My Top 10 Travel Experiences of the Past 5 Years

Later this year, I am travelling to Peru, where I hope to cross another item off my bucket list: hiking the Inca Trail and visiting Machu Picchu. I'm really excited about the trip, which will be my first time in South America, and I couldn't help but look back on some of the other amazing travel experiences I've been lucky enough to have over the past few years. I hope some of these will inspire you with your own holiday planning for 2018 and beyond.

A Weekend in Padua

You wait a lifetime for an Italian wedding two crop up in the space of six months: my cousin’s wedding in Sorrento in August and last weekend, a good friend from university was married in the northern Italian city of Padua (AKA Padova). I’ve been to Venice, 25 miles to the east, a few times, but never to Padua and I was looking forward to visiting a new city and to celebrating with my friend and his friends and family. 

A Year in Leaps: 2016

Each year, as part of my year-in-review top five lists, I like to look back on some of the most memorable places I travelled to this year and, because I enjoy taking silly leaping photos in new places, picking out my favourite five leaps of the year is a fun way to do this. Alas, there were a few particularly memorable trips this year during which, for various reasons, I didn't get the chance to take a leaping photo; most notably, my recent holiday in Reykjavik, where a photo with the Northern Lights in the background would have entailed a 12-second levitation. Even in a leap year, I wasn't quite up to the challenge.

Sorrento: Sun, Sea and Sandals

Sorrento is a small but attractive resort town famous for its lemons. It lies about 30 miles south of Naples — not close enough to see its northern neighbour, although you can usually see Vesuvius looming across the Gulf of Naples. 

Grotto Hopping in Capri

The island of Capri lies just 3.5 miles from the southwestern tip of the Sorrento peninsula and about 10 miles from Sorrento town. Capri is small — about 3.5 by 1.5 miles, with about 12,000 residents. In the peak season, tourists outnumber residents by a ratio of about three to one, but the island hasn't shaken its glamorous past and it remains one of Italy's most popular islands, as well as being the birthplace of the caprese salad and capri pants.

There are regular ferries from both Sorrento and Naples but we hired a small motorboat for the day and our charming skipper Teodoro steered us out to Capri, where we circumnavigated the small island in a clockwise direction from Marina Piccola on the south shore. 

It took us about 45 minutes to reach Capri, and we rode past some of the pretty perched villages and Roman remains on the mainland, including Villa di Pollio Felice (not Pollo Felice (‘happy chicken’) as I first thought Teodoro said!).

Capri's most famous attraction is the Grotta Azzurra (blue grotto) on the north shore, but there are dozens of other smaller and still very beautiful grottos and Teodoro took us into several of them, including the Grotta Verde (green grotto), Grotta Bianca (white grotto) and Grotta dei Santi (grotto of the saints). The water is so clear and appears in various vibrant shades of green, blue and turquoise; when the water catches the light, the effect is absolutely stunning. 

We stopped off to swim and leap off the boat on numerous occasions. This was a good call given that the relatively small beaches of Capri were all incredibly crowded; laying down your towel requires exceptional Tetris skills.

We docked at Marina Piccola and caught a taxi up to the town of Anacapri, which is smaller and higher than the island’s main town, Capri. There isn’t a great deal to do in Anacapri and we didn't have time to take a ride on the chair lift up to the highest point on the island, Monte Solaro.

Instead, we wandered through the town’s main drag, Via Giuseppe Orlandi, and looked at the Casa Rossa (a Moorish style house in a vibrant red colour) and the church before stopping for lunch at Le Arcate, a large, rustic restaurant with friendly waiters and good value food. I had a pizza (shocker!), which was very good, although a little too crispy to be truly Neapolitan.

The taxi journey back down to Marina Piccola was just as exciting — the roads are very narrow and twisty and there are stunning views over the bay. After hopping back onto our boat, we carried on sailing around the island, passing various lighthouses, watchtowers, Roman ruins, grottos and the three faraglioni rock formations, one of which you can boat through.

Although we hoped to visit the Grotta Azzurra, we weren’t sure how long the queue was going to be. We had asked Teodoro whether we should head there first thing in the morning but he told us that the afternoon was less crowded. 

