Two great unique hotels with character in Berlin
I have been traveling to Berlin quite a few times in the last few months and, for good or for bad, I have had a chance to stay at quite a few hotels all over the city. It is rare when to come across properties that really stand out, but every now and then I come across some true gems which I think it is worth sharing.
To be clear, this is not a post about Berlin’s main tourist attractions, there are plenty of other blogs that can provide that, but to share some details about what I think are two of the best options to stay in Berlin right now at price points that are, I think, not particularly extravagant for the typical business traveler.
A recent trip to the German capital offered me the chance to experience two greatly located hotels which I will proceed to describe next:
Radisson Collection Berlin
The PostHouse Berlin
This post may contain affiliate links. If you book or buy something through them, I earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. It's one of the ways I keep Places of Charm going. Thank you for your support.
I would like to thank also Radisson for facilitating the stay at this specific property. All opinions are my own.
A review of the Radisson Collection Hotel Berlin
The Radisson Collection Hotel Berlin is truly a landmark hotel. It is located in what must be one of the most prime pieces of real estate of any hotel, of any category in Berlin, right on the banks of the river Spree, next to Museum Insel and the opposite the Berliner Dom.
The building itself is also quite remarkable, a compact and solid, building with a large indoor courtyard that is dominated by a rather impressive central structure that simulates a sort of giant tree.
The overall aesthetic is modern and elegant throughout, but with a rather cozy vibe which is rather different to that of other more, let’s say, “classical” luxury establishments.
In fact, all around the aforementioned central trunk, in the lobby area is a mixed bar/restaurant-library/reading room-workspace area, complete with a fully stocked library (interestingly, with what appears to be a rather large Scandinavian book section, which possibly reflects Radisson’s own roots!)
This somehow round floor plan makes it possible for all these different areas of the lobby to be conveniently compartimentalized while remaining within the same open plan. The reception area is also somehow segregated from this more innerpart (albeit still public) area of the hotel.
Access to the rooms is through the glass lifts which make for quite a scenic up and down the building. Access to each of the floors is also rather grand, with a large open space in a rather modern and harmonious style, including the colour palette, and local touches of decor.
The rooms at the Radisson Collection Berlin
As you may have already guessed, the rooms follow more or less the same contemporary style and no-nonsense approach to comfort. In this case, my room, located on Floor 11 (one of the highest) west side had also a special “surprise” that I will soon disclose, further down this post.
As you can see, the rooms have wooden flooring (another Scandi design touch), which I tend to prefer.
A few other details I liked about the room: note the large amount of storage space, both for luggage and also to layout clothes and personal items. Also, as is the norm in this category of establishment, there’s a coffee machine and some mineral water waiting for the guest.
The two-piece bathroom is also pretty impressive: very modern throughout and with a power shower. Bathrobes are also provided, since the hotel, as we shall soon see further down this post, has also a small indoor pool and a spa area.
The hotel offers also a whole range of additional ancillary services, from a choice of different pillow types to laundry, all through the electronic console which is accessible through the room’s work desk.
Best hotel room views in Berlin?
And now, the “surprise” that I mentioned earlier, because if this was an Instagram account, the moment of opening the room’s small balcony would be the time to do that typical influencer gesture of covering your mouth with the palm of your hand, in awe of the sights! The picture below is the unfiltered picture of what I could see from my room. Does it get better than this in Berlin?
And, for good measure, this is the view from the bed itself! That’s what I would call a central location!
Btw, in this picture you can appreciate the little balcony, which makes it easy to enjoy the views in full, since you can actually open the doors, a particularly suitable feature during the Berlin spring and summer when the weather can be quite balmy in the German capital! Btw, when that’s the case, you can just spend the afternoon watching the boats on the river Spree pass just underneath your balcony.
Also in the room is a work desk: the right size for the traveling professional and with plenty of natural light, as you can see!
Gym, Spa and Wellness at the Radisson Collection Berlin
As I mentioned earlier, there is a fitness and wellness center in the hotel. To be fair, the facilities are small, but they have pretty much all you would possibly need during a urban city break.
The fitness and wellness center is in the basement and accessible directly from the rooms through the lifts. There is a small pool, more for relaxation than exercises, tbh, as well as separate cardio, yoga, and weight rooms.
Eating at the Radisson Collection Berlin
The hotel has, of course, a restaurant. It is located on the ground floor on the west side of the property, which means that it has views of the river bank. The decor is aligned with the modern-cozy style of the rest of the property.
I had the chance to have my buffet breakfast there and it didn’t disappoint. The breakfast offering was predominantly continental, but with a fair amount of choices. This being Germany, the bakery section was particularly impressive!
So, overall, a very well rounded experience with the added touch that, as a guest, you have a very good chance of getting one of the very best panoramic views of the city of Berlin included in the fare (which, I may say, at this property tend to be in a very reasonable range for Berlin standards and adjusting for quality and location!), a true gem.
A review of The Posthouse Berlin Hotel - Potsdamer Platz
This was another find during a recent visit to Berlin, another real gem, offering great value at a prime location. The Posthouse Berlin Potsdamer Platz – Leonardo Limited Edition is a very modern hotel, which belongs to the Italian chain Leonardo.
It has the additional allure of being located in a historical building which once housed Berlin’s main postal distribution center, something that you can kind of guess looking at architecture of the place. In this case, as we shall soon see, Leonardo has fully embraced this truly unique character of the building when it comes to marketing this property.
While it is not located right next to the city’s top landmark, like the previous hotel we have seen, The Posthouse is also incredibly well located from the point of view of its centrality in the city. It is located within walking distance (10min) of Potsdamer Platz, right at the core of the Government District and pretty much on top (give or take a few dozens of meters) of where the Berlin Wall used to be. It has also within 5minutes walk of the Anhalter Banhof S-Bahn station and the Möckernbrücke U-Bahn station (in addition to the aforementioned Potsdamer Platz, which is also a major railway station).
What’s more the area is very walkable and safe, with broad avenues and lots of hotels, restaurants, shops and museums in its vicinity.
The rooms at The Posthouse Berlin
The rooms are large and very modern and cozy, with a mix of coulours that is warm and sophisticated at the same time. The little touches of colour make the whole ensemble more lively preventing it from being too “neutral”, while keeping the whole subdued.
The bathroom, rather large, also super modern and impeccably clean.
There is a little work desk, also very stylish.
On top of it, a little electronic console provides information and access to services, doing away with the old-school service directory folders.
Some more details that make The Posthouse Berlin a great hotel
A couple of additional details here: lots of space for luggage (you may have noted in the pics above that there is also a rather long bank opposite the bed) and even to sit down to take your shows on or off.
The windows open into a very calm street next to a large green area. In fact, the hotel is located in a rather nice area, with several pedestrian streets around and some shops.
As mentioned earlier, Leonardo has developed a whole brand identity for The Posthouse which is pervasive throughout the property. I particularly liked the very elegant way in which it is applied to all the small items you find in the room and in other parts of the hotel.
The Posthouse has also its restaurant, which shares the same ground floor space as the lobby and reception area. The different spaces are blended seamlessly and get plenty of natural light through the large windows that open onto the street on one side and onto a very large open courtyard on the other.
A couple of other details I liked in the lobby area:
A snacks and water station which guests can access at all hours. Even if the hotel staff renew the bottles of mineral water in the room, its location on the way to the lifts makes for a very convenient stopping point to get some refreshments on the way to and from the rooms. Btw, note also how the hotel decor takes into account the postal history of the place.
When you come into The Posthouse you will notice a bicycle parking. These bicycles are actually available for rental by the day, you just need to ask at the reception, here below you can see the prices.
So, what’s our take: this hotel offers also amazing value for any visitor to Berlin, whether for business or leisure. As was the case of the Radisson Collection Berlin, The Posthouse Berlin Postadamer Platz offers and amazing combination of modern, spacious and pleasant facilities, impeccable service and prices that are truly hard to believe for what you get!
One day in Marrakech, what to see and what to do
Marrakech is a top tourist destination and for good reason. The fact that Morocco has a visa-free policy for most countries and that it is part of the European single skies area (making it attractive and accessible to all European low cost carriers) makes it also a very attractive destination barely a couple of hours’ flight away from many European capitals.
There is, indeed, much to see in Marrakech, and Morocco in general, but what if you are somehow time-constrained, as it was, in fact, my case, as I was attending a conference in the city?
The good news is that most of Marrakech's highlights are within easy reach of each other, meaning an efficient day tripper can cover a surprising amount of ground. That said, a couple of extra days are well worth it to fully absorb the sensory experience that is Marrakech.
In any case, I have compiled here a list of the top things to do and to see in Marrakech in a day (and on a budget!).
Some of you may notice some omissions, like the iconic Villa Majorelle. I actually tried to fit it in my itinerary, but, alas! it was already fully booked during the time slots in which I may have been able to visit. So, the only advice I can give regarding this site is: if you are planning to visit, book in advance!
And, now, without further ado, let’s start our quick, but intense, tour of Marrakech!
In this post we will see:
Jemaa el-Fna, the beating heart of old Marrakech
A walk through Marrakech Medina and its different souks
Best rooftop view in Marrakech
The Ben Youssef Madrasa
Bahia Palace
Koutoubia minaret and gardens
Hotel La Mamounia
Recommended places to stay in Marrakech
Moving around Marrakech: practical tips
Modern Marakech
Menara Gardens
This post may contain affiliate links. If you book or buy something through them, I earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. It's one of the ways I keep Places of Charm going. Thank you for your support.
What to see and what to do when visiting the Medina of Marrakech
Jemaa el-Fna - The main square of Marrakech
I decided to start with Jemaa el-Fna because this wide open square is not just the best known spot in Marrakech, but also the heart (not in a literal geographical sense though) of the Marrakech Medina.
Jemaa el-Fna is buzzing with activity throughout the day and evening. It is here where you can get the first taste of, let’s say, the exotic side of Marrakech. The large esplanade is full of street musicians, snake charmers and other sorts of stalls, each peddling their own merchandise or trade. There is also a whole section that is take by food stalls, forming a sort of open air, food court.
Jemaa el-Fna acts also as a nexus with the modern part of town, so if you are coming by taxi, for example, it is likely to be your gateway into the Medina. It is also on the main axis leading to the Koutoubia minaret and gardens and La Mamounia Hotel, which will explain in more detail further down this post.
Best view of Jemaa el-Fna? The rooftop terrace of Café Glacier
While a walk through Jemaa el-Fna is a must of any Marrakech visit, I also recommend getting the general perspective by visiting the rooftop terrace at Café Glacier (“Le Grand Balcon Café Glacier”). This is a traditional café which has views towards the main section of the square (it is the point from where the above pictures were taken).
The café is nothing luxurious, but it has a sort of old-school charm. There is a ground floor area as well (see the pic below), but I would definitely recommend going upstairs (just one note: there is little in the way of shadow, so it can be quite hot when the Sun is shinning!).
Visiting Jemaa el-Fna in the evening
Regardless of what is your itinerary throughout the day, make sure you allocate at least some time for an evening visit to Jemaa el-Fna. This is actually when the square is the most lively.
As the sun goes down (and outdoor activity becomes more pleasant in the balmy weather), activity picks up, with traders, musicians, performers and the like taking over Jemaa el-Fna.
The buzz goes on until quite late at night, with the numerous food stalls catering to a crowd of both locals and tourists. Be prepared for many of the vendors trying to get your attention as you walk by!
A walk through the Marrakech Medina
Whether you are into shopping or not, a walk through the Medina is going to take most of your time while in Marrakech. The place is simply huge! In fact, the whole historical town of Marrakech is like a giant souk, with seemingly endless streets and alleys fully lined up with shops and stalls.
The Medina of Marrakech is actually a UNESCO World Heritage site. When the French took over Morocco, in the early 20th C., they brought with them European-style urban planning, which is now visible in parts of modern Marrakech, but left the medina untouched. So, the city has preserved pretty much its entire walled ensemble.
When it comes to walking through the Medina, I don’t have a specific itinerary to recommend. In fact, the best plan is possibly to visit with no plan at all, just walk around randomly and you likely won’t be disappointed, since there is something new around every corner.
Nowadays the streets of the Medina are obviously quite tourist-oriented, although you can still see some scenes that look like from the old days, like people riding carts pulled by mules and the like.
The Medina contains, actually, a number of different “souks”, each dedicated to a different trade. The limits between them, however, are not very evident to the visitor, since they exist in a continuum.
Below are some of the souks, in practice you may walk from one to the next without even noticing:
Souk des Babouches for sandals and footwear
Souk des Caftan for traditional robes and garments
Souk Lghzel, a wool market
Souk des Tanneurs and Souk Cherratine , for leather goods
Souk Haddadine, for metal work
Souk des Menuisiers (Souk Chouari) for woodwork and carpentry
Souk des Teinturiers, or the dyers' souk.
Don’t expect, however, the sort of open, colourful dye vats that are found, for example, further north in Morocco, in the city of Fez. These, apparently, exist in Marrakech at small scale in the backyard of the establishments and some are open for visits upon request (and possibly a fee), but I didn’t, so I don’t have pics or specific advice about this.
If you have a sweet tooth, you can’t miss the stalls selling traditional Moroccan desserts and sweets!
The Medina is also interesting at night, when most of the shops have closed.
In the middle of the intricate street pattern of the Marrakech medina you will also find quite a few spots of interest, such as these ornate doors. You will also notice that most streets are actually covered.
There are also quite a few riads (traditional Moroccan guest houses) tucked into the old town (like the one I describe further down this post)
Top things to visit in the Marrakech Medina
Besides the random walk through the Medina, there are a couple of actual landmarks in the old town of Marrakech which are worth a visit. These are:
The Ben Youssef Madrasa
Bahia Palace
Visiting the Ben Youssef Madrasa
The Ben Youssef Madrasa is located next to a mosque and a square of the same name (which is one of the few open spaces in the old town). It also provides one of the key points of reference for orientation within the Medina (the other being Jemaa el-Fna at the opposite (south) edge of the old town.
This is quite a popular tourist spot and there was a constant stream of people walking through, although no queues at any time. Entrance fee is 50 Dirhams (around €5/$5).
The current building of the Ben Youssef Madrasa was built in the 16th C. (although the actual educational establishment is older). In its heyday, hundreds of students from across the Islamic world lived here while they were studying religious doctrine and law.
The madrasa is structured around a beautiful central courtyard with a shallow pool at its center. The upper floors contain a myriad of small tiled rooms which is where the students lived.
The Ben Youssef Madrasa was painstakingly restored to the smallest detail in the 1980s
Visiting Bahia Palace
This is another beautiful place to visit in the old town of Marrakech, although it sits at its southeastern edge rather than in its core. The Bahia Palace was built by a grand vizier (sort of a prime minister) of the Sultan at the turn of the 20th C. It was later used by the French resident-general (the governor, in fact), Louis-Hubert Lyautey, as his official residence.
The palace has plenty of ornamental details throughout, several courtyards and some rather large gardens. In fact, only part of it is currently open to visitors and the visit itself doesn’t take much time.
There were quite a few visitors, but it was much less crowded than the Ben Youssef Madrasa.
Perhaps is best let images speak for themselves…
At the time of my visit there was also an exhibition of traditional Moroccan doors, although I don’t know if this was a temporary or permanent exhibit.
At the time of my visit there was also quite intense renovation work going on. For example, a whole wing of the palace’s beautiful blue courtyard was being fully restored.
By the way, I didn’t mention it, but there is an entrance fee of 100 Dirhams (around €10/$10), which is a bit pricey, but definitely worth it.
Other things to see near the Marrakech Medina: the Koutoubia minaret and gardens
The 69-meter tall Koutoubia minaret is one of the most recognizable views of Marrakech and it defines the skyline of the city. It was built in the 12th C. and it is adjacent to two mosques.
If its outlines looks familiar it is perhaps because the Marrakech Koutoubia minaret inspired also the famous Giralda of Seville (as well as the Hassan Tower in Rabat).
Its location next to the Jemaa el-Fna means that you can’t miss it. There are some lovely gardens next to it, as well!
Visiting a legendary grand hotel: La Mamounia
La Mamounia is one of the world’s most iconic grand hotels and it is located just a short walk away from the Koutoubia and Jemaa el-Fna.
It was built in the 1920s by French architects who mixed art-déco elements with traditional Moroccan architecture. Over the following decades La Mamounia hosted many world leaders and celebrities, but perhaps the guest which has been most closely associated with La Mamounia is Sir. Winston Churchill, who had the place in great esteem and sojourned here several times, including during the war, in 1943, right after the Casablanca Conference.
Even if a stay at La Mamounia is beyond your budget, you may be able to visit its grounds to enjoy a drink (or two) at its bar or terrace. Bear in mind, though, that this is a rather exclusive, private venue, so at times, for example if events are taking place, external visitors may not be let through.
Besides its sumptuous lobby area, La Mamounia hosts also several luxury shops (making it, in practice, a mini-luxury mall) as well as some exhibition space displaying elements connected to the history of the hotel. Worth noting also that La Mamounia has a huge garden!
The bar at La Mamounia was one of Churchill’s favourites (it has since been obviously modernized) and it extends into the outdoor area. A coffee at the terrace at La Mamounia would cost you around 80 Dirhams (€8/$8), but, believe me, it is good value, all things considered.
This is a perfect oasis to recover some energy in the hottest time of the day, after a few hours walking nonstop through the souks. From here it is also quite easy to return to the Medina to check the evening atmosphere at Jemaa el-Fna.
Where to stay in Marrakech
Marrakech is a city of riads, that is the traditional Moroccan guest houses. Many of these have been modernized to cater to the standards of the modern sophisticated traveler, but keeping as much as possible of their authenticity.
Riad Maison D’Hôte Abdel & Jamila
25 Rue Mouassine, Marrakesh 40000
https://riadabdelandjamila.com
This is a recently renovated riad and at around €75 per night offers great value right in the heart of the Medina, as well as very nice service throughout.
Part of the experience is actually getting to the hotel, since you will need to navigate the maze of small narrow alleys to the side of one of the main souks.
It is a pretty small scale establishment structured around a central open air courtyard which is acts also as its lobby (so to speak) and brekafast area.
Upon arrival there appeared to be a small glitch with my booking.com reservation, although the wait allowed me to enjoy a traditional Moroccan tea in this very scenic room (pictured below).
My room was on the ground floor, which meant that the windows were directly next to the common area of the riad, which made me worry a bit about it getting noisy early in the morning.
However, this concern appeared to be rather unfounded, as this is a small scale, boutique hotel and, while there were people around in the morning, it was all very quiet.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the room was the bathroom, tiled, open to the bedroom, yet laid out in a way that still confers a degree of privacy.
The whole experience feels refreshingly analogue: a physical key, which closes an actual lock, and light switches that took a moment to locate, one of them turned out to be tucked behind a bedside table. Little to do with your traditional corporate hotel, but I guess that's the point!
The riad has also a rooftop terrace. There are no outside views to speak of (the inside view is quite a thing, though) but it is a nice spot to catch the rays of the sun (and you can have your breakfast there as well).
The breakfast was really good and substantious. It is served to the table, rather than being buffet-style. You have to wait a bit until it’s ready (breakfast service starts at 9am) but which gives kind of a premium feeling.
Another option to stay just outside Marrakech city center:
Caravan Serai Hotel
264 Ouled, Ben Rahmoune 40000, Marrakech
https://www.caravanserai-marrakech.com
If you are looking for something a bit different and outside the buzz of the Medina, here is another rather unique hotel to check.
The hotel Caravan Serai is located in Marrakech’s northern outskirts, a few kilometers from the city center . It is located on the edge of a small hill overlooking the plains and offering views of the nearby Atlas mountains, as well as of the Marrakech Medina (you can even make out the siluete of the Koutoubia from there).
Bear in mind, though, that this location means you would need to take a taxi to go to and from the center, each way costing 150-200 Dirhams (€15-20/$15-20). When arriving for the first time it is a bit difficult to locate since it is in the outskirts of a little village literally on a narrow dirt track and there is only a little sign at the door which may be difficult to spot in the dark.
Once you step inside it is like an oasis of peace, very neat and quiet and with a truly unique character. I was told that the hotel opened some 20 years ago, after the owners fully restored a pre-existent structure according to traditional architectural standards.
The Caravan Serai hotel has a large courtyard with a pool, with the rooms, which are rather large and in traditional style, as well (see the pictures below) located all around.
The bathroom is quite something! And there is also a spa in the property, although I didn’t have the chance to check it out!
Each of the rooms have a terrace. As you can see, mine had a direct view of the pool and the courtyard.
The whole set up is quite interesting, with access to some of the rooms through a sort of rooftop terrace which you get to after climbing a narrow set of stairs in a tunnel-like set up.
By the way, if you are a cat person, you will be happy to know there are quite a few felines living in the property and roaming freely through all its common areas.
The hotel Caravan Serai has also a pool side restaurant area, which is where breakfast is served. Breakfast consists of a small buffet. It is not extravagant in terms of choices, although it covers the basics (and the staff can prepare some rather tasty pancakes on the spot and upon demand).
The hotel has also a nice garden, which I guess makes for a nice venue for weddings and other similar events.
By the way, cats are not the only animals roaming free through the hotel grounds: there is also a peacock! Also, note the monumental cactus that welcomes guests to the pool area!
As mentioned a bit further up, another plus of this hotel are the stunning views of the Atlas mountains contrasting with the that lush landscapes of the plain of Marrakech and its palm and olive groves. This view is particularly remarkable when there is still snow in the Atlas!
Moving around modern Marrakech: some practical tips
Let me start this section by saying that infrastructure to get to and from Marrakech is pretty good. Both the train station (left picture above) and the airport (right picture above) are state-of-the art and aesthetically beautiful.
Now, moving within the city is another matter, although you possibly won’t need to move around much if you stay close to the Medina, since the city center is pretty compact and you can get pretty much everywhere on foot.
Now, a couple of pieces of advice:
Get local currency in cash: while cards are accepted in most places, this is still a place that runs on cash. Also, I noticed that long queues form at the currency exchange and ATMs near Jemaa el Fna and the main tourist spots. However, if you look around a bit, you will see that there are some currency exchange shops which are much less crowded in adjacent areas, just avoid the main central spots and you will be fine.
Safety: I got the feeling that the Medina and central Marrakech are, in general, pretty safe. Also lots of tourists, including many families walking around pretty unconcerned. The usual precautions apply, of course, and bear in mind that some areas of the Medina get pretty crowded at peak times. As long as you are careful not to leave your wallet too exposed, should be fine. Also, while there is some hawking, mostly around Jemaa el-Fna, it is much less than I was anticipating.
Taxis: most taxis don’t take cards and are not particularly cheap. A ride to and from the airport, which is pretty close to the airport, can cost 150-200 Dirhams (€15-20/$15-20), which is quite pricey for the distance and local price levels.
Uber does operate in Marrakech, but it tends to be considerably more expensive. Other ride-hailing apps like Careem and Bolt operate in Morocco, but not in Marrakech at the time of writing these lines (only in Casablanca, Rabat and some other cities).
Languages: since Marrakech is a very touristy city, many locals, particularly those working in the tourist areas, know at least some basic English, which they usually use straightaway when seeing a foreigner. French is otherwise the lingua franca (in addition to the local Arabic and Amazigh). Quite a few people in Morocco appear to know some Spanish too.
The taxi app you may want to have when traveling to Marrakech is Roby, which is a Moroccan app. However, it is match-making app only. It connects you to an available taxi, but it does not process any payments. All payments on rides booked on Roby must be settled in cash. The app gives you the approximate amount, but it is advisable to confirm it with the driver before the ride to avoid any surprises later on.
I read there is another app called inDrive that works in a similar way and it is also available in Marrakech, but I don’t have direct experience using it.
Modern Marrakech
The modern city of Marrakech, starts just outside the walls of the Medina. The modern downtown is made of broad, palm-lined avenues.
The area around Gueliz, in particular, is pretty well maintained and its streets are quite walkable and lined with shops and restaurants (including the typical international chains).
It offers quite a contrast with the maze of narrow streets of the Medina.
A place to eat in the modern part of Marrakech
Verandah
232 Av. Mohammed V, Marrakech 40000
https://www.werandahmarrakech.com
So, continuing with the topic of modern Marrakech. If you are looking for a modern place to rest a bit from the frenetic activity of the Medina, here is a place that, while not claiming to be traditional or “authentic” in the exotic sense of the word, offers a comfortable alternative just outside the city walls.
It offers mostly international cuisine, although it has also some Moroccan specialities in the menu, such as the chicken tagine depicted below.
Bonus Tip: Menara Gardens
This Marrakech landmark offers one of the city’s most iconic views, with a water-side pavilion silhouetted against the backdrop of the Atlas mountains.
I had big expectations about this place, so I decided to stop by on my way to the airport, since it is located nearby. To be honest, after having been to all the other places I described earlier in this post, I found the Menara Gardens quite underwhelming.
First of all, I have no doubts that the view must be amazing when visibility is good but this was, sadly not the case when I visited. So, no views at all, although I was not too concerned about this, because I had enjoyed quite amazing views, perhaps even better, from the Caravan Seari hotel, as detailed earlier.
But also, the whole ensemble appeared to be quite run down in general and in this it contrasted with some of the other sites I had visited. I have read that there is an entry fee to enter the pavilion, but I didn’t even check since I had come primarily for the views.
The pavilion and the basin are in the middle of a large olive grove which is also a public park. By the way, one of the positives is that entrance is free (perhaps this explains the less than optimal preservation state). There are a couple of kiosks and little more in terms of infrastructure.
I also visited at a not very optimal time, in the early afternoon, when it is hottest, I guess it is much more pleasant around the evening. Nevertheless there were a few locals having picnics among the olive groves.
The Menara Gardens are some three kilometres in a straight line from Jemaa el-Fna and the Koutoubia, so, it is technically walkable, although it is a large avenue with quite a lot of traffic and little shadow, so may be better to take a taxi. It is also quite close to the airport, almost adjacent to it, actually, but the taxi would still charge the customary 150 Dirhams.
So, in short, feel free to visit if circumstances permit and you think that you will get the views, but don’t lose sleep over it if it’s not possible for whatever reason!
What to do and what to see in Baku and around
For many years, Azerbaijan barely registered on most travellers' minds, but not anymore.
Oil and gas wealth is undoubtedly behind this transformation. The energy resources that turned Baku into one of the largest cities in the Russian Empire, first, and the Soviet Union later, have also underpinned a rather comprehensive urban transformation programme in the last decade.
The skyline of futuristic towers and meticulously restored medieval streets are its most visible sign, but so is a newly found confidence and pride in the country’s ancestral Azeri culture.
