Here’s our quick guide to your choice of north-south rail routes if you are traveling from central Europe through Switzerland to Italy.

There are just three routes to choose from: the Simplon, the Gotthard and the Bernina.

The Simplon route

Our rating: **

Used by four daily EuroCity services from Geneva to Milan and by the thrice daily EuroCity trains from Basel to Milan. Not our favorite option as the best of the scenery is missed in tunnels. The Geneva and Basel routes converge at Brig, and then run through the Simplon tunnel into Italy. The trains from Geneva do offer some super views as they skirt the northern edge of Lake Geneva. But the Basel route south through Berne is pretty but unspectacular, and then plunges through the 34km-long Lötschberg tunnel to reach Brig, where you get a breath of fresh air before diving into the Simplon tunnel.

On the plus side, there are some super views of Lake Maggiore as the train cruises through northern Italy towards Milan. Sit on the left for the views. And it is those lake views which are the redeeming factor for the Simplon route. So we give it two stars.

The Gotthard route

Our rating: **

Used each day by seven EuroCity trains from Zürich to Milan (and also one from Basel to Milan). This route is also taken by domestic Swiss services from Basel and Zürich to Locarno and Lugano. Indeed, this is the main north to south rail axis through Switzerland. The approach to the north side of the Gotthard Tunnel is classic Switzerland. Sit on the right side of the train for super lake views with range upon range of mountains edging ever closer.

With the opening of the new 57-km Gotthard Base Tunnel in 2016, the journey is now even less scenic.

The Bernina Express running right along Lake Bianco. Photo: Terry

The Bernina route

Our rating: *****

Far and away the finest of the three north-south routes from Switzerland into Italy. No ifs, no buts. The Bernina knocks spots off the competition. If you are in a rush to get into Italy, take the Simplon or Gotthard routes. But if you want to see the Alps, the Bernina is the obvious choice. This is the only route that goes over the Alps rather than tunneling through them.

The Bernina is served by Rhaetian Railway services from St Moritz (in the Swiss Engadin) to Tirano (in Italy). Local trains run hourly on this route throughout most of the day, although evening services are very limited. There are also some through trains from Chur and Davos to Tirano (branded “Bernina Express” and with a supplementary charge).

The beauty of the Bernina, particularly if you ride the local trains which stop at every tiny station, is that you have a real sense of engaging with the landscape. There are glaciers and Alpine meadows, with moments of high drama as the train drops down from high mountain terrain into serenely beautiful valleys. Beyond Tirano, the route runs south-west to Milan, skirting the east side of Lake Como for more than an hour.

The time question

So why does everyone not take the Bernina route? It seems to be really a matter of time. Sadly, most travelers are in a rush. And the lure of a direct train tempts folk to the faster Simplon and Gotthard routes. Journeys from the principal Swiss cities to Milan via the Bernina route require several changes of train. Here are some comparison journey times for Zürich to Milan:

via the Simplon route: 4 hrs 15 min
via the Gotthard route: 3 hrs 45 min
via the Bernina route: 10 hrs 05 min

The travel times speak for themselves. Yes, the Bernina journey takes more than twice as long, but it’s so very, very much better that canny travelers give the Alps the time they deserve. Indeed, there are a heap of places along the Bernina route which warrant an overnight stop, so why not spread the journey over two days?

Editor’s Note: Looking for more insider information on train travel across Europe? Pick up a copy of Europe by Rail, now in its 15th edition, it is the definitive guide for exploring the continent by train. You can also follow them on twitter at @EuropebyRail.

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The Mackintosh factor

Devotees of Charles Rennie Mackintosh should not however now delete Glasgow from their itineraries. The House for an Art Lover in the city’s Bellahouston Park is a fine piece of Mackintosh art nouveau style—even though construction of the building did not start until more than sixty years after the architect’s death.

