We’ve been out on the road this year…. a lot. At half-time on 2019, our trotters are worn smooth, and it’s time to take stock. The pictures above flooded my inbox when I naively wrote to our planning team to ask for a few shots from recent research trips. I was struck by the awesome […]

The Hindus speak of the purusharthas, or the four aims of a balanced life as the blueprint for human fulfillment: duty/ethics, prosperity, pleasure, and the pursuit of liberation.  As a travel professional these ideas have always resonated with me, as I appreciate the finer things in life but have often found that luxury and pleasure […]

We may be a tiny travel company (with a great big nose) but when Conde Nast Traveler magazine published its “2017 Top Travel Specialists” list last week, we blushed hot pink to see that Trufflepig has more experts listed than any other outfit. Our very own Dan, Rudston, Tyler and Sebastian, for Italy, Spain, Southern Africa and Myanmar. CNT describe them as “the […]

When a good friend of mine phoned me up recently to let me know he’d secured permits to walk the Caminito del Rey, I jumped at the chance. “The Kings Little Walk”.  The king in question, none other than Alfonso XIII, inaugurated this pathway in 1921, the aim being to oversee maintenance of the El […]

We don’t often toot our Spanish claxon, but we are proud of the corner of Spain from where we plan trips to the Iberian Peninsula.  Home of sherry, flamenco, and the oldest continuously inhabited city in Europe, here’s 5 reasons why our lovely little province should be on everyone’s bucket list. Cádiz (pronounced: CAH-DEETH). Drenched […]

When you have free time in Spain, you don’t wonder what you’re going to do. You wonder what you’re going to eat. The fact that any free time will be spent sitting and eating and drinking somewhere with friends is a foregone conclusion. It’s what is done. This weekend at lunch, for example, when we […]

Okay, so you haven’t quite gotten around to planning that late December holiday getaway. You don’t need more guilt heaped on your work-weary shoulders. But you do need some help. The Christmas to New Year’s travel window is a busy one, so there’s no more time to waste. Here’s a rundown of of what could […]

It’s 3:00 pm in Toronto, on a grey and quiet Friday afternoon. In Spain, it’s 10:00 pm and somewhere in some small bar in some small town a guitar is about to catch fire. Or so it seems. A moment ago our Spain & Morocco trip planner, Sebastian Lapostol, sent me this brief but compelling […]

Google “Norte Sur” and you get a subtitled Patrick Swayze pressing himself against the heaving bosom of Lesley-Anne Down in “North & South”, a very missable period drama. I hope this post launches Norte Sur, the distinctly unmissable Madrid tapas bar, to pole position where it belongs. This is a bar where the Spanish interior […]

Thanks to a splendidly mis-spent youth, I am addicted to hiking on Mediterranean islands. There are islands to party on, and islands with beaches; islands for honeymooners and islands with Greek temples. Here are some islands that are just great for taking a stroll. First up, in Greece—the tiny island of Symi in the Dodecanese. […]

In Spain a number of really excellent hotel chains that have figured out how to combine consistent quality, with character, style and vernacular, making the search for a great city hotel a whole lot easier. In most of the major cities and towns of Spain, you’ll find an AC Hotel, a Hospes hotel, or an NH Hotel. Totally different […]

What is it? “La Via Verde de la Sierra” is one of Andalucia’s best kept secrets. If you’re looking to get away from the crowds of monuments and get out to the real Andalucian countryside for that natural high (and burn off the extra calories of that jamón ibérico at the same time), this is a day […]

Semana Santa or Holy Week, the period between Palm Sunday and Easter, brings out all the colour, sight, and sound that make Spain such an irresistible destination. Jerez, a small town in Andalucia most of you have probably never heard of (but you will, as our new Spain trip planner is located here) celebrates the […]

Iberian ham, or jamón iberico, might well be our favourite thing about Spain (beyond the Macarena and Rafael Nadal, obviously). If you count yourself a lover of prosciutto or jambon de Beaujolais, jamón iberico will be right up your alley. Read on to hear about jamón’s inglorious history, current prestige and our favourite tasting tips. Ham wasn’t always such a celebrated item on the […]

Time passes slowly outside of the city in Andalucia. The summer sun hangs endlessly overhead and the bulls appear as leisurely and slow as the burros. Yet, on the coast you can pass the long days with surprising swiftness and ease at one of Spain’s little lauded guilty pleasures, the chiringuito. The coast on the […]

Pop-up restaurants are nothing new in places like New York, London and Paris, but in rural Andalucia the concept is just making its mark on the gastronomic underground. Wild boar and hares beware. When your favourite chef works exclusively on a freelance basis, what else is there to do but gather your best food loving […]