Home and away, we love to travel. Read about our trips in the UK and overseas including hotel and restaurant reviews and visits to specialist producers.

An Indulgent Spa Day and Dinner, Bed and Breakfast at Holiday Inn Winchester

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Woman in jacuzzi pool

Until our visit to the Holiday Inn Winchester, I’d never come across a Holiday Inn with a full spa on site. We are already fans of IHG, and have stayed in Holiday Inns many times across many countries – we appreciate the consistency and reliability of their offering and their mid-budget price point. But until ... Read more »

Tyddyn Llan Restaurant with Rooms | Denbighshire, Wales

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Tyddyn Llan Restaurant with Rooms

Tyddyn Llan describes itself as a restaurant with rooms, placing the focus firmly on their excellent food, rather than a typical hotel experience. Based in a beautiful Georgian country house dating from 1742, set in the beautiful Vale of Edeyrnion in Denighshire, North East Wales, Tyddyn Llan is perfectly placed to explore the local area ... Read more »

Cotswold House Hotel & Spa in Chipping Campden

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Cotswold House Hotel in Chipping Campden

The Cotswolds is one of England’s most picturesque regions, thanks to its many well-preserved towns and villages built of beautiful yellow limestone, quarried locally. Narrow streets lined with elegant old buildings glow golden in the early morning and late afternoon sun, appealing to anyone interested in history and well-preserved architecture. One such small town is ... Read more »

Top 10 Sights in Peru for Culture and History Lovers

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Machu Picchu

Peruvian cuisine, music, wildlife, geography, and dances are only some of the charms that attract hundreds of thousands of tourists to Peru, a tourist hot-spot of the world. Although visitors enjoy many aspects of the country, Peru is perhaps best known for sights related to its diverse history and culture. Peru has been the site ... Read more »

A Taste For… Parma Ham

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Parma ham legs hanging to age

The inspector from the Istituto Parma Qualità moves quickly amongst a selection of legs of ham. He pierces each ham in at least five spots using a special horse bone needle and sniffs the needle after each puncture. The needle is quite specialist; horse bone is porous to just the right degree that it takes in ... Read more »

Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir Au Quat’Saisons

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Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons

There is little I can add to what’s already been written about Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir Au Quat’Saisons and yet I feel compelled to share our experiences nonetheless. Having dreamed of visiting the two Michelin-starred restaurant and hotel for over two decades, our stay was every bit as wonderful as we hoped–it did not disappoint! ... Read more »

Village-Style Lamb & Other Stories | A Visit to Clay’s Hyderabadi

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Claypot being opened

After enjoying food from Clay’s Hyderabadi Kitchen’s via mail order on many occasions over the last several months, we excitedly made a pilgrimage to visit the newly reopened restaurant in person with fellow fans. Located in Reading city centre, it’s a small and unassuming space. Inside, magic happens. One of my favourite dishes (of a ... Read more »

Abergavenny | Four Delicious Delis

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Inside Madame Fromage Abergavenny

When it comes to delicatessens in Abergavenny, it’s all change in the last year or so with closures and new openings transforming the town’s deli options. The good news is we have a superb range of delis selling all sorts of delicious food and drink. Check out our three town centre recommendations plus an entry ... Read more »

How to Design The Perfect Travel Itinerary

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Hand writing onto a note pad the text "how to design the perfect travel itinerary"

For over 25 years, I’ve been planning and booking independent trips, creating the perfect travel itinerary to suit our personal interests, available time and budget. For me, this process is an absolute joy, and something that really adds to the enjoyment of a trip — the more I research and pull together the itinerary, the ... Read more »