I Visited 18 Countries Today, How about You?

Not to brag, but I went all over the world today – before I’d even stopped for lunch! In addition to falling down the rabbit hole in our Don’t be a Tourist archives, I’d like to recommend one of my favourite rainy day pastimes: armchair travelling. Google Street View is one of the internet’s most…

Wild Card Destination Du Jour: The Unsung Secrets of Sarajevo

Sarajevo might be quite unlike any other city in Europe. Nestled in a valley surrounded by the beautiful Dinaric Alps, it is a beguiling mix of old world cultures, where centuries of Ottoman Empire rule meet the grandeur and elegance of the Austro-Hungarian Hapsburgs. Wander through the maze of cobbled winding streets in the Old…

A Time Traveller’s Guide to Savannah, Georgia

As 2020 comes to a close, it would appear that Georgia really is ‘on our minds’ as the southern state is set to determine which party will control the American Senate on January 5th of early next year. But how about we remove politics from the conversation and turn our attention to one of the…

Churches and their Hidden Basement Bowling Alleys

Churches have bowling alleys? Yes, they do, but they’re a dying breed. There are thought to be less than 200 churches with bowling lanes left in America today, but as early as the 1860s, they were quite common across the Midwest and parts of the Northeast. It’s not the kind of thing you expect to find…

Nothing Like These Hidden Temples Exists Outside of the Films of Indiana Jones

“Show us these temples or we will dynamite the entire hillside”, threatened Italy’s state prosecutor when police had failed to locate a rumoured network of mysterious chambers buried 30 metres in the foothills of the Alps. They had been dug by hand in complete secrecy in the 1970s under the direction of Oberto Airaudi, a philospher and artist who…

The Vault

The Azores: Secrets of Europe’s Hawaii

Lost in the Atlantic Ocean, nine islands thrust out of the depth of the sea in a fiery birth created by seismic activity. The archipelago of the Azores, said by some to have even been the fragments left behind from the lost continent of Atlantis – the sunken land said by Plato to have been…

Pssst! You've stumbled across content that is exclusive to Nessy's Keyholders.

There’s a new way to access the really special stuff from Messy Nessy Chic …

Hidden beneath the surface layers of the internet, there’s a place where we keep our most secret addresses, untapped archives, creator’s inspiration, collector’s guides, explorer’s manuals, obscure research and much more… And it’s made for our keyholders only!

Apply now to unlock the Vault

Keyholder Login

Her Tarot Cards Came to Life

Poking out of the treetops in Tuscany, and spread across Etruscan ruins, is the sparkling masterpiece of French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle, Il Giardino dei Tarocchi — The Tarot Garden. De Saint Phalle acquired the land in the 1979 through a close friend, and from the get-go her intent was to transform its 14-acres…

The Hotel of Childhood Memories: An Old Italian Schoolhouse turned Charming B&B

Perhaps the last thing you want to do on holiday is “go back to school”, but I can assure you, this little schoolhouse nestled in the picturesque province of Vicenza, a 90 minute drive from Venice, is nothing like the school days you remember. No grumpy Maths teachers, no caféteria slop for lunch and certainly…

The Mystery of Salem’s Great Misery Island

Whilst looking recently at an old nautical map of the North Shore coastline of Massachusetts, one tiny island caught our eye because of its mysterious sounding name: Great Misery Island! Further inspection of the map showed that the island had no towns, roads or any other topographical features apart from in the south west corner,…

Overnight at the Prime Minister’s Library & other Bookshop Hotels

If you’d rather camp outside than stay in a soulless hotel chain on holiday, join the club. But today, we’re taking our charming hotel search to another level. Bookworms and library lovers gather round, because we’ve got 5 overnight stays where you can eat, sleep and dream about books… (okay, maybe not eat books). Pack your…