These posts are about the local people we meet, with insider tips we gather from locals, Q&As with locals, as well as great local spots and hidden gems we discover.
For travellers who need some handholding, the only thing they’d probably miss from a holiday rental is a concierge. Being travel writers, we’re not the types to depend on one other than to score us a hard-to-get restaurant table, although we can certainly appreciate a good concierge. Occasionally we’ve been surprised to find a holiday rental … Read more
According to the Tokyo expats we met, we would not find a candidate for our Local Knowledge Tokyo guide. “Tokyo locals aren’t friendly,” we were told. “They’re shy, so they won’t make an effort to speak to you,” one said. “They’d rather you just go away, because they get embarrassed they don’t speak English,” said … Read more
Our latest Local Knowledge interview is with Luca Zaggia, a coastal oceanographer working for Venice’s Institute of Marine Science, specialising in the study of the sea and wetlands, and spends most of his time in Venice on the water. Here are his local tips on things to do in Venice, what to eat and drink, … Read more
I first spotted My Local Guide to Venice in June 2009 when we were in town for the opening of the Venice Art Biennale. It was actually our last day of a weeklong stay at the lovely Novecento Hotel and we’d been using another excellent local guide produced by the hotel’s owners, the Romanelli family, … Read more
Effervescent Anna Rosato knew the meaning of hospitality well before the 23 year-old graduated with her tourism degree from the University of Bari last year. The daughter of chef-restaurateurs, Anna has worked at her family pizzeria for as long as she can remember. Majoring in culture and languages – she speaks English, French and German … Read more