Explore + Roam

We are in a guidebook! Flick to page 350 to see us described as a happy hubbub...!

Motorway services are boring – motorways are boring – but they’re a necessary and convenient evil when you need to break the journey, especially when travelling with kids and pets. Enter The Extra Mile, here to steer you away from mediocre, expensive motorway service stations and garage forecourt food and into the arms of the UK’s best farm shops, independent cafes, and cosy pubs, all within striking distance of motorway junctions and main A roads.

Why go the Extra Mile? After yet another in a long line of bland ‘lattes’ and limp sandwiches next to the thundering motorway, we asked ourselves if there wasn’t another way. In rejection of soulless, expensive services, we set out to celebrate local alternatives, uncovering places that offer impeccable local food – some direct from the field – space for children and pets to let off steam, and beautiful surroundings. 

The Extra Mile offers a dependable list of independent and brilliant outlets, gorgeous countryside and delicious food worthy of a short detour. They’re all hand-selected and no more than 15 minutes’ drive from a junction, so you can add a bit of magic to your journey while supporting local businesses. 

The Ultimate Speciality Coffee Guide to the South of England - we feature!

Discover 188 unmissable coffee experiences from Cornwall to Kent, carefully mapped by route and neighbourhood and verified by industry experts every 18 months.

This beautifully curated guide is your passport to the very best of the South’s speciality coffee scene. Inside, you’ll find 188 independently owned coffee shops, cafés and roasteries, all cherry-picked for their exceptional brews, unique spaces and passion for quality coffee.

Say goodbye to disappointing coffees. Each listing includes detailed insights into the beans used, food offerings, brew methods, equipment, opening hours and whether locations are part of a small multi-site family. Clear maps make it easy to plan coffee-fuelled road trips or explore neighbourhood gems wherever you are.

From laid-back indie hangouts to dynamic spaces that combine brew bars with vinyl stores, lifestyle shops, saunas, yoga studios, bakeries and wine bars, every venue has its own story. Expect everything from beautifully designed interiors to standout baristas, next-level food offerings and even a café with its own skate bowl.

What unites them all is a shared commitment to speciality-grade coffee. The guide also shines a light on the roasteries behind the beans, highlighting where you can go behind the scenes for roastery tours and tastings.

Whether you’re a dedicated coffee lover, a weekend explorer or planning your next adventure across the South, this guide ensures you’ll never have a bad coffee again.

The Coastal Café Guide (new for 2024) is the ideal travel and café guide for anyone who loves food and loves the coast (please see our delivery note below).

The Coastal Café Guide has featured in The Times Weekend, The Sun, and The Scotsman. It’s the perfect gift for beach lovers, coast-path walkers, surfers, paddle-boarders, seafood fans, water sports enthusiasts, holidaymakers, and those travelling with families and dogs. It’s from Printslinger, publisher of 2023’s Amazon #1 bestseller, The Extra Mile: Delicious Alternatives to Motorway Services (4th ed). Inside The Coastal Café Guide, find:

• Around 150 cafés, restaurants, beach bars, seafood cabins, and pubs, on or near the coast
• Dog-friendly and family-friendly places to eat, often with a sea view
• 10 striking regional maps
• Independent, smaller places to eat
• Features on a dozen marine- and coast-relevant charities including Surfers Against Sewage
• Low food miles, local food places to help you support local food businesses
• 256pp pages with full-colour photography throughout
• Places in England, Scotland and Wales (inc. Isles of Scilly, Isle of Wight, Isle of Man, Isle of Skye)

This new 2024 guide is a carbon-neutral certified book with a foreword from the RNLI. The Coastal Café Guide also highlights the work of 12 coast and marine-focused charities and organisations. These include the RNLI, Surfers Against Sewage, Ramblers (and the England Coast Path), The Marine Conservation Society, The Marine Stewardship Council, Open Seas, The Wave Project, The John Muir Trust, National Trust for Scotland, The Outdoor Swimming Society, City to Sea and The South West Coast Path Organisation. 1% of Printslinger’s income from this book will be donated to Surfers Against Sewage via Work for Good.