It is also worth making an excursion out of Glasgow to visit the Hill House in Helensburgh. It is just 45 minutes from Glasgow by train (with departures twice hourly from the lower level of Glasgow Queen Street station). At the Hill House you’ll see one of Mackintosh’s finest designs. It was completed in 1904, and the real draw is that Mackintosh also handled the interior designs—some visitors find them excessively stylised, but we like the manner in which grace and severity stand in counterpoint to one another.

If you have more appetite for art nouveau design upon returning to the city from Helensburgh, the obvious next stop is the Willow Tea Rooms which nowadays trade at two addresses: 217 Sauchiehall Street and 97 Buchanan Street. Neither has the original Mackintosh furnishings, but there’s still heaps of design flair—and the classic high-backed art nouveau chairs are more comfy than they look.

Art nouveau around Europe

Fans of art nouveau style will find splendid examples of the genre in cities across Europe. There are those whimsical entrances to Parisian métro stations, a feast of facades in Brussels and a too-often-overlooked magnificent art nouveau entrance hall to the main railway station in Prague.

Ultimately, though, art nouveau was a provincial movement, one that found its fullest expression not in capital cities but in secondary cities. So in Germany, look to Darmstadt rather than Berlin. In France, Nancy cuts a dash in art nouveau design.

Other cities where art nouveau architecture makes a good showing are Barcelona, Subotica (mentioned in a previous EuroCheapo post), Liepaja in Latvia, Zakopane in Poland and even Ålesund in Norway. If that last one sounds a tad improbable, there is a simple explanation. The center of the Norwegian coastal town was destroyed in a fire in 1904. It was rebuilt immediately thereafter, and remains to this day a showpiece example of coherent urban design which is full of art nouveau accents.

Glasgow may be mourning, but Ålesund is a reminder that the fire card plays two ways. Were it not for that devastating fire in 1904, Ålesund would not today be a magnet for lovers of art nouveau.

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There are regular comfortable EuroCity trains from Prague and Berlin; sleek, fast RailJet services from Munich and Vienna; for those with the stamina for very long journeys by day, it is even possible to travel to Budapest by direct train from as far away as Zürich (11 hrs 15 mins) or Hamburg (14 hrs 20 mins).

South towards Serbia

It is moving south from Budapest that demands a more sustained engagement with the timetables. There are perilously few trains across the border between Hungary and Serbia. Just two direct services run each day between Budapest and Belgrade—one by day and the other by night.

Take the day train if you are minded to come this way, for this is a journey well worth making. Leon Trotsky nicely identified the appeal of the route when—as he traveled south in 1912 preparing to report on the Balkan Wars—he observed in his diary that “although the railway from Budapest to Belgrade proceeds mainly in a southerly direction, from the cultural standpoint one moves east.”

The landscape is nowhere startling, yet it has a quiet beauty. Running south from Budapest to the border there are prairie-like grasslands, productive farmland, forests and occasional saline depressions. These are the landscapes of Sándor Petöfi’s poetry. An hour or two out of Budapest, the train stops at Kiskölrös, the town where Petöfi was born.

Entering Serbia

The first community in Serbia is Subotica, a place that packs a few surprises. It is famously multilingual and multicultural, a hallmark of Serbia’s semi-detached northern province of Vojvodina which has six official languages. Subotica is well worth a stop for its extraordinary feast of art nouveau architecture. Look out for the overly fussy town hall and the more restrained synagogue with its striking triple-tier dome and green glazed tiles. Beyond Subotica, it is a pleasant run south through Novi Sad to Belgrade.

Crossing borders

If you are traveling from Budapest to Belgrade, bear in mind that you’ll need to use one of the twice-daily long-distance trains to cross the border—although there is also a useful thrice-daily branch-line service from the Hungarian town of Szeged to Subotica.

The daytime train on the Budapest to Belgrade route is called the Avala. The journey takes about eight hours in each direction. Belgrade need not be the end of your journey. There are good onward connections to Podgorica in Montenegro and Skopje in Macedonia. This month has also seen the reinstatement of the direct train from Belgrade to Thessaloniki in Greece—only for it to be suspended again almost immediately due to flooding. However, the railway authorities in the region are evidently working day and night to restore damaged sections of track, so the through rail services that run south from Belgrade to Macedonia and Greece should be operating normally again by early next month.

