We’ve all stayed in those boring corporate business hotels before, with their beige walls, soulless corridors, and monotone staff. When I go on holiday somewhere I want the hotel I...
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If you prefer to travel rather than commute, then welcome to The Travel Tortoise - your home for sustainable travel and long-form destination guides.
We’ve all stayed in those boring corporate business hotels before, with their beige walls, soulless corridors, and monotone staff. When I go on holiday somewhere I want the hotel I...
Read MoreRegular readers will already be aware that I’m a huge admirer of Lake Garda. Its activities, general vibe and natural beauty are hard to match anywhere in Europe. What I...
Read MoreWelcome to Spain’s geographically blessed, yet architecturally bereft underdog, Santander. The capital city of Cantabria on Spain’s northern coast hasn’t had the best of luck over the years, and as...
Read MoreWhen planning a trip to Sicily, Taormina often tops the list of must-visit destinations. I can’t argue that on the surface at least, Taormina is absolutely stunning. With insanely gorgeous...
Read MoreFOOD IN AUSTRIA – A Local’s Guide to Avoiding Schnitzel The food in Austria isn’t the main reason why people come here. At the risk of being deported, compared with...
Read MoreLisbon is a city renowned for the diversity of its local neighbourhoods. There’s artsy Chiado, modern Baixa, romantic Alfama, gritty Bairro Alto, chic Avenida, and the local’s Principe Real. The...
Read MoreI often ask the question “is ___ worth visiting?”. Well, nowhere that I’ve written about so far is worth visiting more than Warsaw, the capital of Poland. This city is...
Read MoreAlright, let’s get down to it – what is slow travel? Be honest, when you first heard the term part of you assumed it was coined by another ‘wellness’ expert,...
Read MoreGordon Bennett Ramsay, the food in Lisbon is incredible! If you consider yourself a foodie, then you’re in for a treat, as this is a city with high food standards,...
Read MoreI love taking ferries to France. I’ve travelled pretty much every route since I first started going there on camping holidays back in the 80’s with my parents. There’s nothing...
Read MoreWelcome to my travel guide to Ljubljana Slovenia – hands down Europe’s most relaxed capital city. Not only is Ljubljana worth visiting, but I think it should be top of...
Read MoreHi, I’m James, aka ‘The Travel Tortoise’. A long-time nomad/gypsy/traveller I write destination guides and other resources about green(er) European travel. My natural instinct is to go off-the-beaten-path, so when researching trips abroad I got pretty tired of reading the same old generic content, hence The Travel Tortoise was born.
It may help to know that I’m more likely to be doing something food or wine related, or be out in nature, rather than gradually losing my will to live in an art gallery, or self-indulgent museum. As such, think of this travel blog as a ‘Philistine’s guide to….’ if you wish, and who knows, perhaps we’ll even level up our cultural game along the way?!
Whether it’s my home base in Vienna, further afield in Portugal or Italy, or less popular destinations in central Europe, wherever I go, I try to write informative, and sometimes silly travel guides to make you laugh and your travel planning easier. If all that sounds like your cup of tea, then dive in because there’s plenty here for you.
