MS Emily Bronte  - Blue Danube   We flew from Heathrow with BA to Budapest in late September to join Riviera Travel onboard the Emily Bronte for a 7 night Blue Danube river cruise. After a late arrival we joined the ship before dinner and we shown to our cabins, my cabin was on Ruby deck and located mid ship.  The cabins are fantastic, it seems every amenity is provided and the cabin is well thought out, plug sockets are both UK and European with plenty of socke...

September 2018 saw me take my all-time Bucket List trip – Route 66, something I have always wanted to do. We flew non-stop from Gatwick to Chicago with Norwegian, good service and no charge for prebooking seats!  Chicago -  what a fab city, much more attractive than lots of US cities I have visited, clean, safe and easy to get around.  We stayed at the historic Palmer House Hilton on Monroe Street, a grand old dame of a hotel in a good spot and walking distance to the...

As a guest with Cox & Kings, I flew with BA fly direct from Heathrow to Bucharest. After an overnight in Bucharest we started early the next morning for a 2 hour drive to Sinaia to visit Pelisor Castle and Peles Castle.  Peles is a fairytale castle, it is very modern for its time, completed in 1883 and the first castle in Europe with heating and electricity. Continue onto Bran – home of the infamous Bran Castle Bran is a bustling little village, full o...

The USA is one of our favourite destinations and a year-round country offering diverse experiences that are not-to-be-missed, so we’ve selected seven of the best holidays in America for everyone’s travel bucket list. 1. Exhilarating road trips Embark on an epic self-drive holiday along the American open road and experience a variety of landscapes. From a drive along the incredible Appalachian Mountains from Virginia to the National Park in North Carolina; journeys fro...

With long hot summers, impressive landscapes, glorious beaches, ancient ruins and delicious local food there is always a perfect island in Greece for everybody’s tastes. Our short guide to six of the most stunning Greek islands will help you decide which island is right for you. Santorini  Known for its iconic blue dome churches and breathtaking sea views, Santorini is one of the most popular holiday destinations in Greece. The 13th century Venetian fortress, t...

Hosted by Typically Italian Holidays Saturday 28th October we flew with Easyjet from Gatwick to Bologna arriving early afternoon. We were met and driven about an hour into the hills where we were taken to a vineyard for a visit and wine tasting. They also produce their own Olive Oil on site and local residents bring their olives to the property to be pressed and bottled. After about an hour or so of very nice wine tasting we were transported to our home for 2 nights...

At the end of September I had a short trip out to Barbados with Funway Holidays to go and see several of the Elegant Hotel chain they feature as well as a few other properties. We flew with Virgin Atlantic from Gatwick, the flight was on time and we arrived in Barbados just before 3.00 pm, passport control was very slow but you can pre-book and pay for a fast track meet and greet on arrival. The first hotel we stayed at was Turtle Beach Hotel and this was only a 15 minutes...

In September I travelled to Crete with 3 other travel agents and Mandy from Caribtours, we flew to Heraklion and arrived at 10.30 pm, after a slight delay waiting for our luggage and a 50 minute transfers we arrived at midnight at our hotel for the first 2 nights – St Nicholas Bay, on the outskirts of Aghios Nikolaus. We appeared to be greeted by half the hotels staff and after being taken to our beautiful rooms for a quick freshen up we were invited to their outside ter...

My second long haul adventure this year was to Costa Rica in June. BA now have a direct flight from Gatwick to San Jose which makes the journey very easy. The first thing that struck me was just how friendly Costa Ricans are, genuinely happy and laid back. Spanish is the national language but English is widely understood. Our adventure started with an overnight in San Jose, followed by an early start and road trip to the banks of the Pacquare river. From here we white w...

This year I made by first trip to Africa and what an amazing trip. Direct flights to Cape Town with BA overnight and with just an hours time difference means you arrive jetlag free. Cape Town is an amazing city with a great buzz. The waterfront area is packed with great restaurants, bars and craft stalls. We took a helicopter flight which offered wonderful views of Table Mountain, Lion Head, Camps Bay, Robben Island and the Football stadium built for the World Cup in 20...