Not unlike the Gulf monarchies further south, Azerbaijan has also backed up these public investment programmes with the organization of big-ticket international events such as the Formula 1 championship, COP29 in 2024 and many other international conferences.
And the strategy appears to be working. During this trip to Azerbaijan I came across a fair number of tourists from both east and west that have come to explore the so-called “Land of Fire”.
Not only is Baku no longer an exotic destination for adventurous travellers, its immediate hinterland, which includes a diversity of landscapes ranging from snowy mountain ranges to deserts dotted with natural and archaeological wonders, is starting to get more attention too.
However, and this is also part of the attractive, tourism in Azerbaijan is still far from being a massive affair and you can still get the sense of exploring a truly off the radar destination.
In this post I will try to summarize my experience traveling in Azerbaijan and visiting also a couple of other sites that are within a reasonable driving distance of Baku:
Old and new Baku
The ski resort of Shahdag, in the Caucasus Mountains
The Ancient petroglyphs of Gobustan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
I am aware that there is another major site of interest just outside Baku: the mud volcanoes, which are clustered around two different sites, one to the north of the city, the other to the south, near the Gobustan archaeological park, actually.
Due to logistics and schedules, it was not possible for me to visit them this time and include them in this itinerary, but if you have the chance I would definitely encourage you to check them out. I have them in my Baku to-do list for my next visit.
So, now let’s dive into what is to do and to see in Baku and its broader vicinity!
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The Flame Towers and Baku viewpoint
It was a bit rainy when I visited, but still a pretty view!
The Flame Towers have become the symbol of modern Baku since they were completed in 2012.
These three curvy skyscrapers are certainly beautiful and original in their looks. It’s hard to miss them from wherever you are in the city, because they occupy a privileged position on top of a hill overlooking the sea.
However, they are mostly about the “continent” rather than the content. In fact, there is little inside them for the regular visitor, since they contain offices, luxury apartments and the Fairmont five-star hotel.
I think it is still worth going to see them from up close, though, not just because of the architecture, but also because the park next to them, the aptly named “Highland Park” offers some really nice views of the city.
The park has also has several interesting monuments within its grounds.
These are of a patriotic nature, such as the “Martyr’s Lane”, which is a memorial to those that died during the last turbulent months of Soviet rule as well as during the long-going conflict with Armenia (which is still not yet fully resolved at the time of writing these lines, even if Azeri forces managed to get control of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh area in 2023). The park has also monuments dedicated to the Turkish-Azeri friendship (picture below) and to the British troops that were posted in Baku after WW1.
Baku Central Park and Taza Pir Mosque
Right to the northwest of the Old Town is the Central Park and within it is the Taza Pir Mosque (“Təzəpir məscidi”), which is the main muslim religious center in Baku. The mosque was built in the early 20th C. and was restored in the early 2000s. The park itself is quiet a large open space with a bit of incline which has been solved by having several subtly layered terraces.
You have some nice views of the Flame Towers from here and the outer wall of the old town is within walking distance, all downhill. To get there you pass several streets that, unlike the old town, have not (yet) been renovated, so you can get an idea of how things may have looked like just a few decades back in time.
A tour of the Old Town of Baku
The access to the old town of Baku near the "Icherisheher metro station
A must in any trip to Baku is a walk throught the old town or “Icherisheher” (İçərişəhər) in Azeri.
The old town of Baku is a UNESCO World Heritage site and its origins are very ancient (the place was inhabited already in prehistoric times). Its walls and architectural ensemble appear to be in a great preservation state, although you can tell it has also been object of rather extensive restoration project (a little bit like is the case of Al Balad, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which we described on this post, as well).
The result is a very neat and orderly neighbourhood (perhaps even a bit too aseptic at times!), which makes for quite a relaxed walk around.
I don’t know if we picked up a particularly quiet day, but the place was pretty quiet when we visited it. Nevertheless, it’s refreshing to visit a major historical city center that is not overrun by tourists nowadays! There are also quite a few souvenir shops but you don’t get the feel of overcommercialization you see in other capitals.
One of the highlights of Baku’s old town is the Maiden Tower (Qız Qalası), a round 29-meter tall stone tower with a view point at the top. The current construction is medieval, but it looks like there has been some sort of tower at this spot for thousands of years and archaeologists can not agree as to the original purpose, whether it was religious or military.
All of this is explained as you climb up the tower (warning: it is done through a rather narrow staircase), as each floor is arranged a bit like a little museum hall, each explaining different aspects of the tower’s and city’s history.
But the big prize is climbing all the way to the top to enjoy the 360º views of the city!
A curious fact about Baku is that it has a fleet of London-style black cabs. They were, in fact, imported from England around 2011! (although the Bolt ride-hailing service is also available in Baku)
The taxis are not apparently the only bout of anglophilia in the streets of Baku, since I managed to spot at least one red British-style phone booth!
If you are looking something with a bit more of a local flavour, don’t worry, you will find plenty of these too!
Besides the medieval part of the city, Baku is also endowed with a modern downtown which is legacy from its time as an oil boomtown in the early 20th C.
The oil business made of Baku one of the top three cities in the whole Russian Empire and this shows in the grand architecture of parts of its centre.
This part of the city has majestic buildings in the European style, with broad straight avenues and tree-lined boulevards with shops and cafés.
There are also quite a few broad squares which act as public recreational areas and there is, of course, no shortage of statues and fountains.
The public spaces in this part of the city are also kept meticulously clean and orderly.
The Caspian sea promenade
Baku is a seaside city, even if the Caspian could be technically considered a lake, since it is fully enclosed. In practical terms it doesn’t matter, because the city has a long seaside promenade, complete with a number of piers and several contemporary architectural landmarks.
The latter include the Crescent Hotel, which is the doughnut-shaped building visible in the picture above (part of a larger Korean-designed development that includes also a mall), and the National Carpet Museum, depicted below (I didn’t visit it partly because of time constraints, partly because I am not really into carpets, but this is one of the traditional crafts of Azerbaijan, so maybe worth visiting if it is your thing!).
I must say that, despite being right by the water, Baku doesn’t seem to be a “beach city” in the way that, let’s say, Barcelona or Nice are.
The Caspian waters right by the promenade didn’t, actually, look very inviting and, I guess the proximity of oil extraction areas, both onshore and offshore but not far from the coast, has something to do with it. However, we were told by locals that there are some good areas for bathing in the peninsula right to the east and north of the city.
In any case, a walk onto the pier is totally recomended as it will give you an additional view of the city skyline from the water and allow you to enjoy the sea breeze.
Visiting the Heydar Aliyev Center
The Heydar Aliyev Center is the other must-visit architectural landmark in Baku.
This iconic building, the work of the late renowned architect Zaha Hadid, is part museum, part cultural centre, part conference venue. It was designed to become a symbol of the city and to represent the modernity of independent Azerbaijan, with an instantly recognizable tangible symbol.
One of the defining characteristics of the Heydar Aliyev Center is the fact that it does not have a single straight line. This gives it an appearance of dynamism and weightlessness despite being a really massive building! It is also located on top of a small hill with wide open spaces on all sides, which makes it easier to appreciate its uniqueness and the genius of its design.
While its outer appearance makes the Heydar Aliyev Center already worth the visit, its inside is also quite interesting.
First there is the architectural part, as well, with the internal spaces organized in a rather unconventional way. But the center houses also several collections and exhibits, ranging from art to the history of Azerbaijan and the life and works of the person that the center is named after, Heydar Aliyev, who ruled Azerbaijan both during the Soviet period and after independence and founded the dinasty that still rules the country).
The collections are quite well presented, even if the topics can be quite eclectic. You may wanna put aside a couple of hours to see them all.
From the Heydar Aliyev Center you can get yet another view of Central Baku.
Where to eat traditional Azeri food in Baku
Qaynana Restaurant
Kichik Qala, Baku
This is a restaurant of Azeri cuisine that is located at the edge of the old town, next to one of the old city gates. If you are looking to sample traditional Azeri food, this is a great choice!
It offers great ambience and large portions of tasty traditional food at reasonable prices.
Don’t be surprised if there is queue to get in, though. It is best to try to book in advance, because this place is popular and has high turnout!
One of the specialities of this place is the freshly baked bread called çörək, baked on the spot in a traditional tandoor clay oven.
You can actually watch the whole process, from the moment they shape the dough to its baking in the tandoor and, then, the moment when it comes out of the oven and is brought straight to the tables, warm and ready to eat.
Here below you can see the final results, it is an amazingly tasty bread, but take it easy, because it is tempting to eat lots of it without even noticing. I would recommend leaving some space for the other specialities the restaurant has to offer.
The signature dish I recommend tasting is Shah Plov, which consists of rice cooked inside this type of dough cake you can see depicted below, which is called kazmag, accompanied by lamb and dried fruit stew (chestnuts or plums with pomegranate). But this is not all…
…because of the highlights of a meal at Qaynana is the moment the waiter brings the Shah Plov to the table and cuts the kazmag open with a knife. Its sides fall perfectly in different directions, leaving the warm rice exposed and ready to be mixed with the stew.
It’s a really substantious and filling dish, you have been warned!
Where to stay in Baku
Hyatt Regency Baku
You can go wrong with this hotel. It is solid, modern hotel located in one of the city’s main avenues (not exactly next to the old town, but just a short Bolt ride away or a 25min walk if you feel like it).
The rooms are big (and the bathroom as well), staff were very helpful throughout and breakfast was really amazing, with lots of different local specialities.
Perhaps just a seasonal thing, but you can get really good rates for five-star hotels like this one in Baku!
Excursions around Baku
So, now that we have checked the key hotspots in Baku, it is time to see a bit of the Azeri countryside!
On this trip I describe two such excursions:
To the ski resort of Shahdag (some 2.5-3h from Baku by car to the northwest)
A visit to the rock art of Gobustan (1h by car towards the south)
Shahdag, to be fair, is a bit far for a one day trip, so I recommend spending one or several nights there, and will provide some recommendations in this regard. The excursion to the Gobustan Rock Art can be done as a day or even half a day trip from Baku.
To both places I travelled with a local driver that we hired in Baku through recommendations of locals, but you can find tours and excursions online to these places as well.
Before getting to destination, though, if you have the chance I suggest stopping at any of the many roadside produce shops that you find throughout Azerbaijan.
This particular shop, on the road between Baku and Shahdag was all about apples (btw, if you are into apples, do not miss this post about Mooma, the “apple paradise” in Catalonia!)
There are apples of all colours and shapes, as well as derivative products. The one that I found it particularly interesting, since I have not seen it anywhere else outside of Azerbaijan are these circles of different colours (red, brown, green) that you can see in the pictures above and below.
These are “lavashana”, a traditional Azerbaijani (and broader South Caucasus) which are round panes made of dried plum or apple paste. They are eaten as dried fruit snacks. You literally snatch little portions of the circle with your fingers as you eat it.
Skiing in Azerbaijan: the Shahdag ski resort
The Shahdag ski resort turned out to be an amazing find. It is located to the northwest of Baku, very close to the Russian border (you can actually see Russia from the top of the slopes).
The skiing domain has some 37 slopes ranging from 1,435 to 2,552 metres of altitude and even at the end of the season, as it was the case of our visit, you can expect really good quality snow here.
Shahdag has several things going for it:
The natural setting, which is truly magnificent.
The skiing area is quite compact, with pretty much all the slopes converging at the hotel area.
There are hardly any crowds
Prices, from the forfaits and materiel rentals to the hotels, even the most upmarket ones, have pretty reasonable prices if you compare them with what the equivalents would cost in Europe!
It is also worth noting that Shahdag is quite a young resort, which only opened in 2012.
It is also a sort of flagship project for the Azerbaijan tourism industry, in fact the country’s president, President Ilham Aliyev laid out the first stone of the project back in 2009.
You can tell a huge amount of investment has gone into its development because the equipment and infrastructure is all pretty new. Shahdag is, in fact, an ongoing project with plans to continue expanding it.
Shahdag is also a greenfield project. The centerpiece of the resort and, pretty much its only infrastructure, is the hotel cluster, which is located right at the bottom of the slopes. There is practically nothing else around.
This makes it really convenient if you are staying at one of the hotels (more on this below), but means you are virtually in an island in the middle of the mountains.
Where to stay in Shadagh
Park Chalet, Shahdag, Autograph Collection
This is one of two five-star hotels in Shahdag (there are four hotels and one apartment block in total in the resort as of 2026), both Marriott franchises and quite similar in style.
The picture above depicts the “Pik Palace, Shahdag, Autograph Collection”, as seen from the “Park Chalet, Shahdag, Autograph Collection”, where we stayed. Perhaps the Pik Palace, Shahdag, Autograph Collection is a bit more upmarket, but the differences are marginal, I think.
Park Palace, Shahdag, Autograph Collection is a rather stylish hotel, a modern take on the traditional Alpine aesthetics. You can get an idea of how the rooms look like in the pictures below.
When it comes to food, the good news is that each of the two Marriott hotels has a pretty good restaurant. The food is fresh and tasty. It is perfect if you like grilled meats, because they cook them on a proper charcoal barbecue in plain sight.
The bad news is that there is very little else around. There are a couple more restaurants in the resort’s small commercial area and that’s it. There are no supermarkets or produce shops, nothing. And the restaurants can be a bit pricey, so if you spend a few days at the resort it starts to add up.
As mentioned earlier, this being the Caucasus, grilled meats (“shashlik”), served with the corresponding sides, are the signature speciality.
The hotel has also a well-equipped spa area with an indoor swimming pool and a gym.
Another nice feature of the hotel is that it is located right in front of the starting point of most of the ski lifts and gondolas going up the mountain, so you can just walk from your room to the slopes in a matter of minutes!
Visiting the Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape
And from the mountains to the desert! Because the other outdoor area I visited near in Azerbaijan is the Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The contrast with the mountains of Shadagh is sharp, the Gobustan rock art area is located in a very arid region some 60km south of Baku, where the flatlands are punctuated by a series of hills.
There are some mud volcanoes nearby but they were closed at the time of our visit, so I am not commenting on them in this post, but if you have the chance, it may be a good idea to include them in the itinerary!
It is on these ridges where the rock art is found. In fact, it is spread over a rather large area, but for regular visitors the core is Boyukdash Mountain, which is where some of the most impressive rock carvings and the museum and visitor center are located.
The Gobustan National Historical-Artistic Preserve Museum is quite modern (you spot the trend here!). It was inaugurated in 2011 and acts also as a visitor’s center for the main cluster of petroglyphs.
It does a good job explaining, through a rather immersive experience, the history of the area and the different rock carvings found, which stretch all the way back to the Paleolithic era 40,000 years ago, although some are as “recent” as the Middle Ages.
The visit then continues outside to see the rock art first hand. It is very accessible and you don’t need to be a specialist to see it, because it is all over the place. The petroglyphs are really diverse in their shapes and topics and depict humans, animals and things, like boats, for example (several thousand years ago, the Gobustan area was much closer to the Caspian sea and much greener).
The natural setting is also quite impressive from the point of view of the landscape. The hills where the carvings are located look a bit like a sort of gigantic disassembled lego set, with huge rocks and boulders laying out on top of each other in a rather chaotic manner.
So, even if you only have half a day free after visiting central Baku this can be quite an interesting excursion to do!
Getting to and from Azerbaijan and some practical tips
Finally a word about getting to Azerbaijan plus the usual practicalities to take into account.
It’s visa free for most countries (or e-visa on arrival to be more accurate), including the EU, the US and the UK.
By the way, the following is possibly only relevant to a very small subset of travellers, but, at the time of my visit and I think it is still the case well into 2026, it was only possible to enter Azerbaijan by air, its land borders having been closed since the Covid pandemic!
In any case, Baku airport is getting increasingly well connected with many points in Europe and the Middle East and it has become quite an accessible destination.
Again, the wonders of oil-funded investment in state-of-the-infrastructure become visible at the airport, which is a really modern and convenient facility (although there is still a small Soviet-era terminal in service, which is used by a small number of flights).
By the way, the best way to get to and from the airport, and to move around more generally, is to get an e-sim that works locally and use Bolt, which is the top Western ride-hailing app in Azerbaijan. Prices can be very competitive, a ride from the airport into downtown costs the equivalent of €7 (US$8) and within Baku’s downtown it can be just a couple of euros (or dollars).
By the way, Russian is still the main foreign language for most Azeris, although the younger generation tends to know at least some basic English.
It’s also a good idea to change a bit of cash upon arrival too, even if credit cards are accepted in most places.
Two hours from Dubai, a World away: visiting Musandam on the Strait of Hormuz
Now that the Strait of Hormuz is the centre of the global attention for all the wrong reasons, it is perhaps a good time to remember that its southern side is one of the most truly amazing destinations you can visit anywhere in the Middle East.
The Musandam Peninsula, an Omani exclave which protrudes into the sea giving the Strait of Hormuz its curvy, contorted shape, is a land of majestic desert fjords and dramatic vertical cliffs laid out in an extremely intricate pattern.
It is hard to believe that this area, with almost no flat land or roads of any type and populated only by some fishermen which move around only by sea, is located just a couple of hours drive from the buzz of Dubai.
If you are based in Dubai, the Musandam Peninsula is perhaps the top thing to do if you are looking for places to spend a weekend somewhere out of the city. In fact, traveling to Musandam from Dubai is like stepping into a whole other world entirely!
Now, what I am going to explain here refers to a visit made before the military conflict that flared up in the Gulf in early 2026. So, a word of caution here, since I have no idea how the war may have affected the Musandam Peninsula and whether it is advisable or even possible to visit during times of conflict.
In any case, the natural attractive of this area is there to stay, so hopefully these lines about how to visit the Musandam Peninsula and what to do there will remain relevant regardless of when the fighting ends.
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In an article I wrote about the area in 2023, was titled “The Norway of Arabia” and while this comparison helps frame the type of landscapes and environment Musandam offers, I think it is worth elaborating a bit more on this label and sharing some more details of this amazing and yet relatively unknown gem of a destination.
Khasab, the gateway to the Musandam Peninsula
How to get to the Musandam Peninsula
First of all some important logistic considerations:
Musandam is an Omani exclave, that is one piece of the territory of the Sultanate of Oman which is detached from the mainland and wedged between the UAE and the Strait of Hormuz. Therefore, if you travel there by land, you will have to clear Omani customs and immigration.
Now, the good news is, Oman is a relatively open country and citizens of many countries (including the EU, UK and US) can simply get a visa at the border, a process that involves just filing a form and paying a small fee.
However, it is still an international border and entry conditions may change, so check in advance on the websites of the Omani government and the travel advisory section of the embassy or consulate of your own country!
Another important consideration:
If you are traveling on a car rented in the UAE (as was our case), you need to make sure the terms and conditions of your rental allow for entry into Oman. Many car rental companies in Dubai or Abu Dhabi will do that for an extra fee. So, check it is possible before the booking and then ask for it again when picking up the vehicle.
Also, in addition to obtaining permission from the car rental company to take the car out of the UAE, you also need to take into account that Oman requires all vehicles entering its territory to have an insurance policy that covers Omani territory. Some car rental companies based in the UAE offer this, but, in such case, make sure you get all the papers and print them out, because they are going to be checked at the border and they are pretty strict with this.
The alternative is to contract an ad-hoc insurance policy for the duration of your Musandam journey right at the border. An Omani insurance company has a booth right by the border post just for this purpose. The process takes like 5min and it requires filing up a form and paying the insurance fee (at the time it was something like $60 for a 2-3 day period, but this may be subject to change).
In our case, while we had contracted the international insurance upon picking up the car in the UAE, there was, apparently, a mistake in the way it had been processed, so the border guards wouldn’t let the car in unless a new insurance policy was contracted at the local booth, which we did (we later cleared that out and got refunded by the car rental firm since it had been them messing up the paperwork).
The distance from downtown Dubai to the Oman border crossing is about 150km (90 miles) and to Khasab is about 200km (120 miles). It is nearly all through motorway, except for a short stretch between Ras Al Khaimah and the border in which it switches to a two lane road which crosses and industrial area. So, it takes a couple of hours to the border, and to that you should add another 30-40 minutes already inside Omani territory to Khasab.
You must also factor in some time for the border crossing, because it is necessary to stop, get off the car and clear immigration at the customs house. The time requirement depends on the amount of people and the “complexity” of your paperwork. On the way in we spend nearly an hour, but this is because we arrived just after several buses full of tourists (there are also some organized tours from the UAE going to Musandam) and we had to sort out the car insurance paperwork. On the way out it took us less than 10 minutes.
Roads are good. On the UAE side, you are almost all the time on a well-maintained, multi-lane motorway. On the Omani side it is a two-lane road, but it is also well-built, well-maintained and quite broad. So, as long as you take care of the border formalities, Musandam is pretty accessible.
You can also travel to Musandam by air, since there is also a small local airport. However, as far as I am aware of, it only has a few domestic flights to the Omani capital, Muscat.
Spending the night in Khasab
Fjord cruise departures are usually at 10am, so, while you could technically make it in one go from Dubai if waking up very early in the morning, I would highly recommend spending the night before the fjord tour in Khasab.
Where to stay in Khasab
Now, when it comes to choices, Khasab is nothing like the apparently almost endless supply you find across the border in the UAE. And this is a great part of what confers to Musandam such a sense of uniqueness and, without being luxurious in the material sense, of exclusivity, as well!
There are basically two major modern establishments in Khasab and both are managed by the same company, Omani hotel group Atana, the Atana Khasab Hotel, which is located in a small hill overlooking the bay of Khasab, and the Atana Musandam Resort, which is located in downtown by the port.
The latter markets itself as somehow more upmarket (perhaps on account of its slightly more central location), but, from the descriptions I have seen I think they are both pretty similar, in the four-star range. We stayed at the Atana Khasab Hotel and had a very good experience!
This, was at least, the situation when it comes to accommodation in Khasab at the time of my visit. Since things change really fast in this region, it is very possible, that some new hotels have opened since. In fact, and unless there is a deliberate policy of limiting visitor numbers, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is what ends up happening, since the appeal of the place is undeniable and it is only a matter of time until the word spreads out. I hope, if this ends up being the case, that Musandam is able to preserve its charm!
Atana Khasab Hotel
This modern hotel is located right on the main and only road leading from the UAE border into Khasab. It is located a couple of kilometres from the port and it has some very nice pool-side views of the bay of Khasab and the waters around the Musandam Peninsula. it has plenty of space to park your car, btw.
The facilities are quite modern and spacious and some rooms have direct access to the terrace.
We had dinner and breakfast at the terrace of the Atana Khasab Hotel and it was pretty good overall. The menu contains also quite a few local specialities, which is a nice touch (the um ali and mahalabia they serve for dessert are particularly tasty!)
The hotel has also quite a few outdoor spaces, including part of the dining area, which is quite nice considering that the weather in this part of the world is quite balmy in the mornings and evenings.
My description of the Atana Khasab Hotel wouldn’t be complete without a word of recognition for its staff, and particularly for Rasheed, the hotel’s restaurant manager, who went above and beyond to return us an item of great personal value that we inadvertently left behind at the hotel. Rasheed not only took care of finding it, but even drove several hundred kilometers into the UAE to deliver it in person to the resort where we were staying it at the time!
“This is Omani hospitality”, he simply said.
So, I am taking this opportunity to express again my huge gratitude for this very kind act!
What to do in Musandam?
While the base for any Musandam Peninsula excursion is Khasab, which is the main town in the exclave, there is little to see in the town itself, aside from a 16thC. Portuguese fort (Portugal controlled the area around the Strait of Hormuz for quite some time in the 16th-17th C.).
The rest of the town is pretty unremarkable. In fact, it is quite a small place. There is a sort of “downtown” with some shops and wholesale outlets near the port, but the population is pretty scattered otherwise.
The main thing to do in Musandam and, basically, the whole point of coming here is to enjoy a cruise along the fjords of the peninsula.
To do so, it is necessary to book one of the many day cruises that leave Khasab port in the morning. You can find quite a few options on Viator or Getyourguide.
We booked this tour of the Musandam fjords, which costs around $50 (€45) per person and the experience was great! I will describe it in more detail right below.
My impression is that most tours offer a pretty similar service, though: pick up in the morning at your hotel, drive to the port for a 10am departure. Then you spend around 6 hours at sea, returning in the afternoon at around 4pm or so.
The boats are of the traditional dhow type, although they are somehow modernized. They have a broad open deck where you spend most of the time. There is a protective canvas that is rolled out over it to protect from the sun as well as a cabin by the stern. The boat is also fitted with toilets, btw.
These boats are large enough to carry perhaps a couple dozen people onboard, but it is rare to see them full. In our case it was just around ten people and there was plenty of space to move around. It all felt like going on a private yacht.
The crew were also very nice. They took good care of us throughout the trip and you could see how they even strived to get us were the dolphins were!
Our route took us on a loop around the Musandam’s main fjord, which is located just to the west of Khasab. We started on the south side, getting past Telegraph Island (a little rocky outcrop which once housed a rely post of the British telegraph linking London to India) to the very bottom of the fjord and then back along its north side.
We did a couple of stops, each lasting about an hour or so, during which the crew anchors the boat next to shore and it is possible to swim. The crew also lends you googles and fins to do some snorkelling, which is quite an experience in these waters. There are coral reefs, plenty of fish and some interesting creatures, such as sea cucumbers and huge sea urchins!
Lunch is included in the experience and it is served on deck. It consisted of Arabian and Indian-style food, different types of roasted meat and vegetables with rice and different types of accompanying sauces and condiments plus flat bread. It was pretty tasty and abundant. It is self-service. The crew lays out the different foods and you take as much as you want. Drinks are also served.
During the trip you see several other dhows following roughly the same itinerary, but the distances are so big that it never feels crowded or “touristy”, even if it is obviously a touristy, packaged activity.
In fact, one of the most awesome things of this experience is the feeling of smallness in this rock and water landscape (there is not a single tree or even a little speck of greenery on sight!).
We also sailed past some settlements which can only be reached by sea. It is incredible to think this place is just a couple of hours drive from the Dubai Mall. It feels like a different planet!
One of the highlights of the tour is the dolphin spotting. At the start of the cruise I was giving a very low chance to this happening, but, actually we saw the first dolphins barely 15 minutes into the trip and then we spotted many more at different points during our journey!
Here are some more pictures of the secluded, mineral world that is the Musandam Peninsula.
This is a really rugged area, with some peaks towering nearly 800 meters directly over the water!
So, after returning to port, we just left Musandam for the UAE again, but you may want to consider staying for one or two more days to get more rest or simply to explore a bit more of the Musandam Governorate.
You can take the world’s longest zipline (1,800 metres), which has one of its ends right next to the Atana Khasab Hotel, or you can try to explore a bit of the interior of the exclave, which has some really high mountains reaching above 2,000 meters, although I don’t know how accessible those tracks are.
