Northern Europe
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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.…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Visiting the Moomin Museum and Experiencing Tampere’s Winter Nature
I wish all mornings could start like this, waking in my luxurious suite at the Lapland Hotels Tampere and then enjoying a delicious breakfast in the hotel’s Dabbal restaurant. The dining area oozes Nordic charm having Lapland styled furnishings such as reindeer rugs and antler horns. The buffet breakfast included several Lapland delicacies such as…
-
Crazy Town, Tampere
After sampling more Lapland delicacies at breakfast, I donned my boots and warm coat and walked across town with Maiju, my host from Talent Tampere. The conditions were perfect for walking, the snow being crisp underfoot with no dangerous icy patches to contend with. Our first destination of the day was at Crazy Town which…
-
Vaprikki Museum, Tampere: a guide
My visit to the beautiful Finnish city of Tampere was coming to an end but there was still enough time for me to visit the Vapriikki Museum located by the Tammerkoski rapids in the centre of town. Vapriikki is located in the old factory building of the Tampella engineering company who produced locomotives, turbines and…
-
Our Moscow adventure
The thought of standing in a snow carpeted Red Square on a cold winter’s day seemed appealing, so we booked a few days in Moscow. It’s necessary to obtain a visa before arriving in Russia and this can dissuade potential visitors from travelling. To help demystify the process I’ll explain how we went about it.…
-
The Kremlin, Moscow
Another surprise awaited us when we went downstairs for breakfast, as on giving our room number we were diverted to the Executive Lounge which was a raised area along one side of the restaurant. Here we found lots to tempt us, setting us up for the day ahead. Using the coffee machine initially appeared problematic…
-
Exploring Moscow
We opened the curtains to find that there had been heavy snow overnight, covering all the surrounding roof tops with a fluffy white blanket. After a leisurely breakfast we took the metro to Komsomolskaya station which was absolutely beautiful with its painted yellow ceilings and its platforms lit by chandeliers. The station was designed in…
Love Travelling Blog 