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Lake Bled, Slovenia Contents Introduction to Slovenia Piran Koper Izola Ljubljana Skofja Loka Radovljica Lake Bled Lake Bohinj Vrsic Pass Road Trip My Other Blogs on Slovenia 1. Introduction to Slovenia We visited Slovenia for one week at the end of April 2023 while driving from the UK to the Greek islands. We were on a 3 month road trip visiting interesting places on route to and from Greece. The aim wasn't to cover everything in the countries that we visited. See my blog Venice to Serbia - Week 2  for the daily trip report of our week in Slovenia. It would have been preferable to visit Slovenia towards the end of our trip in late June. The weather would then have then been warm enough to swim in the sea and in the lakes. By then the snow would have melted on the Julian Alps and we could have hiked in the higher alpine areas that I enjoy. Unfortunately Slovenia is too busy and expensive in summer. So we decided to visit Slovenia at the start of our road trip and to enjoy the coasts of Albania, Montenegro and Croatia on the way back. We were lucky with the weather as it was warm and sunny when we were on the coast. It was cloudy, but dry, in Ljubljana. The weather forecast for our 3 nights at Lake Bled and Lake Bohinj was abysmal, but it was dry until the day we left Slovenia. Then it poured! We were very impressed with Slovenia and it was a very easy country to travel in. The roads weren't busy and driving was very straightforward, even for someone used to driving on the wrong side of the road! Most Slovenians spoke English and were very courteous and friendly. The accommodation in Slovenia wasn't particularly cheap and we found cheaper accommodation in all the countries we visited south of Slovenia. Petrol though was about 20% cheaper in Slovenia than in the UK, France, Switzerland Italy and even Greece. Map of Slovenia 2. Piran, Slovenia 2.1. Accommodation in Piran Piran is similar to the many historic towns further south in Croatia. However, the accommodation is more expensive than Croatia, even in the off peak season. This might be because Slovenia has a very small coastline for Slovenians to visit. Piran is absolutely packed in July and August. We rented a compact apartment in the nearby small village of Pobegi for 1 night at a cost of Euro 75 through Booking.com . Pobegi is 4 kilometres from Koper and a 25 minute drive to Piran. The apartment was very well equipped and in pristine condition. I have reviewed the accommodation on my blog " UK to Greek Islands Accommodation - Part 1 " (number 6). 2.2. Parking in Piran Parking in Piran is very expensive and it cost Euro 2.60 per hour. We parked in the Fornace parking lot and there is a free shuttle for the short distance into Piran. 2.3. What to do in Piran Half a day in Piran is ample for wandering around the old town. Piran is an unspoiled historical town with Venetian architecture. The main square in Piran is Tartinijev Trg and it is surrounded by attractive historic buildings. It is very near the sea front as it was originally the inner harbour of Piran. In 1894 the harbour was filled in to create the main square. The tourist office is in this square. We climbed up the road to the Cathedral of St George and its Bell Tower. We continued up the hill to the old Walls of Piran. It costs Euro 3 to enter a small section of the walls and 3 of the towers on the walls. There are very good views of Piran from the towers. The walls were open until 20.00. We wandered around the streets in Piran's lower town and there were hardly any other visitors. Most of the restaurants and cafes are along the seafront. It was warm enough in late April for us to sit outside on the waterfront for our evening meal of calamari and sardines. From the parking lot below the entrance to the walls there are steps that descend steeply back to the Piran's old town centre. It makes a good circular walk around Piran. The Harbour at Piran, Slovenia The Seafront Promenade at Piran, Slovenia View of Tartinijev Trg in Piran, Slovenia Tartinijev Trg in Piran, Slovenia The Cathedral of St George in Piran, Slovenia The Interior of the Cathedral of St George The City Walls of Piran, Slovenia The City Walls of Piran, Slovenia A View of Piran from the City Walls 3. Koper, Slovenia We visited the coastal towns of Koper and Izola on the drive to Ljubljana and we had most of the day to explore them. 3.1. Parking in Koper We stopped off at Koper first and there were plenty of parking spaces, unlike at Piran. It would usually cost Eur 1 per hour but a kind local told us that parking was free as it was a public holiday in Slovenia. We had all our luggage in our car. It seems that Slovenia has less theft than many other European countries. 3.2. What to see in Koper We walked into the centre of Koper along the seafront promenade and then to the main square called Titov Trg. It is an attractive square surrounded by historic buildings. The tourist office is also located there. Surprisingly there were very few other tourists in Koper, just like at Piran. We paid Euro 4 each to climb up the 36 metre high City Tower and there were good views of Koper from the top. Every town in Slovenia seems to have a tower to climb and we decided not to go up towers in future as the cost soon mounts up. Koper's historic centre is very interesting, but not that extensive, so it took less than 2 hours to see. 3.3. Restaurants in Koper It was lunch time when we finished sightseeing and we went to a cheap seafood eatery outside Koper's market called Fritolin . Fritolin is recommended in the Lonely Planet guide to Slovenia and it was busy with locals. We ordered 2 portions of grilled calamari and french fries for a total cost of Euro 21 and ate it at an outside table. It was very tasty and the portions were good! There are many other cheap eating spots and cafes in Koper's market area. The Cathedral of the Assumption & the City Tower in Titov Trg A View of Koper from the City Tower A View of Koper's Port from the City Tower View of Titov Trg from the top of the Bell Tower at Koper, Slovenia The Praetorian Palace in Titov Trg, Koper Venetian Gothic Loggia in Titov Trg, Koper The Fontico at Koper, Slovenia The Promenade at Koper, Slovenia The Cathedral of Assumption at Koper, Slovenia The Da Ponte fountain in Prešernov Trg in Kroper, Slovenia The Barbabianca Palace in Koper, Slovenia 4. Izola, Slovenia Koper's helpful tourist office had told us that it was a 6 km walk from Koper to Izola along the seafront promenade and that we could then take a bus back to Koper. We decided to do this as we needed the exercise and didn't fancy trying to find parking in Izola. The walk to Izola took 1 hour and 15 minutes. It was a very pleasant walk and was popular with the locals who were cycling, roller blading and walking. There were several free toilets along the way. We had a quick walk around Izola and then took the short bus ride back to Koper. Izola is a pleasant town but there aren't many historic sights to see. The bus runs regularly between Izola and Koper. Even on a holiday the bus ran every half an hour most of the day. The tourist office at Koper provided us with a sheet detailing the departure times and told us where the bus stops were. Our bus ride from Izola to Koper cost Euro 1.30 per person. Besenghi degli Ughi Palace at Izola, Slovenia The Parish Church of St Maurus at Izola, Slovenia The Church of St Mary at Izola, Slovenia 5. Ljubljana, Slovenia Map of Ljubljana, Slovenia 5.1. Introduction to Ljubljana Slovenia is such a compact country that it only takes an hour drive from Ljubljana to the coast, 40 minutes to Lake Bled and 30 minutes to Skofja Loka. The roads in Ljubljana weren't congested at all. Ljubljana would be a convenient base to visit places like Lake Bled and Skofja Loka. I wondered if there would be enough to do in Ljubljana as I had read that there wasn't much to see apart from Ljubljana Castle. Ljubljana is a picturesque city and we enjoyed wandering around for a couple of hours. Half a day is adequate for sightseeing in Ljubljana unless you want to visit the museums. 5.2. Ljubljana Castle Ljubljana Castle is the main site. It is a steep 15 minute walk from the city centre. There is also a funicular railway from the centre of Ljubljana to Ljubljana Castle and it costs Eur 3.30 one way or Eur 6 return. Entrance to the central courtyard of Ljubljana Castle, and a small section of the castle's wall, is free. To see a bit more of the castle is expensive and, in my opinion, not worth it. Much of the castle's interior has been renovated and doesn't look ancient. The entrance ticket for Ljubljana Castle costs Eur 15 and it includes the viewing tower and the Puppetry and Slovenian History museums. To appreciate the History Museum you need to pay an additional Eur 4 for an audio guide as there aren't sufficient signs in English. It is worthwhile seeing the Ljubljana Castle from the outside and the free interior sections. I wouldn't buy a ticket unless you want to take a photo from the tower or are interested in puppetry. Details of the current ticket prices are on the Ljubljana Castle website . Ljubljana Castle Viewed from Congress Square (Kongresni Trg), Ljubljana, Slovenia A View of the Julian Alps from Ljubljana Castle 5.3. The Bridges in Ljubljana The Ljubljanica river bisects Ljubljana and there are 3 well known bridges crossing it. They are not very old, nor particularly beautiful, but most travel books refer to them. You would probably have to cross them while looking around the Ljubljana. The Dragon Bridge was built in 1888 and has a dragon on each corner. It is northeast of the Ljubljana's old town. There are public toilets on the southwest side of the bridge. The Triple Bridge is south of Presernov Trg. The central section was built in 1842 and in the 1930's two pedestrian side bridges were added. The Cobbler's Bridge was rebuilt in 1931 and is south of Ljubljana's other 2 bridges. It is a pedestrian bridge and in medieval times shoemakers lived and worked on the bridge. The Dragon Bridge at Ljubljana, Slovenia One of the Dragons on the Dragon Bridge, Ljubljana The Triple Bridge in Ljubljana, Slovenia The Ljubljanica River 5.4. A Circular Sightseeing Walk in Ljubljana A good way of seeing Ljubljana is to do a circular walk. You could start anywhere. We began at St James Bridge in the south and walked northwards to Dragon Bridge along the west bank of the river. We then crossed Dragon Bridge and walked back to St James Bridge on the east bank of the river. Some of the main areas of Ljubljana that we saw were: Novi Trg, an old area of Ljubljana. Kongresni Trg, which has an excellent view of Ljubljana Castle. There are some attractive buildings in the square like the University of Ljubljana and the Ursuline Church of the Holy Trinity. Presernov Trg, Ljubljana's main square and is surrounded by some beautiful buildings like Hauptman House and the Franciscan Church of the Annunciation. The Triple Bridge. Miklosiceva Cesta, which runs from the railway station to the river. This street has some of the finest a rt nouveau buildings in Ljubljana. Trubarjeva Cesta, a bustling street lined with shops, restaurants and cafes. Dragon Bridge. Ljubljana Castle. The Central Market in Vodnikov Trg, which has a large open air food market. Pogacarjev Trg, which has a covered market and a fish market. On Fridays there is a weekly food fair known as the Open Kitchen. Ljubljana's Old Town, which runs along the east side of the river from Triple Bridge in the north to Hercules Fountain (near St James Bridge) in the south. Hauptmann House in Presernov Trg, Ljubljana Franciscan Church of the Annunciation in Presernov Trg, Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana in Kongresni Trg, Ljubljana Ursuline Church of the Holy Trinity in Kongresni Trg, Ljubljana The Fruit and Vegetable Market in Vodnikov Trg, Ljubljana Open Kitchen in Pogacarjev Trg, Ljubljana Hercules Fountain in the Old Town of Ljubljana 6. Skofja Loka, Slovenia 6.1. Driving to Skofja Loka It was surprisingly easy to drive out of Ljubljana. Once we had got off the highway we drove on pretty, rural roads with the snow covered Julian Alps in the background. We reached the historic town of Skofja Loka after about 30 minutes. Parking was easy to find in Skofja Loka and free. Scenery on the Drive from Ljubljana to Skofja Loka 6.2. What to see at Skofja Loka Skofja Loka has quite a large historic core and we spent about 2 hours wandering around. If you visit the castle museum you will need longer. The main site in Skofja Loka is the 13th century Loka Castle and it is a steep 10 minute walk up to it. There are good views from Loka castle and it is pleasant wandering around the grounds. Otherwise there isn't much to see unless you visit the museum and the entrance fee is Eur 5. Loka Castle at Skofja Loka, Slovenia The other main place of interest in Skofja Loka is Mestni Trg. It is surrounded by colourful 16th century houses. The most famous of these is Homan House which was built in 1511. Other things to see in Skofja Loka are: Jakoba Church dating back to the 13th century. It is free to enter. Capuchin Bridge dating back to the 14th century. Spodnji Trg with a 16th century granary. Mestni Trg in Skofja Loka, Slovenia Mestni Trg in Skofja Loka, Slovenia Homan House in Skofja Loka, Slovenia A Street in Skofja Loka, Slovenia Jakoba Church in Skofja Loka, Slovenia The Interior of Jacoba Church in Skofja Loka, Slovenia 7. Radovljica, Slovenia The Lonely Planet guide book says that " The town of Radovljica is filled with impossibly cute, historic buildings ". That is very misleading as the historic part of Radovljica is limited to Linhartov Trg. Trg means Square but in reality Linhartov is a street. Linhartov Trg is lined with 16th and 17th buildings. It doesn't take long to see them. We spent half an hour wandering around Radovljica. There is nothing else of interest to see in Radovljica. Vidic House at Radovljica, Slovenia Linhartov Trg in Radovljica, Slovenia Linhartov Trg in Radovljica, Slovenia Church of St Peter in Radovljica, Slovenia 8. Lake Bled, Slovenia 8.1. Driving to Lake Bled It is only a 45 minute drive from Ljubljana to Lake Bled as Slovenia is a compact country. We visited Lake Bled during a warm and sunny weekend in late April and it was very busy. I dread to think what Lake Bled would be like in summer! We turned off at the first parking sign we saw near Lake Bled and the charge was Euro 15 for 4 hours or Euro 25 for the whole day! That's as expensive as it was in Venice. We decided to pay Eur 15 for 4 hours rather than drive around Bled's congested streets to find somewhere cheaper. 8.2. Walking around Lake Bled There is a 6 kilometre paved path going all the way around Lake Bled. It was congested near the town of Bled but not bad otherwise. Apart from the number of people it is a very beautiful and easy walk with great views all the way around Lake Bled. It should only take about 90 minutes but we took 3 hours with a lot of stops for photos. Lake Bled is very photogenic with the island, the castle perched above the lake and the snow covered Julian alps in the distance. Some people were swimming in Lake Bled and the water didn't feel too cold, even though it was the end of April. 