In any case, a day sailing through the waters of the Musandam Peninsula is an amazing, unforgettable experience and one I would recommend to anyone visiting this part of the world!
Further reading
If you are traveling in the area of planning to, you may want to check also my posts about:
Two days in Timisoara: what to do and what to see
Timisoara is the capital of the Banat, a historical region of Western Romania with a rather rich and interesting history.
Perhaps no other factor has contributed more to shaping the city than its location atop one of Europe’s civilizational fault lines.
The Ottomans conquered the city in 1522 and ruled it for nearly two centuries. During that time, Timisoara was one of the westernmost cities of their Empire. In 1716, the tables turned and it was the Austrians that took the city, transformed it from the ground up and made it one of their easternmost fortresses.
Later came the modern state of Romania and, of course, the Communist period under Ceaucescu, in the downfall of which Timisoara was to play a star role.
The city that most visitors see today, though, is the product of the Habsburg era. When the Austrians, led by the famous military commander Eugene de Savoy, took over the city, they soon started an ambitious program of engineering works.
In fact, to call it a “transformation” would be an understatement, because the Habsburgs basically built a new city over the foundations of the Ottoman-era one. The marshes around the old city were drained and a new urban grid was overlaid on the existing one, making way for the broad avenues and squares and Baroque buildings that make Timisoara such an architectural gem today. The city was also enclosed by star-shaped fortified enceinte containing multiple bastions.
Like many other cities in this part of Europe, Timisoara became also a cultural melting pot, with a population that, in addition to Romanians, has historically included also substantial numbers of Hungarians, Germans, Serbians and Jews. This shows in the fact that there are no less than three different cathedrals (Romanian and Serbian Orthodox and Catholic) in the historical centre of Timisoara, as well as a synagogue.
In this post I list the main points of interest in the old town plus some other things to do if visiting Timisoara, mostly connected with the role that the city played in the start of the Romanian Revolution of 1989, which ended up with the downfall of Ceaucescu’s regime and the democratization of Romania and its ultimate entry into the EU a few years later.
So what to see when visiting central Timisoara?
A walk through the Old town: from Piata Unirii to Piata Victoriei
Romanian Orthodox Cathedral
Banks of the Bega River
Maria-Theresa Bastion
Memorial of the Revolution
Museum of the Communist Consumer
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Top things to see in Timisoara’s historical centre
The historical centre of Timisoara is small, orderly and compact. It is structured along a number of large monumental squares linked by an orthogonal grid of cobblestone-paved pedestrian streets.
To be fair, the area of historical interest is not large and you can see most of it in a morning even if walking at a leisurely pace. If you allocate some time as well to visit the museums and enjoying the many cafés and restaurants in town, the two days that we I used as a reference to build this itinerary turn out to be quite optimal.
Piata Libertatii
This is one of the main squares in Timisoara. Piata Libertatii (“Freedom Square”) and, while it lacks the grand splendour of the nearby Piata Unirii (there are in fact, several buildings that are undergoing renovation), it is a lively square and a major crossroads where there is always movement of people.
It is also at one end of the Vasile Alecsandri avenue (depicted below right) the main commercial axis in the old town of Timisoara.
Piata Unirii
Piata Unirii (“Union Square”) is the main landmark in Timisoara’s old town: a large, open square which, in addition to the Austrian-built Catholic cathedral, contains also the city’s art museum as well as several beautiful and colourful historical buildings which line all its sides.
When the sun shines it offers an absolutely glorious panorama.
When walking through the city you can see that the historical centre has been painstakingly restored and, indeed, some buildings (including the one I stayed in, more on this further below in this post) are still undergoing a thorough renovation.
The public space has also been fitted with quite a few pieces of urban art and contemporary sculptures, as well as informational panels in both Romanian and English. There is also a QR code you can scan to get more in-depth info on your mobile phone, although, sadly there was some technical glitch that prevented the page from opening when I tried it on mine.
Timisoara seems to be a city well aware of its past, and it is also possible to find quite a few plates and signs marking important historical spots, whether its Romanian statesman Ioan Cuza or Eugene of Savoy, or the emplacements of buildings that are long gone, like the Ottoman hammam (roughly where present day Piata Libertatii now stands).
Another piece of relatively well preserved (and now restored) historical Timisoara is the Maria-Theresa Bastion, which was part of the Austrian fortifications, and is just a couple of minutes on foot from Piata Unirii. This is now the home of the National Museum of the Banat, but it was closed at the time of my visit.
Piata Victoriei and around
Piata Victoriei (“Victory Square”) is the third major square that gives shape and character to downtown Timisoara. Unlike the other two, this one has a more modern flair.
In fact, it is more than a square, because it transitions into an elongated gardened boulevard that ends in front of the Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral.
At the opposite end of the boluevard from the cathedral is the National Opera House, a very distinctive building the façade of which is adorned by a large arch and a colonnade.
Piata Victoriei was a major scenario of the 1989 Romanian Revolution, with the balcony of the National Opera House acting as an impromptu gathering place for the revolutionaries. In fact, the imprint of those days is kept well alive to this day.
In addition to the musem and memorials that remembers that moment (more on this further below), it is possible to find reminders of those epic moments throughout the city, like the grafitti alluding to the 35th anniversary of those events, to the entire text of the “Proclamation of Timisoara” being proudly exhibited in Piata Victoriei.
As in Cluj-Napoca, the she-wolf statue acts as a reminder of Romania’s links to Ancient Rome
The Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral of Timisoara is another landmark of interest in this part of the city, with a very distinctive architectural style which mixes Byzantine and local influences.
The cathedral stands at the edge of the historical town. Right next to it starts a series of gardens which run all along the banks of the Bega river and act as a nexus with the modern part of the town.
These ring of parks cover the area where the city’s outer defensive bastions used to stand. If the weather is nice, you can expect them to be packed with families strolling around or with young people having parties in the terraces and boat-restaurants.
While most of Timisoara’s modern parts are rather unremarkable from the point of view of architecture (several decades of Communist dictatorship left its urban mark), the area immediately to the south of the Bega river has some avenues that are not without interest.
Here you can see how in the early years of the 20th C. Timisoara was a growing city that expanded well beyond its original kernel.
Timisoara must have been a really thriving city in the late 19th and early 20th C. as shown by the fact that it was one of the first in Europe to introduce a number of public services that were truly pioneering at the time.
It was one of the first cities in Europe to have a horse-drawn tram network in 1867 (their electrically-powered successors still plod its streets, as you can see in the picture below) and the very first city to introduce electric street lamps in 1884!
The post-war Communist regime also tried to introduce its own version of “modernity” but with far less pleasing aesthetical results. Fortunately the historical perimeter of Timisoara was relatively untouched by this branch of “architecture”.
The Revolution Memorial
This is a must-visit in Timisoara, and a nice way to get a peek into the history of the city during the Cold War years, when Romania was under the totalitarian rule of Communist dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu.
The museum is, I think, run by non-profit, and the facilities are somehow basic (if quite centrally located just north of Piata Unirii) but it does a good job of conveying what life was like at that time and the sequence of events which, starting in Timisoara, led to the downfall of Ceaucescu’s regime in December 1989.
The Romanian flag with the Communist coat of arms cut off from its middle became the emblem of the 1989 Revolution. Unlike in other countries of the Eastern Bloc, the ousting of the Communist regime was a rather bloody affair, first due to government repression and later on due to the ensuing chaos.
This is a historical episode, by the way, which I covered also in my post about Bucharest, where some of the key developments of this story took place. Timisoara, however, is where everything started and today the city takes just pride in this fact!
Museum of Communist Consumers
If you didn’t have enough of Cold War Romania during the visit to the Memorial of the Revolution, you can also take a stroll to the Museum of Communist Consumers (“Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist“).
In fact, to call it a “museum” is a bit of a stretch, since it is essentially a bar which, in a rather ingenious marketing ploy, has transformed its basement into a makeshift repository filled with ordinary objects and memorabilia from the Communist period.
To be fair, there is not entrance fee, you just walk down the stairs and are free to roam the rooms (you may have to look for the electric switch as you walk into the next room, just as you would in a normal house). As mentioned, this is not an ordinary museum, so don’t expect any signage or audioguide.
If you are interested in that era, it is not without interest, if only because of the very original way to present the “collections”. If you were born before the 90s some of the items in the collection may not look entirely unfamiliar either!
In any case, since the bar-museum is located some 15 minutes walk south of the Bega river, it is a nice excuse to get out of the old town, as well. It’s a nice walk if the weather is nice and the bar has a terrace where you can sit down to replenish energies before continuing the sightseeing.
Where to eat in Timisoara
When arriving in Timisoara, one of my goals was to try some local Banat specialities and, I must say, that proved quite more challenging than I expected. There is no shortage of Italian and Asian restaurants and burger joints in Timisoara, but not really that many Banat or Romanian cuisine restaurants! In fact, I think I didn’t fully succeed at finding them, although I present here a couple of options which may be reasonably close and provide, I think, good value.
Paso Local Cuisine
Strada Eugeniu de Savoya 6B, Timișoara
https://www.pasorestaurant.com
This is a small restaurant located at the heart of the old town, providing good service and value for money in addition to a somehow lively atmosphere.
The speciality here are the meat dishes (although they do have some fish too) and, in particular, the roasted meat dishes that are so typical of the Balkans and southeastern Europe.
They only had one dessert choice, but it was pretty tasty.
Restaurant Tinecz
Calea Aradului 51, 300254 Timișoara
This restaurant is a bit further from the historical centre, so ideally you would need to take a cab (the Bolt ride from the Piata Unirii costs something like €3). I went to try it since I saw it had good reviews and a semblance of local cuisine.
This is, in fact, the case, although it combines some dishes with a local flavour, like the “sarmale” (below), which were excellent and pretty substantious, with more, let’s say, international cuisine.
The service was pretty good throughout, as well.
Coffee and pastries in Timisoara’s historical centre
If there is one thing I liked on the culinary front, though, it is the pastries. Here below are three places that I tried. All three are within 20 meters of each other on Vasile Alecsandri street next to Piata Unirii.
Patisserie-Cafetarie Prospero
This is, apparently, a local chain with three or four brances around town. It offers a nice range of sweet and savoury pastries and good coffee.
A’Clair by Alma Dulce
This place represents a totally different approach to coffee and bakery.
In fact it is more like a high-end patisserie offering some coffee as well.
The flagship product here is a sort of elongated sweet cake filled in the middle with cream of different flavours.
While there is not place to sit in the fancy, but rather small, interior, it does have sitting outside, on the street.
In line with the type of stylish experience it aims to offer, coffee here is served in some very original designer terracotta cups.
Service was great throughout.
Select Bakery
This is just opposite the aforementioned “Prospero” and it offers a similar selection of pastries. You can order to take away right from a little window on the side of the shop.
I particularly enjoyed this sort of triangular pastry, which is filled with a sort of cottage cheese and served warm. In fact, I liked it so much that I went back there for more the next day, and would have done the same if I had remained in town for longer!
Where to stay in Timisoara
City Park Apartments
Strada Carol Telbisz 4, Timișoara
This place was great value and in absolutely convenient location. It is located in one of the large old blocks next to Piata Libertatii. The place looks completely dilapidated on the outside, but the apartments inside are modern and renovated.
The place consists of a number of renovated apartments located in one of the wings of what I think must have been some old military barracks or something like that.
At the time of my arrival the place was pretty much a construction site. I guess the place will look completely different in a relatively short period of time, on account of its really prime location, since it is literally a two minute walk away from the main commercial axis in the historical centre.
So, don’t be fooled by first impressions when you come in (the check in process is fully automated, with the property sending you the codes to access the different parts of the building), the apartments inside are in good state, renovated and are very spacious. There is also a small, equipped kitchen, and some household supplies in an antechamber. There is also an espresso machine with some available capsules.
When I arrived there was no warm water, but this was fixed in a matter of minutes when I emailed the property and they sent me instructions about how to reset the heater, which was in an adjacent room.
There is high speed wifi as well.
Getting to and from Timisoara
Finally, before departing, a word about logistics and how to get to and from Timisoara.
The fact is that with low-cost airlines like Wizz Air flying to Timisoara from many points in Europe, never has been so easy to explore this beautiful city.
The airport is small but very modern and functional and it costs less than €10 to get there from the center with Bolt.
This ride hailing app is possibly the best way to move around if you don’t want to get messed up with public transport schedules and the like, and it is also not very expensive. In fact, if you stay near the old town you possibly won’t need transportation within the city at all.
If you are traveling from other parts of Romania, like Bucharest or Cluj-Napoca, you may look also at the train or the bus. In such case I suggest you check this website for schedules and bookings.
48 hours in Avignon and Nîmes: what to see, what to do
The south of France is so rich in sights and history that at, if you find yourself driving around the area on a sunny day, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the amount of choices that present themselves.
There are, however, some sites that really stand out (and have even been recognized as such by UNESCO, which has granted them World Heritage Site status) and fortunately, several of them are relatively close to each other, so it is perfectly possible to visit quite a handful of them in a couple of days if you have access to a car.
So, what to see and what to do if you if you are traveling in the area roughly delimited between Nîmes to the west, Avignon to the east, Châteauneuf-du-Pape to the north and Aiguesmortes and the Camargue to the south? We’ll see it now!
In this post I am going to try do just that: describe an itinerary that includes, I think, some of the most impressive and interesting places to visit in the lower Rhône Valley and the region where Provence meets Occitanie. These are representative of a diverse range of historical eras and have some varied landscapes, as well.
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Visiting the Palais des Papes in Avignon
Our itinerary starts in front of the imposing ramparts of the Palais des Papes, the old papal fortress in Avignon. This small provençal town was for quite a few decades in the 14th C., the residence of a number of Popes, which made it, de facto, the centre of the Catholic world.
Pope Clement V, who was French, relocated to Avignon from Rome in 1309. Apparently in an attempt to be closer to the French court. After him, successive popes stayed in Avignon and kept enlarging their residence and making ever more majestic.
The Papal Palace in Avignon thus, evolved into one of Europe’s largest medieval fortresses, made even more impressive by the fact that parts of it are built on top of naked rock (see the picture below).
The Pope returned to Rome in 1377, although Avignon remained part of the Papal estates and, in fact, it didn’t, join France until after the French Revolution in 1791!
It is advisable to buy the entry ticket in advance online, since there is a slot system for visits. To be fair, we booked quite at the last minute didn’t have any issue finding available slots, but I can not guarantee this is always the case, particularly during busy holiday periods!
It is also possible to buy a ticket that combines several of the town’s historical sites, such as the palace, its gardens (which we were closed at the time of our visit and, therefore, not included here) and the bridge over the Rhône (the famous “Pont d’Avignon”). Prices range between €12 and €17 approximately depending on the option you take.
If arriving by car, the best option is to leave the car at one of the several underground paid parkings near the Palace. The closest one is just underneath the palace’s rock and it is very aptly called “Parking du Palais des Papes”. If you spend half a day touring the castle and walking around the old town you would possibly pay something on the order of €10 or so, but it saves a lot of hassle.
Allocate at least a couple of hours to the Palais des Papes, because the place is huge.
I recommend taking the audioguide since, in addition to having nice and comprehensive explanations, it comes in the form of a tablet with augmented reality effects. It allows you to see how the different parts of the palace-fortress would have looked like in its heyday by pointing out at specific locations.
The visit, by the way, combines indoor and outdoor spaces and it is even possible to climb to one of the fortress towers for a view of the town.
Sometimes there are also some temporary art exhibits throughout the palace (like is the case of these giant suspended crowns in the picture below).
“Sur le Pont d’Avignon”
A visit to Avignon wouldn’ be complete without visiting the bridge over the river Rhône, the “Pont d’Avignon” that gives its title to the famous folk song.
The “Pont d’Avignon” is a real thing and it was built during the Middle Ages. Besides its function connecting the two banks of the Rhône, it also acted as a checkpoint to tax goods and trade and move upstream from the Mediterranean and downstream from Bourgogne and northern France.
The bridge only makes it half way across the river nowadays, since part of it was destroyed by a flood. This was apparently a regular occurence, but for some reason they stopped rebuilding it at some point.
There is a small museum at the head of the bridge which explains not just the history of the bridge and the importance of the Rhône as a major trading artery in the past, but also sheds some light into Medieval bridge-building techniques.
It is also possible to walk over the bridge and, in fact, it is from the far end of the bridge that you can get what are, possibly, the best panoramic views of the monumental ensemble of the Palais des Papes. so, make sure you include this in your visit as well!
Wine tasting in Chateaunêuf-du-Pape
The village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape (which is named like this because the Popes had a summer residence there during the period they resided in Avignon) is home to one of France’s most prestigious wine “terroirs”.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape is an AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée) within the French and European system of geographical designations for origin for wine (and other types of produce) and a particularly renowned one, covering both red and white wines.
According to oenologists, the quality of Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines has a lot to do with the combination of sunny southern climate, the strong winds that often blow down the orographical funnel that is the Rhône valley and the soil of the area, which is peppered by a type of rounded rocks that were, once upon a time, underneath a large glacier that covered this region.
Now, I am sure a dedicated wine conoisseurs could spend a whole week in Châteauneuf-du-Pape from one cellar to the next, tasting all the different labels. We certainly didn’t have this luxury (neither do I claim to be a wine expert) and I guess that this is also the case of most of our readers (even if possibly many of you may appreciate a nice glass of wine from time to time), so we selected just one winery for a quick glimpse into the world of Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines.
Visiting Maison Brotte in Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Avenue Pierre de Luxembourg, 84230 Châteauneuf-du-Pape
This is one of the largest wineries in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and it runs a small museum dedicated to wine-making in the region as well as the history of the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée and its natural environment. The visit includes a rather comprehensive audioguide itinerary and ends with a tasting of half a dozen local wines.
It is advised to book online in advance. The ticket costs something like €10 per person, give or take, and includes the tasting.
From Avignon to Châteauneuf-du-Pape is about 15km or so, about 20 minutes by car. Maison Brotte is right on the main road leading into the village and it has its own parking space for visitors. So, if you have the time, definitely worth a go.
Visiting the Pont du Gard
An itinerary between Avignon and Nîmes must include, of course, a detour to visit the famous Pont du Gard, one of the most impressive and best preserved Roman aqueducts to be found anywhere in the world.
This UNESCO World Heritage Site can be accessed from both banks of the river Gard. In either case, the car will only get you to about a kilometre or so from the actual aqueduct.
We approached it from the north side and there is a very large parking there and an interpretation center. Entry to the monument grounds is €8. I guess this is all the same on the south side.
A network of footpaths take you all the way to the aqueduct. You can even walk on it.
This is a very spectacular piece of Roman architecture by any consideration. We also got there at dusk when there was hardly anyone around, which made the visit even more impressive!
What to do in Nîmes
Next stop in our itinerary and our base for the night was Nîmes.
This is a very pleasant French provincial city which surprised me positively. I had heard, of course, about its Roman heritage (the city was called Nemausus in Roman times and the Pont du Gard was actually built it to keep it supplied with water), but Nîmes also has a beautiful and very walkable centre with some interesting architecture.
It is also a convenient place for an overnight stop, since, as we shall soon see, it has some great value options to eat and sleep and it is also quite easy to move around.
Visit the Arena of Nîmes
The roman amphitheatre (“Arènes de Nîmes”) is the jewel of the crown here. It is one of the best preserved (perhapsh THE best preserved) Roman arenas in the world, to the point that it is still used regularly nowadays for all sorts of spectacles. It is also super centrally located, so you can’t miss it!
Now, if you have visited other similar buildings in other parts of the former Roman Empire, you know what it is about. Nevertheless, it makes for an interesting visit, because most of the original structure is still standing you can roam through most parts of it, including the top rows, which good views of both the inside of the Arena and the city around.
The audioguide is also included with the ticket, by the way.
Visiting Roman Nîmes and the Maison Carrée
Nîmes is also home to another exceptionally preserved Roman structure, the temple known as “La Maisón Carrée”, which is also right in the middle of the old town. Besides the beauty of its proportions and the postcard-perfect look, it also has a small museum inside.
In fact there are quite a few Roman monuments in Nîmes in addition to the two presented here.
For example, there is also an old Roman defensive tower (the “Tour Magne”) at the northern edge of the city center, as well as a large archaeological museum located next to the Arena. The latter, known as “Musée de la Romanité” is housed in a contemporary landmark building next to the Amphitheatre. We didn’t have time to visit it, but read very good reviews.
It is possible to purchase a combined ticket which lets you visit all the sites for an advantageous price (although it is also possible to buy individual tickets, as well, if you don’t plan to visit them all).
Walking in Nîmes historical center
But besides the Roman monuments, Nîmes has also a rather beautiful, even grand, downtown.
Parts of it had the typical French “Republican” civic architecture. Large majestic buildings in neoclassical style and large open space are found in the area adjacent to the Arena (including a rather impressive Great War memorial with thousands of names on it).
The old town has a more intricate maze of small streets, with plenty of shops, cafés and small hotels.
Here are quite a few details from the morning walk through downtown Nîmes, from the crocodile that adorns one of the fountains in the old town, to some touches of contemporary architecture that mix with the more traditional harmony of the old town.
Where to eat in Nîmes
Wine Bar Restaurant Cheval Blanc
1 Pl. des Arènes, 30000 Nîmes, France
https://www.winebar-lechevalblanc.com
This is a cozy French restaurant located right in front of the Roman amphitheatre.
It features an artsy-bohemian decor with lots of motifs related to bullfighting, which is an activity which has a long tradition in Nîmes.
At Cheval Blanc you will find, essentially, French cuisine specialities. The food was rather good overall, it didn’t disappoint, it was exactly what we were looking for. You can see our choices here.
Service was a bit slow and at times the staff appeared a bit inexperienced, although to be fair they strived to make up for this by being extra nice and they were very diligent whenever we had some query or request.
Extra points for the desserts, which were amazing!
Where to stay in Nîmes
Appart'City Collection Nîmes Arènes
1 Bd de Bruxelles, 30000 Nîmes, France
This is an amazingly good value option to stay in Nîmes. It is as centrally located as it gets: just opposite the Roman Arena. and right next to the city’s main post office.
These serviced apartments (a hotel in all but name), occupies a grand, almost palatial, building which may have been a bank or something like this in the past, or at least it looks the part.
Staff at the reception were also quite nice in giving us very good advice for our visit downtown. It is also possible to park for free evenings and weekends on the nearby streets (there is a large paid car park under the adjacent square).
The room was huge! In fact it was more like a proper apartment with several differentiated areas: bedroom, living room-kitchen, with a large sofa that can be turned into a king size bed, bathroom and a sort of elongated studio and storage area as annex of the main bedroom.
I don’t know if all the rooms are that large, but it was truly spacious! And all of this cost around €100.
What to see in Aigues-Mortes
So, if you are in Nîmes and have a car, you may want to drive down to the Camargue, the marshy area at the mouth of the river Rhône.
The Camargue is, in fact, quite a large region that occupies most of the coastline between Montpellier and Marseille. To properly experience it, you would need to spend several days there, but, if you are short of time, you can make a quick stop at the walled medieval town of Aigues-Mortes, some 40 kilometres south of Nîmes.
Aigues-Mortes was a departure port for the Crusades in the 13th C. You can see, from the size of its walls that this was a place of quite some importance in the Middle Ages. In fact, Aigues-Mortes has managed to preserve, to a large extent, its medieval characters, being still to this day completely enclosed by the very impressive medieval walls.
As its name implies (“Dead Waters” in Occitan language), Aigues-Mortes is surrounded by water and swamps pretty much on all sides. It is also pretty close to, but not directly on the sea shore. There is a canal on one side of the old town and a lagoon and salt pans on the other one.
This lagoon turns pink at certain times of the year (not at the time of our visit), making for some amazing photo opportunities, although, to get the best angles I think you need to get to quite some distance from the ramparts!
As you would expect in such a heritage-rich city, its centre is all pretty much pedestrianized (there are paid car park right outside the city gates), and while there are not major landmarks standing out within the walls, the beauty of the place is the harmony of the ensemble.
Where to eat in Aiguesmortes
Restaurant La Citadelle
10 Pl. Saint-Louis, 30220 Aigues-Mortes
https://restaurantlacitadelle.shop
This restaurant is located on the main square of Aiguesmortes (Place Saint Louis).
We picked this place up a bit randomly (it was one of the few places that were open at the time of our visit) and it turned out to be quite a find!
It has two areas, a large spacious hall inside and a terrace (it is also a café) which I am sure it is rather nice when the weather is warm and sunny.
It is a rather unpretentious place overall, but here you can enjoy some local specialities, excellent seafood and great service.
A day in Málaga, what to do and what to see
Despite being the gateway to one of Europe’s top tourist regions, the city of Málaga is, I think, often overlooked as a tourist destinations on its very own.
Of the millions of visitors that pass through Málaga airport every year, only a relatively small percentage venture into downtown Málaga itself, the rest heading straight to the many seaside resorts and golf courses that dot this narrow strip of land between the Mediterranean and the Penibetic mountains, a stretch of coastline that has come to be known as the Costa del Sol.
I must confess that I was more or less guilty of the same sin, since my previous visit to Málaga, decades ago, had just been a quick ride through town on the way to the airport. The 2026 edition of the eMobility World Congress provided the opportunity to change that and to explore a bit more of the city. And, while it is true that most of Málaga’s suburbs look a bit uninviting, as is typical of cities that grew fast during that dark era of architecture that were the 1970s, the city centre has, fortunately, preserved some truly charming corners.
In the following sections I am trying to sketch the top things to do and to see in Málaga if you are on a short visit. The good news is that Málaga’s historical center is quite compact, so you can go quite a lot even if, as it was my case, you are truly time-constrained.
This post may contain affiliate links. If you book or buy something through them, I earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. It's one of the ways I keep Places of Charm going. Thank you for your support.
A walk through Málaga’s historical town
Most of the sights cluster within or around the old town, which borders also the port area and the hill where two old fortresses stand (the Alcazaba and Gibralfaro castle). The good news is that most of this area is pedestrianised, so this makes for a rather pleasant walk between the different sights.
Calle Marqués de Larios
This is Málaga’s main commercial axis, which you can see below. It has a rather elegant pavement made of these large white stone slabs (although the red carpet is a temporary addition for the city’s film festival).
The street is named after the Marquis of Larios, which was a prominent local industrialist in the 19th Century. The Larios family played a very important role in Málaga during most of that century and held sway over large swathes of the local economy. Their palace was located right where the “Equitativa” building stands today, the very prominent 1950s rationalist building that takes center stage in the picture below.
