I spent 10 days in Beijing last November, and high on my list of things to do was the Lost Plate culinary tour. Driving from stop to stop by tuk-tuk, we dove head-first into the local food scene that is at the heart of the dense 'hutong' neighborhoods. I wrote about it for The Washington Post.
Read MoreI break down my first ever writing retreat: explaining how and why I did it, what I got out of it, and how you can make it work for you.
Read MoreThe Crazy Horse Cabaret in Paris has been setting hearts a-racing for more than 60 years. I finally ticked it off my Paris bucket list and attended the sexy, witty and iconic show, writing all about it for Marque Magazine in Australia. Check it out...
Read MorePublished in PrimoLife Magazine June 2017
In September 2016, I rode a wooden bike for 3 days through Athens and the Greek Islands. Jump in the saddle with me and explore this magnificent landscape in this most unusual way.
Read MoreOur target for the weekend is Château de Chambord. As the most famous and prominent castle in the region, can get very busy in the summer months, but after driving through the thickly wooded domain that surrounds it (and signs alerting us to wild boar and deer that roam about) we find it half-empty in the cold and crisp early December air.
Read MoreThere are about 15 young men in white, swarming over the sand, luring the bull this way and that. Psssst pssst they hiss and the bull swings his huge muscular body around, legs already splayed and hooves gouging the sand as he lurches forward.
Read MorePublished in לאשה Laisha Magazine, May 2016
Paris and it’s surrounds are perfect for family and couple bicycle rides. Enjoy these three fun routes and explore the City of Lights.
Read MoreThe Palace of Versailles, approximately 20km south-west of Paris is one of the most visited sites in Europe, and is on everybody's to-do list while in the City of Lights. It is an absolutely spectacular place, and one of my favourite sites in the Paris region, but it's not the kind of place you should just pitch up to and wing it.
Due to its size and popularity, a day in Versailles can easily descend into a disaster of long lines, bad timing, long walks in the dust and cancelled trains.
As a tour guide I've spent thousands of hours in the town and estate, and I firmly believe that preparation is the key. So read on, because I'm about to share as much advice as I can.
Read MoreAn island marked by centuries of conflict and bloody rule, a stone’s throw from Italy, ruled by the French and the birthplace of one of the greatest rulers of modern history, Corsica is under an hour’s flight from Nice but it is like no other place on earth.
Read MoreWatching the Paris Marathon isn't easy, even for a local. I was rushed, unprepared and even had to take a cab at one point. *shame*
Yet loads of people come to Paris from out of town to watch, so with this in mind, I've designed the perfect user-friendly Ultimate Paris Marathon Spectator Route.
Read MoreChartres is about 80km south-west of Paris, 1h20 by train. Perfect for a day visit, visitors go to see the UNESCO World Heritage listed Notre Dame de Chartres, arguably the most beautiful Gothic cathedral in France.
Back in May 2015, I spent a day in this beautiful little town with my Dad and his wife. Being the deadline-oriented, timely writer I am, I’ve let nothing get between me and this post.
Read MoreThe silly, gif-ridden listicle that became my most-read post gets another lease on life!
Enriched with input and interviews from some of my many guide friends, this insider piece about being a "good tourist" has been reworked for The Washington Post.
Read MoreThere’s a world you don’t see. Under your feet. A dark, wet, scurrying world. A muddy, candle-lit, labyrinthine world. Of immeasurable interconnected tunnels, dislodged boulders, vaulting galleries. Private dens, stone-carved temples and sprayed artworks. A world of pit-pat drips and natural springs, sagging electrical wires and bones.
A burrowing, endless honeycomb of a world under the huge, light, airy city you walk through every day. And one evening, this girl fell down the rabbit hole.
Read MoreSpeaking French is not a simple matter of flicking a switch and carrying on with life. It is inextricably related to feelings of legitimacy, falsehood, belonging and alienation. It is associated with anger and frustration, inadequacy, stupidity, and triumph. It is related to who and what I am, my place in the world around me and a constant negotiation and re-negotiation of meaning, intention and power.
Read MoreMeet Lynne Oakes, aka my mother.
Although she might not describe herself as such, she is a gutsy and adventurous lady, and last year she and her lovely fella rode their motorbikes over 7,500km across the middle of Australia. She generously agreed to let me wear my reporter hat and ask her all about it.
Read MoreSince when is Paris a place that needs to advertise? It’s one of the world’s top tourism destinations. However, 2015 was a shocker of a year for France, and understandably lots of people are have delayed or cancelled their Paris trips.
Here are my top five reasons for why you should come to Paris now.
Read MorePublished in לאשה Laisha Magazine, January 2016
Bing! I hop out of the way as another tram trundles through the middle of a busy street. Having long since disappeared from many cities, the tram is still very much part of Melbourne, a quirky patch on the quilt that is this complex, vibrant city. A melting pot of cultures, of interests, languages and history, Australia’s second largest city has a lot to offer visitors, and I’m eager to get to know it a little on my three day visit.
Read MorePublished in The Washington Post, January 10 2016
A short train ride from Paris, visitors can enter a serene but spectacular Eden cultivated by the impressionist artist.
Read MoreWelcome to "Hey You! Yes You", a new series in which I'll introduce you to a new marvelous person that I have encountered here on Earth, each with their own interesting story.
For the first ever post of I have chosen a friend of mine here in Paris, Ellen. Ellen is a seriously talented musician and singer, who has just finished recording a to-be-named new album.
By regularly coaxes the magic of unicorns out of her voice and into our ears on the Paris music scene. By day she works in one of the most beautiful places on earth: The Eiffel Tower. As a tour guide, and has been up the Tower more than a hundred times. Like, way more.
I thought it would be fun to ask her a few questions about what that is like.
Read MoreI’ve been a bicycle tour guide in Paris for more than two years, and this is a topic I’ve been thinking of writing about for a while. I resisted it because I’m not a fan of bitchsticles (bitchy-list-articles) and I couldn’t really see how this would interest anybody except me and my guide friends.
Then I realised something that changed my mind:
The tour you get depends on the tourist you are.
Read MoreAnna Hartley is an Australian writer based in Paris.
