02 April 2025

A celebratory trip to mark the beginning of my husband’s retirement took us to The Land of Smiles – Thailand. We began our adventure in Kanchanaburi – known for its dark history; the area is home to the Thai-Burma railway (aka Death Railway) and the famous Bridge over the River Kwai. There’s a memorial and two fascinating museums to visit and we also took a ride on the railways itself. It’s stil

30 August 2023

A very different day at the office as I travelled to Southampton to visit P&O Cruises Arcadia. With a maximum capacity of 2094 passengers, it’s not quite the smallest ship in the P&O fleet, although it didn’t feel small as we navigated our way up and down between the decks, and along its full length! My first impression as I boarded into the atrium was clean and fresh. We spent the morning vis

19 May 2023

My first holiday of 2023 in Dubai. A week in the sun and all girls together, a recipe for a great time! Only a 6½ to 7-hour flight makes Dubai easily accessible for Winter sunshine. With our itinerary to hand we set off on a holiday of discovery. We’d been told how beautiful the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi is, so that was our first adventure. It only took just over an hour and with

04 January 2023

For my husband and I, this trip to Berlin was all about visiting the Christmas Markets as it was our third time to the city. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see the markets on our last visit as the weather was so bad, most markets were closed! We were with my son and his girlfriend on their first trip, so we followed their lead on the attractions to visit. The Christmas Markets don’t generally

27 October 2022

Another holiday postponed because of Covid-19, finally happened! In early September we set off for USA, travelling first to Salt Lake City where we collected a car and headed up to Yellowstone National Park. Enroute, we stopped off at Jackson for a brief visit and I think it’s one of the prettiest towns I’ve ever been to in the US. Beautifully crafted buildings gave me the feeling of being imme

22 July 2022

We finally got there, two years after we’d originally booked, we touched down in the ancient city of Athens. After dropping our things off at the hotel, we headed off – map in hand. Hotel staff directed us to the historic area of Monastiraki. The square was buzzing with sightseers visiting the open-air market to buy souvenirs, before enjoying a meal in one of the many local tavernas. There wer

29 December 2021

We usually take a short trip to Germany to visit the Christmas Markets and get ourselves into the Christmas spirit although, for obvious reasons, it hasn’t been possible for the last couple of years. So, we decided to visit Edinburgh. There’s a Christmas Market as well as lots of other things to see and do. We dispensed with any form of public transport (together with face covering, form filli

24 September 2021

After spending the Summer months closely watching the developments with overseas travel in light of Covid-19, we were relieved and delighted when we were able to book a last-minute break to Crete. We had visited the island many years ago with two small children, so this was a completely different holiday, just the two of us. We based ourselves in the pretty fishing port of Elounda about 45 minute

21 September 2020

I don’t need to explain why 2020 didn’t turn out to be the year any of us had expected or planned for. The holidays we’d planned for the year all had to be rescheduled, but we were still keen to get away for a holiday if possible. Italy was the perfect choice as they were managing Covid well and it was unlikely we’d have to quarantine on our return to UK. We chose Lake Garda, an area we first visi

25 November 2019

With destinations all over the world, award winning musicals, full on-board rotational dining and unlimited snacks, soft drinks and ice-cream, what's there not to love about a Disney cruise? The best bit? It's all served up with the legendary Disney service, themed deck parties and fireworks at sea, you might even get to meet your favourite Disney character on-board too! WHERE CAN I GO ON A DISNE

01 August 2019

Just a short hop from Gatwick and we were in Jersey in the Channel Islands. Although it was my first real visit (I had a flying visit over 30 years ago for 1 day) both my mum and cousin had visited before. We chose a large resort style hotel, which really did offer something for all age groups including an indoor and outdoor pool across the road, two restaurants, evening entertainment or the oppo

10 July 2019

Determined to spend my birthday away this year, my husband and I decided to visit Rome for a few days. My favourite European city and my third visit, although it was my husband’s first. It took about ½ hour to transfer from the airport in a private car after our flight, which had taken a little over 2 hours. Our hotel was perfectly located in the centre of the city about 100 yards from the Trevi

