Peter Scott writes two “alternative” guide websites Hidden-Dublin.com and Hidden-Italy.com to give visitors a more realistic picture of these destinations. 1  What is the aim of your business? Firstly, while it does cost me a lot of time and some expense to run hidden-dublin.com, I don’t consider it as a business as such. My aim [...]

Ron of Islayinfo.com talks to Europe a la Carte about his website which features the Scottish island of Islay. Round Church at Bowmore Islay 1 What is the aim of your business? To promote, through the Islayinfo.com website, the beautiful Isle of Islay in the best possible way, give its visitors enough inside information to [...]

I saw a post today in the Europe String blog today celebrating the 50th anniversary of of the Frommer guides to Europe on $5 a day. I read the interview with Arthur Frommer and I felt as though Frommer and I were kindred spirits. He speaks about getting away from the tourist mill and the [...]

Some single women are choosing not to go on holiday if they would have to go alone. Of the 11% of women who never take a break, almost half are single and most often aged 45 – 54 and separated, divorced or widowed. I think it can be a daunting thought to go on holiday [...]

Rough Guides have published a list of 25 top travel experiences in the UK and Ireland. As a Scot, I was happy to see that a Scottish attraction, the Edinburgh Festival, was number one. While the Edinburgh Festival is a great event, the city is really busy and accommodation prices high. What would be your [...]

I’ve just uploading an article with some of my suggestions for seeing Edinburgh off the beaten track.  Edinburgh is a very interesting and beautiful city.  When you visit, try to make the time to discover more of the city. Portobello Beach Edinburgh

More evidence has emerged over just how much you can save on travel insurance if you shop around, rather than buying from your travel agent. According to research by InsureandGo you could pay up to 91.8% more for single trip insurance from an travel agent than buying from the most competitive insurance companies. That’s a [...]

Here are my seven tips for planning an independent trip to Europe. One: Do not try to see and do too much. You may end up actually seeing very little. I think it is better to see more of fewer countries/regions and see them properly. You may not want to stay in one location for [...]

If you visit Trieste in northeastern Italy the “T for you” card is a good buy. It costs 8 euros for 24 hours or 10 euros for 48 hours. The card gives you free public transport and entrance to civic museums. Trieste is a fascinating city which has a distinctly mid European feel due to [...]

There’s no escaping a romantic flavour in today’s post! I thought that Ralf Pott’s tips for travel testing your relationship were very interesting. Ralf is an author and advocate of vagabonding, taking time out to do long term travelling and experiencing the world. Rolf reckons that travelling together could be a good and fairly fast [...]