Much to the consternation of our dear friends, Charles and Marie, we’ve been on the road in Northern Italy for the last month. Indeed, we’ve been travelling through the whole of Italy for 3 months now! Ssshhh… We've been researching travel guides and we haven’t been very good at staying in touch. Much to their pleasure, however, we have made some fabulous new discoveries, from chic new design hotels in surprising places to elegant established eateries now garnering Michelin stars. The hottest...

All the excitement over the new iPhone makes us wonder why one of our favourite Apple products, updated a while ago, garners such little attention – the Airport Express. We’ve been using one for years now and it’s one of our favourite travelling companions. It’s also one of the first essential travel products we ever wrote about. While it’s a great, inexpensive Wi-Fi point for the home (being able to connect up to 10 users, and with a USB port for wireless printing), it’s the hotel room and...

As we’ve now been on the road traveling for over two years (yes, it’s really been that long), we thought it was time to give you an update on our how our Samsonite luggage has fared. As we told you way back in September 2006 we’ve been traveling with a Sahora Upright (two-wheels) and a Sahora Spinner (four-wheels). As we alluded to in our original post, this never-ending road trip was not a single Gulfstream trip to St Moritz and back, so the Louis Vuitton was not really in the running! Well,...

Yes, we’re back! And what a long break we’ve had – yes, we know that’s what you’re thinking – but we have in fact been ‘researching’ for you. We’ve been testing out lots of luxurious new resorts, mouthwatering restaurants, hip bars, chic shops, and secluded getaway spots (like the one, pictured, in Cyprus), and we’ve simply been doing so much ‘research’, we’ve had very little time to write. Excuses, excuses, we hear you say. But this year we’ve made a vow to our dear friends Charles and Marie...

Thailand’s luxury resorts must have some of the most beautiful bathroom toiletries in the world. We’ve been privileged to have been pampered at some of the best Thai hotels during our stay here and so have been able to sneak some of these scented delights away into our suitcases. While the best Thai hotels impressively provide an array of products, including shampoo and conditioner (now how many hotels actually provide the much-needed conditioner? Blow the shampoo, we can use soap if we need...

Hotel breakfasts are sheer hell for frequent travellers. Let’s face it, for ‘holiday-makers’, and honeymooners in particular, everything is wonderful and the breakfast buffet, no matter how dreary it is, will suit them perfectly fine. Most of these travellers just care about variety and enormity – the bigger the better – the more stuff there is, the happier they are. For frequent travellers, like us, our friends Charles and Marie, and yourselves, of course, there can be few things worse than...

Immediately after your arrival at a hotel in Thailand – after you’ve been greeted with a “sawadee-kaa” from all the hotel staff accompanied by the traditional ‘wai’ gesture (hands shaped as if ready for prayer) – you’re ushered to a comfy seat and offered an icy cold face towel, usually scented with aromatic lemongrass, along with a welcome drink. While the icy face towels are particularly welcomed in Thailand’s sultry heat, it’s the welcome drinks we really enjoyed. And we just love the...

While most travel guidebooks will tell you to avoid using the mini-bar at all costs, for perpetual globetrotters like us, and our good friends Charles and Marie, the hotel room mini-bar is an absolute necessity and at some hotels it can actually be a marvel to behold. Examining the contents of a splendid mini-bar can be just as much a delight as the discovery of fine quality toiletries and unique amenities (like complimentary flip flops and yoga mats). Two of our favourite mini-bars are those...

We’re in Thailand! And one of the things we most love about Bangkok is its Skytrain, or BTS(Bangkok Transit System). In most cities we’d take taxis but Bangkok’s streets are often gridlocked. Here, there’s no better way to get around the city than by flying along the elevated tracks of its super-efficient light rail network. It may only offer two lines but that’s all you need to get you between the chic shopping malls around Siam and Chit Lom, and the superb restaurants, bars and clubs in the...

We often get asked which travel site we think is the best and which sites we use… typically people want to know where we book our flights (always on-line directly through the airline sites, best prices for greatest flexibility; agenies may offer cheaper prices occasionally but the flights are always so restrictive); where we book our hotels (we compare Expedia to the hotel sites); how we know what seats to reserve (seatguru of course) etc. We use different sites for different reasons, but if we...