Richard Mellor

FREELANCE TRAVEL WRITER & COPYWRITER

United Kingdom

Award-winning journalist who has written for The Times, The Guardian, National Geographic Traveller and other national newspapers, trade titles and magazines. My most recently-published book was Foodie Breaks (shorturl.at/ZRVOx).

I am also a proven travel copywriter with experience on print and digital projects for rental firms, PR agencies, cruise lines and luxury hotels. Along the way, I've written websites, launched properties, plugged ski resorts and scripted YouTube videos.

To learn more, discuss projects or request rates: ricardo.mellor@gmail.com.

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Portfolio
Wanderlust
04/23/2025
Salt of the earth

'White gold', has been produced on photogenic Pag for over a millennium - and now visitors can get involved, reports Richard Mellor

High Life Magazine
02/20/2025
An aviation lover's guide to London

From trailblazer blue plaques to Concorde replicas, and plane-tastic pop art to hot air balloon launch sites, here's where to get your aviation fix around the capital

The Daily Mail
04/30/2025
A golden drop of hidden Spain

Subbetica is a beautiful, authentic and surprisingly tourist-free corner of Andalusia (image credit: flickr.com/22230426@N04)

Discover Britain
10/02/2023
The Ways of the Dead

The eerie history and geography of corpse roads, plus a first-person account of one across Dartmoor

Sainsbury's Magazine
08/26/2020
Fin margins

From foraged delicacies and unique cocktails to a salmon-and-chocolate cake, Richard Mellor has fun savouring Finland’s treats

The Sunday Times
05/05/2024
The £400 holiday: Ischia

My contribution to this weekly article in the Sunday Times print and online

National Geographic Traveller
10/06/2023
How to plan a trip around the world

Making the fantasy of a global odyssey an achievable reality is not as impossible as it might seem...

GLOBE-TROTTER
03/27/2023
Postcards from... Los Angeles

‘A beauty parlour at the end of the universe.’ That’s how Emily Mortimer once described Los Angeles, and it’s as apt a summary as any...

Daily Mail
10/29/2022
The Hawaii of the North

Richard Mellor discovers the joys of Tiree, the most westerly island of Scotland's Inner Hebrides

Breathe
12/01/2022
Storm-watching for softies

The exhilaration of observing a windswept coastline from the safety of a warm and cosy spot indoors. Illustration by Amy Leonard (amyleonard.com); thanks to breathemagazine.com

The Times
05/28/2022
Venice: island-hopping by bike

Richard Mellor escapes the crowds on a two-wheeled tour of the lesser-known isles, villages and beaches surrounding the city’s lagoon

Guardian Labs
05/30/2022
Family-friendly summer adventures

10 of the best in the south-east of England — advertorial for Thameslink (now offline, so via Wayback Machine)

A World of Food and Drink
10/21/2020
An introduction to orange wine

Fans laud it as funky, dynamic and unbelievably flexible. Critics scoff, however, depicting an overpriced cider that’s little more than an ill-conceived Instagram fad

The Sun
04/25/2020
The world's best babymoons

All this time at home could lead to a baby boom next year. And that could create a rush for holidays early this autumn, before the little one arrives.

Metro
11/12/2020
A stroll for the soul

I reconnect with nature among the stars and sights of a night-time walk on the North York Moors

The Mail on Sunday
03/01/2020
The UK's six secret foodie hotspots revealed

The UK’s culinary reputation has soared recently – but you don’t have to head to London to enjoy it. Here are six areas that have managed to stay below the radar, but are just perfect for foodie breaks.

Reader's Digest
02/23/2019
7 ways to have better sex on holiday

Some of the most memorable nights of our lives take place during trips away-and here's how to up your chances of quality coitus

Click. by Booking.com
05/09/2019
Reinventing the hotel vending machine

Contemporary vending machines can help to grow brand profiles, increase sustainability, delight guests and boost revenue

The Mail on Sunday
09/28/2019
How to pick your perfect safari

Whether you’re a lone wolf, lovebirds or a multi-generational flock, here's the perfect wildlife tour to try

Travel Weekly
03/03/2019
What to see and do in Corsica?

Replete with Mediterranean charm, the French island of Corsica is a force to be reckoned with, finds Richard Mellor.

i News
04/27/2019
A weekend in Plovdiv

Bulgaria’s second city is a well deserved co-European Capital of Culture

On Foot Holidays blog
07/10/2019
The reticent river

During a walking holiday, the Dordogne River plays so hard to get that I ended up humming a Janet Jackson song

Evening Standard
01/21/2019
Take 5: Gelaterias in Rome

The Italian's capital's best ice-cream shops – and where to get really, really fat on holiday this year. Photo credit: flickr.com/inju

Click. by Booking.com
01/14/2019
What's the appeal of dark tourism?

Dark tourism isn’t just about the thrill of the macabre. Visitors also wish to deepen their understanding of past troubles, and consider the human element.

Adventure.com
06/12/2018
Is this England's quietest spot?

The sound of silence isn't easy to find, but city-dweller Richard Mellor heads to England's supposed most tranquil spot for a dose of wilderness. Is it really as quiet as they say?

The Daily Mail
11/04/2018
A brew with a view

Comparing flavours on the slopes of a lush Malawian tea estate

The Telegraph
07/03/2018
St Ives Harbour Hotel & Spa review

A substantial spa, a pool and glorious bay views are the headline acts at this classy residence perched on St Ives' hillside above Porthminster Beach and near the railway station.