8.3. Bled Island You can take a boat over to Bled Island. Only row boats and electric boats are allowed to prevent noise pollution. We didn't bother as it is expensive and Bled Island appears to be a tourist trap. A Pletna boat, which looks like a large gondola row boat, costs Eur 15 per person. An electric boat from Bled town costs Eur 14 per person. You can also rent your own rowing boat but it doesn't work out much cheaper. On Bled Island you have to fork out another Eur 12 to enter the church and bell tower. So for the 2 of us it would have cost Eur 54 for a 1 hour to 1.5 hour experience at a tourist trap! 8.4. Bled Castle It is a steep 15 to 20 minute walk up to Bled Castle, but that is not as steep as the Eur 15 entrance fee! You can also drive up and there is paid parking at Bled Castle. The main reasons to visit Bled Castle are for the views and the museum. Bled Island, Slovenia Bled Castle, Slovenia Bled Island, Slovenia A Church on the Shore of Lake Bled, Slovenia 9. Lake Bohinj, Slovenia 9.1. Towns and Accommodation at Lake Bohinj There isn't a town called Bohinj. The only settlement on Lake Bohinj is Ribcev Laz on the south eastern corner. It's the main hub for Lake Bohinj. We stayed in nearby Stara Fuzina, an unspoiled village a 10 minute walk from Lake Bohinj. Ukanc, the only other settlement near the lake shore, is a very small village on the western shore of Lake Bohinj. We booked a 1 bedroom apartment through Airbnb for Eur 98 per night. I have reviewed it in my blog " UK to Greek Islands Accommodation - Part 1 " (number 8). Stara Fuzina on Lake Bohinj, Slovenia A View from Stara Fuzina on Lake Bohinj, Slovenia A Church in Stara Fuzina, Lake Bohinj, Slovenia 9.2. Hiking around Lake Bohinj The Lonely Planet guide says that Lake Bohinj is more beautiful than Lake Bled. I don't agree with that but Lake Bohinj is certainly less crowded and less touristy. We hiked from our apartment in Stara Fuzina clockwise around the Lake Bohinj. The hike is 12 kilometres long and it took us 3 hours. Unfortunately the trail on the south bank of Lake Bohinj follows the road and the views are often blocked by trees. At the western end of Lake Bohinj it was more open and there were good views of the lake and mountains. The north side of Lake Bohinj is more popular for walking. There isn't a road nearby but unfortunately trees often obscure the views. This is the more popular side of Lake Bohinj for walking and I can understand why. In my opinion it is better to hike there and back on the north side of Lake Bohinj. The disadvantage is that the north side of Lake Bohinj is busier but you could probably avoid most hikers by starting early in the morning or late in the afternoon. View on the Walk from Stara Fuzina to Lake Bohinj The Church of St John the Baptist at Ribcev Lab on Lake Bohinj Lake Bohinj from the South East Shore near Ribcev Laz The Holy Spirit Church between Ukanc and Rivcev Laz on Lake Bohinj Lake Bohinj from the Western End near Ukanc Lake Bohinj from the North West Shore 10. Vrsic Pass Road Trip 10.1. About Vrsic Pass The Vrsic Pass is in north western Slovenia near the border with Italy. It was built during the first world war and there are 50 hair pin bends up and down the 1,611 metre high Vrsic pass. Vrsic Pass is closed in winter which means it is closed from November to April, depending on the snow. You can check whether it is open on the AMZS website . The road to Vrsic pass goes from Kranjska Gora on the eastern side to Bovec on the western side. The drive to Kranjska Gora takes 45 minutes from Lake Bled and 1 hour 15 minutes from Lake Bohinj. 10.2. Driving up the Eastern Side of the Vrsic Pass The road up Vrsic Pass was a bit narrow going around some of the hair pin bends, but otherwise it wasn't a difficult drive. There are several parking spots on the road from where you can enjoy spectacular views of the Julian Alps. When you reach the top of Vrsic pass you could turn around and drive back down. The longer alternative is to drive down the western side of Vrsic pass and complete a circular route back to Lake Bohinj or Lake Bled. It would make the drive even longer if you started at Lake Bled. 10.3. Driving down the Western Side of the Vrsic Pass We did the circular drive and continued over Vrsic pass down 24 hair pin bends to Bovec. The hair pin bends weren't as tight, and the scenery wasn't as dramatic, as on the way up. We looked out for the Russian Chapel built as a memorial in 1916 by the Russian prisoners of war who constructed the road. Unfortunately we missed it and decided not to drive back up Vrsic Pass to find it. From Bovec we drove south on road numbers 203 and 102. We then turned east on the narrow and mountainous road number 403 to return to Lake Bohinj. It took us 3 hours 45 minutes to drive back from the top of Vrsic pass to Lake Bohinj. In comparison it only took us 2 hours to drive from Lake Bohinj to the top of Vrsic pass. On the way up Vrsic Pass, Slovenia View On the way up Vrsic Pass, Slovenia View On the way up Vrsic Pass, Slovenia View On the way up Vrsic Pass, Slovenia View On the way up Vrsic Pass, Slovenia View at the top of Vrsic Pass, Slovenia View at the top of Vrsic Pass, Slovenia View at the top of Vrsic Pass, Slovenia View on the way down Vrsic Pass, Slovenia View on the way down Vrsic Pass, Slovenia View on the Drive back to Lake Bohinj, Slovenia Church of the Virgin Mary in Pri Cerkvi-Struge, Slovenia View on the drive back from Vrsic pass to Lake Bohinj 11. My Other Blogs about Slovenia Venice to Serbia - Week 2 UK to Greek Island Accommodation - Part 1

Langtang Trek Map I did the Langtang trek in late November 2023 and my blog provides information that will assist you in planning your trek. My blogs Day Hikes on the Langtang Trek and Langtang Trek - Trip Report will also help with the planning. Contents When to do the Langtang Trek Getting to Syabrubesi Itinerary for the Langtang trek Costs, Permits & Guides Hiking Times for the Langtang Trek Information on the Tea Houses for the Langtang Trek Pairo's Tea Houses Bamboo's Tea Houses Rimche's Tea Houses Lama Hotel's Tea Houses Riverside's Tea House Chhunama's Tea House Ghoratabela's Tea Houses Thyangsyap's Tea Houses Gumba Danda's Tea Houses Langtang Village's Tea Houses Mundu's Tea Houses Sindum's Tea House Kyanjim Gumba's Hotels Sherpagaon's Tea Houses Bhanjyang's Tea House Other Langtang, Gosainkunda & Helambu Trek Blogs 1. When to do the LangtangTrek The main 2 considerations for when to do the Langtang trek are the weather and the number of trekkers: 1.1 Weather for the Lantang Trek The best months to do the Langtang trek are: March to early June Early October to mid December The monsoon season is from around 10 June to early October. The views would be restricted and there would be leeches during the monsoon. Click here to see the historic data for the start and finish dates for the monsoon (section 6 of the blog). The winter period from mid December to early March would be cold and there is a greater risk of snow. 1.2 Number of Trekkers on the Langtang Trek The Langtang trek is not a circuit, differing from many of the other Nepali treks which are circular. The same trail is used for ascending and descending the Langtang trek so you pass trekkers coming from the other direction. Each person trekking on the Langtang trek has double the impact compared to treks like the Annapurna circuit. Nepal Tourism publishes annual statistics of the number of foreign trekkers on the main treks. These statistics show that October and early November is the busiest period and April is the second busiest period. These statistics only provide a partial picture as they exclude Nepali trekkers. The Langtang trek is very popular with Nepali trekkers so they have a major impact on how busy the trail can get. I believe that the holiday period during the festivals of Dashain and Diwali (Tihar) would be the busiest period for Nepalese trekkers. The dates of these festivals are based on the lunar calendar and take place in October and November. In 2024 Dashain is from October 3rd to 16th and Diwali (Tihar) is from October 21st to November 2nd. The Nepalese often seem to take a holiday after Tihar and there will still be many Nepali trekkers doing the Langtang trek 7 to 10 days after the end of Tihar. 1.3 Conclusion The trail for the Langtang trek would be very busy in April. March would be much quieter, but colder, and there is more risk of snow on the ground. There is a risk of haze from wild fires at this time of year and smog in Kathmandu is becoming a problem. May and early June would be quieter and it would be warmer. However, there is a risk of some pre-monsoon rain. Usually the haze from wild fires disappears in early May once there has been some rainfall. In autumn the best weather is from late October to mid December. However, the trail for the Langtang trek is very busy from early October to mid November. The best time to do the Langtang trek is probably from about 10 days after the end of Diwali (Tihar) to mid December. 2. Getting to Syabrubesi The Langtang trek starts in Syabrubesi and you can get there by bus, shared jeep or private jeep. It would probably take 8 to 9 hours by bus or shared jeep. Enjoy Nepal Treks arranged a private jeep for me and it cost $180. I left Kathmandu at 05.00 and the early start meant that I avoided the awful traffic congestion in the Kathmandu valley. The journey took 5.5 hours and I had enough time to start the Langtang trek and to hike to Sherpagaon in daylight. I had read blogs stating the road from Kathmandu to Syabrubesi was scary but it didn't seem bad to me. 3. Itinerary for the Langtang Trek 3.1 The Ascent on the Langtang Trek for Acclimatised Trekkers If you are already acclimatised you can easily hike from Syabrubesi to Kyanjin Gompa in 3 days. If you are in a rush, and are fit, you could even do it in 2 days. Day 1 - Travel from Kathmandu to Syabrubesi (5.5 hours to 9 hours depending on the means of transport). Then either hike 5.5 hours along the upper trail to Sherpagaon (2,563 metres) or take the lower trail to Lama Hotel (2,480 metres). Day 2 - Hike 5.5 hours to the village of Mundu (3,543 metres) which has 2 good guest houses. Day 3 - Hike 1.5 hours from Mundu to Kyanjin Gompa (3,830 metres). Do a day hike after finding a hotel. See my blog on Day Hikes on the Langtang Trek . 3.2 The Ascent on the Langtang Trek for Unacclimatised Trekkers If you aren't acclimatised you should take an extra day to trek to Kyanjin Gompa. Ideally your extra night should be at Ghoratabela (3,030 metres) or Thangsyap (3,140 metres). They are at a good altitude for acclimatisation and the tea houses are of a reasonable standard. 3.3 The Descent on the Langtang Trek Trekkers continuing to Gosainkunda - It is about an 8 hour hike from Kyanjin Gompa to Pairo. Pairo is the last settlement on the Langtang trek before the turn off to the southerly trail to Gosainkunda is reached. Most trekkers stop earlier at Lama Hotel or Bamboo. See my blogs on the Gosainkunda and Helambu trek . Hiking back to Syabrubesi on the Lower Trail - It would be possible to hike back in one long and tiring day. It would have taken me about 10 hours but someone younger and fitter could do it faster. Most trekkers don't do it in 1 day and spend 1 night somewhere along the trail for the Langtang trek. Hiking back to Syabrubesi on the Upper Trail - If you didn't hike the upper trail on the way up it is worth doing so on the way down. The upper trail of the Langtang trek is more scenic and you can spend the night in good accommodation in the pleasant village of Sherpagaon. The hike from Kyanjin Gompa to Sherpagaon would take about 7.5 hours. 4. Costs, Permits & Guides for the Langtang Trek 4.1 Guides for the Langtang Trek In April 2023 the Nepal Tourism Office tried to make it mandatory for all trekkers to have a guide for the Langtang trek and most other trekking areas. They didn't succeed and when I trekked in November 2023 the majority of foreigners were trekking without guides. I had a porter/guide for the Langtang trek. I did the Kanchenjunga trek just before starting the Langtang trek and had used Enjoy Nepal Treks to organise the trek. I retained the same porter/guide for the Langtang trek and the cost was $25 a day. I could have done the Langtang trek by myself but some of the day hikes were safer done with a guide. Also I continued on to Gosainkunda and wouldn't have wanted to go up Surya Peak (5,150 metres) by myself. The terrain was very rough and there were no other people there. 4.2 Permits for the Langtang Trek A permit has to be purchased for entering the Langtang National Park. It costs R3,000 ($23) and is normally payable at Dhunche which is on the way to Syabrubesi. The office was closed when I got there and I continued on to Syabrubesi. I bought the permit the next day at the Langtang Park office in Ghoratabela. Permit for Langtang National Park 4.3 Cost of the Langtang Trek I was on the Langtang trek for 7 nights and spent on average R600 ($4.60) per day on rooms and R1,800 ($14) per day on food. I spent a total of R1,800 ($14) on wifi and quite a bit more on hot drinks. I also treated myself to cake in Kyanjin Gompa. The cost of rooms on the Langtang trek would probably be higher in peak season. I used a Steripen to sterilise water so I didn't incur any expense for drinking water. 5. Hiking Times for the Langtang Trek The purpose of these times is to give an idea, when planning your Langtang trek, of how long the sections are. I was acclimatised and wasn't carrying my own pack, but I wasn't walking particularly fast. These times exclude stops for meals and hot drinks. Day TO FROM TIME 1 Syabrubesi Sherpagaon 5 hrs 30 mins 2 Sherpagaon Rimche 1 hr 30 mins 2 Rimche Lama Hotel 20 mins 2 Lama Hotel River Side 1 hr 25 mins 2 River Side Ghoratabela 1 hr 10 mins 2 Ghoratabela Thyangsyap 40 mins 2 Thyangsyap Gumba Danda 45 mins 3 Gumba Danda Langtang Village 30 mins 3 Langtang Village Mundu 30 mins 3 Mundu Kyanjin Gompa 1 hr 30 mins 6 Kyanjin Gompa Mundu 1 hr 10 mins 6 Mundu Langtang Village 22 mins 6 Langtang Village Thyangsyap 1 hr 18 mins 6 Thyangsyap Ghoratabela 33 mins 6 Ghoratabela Chhunama 1 hr 12 mins 6 Chhunama River Side 10 mins 6 River Side Lama Hotel 1 hr 10 mins 6 Lama Hotel Rimche 15 mins 6 Rimche Bamboo 1 hr 10 mins 6 Bamboo Pairo 56 mins 6. Information on the Tea Houses for the Langtang Trek 6.1 Quality of Tea Houses on the Langtang Trek The tea houses on the first section of the lower route between Syabrubesi and Ghoratabela are old, basic and uncomfortable! The tea houses from Ghoratabela are better and from Langtang to Kyanjin Gompa the accommodation is good and many rooms have attached bathrooms. The upper route for the first section of the Langtang trek has some excellent accommodation at Sherpagaon. Most trekkers don't use this route on the way up as there is a 1,050 metre ascent. I hiked up this route and it was tiring! Some trekkers descend on this upper route but you can't do so if you are continuing onto Gosainkunda. 6.2 Other Guests at Langtang's Tea Houses When trekking I try to stay at tea houses that have few other guests and certainly no groups. On most treks you know that no other trekkers will arrive after dusk. Unfortunately this isn't the case with the Langtang trek. A lot of Nepalese do the Langtang trek and they usually do it very quickly. That often entails hiking in the dark with head torches. It isn't at all unusual to have a nice quiet tea house at dusk only to have a group of trekkers arrive as late as 21.00. 