• Loire Valley: Chateau de Chenonceau
    Europe

    Loire Valley: Chateau de Chenonceau

    03/16/2025 - By 

    Thanks to its arched bridges spanning the River Cher, Chenonceau is possibly the prettiest, most distinctive and most fairytale-like of all the chateaux of the Loire. I’d been wanting to visit Chenonceau since I was a child after my parents bought me a 3D jigsaw of it (it took forever to build!). So when my parents invited me to spend a week with them in the Loire Valley in June 2019, it was at the top of my list of places to visit. There’s been a chateau on the spot since the 12th or 13th centuries. But the current incarnation…

  • Norfolk: Castle Rising
    Uk

    Norfolk: Castle Rising

    03/09/2025 - By 

    With its extraordinarily well-preserved keep that’s surrounded by uncommonly tall earthworks, the castle at Castle Rising is one of the most memorable and unusual in the UK. Situated in the small, charming Norfolk village a few miles north of King’s Lynn (below), the castle has an illustrious history. Built in the 12th century by William D’Aubigny, Earl of Arundel and husband of Queen Adeliza (Henry I’s widow), the castle was sold to Queen Isabella (Edward II’s widow) in 1331, who spent the last 25 years or so of her life in luxurious retirement there. The castle remained in royal hands…

  • Hughenden: Disraeli’s Buckinghamshire estate with a secret history
    Europe

    Hughenden: Disraeli’s Buckinghamshire estate with a secret history

    02/23/2025 - By 

    Tucked away in a valley in the Chiltern Hills you’ll find Hughenden, the country pile of former British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. Queen Victoria’s favourite PM bought the 1,500-acre estate in the Buckinghamshire countryside in 1848 as a country retreat and lived there with his wife Mary Anne when he wasn’t in London. The estate dates back to at least Norman times, when it was owned by William the Conqueror’s brother, Odo, Bishop of Bayeux. The current red-brick house was built in the late 18th century and was redesigned by the architect Edward Buckton Lamb for the Disraelis in 1862.…

  • Anglesey Abbey, gardens and Lode Mill
    Uk

    Anglesey Abbey, gardens and Lode Mill

    02/16/2025 - By 

    When I was looking for somewhere to stop to help break up the long journey home from Norfolk, Anglesey Abbey in Cambridgeshire seemed to fit the bill. Boasting a monastery-turned-stately home, 114 acres of gardens and a working mill, the National Trust property looked right up my street – and it’s safe to say, I wasn’t disappointed. Nestled in picturesque countryside some six miles to the northeast of Cambridge, Anglesey Abbey is a charming affair. Originally founded as a hospital by Henry I in 1135, it was turned into an Augustinian priory in the 13th century, before being closed by…

  • Norfolk: Holkham Estate
    Europe

    Norfolk: Holkham Estate

    02/02/2025 - By 

    I’ve been to many a stately home in my time, but the Holkham estate on the north Norfolk coast is one of my all time favourites – and I didn’t even step foot in the hall! Made up of a grand Palladian mansion surrounded by 3,000 acres of parkland, Holkham also boasts a boating lake (above), 700 acres of woodland, a walled garden, various historic buildings, a village, a nature reserve and a sandy beach. Plus it’s home to around 400 fallow deer (below). In short, there’s plenty to see and do, and you need a full day to see…

  • Ely Cathedral: An architectural marvel in the Fens
    Uk

    Ely Cathedral: An architectural marvel in the Fens

    01/07/2025 - By 

    Towards the end of March 2022, I set off on a little road trip around northern East Anglia. When I was looking in my guidebook for inspiration for places to visit, one place that jumped out at me was Ely. I was aware Ely was a small cathedral city in Cambridgeshire but knew little else about it. So you can imagine my surprise when I discovered this unassuming city in the heart of the Fens boasts a truly spectacular cathedral that’s up there with the best in the UK, if not in Europe. I spied Ely’s cathedral, nicknamed the ‘Ship…

  • London: Discovering the unique charms of Dennis Severs’s House and the Barbican estate
    Uk

    London: Discovering the unique charms of Dennis Severs’s House and the Barbican estate

    12/29/2024 - By 

    When I was in London at the end of August, one of my friends suggested we visit Dennis Severs’s House and the Barbican estate, and having never been to either, I readily agreed. We started our day at Liverpool Street station, where we popped into Eataly London, just outside the station for a cup of tea and cake, before making our way along Bishopsgate to Dennis Severs’s House on Fore Street. Dennis Severs’s House London is full of weird, wacky and wonderful places, but Dennis Severs’s House has to be one of the most peculiar. For this unassuming Georgian town…

  • London walks: Little Venice to Regent’s Park along the Regent’s Canal
    Uk

    London walks: Little Venice to Regent’s Park along the Regent’s Canal

    12/15/2024 - By 

    The 8.6-mile Regent’s Canal runs from Paddington Basin in west London to Limehouse in the east, and the short stretch between Little Venice and Regent’s Park is one of my favourite London walks. So when I was in London in August and had a bit of time to kill, I decided to revisit this old favourite. I started my walk in Little Venice, so-called because it’s where the Grand Union and Regent’s canals meet. No-one’s quite sure who gave the area its name, but the infamous Lord Byron and his fellow poet Robert Browning have both been attributed with coining…

  • Kuala Lumpur: Perdana Botanical Garden, Islamic Arts Museum and the Traders Hotel SkyBar
    Asia

    Kuala Lumpur: Perdana Botanical Garden, Islamic Arts Museum and the Traders Hotel SkyBar

    11/10/2024 - By 

    I spent my last afternoon in the Malaysian capital in the area around Perdana Botanical Garden to the west of the city centre, exploring the tranquil gardens and the superb Islamic Arts Museum. Before heading back towards KLCC Park to spend the evening with a cocktail in hand at the swish SkyBar at the Traders Hotel. Perdana Botanical Garden Perdana Botanical Garden is Kuala Lumpur’s oldest and biggest public park, having opened in 1889 as a recreational area for the British during the city’s colonial era. The 91.6 hectare site features a series of attractions, including an orchid garden with…

  • Kuala Lumpur: A street food tour around the historic city centre
    Asia

    Kuala Lumpur: A street food tour around the historic city centre

    11/03/2024 - By 

    One of my favourite things to do when I travel is try the local cuisine, and thanks to its multicultural heritage, Malaysia is home to some of the best food I’ve ever eaten. Almost everything I ate was delicious and flavourful, even at the motorway service stations. I’m still dreaming of the kaya-filled steamed bun from the service station between KL and Melaka (top, above). So when I was given the opportunity to take a street food tour around Kuala Lumpur’s historic centre, I jumped at the chance. The tour began promptly at 9am in a small Indian restaurant, Restoran…