It’s an inauspicious start. No map. No SatNav. No cash – my very last dihram cleared out by the unexpected fuel charge.

No internet access to check the route. No signal on my iPhone. Just a pen, a scrap of paper and a hastily scribbled map, uneven streaks of biro connecting Moroccan towns that appeared on a picture in the hotel lobby.

A gorgeous collection of unusual things to do in Rome I’m not sure who runs the official ledger of world’s most visited city and catalogue of iconic sights but when I do track them down, I’m betting that Rome is high on the list. The Colosseum. The Pantheon. Spanish Steps. Trevi Fountain. And that’s before we start talking about […]

Image Credit- PONANT© Antarctica or The Arctic? Perhaps it’s because of this year’s heatwave but I’ve been thinking about the cold a lot lately. In particular, Antarctica. There’s one phrase in particular that the heat seems to be melting into my brain. “You haven’t been to Antarctica?” from a travel journalist friend of mine. “You should go!” Her

Bajan Recipes Taught In Barbados I love these Bajan recipes that I picked up while on the island. It’s been a little while since I travelled to Barbados but the joy of recipes means that a taste of Caribbean sunshine is just one meal away (and if I squint into this summer’s heatwave, I can […]

Scheveningen Beach. SHAVE-an-ingen Beach. Sherve-nin-ninnin-ninininininin-en Beach. This Dutch spot may have a difficult name but its beauty shines with simplicity. Sand. Dunes. Walking paths, a harbour. Just 15 minutes from the workings of The Hague and you’re there. And via a picturesque tram ride, no less, peppered with important looking embassies and the great Dutch […]

The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota Florida: thousands of tropical plants, art, research and history Does it make sense to start talking about Florida through its flowers? Or is it too trite a cliche? The modern state of Florida, all 66 000 square miles of it, has an inextricable link with flowers. The name, […]

Kakadu. The sound is soft yet distinctive, like a bird call that rolls and unfolds across the willows and the reeds, the waters, the low and smoky air, to reach me on the scrunched and scorched soil. On the earth that is itself Kakadu.

The word…

These tips on how to stay sun safe come from a partnership with Soleve. As ever, as always, we keep the right to write what we like. Ah, sunshine, you beautiful, wonderful thing you! A strange thing has been happening over the British skies this year: a great, golden orb has been blazing and basking […]

  Three Exciting Boutique Hotels Boston That Are Bringing the Past to Life And Unusual Things To Do in Boston Near Them America may be known for many things but its keen sense of history isn’t always one. Not so in Boston, where the Freedom Trail highlights 16 landmarks on the road from the Tea […]

  Looking for inspiration for wonderful and unusual things to do in Greece but tired of lists churned out by people who’ve never been there? Look no further! Here is a collection of beautiful, cultural things to do in Greece, peppered with a bit of soul and a lot of golden olive oil with liberal […]

Ah, pretty city Porto, you beautiful place, you. All glowing in from dawn til dusk in a tumbly, jumbly terracotta haze and reflected Harry Potter glory. With your giant gondolas from the port trade, your azulejo tiles and your steep streets to a thousands scenic viewpoints, you wear your prettiness with a bit of grit. […]

  In my little black book of travel, Cape Town always makes my top ten list of greatest cities in the world. It would probably succeed based on Table Mountain alone,  a majestic flat-topped mountain rising out of the earth at almost the most southernly point in Africa, but there’s just no reason to stop there. […]

Finding Lisbon Restaurants Where Locals Eat Breathless, sweaty and most definitely ready for food, I pushed open the glass door and stumbled inside. “Are you still serving?” I asked, the words more direct than I’d have liked. A man walked towards me, in black against the bright white walls, clear-varnished wood and chic-hipster vibe I’d […]

Bristol, you sassy thing, you. You’ve always been hard to define. All pastel palette pretty in some quarters yet home to subversive Banksy in others. So close to London yet with an accent so far away it may as well be another language, me babbers. Unusual Things To Do in Bristol Bursting with art yet […]

