The Norwegian Arctic conjures up images of a cold, far-away land inhabited by Eskimos and Polar Bears. You would not be totally wrong to be thinking that, but although we are well North of the Arctic Circle, polar bear sightings, sadly will not be in our road trip itinerary. Summer in this region has been surprisingly mild, sunny and with some very pleasant daily temperatures. Particularly since leaving Nordkapp we have really lucked out with the weather.
With a heatwave hitting most of Europe,
A road trip to Nordkapp in Norway has been on our wish list for many years, we would often talk about it and day dream of watching the midnight sun at this far above the Arctic Circle place. I guess there is something about visiting some far away corners of our Continent that feels very appealing to so many people, including us. Just a few months ago we were spending the night at Portugal’s Cabo de São Vicente which is usually taken as the South-westernmost tip of Europe.
In the remote region of Finnmark, in the Northeast of Norway, lies the bleak town of Vardø, also know as the “Witchcraft Capital of Norway”. We are not here to investigate spells and the magic powers of the evil North. But since we are here, we may as well learn a little about these extraordinary 16th Century events that took place in this sparsely populated little town.
Vardø is well off the beaten track, founded in 1789 it is connected to the mainland by a 2.9km long Arctic Ocean
Imagine driving through eight country borders without needing to show your passport? Imagine a seamless driving adventure, no visas needed, no queues at border crossings, no questions asked. How can such a road trip possibly work?
This dreamy road trip does exist, made possible since the signing of the Schengen Agreement in 1995. Travellers no longer need to show their passport when border crossing between the countries that are part of the Schengen area. The free movement of people is a right
Driving our large motorhome through the scenic, but rather winding, narrow roads of the Picos de Europa mountain range was a little challenging in places, but it turned out to be one of the best and most beautiful road trips we have done during our recently four months touring France, Spain and Portugal by motorhome.
Bordering Asturias, Cantabria and Castilla y León, the Picos de Europa (Europe Peaks) National Park is an absolute gem in Northern Spain. Being a lot less popular than other regions
Every year thousands of people walk many miles from all corners of Europe on a pilgrimage like no other, to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. The “Camino de Santiago” is possibly the world’s most famous pilgrimage and one that we have been wishing to walk for many years. This pilgrimage has existed for over one thousand years, along many different routes and all culminate at Santiago de Compostela in Northern Spain.
The American film “The Way”, directed by
Portugal is a beautiful country, friendly and very affordable. If you have been following this blog you will know that we have been driving through the length and breadth of this country. Our six week motorhome road trip here has been wonderful. We found that particularly the central and northern regions to be the most authentic and these regions have fast became our favourite areas for exploring by motorhome or by car…or in fact by any mode of transport. Here we found a
The Douro, a river made famous by a very unique product: Port Wine. Tasting the Douro Valley with its many wine varieties became our mission during our visit to this incredible wine producing region. Although wine production is not the only interesting thing to see in this area.
The green rolling hills of the Douro Valley with its slopping terraces brimming with grape vines are famed for being one of the worlds best drives…well, we can certainly attest to that, but it is also one of the hardest,
Zig-zagging down a hilly valley, following the Paiva River, the Paiva Walkways or Passadiços do Paiva as it is known locally, is a wooden walkway that takes visitors on a geology, history and nature journey through an area of abundant deposits of quartz crystals, fossils, rare flora and fauna.
The wooden walkway is designed to interfere as little as possible with the surrounding environment, but still letting visitors enjoy the topography and natural environment which would otherwise be inaccessible
Leaving the Sanctuary of Fátima behind we found ourselves heading towards the small town of Tomar (or Thomar in English). We had not heard much about this town before our visit, but it was enthusiastically recommended to us by someone we have met on our travels in Spain. The driving there from Fátima was mostly quite dull, flat, through small towns and some industrial areas. We were kept entertained by the many sights of pilgrims and their heavy backpacks walking at the side of the busy main