Advice

Look and you see cracked and baking deserts strewn with boulders and rock formations. There are precipitous rocky canyons, pink and green crater lakes, coral gardens and caves abundant with stalagmites and stalactites.  Travelling across these extraordinary terrains is remarkably easy. There’s no need to work up a sweat. No need to don a clunky

Setting my ‘out of office’ on Thursday, April 2, didn’t have quite the same sense of satisfaction as usual. Like all my colleagues, I’d been out of the office since mid-March, but the routine of working from home was about to pause as five days of annual leave I’d booked in the run-up to Easter

The RTW traveler: a breed of road veteran surpassed in experience perhaps only by the steely-eyed, scarf-wearing newspaper foreign correspondent. The idea of round-the-world travel has been gaining traction in recent years, with more and more people, from a widening variety of age ranges and backgrounds, deciding it’s not only possible to add a big

With many hospital patients currently isolated from family and friends amidst lockdown restrictions, one hotel group is donating iPads to help them stay in touch with loved ones. CitizenM hotels in London and Paris have gifted almost 800 unused electronic tablets to a number of hospitals across both cities, and the devices are now being

Rail, road or river – our experts suggest three great ways to explore this extraordinary country. For more amazing adventures see our 1,000 Dream Trips  1. Ride the Darjeeling Express Explore India’s capital of culture then puff through Darjeeling’s emerald-green tea plantations on a steam train into the foothills of the Himalayas.  Why it’s special  Even

Three days after my mum was diagnosed with a late-stage cancer, I found myself at the seaside. I was in Falmouth, it was my birthday, and I had booked a weekend away at a spa hotel with my partner and our dog. The whole weekend quickly went down hill, though. The dog was recovering from

When Ian Wright launched the Brilliant Maps Twitter account and website back in 2014, to share his favourite cartographic finds, he had little inkling that it would prove such a hit. Five years later, with almost 100,000 social followers and millions of annual visitors, he is left in little doubt about the universal appeal of

Wanstead Park is providing respite for the residents of east London during the coronavirus lockdown. But how many visitors know about its fascinating history? The Duke of Wellington’s nephew has plenty to answer for. Were it not for William Wellesley-Pole’s rakish ways, east London might have a stately home – perhaps even a royal palace – to

Want a castaway escape close to home? These lesser-known islands can all add a bit of spice to your holiday dreams. For more suggestions explore our 1,000 Dream Trips 1. Porquerolles: the Riviera escape Provence’s secret island where the spirit of the old Riviera lives on. Why it’s special From the ferry, Porquerolles appears more Caribbean than

In perhaps his best book yet, Tim Dee tracks the progress of migratory birds as they head north to spend the summer in Europe, writes Michael Kerr “Nature Writing”, says the classification on the back of the latest book from Tim Dee. Partly true. He’s good at that. But leaving it there is a bit like

With school cancelled, and adults stuck at home, what better time to show off (or improve) your geography knowledge? Every Friday lunchtime, until the Government releases us from our lockdown, we are publishing a new travel quiz. This one has an ancient history theme. So, without further ado… Once you are done, try our quiz

I can’t help but feel a tinge of jealousy as I read about Danny Bradley’s cruise around the Caribbean. Dolphin watching in the Dominican Republic, a sun-soaked beach in Jamaica, a day of sun, sea and cocktails as his ship sails from one island to another. And here we all are in lockdown in the

Want a fresh take on the Caribbean? Our experts reveal their favourite hidden gems  1. Peak pleasures on Nevis Shaped like a sombrero and only 36 square miles in area, Nevis is one of the most beautiful islands in the Caribbean on account of the 3,232ft high, rainforest-wrapped Nevis Peak at its heart. Peaceful and friendly

The Dunkirk spirit was invoked by the coronavirus crisis, when a small 25-cabin cruise yacht helped 19 Cuban crew from a mega cruise ship return to their homeland. Variety Cruises’ vessel Panorama made a special 14-day diversion in the Caribbean to repatriate the group from MSC Preziosa. Panorama’s captain Vasilis Mazarkis came across the plight

Continuing our series, Chris Leadbeater enjoys a virtual holiday in Sin City. Previous articles include New York, Rio and Venice You might argue that Las Vegas is a place that cannot possibly be enjoyed at a distance. The Nevada metropolis is a temple to sensory overload – a gleaming oasis in the desert where visitors

There’s a flurry of problems facing the travel industry at the moment, not least the question of its survival in a time of lockdowns and travel bans. But to their credit, industry leaders are still finding innovative ways to help where they can, as is currently being demonstrated by four hotels on the Amalfi Coast

Holland America Line’s Zaandam and Rotterdam have finally reached port after 12 days at sea. The two ships, which are carrying Zaandam’s original passengers split between them, have been sailing together since Rotterdam came to her sister ship’s aid on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal.  Zaandam had been sailing a South America cruise

Turn confinement into the ultimate luxury staycation, says Emma Love, by giving your house a hotel makeover, complete with a party-starting cocktail bar and in-room spa One of the best things about checking into a hotel is that moment when you unlock the door and arrive in the sanctuary of your room. Now that most of

Whenever I’m on vacation or visiting a city on a short break, I try and soak up as much of the real, local culture that I can – I find it the best way to really explore a new place. I’m not a huge fan of crowded tourist sites where people aren’t people anymore, they

I feel I’ve got to know Ben Curtis and Marina Diez pretty well over the past eight or nine years. He’s from Oxford and she’s a Madrileña — a native of Madrid, the city where they are raising their two children.  Right now, because of the Coronavirus emergency, they’re home-schooling the children and not getting