London Hikes - Amersham Loop

A view of Amersham town at the start of the walk.

This beautiful hilly walk takes you around the south and west of Amersham and then back. I measured it at 19.3 km or about 12 miles in old money.

London Hikes - Putney to Richmond

3 hikers making their way through Richmond Park

This fantastic rural walk gives you plenty of scope to explore and makes its way through 3 areas of beauty in south west London. The walks starts at the Green Man in Putney - there are a number of bus stops here - 14, 37, 85, 493, 639, 670 and the one I caught from Victoria - the 170.  Putney rail station is approximately half a mile away as an alternative.

London Hikes - Oak Trail Theydon Bois

This walk is a nice and easy loop although some navigation skills could be required if you follow my trail to the letter.  However, there are main paths to stick to which get you round but without some great views which I will take you through now.

London Hikes - Chess Valley

As you can see from the route (above) the route of this walk runs from Chesham to Rickmansworth. Obviously you can do this in either direction - I hiked from Chesham - however, I would say starting from Rickmansworth is the better option.

Dover for the weekend..

Jamie looks for France and we saw it too.

So I had my teenage nephew (Jamie) to look after for the weekend - he likes walking (thankfully) so I decided on Dover. It has the cliffs - obviously, and a castle too. I've never been to Dover apart from on a school trip to France so the experience would be new to both of us.  We have no car so to the train station...

Italy part 7

last stop Turin..

Pic - sunset over Bobbio

Well I have had a great time and some wonderful memories to take back with me to the UK. Let me go over the last few days since my last update. I reached Bobbio after a 5 hours drive through the mountains - I must admit I was surprised how few stops I made to take photos - on top of that it rained just after my arrival

Italy part 6

Pic - viewing Florence from Michelangelo Square

Into the mountains!
Hi - it's May 14 now so let me backtrack a bit and go over the few days since my last update. Florence was a pretty amazing place - I'm not really into city's as I have told you but this had it all and was able to be done in a day.

Italy part 5

Pic - inside Duomo di Siena

May 9. I'm currently in Sienna, and I have been here for 2 days.. Tuscany is everything I expected, beautiful rolling hills and ornate trees lining roads - almost every house is worth photographing. There are olive groves and vineyards, farm lands and just everything fits like it had been placed there.

Italy part 4

When in Rome...

Pic - tourist taking a photo of St Peter's Basilica from a bridge on the Tiber.

It's my last evening in Rome - tired legs and feet - I'm having a rest, and it's well earned. I've been busy for the last two days and I've given the car some well earned rest.  In Rome they have the Metro which is an underground train that takes you around the city - only two lines though. There are plenty on other modes of transport including Tram. Bus, Boat and a good number of more tourist options.

Italy part 3

A couple of days have passed so I thought I'd write down some notes. Firstly Naples or Napoli - I decided it best to get the train in from my hotel in Caserta and see the city from my feet.  I finally got to Central Station because the first time of asking I missed the stop! So here's the news, its called Piazza Garibaldi for my train - Central Station is the level above - noted!

Pic - Piazza del Plebiscito

Italy - Driving

Ok so I've decided it best I dedicate a post to driving in Italy. Now to be honest I'm a fairly aggressive driver anyway - this means I go for it rather than dither - not full of road rage! So I picked up my car at the airport in Catania - it was late and dark so I'm losing the game already..

Italy part 2

Pic - Corigliano Calabro

Moving on then I'm in my room in a place called Rossano - It's basically perched on a hill as are many of the towns / villages in these parts.  Finding your way around in a car is not easy - narrow streets and mostly one way. Still i'm here now.

Italy part 1

May 2017 - I've taken a few weeks out to tour Italy starting from Sicily and driving up to Turin. My first stop is Catania, which is a beautiful city and is seen well from the top as well as below at ground level..

Pic - Catania at sunset

Part one of Italy is complete, I'm now waiting on a ferry to the Italian mainland. This is a beautiful place but spoiled by the rubbish, it's everywhere! Today I hiked Mount Etna and there was lots of roadside rubbish on route.. Dumped stuff, it's a shame and hopefully the rest of the country will be better than Sicily, I will let you know! So Etna was the highlight for me so far, and it was good to get the hiking boots on.. plenty of photos obviously!!

Pic - Hike up a crater near Mount Etna

Yesterday was bank holiday here so I toured the island getting some shots on route, so nice seeing houses on the tops of hills and wondering how they got there.
The roads are awful too, so much so that driving is making me feel sick, not the norm! Ferry has arrived so I must dash… got to find a place to stay for one night over on the mainland.
update..
I’ve found a B&B in Palmi - hopefully get a good night's rest here and head towards Naples tomorrow - the plan (in my head) is to stay there for a few days just outside the city.  :)

Next Part - https://ray-wise.blogspot.com/2017/05/italy-part-2.html 

London Hikes - Epping Forest (south)

This is a relatively short walk (8km / 5 miles) through the lower half of Epping Forest. To get to the start you will need to take the 123 Bus and get off at Beacontree Ave going north or Hillcrest Rd going south. The 123 is accessed from many Tube stops for example - Tottenham Hale, Turnpike Lane and Wood Green.