Travel Industry news

• ‘A journey and an adventure’: driving Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way

  22-08-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Running 1,600 miles from County Cork up to County Donegal, this route, launched 10 years ago, takes in the west coast’s spectacular sceneryOn the edge of pretty Mannin Bay there’s a barrel sauna with a convex picture window overlooking the white sand and translucent Atlantic Ocean. It’s the perfect place to warm up after a morning kayaking around the indented shoreline, one that changes dramatically with the rise and fall of the tide. We stroll back to Connemara Sands hotel, ju
  
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• A late summer break in Montpellier, one of France’s sunniest cities

  16-09-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The reinvention of Montpellier from ancient university town to ‘Berlin by the Med’ is in full swing, and late summer is the best time to visit Strolling around the Estanove district, just south-west of Montpellier centre, it’s hard not to feel excited by how this Mediterranean city is transforming for the 21st century. Here, on a brownfield former military site next to leafy Parc Montcalm, the city is building one of several “eco” districts – this one will lin
  
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• Dream ’scapes: Europe’s 10 best surrealist trips for art lovers

  15-09-2024 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Celebrate the centenary of surrealism in Europe with a trip to the art movement’s key spaces and placesThis autumn, the dreamy, subconscious world of surrealism will come into full focus. September 2024 marks 100 years since André Breton founded the movement. Not only are there exhibitions across Europe to celebrate the anniversary but, from Mallorca to Sussex and Rome, it’s a chance to lose yourself in the artists’ homes and studios. Continue reading...
  
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• A last blast of summer: five cities in southern Europe perfect for late-season sun

  14-09-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The sun is still shining brightly in southern Europe, but the crowds have gone, which makes these gorgeous seaside cities even more alluringSaying Genoa has a lot of palaces is like saying Venice is full of canals. Still, they are one of the defining features of a city that has one of the biggest old towns in Europe, ideal for exploring on warm autumn days. More than 100 Renaissance and baroque palaces are still standing, 42 of which comprise the Unesco-listed Palazzi del Rolli. Lots are open to
  
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• My favourite late summer city break in southern Europe: readers’ tips

  13-09-2024 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Beaches on Sardinia, food markets in Aix-en-Provence and historic Sarajevo are among our tipsters’ highlightsThe town of San Remo on the Ligurian coast, between Genoa and Nice, has the air of a faded grand old lady, a little bit down on her luck but with plenty of dash still on offer. Blessed with the most enticing and charming streets of a medieval old town that meanders upwards in car-free bliss, on the way have lunch at La Ciotola (Via S Stefano 4) where the ravioli is homemade and supe
  
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• ‘Secret Garden on steroids’: the Cornish cottage that comes with its own jungle and private beach

  13-09-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Guests staying at a new holiday cottage in the grounds of Trebah Gardens will get after-hours access to this sub-tropical paradise and its private coveThe sign on the gate states “Private. No access.” We ignore it and follow a path past a Georgian manor house, its white walls glowing pink in the early evening light. It appears to be empty but as we tiptoe past the large sash windows, I have the uneasy sensation of trespassing. To the far side of the house is a latticed wooden gate, w
  
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• My passionate love affair with Scotland’s largest island

  12-09-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  On the surface, little appears to have changed in the 30 years that bestselling author Peter May has been visiting the Isle of Lewis. But tourism has had a big impact – from Sunday opening hours to a deep water port for cruise shipsThere was a joke doing the rounds when I was first visiting the Outer Hebrides more than three decades ago. On the flight to Stornoway, halfway across the Minch, the pilot makes an announcement: “We will shortly be arriving on the Isle of Lewis. Don’
  
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• ‘The hike of a lifetime’ – a circuit of the Écrins national park in France

  11-09-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The Tour des Écrins in the Hautes-Alpes is one of Europe’s finest long-distance walks, and offers a chance to reflect on how best to live alongside natureI first learned about the Écrins national park in relation to a specific nature reserve within it. The réserve intégrale du Lauvitel was established in 1995 to “monitor the natural dynamics of ecosystems” with all human influence removed. This so-called wilderness area was one of the first of its ki
  
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• Time travel in the Italian Alps: a glam stay in a 70s design hotel

