Features Archives - Page 3 of 4

Entebbe Interlude

Posted on September 24, 2018 (Updated January 22, 2019) in Features by Ben West

Entebbe is mostly remembered for a dramatic hijacking in the days of Idi Amin. Now it’s a sleepy backwater, writes Ben West… When you mention the word Entebbe, most Brits…

Sax and the Citadel

Posted on August 22, 2018 (Updated August 30, 2018) in Features by Stuart Render

Taking care to enunciate his vowels, Stuart Render takes a breather next to the man who invented Charlie Parker’s instrument of choice – and visits the House of Sax……………. Walking…

Islandwana Adventure

Posted on August 19, 2018 (Updated August 30, 2018) in Features by Ben West

You’ve done Kruger and the Cape: now try South Africa’s KwaZulu Natal, writes Ben West….. Whenever I meet someone who has holidayed in South Africa, chances are it’s the same…

How and when to do Dubrovnik on a short break

Posted on June 29, 2018 (Updated July 2, 2018) in Features by Kirsten Henton

Croatia is a turquoise-watered, pebbly-beached hit among many Guild members. It has a fascinating history, lashings of sunshine, the freshest seafood, and a rapidly maturing wine scene. The star of…

Famous gardens revived

Posted on June 14, 2018 (Updated June 27, 2018) in Features by Peter Jolly

Peter Jolly reports on the restoration of the once hugely popular Leonardslee Gardens Not content with buying one of the most prestigious golf clubs in Sussex and turning part…

Sardinian indulgence

Posted on June 10, 2018 (Updated June 20, 2018) in Features by Rupert Parker

Sardinia hopes to attract more UK visitors out of season – but what can it offer in the cooler months? Rupert Parker joined a group of Guild colleagues invited…

Leipzig – Bach to the present

Posted on May 2, 2018 (Updated October 2, 2020) in Features by Simon Willmore

Bryn Frank has travelled widely in Germany, but has a special fondness for the less well known east and north east of the country. It was probably sparked off by…

Norwegian Bliss – NCL’s latest 4,000-guest cruise ship

Posted on April 23, 2018 (Updated April 27, 2018) in Features by Alastair McKenzie

Last week Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) took possession of their latest cruise ship, Norwegian Bliss, during an on board signing ceremony at which ownership was transferred from the Meyer Werft…

Zimbabwe: Tourism renaissance?

Posted on April 17, 2018 (Updated October 2, 2020) in Features by Stuart Forster

In November 2017 Zimbabwe experienced a change of president. Robert Mugabe, who spent almost 30 years as the head of state, was replaced by Emmerson Mnangagwa. What impact is that…

Upskilling in the Kitchen: Guild members go back to school

Posted on March 21, 2018 (Updated April 10, 2018) in Features by BGTW Contributor

Masterchef finalists? Maybe not yet. But a Guild group left a favourable impression in the teaching kitchen at Chewton Glen, the luxury hotel and spa in Hampshire. Ferne Arfin –…

5 Scottish islands you’ve probably not been to

Posted on March 18, 2018 (Updated March 31, 2018) in Features by Robin McKelvie

Robin McKelvie is an Edinburgh based member of the BGTW. He has written over a thousand articles about Scotland for magazines and newspapers across five continents, runs a Scottish travel…

Secrets of the New Forest

Posted on February 11, 2018 (Updated March 23, 2025) in Features by BGTW Contributor

A January day in Hampshire, in the wake of the Guild’s AGM in Brockenhurst, proved an eye-opener for Bill Birkett….. It was a dampish morning and the itinerary didn’t sound…

Black Balsam and Kremlin limos – snapshots of Riga

Posted on January 24, 2018 (Updated February 16, 2018) in Features by Simon Willmore

In December 2017, the British Guild of Travel Writers visited Riga and Sigulda, in Latvia. Here, Simon Willmore relives the first half of the trip, to the country’s capital: Having…

On a wing and a prayer – Brexit threat to air travel

Posted on December 21, 2017 in Features by Roger Bray

If the Government appears to be heading for a European divorce on a wing and a prayer, how apt is that metaphor when it comes to air travel post Brexit…

Another fine meze

Posted on November 21, 2017 (Updated January 17, 2018) in Features by Isabel Conway

On a culinary odyssey in Istanbul, Isabel Conway goes in search of the world’s finest kebab… Ottoman ruler Sultan Mehmet II did nothing by halves. A legendary gourmet with a…

Marco Polo’s Favourite Island

Posted on October 31, 2017 (Updated October 31, 2017) in Features by BGTW Contributor

Where better to take a holiday than Sri Lanka, where the locals are experts? The people of this tiny Ireland-sized island in the Indian Ocean enjoy a world-record 26 public…

Tomb of the unknown relative

Posted on October 24, 2017 (Updated January 17, 2018) in Features by John Ruler

As ceremonies to mark the centenary of the Great War continued, veteran Guild member John Ruler found a corner of a foreign field that revealed a distant family connection….. Two…

Bistrot + boules = bonheur

Posted on October 4, 2017 (Updated October 12, 2017) in Features by Lisa Gerard-Sharp

Lis Gerard-Sharp finds the perfect equation for contentment in a Provencal village where not a lot goes on… Travel writers tend to be in thrall to the coolest, hippest, weirdest…

A knights’ trail in the Aube

Posted on May 8, 2017 (Updated January 17, 2018) in Features by Simon Willmore

The French department of Aube is rich in the history of the Knights Templar, Simon Willmore followed their trail… The first master of the Knights Templar, Hugues de Payns, was born…

Grapes and Golf

Posted on May 3, 2017 (Updated May 4, 2017) in Features by Peter Jolly

A South African style wine experience is planned in West Sussex. Peter Jolly investigates………… Some of the finest wine estates in the world are to be found around Cape Town…

Pigs in court

Posted on April 28, 2017 (Updated June 19, 2023) in Features by Isabel Conway

Isabel Conway hears tales of the unexpected – and downright bizarre – on an arts and crafts tour of Chateauvillain in southern Champagne Bobbins at the 17th century watermill and…