{"id":1033,"date":"2026-09-06T19:16:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T19:16:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/?page_id=1033"},"modified":"2026-09-06T19:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T19:20:08","slug":"europe-2026","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/europe-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__list is-grid columns-3 wp-block-latest-posts is-layout-grid wp-container-core-latest-posts-is-layout-0fed8f92 wp-block-latest-posts-is-layout-grid\"><li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/10\/04\/the-last-leg\/\">The last leg<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">Writing this from the last leg of the journey back home.\u00a0 I took the local train from Paderborn to Bielefeld this morning.\u00a0\u00a0 I realised I must have travelled this before, because I flew to Paderborn for a PhD collaboration with a researcher in Bielefeld.\u00a0 Luckily Bielefeld (still) exists. Then it was a slightly delayed ICE <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/10\/04\/the-last-leg\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/10\/03\/paderborn-sightseeing-and-schloss\/\">Paderborn: Sightseeing and Schloss<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">I had a wander around town after the computer museum;\u00a0 the center is quite small, but was pretty. It&#8217;s German Reunification Day today, so a lot of places are closed. I then took the bus out to Schloss Neuhaus, to the NW of the Paderborn.\u00a0 It was very pretty, and there was (the end of) <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/10\/03\/paderborn-sightseeing-and-schloss\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/10\/03\/paderborn-heinz-nixdorf-forum\/\">Paderborn: Heinz Nixdorf Forum<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">After a quick post Parkrun shower, I headed off to the Heinz Nixdorf Forum museum, which is the largest computing museum in the world. It&#8217;s situated in the former HQ of Nixdorf Computers. It&#8217;s quite expansive in its scope; it starts off with the development of counting systems, before moving onto printing presses, adding machines, <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/10\/03\/paderborn-heinz-nixdorf-forum\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/10\/03\/paderborn-parkrun\/\">Paderborn: Parkrun<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">I&#8217;d planned on doing the Parkrun in Paderborn, but wasn&#8217;t sure if I&#8217;d be up in time after yesterday&#8217;s travel issues.\u00a0 I awoke in plenty of time, and got the bus out to Padersee (which is a small lake on the river Pader (which is the shortest river in Germany apparently)) It was a quite <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/10\/03\/paderborn-parkrun\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/10\/02\/dessau-and-delays\/\">Dessau and delays<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">I had the morning in Dessau, to look at the remaining Bauhaus sites. I&#8217;d planned to hire a bike for this, but the weather was pretty wet first thing.&nbsp; Instead I walked to the Meisterhause (Masters&#8217; houses).&nbsp; These had been extensively rebuilt\/refurbished. The first, which served as an exhibtion space had had most of its <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/10\/02\/dessau-and-delays\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/10\/01\/dessau\/\">Dessau<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">It was a fairly early start this morning, as I was booked on the 0730 train to Berlin.&nbsp; The hostel wasn&#8217;t that near the main station; I&#8217;d planned on getting a tram, but then realised there was a suburban train station quite close, so thought I might as well take full advantage of the Interrail <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/10\/01\/dessau\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/30\/poznan\/\">Poznan<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">I took a train to Poznan this morning. The journey was about 3 hours through undramatic scenery; mostly rolling farmland. As well as being a convenient place to stop on my gradual way home, I was keen to see the enigma museum. This had timed entry slots (I&#8217;m not sure why; it wasn&#8217;t busy), and <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/30\/poznan\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/29\/gdansk-sea-and-sightseeing\/\">Gdansk: Sea and sightseeing<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">After the morning&#8217;s history,\u00a0 I decided to head to the seaside.\u00a0 The guide book had mentioned the costal resort of Sopot along the coast to the NW of Gdansk.\u00a0 There looked to be beaches on the map a little closer, so I took the tram to Brzezno The beach was lovely, part of a wide <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/29\/gdansk-sea-and-sightseeing\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/29\/gdansk-shipyards-and-solidarity\/\">Gdansk: shipyards and Solidarity<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">The Solidarity museum had been recommended to me so I headed there this morning.\u00a0 The museum covers the rise of the Solidarity movement in the early 80s, which started from striking dockers and was instrumental in the fall of communism in Poland. Before that I headed to the adjacent shipyard, that had been the start <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/29\/gdansk-shipyards-and-solidarity\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/28\/elblag-canal\/\">Elblag canal<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">I&#8217;d booked a boat trip along the Elblag Canal, as it&#8217;s got a unique feature I was keen to see. The start of the journey could&#8217;ve been on the Norfolk Broads, with the flat landscape, and the channel opening up into wide, shallow lakes: It was very peaceful, though rather chilly on top of the <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/28\/elblag-canal\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/28\/sleeper-to-gdansk\/\">Sleeper to Gdansk<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">The sleeper to Gdansk (and beyond) arrived on time.\u00a0 I&#8217;d paid for a proper bed, rather than just a couchette. This was a bargain \u00a330 (without interrail; I&#8217;ve saved those days for more expensive countries) I didn&#8217;t meet any other emfcamp attendees on this one. One guy was heading to Gdanya, north of Gdansk, the <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/28\/sleeper-to-gdansk\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/27\/krakow-steel-works\/\">Krakow: Steel works<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">I was intrigued to see more of Nowa Huta, and saw a tour advertised online for the steel works and shelter. I arrived a bit early, so had a wander round the adjacent park; this was pleasantly busy,&nbsp; and it was a nice walk around the lake. The tour turned out to be a really <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/27\/krakow-steel-works\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/27\/krakow-krakus-mound-and-quarry\/\">Krakow: Krakus Mound and quarry<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">Atlas Obscura has a quarry in the south of the town listed&#8230; Tram The quarry is next to the Krakus Mound, which is supposed to be the resting place of Krakow&#8217;s founder, King Krakus It was a lovely clear day, and there were good views from the top It was a short walk down into <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/27\/krakow-krakus-mound-and-quarry\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/26\/krakow-wieliczka-salt-mine\/\">Krakow: Wieliczka Salt mine<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">I&#8217;d booked a tour of the Wieliczka Salt Mine yesterday.