Travel News from Times Online

The great British weekend: Broadstairs, Kent

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

My girls summed up the appeal of Broadstairs best: “Sea, sandcastles, ice cream, fun!” they wrote on a little poster when we got home.

Sleeping with spooks at the London Dungeon

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

As my bedroom door closed, Ian Shillito, of the London Paranormal Society, grins. “I’d love to sleep here,” he says. “I’m exceedingly jealous.” For tonight my bed is a blood-splattered Gothic four-poster and my roommates are three disembowelled prostitutes, guts aglistening in the flickering light.

Croatia: the flashing blades of Korkcula

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Maybe it was a nervous reaction, but the traditional Korculan “Moreska” sword dance was making me laugh.

Wildlife in Australia’s Northern Territory

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Everything about the Outback country of the Australian Top End — and that is just about everything outside the city of Darwin, where I’d started this adventure — is big.

Chernobyl offers a holiday in hell

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Maxim, our tour guide, is not having a good day. “Your bag, your bag!” he shouts across the car park. One of my fellow tourists has left a rucksack on the ground.

Morairaway.com travel scam: Holiday-Rentals pays out to victims

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:44:43 GMT

Dozens of British families duped into booking fake holiday villas in Spain are to receive some of their money back.

Airline food - ah, the memories

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:35:21 GMT

The challenge set for Chris Haslam was to taste the meals of six airlines, then decide which was best.

The HQ of the great morairaway.com villa scam: a postbox

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:56:36 GMT

This non-descript P.O. box office in an upmarket Costa Blanca seaside resort is at the centre of an apparent fraud which left hundreds of families across Europe with no holidays this summer.

A Devon holiday with mates - on a budget

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:39:57 GMT

I doubt I am in the minority as a city dweller who dreams of relocating to a West County cottage. Until I win the lottery though, I’ll have to be satisfied with taking holidays in Devon.

The bloggers' travel guide to. . . Copenhagen and Malmö

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:28:52 GMT

WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK MALMO

Passport fees rise - as too few are travelling

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:02:43 GMT

In time of recession, many countries look to curb taxes and charges that directly impact on travel and tourism.

Mallorca v Majorca: the expert's view

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:50:39 GMT

You write Mallorca, I write Majorca, let’s call the whole thing off. If only the politics, culture and finessing (oh, very well, pedantry) of place names were so easy.

Are you serious? Hitchhiking in Russia

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:48:02 GMT

If the Russians have their way — and we know they like to — one of their islands could soon be up there with the world’s most exotic destinations.

Paris, Barcelona and Rome after dark

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:18:39 GMT

For nine more cities see the full article in the August issue of The Sunday Times Travel Magazine, on sale Tuesday, July 7

Sailing: life, death and the shipping forecast

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:00:57 GMT

The great pleasure of ocean voyaging, as opposed to day sailing, is that as the land drops away astern, all the woes and worries that afflicted you on dry land — all the things you ought to have done, but have left undone, all the drab detritus and clutter of your daily existence — slough away like the old skin of a snake. You feel renewed and newly alive.

Luton airport misery as drop-off fee causes chaos

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:00:51 GMT

Luton airport will be raising our frustration levels to new heights this summer with a new traffic-management plan causing confusion and gridlock on the approach road. Passengers arriving for early-morning flights last week were horrified to find traffic tailing back for more than a mile beyond the airport perimeter.

Scotland: Wild west heroes on the Isle of Harris

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:00:49 GMT

Donald John Mackay, aka “Donjohn”, appears to be out. The door to the shed where he weaves is open. I creep into a room almost filled by a hand loom, around which shreds of fabric and tangled threads form a thick carpet.

New York: a city beach that isn’t just a gimmick

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:00:26 GMT

Like cities? Like beaches? Then you’ll hate city beaches. All the noise and fumes of the city, all the facile vacuity of the beach, rolled into one pointless package when some publicity-hungry dolt dumps a couple of tonnes of temporary sand on a slimy stretch of the Seine or in a car park in central London. (I’m not making this up; the capital’s most recent effort was in an NCP near Moorgate railway station.)

The best airline meals at 40,000ft

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:00:03 GMT

"By far the best part of the journey has been the food,” wrote Imperial Airways passenger George Cooper to his mother. “I have feasted from London to Mandalay on foie gras and ox tongue, roast beef and spiced lamb, lime jellies and the best pêche Melba I have ever eaten.”

This summer's best long-haul bargains

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The weak pound means the Med is hardly a bargain now, which is one good reason to look further afield for your summer holiday this year.

The Statue of Liberty re-opens

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:32:38 GMT

The Statue of Liberty re-opened today amid heavy security, for the first time since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, in sign of America's growing confidence.

The 50 best beaches in the UK

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:01:45 GMT

DRAMATIC BEACHES

A photography course in Abruzzo

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Through the pain of a particularly nasty hangover, I am watching two young men leap around like buffoons. Henry, tall and lean, is bouncing impressively high, while Selwyn, shorter and squatter, is executing army-style star jumps.

Sumba: the wild little sister of Bali

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Why don’t I ever listen to my mother? She’d have warned me not to go into the undergrowth alone with a strange man, one who at this very moment is grinning widely and brandishing a sword only inches from my face.

Revealed: the first naturist B&B in Europe

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

My husband looks doubtful. “Why the suitcase?” He has a point. I am going for two days to the first naturist B&B in Europe.