This building, which used to be the local headquarters of an American insurance firm, has since been transformed into a boutique hotel, the “Soho Equitativa”, which I will review further down this post.
So, this street, “Calle Marqués de Larios” is where many of the well known consumer brands have set up shop (I read that at some point it was one of the most expensive locations for retailers in Spain). It was a bit rainy during the time I started my visit (so much for the “Costa del Sol” famous year-round sunshine!) but this gave the streets a particular patina that I kind of liked.
While Málaga hasn’t been immune to the sort of touristization and banalization that has afflicted most European historical centers, it is still possible to find some truly authentic retail outlets!
Málaga Cathedral
One of the highlights in historical Málaga is, of course, the cathedral. This one is particularly impressive because of its size!
Roman Theater
Málaga is a really ancient city! One of the oldest in Europe, in fact. Málaga appears to have been founded by the Phoenicians some 500 years before the Romans arrived in the Iberian Peninsula. Rome, however, did arrive in due turn and and the city continued to prosper, changing its name from Phoenician “Malaka” to Latin “Malaca”. One of the most visible landmarks from that era is the ancient theater (“Teatro Romano”). It has its own small dedicated museum, but it was closed at the time I visited. Nevertheless, you don’t need any ticket to admire the ruins.
To be fair, it is not as big as the Ancient theaters in places like Myra and Amman, but its locaation at the foot of the old Islamic-style fortress of the Alcazaba fortress, with its medieval walls, make it quite scenic. It is also right in the middle of the old town.
Right next door, between the Roman Theatre and the Cathedral is the Málaga Museum (Museo de Málaga), which is housed in a neoclassical former customs house. Now, I didn’t have time to visit the museum, something that I kind of regret, since I head good things about it. So, I included it here so that you don’t forget to add it to your list if you have the time. It has basically to main collections: 19th Century Spanish paintings and Ancient archaeology from the local area.
I did manage to admire the exuberant palm grove that surrounds the building, though!
The Alcazaba of Málaga
If you have to choose only one place to visit in Málaga, this is it!
The Alcazaba is a former fortress-palace that for centuries has dominated the city from its hilltop position. Now, there is another castle even higher up on the same ridge, the castle of Gibralfaro.
The two were connected by a narrow walled enceinte, now in ruins. You can visit both nowadays, although you need to do so separately (you can purchase a joint ticket, though).
Since I had limited time I opted to visit the Alcazaba only, which I think has most to offer to the visitor. The higher Gibralfaro fortress has perhaps slightly better views, but you get a pretty nice view from the Alcazaba as well, and it saves you the climb uphill. It’s just a matter of prioritization.
The Málaga Alcazaba as we know it today is mainly a product of the Al-Andalus era, when Spain was under Islamic rule. The foundations of the current castle were laid out in the 11th Century, but the complex has suffered modifications throughout the centuries.
By the 19th Century there was even a whole residential neighbourhood on top of the palace ruins and some plans were drawn to remove completely what was left of the old fortification.
Fortunately those plans didn’t materialize and, in fact, by the early 20th Century, with changing attitudes towards the preservation of historical heritage the Alcazaba was declared a legally-protected monument and a process of archaeological investigation, restoration (and in some cases even reconstruction!) started.
Málaga’s Alcazaba is, in some ways, like a mini-Alhambra of Granada, with its magnificent views, patios and palatial quarters in Islamic Andalusí style.
However, most of what you see today is a relatively modern reconstruction (albeit a tastefully done one!) since most of the buildings had become a total ruin and some areas had to be cleared of other later constructions that had been built on top.
Seeing the result, I think it was the good decision to take!
Entrance to the Málaga Alcazaba is €7 (or €10 if you buy the combined ticket that gives you also access to Gibralfaro fortress). The ticket has a QR code that you can access to get an audioguide which runs straight through your phone (you need an internet connection), a pretty smart and convenient approach!
The Alcazaba also opens a bit earlier than other museums, so it is a good idea to start the day here.
Picasso Museum of Málaga
Pablo Ruiz Picasso, one of the most influential and universal artists in history, was born in Málaga and, while he left the city quite early in his life, his imprint remains in the city through the Picasso Museum of Málaga.
The museum is located in the middle of the historical center in the Palacio de Buenavista, a fully restored 16th-century palace, which was, in turn, built on top of Roman and Phoenician foundations. IT is also adjacent to the church of San Agustín (picture on the right), also from the 16th C. and sharing its courtyard with the museum building.
Btw, the museum must not be confused with Picasso’s birthplace, which is actually some 200 meters away, on Plaza de la Merced, and it is also an exhibition space (which unfortunately I wasn’t able to visit).
Practical note: there are two queues to enter, one for those that purchased the ticket online (you are encouraged to do so by using a QR code displayed by the entrance to the museum) and another for those that wish to buy the ticket onsite.
It was a bit confusing, particularly since both queues appeared to be growing by the minute at the time of my visit. Interestingly, the “online ticket queue” was not only longer, but seemed to move more slowly. So, since I was not sure how much time would it take, I decided to try the ticketless-cash only queue. It turned out to be the right decision, since every few minutes a member of staff let some people from that, much shorter, queue in.
So, I don’t really know if this is how it always works, and hadrd to understand the logic when it looked like those pre-purchasing were being penalized (perhaps on some days there are numerus clausus and those that didn’t buy online can not get in?). In any case, but thought worth sharing the experience.
The entrance fee is not cheap (€13) but I think it is good value for what you get.
While the museum is not huge, it holds a really interesting collection that covers pretty much the whole of Picasso’s life and which were gathered by the artist’s daughter-in-law and one of his grandsons.
There is also a section with paintings by other influential artists that were contemporary with Picasso.
So, I would say this is the other highlight I would visit if having to prioritize the things to see in Málaga.
By the way, if you are interested in the life and work of Picasso, you may also want to check this piece I published on CNN a few years ago about the places that inspired and influenced the artist’s work in Catalonia during his youth.
The Port of Málaga
Since Málaga is a port city, a walk through the harbour could not be missing from this post. This time it had to be an evening one, but it still delivered some rather impressive sights, and I am not referring to the handful of mega-yachts moored along the quay!
There is a promenade all along the quais which offers the sea-view of the historical Málaga skyline, complete with the cathedral, the Alcazaba and the line of walls, illuminated at night, that run all the way up to Gibralfaro castle.
What’s more, the port of Málaga has also some interesting architectural landmarks that are made even more interesting because of the contrast in styles. This is the case of this Mondrian-style glass cube which hosts the Centre Pompidou Málaga and a small modern art collection, and the elegant Chapel of the Port nearby.
And if you make it all the way to the port’s lighthouse (“La Farola de Málaga”), you may as well eat or drink something at the “Trocadero Casa de Botes”. This is a stylish quayside restaurant which offers a cozy indoor atmosphere and some nice views of the port and the city. Definitely a place to check if you are looking for a place with real character to eat in Málaga.
Where to stay in Málaga
Hotel Soho Boutique Equitativa Málaga
Edificio La Equitativa, Alameda Principal, 3
29001 Málaga
This is a very nice hotel located right at the intersection of Calle Larios and the Alameda avenue, the two major avenues in Málaga’s downtown, and next to the port area. What’s more, as described earlier in this post, the Equitativa building is a landmark on its very own. Built in the 1950s, this 14-storey rationalist building would not be out of place in a major US downtown.
Rooms are not big, but are very cozy. The bed is comfortable and the room has everything you need to work, if needed. The bathroom is also pretty modern and stylish and has a huge shower room.
Also remarkable is that you may get great views of the city. I was just on floor 4th (of 14) and it was already like a panoramic viewpoint of the aforementioned Calle del Marqués de Larios right in front. I can only imagine how the views must have been from rooms further up.
By the way, there is a bar and a panoramic terrace (with a small outdoor pool, also with views) on floor 7th.
Last but not least, a couple of shots of the breakfast, which, as you can see here, was particularly solid when it comes to the pastry department!
So, definitely a hotel I would recommend as a place to stay in Málaga!
48 hours in Riyadh: what to do and what to see (Updated)
Al Faisaliah Tower, Riyadh
When I first published this post, it was meant to be a classical “48 hours in the city” type of article. However, successive business trips to the Saudi capital have allowed me to explore more of the city, to the point that I have kept adding more recommendations about what to do and what to see when visiting Riyadh. So, it may be quite challenging now to do it all in 48 hours.
Nevertheless, I still think the places and experiences that I list on this post are still mostly doable in a relatively short visit, so, in keeping with the theme of this site, I decided to keep the title while continuing to enrich the content.
Table of contents:
Top views in Riyadh
Riyadh Season
Boulevard City
Boulevard World
Royal Saudi Air Force Museum
Where to stay in Riyadh
Where to eat in Riyadh: two suggestions
Day trips around Riyadh: the Edge of the World
Saudi Arabia has emerged as one of the world’s up and coming tourist destinations and this is not random. There is a very deliberate intent, under the “Vision 2030” strategy to make of tourism one of the forces capable of driving economic diversification away from oil.
The Saudi government is, in fact, investing heavily to make of the kingdom one of the top countries by number of visitors in the world: new airlines, airports, resorts and cities are in the menu. In fact, a whole new business district gleaming with new skyscrapers, hotels and office buildings appeared to have emerged out of nowhere in the short time since my earlier visit.
So, it is entirely possible that some Saudi cities may look quite different in a few years time, see for example, the massive restoration work that is going into restoring Jeddah’s historical district, but let’s focus on the Riyadh of 2026.
What interesting things can a visitor see and do in Riyadh already today? Let’s have a look…
Top thing to do in Riyadh
The bridge at the top of Riyadh’s Kingdom Center
If there’s an iconic building in Riyadh, this is the Kingdom Center, a 302m skyscraper with a very prominent “eye” at the top.
The very top level of the building, which acts as a bridge between the two sides of the opening, can actually be visited. And this is actually something I would recommend doing first if you find yourself with some spare time in Riyadh.
From the top of the Kingdom Center you have the best views of the city, giving you an idea of the extension covered by the urban sprawl. It is even possible to discern exactly where the city ends and the desert starts, without transition.
From here you can also get an excellent view of Riyadh’s central strip, which the Saudi authorities expect to develop, over time, as a sort of Dubai or Manhattan-like skyscraper district.
As of 2025, only a few of the planned high rises are currently standing. One of them is the Al Faisaliah Tower, which is another iconic skyscraper, with a roughly triangular shape and a giant 24-meter diameter ball at its top (you can see it in the picture opening this entry).
One thing that surprised me is that there was almost no one around when I visited, neither in the viewpoint, nor in the luxury mall at the base of the building. I counted about a dozen employees on my way to the top, but only a couple of other visitors in the whole time I spent there.
Nevertheless, the views were magnificent!
Riyadh Season & Boulevard City
One of the symbols of the process of liberalization that Saudi Arabia is undergoing is the Riyadh Season.
This is a festival that runs from October to March, with many cultural and entertainment activities scheduled throughout the city. This is quite a radical development is you think that cinema, music and other forms of entertainment were severely curtailed until only a few years ago!
The Riyadh Season has several venues but one of the epicenters is Boulevard City and the adjacent Boulevard World (BLVD World), a massive entertainment complex on the western side of Riyadh. Think Disneyworld meets Time Square, but in the desert!
At the time of my first visit I was only able to pay an evening visit to Boulevard City, so I will focus first on this bit. The area is being developed so fast that it is likely that by the time you read this post, new amusement areas have already sprung up in the vicinity (there is certainly no shortage of land for this!).
UPDATE (as of March 2026): indeed, by the time of my next visits, Boulevard World was already completed and in full swing. So keep reading because I will describe it next as well!
You can tell Boulevard World is really new and no effort has been spared in order to create a sort of immersive experience with plenty of sensorial stimuli, be it light, music or water effects.
In some ways, it is not too different from the typical set up of a World Expo (and, yes, after Osaka, the next World Expo will actually be held in Riyadh!)
By the way, to give you an idea of the scale of the place, Boulevard World also hosts a massive man-made lagoon, which is quite a thing considering the Riyadh’s desert environment! (always wondered where do they get the water from to run such a huge city in this very high and dry location).
There are also plenty of places to eat throughout Riyadh’s Boulevard City, although the two suggestions I present further below are actually in other parts of the city.
Visiting Boulevard World in Riyadh
Boulevard World is the theme park adjacent to the Boulevard City (and both together are part of the collection of amusement venues and festivals that are known as “Riyadh Season”).
I had been to Boulevard City before, a true example of the social transformation that has been going on in Saudi, so I was curious to see what Boulevard World next door was about, particularly considering that Boulevard City is already a pretty vast entertainment complex. The visit didn’t disappoint and, as you may imagine, it has been built on a massive scale.
What is Riyadh’s Boulevard World, then?
If you have been to any of the Disney parks or to a place like Port Aventura, near Barcelona, the concept will sound immediately familiar: it is a massive entertainment venue which is organized in different thematic sections each aiming to reproduce a country or region of the world. Visitors can follow an itinerary that takes them on an (almost) literal world tour and can enjoy activities, foods and shopping related to each of these areas.
There is an entrance fee of either 29 or 58 rials depending on whether it’s weekday or weekend, that is $8 or $16 (€6.7 / €13.4) respectively at March 2026 exchange rates.
So, pretty reasonable compared to Disney, I think!
To get the ticket you will need to download an app called Webook. It is a bit annoying to have to download an app you may never use again just for one purpose, but, apparently there is no other way! The purchase process, however, is pretty straightforward once you have downloaded the app.
The whole place is structured around a vast artificial lake, with the different countries and regions of this “World” easily recognizable by the iconic landmarks you come across.
There are sections dedicated to: Saudi (with Jeddah’s famous coral houses), China, Turkey, Central Asia, the GCC countries, Egypt, Africa, Greece, Ancient Rome, Italy, Mexico, Spain, India, the US, France, Thailand, Japan…and quite a few other places I can’t even remember!
And there are also some items that are not country-specific but pretty cool, as well, like real size dinosaurs and a giant sphere covered in LED lights that keeps depicting different very realistic images all the time, a bit like the famous sphere in Las Vegas…because there is a touch of Vegas, as well, in this whole Boulevard concept.
It is a pretty huge territory and, even if we practically didn’t stop to eat, drink or play, it took us a good two hours to walk the whole itinerary at a relatively fast pace.
So, definitely a place to visit in Riyadh if you have some spare time in the evening, but, beware! If you are planning to see both, Boulevard City and Boulevard World, better do each of them on separate days, because otherwise it can be exhausting!
The Saqer Al-Jazirah Saudi Royal Air Force Museum
I did cover this museum in this post for the Allplane aviation site, however, I thought any post about things to do and to see in Riyadh should include a mention to this excellent museum.
If you are even minimally interested in aviation, you will like it! Even if, truth, be said, it is far from easy to reach. The only way to get there is by taxi/Uber and the entrances are not clearly signalled, so actually my Uber left me at the far end of the perimeter, not at the main entrance.
Likewise, getting back to my hotel was a small odissey, since I Uber drivers kept cancelling rides at the last moment and took me something like one hour or waiting time, plus a not very pleasant walk on the side of the mortorway to a nearby McDonald’s to be able to get a ride back! So make sure you have enough battery and a charger with you and some way to access the internet on your phone if you don’t wish to get stranded!
On the positive side, I must say that the museum staff were super friendly and helpful and helped me with my internet connection and offered me tea and sweets during my wait.
The museum collections are pretty impressive and are split between an indoor and an outdoor part. Pretty much every model of aircraft operated by the Royal Saudi Air Force is in display here and there are also some civilian aircraft that were once operated by flag carrier Saudia, including a rather remarkable Lockheed L-1011 Tristar.
Where to stay in Riyadh
Since I have been at two different hotels in Riyadh, on different occasions, I will outline both here, starting by the one I liked the most.
Radisson Blu Diplomatic Quarters
This is a very nice hotel, located in the diplomatic area of Riyadh, to the west of the city. In fact, the whole area has some sort of special security status, as there are checkpoints to get in an out.
The whole facility is super new and it shows in its design. It is not super central, but you need a car to move anywhere in Riyadh, so I guess this is a rather secondary consideration here.
Also worth of note is the breakfast, which was really tasty and had an interesting mix of international and Arabic specialities.
I was also surprised to find out the room had a small kitchen!
A couple more pics of the room, which was impeccably clean and contemporary in style.
Al Waha Hotel Riyad
This is a more centrally located hotel, belonging to a local chain.
The room was quite spacious, but, to be honest, there were some service glitches and, overall, despite being technicall a four-star, it was not nearly at the same level as the other hotel I previously commented on.
The registration took very long, I understand there is some paperwork to be filled, but it was not done very efficiently to say the least.
Then there were issues with some of the lights in the room, namely the one in the cupboards, which wouldn’t switch off due to some faulty sensor, so I had an ongoing fight throughout the night, since it activated at random several times, waking me up.
Last and not least, my room was not done upon coming back from my day appointments and this, I was told, was due to not having indicated my preferences for room cleaning, since apparently it is a requirement so that female staff can know when they can enter a room. This is apparently by regulation, but I would have appreciated some warning before hand.
Having said that, when I complained about the above points, the staff were apologetic and they made sure the issues were fixed on the second day of the stay.
Best Western Premier Riyadh
King Ibn Saud Abdulaziz Saudi, As Sulimaniyah
Riyadh, 12621
This hotel appears to be quite new or recently renovated. It is a great value option to stay in Riyadh, offering good quality-price. Staff were also very friendly throughout.
Location-wise it is not super central, but not too far from downtown either. In Riyadh you always need to take a car or taxi ride anyway!
Breakfast was ok, although I would say that is the weakest part of its value proposition.
Other positive features: fast wifi and a comfortable lobby stocked at all times with Arabic coffee and dates.
The room was really large. In fact it was more like a two-piece apartment. Perhaps the most remarkable thing is that the bathroom was split in two separate pieces, with the shower alone being almost like a room in itself!
You can check how the rooms at the Best Western Premier Riyadh look like in the pics below:
Where to eat in Riyadh
When it comes to getting the proper Saudi eating experience in Riyadh, the choice is clear.
Najd Village
This is a bit like an oasis in the middle of central Riyadh. There are no traditional tables, but rather an array of eating areas arranged around a central courtyard with a small garden.
Najd Village restaurant aims to replicate the atmosphere of the desert caravanserais, where desert travelers used to rest and eat. You actually seat on the ground, or rather on carpets, and usually you would share the
Now, beware the portions, because they are really, really huge!
We were three in our group and we each ordered one item from the menu and we could hardly finish it! But it was really good! I’ve been twice to this restaurant and the standards have been pretty consistent.
As per the food, there is a good selection of Arabic cuisine specialities, lots of nicely cooked meat and rice with a diversity of breads to go with, which really adds to the experience!
Restaurant Awani - أواني Tahlia
This more of a Lebanese place offering specialities from the broader Middle East. It is rather central, modern and functional, and the dishes were actually pretty tasty, so I thought it worth including it here, even if it is not really a local Saudi cuisine restaurant. You can get an idea of what it is like with the pictures below.
Day trip from Riyadh: a tour of the Edge of the World
If looking for something to do just outside Riyadh, but without having to venture very far out, the Edge of the World tour is your thing. It can even be done in half a day, since the main sights are less than an hour by car from western Riyadh.
Very important, though: you need to get a guide with a proper 4x4 car. This is not an activity a non-local can really do on its own. There is, however, no shortage of companies offering day tours of the Edge of the World from Riyadh.
In fact two “Edges of the World” are marketed as day excursions from Riyadh by these tour operators.
We chose the one called “Second Edge of the World” by a company called Riyadh Tours, but my understanding is that, whether “first” or “second” Edge of the World, it is pretty much the same experience, with the difference being the access route. One of the routes is only open on certain days, while the other is always open.
Only the “Second Edge of the World” was available when our group was there, but don’t be fooled by the name, it was well worth it!
In fact, I think the actual experience is pretty similar and it involves venturing out into the desert towards a ridge of hills west of Riyadh, contemplate the otherworldly landscape, have lunch on the spot and head back to the city.
Definitely one of the top things to do in Riyadh if you have a spare half-day!
This was quite an interesting experience for me, since I always imagined the Saudi desert as a sort of flat space with sand dunes, but the reality is a lot more diverse. There are, actually, quite a few plateaus and hills in the desert and not all of it is sandy, a big part of it is actually a hard crusty surface!
So, in these tours (I think they more or less follow the same programme), the guide comes pick you up to the hotel in his vehicle and he takes you through a number of panoramic viewpoints in the desert.
The Edge of the World derives its name from the fact that there is a vertical cliffs that falls directly over the vast plain of the Saudi desert. It is pretty spectacular and provides great opportunities for Instagram-like pictures.
Most of the tours include also a lunch on the spot. The guide carries everything that is needed for this in the back of the car. At the time of the visit the temperature was pretty warm, in the high twenties-low thirties celsius, but still pretty bearable. So our guide just spread out some carpets and cooked some simple, but tasty meal on the spot. It was a great convivial moment with the group, an amazing experience.
As an added bonus, on our way to the Edge of the World we passed by some bedouin settlements that had camels and we stopped for a quick look at these amazing animals. As you can see in the picture below, they were quite friendly!
By the way, is planning a trip to Saudi Arabia, you may also like my post about Jeddah, its UNESCO World Heritage historical town and the Red Sea Corniche!
And if you considering traveling with Saudia, the national airline of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, check out my Saudia flight review!
What to see and what to do in Shenzhen (day trip from Hong Kong)
If there is a city that has come to epitomize the Chinese economic miracle, that is Shenzhen. What was just a collection of fishermen’s villages on the border with, then British, Hong Kong, has grown, in the course of three decades, into one of the China’s largest metropolises and the beating heart of many of its export-oriented industries.
To be honest, Shenzhen is not your typical tourist destination, in the classical sense of the “tourist” at least. There is, of course, not much to see that isn’t less than 30 years old, but this is precisely the point of a visit to Shenzhen!
It is certainly a place that sees a significant flux of visitors, if only because it’s a major economic hub, but also a place where you can get a quick glimpse of the “new” China without having to go “full in”.
This is because mainland China is just a simple metro ride from next-door Hong Kong, a convenient base for the foreign visitor, since it is way more integrated into the, let’s say, “international travel infrastructure” which many travellers outside China are used to, from the availability of payment methods such as Visa and Mastercard to the availability of ride hailing apps like Uber to the use of the English language.
This type of quick day-trips to Shenzhen have also been made way easier by the decision taken by the Chinese authorities to grant visa-free access to the country to the citizens of a large number of countries, including most of European Union members and the United Kingdom (alas, not the United States at the time of writing these lines).
So, read on for our recommendations about what to see and what to do in Shenzhen if one a day trip from Hong Kong.
Traveling to Shenzhen by metro
There are several ways to cross into Shenzhen from Hong Kong, but perhaps the cheapest and most straightforward is simply to take the metro to the border crossing and connect with the Shenzhen metro there. There are, in fact, several places where it is possible to cross into Shenzhen from Hong Kong and two places where the metro systems of the two cities connect: the Lo Wu (罗湖 Luohu) and Futian (福田 / Lok Ma Chau) border crossings.
I chose to use the later, since not only it has a direct connection to Hong Kong’s downtown (Admiralty) through the East Rail Line, but it also offers a rather direct access to Shenzhen’s central business district. If you are looking to just get a taste of what modern Shenzhen is like, I would go for this one.
The metro ride from Admiralty is about one hour long. If you wish to secure a seat, it is possible to pay a bit extra to get into the first class carriage. To do so, you just need to tap your card into a reader located directly on the carriage’s door. I did opt for the First Class option on the way there and used a normal carriage on the way back. It is a bit nicer, but the difference is not huge, but neither is the price difference. The main point is that you get a much better chance to get a seat.
The border between the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong, which is part of China but has a special autonomous regime, and mainland China is marked by the Shenzhen River (深圳河). The Hong Kong metro leaves you on its side of the river and you then cross on foot to the Chinese side through a cross-border bridge.
On the north bank of the river you will have to go through Chinese immigration and customs. There is a huge hall with multiple lanes and the process is pretty fast. At the time of my visit, citizens of visa-free countries just had to fill in a short form and present it to the border check point together with the passport.
And, voilà, you are in China proper!
Preparing for the excursion to mainland China
Crossing into mainland China is quite an interesting experience because the moment you cross the border, quite a few things you that, as a Westerner, you take for granted in Hong Kong, are simply no longer available.
So, it is important to prepare beforehand to avoid surprises or hassle once you cross the border and make the most of your time on the mainland!
Here are some practical things you must take into account if traveling to China:
e-Sim: you will need your phone and (Chinese) apps all the time, so make sure you get an e-Sim that includes China mainland coverage to avoid roaming charges and be functional at all times.
VPN: as you know, many Western platforms, including popular ones such as Google and Facebook, are not available in China!
Payments: Visa, Mastercard and Amex? mostly don’t work, also, many processes are optimized for digital payments, so best is to download Chinese apps such as Alipay (the one I used) or Weibo. I would say Alipay is possibly easier to use if you are a foreigner in China. It also allows it to link to your Western card, so this saves a lot of hassle.
Maps: Google Maps works (see the point about VPN though!) but I think possibly not as well as in other places (I did come across some less than optimal directions, although could find my way generally) and, possibly not as well as the Chinese native apps.
Ride app: forget about Uber, the local equivalent is called Didi
Language translation app: also essential since, unlike in Hong Kong, most mainland Chinese don’t speak English, so translation apps are used all the time.
What to visit in downtown Shenzhen?
Obviously Shenzhen is an entirely new city so don’t expect much in terms of history. It is also an active industrial hub, so most of the city’s territory is made of non-descript industrial or residential developments. There is, however, plenty around the Central Business District (conveniently within easy reach of the Futian border crossing) to keep you busy for the day!
For example, I arrived mid-morning from Hong Kong and I left early evening around sunset with the sensation of having just but scratched the surface.
Here is what I managed to visit:
Lianhuashan Park (must visit, for the sights)
Shenzhen Industry Museum
Shenzhen Museum
COCO Park Mall (yes, a mall is a must in any first visit to China!)
Walk to Lianhuashan Park for the views
If you are on a short day trip, like it was my case, I would start by heading to Lianhuashan Park by metro first and make my way down to Futian from there. Why? Because Lianhuashan Park offers some truly scenic views of Shenzen’s central business district. It is also a nice walk from there to the iconic Shenzhen Civic Center (市民中心) depicted in the middle of the picture above, which hosts the two museums I visited.
Lianhuashan Park is just 3-4 metro stops from the Futian border crossing and it is direct on Shenzhen’s metro red line (Line 4), you can get off the train at the station “Children’s Palace” which is close to one of the park’s entrances.
