• About Us
  • Write For Us
  • Advertising
  • Support
  • Contact Us
June 1, 2023 4:54 am CDT
LISTEN LIVE:
No Result
View All Result
Heartland Newsfeed
Call Now: 844-592-0768
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Illinois
    • Local
      • Capital Area
      • East Central Illinois
      • West Central Illinois
    • Regional
      • Chicagoland
      • Metro-East
      • Northern Illinois
      • Quad Cities
      • Southern Illinois
    • Obits
    • Executive Watch
    • Legislative Watch
    • Road Conditions
      • Illinois
    • Weather Closings
      • Central Illinois
  • Missouri
    • Regional
      • Northeastern Missouri
      • East Central Missouri
      • St. Louis Metro
      • Southeast Missouri
    • Executive Watch
    • Legislative Watch
    • Weather Closings
      • Greater STL Metro (IL/MO)
    • Road Conditions
      • Missouri
  • Weather
  • National
  • World
  • Sports
    • Basketball
      • NBA
    • Bowling
    • Boxing
    • Football
      • Arena Football
      • CFL
      • NFL
      • XFL
      • USFL
    • Golf
      • PGA
    • Hockey
      • NAHL
      • NHL
    • MLB
      • MiLB
    • MMA
      • UFC
    • NCAA
      • Basketball
      • Football
    • Olympics
    • Preps
    • Racing
      • Horse Racing
      • NASCAR
    • Soccer/Futbol
      • Bundesliga
      • Champions League
      • FIFA
      • La Liga
      • MLS
      • NWSL
      • Premier League
      • U.S. National Soccer
      • USL
      • USL Championship
    • Tennis
    • Wrestling
      • AEW
      • Independents
      • MLW
      • NJPW
      • NWA
      • ROH
      • WWE
  • Entertainment
    • Crossword
    • News Quiz
  • Opinion
    • Letters To The Editor
    • Editorial
    • Columnists
  • Radio
    • Affiliates
    • Live Video
      • HLNF Live
      • RTMP Direct
    • Network Schedule
    • Network Streams
    • Podcasts
      • Radio Network
      • Podcast Network
  • Features
    • Classifieds
      • Current Ads
      • Job Board
        • Job Listings
        • J2CTalroo
        • Post a Job
        • Receive Alerts
        • ZipSearch
    • Community Calendar
    • News Feeds
      • Statehouse
      • Legislative
      • Breaking News
  • Store
  • Deals
  • Calendar

No products in the cart.

Heartland Newsfeed
No Result
View All Result

Enjoying Europe’s world-apart escapes

Rick Steves by Rick Steves
January 7, 2019 - Updated on August 16, 2022
in Columnists, Life & Style, Opinion, Travel News, World
Reading Time: 3 mins read
Donate
0

In my early days as a guidebook writer, Europe’s undiscovered nooks and undeveloped crannies held the most appeal for me — and they still do. But with ever more sophisticated travelers armed with enough time and money to see the Europe of their dreams, places I “discovered” a few decades ago are now suffering from “Back Door” congestion.

Given that, I’ve come to treasure even more those destinations that still have the feeling of being a world apart from everyday life. Away from the tourist fray, these special spots are backwaters in the best sense of the word, each with its own genuine charm.

It typically takes a little extra effort to reach such places, but the reward is considerable. Gimmelwald, a remote and impossibly idyllic village high in the Swiss Alps, is a classic example. Parking your car in the valley floor and riding the cable car up is like going through a looking glass.

Your car shrinks, your stomach flip-flops, and you look over the valley as though suspended from a hang glider. Then, suddenly, the cable-car doors slide open and you’re deposited — as if from a magical glass bubble — into another world. It’s a place where the air is clean and sharp, where the only noises are bees, bugs, and birds pursuing alpine flowers, and where gnome-like men sucking gnome-like pipes are busy chopping firewood.

Or take the island of Ærø. Few visitors to Scandinavia even notice this tiny island on Denmark’s southern edge (it’s four hours by train from Copenhagen). In the main town, Ærøskøbing, you can amble down cobbled lanes right out of the 1680s, when the town was the wealthy home port of commercial sailing ships.

What is there to do in this time-passed place? Not much. Wander the town on a photo safari or pedal a rented bike beyond the cobbled town streets into the essence of seaside Denmark. Enjoy a picnic dinner out on the island’s spit as the late summer sun sets, and dig your toes into the still-warm sand. It’s a perfect Danish scene that takes “cozy” to enjoyable extremes.

Portugal’s beachy south coast is well discovered now, but one bit of old magic still glitters quietly in the sun: Salema. Near the far southwest tip of Europe, this longtime fishing village is at the end of a small road that’s only recently been paved. There are a dozen or so restaurants, a few hotels, and endless summer sun. Most important, it has a long, broad, gorgeous beach, luxurious with powder-fine sand.

