Monthly Archives: August 2026

Cumbria and the Lake District is well known for its beautiful landscapes but seemingly less known for its food. Yet the region home to more Michelin starred restaurants than anywhere else in the UK outside of London, as well as having some excellent pubs (some of which have Michelin stars, too). We’ve travelled the length […]

New Zealand’s food story is worth travelling for. People often ask me what New Zealand food actually is, and I never have a tidy answer. France has a cuisine. So does Italy, so does Japan. Say the name and a whole tradition arrives with it, based on centuries of tradition and culture, and instantly recognisable. […]

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 […]

A milestone birthday in Ibiza or a company offsite in Mallorca is really two jobs wearing one coat. You need somewhere beautiful for everyone to stay, and you need the whole thing to actually run once they arrive. The villa is the part people focus on, and honestly it is the easy part. The hard […]

Somewhere around the second night of a family villa holiday, someone always says it: “This was such a good idea.” It usually comes right after dinner, when the plates are still out, the kids have disappeared to whatever corner of the garden has the best hiding spots, and the grandparents have claimed the two comfiest […]

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 […]