The park covers a small forested hill and is criss-crossed by several foot paths. It is perfectly well kept and you may even stumble upon one of these robot dogs (perfect embodiment of the sort of advanced electronics that Shenzhen is famous for!)
The highlight of any visit to Lianhuashan Park is getting the views of the Central Business District, but there are also a couple of other landmarks.
One of them is the statue of Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese Communist Party leader that engineered the country’s economic transformation and the rise of Shenzhen as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ). The other is a tree planted by China’s current leader, Xi Jinping, which, to all appearances, is growing strong.
Walking to the Central Business District
While Shenzhen is not really a pedestrianized city, the Central Business District is quite walkable, particularly the main axis that runs from Lianhuashan Park down to the Civic Center building and continues towards the Ping An International Financial Center (PAFC), the skyscraper (to the right side of the image below), which dominates Shenzhen’s skyline. At 600 meters of height, as of March 2026, the PAFC is the second tallest bulding in China and fifth in the world!
Although it has an observation deck offering what I imagine are amazing views of the city, Ping An International Financial Center, however, was not where I headed next. Instead I opted to visit a couple of museums which are housed within the Civic Center building, which, I hoped, would help me better understand the history of Shenzhen and its fast development over the last few decades.
Shenzhen Industry Museum
This is quite an interesting, if a bit unusual, small museum. It is more of a commercial exhibition space than a “museum” in the proper sense of the word. Here you can see showcased quite a few products and companies that are based in Shenzhen, with a very strong focus on electronics and technology.
Entrance is free and there were not many people around when I visited (in fact, I didn’t see that many people around the Civic Center area, which is remarkable, considering is in the center of major megalopolis!)
The Shenzhen Industry Museum can be seen in about 30 minutes. To be honest, it is not super visitor-friendly, in the sense that the displays are not particularly engaging and it is difficult, at least for a foreigner, what each exhibit is about other than the overarching theme that these are all cutting-edge technologies and products made locally in Shenzhen. However, I think the museum’s theme is pretty much on point, since industrial and technological development is very much “the story” of Shenzhen, and the museum is pretty accessible, so it is worth dropping by.
As someone with an interest in the aerospace industry, the exhibits about this field drew most of my attention, in particular this chronological display (below) showing all aircraft types (civilian and military) developed in China since the 1950s.
Visiting the Shenzhen Museum
This is the other museum I visited in Shenzhen. If the Shenzhen Industry Museum was on the western wing of the Civic Center, the Shenzhen Museum is on the eastern one.
This is, however, a much larger and content-dense museum which tells the history of Shenzhen and the surrounding Pearl River Delta region, from the pre-historic times all the way to the present.
Entrance is free, as well.
The museum’s scope is quite large. In fact, since I had limited time and it was clear I would not have time to see see all of of it, decided to focus on the history section. I was not to be disappointed by this choice!
The materials are actually presented in a rather engaging way and signage and explanations are also available in English. Room after room, you get to learn quite a lot about the origins of modern Shenzhen and Pearl River Delta, even if, like me, you were not previously familiar with the history of this part of the world.
The Museum has no shortage of dioramas and other visual elements to support its story-telling. Although it covers thousands of years, since the early inhabitants of the region all the way through Imperial China, the Colonial Era, etc, what I found most interesting is the last few decades, when it explains the rise of Shenzhen, including some very realistic depictions of what it took to create the present-day metropolis.
So, definitely, make sure you include Shenzhen Museum in your to-do list if visiting the city.
By the way, I also got positive reviews of the Shenzhen Science & Technology Museum, which is, actually, not far from the Civic Center and the Shenzhen Museum. This is a new museum, opened in 2025, designed by the Zaha Hadid architecture studio. Unfortunately, I did not have time to include it in my itinerary, but I thought it was a good idea to mention it, something for the next visit!
A quick glimpse of modern China in Shenzhen
But, besides visiting museums, the main goal of this one day excursion to Shenzhen was to get a taste of modern, capitalistic China, and to do this, nothing better than heading towards one of the city’s malls.
COCO Mall is one of the most centrally located malls in Shenzhen, right in the middle of the Central Business District and within 10 minutes walk of the Civic Center.
This is also a good spot to get a meal after all the walking through the park and the museums, since there are quite a few restaurants here offering different flavours of Chinese and international cuisines at very competitive rates.
The mall itself, is like any other commercial centre of this sort that you can find anywhere else in the world, from LA to Dubai. And perhaps that was the most interesting finding, that, even in an economy and society that appear, from the outside, so different from the West (note my previous comments about access to internet platforms, etc.), there was an absolute sense of familiarity in the environment of the COCO Mall.
So, if you have followed more or less this itinerary and if not planning to overnight in Shenzhen, it is possible that, by this point is starting to be time to head back to the border.
From COCO Mall you can take the metro, Futian Border Crossing is just a couple of stops away, or, as in my case, I ordered a Didi ride, in order to see more of the city on the surface.
The taxi rides, by the way, are pretty cheap and, from what I saw, the cars tend to be modern, electric models. This is also part of the modern China experience!
Three days in Kyoto and Nara: top things to do & to see
There’s not doubt that Japan is in fashion. Whether is the currency depreciation, better and more convenient air links or the pull of the Expo 2025 Osaka, the fact is that more people than ever are visiting the land of the rising sun. I became also, recently, one of these first time visitors to Japan, and I shared on this site my impressions of Osaka, its 2025 Expo and its best pavilions.
But if you visit Japan, it is also very likely that you will pass through Kyoto, as well, since this is the country’s historical capital and it has one of the highest concentrations of heritage sites in the country. What’s more, you may also combine your visit with that of nearby Nara, another place of historical significance which has become also popular because of the numerous small (and cute) deer that freely roam its streets.
In fact, there are so many sites to see in and around Kyoto that it can easily take you a whole week going through the most relevant ones. We didn’t have that much time, unfortunately, so, in tune with the usual theme of this site, I will try to compress here what we managed to see here in around three days.
I am aware I may have missed quite a few spots that are equally deserving of a mention, but I guess quite a few visitors find themselves in the same position, of having to make choices and prioritize.
So, I hope the following lines can somehow to be of help to readers with limited time choose what to do and what to see in Kyoto.
Visiting Fushimi-inaru and its thousands of Torii Gates
This is an iconic place and one of the must-visit spots in Japan. I guess this has become even more the case in the current Instagram era, since the colourful Torii Gates that line up to path to Mount Inari make for the quintessential Japan-themed photo opportunity.
How to get to Mount Inari?
Mount Inari is one of the several hills at the southeastern edge of Kyoto. You can get there from central Kyoto on a suburban train of the JR Nara Line. It takes around half an hour to get from Kyoto’s central station to Fushimi-inari station at the foot of the hill.
The moment you get off the station you realize you have arrived at a major tourist hotspot, since it is full of souvenir shops, fast food joints and the like.
The area of interest extends all the way up to the top of the hill (some 250m high). There is a designated path. The Torii Gates are actually inside a public park, so entrance is free and open 24 hours.
There are several Shinto shrines around Mount Inari and, in fact, this area is known to have been a center of religious practice since at least the 8th C. Its most distinctive element, however, and the one that gets most attention from visitors is the Torii gate-lined winding path going uphill for some 4km or so. There are some 10,000 Torii Gates lining up the path, each of these colourful traditional Japanese structures having been erected as an offering.
If you visit Fushimi-inaru during the day in good weather you are likely to come across some crowds, so you will need to have some patience to get a good shot at the gates!
By the way, one thing I found quite fascinating is that many visitors rent Japanese traditional attire to wear during the visit. There are many establishments between the train station and the entrance to the park which specialize in this trade. This is, actually a practice that is common at quite a few historical places in Asia, I had seen it, for example at Seoul’s Gyenongbokgung Palace. It’s surprising the first time you see it, but the outcome is actually quite cool!
The climb up Mount Inari takes a couple of hours if done at a leisurely pace, stopping to take pictures and the like. From the top you have pretty good views of the Kyoto metropolitan area.
Some random advice about traveling around Kyoto (and Japan)
Kyoto has a good metro network, which is complemented by suburban trains, which are also integrated in the same system, centered around Kyoto’s Central Station.
It is also remarkable that, while we are used to the image of super modern Shinkasen trains, many of the suburban trains are actually quite old vintage, although very well maintained.
The Suica card works here as well (I guess most foreign visitors arrive via Tokyo and have bought their cards there). It is important to have always some cash at hand to refill it, since many stations work only (or primarily) with cash and you may have issues exiting at the barrier gates if you don’t have the right amount to top up your card!
Using Japan’s luggage forwarding system
This is one of the great services that, as far as I know, are only available (or at least generally used) in Japan. If traveling around the country, you can forward your bags to your next destination at very competitive rates and with a very high degree of confidence they will arrive on time. It is often possible to get same day delivery.
This worked great for us, since we were moving from Kyoto to Nara (more on this excursion further down the article) and then onwards to Osaka. For something like $20 we could get rid of the problem of moving around with luggage and could enjoy the day much better. There are a few companies offering this service, I would advice checking with your hotel or ryokan to select one.
In our case, the hotel staff coordinated everything. We just told them where we wanted to send the luggage to, paid and then left the luggage to the care of the hotel, where they would be picked up. When we arrived in Osaka some 8 hours later, there they were, waiting for us at our next hotel!
One more practical note: if you are short of time or on the move, one of the best options to get a substantious and healthy meal is to get one of the bento boxes sold at all supermarkets and convenience stores at stations. For reference, here above you can see the one that we got for the short train ride between Kyoto and Nara.
Visiting the Kinkaku-ji Temple
This is also a must-visit in Kyoto. The Kinkaku-ji temple or “Golden Pavilion” is a beautiful temple covered in gold leaf and located in the middle of a small pond surrounded by carefully manicured gardens.
The actual structure that you see now is a reconstruction, since the original one burned down in 1950, but you wouldn’t be able to tell, since it has been rebuilt to the latest detail.
Unlike Fushimi-inaru, there is an entrance fee to visit the Kinkaju-ji grounds. The temple itself is not accessed, but you can walk along the pond and see it from some distance. The garden grounds offer the postcard-perfect quintessentially Japanese views.
Kinkaku-ji is located at the northern edge of the city, so if coming from the centre the best way to get there is possibly to get a taxi, which, generally speaking, is not very expensive in Kyoto. Metro stations are not super close, but there are some bus lines that work like clockwork and if you have internet access to see find the stops and schedules on Google, it can also be a convenient option (we did that actually on the way back).
Eating at Kyoto’s Nishiki Market
Because of its central location, Nishiki Market could be a good option for a pit-stop and some lunch while traveling between the different points of interest in and around town (many of Kyoto’s tourist hotspots are actually on the edges of the city).
Here you will find dozens of food stalls offering a countless number of very interesting options and covering pretty much the whole spectrum of Japanese culinary specialities. So, take your time to walk around an nibble here and there as you go!
Kiyomizu-dera Temple and Higashiyama
This is yet another temple area on the eastern side of Kyoto, but very close (within walking distance) to downtown on the eastern side of the Kamo River.
I say “area” because, while, the Kiyomizu-dera temple is the centerpiece, Higashiyama is a whole historical district that contains several shrines and other spots of interest, such as the Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka commercial streets, which are lined with wooden houses built in traditional Japanese style.
Some of the landmarks in this area, such as, for example, the Yasaka Pagoda, have become somehow iconic of the city and have come to represent the “image” of Kyoto and, more generally, of Japan, as well.
The temple itself is at the top of a small hill offering views of downtown Kyoto. There are several paths to access Kiyomizu-dera, one of the most scenic ones starts at the Otani Hombyo Temple, which is, itself, not without interest. This narrow path then climbs uphill leaving a large cemetery on its side.
The temple compound at the top and its grounds contain several colourful buildings, including this pagoda you see in the photo below. It also offers views of the city below.
When coming downhill from the temple you will find some of the most charming areas of Kyoto. The narrow streets of the Higashiyama district (depicted above) are nowadays packed with tourists, but nevertheless, you wouldn’t want to miss it if in Kyoto.
Also remarkable is the siluete of the Yasaka Pagoda (below), another iconic Kyoto landmark.
Continuing with our Higashiyama walk and turning slightly north we get to the Yasaka Shrine, another temple, which is located within the grounds of Maruyama Park.
To be honest, perhaps the main point in getting there is actually to enjoy the walk itself, particularly in nice weather, since it runs through some nicely preserved areas of the city. The park itself is also a beauty spot and it hosts quite a few interesting wild birds too!
Maruyama Park
Kyoto at night
The Kyoto experience wouldn’t be complete without an evening walk in the area in the vicinity of the Gion district. This area is buzzing with activity in the evening, with quite a few restaurants and shops on both banks of the Kamo river, as well as adjacent and smaller Takase River (which looks more like a canal, tbh).
Visting the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest
This is another area on the edge of town, but on the far west side this time.
What’s to see around the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest?
Well, you guess…! A handful of temples and the bamboo forest that lends its name to this section of the post.
To be honest, the bamboo forest was quite underwhelming. You just walk on a nondescript path along the bamboos but I would not say it is aesthetically that exceptional, certainly not to merit, on its own, the long metro ride from downtown (in this cute, little train, btw).
The broader area around it, however, had some beautiful sites. Even if we were not able to visit the Tenryu-ji UNESCO World Heritage temple, we could walk around the surrounding gardens, which area also quite beautiful.
I also found quite interesting the sight of the Togetsukyo Bridge, which spans the Katsura, a relatively shallow but very wide fast flowing mountain river.
You can see the pictures from this area below. Nice enough, but if your are short of time, this would be possibly the one that I would cut out, since it is a bit further to get to and, in my opinion, a bit less interesting than the other spots mentioned earlier in this post.
Places to eat in Kyoto
Tomisen Restaurant
Shimogyo Ward, Minamicho, 576-4 2
This place was recommended by the staff at our hotel and it did not disappoint. It is a really small, local place and it serves, primarily sushi. The atmosphere is quite casual, the food was fresh and service good (even if they did speak much English).
Where to stay in Kyoto
I am going to suggest two options here, since we spent the night of our arrival into Kyoto in a more, let’s say, modern western-style (albeit of a Japanese chain and with some loal characteristics), while for the rest of the days we opted for a more traditional ryokan.
Mitsui Garden Hotel Kyoto Shijo
〒600-8472 Kyoto, Shimogyo Ward, Myodenjicho, 707-1
Pretty central and providing great value for money. While it belongs to a major hotel chain (there are other Mitsui Garden hotels in Kyoto, so check the name well when looking for directions!), it does not feel “corporate” at all!
We spent only a night here, so I didn’t get to try all the facilities, for example, it does have its own onsen, which is open during the night and early morning hours. The breakfast was pretty varied, with quite a few Japanese specialities.
I also liked the little details, a classic of Japanese hotels, such as the slippers and the kimonos!
Ryokan Ryokufuso
〒600-8323 Kyoto, Shimogyo Ward, Kanayacho, 490
The trip to Japan wouldn’t be complete without staying at a proper ryokan, so I opted for this one, which had great recommendations, and it did not disappoint: Japanese aesthetics and design and service excellence at its best!
This ryokan is also quite centrally located and it has its own onsen (although it is not spring water) with views of the city, since it is in the upper section of the building.
Our room at Ryokan Ryokufuso was quite large and, of course, laid out in traditional style. As you can see in the pictures below, it consisted of a large living room (which doubles as bedroom) and an ante-chamber with a little sink and table to prepare tea, plus the shower room and toilet in two separate pieces.
I must say, as well, that the staff at the ryokan were also very helpful throughout (some of them spoke decent English) with indications and, for example, helping arrange our luggage forwarding.
Ryokan Ryokufuso is, overall, great value for money and an excellent choice if you are looking for some traditional Japanese-style in Kyoto with good comfort and a central location.
Day excursion from Kyoto to Nara
Although it is, technically, a different city, the historical city of Nara is often included in Kyoto itineraries, since it is relatively close (about an hour by suburban train). It can be visited as a day trip from Kyoto or, as we did, as part of an itinerary that ended in Osaka, which is also about the same distance from Nara as Kyoto is. So, either way, don’t forget to visit Nara!
And, while the city has quite a few historical monuments (Nara was, actually, the capital of Japan for a period in the 8th Century, before it was moved to Kyoto), the thing that really stands out in Nara and the one you are most likely to remember is this little fellow depicted on the right, or to be more exact, the whole lot of them.
Because there are thousands of these little sika deer roaming freely the streets of Nara. They are, apparently, considered to be sacred messengers of the gods and designated as national treasures.
They are all over the place and are used to people feeding them, In fact, you can buy food for them at some street stalls and they have learned to bow to visitors to get it.
What else to see in Nara?
Deer aside, the other major highlight in Nara is the Todai-ji Temple, which houses the world’s largest bronze Buddha statue. The temple, which has been rebuilt several times throughout the centuries, is really big!
There are also other temples and shrines in its vicinity, although if you have limited time, I would say just focus on the main “tourist” alley, which runs from Kintetsu-Nara train station, across Nara Park and past the National Museum towards the Todai-ji Temple grounds and back.
It’s a nice walk, with open spaces all around and you will also see plenty of deer along the way. All of these spots are also within walkable distance of each other.
Top things to see in Al-Ain, the other side of Abu Dhabi
In a previous post I shared my ideas about the top things to do in Abu Dhabi if you find yourself in the capital of the UAE for a couple of days.
Now, in addition to being a city, Abu Dhabi is also an emirate. In fact, it is, by far, the largest of the seven emirates that make the UAE. A big chunk of its territory, however, is desert and is totally uninhabited. And, as we saw in the aforementioned post, you don’t need to venture far from the coast to come across a sea of dunes.
There is, however, an exception, and this is the oasis town of Al Ain, some 150km to the west of Abu Dhabi city towards the East, and an interesting weekend trip if you have seen already much of the capital.
Like other parts of the UAE, and despite being quite far inland, Al Ain has experienced huge demographic and economic growth in the last few decades. From a population of a few thousand half a century ago, to a sprawling city of more than 600,000 today.
Al Ain, however, has quite a few interesting spots which, despite all its dull and somehow chaotic modern urbanism, make it worth a visit.
First, it is located right on the border with the Sultanate of Oman and, in fact, there is a border fence that cuts right through some of its urban areas. This makes it also quite interesting for those of us interested in borders. But there’s more to it! Al Ain is also home to several interesting historical sites including a lush irrigated palm grove which has obtained UNESCO World heritage Site status.
In the following passages I am trying to lay out some of the top things to do in Al Ain.
Visiting the Oasis of Al Ain
There are actually several oasis in and around Al Ain which have been given protected status by UNESCO. This is in great part because of the unique way in which people in this area have been moulding the landscape over thousands of years through the “Falaj” system. This is, essentially, an intricate network of canalizations and irrigation systems, which, using water from natural underground sources, have made it possible for islands of greenery to emerge in the middle of the desert.
The largest and most visited of these oasis, covering 1,200 hectares (nearly 3,000 acres or about twice the size of New York’s Central Park) , is located, actually, right in the middle of Al Ain.
The oasis is essentially a large urban park with paths running through the palm groves, which contain nearly 150,000 trees of up to 100 different varieties.
It is fenced and there are different access points, each with some adjacent service buildings and shops.
The palm groves provide some shadow and there is water running around, so, it is possible to wander around on foot, even if we are technically in the middle of the desert (Note: I visited in winter, not sure how is it like in the summer). I would say it takes around one hour or so to complete a tour of the grounds.
The Al Ain camel market
This is another must-visit spot in Al Ain, at least if you don’t care about the odour that thousands of camels can produce when gathered at one spot!
Al Ain is home to a huge camel market, which is exactly that. This is not some form of atrezzo for tourists. It is a real marketplace, where camels from all over the region are brought in to be traded.
The place is on a large open space in the outskirts of the city, next to a commercial-industrial area with an IKEA and several other big box retailers. Entrance is free and there is some parking space next to the main entrance.
All guides recommend visit early in the morning, between 6-9am, when the trading activity is at its peak. We visited mid-morning, however, and while it is true that it was rather quiet, it was still possible to see quite a lot.
The animals are in large pens, which are arranged along the streets. You can get really close to them and, in fact, some of the local traders, most of them in traditional robes, may offer you to take pictures close to the camels (in exchange for a tip).
This is quite an interesting sight, which is miles away, in all senses, of the sanitized modern urban environment you find in the coastal cities of the UAE!
Qasr Al Muwaiji (Al Ain Al Muwaiji Fort)
This fort, built in traditional mudbrick style, is the ancestral home of the Zayed dinasty, the rulers of Abu Dhabi. The late Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, previous ruler of Abu Dhabi was actually born there.
Although it looks like it could be rather ancient, the fort dates back to the early 20th Century. Nowadays is an art and culture center.
It is possible to visit its premises, climb the towers and the walls for the views, and also to visit the exhibitions contained within its walls and around the main courtyard. At the time of our visit there was, actually, quite an interesting photo exhibit (I ignore if it is permanent or temporary) depicting the history of Abu Dhabi and the lands of what would later become the UAE.
The whole monumental ensemble is, actually, perfectly restored, giving the place a rather suggestive ambiance, sort of how many would imagine the setting of the “1001 Nights” while having, at the same time, some very obvious touches of the modernity that currently characterizes the UAE.
I must say that Qasr Al Muwaiji really surpassed my initial expectations and I would recommend adding it to your Al Ain program. Btw, we visited in the late afternoon, just a couple of hours before they close at dusk, which I think it is perhaps the best time, not just temperature-wise, but also because of the light.
Where to stay in Al Ain
Radisson Blu Hotel & Resort Al Ain
You can’t generally go wrong with Radisson Blu and their Al Ain establishment was no exception. This hotel occupies a rather large bloc in a quite central location, close to the Al Ain Oasis (although “central” and “close” are relative concepts in Al Ain, since the city is so spread out you would need a car anyway).
The hotel is modern and has all the facilities you would expect, including an outdoor pool, a nice restaurant and parking.
Best of Abu Dhabi: top things to do and to see
Abu Dhabi may not feature as prominently in the public imagination as its glitzzy neighbour a hundred kilometers up the coast, Dubai, but the capital of the Emirates is a prime tourist destination in its own right. This is, of course, on top of being also a major business and airline hub, which means, of course, that it also gets a constant stream of short term visitors that may find this piece of interest, as well.
In this article I have tried to sum up some of my impressions gathered during multiple trips to Abu Dhabi in the course of the last two to three years. Bear in mind, however, that, just as pretty much everywhere in the Gulf region, Abu Dhabi is a work in progress.
As I write these lines, not long after returning from one of these trips to the Emirate, large swathes of Saadiyat and Yas islands are covered in construction cranes. A whole new cultural and museum district is going up, alongside with many other new residentail and commercial developments. So, this post will possibly require frequent updates just to keep up with the times"!
The Abu Dhabi Corniche
This is Abu Dhabi’s downtown, captured in the images that precede this post. The Corniche is, as the name implies, the seaside promenade “par excellence” of Abu Dhabi. Although there is, generally speaking, little in terms of outdoors walking. The place is essentially a line of upmarket contemporary hotels facing the sea, with a motorway separating them from their respective beach clubs.
But perhaps I am being a bit too harsh in this description, because, yes, there is a fair amount of “showing-off” and superficiality embedded in the whole concept, but the place is not without its charms. If you are aiming for a bit of relax this if a great spot, here you have all services at the palm of your hand: food, drink, fast internet, umbrellas and sun beds and a clean sandy beach.
Everything works smoothly as silk and, if you are staying at one of the hotels, you don’t even need to worry about the traffic since you can pretty much walk from your room to the sunbed in your beach attire.
But there is, of course, a lot more to see and to do in Abu Dhabi if you are looking for a more active stay…
The Louvre Abu Dhabi
The first port of call for any visitor to Abu Dhabi, I would say, is the Louvre. That still applies if you have only a few hours between stopovers.
When I first heard that the famous French museum had opened a franchise in Abu Dhabi, my first reaction was one of skepticism. But I have no problem admitting I was wrong! The Louvre Abu Dhabi is a real jewel of modern museology and I will try to explain why in just a few lines.
Unlike other contemporary museums, here both the container and the content are truly interesting.
The museum takes on a rather difficult challenge: to present a cohesive narrative of the history of mankind through several major themes or topics. So, it must do so in a chronologically and thematically coherent way. What’s more, since this is a city that aims to be a truly global node, it tries to do so by taking an approach that people from many cultures and faiths can relate to. Not an easy task, but I must say it succeeds pretty well!
The collections and exhibits are also very remarkable. Of course, the number of artifacts in each of its sections is limited, maybe one, two or a handful at most. But that’s alright, because you don’t get tired of seeing multiple variations of the same thing. This is, again, not for specialists that want to dig deep into a specific topics (those that want to do that should go to the original Louvre, the British Museum or whichever if the flagship museum of their speciality) but to get a holistic view of the history of mankind and the different civilizations on our planet.
Another aspect of the Louvre Abu Dhabi that I find worth of praise is the overall aesthetics. The building itself is remarkable and beautiful (as you can see in the outdoor pictures illustrating this article), but the way the collections are arranged and the visit itinerary is designed are also very well done and quite pleasing to the eye.
It is modern but not in a confusing way and the proportions seem to be also well thought out so that you get a rather intense experience but not too tiring. You also end the visit with the feeling that you have been able to see a good number of interesting things, without the anxiety of having missed lots of stuff.
I have been twice at the Louvre Abu Dhabi and I wouldn’ mind visiting again. So, definitely put this on your list! It is also worth noting that Louvre Abu Dhabi is but the first of several large museums that are going up in this part of the city, which has been designated as a sort of “cultural district”, between the recreational areas of Sadiyat Island (more on this shortly) and Downtown.
Yas Island corniche
Abu Dhabi is, in fact, a collection of islands and peninsulas opening into the Gulf, so, in addition to the aforementioned Downtown Corniche, there are several other seaside districts of interest. One of them is Sadiyat Island, where the Louvre and several hotels and beach clubs are located. Another one is Yas Island, which is closer to the airport.
Formula One fans may be familiar with the name, because the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix takes place in Yas, but this is also an area that hosts several hotels and it also has its own “corniche” and seaside promenade, with plenty of bars and restaurants and quite a few remarkable street art elements!
Staying in Yas Island?
Yas is a few kilometers away from downtown, but, remember that Abu Dhabi is a city where you move by car (or Uber) everywhere, so, as long as you are willing to move around, this location can be as good as any other.
