Most first-timers assume the Ossau Valley is a single trail you follow from a visitor center. It’s not. The valley is a network of 200+ kilometers of marked paths, three distinct climate zones, and a handful of refuges that book out weeks in advance. If you show up without a plan, you’ll either end up on a crowded gravel path or miss the best sections entirely. This guide is for the person who wants to hike the Ossau Valley without wasting time or money. I’ll cover what actually matters: trail difficulty, real costs, gear you’ll need, and the mistakes that…

You booked a week in Alsace, pulled up a map of the Route du Vin, and immediately felt overwhelmed. 170 kilometers of winding roads. 67 wine villages. Dozens of Grand Cru vineyards. Every blog tells you to visit “charming medieval towns” but nobody tells you which ones are worth your Saturday afternoon and which are a parking nightmare with overpriced Riesling. I spent two weeks driving the Route du Vin in 2026, tasting at 22 domaines, and getting stuck in Riquewihr during August rush hour so you don’t have to. Here’s the itinerary that works — the one that balances…

The last château we visited in the Loire Valley was the elegant Château d’Amboise. Set high on a rock overlooking the historic market town of Amboise on the banks of the River Loire, this former royal château is where Leonardo da Vinci was laid to rest. The castle became a royal residence in 1434 when Charles VII took it from its then-owner Louis d’Amboise as punishment for plotting against Louis XI. Much of the current building dates back to the late 15th century when Charles VIII had it rebuilt. For the next 150 years or so, the château was a…

In the historic market town of Amboise on the banks of the Loire, you’ll find Château du Clos Lucé, the large brick mansion where Leonardo da Vinci spent the last years of his life working for the French court. The legendary artist-scientist-inventor had been enticed to France at the age of 64 by François I, who lent him the royal family’s summer house as a base, and da Vinci lived there for the next three years until his death on 2 May 1519. The château, which was originally named Manoir du Cloux, was built by Hugues d’Amboise in the 15th…

Thanks to its quaint medieval streets, charming château and lovely views of the River Indrois, it’s hardly surprising that Montrésor has been named one of les plus beaux villages de France (most beautiful villages in France). It’s one of only three villages to have been given the distinction in the Loire Valley. We started our visit to Montrésor at the privately owned château, which is perched high on a rock in the centre of the village overlooking the River Indrois. The château was built in the Renaissance style by Imbert de Bastarnay (a counsellor to kings Louis XI, Charles VIII,…

Thanks to its arched bridges spanning the River Cher, Chenonceau is possibly the prettiest, most distinctive and most fairytale-like of all the chateaux of the Loire. I’d been wanting to visit Chenonceau since I was a child after my parents bought me a 3D jigsaw of it (it took forever to build!). So when my parents invited me to spend a week with them in the Loire Valley in June 2019, it was at the top of my list of places to visit. There’s been a chateau on the spot since the 12th or 13th centuries. But the current incarnation…

Tucked away in a valley in the Chiltern Hills you’ll find Hughenden, the country pile of former British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. Queen Victoria’s favourite PM bought the 1,500-acre estate in the Buckinghamshire countryside in 1848 as a country retreat and lived there with his wife Mary Anne when he wasn’t in London. The estate dates back to at least Norman times, when it was owned by William the Conqueror’s brother, Odo, Bishop of Bayeux. The current red-brick house was built in the late 18th century and was redesigned by the architect Edward Buckton Lamb for the Disraelis in 1862.…