Inspiring Travel Writing from Clive Tully

A temporary halt in his quest for stardom playing in a rock band in the late 1970s led to Clive Tully taking up writing for outdoors magazines, and from there, travel features for newspapers and local radio. He has travelled widely, often walking or backpacking in the world's wild places, and he has led a trek in the Himalayas for British Everest legend Doug Scott.
His natural appetite for excitement inspired him to take on more and more adventurous pursuits. He was the first journalist to fly in a hot air balloon in Russia, has travelled at over 90mph in a four-man bobsleigh down the Olympic Bob run in St Moritz, and descended to the bottom of Windermere in the English Lake District in a submersible.
An award-winning writer, photographer and broadcaster, Clive specialises in outdoors leisure and adventure travel. He has been equipment editor of four walking magazines, and correspondent for many more, including his own column in the Weekend section of the Daily Telegraph.
While Clive's stock in trade is travel features for national newspapers such as the Express, Sunday Mirror and Independent on Sunday, recent years have also seen him undertaking epic voyages on the 33ft powerboat Spirit of Cardiff / Jolly Sailor. They include the official powerboat world record from New York to Lizard Point, around the world in 2002, and across the Atlantic again in 2003. Clive Tully is the only journalist to hold 34 official world records for offshore powerboating.
His natural appetite for excitement inspired him to take on more and more adventurous pursuits. He was the first journalist to fly in a hot air balloon in Russia, has travelled at over 90mph in a four-man bobsleigh down the Olympic Bob run in St Moritz, and descended to the bottom of Windermere in the English Lake District in a submersible.
An award-winning writer, photographer and broadcaster, Clive specialises in outdoors leisure and adventure travel. He has been equipment editor of four walking magazines, and correspondent for many more, including his own column in the Weekend section of the Daily Telegraph.
While Clive's stock in trade is travel features for national newspapers such as the Express, Sunday Mirror and Independent on Sunday, recent years have also seen him undertaking epic voyages on the 33ft powerboat Spirit of Cardiff / Jolly Sailor. They include the official powerboat world record from New York to Lizard Point, around the world in 2002, and across the Atlantic again in 2003. Clive Tully is the only journalist to hold 34 official world records for offshore powerboating.
Articles by Clive Tully
-
Beef with Balzac
|
Clive Tully
|
France
|
Loire
I'm seated in the sumptuously furnished dining room of the Michelin-starred La Cognette in Issoudun, in central France, and the dish that's set before me looks like a slice of chocolate pudding drizzled, or should I say glazed, in a yummy chocolate...
-
Celestial Mountains
|
Clive Tully
|
United Kingdom
|
Wales
|
Swansea
There's no doubting that the might and grandeur of big mountains can make you feel very humble. Doubly so when you look up at a summit in the certain knowledge that someone is up there fighting for their life. I'm at the South Inylchek Glacier base...
-
Walk This Way
|
Clive Tully
|
Switzerland
“Walk with your legs a bit further apart!” Not the kind of request I get every day, it must be said, but then it's not every day I try to walk through soft snow with what appear to be carbon fibre tea trays attached to my feet. And given...
-
Seaborne Time Travel
|
Clive Tully
|
Tonga
"Got to watch the depth a bit here," announces Nick Anderson. For a moment, I envisage us grating across a coral reef, or running aground on a sandbank. Then, he adds with a smile, "it's only 3,000 metres." I'm sitting astride one of the two rear...
-
Apennine Ambling - a Gastronomic Walk in North-Eastern Italy
|
Clive Tully
|
Italy
In less inclement weather, the walk up the wooded banks of the Cascate de Dardagne would have been charming, with sun-dappled leaves and sparkling water. As it is, it's raining sporadically, and the mist has given the woods a distinctly Tolkienesque...
-
Cider with Old Rosie
|
Clive Tully
|
United Kingdom
|
Midlands
|
Herefordshire
I'm sitting in the back of a horse-drawn cart, contemplating life, the universe, and everything. It could be the beautiful autumn sunshine glistening off mountains of green and red apples which has brought about this unusual state of contemplation....
-
Leading Light
|
Clive Tully
|
United Kingdom
My ears ache. It’s not just the grey mist that’s penetrated by the insistent blast of the foghorn. Standing at the foot of the red and white painted Longstone Lighthouse on a desolate outcrop of rocks in the Farne Islands, I suspect it...
-
Cruising Ireland’s Waterways
|
Clive Tully
|
Ireland
There’s a bit of a wind blowing, and Lough Derg has a respectable chop on its waters. It’s time for lunch, not to mention a pint of Guinness as reward for my efforts at the helm this morning. As harbours go, Garrykennedy’s is...
-
Next stop, Antarctica
|
Clive Tully
|
New Zealand
|
South Island
|
Stewart Island
"Blimey Sam, don't you think we should throttle back a bit?" The bright yellow sea kayak surges forward into the choppy waters of Paterson Inlet, the spray flying into my face as the prow slaps up and down through the waves. Sam, it would seem, has...
-
Plenty of Strings Attached
|
Clive Tully
|
United Kingdom
|
Yorkshire
|
North Yorkshire
“Don't look at me. Don't look at the ground. Fix your eye on the reference point over there." The point in question is a distant Morecambe Bay, glistening in the sunlight, and I'm about to part company with the gentle limestone outcrop-dotted hills...
Browse Travel Writing
Luxury Hotels Newsletter
Sign up for the TI newsletter to get the latest hotel news, top-class travel writing, free stay giveaways and unbeatable hotel deals straight to your inbox!