Quills & Crossings
Last updated: 6 September 2026
In short: some links on this site may be ads. If you book through one, I earn a small commission. It never costs you anything extra, and it never changes what I recommend.
What affiliate links are
An affiliate link is a special link to another company’s website. If you click it and go on to book something, that company pays me a small percentage of what you spent.
You pay exactly the same price as you would going direct. The commission comes out of the company’s margin, not your pocket.
Who I work with
When affiliate links are added to this site, they may include links for:
- Viator — tours, day trips and experiences
- GetYourGuide — tours, tickets and activities
If I add other partners, they will be listed here.
How I label them
Every post containing affiliate links is labelled as an ad at the top, before you read any of it. Individual links may also be marked.
I do this because affiliate links are a form of advertising and UK advertising rules require them to be obvious. I would rather tell you plainly at the start than bury it somewhere you would only find afterwards.
How I decide what to recommend
This is the part that actually matters.
I only link to things I would suggest to a friend. If a tour is overpriced, if a city is better walked than toured, or if the free version is genuinely better, I will say so — including when saying so earns me nothing.
Commission rates play no part in what makes it into a post. I do not accept payment for a positive write-up, and where I have criticisms I include them.
Not every recommendation here has an affiliate link behind it, and plenty of the best things to do anywhere are free.
My work as a travel designer
Alongside this site, I work as a travel designer. That means I plan and book trips professionally, and I earn commission when I do.
I mention it because it cuts both ways. It is the reason I know which tour operators are reliable, which itineraries are padded, and what a fair price looks like — most of what I write here comes out of that work rather than a search engine. It also means some of the companies and experiences I write about are ones I could earn from if you booked a trip with me.
So: if something I have recommended appeals to you and you would rather have it arranged properly, you are welcome to get in touch. If you would rather book it yourself, that is completely fine and this site is written to be useful either way.
What I will not do is talk up an operator because it suits me commercially. If somewhere is overrated, badly run or simply not worth the money, I will say so — and I will say it about companies I could otherwise earn from.
Gifted trips, tickets and press invitations
If I am ever given a tour, ticket, stay or trip free of charge, or invited on a press trip, I will say so clearly in that post — whether or not any money changed hands, and whether or not the experience was good.
I have no obligation to write positively about anything I have been given, and I will not.
Cookies
Affiliate partners may use cookies or similar tracking technologies when you follow a link so they can tell that a booking came from this site. Those partners control their own cookies and explain them in their privacy or cookie notices. You can manage cookies set on this site through the cookie settings link in the footer.
Questions
Email admin.quillsandcrossings@gmail.com and I will answer honestly.