Europe from Scotland to Scandinavia and Slovakia.The Amazon. The Andes. World cuisine from wacky street food to fine wine. Travel ideas for next year. 75 titles and counting. One common theme in all of my travel writing (indeed, all my fiction writing too) is my obsession with wildernesses. And it is on wildernesses that I am often asked to write about, whether they be tropical rain forests, far-flung mountain ranges, pathless moorland or Arctic wastes. To me, they’re the finest part of the adventure-inspiring Great Outdoors.

Below are my travel/non-fiction book titles (for my fiction see here and for a selection of the articles I have written for journals/newspapers/magazines see here).

For a reasonably comprehensive list of the travel books I’ve written or contributed to – in English (and French) – you can also visit my Amazon.co.uk page.

UK…

Britain’s stunningly varied landscapes are my greatest passion. During 2022 and 2023 I have been working for BBC Springwatch researching and writing BBC Springwatch Great British Walks – an in-depth compilation of the UK’s 100 greatest walks for observing wildlife.

I have also written First Edition UK guidebooks for Avalon Travel Publishing and Lonely Planet, contributing chapters and introductions on numerous UK destinations to coffee table and trade & reference books such as The Joy of Water, Great Adventures, Amazing Train Journeys and Ultimate UK Travelist. That is in addition to many articles on UK travel generally and specialist articles on the UK outdoors.

EASTERN EUROPE…

I have spent four years living in Eastern Europe – in Bratislava, Slovakia. During this time I have gleaned some fascinating insights into the culture and the countryside here and became one of the world’s foremost writers on Slovakian travel & culture (and the foremost in English). I also ran the leading in-English Slovak travel and culture site, englishmaninslovakia.co.uk, between 2012 and 2016. Thus the Slovakia chapters of the below, written by me, contain some of the best in-English info on the country available. I have also written on Slovakia for reference titles such as Lonely Planet’s Wine Trails, Guide to Life and Everyday Adventures and numerous articles on Slovakia too (please scroll down to ‘Europe’)

SCANDINAVIA…

In recent years I’ve found myself spending increasing amounts of time in, and mesmerised by, Scandinavia, home of Europe’s most extreme wildernesses (it’s not surprising, perhaps, that my travels should lead me here!) This has already resulted in my contributions to a few books on the region, including chapters on Finland and Denmark on several editions of the Rough Guide to Europe, as well as contributing chapters to reference books including World’s Best Superfoods and National Parks of Europe. I’ve also written many articles on Scandinavia’s outdoors (please scroll down to ‘Europe’) and articles on other aspects of Scandinavian travel, culture and cuisine (please scroll down to ‘Europe’). 

CARIBBEAN & CENTRAL AMERICA…

In the Caribbean, I write books primarily about Cuba and Puerto Rico, and have written five of the last six editions of Lonely Planet’s books on the islands. I have travelled the length and breadth of Central America too, and have made contributions to several books on the region, including World’s Best Spicy Food, the The World’s Best Street Food and Offbeat.

I have also written many articles on the Caribbean outdoors, culture & cuisine (please scroll down to The Caribbean/Central America).

SOUTH AMERICA…

South America has always lured me where travelling, travel writing – and, in fact, a great deal of fiction writing – is concerned. My main specialisms are the Amazon and the Andes – I have written on these two vast and varied regions for numerous travel books, including for the last eight editions of Lonely Planet’s Peru, Discover Peru, Best of Peru and Ecuador titles, as well as on the South American sections for landmark culinary travel books such as Food Lovers Guide to the World and The World’s Best Street Food and adventure travel publications such as Amazing Train Journeys. In their mystery-shrouded culture and nature, and perhaps in their sheer extent too, there is something of the infinite; something that will always elude being fully defined. Something intoxicating.

I have also written many articles on South America’s outdoors, culture & cuisine (please scroll down to South America).

TRAVEL REFERENCE & COFFEE TABLE…

CULINARY TRAVEL…

I am fascinated by how cuisine, and the acts of eating and drinking, can epitomise the culture of a region or country. This obsession very much carries over into my fiction writing, but the seeds were sown with my non-fiction writing on this topic.