Edinburgh

Essential Europe: Hungary

A travel guidebook chapter for Fodor's Travel Guides, August 2024

"Budapest, an old-world city with a throbbing urban pulse, is a must-stop on any trip to Central Europe, while Szentendre and Eger offer up majestic hilltop castles and cobblestone streets..."

Essential Europe: Czech Republic

A travel guidebook chapter for Fodor's Travel Guides, August 2024

"Even in tourist-heavy Prague, the sense of history - stretching back through centuries of wars, empires, and monuments to everyday life - remains unspoiled by the trappings of modernity..."

Essential Europe: Austria

A travel guidebook chapter for Fodor's Travel Guides, August 2024

"The past lives on in Austria, where children laugh at marionette shows in the parks, couples linger for hours over pastries in elegant cafés, and white stallions dance to Mozart minuets..."

Bucket List Europe: Edinburgh

A travel guidebook chapter for Fodor's Travel Guides, December 2023

"History plays out before your eyes along the Royal Mile, a succession of storied streets. It begins on Castlehill, where alleged witches were burned at the stake in the 16th century..."

Essential Great Britain: Travel Smart Chapter

A travel guidebook chapter for Fodor's Travel Guides, September 2023

"Britain and America are (in the phrase attributed to playwright George Bernard Shaw) “two countries separated by a common language”. Knowing some British idioms can be helpful..."

Essential Great Britain: Experience Chapter

A travel guidebook chapter for Fodor's Travel Guides, September 2023

"Great Britain and the United Kingdom: what’s the difference? GB is the landmass comprising England, Scotland and Wales; the UK also includes Northern Ireland and some smaller isles..."

Scotland: Edinburgh

A travel guidebook chapter for Lonely Planet, May 2023

"It all began with fire and rock. The rugged, rangy landscape of modern-day Edinburgh was formed by three great volcanoes, which rose together here around 350 million years ago..."

Essential Scotland: Edinburgh & The Lothians

A travel guidebook chapter for Fodor's Travel Guides, June 2022

" From floor-stomping ceilidhs to avant-garde modern dance, Edinburgh’s calendar of cultural events - including the Edinburgh Fringe, the world's largest arts festival - is truly outstanding..."

The Outlander Guide to Scotland

An article for Fodor's Travel Guides, November 2020

"From prehistoric stone circles to medieval castles, dramatic battlefields to majestic palaces, here's our pick of top Outlander locations for anyone looking to recreate the show’s magic..."

Essential Scotland: Edinburgh & The Lothians

A travel guidebook chapter for Fodor's Travel Guides, April 2020

"Edinburgh is "a city so beautiful that it breaks the heart again and again," as Alexander McCall Smith once wrote. Its seven hills make a striking backdrop for the ancient pageant of history..."

10 Spectacular Scottish Castles to Visit

An article for Fodor's Travel Guides, March 2020

"You can be driving along a winding coastal road, trekking over a craggy mountain peak, or sailing across a fog-sheathed loch, and suddenly the outline of a castle will hone into view..."

The 10 Best Whisky Distilleries in Scotland

An article for Fodor's Travel Guides, February 2020

"With more than 120 active distilleries dotted around the country, Scotland offers opportunities galore to learn the whisky-making process while tasting the amber spirit in its spiritual home..."

Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh – The Caledonian

A hotel guide for Forbes Travel Guide, August 2019

"Opened in 1903 as a luxurious railway hotel, "The Caley" maintains its rose-tinted sandstone façade, its intricately sculpted stone arches and its unmistakable whiff of Victorian grandeur..."

The Balmoral Edinburgh

A hotel guide for Forbes Travel Guide, June 2019

"One of Edinburgh’s most instantly recognizable landmarks, The Balmoral was first conceived as a railway hotel. And the Victorian-era baronial property remains a luxurious place to stay..."

Essential Great Britain: Experience Chapter

A travel guidebook chapter for Fodor's Travel Guides, January 2019

"Heston Blumenthal, Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay are just the tip of the culinary iceberg, as chefs nationwide now indulge their passions for high-quality, locally-sourced ingredients..."

Dining in Style at The Shore in Leith, Edinburgh

An article for Honey Travel by nine.com.au, March 2018

"The setting is gorgeous – an intimate, minimalist dining room looking out on the water – but it's Restaurant Martin Wishart's imaginative, French-inspired fare that takes all the headlines..."

Essential Scotland: Edinburgh & The Lothians

A travel guidebook chapter for Fodor's Travel Guides, March 2018

"Take time to explore Edinburgh’s streets - peopled by the spirits of Mary Queen of Scots, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson - then enjoy a candlelit restaurant or a folk ceilidh..."

Scotland’s Gin Trail Serves Up Tourism Tonic

An article for The Guardian, September 2016

"British gin is synonymous with London. However, in recent years, more than two-thirds of the UK’s total gin production has moved outside the capital, and outside of England altogether..."

Dizzying Illusions at the Camera Obscura

An article for Honey Travel by nine.com.au, August 2016

"Lights flash on all sides of me. The floor lurches down to the right - and my stomach lurches with it. Bright rings of red and paint-blots of green cloud my vision as I cling to the handrail..."

On the Trail of Scotland’s Gin

An article for Honey Travel by nine.com.au, May 2016

"When it comes to Scottish spirits, whisky has traditionally ruled the roost. But right now, the tipple on every local's lips is gin, as new craft gin distilleries have opened across Scotland..."

40 Must-See Structures in Scotland

An article for USA Today, May 2016

"As well as its stunning nature, Scotland has amazing man-made structures, from prehistoric settlements to medieval fortifications, Victorian monuments to ultra-modernist parliaments..."

Sip Scotland On a New National Gin Trail

An article for USA Today, March 2016

"The gin trail features 17 stops, from urban distilleries and bars in Edinburgh and Glasgow to gin makers out on the islands of Harris and Shetland, tempting visitors to explore them all..."

Scottish Gin: Get Into the Spirit of Things

An article for The Independent, March 2016

"Scotland may be better known for its whisky, but it is also responsible for producing 70 per cent of the UK’s gin. And it's the huge growth of craft gin that has really raised local spirits..."

Edinburgh Overview and Q&As

A guide for Forbes Travel Guide, May 2012

"Described by the famous Scottish poet Hugh MacDiarmid as "a mad god's dream,” Edinburgh is a multifarious mishmash of a metropolis. It has a history reaching back to the Bronze Age..."

Welcome to Edinburgh

A guide for GuidePal, December 2011

"Wrapped in a blanket of high hilltops, it is home to Michelin-star restaurants and world-class theatres alongside thriving nightlife and hectic urban chaos, all set against a calm sea view..."

Cutting It At The Edinburgh Fringe

An article for Scriptwriter Magazine, January 2008

“On the city's pretty Royal Mile, actors, singers, dancers, jugglers, stuntpeople, wrestlers and inexplicably semi-naked hypnotists all indiscriminately thrust their pamphlets at passers-by…”