Travel Gourmet’s Top 5 London Restaurants, Autumn 2025

When people hear about my blog, they often ask me which are my favourite restaurants and, of course, over the years the choices have changed. I’ve been writing this blog since 2011 and favourites then are perhaps not favourites now, or don’t even exist any more. When I was in Aldeburgh recently, someone in the […]

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Aldeburgh in September

Regular readers will know that Aldeburgh has become a favourite place for me to head to for a short break. It’s an easy and not too long drive and, most importantly, I’ve come to really love it there. I first went in June 2022. I wanted to explore Suffolk, a county I didn’t know at […]

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A Week in Nice

It was nearly six years since I’d last been to Nice – September 2019. That time I’d stayed just 4 nights; 5 nights in 2015, but this time I made it a whole week. I decided that it would be nicer to stay in an apartment rather than a hotel for the longer spell and […]

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A Short Break in Malaga

Malaga is a great choice for a short break early in the year as it’s one of the warmest places in mainland Europe in the winter/spring time. Last time I was there in January 2020 the weather was lovely and sunny – though with some rain – and temperatures in the late teens, but I […]

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My Favourite Posts of the Past Year

This is the kind of post that usually gets published around new year, looking back on the best of the previous year. However, I had a busy start to 2025 – family and work – and so a look back on 2024 passed me by. Now spring is on our doorstep (not officially with us […]

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A Morning in Worcester

I’m just back from visiting my daughter for a couple of days. She lives in Worcestershire, about a 20-minute drive from the county’s capital, Worcester. We’ve never been into the city itself much in the years she’s lived there, but now 6-year-old grandson Rufus attends one of the Pauline Quirke Academies for a drama class […]

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A Trip to Tate Britain – Women Artists & Members’ Cafe

I had a bit of a gap between jobs – my publishing work – so I decided to take advantage of having some free time to head into London and go to an art gallery. One of my favourite things to do! There are a few things on at the moment I’d like to see, […]

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Chichester in Chilly June

It’s almost exactly a year since I last went to Chichester. I know it’s a very English thing to do, but I couldn’t help but compare the weather: the bright, warm sunny days a year ago, and the cold, very windy and wet days on this trip. I thought I’d gone prepared, taking rain gear, […]

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A Day in Ludlow, Shropshire

There are lots of interesting places to visit near my daughter’s home in Worcestershire, but with the weather rather changeable and the possibility of rain, we decided to visit the town of Ludlow where if the weather turned bad, we could at least easily seek shelter. Happily, despite the grey clouds and cold wind, the […]

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Astley Vineyard, Worcestershire

Visiting Astley Vineyard has been a long time in the plans. It began with sampling their delicious wine, courtesy of my daughter Nicola, who lives only a 10-minute drive from them. Then she bought me some of their wonderful vermouth when I got into drinking vermouth a lot after attending a vermouth workshop run by […]

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