Living like a local

Forget the bucket list. This is about heartbeats not highlights — getting your hands doughy in an Italian kitchen, hearing old village stories over a pint, or wandering a backstreet in Portugal that’s not even on Google Maps. These are the kinds of holidays that shift from sightseeing to soul-feeding.

Eat like a local on the Amalfi Coast

Picture this. You’re based in a charming agriturismo in the hills above Amalfi, learning to cook like a true Italian (hello, gnocchi masterclass!) and exploring neighbouring villages with local hosts. One day you visit farmers markets, the next you’re hiking the Path of the Gods. You eat meals prepared from local produce grown just metres from your room. Can you imagine yourself making limoncello with lemons you picked that morning? Ask us which tour is right for you.

Sleep under the fig trees in Southern Tuscany

If you’ve ever dreamt of sipping Chianti where it’s made, stirring ragù while nonna nods approvingly from the doorway, or learning to roll pasta from scratch in a kitchen that’s seen generations of cooks then this is your kind of holiday.

Set in a family-run farmhouse in southern Tuscany, this is slow travel at its absolute finest. Days start with golden sunlight and olive picking, and end with wine tastings in Montepulciano or slow strolls through Pienza. You’re not rushing, you’re living,  just like the locals do. Ask us about the stays where you’re not just visiting Tuscany. You’re becoming part of it.

Dine with locals in a village taverna on Naxos

Skip the cruise crowds and head off the well-worn island trail. On this Greek escape, you’ll wander through olive groves, learn to shape clay in a tiny pottery studio, and chat with local fishermen as they mend their nets on the dock.

The real highlight? A long-table BBQ hosted by your guide’s own family, set in a tucked-away taverna where the souvlaki is sizzling, the wine is flowing, and the stories last well into the night. It’s the kind of Greece you don’t just visit, you feel it.

Dance a ceilidh in a Highland hall with a dram in hand

This isn’t your average whistle-stop tour of Scotland. Instead, you’ll meet a bagpipe maker in his workshop, swap stories with a Hebridean crofter over tea, and sip single malt straight from the barrel at a family-run distillery.

And when the fiddles start up in a local village hall? That’s your cue to grab a dram of smoky Islay whisky and join the ceilidh. Don’t worry if you don’t know the steps, the locals will teach you. That’s half the fun.

Stay in a cave in Puglia

If you’re after an experience that’s as unique as it is unforgettable, sleeping in the ancient cave dwellings of Matera might just be your dream come true.

Not exactly the kind of cave Bear Grylls would rough it in — these are luxurious, design-led hotel suites carved into honey-toned limestone cliffs. Matera, one of Europe’s oldest cities and a UNESCO World Heritage site, is famous for its Sassi: a network of stone homes, churches and alleyways carved into the rock itself.

Wander through sun-dappled laneways, duck into ancient stone chapels, and return to your cave suite for a hot shower and a glass of local Primitivo. This is slow travel at its finest, and we know just the place.

Watch the sunset over Dubrovnik from a hidden hole-in-the-wall bar

You’ll need a good nose and the agility of a mountain goat to find it, but tucked into the city walls of Dubrovnik, perched right on the edge of the Adriatic, is a bar like no other.

Buža isn’t in the guidebooks, but locals know it well. Ask for the “hole-in-the-wall bar” and they’ll nod toward a narrow stone passage that leads you through the ancient city wall… and out to a ledge above the sea.

Order a cold drink, claim your seat on the cliff, and wait for the sky to turn gold. With waves crashing below and the old town glowing behind you, this is one of those moments you’ll talk about for years.

Eat Tapas like a local

Eating tapas in Spain is a social ritual and an important part of daily life. It even has its own verb, tapear. A complete tapas experience involves hopping from bar to bar and eating a couple in each one.

OUR HOT TIPS

• Don’t order everything in the first bar. Order a drink and one tapa to start. Once you have finished you can decide if you want another one there or want to move to the next bar.

• The best tapas bars are usually crowded and noisy so be confident and forget your personal space. Make you way to the bar, budget your way through to order, and rub elbows (literally) with those around you.

• Every place has a specialty dish - definitely try it.

• Some bars give you a free tapa when you order a drink, others you pay as you go or at the end.

• Don’t plan your route too seriously. Embrace spontaneity. Drop into any lively looking place and see where the night takes you.

• Keep an eye out for happy hour for some fantastic value.  In San Sebastian, for example, Gros has a pintxos (tapas) happy hour from 7-10 pm every Thursday. It’s only €2 for a pintxo and a drink!

• If this all sounds a  little daunting, book a tapas tour before you go. A local guide will take you to their favourite bars and show you how it’s done. It sets you up to tapear like a local for the rest of your stay.