
Long-form travel writing from the BugBitten community.

Three days in Bordeaux — the city itself (lovelier than its reputation), and a day trip out to the medieval wine village of Saint-Émilion. Cellars, châteaux and a long lunch.

A five-day Normandy itinerary — Mont Saint-Michel at sunrise, the D-Day beaches and American cemetery, the white chalk cliffs at Étretat, and the slow cider country in between.

Four days in the Loire Valley — the great royal châteaux at Chambord and Chenonceau, the smaller hidden ones, and the cycle paths along the river that connect them all.

Five days on the French Riviera — Nice as the base, the medieval cliff village of Èze, the impossibly photogenic Villefranche-sur-Mer, and the millionaire bays of the Côte d’Azur.

A week in Provence — Valensole lavender at sunrise, hilltop villages of the Luberon, market days, vineyards, and the kind of long slow lunches that ruin you for ordinary holidays.

Five days in Paris — the Eiffel Tower at dawn, a slow morning at Notre Dame, the Louvre done properly, dinner in the Marais, and the Montmartre afternoon you’ll keep telling people about.

Jimbaran is the south-coast Bali fishing village famous for its sunset beach barbecue — long tables on the sand, fresh fish off the grill, the sun dropping into the Indian Ocean.

Sidemen is the rice-paddy valley east of Ubud, with Mt Agung in the background and almost no other tourists. Two days here is the slow, real Bali most travellers miss.

Amed is the slow east-coast Bali — black-sand bays, world-class snorkelling, the USS Liberty shipwreck at Tulamben, and the silhouette of Mt Agung in every photograph.

Munduk is the cool, misty highland Bali most travellers never see — coffee farms, waterfall hikes, twin lakes, and a calm pace that makes you want to extend your stay.

Sanur is the calm, east-coast Bali — sunrise beach, a long boardwalk, family-friendly hotels, and the kind of slow days that the rest of the south has quietly forgotten.

Tanah Lot is the famous offshore sea temple west of Canggu. Half a day, a sunset crowd, the holy snakes in the cave underneath, and why sunrise here is the secret.