Suzy Pope

Suzy Pope

***CURRENTLY ON MATERNITY LEAVE*** I'm an Edinburgh-based freelance writer and editor specialising in travel, food and drink. Since graduating with an MSc in Creative Writing from Edinburgh University, I've had features published by The Guardian, Bradt Travel Guides and National Geographic Traveller and have worked as a restaurant reviewer and Food & Drink Editor at The List magazine. 

The Independent •

13 best hotels in Edinburgh for a Scottish city break

Like Jekyll and Hyde, central Edinburgh has two sides. The Georgian New Town is a realm of leafy boulevards, towering townhouses and charming mews streets, while the medieval Old Town hides myriad closes and snickelways where dark deeds were conducted at nightfall. Edinburgh Castle looms above the city on a craggy outcrop and at the other end of the Royal Mile, stately Holyrood Palace sits in the shadow of an extinct volcano.There’s plenty to explore in the suburbs too. Stockbridge has a village...
Weather2Travel.com •

Best beaches in Albania for holidays to the Albanian Riviera

Closed off to the rest of the world under a Communist dictatorship until the 1990s, Albania* was a country shrouded in mystery for decades. Thanks to a litany of affordable flights and holidays from across the UK, and a 35-minute ferry ride from Corfu Town, people are slowly waking up to everything this southern European destination has to offer, including its pristine shores. The peak summer months see crowds descend on the Albanian Riviera, the southern Ionian Sea stretch of its Mediterranea...
The Independent •

This is the Rome neighbourhood where the locals come to eat

“I hope you’re hungry,” my guide, Dimitri, says. We’re strolling through Rome’s Centro Storico, but in the opposite direction of the Colosseum and Pantheon. I’ve joined a food tour with The Tour Guy, searching for Rome’s best traditional food. For that, Dimitri says we need to cross the Tiber into the city’s first suburb: Trastevere. Like most vibrant hubs of nightlife and dining, Trastevere has deep working-class roots, but not ones embedded in industry and warehouses. This neighbourhood’s his
Weather2Travel.com •

Why Northern Slovenia is best for summer fun in the sun

Why Northern Slovenia is best for summer fun in the sun While temperatures soar in southern Europe, the Slovenian mountains promise plenty of activities and lakeside relaxation under warm sunshine with more bearable conditions. Northern Slovenia* is a world of towering mountains, sparkling lakes and deep green forests. Bordering Alpine Austria, villages are shambles of chalet-style wooden houses with church spires jutting against the mountainscape of the Triglav National Park. Summers here ar
The National •

Lunch in Paris, dinner in Lyon: Taking the train from Edinburgh to France's foodie haven

On May 6, 1994, the Channel Tunnel was inaugurated, forming a direct link between Britain and mainland Europe and connecting the people of Scotland, England and Wales to a seemingly endless web of railways across the continent and beyond. Three decades on, it’s the perfect way to enjoy a multi-culinary journey to Europe, eating breakfast in the Scottish capital before exploring the foodie haven that is France for lunch and dinner. Just before 7am on a Saturday morning, a cluster of people with
The Independent •

Iceland’s Diamond Circle: Escape the crowds to find natural wonders

Iceland has been something of a victim of its own beauty. Every day you’ll spot convoys of minibuses, coaches and hire cars trundling along the Golden Circle, with tourists taking whirlwind trips into the ‘wild’ from Reykjavik. At times, you’re more likely to be poked in the eye with a selfie stick at Reynisfjara Beach than encounter a puffin. Or trip over a tripod at the mighty Stokkur geyser than marvel, wide-eyed at the eruption. Like other tourist favourites – Amsterdam, Bali, Venice and Te
inews.co.uk •

The fast-changing European city which is a perfect £200 budget break this Spring

I’m at the nucleus of one of Europe’s most intriguing cities. In the polished expanse of Skanderbeg Square, as the sun illuminates the Dajti mountain range that encases Tirana, I sense the change. My knowledge of the Albanian capital had been based on decades of closed Communist dictatorship and film depictions of Soviet-style block housing, dark alleyways and a lot of grey. But I can see that things have moved on. Tirana’s glossy, modern centre feels like it’s developing as fast as the desert
Fodors Travel Guide •

There’s a Shocking Ingredient Included in This Whiskey

Iceland’s first and only whiskey distillery uses a traditional technique that raises a few eyebrows. Iceland’s relationship with alcohol is rockier than the lunar lava plains of the Reykjanes Peninsula. This isolated island in the North Atlantic was under strict prohibition for most of the 20th century and the untamed, near-Arctic landscape doesn’t lend itself to verdant farmland for hops or grapes. However, pure glacial water streaming down from vast ice caps, the hardiness of Norwegian barley
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