Featured blog posts
I’ll see you at the bookshop!
Review: Dishoom Edinburgh
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.
Inside the Original Blackwell’s Bookshop, Oxford
Blackwell’s is one of Britain’s oldest bookshop chains. Situated in the heart of a historic student city, the original shop is based on Broad Street, Oxford, where it originally opened its doors in 1879. But it isn’t just the shop’s history that makes it worth a visit. The Broad Street shop holds the world record for the largest single room in the world selling books - you’d have no idea from the outside!
A Bookshop Guide to Cecil Court, London
Tucked away just beside London’s well known Leicester Square, Cecil Court is a magical little street lined with gorgeous victorian style bookshops. This street is said to have inspired Diagon Alley from Harry Potter and you can definitely see why – it’s a location that any book lover needs to visit in London. Keep on reading to discover the eclectic range of bookshops that line the glorious Cecil Court. You won’t be disappointed!
Tripp Suitcase Review: The Holiday 6 Case
I remember the first time that I saw a piece of Tripp luggage on Instagram. It was a banana yellow ‘Holiday 6’ case, with a hard shell and four wheels. It looked so freaking stylish! And once I’d invested in one myself I felt like I was part of a secret club - I saw them everywhere. In the airport, on the train, and even just being wheeled around London.
How to Spend a Bookish Weekend in Edinburgh
So you’ve booked a trip to Edinburgh, but you’re not sure how to fit all of your sightseeing into one weekend. Now what?
I’ve got it sorted for you. Here’s my two day itinerary (plus travel days) that will take you around the best of the city, featuring some wonderful bookshops, fascinating history, delicious restaurants and lovely walks. It will leave you enraptured by what you’ve seen but desperate to come back and carry on exploring. Have a brilliant trip!
Inside The Bookshop, Wigtown
If you’ve read Shaun Blythell’s Confessions of a Bookseller, then you’ll know that The Bookshop is something of a book-shaped celebrity. Nestled in the heart of Scotland’s National Book Town, the shop has around 100,000 books spread across a mile of shelving, making it the country’s largest second hand bookshop. It’s also Wigtown’s oldest bookshop, and is run by author Shaun Blythell who has written two books about his time as a bookseller.
Introducing GG's Yard, the Perfect Bookish Retreat in the South of Scotland
As a lifelong city dweller, I frequently dream about the rolling hills and sweet air of the countryside. There’s a certain stillness and silence there that just doesn’t exist in London - however much I love the hustle and bustle of the big smoke. So back in January, when I set off for my trip around the south of Scotland, GG’s Yard easily stood out as a highlight of my itinerary. Eyeballing photos of squat little cabins, dotted along the sloping Galloway hillside and facing the sea, I could picture myself sprawled out in bed, clutching a book while the sun set before my eyes.
A Bookshop Guide to Wigtown, Scotland’s National Book Town
I’m about to let you in on what might just be Scotland’s best kept bookish secret. Hidden down in the south west, deep into the county of Dumfries and Galloway, is a little dwelling named Wigtown. Appointed as Scotland’s national book town in 1998, Wigtown is home to a number of wonderful bookshops, all of which come in various shapes and sizes. You’ll find brand new bestsellers next door to piles of secondhand tomes, with a room out the back dedicated to rare and antiquarian titles.
A Bookshop Guide to Edinburgh
For book lovers, Edinburgh is an absolute dream come true.
Not only is it home to a huge number of bookshops, but the city is widely known to be the place where JK Rowling wrote that Harry Potter book, and is filled to the brim with romantic architecture, topped off with a castle that stands watch over it all. If you’re a book lover then this is a place that you need to be.
Here I’ve compiled a guide to the best bookshops in Edinburgh, to help you make the most of your trip and see as many of them as you can. You won’t regret it!
The Academy Hotel Review, London
As someone who’s been a Londoner for nearly 3 years, this city has become my playground, workplace and above all, my home. Something that it hasn’t been for me yet is a holiday spot - so I jumped at the chance to stay at one of Bloomsbury’s gorgeous boutique hotels, The Academy, for a night away with my boyfriend Tom.
Sleeping in a Hobbit Hole | A Review of West Stow Pods, Suffolk
I’ve always quite fancied being a hobbit. They have a pretty good life when you consider all of the eating, drinking and general tomfoolery that they engage in, not to mention the cosy, spherical dwellings that they curl up in every night in sleepy Hobbiton. So, imagine the joy that I felt when I discovered I could stay in a real life Hobbit Hole in Suffolk, just mere hours away from my flat in London.
5 Instagrammable Restaurants to Visit in London
One of my favourite things about London, hands down, is the food. There are restaurants and cafes to suit every taste and budget, and I love that many London eateries are now putting just as much thought into their decor as they do their food. While this is all well and good, it does come with a few dangers - cafes that are more style over substance, for example, and horrendously long queues.
Welcome to Zürich’s designated literary hotel, the B2 Boutique. This is somewhere that’s been on my literary travel bucket list for a very long time, and visiting was an absolute dream come true. I’m excited to show you around!
Upon entering the hotel lobby you’ll snatch your first glance of the B2 Boutique’s coveted library. The lobby area has lots of comfy seating options and doubles up as a large coworking space, making it a great place to grab an armchair and a coffee and get some work done, or just relax with a book.