Jules Told Me

Six things you should never travel without

What would you never leave home without? Here’s my list – and best of all, they don’t cost a penny.

It takes a brave heart to organise a surprise ‘Outlander’ trip

There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who love the ‘Outlander’ TV series and books. And – no, hang on. Surely there’s only one kind of people in this world?

by Jules Told Me

How to come up with a travel book title

For most of my travel-writing career, coming up with a book title wasn’t an issue. Here’s how it usually went.

Me: I’ve finished that book you sent me to write, on Sicily.

Rough Guide Editor: Great, thanks, we’ll call it The Rough Guide to Sicily.

by Jules Told Me

Writing the right kind of travel book

There is a certain amount of snobbery attached to travel writing, especially applied to those of us at the bus-timetable-and-opening-hours end of the business. In fact, writing guidebooks is somehow regarded as Not Proper Travel Writing.

by Jules Told Me

Lovely little dishes – top tips for a Spanish tapas tour

Here’s why, how, what and where to eat the best tapas in Spain – or my top tips for a tapas tour (and try saying that after a glass or three of vino).

by Jules Told Me

A wild walk on the Giant’s Causeway

The Irish giant of myth and legend Finn MacCool built stepping stones across to Scotland to avoid getting his feet wet – a thing that all giants hate, or so it’s told.

by Jules Told Me

Jungle emergency

To get to the lush Cameron Highlands – home of Malaysia’s best-known tea plantations – you go through the old tin-mining town of Ipoh. And to get to Ipoh, you used to have to go through my dad, who was stationed there as a conscripted National Serviceman in the early 1950s.

by Jules Told Me

Flocking brilliant

We’ve got wildlife in the UK, though it’s more at the deer-and-badger end of the spectrum than lions and tigers and bears (oh my).

by Jules Told Me

Hanging out in Prague

Do you always make a beeline for a city’s best-known sights, or do you give them a miss, preferring to seek out the less ordinary, the off-beat, the – oh go on, I’m going to say it – hidden gem?

by Jules Told Me

The best pubs in Dublin – Sláinte!

Here’s a 64,000-euro question – which bar in Dublin serves the best pint of Guinness? Luckily, you don’t have to give me 64,000 big ones – I have selflessly been and gone to Dublin to check out the contenders. You’re welcome!

by Jules Told Me

The house that Hundertwasser built

Hundertwasserhaus doesn’t so much line the street as pour along it, in a sinuous wave of colour that shakes a fist at conservative Vienna and shouts, “Baroque? No chance, this is what people want!”.

by Jules Told Me

Fighting season in Virginia

Summer is fighting season in Virginia. And if you didn’t know better, you’d swear that the whole Civil War had been fought over the vexed question of facial hair.

by Jules Told Me

Red Sea scuba – an Egyptian adventure

“And one more thing”, says Callum, the scuba-dive instructor. “I don’t want to hear anyone calling these flippers and goggles. They’re fins and masks. This isn’t splash time. It’s serious stuff”.

by Jules Told Me

Cruising coastal Norway on the Hurtigruten

They call it the most beautiful sea voyage in the world, which is some claim. But it’s probably true and it’s probably not where you think.

by Jules Told Me

With the whaleriders in Kaikoura

The inky depths and prevailing currents offshore from Kaikoura, New Zealand, attract a large number of giant sperm whales, making this just about the best place there is in the world to go whale-watching.

by Jules Told Me

Sachertorte in Vienna – best cake in the world?

How did I end up in a café in Vienna eating the best chocolate cake in the world? The truth is that – like so many of my ‘discoveries’ – it was here all along and I stumbled upon it. I am a shameless Christopher Columbus in this respect.

by Jules Told Me

Why I travel – 49 fairly good reasons

Most travel bloggers travel because stuff is ‘awesome’, because they don’t want a 9 to 5, because social media makes it possible. But why do they really travel? Why does anyone?

by Jules Told Me

On the Harry Potter trail – seeing magical parts of England

I was at King’s Cross Station recently. That’s a long line for a train, I thought, until I spotted that I was waiting next to Platform 9 ¾ …

by Jules Told Me

Travel-blogging – 6 things I’ve learned so far

Here are the 6 things I’ve discovered about travel-blogging so far – excluding the fact that no one – seriously, no one? – calls it trogging.

by Jules Told Me

Turn right at Tuscany

My friend, Glynis Charlton, a very talented creative writer, has found a fabulous place in Umbria for her writing workshops – and to find it, you just turn right at Tuscany.

by Jules Told Me

Mooching around in Melaka

Of all the cities in Malaysia, it’s Melaka (Malacca) on the west coast that has my heart. It’s an on-foot, by-bike, by-boat kind of city – definitely my kind of place.

by Jules Told Me

Off the beaten track, and other travels in Cliché Land

There is a land, far, far away, where travel writers spend more time than they should. Its siren call lures travelling hacks to an oasis where mere everyday words are not enough to describe the awesome wonders that confront them.

by Jules Told Me

The best pizza in Naples, Italy, the World, the Universe, the Multiverse

I’ve eaten pizzas all over the world, but sooner or later you have to take a stand. They serve the best pizza in the world in Naples, Italy. They just do.

by Jules Told Me

Skiddaw adventure – a trip to England’s most remote hostel

Ready for a Lake District micro-adventure? Then sit back and enjoy the trip to Skiddaw House – England’s most extraordinary youth hostel.

by Jules Told Me

Not coffee spoons – measuring out my life in Rough Guides

I measure out my life in Rough Guides. Here’s how it happened, with some travel tips along the way.

by Jules Told Me

Giant snails and soccer magazines – at the market in Kumasi, Ghana

Kumasi has the largest outdoor market in West Africa. It’s big in the way that towns are big. It’s basically a city in its own right, and you can get lost in a heartbeat.

by Jules Told Me

5 things you never want to hear an airline pilot say

I have been on a lot of flights to a lot of places. Statistically, I suppose, not everything is going to go to plan all the time, but even so I have always got there and back in one piece. Still, I could have done without these announcements from the cockpit.

by Jules Told Me

A land of contrasts – travel clichés we love to hate

Feel free to play ‘Travel Writer Bingo’ next time you read a travel feature, and see how many of the following crimes against clear, inspiring writing you can spot.

by Jules Told Me

The art of Pompeii

The buildings, the streets, the walls – the very physical essence of Pompeii – you expect. But the art? This – for me – was an intoxicating surprise.

by Jules Told Me

Timeless Australian desert

I took my first trip to Australia in 1998. That’s so last century. No smart phone, no digital camera, just a point-and-shoot compact. Put the photos in an album and never really looked at them again. Until now.

by Jules Told Me

How to be a travel writer

Here, for what they’re worth, are some of my experiences, tips and suggestions after 30 years as a travel writer. The rest is up to you.

by Jules Told Me

Glasgow’s fantastical botanical

I like the bars and restaurants of Glasgow’s West End – but I love the Botanical Gardens, a little slice of Scottish tropicana since 1842.