12 August 2018

Vienna is a bit further away than some European cities at just over two hours flying time from London. However, the time (literally) flew by as I chatted with my mum and cousin and we arrived about 13:20 local time. It only took half an hour to get into the city by car and before we knew it we had arrived at our lodging, Hotel am Konzerthaus. Check-in was very efficient, and we were given a w

28 June 2018

We had so much planned for our trip to Uganda and Tanzania that we flew into Kigali in Rwanda to minimise our travelling time as much as possible. After a good night’s rest, we were collected by our guide who transferred us to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest over the border in Uganda for what was undoubtedly the highlight of our holiday – gorilla trekking. We were lucky enough to spend one hour in the

12 December 2017

We decided we’d like to go a bit further afield for our visit to the German Christmas Markets this year and visited the bustling Bavarian City of Munich. We chose to stay in a hotel just outside of the city in Dachau where hotel prices are much more reasonable. A train ride back into the city only takes about 10 minutes on the fast train or 20 minutes on a local train. Another reason for stay

14 September 2017

I was surprised to learn, when I joined Travel Counsellors, that cruising is the fastest growing sector of the market. Most of us think of a cruise as something where you’re told what to wear for dinner and where you’ll sit in the restaurant. However that isn’t for everyone and cruise companies have recognised that. Cruise companies have re-invented the concept and now there’s a cruise to suit e

10 September 2017

As we were travelling with my daughter, son-in-law and year-old granddaughter, we decided not to go too far for our family summer holiday. Cascais is on the Atlantic coast slightly west of Lisbon – Portugal’s capital city. Our flight from London took a little over two hours and then it was a 40-minute transfer to our hotel – Cascais Miragem. The hotel is well located, just a 10-minute walk into

05 July 2017

Hosted by Club Med we spent a few days in the sunshine at Club Med La Palmeraie in Marrakech. Never having visited before it was an ideal opportunity to enjoy the Club Med experience and travel to a new place. Landing after a 3 ½ hour flight we could see immediately that we’d landed in Northern Africa, the red square sandstone buildings were visible from the runway. Transfer to La Palmeraie took

30 June 2017

An interest in visiting Auschwitz was the main reason for choosing to visit Krakow for our short break this year. Our flight from Heathrow to the small Krakow Airport took about two hours where we were met and transferred to our hotel in the city centre. The hotel was very well placed close to the historic town centre and the main market square. The sun was shining and we ate a lovely meal o

19 April 2017

We arrived in Jaipur, our first port of call, following a short flight from Mumbai where we’d landed the previous evening from UK. Nothing can prepare you for the hustle and bustle that is India – people, cars and rickshaws, camels pulling heavily loaded carts, pigs, and cows ambling along (or even just biding their time) in the middle of the road! Amber Fort is the major attraction and it w

20 December 2016

Four and a half hours after we drove off the Eurotunnel at Calais, we arrived in the car park of the Park Plaza Hotel in the ancient German city of Trier. We were there for a three night break, the week before Christmas. Our hotel was really well placed for us to reach all the main areas on foot and there was plenty to see during our stay. The city was originally founded by the Romans in 17BC

12 August 2016

Just over two hours from home and we found ourselves in a beautiful hotel amidst the Somerset countryside. The hotel only has 21 rooms, an outdoor pool and spa facilities (sauna and steam room free of charge and treatments at an additional cost). We made the most of the hotel facilities on our first afternoon as the weather was warm and sunny and enjoyed an evening meal in a local pub. Unusually t

14 June 2016

Every year we take a ‘girls trip’ to a different European city and this year it was Budapest. I’ve never visited Hungary before, so I felt I was embarking on a real adventure. The flight took just over 2 hours, so it is easily manageable for a long weekend, with a 40 minute transfer into the city. Our hotel was perfectly placed on the Buda side of the River Danube, close to one of the many brid

04 April 2016

We began our trip in Singapore for three nights; it was my third visit but it had been 27 years since the last time. I was surprised at how much development has taken place in the intervening years, but it still had the charm I remembered from years ago. With bustling Chinatown and chaotic Little India adding to the general ambience, and of course the obligatory visit to Raffles for a Singapore Sl