I, Writer
Tim Richards
Freelance Writer

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I have two rail travel books available now!
1. Heading South, about an epic round-Australia rail journey, is out now from Fremantle Press - learn about it here.
2. Ultimate Train Journeys: World, a selection of the best rail experiences, is out now from Hardie Grant - read about it here.
Follow me or the publishers on social media for more details.
Ten Most Recently Published


Too soon for a postcard mortem
Traveller, 21 September 2024

"Three cheers for Heinrich von Stephan! I first learned his name many years ago, as I was travelling around Poland to update a Lonely Planet guidebook. Strolling through a scrappy park in the Pomeranian city of Słupsk (pronounced delightfully as ‘swoopsk’), I stumbled across a sign marking the birthplace of this 19th century Prussian postmaster. His greatest reputed achievement? Inventing the concept of the postcard. That was enough to raise von Stephan to my pantheon of heroes, because I love postcards..."

Explaining how my love of sending postcards was underlined by a sign in a park in regional Poland
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Just the ticket: The best new rail journeys around the world
Traveller, 7 September 2024

"Europe’s renewed affair with long-distance train routes continues apace, and this time the destinations being linked are popular big cities: Paris and Berlin. It was in December last year that the French and German capitals were connected, with great acclaim, by sleeper train for the first time in nine years. The next step will be the start of direct high-speed daytime services between the two cities..."

Describing ten upcoming developments in rail travel across Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.


[Read the full article here]

Traveller Awards (three items)
Traveller, 25 August 2024

"Several European countries operate high-speed trains, but there’s something about Trenitalia’s Frecciarossa (Red Arrow) trains that make them a cut above. Start with the company’s scarlet pointy-nosed trains, which scream “fast” – or more precisely, “veloce”. Next in its favour are the friendly onboard staff who, in true Italian fashion, are kitted out in the most stylish uniforms this side of the Dolomites. The food packs given out in business class contain good pastries along with other snacks, and the onboard coffee is fantastico..."

Contributing three items to these annual awards, covering Italian fast trains; the Excelsior Hotel in Dubrovnik, Croatia; and the Musée des Confluences in Lyon, France.


[Read the Frecciarossa trains item here]
[Read the Dubrovnik and Lyon items here]

Swiss roll
Traveller, 17 August 2024

"Riddle me this: when is an express not an express? I’m pondering this question while gazing at pretty Swiss pastoral scenes with cows in green meadows, framed by mountains. I’m travelling westward from Interlaken aboard the GoldenPass Express, a train which takes about three hours and 15 minutes to travel the 130 kilometres to Montreux – an average speed of 40 kilometres an hour. And seated as I am in Prestige Class, I have no great desire for the trip to end..."

Riding aboard several lesser-known scenic trains across Switzerland.


[Read the full article here]

The who's who of Who
Traveller, 10 August 2024

"The time machine’s controls gleam before me, as the central rotor turns slowly within its transparent housing. I’m in the TARDIS! It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid in the 1960s, when the BBC science fiction show Doctor Who started screening on Australian TV. Since then, the Doctor – the travelling alien who’s the star of the show, righting wrongs across the universe – has been a hero of mine, and possibly the reason I became so keen on travel as an adult..."

Visiting an exhibition devoted to the television show Doctor Who in Wellington, New Zealand.


[Read the full article here]

Seize the day (five items)
Paradise, July-September 2024

"'If you want to go out on a Wednesday night in Sydney, this is where you’d come,' says Justin, our guide on the mid-week Small Bars and Street Art walking tour of the inner-city neighbourhood of Newtown. We start beneath a sprawling mural paying homage to Dr Martin Luther King Junior and his famous statement, 'I have a dream'. From here the group wanders the district’s busy streets, lined with old shopfronts housing bars and restaurants..."

Describing five fascinating walking tours in Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, Singapore and Hong Kong
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[Read the full article here]

When Peggy met Venice
Sunday Life, 30 June 2024

"La Serenissima is notoriously a victim of over-tourism, its daily visitors often outnumbering its residents. But there are other ways to sample the city’s pleasures than simply crowding into its most famous locations, so I’m heading for the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, a modern art museum. It does overlook the Grand Canal, but I’m approaching from a less-obvious direction, alighting at the Zattere ferry landing and walking along quiet footpaths past narrow canals. The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, when I reach it, is a subtle delight..."

Admiring modern art and learning the story of a great collector in Venice, Italy.


[Read the full article here]

Good food glide
Traveller, 29 June 2024

"It’s not often you catch a ferry to dinner, but I’m doing so today. It’s a good day to be out on Port Phillip Bay – the water off Sorrento is as flat as a pancake, a shimmering blue beneath a sunny sky. As I stand on the deck of the Sorrento-Queenscliff Ferry, the Norfolk pines and limestone buildings of the Mornington Peninsula settlement fall away, with the Bellarine Peninsula looming ahead. And it’s there that my evening meal awaits. It’s the first of a succession of great meals I’ll be having as I travel clockwise around the bay by public transport..."

Enjoying excellent food while travelling by train and ferry around Port Phillip Bay in Victoria, Australia.


[Read the full article here]

War stories
Traveller, 15 June 2024

"The woman is smiling at the camera with a rifle slung over her shoulder, and the world is at her feet. But there is so much trouble yet to come. In Plaça de Catalunya, a broad square in central Barcelona, this photo held by tour guide Nick Lloyd is a portal to a different time. It shows the same square back in 1936, and at its centre is Marina Ginesta, a young socialist reporter. A military uprising has just been quashed, but the Spanish Civil War is about to begin..."

Learning about the Spanish Civil War on a memorable walking tour in Barcelona, Spain.


[Read the full article here]

Clean break
Traveller, 1 June 2024

"Travelling light has many benefits: while toting only a cabin-luggage-sized backpack, you can zip through airports and walk to hotels from train stations. But this flexibility means you have to do laundry regularly, and that chore was on my to-do list as I stepped out of Penzance railway station. Then I stopped, transfixed by what met my eyes. On one corner of the nearby intersection was a laundrette – and opposite that was a pub. It was a match made in heaven..."

Relating the joy of visiting laundrettes while travelling, referencing a visit to Penzance, UK
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[Read the full article here]
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Welcome!

I'm a freelance writer with published articles on various topics: including travel, lifestyle, the arts, science, and pets. 

My writing has appeared in newspapers, magazines and websites around the world. I'm also a writer of travel books for Lonely Planet.

I'm available to write on any subject, and also undertake business writing jobs such as proofreading, editing and copywriting.

Learn more about my published work and writing services.

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All articles in this archive are available for republication (fee to be negotiated). Articles can be rewritten to meet your style or length requirements. Please contact me by email with your query.

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(international +61-411-242327)

I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land I work upon in Melbourne/Naarm, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation.

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