6.3 Cost of Tea House Accommodation on the Langtang Trek In the off season I had good rooms with attached bathrooms for R500 ($4) a night at Sherpagaon and Kyanjin Gompa. I was charged R1,000 $7.70) for a room with an attached toilet at Gumba Danda and that was too much. A very basic room at Pairo cost R700 ($5.40). I always determined the price beforehand as the list prices were higher. I never bargained and later met a trekker who had negotiated free rooms at all but 1 place on the Langtang and Gosainkunda trek. He wasn't Israeli! 6.4 Food at Langtang's Tea Houses I always ate the local rice and noodle dishes so I can't comment on the western food served at the tea houses. Western food is available along the entire Langtang trek, even at the basic tea houses on the first section of the trek. Dal bhat cost between R650 ($5) and R900 ($7). Black tea cost between R80 ($0.6) and R150 ($1.2). The cost of food increased with the altitude. 6.5 Internet, Electricity and Showers at Langtang's Tea Houses I couldn't obtain internet through Nepal Telecoms. I paid for internet at Sherpagaon, Gumba, Mundu and Kyanjin Gompa. The cost was between R300 ($2.30) and R500 ($3). At Kyanjin Gompa the R500 fee covered the 3 nights I stayed there. There wasn't any internet at Pairo. There was solar power at all the tea houses on the Langtang trek. The tea houses on the first section of the Langtang trek are in a wooded valley and don't receive much sun. I therefore couldn't charge my phone at Pairo. There was free charging at Sherpagaon, Gumba Danda, Mundu and Kyanjin Gompa. I had free hot showers at Kyanjin Gompa and it is likely that there would be hot showers at Sherpagaon, Langtang Village and Mundu. 7. Pairo's Tea Houses There are 2 basic tea houses in Pairo and I stayed at the Namaste Guest House. I had the tea house to myself until 5 Nepali trekkers arrived in the dark. Luckily they were very quiet and I had a good night's sleep. The lady running the tea house was a bit strange. The quality of the tea houses in Pairo is poor, like all the tea houses between Syabrubesi and Ghoratabela. There was no internet or charging of electrical devices. The Namaste Guest House in Pairo The View from the Namaste Guest House My Room at the Namaste Guest House in Pairo The Menu at the Namaste Guest House in Pairo. The Menu at the Namaste Guest House in Pairo. My Bill at the Namaste Guest House in Pairo The other Guest House in Pairo 8. Bamboo's Tea Houses There is at least one basic tea house in Bamboo. Bamboo Lodge is in the bottom left 9. Rimche's Tea Houses There is one basic and not very nice tea house in Rimche. The Evening View Moon Light Guest House in Rimche. 10. Lama Hotel's Tea Houses Lama Hotel is the name of the village and it has more accommodation than any other village on the first section of the Langtang trek. There are several basic tea houses. The Village of Lama Hotel The Kitchen & Dining Room of the Friendly Guest House in Lama Hotel The Hotel Sherpa 11. River Side's Tea House The River Side Hotel is the only tea house at River Side. I had lunch there and the food was good. The tea house is basic and run down like the other tea houses on the first section of the Langtang trek. The River Side Hotel The River Side Hotel The River Side Hotel 12. Chhunama's Tea Houses Chhunama is only 10 minutes from River Side. The tea house here is a bit better than the one at Riverside but still basic! Hotel Woodland in Chhunama 13. Ghoratabela's Tea Houses There are 2 reasonable tea houses at Ghoratabela, the best so far when walking up on the main trail of the Langtang trek. Hotel Tibetan is at Ghoratabela 14. Thyangsyap's Tea Houses There are about 4 reasonable tea houses at Thyangsyap. Summit Guest House & Restaurant in Thyangsyap Summit Guest House & Restaurant in Thyangsyap Buddha Guest House in Thyangsyap Potala Guest House in Thyangsyap 15. Gumba Danda's Tea Houses There are several tea houses at Gumba Danda which is at an altitude of 3,400 metres. I stayed at the Langtang View Guest House as it had been recommended by other trekkers doing the Langtang trek. It is the last tea house in the village when ascending. They have rooms in the main building and also 3 rooms in an annex which have attached toilets. I paid R1,000 ($8) for a room with an attached toilet. It seemed a reasonable price at the time but it turned out to be the most expensive room of the trek. They have 2 good dining rooms. The one in the photo below isn't heated but it is nice during the day as it is spacious and bright. The other dining room is in the main building and it was very warm in the evening. When I stayed everything was great until dark. Four Nepali trekkers arrived and were very noisy. My guide said they had been drinking. I decided to move into the unheated dining room but found that it was occupied by a large group of trekkers. They were having dinner before continuing on to Langtang Village. I therefore sat in the kitchen instead. I was going to stay here on the way back from Kyanjin Gompa thinking I couldn't be so unlucky twice. However, the owner of the hotel at Kyanjin Gompa warned me that many Nepali trekkers stay at Gumba Danda and they were often noisy. The Langtang View Guest House in Gumba. The Langtang View Guest House in Gumba. The Dining Room of the Langtang View Guest House in Gumba Bedrooms at the Langtang View Guest House in Gumba My Room at the Langtang View Guest House in Gumba. 16. Langtang Village's Tea Houses Langtang Village was destroyed by a landslide that was triggered by the 2015 earthquake. A new village has been built on a nearby site that should be out of the path of future landslides. There is a lot of accommodation at Langtang Village and many of the buildings are hotels rather than tea houses. It is likely to be a busy place and popular with groups. Langtang Village 17. Mundu's Guest Houses There are 2 good guest houses at Mundu. I stayed at the Golden Holiday's Guest House and paid R500 ($4) for a really good corner room with an attached bathroom. As is often the case in Nepal the bathroom didn't have a sink. The guest house was very clean and quiet. There was a comfortable dining room and I paid R500 ($4) to use the internet. The other guest house in Mundu is called the Tip Top. It also looked good. My feeling is that Mundu is a nicer and quieter place to stay than either Langtang Village or Gumba Danda. Golden Holiday's Guest House & Restaurant in Mundu The Dining Room at the Golden Holiday's Guest House & Restaurant in Mundu. My Room at the Golden Holiday's Guest House & Restaurant in Mundu My Bathroom at the Golden Holiday's Guest House & Restaurant in Mundu Tip Top Hotel in Mundu 18. Sindum's Tea House My guide said that the Me Very Happy Guest House in Sindum was very good when he last stayed there. Unfortunately it was closed in late November when I was trekking. It did look nice and as it is a single storey building you wouldn't have people stomping above your room. 19. Kyanjin Gompa's Hotels & Tea Houses I haven't seen a village like Kyanjin Gompa on any other trek in Nepal. It mainly consists of 4 to 5 storey hotels that look incongruous in the mountain setting. It isn't picturesque but there is plenty of good accommodation at very reasonable prices. I stayed at the Buddha Inn and I wouldn't be surprised if it was the nicest hotel in Kyanjin Gompa. I had a room with an attached bathroom for R500 ($4). The bathroom was clean and had a hot solar shower and a hand basin. The disadvantage of the hotel is that it is popular with groups. I wouldn't want to stay there in peak season. Some of the other hotels worth considering are: Hotel Super View Hotel View Point Mountain View Guest House & Lodge There is a popular cheesery in Kyanjin Gompa but it didn't look very hygenic. There are also several bakeries. The most well known one is Dorje Bakery but I was disappointed by the quality of the cakes. The Village of Kyanjin Gomba The Buddha Inn in Kyanjin Gomba The Dining Room of the Buddha Inn My Room at the Buddha Inn My Bathroom at the Buddha Inn in Kyanjin Gomba The Hotel Super View in Kyanjin Gomba The Hotel View Point in Kyanjin Gumba 20. Sherpagaon's Tea Houses Sherpagaon is on the upper trail of the Langtang trek and is a very pleasant village with good views. It is worth taking the upper trail just to stay in good accommodation rather than the poor quality tea houses on the first section of the lower main trail of the Langtang trek. There are several tea houses in Sherpagaon and the best one seemed to be the Namaste Guest House. It is at the end of the village when ascending the Langtang trek. I had a large room with a large attached bathroom. The bathroom wasn't particularly clean but this is probably typical for this type of hotel. I paid R500 ($4) although the list price was R1,500 ($12). The food was good, the owners were friendly and there was wifi for a cost of R300 ($2.20). The Namaste Guest House in Sherpagaon The View from the Namaste Guest House in Sherpagaon The Dining Room at the Namaste Guest House in Sherpagaon My Room at the Namaste Guest House in Sherpagaon My Bathroom at the Namaste Guest House in Sherpagaon My Bill at the Namaste Guest House in Sherpagaon 21. Bhanjyang's Tea House Bhanjyang is the first village on the upper trail of the Langtang trek from Syrabrubesi to Sherpagaon. It is a steep 2.5 hour walk from Syrabrubesi. The Hotel Mountain View would be a good option if you don't have the time to hike to Sherpagaon on the day you travel from Kathmandu. It looks better than the tea houses on the first section of the lower trail on the Langtang trek but not as good as the accommodation in Sherpagaon. 22. Other Langtang, Gosainkunda & Helambu Trek Blogs Day Hikes on the Langtang Trek Langtang Trek - Trip Report Planning the Gosainkunda & Helambu Trek Gosainkunda & Helambu Trip Report

Vilan Lighthouse on Stage 5 Contents Introduction The Official Lighthouse Way Website Maps & Signs for the Lighthouse Way Taxis & Buses Accommodation & Restaurants in Muxia Weather Organised Lighthouse Way Treks Stages of the Lighthouse Way & Shortening Options : 8.1. Stage 4 of the Lighthouse Way 8.2. Stage 5 of the Lighthouse Way 8.3. Stage 6 of the Lighthouse Way 8.4. Stage 7 of the Lighthouse Way 8.5. Stage 8 of the Lighthouse Way 9. Links to Other Blogs about our Road Trip 1. Introduction to the Lighthouse Way The Lighthouse Way is a hard 8 day trek along the Coast of Death on the tip of north-west Spain. It is called the Coast of Death because of t he numerous shipwrecks. The Lighthouse Way is n't busy or commercialised like the Camino Frances and the majority of the Lighthouse Way is on coastal paths rather than roads. We had never heard of the 8 day Lighthouse Way trek until a friend of Lani (my wife) mentioned it and suggested they do it while I was trekking in Nepal. They didn't do the Lighthouse Way trek and I think they would have struggled with the long and tiring sections. When I was planning our 10 week road trip from the UK to southern Morocco in 2024 I decided to spend a week in Muxia at the end of the journey. Our plan was to do the last 5 sections of the Lighthouse Way as day hikes from Muxia. Some of the advantages of doing day hikes on the Lighthouse Way from a comfortable base, rather than doing it as a continuous trek, are: It is easy to do it independently. You don't have to carry, or arrange transfers for, your bags. If the weather is bad you can postpone hiking on the Lighthouse Way to another day. Galicia isn't known for it's great weather! Road sections at the start and end of each daily stage of the Lighthouse Way can be cut out easily when using taxis. You can have rest days and do excursions. Most of the 8 stages of the Lighthouse Way trek are long. Unfortunately the excellent official website  for the Lighthouse Way doesn't provide any information on how the stages can be shortened. We wanted to do more relaxed hiking so I worked out how sections 4 to 8 of the Lighthouse Way hike could be shortened without missing out too much of the great scenery. My blog includes information on: How to shorten the daily sections of the Lighthouse Way. How to use buses and taxis to get to and from the daily sections. A review of sections 4 to 8 of the Lighthouse Way to help you decide which sections you want to hike. Route finding on the Lighthouse Way. See my trip report Week 9 - Muxia & the Lighthouse Way for additional information about our hikes along the Lighthouse Way. 2. The Official Lighthouse Way Website The official website for the Lighthouse Way provides excellent information about the 8 day trek. It provides detailed information for each of the stages including downloads of the Lighthouse Way on Google Maps and Wikiloc. There is also information on taxis, accommodation and restaurants. Unfortunately the official Lighthouse Way website is designed to help hikers who want to do the Lighthouse Way in full and as one continuous trek. A hiker we met informed us that the officials don't want to encourage shortened sections and therefore don't provide any information on how it can be done. My blog provides information that isn't on the official website about hiking individual sections of the Lighthouse Way and shortening some of the long sections. 3. Maps & Signs for the Lighthouse Way The trail for the Lighthouse Way has been marked with green dots and arrows painted on to rocks and trees. Sometimes they aren't clear and the markings have been made for hikers going from north to south. Fortunately the official website provides information on each stage of the Lighthouse Way. This includes trails for the 8 stages which can be downloaded on to Google Maps or Wikiloc. You can then see your position in relation to the trail. We followed the trail on Google Maps and it worked very well. We would have gone the wrong way several times without Google Maps. We found that when hiking along a road or beach it is often not apparent when to turn off on to a path and Google Maps alerted us to the turn off. Mark for the Lighthouse Way 4. Taxis & Buses I had planned to use buses for 2 of the Lighthouse Way's sections in order to save money. In the end we used taxis for the 5 sections of the Lighthouse Way that we hiked as it was more convenient and the cost was reasonable. Google provides details of 9 taxi drivers in Muxia. One of these drivers is Mathew Smith (telephone 34 683 36 24 65) who is a Brit married to a Spanish lady. We used Mathew for all our hikes as he is a great guy and we could communicate with him in English. Lani is learning Spanish but she didn't relish phoning a Spanish taxi driver and trying to arrange a trip. Particularly since most of the time we were trying to shorten the stages and start hiking a few kilometres after the official starting points for the Lighthouse Way. When I first contacted Mathew I asked about the cost. After that I didn't bother as the Muxia taxi drivers have set rates for all the destinations and Mathew had them on a sheet of paper. The fares were reasonable and the official website provides details of many of the fares. There is a taxi office on Muxia's seafront but it is only manned when there are drivers waiting for rides. The taxi rank is shown as Parada de Taxis on Google Maps. Aviva Spain has a bus service between Fisterra, Muxia and Camarinas. There are 5 buses each day on weekdays and 1 daily bus at weekends. Single bus tickets currently cost Eur 2.60. This bus service is useful when doing stages 6 and 8 of the Lighthouse Way. If you are based in Muxia you can take a taxi to the start of stage 8 of the Lighthouse Way and then take the bus from Fisterra to Muxia at the end of the stage. For stage 6 of the Lighthouse Way hike the bus service provides a couple of options if you are based in Muxia. If you want to do the entire section 6 you can take a bus from Muxia to Camarinas. However, if you want to reduce the length of stage 6 you can take the same buses and alight at Cereixo. Mathew Smith - The best taxi driver in Muxia! 