These days, Salema is just barely a fishing village, with only six or eight working boats. At night, you’ll see evenly spaced lights bobbing on the horizon: Those are the fisherman, out in search of squid, sardines, and octopi. The catch that flops into the boats is bound for the market and — who knows — maybe onto your beachfront dinner plate. Eating like a “locavore” isn’t a trend in Salema; it’s the way it’s always been.

Far to the north, strewn like limestone chips hammered off Ireland’s jagged west coast, the Aran Islands confront the wild Atlantic with stubborn grit. Bleak and beautiful Inishmore, the largest, is nine miles of weather-beaten rock with one town. Inhabitants eke out a simple livelihood from a mean sea and less than six inches of topsoil.

Tourism is a true boon to the tough economy of the starkly beautiful island, which has one must-see sight: Dun Aengus. This Iron Age stone fortress hangs spectacularly and precariously on the edge of a sheer cliff. Even at the height of tourist season (especially if you come early or late in the day), you can be alone here, high above the crashing Atlantic, feeling like the westernmost person in Europe.

Little Civita di Bagnoregio is definitely a world apart, teetering atop a pinnacle in a vast canyon an hour north of Rome. To reach this hill town, you leave your car behind, walk across an elevated path, pass through a cut in the rock made by Etruscans 2,500 years ago, and head under a 12th-century arch.

Inside the gate, the charms of Civita are subtle. There are no lists of attractions, orientation tours, or museum hours. It’s just Italy. The warm stone walls glow, and each stairway is an invitation to take out a sketch pad or camera. Take a seat on the church steps and observe the scene. They say that in a big city you can see a lot, but in a small town like this you can feel a lot.

With crowds becoming a problem across the continent, sampling such “world apart” destinations is a smart way to experience Europe. They may be quieter and less flashy than the blockbuster sights, but these little gems are guaranteed to create enduring travel memories.

Rick Steves
Website | + posts

Rick Steves writes European travel guidebooks and hosts travel shows on public television and public radio. Email him at rick@ricksteves.com and follow his blog on Facebook.

  • Rick Steves
    https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/author/ricksteves/
    Cultural treats in small-town Andalucía
  • Rick Steves
    https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/author/ricksteves/
    Güzelyurt: Turkey’s ‘Beautiful Land’
  • Rick Steves
    https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/author/ricksteves/
    Copenhagen’s Christiania: No cars, corporations, or dead fish
  • Rick Steves
    https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/author/ricksteves/
    STEVES: A romantic breeze in Rome

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • Telegram
  • Print
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...
Tags: Aran IslandsÆrøÆrøskøbingCivita di BagnoregioCopenhagenDenmarkDun AengusEuropeGimmelwaldInishmorePortugalRomeSalemaScandinaviaSwiss AlpsTravel
Share196Tweet123Share5Send
.
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Five things you should know before purchasing auto insurance

    673 shares
    Share 269 Tweet 168
  • Nokomis council passes dumpster ordinance

    550 shares
    Share 220 Tweet 138
  • Illinois to see two gas hikes in 2023

    543 shares
    Share 217 Tweet 136
  • Viola Armstrong, 92, Pana

    537 shares
    Share 215 Tweet 134
  • Leto Voudrie, 83, Moweaqua

    535 shares
    Share 214 Tweet 134

HOURS AND INFO

800 Capps Ave.
Nokomis, IL 62075-1415
admin@heartlandnewsfeed.com
Online all the time 
Office Hours: 8 AM to 8 PM
Newsroom: (217) 569-4230
Listen Line: 
(217) 569-4230 ext. 1
Advertising: 
(217) 718-5281
After-Hours: 
(217) 565-9709 / (217) 565-9273

Sitemap | Published Press | Privacy Policy
Staff Email | Independent Media

LIVE WEBSITE VIEWERS

.
ADVERTISEMENT

DEADLINES

Daily: 11 p.m. Central
Weekend
: 11 p.m. Central
Sports: 11 p.m. Central

Upcoming deadlines
TBD

Some rights reserved 2017-2023 by Heartland Newsfeed, a subsidiary partnership by Heartland Internet Media Networks and Heartland Media Group of Central Illinois LLC. Content published by Heartland Newsfeed staff is covered by the BipCot NoGov license. This allows use and re-use by anyone except governments and government agents. License on record. JNews theme designed and developed by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Politics
    • Business
    • World
    • Science
  • Entertainment
    • Gaming
    • Music
    • Movie
    • Sports
  • Tech
    • Apps
    • Gear
    • Mobile
    • Startup
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Fashion
    • Health
    • Travel

Some rights reserved 2017-2023 by Heartland Newsfeed, a subsidiary partnership by Heartland Internet Media Networks and Heartland Media Group of Central Illinois LLC. Content published by Heartland Newsfeed staff is covered by the BipCot NoGov license. This allows use and re-use by anyone except governments and government agents. License on record. JNews theme designed and developed by Jegtheme.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

00:00
00:00
WP Radio
WP Radio
OFFLINE LIVE
%d bloggers like this: