The incredible story of how a Breitling Emergency watch saved a pilot after he crashed into treacherous waters January 24, 2018 Precisely 15 years ago, Quentin Smith and Steve Brooks had just spent three arduous months getting to the tip of South America in an attempt to fly by helicopter from the North to the South Pole. The previous six weeks had been spent in Chile, patiently seeking the relevant commissions to fly the Drake Passage [...]
Long Weekend in Speyside, Scotland: Here’s where to stay and what to do if you’re heading up to the Highlands for a Burns Night mini-break January 19, 2018 Melissa York samples the scotch on St Andrew’s Day in the Highlands The Craigellachie, Speyside, Scotland The weekend: You’ve missed Saint Andrew’s Day and Hogmanay, but there’s one more Scottish winter festival to go. Burns Night is coming up on Thursday, and what better way to honour Rabbie than by heading up to the Highlands [...]
Need a digital detox? Restival is a radical new mindfulness festival that may change your life January 19, 2018 Most travellers arriving in Flagstaff, Arizona, come to explore the Grand Canyon, but not me. My destination was the high plains of the Painted Desert, a dry and barren landscape on the edge of the Navajo Nation Reservation. I would leave a different person. I’d come for Restival, a mind, body and spirit festival taking [...]
Need a digital detox? Restival is a radical new mindfulness festival that may change your life January 19, 2018 Most travellers arriving in Flagstaff, Arizona, come to explore the Grand Canyon, but not me. My destination was the high plains of the Painted Desert, a dry and barren landscape on the edge of the Navajo Nation Reservation. I would leave a different person. I’d come for Restival, a mind, body and spirit festival taking [...]
Arlberg becomes Austria’s largest ski area thanks to a newly opened £37.5m cable-car system. We take it for a test drive. December 1, 2017 As I pulled up outside my hotel in Lech, a very overweight fox ambled across the road in front of our coach. I took it as a sign of good things to come. I were in Lech to enjoy some early season skiing and although the Alps had experienced one of the lowest December snowfalls [...]
On the trail of world-renowned gorilla conservationist Dian Fossey, Damien Gabet meets with silverbacks in the Rwandan forest November 24, 2017 There he was, the man we’d trekked hours to meet. Frank was square-jaw handsome, but with a perma-frown and scar that made him look dangerous. Once a poacher, he now uses his tracking talents to locate mountain gorillas for tourists. As we approached, I could see he was casually shaving earth from his boots with [...]
Annecy may lack the glamour and reputation of the bigger Euro ski resorts, but for a trip with kids in tow, it’s near perfect November 17, 2017 One of the biggest issues facing us cosseted west Londoners at this time of year is where to go for our family skiing holiday. Given the lack of parliamentary time to cover this imperative issue I’d like to throw an option into the debate – Lake Annecy. The marketing department in France clearly thinks that [...]
The Long Weekend: There’s more to Geneva than conference centres, including the La Réserve November 13, 2017 Geneva may be a business capital from Monday to Friday, but there's something for the weekend here too. The weekend: Witness the scrum for hand-luggage space on Friday night flights from Geneva to London City Airport and you’d be forgiven for thinking the city simply kicked its residents out when the international organisations and private [...]
Swim with the pigs in the Bahamas: How domestic swine became big business for the paradise islands November 13, 2017 On 9 September the ocean around the Bahamas’ Long Island and the Exumas vanished. Where there should have been endless stretches of aquamarine, there was mile upon mile of muddy grey sand, flecked with seams of stringy kelp, all set against a foreboding backdrop of slate-grey cloud. Sandwiched between hurricanes Irma to the west and [...]
Rome Cavalieri review: A sprawling, grand hotel on the outskirts of Europe’s most ruin-littered capital October 27, 2017 With its ancient ruins, buzzy aperitivo scene (check out Il Mercato Centrale Roma as a tasty starting point) and balmy climate – what’s not to like about a sojourn to one of Europe’s most inspiring capitals? After all, this is the place from where Caesar controlled his empire, where Michelangelo was inspired and where Fellini [...]