Look beyond the multiplexes and you’ll find a city dedicated to cinematic adventure. From the Ealing comedies and Hitchcock classics, through the swingin’ sixties to the Notting Hill rom-coms of Bridget Jones and Four Weddings, London is a city wrapped up in celluloid. Its historic architecture, towering landmarks, and dark and dingy cobbled back streets […]
Five things to do around London Heathrow Airport
London Heathrow Airport isn’t much of a tourist sight unless you’re fascinated by airplanes. Yet it is one of the world’s busiest international airports so chances are many of us will end up going there at some stage and some will need to while away a few hours or even longer. Most people who stay […]
The ultimate Liverpool pub crawl
I recently visited Liverpool and The Beatles (though I love their music) were the last thing on my mind. I started by checking out some of the city’s startlingly good museums, including the Walker Collection. It was packed with interesting exhibits but one little Toby Jug caught my eye – a rotund, pink, fleshy man […]
Iconic walks in the English countryside
A guest post by Amanda Andrews. Spring is a time of renewal. This is the time of the year when everything is bright and new and, if you’re anything like me, you just want to get outside and feel the warm sun on your face for the first time in months! The English countryside is […]
A guided tour of Westminster Abbey
A guest post by Andrea Kirkby. Westminster Abbey is one of the London landmarks that I always think takes an entire day to itself. I know some people ‘do’ it in an hour and a bit, but it is the sort of place that richly repays a more leisurely, lingering visit. And there’s far more […]
Culinary guide to Cornwall
A special guest post by Sharmila Bousa, gourmand and Cornwall aficionado! When it comes to food it’s probably fair to say that we’d associate Cornwall with its famous crimped pasty, clotted cream ices dripping down a cone, waist busting cream teas and pilchards from Newlyn. All of this is indeed true, and wonderful (and not […]
Unravelling the mysteries of theatrical Covent Garden
A guest post by Andrea Kirkby. Covent Garden wasn’t quite in at the start of London’s theatrical tradition – Shakespeare’s Globe for instance was south of the river and other early playhouses clustered in the East End – but it’s been the centre of London’s theatreland since the time of Charles II. Nell Gwyn acted […]
Explore the temples of London
A guest post by Andrea Kirkby. Sometimes you know when you step into a place that it is holy. You feel the weight of the years, the atmosphere charged with silence and veneration; the air seems colder and thinner than in the street outside and there’s a sense of something invisible being there. I never […]
Ten scenic golf courses around the world
I don’t play golf but the exuberance with which the rest of my family pursues the sport ensured that I was dragged from one golf course to another during my adolescent years… as an ‘assistant’ (or rather a nuisance) to the caddy. As my brother and brother-in-law showed off their golfing prowess on the course, […]
My Velvet Escape travel tip: North Downs Way, England
“My velvet escape travel tip” is a guest series about what the name ‘Velvet Escape’ evokes and what that would be in the hometown or favourite place of the guest writer. With this series, I hope to uncover travel tips from places around the world to help visitors have a truly local experience. Today’s guest […]
About Keith Jenkins
I'm Keith Jenkins. In July 2008, I left my ten-year banking career to travel around the world. I've not looked back since.
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