\u00a0 It&#8217;s situated south east of Krakow.\u00a0\u00a0 I took a (rather late and busy) bus journey out to the mine for the tour. The mine itself was very impressive; apparently it&#8217;s the largest in the world, and is on the UNESCO world heritage list for its <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/26\/krakow-wieliczka-salt-mine\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/26\/krakow-science-and-technology-museum\/\">Krakow: Science and Technology museum<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">After popping back to the hostel for a shower, I decided to check out the Science and Technology museum.\u00a0 This wasn&#8217;t huge, and was OK, but not great. They&#8217;d got a special exhibition on the history of the kitchen, which was an additional cost.\u00a0 I didn&#8217;t realise at the time that almost all the signage <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/26\/krakow-science-and-technology-museum\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/26\/krakow-parkrun\/\">Krakow: Parkrun<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">(Splitting the posts up into &#8220;things&#8221; rather than days, as they get awkward to edit on the mobile if there are too many pictures) I planned to do the Krakow Parkrun while I was visiting. It would be my 100th run, and doing it somewhere other than my &#8220;home&#8221; run of Eastville seemed like a <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/26\/krakow-parkrun\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/25\/krakow\/\">Krakow<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">The sleeper arrived on time at 0715, so I was in Krakow early.\u00a0 The weather was awful when I arrived; heavy drizzle.\u00a0 I&#8217;d signed up for a walking tour of Nowa Huta, which was a planned city built in the communist era for the adjacent steelworks.\u00a0 Before that I&#8217;d got a couple of hours to <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/25\/krakow\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/24\/munich-2-2\/\">Munich 2<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">After an early night, and a bit of a lie in I was feeling a bit better this morning.&nbsp;&nbsp; I was torn between going to the Deutsches Museum or having an arty day. Having somewhat OD on techy stuff, the art won out. I decided to head to the Pinokothek Der Modern.&nbsp; There are two <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/24\/munich-2-2\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/munich-2\/\">Munich<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">A rather quieter day today, as I was developing a bit of a cold yesterday, and am not feeling much better today, so having an early night to try and shift it. I headed out on the U-Bahn to take a look\u00a0 at the Olympic Park.\u00a0 The station is also by the BMW museum.\u00a0\u00a0They also <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/munich-2\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/munich\/\">Munich<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">I&#8217;ve arrived in Munich. Though this train seems to be lost<\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/stuttgart\/\">Stuttgart<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">We took the train to Stuttgart this morning (taking advantage of the 36Euro for 2 day tickets).&nbsp; F. was keen to see the Mercedes Benz museum, so we took the S-Bahn to there. Stuttgart&#8217;s station is undergoing some major rebuilding at the moment, with the Stuttgart 21 project (opening date, erm, 2031), essentially converting it <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/stuttgart\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/21\/technik-museum-speyer\/\">Technik Museum Speyer<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">We&#8217;ve spent most of the day at the Technical Museum in Speyer. I&#8217;d first heard of this in an article in The Register, and thought it sounded good.&nbsp; It was a lot bigger than I was expecting; I&#8217;d thought it might take a morning, but we were there almost until it closed. We&#8217;d paid a <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/21\/technik-museum-speyer\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/20\/karlsruhe\/\">Karlsruhe<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">We left Slaffhausen quite early this morning, and got a quick picnic breakfast from the supermarket at the station, before getting\u00a0 a local train to Karlsruhe.\u00a0 This was a little slower than the Intercity, but much cheaper &#8211; we got a Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg Ticket, which was only 36Eur for both of us and gave us unlimited <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/20\/karlsruhe\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/19\/bernina-railway\/\">Bernina Railway<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">We took the Bernina Railway today, ending up in Schaffhausen, close to the German border. The railway went though stunning scenery.&nbsp; We stopped of en route at Pontrenesa, and had a look round the village. An advert on the train for the railway museum also led us astray for a couple of hours. Landquart was <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/19\/bernina-railway\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/18\/sleeper-milan-varenna-and-tirano\/\">Sleeper, Milan, Varenna and Tirano<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">After I wrote my last post on the sleeper, I had to change compartment, as it transpired when the ticket checker came round, that there were only 5 couchettes in the compartment, but 6 people.\u00a0 I was redirected to another compartment, but the couchette in there was faulty, so after much discussion between the train <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/18\/sleeper-milan-varenna-and-tirano\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/17\/to-milan\/\">To Milan<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">I started my trip this morning from Bristol.\u00a0 I&#8217;d got an earlier train than the suggested connection, so had a bit of time in London before my Eurostar to Brussels. An easy (and free) cross London transfer on Interrail by getting the Elizabeth Line and Thameslink (changing at Farringdon) to avoid the underground. I&#8217;d had <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/17\/to-milan\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/06\/packing\/\">Packing<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">Europe here we come<\/div><\/li>\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1033","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1033"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1039,"href":"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1033\/revisions\/1039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/travel.mawds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}