Featured blog posts
I’ll see you at the bookshop!
A Stay at Beneath the Branches - Review
Nestled in the south of West Sussex, just a stone’s throw away from the South Downs National Park, you’ll find a luxury holiday home up in the trees. Adorned with twinkling lights and furnished with not one, but two enormous bathtubs, Beyond the Branches is a unique romantic getaway that will leave you dreaming of your next visit. Just take a peek at their guest book - nearly all of the previous visitors describe the treehouse as ‘magical’ and proclaim that they ‘will be back’. In fact, I wrote the same thing just before we left after an exquisite one night stay after a busy week of work.
A Visit to the Chestnut Bakery in Covent Garden, London
Welcome to the Chestnut Bakery! I recently had the pleasure of visiting this gorgeous bakery and cafe that opened on Floral Street in Covent Garden this spring.
Their first branch was established in Belgravia in 2021, and I was really excited when I heard that they were due to open a second branch in a more central location. I visited early afternoon on a Sunday, and was pleasantly surprised that we were able to grab a table right away. Often these pretty, instagrammable spots can get super busy, and while it definitely was busy, we didn’t have to queue to get in or wait for a table.
Inside Krem Karamel: an Edinburgh Based Bookshop & Cafe
Here’s a sneak peek inside Edinburgh’s newest bookshop & cafe!
Unplugged Cabin Review, Basil in West Sussex
Nestled deep in the rolling hills of West Sussex, Unplugged kindly invited me to stay in one of their off-grid cabins for 3 blissful nights.
The cabin itself is one half of a pair, and strikes the perfect balance between simplicity and luxury.
3 Beautiful Plant Shops to Visit in Edinburgh
The city of Edinburgh is paradise for any houseplant enthusiast. On top of the multitude of glorious bookshops and cosy cafes you’ll find a smattering of wonderful plant shops that will top any garden centre you’ve visited before.
Here are the three that you need to visit when you’re in Edinburgh.
4 Bookshops to Visit in Winchester
Nestled in the heart of Hampshire, Winchester is a beautiful medieval city with heaps of history and plenty of things to see and do. In addition to the wonderful yearly Christmas market, beautiful cathedral and picturesque city centre, there are four wonderful bookshops that are all worth a visit.
Here are four fabulous bookshops that you need to visit during your next trip to Winchester.
An Autumnal Trip to Edinburgh
I love coming in to land at Edinburgh Airport. On approach from England, the plane flies over the city, swoops across the sea in a loop and cruises back down for landing. I get a little excited feeling in my stomach every time the plane soars in that loop over the sea and the twinkling lights of the city come into view - it’s a sign that I’m back in my favourite place in the world!
Inside Leakey’s Bookshop, Inverness
During my recent trip to Inverness I finally got the chance to visit the magnificent Leakey’s Bookshop!
Based in an old Gaelic church and spread out across two floors, Leakey’s has been in business since 1979 and holds around 100,000 second hand books. If you like a rummage, then you’ll love this place.
Travelling on a Sleeper Train! | The Caledonian Sleeper Experience
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel on a luxury sleeper train?
The Caledonian Sleeper is a fantastic service that connects London with the Scottish highlands, and allows visitors to travel in style, with their own hotel room on board the train. I had a fantastic experience and I’m so excited to tell you all about it.
The Best Bookshops to Visit in Bath
Over the last few years, Bath has become a literary hotspot. A beautiful city with heaps of history, Bath hosts many of the filming locations for Bridgerton, and is studded with wonderful bookshops.
Today I’m going to take you through the best bookshops to visit during your next trip to this gorgeous literary city.
A Stay at the Roseate Villa, Bath
Upon entering the Roseate Villa, it was easy to see why it’s one of Bath’s popular five star hotels. Run with the feel of a luxury bed and breakfast, the staff were immediately friendly and welcoming, happy to store our luggage until our room became available later that day.
As you can see, the reception area and hallways were decorated with bookshelf wallpaper, which I loved!
