Stories from the road
Long-form travel writing with photographs: 24 stories since November 2024, newest first.
2026
Visitors at Home
A week of walking our own city as if we had just stepped off the train: Calton Hill, Arthur’s Seat, the Old Town and the Water of Leith.
By Clara Linde · 3 min read · 12 photographs
Bled Before Breakfast
Lake Bled before the crowds, a wet day at Bohinj and the Vršič pass in larch season: a week in the Julian Alps last October.
By Tom Ashby · 3 min read · 13 photographs
Following the Water on Madeira
Levada paths, high ridges and laurel forest in fog: a week of walking on Madeira, an island that makes its own weather.
By Clara Linde · 3 min read · 11 photographs
Terraces and Tunnels on the Cinque Terre
A June day on foot along the Ligurian coast, from Riomaggiore up through the vineyards to Corniglia and on to Vernazza, with the train never far below.
By Tom Ashby · 3 min read · 13 photographs
Red Rock, Late Snow
A spring loop through canyon country, from snow on the rim at Bryce to Monument Valley at dawn and the slot canyons of Page.
By Clara Linde · 3 min read · 13 photographs
Up Before the Balloons
Cold April dawns in Cappadocia: balloons rising over Uçhisar, then long walks through the valleys of rock chimneys while everyone else went back to bed.
By Tom Ashby · 3 min read · 12 photographs
Sossusvlei, from Dark to Dark
One long day among the red dunes of the Namib, from the queue at the Sesriem gate before dawn to the dead trees of Deadvlei.
By Clara Linde · 3 min read · 11 photographs
Waiting for the Ice at Perito Moreno
A long day on the boardwalks facing the Perito Moreno Glacier, waiting for it to calve, then a flight south over the mountains of Tierra del Fuego.
By Tom Ashby · 3 min read · 10 photographs
Wind and Granite: Four Days in Torres del Paine
Early summer in Torres del Paine: a puma in the grass, firebush on the slopes and a wind that never quite let us finish a sentence.
By Tom Ashby · 3 min read · 12 photographs
2025
Old Wood and Patient Deer
Two day trips from Kyoto at the end of an autumn fortnight: deer that bow for crackers, a bronze Buddha, and the oldest wooden temples in Japan.
By Clara Linde · 3 min read · 9 photographs
The Maples Come Down the Hill
In Kyoto the autumn colour starts in the hills and works its way into the city. We spent two weeks following it, one temple garden at a time.
By Clara Linde · 3 min read · 12 photographs
The Long Way to Skye
From Edinburgh across Rannoch Moor and down Glen Coe to Skye in mid-October, with the bracken turning and the light gone by six.
By Tom Ashby · 3 min read · 11 photographs
Lofoten, in Grey and Green
Low cloud, wet boots and a small boat into the Trollfjord: a week of early-autumn weather in the Lofoten islands, and one clear night.
By Clara Linde · 3 min read · 12 photographs
The Faroes, North and South
Ten days in late August, from cloud-capped fjords in the north to a sunlit, sheep-covered Suðuroy, by ferry, tunnel and one very short flight.
By Tom Ashby · 3 min read · 11 photographs
The First Ferry to Hallstatt
Early mornings in Hallstatt before the coaches arrive, a walk along a four-hundred-year-old brine pipeline, and two more Salzkammergut lakes in high summer.
By Clara Linde · 3 min read · 10 photographs
Hut to Hut Above Val Gardena
Four days on foot from Seceda over the Puez-Odle to Colfosco: early starts, afternoon thunder, cold tarns and a great deal of scree.
By Tom Ashby · 3 min read · 10 photographs
To the Dunes, and North to Fès
The second half of our Moroccan spring: the long road east to the dunes of Erg Chebbi, a night among them, then north to the medina of Fès.
By Clara Linde · 3 min read · 12 photographs
Marrakech, and the Road over the Atlas
Four days of getting lost in the Marrakech medina, then a slow drive over the High Atlas to the earthen ksar of Aït Benhaddou.
By Clara Linde · 3 min read · 12 photographs
Seville, Between Blossom and Shade
Orange blossom, tiled courtyards and long evenings by the Guadalquivir: four spring days in Seville, mostly spent looking for shade.
By Tom Ashby · 3 min read · 12 photographs
The Ferry Is the Point
A week of early-spring crossings between Europe and Asia on Istanbul’s city ferries, with tea on deck and mosques rising out of the haze.
By Clara Linde · 3 min read · 13 photographs
Venice Out of Season
Fog on the water, high tide in the campi and empty squares after dark: a week of Venice in December, when the city has room to breathe.
By Tom Ashby · 3 min read · 12 photographs
Clockwise in July
A week on Iceland’s ring road in midsummer: waterfalls, glacier ice and evenings that never got dark, remembered from an Edinburgh January.
By Tom Ashby · 3 min read · 12 photographs
2024
A Wet Weekend in Porto
Granite lanes, wet blue tiles and the Douro under low cloud: two and a half rainy December days in Porto, and one bright Sunday morning.
By Tom Ashby · 3 min read · 12 photographs
Lisbon, Up and Down
Funiculars, tiled façades and evening light on the Tagus: a week of climbing Lisbon’s hills, and the first entry in this journal.
By Clara Linde · 2 min read · 11 photographs