France
Parisian Café Culture
Tuesday, March 26th, 2013
Everyone knows how the café culture in Paris intoxicates and I certainly inhaled that atmosphere, spending an afternoon people watching. After catching an early Eurostar into Paris, we spent the day wandering around the city discovering quaint back streets and browsing in quirky boutiques. Although the sun wasn’t shining, we were able to appreciate the classical architecture whilst dodging the variety of vehicles (both on the road and eccentrically parked) around the city.
More »
London to Lahti (and Stockholm, Copenhagen and Hamburg)
Wednesday, April 4th, 2012
I flew to Helsinki-Vantaa on a British Airways flight from London Heathrow. It took me 3 hours to get from rainy London to cold and snowy Finland. I had a lovely and traditional Finnish Christmas in Lahti with my family and friends. Lahti is my hometown as well as the home of Finland’s greatest footballer of all time, Jari Litmanen.
More »
As French as it gets…
Friday, January 27th, 2012
There are many parts of the world which are synonymous with certain foods or drinks: Cornwall and its pasties, Singapore and its slings, perhaps even Nice with its biscuits, but the one place that takes the proverbial biscuit in my eyes is the historic French region of Burgundy. Just reading its name brings childhood memories flooding back of digging into bags of Wine Gums with the red ones always the first to go. With Champagne aside, (and Bordeaux some might say) it is perhaps the most famous wine making area in the world.
More »
Avignon and the Hotel De L’Horloge
Wednesday, January 25th, 2012
Our trip to the walled medieval city of Avignon and the French Riviera started early, with an (on time) 08:02 departure from St Pancras. My travelling companion Sam and I were through security in a fraction of the time you would expect at any one of London’s heaving airports!
More »
Nice to Rome by Rail
Monday, January 23rd, 2012
I have visited Nice before, always in the summer months when the city is full of tourists, the days are extremely hot and the beaches crammed. So this time it was a nice change of pace to experience the city in the low season.
More »
Lille; there’s more than meets the eye
Tuesday, December 20th, 2011
Earlier on this year I went to spend some time in Lille with the primary objective of familiarising myself with the accommodation that Railbookers has to offer. What this entailed essentially was dashing from hotel to hotel on a whistle stop tour of the city, without having a chance to soak up the history, culture and architecture that Lille is so heavily steeped in. So I was most appreciative when I was asked to attend a cultural familiarity day.
More »
Exploring the Savoie Mont Blanc region
Tuesday, October 4th, 2011
There are few industries where there are more perks than the travel industry. Trips abroad are fairly regular occurrences, but rarely do you get told that in five days time you will be off exploring Mont Blanc.
More »
Streamline your trip to Paris with a transfer to your hotel
Thursday, September 15th, 2011
With a day spent on the Golden Pass from Montreux to Zweisimmen and back again, any train route was going to have a tough job comparing. And while the journey from Lausanne to Paris isn’t filled with the same quaint Alpine villages and rolling scenery, there is plenty of beautiful lush green countryside to watch as you pass through Switzerland and France.
More »
A Weekend in Paris
Tuesday, August 16th, 2011
I recently had the opportunity to spend a weekend in Paris visiting and experiencing a selection of the tourist attractions and tours that the city has to offer. We boarded the 12:28 Eurostar from London St Pancras and arrived at Paris Gare du Nord just over two hours later, after a comfortable and stress-free journey in Standard Premier Class. After checking into the Sofitel La Defense, a modern and sophisticated 5 star hotel in the heart of La Defense business centre, we made our way by Metro back into the city centre, for the first of our pre-arranged tours.
More »
A Taste of Lille
Tuesday, August 16th, 2011
A quiet weekend away to Lille to tide my best friend and I over until our next big holiday turned out to be just what the doctor ordered. After a day of enjoying the shopping and beautiful architecture of unique Lille, we decided it was time to put this quiet city’s night life to the test. Fair to say, it did not disappoint.
More »
