A liberal city breaking free from its Catholic identity, Buenos Aires’ scene is so underground it makes Keith Richards seem conventional, and Banksy so last year. Swingers’ clubs, transvestite shows and hardcore electronica are considered mainstream… so is graffiti. No need for hidden identities here; graffiti is decriminalised, so satirical stencils, 3D murals and quirky […]

No matter how nice, polite, and evolved we think we are, it’s in our nature to want the best experiences for ourselves. When we get them, sometimes we even stoop to our baser instincts and brag. Today, we have some fine bragging rights to offer you. At Trufflepig we are the kings and queens of […]

I am a city boy. I thrive in concrete jungles, like the Barbican in East London, Soho in NY, or walking through the skyscrapers of HK. The thought of spending seven nights in a sea-faring vessel traversing the equatorial seas was not an immediately appealing prospect. Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands are in the vast Pacific, a […]

If illusionist illustrator M. C. Escher had ever tried his hand at architecture, he might have designed a place like Argos in Cappadocia. This fabulous little hotel in central Turkey is a study in subtle confusion and organic delight. Steps lead up, stairs go down, bridges arc across roads, rooftops turn into terraces, and terraces […]

I will bet you any amount of money you like that when foraging for truffles in the likes of Piemonte and Perigord, there is no danger of you being stalked by a 550 lb black-maned Kalahari lion. I bet you thought you’d never get that chance, either—how wrong you were! It just so happens that […]

Fez. You might love it or hate it, but indifference is unlikely. You’ve never seen a place like Fez. Think of the medina as one huge treasure-hunt, a life-size labyrinth to lose yourself in, and don’t venture in without a ball of string. Few places are so difficult to understand and yet able to get […]

I’m the least likely candidate when a week long hike is mentioned at Trufflepig. But what is travel if not a challenge to your norms? Aren’t those experiences the most rewarding? And to be fair, hiking with Mountain Lodges of Peru is far from an uncomfortable experience. It was with some trepidation that I joined […]

I have cycled through the “City of London” many a time. The “City” refers to the financial centre hugging the north bank of the Thames between Tower Hill and Fleet Street. It is a weird region, teeming self-importantly during the week and eerily still at the weekend. During my time traversing its thoroughfares and alleys […]

“Vamos a la playa!” is perhaps my favourite phrase in the Spanish language. It is a little like the Brits saying “let’s have a nice cup of tea shall we?”, meaning let’s forget what ails us and focus on something else. In Spain and the Spanish-speaking world of Latin America, this is totally justified—it conjures […]

Although there are many things that make the internet great, one of its shortcomings is the way safari companies often exercise their right to poetic licence. A small amount of embellishment is fine, outright fabrications are not. To help you see what I am on about, I need to get a little dull for a […]

Remember summer? It’s fun at the time, but I enjoy it even more in the winter, scrolling through photos of bright blue and bright green with the odd glass of pastis gleaming in the foreground. Uh oh. My body is in January in the office; my mind’s in July in Provence. And not in just […]

I grew up in England’s glamourous northwest (home of Coronation Street and Take That), where excitement was not particularly varied. Playing in a motorway median was the highlight—like an extreme sport, the adrenaline came from car-dodging over four lanes. So whenever I find myself in a new city I look for an excursion that is […]

If the kids are already bored with their Christmas presents, I know a collector who might be interested. Toys are just one of his obsessions, and like any pig worth his weight in bacon, this collector has much more up his sleeve. To seek is to find, but to stumble upon is pure bliss. On […]

If trekking in the tropics with weird and wonderful wildlife is your thing, pack your hardcore hiking-boots for Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula. This 43,000-hectare park preserves the largest tract of Pacific coastal rainforest in Central America. The stats are impressive: over 500 species of trees, 400 species of birds (including most […]

From the White House to UNESCO, the world of Flamenco has had quite a year. Here our Andalucian maestro, Sebastian Lapostol, explains how, where and when to get your fill. 2010 was Flamenco’s big brave year. First the Andalucian art form was nominated by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. […]

In my mind, I am Russell Crowe in the movie Gladiator; charging into battle, meting out death and destruction with all manner of things sharp and pointy from the saddle of an expertly ridden horse. Or, I’m Wyatt Earp, dealing justice in the wild west on horseback… in my mind. The reality of me on […]