Vivien Devlin

Vivien Devlin is an arts, lifestyle, and travel writer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her specialist subjects are Scottish tourism, culture, heritage, hotels, bars and restaurants, city and regional guides, as well as cultural adventures worldwide. She is a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers.

Experience

She is co-founder of the Scottish Hotel Awards (2003), now Hotels of the Year, and judges various categories (spas, design, food and beverage), on hotel visits each year.

Vivien has a passion for slow travel – classic train journeys (Orient Express/Belmond), and small-scale luxury cruises by boat, barge and ship, on cultural and culinary voyages around the world, as well as island-hopping cruises around the Hebrides, Seychelles, Caribbean, Mediterranean, and Pacific Ocean. She has been on grand voyages circumnavigating South America and Australia, and a five-month cruise around the world.  She contributes to Cruise International, Cruise Trade News, Mundy Cruise News, Ensemble, Scotland magazine, and Great Boat Journeys.

With a great interest in wine and spirits, she attends regular media and trade events, and reviews wine, gin, vodka, whisky, and ready-to drink cocktails, as well as books on drinks. She writes reviews on new bars and restaurants for Smart Leisure Guide.

For 20 years, Vivien has enjoyed an inspiring career with BBC Radio, on arts, drama, and travel programs, with wide experience as a broadcaster and public speaker, giving talks for Silversea cruises, National Gallery of Scotland, and Edinburgh International Book Festival.  

She contributes regular reviews of visual arts, drama, dance, and in August, covers theatre, art and literature at the Edinburgh Festivals, the largest cultural event on the planet, for Edinburgh Guide.

Selected Publications

Kings, Queens and People’s Palaces

Edinburgh and East Coast Scotland

Michelin Guide to Edinburgh

Great Boat Journeys of the World

Education

Vivien has a BA in English Literature and has also studied American literature and sociology.