# The Travel Wire > A weekly travel newsletter of the best travel reads from around the web. ## Posts - [Weekly travel reads: Hiking to the Vatican](https://thetravelwire.net/19-december-2025/): [The Travel Wire #67] Lagoons of Lençóis Maranhenses, Yangon, and more travel reads. Travel reads • I hiked right up to the Vatican’s back door on this underrated Italian camino [Adventure] • Brazil’s lagoon-filled desert you can hike barefoot [BBC Travel] “Lençóis Maranhenses looks like a desert, but it’s alive with shimmering pools, remote villages and ancient paths that only local guides know how to read.” • Yangon: What is life really like in a city at war? [Ilona Vinogradova] “Why the hell would you travel there? And some brutally honest words about ethical and intentional travel.” • Into the wild [Tales of the Orient by Simon Ostheimer] […] - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #66](https://thetravelwire.net/12-december-2025/): El Salvador, Sable Island National Park Reserve, Trieste, and more travel reads. Travel reads • Regenerating a nation [Wanderlust] “As El Salvador and its people seek to move on from the violence of the recent past, what is now reportedly one of the safest countries in Latin America is still waiting for its global reputation to catch up.” • On this remote Canadian island, there are more wild horses than humans [afar] “Sable Island National Park Reserve is one of Canada’s most distinctive protected landscapes. Getting there is an adventure all its own.” • Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere [Without Maps] “Writer Jan Morris came […] - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #65](https://thetravelwire.net/5-december-2025/): North Macedonia, holidays in the 1970s, Roof of England walk, Varanasi, and more travel reads. Travel reads • There’s still one beautiful Southern European country with delicious food, great wine and no tourist crowds [CNN Travel] “Spiked with ridges and peaks that deliver scenery running the full four-seasons gamut — from electric green slopes to snow-capped crags — North Macedonia offers one of Southern Europe’s final chances to take the path less-traveled.” • Weird and wonderful things you might have forgotten about holidays in the 1970s (archive) [The Telegraph] • ‘It’s like striding across the top of the world’: the Pennines’ new Roof of England […] - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #64](https://thetravelwire.net/28-november-2025/): Bhutan, the coffee hub of Vietnam, how Bali has changed for better and worse, cats of Istanbul, and more travel reads. Travel reads • The sights and sounds of Bhutan [Wait But Why] • Notes on Buon Ma Thuot – The coffee hub in the heart of the Central Highlands [Nomadic Notes] • I’ve been traveling to Bali for 40 years. This is how it’s changed for better and worse [Adventure] • Catstanbul: Inside the city where cats rule the streets [BBC Travel] • The ark of humanity [Nomadic Mind] “Take a Greek ferry. You will not regret.” • It used to be Cambodia’s capital. Now it’s a city of the […] - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #63](https://thetravelwire.net/21-november-2025/): Backpacking Greenland, Bangkok during a coup in 1992, the Dolomite Mountains, Somalia, and more travel reads. Travel reads • Greenland is notoriously expensive. I tried to visit on a shoestring [Independent] “Most people visit the country on an expensive cruise or guided tour – Anna Richards attempted to backpack it.” • Sukhumvit under siege: A bar, a coup, and a very bad idea – Bangkok, 1992 [qbarandrew] • The European region with a ‘split personality’ [BBC Travel] “Straddling Italy and Austria, the Dolomite Mountains blend three languages, two identities and one breathtaking landscape – but their delicate balance is being tested.” • If Somalia is dangerous, why […] - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #62](https://thetravelwire.net/14-november-2025/): When places change, Leiden, Levuka (Fiji’s original capital), exoplanet tourism, and more travel reads. Travel reads • When places change [A Sense of Wander] “I just spent a week in New Delhi, India. It is an annual ritual, a pilgrimage of sorts, this return to my soulplace. I find it restorative—and unsettling. The Delhi I fell in love with in 1993 is not the same Delhi today.” • All the canals and charm of Amsterdam. None of the crowds. (archive) [NY Times Travel] “Leiden, a city whose university is often called the Oxford of the Netherlands, features museums, gardens, murals and plenty of ways […] - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #61](https://thetravelwire.net/7-november-2025/): The Chōishi-michi pilgrimage route, the forgotten republic of Transnistria, rediscovering the ancient wonders of eastern Turkey, and more travel reads. Travel reads • Every tree can be a Buddha [Kottke] “The Chōishi-michi pilgrimage route is an amazing 12-mile trail that winds its way up through the forest from the Jison-in temple in the town of Kudoyama in the valley to the Danjo Garan temple in the town of Kōyasan in the mountains.” • Orphans of history: the forgotten republic of Transnistria – photo essay [The Guardian] • From Putin souvenirs to Soviet lunches: Why has travel to Transnistria gone viral? [Euronews] “The mini Soviet nation remains […] - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #60](https://thetravelwire.net/31-october-2025/): Peak District, Zhengzhou, Italy’s sleeper from Milan to Sicily, the Michinoku Coastal Trail, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/31-october-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #59](https://thetravelwire.net/24-october-2025/): Cathedrals and chapels of Wallis Island, ghost month in Taipei, a train tour of Europe’s cool northern capitals, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/24-october-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #58](https://thetravelwire.net/17-october-2025/): Vietnam’s ‘Happiness Road’, Iceland, one fine day in the high Himalayas, Jeju, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/17-october-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #57](https://thetravelwire.net/10-october-2025/): How