Advice

Passengers have been left furious after a flagship cruise from Southampton to New York was cancelled just hours before it was due to set off. Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 ship was set to take off from Southampton on Sunday but the 2,000 passengers were told on Saturday night that the crossing had been cancelled due

There is plenty about Brussels that makes it like no other city. It’s the capital of the European Union for a start (but you wouldn’t necessarily sense it), operating in two native languages (French and Dutch/Flemish). The historic centre is like a reverse donut, with the imposing Grand Place in the middle, surrounded by mundane,

All hotels have been independently reviewed and selected. We will earn a commission if you book via the links below, but this never affects our rating. Our expert writers are usually hosted on a complimentary basis in order to gain the first-hand experience necessary for their review. From a dog’s point of view, the Lake

All hotels have been independently reviewed and selected. We will earn a commission if you book via the links below, but this never affects our rating. Our expert writers are usually hosted on a complimentary basis in order to gain the first-hand experience necessary for their review. The port city of Liverpool on the River

Prague offers so much more than alluring architecture, abundant brews and an inherently romantic atmosphere. The city has kept up with European trends in the realms of art, fashion, gastronomy and more, lending it a contemporary sheen that merges comfortably with its historical and architectural prowess. Indeed, as you browse the wealth of impressive Gothic,

Have you ever experienced a total solar eclipse? Most Britons answer that with “I think so”, recalling times when they squinted at the sun through some eclipse glasses or a welding mask. If that’s you then, no, you did not taste ‘totality’. Most likely you saw a partial eclipse in 1999 (unless you were in

Laid-back living, soft sandy beaches, warm hospitality, rum, reggae, rushing waterfalls, lush mountains – Jamaica is the Caribbean island where people flock, as its most famous son Bob Marley once sung, “to feel all right”. No wonder that the former Spanish (then British) colony captivated Ian Fleming, Noël Coward, Winston Churchill, Marilyn Monroe and Errol

Nowhere celebrates kitsch like Australia. From Ken Done’s garish tea towel art to the preening extravagance of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, this is a country that has little time for modesty or restraint.  This spirit of irreverence, philistinism and sheer bad taste has found expression in its legions of Big Things, a

You’ll spot it from far away, if you were clever enough to ask for a window seat on the plane. It’s Sin City – an oasis of glittering lights in the desert, home of the Strip and the drive-in wedding chapel, playground of the Mob, and a visual spectacle complete with its own Eiffel Tower,

On March 5, regulated rail fares rose on average by 5.9 per cent, the steepest increase in a decade. Adding a fiver and a bit to a typical Manchester-London mid-range ticket might not sound too egregious, but for a commuter, already hammered by inflation on everyday outgoings, almost six per cent can add up to

As a cruising destination, the UK’s coastline and rivers have never been more popular – and with spectacular scenery, amazing wildlife, an abundance of historical sites and excellent food, is it any surprise? A UK cruise requires neither yellow fever jabs nor the pre-holiday exchange-rate vigil. There is no waiting in airport lounges for hours

Icy seawater was biting at my face, and I couldn’t stop laughing. Nor could the other 11 waterproof-wrapped travellers making the bumpy crossing from our expedition ship, MS Fridtjof Nansen, to Orne Harbour, a humbling collection of soft snow, hard ice and slate-grey rock on the Antarctic peninsula. It was Robin, a quiet, red-headed woman

There’s no other city in the world that boasts quite such an impressive main drag as Venice and its Grand Canal. You’ll travel down it in your vaporetto or water taxi, you’ll observe the bustling boats from magnificent bridges. But there’s nothing quite like having a front-row seat at the Grand Canal spectacle from your

We had spent the morning trying to track down an elusive herd of elephants in the scalding African heat, and I was now savouring an al fresco lunch under the shade of a leafy tree. All was calm, soporific even, as each of our gathered group recounted their most recent wildlife encounters – when suddenly

Most people who visit ‘Orlando’ never truly see it. They arrive at Orlando International Airport and head straight for the theme parks. The city actually lies 15 miles north-east and often goes unnoticed in the rush for Disney and co – which is a major oversight, as it’s home to some of Florida’s most original

Founded in 1837, the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company, as it was then called, was the first to offer cruises as we know them when passengers joined Royal Mail ships sailing to ports in the Mediterranean and the Iberian peninsula. The legendary SS Canberra, in service from 1961 to 1997, featured in the bond

New Orleans’s reputation as a party town, thanks largely to the annual celebration of Mardi Gras, looms large. Bourbon Street, plastic beads and bawdy revellers sum up many people’s image of the city. As anyone who has been here knows, though, this is only a tiny part of life here. Its historical influences are celebrated

All hotels have been independently reviewed and selected. We will earn a commission if you book via the links below, but this never affects our rating. Our expert writers are usually hosted on a complimentary basis in order to gain the first-hand experience necessary for their review. From flamingo-pink sands lapped by balmy turquoise waters

Forget the old saw ‘children should be seen but not heard’ – here in Greece love of little ones is a given, and most staff in the country’s (extremely) family-friendly hotels will effortlessly go that extra mile to make sure that you and your brood have an enjoyable holiday. The best hotels have clubs catering

It would be difficult to tire of the Mediterranean view, considering the rugged beauty of the surrounding cliffs and coastline. Outdoors, there is a garden filled with succulent plants, an original snail-shaped swimming pool, terraces for lunching on, and a second pool – this time an infinity version with vistas of boats pulling in and