Update: this article just won a Latin American Travel Association Award at the RSA House in London. I’m pretty chuffed about that and over on Facebook, some of you have been asking what the award was for: Well, here you go! Pre-Columbian Art in Ecuador and the Surprising Question It Asks Christopher Colombus. One nation’s […]

Tried and Tested: Some of the Best Spas in the World Updated 2018 A combination of good fortune, hard work and a devilishly tricky spine have led me to seek out spa treatments all around the world. But what is it that makes a good spa great? What makes it one of the best in the […]

  Bo Kaap Cape Town When it comes to colour in South Africa, perhaps there’s no better place to start than Bo Kaap. Along the cobbled slopes that tiptoe up towards Table Mountain, houses blaze in hues of lilac, canary yellow, cobalt blue and eye watering green as children play football around the nation’s oldest […]

  Finding a Great Place to Stay in Bath Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Bath has plenty of great places to stay, from hotels to guesthouses. But on my latest trip, I discovered another kind of gorgeous hideaway: a luxurious self-catered apartment that overlooked The Circus itself. I found the place through a partnership with Hideaways, a […]

Water. In the space called Frederick Sound, the water waits silently. There’s a

These days, everyone is talking about things to do in Portugal and why you should go there now. From UNESCO World Heritage Sites, gastronomy, history, architecture, great beaches and whimsical creations and pastries, millennial Portugal most definitely is the new black. But before you skip on down to the list of things to do in […]

It all started with the police check last night.

Torchlight zig-zagged across the car and we huddled in the backseat.

“You are English,” said the policeman. “And yet you say you want…

So here’s some interesting research: apparently, even our strongest holiday memories fade within two weeks. What’s worse? Digitally trying to record things may make those memories fade faster. Sceptical as I always am, I read this with my usual gallon of salt. Luxury holiday brand TUI have released the information in conjunction with talking about […]

  Visiting the Stunning Reed Flute Caves in Guilin China It’s amazing what you can do with a little rock, water and patience. Well, a little water, a lot of rock and all the patience in the world, I suppose. Plenty of places talk about the caves they have but few have managed to entice […]

Before we talk about unusual things to do in Dublin, a word of warning: don’t miss the classics like the Book of Kells at Trinity College or the razzamatazz and history at the iconic Guinness Storehouse. But once you’ve dipped into the Jameson Distillery and paid some kind of homage to local boys U2, what […]

  Why Reading Trends Are Changing – And Why It Matters Two surprising things happened the other day. The first took place at our book club, a thinly veiled excuse to eat tapas and drink wine once a month while discussing the perilous state of world affairs and explore other subjects that perhaps our other […]

Dawn in the Desert at the Al Wadi Across the sand, something is moving. Slowly. Stuttering. But real. An oryx, I think, white flanks caked in dust, horns piercing the air. It’s almost as though she’s following the sun, appearing with its quiet, dawn-like shift across the dunes. It’s early, but as a new mum, […]

Into the Wild: Uncruise Alaska My personal account of the intriguing Uncruise Alaska.  I stop in my tracks and hold still, watching him watching me. I can hear my own breathing, fast and focused, and the sound of droplets falling into the deep Chuck River. The rest of the group, all five of them, are […]

My work with the airline Royal Brunei highlighted an unusual travel destination to explore: the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the U.A.E. This Ritz Carlton Al Hamra review forms part of a project produced in partnership with Royal Brunei, RAKTDA and Ritz Carlton. As ever, as always, I kept the right to write what […]

What is it like to go dune bashing? Through one window, the horizon tilts back and forth in shades of golden rose. Through the other, red dust blocks all that can be seen. And through the windscreen there is almost nothing at all. My work with the airline Royal Brunei highlighted an unusual travel destination […]

There are some London addresses that tell stories before we reach them. The Dorchester Hotel London has an address with a thousand tales. This review of the Dorchester Hotel London comes as part of a series on Special Places to Stay in London that you can find over here.  The Dorchester Hotel London In Review: What […]