Home in Time for Tea

Want to see a great load of sights in one trip? Want an adventure and stories to tell , without sleeping in the slums? Road tripping is the way to go! Frozen lake in Arctic Scandinavia Views high up away from the resorts in a very rural Gran Canaria Driving the famous racing route in Monte Carlo Road trips take away the time spent waiting for public transport on holiday and working out timetables - that really adds up. We have spent most of the day on a bus from Cannes to Nice before now... then we went back, but in the car and oh boy! The day we saw Michaelangelo's David, the Leaning tower of Pisa , and beautiful medieval San Gimignano in one day , I was particularly grateful for the variety a road trip affords.  You can still get exposed to a bit of local culture on a road trip holiday - in addition to  stopping at funny little places off the beaten track - just turn on the radio, you might be lucky enough to hear some great loc...

Here's just a selection of my favourite wine-related experiences, dotted around the globe in my favourite places, including tastings, tours, and cellars... Some involve popular and well-known wines, while others involve something a little different. Let's start fairly local: Wine Tasting & Food Pairing: The Wine Bar – Stamford, England For a unique experience in quaint English town Stamford , head to The Wine Bar for a food-paired wine tasting. This trendy, classy bar is a friendly place to enjoy great wines, spirits and snacks. Stamford makes an interesting, historic visit to the East of England. A traditional stone market town, it has a plethora of tearooms, gift shops and restaurants, with postcard-pretty lanes and streets. We sat comfortably in the dedicated tasting room, and the host took us through the wines in a relaxed, informal way. He had a great way of talking about the wines informatively without an ounce of pretension – no eas...

It's always a treat to arrive somewhere and really feel  that you're there. The people, buildings, food, culture and language can all be clear signs of a genuine, traditional and excitingly real place with its own identity. Here are some of my favourite popular yet traditional towns in Europe. Unspoilt places that, quite simply, have not yet been overtaken by mass-tourism or globalisation, but are total must-sees. Brasov, Romania Clean and medieval, with pretty red roofs, and surrounding forested Transylvanian mountains. A fairytale. Brasov has a cable car for stunning views of this traditional town, a great selection of delicious cafés and restaurants, and some interesting little gift and craft shops. It is a great base for exploring parts of Transyvania such as Bran Castle and Rasnov fortress. My favourite thing about Brasov the view from above - it looks like a tiny toy town, dwarfed by the big cathedral in the middle and the ...

Smooth, creamy Belgian chocolate in Bruges, a Sephora make-up haul, inexpensive French cuisine, and a 3D planetarium; the perfect little weekend trip from the UK...  Baby in Bruges! It's always a treat to cross that little strip of sea the French call 'La Manche,' and find that simple but tasty things like steak, wine and bread, are suddenly bursting with flavour and texture, as if a black and white world has just turned to colour.  W e enjoy weekends in the North of France just for the everyday cuisine if nothing else, but along with shopping and unusual attractions it makes a fantastic little excursion for all the family, and so easy to get to as it's all just around 40 minutes from the port of Dunkerque / Calais)!  St Omer This pretty and unassuming little French flanders town has a sturdy yet elegant 13th century cathedral near the centre, and a pleasant little selection of fashion and gift shops in the main streets leading off the main squa...