Think you need hundreds of thousands of Avios for your next getaway? Think again. From the white sands of Greece to the bustling souks of Morocco, the historic cities of Spain and gastro-adventures of Italy, your current Avios balance could already be enough for an unforgettable trip. Here are 10 of my best Avios destinations […]
Half past ten on a Tuesday night in late September, parked on a gravel pull-off by Kleifarvatn lake, engine off. Our guests, a couple from Singapore celebrating twenty years of marriage, had been asleep in their Reykjavík hotel forty minutes earlier. Now they stood beside our van holding cups of hot chocolate, staring at what […]
There used to be a simple way to define luxury travel, honestly. The best hotel in town. The biggest suite you could book. Somebody idling out front in a black car, waiting on you. A table at whatever restaurant nobody else could get into that month. Luxury used to be something you could point at, […]
Few voyages combine spectacular scenery with such a strong sense of place as Hebridean Island Cruises’ Lord of the Highlands. This intimate 19-cabin ship feels more like a floating Scottish country house than a conventional cruise liner; complete with polished wood interiors, tartan touches and a welcoming crew who quickly know every guest by name. Sailing […]
A client wants a six-bedroom villa near Santa Gertrudis for the second week of August, with a heated pool and room to seat fourteen for dinner. The advisor has until the end of the day to come back with options before the client’s attention wanders to another agency. Whether the answer takes twenty minutes or […]
Ask ten charter guests why they picked the French Riviera and you’ll get ten different answers, and that’s really the point of this coastline. Unlike a lot of Mediterranean destinations that have one clear identity, this stretch of water between St Tropez and Nice changes character every twenty or thirty nautical miles. I’ve had clients […]
We never miss the opportunity to visit Hoi An and Danang as they are two of our favourite destinations in Vietnam, whilst the fact that they are just 30km apart makes it perfect to combine them as part of the same trip. From the picturesque streets and UNESCO heritage of Hoi An Ancient Town to […]
A client once asked me, on the 14th tee at Cape Kidnappers, why nobody had mentioned his handicap all week. I told him I had stopped listening for it around day three. He looked almost relieved. That doesn’t mean golf is incidental on these trips. It isn’t. Tee times, slope ratings, signature holes all matter […]
Located on the Costa del Sol the historic coastal town of Benalmádena boasts a port, a town centre and an old town – three distinctly different areas. The Paseo Marítimo Benalmádena is a long promenade, lined with cafés, bars and souvenir shops typical of many seaside towns. But this little town also has a fascinating history […]
The French Riviera takes on a different character after the height of summer. The coastline becomes calmer and favourite restaurants are easier to enjoy. Local life also returns at an unhurried pace. If you’d rather have meaningful experiences over busy itineraries, this is the perfect time to discover a more refined side of one of […]
You may recall a couple of months ago that we had the pleasure of staying at Gilpin Hotel & Lake House, between Kendal and Windermere, in the Lake District. As part of that stay, we dined at the hotel’s 2 AA Rosette Gilpin Spice restaurant. A few changes have happened since that visit, most notably […]
The Tramuntana takes some explaining to clients who only know Mallorca by its beaches. It’s a mountain range running along the northwest coast. The villages inside it are old and mostly intact. Serious travellers have been coming specifically for them since well before the package holiday era. They draw them for different reasons than the […]
I’ve sent clients to a lot of Caribbean islands over the years, and St Barts still throws me a little every time. It’s tiny. You can practically see across it from a hilltop. And yet it manages to be two completely different places at once: barefoot, salty, goats-on-the-hillside Caribbean on one side, and full-on glamour […]
Remember those days when you used to have to fiddle about with changing the SIM card in your phone whenever you went abroad? Thankfully those days are long gone. They were soon followed by an era of dual SIM trays which allowed you to put SIM cards in your phone at the same time, and […]
Last month we tried something here we had never done before. We published the full program and the full price of a private Ring Road tour before it ran. Nine days, two travellers from California, 2,503,000 ISK, call it 19,700 dollars. We promised to write down what actually happened once they flew home, and judging […]
