A mysterious group of ancient monuments first discovered in Saudi Arabia in the 1970s, known as mustatials, predate the first Egyptian pyramids and Stonehenge by over 2,000 years, making them the world’s oldest ritual landscape, archaeologists now say. Scattered across 77,000 square miles of desert in northwest Arabia, the mustatils (the name comes from the…
World Culture
When will we ever learn? During World War 1, Belgium was confident that its Fort de Loncin was impregnable, as it used a new method of construction - concrete instead of the typical masonry. But, the concrete was unreinforced. This led to tragic problems. The weak concrete made the fort vulnerable to enemy artillery, while…
A bleached-out Greek island hangout with a beach-club atmosphere; an 18th-century castle in the Loire Valley already making waves with its vineyard; a slick spa hotel in Italy’s outdoorsy Dolomites; a glossy food-focused hotel in a surprising Polish city – the best new hotels in Europe are better than ever. Read more courtesy of CNTraveller.com…
For decades, Berlin has been one of the hippest places in Europe - and likely the same - in the rest of the world. A real alternative the norm. As Germany's capital, and a global city of politics, media, culture and science, Berlin is home to some of the world's most fascinating historic attractions, culturally…
Archaeologists and other scientists are beginning to unravel the story of our most intimate technology: clothing. They’re learning when and why our ancestors first started to wear clothes, and how their adoption was crucial to the evolutionary success of our ancestors when they faced climate change on a massive scale during the Pleistocene ice ages.…
We fly on airplanes and think we understand how they work. But, do we really? Most of us take for granted the fact that airplanes just fly when we get on them. We often completely overlook the technicalities involved in achieving flight. And one of the key areas that few of us consider is the…
Trains, planes and automobiles. There's no getting around getting around. In this day and age, trains are the past, present and future. There can be only a few competitors to rail when it comes to sustainability and simple common sense. That's why they are the default mode of transport in so many countries. Mother Europe…
As if you need any encouragement to visit the glorious island of St Lucia, we have further tasty reasons might you might want to stay at a certain place - Fond Doux Eco Resort. The reason? Chocolate. Located within the UNESCO World Heritage site of Soufriere Saint Lucia on a historic 19th-century working cocoa estate,…
We recently watched a fascinating documentary about Kumamoto Castle on the Curiosity Stream channel. This impressive Japanese dwelling for six generations of Japanese monarchy has survived battles, earthquakes . . and more earthquakes, the most recent by another Kumamoto Earthquake in 2016. The last quake unearthed unexpected damage to the building, to the point of…
A traveler's dream is to find an honest, unspoiled and inexpensive place to go. As the world gets smaller, this remit gets harder to fill. But, read below about Namibia. You might be delighted.
"Arguably Namibia’s main attraction is nature—it’s a country of spectacular scenery and plentiful wildlife, from camping amidst the stunning orange dunes of…
When people outside of Asia think of Buddhism, they tend to think about just philosophy and meditation. Buddhists are often said not to have gods, wars or empires. Their religion isn’t about ritual or belief, but a dedicated exploration into what causes suffering and how to end it through meditation and compassion. Although there’s some…
Regular readers of this site will know that we are history freaks: the older, the better - and the more amazing. In every corner of the world, historical delights can be found around every corner. But, some locations in the world specialise in history: their efforts to delight and inform visitors range from the basic…
We're really happy to welcome Lastminute to our family of travel providers.
One of the earliest travel "warehouses," Lastminute.com established the template for how self-serve holiday shopping can be. And they still have a broad offering, with accompanying great prices.
Lastminute are a publicly traded multinational Group and operate a portfolio of well-known brands such as lastminute.com,…
During the Nazi occupation of France, 14-year-old Colette Marin-Catherine joined the French resistance alongside her family. ‘We were playing cat and mouse. And playing with fire. Or rather, fire was playing with us,’ Marin-Catherine, now 92, recalls.
Sadly, not everyone in her family would live to see France liberated. Her brother Jean-Pierre was just 17 when…
If you yawn because you think you've seen every kind tourist haunt, here's a place that's really smoking!
There is nothing remotely Elysian about the Phlegræan Fields; nothing sylvan, nothing green. The Fields, which lie on the north shore of the Bay of Naples in Italy, are part of the caldera of a volcano that is…
How would you like to wing across the entire country of Canada in eight minutes? Eight minutes, you ask? Yes, it's true and doesn't require supersonic aircraft. Sounds great, doesn't it? And you can also do the same in Las Vegas and Reykjavik, Iceland. But, how can this be you might ask? A 52-foot spherical…
A king who offended the all-powerful Emperor, and then rebelled against him, but failed. How do these dramatic events in China's history link to the finding of 4000 buried miniature terracotta warriors discovered in Jiangsu Province, China? The ancient city of Pengcheng was located near today's Xuzhou in Jiangsu province, and the museum displays 190…
We're James Bond fans here at Matouring. We can almost recite the scripts, word-for-word. And the Bond films have been shot in so many glamorous places, that it would be hard to choose the place that we'd like to visit the most.
But, surely "James Bond Island" (from the Man with the Golden Gun) would be…
Hope springs eternal, and this idea almost made it. But the winds of change, and the tides – literally – sealed its fate. It’s a long and winding tale.
The Hotel Haegumgang is a floating hotel that began operations in Queensland, Australia, was moved to Vietnam, and is currently docked at Mount Kumgang on the east coast of North Korea. According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, it…
If you are one of those "I've seen it before and I've done it before" tourists, we may have something for you, especially if you find the Cold War alluring.
Ukrainian travel consultant Yulia Kulyk would like to tell you a little bit more about the Soviet era in modern Ukraine. Ukraine today is an…