recent Travel blogs
venice : italy : winter

venice : italy : winter

Winter is a gorgeous time of year to visit Venice. I've only been once in the summer and it was crowded. And hot. Accommodation was much more expensive and I think I just found it all a bit of a faff. So, whenever we go now, we choose to go in the colder months. You...

tarifa : andalucia : spain

tarifa : andalucia : spain

Tarifa lies on the Costa de la Luz, across the Strait of Gibraltar facing Morocco, in the province of Cádiz, Andalucia. Located at the southernmost end of the Iberian Peninsula, it is primarily known as one of the world's most popular destinations for windsports. We...

salts mill : saltaire : yorkshire

salts mill : saltaire : yorkshire

It turns out Christmas Eve was just about the most perfect time to visit Salts Mill, in Saltaire, on our way up to the North East for our festive break Now a Unesco World Heritage Site, like the very beautiful Port Sunlight on The Wirral, Saltaire was an industrial...

metz : grand est : france

metz : grand est : france

We first discovered the beautiful medieval city of Metz, two years ago, on our first road trip from Istria to England, for Christmas. Positioned where it is, in north eastern France, it was a good place to stop and break up the journey to Calais. We’ve stayed a few...

the falstaff : canterbury : kent : england

the falstaff : canterbury : kent : england

When we drive back to England, we tend to do a much needed stopover in the south-east after the ferry crossing from Calais. This year, we plumped for The Falstaff in Canterbury, which, according to its website – …has been a focus for hospitality in Canterbury for over...

riley’s fish shack : tynemouth : northumberland

riley’s fish shack : tynemouth : northumberland

Although it’s been a while since I lived in the North East, we do still get to experience it when we visit family. It’s become a bit of a tradition that we do a bracing post-Christmas walk, usually on the coast, and this year was no exception. On the day after Boxing...

frescoes : draguć : istria : croatia

frescoes : draguć : istria : croatia

In northern Istria, is the small village of Draguć, somewhere I’d never heard of, let alone been to, until this summer. That’s the beauty of Istria. It’s a small peninsula and so I guess that once people who visit have been to the big-hitters – Rovinj, Porec, Pula,...

treviso : veneto : italy

treviso : veneto : italy

Amanda and Steve, friends who come and visit us from Manchester, usually fly into Treviso, north of Venice, spend a couple of days there and then hop on the train to Trieste where we pick them up. They keep telling us that we must visit Treviso, because we’d love it....

hotel navis : opatija riviera : croatia

hotel navis : opatija riviera : croatia

What a treat, a day and night away at Hotel Navis, in Opatija, is. Built into a cliff-face, and with all rooms overlooking the sea, it is situated between Rijeka and Volosko, on Preluk Bay – and for us, not too far away from our home in Istria. We spotted the hotel on...

petit sant miquel : calonge : mallorca

petit sant miquel : calonge : mallorca

After spending time on the western side of Mallorca, we decided to explore the eastern side of the island and found a gem of a hotel, called Petit Sant Miquel in the very pretty and very traditional village of Calonge. Renovated and opened in August 2018 by a...