Find out more about train times in the latest issue of the European Rail Timetable.

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Ferry details

To really catch the flavor of Scotland, it’s good to take a boat or two during your travels. The high season sees augmented schedules on many routes, as well as one or two unusual ferry links that only run in the peak season. Here’s the gen on five fine Scottish ferry trips for this summer.

Bicycles are carried for free on all five routes mentioned here. Cyclists should always mention the need for bike space when making a booking. For foot passengers advance booking is possible, but by no means essential on most of the routes mentioned below. The one notable exception is Route 5 (to Jura) where seats must always be booked in advance.

1. A Viking voyage: Shetland to Orkney

We were blessed with good weather when we sailed from Lerwick in the Shetland Islands to Orkney. It is a perfect journey for a mid-summer evening, when you can expect superb views of Fair Isle. It is a route that runs year-round, but during the high season the frequency rises from twice to thrice weekly. Departures this summer are at 5.30 PM on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from Lerwick.

Single fare: £17.10
Crossing time: 5 hrs 30 mins
Cars carried: YES
Operator: NorthLink Ferries

The Caledonian MacBrayne ferry cruising through Oban Bay. Photo: Ian Britton

2. Island hopping: Kennacraig to Oban

The bus journey from Kennacraig (a small port towards the northern end of the Mull of Kintyre) takes less than three hours and is a very fine ride through stunning Highland scenery. But there is another option. During the high season, there is a twice-weekly ferry from Kennacraig to Oban. It stops at the islands of Islay and Colonsay, affording along the way very fine views of Jura. The service operates until late October.

Single fare: £15.45
Crossing time: 6 hrs 25 mins
Cars carried: YES
Operator: Caledonian MacBrayne

3. Away from Kintyre: Campbeltown to Ardrossan

As last year, Caledonian MacBrayne are running an occasional service from Campeltown (at the southern end of the Mull of Kintyre) to Ardrossan (on the mainland south-west of Glasgow) until late September 2014. The Saturday sailing from Campbeltown is really one for early birds (it leaves at 7am), but in good weather it’s a fine way to see the Firth of Clyde. It skirts the south coast of Arran, making a stop at Brodick.

Single fare: £9.80
Crossing time: 3 hrs 40 mins
Cars carried: YES
Operator: Caledonian MacBrayne

4. Out to the Outer Hebrides: Oban to Castlebay

There are plenty of boats to the Outer Hebrides, with Caledonian MacBrayne offering a good range of services from Oban and Ullapool (both on the mainland) as well as from the port of Uig on the Isle of Skye. But there is one sailing in particular in the current schedules which warrants attention this summer. The Thursday morning sailing from Oban to Castlebay (on the island of Barra) takes an unusual routing via the islands of Coll and Tiree.

Single fare: £14.25
Crossing time: 6 hrs 45 mins
Cars carried: YES
Operator: Caledonian MacBrayne

The view from the Jura Passenger Ferry. Photo: bazzarrgh

5. The back route to Jura

There was a time when the only way to Jura was via the island of Islay. But nowadays there is a seasonal direct service to Craighouse on Jura from Tayvallich on the mainland. It’s not cheap, but this community-run venture gives fast access from the Scottish mainland to one of the remotest parts of the Inner Hebrides. The service runs twice daily from Mondays to Saturdays except Wednesdays. There is also one run on a Sunday. The route operates until the end of September.

Single fare: £20
Crossing time: 1 hr
Cars carried: NO
Operator: Jura Passenger Ferry

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Changing timetables

To keep abreast of changing schedules, the best comprehensive source of information is the monthly European Rail Timetable (ERT). It’s good for more than just trains for, within the tightly packed pages of the ERT, you’ll also find lots of ferry timetables as well as key bus links across Europe.