a century of tourism shaped the Bali we know today, Chile’s Route 7, an orangutan sanctuary in Borneo, Orkney, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/10-october-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #56](https://thetravelwire.net/3-october-2025/): Wallis and Futuna, not a travel story, the “cool Camino”, Copacabana Beach, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/3-october-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #55](https://thetravelwire.net/26-september-2025/): Syria’s fragile paradise, following James Joyce from Dublin to Trieste by train, visiting the world’s most dangerous places, hungry at the airport, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/26-september-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #54](https://thetravelwire.net/19-september-2025/): Five travel rules you should always break, from accidental hiker to climbing 87 mountains, a road trip to Turkey’s fairytale north-east, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/19-september-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #53](https://thetravelwire.net/12-september-2025/): Tulum, Swiss cows, Digital Nomad Village in East Sikkim, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/12-september-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #52](https://thetravelwire.net/5-september-2025/): The Little Osaka of Thailand, the Doğu Express, carefree or clueless travel, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/5-september-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #51](https://thetravelwire.net/29-august-2025/): Sarajevo, Albania seizes its moment in the sun, a little walk across Tokyo, Turku, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/29-august-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #50](https://thetravelwire.net/22-august-2025/): Taiwan the railway destination, old passenger ship hotel in Indonesia, hiking ancient Greek villages, Afghanistan, less bad travel, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/22-august-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #49](https://thetravelwire.net/15-august-2025/): Notes on Bac Ninh, the lost art of hitchhiking, hill-tribe trek in Vietnam, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/15-august-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #48](https://thetravelwire.net/8-august-2025/): The Alishan Forest Train, travel to the same place, eight trains from the UK to Turkey, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/8-august-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #47](https://thetravelwire.net/1-august-2025/): Guidebooks for China, self-navigating cars in the Faroe Islands, Bruges, the tiny Australian town that became a Nepalese village, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/1-august-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #46](https://thetravelwire.net/25-july-2025/): The centuries-old abandoned farmhouses of Puglia, how to travel like Anthony Bourdain, when the icebergs came to town, some of Portugal’s best beaches, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/25-july-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #45](https://thetravelwire.net/18-july-2025/): How travel has changed in 20 years, notes on Surabaya, we won’t see most of the world, puffins in Ireland, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/18-july-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #44](https://thetravelwire.net/11-july-2025/): Zero Zen in Kyoto and overtourism in Japan, Guizhou’s best-kept secret, Ulaanbaatar, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/11-july-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #43](https://thetravelwire.net/4-july-2025/): Spain’s Sierra de la Demanda, North Korea’s huge new beach resort, Europe’s longest train journey, quokkas of Rottnest Island, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/4-july-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #42](https://thetravelwire.net/27-june-2025/): Sri Lanka’s Main Line railway, Saigon Zoo, travel blogging and AI, Greece’s tiny Island of outcasts, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/27-june-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #41](https://thetravelwire.net/20-june-2025/): Yemen’s Al-Qahira Castle, An Innocent Abroad in Mark Twain’s Paris, the best books on long-distance journeys, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/20-june-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #40](https://thetravelwire.net/13-june-2025/): Comparing Da Nang and Nha Trang, the secret CIA base in Laos, the reinvention of Catania, Sumba is not Bali, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/13-june-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #39](https://thetravelwire.net/6-june-2025/): Tirana’s pyramid, A hike through stormy Daisetsuzan, Riga, Australia’s biggest lake, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/6-june-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #38](https://thetravelwire.net/30-may-2025/): Notes on Bandung, walking Britain’s entire coast, Lord Howe Island, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/30-may-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #37](https://thetravelwire.net/23-may-2025/): Japan’s unstaffed train stations, Luxembourg by bus, Germany’s Camino trek, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/23-may-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #36](https://thetravelwire.net/16-may-2025/): Coffee farms, hobo handbook, surfing Siargao, fake travel photos, Famagusta ghost town, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/16-may-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #35](https://thetravelwire.net/9-may-2025/): Hitchhiking, “Beni York”, The Ertholm Islands, abandoned hotels, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/9-may-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #34](https://thetravelwire.net/2-may-2025/): The historic fort city of Bengkulu, overland from Leeds to Georgia, Rottnest Island, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/2-may-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #33](https://thetravelwire.net/25-april-2025/): Chongqing, the