The version of Sydney that you see as a tourist is wonderful, it’s a vibrant city on water which comes to life when the blazing sun sets past the sky scrapers. The Sydney Opera House is as stunning as you would expect, the views from the Sydney Harbour Bridge are outstanding, and the beaches, …
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A couple of weeks ago I was invited to London to test out a new app called PicCities, an app that works as a walking tour around London and also shows you the best places to get photos and selfies. Before I begin I’ve got to tell you (and many bloggers will agree) I’m invited …
Elle has just returned from an incredible trip to the Yukon in Canada where she joined the press team and followed the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during their Canada Royal Tour. If you've been following Elle's trip on Instagram you will have seen how beautiful the Yukon looks! Today, Elle is sharing her experience …
Bonfire Night is a strange but nostalgic British tradition, as well as one of the most colourful and vibrant nights of the year. We Brits all share the same happy childhood memories of writing our names with sparklers, attending the local fireworks displays and keeping warm around a giant bonfire. There is something charming and fun about Bonfire …
I’m so excited to announce that next week I’ll be flying to the Yukon for a week of exploring, and a little bit of Royal spotting. Yep, you read that right. Royals. The Royal Visit to Canada The Royal Family recently announced that The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be embarking on an incredible …
Do you want to travel more? Is the expense of travelling the main thing that stops you from travelling as much as you’d like to? Do you want to take part in a fun, monthly challenge to save more money to travel and win prizes? Hells yes! (I hope this is your response, anyway!) OK, …
Edmontonians are proud of their city’s food scene. Get talking to a local about their hometown (it’s easy, they love where they live) and food is bound to come up early in the conversation. And it’s easy to see why, when there are so many incredible cafes, restaurants and bars dotting the city. They even …
Aside from a delicious cup of tea (because we are British), there is nothing better than capping off a sun filled day with a crisp glass of wine. Todays choice is a Riesling from Clare Valley, South Australia. It’s refreshing with a hint of grapefruit, guava and pear taste noting a delightfully fresh orange …
Our team trip to Edmonton already feels like a distant dream. But one of those gorgeous dreams where you keep remembering fragments of it and having flashbacks for years to come. A smell, a taste, the way a person says your name can bring back memories that instantly transport you there. And in my …
Once a year I like to give The Travel Hack a revamp and a shake-up. I like to refresh old posts and get planning and plotting for the future. September feels like the perfect time of year to do this. It’s something that’s been ingrained in my since school. The new school year begins in …
We might not have the best reputation for our food in the UK but, these days, British restaurants are serving up a gastronomical storm. London is home to some of the best restaurants in the world and the variety and choice is so extensive it can often be overwhelming! When choosing a London restaurant it's not just …
I’m very excited to be working with Jet2.com to judge their latest competition to win a city break to Barcelona for two people! It’s city break season and with Barcelona’s gorgeous beach summer is the best time to visit. So it’s time to dig out your best travel photos for your chance to win.. …
This week's Travel Hack of the Week comes from one of my favourite travel bloggers, Abigail King from Inside the Travel Lab. Abi mentioned this travel hack to me years ago and it's something I've adopted myself so I'm really pleased she's shared it with us this week. The last few years of careering around …
Hands up if you’re a stationary geek. Go on, don’t be shy. You’re not alone here! I’m the biggest stationary geek ever. I genuinely get excited over fresh notepads, colourful pens and picking out my diary for the New Year. Everything I do for work and for this blog is digital and based on either …
Balazuc, in Ardeche, Southern France, is the kind of village French dreams are made from. The medieval village has been named a ‘Village of Character’ and officially classified as one of the ‘Most Beautiful Villages in France’. If I asked you to picture a typical French village this would be it, but with about 50 …
Ardèche in Southern France may not be an area of France you're familiar with. Ardèche wasn't on my radar until I visited last week and was absolutely blown away by how beautiful it was. A combination of dramatic scenery and quaint villages had me in love with the area as I drove through the winding roads. …
I don’t know about you but I’m always searching for bucket list inspiration. I love it when I scroll through my social media feeds and stumble across something that makes me stop and think, ‘Wow, that looks incredible, I really want to do that!’ Chances are I’ll pause for a few seconds, maybe mention it …
Applications to join The Travel Hack team are now closed. Thank you so much to everyone who applied. I will be contacting everyone before July 8th. If you applied via the Google form below then I will have definitely received your application. After last week’s announcement that I’m expecting my second baby I’m sure it’ll …
The Landmark Trust is probably something you’ve vaguely heard of but don’t know a lot about. It wasn’t until I was invited to stay at a Landmark Trust property that I started looking into it and realised I’ve been seriously missing out. Why haven’t I stayed in a Landmark Trust property before!? Before I go …
This week's Travel Hack of the Week comes from Wanderluce and she's sharing her top beauty hacks when you're travelling with hand luggage only... Travelling with carry on only is THE best way to travel in my book. You whizz through the airport feeling smug, never get the dreaded ‘backpack backache’, and channel those minimalist …
