Emerald Bay State Park in California

8 July 2026 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  5 minutes

© California Department of Parks and Recreation

© California Department of Parks and Recreation

Emerald Bay State Park is a state park of California in the United States, centered on Lake Tahoe‘s Emerald Bay, a National Natural Landmark. Park features include Eagle Falls and Vikingsholm, a 38-room mansion that is considered one of the finest examples of Scandinavian architecture in the United States. The architect was Leonard Palme, who was hired by his aunt Lora Josephine Knight to design and build Vikingsholm. The park contains the only island in Lake Tahoe, Fannette Island. The park is accessible by California State Route 89 near the southwest shore of the lake. Emerald Bay is one of Lake Tahoe’s most photographed and popular locations.   read more…

Burghley House in Lincolnshire

1 July 2026 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  5 minutes

© Tilman2007/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Tilman2007/cc-by-sa-4.0

Burghley House is a grand 16th-century English country house near Stamford, Lincolnshire. It is a leading example of the Elizabethan prodigy house, built and still lived in by the senior (Exeter) branch of the Cecil family and is Grade I listed.   read more…

Englefield House in Berkshire

22 June 2026 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  5 minutes

© geograph.org.uk - Richard Croft/cc-by-sa-2.0

© geograph.org.uk – Richard Croft/cc-by-sa-2.0

Englefield House is an Elizabethan country house with surrounding estate at Englefield in the English county of Berkshire. The gardens are open to the public all year round on particular weekdays and the house by appointment only for large groups.   read more…

Paseo del Prado in Madrid

19 May 2026 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, Museums, Exhibitions, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  5 minutes

Paseo del Prado sign © Basilio/cc-by-sa-3.0

Paseo del Prado sign © Basilio/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Paseo del Prado is one of the main boulevards in Madrid, Spain. It runs north–south between the Plaza de Cibeles and the Plaza del Emperador Carlos V (also known as Plaza de Atocha), with the Plaza de Cánovas del Castillo (the location of the Fuente de Neptuno, and of the Ritz and Palace five-star hotels) lying approximately in the middle. The Paseo del Prado forms the southern end of the city’s central axis (which continues to the north of Cibeles as the Paseo de Recoletos, and further north as the Paseo de la Castellana). It enjoys the status of Bien de Interés Cultural (BIC), and as part of a combined UNESCO World Heritage Site with Buen Retiro Park.   read more…

100 Castles Route in Münsterland

6 May 2026 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  9 minutes

Schloss Nordkirchen © Carsten Steger/cc-by-sa-4.0

Schloss Nordkirchen © Carsten Steger/cc-by-sa-4.0

The 100 Castles Route is a cycling route in Münsterland, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The approximately 960 km long route winds its way largely away from main roads, following flat cycle paths from castles to moated castles, stately homes and farmsteads, castle parks and cottage gardens, monasteries and churches. In total, around 100 buildings are located along or near the route.   read more…

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

3 April 2026 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  5 minutes

Demonstration Garden © geograph.org.uk - Andrew Curtis/cc-by-sa-2.0

Demonstration Garden © geograph.org.uk – Andrew Curtis/cc-by-sa-2.0

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies four sites across Scotland – Edinburgh, Dawyck, Logan and Benmore – each with its own specialist collection. The RBGE’s living collection consists of more than 13,302 plant species (34,422 accessions), whilst the herbarium contains in excess of 3 million preserved specimens.   read more…

Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island

14 March 2026 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  6 minutes

Entrance © Fletcher6/cc-by-sa-3.0

Entrance © Fletcher6/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Butchart Gardens is a floral display garden in Brentwood Bay, British Columbia, Canada, located near Victoria on Vancouver Island. The gardens receive over a million visitors each year. The gardens have been designated a National Historic Site of Canada.   read more…

Persian gardens

11 March 2026 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  6 minutes

Bagh-e Eram in Shiraz © flickr.com - Bagh-e Eram/cc-by-sa-2.0

Bagh-e Eram in Shiraz © flickr.com – Bagh-e Eram/cc-by-sa-2.0

In garden design, Persian garden or Iranian garden is a style of “landscapegarden which emerged in the Achaemenid Empire. Nine historical gardens, all of them in Iran, have been inscribed in UNESCO‘s World Heritage Sites as The Persian Garden since 2011.   read more…

Social season in Greater London

27 February 2026 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, London, Opera Houses, Theaters, Libraries, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks, Sport Reading Time:  10 minutes

Trooping the Colour - Horse Guards Parade © Corporal Paul Shaw/MOD/OGL v1.0

Trooping the Colour – Horse Guards Parade © Corporal Paul Shaw/MOD/OGL v1.0

The social season, or Season, refers to the traditional annual period in the spring and summer when it is customary for members of the social elite to hold balls, dinner parties and charity events. Until the First World War, it was also the appropriate time to reside in the city (generally meaning London in Great Britain and Dublin in Ireland) rather than in the country in order to attend such events.   read more…

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