The area of the UK now being highlighted as Shakespeare's England is, naturally enough, based around Stratford-upon-Avon. At Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare, visitors can visit the houses associated with his life and that of his wife Anne Hathaway. The town is also home to the Royal Shakespeare Company where the Bard's pl...

Fasnacht is the name for the pre-Lent carnivals in Switzerland, southern Germany, Alsace and western Austria. It is a time for people to go 'mad' and for chaos to rule. Where hierarchies are overthrown and everyone indulges in much food and drink. While Fasnacht celebrations coincide with the pre-lent, pre-fasting period in the Catholic cities, tow...

Melton Mowbray, or just Melton, is a small county town in the north east of the English county of Leicestershire. It lies close to the picturesque Vale of Belvoir, which translates as 'beautiful view' and is an accurate description of the countryside surrounding Melton. While it is an attractive town, it is no more so than many others found through...

Wiesbaden, the capital of the German state of Hesse, is one of the oldest spa towns in Europe and a destination that has been attracting visitors to its thermal springs since Roman times. Add the somewhat less healthy (on the wallet) pursuit of gambling in the early 19thCentury and Wiesbaden's status as a major destination soared. Royalty and the a...

Frankfurt am Main, known more often as just Frankfurt, is a modern, cosmopolitan city located on both sides of the River Main in south-west Germany. Devastated by Allied bombing during the Second World War it has undergone a remarkable regeneration in the second half of the 20th and into the 21stCentury. This has seen Frankfurt become one of the fi...

They say that 'there's no such thing as bad weather in the Lake District – only inappropriate clothing' and that expression couldn't have been more fitting for our most recent trip to the Lake District to check out The Ryebeck Hotel.​ Upon our arrival, the rain was come down fast, sheets of rain pouring down the windowpanes. Luckily, we were greete...