There were still quite a few tour boats waiting when we arrived, not to mention the long queue of people waiting on the mainland. Our skipper managed to arrange for us to jump the line, however, which must have been incredibly annoying for everyone else (sorry to anyone else who was in Capri on Saturday).

The five of us were crammed into one of the tiny row boats, which are the only boats allowed inside the grotto. After we had each paid our €13, our brusque but characterful rower sung O Sole Mio (this is not optional) and rowed us into the grotto. I was fully expecting it to be a) not much more impressive than the other grottos we had seen and b) a complete tourist trap. 

Happily, although it was not dissimilar to Disney’s 'Pirates of the Caribbean' ride, it really was an impressive sight and one that cameras can’t capture very well, especially not in the five minutes you get inside. The water really does glow an ethereal turquoise, like an incredibly beautiful swimming pool but without the lighting. 

If you stick your hand in the water, it glows too. We asked ourselves how much we would pay to have a private visit into the grotto for an hour at sunset (when the light strikes the cave mouth at the perfect angle) and the answer was quite a lot of money!

We had one last swim and then it was time to head back to Sorrento. But then disaster struck! Well, sort of. A rather large ferry-generated wave struck the boat and ruptured the belt that powers the water pump. Teodoro called for back up but started trying to fix it himself. 

As you can imagine, we were devastated to be lying in the sun on the front of a boat with views of Capri and the mainland for an hour! Just as the rescue boat arrived, Teodoro had got the motor started again and we were soon on our way home, just in time for a stunning sunset over Capri and Ischia. I don’t think I have ever been less bothered by a transportation breakdown!

Our day on the boat was one of the best of my holiday and I think it is one of the best ways to visit Capri, especially in August when the ferries, beaches and buses on the island are all extremely crowded. There are plenty of restaurants and some good shops on Capri, especially in Capri town, but it is expensive to stay on the island and if you are on a budget, a day trip might be a better option.

Going Coastal: A Day on the Amalfi Coast

On Thursday morning, we took the ferry from Naples to Sorrento. Sorrento lies just across the Gulf of Naples from its more northerly neighbour and you can take a train or taxi (both take about 70 minutes), but we opted to go by boat, which is a little faster (45 minutes) and rather pleasant. There isn't a huge amount to do in Sorrento itself but it’s a good base for exploring the Amalfi Coast and the isles of Capri and Ischia. 

Naples II: Pompeii Excursion and Espresso Heaven

We woke up early on Wednesday morning — too early for breakfast in our hotel's famed baroque breakfast room, but the perfect time to take the Circumvesuviana train to the Pompeii ruins before the heat and the crowds. We also had time for a cornetto (Italy's answer to the croissant) and the first of many espressi at the pasticceria opposite Porta Nolana station. My research hadn't yielded much specialty coffee in Naples, but most of the espressi I drank during my short stay in the city were decent and some very good.

Naples I: Napoli by Night

When researching this trip to Naples, I was surprised to see so much negativity for the southern Italian city. Requests for Neapolitan hotel recommendations on TripAdvisor are often met with suggestions to stay in Sorrento and make a day trip into Naples 'if necessary'. The city is often accused of being dirty, dangerous and just plain unlovely. I think most of these claims are unjustified. Sure, Naples is rough — and not just around the edges — but it is colourful, characterful and has some of the world's best pizza.

What's in My Bag: An August Wedding on the Amalfi Coast

I rarely travel in August, preferring the cooler and somewhat quieter months for the destinations I tend to visit of May, June, September and October. However, I was very excited to receive an invitation to my cousin's wedding, which takes place in Sorrento this week. I've spent a lot of time in Italy, but mainly in Milan, Bologna, Rome and Sardinia, and, despite my love of Neapolitan pizza, I've never been to Naples.

A Winter Day Trip to Dolceacqua, Italy

After a few pizza fails while visiting my parents in Cannes this week, we realised the only option was to head over the border to Italy. Our destination? The picturesque Medieval village of Dolceacqua.