Category: United Kingdom

Our COVID-19 safe travel experience from London to Phnom Penh via Singapore

Our COVID-19 safe travel experience from London to Phnom Penh via Singapore

By on Nov 05, 2020 in Accommodation, Air Travel, Asia, Cambodia, Europe, Food and Drink, Health & Safety, Hotels, Regions, Singapore, Speciality Travel, Travel Miscellany, United Kingdom, Western Europe

Back in March, with the Cambodian borders closing and our global health care deemed invalid due to the World Health Organisation declaring a pandemic, we decided to visit friends and family in the UK. Finally, after six months of uncertainty we have arrived back in Cambodia and wanted to share our COVID-19 safe travel experience […]

Short stay: Congham Hall Hotel and Spa, Near Kings Lynn, Norfolk, UK

Short stay: Congham Hall Hotel and Spa, Near Kings Lynn, Norfolk, UK

By on Nov 01, 2020 in Accommodation, Europe, Featured, Food and Drink, Going Out, Hotels, Leisure Travel, Regions, Restaurants, Spas & Pampering, Speciality Travel, Travel Miscellany, United Kingdom, Western Europe

Carved kingfishers and waders, an oil painting of deer flitting through the forest, a Norfolk estuary at sunset. Congham Hall Hotel and Spa, where you hear the birdsong, is a haven, a rural celebration of one of Britain’s most restful counties. Congham Hall Hotel, built in the 1780s, is a whitewashed Georgian mansion complete with […]

Short stay: Hampton Manor, Hampton-in-Arden, West Midlands, UK

Short stay: Hampton Manor, Hampton-in-Arden, West Midlands, UK

By on Oct 27, 2020 in Accommodation, Europe, Featured, Food and Drink, Going Out, Hotels, Regions, Restaurants, Travel Miscellany, United Kingdom, Western Europe

The country house party is stylishly back at the foodie estate of Hampton Manor. In the parlour, lavish books and board games sit invitingly on coffee tables. Wellies are ready for country rambles. The croquet lawn awaits. Guests gather for pre-dinner cocktails, gins or wine. After dinner Frazer guides guests through a tour of whiskies. […]

Short stay: The Cavendish London, Mayfair, London, UK

Short stay: The Cavendish London, Mayfair, London, UK

By on Oct 13, 2020 in Accommodation, Europe, Featured, Hotels, Regions, United Kingdom, Western Europe

In the true spirit of The Cavendish London you could order The Duchess from The Petrichor Bar: a cocktail of Galliano, Cointreau, orange juice and double cream. Then toast Rosa Lewis, known as the Duchess of Jermyn Street, who worked her way up from humble origins to purchase The Cavendish London in 1902. Back then […]

6 memorable meals from our pre-COVID-19 vegan travel adventures

6 memorable meals from our pre-COVID-19 vegan travel adventures

By on Oct 07, 2020 in Accommodation, Asia, China, Europe, Food and Drink, Going Out, Hong Kong, Hotels, Regions, Restaurants, Singapore, Thailand, Travel Miscellany, United Kingdom, Vietnam, Western Europe

The global lockdown and COVID-19 crisis has forced us all to postpone travel plans whilst life as we once knew it is still on pause. As self confessed foodies we have missed the culinary opportunities that our vegan travel adventures presented. We certainly haven’t gone hungry as we have been creating in our own kitchen […]

Short stay: Roseate House, Hyde Park, London, UK

Short stay: Roseate House, Hyde Park, London, UK

By on Sep 30, 2020 in Accommodation, Europe, Featured, Hotels, Regions, United Kingdom, Western Europe

Roseate House London is a white stucco confection of a 48-room boutique hotel within a five-minute walk of Hyde Park. An invitation to revisit an era when London aspired to become the next Athens or Rome. Dating back to 1842, three Grade 2 listed townhouses with classical columns and balustraded balconies, make up this dignified retreat […]

A family sailing holiday in western Scotland

A family sailing holiday in western Scotland

By on Sep 04, 2020 in Adventure Travel, Cruises & Boat Travel, Europe, Family Travel, Featured, Regions, Speciality Travel, United Kingdom, Western Europe

The coronavirus has turned the world on its head when it comes to family holidays or indeed travel of any kind. Now we are more mindful of issues such as health and hygiene, social distancing and santisation, than ever before. It is therefore perhaps quite natural that we see holidaymakers seeking isolation over city breaks, […]

Short stay: The Duncombe Arms, Ellastone, Staffordshire, UK

Short stay: The Duncombe Arms, Ellastone, Staffordshire, UK

By on Aug 30, 2020 in Accommodation, Europe, Featured, Going Out, Hotels, Regions, Restaurants, United Kingdom, Western Europe

