DESTINATIONS

Where to eat in Madeira: 14 of the best restaurants and cafés

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Where to eat in Madeira: 14 of the best restaurants and cafés | PACK THE SUITCASES

If you’re looking for where to eat in Madeira, you’re in for a treat. There is a real foodie scene on the island, with plenty of traditional places but also some cute hipster cafés, and most of it is delicious. Dig out all your clothes with elasticated waistbands.

I love Madeira and I love eating so this is my expert guide to combining the two: I’ve listed the best restaurants in Funchal, the best cafés/snack bars/food stalls in Funchal, and the best places I’ve eaten in other towns around the island that you might find handy on day trips. While Madeira is an island that everything grows well on due to its perfect climate, vegetarian and vegan food can be hard to find. It’s definitely a meat-heavy place, so if like us you don’t often eat meat, it’s worth doing a bit of planning ahead. Obviously, all this food needs washing down with some booze so keep an eye out for next week’s post on where to drink in Funchal.

Anyway, on to the eating…

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First time visiting Rome: a quick guide

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First time visiting Rome: a guide and tips | PACK THE SUITCASES

This is what we did over a few days on our first time visiting Rome. We were, to be honest, ready not to like Rome. We don’t tend to love the major capital cities. Paris and Berlin didn’t really do it for me and I can’t stick London. But there was something different about Rome. It’s not too humungous, but is still imposing – in a positive way. You also 100% know you’re in Italy, whereas with some capitals you could be anywhere.

Anyway, this is a very quick overview. We were only in Rome for 4 nights. If you have longer, you can fit more in and there’ll always be something for next time because it’s a really intense city. But this little guide might be a useful starting point for your first trip to Rome…

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Japan 2 week itinerary options: for first-time visitors

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2 weeks in Japan itinerary options | PACK THE SUITCASES

Here are some potential itineraries for 2 weeks in Japan. After a few trips there, I’ve become a self-confessed Japan geek and so now I’m always answering questions for friends planning their own Japan trips. So I thought it was about time I wrote something like this.

Your plans will of course depend on which airport you fly into: one of the Tokyo ones or Kansai (in Osaka Bay) or another. But these itineraries might be a starting point for you. They’ll give you a rough idea of where to start and how long you’ll want to spend in each place. Hint: there are very few places in Japan you won’t want to spend weeks in.

Anyway, onto the Japan itinerary options…

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How to plan a trip to Japan: everything you need to know for your first visit

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One day in Kobe, Japan | PACK THE SUITCASES

Planning your first trip to Japan involves lots of practical things like booking accommodation, sorting an itinerary and organising transport. But there are also lots of useful things about stuff like toilets, nudity and hairdryers that you need to know before you go too.

Just being in Japan is so, so different to anywhere else so it’s worth putting the time in with your planning to get the most of of your trip. Japan is a brilliant country that’s hard to do justice to. Bonkers, but brilliant. I’m willing to bore people with how much I love Japan at any opportunity (soz about that).

So here’s a huge brain dump of everything we tell people when they ask us about planning their first trip to Japan…

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3 days in Zagreb: a city break in Croatia

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A city break in Zagreb, Croatia | PACK THE SUITCASES

We had a really good city break in Zagreb, Croatia (as part of a multi-destination week in October, with the week beginning in the nearby fairytale city of Ljubljana, Slovenia). Croatia definitely isn’t somewhere people associate with city breaks. It’s all about the party resorts, beaches and coastline. I know plenty of people who’ve been to Split, Hvar and Dubrovnik, but the capital of Zagreb was met with blank looks when I mentioned it to people. I don’t know why it’s so overshadowed because it made for a really interesting, hip and easy city break.

So here’s some highlights and things to do in Zagreb, Croatia…

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