Savoir Snaps

On a day trip to the Brunei capital I was wowed by a selection of Bandar Seri Begawan’s highlights, from mosques and floating villages to food markets and museums. But the country’s largest mosque, which was built by the current Sultan was undoubtedly the most impressive thing I saw during my short visit to the tiny […]

I’ve been looking forward to writing about my short break safari at Kent’s Port Lympne Reserve ever since I got home. But every time I sit down to tell you about the experience, I end up getting distracted by all my photos of the cute baby rhino, ickle giraffe and all the other animals they have roaming around […]

I really fell in love with Menorca on my recent trip to the island – so much so that I am seriously considering a repeat trip very soon, and am dreaming about house hunting there because it’s just that gorgeous. So here are 30 reasons to love Menorca – little insights into why you can and should […]

At number 2 on my top 10 travel lessons to transform your trips is the importance of getting up close with nature and especially wildlife at any (respectful & safe) opportunity. No matter how much I travel absolutely nothing reminds me of how lucky I am to see so much of the world and puts […]

This isn’t exactly a news flash, but we girls like getting dressed up. And from the moment I arrived in Valencia I was determined to do one thing (besides eat paella): dress up in the famous Fallas festival costume, and become a Spanish Queen for the day. And here’s another thing about girls; we already think […]

Despite the well-documented love affair we Brits have with the Spanish coast, I never went on a family holiday to Spain as a child. Yet one of my most treasured possessions as a little girl was a delicate handheld Spanish lace fan.  So when I was given the opportunity to meet a traditional Valencia fan […]

Mexico’s Riviera Maya isn’t short on publicity for its vacation charms, and the entire Yucatan Peninsula isn’t exactly bereft of 5 Star hotel options.  So chances are if you’re headed to this area of Mexico you already know exactly what you want, and that’s likely to be a luxurious haven of relaxation encompassing the holy holiday trinity of sun, […]

At the start of winter I usually struggle with the idea of weekends away to colder European countries – ever clinging onto that last bit of winter sun. But that all changes come Christmas when I’m a sucker for short breaks to snowy cities and can’t wait to hit the European Christmas markets to stock […]

It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey, right? Well sometimes, wrong. When the destination is Arizona’s famed scenic and sacred red rock panorama, specifically the high class hippy hiking mecca of artsy Sedona, and that final section of your journey is a spine-tingling first glimpse of looming rocks under the cloak of darkness, […]

I usually have my own special reason to celebrate American Independence Day  – just like the famous movie title, my little brother was born on the 4th of July. And while he isn’t American (or even English like me) and is now far from being a little boy, he did turn out to be a […]

There are plenty of ways to get out onto the water of Lake Havasu – in fact this part of Arizona is probably most famous as a water sports paradise, hosting the jet skiing world championships each year. But if you’re looking for a romantic interlude rather than an adrenaline-fuelled adventure on Arizona’s 20,000 acre lake, this simple $2 ferry […]

Some years I’ve travelled farther afield, some years I explored a little closer to home, but every year I consider myself a traveller. That’s because wherever I go, I’m always looking for change and adventure. This year I changed where ‘home’ was – instead of London, England it was Vancouver, Canada – meaning adventure has […]

In my previous post I got all nostalgic about summer and highlighted 7 spectacular spots from my summer months in British Columbia – but even though I’m happily embracing Autumn (complete with at least 7 pairs of boots to assist me) I’m still singing the praises of some of last season’s most special memories. Here […]

As the sun set on another Beautiful British Columbia summer, I decide to detail my favourite 14 sun-drenched memories from my summer travels. In the second post I cover the secret sunny spaces I found in Europe and Central America, but here in the first installment I share my 7 secret summertastic spots near my […]

When we travel we always hope for picture-perfect weather, and seek out postcard-worthy images, but perhaps it wasn’t a bad thing that I visited Slovenia’s most famous lake, which has a reputation as an Alpine fairytale location, on a day when the weather was wet, and the area shrouded in mystical clouds – meaning it was almost […]

I walk along Vancouver Island’s vast Cox Beach in the winter sunshine, spotting surfers and sand dollars, meeting four-legged beach goers and admiring washed up chunks of tree that are as beautiful as any piece of modern sculpture in the best gallery in town… I’ve spent the night at Long Beach Lodge  – a refined resort-style property […]

‘Winnipegans just get on with it!’ I’m told this undeniable fact as I travel with a group of fellow writers in temperatures of -20 to Winnipeg’s famous February alfresco shindig, Festival du Voyageur. And it’s practically a heat wave for the Manitoban winter. Looking out of the window of the minivan at the bright blue […]