world’s oldest Chinatown, Angel Falls, Père Lachaise cemetery, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/25-april-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #32](https://thetravelwire.net/18-april-2025/): City walks, Casablanca, bucket lists, the food capital of the world, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/18-april-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #31](https://thetravelwire.net/11-april-2025/): The fall of Lonely Planet, my city: Tokyo, how not to see everything, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/11-april-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #30](https://thetravelwire.net/4-april-2025/): Paris’s rewilded railway line, French Polynesia, visting Shanghai now, airline safety videos, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/4-april-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #29](https://thetravelwire.net/28-march-2025/): The new American travel anxiety, an 8,000-mile rail journey from England to the Taj Mahal, walking in solitude and sunshine in Sicily, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/28-march-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #28](https://thetravelwire.net/21-march-2025/): The unlikely revival of a great Middle Eastern railroad , the end of the line in South Sumatra, the dark side of wanderlust, the car-free village reached by cable car, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/21-march-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #27](https://thetravelwire.net/14-march-2025/): Former and active DMZs, the powder capital of Asia, Rembrandt’s Amsterdam, the world’s biggest heavy metal cruise. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/14-march-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #26](https://thetravelwire.net/7-march-2025/): Ireland’s time-warped island of Owey, never become a travel expert, Cambodia’s floating villages, the low-key pleasures of Taipei, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/7-march-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #25](https://thetravelwire.net/28-february-2025/): Exploring ‘the last paradise on Earth’—in a sea kayak, Koh Mak, Visiting the Beatles ashram in Rishikesh, The London Tunnels. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/28-february-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #24](https://thetravelwire.net/21-february-2025/): 50 years of travel tips, Vietnam’s Ha Giang loop, the ‘White Lotus effect’, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/21-february-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #23](https://thetravelwire.net/14-february-2025/): Discover Shimokitazawa (Tokyo), the weird psychology of airports, the hidden side of Ho Chi Minh City, Uzbekistan’s tourism boom, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/14-february-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #22](https://thetravelwire.net/7-february-2025/): La Rambla in Montevideo, retro snow train to the Dolomites, Egypt’s ‘other’ pyramids, the illusion of conquering countries through travel. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/7-february-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #21](https://thetravelwire.net/31-january-2025/): Mardi Gras the Balkan way, tracing a travel writer’s legacy in Taiwan, Japan’s abandoned industrial island of Hashima, in search of a legendary skiing village. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/31-january-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #20](https://thetravelwire.net/24-january-2025/): Cycling the Namib desert, Yogyakarta, cargo ship cruise through the Marquesas Islands, the Maha Kumbh Mela, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/24-january-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #19](https://thetravelwire.net/17-january-2025/): Bangkok is the definitive city of the 2020s, the cyberpunk megacity Chongqing, Greenland, the original Las Vegas, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/17-january-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #18](https://thetravelwire.net/10-january-2025/): Notes on places to go in 2025, the borderless Capital of Culture, powerful passports, where to go by train in Europe. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/10-january-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #17](https://thetravelwire.net/3-january-2025/): On travel media’s misguided obsession with the “local” experience, navigating reverse culture shock, Laos, Sardinia, Mekong Delta in harvest season, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/3-january-2025 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #16](https://thetravelwire.net/27-december-2024/): After the tsunami, a hike through Iceland’s Highlands, the practice of travel, best travel books of 2024, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/27-december-2024 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #15](https://thetravelwire.net/20-december-2024/): Walking London’s Overground lines, airport typeface, Siargao (x2), big roadside things, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/20-december-2024 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #14](https://thetravelwire.net/13-december-2024/): The Pamir Trail, country counting, Grimsey, coast to coast walk across Northern England, an overland journey to North Macedonia, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/13-december-2024 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #13](https://thetravelwire.net/6-december-2024/): The long road back to Mandalay, “Freak Street”, the Bourdain zombie page, the world’s largest mammal migration, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/6-december-2024 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #12](https://thetravelwire.net/29-november-2024/): The rise and fall of Vang Vieng, Famagusta Ghost Town, extreme travelers, Keith Richards on a train, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/29-november-2024 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #11](https://thetravelwire.net/22-november-2024/): Follow The Travel Wire on Bluesky, tourism at the end of the world, Bali’s first beachfront hotels, Turkey’s Kaçkar Mountains, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/22-november-2024 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #10](https://thetravelwire.net/15-november-2024/): India’s Kerala Express, Central Asia’s capital of cool, Bangkok is the new Berlin, quokkas, more pygmy hippos, and the world’s largest chicken-shaped building. