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JUNE’S FEATURED POST is:-

TOURING SCOTLAND - West & East

Visiting the Highlands, Islands, Cities and Towns of Scotland. Great for UK residents as a staycation venue, and for visitors from overseas to come over to enjoy all the country has to offer the traveller.  Picture shows   ISLE OF SKYE - Loch Dunvegan &  Cuillin Mountains at Colbost  HOW TO GET THERE  We completed these 2 trips with a car and towed caravan*.  The main loops of the trips could just as easily start anywhere within them, and you could do them in a car staying in hotels or other accommodation. You could link the 2 trips up into one Grand Tour if you have the time as there is cross over between the two trips around Inverness/Aberlour. Headed into Scotland from England you have options for routes and stops but we used the gateways via the Motorway network on the west side and the old Great North Road (A1) on the east side. Alternatively from outside the UK you can fly in to either of the main Scottish airports at Glasgow or Edinburgh. * pleas...
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UZBEKISTAN - Central Asia’s Silk Road

Travelling along the Central Asian section of the ancient trading routes between China and Europe. Visiting the cities of Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva. There are a large number of UNESCO World  Heritage Sites on this trip, covering religious buildings, fortifications, bazaars and the scientific and cultural aspects of the country. (Picture shows Bibi Khanym Mosque, Samarkand ) HOW TO GET THERE We travelled as a couple with a personalised itinerary provided by the tour company Avantour ( based in Tashkent), who booked our hotels, rail tickets, guides and drivers for our journey. We flew from Manchester (U.K.) with a connecting flight from Istanbul to Tashkent.    ROUTE Headed out from Tashkent we went to Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva then flew out from Urgench to Istanbul and then back to Manchester. TASHKENT Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and the biggest city in Central Asia. Most of the old buildings in the city were destroyed by the earthquake of 1966, a...
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JAPAN - Central Cities train trip

Japan is a wonderful blend of the ancient and ultra-modern.  There are a large number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites on this trip - fabulous gardens, temples and cultural highlights linked by super smooth fast bullet trains.  Visiting the major cities of Central Japan - Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Okayama and Kanazawa - together with trips out to the Nikko National Park and Naoshima Island. (Picture shows Garden at Nishio Yatsuhashi-no-Sato restaurant , Kyoto) HOW TO GET THERE We arrived at Tokyo's Haneda International Airport. For this trip we used the services of a travel company - for a number of reasons. As you may know from other posts we have usually made all our own travel arrangements because we enjoy tailoring trips to our own tastes. The Japan trip took us outside our usual comfort zone because we have no language skills at all in Japanese. We also wanted to make the most of our time on the trip rather than having to navigate all the connections and bookings befo...
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PORTUGAL (North) - Historic towns ,cities and the green (verde) region

  Take the trip heading out of Northern Spain to the remote mountainous Verde (Green) region of Portugal, and travel back via the historic towns and cities of Braganza, Guimares, Braga, Santiago de Compostela and Gijon. Photo shows Braganza - the Citadel HOW TO GET THERE We completed this trip with a car and towed caravan*.  The main loop of the trip inside Spain and then into Portugal could just as easily start anywhere within it, and you could do it in a car staying in hotels or other accommodation. Headed to Portugal from the UK or Northern Europe you have plenty of options on land routes and stops on the way across France. Alternatively there are ferries into Santander and Bilbao from the UK. We took three weeks to complete the main trip loop, and a further week in total on the outward and return journeys across France taking the ferry from Newhaven(UK) to Dieppe(F). * please see notes on travelling with a caravan or motorhome underneath the header 'Caravanning' next ...
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