small venues and enjoy busking so much that their mother drives them the one hour to come down to Santa Monica every Saturday and then waits to take them home again.
  8. Staying a few days in the Tuscan town of Arezzo, we enjoyed the annual jousting competition held every night complete with a medieval parade through the streets of the town.
  9. In Seville, we wandered into an outdoor courtyard in a small Palais to join a small audience and listened to a spectacular classical piano concert.
  10. Recently, in Prague all the seats were taken by the time we arrived in Old Town Square, so we joined locals and other travellers like ourselves to sit on the kerbside to enjoy an evening of jazz.

A recommendation, next time you are travelling in Europe during the summer, take a peek in the town square or if like us, you decide on using apartment accommodation, ask your host.

  • Summer Festival in Treviso
    Beuna Vista Social Club playing at the Summer Festival in Treviso, Italy
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