Northern Europe
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From Stockholm to Vaxholm: A Perfect Day Trip in the Archipelago
For the first time this holiday we opened the curtains to cloudy skies but the forecast was good for our planned day out to Vaxholm in the Stockholm archipelago. The island can either be reached by ferry or road as there is a bridge connecting the island to the mainland. Although it would have been…
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A Complete Guide to Sweden’s Parliament (Riksdag): History, Tours & Visitor Info
This morning we decided to take the metro out to the Universitetet station on the Red Line where we found tiled artwork dedicated to the travels around the Baltic of the Swedish botanist Carl Von Linné . We started our tour of the area with a short walk around the campus of Stockholm University which…
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A Complete Guide to Exploring Stockholm’s Museums
We enjoyed a leisurely start to the day before taking the metro into the city centre from where we walked a short distance for a No.69 bus to the museum park in the northern district of Djurgården. We alighted just outside the Swedish National Museum of Science & Technology where we had planned to spend…
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Discover Skeppsholmen Island – Stockholm’s Cultural Gem
The warm, settled weather continued as we begun the day by wandering down to the metro station. From there we boarded a train to Kungsgården at the end of the Blue Line taking only 10 minutes. We strolled along the waterfront and across the Skeppsholmen bridge admiring its gilded crowns and stunning views. After a…
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Discover Djurgården – Stockholm’s Museum Island
To make the most of the second day of our Stockholm Pass we took the metro and tram over to the leafy island of Djurgården as the four attractions we’d decided to visit were all located close together there. First on our list was the Nordiska Museum which is located in a gorgeous old building dating…
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Is the Stockholm Pass Worth It? Museums & Attractions to Visit in Stockholm
We woke to yet another hot, sunny day. After breakfast in our apartment we took the metro to Rådhuset and then walked a short distance along the waterfront to the Stromma Line booking office outside City Hall. We had decided to obtain the Stockholm Pass which allows entry to numerous top attractions and boat trips…
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How to Visit the Royal Palace in Stockholm – Complete Tourist Guide
The weather forecast predicted 31 degrees Celsius making Stockholm even hotter than Spain! Leaving jumpers and cardigans behind, we headed for the metro and took the blue line from Solna Centrum to its terminus at Kungsträdgården and then just had a short distance to walk to the waterfront before crossing the bridge to the Swedish…
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A Guide to ABBA The Museum – Stockholm’s Ultimate Pop Experience
After a leisurely breakfast of yoghurt, eggs, toast and marmalade sat at the table in our cosy studio flat in Solna, we wandered down the hill and caught a blue line metro to Kungsträdgården from where we transferred to a 67 bus to Djurgården as the metro does not connect with this island. In the…
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Visit Stockholm City Hall – Guided Tours & Tower Climb Experience
After a good night’s sleep we woke feeling refreshed and prepared ourselves a breakfast of eggs, yoghurt, rye bread and marmalade plus several cups of coffee. It was a glorious, sunny morning as we left the apartment at 9.30 a.m. and wandered down the hill to Solna Centrum metro station. Getting into the city centre…
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Our Swedish adventure begins
We woke early and travelled to Manchester airport by train, arriving nice and early for our lunch time KLM Cityhopper flight to Amsterdam. There were no other passengers waiting to check in at the KLM desk so thankfully it only took a few minutes to complete formalities and pass through security in Terminal 3. Before…
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How to visit the Riga Open-Air Museum
On our final day in Riga we woke to clear blue skies enabling us to experience Latvia’s natural beauty outside the capital. After enjoying our final breakfast at the Ibis Riga Centre we gathered our belongings together and left our bags at reception, as our flight home wasn’t until late in the evening giving us…
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Guide to Majori: Riga’s Seaside Resort
A dry start to the day after the previous day’s torrential downpours meant that we could return to our planned activities. So, after a leisurely hotel breakfast we crossed the road to the nearby railway station and purchased return tickets to the coastal town of Majori. Single tickets for the 30 minute journey cost €1.40…
