Trip Type

I first visited the Great Barrier Reef 13 years ago, during my very first trip to Australia. My visit was just a day trip from Cairns to Green Island, which is a small island located about 90 minutes out to sea from Cairns. It was a wonderful experience, but I have always wanted to go back and take one of the trips to the outer reef, to see more of this truly beautiful part of the world.

For this years Christmas market break I wanted to try somewhere completely different to the destinations that I've visited previously. One of my friends suggested Italy and after some research I concluded that the Turin Christmas markets were the ones which I wanted to visit.

We arrived at Carr Taylor Wines on a warm Sunday afternoon. It was a beautiful day, with hardly a cloud in the sky. After checking in for our vineyard tour and wine tasting at their cellar door we were shown to a sun-kissed terrace, where a handful of other people were sat around wooden picnic tables (the kind you would find in a traditional pub garden) happily chatting while waiting for the rest of the guests so the tour could commence. The terrace area was absolutely beautiful, an old rustic farm house to the side, the cellar door in front of us, and just fields of vines as far as the eye could see.

I have always regarded Seville as the rustic heart of Spain. Known for its stunning tapas, beautiful Moorish architecture, and its labyrinth of narrow cobbled streets, Seville has long been on my to-do list. So when British Airways announced a daily service from London Gatwick, I didn't hesitate in booking some flights.

To start my four month trip to Australia I flew Qatar Airways Business Class from Munich, Germany to Adelaide, Australia, changing planes in Doha, Qatar. On previous trips I have flown to Australia with British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Malaysia Airlines and also Qantas. With all the amazing deals which have been available recently on Qatar Airways Business Class, I thought that I should book my next trip to Australia with Qatar Airways.

I have visited Granada briefly on a couple of occasions in the past, but these visits were flying visits, maybe for a meal, or just a passing visit on the way to or from the ski resort in the Sierra Nevada. When I booked my Spanish trip for this summer, I decided that as I would be passing through Granada I would stop here for a mini Granada city break on my way to southern Spain.

I try and visit at least one Christmas market each year, and this year along with a group of friends we decided to visit Luxembourg. This was my first trip to Luxembourg, so as well as enjoying the various Christmas markets, I also discovered some of this picturesque continental city. Luxembourg is completely land-locked between France, Belgium and Germany and has subtle influences from all its neighbours.

Picturesque blue domed churches and white-washed towns and villages perched on a cliff-top, high above the vivid blue waters of the Aegean Sea could...

Just over a year ago British Airways announced that after many years they would recommence their London to Kuala Lumpur service. It was announced that the service would be operated by their brand new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, and with an upgraded, more exclusive First Class cabin. As soon as I heard about this I just knew I had to book British Airways First Class from Kuala Lumpur back to London Heathrow.

A while ago I read about a great Sunday night deal offered by Hotel du Vin, so I thought I'd give it a try. The deal allows you to book a room for the night for as little as £30, with the condition that you spend a minimum of £75 on Sunday evening in their bistro. For this trip I decided to book a stay at the Hotel du Vin Cambridge as this was the ideal location for a place that I wanted to visit in the vicinity.

Copenhagen has long been on my city break to do list, so one evening when I stumbled across some cheap flights I decided to book a Copenhagen city break. I booked my flights with Norwegian, who fly between London Gatwick and Copenhagen 5 times a day. The return flight cost just under £50pp. Norwegian is a low cost airline which is rapidly expanding their services from London Gatwick, and have the added advantage of free wifi onboard.

The last stop on this years trip to Spain was to spend a few days at the family home, near Marbella in Andalusia. Most people who visit Andalusia head for the sun-soaked beaches of the Costa del Sol, but I wanted to spend my time here exploring some of the less touristy places.

Budapest is one of my favourite cities in Europe, and a place I enjoy returning to time and time again. Will my summer Budapest city break be better than my previous visits in winter? 

Earlier this year I spent the perfect weekend in Prague - a belated birthday present to myself as I have always wanted to visit Prague. By researching online before my trip, I ended up with a list of places I wanted to visit and things I wanted to see and do during my short stay in Prague. As always, my list was far too long for a mere two night stay, so some things had to be cut out for this trip or I just wouldn't have had time to stop, let alone sleep. So here is my list of 5 must-do things for a short stay in Prague - you won't be disappointed!

With the leaves on the trees beginning to turn a crisp golden brown, and the cool morning chill which has been creeping up on us now day by day, I think it's safe to say that this wonderfully warm British summer is now coming to an end. Over the past few months I have been on many trips, and enjoyed some wonderful experiences, all of which have made this the perfect summer.

Poland has always been somewhere I have wanted to visit, and after my failed attempt in getting to Wroclaw last year I've been longing to book another trip. Earlier this year I saw a great deal on flights to Gdansk with Wizz Air and I just could not resist booking a Gdansk city break.

For a while now, after seeing pictures of this beautiful city, I have been longing to visit Ljubljana. One day earlier this year I stumbled across some extremely cheap flights, so I thought why not, and went ahead and booked my Ljubljana city break.

For my main Christmas market break this year I chose to visit the Brussels Christmas Market. I chose Brussels this year because when I first visited Brussels a couple of years ago I thought that the architecture in the city centre was absolutely stunning, and that it would make the perfect setting for a Christmas market.