Traveling through the Tatra Mountains just a few weeks ago, we checked out the bus service that connects Zakopane (on the Polish side of the High Tatras) with Poprad (in Slovakia). It’s shown in Table 1183 of the ERT. This cross-border bus service taking just under two hours has long been such a valuable link, plugging a major gap in Europe’s rail network.

Crossing the Polish-Slovakian border

So, flicking through the pages of the May ERT, we are concerned to see that the direct bus from Zakopane to the Slovakian Tatra resorts and Poprad has just been axed. The service was run by Polish bus operator Strama, which has dropped the direct international bus service amid a dispute with the bus licensing authorities in Slovakia over the company’s right to transport local passengers on journeys wholly within Slovakia.

We very much hope that this important bus route will be reinstated sooner rather than later, but meanwhile the journey can still be undertaken using local buses on either side of the border, connecting between the two on the frontier between Poland and Slovakia.

Houses in Zdiar (Slovakia) in traditional Goral style. Photo: © hidden europe

By bus through the High Tatras

Trans-Bus Bukowina run regular scheduled services during the spring and summer months from Zakopane to a remote beauty spot in the High Tatras called Morskie Oko. Along the way, these services stop at Lysa Polana on the border, but they do not actually cross into Slovakia. From Lysa Polana there are local buses on to Poprad. You just need to walk over the border bridge, a hike of about ten meters, to connect between the two bus routes.

This is a journey that need not be rushed. It covers some glorious mountain country. Our top tip for a stopover is the Slovakian village of Zdiar. It is a long and straggly village, strung out along the flank of the Biela Valley. It is bypassed by the main road and is easily missed. But last month we took time out for Zdiar and it is an absolute gem. With the land rising up north of the village to the slopes of Mount Magurka, and superb views south to the Tatra summits, the location of Zdiar is hard to beat.

Goral style

The village styles itself as a hub of Goral culture. The Gorals are the local mountain people, pastoralists by inclination, who populate parts of the Carpathian region. Several guest houses and small hotels in Zdiar play the Goral card, offering food and entertainment that is evidently typically Goral in character. It’s a neat piece of cultural theater. Ultimately, though, Zdiar is above all just a good place to be—a place to stop off for a day or two, breathe the clear mountain air and relax.

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Claim to fame: Karlovy Vary

The famous Czech spa at Karlovy Vary (often styled as Carlsbad or Karlsbad in older travel literature) traces its origins back to the 14th century, and the curative properties of the thermal springs have underpinned a healthy spa trade ever since. Peter the Great twice came to Karlovy Vary (in 1711 and 1712), and a steady stream of Romanovs and other well-connected Russians followed in his wake. Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia visited no less than seven times.

Royal backing

A handful of spa communities claim to predate Karlovy Vary. One of the most interesting is Bardejovské Kúpele which lies in the hills of northern Slovakia. It was by all accounts commended by the Hungarian royals as early as the mid-13th century. Bardejovské Kúpele has pulled its share of titled visitors too, even including a Russian czar. Alexander I visited in 1821, taking time out to consult local doctors over his health. The spa at Bardejov was in the premier league of European spas in the 18th and 19th centuries, regularly attracting clients from the most distinguished families of Poland and Hungary.

The Hotel Ozon at Bardejovské Kúpele where wine is cheaper than water. Photo: © hidden europe

Staying at Bardejovské Kúpele

Today Bardejovské Kúpele has slipped slightly below the horizon, although its merits are still very much recognised among the Slovakian and Russian guests who make time for a cure at Bardejov. It has all the appeal of more celebrated spas (like that at Karlovy Vary), but without the crowds. We spent a weekend last month at Bardejovské Kúpele, and it was an excellent short break.

