It was our third day in South Africa and we were on our way from Pilanesberg National Park to Parys (map), a small town…
Velvet Escape travel blog
Chilling in Rio
I LOVE RIO! Who wouldn’t? It surely is one of the most spectacular cities in the world. Hemmed in between a huge bay, the…
Babylonstoren – a heavenly Cape Dutch wine farm
Don’t ask me to compare Babylonstoren with other Cape Dutch farms. That would be tricky. For starters, it produces wine – a feature typical…
One big happy Mercado
“Crisis? In Mercado de San Miguel, the crisis is far, far away”. I smiled. I knew exactly what she meant. I stood there, at…
A sea of tulips
Seeing the tulips fields in Holland is one of my favourite things to do in spring. Many people ask me where and when to…
A royal stay in Johannesburg
I’d just arrived in Johannesburg after an amazing trip to the four-country region – Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia – where I stayed on…
The historic baths of Budapest
A trip to Budapest will not be complete without a visit to at least one of its historic thermal baths. It’s said that the…
Luxury is in the details
I recently had a conversation with several fellow travellers about what distinguishes a luxury hotel from its peers. We exchanged notes about our stays…
A view of London through its maps
The Beefeater, Big Ben and the dome of St Paul’s are all icons of London recognised by everyone. But there’s another icon of the…