One of my favourite things to do in a new city is poke around at a flea market for nik-naks to bring home, especially in places where the cost of living is high; in Asia and Africa shopping is cheap and souvenirs are easy to pick up anywhere. Here in Vancouver and in European cities […]

It’s every little girl’s dream to play among the piles of colourful tutus and pink satin dance shoes hidden inside a ballet company’s closet – and this big girl’s dream finally came true when I went on a behind the scenes tour of  the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. There were two books I owned as a […]

I love a road trip. I love the feeling of excitement at the beginning when you have a map, a plan, a clean car and an anticipatory sense of adventure; I love the feeling at the end when you have a map with coffee spilled all over it, a filthy car that looks like a […]

As the year drew to a close I found myself writing a post recapping my favourite travel memories of 2013 and I learned a couple of things about myself in the process – firstly that many of my favourite moments of the year involve nature and animals, and secondly that when I’m not looking for […]

I have a confession to make: I can’t ski. So when I was invited to the famed ski resort of Whistler I was a bit apprehensive about what a London girl like me would do while everyone else made plans to zoom down a mountain. It turned out that I was still able to zoom […]

This is a true slice of rural back-to-basics Italian cookery; walking through the plentiful land surrounding a quintessential Tuscan villa, down steep verdant hills and into the flourishing vegetable garden I crouch down to hand-pick huge succulent tomatoes. Together with my friends we collect the fruit in baskets and the folds of our aprons, then, glass of wine […]

I always seek out cycling opportunities wherever I go, but rarely have I found a city as cycle-friendly and indeed as cycle-photo-friendly as Bologna. Beautiful bikes became synonymous with my time in Emilia Romagna’s university city – here are my favourite Bologna photos which showcase the beauty of the bike… 

I’m on the Rocky Mountaineer Train – the rail journey of  a lifetime through the Canadian stretch of the Rockies – and as four days of jaw dropping views rhythmically float past me, I become obsessed with capturing the immense skies and screen-saver scenery as reflected with the glint of the sun in the side of […]

In which I use my favourite arty little Instagrams as a guide to the lesser-known unsung Dutch ‘Dam – I’m talking of course about the port city of Rotterdam. Here are 5 Things to do in Rotterdam…

I make no secret of my somewhat controversial love affair with Belgium. Where others see Belgium as an ugly sister to France’s more deserving glass-slippered mademoiselle I see the destination as the unsung heroine; rather cute and easy-on-the-eye but distinctly self-aware and modest to a fault. But outside the classic fairytale looks of Ghent, Bruges and any […]

East meets West, British order overlaid on Chinese culture, perpetually expanding upwards into the sky and outwards into the ocean. Grab an eyeful of the confluence of capitalism, colonialism and communism on this photo tour to one of the most densely populated corners of the planet, the Cantonese for ‘fragrant harbour’ – Hong Kong… There may be no […]

Can you think of a single city as synonymous with über-cool street life as Berlin? On my recent trip to the erstwhile divided capital this coolness extended its grip to the elements, with a sub-zero snow-covering lending an extra dimension to the urban landscape. Shooting in the snow with frozen toes kicking fresh drifts and tingly […]

I’d always wanted to visit The Sultanate of Brunei but somehow it had never happened – until circumstances brought me to the Brunei capital Bendar Seri Begawan on a great value Royal Brunei Airlines flight from Bangkok to London ‘via’ Brunei. Of course it’s hardly on the way, in fact it’s just over two hours in the wrong […]

The Filipino Island of Bohol is best known for two things: tarsiers and what I came to think of as an exaggerated teletubby land known as The Chocolate Hills, a strange landscape of 1,268 eerie and bizarre conical mounds dotted a round the centre of the island…

The huge unspoiled Cambodian temple complex at Preah Vihear has long been the scene of animosity and fighting between Thai and Cambodian forces, but happily for those seeking an unspoiled temple experience it’s currently safe to visit. And due to the contentious history of this site there’s just a tiny sprinkling of tourists here even today, […]

I love Cambodia, I love Siem Reap and I love Angkor Wat. But as well as playing the same game as everyone else and trying to get pictures of the famous temples sans tourists, I decided to embrace the scenes created by my armies of fellow snappers. Here are my top 5 photos of random […]

But Christopher Robin is nowhere to be seen. And instead of bearskins you can witness the guards or Sumungun (meaning gatekeepers) dressed in their own traditional brightly coloured costumes and armour as they perform a ceremonial re-enactment of the changing of the royal guard.