he Farm Shop Guide (edition 1, new for 2024) is the ideal food, travel and farm café guide for anyone who loves fresh food, farm-to-fork experiences, and farm-focused events and activities. If you love farm-fresh food and local flavours and are keen to shop seasonally and avoid flown-in food (while supporting Britain’s farmers and growers), this is the book for you. The Farm Shop Guide will help you find farm-fresh food and independent farm shops and cafés across Britain: perfect places for a weekly shop, an eat-out treat, or a family-friendly day trip. In the book you’ll find:

• First-rate farm shops, cafés and restaurants
• Farmers’ Markets and Food Festivals
• Dog-friendly and family-friendly places to stop, eat and shop
• Places with EV chargers for your vehicles
• PYO (pick-your-own) fruit, veg, flowers, Christmas trees, and pumpkin places
• Striking full-colour maps and full-page features per venue
• Spotlights on food, farming, and environmental charities including: Pasture for Life, the Sustainable Food Trust, Buglife, RSPB Fair to Nature, the Permaculture Association, Community Supported Agriculture, and the Soil Association.

To find tasty local produce and avoid bland flown-in food, buy The Farm Shop Guide today. It’s the perfect gift for your food-loving friends and anyone who likes to know where their food really comes from. The guide is from Printslinger Ltd. and the team behind 2024’s #1 Bestsellers, The Coastal Café Guide (2024) and The Extra Mile: Delicious Alternatives to Motorway Services (2023).

Beautifully illustrated throughout, The Little Guide to Wildflowers offers a fresh perspective on identifying the flowers around you. Featuring 40 of the most beautiful flowers from around the world, including the common wildflowers we know and love, as well as the rare and interesting.

Each flower has been delicately illustrated by printmaker Tom Frost to capture its individual characteristics, and is accompanied by information about the plant family to which it belongs and where it can be found, plus associated facts and fables. There is also an interactive spotters guide at the back, where you can check off each flower you find.

This informative, practical and beautiful guide is part of a new nature series designedto encourage creativity through exploring the outdoors.

A stunning coffee table book for DIYers, interior design lovers, as well as vanlife and tiny homes enthusiasts, This Old Van is the complete how-to guide to plan, renovate and style your own vintage van to give it a second life.

Much-loved couple from The Block, Carlene and Michael Duffy, have received countless emails from keen renovators around the world asking for advice on refitting a vintage van or RV. They have compiled their tips, tricks, and the wisdom they have learned on their own projects and distilled it into one helpful and beautiful book. Learn what to look for when purchasing a second-hand van, follow detailed information on planning and construction, and discover plenty of design and styling tips, alongside beautiful photos of Carlene and Michael's many van conversions to help provide further inspiration.

For many, a van or RV is much more than just a holiday home – it's a vehicle for freedom and adventure, or might even be your permanent home. Carlene and Michael address every consideration from budgeting and spatial planning to colour palettes, so you can create your dream home on wheels.

Sale book as there are scuffs on the edging of the book, but just surface level.

A stunning coffee table book for DIYers, interior design lovers, as well as vanlife and tiny homes enthusiasts, This Old Van is the complete how-to guide to plan, renovate and style your own vintage van to give it a second life.

Much-loved couple from The Block, Carlene and Michael Duffy, have received countless emails from keen renovators around the world asking for advice on refitting a vintage van or RV. They have compiled their tips, tricks, and the wisdom they have learned on their own projects and distilled it into one helpful and beautiful book. Learn what to look for when purchasing a second-hand van, follow detailed information on planning and construction, and discover plenty of design and styling tips, alongside beautiful photos of Carlene and Michael's many van conversions to help provide further inspiration.

For many, a van or RV is much more than just a holiday home – it's a vehicle for freedom and adventure, or might even be your permanent home. Carlene and Michael address every consideration from budgeting and spatial planning to colour palettes, so you can create your dream home on wheels.

Dive into the fascinating world of coastal wildlife with this holiday pocket guide. Featuring 40 beautifully illustrated pebbles, shells, crabs, small sea creatures and more, discover more about life between the tides with The Little Guide to Shorelines.

Each entry has been delicately illustrated by printmaker Tom Frost to capture its individual characteristics, and is accompanied by associated facts and fables. There is also an interactive spotter's guide at the back, where you can check off what you find.

This informative, practical and beautiful guide is part of a new nature series designed to encourage creativity through exploring the outdoors. An activity for adults and children alike, enjoy The Little Guide to Shorelines on your next trip to the sea.