Isle of Wight Garlic Festival 2025
Newchurch, in the centre of the picturesque Isle of Wight, nestling amidst sloping hills, is the perfect location for a festival. It is here that every year in August the Isle of Wight Garlic…
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Newchurch, in the centre of the picturesque Isle of Wight, nestling amidst sloping hills, is the perfect location for a festival. It is here that every year in August the Isle of Wight Garlic…
A walking food tour is a great way to explore a new area. Find a local guide with a good reputation who knows their home turf well and enjoys sharing…
Garlic lovers get your diaries out now and book in 23 July to 1 August for the Gilroy Garlic Festival. This weekend is full of fun and great garlicky food, such as garlic chips and garlic…
Mike Pickup travels to Tbilisi Georgia to discover a place rich in history with the world’s oldest viniculture and a ridiculous amount of food. “I’m off to Georgia” I told…
It is the time of year when traditionally we make our predictions for the ensuing 12 months. So, Travel Begins at 40 has gazed into our collective crystal ball to…
While people around the UK are celebrating the approach of Lent by tossing pancakes in the warmth of their own kitchen, the gentlefolk of one Buckinghamshire town take to the…
On his Macao Holidays, Mike Pickup discovers a place that fuses its Portuguese and Chinese heritage in three quite distinct ways. It’s little wonder that at times Macao seems more…
Referred to as the biggest food fight in Europe, the Battle of the Oranges Italy takes over the town of Ivrea on the three days preceding Lent, from the Sunday…
Chinese New Year is undoubtedly China’s pre-eminent and most intense festive period characterised by sumptuous family meals, the colour red, paper lanterns and lots…
At the end of his week’s trip through California, Mark Bibby Jackson follows some of his favourite movies through the streets of San Francisco and finds amid all the amazing…
Roger Hermiston and Eileen Wise fill their boots on local history while staying and dining at The Swan at Lavenham in Suffolk, as well as enjoying the most blissful spa…
The festive season brings a flurry of new wine tasting venues, taprooms, and restaurants to Sonoma County, adding to the region’s abundant mix of fine flavours and experiences. Here’s a…
Continuing his journey from Tuolumne County to San Francisco, Mark Bibby Jackson pops in on Tri-Valley California and discovers a thing or two about fine wines. “I can detect tobacco…
Experience the opulence of Nowruz – or Persian New Year – in March with an abundance of food, music and hospitality in one of many Persian-heritage countries. Nowruz Meaning Nowruz…
Irene Caswell takes a micro-break to the Midhurst Spread Eagle in the West Sussex market town and discovers a hotel steeped in history that is truly fit for a Queen…
In recent years stollen has become as much a feature of Christmas as figgy pudding. But nowhere do they celebrate the festive cake as seriously as in Dresden where each…
Tsagaan Sar or Mongolia’s lunar new year is the most important festival for ethnic Mongols and the people of the Arctic where age-old rituals combine with eating local delicacies such…
On his annual Isle of Wight holidays Mark Bibby Jackson takes a step back in history, as well as visiting a few familiar haunts. The Isle of Wight has always…
Billed as a chance to meet the best chocolatiers in Ireland, the Cork Chocolate Weekend runs from 23 to 25 November and is held at the Cork International Hotel, Ireland…
On their second trip in a year to the Emerald Isle Roger Hermiston and Eileen Wise visit three luxury hotels in Ireland, learn about falconry, stay in a lighthouse, dine…
With more than 100 Thai recipes, Busaba Bangkok Thai Cookbook brings the taste of Thai cuisine direct to your kitchen. Coral Glennie reviews what treats you have in store. The…
On a tour of things to do in Dublin, Irene Caswell takes us around the birthplace of Joyce and Guinness to discover both traditional and millennial culture – and lots…
The Brussels Christmas Market is no doubt one of the best in Europe for food and atmosphere. Winter Wonders – as the market is dubbed – runs over two kilometres through the Belgian…
Roger Hermiston and Eileen Wise spend a weekend on the Essex – Suffolk border basking in the trio of delights at Maison Talbooth, Le Talbooth and Milsoms hotel and restaurant…
One of the best ways of getting an understanding of a country’s culture is trying the local food. Whether it is bun cha in Vietnam, or cinammon buns in the Caribbean, you will get closer to your hosts if you eat what they do.
Organised food tours are a simple and affordable way to sample the local cuisine without biting off more than you can chew.
Alternatively, coincide your trip with a local festival and you will soon realise how important a role what – and how – you eat plays in determining local culture. Whether its Lincolnshire sausages, Catalan spring onions, Dresden stollen, or Cheng Chau buns in Hong Kong, people have a tendency to celebrate what they eat in wonderful ways.
At no time is this more in evidence than in the build up to Christmas, when people bulk themselves up on savoury and sweet fare, washed down by mulled wine in the most wonderful gastronomic celebrations.