TRAVEL SECRETS
wanderlust.co.uk October 2019 61you with a
ine soaking mist. The
roaring force of the water plunges
down multiple tiers all easily seen
from small viewing platforms.
45
Getinpoleposition
inPoznan,Poland
Ben Aitken, travel writer
I moved to Poland to
ind out why the Poles
were leaving. The answer
was money. I could have Googled
it. But a Google search wouldn’t
have taught me that Poland is
beautiful, complicated and utterly
memorable, and that working in
a
ish and chip shop on minimum
wage is only fun up to a point. I
lived in Poznan. Its secret? I’d say
its corners, its outskirts. I spent
days riding the trams, acquiring
a bigger picture. Centres are
ine,
but edges are rich. Sometimes it’s
good to look the wrong way.
Ben’s A Chip Shop in Poznan: My
Unlikely Year in Poland (Icon Books,
2019) is out now.
46
Losethecrowdsat
HolkhamBeach
inNorthNorfolk
Catriona Bolger,
publishing director,
Wanderlust
Yes, Holkham Beach
is award-winning, yes the estate
owned parking can be limited,
but it’s so easy to lose any crowds
by taking a walk through the
pine forest or along the amazing
wide open beach. Even in peak,
school holiday, summer you can
easily
ind yourselves alone where
the sand meets the sky. Go bird
watching, spot a seal or two if you
are lucky and then enjoy a pint in
The Victoria at the end of the day.48
Avoidlong
queuesinRome
NickBoulos,founder
ofMakeMyDay
Avoidthelongqueues
thatsnakearoundthe
Colosseumandinsteadgo
acrosstheroadtobuyyour
entranceticketsatthefascinating
RomanForum.It’susuallymore
quietandyourticketalso
includesfasttrackadmission
totheColosseum.Result!
makemyday.travel49
Ignorestereotypes
andvisitEssex
TomHawker,managing
editor,Wanderlust
Ignoredbyguidebooks
butadoredbythelikes
ofRobertMacfarlane,Essexis
England’smostunder-appreciated
travelspot,whetherfortheancient
woodlandsofEppingandHainault
orthebird-heavycoastlines
andmarshywildernesses–like
RainhamMarchesandTwo
TreeIsland–thatstretchupthe
Thames.Timetochuckthose
stereotypesintotheEstuary.47
Uncover the
Hôtel-Dieu,
France
Just seconds away
from Notre-Dame
Cathedral is a blue
door. You could easily
miss it, but what
lies beyond is one
of Paris’s best-kept
secrets: the Hôtel-
Dieu complex, the
city’s oldest working
hospital. Slip through
the sliding doors,
ask for directions to
the courtyard, and
you’ll ind a piano
and Hausmanian
architecture – the
ideal cure to the city’s
crowds. But remember
to be quiet – the
patients don’t want the
word getting out.
Walk the walk
Escape the crowds
at Holkham Beach;
(below) the walkable
ancient woodlands
of Epping Forest