5. Accommodation & Restaurants in Muxia We booked an excellent 3 bedroom apartment in the centre of Muxia through Booking.com for Eur 474 in June. It had a very high approval rating of 9.6. If you intend to use Mathew Smith's taxi service it would be worth considering the accommodation he offers which is about a 5 minute drive from Muxia. His accommodation is: A 3 bedroom house which has an approval rating of 9.6 on Booking.com . A studio apartment for up to 4 people which has an approval rating of 9.4 on Booking.com . Mathew recommended several restaurants and we ate at O Porto and A Marina. Both the restaurants were good. In June the O Porto was frequented by locals and wasn't busy. A Marina was mainly frequented by visitors and was busy. The staff at A Marina were very welcoming. 6. Weather We were surprised that the weather forecasts for Muxia were very reliable. We were lucky that in June we had good weather and no rain at all. The only negative was a very strong northerly wind for about 4 days of our stay. Apparently this isn't unusual and Muxia is particularly affected by wind. It is important to take into account the wind direction when planning the Lighthouse Way hikes so that the wind is behind you. It makes walking much easier and more pleasant. We did stage 7 of the Lighthouse Way hike from the south to the north and left it until the end of our stay when the wind had died down. We found it very hot without the wind! 7. Organised Lighthouse Way Treks If you want someone to organise a self guided trek along the Lighthouse Way then On Foot Holidays seems to be the major operator. They offer packages for both the full trek and reduced stages. They also offer shortening options for each stage. The official website also offers packages for the Lighthouse Way through a Spanish travel agent. 8. Stages of the Lighthouse Way & Shortening Options We did day hikes on stages 4 to 8 of the Lighthouse Way hike. We really enjoyed stages 4, 5 and 8. The scenery on stage 7 of the Lighthouse Way wasn't as good as we expected and the second part of the trail was a bit overgrown. We only did the second half of the very long stage 6 and it was a good starting hike. When driving from Muxia to Camarinas we passed some of the first section of stage 6 of the Lighthouse Way. The trail along the busy road didn't look appealing as too much of the trail goes inland, and through forest. 8.1. Stage 4 of the Lighthouse Way Stage 4 of the Lighthouse Way goes from Laxe to Arou. It's the easiest stage of the Lighthouse Way as it is 18 kilometres long and there isn't much elevation. The official website estimates that stage 4 will take 7.5 hours and that allows enough time for photos and a picnic lunch. We enjoyed the hike and thought that the coastal scenery was excellent. One of the highlights of stage 4 is near the end when the trail for the Lighthouse Way goes through a spectacular area of large boulders. We shortened stage 4 by taking a taxi to Praia dos Cristais instead of to Laxe. This cut out the headland that has Laxe lighthouse on it. It reduced stage 4 by 2.8 kilometres and saved 1 hour. Our entire hike for stage 4 of the Lighthouse Way took 6 hours. Taxis can be taken to Praia dos Cristais to start stage 4 You could reduce the length of stage 4 by another 3.1 kilometres if a taxi collected you in Camelle instead of Arou. See my trip report Week 9 - Muxia & the Lighthouse Way (28 June) for information about how we organised the taxi for stage 4 of the Lighthouse Way. Stage 4 could be ended at Camelle Castro Rock Traba Beach The Boulders between Traba & Camelle Approaching Arou at the end of the hike 8.2. Stage 5 of the Lighthouse Way Stage 5 is one of the best stages of the Lighthouse Way hike. It is 23.7 kilometres long and the official website estimates it will take 9 hours. We shortened stage 5 by taking a taxi to Lobeiras viewpoint instead of Arou. This reduced stage 5 by 1.7 kilometres and saved half an hour. We cut out the trail from Arou to Lobeiras Viewpoint which is circled in red We didn't walk up to Vilan lighthouse and that probably saved another half an hour. The northerly wind was ferocious and 2 hikers who went up to the lighthouse told us it was much worse there. We took the track circled in red to bypass Vilan lighthouse At the end of stage 5 of the Lighthouse Way we bypassed an uphill section to the Hermitage of Virxe do Monto. The road circled in red bypasses the Hermitage of Virxe do Monte It took us 6.25 hours to reach Camarinas when cutting out the 3 sections mentioned above. We didn't think the hike was particularly tiring as there wasn't much elevation. The scenery for stage 5 was excellent. Stage 5 of the Lighthouse Way could be reduced by an additional 3 kilometres by arranging for a taxi to collect you from Lago beach, instead of Camarinas. There is a reasonable road to Lago beach but only a tiny parking area. Taxis can access the Praia de Lago The English Cemetery is on stage 5 of the Lighthouse Way and it is worth quickly stopping to visit it. There is a reasonable road to the English cemetery and it continues westwards along the coast almost to the Vilan lighthouse. There is very little traffic on the road. The English Cemetery A View over to the Vilan Lighthouse Vilan Lighthouse 8.3. Stage 6 of the Lighthouse Way Stage 6 goes from Camarinas to Muxia and is the longest stage of the Lighthouse Way. The official website estimates that the 32.6 kilometres hike would take 10 hours. A lot of stage 6 isn't the sort of hiking we enjoy as the trail runs along roads and through forests. It's also too long. The hike from Camarinas to Cereixo can easily be avoided by starting in Cereixo instead. It isn't a particularly nice trail as too much of it is inland and along roads. It would reduce stage 6 of the Lighthouse Way by 14.5 kilometres (4 hours). Buses from Muxia could be used for stage 6 of the Lighthouse Way as there are 5 buses a day between Muxia, Cereixo and Camarinas. The section from Camarinas to Cereixo could be skipped We hiked from Leis Beach to Muxia and enjoyed it. The hike was 10 kilometres long and took 3 hours. Although the trail went along some country roads there was very little traffic. It also went through forest but much of it was very nice virgin forest. We started hiking on stage 6 by taking a taxi from Muxia to Camping Praia Barreira Leis . We started our hike at Camping Praia Barreira Leis on Leis beach The last 2.5 kilometres of stage 6 of the Lighthouse Way continues from the centre of Muxia to the tip of the headland and back to Muxia. This section isn't necessary in order to reach accommodation in Muxia. We walked around the headland on a day we had a break from hiking and enjoyed it as we could take our time and weren't tired. The trail circled in red can be cut out at the end of stage 6 Leis Beach A Granary (Horeos) The Forest near Negro River Mills 8.4. Stage 7 of the Lighthouse Way Stage 7 of the Lighthouse Way goes from Muxia to Nemina and is 25.3 kilometres (9.25 hours) long. It is a tough section as there are several hills that have to be climbed. In addition part of the last section of the trail was overgrown in places. We were a bit disappointed with the scenery at times on the southern section of stage 7 of the Lighthouse Way as the trail deviates from the coast. We did stage 7 of the Lighthouse Way from south to north as it was easier taking a taxi to the start of the trek than arranging for a taxi to meet us at the finish. At the end of our hike we just walked back to our apartment in Muxia. There are a few ways that stage 7 of the Lighthouse Way hike can be shortened: Our taxi driver dropped us off in the hamlet of Talon (called Heel on the official website), which is one kilometre north of Nemina beach, and it saved 15 minutes of walking. The trail from Nemina beach to Talon goes inland so the views are unlikely to be good. We took a taxi to Talon to start stage 7 of the Lighthouse Way The headland with the Tourinan lighthouse can be bypassed and this saves 3.5 kilometres (1 hour) of walking. The Tourinan lighthouse loop can be cut out on stage 7 Some hikers use the road to completely bypass the beautiful Punta Buitro headland. We were also going to do that but met someone whose wife had been attacked by a dog when doing so. As a result we decided to hike around the Punta Buitro headland and cross over to the other side at a narrow point. As we walked along the headland we could see that there was too much thorny ground vegetation to be able to cross over unless there was a path. We weren't disappointed in having to hike around Punta Buitro as the scenery was superb. Then halfway to the tip of the headland there was a dirt track crossing over to the north side. I am not sure how much time this dirt track saved but it was probably around half an hour. The red line indicated where there is a track across the Punta Buitra headland View from Mount Pedrouzo Punta Buitra Descending Mount Cachelmo with Muxia in the distance. 8.5. Stage 8 of the Lighthouse Way Stage 8 of the Lighthouse Way goes from Nemina to Fisterra lighthouse and it's 27 kilometres (8.75 hours) long. It is a beautiful hike but tiring due to the length and hilly terrain. We took 2 shortcuts on stage 8 which reduced the hiking time to 6 hours, including lunch and photo stops. We only saw 3 other hikers the entire hike! We started stage 8 of the Lighthouse Way by taking a taxi from Muxia to Area Grande. This cut out 7.3 kilometres (1.75 hours) of a mainly inland section of the hike from Nemina to Area Grande. At low tide it is also possible to wade across the Lires estuary from Praia de Lires on the north side to the south side. See the article on the Estuary of Lires in the official website. A taxi can be taken to Area Grande, instead of Nemina, to start stage 8 We ended our hike at the town of Fisterra where the taxi collected us. However, stage 8 of the Lighthouse Way ends at Fisterra lighthouse which is a further 5 kilometres and much of it is uphill! If I was doing the entire Lighthouse Way trek I would leave this final part to the next morning so I could enjoy it. As mentioned earlier in this blog there are are buses from Fisterra to Muxia and Camarinas. The section from Fisterra to Fisterra Lighthouse can be cut out A View between Lires & Rostro Beaches View of Nemina Rostro Beach 9. Links to Other Blogs about our Road Trip from England to Morocco Week 1 - Salamanca, Toledo, Cordoba & Granada Week 2 - Spain to Morocco Week 3 - Southern Morocco Week 4 - Marrakesh to Todra Gorge Week 5 - Todra Gorge - Merzouga - Fes - Chefchaouen Week 6 - Morocco to Cadiz & Seville Week 7 - Seville to Portugal Week 8 - Porto to Pontevedra, Spain Week 9 - Muxia & the Lighthouse Way Week 10 - Muxia, Spain to Plymouth, UK

Map of Yoho National Park We visited Yoho National Park in mid September 2025 during a 3 week road trip from Vancouver to Banff and Jasper (see my blog Vancouver to Canadian Rockies Road Trip ) . We stayed for 4 nights in Field which is the only town in Yoho National Park. During our stay we also visited Lake Louise and Moraine Lake in Banff National Park as they are so close by. The main sights in Yoho National Park could be visited in one full day. A 2 or 3 day visit would be more appropriate if you like hiking. The Iceline Trail starts at Takakkaw Falls and is a fantastic hike. If you are lucky enough to obtain a shuttle ticket to Lake O'Hara the Alpine Circuit is another great hike. Contents Emerald Lake Natural Bridge Takakkaw Falls Upper Spiral Tunnel Viewpoint Lower Spiral Tunnel Viewpoint Wapta Falls Lake O'Hara When to Visit Where to Stay Links to my other blogs on Canada 1. Emerald Lake Emerald Lake is the highlight of Yoho National Park and it's popular as a result. It's reached by turning off the Trans Canada Highway onto Emerald Lake Road. This road is open all year but Emerald Lake can be covered with ice up to early June. The car park at Emerald Lake isn't large and was full when we arrived just before 10.00 a.m. in mid September. There were still plenty of parking spaces along the road though. There was a queue of people waiting for the canoe rental office to open at 10.00. Canoe rentals cost $100 an hour which is cheap compared to the $160 an hour charged at Moraine Lake! We did the 5 kilometre scenic walk around Emerald Lake. Most people walk clockwise on the west side of Emerald Lake as the trail is maintained. We went anti clockwise and the trail on the eastern side initially runs through Emerald Lake Lodge. The trail on the east side of Emerald Lake can be muddy in places but in September it was fine. Some board walks were being constructed along the worst sections. The trail on the east side of the lake goes through forest but there were plenty of great views of Emerald Lake and the surrounding mountains. The mid point of the circular walk around Emerald Lake is at the northern end. Emerald Lake is very open here and there are beautiful views and some benches to rest on. Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park View from the trail on the eastern side of Emerald Lake Trail on the eastern side of Emerald Lake View at the northern end of Emerald Lake View at the northern end of Emerald Lake Car Park at Emerald Lake 2. Natural Bridge Natural Bridge is at the start of Emerald Lake Road and most people visit it on the way to Emerald Lake. The car park isn't that large but spaces soon open up as visitors don't spend much time at Natural Bridge. There is a concrete bridge over the Kicking Horse River which provides the best view of the Natural Bridge over the river. The Natural Bridge was formed by the river eroding the softer rock below a layer of hard limestone. I didn't think the Natural Bridge itself was impressive but the river and scenery is very nice. It's worth a quick stop when driving to Emerald Lake. Natural Bridge in Yoho National Park Natural Bridge in Yoho National Park Kicking Horse River at Natural Bridge 3. Takakkaw Falls Takakkaw Falls is reached by driving along Yoho Valley Road. There are a couple of tight hair pin bends along this road. They aren't a problem for cars but vehicles over 7 metres long must reverse down one section! Shortly after turning onto the Yoho Valley Road there is a viewpoint of the Upper Spiral Tunnel (see section 4 ) and parking for the Meeting of the Waters Confluence. The confluence is where the Yoho and Kicking Horse rivers meet but there is little to see and it isn't worth stopping. There's a large car park at Takakkaw Falls and there was plenty of space when we visited in mid September. It's a 10 minute walk from the car park to the base of the spectacular waterfalls. The Takakkaw Falls are 373 metres high and they are the second highest waterfalls in Canada. The Takakkaw Falls car park is the trailhead for the Iceline Trail which is one of the best hikes in Yoho National Park. The hike can either be done as a 20 kilometre circular hike  or a 14 kilometre there and back hike. The hike up and down is through forest but the middle section of the hike is through spectacular alpine scenery. Hair Pin Bends on the Yoho Valley Road Warning Sign on the Yoho Valley Road Takakkaw Falls in Yoho National Park 4. Upper Spiral Tunnel Shortly after turning onto the Yoho Valley Road there is a viewpoint of the Upper Spiral Tunnel. We were fortunate to see a long CP Rail freight train passing through the spiral tunnel and we saw both ends of the train on either side of the tunnel. It's a distant view of the tunnel and as the trains are infrequent you have to be fortunate to see one. I was particularly pleased to see it as I had worked for Canadian Pacific. If you aren't a train enthusiast it probably isn't worth stopping. Viewpoint for the Upper Spiral Tunnel View of train going through the Upper Spiral Tunnel 5. Lower Spiral Tunnel Viewpoint The Lower Spiral Tunnel viewpoint is just off Highway 1 between Lake Louise and Field. There's a large car park and many interesting information boards. We stopped 4 times but never saw a train passing through the tunnel. Unfortunately trees around the tunnel block most of the view of the trains. It's worth stopping at the viewpoint to read the interesting information boards. Lower Spiral Tunnel Viewpoint 6. Wapta Falls Wapta Falls is on the western boundary of Yoho National Park and is a 40 minute drive from Field. Wapta Falls isn't signposted when driving westwards on the Trans Canada highway which might be because the turn off is on the other side of the highway. We were driving westwards and went sailing past the turn off. I had entered "Wapta Falls" in Google Maps and it took us to Wapta Falls Campsite rather than Wapta Falls! Wapta Falls campsite is several kilometres past the correct turnoff from the Trans Canada highway and then along several kilometres of dirt road. The Wapta Falls car park is on the other side of the river and there isn't a trail from the campsite to Wapta Falls. You have to enter "Wapta Falls Main Trail" in Google maps to take the correct route. We wasted at least 30 minutes driving to the campsite. Many visitors driving westwards make this mistake. There is a good road to Wapta Falls car park and in mid September there were parking spaces available. In peak season parking can be difficult. From the car park it's a 2.2 kilometre hike through the forest to Wapta Falls. There aren't any views until you reach Wapta Falls. There are 3 viewpoints above the spectacular Wapta Falls and it's worth continuing to the last one. The third viewpoint involves a bit of descent but it isn't difficult. Some people hike all the way down to the river and then right up to Wapta Falls. If you do this it's advisable to wear a waterproof as the spray near the falls is tremendous. Map showing the route to Wapta Falls First Viewpoint at Wapta Falls Second Viewpoint at Wapta Falls Third Viewpoint at Wapta Falls 7. Lake O'Hara Lake O'Hara can only be accessed by a Parks Canada shuttle bus. The shuttle tickets are very difficult to obtain as Parks Canada only allows 3,000 day use visitors a year at Lake O'Hara. Lake O'Hara can only be visited from mid June to early October. Shuttle tickets can be obtained by entering the random draw  in March. Each application for the Lake O'Hara's random draw costs $10 and up to 6 different times/dates can be entered on an application. I completed 2 application forms but wasn't successful. There is a very high demand for this shuttle and it's very difficult to obtain tickets. It's possible to go to the Lake O'Hara parking lot on the day to see if there is space on the next shuttle due to no shows. There would be a very limited number of spaces on the shuttle, if any, and you would need to be one of the first there. It's only worth the hassle of obtaining shuttle tickets to Lake O'Hara if you intend to do a hike. The Lake O'Hara Alpine circuit is a fantastic hike that takes around 6 hours. It starts with a demanding 500 metre ascent. Lake O' Hara 8. When to Visit Yoho National Park The main season for visiting Yoho National Park is from April to October. Our recent visit was in mid September and many years ago we visited in late April. We had excellent weather both times. April and May are offseason for summer activities. There will still be snow on many hiking trails and ice on Emerald Lake. The access road to Takakkaw Falls is closed from mid October to mid June. June isn't a good month to visit as usually it's the wettest month of the year. Emerald Lake may still be covered with ice in early June and it wouldn't be as special without the reflections and turquoise colour of the water. July and August are the busiest and most expensive months. I would therefore avoid those months if possible. The weather should be good but there is a high risk of forest fires and the smoke can obscure views. September is a popular month but is not as busy as July and August. The weather is usually good although it will be getting cooler in late September. There can be snow at higher altitude when hiking in late September. There could still be a problem with smoke from forest fires for most of the month. October is offseason and the first half of October could be a reasonable time to visit if you don't mind cooler, and shorter, days. Winter tyres are a legal requirement from 1st October to 31st March. 9. Where to Stay Field is the only town in Yoho National Park. Field is a small town and only has one hotel which is the Truffle Pigs Restaurant & Lodge . There are also several guest houses in Field. We stayed at the Truffle Pigs Lodge and had a good room with 2 queen beds for $315 a night. The Truffle Pigs Lodge is near the railway and there is noise from both stationary and moving trains. As there isn't air conditioning we had to have the window open. The noise didn't bother us but it could disturb light sleepers. Staying in Banff is a possible alternative as it's a one hour drive east from Yoho National Park. However, accommodation in Banff is pricey. Golden would be a better alternative to Banff as the accommodation is cheaper and closer to Yoho National Park. Golden is 45 minute drive to the centre of Yoho National Park and has several hotels. Some of these hotels belong to international chains. Truffle Pigs Lodge & Restaurant in Field 10. Links to my Other Blogs on Canada Vancouver to Canadian Rockies Road Trip Vancouver Travel Guide Kootenay National Park Travel Guide Plain of 6 Glaciers & Lake Agness Hike The Icefields Parkway Drive

A view on the Seceda Hike in Val Gardena We spent a week in the first half of July 2023 hiking in Val Gardena and we based ourselves in Ortisei. Ortisei is a fantastic area for hiking and the chairlifts and buses make it so easy. This blog provides information gleaned during our stay there. Contents Planning Hikes in the Dolomites Crowds in the Dolomites When to Go to the Dolomites Weather in the Dolomites Chairlifts in Val Gardena Hiking Maps for Val Gardena Buses in Val Gardena Sassolungo Hikes Rescesia Hike Seceda Hikes Alpe di Siusi Hike Accommodation in Ortisei My Other Blogs on Italy 1. Planning Hikes in the Dolomites I found the planning of hikes in the Dolomites to be the most difficult part of organising our 3 month European road trip. Click here to see the blogs of our road trip. It di dn't help that most towns in the Dolomites have 2 or 3 names. For example Ortisei is also known as St. Ulrich and Urtijei! The Dolomites is a large area and it takes time to drive from one area to another on the mountain roads. So I wanted to base ourselves in one area and to hike there. I bought the Cicerone Guide Book on Day Walks in the Dolomites which costs GBP 13.67 from Amazon . This seems to be the best English guide book on walking in the Dolomites but it didn't help in determining the best area to be based in. In the end I decided on Val Gardena as a number of websites said it was a good base for hiking in the Dolomites. It turned out to be a good decision and there were plenty of excellent hikes for our 5 days in Val Gardena. I then wanted to plan some hikes in Val Gardena which involved using the chairlifts to reach high alpine areas with mountain views. I tried using the Cicerone Guide book and travel blogs. The maps were confusing as the path numbers referred to meant nothing to me. I should have bought a hiking map from Amazon as the book and blogs would have made more sense. Once we arrived in Ortisei I bought a map and also got the free map from the tourist office. It was then easier to plan hikes and some other hikers gave us some advice. The short hikes listed on the reverse side of the free "Summer Hiking Map" provided by the Ortisei tourist office gave me some ideas of where to hike and the time required. I could then modify the hikes and make them longer if necessary. 2. Crowds in the Dolomites We were in Ortisei from the 9th July to the 15th July. The first hike we did was on Seceda. The start of our hike was delayed so we could buy maps. We didn't start hiking until mid morning. I was shocked by the number of people when we reached the top of the Seceda gondola station. I thought the number of people would quickly decrease as we hiked away from the Seceda gondola station but it took over an hour. A lot of people had no hiking etiquette and didn't allow faster walkers to pass on the narrow trail unless asked. I was despairing as I knew I wouldn't enjoy hiking in the Dolomites if it was that crowded. On subsequent days we left earlier and took chairlifts soon after they opened. This made a big difference as we could get away from the chairlift stations before too many people arrived. 3. When to Go to the Dolomites Try to avoid weekends as the Dolomites will be even busier with day hikers from nearby towns and cities and people coming for a weekend break. The period after the first week in July to the end of August will be very busy and more expensive. The 2nd half of June is a good time to hike in the Dolomites unless you intend to hike in areas where snow might linger. September is also a good month and all the chairlifts are still open. Some chairlifts close in the first week of October. 4. Weather in the Dolomites Mountain weather is very fickle and therefore hard to forecast. One morning we decided to risk hiking despite a bad weather forecast for Val Gardena. We took the bus from Ortisei to St. Christina and when we got there it rained heavily. After sheltering for well over an hour we abandoned our planned hike. The forecast for the next day was for rain at midday. So we took an early gondola from Ortisei up to the Alpe di Siussi and hiked up to midday. It didn't rain all day! Meteoblue is a good weather website. There is a Radar and Precipitation Nowcast at the bottom of the page. This is a good way of determining if any bad weather systems will hit your location in the next 3 hours. You have to pay to get this information for longer than a 3 hour period. 5. Chairlifts in Val Gardena One of the attractions of hiking in the Dolomites is that you can often use chairlifts to reach the higher alpine areas. This saves slogging up wooded mountains to reach open alpine areas with views. Hiking purists might not agree! The lifts are expensive in the Dolomites. For example a return ticket from Ortesei to Seceda costs Eur 52. We decided to buy a Val Gardena lift pass so we wouldn't have to think about the cost each time we wanted to hike. Lift passes are also expensive, but it does work out cheaper if you hike every day. Val Gardena lift passes cost Eur 118 for 3 consecutive days or Eur 152 for 6 consecutive days. As the lift passes are for consecutive days you lose out if bad weather or sickness prevents use of chairlifts. Another issue we had is that we were in Val Gardena for 5 days and lift passes can only be purchased for 3 days or 6 days. We ended up buying a 6 day pass as we figured it would be cheaper than buying a 3 day pass and then paying for individual lifts for the remaining 2 days. We were right! The Val Gardena pass doesn't cover 6 lifts on the Alpe di Siusu. These lifts are Siusi - Alpe di Siusi, Puflatsch, Florian, Panorama, Marinzen and Spitzbühl. 6. Hiking Maps for Val Gardena 6.1. Free Tourist Office Map You can obtain a free " Summer Hiking Map " for the Val Gardena area from the Ortesei Tourist Office. It is a useful topographical map which clearly shows forested areas. I try to avoid walking in forests as I prefer open views. The hiking map also shows all the summer lift routes including those not covered by the Val Gardena lift pass. There are details of suggested hikes on the reverse side. The free map has a few drawbacks: The major drawback is that north is at the bottom of the map so everything is upside down! So if you buy another map, which you should, it is very difficult to use both maps to plan a route. The other drawbacks are that you need good eyesight to see some of the path numbers and not all the paths are shown. We didn't hike any paths indicated as "difficult" on the map. We hiked paths indicated as "easy" or "moderately difficult". None of these paths were at all difficult. 6.2. Tabacco and Kompass Maps I bought a 1:25,000 Tabacco map covering Val Gardena from the Tourist Office for Eur 7. It is a good map clearly showing the hiking paths and summer lifts. It was torn by the end of our 6 night stay in the Dolomites. It can also be bought from Amazon for GBP 12.99 and this map may be laminated. The Kompass maps are also good and can be bought from Amazon for GBP 10.33 . I mainly used the Tabacco map when hiking as it was much easier to read and more detailed than the free map. 6.3. Chairlift Map When we bought our Val Gardena lift passes we were given a map showing all the chairlifts covered by the pass. On the back it states the opening and closing times of each lift and the cost if you don't have a pass. It doesn't show the 6 chairlifts on the Alpe di Siusi that are excluded from the pass. You can get lift maps at the main lift stations and probably from the tourist office. This map is also on the Val Gardena website . 