Writing a blurb line for Peter Fiennes’s book En Route (a literary trail around France) led me to his earlier book Footnotes (ditto for the British Isles) which introduced me to the remarkable Celia Fiennes. In the late 1600s, but particularly in 1698, this intrepid woman traveller managed to visit every county in England and […] The post Travelling Britain with Celia Fiennes first appeared on…
I was sent a copy of Peter Fiennes wonderful literary exploration of France and asked to provide a quote: ‘The best books are always starting points, they inspire you to head out and read other books. En Route certainly did that for me, gave me a reading list of authors I’m ashamed not to already […] The post En Route & Footnotes – on the trail of Peter Fiennes first appeared on Tony Wheeler's…
I’d learnt that the Orkney Islands is the correct term for those north Scotland Islands and I soon learnt that it’s the Isles of Scilly – not the Scilly Islands or the Scillies. After a brief stop in Penzance our group – Maureen and me and seven friends – took the Scillonian III ferry to […] The post The Isles of Scilly – south-west of England first appeared on Tony Wheeler's Travels .
In Nigeria – Michael Palin visited Nigeria with a film crew to make a three-part TV series released in early 2024, so just before I was in Nigeria. And now – two years later? – there’s a rather brief, rather badly designed (in my view) and rather disappointing book on his travels. He does get […] The post Michael Palin In Nigeria – and other recent books first appeared on Tony Wheeler's Travels .
I’ve certainly been hitting the islands this year – Christmas Island and Cocos Keeling, out in the Indian Ocean off Australia and Indonesia. Then a brief stop and a walk on Sharp Island in Hong Kong, on a stopover between Australia and the UK. A visit to the wonderful Orkney Islands north of Scotland followed […] The post Penzance first appeared on Tony Wheeler's Travels .
In Part 1 of my Greenland travels I arrived in the capital Nuuk, it’s only a two hour flight from Iceland, and continued north across the Arctic Circle to Ilulissat, the iceberg tourist centre of Greenland. Then I returned to Nuuk and continued south to Qaqortoq, the big city of the far south of Greenland, […] The post Greenland – Part 2 – Paamiut & Qaqortoq first appeared on Tony Wheeler's…
▲ Yes dozy Don, also known as Taco Trump, the shambolic President of the USA does have bad intentions for Greenland. I posted a blog in January about why it might be a good idea to visit Greenland now, before the US invades. In June I finally got there and visited four Greenland locations: Nuuk, […] The post Greenland – Part 1 – Nuuk & Ilulissat first appeared on Tony Wheeler's Travels .
The wildlife is often a big part of the travel experience. This year I’ve had black tip and white tip reef sharks when I’ve been snorkelling and scuba diving at Christmas and Cocos Keeling Islands, plus a very nice manta ray encounter. Birds have been a big part of the wildlife story, particularly boobies and […] The post Enigmatic Echidnas & Raising Hares first appeared on Tony Wheeler's Travels…
▲ Approaching Athens Airport over Lemos – with my Greek Islands travel companion Nick Varian I’d flown into Athens and took a taxi to Piraeus ▲ Ferry activity in the port of Piraeus from the Hotel Mitsis N’U It’s the port for Athens and for most visitors that’s all it is. You travel out to […] The post Piraeus – more than meets the eye first appeared on Tony Wheeler's Travels .
◄ Having been to the Orkney Islands and definitely liked that strange collection of windy Scottish outposts I read two Orkney books. I really enjoyed Amy Liptrot’s The Outrun – Orkney girl abandons dull island life, moves to London, gets into partying, clubbing and alcohol. Far too much alcohol, booze simply screws up her life […] The post Orkney Books – The Outrun & An Orkney A to Z first…