The Grand Canal Features & Longread Venice – ‘La Serenissima’ Millions of words have been written by some of the world’s most distinguished writers about Venice, undoubtedly one of the world’s most beautiful and romantic cities, so what can I add? There are hundreds of websites and dozens of tour companies wanting to help you enjoy the place, you don‘t need th By Roger Wheeler • 6 min read
Features & Longread TRAVEL: Winchester: In the footsteps of Alfred the Great Roger Wheeler visits the county town of Hampshire and former capital of the ancient Kingdom of Wessex. Most of us learnt about King Alfred at school and the mythical story of him burning the cakes, almost certainly he didn’t burn any cakes, but it takes us to the fascinating history of Alfred and hi By Roger Wheeler • 4 min read
Features & Longread Добро пожаловать в Марбелье or Welcome to Marbella Roger Wheeler visits the Costa del Sol to sample the wine, the food and check out those burly Russian men. I have been visiting the Costa del Sol for many years and over that time nothing much has changed apart from the language spoken by a large number of new residents. Today most of Europe […] By Roger Wheeler • 5 min read
Features & Longread A pocket full of Rye! Roger Wheeler visits one of the real treasures of Sussex The ancient town of Rye is undoubtedly one of the historic gems of Sussex, just 55 miles from Brighton and 76 from London and on the main Brighton – Ashford International railway line it’s really quite accessible. Never having been there to ta By Roger Wheeler • 4 min read
Features & Longread The green grass of Venice? Roger Wheeler pays a visit to South West France and finds a little paradise. Venise Verte or green venice is the phrase used to describe one of the most beautiful parts of France that I have ever visited. Down in the south west in the department of Deux Sevres lays this stunning area of water […] By Roger Wheeler • 4 min read
Features & Longread Wisley – A great day out! Roger Wheeler visits one of Englands finest horticultural attractions. It’s a new year, no one has any money and its mid-winter, but we still need an occasional break. Some years ago we got an allotment, there’s a lot to discover about growing veg so, hoping to learn something we joined The Royal H By Roger Wheeler • 3 min read
Features & Longread Île de Ré – French beaches at their best Many years ago I heard about an exclusive French island resort called Île de Ré, which I had assumed was way outside of my price bracket. But I had always wanted to go, so this year, after our major road trip to south west France, we ended up in La Rochelle and realising that this […] By Roger Wheeler • 4 min read
La Rochelle, France Features & Longread La Belle France! The British have been crossing the channel for hundreds of years; in the past it was to fight the French, today it is to live amongst them. Over the past twenty or so years we have been descending in our hundreds on many parts of France, from Normandy to Provence but no area has been […] By Roger Wheeler • 4 min read
Features & Longread On the road to Le Mans Mention the name Le Mans to most people and all they can tell you that it is the place where they have a 24 hours road race every year, they are not even sure where it is. We were driving from Dieppe down to the south west of France and decided that we should break […] By Roger Wheeler • 4 min read
Features & Longread Glorious Paros For many years the Greek Islands have been regarded as the expensive holiday choice, not any more. The Greeks with their well known financial problems have woken up to the fact that if they want tourists (and they certainly do) they had to adjust their prices and they have. Not having any real idea By Roger Wheeler • 4 min read
Features & Longread Mykonos – An Aegean Pearl In ancient Greek mythology there was a race of people living on an island somewhere in the Aegean Sea who ate nothing but lotus flowers and lived a wonderful, sybaritic and relaxed life. This is a myth, or is it? I had never been to any of the (nearly) 3,000 islands of which 170 are […] By Roger Wheeler • 5 min read
Features & Longread Party On – Dutch Style! The Dutch love their Royal Family possibly more than we love our own. Every year since 1948 they have celebrated their Queen’s official birthday on April 30 (or April 29 if it falls on a Sunday) with parties all over the country. It was always known as Koninginnedag (Queen’s Day) and Amsterdam alway By Roger Wheeler • 4 min read