In fact, I had a great stay at the Radisson Blu Yas Island and was preparing to share some of my impressions, but I just learned that the hotel, as well as several other adjacent properties on Yas Island have closed down in order to be redeveloped. A consortium of International Hotels Group (IHG) and a local developer called Aldar have bought the former Radisson Blu in Yas Island and five other hotels (Crowne Plaza, Rotana, Centro, Park Inn and Staybridge Suites), which have now closed down, in order to turn merge them and turn them into a 1,389-room luxury resort under the IHG Vignette Collection brand.
So, in a short period of time, the whole Yas Island accommodation landscape will be totally transformed!
In any case, I am posting here some pictures of how the Radisson Blu Yas Island looked like so that you can get a feel of the place and the type of environment you have in Yas Island.
Taking the Abu Dhabi Desert Tour
This is another activity I would recommend doing in Abu Dhabi. Yes, it is touristy (very touristy, in fact!). But it is a fun and rather unique thing to do.
There are several touroperators and agencies that offer this type of tour. You can book them on Viator, Getyourguide or through any Abu Dhabi hotel. They all do basically the same thing at very similar prices and at the same times (evenings), so I won’t be recommending one in particular. In fact, groups from several operators usually end up converging together on the same places.
So, how is it like?
Basically, they pick you up at your hotel in a 4x4 which you may share with other tourists. You then assemble in a sort of convoy with other such cars and you drive something like 30 minutes out of town to the open desert.
There are different activities included in the experience: first the drivers get into the sand dunes and drive at high speed on top of them, which is something that requires quite some skill not to get stuck (and in fact, it is not rare for one or two of the cars to get bogged down). During this itinerary you stop a couple of times so that you can get to walk on the dunes. They also offer dune sliding with a sort of sleigh. It is quite fun altogether and, to be honest, the views of the desert are breathtaking.
Most tours are in the evening, when it is less hot, and after the dune driving and sightseeing you are taken to a sort of base camp in the middle of the desert where you can also do some camel riding.
The place is mostly outdoors, with a big central courtyard and some facilities around that kind of imitate a traditional caravanserai, or desert trading post. The facilities house mainly services (kitchen, toilets, shops) and are actually quite modern, but they are done in a way that maintain the charm of the experience.
Then it’s dinner time and there is a buffet with several Arabic speciailities and several spectacles, such as belly dancing and traditional music. The food is quite good and abundant, to be honest. And while it is obviously a very “packaged” experience, it is, again, quite fun overall. After dinner you are then driven back to your hotel, arriving before midnight.
Overall I think you get good value from the experience.
Saadiyat Island Beach
Saadiyat Island has also a beach side. Besides the several ultra-luxury resorts that line the seaside part of the island is Kai Beach Club, which is open to day visitors.
This is a concept that may be a bit shocking to visitors coming from parts of Europe or the US where beaches are usually public and open access, but in Abu Dhabi (and in the UAE more generally) “going to the beach” is a serious business which means paying a no small sum of money (in some places even the equivalent of $100) to spend several areas in a secluded recreational environment. Beach clubs have provide towels and sunbeds and have other services such as bar restaurant, shop, toilets, etc.
The beach itself is pretty nice, long and open. In this particular beach club there is also a stretch of land between the seashore and the club’s facilities, so this helps give it a more “natural” feel.
Btw, if thinking about going to the beach in Saadiyat Island, it is better to book the beach club in advance, since they can fill up quickly and have limited capacity!
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is the largest in Abu Dhabi and another big landmark which is worth visiting. It is located at the southwestern edge of dowtown and it is really huge. It has also a whole visitors’ center and commercial area adjacent to it.
We arrived quite late in the evening due to some delays in the travel schedule, so could not get inside, but the view from outside is also quite something!
Some great value options to stay in Downtown Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi is not short of accommodation, and even if you don’t have a big budget, it is possible to find very solid options. Next I present two four-star hotels in Abu Dhabi that I have had the chance to visit recently, as well as another more budget-ish but also modern and offering good standards and value.
Marriott Courtyard Abu Dhabi
Hamdan Bin Mohammed Street - 5th St, Abu Dhabi
https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/auhcy-courtyard-world-trade-center-abu-dhabi/
This is a modern hotel located in downtown Abu Dhabi, pretty close to the Corniche, although not right on the seaside. It occupies a rather interesting, boxy building with a brownish outter structure and its adjacent to a large mall.
It also has a rooftop bar and restaurant with a swimming pool that has the ability to change colour every few minutes (see below). The food was pretty good and substantious and the view, not bad at all!
The rooms are solid standard 4-star modern-corporate hotel stuff. All good, very functional, not much to add on this front that you can not see here in these pics.
The frontdesk staff were super friendly, btw. There is also valet parking.
La Quinta by Wyndham Abu Dhabi Al Wahda
601 Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed St - Al Nahyan - Zone 1, Abu Dhabi
https://laquintaabudhabialwahda.com
This is other hotel is also in downtown, although a bit further from the sea, and it is similar to the Marriott Courtyard in many respects.
The hotel is in a rather tall tower (not sure it can be called skyscraper, though), which means that most rooms get views of the city.
Here the interesting thing was that we were upgraded to an apartment-type room, which means, essentially that you get also a living room, in addition to the bedroom.
Other than that is, again, we are talking about a regular 4-star modern hotel.
Premier Inn Abu Dhabi Capital Centre
National Exhibition Centre - Al Muntada St, Capital Centre
Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre
https://mena.premierinn.com/en/hotel-directory/abu-dhabi/abu-dhabi-capital-centre-hotel
This is a more basic hotel than the other two, but could also be a suitable option if on a short visit to Abu Dhabi.
Premier Inn knows how to deliver great value by offering reasonable prices while still keeping good care of the essentials, such as cleanliness, modern functional decor and good location.
The hotel has also a swimming pool and a gym, btw.
JAM Lisbon: a surprisingly original, great value hotel in Lisbon
Lisbon has become one of Europe’s tourist (and digital nomad) hotspots.
In fact, there is so much content out there about Lisbon at the moment, that, while I have been visiting a few times recently, will refrain from writing about the city itself.
However, I recently had the chance to stay at a hotel there that I think deserves a post on its own.
To be clear, I have no commercial link or interests in this hotel and fully paid the standard rate to stay there a couple of nights.
There were so many original and unique elements, though, that I couldn’t pass the opportunity to share my experience in case someone here is looking for ideas for his or her next trip to the Portuguese capital!
JAM Lisbon Hotel
Av. 24 de Julho 80, 1200-870 Lisboa
https://www.jamhotels.eu/lisbon
I have to confess I had never heard about JAM Hotels, but the Lisbon one is not the first. The concept originated in Brussels, where the first JAM Hotel opened in 2020, with Lisbon being its second location.
This small network is managed by a Belgian company called Nelson Group, which specializes in environmentally conscious architectural developments. In fact, the JAM Lisbon claims to be a “passive hotel” in the sense that it has been designed to have such a reduced environmental footprint (consuming 80% less energy than the average building of this sort) that is close to carbon neutrality.
This 109-room hotel, which opened in 2023, was redeveloped at the site of a former office building on the banks of the Tagus river.
In fact, while it is not in the heart of downtown, I did like the location. It is right on the road that follows the river all the way from the city center to the Torre de Belem, one of the city’s top tourist attractions.
And while the hotel is not right on the water (there is a road, a railway and the embankment in between), many of the rooms and, of course, the rooftop terrace, have views of the river.
This is an axis of communication which has numerous tram lines going through it (and even a railway).
The famous Time Out market, with its many casual eating spots and the picturesque neighbourhood of Chiado are both within walking distance.
JAM Lisbon has 109 rooms and a contemporary aesthetic. Although it is, by no means, “corporate modern”, it is something else!
There is a sort of “raw” aesthetic throughout. Lots of exposed concrete and an artsy non-conventional decor. Some parts of the hotel resemble a rather hipsterish co-working space rather than a hotel, an I don’t mean it in a bad way! There is also an open courtyward at the back.
The rooms at JAM Lisbon
So, let’s go check the rooms!
But, first, another positive surprise: each floor is fitted with this small coffee and water station. It is a sort of kitchenette, but just with the sink, and some coffee machines. So guests have complimentary coffee and water here at any time. Nice!
Next surprise: it’s not just the room decor and style, which is, certainly, unconventional, but something which by now was already pretty much expected, but the whole room set up.
I was on my own, but this is certainly a very interesting configuration for families traveling together with kids. Have you seen the piece of furniture opposite the bed? Let’s see what this is…
These are, in fact, bunk beds combined with some storage space. But not just any plain bunk beds, they have a sort of modular structure. And even if no one is sleeping there, the lower one can be used as a sofa.
The bathroom is also quite original. It is actually quite spacious and, perhaps influenced by the local Portuguese traditions, covered in these blue tiles you can see below.
The use of natural materials throughout is another distinctive characteristic of JAM Lisbon. In the next set of pictures I have tried to capture from up close what I mean by this. You can see by yourself the different textures and materials: the ceramic vases (complete with inspirational messages, because, why not?), the cork-upholstered chair and the earthy tones and shapes of, otherwise banal, elements such as the coat hangers or the bathroom shelves.
I didn’t have lunch or dinner at the hotel, although I did try the breakfast, which was pretty good. To be honest, the buffet didn’t have a huge amount of items, but it had the right ones and of the right quality. The croissants and the “pasteis de nata”, in particular, were excellent!
JAM Lisbon Rooftop
And, now, let’s take the lift to the top floor, because this is another ofJAM Lisbon’s highlights.
JAM Lisbon has a rooftop terrace with a bar, a chillout area (complete with a ping pong table and large screen) and a small swimming pool. I has also pretty good views of the Tagus river and the iconic “25th of April Bridge” (aka, the Lisboan Golden Gate bridge).
JAM Lisbon as an art venue
And yet another surprise was awaiting at JAM Lisbon!
It turns out the hotel is also used, on occasion, as an exhibition space. And it is easy to see why!
In this particular case it was a pop-up art exhibition and fair which had taken over a large part of the premises. The style, much in line with the overall hotel theme: lots of natural, earthy materials, shapes and textures, whether ceramics or textiles.
Some two dozens artists took over JAM Lisbon, not just the common areas, but also the whole 1st floor of the hotel. It was quite an experience to be able to go room by room, checking what was in each of them.
These were just normal rooms, like the one we have seen before, which had been turned into an exhibition space. The artists were also there, ready to explain their creations to any visitors that showed up. Hard to find a better setting for this type of event!
So, overall, I was quite positively impressed by the experience at JAM Lisbon, and the prices (at least at the time of my visit) are also pretty competitive. I visit many hotels throughout the course of the year and, while some are really nice, it is rare to find some truly original properties. This was one of them!
Service was also excellent during the whole experience, both at the reception and at the rooftop bar (one of the bar tenders even refused to charge me on account that the bottle was finished before he was able to top up the glass to the right level).
Perhaps the only thing that was not so great is the fact that lighting is very subdued, to the point that sometimes its a bit dark, but I guess this is aligned with the energy efficiency goal and, to be fair, it is not a big inconvenience.
So, to sum it up: if you are looking for some hotel that is truly unique and different during your next trip to Lisbon, a proper unpretentious designer hotel, do check JAM Lisbon, definitely!
24 Hours in Amman: best things to see and to do
Amman, the capital city of Jordan, often gets overlooked as a tourist destination.
To be fair, Jordan’s most renowned tourist attractions are elsewhere: Petra, the Dead Sea, the Gulf of Aqaba…The country’s location, in an area of near-constant geopolitical turmoil, doesn’t help and you can also add to that the fact that, Jordan, as a country, lacks the budgets and resources which other countries in the Middle East are investing to become major tourism and business entrepôts.
However, and while it does not have huge landmarks, Amman is not lacking its unique charm and, most of all, authenticity (yes, I know this word is cliché, but if you have visited other cities in the Middle East and then you go to Amman, you will understand what I mean). There’s, in fact, more than enough to keep you going for a full intense day of sightseeing or two, if you take things at a more leisurely pace.
In my case, it was a short 24 hour stopover with an overnight. My hotel was rather central, so this allowed me to visit the key areas of the center on foot during the day (Note: it was November, so the heat was very bearable, I guess it’s different in summer).
Perhaps after Ryanair announced a significant ramp up of its flights between Amman and Europe, the city is going to become a lot more popular with tourists.
Let’s see what I think are the top things to do and to see in Amman if you there on a short visit!
Arriving in Jordan: some practical informations
Although I found Jordan quite an easy country to move through, it’s important to prepare a bit before going.
Visa: citizens of many countries (including the EU and US) can get a visa on arrival. It costs something like US$50 and you can get it at the airport. There is a counter at the airport where they will take payment (credit cards accepted).
There is also a Jordanian government web portal where you can prefill the form, but in my case it turned out not to work properly.
Currency: although cards are accepted in many places, I found it convenient, particularly since I arrived in the middle of the night, to get some cash at the airport. This proved to be handy latter during the day.
Moving around:
Queen Alia International Airport (a beautiful and very modern airport, btw) is a bit far from the center, some 40km or so. There are some buses, but the taxis are not too expensive, so I opted for this option. Both Uber and its Middle Eastern equivalent, Careem, work in Jordan. I think it was a very good decision to use them to optimize travel times.
There is no metro in Amman and public transportation seems a bit difficult to understand if you are not local. In fact, if you stay in the city center and provided you have no problem withe going a bit uphill at timse, you can just walk around, which is what I did.
What I would recommend, though, is getting an e-sim, to be able to orient yourself around and get an Uber or Careem if you need to.
Making sense of Amman: a very hilly city
One thing that you will notice immediately when you are on site is how hilly Amman is (like so many iconic cities it is built on 7 hills!),
In fact, the most buzzing part of the historical center is basically on a narrow stretch of flat space found between several of these hills. And some of the landmarks, like the citadel and Rainbow Street are located on top of them.
For reference, most of what I describe in this post is located within the red square above.
This was the area I moved around in during my visit.
This are is all within walkable distance (although bits of it are quite steep, tbh!)
Top sight: Amman Citadel
If you have time just for one thing in Amman, go to the Citadel! This is the most ancient part of the city, and that’s no small statement. In fact, Amman is one of the oldest continuously inhabited urban settlements in the World!
So, pretty much all Ancient civilizations that the Near East has seen have, at some point or another, left their imprint on the area where the Citadel is now located.
Curious fact: throughout most of Classic Antiquity, from the Hellenistic period (around 3rd C BC to the early Middle Ages, Amman was known as “Philadelphia”!
Most of what you see today on the Citadel is actually from the Roman and Umayyad periods.
But even if you are not that interested in the Ancient history, the Citadel will give you some of the best views of the modern city of Amman (including the massive flag which has become something of a landmark)!
The Citadel occupies the whole top of an “L-shaped” hill with majestic views on all sides.
Besides the different layers of Ancient ruins, it also contains a small archaeological museum (more on this soon.
The Citadel perimeter is enclosed by a fence, and there it is necessary to pay a small entry fee to get in.
There are also some services, including a café and a shop.
There are buses that go up to the Citadel, although it is also perfectly possible to walk (it’s a bit steep, though!)
I would advise allocating a couple of hours to visit the Citadel, since there are quite a few points of interest, including the, rather impressive, remains of the temple of Hercules and a palace complex dating back to the early Islamic period.
To walk through the ruins I used a new app which I had been offered to try, GPSmyCity, which works essentially like an audioguide on your phone, with several landmarks explained (it works in quite a few cities around the world, btw, not just in Jordan).
There is also a small archaeological museum. Quite old school and, to be honest, sometimes a bit cluttered, trying to explain the whole history of mankind in such a small space! .Given the richness of the archaeological heritage in Jordan, it had quite a few remarkable pieces, though!
From the Citadel it is possible to spot the next big landmark on our Amman sightseeing list: the Roman theatre!
Amman’s Roman Theater
As you may have seen in the picture above, the Roman theatre is just downhill from the Citadel, actually built on the sides of the opposite hill.
It is possible to walk down a few alleyways and get to the theatre in a few minutes. The biggest challenge is crossing the major avenue that cuts through the middle of Amman, since the traffic is nonstop (I finally just followed a group of locals that just forced their way through the traffic, strength in numbers!)
Now, I have been to quite a few Roman theatres (see my post about the Lycian coast), but this one is rather exceptional in two ways:
1) it’s rather good state of conservation/restoration
2) It is sooooo steep, it’s almost vertical! (seriously, look at the pictures below!)
There is a big square in front of the theatre and you can get a good view already from here, but I recommend paying the ticket to get in (it costs the equivalent of a couple of dollars/euros). The view from the top is great (if you don’t maind heights!) and you get the symmetrical view of the Citadel from the opposite hill).
With your entrance ticket you can visit also a small antropological museum located on the wings of the theatre’s base building. Tbh, as a museum is a bit mmmh…don’t expect much, but there are some real life figures representing the different peoples that lived in what it is today Jordan. Spent 10 minutes maximum there.
A walk through Central Amman
After visiting the Citadel and the Roman Theatre I walked a bit through the area around Al-Hashemi Street and its surroundings. This is the valley that lies between three of the city’s hills and it appears to be the historical downtown.
Don’t expect major landmarks here. In fact, I would say it is not even particularly beautiful, BUT it is quite an interesting area that is buzzing with commercial activity.
It is neither old souk experience (in the 1001-nights sense) nor the sanitized modern shopping experience you find in some Gulf countries, it does not even resemble the very touristified Istanbul, but it does have a character of its own.
Jordan is not just a Kingdom, but the monarchy is at the very center of its sense of nationhood. You can see signs of that all over the place.
Here below you can get an idea of how streets look like when you leave the main commercial avenues behind and start climbing uphill through the side streets.
Lunch at Hashem
King Faisal Street, Amman
I went to Hashem for lunch after I saw it popping up repeatedly when researching where to eat in Amman. It didn’t disappoint!
Not only the food was great, but the place has character, staff is efficient and it delivers great value for money.
It is located in a sort of indoors courtyard off one of the main commercial streets and its specialty is Middle Eastern “street food”, that is, several types of hummus (and its derivatives), falafel and the like.
Portions are really big! I ordered hummus, mutabal and falafel and I ended up really full. They also serve the typical flat bread, which is served straight on the table, which is covered with a disposable transparent plastic.
What’s more, I came in expecting I would have to wait a bit, since the place was packed and buzzing, but the staff somehow managed to find me a spot straightaway. The ordering experience is also quite a thing, since you mark on a piece of paper which dishes you wish and in which quantities. The service was also really fast and, upon finishing you pay at a small booth at the exit. Very efficient throughout! As a bonus I also managed to taste the local equivalent of Coca-Cola/Pepsi, called “Matrix”.
The food itself was also great and you can see why this is a place that seems to be a “must-go” for anyone visiting Amman, as the gallery of celebrities on the walls of the restaurant shows.
I would certainly come back!
A walk through Rainbow Street
After such a substantious meal, it was time to get moving again and nothing better to exercise a bit that climbing all the way up to Rainbow Street, another of the areas of note in Amman.
Rainbow Street is at the crest of another hill, just immediately south of downtown, and it is a sort of posh-bohemian area with some cafés and artsy spots. Don’t expect a specific major landmark or some super impressive views here, but it is good for a pleasant stroll along some quiet streets and some coffee.
In this regard, a nice place to stop by is the garden of the Turquoise Mountain Showroom, which showcases artisan handiwork from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia and other countries.
It also has a nice café with a terrace which offers a space of calm to sit down after all the up and down walking.
Great value hotel in Amman: Shams Alweibdeh Hotel Apartments
Al-Baouneyah St., Amman
I booked this hotel at the very last minute since it offered a good combination of reasonable price, good reviews and proximity (walking distance) to the city centre. It turned out to be a good choice for my overnight stay.
This is a 3-star, so not luxurious, but it delivered in everything it promises. The room was actually quite big, it was more of an apartment, since it has its own kitchen and living room. And everything was pretty clean. The bathroom had toiletries, as well.
I didn’t try the breakfast, so, I can’t comment on that. Staff at reception also help me arrange my airport transfer at approximately the same rate than Uber charges.
The hotel is located in a rather calm residential area on top on, you guess it!, another hill. From here to the downtown sights I previously mentioned is about 15 minutes downhill walk, with some sights of both the urban maze that is Amman and the modern business district, along the way.
48 hours in Nairobi: what to do and what to see
Kenya is one of Africa’s top tourist destinations, however, it’s not really a place known for urban tourism: many visitors just pass through its capital, Nairobi, on their way to the large national parks like Masai Mara, which are further inland.
However, the Kenyan capital should not be overlooked, since it has quite a few interesting things to do and to see, even if you are just stopping there for a couple of days.
In this post I will share some ideas to make the most out of a short stay in Nairobi, based on my own experience during a recent visit.
I did travel there on a business trip, but, nevertheless managed to squeeze in a visit to some of the main sights and taste a bit of the local cuisine.
But before we start, let’s comment on some practical matters to take into account if traveling to Nairobi.
This is by no means an exhaustive list and I must say that my visit was made easier by the fact that my local hosts took good care of me and helped me get around.
My advice is to do proper research and consult multiple sources in addition to this post before planning any activities in or around the city.
Some practical considerations before traveling to Nairobi:
Visas: First of all, bear in mind that while Kenya has visa free travel for citizens of many countries (including, as far as I am aware of, most European ones), you should file something “ETA”, which is an electronic travel form. It costs something like US$30 and it is filed online on the Kenyan government website. It is pretty straightforward, although pretty detailed in the info it asks, such as the exact place of stay, itinerary, flights, etc. I got confirmation on the same morning that I file it, but it is advised to do it with at least a few days in advance, if possible.
Payments / Internet: Kenya is a very digitized country and cards and mobile payments are generally accepted everywhere. It is convenient, however, to have at least a bit of cash with you, for example for tips. It is also pretty much a necessity to get some sort of mobile internet since some services, like the national park fees and museum tickets must be paid online on the government’s website. So, get an e-sim with Kenya coverage!
Safety: my impression is that it is generally safe, although I must say I was a bit cocooned during my visit. In fact, was advised to avoid wandering around alone at night. The one tense situation I saw was when a bunch of guys tried to create an impromptu roadblock on a side street through which some cars were trying to avoid a traffic jam. So, don’t stress too much but be cautious. In terms of health, all tropical precautions apply.
Moving around: Uber operates in Nairobi and it can be quite cheap. The main thoroughfares are pretty well maintained. Now, the problem when moving around the city is the traffic. At times sections of the city center become totally clogged, as in almost no one can’t move and Google Maps shows all red. So, be mindful because travel times may be much longer than they look like in the map.
Nairobi National Park
This is an absolute highlight of any visit to Nairobi and if you have to choose just one thing to see while in town, go for this one!
It is quite amazing, but Nairobi has a vast national park packed with wild animals (giraffes, rhinos, hippos, zebras, lions, hyenas, gazelle, crocs…pretty much all the big African animals, except, I was told, elephants) within walking sight of downtown.
Entrance to the park is controlled and the entrance fee is rather steep (around US$80) but well worth it! I have not been to Masai Mara or the Serengueti, so I can’t really compare.
In fact, I had even entertained the idea of taking one of the day-long excursions to the Maasai Mara out of Nairobi, but after visiting the Nairobi National Park, I simply dropped the idea.
In a short afternoon visit you can actually get most of the safari experience without having to venture too far. In fact, it is actually quite amazing to be able to see giraffes and rhinos in the wild with the backdrop of central Nairobi skyscrapers!
To visit the park you would need to get a way to be driven around, though! I had this sorted by my hosts, so can’t really provide advice on this one.
Next are some of the animals that I could see and photograph during our drive through the Nairobi National Park.
Places to eat in Nairobi:
Restaurant Carnivore
Langata Link Rd, Nairobi, Kenya
https://www.instagram.com/carnivorekenya
This is one of the restaurants of reference in Nairobi and it is located not far from the entrance to the national park.
As the name implies, it specializes in barbecued meat. It is quite an experience to eat here and order the full meat selection. You sit down in an open courtyard and waiters keep coming with large skewers offering cuts of different types of meat that have been cooked in a large open grill by the entrance of the restaurant.
This is your chance to taste exotic delicacies ostrich or crocodile meat, by the way!
The meat comes also with a selection of sides and sauces and the restaurant has also some signature cocktails on offer (ice is made with purified water, as confirmed by staff).
Since this was my first time eating here I was also treated to a nice celebratory song by part of the staff, as well! A rather memorable experience overall.
Karen Blixen House & Museum
Another interesting spot in Nairobi and one that is connected with the origins of the city in the early 20th century, when European farmers started to grow coffee near what was then little more than a small settlement next to the railway line.
Karen Blixen, a Danish writer, and her Swedish husband were two of those coffee farmers. Both moved to Nairobi from Europe just before the First World War and bought a coffee plantation. Blixen subsequently memorialized her experiences in the book “Out of Africa”, which in the 1980s was made into a Hollywood blockbuster movie starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford.
The house in which Blixen lived all those years has been preserved (as well as some of its grounds) has been turned into a museum and can be visited.
The place, which is located in the district of Lang’ata, is not far from the Giraffe Center (another point of interest I will comment on shortly) and it is actually quite nice, lush and green all around.
As at the national park, there is an entrance fee of around US$10, which can only be paid online on the government website. It includes a guided tour (a tip is expected), which is pretty individualized, in my case since I was on my own (but then I saw couples and small groups also got each their own guided tours).
The house is not large and it doesn’t take much time to see it through (it is not allowed to take pictures inside, but, in any case, the interior is not the original). The visit then moves to a nearby section of the estate where it is still possible to see some of the machinery that was used to process the coffee beans (this came with a little wildlife surprise! - see below).
Karen Blixen Coffee Garden and Cottages
Karen Rd, Nairobi, Kenya
https://karenblixengroup.com/coffee-garden-and-cottages
The visit to Karen Blixen’s house can be completed in less than an hour.
However, if you don’t wish to rush, you can next stop at the Karen Blixen Café, which is a rather posh café, restaurant and hotel with a very nice terrace, located about a kilometre down the road from the Karen Blixen museum (so, despite the name, it is not the same property!)
It can be a bit pricey (for Nairobi standards) but the setting is really nice, with a large garden and veranda and an indoor area that looks a bit like a greenhouse. They have also a good selection of food and drink.
The café has also its own parking lot.
Nairobi Giraffe Center
The center, whose official name is “African Fund for Endangered Wildlife” was set up if 1979 by Jock and Betty Leslie-Melville with the goal of saving the Rothschild Giraffe (one of the most endangered giraffe subspecies).
This is a conservation center, but also a place where visitors can see the giraffes from up close and feed them. In fact, when you come in you are given a little bowl of giraffe food. You can walk through on a platform facing the open enclosure where the giraffes live. When they notice there is food they come to eat it from your hand.