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Exploring Riga, Latvia
Our hearts sank as we drew back the curtains to see torrential rain beating against the windows, causing us to rethink our plans for the day! First though, it was off to breakfast which is served in the basement of the hotel. The cellars have been tastefully converted into two eating areas with a third…
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Riga City Break
Having enjoyed visiting Tallinn in Estonia on numerous occasions, we decided to explore its neighbour Latvia for the first time. We booked flights with the low cost carrier Ryanair from Leeds Bradford airport which were very reasonably priced. It was an early start to the day as we needed to get up at…
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Exploring the Royal Castle Warsaw
A bright, sunny morning to start the final day of our short break in Warsaw so after breakfast we took the bus to the old town which was looking so much nicer than on our earlier visit. We started our tour in the old town market place with its Dutch inspired houses. The pedestrianised cobbled…
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A walk to Lazienki Park, Warsaw
We woke to heavy overnight snow which was surprising for late March, leaving the city looking beautiful in the sun. We started the day with a visit to the Museum of Life Under Communism located on the left bank of the river in the Praga district. To get there, we took Tram 22 from Centrum.…
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Guide to visiting Wilanow Palace, Warsaw
After enjoying the Ibis Hotel Warsaw Centrum buffet breakfast, we were ready for a busy day exploring more of Warsaw’s attractions. Our first stop was at the Royal Lazienki Park which was only a 15 minute walk from the hotel. It’s the largest park in Warsaw and was designed in 17th century Baroque style. Just…
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A Weekend in Warsaw
We arrived in Warsaw the previous evening on a Ryanair flight from Leeds-Bradford Airport. Our flight departed promptly at 16.10 arriving into Modlin, Warsaw’s second airport. Transferring into the city centre was very easy with tickets costing 19zl (£3.95) per person, available from a machine in the baggage hall. A regular shuttle bus service then…
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A weekend in Gdansk, Poland
A few weeks ago we noticed that Ryanair was offering bargain priced flights to Gdansk, and as we’d enjoyed our previous visit to Krakow, the opportunity to visit a second Polish destination seemed irresistible. Our flight departed Leeds-Bradford airport promptly at 9.30 a.m. taking just two hours over to Lech Walesa airport. The airport is…
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Gdansk: City centre highlights
After a leisurely breakfast in our hotel we strolled along the riverside promenade known as Long Bridge admiring its historical granaries and huge crane gate. The Żuraw Crane is one of the finest intact medieval cranes in Europe and, interestingly, it also acted as a city gate and defensive fortification. It was built to hoist…
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Visiting Sopot and Gdynia from Gdańsk: The Perfect Day Trips on Poland’s Baltic Coast
Gdansk and it’s nearby sister cities of Sopot and Gdynia are collectively known as Tricity, so after breakfast we set off to Gdansk Glowny station to embark on our journey. Trains in Tricity are operated by SKM and have a distinctive blue and yellow livery. Tickets need to be bought either from the SKM desks…
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Malbork Castle from Gdańsk: How to Visit the World’s Largest Castle
I’d read about Malbork Castle and was eager to visit whilst staying in Gdansk. It is the largest brick built castle in the world and was constructed in the thirteenth century. Malbork lies 69km from Gdansk and is easily accessible by train with numerous services daily. It’s on the main line to Warsaw, so tickets…
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Day Trip from Gdańsk to Oliwa: What to See & Do
On our final morning in Gdansk we took the SKM train to the suburb of Oliwa, located 5 km to the north of the city centre. Single tickets cost 3.8 zl (80p) for the short journey to this prosperous neighbourhood. Leaving the station, we headed to the main road from where it was only a…
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My journey to Tampere, Finland
Those of you who are regular readers of my blog may already be aware that recently I won an international blog contest organised by Talent Tampere a division of Business Tampere which links companies with internationals and their networks. My prize was a four day visit to Tampere, Finland’s third largest city to explore the international…
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