All traditional spas have an other-worldly quality, and Bardejovské Kúpele captures that to perfection. The classic spa town offers a retreat from the realities and stresses of everyday life, and the location of Bardejovské Kúpele assists in that quest. It is tucked away in a side valley that drains down into the River Kamenec. The city of Bardejov, which boasts a fabulous town square, is just ten minutes away from the spa by regular local bus. But to take the bus from Bardejov up to the spa is to move between two worlds. One trades in modern Slovakia and the pressures of life for a quieter, simpler world: one where the tempo is notably slower.

Treatments and facilities

There is no noise of traffic, but just the church bells and birdsong. There are well-marked walks through the hills, the rhythm of spa life and hushed conversations in long corridors. It is an oasis of peace. Ten different mineral springs are the spa’s key asset and, water therapies aside, a wide range of other treatments are on offer: from peat wraps to phototherapy. And all this comes at a fraction of the prices prevailing at a new generation of posh resorts in western Europe that play the spa card.

The competitive pricing extends across the full range of facilities. We stayed at the Hotel Ozon, where a glass of wine with dinner costs less than one euro. You can splash out and buy a whole bottle for five euros.

In the skanzen at Bardejovské Kúpele. Photo: © hidden europe

A bonus surprise

Bardejovské Kúpele has one thing that you’ll not find in other spas. It has an outdoor museum (locally known as a skanzen) with a very fine collection of buildings from the Carpathian region. It includes churches, farm buildings and houses that together showcase the range of local vernacular architecture. The skanzen buildings are mainly constructed of wood—a material so wholesome, so brimming with virtue, that it just adds to the feel-good factor that surrounds life at Bardejovské Kúpele.

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The caraway-flavored liqueur Allasch is too sweet for our taste, but it has become over the years the signature drink of Leipzig—even though its origins go back to Latvia. There is plenty of Allasch in Leipzig shops, but we do wonder if these days it is purchased mainly by tourists.

The Finnish liquor Minttu is a minty spirit that pairs well with hot chocolate. Photo: trontnort

Baltic favorites in Latvia, Estonia and Finland

Latvians may have lost their taste for Allasch, but Riga Black Balsam is still going strong. It has been made in Riga for over 250 years. Its distinctive ceramic flagons are a Latvian icon, but you will also run across Black Balsam in maritime communities across the Baltic region.

Vana Tallinn cannot claim the heritage of Black Balsam, as it is a child of the sixties, when Estonians realized that cheap Caribbean rum could be improved through the addition of a cocktail of spices. It comes in a medley of styles, some verging on the bizarre. Vana Tallinn Chocolate Cream is one to ponder.

Moving north from Tallinn across the Gulf of Finland, you might run across Minttu, which is as minty as the name implies. We think it is made only slightly more palatable by mixing it with hot chocolate, just as Finns often do in winter. Another Finnish favorite is Lakka, made out of cloudberries. Take it straight, on ice or mixed in with coffee.

Patxaran is a traditional Spanish spirit made from sloe berries. Photo: Pablo Arroyo

Further flavors

Here’s a handful of other local drinks to tickle your taste buds as you travel around Europe:

1. Patxaran – Spain

Made from sloe berries, this drink comes from Navarre in northern Spain, but it’s also a firm favorite in the Basque region just to the north.

2. Cantueso – Spain

Brimming with thyme flavors, a bottle of this is hard to find once you get beyond the Alicante region of Spain.

3. Noyau de Poissy – France

Crafted from apricots, this regional drink is a specialty of Poissy, a community on the bank of the River Seine just downstream from Paris.

4. Becherovka – Czech Republic

This spirit comes in distinctive green bottles which are found everywhere in Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic. The town even has a museum devoted to the history of its signature drink.

5. Danziger Goldwasser – Poland

Intimately associated with the Polish city of Gdansk, we suspect that nowadays it is mainly German visitors to the city who splash out on a bottle. It is a herbal liqueur which has wafer-thin flakes of real gold floating in it. Devotees of this oddball drink debate how far the gold inflects the taste.