The experience is short (I spent less than 10 minutes there) but it is quite remarkable. It is also in Lang’ata and a bit far from downtown (particularly with traffic) but I would, nevertheless, recommend visiting, particularly if you can combine it with a visit to the nearby Karen Blixen museum.
The entrance fee is about US$12 (the funds are invested in the giraffe preservation project).
Visiting downtown Nairobi - Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC)
Now, I know that I may be missing some of the interest points in downtown Nairobi, not least the renowned upmarket area called Westlands, but my time availability was really limited (even more so because of the traffic jams), so I chose to visit just one spot downtown: the viewpoint at the top of one of Nairobi’s tallest buildings, the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC).
The Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) is one of the city’s landmarks. It was completed in the early 1970s and it has a very distinctive cylindrical shape. It is located in a square surrounded by several prominent official buildings, which include Kenya’s Supreme Court, the City Council and the Cathedral.
You can get a ticket to take the lift to the top (although to enjoy the view you have to climb some stairs, so it is not fully accessible if you have reduced mobility). Staff may offer to guide you through the visit in exchange for a little ti, although this is optional.
The 360º city view is really magnificent. Recommended.
Where to stay in Nairobi
Eka Hotel
Mombasa Rd, Nairobi
This is quite a nice, modern, 4-star hotel located not far from the main motorway linking downtown to the airport and very close also to the Nairobi National Park.
The facilities are comfortable and clean. There is contemporary decor throughout and you are provided with purified water and bathroom amenities.
I did not spend much time on the premises, so I can’t comment much on the services available, although in general it appeared to have quite a lively atmosphere, with a stylish bar and restaurant and a nice breakfast buffet.
Another great place to eat out in Nairobi:
Cobblestone House
Kiambu Rd, Nairobi
https://cobblestonehouse.co.ke
Last but not least, here is another recommendation to eat out in Nairobi. It comes with a caveat, though: it is quite far from the center, in one of city’s northern suburbs. The drive was well worth it, though!
The set up is quite nice as well, with the tables mostly outdoors at the terrace (they provide you with heaters, since it can get chilly in Nairobi in the evening, the city is located at an altitude of 1,600m, after all!)
This is yet another great place to eat meat and it has also great South African wines. We really enjoyed the massive barbecued meat platter, but they have a selection of specialities from cuisines from all over the world.
If you are travelling to Nairobi, there is a chance you may be considering flying the national carrier, Kenya Airways, if this is the case and you wish to check how is it like, let me suggest you this flight review I wrote on our sister site Allplane.
Gems of the Costa Blanca: What to see in Alicante, Altea, Tabarca and around
The stretch of the Spanish coast centred on the city of Alacant/Alicante* is popularly known as the Costa Blanca and it is one of Europe’s tourist hotspots.
Now, I know this site usually avoids tourist traps, BUT, in fact, the point of this post is to show that, next to mass-tourism resorts like Benidorm, with their massive 1970s-style multi-storey buildings, there are quite a few beautiful gems that have managed to preserve their Mediterranean charm.
A recent visit to Alacant provided me the chance, with the help of a rented car, to visit some of these locations. I did complete the itinerary in a single day, although that was really, really a stretch and afforded just enough time to get a quick glimpse of the places. This is, therefore, mostly a visual post, since, I think the general relaxed atmosphere of some of these sites, together with the balmy weather is what makes them attractive.
*I have opted to use primarily the Valencian language (the local variant of the Catalan language spoken in the Valencian Autonomous Region) form of place names, although in some cases, like the city of Alacant, the Spanish version - Alicante - may be much better known internationally. Although Valencian/Catalan has, sadly, long been in decline in this area, I think it is a good way to pay homage to local culture and tradition.
A walk through downtown Alacant/Alicante
This was my first time in Alacant, plus my hotel (more on this further down this post) was in the very center of the city, right next to the town hall, so the obvious thing to do was to take a stroll in the central area of the city.
Alacant is a rather commercial city and it has been the scene of very intense urban development in the second half of the 20th century and until this day. Thus, the downtown is mostly “newish” in appearance, but there are is a section of the center, between the town hall and the narrow streets that ascend towards Santa Barbara Castle, in which it is possible to get an idea of the historical city.
The other point that is kind of a must is the seaside palm tree-lined promenade, with its patterned mosaic-covered floors. It has also a number of modernist style architecture that would not be out of place in Cannes or places like that. This is also next to the city’s large marina. Alacant/Alicante has also some notorious urban beaches, like the famous “Platja de Sant Joan”, but I didn’t have time to go for a swim this time!
Must-do in Alacant (Alicante): visit Santa Barbara castle
Santa Barabara Castle is located on top of a steep hill which absolutely dominates the city of Alicante from every possible angle.
This castle is, I would say, the top attraction to visit in Alacant/Alicante if you have limited time for sightseeing.
There is an access road and a couple of trails (which include several flights of stairs), but I would leave those for the way down towards the city.
The fastest and most convenient way to get up the castle is to take the elevator that runs inside the hill and leaves you in one of the upper levels of the castle.
Access is on the sea-facing part of the hill next to the beach of El Postiguet. It costs around €5 each way.
I did take the lift to go up and then walk down into the city to enjoy the views of the old quarter on my way down.
The castle is, in itself, quite a remarkable construction. It looks pretty much the way you would imagine a medieval castle, with several concentric levels of fortifications, with defensive towers, parapets and the like.
But the best reason to go up the hill is to enjoy the magnificent 360-degree views of the city of Alacant and the neighbouring coastline and inland plains.
On the way down you also come across some interesting sights. If Alicante oozes Mediterranean-ness, some corners of this part of the city take it to another level!
Great restaurant in Alicante
El Nou Manolín
C. Villegas, 3, 03001 Alacant
https://grupogastronou.com/en/nou-manolin
This is a sort of cult restaurant in downtown Alacant, with a tradition going back decades for good good and atmosphere. I was taken here by a local friend of mine and the place didn’t disappoint.
El Nou Manolín is located right in the liveliest nightlife area of Alacant, which is packed with bars, terraces and restaurants.
It has two levels, the first one is more like a bar, with a more casual setting in which people just seat around a central bar area, while the upper floor has a more formal, sit-down restaurant.
I have posted here some pictures of the diverse range of tapas and dishes that we tried (I have also included a picture of the bread, because it was so good!).
As you can see, fish or meat, it doesn’t matter. From the morel mushrooms filled with foie and egg (further above) to the littel grilled meat bites to the different presentations of anchovies. It was all pretty delicious.
El Nou Manolín has a particular large variety of rice dishes (an ingredient with a strong presence in Valencian cuisine), although given it was late in the evening, we opted for a lighter option, such as these red shrimps, very fresh andsimply grilled and salted.
One specialty you must try when in Alacant is Fondillón, a sweet wine that is made locally with the Monastrell grape variety.
Although it has a long history dating back centuries, this type of wine came close to extinction at the turn of the 19th C. due to the phylloxera epidemic, a parasyte that devastated Europe’s vineyards. It survived, though, and it has recently seen a bit of a revival, becoming a bit of a symbol of local viticulture and even getting its own Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) from the European Union!
Visiting Altea, a Mediterranean gem
So, leaving Alacant behind, it’s time to move up the AP-7 motorway and drive all the way to the first (and furthest) stop in our Costa Blanca itinerary: the beautiful seaside town of Altea!
Although it has not been immune to the overconstruction and overdevelopment fever of the rest of the Costa Blanca, Altea has a couple great things going for it:
A fantastic natural setting on a small, open bay, with a long, wide beach of crystalline waters, nicely enclosed by two slightly protruding rocky headlands on either side.
A picturesque whitewashed old town slopes down to the beach from a small hill, crowned at the top by a rather imposing domed church.
The charms of Altea have not gone unnoticed (and I am not talking just about Volkswagen subsidiary SEAT naming one of its cars after the town), but about the proliferation of all sorts of real estate agencies all over the place! Altea is, in fact, one of the towns in Spain with the highest number of foreign expat residents.
Pit stop in Benidorm - Avoid!
Down the coast from Altea is the place that epitomizes everything that has gone wrong with urban planning and tourism development in this part of Spain.
Some love it (the “Spanish Dubai” you may even say, to judge by the scale and pace of development going on here) some hate it. I lean towards the latter camp, although when I visited, off-season of course, the place was way more quiet than I expected.
The fact is, that while Benidorm may be able to offer low accommodation prices through sheer economies of scale, there are much nicer places nearby!
The colourful houses of La Vila Joiosa
This was another remarkable find!
La Vila Joisoa (the name of which means literally “The Happy Town” in Valencian-Catalan language) is a seaside town, similar, in many ways, to Altea, just that a tad smaller AND with a polychrome downtown rather than whitewashed!
La Vila Joiosa is eminently a beach destination and the life of the place gravitates towards its wide, sandy beach and the adjacent promenade. Didn’t have time to stop for long, but wouldn’t mind coming back!
An excursion to Spain’s smallest inhabited island: Tabarca
And here comes a truly unique experience, because Tabarca is a rather unusual place. After my visit I even wrote an in-depth piece for CNN about this island.
Located just a couple of kilometres from Alacant, Tabarca is not only Spain’s smallest inhabited island, with some 50 permanent residents, but it has a very interesting history.
Tabarca or, more accurately “Nova Tabarca”, was colonized in the 18th C. by people of Genoese origin.
They were fleeing another Tabarka, a tiny island off the coast of Tunis that acted as a Genoese outpost for a couple of centuries.
When the Bey of Tunis reclaimed the island, those Tabarkians that managed to escape were granted land in “Nova (New) Tabarca” by the King of Spain, who ordered also a fortress be built on the island.
So, today Nova Tabarca offers its visitors the relaxed and charming atmosphere of a Mediterranean fishing village designed with the engineering precision of an 18th-century military fortress, complete with its fortified walls.
What’s more, the two thirds of the island that were not built over, as well as the surrounding waters, are a protected natural area which feels a world apart from the buzz found on the coast of the neighbouring mainland.
How to get to Tabarca
Although Tabarca is officially a district of the city of Alacant, the ferries depart from the port of Santa Pola, which is a few km south of the city, near the airport.
There are several boats a day (although frequencies diminish drastically in winter!) and the return ride costs around €9. The trip takes some 20min and as an added bonus, most of the ferries have a glass bottom that lets you see the bottom of the sea as you approach the island!
The Palm Grove of Elx (Elche), a UNESCO World Heritage Site
The last stop of our list is the millenary Palm Grove of Elx (“El Palmeral de Elche” in Spanish), a World Heritage Site which dates back to the time of Al-Andalus, when this part of Spain was under Moorish rule.
The palm grove is, nowadays in the very center of the city, and it is a large park, which, as the name implies, is dotted with some 200,000 palm trees. The atmosphere is, indeed, reminiscent of some of the oasis of the Middle East, such as Al-Ain, which, by the way, is also an UNESCO World Heritage site.
I only managed to get to Elx by the evening, when the sun had already set, but this was not a problem to visit the palm grove since it is an open public park. Perhaps the nocturnal atmosphere made the place somehow even more interesting and suggestive!
Where to stay in central Alicante
Eurostars Mediterranea Plaza
Plaça de l'Ajuntament, 6, 03002 Alacant
https://www.eurostarshotels.com/eurostars-mediterranea-plaza.html
This is a nice, modern four-star hotel that is as central as it gets in Alacant, just opposite the town hall, in the main square of the old town. The room and bathroom were impeccably clean and had a functional design.
The breakfast was also very good and it included a good number of local specialities, a nice touch!
The hotel does not have parking (a relevant point in my case, since I had rented a car upon my arrival at the airport), however, there is a public parking two minutes walk away next to the port, which cost something like €20 per day.
Kaş to Kastellorizo: where Turkey's Lycian Way meets the most distant Greek island
This post covers one of the areas with, possibly, more top historical heritage per square kilometre of the Mediterranean and this is on top of a stunningly beautiful landscapes.
This is, of course, not our first foray to the Turkish Aegean coast, you can also check our post about what to see in Bodrum and its surroundings. This one covers another section of the beautiful and rugged coastline of southwestern Turkey, particularly the area around Kaş and Kalkan and the neighbouring Ancient cities of Myra and Patara, what is today known as the “Lycian Way”.
What’s more, for those like me, who are interested in borders and those places that act as fault lines (or meeting points, depending on how you see it) between countries, continents and cultures, this region contains a particularly interesting spot: a very tiny Greek island which is really far away from the mainland, but almost adjacent to the nearby Turkish coast.
Keep on reading to find out how is it like to visit this tiny Greek (and European Union) outpost from the neighbouring Turkish town of Kaş.
Getting to the Lycian Way
Let’s start with a short paragraph about logistics. It’s going to be short: rent a car.
The area of Kaş is located roughly halfway between Antalya and Dalaman airports (Bodrum is also a reasonably close gateway and gets more flights than Dalaman). There is no train connection and I don’t think buses are a practical option to move along the area. I know “walking the Lycian Way” is a thing, but since this is not a hardcore trekking site, I will leave this one out too.
This leaves renting a car as the most convenient option and, actually, the roads are generally ok (between Antalya and Kaş about half of the distance is actually covered by a two-lane motorway). I also found parking in those coastal towns surprisingly easy (particularly when compared with its equivalents in Western Europe), but this may be due to the fact that my trip was in the autumn, and, therefore, a bit off season.
The Ancient city of Myra - the city of Santa Claus!
One the way between Antalya and Kaş perhaps the most fascinating place you can visit is the Ancient Lycian city of Myra.
The Ancient city of Myra (“Myra Antik Kenti” in Turkish) is a truly interesting spot for several reasons:
It was one of the epicenters of the Lycian civilization, which used to be kind of part of the Greek world, but not quite. Lycia had, in fact, its own cultural and political system for quite a few centuries, until the Romans took over the whole region and made it part of their Empire. Lycian cities were organized in a league that had some proto-democratic elements in the way it worked. It was actually mentioned by Montesquieu and said to have inspired the US Founding Fathers, as well.
Myra was the home city of Saint Nicholas (aka Santa Claus). Although he was born in Patara (another Lycian city that we also cover, further down this post, Saint Nicholas was the bishop of Myra for some time in the 4th C. There is a church of Saint Nicholas in the Ancient city, which is visited by numerous pilgrims (Saint Nicholas is said to have been buried there at first, but in the Middle Ages his relics were taken to Bari, in southern Italy).
The archaeological ensemble of Myra is absolutely stunning. Its most famous landmark are the rock-carved tumbs that fill the surrounding cliffs. These have porticos and facades, creating the impression of a proper city carved in the face of the rock. Next to it are the vestiges of what was, in its time, a rather important city, complete with a very well preserved theatre and many of the buildings that we typically associated with the major cities of Antiquity.
So, make sure you include a visit to the Ancient city of Myra in your itinerary!
Kalkan, perfect base for exploring the coast around Kaş: where to stay and eat
Our hotel recommendation in Kalkan:
Payava Hotel
Kalkan, Cumhuriyet Cd. No:80, 07960 Kalkan (Kaş)
This little hotel in Kalkan, a town some 27km west of downtown Kaş, was a real find. We booked it at the very last minute and it totally surpassed expectations.
The facility is on the outskirts of Kalkan, but if you have a car this is not an issue. It is actually quite easy to get there and to park (the hotel has its own private parking space).
The facilities are pretty modern (the bathroom in particular was pretty large) and, while not exactly next to the sea, it does have views of the sea, as well as a swimming pool with terrace.
I would also like to highlight the service, which was excellent. The hotel staff were actually very friendly throughout. At the end, we decided extend our stay for one more day than originally planned!
While we did not have lunch or dinner at the hotel, since we spent most of the day on excursions or exploring downtown Kalkan (see the section about where to eat in Kalkan further below), we did try the hotel’s breakfast and it was absolutely great.
The breakfast buffet at Hotel Payava offered a broad mix of European and Turkish foods (including an amazing assortment of local cheeses) as well as plenty of fresh fruit and produce.
Great place to eat in Kalcan
Ata Mezze Grill
Kalkan, Şehitler Cd. no:21, 07960 Kalcan (Kaş)
This is not the fanciest or the most expensive restaurant in Kalkan, but it is the one I would go back to without hesitation!
It is actually a kebab and mezze place located a bit in the outskirts but within walking distance of downtown.
The vibe of the place was nice, the food super tasty and the prices, very reasonable. We also got excellent service.
Here are some pics of the assortment of Turkish kebabs, bread and sides that we got (note also the paper tablecloth with the map of the Lycian coast, I really like restaurants that do this!)
The kebabs are all prepared in proper charcoal and served in generous portions, so top marks for this. But even better was this traditional Turkish dessert called “Katmer” (see below), which is simply amazing!
Katmer combines Kaymak (Turkish-style clotted cream) with a thick and sweet pistaccio paste encased in a sort of mille-feuille. It is served warm and waiter breaks the outer crusty shell when serving it. Delicious!
A day trip to Kastelorizo from Kaş
As mentioned in the opening section of this post, one of the attractions of the Kaş area, at least for those like me that are interested in borders and geopolitical boundaries, is the possibility of visiting the Greek island that is most distant from its mainland and which is also one of the EU’s tiniest and most peripheral outposts as well: the island of Kastellorizo (Megisti in Greek).
Kastellorizo is a tiny island, roughly 9km at its longest point and 2km at its widest, with some 500 permanent inhabitants. It is distant about 1 mile from the Turkish coast but some 100 miles or so from the closest Greek island, Rhodes. Kastellorizo also has a number of adjacent islets and rocks that are also under Greek sovereignty.
Considering the usually tense relations between Greece and Turkey, it will possibly not come as a surprise to you that this island has been a flashpoint in the long going disputes between the two countries. Recently, for example, Greece and Turkey quarrelled about the limits of their respective Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) in this part of the Mediterranean.
In an attempt to diffuse these tensions and to promote the good understanding between the two countries, a number of people in this region came up with the idea to organize an international sports event linking Kastellorizo and Kas in a friendly manner.
The result was the Kastellorizo-Kaş international swim, which takes place every year in June.
Participants swim across the narrow strait that separates Kastellorizo from Kas. It is technically a competition, but takes place in an atmosphere of friendliness and cooperation, since the main goal is to foster good cross-border relations.
I really don’t know when and how the border formalities are conducted, though, since Kastellorizo, as part of Greece is EU territory and is within the Schengen zone, so people making the crossing in that direction must have the proper paperwork to enter the EU. Likewise, the Turkish Republic enforces passport controls on its borders and this applies to the short hop from Kastellorizo too.
How to get from Kaş to Kastellorizo?
The easiest and shortest way is to take the ferry (operated by Meis Express) from the small port of Kaş, from where several ferries depart every day (the island has also ferry service to Rhodes, although it takes several hours on account of the much longer distance. There is also a small airport in Kastellorizo with to Rhodes, as well).
It is possible to buy tickets at the port terminal in Kaş , although it is best to book them online in advance.
The island, which can be seen from the shore, is just a 20 minute ride away. The ferry ride can, in itself be quite a pleasant experience if the weather is nice. There is an open terrace (as well as an indoors cabin) which is perfect to enjoy the sights of the coastline and the blue waters all around. We did even get to see some flying fish following us and jumping out of the water all around the boat!
Halfway to Kastellorizo, the boat crosses the international divide the Greek flag is raised (the boat is Turkish). On the return trip, the inverse operation is performed, with the flag being lowered down.
The existence of the border is very present throughout. In fact the first thing you notice when you sail into Kastellorizo’s beautiful small sheltered harbour are the huge flags of Greece (painted on one of the island’s hills) and of the European Union (waving at the entrance of the port), which welcome you to the island.
Besides the border control upon arrival, the liminal nature of this place is also accentuated by some other small details that you don’t need to be a border geek to notice. For example, you switch from Turkish to Greek time (-1h), from Turkish Lira to Euro and, if you have a EU sim card, you get to benefit from the roaming-charge-free mobile connectivity.
Exploring Kastellorizo
The island of Kastellorizo is absolutely beautiful and it would be well worth a visit even if you are not interested in all this border stuff. Most of the island’s population cluster around a tiny, almost perfectly quadrangular harbour bay, which is lined with cute traditional houses painted in an array of bright, vivid colours.
So, what to do in Kastelorizo once you set foot on the island?
Unless you have decided to overnight on the island, your time is likely going to be constrained by the ferrys’ schedule. It really depends on the time of the season and of the week.
When we visited the last ferry departed back for Turkish territory at around 5pm. So, this gave us around 6 hours on the island, which, I think, is enough to explore its main town and its surroundings and get a decent meal at one of the many restaurants lining the harbour.
So, what most people do is just go for a relaxed stroll along the harbour and the handful of streets around the historical center. These are really nice and encapsulate a certain idea of the Mediterranean as many people imagine it.
The seaside promenade is a bit touristicized, though (which I guess is inevitable in this setting!) and the different restaurants compete very proactively for the daily haul of tourists arriving in the ferrry.
Yes, it can feel a bit touristy and prices are not particularly cheap, but I would still include a seaside lunch in the Kastellorizo experience, if only because there is not “that much” to do once you have taken your nice postcard-like pictures!
You may also see the sea turtles that roam around the harbour. They are obviously used to human presence, since many of the tourists feed them scraps of food and even some restaurant owners do the same in order to attract them to their section of the harbour for the entertainment of their guests.
The other thing I would recommend doing, if you don’t mind the steep walk, is climbing up to Kastellorizo’s castle.
While the fortress is now in ruins, it commands quite a great viewpoint, dominating the harbour below. It is not a surprise that this place has a long history and it is suspected to have been fortified already in Antiquity.
The heyday of this fortress, however, was during the Middle Ages, when it was occupied by the Knights of Saint John and even, for a few decades in the second half of the 15th C., by a Catalan warlord, Bernat I of Vilamarí. I had read somewhere that it was still possible to see the four stripes of the House of Barcelona carved on one of the stones, but I could not find them (in fact, the castle is in such a state of ruin that it is only possible to access what is left of one of the towers). The island got even a Catalan name during that period “Castellroig”.
In 1512 Kastellorizo was taken by the Ottomas and in successive centuries it changed hands several times between Venetians, Greeks, Turks, Italians, and even British and Germans during WW2. In 1947, together with the other Dodecanese islands, Kastellorizo was confirmed as part of Greece.
From the castle you can also enjoy great views of the Lycian coast and the several little islands and islets that dot this area. But there is more…
If you climb down the castle hill by taking a little trail on its sea-facing side you will come across a couple of rock-carved monumental Lycian tombs, quite similar to the ones found in the Ancient city of Myra. This seems to have been a cultural practice common all over this region.
Btw, you can also continue along the seaside path to get additional views of the entrance of Kastellorizo’s harbour as you walk back to the ferry terminal.
Once back on Turkish soil, you can also spend some time exploring Kaş downtown.
While it is mostly a modern town, Kaş is actually, quite a lively place, with plenty of shops, cafés and commercial activity going around.
Visiting the Ancient city of Patara (the birthplace of Santa Claus!)
And, last but not least, if staying in the Kaş area, the Ancient Lycian city of Patara is another must-see, since it is located just a few miles west of Kalkan.
We have already commented on Myra, the city where Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus) served as a bishop, but, in fact, Patara was his birthplace.
Patara was quite a sizeable city at its peak, and even if only a small part of its perimeter has been excavated you can get an idea of its importance.
There are quite a few magnificent Ancient monuments in Patara, such as this impressive and well-preserved theater. What’s more, the ruins of the Ancient city are located right next to a long sandy beach, so it is perfectly possible to combine a visit to the archaeological site with a swim in the Mediterranean (and I would actually recommend doing so!).
One day in Tirana: what to do and what to see
Albania is one of the hottest tourist destinations in Europe right now.
The country that spent decades in isolation under the harsh Communist dictatorial regime led by the late Enver Hoxha, and, later, mired in years of economic and social strife, is now seeing visitor numbers soar.
A big part of this is the arrival of low cost airlines, such as Wizz Air and Ryanair, which have put Albania, and its capital in particular, in the sights of many European travellers keen to explore what was, until now, one the least visited corners of the continent.
The fact is, that if you grew up reading about Albania as Europe’s economic and political basket case, are almost guaranteed to be impressed by what you see arriving in its capital in 2025: a city that is, generally speaking, tidy and efficient and where signs of economic growth are all around. Now, I am aware that this may apply only to the capital, or to be more exact, its central areas, which is what visitors are most likely to see.
However, this is how I can best describe my impressions from the limited amount of time I spent in the city, which is, after all, what this site is about!
Getting to and from Tirana Airport to the city center
Here are a few lines about my experience traveling between Tirana International Airport and central Tirana. I must say, first of all, that my flights in and out of the city were both quite late at night (around midnight), but I think what you will read here applies to other times of the day too.
First of all, there is no rail line linking Rinas airport to central Tirana, so you will be restricted to road transport.
So, unless you are renting a car this leaves both the taxi and bus as public transportation options.
At the time of writing these lines, neither Uber nor Bolt or other international ride-hailing app were operative in Albania. I read online that there is a local app, but I am not too keen to use apps I know I won’t be using anywhere else.
So, this led me to check the bus and this was a great choice, particularly considering that the terminus station in central Tirana is on the very central Skanderbeg Square, right next to my hotel.
The bus turned out to be really efficient and amazing value. For less than €5 I got pretty much to the door of my hotel. The bus was modern and clean. It also runs 24/7!
In order to catch it, you just need to walk some 50 meters as you exit the terminal to the left and walk across a car park (on the way you will get several offers from taxi drivers to take you, but I still think the bus is very hard to beat for value if you go anywhere near Skanderbeg Square).
If the schedules haven’t changed, the bus runs with an hourly frequency. The ticket is purchased directly from the driver (see my point about cash!). The drive to the center of Tirana takes less than 30 minutes.
IMPORTANT: you are strongly advised to get some local currency upon arrival (there are a few booths at the airport) to get at least some cash with you, since Albania is extremely cash-dependent economy and you will need cash it to pay pretty much everything, including the bus!
Things to see around Tirana’s Skanderbeg Square
Skanderbeg Square is the very heart of Tirana and most of the main sights are within walking distance from it.
The square is named after Albania’s national hero, an Albanian aristocrat that fought the Ottomans in the 15th C., in fact, after rebelling against them, and set up a (more or less) independent early Albanian state.
Skanderbeg is such an important figure in Albanian history that his coat of arms was actually adopted as the flag of modern-day Albania and he has, of course, a statue in the square that bears his name, as well.
The square itself is a large open space with a rather Communist-era look (the building of the National History Museum with its Communist-Realist freeze contributes a great deal to this aesthetic). However, there are also a couple historical buildings around it and quite a few modern constructions also going up!
Several of Tirana’s main commercial streets converge on Skanderbeg Square. Those are not huge by any means, but they are quite lively and full of activity during the day.
