Dreamt up by owners Kent and Britta, Treehotel is a year-round Northern outpost in the Swedish countryside, surrounded by unspoiled nature as far as the eye can see and the lush Lule river valley. They are the same couple who run Britta’s Pensionat next door; an inviting cluster of 1930-50s inspired rooms that feel like you’re staying at your […]

I couldn’t have pictured a more perfect day to meet my guide Marek of Northern Hikes for a nature walk of Bohemian and Saxon Switzerland. Nestled along the German-Czech border, this is both a hiker’s and filmmaker’s slice of paradise – the beauty of which we were able to appreciate in near solitude thanks to the […]

Newsflash: I’ve been scouring Southern Italy of late and to be completely frank, I’ve got it bad for Sicily….really bad. So bad that my family and friends are convinced I’m about to end up married to the mob. Magari! Someone recently said, ‘if Sicily were a song, it would be ‘amore’…” and who’s to argue […]

Greece is just about my favourite country in the world, and there’s little I don’t like about it, from the pom-poms on the shoes, to the grilled octopus, the arid islands, the lively people, the ancient marvels, and even the astonishing modern pop music. I’ve biked around it, walked across it, sailed through it, swam all over it […]

Because travelling on ferryboats is cool. Because creamy yoghurt with fruits & honey make a yummy breakfast. Because the national guards in front of Parliament (with those pompoms on their feet) look so funny. There are umpteen reasons why Greece is a great country for family holidays. Here are my top 12. 1) Greeks love […]

Palia (old) Peritheia is reputedly Corfu’s oldest village. The guides will tell you it’s a ‘ghost village’. The oldest it may well be, but a ghost village? Not really. Here’s the story. Go back to the 14th century. The island’s inhabitants, the corfiotes, were suffering regular pirate attacks, and many sought refuge away from the […]

Hops, barley and water. That’s it. These are the only ingredients allowed in beer brewing according to the German purity law established 500 years ago in the very place I found myself during a sunny week in September: Bavaria. Here are some of the highlights from said whirlwind week of Bavarian beer sampling from Munich […]

This Fall, Town & Country magazine had the hare-brained scheme of planning a 170-day Grand Tour around the world for their 100th anniversary. And then they had the wise idea of asking Trufflepig to plan 43 days of it. We were tickled pink with [false] modesty. There’s a world of difference between good trip-planning and most […]

There are many hidden places of history in London –  it is a city of layers that is to be discovered on foot through its higgledy-piggledy lanes and streets. No grid system here. There are, however, many cul-de-sacs and crescents that confuse and confound. Cycling lanes end where cobbles begin and then suddenly you discover […]

I write from a noisy, jam-packed café on the waterfront in Spetses. A small island, only an hour or so from Athens by boat. Tonight, in commemoration of  the famous warrior princess Bouboulina, a small boat will symbolically be set on fire in the harbour. As far as I can tell, the entire city of Athens […]

Growing up in Eastern Germany, Poland was too close for curiosity. We were neighbours dictated by our respective Communist regimes and that was about it. Even after the Iron Curtain was lifted, it held little appeal. The entire world was up for grabs after all, so I never wasted a thought on Poland – it […]

Italian kids are cool. They drink wine-tainted water from toddlerhood. They have mad ball handling skills from the pressure of containing the soccer ball within the piazza. Lessons in risk tolerance begin on Daddy’s lap in the backseat of Nonno’s car (see photo). From here the risk exposure progresses incrementally until one day these no […]

“HEL yeah” sums what I thought when a recent opportunity presented itself to spend a few days in the Finnish capital Helsinki (whose airport code is HEL… genius!). Now, travelling to a Northern European outpost in February doesn’t appeal to everyone, I get that. It’s dark, it’s chilly and it’s wet. But if you think […]

Just north of Lucca lies an unexplored corner of Tuscany, hideout and holdout of traditional artisans, old-school craftsmen, unreconstructed farmers, folksy flavours, and all-round fulsome fascination. Squeezed between the Serchio River valley and the Apuan Alps, the Garfagnana region is way off the beaten track despite being well within striking range of both Lucca city […]

Trufflepig is hiring. That’s right, we’re looking for a bright spark to join our Ferrari-red and on-fire Italy planning team. To be more precise, we’re looking for a location scout, mountain guide, pasta chef, natural diplomat, story-teller, lyricist, software whizz, sartorial advisor, permaculturalist, historian, painter, eater, drinker, dreamer, taster, guzzler, sharer, giver, listener, lecturer, cartographer, empathist, […]

When I’m choosing my preferred wine growing regions, I want more than just great wine, great food, and a decent place to lay my head. I want somewhere that’s going to inspire me. And that’s why, dear friends, should I ever go missing in action, start by looking in the Douro Valley in Portugal. The […]