Reading suggestions · Europe de l'Ouest

15 days between Gran Canaria, El Hierro, and a dash of Tenerife under the sign of storm Thérèse!

The deep worries from the day before quickly faded after the first few kilometers, starting from Vézelay. With, as always at the beginning of a long-distance hike, that strange feeling of being like a child learning to walk.

After a pretty disastrous weather-wise stay in Gran Canaria, we’re hoping this time the sun will show up in Puglia. It’s not a sure thing since the weather’s been pretty rough across Europe in early May.

After the summer of 2022 left me with a sense of unfinished business, here I am back in Swedish Lapland for the summer of 2024, ready to attempt the Sarek crossing again—and this time, to tackle part of the Kungsleden as well.

This is a trip of about a month (from September 3, 2025, to October 4, 2025), or rather a part of that trip. This part matches the title exactly: an opera festival in Verona (one evening) and the Dolomites in the Veneto region.

So I arrived in Berlin at night in the fog, and today the city was still a bit misty. I'm staying near Alexanderplatz, and the top of the TV Tower was hidden in the fog—it's perfect, it matches exactly the cliché I had of Berlin: a gray and cold city!

Yes, you might be surprised: my first trip to Iceland was back in July 1974. It’s been a little over 50 years since I first set foot on Icelandic soil. I was 23 years old. I was studying geography at the time, in that distant era.

Spitsbergen, 80° North latitude. An archipelago lost at the edge of the world, northeast of Greenland, the last lands before the pole. I’m on board the *Grigoriy Mikheev*, a Russian ship from the Murmansk Polar Research Institute. Russian flag, Russian crew. Chartered by OceanWide Expeditions.

After our amazing experience in the Lofoten Islands in the summer of 2023, I suggested to Jean Marie another trek I’d been wanting to do for a long time: the Skye Trail.

A few photos of this stunning island and he was sold and ready to go.

When you tell your friends and family about your wild urge to escape to the other side of the planet to mingle with the Mongols, it usually comes with a bunch of questionable jokes and terrible puns. For this new adventure, it’s a different destination but the same old story—this time, we’re visiting the "Puglians." Wheels up for Puglia right now!

Hi everyone,

We traveled to Norway in the summer of 2025, from July 17th to 29th, to visit Senja Island and the Lofoten archipelago with a rental car. The main theme of these twelve days was clearly hiking, along with a few visits and experiences, and nights spent in a tent or in the car (which made it possible).

Ah, Iceland and us—it’s a long story, or rather, a long wait... The first time we considered going was already 7-8 years ago, after reading travel journals describing breathtaking landscapes, countless active or dormant volcanoes, glaciers, and endless waterfalls with extraordinary flows.

While planning a trip to the LOFOTEN for summer 2023 using the excellent guide *"Randonner aux Lofoten"*, we discovered this trek.

Sure, it’s rated as difficult, but it lets you cross the LOFOTEN on foot from north to south in 11 stages, covering 160 km and 9,193 m of elevation gain (or the reverse, of course).

So, it’s a multi-day hike, with wild camping, and no need to rent a car. Awesome...

Hi there,

First attempt at a travel journal for me and first post after 7 years away from this forum. 😮 I went to La Palma island for 15 days in September 2025. After visiting Lanzarote in February, I was looking for a different and greener island. Well, I wasn’t disappointed. 😎

What makes Bologna unique are its porticoes, which have been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2021: 62 km of arcades along the buildings that let you walk sheltered from the sun or rain. Back in 1288, the municipality required houses to include private porticoes for public use. In the city center, you can stroll under 38 miles of porticoes in various styles, some more ornate than others, with a dominant palette of red tones.

Okay, Palermo—we know it. We go there to marvel at the architectural wonders born from the Arab-Norman-Byzantine-Gothic blend. And rightly so. We also go to treat our taste buds to all sorts of delights, both savory and sweet. Rightly so, too.

Off on new adventures!!! For my wife’s 60th birthday, I really wanted to make her happy. While I usually pick warm, sunny destinations, she’d rather go somewhere we won’t suffer from the heat. So, it’s off to Norway!! A real challenge for me—a southern guy who’s as cold-sensitive as they come.

I’m kicking off my first travel journal since VF reopened!

This will mostly be to share my impressions and a few photos, with a bit of a delay, but I’m starting this journal while I’m still here.

A big thank you to those who helped me plan this trip!

I was able to organize this trip to one of the most expensive countries in the world thanks to the home-exchange principle. Not necessarily a direct swap, but through a points system, which is more flexible for choosing where you want to go without it having to be a reciprocal exchange.

A travel journal, it's been a while!

I have to say, my personal situation has "a little" changed since my last journals (my 3 kids are grown up + a divorce finalized in early 2021). So, no more long-haul family destinations—now I’m focusing on multi-day hikes for my vacations. I found a hiking buddy in 2021 to join me on the Laugavegur trek in Iceland, but this year, 2022, no one’s available.

Kattegat Tour and a bit further north! Kattegat isn’t just the name of the village in the TV series *Vikings*—it’s also the name of the body of water separating Denmark from Sweden... the sea, basically! Further north, you’ve got Norway...

Hi everyone,

There aren’t many recent trip reports about Norway in winter, and since I had trouble finding info on winter hikes, I thought I’d share a little travel journal.

So happy this forum is back up!! Recap of 3 little weeks in the Azores in August 2024 camping (Terceira, Flores/Corvo, São Miguel), with a special focus on the camping part—I had a hard time finding info on that before I left.

Starting from the Paris region, we crossed Belgium and Germany, took the ferry from Travemünde in northern Germany to Helsinki, followed the Russian border up to northern Finland, then continued into Norway all the way to Nordkapp.

Like many, Iceland has been a real love affair for me for many years now. My first trip was in February 2016, when there were five of us—including our three daughters, who were 1, 6, and 5 at the time. It was a very short stay with just one accommodation north of the capital.

We explored the south, from Vik to Grindavik, and of course, I was left wanting more.

Autumn is the perfect season to visit Corsica: fewer tourists, ideal temperatures around 25°C, and most importantly, less stress on the roads. You can feel it everywhere. Servers and shopkeepers are more relaxed and have time to chat...

Just back from a week in the Algarve. The goal was to get some fresh air, take it easy with walks, and catch up with friends.

So, I’m diving into the short story of our all-too-brief trip to Iceland at the end of April 2024. And even if it’s not the done thing, I’m gonna spoil it and start with the conclusion: it was amazing!!!

As mentioned in the title, this will be a trip around Tuscany in parts that aren’t the region’s most visited. No Florence-Siena-Pisa trilogy, no San Gimignano; there’ll be a quick stop in Siena, but without visiting the most famous sites. This choice, plus traveling in September, should help avoid overtourism.

Our trip to Norway was two years ago already, but I thought it might still be interesting to share, and it’ll let me dive back into it and relive it a little by proxy.

On the road in Belgium with my camper van and my e-bike, eager to deepen my theoretical and practical knowledge of this country’s iconic brew while exploring the land—this guide was my trusty companion throughout the adventure, which took place from June 4 to July 4, 2024.