Overall, as I mentioned in the introductory section, the city looks pretty well kept (see the nice detail of the flowers in the little space available) and the center feels pretty safe. One thing that becomes apparent is the amount of construction going on in central Tirana with quite a few high rises going up at the time of my visit.
There is also a small mountain river, the Lana, flowing through the very center of Tirana, just a few meters south of Skanderbeg Square.
Since I had only 24 hours in the city, effectively just one full day for sightseeing, I remained mostly in the central area, within a radius of one kilometer from Skanderbeg Square, but walking quite a bit in all directions. This allowed me to see some sights such as this sort of metal contraption, which seems to emulate the nearby Tirana Pyramid, or one of the city’s street markets.
Since Albania’s population is religiously mixed (muslims are the largest group, but there are also sizeable populations of both orthodox and catholic christians), it is possible to see both mosques and churches in central Tirana.
Retracing Cold War Albania at Bunk'Art 2
If you have been following this site, you are maybe aware of my interest in Cold War history. This is a topic I have covered with, for example, my visit to the Buzludzha Monument in Bulgaria.
And Albania is one of the places in Europe in which the mark of the Cold War is still felt very intensely and this is, in great part, because the country suffered a particularly oppressive and isolationist regime, even by the standards of Eastern Europe at the time. In fact, Hoxha’s regime followed its own policies, refused to integrate in the Warsaw Pact and aligned with Maoist China instead. It was also a particularly paranoid regime which filled the country with thousands of bunkers and other military infrastructure.
Some of this facilities were later turned into museums and some can even be visited in Tirana. Since I had limited time I had to be selective, though. This ruled out Bunk’art 1, a large bunker complex which is located in the outskirts of the city, as well as Enver Hoxha’s villa, which was undergoing some refurbishment at the time of my visit.
So I opted for Bunk’art 2, which is another bunker complex located right in the center of the capital. The visit did not disappoint!
To access Bunk’art 2 you go literally underground. The facilities, which were built anticipating an invasion that never came, have been turned into a museum that explains how life was like under the Communist regime and how the Albanian police state worked. It also explains the fate of many of its victims.
Some of the rooms have been recreated with a great level of detail, with lots of artifacts and pictures from that era.
Definitely a recommended place to visit in central Tirana!
Climbing the Pyramid of Tirana
But perhaps the most well known landmark in Tirana is the Pyramid!
This is, well…a pyramid, which was built in the 1980s to host the Enver Hoxha museum. It was actually finished when the Communist regime was already in its death throes, so soon other uses had to be found for it.
In recent years it has been repurposed as a center for startups and to host business activities related to innovation and technology.
The most interesting thing to do, though, is to climb to its top. The pyramid is not super tall, but the height is enough to give you a good panorama of the city and its very mountainous surroundings.
I would say it is not a super impressive sight, but since it is so close to Skanderbeg Square, it takes about 5 minutes to walk there, and it is one of the best known monuments in the city, a visit is also recommended.
Visting the National Historical Museum of Albania
This is another landmark I would recommend visiting. The museum is very centrally located. In fact, I would say it is possibly the most centrally located building in the whole country, since it dominates Skanderbeg Square with its rather impressive Socialist-realist frontal mosaic.
The museum covers the history of Albania, since the pre-history all the way to the 20th C. The building is itself, not without interest. It is very Communistic in appearance, but the collections have been updated a bit. It is also the right size: quite comprehensive but not overwhelming in terms of the time it requires to go through the different collections.
What and where to eat in Tirana
On this front, my recommendations are going to be quite simple and straightforward, since didn’t have that much time to experience the culinary side of Tirana.
If short of time, head to Kavaja Street, one of the main commercial avenues to the west of Skanderbeg Square, and get some borek or some other take away food from any of the many local take away joints and bakeries there.
If you are looking for a nice place to sit down a bit, my recommendation is the following:
Oborri (right side picture below)
Rruga Naim Frashëri (one of the smaller streets off Kavaja St.)
This is a restaurant-bar with a terrace, very good wifi and some tasty food. It is a bit more pricey than other places nearby, but nice and still very good value.
Where to stay in Tirana
Hotel Europa
29 Rruga Myslym Shyri, Tirana, 1001
This is an amazingly great choice of a hotel in the very center of Tirana.
It is a relatively small hotel, you could even say “boutique”.
Its location is amazing, in the very center of the city, just two streets away from Skanderbeg Square (in a sort of backstreet, as you can see in the picture). But inside is also very modern and in contemporary style, with large rooms and a large bathroom.
Staff were also very friendly and, by the way, the breakfast was also pretty good!
I paid I think something like €45 per night and I got a lot of value for it!
Nice coworking space in central Tirana
Coolab
Rruga e Dibrës Nr.65, Tirana 1015
If you find yourself needing to do some work while in Tirana, this coworking is a great option. It is also very centrally located and it occupies a whole building in one of the main avenues in the center. Very reasonably priced, I think I paid less than €15.
Staff were also super friendly and the facilities are pretty good, modern and with super fast wifi!
Visiting Spain’s Mars-like Rio Tinto mines
Spain’s Rio Tinto mines are among the oldest in the world. People started to mine metals in this corner of southwestern Spain more than 5,000 years ago. And it’s easy to see the reasons for this very early start.
The local river, which flows through the heart of this region, is entirely and naturally red due to the very unique geology of this place.
This very eye-catching characteristic didn’t go unnoticed to the different peoples that have exploited the mines of the Rio Tinto basin at different times in history, from the Ancient Tartessians in pre-Roman times to the British in the Victorian Era.
It is actually said that it was the mineral riches of this part of Spain that drew the Carthaginians and later the Romans to the Iberian Peninsula. Here they found the Tartessians, an Ancient local civilization that still remains somehow mysterious to this day, although archaeologists keep learning more and more about it.
The Romans mined mostly silver in the area, but the heyday of the modern Rio Tinto mines arrived in the late 19th C. and early 20th C. when British investors took over the mining activity and turned it into the largest copper mine in the world. It is not a coincidence that even to this date one of the largest mining firms in the World is non other than London-listed Rio Tinto!
Mining declined in the second half of the 20th C. as global price and demand swings made some of the activities uneconomical, leading to the closure of a large chunk of the mining operation.
Nevertheless, some parts of it survived and Rio Tinto is sill an active mining region, with a company called Atalaya Mining running a large open pit copper mine not far from the town.
How to get to Rio Tinto?
The best way to visit the Rio Tinto mines is to get a car.
It is not only the best option to get there from the closest airport, Seville (SVQ), which lies about one drive away, but it is also necessary to move between the different visitor sites around the Rio Tinto, because they are all spread out in a radius of several kilometers around the town.
Other than that, the town is not particularly difficult to reach. About half of the way is on a motorway, and the last 50km or so are on rather good country roads.
One important consideration is that while most of the points of interest in Rio Tinto are under the umbrella of the “Parque Minero de las Minas de Rio Tinto” (“Rio Tinto Mining Park”) there are different areas open to visitors and each has its own opening times and visit slots.
Likewise, you can costumize your visit and buy different packages depending on how many of these points you wish to see.
The most comprehensive experience can take a whole day, or up to 6 hours (taking into account, as well, that all the attractions close between 3pm and 4pm), although it is possible to do a reduced programme too. On weekends there are also some extra tours and experiences and, on some days, the tourist train is pulled by a steam locomotive.
Below is a map of the different points of interest in Rio Tinto mentioned in this post:
Mining museum in downtown Rio Tinto
Mining Train route
Peña de Hierro mine
Atalaya Mining open pit mine viewpoint (here I refer to the active mine, which is not open to visitors and can be seen from the road)
Corta Atalaya (this is the other open pit mine to the left of this image, which can be visited as part of the Parque Minero experience, although I didn’t have time to visit it on this trip).
Rio Tinto’s Mining Museum
This is the hub, so to speak, of the Rio Tinto mining experience.
It is located in the center of the town of Rio Tinto and it offers, through its exhibits, a comprehensive view of how mining activity was structured in the region and its historical, geological, financial and social aspects.
The museum covers the whole history of mining in the area, starting from the Ancient times and all the way to the present.
The exhibits are rather eclectic. Some rooms are rather old school in the way the different elements are presented, while some others have some really cool experiential stuff.
There is also a good number of machines and other equipment, including locomotives, that were once used in the mines and help get an idea of how life was in the area for both workers and managers.
There is also a replica mining gallery within the museum grounds which is surprisingly long and quite realistic!
The museum has also an annex called “Casa 21” (House 21) which is physically in another location across town. I did not have time to visit that one (I had only half a day to see the whole mining area before driving back to the airport).
At Casa 21 you can see how the mine’s British managers lived in the early 20th C. In fact, Rio Tinto was home to a British expat community which brought to Spain some things like…football! (the first football club in Spain was Recreativo de Huelva, set up in 1889 in the provincial capital!). I am sure it is quite an interesting thing to see!
The Train of the Mines (“Tren Minero”)
In my opinion, the train is the highlight of any visit. It is also the part of the experience in which it is easier to understand the whole scale of the mining operation that went on for many decades at Rio Tinto and also see from up close its environmental aspects and how it transformed the landscape of this area.
What’s more, it offers also the best chance to see (and even dip your toes in!) the red waters of the, aptly named, Rio Tinto, which is, after all, what gives its name to this very unique region.
The train departs at set times and spots are limited, so be sure you book your ride in advance! Also, note that the departure station is not in downtown Rio Tinto, but in an adjacent valley distant a couple of kilometres from the museum.
During the train ride, which took one hour total (around 20 minutes in each direction, plus 10 minutes of free time at the far end of the track to go walk along the river banks), a guide explained many of the geological or man made features we were passing by, the technologies used to mine the different metals and the impact they had on the environment.
She also explained how life was for the workers on site (spoiler: really, really tough!) and how the landscape has been evolving over time.
It’s important to bear in mind that the greenery and forests that today cover parts of the Rio Tinto basin are the result of repopulation. Some of the extraction and refining processes used in the late 19th and the early 20th C. were so toxic that the whole area was really like a desert with almost no vegetation!
At times, the landscape around the tracks looks like a giant rolling stock junkyard, which, to be honest, is part of the appeal when visiting what is essentially an industrial archaeology site.
Despite all the hardships, thousands of people used to live in several settlements scattered through the area. Today it. is possible to see what’s left of them from the train, as well as the vestiges of the different facilities that were processing the minerals.
Why did NASA come to Rio Tinto for Mars-related research?
The star of the visit is, of course, the Rio Tinto! In fact, the tracks follow its course for several kilometers and it is perfectly possible to spot its reddish colour from the train.
No fish or other complex organisms live in the Rio Tinto due to its acidity and high metal content, however it is not a lifeless river! The red colour of the Rio Tinto is natural and it results from the activity of several types of bacteria that have evolved to digest the metals that occurs naturally in these waters and feed themselves by oxidizing them.
This environment is, apparently, the closest you can get on Earth to conditions on the surface of Mars, so this has naturally caught the attention of bio-astronomy researchers and even of NASA, the US space agency, which has used Rio Tinto for some of its experiments.
During the 10 minute break between the two legs of the train trip it is possible to come down to the river bank. It is recommended to be careful not to get stained with the water, since it can be very, very hard to remove any stains. The water is, of course, not drinkable but, even if it is very acidic and has metals in it, it is still within the bounds that make it possible to touch it.
Overall quite an impressive experience that would, by itself, be worth the trip, but there’s more!
The “Peña de Hierro” Mine
The Peña de Hierro mine (which roughly translates as “Iron Hill” in Spanish) is another of the former mining facilities open to visitors in Rio Tinto. It is located some 3km north of the town of Nerva, which is itself a couple of kilometres from downtown Rio Tinto.
The mine has even some galleries of Roman origin, but the bulk of the activity took place between mid-19th C. and 1960, when pyrites and other ores were mined here. A large mining settlement had also existed adjacent to the mine, but this is now gone.
What is left and can be visited at present is a small one-room museum (with pretty interesting exhibits) and one of the galleries of the mine…which has a, let’s say, rather impressive surprise at its end!
When you reach the end of the visitor’s gallery…voilà!…you get to a lake that is now filling the bottom of the deep open pit mine. The sight is rather awesome and the sparse vegetation and pines that are growing on its sides makes you almost forget that is, actually, an artificial landscape!
Atalaya Open Pit Mine
Everything we have seen until now was industrial archaeology, remains of a not too distant but now gone mining past. BUT, as of 2025, there is still mining activity in Rio Tinto! And you don’t need to get too far out of town to see it.
One of the packages offered at the “Parque Minero” include a visit to the Corta Atalaya, a very large open pit mine. Since visiting times are limited (it is only open in the afternoon) I could not include that one in my itinerary.
However, there is a way to see a proper open pit mine even if you can get a ticket for Corta Atalaya, because, literally, on the other side of the road there is yet another spectacular open pit mine!
In fact, there is a viewpoint with some parking space (at the time of my visit the viewpoint parking was blocked by a chain, but there was still space to stop the car at the entrance and walk to the viewing platform) that offers amazing views of the modern open pit mine operation.
From here you can see how the massive semi-trucks trundle up and down the mine’s helicoidal tracks, laden with copper ore which several excavators are collecting at the bottom of the pit.
Quite an impressive sight and an appropriate ending to an intense day in the mines!
Great hotel to stay in Sevilla
While I am aware that there are other hotels closer to the Rio Tinto mines, my base for this trip was the city of Seville, which is located roughly one hour drive away from the mining basin.
There I stayed at the Hotel Querencia de Sevilla, Autograph Collection by Marriott.
Despite being part of a large international chain, this hotel has managed to preserve a boutique atmosphere and a very local flair in the overall presentation and theme. The hotel is as central as it gets, just off the main commercial street and a mere two minutes walk from Seville’s Cathedral and the Reales Alcázares, two of the city’s most important. historical landmarks.
The room was impeccably clean and decorated in contemporary style, but it had quite a few Arabesque details that are so typical of Andalusian architecture. I liked the wooden floors as well (always better than carpet!) and the touch of green highlighting some of the key elements.
There were also a couple of nice, locally-inspired goodies waiting for me: a fan (which is an object often associated with Andalusian culture as well) and a box of, also locally-produced “roscos”, a type of shortbread typical of Andalusia.
One of the highlights of this hotel is the rooftop terrace, which has also a small swimming pool which offers what I am pretty sure must be some of the best views in town.
This pool is truly an amazing amenity to have when you come back to the hotel after a day walking around the city in temperatures close to 40 C! Access is easy and direct via the lift and in room you have a set of bathrobes and slippers.
The views are also amazing at night, btw!
Here some snaps from the restaurant, where breakfast is served.
As you may have noticed from the pics, the theme of bullfighting is very present in this part of the hotel. Now, I know this is an activity that can be controversial, nevertheless it is undoubtably very rooted in local Andalusian culture and I think this is precisely the point the hotel is trying to make here.
The food selection, by the way, was really nice and tasty, particularly the savory section, which offers a good range of prime quality Iberian ham, cured meats and cheese.
It is also to have breakfast in a small terrace that, while it doesn’t have the views of the rooftop one, is also pretty nice, particularly in the balmy morning weather, and allows you to see the street directly underneath.
So, all in all, I really liked this hotel. Querencia de Sevilla is definitely one place I will keep in mind whenever I have the chance to come back to Seville!
Vilnius, Kaunas and Trakai: top things to do in Lithuania in summer
This is not the first time that Lithuania, and its capital, Vilnius, make and appearance on this site. I already collected some of my first impressions of the city in Winter time, on this post.
However, as you may imagine, Lithuania is an altogether different place during summer time (nothing reflects this seasonal change better than the pictures of the Lake of Trakai on this post and those taken in Winter!).
So, since I have got the chance to travel back to Vilnius a couple more times since then, I thought it was worth following up my initial post with a new one about what to do in Lithuania during the summer time if you have a couple of spare days.
What’s more, these additional trips, made in warmer weather, have made for a more rounded-up Lithuanian experience and allowed me to see more of the country.
Walking in downtown Vilnius
If downtown Vilnius already made for a delightful walk at the peak of winter, you can just imagine how much better it gets in the warmth of the late summer days.
Most of the monumental highlights in the center of Vilnius were already covered in the previous post, nevertheless, I am sharing here some pictures I took in these more recent trips.
These are mostly from the area around the cathedral and Gediminas Avenue, the city’s main commercial street, but lovers of modern architecture have also a little steel and glass business district across the river (as shown in the pictures below).
Worth noting that downtown Vilnius is very walkable and relatively small so, unless your hotel is in the outer districts, you are unlikely to need a taxi or even public transportation to move around.
Enjoying the Vilnius Festival
If you happen to visit Vilnius towards the end of August and the first week of September, you will be able to take part in a city-wide festival, which was until recently called “Capital Days” and was recently renamed as “Vilnius Days”.
So, what to expect? First of all, there are quite a few outdoor activities, both for children and adults, such as sports and other experiential stuff.
And, perhaps of more interest to visitors, lots of food stalls are also set up on the main commercial street offering a broad diversity of food and Lithuanian produce as well as some handicrafts and the like. It is a really good value option to eat well while on the go!
There are also quite a few musical performances and, this being the Baltics, singing choirs take, of course, a prominent role!
One of the happenings that was particularly interesting was the light and music sound that took place by the river Neris at certain times at night during the festival week.
The show was really impressive and the mist around the river (I am not sure if it was natural or laid out for the occasion) really added to the atmosphere!
Two Lithuanian foods you must try in Vilnius
Cepelinai (left) are a sort of Lithuanian dumplings which are typically filled with an assortment of different types of foods, such as meat or cheese. The outer crust is typically soft and moist and they are served with sour cream and some side, such as cooked onions.
Pink soup (right) is a summer dish (hence I could not try it the first time I was in town!). Beetroot is the element that gives it this colour and it has, apparently, some kefir-like fermented milk, which gives it a rather thick texture. It is usually served with some herbs and boiled egg on top and served cold.
Lithuanians are so proud of pink soup that there is even a week-long festival in May in Vilnius devoted to it and it appears in Lithuanian postal stamps as well!
Getting some Lithuanian food at Halés Market
So, where can you get your cepelinai and pink soup when in Vilnius?
If you are aiming for a proper sit-down meal, you can try the Lithuanian restaurant in the old town, “Bernelių Užeiga”, which I described in my previous article about Vilnius.
But, if you are looking for something more casual, besides the aforementioned festival week food stalls, another place where it is possible to sample Lithuanian food in a casual way is Halés Market.
This is small indoor market, located near Vilnius main railway station, sells all sorts of products and stuff. What I found particularly interesting is the food section, with several places where it is possible to order some freshly made and tasty “cepelinai”.
I had mine at a place called “Spoon Out” and they tasted great!
Kayaking in and around Vilnius (Vilnia and Neris Rivers)
If you are into kayaking, or just into outdoor sports, this is one of the top things I would recommend doing in Vilnius if the weather is nice!
If you have read my post about kayaking in the Gothenburg archipelago, you possibly know by now that I like kayaking, but this time it is not the sea, but the rivers Vilnia and Neris that I would paddle along.
Because Vilnius has, in fact, two rivers. The main one, which divides the old town from the modern business district is the Neris, but there is also another smaller river, the Vilnia, which joins the Neris coming from the east right next to Vilnius castle.
This little kayaking adventure in Vilnius consisted in kayaking the Vilnia downstream most of the way to end up in the Neris paddling through downtown Vilnius for the last stretch of the itinerary.
To kayak in Vilnius I contracted a company called Vilius Kareiva. They were super nice and efficient. They offer several itineraries with different durations and level of difficulty. I opted for the long one, which costs around €25 (equipment included) plus €3 for the ride to the starting point upstream.
The assembly point is downtown at a designated spot on the banks of the Neris where there is a small fluvial beach. But that is not the start of the kayaking route. From there, you are driven for about half an hour to a location upstream in the Pavilnys Regional Park, which is green area that starts on the eastern suburbs of Vilnius.
From this spot our group started our descent on Vilnius. The Vilnia is a mountain river, not very deep and with fast running water.
Unlike in the case of the Swedish sea kayaking episode in which I somehow underestimated the difficulty, I did not find the Vilnia descent technically difficult, even if I did not have experience in white water rafting, although the itinerary is quite long (-actually much more than it seems on the map!), it takes around three hours and you are likely to feel pretty exhausted by the time you arrive to the collection point in downtown Vilnius!
In the worst case, you can just let the current push you while you try to steer more or less a straight course. There are some areas in which there are rocks, plants and other obstacles that create bottlenecks and these can present some challenges, but the river is quite shallow, so, in fact you are more likely to run aground than to capsize!
The long itinerary includes also a spot in which it is necessary to drag the kayak out of the water and carry it on land for some 100 meters in order to bypass a little dam (this is actually how the Vikings moved their ships between the river systems of Eastern Europe).
The kayak is not super heavy, although if you are alone it requires some effort. However, it is very likely that you will be doing the itinerary in a group and everyone helps each other, so all good!
The whole itinerary is really beautiful, since it runs through the heart of a natural park. It is also quite diverse, with stretches that have calm water and others that have rapid-like conditions. You are also likely to see plenty of ducks and other birds around, and you pass by quite a few fishermen and families enjoying a day out on the banks of the river.
Towards the end of the itinerary, you enter the city of Vilnius and have the privilege of seeing its downtown and some of its most beautiful monuments from this rather unusual point of view!
And, the very final stretch is the arrival into the much larger river Neris, which is a totally different experience than when paddling the fast moving and narrow Vilnia.
The arrival is at the same place as the assembly point earlier in the day. There is a small beach where it is easy to take the kayak aground for collection.
Overall, an amazing experience combining sport, nature and sightseeing which is worth every cent and every minute of your time!
Sailing in Trakai Lake
So, I went back to Trakai! I had been there the previous winter when the lake was frozen solid and the town covered in snow.
And what a difference a few months make! This time Trakai received me in all its summer glory. This time I did not visit the castle, but instead, went for a bit of sailing in one of the several boats that offer excursions (it is also possible to rent small craft, even the ones that run on pedals).
The lake, with its large reddish castle on one of its islands was really magnificent and there were plenty of other people on boats also enjoying the amazing weather and the postcard-perfect views!
I think it is one of those cases in which one (or several) image(s) are worth more than a thousand words.
Recommended place to eat “kibinai” in Trakai
Earlier I mentioned “cepelinai” and pink soup, but there is yet another must-taste Lithuanian speciality: kibinai.
And there is a place on the shores of Trakai lake that is ideal to taste them (or even to make them, since they also run kibinai-making workshops as culinary experience):
Senoji kibininė
Karaimų g. 65, Trakai, 21104
The place is set up in one of the traditional houses that are still found along the lake.
It has a large terrace where it is possible to enjoy the nice weather outside.
A day trip from to Kaunas from Vilnius
Kaunas is Lithuania’s historical capital and, nowadays, the country’s second largest city.
Since Lithuania is a relatively small country, its two major cities are not very far apart: it takes less than an hour by train to get to Kaunas from Vilnius and there are trains running pretty much every hour.
To be fair, there are quite a few things to do and see in Kaunas if you want to explore it at a leisurely place, as for example my colleague Graupix did some time ago to then go on to write this post (in Spanish).
In my case, I had just half a day, plus the weather was not particularly inviting, so it was a bit of an express visit, but I hope it gives you an impression of the city.
Kaunas is located on a roughly triangular, wedge-like piece of land at the confluence of the Neris and Nemunas rivers (yes, the same Neris that I kayaked in the previous section of this article!). In fact, the city has two well defined parts, the old and new towns, which have two very different architectural and urban planning styles, but both have quite a few elements of interest.
The old town is rather cute, as you would expect in this part of Europe, it is made of relatively low-lying buildings and lined by cobbled streets (surprisingly broad, I must say!)
There are, I would say, two focal points in the old town:
Town Hall Square, depicted in the picture above, a rather large open space with the said town hall (which, actually, looks like a church!) standing alone in the middle.
Kaunas castle, which is located at the western edge of the old town, near the tip of the wedge of land between the city’s two rivers.
The 14th C. castle is built in the red brick style that is common in this part of Lithuania (as are many historical churches as well) and it opens into a large park that leads all the way to the confluence of the Neris and the Nemunas.
There are quite a few trails to walk around the area and even a sleeping dragon! (or so they say)
Modernist Kaunas
The modern part of Kaunas, in contrast to the old town, has a rather rational layout with an orthogonal grid.
In fact, Kaunas is in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list because of its Modernist architecture, found, for example, along Laisvés Avenue, the city’s main commercial street.
This style encapsulates the atmosphere of the 1920s and 1930s of the then, newly independent Lithuania, a period, that would shortly after come to an abrupt end with the start of WW2 and the German and Soviet invasions and occupation.
In fact, a place to both admire Modernist Art-Déco artchitecture and learn about Lithuanian history is the “Vytautas the Great War Museum” (below), which is dedicated to Lithuanian history through the ages.
The long-lasting struggle for Lithuanian independence is very present in Kaunas. Close to the “Vytautas the Great War Museum” is the “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier” (below left), which honours those the fought to preserve Lithuanian freedom. The monument was razed by the Soviets and restored after independence in the 1990s.
But a particularly interesting statue is that dedicated to the “Unknown Book Smuggler” (below right). Between 1864 and 1904, the Russian authorities banned the publishing of Lithuanian language books, so some people started smuggling them undercover, to great risk to themselves, helping preserve the country’s culture and language.
Street Art in Kaunas
In fact, Kaunas is rich in street art. Statues and mural paintings are plentiful all throughout the city. Some of them are really imaginative, such as this fisherman (below, right) that lets you appreciate the point of view of fish without having to leave the street pavement!
By the way, if you are into contemporary art, one of the hotspots in Kaunas is the “Kiemo Galerija” (Yard Gallery), depicted below, which is located, as the name implies, in the courtyard of a residential block.
And, last but not least, if you continue your stroll along Laisvés Avenue, you will end up at the Church of St. Michael the Archangel. This is an Orthodox church that was built in the early 20th C. to serve the spiritual needs of the Russian garrison, which at that time was stationed in Kaunas (the local Lithuanians are mostly Catholic and have the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul in the old town).
The church stands alone in the middle of a large square which also happens to be lined with bars and restaurants with their respective terraces, so a good point to have a little rest and recharge energies after an intense sightseeing tour of the city!
There is, of course, another temple of note in Kaunas. I was about to say it’s a non-religious one, but, actually, I am not so sure, because basketball is almost like religion in Kaunas.
I am talking, of course, about the Žalgiris Arena, where Žalgiris Kauno, the city’s basketball team, which happens to be one of the best at a European level as well.
But this is, perhaps, a story for another day…!