Dishoom Edinburgh Review
Dishoom is something of a London legend, having opened their first restaurant in Covent Garden in 2010. They are one of my favourite places to dine in the city, and now have 5 separate branches scattered around the capital with additions in Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh.
A Guide to Leith and Portobello, Edinburgh
Edinburgh is one of my favourite cities in the world. Not only is it packed full of gorgeous architecture and loaded with history, but it also has some beautiful wildlife and its very own beach out in Portobello. We’ve all heard about the most popular tourist destinations such as the Castle, Grassmarket and the Royal Mile, but why not head out of town for a stroll out to the coast?
Sleeping in a Treehouse! | A Stay at Wootton Park
Nestled high in the treetops of the Warwickshire countryside, just down the road from Shakespeare’s Stratford-upon-Avon, are Wootton Park’s gorgeous TreePods. Glamping pods on stilts, with bubbling hot tubs and amazing views, we stayed in one of the two, Heavens Above, for just one night.
Inside Edinburgh Castle
During my last trip to Edinburgh I FINALLY got to visit the castle! Many of you will know that I love a good castle visit, so it was lovely to spend a few hours wandering around this one, which is located right in the centre of Edinburgh.
The best thing about my visit was that I got to learn about some Scottish history. As I wandered around there were lots of plaques and signs to read, and the castle is also home to the Scottish War Museum which is definitely worth a look around.
Inside Topping & Company Booksellers, Edinburgh
Welcome to one of my all time favourite bookshops. Topping & Company are a small UK based bookshop chain that started in Ely, Cambridgeshire back in 2002, and has slowly spread across the country and all the way up to Scotland. Edinburgh is the youngest of their four branches, having only opened in late 2019, and it’s also their largest.
10 Places to Go in Ocean Village, Southampton
There are loads of things to see and do in Southampton, and today I want to tell you all about Ocean Village. A hidden gem positioned slightly south of the city centre, and based beside a beautiful marina, Ocean Village has a variety of fabulous amenities. Here’s my guide featuring 10 of the best locations to visit when you’re in Ocean Village.
11 Places to Visit in Emsworth
Emsworth is a lovely little market town perched on the coast of West Sussex, in between the cities of Chichester and Portsmouth. There’s loads to see and it’s the perfect place to spend a Saturday afternoon wandering around the independent shops and cafes.
Once a humble Saxon village, Emsworth later grew into a port, which it still functions as today (but for leisure instead of flour transportation). Here are 11 places that you should stop by during a visit to historic Emsworth.
Southampton’s Secret Beach: Weston Shore
The city of Southampton is well known as one of the UK’s major ports – a place to catch a cruise or peruse the yachts in the marina. But did you know that it actually has a secret beach that only the locals know about?
Situated on the east side of the city, Weston Shore is the single remaining beach in Southampton. It’s shingle rather than sand, but that doesn’t take away from just how lovely it is.
A Visit to Hitchin Lavender
If you’re looking for a beautiful yet affordable location to shoot some photos in this summer, then you’ve come to the right place.
Hitchin Lavender is a working farm based in Hertfordshire, just a short drive away from the town of Hitchin. The flowers bloom from mid-June to late-July, depending on the species, and they have two main varieties (angustifolia and lavendin for the botanists out there), but have more than 60 proudly blooming in their display area.
Welcome to the Viking Skaga - one of Viking Cruises’ noble river ships. She takes her name from an ancient Norse myth, where the Valkyrie Skaga rode into battle and escorted the dead to Valhalla, before preparing them to fight in the epic battle of Ragnarok.
A relatively new ship, the Viking Skaga only entered the fleet in 2020. At just 410 feet and carrying 168 guests and 48 crew, she was built specifically to sail down the Seine in France, although the specific itinerary will vary depending on the time of year. I was fortunate enough to join the ship for her week long Christmas on the Seine cruise, which starts and ends in Paris, calling at Vernon, Caudebec-en-Caux, Rouen, Honflour (via an excursion) and Les Andelys along the way.