7. Buses in Val Gardena Virtually all accommodations in Val Gardena provide a free Val Gardena Mobil card that provides 7 days of free bus transport from the time it is first used. The bus times can be determined from the valgardena.it/en/ website. The Val Gardena bus service is excellent and the buses run frequently. We didn't use our car at all for the 6 nights we were in Val Gardena. It was a welcome change after 3 months of driving around Europe! You are meant to tap your card onto a machine when entering the buses but the machines were usually broken. It was only on the final day that we got on a bus that had a working machine! The free buses for Val Gardena also include the bus that goes to Bolzano if you want to do some sightseeing. At Bolzano you can ride the historic Ritten railway for free with the Mobil Card. 8. Sassolungo Hikes 8.1. The 3 Main Hikes for Sassolungo The hikes around Sassolungo are very popular as it's a spectacular mountain and the terrain isn't difficult. The paths are mainly out in the open so the views are excellent. As a result the trails are busy. The 3 main hikes for Sassolongu are: A full circuit around Sassolungo that takes about 6.5 hours. A half circuit of Sassolungo. This involves taking the "Coffin" gondola up from Passo Sella up to Forcella del Sassolungo (2,685 metres) in the centre of the massif and hiking down the northern side. If you then hike back to Passo Sella around the eastern half of the mountain it will take about 5 hours. A hike up to 2,958 metres on path 527 from the south west of Sassolungo. You can go down a different way to meet the path descending from the gondola station. There is a section at the top shown as being for expert hikers. I doubt that this trail would be busy. 8.2. Our Route around Sassalungo I decided to do a variation of the half circuit but it turned out to be as long as the full circuit! My plan was to: Take a bus from Ortisei to St. Christina. Take the chairlifts from St. Christina to Monte Pana and then from Monte Pane to Mont Seura. Walk around the eastern section of Sassolungo on paths 526 and 526C to the "Coffin" gondola station at Passo Sella. Take the "Coffin" gondola up to Forcella del Sassolungo (2,685 metres). Walk down on path 525 to the junction with paths 526 to the east and 527 to the west. Walk on path 527 on the western side of Sassolungo until the junction with path 9A. It would probably be quicker to take the earlier turn off onto path 531A instead of path 9A. Follow path 9A and then path 7A to the Florian chairlift. The Florian chairlift descends to Saltner and is not covered by the Val Gardena pass. It costs Eur 14. Walk up path 9 to the Sonne to Alpe di Siusi chairlift. It saves a 20 minute uphill walk to the gondola that descends to Ortisei. Take the gondola down to Ortisei. There are several maps below indicating our route. These maps are from the tourist office and for some strange reason have South at the top of the map! Apart from that they are good maps and do help to illustrate our route. Map of Entire Sassolungu Hike - The white line shows the route 8.3. Details of our Hike around Sassolungo We set off early and we were the first people on the St. Christina to Monte Pana chairlift when it opened at 08.30. This took us to the base of the Mont Seura chairlift which took us up to an elevation of 2,025 metres. Monte Pana to Mont Seura Chairlift above St Christina We then had the choice of either path 526 or 526A along the northern base of Sassolungo. We took the slightly lower 526 path as it looked a bit easier and walked eastward. Initially it descended into forest but after a while it was very open and we enjoyed great views. At one point two cows blocked the narrow path. In the UK cows can be dangerous so we were cautious and scrambled up the steep bank to get around them. Map of 1st Section of Sassolungu Hike - The white line shows the route View from Path 526 along the northern lower slopes of Sassolungo View from Path 526 along the northern lower slopes of Sassolungo View from Path 526 along the northern lower slopes of Sassolungo View from Path 526 along the northern lower slopes of Sassolungo View from Path 526 along the eastern lower slopes of Sassolungo View from Path 526 along the eastern lower slopes of Sassolungo View of Sassolongu from Path 526 along the eastern lower slopes of Sassolungo We followed paths 526 and 526C until we reached Passo Sella. Everyone was excited about going up in the "Coffin" to Forcella del Sassolungo (2,685 metres). The attendants were very helpful and friendly. Two people can squeeze into the gondola. Each person is allocated a separate spot to stand in anticipation of having to individually jump into the gondola. They quickly lock the door and when you reach the upper station they unlock it. You quickly jump out one after the other. It is great fun and nothing to worry about at all. The "Coffin" Chairlift from Passo Sella to Forcella del Sassolungo There is a mountain hut at the top station which is at an altitude of 2,685 metres. There are very good views both to the north and south. It is then a steep descent down the rocky and barren mountainside. It took us just under 2 hours to descend but it can be done a lot faster. Walking sticks definitely make it a lot easier. Map of 2nd Section of Sassolungu Hike - The white line shows the route View south eastwards from the Forcella del Sassolungo View north eastwards from the Forcella del Sassolungo The Descent from the Forcella del Sassolungu The Descent from the Forcella del Sassolungu The Descent from the Forcella del Sassolungu The Descent from the Forcella del Sassolungu From there we turned westward onto path 527, rather than eastward for the half circuit hike of Sassolungu. I was conscious that the Florian chairlift down to the Alpe di Suisi closed at 16.00 and time was running out. We rushed along path 527, and then path 9A, and reached the Florian chairlift at 15.30. Map of 3rd Section of Sassolungu Hike - The white line shows the route Path 527 on the north western lower slopes of Sassolungu The Florian chairlift took us down to Saltner on the Alpe di Siusi. From there it is at least a 1 hour uphill walk to the Sonne - Alpe di Siusi chairlift. That chairlift closes at 17.00 and I doubted we would get there in time. If we missed it, it meant a steep 20 minute walk up to the upper station for the gondola to Ortisei. As we walked through Saltner I saw a bus stop with a lot of people waiting. It was going to Compaccio and some people told us that this was the gondola station. We were delighted as it would save a tiring walk. We had already been walking for 6.5 hours. The bus soon came and we paid the Eur 3 fare. Unfortunately, on the way, I could see that we were going to the wrong gondola station on the other side of the Alpe di Siusi plateau! When we reached Compaccio we met a Norwegian couple who had made the same mistake. It seemed from Google that the best solution was to take a bus down from the Alpe di Siusi plateau. Luckily there was one leaving very shortly. The bus fare was an exorbitant Eur 16 but we had no choice. The bus went part of the way to Ortisei and we then had to transfer onto another bus that was free. We reached Ortisei at around 18.00 which was 10 hours after we had set off. We could have got back to Ortisei by 17.45 if we had continued walking from Saltner and taken the gondola down to Ortisei. It would have been possible for someone to do this hike faster and get back to Ortisei by 16.30 as: We spent time watching the "coffin" at both ends. We were slow descending from the Forcella del Sassolungu. It would probably be quicker to take the earlier turn off onto path 531A instead of path 9A. It was a fantastic hike and I highly recommend that you do a half or full circuit hike of Sassolungu. It was busy in sections but that didn't spoil the hike for us. 9. Resciesa Ridge Hike Map of the Resciesa Ridge Hike - White line shows our route A funicular takes you up 800m from Ortisei to the Resciesa ridge. In the summer time the Resciesa funicular opens at 08.30 and runs every 15 minutes. At the top there is an easy and scenic circular hike that takes about 3.5 to 4 hours. The route runs through high alpine countryside and there is very little increase in elevation. At the end of the hike you descend to the upper station of the Furnes to Ortisei gondola. If you want more exercise you can walk all the way down to Ortisei! The first section of the Resciesa Ridge hike is described on the reverse side of the free "Summer Hiking Map" that can be obtained from the tourist office. It is route number 9. As I stated earlier north is shown at the bottom of the map! We went up the Resciesa funicular at 09.00 as I thought that was the opening time. There weren't many people and it took 10 minutes to ascend to the upper station which is at an altitude of 2,093 metres. Riding on the funicular from Ortisei to Resciesa It was cloudy at the top so initially I didn't take many photos. We walked westwards on path 35 to the small and simple Holy Cross Chapel and then on to the Crucifix at Resciesa di Fuori (2,281 metres). Initially the walk is through forest but it soon opens up. There are meant to be fantastic views but unfortunately there was too much cloud around when we were there. Crucifix at Resciesa di Fuori (2281 m) From the crucifix we followed path 31 eastwards along the upper part of the Resciesa ridge. Path 31 heading eastwards from the Crucifix at Resciesa di Fuori Looking back to the Crucifix from Path 31 View of Seceda from Path 31 Path 31 eventually joined path 35 and we continued walking eastwards towards the Rifugio Brogles. On the ridge above Rifugio Brogles there was a sign saying it was closed for renovation so we didn't descend. We had a picnic lunch on the ridge and there were fantastic views of Seceda. Luckily the weather had cleared and we could appreciate the views. Unfortunately there were too many cows and they disturbed our lunch. View of Seceda from Path 35 From the 2,119 metre high ridge above the Rifugio Brogles, path 5 descends steeply through forest down to Ortisei. Half way down at Furnes (1,691 metres) we turned eastwards onto path 8. Very soon afterwards we reached the gondola station and took the gondola back to Ortisei. It is an easy and scenic half day walk. We weren't tired so in the afternoon we took the gondola up to the Alpe di Siusu and did a short walk there. 10. Seceda Hikes 10.1. Introduction to Seceda Hikes Seceda is a very beautiful area to hike. However, the area from the upper station of the Ortisei to Seceda gondola to the Seceda viewpoint (2,518 m) is very popular and busy. Paths 1, 6 and 2B run along the mountain edge from the Seceda viewpoint to Refugio Pieralongia and are also very popular. As the path is narrow it can be difficult to pass slower walkers. I found this section to be very frustrating when we hiked in mid morning. The solution is to go early to avoid the casual walkers and sightseers. Then you can fully enjoy the scenery on this fantastic part of Seceda. 10.2. Our Hike on Seceda Overview of our route on Seceda Detailed Map of our Seceda Hike Hike number 6 on the Tourist Office's free "Summer Hiking Map" provides details of a 3 hour circular hike. It appears to be a good hike. It could be shortened at the end by taking the Fermeda to Seceda chairlift back to the gondola station rather than hiking the 400 metres up. Our hike on Seceda was a longer variation of hike number 6. We followed the same route (paths 1, 6 and 2B) to the Pieralongia Refugio. Quite a few hikers then descended on path 4A but we continued walking eastwards on path 2B. View of Sassolungo from the Seceda Gondola Station View from the Seceda Gondola Station Seceda View of Sassolungo from Path 2B View from Path 2B About 15 minutes after passing Refugio Pieralongia there are 2 very distinctive triangular shaped rocks. It is a good spot to have your photo taken. We continued eastwards along the fairly quiet path 2B until it ended at a junction with Path 2-3. View from Path 2B on Seceda Path 2B near the Pieralonga Hut on Seceda View from Path 2B on Seceda View from Path 2B on Seceda View from Path 2B on Seceda View from Path 2B on Seceda When we reached path 2-3 it was initially signposted as path 2. We turned right and descended south westwards. We had to descend a section of scree that had no path. Fortunately a hiker came the other way and we saw that we should be on the left hand side of the scree. View from Path 2-3 on Seceda View from Path 2-3 on Seceda View from Path 2-3 on Seceda View from Path 2-3 on Seceda Path 2-3 descended to Refugio Firenze (2,037 metres). From there we took Path 4 up to Col Raiser (2,107m) and descended towards St. Christina on the gondola. At the lower gondola station we took a short bus ride to the centre of St. Christina and then the free bus back to Ortisei. Instead of taking the gondola from Col Raiser to St. Christina we could have walked a short distance to the Fermeda to Seceda chairlift. This chairlift would have taken us to the main gondola on the top of Seceda which goes down to Ortisei. This hike on Seceda took us about 3 hours and I highly recommend it. 11. Alpe di Siusi Hike 11.1. Introduction The Alpe di Siusi (Seiser Alm in German) is the largest high altitude Alpine meadow in Europe. It has a spectacular setting, particularly the view towards Sassolungo. There is some infrastructure on the plateau and there are roads and several chairlifts (not covered by the Val Gardena lift pass). There is even a bus service between Compaccio in the east and Saltner in the south. There isn't much change in elevation across the Alpe di Suisi so it is easy walking with fantastic open views. A blogger mentioned that it was better to cycle on the Alpe di Siusi than walk as the views are very similar wherever you are on the plateau. The roads and paths are ideal for cycling. As we aren't cyclists we did a 2 to 3 hour walk and really enjoyed it. There is a gondola from Ortisei to Alpe di Siusi. There are excellent views from the upper gondola station across the plateau to Sassolungo. 11.2. Our Hike on Alpe di Siusi We did a slightly longer variation of hike number 3 on the reverse side of the Tourist Office's free "Summer Hiking Map". Alpe di Siusi Circular Hike From the Alpe di Siusi gondola station we walked westwards along path 6A. There are excellent views the entire way and initially the path is very level. The path eventually gently descends southwards to a short section of road (path 6) . View of Sassolungo from the top station of the Ortisei to Alpe di Siusi Cableway A View from the top of the Alpe di Siusi to Sonne Chairlift View from Path 6A of the Alpe di Suisi and Sassolungo View from Path 6A of the Alpe di Suisi and Sassolungo The road isn't busy but it is the least enjoyable section of the walk. Fortunately it is a short section and we soon turned eastwards onto a wide track (Path 6B). There were no vehicles. View eastwards from Path 6B Path 6B would have taken us northwards back towards the gondola station. We continued eastwards by turning onto Path 19. We walked on path 19 until we reached the junction with path 9. View of Sassolungo from Path 19 View across the Alpe di Siusi from Path 19 on the Alpe di Siusi There is a bench as the junction of paths 19 and 9 and we sat there enjoying the views. Path 9 runs between Saltran to the south and the Alpe di Siusi gondola station to the north. We contemplated walking down to Saltran but we didn't think that the views warranted the effort. Instead we walked northwards on Path 9 to the chairlift at Sonne. View across the Alpe di Siusi to Seceda from Path 9 View of Seceda from Path 9 View of Sassolungo from Path 9 on the Alpe di Siusi A signpost on the Path Since we had a lift pass we took the short ride up the Sonne to Alpe di Siussi chairlift. This chairlift ascends to an area close to the upper station for the Alpe di Siussi to Ortisei gondola. It probably saved a 20 to 25 minute uphill walk. View of Sassolungo from the bottom of the Sonne to Alpe di Siusi Chairlift 12. Accommodation in Ortisei Accommodation is expensive in the Dolomites. In the peak summer months of July and August it is necessary to book early. We booked a reasonably priced 1 bedroom apartment in Ortisei for 6 nights and we were very happy with it. We booked it through Bookiply.com for Eur 111 per night. It can also be booked through Booking.com for a bit more. I reviewed the apartment on my blog " UK to Greek Islands Accommodation - Part 2 " (number 16). 13. My Other Blogs on Italy Cornwall to Venice - Week 1 Venice to Serbia - Week 2 Rab to Dolomites, Italy - Week 12 Dolomites to Home - Week 13

