Weekly travel reads: The charming and affordable gateway to Italy’s Amalfi coast

[The Travel Wire #93] The Forgotten castles of the Garamantes, Cabo Verde, Romania’s Via Transilvanica, and more travel reads.

Travel reads

• Salerno: the charming and affordable gateway to Italy’s Amalfi coast [The Guardian]
“The vibrant port city offers a more relaxed and budget-friendly base for exploring this beautiful coastline by train and ferry.”

• The Forgotten castles of the Garamantes [Wild Man Life]
“The forgotten castles of the Garamantes lie buried beneath the Libyan sand. This ancient Berber civilisation flourished in the Fezzan region, building fortified towns, trading extensively with the Roman Empire, and raising unique pyramids. Explore the history, the incredible foggara water systems, and the remote ruins of a lost Saharan empire.”

• No stress [Africa Is a Country]
“Cabo Verde’s national team is at the World Cup for the first time in their history. To understand why they might surprise everyone, you need to understand morabeza.”

• Forget the Camino de Santiago. Romania’s Via Transilvanica hiking trail is wild, welcoming and quiet [Euronews]

• When Bengal was the richest place in the world [Travels of Samwise]
“A Trip up the Hooghly River.”

• I travelled to Ireland’s remote islands for a wild weekend away [Independent]
“In search of a truly secluded getaway, Daniel Gayne explored the Blasket Islands – and met the couple selected to take care of their rugged shores.”

• Photographing Malta’s balconies: When a detail becomes a discovery [Travel and Culture]
“Travel photos we love to take again and again.”

• Leave your airplane-window shades open (archive) [The Atlantic]
“Only watching movies on the plane takes away from whatever magic is left in air travel.”

• In 1946, the Vespa gave Italians their freedom. In 2026, it’s giving Rome its air back [Adventure]
“It’s the vehicle that rebuilt post-war Italy, and now, ahead of its 80th anniversary, the Vespa is answering the call of necessity once again. Queenie Shaikh scoots through Rome on an electric Vespa to see how the capital has taken on its next great challenge: Air pollution.”

• William Dalrymple: the enchanting Italian island with echoes of a lost civilisation (archive) [FT]
“On Panarea, the smallest of the Aeolian Islands, the historian finds fresh fish, elegant villas — and traces of an ancient society.”

• Less than two hours from Phuket, a true Thai beach paradise can be found (archive) [Traveller]