The Duncombe Arms shows just how far The Great British Pub has travelled. Gourmet pub classics have brought a Michelin Bib Gourmand, two AA rosettes and foodies from afar. This is no longer just a place where only locals drop by for a pint and a bite. Ten rooms in Walnut House, every one, with […]

Short stay: New Hall Hotel and Spa, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, UK

Short stay: New Hall Hotel and Spa, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, UK

By on Aug 28, 2020 in Accommodation, Europe, Featured, Hotels, Regions, Spas & Pampering, Speciality Travel, United Kingdom, Western Europe

New Hall is the romantic castle, complete with water lilies floating on the moat, where you have always wanted to stay. There are more coats of arms, griffins, stone fireplaces, Norman French mottoes, crenelated towers, timber beams, cupola topped by a weather vane and mullioned-windows than you can shake a jousting lance at. Rumour has […]

The great English escape

The great English escape

By on Aug 25, 2020 in Europe, Regions, United Kingdom, Western Europe

You may write England off when it comes to looking for a ‘holiday’, but it is actually the perfect location for a luxurious break. This country is packed with amazing views, blue seas, tonnes of history and the finest cuisine; and I am not ashamed to say it, but I think England really does have […]

Short stay: Middlethorpe Hotel and Spa, York, UK

Short stay: Middlethorpe Hotel and Spa, York, UK

By on Aug 14, 2020 in Accommodation, Europe, Featured, Hotels, Regions, United Kingdom, Western Europe

The red-brick and white-sash-windows house, built in 1699, has echoes of both the grandeur of Hampton Court and Sir Christopher Wren’s elegant rebuilding of London after The Great Fire of London. Although owner Thomas Barlow’s views on architecture were influenced by his Grand Tour of Europe, Middlethorpe Hall Hotel and Spa, with its lawns and […]

Blackheath and Greenwich: 10 reasons to visit

Blackheath and Greenwich: 10 reasons to visit

By on Aug 06, 2020 in Attractions, Europe, Going Out, Regions, United Kingdom, Western Europe

The 211 acres of Blackheath’s common tell the story of England over the last millennium. The Royal Hundred Hides, traditionally, a hide is enough land to house and feed a family, lead south to Greenwich Park and it’s history. Over the centuries, Blackheath has been a gathering point for both celebrations and revolts: Henry V […]

Short stay: Rookery Hall Hotel and Spa, Nantwich, Cheshire, UK

Short stay: Rookery Hall Hotel and Spa, Nantwich, Cheshire, UK

By on Aug 02, 2020 in Accommodation, Europe, Featured, Going Out, Hotels, Regions, Restaurants, Spas & Pampering, Speciality Travel, United Kingdom, Western Europe

Two centuries on from its naming as Rookery Hall, the rooks still fly over 38 acres of grounds, waddle across the terrace and perch on the handsome Georgian mansion built back in 1816. Yet, there is an air of the Loire valley to this grand sandstone and grey slate property. When Baron Von Schroeder purchased […]

Short stay: Homewood Hotel and Spa, Bath, UK

Short stay: Homewood Hotel and Spa, Bath, UK

By on Jul 25, 2020 in Accommodation, Europe, Featured, Hotels, Regions, Spas & Pampering, Speciality Travel, United Kingdom, Western Europe

Homewood, in ten bucolic acres of lawns and soaring trees, brings relaxed but stylish Mediterranean living to the rural village of Freshford: palms, olive trees in deep terracotta planters, Goddess sculptures and modernist art. It’s a sensuous taste of the Côte d’Azur slotted between the rivers Avon and Frome. The Mediterranean theme is apt, given […]

Short stay: The Swan Hotel, Newby Bridge, Cumbria, UK

Short stay: The Swan Hotel, Newby Bridge, Cumbria, UK

By on Jul 18, 2020 in Accommodation, Europe, Featured, Hotels, Regions, United Kingdom, Western Europe

The Swan Hotel is a former sixteenth-century coaching inn that has been extended to become virtually a Lake District resort. Ivy grows on whitewashed walls that overlook the five arches of the narrow 1651 Newby Bridge. Meanwhile the River Leven that sedately flows towards Lake Windermere. After flooding in December 2015, The Swan Hotel rose […]

5 hikes to capture the essence of Scotland

5 hikes to capture the essence of Scotland

By on Jul 14, 2020 in Europe, Leisure Travel, Regions, Speciality Travel, United Kingdom, Western Europe

From a casual stroll taking in the beauty of your surroundings to an epic adventurous trail that tests your stamina; nothing can beat Scotland when it comes to luxurious hikes – the dramatic landscapes will take your breath away. Given the current climate and limitations on air travel, we are being encouraged to venture outdoors […]