View of Rovinj from the North Our visit to Rovinj was part of a 3 month road trip from the UK to the Greece. See my blog Rab to Dolomites, Italy - Week 12  for our daily trip report covering Rovinj. We drove to Rovinj from Rab Town on our return journey to the UK. See my blog Rab, Croatia: Travel Guide . Contents Rovinj Pula Accommodation in Rovinj My Other Blogs on Croatia 1. Rovinj 1.1 About Rovinj & What to See Rovinj has a very Italian appearance and apparently some inhabitants still speak Italian. It is an unspoilt historic town. Rovinj is a reasonably large town and there is little traffic so it is great wandering around. There are not too many sights to see, but Rovinj is an exceptionally nice town in a beautiful setting. Rovinj's main square is Trg Marsala Tita and it has a clock tower. In summer there are often street performers in the square. A street called Grisia branches off the square to the west through a Balbi's Arce and then climbs steeply up to St Euphemia's Church. Clock Tower - Trg Marsala Tita Trg Marsala Tita in Rovinj. Balbi's Arch in Rovinj The 18th century St Euphemia's Church is at the top of the hill in the centre of Rovinj's old town. Its tower is very impressive and is visible from most parts of Rovinj. There isn't an entry fee and it is worthwhile seeing the interior. There are good sea views from the plaza by the church. St. Euphemia's Church, Rovinj Interior of St. Euphemia's Church, Rovinj 1.2. A Circular Walk around Rovinj It is a very pleasant walk around the perimeter of Rovinj. Start from the southern end of the harbour and and walk along the harbour to the piers in the northern section. The promenade along the harbour is surrounded by cafes and restaurants. Rovinj's Southern Harbour Then continue walking westwards along the sea front and soon the street climbs up to St Euphemia's church. From there descend eastwards along the northern part of Rovinj. There are houses and shops on either side with a few alleys on the left descending to the sea. Typical Alley in Rovinj Trg Valdibora is at the bottom of the hill and from around this area is an impressive view of the northern side of Rovinj. Then walk south to the very nearby main square of Trg Marsala Tita, which is just off the harbour. View of Rovinj from the North Just north of Trg Marsala Tita walk down Rovinj's main shopping street (Via Carrera) that runs south eastward. At the end of Via Carrera take a side street to the right and you will be back at Rovinj's harbour where you started. 1.3. Parking in Rovinj We parked at a reasonably sized car park on the eastern side of Rovinj and it was a 10 to 15 minute walk into the centre. There were always places available and it cost Eur 1 per hour. Payable in advance by cash or card. Click here to see the location on Google Maps. 1.4. Beaches in Rovinj We spent half a day at Zlatni Rt (Golden Cape). It is a 6 minute drive from Rovinj to the edge of Zlatni Rt (Golden Cape), and then depending on where you park, a 10 to 15 minute walk through wooded parkland to the sea. Zlatni Rt Nature Reserve near Rovinj The closest parking is on the road where it ends at Zlatni Rt. However, you have to get there early to find a spot. Otherwise there are large parking lots a bit further back. We parked at " Parking Monvi " which is a huge parking lot. You can pay at a machine with a credit card or cash, exact change only. We paid Eur 7 for the day, but there is also an hourly charge. There are a couple of beaches in the large park (Lone Beach and Zlatni Rt), but we just found a nice shaded spot on the rocky shoreline. I think we were near Punta Cabana . It is a popular area so go there by mid morning to obtain a good spot and also to find parking. There were a couple of restaurants nearby and they were renting out sun loungers and umbrellas. 2. Pula 2.1. About Pula & What to See Pula is a working port that isn't as reliant on tourism as other Croatian coastal towns. Pula isn't a particularly attractive town, unlike the numerous Venetian coastal towns dotted along Croatia's coast. However, Pula is more authentic and caters for locals rather than tourists. There are many interesting historical sights in Pula and it is definitely worth visiting for half a day. Many of the sights date back to the Roman era and include: The sixth largest amphitheatre in the world dating back to around 14 AD. Amphitheatre at Pula Amphitheatre at Pula The Roman amphitheatre is the main tourist site in Pula and the entrance fee is Eur 10. In summer it is open from 08.00 to 22.00. We entered at 09.00 and there were very few people until 09.30. Unfortunately they were constructing a large stage and screen for summer events. This prevented us from taking photos of the entire amphitheatre and the construction was noisy. They do this in summer at many amphitheatres and it spoils the experience for visitors who are paying high entrance fees. The Triumphal Arch of the Sergii which was erected in 27 BC. Arch of the Sergii The Temple of Augustus which was completed in 14 AD. Temple of Augustus The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary that dates back to Roman times, although much of the present structure is from the 17th century. Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary The Venetian castle built in the 1600's. Pula Castle We didn't enter the Venetian castle as there is a Eur 7 entrance fee. This fee also includes the museum but we didn't want to visit it. Instead we walked the entire way around the castle on a reasonable path. There were good views of the moat, castle walls, Pula's harbour and the amphitheatre. The views wouldn't have been much better from the castle. Pula's indoor market which was constructed in 1903. Fish Market 2.2. Getting There & Parking in Pula We visited Pula as a half day trip because Rovinj was a more attractive town to base ourselves in. Pula is a 50 minute drive from Rovinj. Car parking can be a problem in Pula but if you are willing to pay Eur 4 per hour there is a good solution. " Parking Karolina " is a large car park with 200 spaces next to the amphitheatre and it still had spaces when we left at midday. The Eur 4 per hour charge is the most we paid anywhere during our 3 month road trip but it was worth the convenience. Before exiting you pay at the ticket machines by card or cash. There are clean toilets for a charge of Eur 0.70, but there are also free clean toilets at the amphitheatre. 3. Accommodation in Rovinj We stayed in an excellent one bedroom apartment about a 10 minute drive from the centre of Rovinj. We booked it through Booking.com for only Eur 61 per night. I have reviewed it on my blog " UK to Greek Islands Accommodation - Part 2 " (number 15). 4. My other blogs on Croatia Hvar Island, Croatia: Travel Guide Split, Croatia: Travel Guide Trogir, Croatia: Travel Guide Omis, Croatia: Travel Guide Krk Town, Croatia: Travel Guide Brac, Croatia: Travel Guide Rab, Croatia: Travel Guide Montenegro to Croatia- Week 10 Brac to Rab, Croatia - Week 11 Rab to Dolomites, Italy - Week 12

The 4 Bell Towers of Rab Town from the Zidine Fortress We really liked Rab Town and the beaches on the island were good. However, there was too much sporadic development in the countryside along the main roads and it spoiled the view when driving around. Rab seems to be a very compact island and was a bit too busy. That might be because it is so close to the mainland. Contents Rab Town Beaches on Rab Island Ferries to Rab Island Accommodation in Rab Town Restaurants in Rab Town Links to My Other Blogs on Croatia 1. Rab Town 1.1. What to See in Rab Town Rab Town was one of the nicest towns that we visited in Croatia. It is also one of the easiest to find your way around as there are 4 main streets running parallel to one another from west to east. Rab Town is entered from the main square (Trg Svetog Kristofora) which is on the north west side of Rab Town. It is a busy square next to the harbour and has a good view of Zidines's Fortress. The first main street, which runs along the harbour, is surprisingly not that pleasant and there is little to see. The next 2 main streets (Donja Ulica and Srednja Ulica) run closely parallel to each other along the middle of Rab Town. Most of the shops and restaurants are on these 2 streets. The fourth main street runs through the upper part of Rab Town and there are 4 churches and bell towers along it. There is a fee to enter the Great Bell Tower. At the western end of the upper street you can climb steps to a short section of Rab Town's walls. There are good views of the old town with its 4 churches and also of the harbour. At this western end of the upper street you can enter the large and wooded Komrcar park. It is a pleasant walk along the most southern path as there are good sea views over to the Frkanj Peninsular and also of the city walls. The 4 Bell Towers of Rab Town from the Zidine Fortress St Andrews Church & Bell Tower View of Trg Svetog Kristofora from Zidine's Fortress The Zidine Fortress in Rab Town St. Andrew's Church viewed from Komrcar Park St. Mary's Bell Tower in Rab Town 1.2. Parking in Rab Town We always parked at " U.O. Marina (Parking) " about a 10 minute walk from the centre of Rab Town. It is a large car park with an attendant. The charge is Eur 1.50 per hour and you pay the attendant when entering. In the early evening there was plenty of space but by 20.00 it was becoming full. 2. Beaches on Rab Island 2.1 Frkanj Peninsula near Rab Town The Frkanj Peninsular is an undeveloped and wooded peninsula less than a 15 minute drive from Rab Town. Most of the coastline is rocky, although there are some sandy areas. We went twice and parked at Žal Beach Bar & Kitchen for a fee of Eur 4. Water taxis from Rab Town also dock near here. Sun loungers and umbrellas are available, but most people don't use them and find a shady spot along the rocky coast. It is best to arrive before 10.30 to 11.00 a.m. to obtain a parking place and to find a good spot by the sea. It is a popular area and we really liked it. The restaurant gets good reviews but we didn't eat there. Beach on the Frkanj Peninsular Frkanj Peninsular on Rab Island 2.2 Paradise Beach at San Marino Paradise Beach is in the Lopar Peninsular, which unusually for Croatia has a sandy coastline. It is a 20 minute drive to this beach from Rab Town. Paradise beach is a huge beach in a very shallow and sandy bay. It was far too shallow for us as even after walking 100 metres into the sea the water was only up to our knees. It is therefore a beach which is popular with families and has attractions like water slides in the bay. If you have children Paradise beach is probably very nice. For us the sea was too shallow, there were too many people and it was too commercialised. We much preferred the Frkanj Peninsula We paid Eur 13.50 for 2 sun loungers and an umbrella. All day parking was Eur 7.00. Toilets cost Eur 1 with the first visit free if you rent sun loungers. There are smaller and uncommercialised sandy beaches in the north of the Lopar Peninsula. They would have probably suited us better. Paradise Beach at San Marino Paradise Beach at San Marino 3. Ferries to Rab Island 3.1. The Ferry from Jablanac to Misnjak on Rab Island Rapska Plovidba run hourly ferries from Jablanac on the mainland to Misnjak on Rab Island. You can't buy tickets in advance and must buy them at a booth at the dock. They accept credit cards and it cost us Eur 25.50 for the short ferry ride. It is a busy ferry and in peak season there may not be space on the ferry if you arrive near the departure time. The ferry carries about 100 vehicles. Cars waiting for the Ferry at Jablanac Vehicles on the Jablanac to Misnjak Ferry The Jablanac to Misnjak Ferry The Ferry entering Misnjak on Rab Island 3.2. The Ferry from Lopar on Rab Island to Valbiska on Krk Island There is a car ferry that goes between Lopar, at the northern end of Rab Island, to Valbiska on Krk Island. Krk island is connected to the mainland by a bridge. See my blogs Krk Town, Croatia: Travel Guide and Rab, Croatia: Travel Guide . We felt that this was a nicer way of travelling to Rovinj in northern Croatia (see my blog Rovinj & Pula, Croatia: Travel Guide ) than taking the short Jablanac to Misnjak ferry crossing back to the mainland. The travel time was about the same for each route, but the longer ferry ride to Krk island appealed to us as it would be more relaxing. In the summer season there are 4 ferries a day and the times and cost are detailed on croatiaferries.com . We paid Eur 43.93 for the 1 hour 20 minute ferry ride which is operated by the state owned Jadrolinija. The ferry takes about 100 vehicles and when we went all the waiting vehicles boarded the ferry. However, in July and August it is probably best to get there half an hour before boarding time. There is a ticket booth at the dock and credit cards were accepted. The Ferry entering Valbiska on Krk Island 4. Accommodation in Rab Town We were fortunate to find a very nice 2 bedroom apartment 2 kilometres away from Rab Town as there had been a cancellation. We paid Eur 117 per night through Booking.com but the price had been reduced due to the cancellation. My reviews of both apartments are on my blog " UK to Greek Islands Accommodation - Part 2 " (numbers 12 and 13). 5. Restaurants in Rab Town We ate at the Sanpjer restaurant in Rab Town every evening as we liked the food and it was good value. It has very good reviews and is very popular as a result. Usually there are queues and it is better to get there before 18.30. 6. Links to My Other Blogs on Croatia Hvar Island, Croatia: Travel Guide Rovinj & Pula, Croatia: Travel Guide Split, Croatia: Travel Guide Trogir, Croatia: Travel Guide Omis, Croatia: Travel Guide Krk Town, Croatia: Travel Guide Brac, Croatia: Travel Guide Montenegro to Croatia- Week 10 Brac to Rab, Croatia - Week 11 Rab to Dolomites, Italy - Week 12

Krk Town's Harbour We visited Krk Town on our way from Rab to Rovinj (see my blogs Rab to Dolomites, Italy - Week 12 , Rovinj & Pula, Croatia: Travel Guide and Rab, Croatia: Travel Guide ) . We took the ferry from the town of Lopar on Rab Island to the town of Valbiska on Krk island. It was a short drive from Valbiska to Krk Town. We parked to the west of Krk Town at " Parkiraliste 1 . zona" on Kvarnerska Ulica " and it was a 10 minute walk to the historic centre of Krk Town. The parking cost Eur 1 per hour. There were other car parks nearby if this one is full. Krk Town is dominated by the Frankopan Castle and the bell tower of St Quirinus' Church. The tall bell tower has a striking onion dome with a trumpet blowing angel on top. There is a Eur 5 entrance fee for Frankopan castle. Most Google reviews say that it only takes 15 to 20 minutes to look around and the views from the walls are the main feature. You can see the interior of the castle for free as the ticket office is in the courtyard. We didn't think it was worth paying to look around. We enjoyed wandering through most of the streets in Krk's old town and it took us just over an hour. It was definitely worth stopping to see Krk Town. The Francopan Castle, Krk Town The Francopan Castle, Krk Town Interior of the Francopan Castle Passageway by the Cathedral of the Assumption Church of Our Lady in Health St Quirinus' Church My Other Blogs on Croatia Hvar Island, Croatia: Travel Guide Rovinj & Pula, Croatia: Travel Guide Split, Croatia: Travel Guide Trogir, Croatia: Travel Guide Omis, Croatia: Travel Guide Brac, Croatia: Travel Guide Rab, Croatia: Travel Guide Montenegro to Croatia- Week 10 Brac to Rab, Croatia - Week 11 Rab to Dolomites, Italy - Week 12

