SummaryAirport Rating *****
Reception of locals ***** Cost: £££££
SummaryAirport Rating *** (train)
Reception of locals ***** Cost: £££
It's difficult to do justice to a city as spectacular as Naples. It has a raw beauty that is refreshingly unique in an increasingly homogenised Europe. A city that combines traditional architecture with modern skyscrapers almost seamlessly. I'll never forget arriving into Naples and seeing scooters piling on top of each other, street vendors covering the pavements, the smell of food from road side stalls and shops floating over the cobble stoned streets. From history to food, to insta-worthy landmarks, Naples is a city that has it all. You can read my detailed observations of the city here, but below are my 5 favourite things about Naples.
SummaryAirport Rating N/A Reception of locals **** Cost: £££££
The Amalfi Coast is one of the most famous coastlines in all of Europe, located south of Naples and to the west of Salerno. The coastline is most famous for its dramatic cliffside drops that leave very little room for arable land, but create a stunning spectacle. In fact, as with the rest of my blog, the photos in these article are taken with an old school 8MP camera, but still look postcard perfect. Three towns in particular are heavily associated with the coast; Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi, and during my recent trip to Italy, I visited all three.
SummaryAirport Rating ***** Reception of locals ****3/4 Cost: ££
Chaotic, loud and dirty, yet with a raw beauty I haven't seen replicated anywhere else for a city its size. Naples is without a doubt one of my favourite cities that I have visited.
With a history stretching back almost three millennia, scenery that includes a volcano, a port and architecture rivalling Rome, and a culinary reputation surpassing most other cities, Naples should be near to the top of everyones must visit list. In many ways the city is similar to the Barcelona of 15-20 years ago - that raw beauty and a local/traditional essence is still there and tourism is not yet the all encompassing feature that I am sure it will become. I visited Naples for four days, and below are my observations and reviews of a city that I think is comfortably in the top 5 of my favourite cities globally. SummaryAirport Rating N/A Reception of locals ***** Cost: £££
Ever since I can remember, I have been fascinated by the story of Pompeii, a large town covered under a layer of volcanic material following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. It was fairly recently that I first became aware of another town, not too far from Pompeii, Herculaneum that met a similar fate and it became a dream of mine to visit the two archeological sites and see for myself what life in a Roman town may have been like. My recent trip to Italy gave me that opportunity and my observations are below.
SummaryAirport Rating ***** (Rome Fiumicino) Reception of locals ***** Cost: £££
It seems pointless making the trip to Rome and not visiting the autonomous Vatican City, the home of the Holy See, residence of the Pope and home of one of the best views of Rome. It's a short walk from the city of Rome, and as I found out, the Vatican City is definitely worth a visit.
2017Last year, when I wrote my end of year review (which you can read here), the world seemed to be going through a lot of changes, and I had a busy year too.
2017 was a lot more settled as I spent most of my year living and working in New York and the rest of the year in London. My first impressions of New York laid the foundation for an amazing time in the city that never sleeps from visiting all the famous pizzerias, to discovering all the best museums NYC has to offer. You can't visit New York without seeing all the famous skyscrapers which I made sure to do. I managed to really experience American culture by attending at least one game of every major American sport and even got to see their 4th of July celebrations. A trip out to Long Island gave me a different taste of Americana, something a lot more laid back. While I was out in the United States, I visited Washington DC on a couple of occasions, managing to see a fair amount of America's capital city. I took a trip out to the midwest and spent some time in Chicago visiting some of the famous landmarks and tasting the famous Chicago style deep dish pizza. I also caught up with friends I had met in Cambodia as they showed me around Florida with a trip to Miami during Spring Break. Perhaps my favourite city that I visited in the US was San Francisco, I spent almost a week seeing different areas, including a trip across the famous Golden Gate Bridge. My second half of the year was significantly quieter as I transitioned back to life in England. That being said I made a very short trip to Luxembourg, visiting Luxembourg City, the beautiful town of Vianden, and a train ride across the border into Germany to visit the oldest continuously habited city in the country, Trier. As with the post last year, just click the blue links to read about any of the locations in depth. It consistently ranks as one of the most visited cities in the world, and has a history that spans over two thousand years. It has been home to innovations, inventions and revolutions and in the middle of the previous millennium it was the largest city in the world.
Paris is so much more than the romanticism that its name conjures, its history includes episodes as violent as any other city and all these events have left their unique mark on France's capital city. It's also one of the closest capital cities to where I live, a short train ride away, but it's perhaps because of this proximity that I often overlook it for other destinations. My trip last year was to visit friends that I worked with previously, and their knowledge of the city allowed me to see a side of Paris I may have otherwise have missed. There's a lot that I enjoyed (food, culture, history) and some things that I didn't, but here is a list of 5 things I absolutely loved. SummaryAirport Rating N/A Reception of locals ***** Cost: ££££
During my short visit to central Europe, Vianden was probably the most beautiful place that I came across, eclipsing even the beauty of Luxembourg City's old town. I only spent an afternoon in the town (there's not too much to do) but it was definitely an afternoon well spent.
|
AuthorBritish Sikh, born in the Midlands, based in London, travelling the world seeing new cultures. Categories
All
|