Destinations

by Shilpa Ganatra, travel editor Oh I do like to be beside the seaside. And you do too - don’t pretend you don’t. For all that city living offers us, there’s no replicating the sea air, or spectacular coastal views. With that in mind, I packed up our weekend bag and hopped in the car for a weekend in Bournemouth, a place I last went on a family trip in my pre-teens. Luckily, it’s changed since then. Around three hours...

Some things never change. Pockets of Italy notwithstanding, you’d be hard pushed to find anywhere as serious about their cuisine as Paris - and thanks be for that. It means after a quick Eurostar ride, you feel a million miles away from the fried chicken joints that punctuate the UK’s high streets, and London’s painfully on fleek one-dish restaurants where patrons need to factor in 30 minutes of momentum-killing queuing time. Exploring Paris's restaurants at the start of the year,...

by Beth Roberts, travel writer Hidden away in the Scottish Highlands, there’s a certain spellbinding something about these uber-luxe lodges that’s seriously good for the soul… “Welcome to Inverness - good luck out there!” our air hostess laughs as we disembark into horizontal hailstones. Scotland, seemingly eager to live up to her rugged reputation gives us a bracing welcome. Half an hour later, we’re met by Mike at tiny Beauly station and are soon winding our way up through Strathglass,...

It’s the home of Rowntree and Terry’s; George Cadbury and Lewis Fry studied their trade there – no wonder York has a reputation as the spiritual capital of chocolate. So where better to go for a staycation with the sis? We’re the daughters of a cornershop owner, so we were reared on York’s finest: the likes of Aero, Kit Kat, Quality Streets and Yorkies. Bring it on, say we. That’s fighting talk, as we soon found out. Make no mistake,...

Thought the Maldives was all sun, sea and sand? Well it is - but there's also plenty more to it. A unique phenomenon, there's aspects of the Indian Ocean that many guide books, travel tales and Pinterest boards often miss out, from its official no-booze status to the icky truth about the soft, white sand. Having visited its beautiful shores, we've compiled just a few of its elements which might not be so obvious at first sight - so consider...

Cyclists will adore Serbia. Not only is the main cities open to cyclists on the road, but amenities for mountain bikers is on the up as the sport grows in popularity. There are marked cycle routes on most of Serbia's well known mountain areas like Kopaonik, Zlatibor and Stara Planina, along with cable lifts for transporting cycles. Meanwhile Western Serbia has 400 km of marked paths crossing breathtaking areas such as Tara National Park, which itself has 27 bike path...

It seemed like a good idea at the time, the 7am VCE – LGW flight. Other people I knew were doing it, and it was so cheap, what was the worst that could happen? Well I’ve come through the other side, perhaps to tell everyone: DON’T DO IT KIDS. To state the bleedin’ obvious, Venice it has no roads - no not even ones that the guide book don’t talk about, which is what I expected. So being a city...

It's famous for the Grand Canyon, but Arizona also houses over 100 wineries in the state. Such is the growing quality that it's becoming a new Sideways destination choice for lovers of fine wine. Arizona's romance with winemaking, sparked by Spanish missionaries in the 17th century, was rekindled in recent decades by a group of passionate vintners who've helped turn the acres of vineyards into three wine trails. With visitors able to explore them by road, horseback or even kayak,...

Thought you'd exhausted the Caribbean? Or simply tired of going on second-hand holidays? (No, Nicholas from the service desk, you don't need to tell us every restaurant/hotel you went to in Cuba and INSIST we follow suit.) In that case a new destination has opened up for winter 2015/6, where the beaches are untouched and the spectacular natural scenes aren't fighting for space with resorts - namely Puerto Rico. Oddly, Norwegian airlines are set to be the only carrier to fly direct from London to Puerto...