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Tokaj or Tokaji

Say Tokay and most people will immediate think Hungary. But the Tokay region, which produces some of the world’s most celebrated and sought-after dessert wines, transgresses borders, and the northernmost portion of the designated Tokay region is actually in Slovakia.

This is a part of the world where one letter makes a big difference. On maps, the range of wooded hills that dominate the Hungarian part of the Tokay region is known at the Zemplén Mountains. Move north into Slovakia and they become the Zemplín Mountains. In Hungary, the wine is known as Tokaji. But in Slovakia, the name is rendered as Tokaj.

The wines on the Slovakian side of the border are every bit as distinguished in character as those from Hungary. They rely on the same three basic grape varieties and the production and quality control standards of Slovakian Tokaj wines conform to those laid down for Tokaji in Hungary.

The Penzión Tokaj on the Ostrozovic Estate. Photo: © hidden europe

A taste of Slovakian Tokaj

Last week, we took time to explore the Slovak side of the Tokay region. We stopped off here and there in quiet villages like Malá Trna—where Hungarian is evidently still the most commonly spoken language. It’s a nice reminder that modern frontiers in Europe do not divide ethnicities or language groups. Then we moved north to Vel’ká Trna, a predominantly Slovak-speaking community, where we met Jaro Ostrozovic.

Jaro was born just a few miles away to the south in the border town of Slovenské Nové Mesto, but is now based in Vel’ká Trna, where he and his wife Jarka manage one of the premier Tokaj wine businesses in Slovakia. The Ostrozovic Estate produces the full range of Tokaj styles from the tongue-tingling dry samorodné through various grades of sweet aszú-style wines (locally known as Tokajský výber) to the intoxicatingly sugary esencia.

They also produce regular wines from each of the three main grapes that are combined in making the region’s signature Tokaj wines. Those grapes are the furmint, the yellow muscat and the lipovina—the latter will be familiar to lovers of Hungarian Tokaji under the name hárslevelü.

Wine growers Jarka and Jaro Ostrozovic. Photo: © hidden europe

The Ostrozovic Estate

Visitors to the Ostrozovic winery in Vel’ká Trna can tour the cellars, sample the wines and stay overnight. Room rates start at €35 for a single or €25 per person in a shared double. It is a chance, too, to try some of the local Zemplín cuisine.

As to the wines, you’ll be in for a treat. The rich concentration of natural grape sugars and favorable conditions for the development of botrytis give Ostrozovic favored status for making classic Tokaj sweet wines. And they won’t break the bank. Prices start at just over €10 for a Tokajský výber. We happen to be fans of the drier samorodné style, which is often frustratingly hard to find outside the Tokay region and one or two other markets (such as Poland, where it has long found favor as an aperitif). The Ostrozovic version is delicious and just €6.80 a bottle. Just look for the word suché on the bottle to be sure that you really are buying the dry wine. It is something quite special, redolent in many ways of palomino sherry.

The Slovakian Tokaj region deserves to be far better known. It is overshadowed by its very much larger Hungarian counterpart to the south, and it is a small player within the wider Slovak wine industry. If you have a big budget, sixty euros will buy you a very fine bottle of Ostrozovic esencia. Taste it to discover why historically Tokay has been feted as “the wine of kings, and the king of wines.” But even a sample of the lesser wines from the region will be enough to convince you that Tokay is something very special—especially when it is Tokaj from Slovakia.

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And they may be even more surprised, if they take time to explore small villages of the region, to hear that the locals are not speaking German at all, but rather a Slavic language.

A stateless nation

The Sorbian population of eastern Saxony, in and around the town that German speakers call Bautzen and Sorbs call Budysin, is one of Europe’s most distinctive cultural and linguistic minorities—a nation in search of wider recognition. It is one of many such minorities featured in the Atlas of Stateless Nations in Europe. The European Union is more than merely the sum of its 28 member states, and the atlas (published by the boldly innovative Welsh publisher Y Lolfa) is a brilliant panorama of cultures and groups that are hardly visible in the normal political configuration of Europe. The book sweeps from Sorbs to Sami, from Frisians to Friulians.