KX Quarterly
10/19/2018
Meet the Tastemakers

The opening of historic Coal Drops Yard brings a glut of food and drink producers, from welcoming wine bars to coffee roasters helping to rehabilitate young offenders.

Tresco Times
05/16/2018
#MyTresco

Travel journalist Richard Mellor visited Tresco for the first time in May 2017, attending the Low Tide Event for The Guardian...

DK Travel
10/01/2018
Then and now: 9 ways travel has changed over the past 25 years

Disposable cameras, postcards and a bulging carry-on bag: all were key elements of travel back in 1993, a year that also saw the release of our first ever DK Eyewitness Travel Guide.To mark our 25th anniversary, and to coincide with the relaunch of our DK Eyewitness series, let's step back in time...

Metro
06/19/2017
Giddy-up!

Richard Mellor goes horse-riding through Italian vineyards, enjoying a glass or three along the way

The Week Portfolio
07/04/2017
Get lost on purpose: A guide to Fez

Thrillingly unique, Morocco’s most authentic city boasts a rabbit-warren, memory-clogging medina and fine, fruit-happy cuisine

Reader's Digest Online
07/21/2017
10 ways to get a hotel room upgrade

You've seen them, right? Those smooth-talking operators who charm the front-desk receptionist into giving them a much-better room courtesy of some select vocal voodoo.

SilverKris
09/11/2017
The coolest vinyl bars in the world

With record sales soaring, 45s and 33s have re-entered the cultural vogue. In turn, that has spawned the return of vinyl bars

Dolphin Square
08/30/2017
Dolphin Square’s Guide to Pimlico

Pimlico is London’s great enigma. Despite being primely located in Zone 1, between Victoria station and the River Thames, it has always flown under the radar. Despite its Tate gallery and tube station, this is an area which most Londoners miss: funnily-named and easily-neglected.

Rough Guides
05/31/2017
A Rough Guide to: safariing in Tanzania

Thanks to the presence of some of Africa 's biggest and best national parks, Tanzania is a safari tour de force. It's also a dauntingly large place, though, so a trip here requires much advance decision-making. Here's everything you need to plan a trip.

The Times
06/17/2017
20 remote escapes in Europe

From a treehouse in Lapland to a riverside retreat in Portugal, we’ve got the best places to get away from it all

BBC
03/11/2016
The builder who changed how the world keeps time

He lived in the south-east London suburb of Chislehurst. He was a builder. He was of average wealth. His name was William Willett and without him Britain - and a quarter of the world, including the US - might never have adopted daylight saving time (DST).

The Explorer (Jacada Travel)
05/10/2016
Go With The Flow

Richard Mellor revels in the slow pace of life along the river banks of the Peruvian Amazon

The Guardian
12/03/2016
Join Antwerp's party people at its Plein Publiek pop-up

Pop-ups are two-a-penny these days but in Antwerp, Plein Publiek, a new venture that combines a restaurant, gallery, work-out space and rave-y nightclub, is luring party-goers, yogis, art lovers and more - and it's going to be around until at least next May.

The Telegraph
09/26/2016
Hotel ibis Styles Heathrow Airport

A budget hotel overlooking Heathrow. This aviation-themed ibis Styles outpost offers character, comfy beds and decent food to those who need to stay overnight near the airport.

Quintessentially
11/01/2016
Journey to deepest Peru

Think of Peruvian cuisine and chances are ceviche and pisco sours are at the top of that list. Well, your list is about to get a whole lot longer thanks to one man...

Metro
08/15/2016
On the fence in Italy

Fancy giving D’Artagnan a run for his money? Richard Mellor finds out how from the experts

International View
03/24/2016
Throughly Modern Monaco

Mention Monte-Carlo and a world of glamour springs to mind: luxurious superyachts, exclusive penthouses and A-List hotels. But, while the city-state is as jet-set as ever, it has reinvented itself

Destinations of the World News
03/03/2016
The Grape Escape

Down in France’s south-west, Bordeaux’s thrillingly nouveau culinary options are finally on a par with its wine offerings

The Independent on Sunday
02/26/2016
From mosques to gastrobars in Toledo

Not many mosques open onto a Christian chapel. But then not many cities are like Toledo. Three past empires have left their marks in this central Spanish hilltown - and nowhere more so than at the Cristo de la Luz Mosque.

Metro
07/25/2016
Adventure by the Shedload

Richard Mellor visits Roald Dahl’s home, Great Missenden – and imagines how the BFG himself would describe it to his friend, ten-year-old Sophie...

The Sunday Times
05/31/2015
Psst... I've found Spain's Tuscany

Who wants to do nothing in the middle of nowhere? That's what the locals asked Jemma Markham when she and her late husband, Piers, opened the Torre del Visco hotel in the Spanish region of Matarraña, in Aragon, in 1995. "They thought we were bloody mad," she says.

AskMen UK
11/25/2015
The 15 Holidays You Need To Book ASAP

"Sorry sir, but it's fully booked". Whether it refers to a restaurant, sports event, festival or hotel, don't you just hate hearing those words? That sinking, shameful feeling of being too late? Yes? In which case, consider yourself warned: because, when it comes to 2016's , the time for action is now.

Conde Nast Traveller ME
03/02/2015
Hidden Paris

Classic Paris will always have its charms. But lately, in the know Parisians are venturing further afield