East Europe

Make the most of one day in Ljubljana with this 24 hour itinerary for the best parts of Slovenia’s capital.

The rippled waters of the Dalmatian Coast have long entertained sailors. Amid pine, cobbled streets and complex history, here’s where you can find the best Croatian islands for sailing trips and adventures.

Deep underground near Krakow, Poland, you can find secrets in the salt.

Merging whimsy with grit, Budapest fires the imagination and fills the camera card. Here’s an inside guide on how to spend two days in Budapest, complete with a bespoke 48 hour Budapest itinerary.

Close Your Eyes and Think of Latvia

If I asked you, without pause for a heartbeat, what first comes to mind when you think of travel to Latvia, I wonder what I’d hear.

A man casts a glance over his shoulder before arching back and casting his line into the water. The street chatter and rush hour traffic drown out the subtle splash but from the look on his face, you’d think he stood alone in the countryside, miles from anyone, miles from anywhere.

Riga’s medieval town centre glistened in the morning sunlight like a child’s box of treasure: cobbled streets with pale pink and blue facades, rough-slated spires and live music from stringed instruments played by lively arms in blooming blouses.

The Auschwitz camps – I, II and III – starved, tortured and executed over a million people during World War II. Prison camps became concentration camps and then ultimately death camps. History lessons at school, the Red Cross Museum in Geneva, the books of Frankl, Levi & Frank and even the film Schindler’s List have provided enough images to haunt me for a lifetime. Will seeing the place with my own eyes change anything?