View from the Roof of Omis's Fortress Contents Introduction Parking in Omis Omis's Old Town & Fortress Boat Trips up Cetina Gorge The Beach Links to My Other Blogs on Croatia 1. Introduction We based ourselves in Trogir for 3 nights and visited Omis and Split from there. There was a lot more to see in Trogir and Split but it was a pleasant outing to Omis. I have posted blogs with travel information for both Split ( Split, Croatia: Travel Guide ) and Trogir ( Trogir, Croatia: Travel Guide ). 2. Parking in Omis In Omis we parked at " Veliki Parking " which is a large car park just before the bridge when driving from Split and it is an easy 10 minute walk to Omis's historic centre. It cost Eur 1 per hour. Some Google reviews mention that in the evening it can take over an hour to exit the car park. 3. Omis's Old Town & Fortress Omis has a very small old town with just 1 main street and a few alleys veering off on either side. This main street is lined with shops, restaurants and cafes. The Main Street in Omis The Eastern Town Gate, Omis The Main Street in Omis Clock Tower, Omis Holy Spirit Church, Omis There is a fortress above Omis's old town and the entrance fee is Eur 3.50. It is a steep climb up to the roof of the fortress and the roof is accessed by a fixed ladder. There are spectacular sea and mountain views from the castle as Omis is in a very impressive setting. Fortress Steps up the Fortress Ladder up to the Fortress Roof View from the Roof of the Fortress View from the Roof of the Fortress You need about an hour to see both the Old Town and the castle in Omis. 4. Boat Trips from Omis to Cetina Gorge Touts will offer you boat trips from Omis up the Cetina Gorge. We were quoted Eur 20, but when we didn't want to wait for the next boat the price was dropped to Eur 15! We decided not to wait for the next boat. The boat trips start from Omis on the hour and last for 2 hours. They only go about 6 kilometres up Cetina gorge before stopping at a restaurant for about 45 minutes and then returning to Omis. I have my doubts that it's good value for money. 5. The Beach at Omis A large sandy beach is a 5 minute walk from Omis's Old Town. It looked quite nice to us but the Rough Guide says " it is composed of hard and uninviting sand ". There are toilets there costing Eur 1. 6. Links to My Other Blogs on Croatia Hvar Island, Croatia: Travel Guide Rovinj & Pula, Croatia: Travel Guide Split, Croatia: Travel Guide Trogir, Croatia: Travel Guide Krk Town, Croatia: Travel Guide Brac, Croatia: Travel Guide Rab, Croatia: Travel Guide Montenegro to Croatia- Week 10 Brac to Rab, Croatia - Week 11 Rab to Dolomites, Italy - Week 12

Diocletian's Palace in Split Contents Introduction Traffic and Parking in Split Diocletian's Palace West of Diocletian's Palace Golden Gate & the Grgur Ninsk Statue Split's Waterfront (Riva) Day Trips from Split My other Blogs on Croatia 1. Introduction Split's Old Town is one of the highlights of Croatia and should definitely be visited if you are in the vicinity. There is a lot to see and you need half a day to see it. We found that tour groups descended on Split's Old Town from 10.30 a.m. and it then became congested in many areas. Therefore try and arrive early to avoid the crowds and to find parking. 2. Traffic and Parking in Split The roads around Split, including the main coastal road, can be very congested. It can also be very difficult to find a parking place. We parked at a large car park only a 5 minute walk to Diocletian's Palace and it can be located by entering "Parking Split" on Google maps . We had to circle around 3 times before finding a space and each time we had to exit the car park and the attendant let us out without any hassle. The parking spaces are wide and it costs Eur 1.50 per hour. If you are leaving Split on a car ferry see my blog " Brac, Croatia: Travel Guide " (section 4) for information about the ferry port at Split. 3. Diocletian's Palace The area of Diocletian's Palace occupies the eastern half of Split's Old Town. Diocletian's Palace was built in AD 300 but fell into disuse by the 6th century. From the 7th century refugees fled to Split and lived in Diocletian's Palace. Over the centuries the buildings were changed so that it is no longer recognisable as a palace. Most of Diocletian's Palace can be seen by just freely wandering around. However, you have to pay to enter the Cathedral and the Cellars of Diocletian's Palace. The entry fee for the cellars is Eur 8. The entry fee for Split's cathedral depends on what you visit and the charges are steep. It costs Eur 5 to enter the cathedral, but there are additional charges for the bell tower, crypt, baptistery and treasury. If you visit everything it will set you back Eur 15. We visited the Cathedral and I am not convinced it was worth the fee. It is very small and we have seen a lot of cathedrals for free. There are public toilets near the eastern entrance to the Diocletian's Palace. Diocletian's Palace in Split Diocletian's Palace in Split The Interior of the Cathedral Underground Market in Split 4. West of Diocletian's Palace Split's Old Town continues from the western side of Diocletian's Palace to the pedestrianised street of Marmontova. Narodni Trg is known as People's Square and is a large and impressive square on the western edge of the Palace. There are lots of interesting alleys to explore in the western part of Split. Marmontova runs from north to south and is a very classy shopping street. On its south eastern corner is the very grand city council building known as the Prokurative. Western Side of People's Square (Narodni Trg) Eastern Side of People's Square (Narodni Trg) Marmuntova Street in Split Palace of Cipriamo de Ciprianis Alley in Split St Domnius Cathedral in Split 5. Golden Gate & the Grgur Ninsk Statue The Golden Gate is the northern gate and is the best preserved gate in Split. It is set in Split's huge and impressive city walls. Outside the gate is a small plaza with a gigantic statue of the 10th century Bishop Grgur Ninski. The statue was made in 1929. The Golden Gate in Split Grgur Ninski Statue in Split 6. Split's Waterfront (Riva) A wide waterfront promenade runs along the southern section of Split's old town and in places along Diocletian's Palace. The promenade is lined with shops, cafes and restaurants. It is a very pleasant area and there are plenty of places to sit, relax and people watch. There are public toilets at the eastern end. Split's Seafront Promenade Cafes on the Seafront Promenade (Riva) The Seafront Promenade backing onto Diocletian's Palace 7. Day Trips from Split Trogir is a beautiful Venetian Town about a 35 minute drive north of Split. Trogir is well worth visiting and there is plenty of parking just outside Trogir's old town. See my blog Trogir, Croatia: Travel Guide . Omis is a small Venetian town in a very beautiful setting. Omis is about a 35 minute drive south of Split. There is a large car park just off the main Split to Omis road. See my blog Omis, Croatia: Travel Guide . There is a very regular ferry from Split to Supetar on Brac island and it takes about 50 minutes. It wouldn't be worth taking the ferry just to visit Supetar and it would be better to spend a few nights on Brac island and drive around. See my blog Brac, Croatia - Travel Guide . 8. My Other Blogs on Croatia Hvar Island, Croatia: Travel Guide Rovinj & Pula, Croatia: Travel Guide Trogir, Croatia: Travel Guide Omis, Croatia: Travel Guide Krk Town, Croatia: Travel Guide Brac, Croatia: Travel Guide Rab, Croatia: Travel Guide Montenegro to Croatia- Week 10 Brac to Rab, Croatia - Week 11 Rab to Dolomites, Italy - Week 12

The Bazaar in Gjirokaster We drove from Parga in Greece to Gjirokaster (see my blog Driving through Albania: From Greece to Montenegro ). We spent 1 night in Gjirokaster before driving to Himare (see my blog Himare, Albania: Travel Guide ) and then onto Berat and Kruje . Contents Introduction Gjirokaster Castle The Bazaar The Stone Houses New Gjirokaster Accommodation in Gjirokaster Links to my Other Blogs on Albania 1. Introduction to Gjirokaster Gjirokaster was our first stop in Albania whilst driving back to England from Greece. We had decided to spend one night there as it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the Bradt guide book describes Gjirokaster as a " beautiful Ottoman town ". Travel blogs raved about Gjirokaster and one well known blog stated " Spend a few days walking around the iconic cobblestone streets, browsing cute carpet and ceramic shops". I am certainly glad that we didn't follow their advice as half a day is adequate! Too many guide books and blogs give undeserved positive impressions of places. As a result travellers waste their time and money following flawed advice. In my opinion Gjirokaster isn't worth a visit unless you are passing by. If you do visit then 3 to 4 hours is sufficient unless you want to spend hours " browsing cute carpet and ceramic shops "! We don't need any more clutter in our house, particularly touristy junk. 2. Gjirokaster Castle The highlight of Gjirokaster is the castle on the hill above the town. It is a steep climb up! In summer it is open from 09.00 to 19.00 and the entrance fee is 400 Lek (about Eur 4). It takes around 45 minutes to see Gjirokaster castle. Most of what can be seen of Gjirokaster castle dates back to 1811. There are vaults to explore and the most interesting one displays numerous pieces of heavy artillery captured from the German and Italian forces in the 2nd world war. Unfortunately there are no descriptions for the items on display. Above the vaults there is a clock tower and incongruously an American spy plane that was forced down in 1957. There are 2 museums located at Gjirokaster castle and admission is extra. They are the Museum of Armaments and the Museum of Gjirokaster. We didn't visit them. Gjirokaster Castle Vault with captured 2nd World War Armaments The Clock Tower at Gjirokaster Castle 3. Gjirokaster Bazaar Lower down on the hill below Gjirokaster castle is the bazaar. There are about 5 streets packed with tourist shops, cafes and restaurants. This area is very vibrant and interesting to see but it is very touristy. The buildings only date back to the early 20th century as the old buildings were destroyed in a fire. The Bazaar at Gjirokkaster The Bazaar at Gjirokkaster 4. Gjirokaster's Stone Houses On the hill leading up to the bazaar and castle are some stone houses with grey slate roofs. Most of them date from the first half of the 19th century. A few of them have been turned into museums and the entrance fees are around the equivalent of Eur 5. There aren't enough of these houses for the area to be impressive. Old Stone Houses in Gjirokaster View of Old Gjirokaster 5. New Gjirokaster The new city centre of Gjirokaster was a bit scruffy and not very special. 6. Accommodation in Gjirokaster We stayed in a very good value and spacious apartment costing Eur 38 per night near the stadium in Gjirokaster. Details of the apartment are on our blog UK to Greek Islands Accommodation - Part 2 . It is number 6 on this blog. 7. Links to my Other Blogs on Albania Kruje, Albania: Travel Guide Berat, Albania: Travel Guide Himare, Albania: Travel Guide Driving through Albania: From Greece to Montenegro The Greek Islands to Albania - Week 8 Albania to Montenegro - Week 9

Berat, Albania After spending 4 very pleasant days in Himare (see my blog Himare, Albania: Travel Guide ) we drove up to Berat for a one night stay. We then continued on to Kruje (see my blog Kruje, Albania: Travel Guide ). Contents Introduction Berat Castle Berat's Moslem Mangalemi neighbourhood The Christian Gorica neighbourhood The Central Area North of the River Accommodation in Berat Links to My Other Blogs on Albania 1. Introduction to Berat Berat is a UNESCO World Heritage Site like Gjirokaster, but fortunately much more interesting. I found Gjirokaster very disappointing as detailed in my blog Gjirokaster, Albania: Nothing Special! . We certainly felt that Berat deserved a 1 night stop over. It takes about half a day to see the main sights in Berat. These are: Berat's huge inhabited castle. The Moslem Mangalemi neighbourhood. The Christian Gorica neighbourhood. Berat's central area north of the Usumi River with the King's Mosque, Leaden Mosque and the Boulevard Republika with its cafes and restaurants. 2. Berat Castle We walked up the steep cobbled street called Mihal Komneno to reach Berat Castle entrance. Locals drive up but we wanted some exercise. I also try to avoid driving in historic centres if possible as the driving can get very hairy. Berat Castle is always open as there are inhabited dwellings within the castle walls. We didn't pay an entrance fee. The other 2 castles (Gjirokaster & Palermo) that we visited in Albania weren't very ancient and only dated back to the early 1800's. Berat castle is old with many structures dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries. It was much more interesting than the other 2 castles. Berat Castle covers a huge area and consists of walls, fortifications, streets, mosques and churches. You need a minimum of an hour to see the castle and if you explore it fully it could take up to 2 hours. There are several signs throughout the site suggesting routes to follow and providing information on the structures. There are some small restaurants within the castle walls near the entrance. The Bradt guide book recommends the Klea and the Onufri restaurants. Berat Castle Berat Castle A Street in Berat Castle A Church in Berat Castle The Red Mosque in Berat Castle 3. The Moslem Mangalemi neighbourhood It is the Mangalemi neighbourhood that gave Berat its nickname of the City of a Thousand Windows. It is best viewed in the evening from the bridge over to Gorica or from Gorica's riverside. It is very atmospheric during the evening call to prayer and you don't feel that you are in Europe. Shops and restaurants line the north side of the road that follows the riverbank. Unfortunately the road is busy and it isn't a particularly special walk. However, it is worth walking a short way to the Gorica Bridge that was built in 1780. It is a beautiful stone bridge that crosses over to the Christian Gorica neighbourhood of Berat. Mangalemi - The "City of a Thousand Windows" View from Mangalemi of the Gorica Bridge The Bachelors' Mosque 4. The Christian Gorica neighbourhood It is very pleasant wandering around the old streets of Gorica and there is very little traffic. It is mainly a quiet residential area and there aren't many shops or restaurants. Gorica A Street in Gorica 5. Berat's Central Area North of the River The area to the east of the Bachelors's Mosque in Mangalemi is flat and runs south eastwards along the river Osumi. There are some historical buildings to see like the King's Mosque and the Leaden Mosque. Boulevard Republika is the liveliest street in Berat and is lined with cafes and restaurants on the northern side. It's a good place to eat with plenty of opportunity to people watch. Boulevard Republika in Berat The King's Mosque in Berat 6. Accommodation in Berat We stayed in a fantastic 3 bedroom luxury penthouse apartment in Berat for only Eur 45 per night. It can be booked through Booking.com . Details of the apartment are on my blog titled UK to Greek Islands Accommodation - Part 2 . It is number 8 on this blog. 7. Links to My Other Blogs on Albania Kruje, Albania: Travel Guide Himare, Albania: Travel Guide Gjirokaster, Albania: Nothing Special! Driving through Albania: From Greece to Montenegro The Greek Islands to Albania - Week 8 Albania to Montenegro - Week 9