A travel writer's life
Located in France’s northern Hauts-de-France region, close to the Belgian border, Lille is a surprisingly short journey from the UK. It’s a great destination for a quick and hassle-free mini-break, or as a way of getting those travel juices flowing again after lockdown. Getting there There are indirect flights with […]
The name alone elicits a sense of exotic intrigue. And with a tagline of “South east Asia’s youngest capital city”, Kuala Lumpur is quickly transforming from “flight stopover” to holiday hotspot in its own right. Situated in Malaysia’s south-west, the city is going through big changes in its landscape and […]
Did you know that Bordeaux is France’s sixth-largest city? It’s also the world’s largest urban UNESCO World Heritage Site. Situated at the very heart of French wine culture, the city has a long and varied history, beautiful buildings, stunning old town and is a great place for a short trip […]
Thoughts of Rio de Janeiro conjure up an exotic concoction of carnivals, parties, beaches, mountains, sunshine, enormous Jesuses, Olympics… …and crime. Renowned for its gang culture, gun crime and high death rates, the city of Rio is a microcosm of Brazil’s widespread corruption – largely stemming from many of the […]
Iceland’s impressive, luminous Blue Lagoon is one of the country’s top tourist attractions and features on countless bucket lists. But for many who get to visit, it becomes one of those decisive “loved it or hated it” places. I’ve been contemplating it’s “Marmite effect” on the public. (For the record, […]
Recently I took some time out to spend a month exploring Italy. The plan for the first 10 days was to visit the Naples/Sorrento/Amalfi area, seeing as much as we could with the kids who were travelling with us. Then give them a taste of true traveller life by moving […]
I recently spent a wonderful week in San Francisco. It was my first time in the city and I absolutely loved it! During a prolonged and unseasonal period of hot and sunny weather, I found SF to be a fabulously diverse and liberal place. It’s full of fascinating culture and […]
Make no bones about it, they’re creepy! Cata-come and visit! I’ve been to Paris lots of times and ticked off all the major tourist attractions. So on recent visits I’ve been starting to look at slightly more obscure or out-of-the-way things to do. I’d wanted to go to the Catacombs […]
During our month in Italy we were hoping to spend a few days exploring Florence. But circumstances forced us to stay in Rome during the time we’d allocated for it. In the end that worked out pretty well: the kids got to see Rome for the first time, and we […]
Denmark and its capital hold the dubious honour of being touted as the happiest places on the planet. A 3-night break is a perfect amount of time to get to grips with the city and work out whether you agree. When to go? Pretty much any time from sunny, breezy spring […]