Preview hidden europe 67

Summary

A look ahead at hidden europe 67 which will be published on 18 July 2022.

hidden europe 66 / Preview / By hidden europe

We have not been so good of late about actually managing to deliver on promises made in previews. Our apologies. It’s merely that travel planning hasn’t been easy during the pandemic. Looking ahead to issue 67 of hidden europe, we plan to feature a lesser-known area of southern Belgium in our ongoing quest to convince the world that Belgium isn’t as boring as some people think. It’s been a while since we featured Croatia and Georgia, so they are both in our plan for the next issue. We’ll look at the love-hate relationship between mining and UNESCO’s World Heritage List too, focusing on a few examples from across Europe. hidden europe 67 will be published on 18 July 2022.

Editorial hidden europe 66
Editorial

By hidden europe

In hidden europe 66 we explore the Drin Valley in Albania, the Vipava Valley in Slovenia, reflect on sustainable tourism and check out the boats in Port Grimaud. We also celebrate a special anniversary with a an article on fifty years of Interrail.

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Summer transients: the Fjallabak community
Feature

By Katie Featherstone

Four hours drive east of Reykjavík, the Fjallabak nature reserve is home to no one, but lies deep in the hearts of many. Here in the hills of Iceland, the seasonal transients arrive in June, helping prepare the simple accommodation to welcome summer hikers. Katie Featherstome describes a season at Hrafntinnusker, a remote mountain hut on the hiking trail known as the Laugavegur.

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Slovenia’s Vipava Valley: swept by the wind, scorched by the sun
Feature

By Rudolf Abraham

Cheese, wine and fierce winds give character to Slovenia’s Vipava Valley, as Rudolf Abraham discovers when he makes a midwinter visit. Just over the hill from Trieste, yet often bypassed by visitors, the Vipava Valley packs a few surprises: Egyptian sarcophagi, a Napoleonic legacy and a fine art connection.

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A tale of two hearts: emigration and the Azorean spirit
Feature

By Paul Scraton

Azorean society has been shaped by emigration. Generations have left the mid-Atlantic islands, motivated by volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and poverty to seek new lives on the European mainland or in the Americas. Paul Scraton reports from an archipelago that is not quite Europe.

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Watching the river flow: the Drin from source to sea
Feature

By Laurence Mitchell

Laurence Mitchell looks at one of the most extraordinary rivers in the southern Balkans. Join us on the shores of Lake Ohrid in North Macedonia. The water that plunges over a weir at the northern end of Lake Ohrid eventually reaches the sea at Drin Bay on the Adriatic shore of Albania.

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More than heads on beds: metrics for sustainable tourism
Perspective

By Nicky Gardner

European Travel Commission boss Luís Araújo is keen to push travellers to "adopt greener options and pay closer attention to their impact on the environment and local communities." All good, but the tourism industry also needs to do its bit, and that means nudging national tourist boards and providers of tourism services into adopting better performance metrics. Counting heads on beds is too crude a metric to support a shift to more sustainable tourism.

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A triple dose of culture: Europe’s cultural capitals
Capital moments

By Nicky Gardner

Can you name Europe's three capitals of culture for 2022? All three are the second-largest cities in their respective countries. Step forward Esch-sur-Alzette, Novi Sad and Kaunas. International visitors to the latter two will surely find it immensely frustrating that there are no cross-border train services to Kaunas and Novi Sad.

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European ferry links: opportunities and challenges
Ferryscan

By Nicky Gardner

Have you noticed that some ferry companies serving Britain and / or Ireland are now decidedly sniffy about carrying foot passengers? Must we really take a car with us to be permitted on some ferries? But it’s not all bad news on the ferry front since there are a number of new Baltic routes which are very pleased to take foot passengers.

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Fifty years of Interrail: the freedom to explore Europe
Railscan

By Nicky Gardner

Allow yourself to be curious! Take time to wander. That’s the beauty of Interrail, the rail pass which gives travellers the freedom to explore Europe. March 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of Interrail. We celebrate the first half-century of a scheme which has so dramatically shaped Europeans’ understanding of their home continent.

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Pure theatre: homage to Lake Lucerne
Special spaces

By Nicky Gardner

Swiss lakes are in a class of their own. But is there one that just has the edge over the rest? Some may cast their vote for Léman, and others will argue the case for Lugano. But for us it’s Lake Lucerne, where the lake’s unusual vaguely cruciform shape changes a boat journey into pure theatre.

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Port Grimaud: not quite a Milton Keynes
Connections

By Nicky Gardner

Two towns, both founded around the same time: Milton Keynes in England and Port Grimaud on the south coast of France, the latter the most ambitious project of French architect and planner François Spoerry.

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Hiking the Laugavegur
Snippet

By hidden europe

For many young Icelanders, the four-day trek along the Laugvegur is a rite of passage that in summer affords a relatively safe encounter with ‘untouched nature’. It takes in terrain that has helped shape Icelandic culture, memory and identity.

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Visitor mobility
Snippet

By hidden europe

How far should the local travel requirements for tourists be met by a region’s regular transport infrastructure? Or does it make sense to lay on special services for seasonal visitors? We look at examples from Switzerland and Britain.

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Ukrainians on the move
Snippet

By hidden europe

Not far from Lockerbie, in the hills of southern Scotland, a corrugated iron hut was converted into a simple chapel in summer 1947. It is a remote, rural outpost of Ukraine's Greek Catholic Church.

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Follow the dove
Snippet

By hidden europe

Look for the tell-tale Pentecostal dove that marks out the small chapels dedicated to the Holy Spirit. They are found across the Azores, each chapel the hub of a social network that underpins Azorean Catholicism.

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New edition of Europe by Rail: The Definitive Guide
Snippet

By hidden europe

The 17th edition of Europe by Rail: The Definitive Guide is published in mid-April 2022. It includes new routes through the Alps and central Europe, a completely new journey along Italy’s Adriatic coast, new Baltic region coverage and much more.

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New Albanian bus routes
Snippet

By hidden europe

So what is the best way to get from Dubrovnik to Athens? Take the bus, we say, at least for the first part of the journey. Improved bus and ferry services now make it very easy to travel from southern Croatia through Montenegro and Albania to Greece. It is a fine journey, especially if you can make time to stop off in Kotor, Tiranë and Corfu.

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Preview hidden europe 67
Preview

By hidden europe

A look ahead at hidden europe 67 which will be published on 18 July 2022.

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