How much food can one girl eat (and photograph) during a single day on a food tour of Seoul? Let’s find out…

* Disclaimer* This post tackles a sensitive subject so I want to be clear about the fact that I’m not on the side of anything here, except peace.* I went to Belfast to enjoy the city, to shop at the Christmas Market, drink in the bars, see the Titanic exhibition and explore the Antrim Coast – […]

Think of Northern Ireland and you’ll probably think of Guinness, stunning green scenery, Game of Thrones tours and the Giant’s Causeway. But the famous Unesco World Heritage Site isn’t the only natural wonder this stretch of Northern Ireland’s Causeway Coast has to offer. There’s a wealth of Ireland attractions here in County Antrim, so come […]

Paris may be known as the City of Light, but Turin is making a bid to be the City of Lights, as its avenues and squares, its Roman walls, and even its public bicycles are adorned with light installations for the Winter. But these are no mere gaudy Christmas baubles, they’re an all-encompassing city-wide endeavour to make […]

After nearly four years in the making, and at nearly twice as high of any other London viewpoint, The Shard allows you to see the greatest city on earth in all its 360-degree glory. Here’s my report on The View From The Shard – plus I’ll show you the secret viewpoint that paying visitors will […]

Just outside the UNESCO World Heritage City of Evora in Portugal’s sleepy Alentejo region lies the Iberian Peninsula’s largest Megalithic monument, the mysterious and enigmatic Almendres stone circle. Built 7,000 years ago – and  2,000 years before Stonehenge  – it’s still attracting visitors, if you can find it down a quiet dusty road that is… I’m in Evora and I’ve just […]

*Update May 2019: Check out the latest post on things to do near The Shard* Imagine a building so tall the view from the window is like looking out of an aircraft. Imagine standing on a floor so high that helicopters are below you. And imagine 40 miles of London views, from the Olympic to Wembley […]

Think of Cairo and you’ll imagine Tahrir Square, mob rule and flag-carrying protesters. But Cairo and Tahrir Square has changed in the last 20 months – at the end of September the Egyptian authorities pushed forward with a major clean-up of the city’s revolutionary hub. Having turfed the square they made the controversial decision to whitewash the political graffiti which adorns […]

You’ve heard of Lisbon and the Algarve but what about the sleepy swathe of Portugal which lies between these two areas? The road joining Portugal’s main tourist hubs may be well-travelled, but not so the towns, beaches and farmlands of the Alentejo region itself. Here we explore Portugal’s best kept secret in photographs… I hope these photographs will inspire you to […]

A selection of my favourite examples of Lisbon photography from my time in the city, with images of Lisbon street life from a variety of angles.  p.s. I left my camera on the wrong setting for some of my favourite shots (don’t you hate it when that happens!) so I had to get creative with […]

It’s hard to capture the brilliance, exhilaration and atmosphere of London 2012 in words. So here are my favourite London 2012 pictures – 10 images of London’s Olympics all taken with my own camera or iphone and all making me brim with pride at the amazing show London is putting on…

Bognor Regis. The name may conjur up images of faded seaside grandeur and have connotations of titter-worthyness, sticks of rock, Butlins holiday camps and end-of-the-pier shows, but let’s face it this place is up there in Britain’s collective consciousness, so if you’ve got a spare sunny day off here in Blighty the surprisingly photogenic seaside town is well […]

What’s in a name? Well as it turns out rather a lot. The right name can really take you places  – and in the case of Eataly be the catalyst for a lot of income. This is a culinary example of how to turn a clever moniker into cold hard cash. It is a high-class, […]

How often have you looked at places on a map and drifted off into a reverie, imagining what each destination must be like in real life? We travel lovers tend to be incorrigible cartophiles too, stroking our fingers over the exotic-sounding place-names written in a strange tongue, making our hearts beat that little bit faster, causing our minds to […]

Stick a pin in a map where you imagine the very centre of Italy to be and you’ll probably hit Lago Trasimeno – the oldest lake in Italy. Overshadowed by well-publicised show-stoppers like Lake Como nudging the Swiss border up in the North, the fourth-largest lake in the country boasts an all together more laid-back […]

The Soweto tour was the highlight of my trip to Johannesburg – interesting, educational, vibrant, eye-opening, and most of all, fun. Here I’m going to let the photos speak for themselves…