Pink Granite Coast, Brittany, France

La vie en rose! The surreal Pink Granite Coast is as beautiful as it is rugged and must be one of France’s best kept secrets. Miles of colourful, misshapen boulders, some up to 20m in height, are stacked on top of each other, often balanced at seemingly impossible angles. Three hundred million years in the…

Brittany, France

You just can’t beat palming your kids off on another family while on a camping holiday! Our two children were quick to make new friends and every day after tea they would go to neighbouring caravans to play.Which meant Mum and Dad could relax in the setting sun, glass of wine in hand, gathering our…

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (part 2)

Dubai is a high octane, futuristic city famous for having some of the glitziest and biggest hotels in the world. But less than 60 minutes away, out in the desert, you can experience a complete change of pace at perhaps the most stunning hotel of them all. The Al Maha Desert Resort and Spa is…

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

​The soundtrack to my whistle-stop trip to Dubai was the annoyingly catchy Everything Is Awesome from The Lego Movie. I couldn’t get the tune out of my head because from the moment I boarded the plane to when I returned to Blighty everything was, well, you know, AWESOME! And here are some of the reasons…

Brittany, France

YOU don’t need to catch a plane to bask on the golden sands of Tahiti. You can get there by boat – and in less than a day – from the UK. I kid you not. Of course, this isn’t the Tahiti of exotic French Polynesia in the South Pacific that has captured the imagination…

Tenerife (review published 2013)

You may not know the name but there’s a chance you’ll recognise the place. The family-friendly Luabay Costa Los Gigantes hotel in Tenerife is the location for a long-running TV ad by all-inclusive specialist First Choice. Featuring the Flo Rida track Good Feeling, the minute-long promo aims to sell the “feelgood” factor you get when…

Sharm El Sheihk, Egypt (review published 2010)

It’s the annual dilemma that has the potential to put the skids under the most stable of marriages – where to go on holiday. He wants to immerse himself in history, she wants to immerse herself in a good book while lazing on the beach. He wants some high-octane thrills to get the adrenalin pumping,…

Ibiza, Spain (review published 2009)

Eyebrows were raised when I told friends I would be holidaying in Ibiza for two weeks. “Will you be partying?” they asked, referring to the island’s legendary superclubs such as Pacha, Space and Amnesia. At first, I was flattered that they believed that, at 37, I still had the stamina to bust some shapes (is…

Puerto Rico, Gran Canaria (review published 2008)

The internet often gets a bad rap – but in reality it’s made all our lives so much easier. We can now do our weekly shop, check our bank accounts and even read our local newspaper without leaving the comfort of our homes. The internet has also helped take the risk out of booking a…

Santorini, Greece (review published 2007)

Santorini’s explosive history has left it with a rugged beauty that’s unlike anywhere else in the world. When the volcanic island literally blew its top 3,500 years ago the Aegean sea rushed in to flood the crater and create a lagoon measuring 4x8km. The volcano re-awoke in 200BC and threw up an island of lava.…