The Artisan Blog

If you are heading on holiday to Croatia this year the chances are that you have started to compile a list of places that you would love to visit once you are there. My guess would be that there are certain places that are bound to make the list. For example, you have probably included Dubrovnik, the Plitvice Lakes National Park and maybe even the Elaphiti Islands. However, there is one place that I would guess probably doesn’t feature on your list and that’s the Pelješac peninsula or more specifically the town of Ston.

Unless you have been living under a rock, the chances are that you have either heard of or seen a picture of Dubrovnik. If you are currently thinking that you aren’t aware of Croatia’s most famous destination then think again!

I love Croatia. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been there. The most recent was last summer, the next time is in a couple of weeks, and the first time was my honeymoon.
The honeymoon was way back in 1999 and I’m happy to say that Kate and I are still going strong and still heading for Croatia. This year, we are heading for a stunning island called Korcula - “Cor-chew-lar” - and the staying in the hotel where we spent the first night of our honeymoon.

Did you know The Azores constitutes as a region of ‘Macaronesia’? In Greek, this means "fortunate islands" for those who live and visit them!
To inspire you to visit these ‘fortunate islands’ see our top five photographs below!

7 reasons to make The Azores your next holiday destination
If you are struggling to decide where to go on your next adventure let us give you some advice, make sure you head to The Azores! Now you are probably thinking ‘The Azores? Where on earth is that?’ but rest assured these volcanic islands do exist and what’s more they are in Europe!

Usually, when the Artisan team travel to Finnish Lapland we visit during the winter season between the end of November and the beginning of April. However, this year we were given the opportunity to travel to Finland and Norway in the month of May. Lapland in spring provides a very different type of trip to the ones that we offer in the winter months.


Although relatively unknown to a lot of us, the Azores archipelago is an ideal travel destination for adventurers the world over for a number of reasons. If, like most people, this is the first time you have ever heard of it and want a few ideas of what can be experienced, take a look at our top picks of things to do in the Azores this summer.

Despite it being May I have to say that I was surprised to be greeted in Finland by blazing sun and a nice warm temperature of 21°C! Having got off the plane it was time to jump into the hire car and start our Finnish adventure.

The Arctic Circle is generally associated with winter and long, dark nights but I have always found the prospect of the Midnight Sun and the endless summer days to be alluring. It is something which is hard to understand when you come from a world that has both light and dark each day. In fact, this natural phenomenon seems so unnatural to us in the UK that it can divide opinion. I have since returned from the far north of Finland and having just experienced the Midnight Sun for myself I can honestly say that it should be on every bucket list, and don’t worry, the hotels in Finland have excellent blackout blinds!