Gothenburg is a great location for short break before the festive season. It is easy and cheap to reach with Ryanair. The Christmas market is held in the Liseberg amusement park. Walking around the park made me feel more festive but in a typically understated Swedish way. It was really quite breath taking. All the [...]

Evidently a Scottish hotelier has admitted posting made up glowing reviews of his establishment on the Trip Advisor site. I am not sure how this problem can be overcome. I know you have to register when you write a review but is is a bit much to expect a site like Trip Advisor to check [...]

I read an article extolling the virtues of natural searches. When you do a travel search do you usually click on the natural results on the left hand side of the page or do you click on the sponsored searches done the right hand side? How would you rate the usefullness of information from the [...]

A new BBC series starts tonight to find 10 key moments in Scotland’s history. It could be an event, a person or an idea. I think that the “winners” could use the publicity to generate/increase visitor numbers. For example if the Battle of Banockburn was one of the ten, it could increase visitor numbers to [...]

I read about the survey into strange habits of holidaymakers with interest. I have to say that the “Skip to my Loo” was the one closest to my heart. Not so much the dirty hotel bathroom but just finding toilets when you are out and about. Sometimes you don’t want to go and buy something [...]

I read the comment about the distinction between travelers and tourists on the Vagabonding site with great interest. I am not sure how I would classify myself? I am certainly not ” artistocratic and superior” but neither do I wish “to gawk, go fast and take photos”. Are you a traveler or a tourist?

I read an article in the Scotsman about a new design of passenger aircraft that should make flying greener. There has been a lot of media coverage predicting that flying to go on holiday will just not be feasible in the near future as it causes so much pollution. You can read some views on [...]

I read the article in the Scotsman saying that the stone circles in Scotland leave Stonehege standing. This just reinforces my thinking behind Europe a la Carte, that you can get a lot more out of visiting less well known destinations and sites. Do you have any places that you think merit a visit?