A London Food and Travel blog full of unique experiences.
Over the years we’ve been lucky enough to have some incredible experiences and stay in some breathtaking places. This collection of 11 dream hotels around the world are all special for so many reasons; from ancient castles to modern skyscrapers with infinity pools overlooking city horizons.
They’re all destinations stays, well worth visiting JUST for the hotel – but they are all located in some really awesome places to explore as well.
Where do you even start with a Texas and Louisiana road trip like ours?
15 days, 2 US states, 3 cities, 800 miles of driving + 1 internal flight, a serious amount of Texan Bar-B-Que, a swamp tour on a Louisiana bayou with gators and raccoons, music pouring from doorways, a small red car christened Bonnie (just because we could), 7 hotels (definitely a record for us, we usually like to make a single central base), a goat called Max, lasso lessons, 80s TV shows and as much Iced Tea as we could get away with.
People keep asking why we chose Texas and Louisiana for a road trip, and it’s mostly down to fascination and the amazing live music scene in both Austin and New Orleans. There are big festivals in Austin, but not knowing the bands we decided that a trip outside the chaos of tourists flocking there would be the most fun – intentionally out of hurricane season – so we booked our direct return flights to Austin and began planning.
Do you ever find yourself having a literal ‘pinch me’ moment? At the end of our fortnight we hit the tarmac, rolling out of the gleaming Dallas city centre – on our way back to Austin to sadly fly home – we headed for one last adventure to round out our Southern America roadtrip.
We cruised along the long, smooth highways tucked in behind a semi-truck or two (how I preferred to drive whilst in the States that is slowly and smoothly) along dusty highway shoulders that definitely had a tumbleweed or two for decoration.
Lured by a Stetson clad Pied Piper, we were promised awesome things to do in Austin – a rich music culture, the curiosity of exploring the LoneStar state and some of the best BBQ in the world.
The tagline adopted by the capital city of Texas is a curious one. Found on T-shirts, posters and marketers, “Keep Austin Weird” and we can definitely confirm that in between the downtown skyscrapers and government buildings, a vibrant and bohemian community thrives.