A bare bottom, a wink and a wolf whistle - that sums up Bristol for me! Call me sensationalist, but I think the Bristol of today is the city equivalent of sticking two fingers up at the world, flashing a bare bottom, and wolf whistling at a local builder. It’s not a description I would’ve …
Claire gives us the highlights and a perfect itinerary for a wintry weekend in Painswick, PAINSWICK, Gloucestershire – Her charms are often eclipsed by her more glamorous Cotswolds sisters, but thankfully Painswick (affectionately known as the Queen of the Cotswolds) is steadily coming into her own as a perfectly pretty weekend destination for a younger …
I've just returned from an epic trip to Montana. I feel like I've said 'epic' a lot to describe this trip but that's the only word that sums it up so perfectly. I was out there for one week with the Expedia Viewfinder team and we road tripped around the state, beginning in Missoula and …
Hi, I'm Elle, I'm 31 and I've never been to a festival. *waits for horrified gasps to die down* Yeah, I know. The thing is though, in Australia, where I grew up, festivals aren't the rite of passage that they are here in the UK. But probably more importantly, I'm scared of camping. We broke up, …
If I were to ask you to describe your perfect holiday, I bet for many of you it would go a little bit like this… A small island paradise that feels a million miles from home but is actually just a short (and inexpensive!) flight away. A place with beaches so beautiful you’re going to …
As if getting to travel to the spectacular Philippines wasn't exciting enough, I was in for a big surprise. When I received my invite to experience the inaugural Emirates flight from Dubai to Cebu, I didn't even try to play it cool before responding with an eager "Yes please!" It was almost as an afterthought, …
This is a new feature we’re testing out to bring together all of our favourite things each month. We’re talking new hotel openings, gorgeous new travel accessories, new travel beauty products to try, travel competitions, special deals and offers and everything in between. Enjoy! €100 off Azul Fit Retreats A few years ago I …
“Party in April. Sleep in May”. That’s the tagline accompanying Whistler’s annual Ski and Snowboard Festival. To be honest, it tells you a lot of what you need to know about the event... having just attended, I can confirm; sleep is most definitely needed. With late spring and summer being full of ski holiday deals, …
I’ve always wanted to visit Thailand, but somehow I’ve always ended up booking holidays to other destinations, with Thailand sort of glaring at me from the top of my bucket list. The Philippines, however, was never on my radar. I wanted pristine white beaches, unspoiled islands where electricity is hard to come by, epic marine …
Ahh, summer holidays - a highlight of each year for as long as you can remember, right? There's the excitement of planning and booking your summer holiday, the anticipation as the date draws closer, maybe a bit of excited frustration as the weeks drag by. Then you have the thrill of buying new summer clothes …
For the past 5 years I’d been doing my best to convince myself I enjoyed snowboarding. Everyone likes snowboarding and I felt almost guilty about not joining in with the snowboarding excitement. I tried so hard to like it but having a board strapped to me feet just wasn’t for me. Most of my friends …
Oxford is one of those places that you just have to visit at least once. It’s full of incredible architecture, restaurants and cafes serving food from all over the world and of course, opportunities to go punting. It’s an ideal spot for a weekend break and the best thing is you could easily come back …
In today's travel hacking post, Anne compares two of our biggest british airlines, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. We all know that travel hacking is most effective when you're loyal to a particular airline so which should you choose, BA or Virgin? Let's begin the battle of the British airlines... A comparison of British Airways …
If you think that Venice is the kind of destination you can only visit on a romantic break or your honeymoon, you’ve got it all wrong. Sure, it’s the sort of place where you can stroll hand-in-hand, float along in a gondola or share a bowl of pasta, Lady and the Tramp style. But Venice …
Some cities are memorable for their food. Others, their architecture. And then there are some rare cities that you just can't get out of your head. Sure, the cuisine is good and the buildings are pretty, but there's more to it than that. The cities I'm talking about are breathtaking - everywhere you look there's …
I'm a suitcase kind of girl when it comes to travelling. Wheels were invented for a very good reason so we might as well use them. It's the 21st century, why would you carry a heavy bag when you can wheel it along with minimal effort? But when it comes to my daybag, daypack, hand bag, …
Hands up if you've ever tried to write a journal but given up 3 days in? You begin with a beautiful new notebook and possibly even a fancy new pen. You wait for the beginning of the month to start writing (because who starts a diary in the middle of the month!?) and for a …
If I could combine a few things to make the perfect weekend, it would be travel, treatments, food and wine! So if this sounds like your idea of a great weekend, book yourself a few half days, and prepare to melt into blissful abandon on this spa and food combo in 48 hours in County …
This month I've challenged Anne to write a travel hacking guide for people who don't use credit cards. There's often the feeling that travel hacking without a credit card is impossible and you have to be spending huge amounts on a credit card to collect any points. Admittedly, this does make travel hacking a hell …
THE OLD STOCKS INN – Things are not quite as they seem in Stow-on-the-Wold. There’s a defector in town. A quiet rebellious type; happy to rub shoulders with the elegant tearooms, polished antiques shops and prim galleries, before necking a Gimlet and heading back to the bar with a swagger that’d put a Bond villain …