The Magdeburg Water Bridge (Wasserstraßenkreuz Magdeburg) is the longest navigable aqueduct in the world, an extraordinary 918-metre-long concrete channel that carries a river over a river, allowing cargo barges to cross high above the Elbe on Europe’s most audacious piece of waterway engineering. Opened in 2003 after nearly a century of planning, the bridge connects […]
Categories: Castles, Germany, Sights, Sights, Technical Monuments
Pena National Palace (Palácio Nacional da Pena) is one of the most extraordinary royal residences in Europe, a riotously colourful Romanticist castle perched atop a rocky peak in the Sintra mountains above Lisbon, whose vivid yellow and red towers, ornate Manueline stonework, and eclectic blend of Gothic, Moorish, Renaissance, and Manueline architectural styles make it […]
The Stone Bridge in Písek is the oldest surviving bridge in Central Europe, a magnificent 13th-century Gothic structure spanning the Otava River in southern Bohemia, predating Prague’s famous Charles Bridge by nearly a century. Built around 1270 under King Ottokar II of Bohemia, this 111-metre bridge of seven arches has survived floods, wars, and 750 […]
Categories: Czech Republic, Sights
The Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi, Swedish Lapland, is the world’s original and largest hotel made of ice and snow, an ephemeral masterpiece of frozen architecture and art, 200 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, where visitors sleep in thermal sleeping bags on beds of ice at -5°C in individually sculpted Art Suites designed by artists from […]
Categories: Sweden
Deep in the hills of central Portugal, the Mata Nacional do Buçaco, or Bussaco National Forest, is one of the most remarkable and romanticised forests in Europe. Enclosed within a 105-hectare wall, this ancient woodland has been carefully managed by monastic orders for over 400 years, preserving a unique collection of native and exotic trees […]
Just north of Paris, hidden among the trees of the Oise region, lies a full-throttle celebration of French history, humour, and comic book culture. Parc Astérix, named after the beloved Gaulish warrior created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, opened in 1989 and has grown into one of the most popular theme parks in France. […]
Categories: Amusement and Theme Parks, Amusement and Theme Parks, France
