Viator Travel Blog

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Dining out for breakfast in London is one of my favourite pastimes, yet all too often it’s shunted in favour of dinner. To avoid the tourist traps and greasy-spoon cafes that put London breakfasts to shame, I’ve humbly eaten my way around the capital finding the best breakfasts to set any intrepid explorer up for their day.

When it comes to eating, it’s hard to find anything to dislike in Madrid. One of Spain’s great inventions is the menu del dia – a three course meal, often with a drink thrown in, for around EUR10 to 15. That’s lunch taken care of quite beautifully, and when it comes to the evening, there are tapas.

When you live abroad or in any major city of interest and friends come visit you, they are often strapped for time. Wanting to get the most out of their trip, they ask you to give them the rundown of the highlights. ‘We have a day. Where should we go? What should we see?’ And when you live in a city as big and old as London, there’s no simple way to answer this question, but like a good friend, still you try.

“Once you are tired of container shipping terminals, you are tired of life.” I think it’s fair to say that no-one has ever said this before. But if more people came to Hamburg, the phrase would perhaps enter the everyday parlance.

The Amalfi Coast in Italy is considered one of the most beautiful drives in the world. Two lanes grip the cliffs above the ocean, snaking along the sheer cliffside and weaving through tunnels. Below, hidden pebbled coves and fishing spots and umbrella-lined beaches appear in between the jagged rocks. It is only 50 kilometers long, but the darling of travel brochures, car commercials and newspaper travel sections worldwide.

Normandy conjures up a few images. For starters, there’s the D-Day Beaches. Then there’s the Bayeux Tapestry, Joan of Arc and Mont St Michel. And don’t forget the coastal resorts of Deauville, Trouville, Honfleur and the birth of Impressionism.

The south bank is packed, as people browse the market stalls, chug down glasses of wine and cocktails from the hastily-erected bars. The whole kerfuffle is tremendous fun; there’s a festival atmosphere, and everyone is clearly intent on letting their hair down and enjoying the day. Where am I? Frankfurt.

I wish I lived in Paris but I don’t. So on a recent 3-day trip to Paris I decided to live the life I often wished I had. I pretended I really was Parisienne.

To start in the right frame of mind, I caught the Eurostar to Paris and made sure I got to St Pancreas station in London early. This is a gorgeously restored train station, I recommend you head upstairs to the Champagne Bar and indulge in a glass of Champagne with a bowl of strawberries and cream while sitting under the soaring roof – oysters are another good option.

London’s musical heritage is almost unrivaled. So many great bands have either formed in the British capital or been based there for a significant amount of time. From The Beatles and The Rolling Stones to Jimi Hendrix and The Sex Pistols, numerous moments of musical history have been created in London. But what happened where? Well, nobly guided by Mike on the London Rock Music Tour, I was about to discover some of the hotspots.