Upper and Lower Sorbian

The Sorbian language and culture is nowadays restricted to a much smaller territory than was historically the case. You’ll find a legacy of Sorbian place names close to Berlin in communities where not a word of the Sorbian language has been uttered for generations. In some areas just an hour’s drive out of Berlin, such as the Spreewald in what was traditionally the preserve of Lower Sorbian language, this distinctly Slavic culture has been reduced to a sort of boutique theatre, a caricature staged for the benefit of tourists and day trippers from Berlin.

To really get a feel for Sorbian life and values, you need to head further south into eastern Saxony where, in the upper portion of the Spree Valley and surrounding villages, the local hornjoserbsce (Upper Sorbian) dialect is still commonly spoken. There you’ll see the red, white and blue Sorbian flag, its colors recalling the cultural links with other Slavic nations that fly similar colors (e.g. Russia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia).

Woman wearing traditional Sorbian dress for Sunday Mass. Photo: © hidden europe

Sorbian language and culture

There is an excellent National Museum of the Sorbian People in Budysin, the town which is also home to the Domowina—the league which has campaigned very effectively to protect Sorbian rights, language and culture. Then take a bus out to Pancicy-Kukow (shown as Panschwitz-Kuckau on German-language maps) where the St Marienstern Roman Catholic Convent has done a fine job in promoting Sorbian interests. Many Upper Sorbians are devoutly Catholic, so if you want to see this community out en masse, make time for Holy Mass in hornjoserbsce at St Marienstern on a major Catholic feast day. The Sorb village of Chroscicy (Crostwitz in German) is a pleasant one-hour walk from St Marienstern.

Bilingualism is a way of life to the surviving Sorbian community in eastern Saxony. Of course, everyday commerce often requires contact with German speakers. But Upper Sorbian is still very much a working language used in schools and on the street. There are Sorbian presses and other media, a bilingual theatre in Budysin and a pervasive sense in the region that this is Germany with a twist. The Sorbs may be one of the stateless nations of Europe, but they are most certainly very much at home in rural Saxony. This is a deliciously beautiful region of eastern Germany, and the Sorbian angle makes it all the more deserving of a visit.

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East to west across Crete

But distances say little about driving times in Crete. This is truly one of Europe’s great drives, a feast of serpentines and mountain passes. Along the way there are magnificent views. The terrain is so fearsome that you’d be hard pushed to do the drive in a day. And in truth only the most foolish of travelers would even consider trying to rush the journey. The drive across Crete deserves at least a week.

Christopher Somerville’s book The Golden Step.

The Golden Step

Or you could follow Christopher Somerville’s example and walk across Crete. Chris set off from the east coast of Greece at Easter, taking 50 days for the hike to Panagia Chrisoskalitissa, where he arrived just in time for Pentecost. His experience is recalled in a very fine book entitled The Golden Step: A Walk through the Heart of Greece (first published as a hardback by Haus in 2007 and now available as a paperback). The book’s title alludes to the monastery at the western end of the trail: Panagia Chrisoskalitissa, in English the Monastery of Our Lady of the Golden Step.

“Blessed is the man that walketh,” was the phrase that Christopher Somerville had in mind as he set out from the east coast early on the morning of Easter Monday. He may not have felt quite so blessed as, over the following weeks, he hiked through fierce mountain gorges and over arid plateaus. Yet only slow travelers encounter the rural Crete that Christopher discovered on his walk.

Make time for the trail

Crete is—by virtue of its size—well suited to taking time out, Somerville-style. If you are tempted, do as Christopher Somerville did, and leave every distracting piece of technology at home. No GPS, no smart phone. Take a few maps and don’t forget The Golden Step. It is a pocket-sized gem. And don’t live just for the moment of arrival. Slow travelers take life one step at a time, savoring each moment of the journey. And there is a glint of gold in each footfall on the pilgrim trail across Crete.

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