Travel stories, quotes and fun facts

Reindeer right of way

The road was blocked by forty reindeer moving at their own pace. The driver turned off the engine, poured coffee from a thermos, and said this was quicker than trying to hurry them.

Russia touches eleven time zones

A train from Moscow to Vladivostok crosses seven time zones, yet the whole Trans-Siberian timetable was long printed in Moscow time only.

The mountains are calling

The mountains are calling and I must go.

Lake Baikal holds a fifth of fresh water

Baikal contains roughly 20 percent of the planet's unfrozen fresh water and is deep enough to swallow several stacked skyscrapers.

The rain in Galway

It rained horizontally. In the pub, a man told me there is no bad weather, only the wrong jacket, then bought me a pint because my jacket was clearly wrong.

Ireland has no snakes

Ireland genuinely has no native snakes, not because of St Patrick but because the island separated from Britain before snakes recolonised after the Ice Age.

In every walk with nature

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.

The Cliffs of Moher face Atlantic storms

The Cliffs of Moher rise 214 metres at their highest point and take the full force of Atlantic swells that begin near Newfoundland.

Sheep on the single track

Twelve passing places in three kilometres, and a sheep asleep in every one. The oncoming driver reversed a quarter of a mile with one hand on the wheel and did not stop talking on the phone.

Scotland has an official animal

Scotland's national animal is the unicorn, chosen in medieval heraldry as a symbol of purity and untamable strength.

A castle with a kettle

The bothy had four walls, a fireplace, a visitors' book and no door key. Someone had left dry kindling and half a bag of coffee for whoever came next. We left tea and matches.

Edinburgh sits on a volcano

Edinburgh Castle stands on the plug of an extinct volcano, and Arthur's Seat in the city centre is another part of the same ancient system.

Climb the mountains

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.

Wales has more sheep than people

Wales counts roughly three sheep for every resident, and its hill farms have shaped the landscape for over a thousand years.

The bus that waited

We came down off the ridge nineteen minutes late and the last bus was still there. The driver had seen two head torches on the mountain and decided he was not leaving until they came down.

The longest place name is Welsh

Llanfairpwllgwyngyll and its full 58-letter version was reportedly extended in the 1860s by a local tailor to attract railway tourists.

Going out was going in

I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.

London's Tube is the oldest

The Metropolitan Railway opened in 1863, making the London Underground the world's first urban underground railway.

Sunday in Bloomsbury

Every museum was free and every cafe was full. We spent four hours in one room of the British Museum, ate a sandwich on the steps, and did not see the rest of the city at all.

Big Ben is the bell

Big Ben is the nickname of the great bell inside the tower. The tower itself was renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012.

Low tide at St Michael's

The causeway appeared out of the sea over about twenty minutes as if someone were slowly drawing it. Everyone stood at the edge with their shoes in their hands waiting for permission from the water.

Stonehenge stones travelled far

Some of Stonehenge's bluestones were transported roughly 250 kilometres from the Preseli Hills in Wales more than 4,000 years ago.

Not knowing where you're going

A good traveller does not know where he is going, and a perfect traveller does not know where he came from.

Bath's springs never cool

Around 1.1 million litres of 46-degree water rise through Bath's Roman baths every day, heated deep underground and falling as rain thousands of years ago.