28 February 2025

South Africa has always been one of our favourite long-haul destinations, and our 2 week trip this February did not disappoint. We’d been before and had high hopes of another great visit to the Rainbow Nation If you haven’t been before, one advantage of South Africa, despite being over 11 hours away, is that you are pretty much on the same time-zone as the UK. So, if you can catch a bit of shut e

31 October 2024

We had a wonderful trip to Portugal this October, built around me competing in the Lisbon Half Marathon. Having run many events over the last 30 years, this was the first one I’ve run abroad, and combining it with a week’s holiday, made the whole trip a much better experience (despite the rain!). So, it got me thinking about combining a holiday with a sporting event, whether that’s watching as a s

07 August 2024

Last month I was very lucky to be invited, along with 11 other Travel Counsellors, to spend 4 nights on board Silversea’s newest luxury cruise ship, Silver Ray. It truly was a 6* experience. Silver Ray is the latest, and largest, of the Nova Class ship in the Silversea fleet. The feeling on board was one of space and light, with the ship never feeling busy, even though this cruise had its full c

10 June 2024

Having recently returned from our lovely holiday in Greece, there was one issue that really grabbed my attention as we checked out of our two hotels. We were asked to pay a City Tax by both our hotels. So, for my latest blog, I thought I would veer off my normal path, and rather than writing about the specifics of our last holiday, I decided to look at this aspect of travel that affects nearly eve

20 February 2024

We had long looked forward to our holiday to Sri Lanka, having postponed it twice due to the Pandemic. When we finally got there in January, we were not disappointed. Sri Lanka is a jewel shaped island, perched in the Indian Ocean, just off the south-east coast of India, a country from which it takes a lot of influence. Whilst it doesn’t have quite the “organised chaos” of parts of India, there i

25 October 2023

When looking for a week away, or just a long weekend, within a couple of hours’ flight, there are many options available. Well, I have just experienced a lovely twin-city break in northern Spain, that I hope may tick a lot of boxes for you. If history, fascinating culture, delicious local food and wine and friendly people appeal to you, then a visit to Bilbao and San Sebastian might be something t

05 July 2023

For our summer holiday this year we thought we would try something different. Flying to your ultimate holiday destination can be quicker, but if you have the time, and fancy enjoying a little bit more interesting scenery than an over-stocked Duty-Free shop and an over-priced café, then why not consider travelling on the train? So being lovers of beautiful scenery, fascinating history, superb food,

14 February 2023

When it’s your wife’s birthday you always like to find something special as a treat, so this year we thought we would try something different and head off to hunt down some much-needed warmth and sunshine for a long weekend. It’s the first weekend in February though, so where can you go that is not too far to travel, and where there is a good chance of having some nice weather. Well, it seems the

09 December 2022

If you are looking for somewhere different to have a ‘long weekend’ then why not consider a trip to Egypt’s fascinating capital – Cairo? It’s a 5-hour direct flight from London to the largest city in Africa, and you quickly realise what a different part of the world you have flown in to We spent 4 days there in early December on our way back from a beach holiday in Hurghada. Weather wise it's a l

19 May 2020

A question I get asked a lot, at the moment, is “When do you think we’ll be travelling again?” It is a pertinent and relevant question for which, sadly, I have not got an answer. For me, however, the more thought-provoking question is - “HOW will we travel again?” As I write, whilst there are signs that we are getting on top of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, and there is an easing of the soc

02 January 2020

I never get over the wonderful sensation of leaving a cold, damp British morning behind and stepping off the aircraft steps into a warming breeze of a sub-tropical evening elsewhere. Arriving for our recent 7-day holiday to Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands felt no different, other than the fact…… IT’S CHRIIIISSSSTMAAAAS!! I’d previously only spent one Christmas in my lifetime outside the UK,

20 September 2019

Medieval Mystery, Mountains and Mediterranean For our late summer holiday this year, we decided we wanted to explore an area that was less than two hours from home, but offered spectacular scenery, lovely beaches and amazing culinary experiences – so where better than the south-west corner of France? From mountains to the Med, the Occitanie region of France is less visited than many others, but

08 April 2019

I’ve been lucky enough to travel to the beautiful country of Thailand several times, and, though my main purpose is usually to get to one of the beautiful islands or beach resorts for some relaxation, no trip is ever complete without a few days in Bangkok. So, if a holiday to Thailand is on your horizon, here are my tips to make the most of a Bangkok stopover. The “City of Angels” is undeniably a

03 January 2019

It’s early January and train fares have gone up again!! It’s always an annoying headline at this time of year, but it also made me think how enjoyable train journeys are, and how lucky I have been to experience different rail experiences everywhere I’ve visited. Ranging from the means to get around a country to top-end, dress-to-the-nines luxury experiences, trains are always worth thinking ab

05 October 2018

If it’s incredible scenery you are after, stunning beaches and majestic mountains, matched with superb food, wines, modern cultural icons and fascinating history, then spend a fortnight like we did in California. If you’ve never done a USA road trip before, then this is the perfect place to dip your toes in to the world of self-drive holidays. To begin with, getting there could not be easier, w

13 September 2018

Up until a couple of years ago, I did not believe I would ever want to go on a cruise, cruise holidays just weren’t for me. Now I have had the recent pleasure of two very different cruises, one on the luxurious Silversea Silver Wind in the Adriatic, and the other on the larger Crown Princess down to Spain. I thought it would be a good time to dispel some common myths about this great way to see t

23 August 2018

South Africa is one of my favourite countries to visit, but for our most recent trip we decided to try somewhere different and visit the region of Kwa Zulu Natal in the east. This area is steeped in history, culture and natural wonders, with the stunning Drakensberg Mountains, the battlefields from the Zulu and Boer wars, and the modern city of Durban with its spectacular coastline on the Dolphin

17 July 2018

Having been captivated by the book and the (slightly cheesy) Nicholas Cage film, we had always wanted to visit the beautiful island of Kefalonia in the Ionian Sea. So, armed with a headful of cinematic images, we headed there in late May. The 4-hour flight from Gatwick landed us at the small, but expanding, airport at Argostoli, and arrivals, luggage collection and car hire pick up was quick a