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Guides, hidden places and notes from the road.
Biel Switzerland: Ugly City or Hidden Gem? Old Town, Lake & Nightlife Guide
Biel is often called one of Switzerland’s ugliest cities, but its old town, the lake and the nightlife tell a different story. A local’s guide to Biel/Bienne.
Trüelete Twann: The Wine Festival on Lake Biel – History, Food, Prices & Tips
The complete guide to the Trüelete in Twann, the traditional wine festival on Lake Biel: history, what to eat and drink, real prices, why you need cash, and how to get there by boat from Biel.
Best Ski Resorts in Hokkaido: Every Ski Area, Lift Prices and Tips
Hokkaido is the reason many skiers fly halfway around the world to Japan. The snow is light, dry and falls almost every day in midwinter, and even small local hills get more of it than many famous resorts in the Alps. I have skied in Hokkaido with my girlfriend and a group of Swiss friends…
Skiing in Japan: The Complete Guide to Resorts, Prices and Passes
Japan is one of the best ski countries in the world, and it still surprises people. I grew up in Switzerland, where skiing is part of life, and I lived in Tokyo for three years. I expected Japanese ski resorts to be small and expensive. Instead I found the lightest powder I have ever skied,…
Maison Dandoy Review: The Best Waffles in Brussels?
We ate a lot of waffles in Belgium, and the best of them, by some distance, came from Maison Dandoy. It is one of those rare places that is both a tourist name and genuinely good, a historic Brussels house that has been making biscuits and waffles since the early nineteenth century and still does…
The EU Quarter in Brussels: House of European History and More
Brussels is the de facto capital of the European Union, and yet the quarter where the EU actually lives is one of the most overlooked corners of the city. Most tourists never make it east of the old town, which is a shame, because the EU Quarter is home to a genuinely excellent, and free,…
Brussels Comics: Tintin, the Smurfs and the Comic Museum
Some of the most famous characters in the world were born in Belgium. Tintin, the Smurfs, Lucky Luke and Spirou all came from the drawing boards of Belgian artists, and Brussels wears that heritage proudly, from a grand comic museum to dozens of giant murals painted across the city’s walls. For anyone who grew up…
Manneken Pis, Jeanneke and Zinneke: Brussels’ Peeing Statues
Brussels has a sense of humour, and nothing sums it up better than the fact that its most famous monument is a small bronze boy having a wee. Manneken Pis is the city’s unlikely mascot, and he is not alone: a squatting girl and a cocking dog complete a trio of peeing statues hidden in…
The Atomium, Brussels: What It Is and How to Visit
There is nothing else quite like the Atomium. A giant model of an iron crystal, magnified to the size of a building and left standing on the edge of Brussels since the 1950s, it is one of the strangest and most photogenic landmarks in Europe. Part monument, part museum, part view platform, it is the…
Belgian Beer Guide: Styles, Trappists and Where to Drink
No country takes beer as seriously as Belgium. A small nation makes well over a thousand different beers, in more styles than anywhere else on earth, and treats the whole thing with a reverence other countries reserve for wine. Monks still brew some of the most sought-after bottles in the world, wild yeast ferments sour…