Steppe in Style: adventures in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Crossing the interior of Uzbekistan by bus I got to see steppe and desert, grazing camels and a frenzy of construction. Some years ago, I’d had the pleasure (is that the right word?) of many long bus journeys across the steppe when I was living in Kazakhstan and visiting other parts of Central Asia. So when…

Situated between the two renowned Old Road cities of Samarkand and Bukhara, the Soviet built city of Navoi is hardly an obvious place to visit.  Yet the city — renamed in 1958 then rebuilt as a centre for the growing hydrocarbons and mining industry — is pleasantly green and while most of it is modern,…

The new Soko express trains have cut the time to travel from the Serbia capital Belgrade to Novi Sad in the northern Vojvodina region to just 36 minutes. Both Belgrade and Novi Sad deserve a longer visit of course, but if time is tight here’s how to see the best of them both in a…

Apart from creating this blog, I’m a journalist specialising in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. I spent most of the last two years working from home — apart from a couple of trips to Uzbekistan and Croatia — but now the world’s opening up to international travel again, I’m delighted to be back to meeting…

I’ve learned a lot about travel with kids since becoming a mum. Our trip to Croatia was particularly full of useful (though not always pleasant) lessons. The evening before we were due to leave for Croatia, my daughter went down with a bad cold, which is when everything began to go wrong. And that was…

In a country where it’s common to do your grocery shop next to a medieval church or sip a coffee among Roman remains, Zadar stands out as Croatia’s oldest continuously inhabited city.  The first signs of human life in what is now Zadar date back to the late Stone Age. Among its early settlers were…

Arriving in late October, we had the small city of Sibenik almost all to ourselves which felt magical after the crowded streets of Split, Zadar and Zagreb.  We spent the day there wandering though the deserted stone streets of the old town, and visiting some of its four historic fortresses.  Sibenik stands out from the…

Visiting Zagreb as the mum of a six-year-old was very different from the last time I came to the Croatian capital as a single 20-something. Luckily there are plenty of activities if you’re in Zagreb with kids. My daughter found her own ways to amuse herself — such as feeding the pigeons in Republic Square and…