Sandra Harris Ramini

I read and loved the Sawday guides many years ago, when they first started to become 'the' guides for the discerning traveller. We stayed all over Europe and never once found a dud. Villas in Spain, convents in Italy, farm houses in Switzerland - everywhere we went we were welcomed warmly and made to feel at home. The price was never in the same league as many nearby hotels, but the quality of the stay was untouchable. I am now, 15 years later, planning another trip, travelling through Andalusia up the centre to Madrid and Sawday will be our guide. I am full of confidence and excitement. A Sawday guide is not totally vital, it's just that I would never travel without one.

It is unique and magnificent. Almost poetry in prose, but not annoyingly so. I was filled with wonderment as I read this tale of a journey from Beirut to China, written in 1935. I loved every moment and resented finishing it.