The number one challenge of holidaying in the UK is the weather but the Cairngorms in Scotland had been good to us on our first visit. Would we be lucky a second time? Stepping off our dinky British Airways Embraer 170 at Aberdeen, to the soundtrack of helicopters heading for the oil rigs, the drizzle was…
Author: Stephen
Jordan: From Roman Jerash to the Dead Sea
I associate coach tours with infirm pensioners, but that didn’t stop us joining one during our fortnight in Jordan. We were easily the youngest on board but our guide Ibrahim was invaluable and we got to see much more of the country than we would have done on our own. Take just one day, which…
Marrakech: Ruins and royal tombs
Our riad was a cosmopolitan place, home to holidaying Brits and Spaniards, Germans and Americans. So breakfast was taken to a background hum of languages and accents, all of which could also be heard on the vibrant streets of Marrakech. The city has become a popular holiday destination in North Africa, reasonably safe and with…
Marrakech: The lush Jardin Majorelle
Fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent had a home in Marrakech for many years and, with his partner, helped restore a famous city garden. Our visit to the Jardin Majorelle turned out to be a highlight of our holiday. Located outside the old walls of the Medina, in the Ville Nouveau, we walked to the gardens one steamy morning…
Marrakech: A bizarre trip to Ouirgane
A trip to the village of Ouirgane, 60km or so south of Marrakech, was meant to be a reviving day in the hills and an opportunity to see a different side of Morocco. But it ended up being something of a trial. It started OK with us hiring a car in Marrakech’s European-looking new town….
Marrakech: A day of palaces and history
The call to prayer is one of the essential sounds of a stay in an Islamic country, and the first one of the day came at 5.30am or thereabouts. Some may find it annoying and curse the interruption of sleep, especially at the crack of dawn, but I’ve always found it romantic, reassuring and exotic. At…
Marrakech: Arriving at the Ksar Anika
Morocco looked hot from 35,000ft up. Blisteringly hot. I gazed down from the window of our British Airways A319 and saw reddish desert sands, dusty villages and little in the way of life. There was water – the sun’s blinding reflection proved it – but the artificial irrigation channels and anorexic streams didn’t look like much to…
Summer in the mountains: Kitzbuhel, Austria
Kitzbühel means the Hahnenkamm – the most exciting and terrifying of men’s downhill ski races on the planet. Every January, the World Cup race is beamed around the world from this charming village in the Austrian Tyrol. And I catch all the edge-of-the-seat action on Ski Sunday. But I’ve never skied at the famous resort….
Istanbul: A day in Yildiz Park and Ortakoi, and sailing on the Bosphorus
Istanbul is a city of Imperial Ottoman splendour with its fair share of handsome mansions, among them the waterfront Dolmabahce Palace. But when we arrived for a visit on the tram at nearby Kabatas, disappointment lurked in the form of a long, long and slow-moving queue at the palace ticket office. Pained by sunburn and…
A day out in the village of Fiesole, Tuscany
Florence on a busy day can be bonkers, but we managed to escape the crowds and the stress with a day trip to Fiesole in the nearby Tuscan hills. About 9km from the city, it takes hardly any time to get there on the number 7 bus from the Piazza San Marco. The only aggro we…
In the heart of Tuscany – the city of Florence
It was inevitable that we’d end up in Italy’s most tourist-tastic region one day. Our excuse for the trip to Tuscany was a friend’s wedding in Pisa, but historic Florence was top of our list for a top en route. It turned out to be a city of crowds. Monumental crowds. It was a city…
A short break in the historic French city of Angers
Give me a good history book and a glass of wine and I’ll be a happy man. She-Wolves by Helen Castor turned out to be a particularly good read, the story of three of England’s great medieval queens and their various battles to make a mark in a male-dominated world. But it also introduced me…
A week on the beach in Maspalomas, Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria represents tourism on steroids to some but the sunshine, the sandy beaches and the great nightlife have drawn me to the island three times over the years for a lazy winter break, away from the drabness of a British winter. Having been based in an average hotel in Playa del Ingles on our…
A walk around Brooklyn
I’ve been drawn to Brooklyn on all my trips to New York City. I love its historic architecture, the quiet residential streets that stand in stark contrast to busy Manhattan and the excellent views of the city it offers from the waterfront. As one of NYC’s most exciting neighbourhoods, it also has some notable cultural…
The magical world of Petra
Back when we were first planning our trip to Jordan I was under the impression that Petra consisted solely of the famous Treasury. It was only when I read the Lonely Planet guide book that I realised there was an entire city awaiting us at at the country’s premier tourist attraction. The Treasury is the…