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/15-november-2024 - [Dumb travel and digital detox](https://thetravelwire.net/8-november-2024/): [The Travel Wire: #9] River swimming in Switzerland, Belgrade to Bar by train, Italy’s Park of Monsters, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/8-november-2024 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #8](https://thetravelwire.net/1-november-2024/): [Travel Newsletter 1 November 2024] Las Vegas, Australia’s ‘big things’ obsession, airline magazines, private train cars, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/1-november-2024 - [The Travel Wire: best travel reads #7](https://thetravelwire.net/25-october-2024/): Hiking the Astungkara Way in Bali, tracking the anaconda in the deep Peruvian Amazon, rebuilding Antakya, Japan’s car-free town that autumn hikers love, and more travel reads. View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/25-october-2024 - [The Travel Wire #6](https://thetravelwire.net/18-october-2024/): View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/18-october-2024 - [The Travel Wire #5](https://thetravelwire.net/11-october-2024/): View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/11-october-2024 - [Happy 60th birthday, Shinkansen](https://thetravelwire.net/4-october-2024/): View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/4-october-2024 - [Visiting cool neighbourhoods before they were cool](https://thetravelwire.net/27-september-2024/): View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/27-september-2024 - [Returning to where you said you would never go back](https://thetravelwire.net/20-september-2024/): View at https://thetravelwire.beehiiv.com/p/20-september-2024 - [Welcome to The Travel Wire](https://thetravelwire.net/welcome-to-the-travel-wire/): Welcome to the Nomadic Notes Travel Newsletter, now known as The Travel Wire. As I mentioned in last week’s newsletter, this travel newsletter is being rebranded. Actually, the newsletter is being split in two. The Travel Wire will be the home for travel articles, where I curate the best travel reads of the week. Nomadic Notes will become a monthly(ish?) newsletter, where I will post updates about Nomadic Notes and random personal travel bloggy updates. This format will probably evolve as well, so I will settle on a publishing schedule and format once I get started. You won’t need to resubscribe for this. I will send out a […] ## Pages - [Travel Newsletters](https://thetravelwire.net/newsletters/): A directory of travel newsletters. Travel blog newsletters Nomadic Notes Travel Newsletter: Monthly summary of the latest posts from Nomadic Notes, site updates, and other unblogged ramblings. Travel magazine newsletters Adventure: A weekly selection of the best of Adventure.com’s award-winning travel writing, photography and reportage. Afar: Join the world’s best travelers and get our award-winning content and travel inspiration straight to your inbox. Thrillist newsletter: Get the best in travel trends, tips, hacks, as well as passion-led itineraries, destination guides, and more crucial travel inspo, delivered to your inbox three times a week. Add a travel newsletter To list your […] - [Travel Blogs](https://thetravelwire.net/travel-blogs/): Directory of travel blogs. Travel blogs Nomadic Notes – Travel blog featuring trip reports and transport and accommodation guides. Add your travel blog To list your travel blog on this page, email: thetravelwire.net (at) gmail.com - [Submit an article to The Travel Wire](https://thetravelwire.net/submit-an-article/): Every Friday I publish a list of travel reads on The Travel Wire travel newsletter. If you are a writer or you have read an interesting travel read recently, then feel free to submit a link. Articles should be travel narrative rather than travel guides. For example, there are plenty of travel blogs that are posting “top ten things to do in London” type of articles. I usually try and post articles that were posted in the last week, though I allow up to one month. Submit an article to The Travel Wire Submit travel articles to The Travel Wire Facebook group. […] - [Travel Newsletter](https://thetravelwire.net/travel-newsletter/) - [Site Map](https://thetravelwire.net/site-map/) - [The Travel Wire](https://thetravelwire.net/) - [Contact The Travel Wire](https://thetravelwire.net/contact/): For site information, interviews with the editor, advertising, or general enquiries: Email: thetravelwire.net [at] gmail.com LinkedIn: James T Clark Submit an article to The Travel Wire Submit travel articles to The Travel Wire Facebook group. The Travel Wire on social media Facebook Page Bluesky - [About The Travel Wire](https://thetravelwire.net/about/): The travel newsletter that finds the best travel reads Hi, I’m James Clark. Every week, I curate the best travel reads from around the web and post them in this weekly travel newsletter. The Travel Wire features travel narrative, thoughtful travel commentary, travel inspiration, and unusual travel articles. I sort through the best travel newsletters, social media, and user-submitted travel articles to present a list of the most interesting travel reads. Finding good travel reads is becoming harder every year. Travel blogs have become listicles laced with affiliate links, and there are now AI tools that allow anyone to pump out thousands of […] - [Privacy Policy](https://thetravelwire.net/privacy-policy/): Who we are Our website address is: https://www.thetravelwire.net/. Comments When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection. An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment. Media If you upload images to […] [comment]: # (Generated by Hostinger Tools Plugin)