Never ones to shy away from big tasks, China is also a design powerhouse in so many ways. Their appetite and capacity for construction must surely be at or near the top of the world's countries and they bedazzle us with their ingenuity and sheer pizazz. But not all of China's works are offices,…
Special Interest
We're always on the lookout for the "non-traditional." While our travel radar is usually occupied by the most popular, traditional locations, settings and activities (we're talking about you, Venice) we also long for the unusual, the hidden gem, the "find" that makes our mind tingle and pushes us to go and explore. We…
Since 2019, travel has been, generally, a horror show. And, to be honest, it hasn't gotten a whole lot better since then. Between trying to fire up dormant jet planes, to what once were thriving destinations (now slow and closed, in many places) ramping back up to 100% capacity has been slow-going. And…
Here's another article about our favourite place on Earth, London, UK. If you search on our site, you'll see plenty of evidence of that passion. And why not? London has pretty much everything. History, culture, architecture, people from everywhere, food, clubs, events . . . the list goes on and on.…
Do you ever find that when you travel, you'll arrive home, only to find that you've missed something? Maybe it's a museum, or a fantabulous (but cheap) restaurant in the middle of Rome? Perhaps you're so glued to your itinerary that you don't permit yourself to stop and smell the proverbial roses. …
We would guess that there are only a few of our clever readers that would not want to go to Chile. It is one of those South American countries that just seems to call our name. It's far away from most places on the planet, so many casual tourists might give it a…
We love cars, especially classic, luxury and exotic. We've had a bunch of them over the years, but we also realise that they have an impact on our planet, so we take the trains as much - if not more - than we do cars. But that doesn't reduce our love of beautiful…
We're unashamed tech geeks here at Matouring, and probably our biggest thrill is aircraft. We love flying. Maybe not so much the squeezed seats and no legroom, but more about the aircraft themselves. Since the time of Covid 19, air travel (and most travel, to be fair) plummeted. No-one wanted to…
Ah, Paris. Can you ever get enough of it? We can't. The sites, the food, the museums. Well, how about this? Free museums in Paris. Almost seems too good to be true. But, true it is. You can save your Euros for a sumptuous lunch, instead.
Finding…
In the early 1860s, a few Westerners had seen China — but nearly all of them had seen it for themselves. The still-new medium of photography had yet to make images of everywhere available to viewers everywhere else, which meant an opportunity for traveling practitioners like John Thomson. “The son of a tobacco spinner and shopkeeper,” says…
Once upon a time, a clever person, L. L. Zamenhof, pondered how many languages there are (more than 7,100 languages are spoken in the world today) and wondered if there was a better way to communicate? Zamenhof then devised Esperanto, which is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. It was intended…
For those not in the know, the The Schengen Area is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice policy of the EU, it mostly functions as a single jurisdiction under a common visa policy for international travel purposes.…
You know that, at times, you want to spoil yourself. You've worked hard, saved and have laid plans to relax and see the world. Part of that plan is to splurge when you can, make every minute count and create truly, truly unforgettable moments. Well, we have that for you, courtesy of our…
Those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to travel sometimes grumble at the hoops that we have to leap through in order to get good deals, or whine about how uncomfortable the seats are, or how miserly the on-board cuisine is. Yes, our lives are tough, indeed, Poor us. …
When you mention the word Iran, it usually strikes a certain response from many people. And, alas, much of that is true. It is a country that has had more than its share of troubles. But, like anywhere, it is also filled with beautiful people, beautiful scenery and beautiful stories. We…
We've all been there. The plane was late. The taxi didn't arrive. The hotel room wasn't quite ready. And, in a matter of hours / minutes we have to get to sleep, or wake up, or run to a meeting. The hotel restaurant isn't open yet, and it's pouring down…
If you're a history lover like we are, you search for "must see" locations, or even those that could be considered off-the-beaten trail. And, there are so many choices, that you will likely run out of breath or out of money before you even consider yourself "informed."
This post highlights a beautiful, but haunted…
We here at Matouring love to travel. Trains, planes and automobiles get us where we want to go. And we have been lucky enough to travel to places new and old. (We prefer the latter.) And, if you are fortunate enough to travel, you will probably be able to watch the progression…
If you have no interest in automobiles, skip to our next post. We're being a bit selfish.
Spend some time on our site, and you'll periodically see posts about SAAB cars. We love them, and have owned almost a dozen of them - including a classic 900 cabriolet to this day. And…
Another activity for you based in London. It's quite interesting, with lots of history and even Aldus Huxley features here. But, one of the nicest pluses of this activity is that it is free. We're talking about Senate House.
Here are the basics: Senate House is the administrative centre of the…