  10-09-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  On the shores of Lake Caldaro in South Tirol, the striking Seehotel Ambach has barely changed since 1973 – and is all the better for itWhen I was about seven years old, my aunt brought me back a souvenir from her trip to America – a yellow trouser suit with yellow-and-purple zigzag-patterned flared trousers. I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen and, 50 years later, as I walk into the Seehotel Ambach in Italy’s South Tirol, I can’t help thinking how it’
  
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• Tell us about your favourite UK autumn food or drink event

  09-09-2024 17:05 via theguardian.com
  Share details of an autumnal food festival, foraging walk or harvesting event – the best tip wins £200 towards a Coolstays breakAutumn is drawing near and with it the harvest season, bringing the chance to indulge in some great foodie activities. Whether it’s a day out foraging in the forest, a tour of a cider farm or vineyard, a food trail or harvest festival, or a pop-up outdoor autumnal feast, we’d love to hear about your favourite experiences of the season. Tell us wh
  
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• Tourism that does less harm: Lanzarote away from the big beach resorts

  09-09-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  After this year’s protests against mass tourism all over the Canaries, we head for the small towns, vineyards and rugged coast of Lanzarote’s less-visited northThe sky is clear as I sit sipping coffee in the sunny courtyard of an 18th-century house – now a boutique hotel – in the small Lanzarote town of Teguise. But Óscar Cubillo, my host, sees something different. Looking up, he says: “The planes are always there. They never stop.”Lanzarote, an island
  
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• ‘Just the right amount of edge’: how Marseille became 2024’s on-trend city

  09-09-2024 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Thanks to buzzy cafes and the backing of Chanel’s fashion supremos, France’s oldest city is having its momentWhen a place becomes a meme, you know it is having a moment. This is what is happening to Marseille, which found its name plastered on a satirical Instagram account this week. “‘Mate was finkin’ of goin’ Marseille? Apparently it’s poppin’ off!?’,” read the caption on the viral Socks House Meeting fashion account that satirises th
  
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• 10 of the best gardens to visit around the UK

  08-09-2024 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  From hidden idylls to vast country estates, here is our pick of glorious gardens to delight and soothe your soulNorthiam, Rye, East SussexContinue reading...
  
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• Turkey at its sun-kissed, laid-back best: why Göcek makes the perfect Lycian base

  08-09-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The small resort is close to visitor hot spots such as Bodrum and Fethiye but retains a mellow vibe and is perfectly placed for exploring the coastWhen Bodrum and I first met, 30 years ago, my main thought was that it was a long way from anywhere. In summer 1994, when I worked as a holiday rep, there were no international flights to Bodrum’s small airport and only a few holidaymakers made the four-hour trek from Dalaman airport. Famous for its picturebook Crusader castle and waterfront lin
  
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• A beach as it might have looked 1,000 years ago: Sardinia’s north-west peninsula

  07-09-2024 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The island’s top left-hand corner offers unspoilt coast, untouristy towns and a wild ‘donkey’ island. Just don’t follow the Instagram crowdPeople rave about La Pelosa beach in Sardinia’s north-west: it has “stunning white sand”, “clear turquoise water”, “breathtaking beauty” and is one of Lonely Planet’s best beaches in Italy. But please don’t go there. Even a decade ago when I was first checking out Sardinia’s g
  
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• It was genuinely healing to return to Ibiza, the place where I’d nearly died

  07-09-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  With his Ibiza-set novel just out, the bestselling author recalls his drug-fuelled partying years, recovery, and the island’s complicated relationship with tourism todayThe thing that might surprise you about Ibiza is the quiet. Even in August, there are pockets of tranquillity all over the island. Walking along the nature trail between and behind two of its most famous beaches – Es Cavallet and Ses Salines – you hear nothing but the chirp of cicadas and the soft whisper of the
  
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• ‘Turkey gave us one of the most exhilarating experiences of our lives’: readers’ travel tips

  06-09-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Stunning beaches, car-free islands and reminders of antiquity feature in our tipsters’ picks from the Aegean to the Black Sea. Plus, the best rice pudding ever …Lake Eğirdir is the fourth largest lake in Turkey and the town of Eğirdir (80 miles north of Antalya), which sits on the southern edge of the lake, is sometimes used as a stopover for coach travellers as they travel between the tourist hotspots of Cappadocia and Pamukkale. If you can, stay longer. We stayed three n
  
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• Tour de France: the new cycle route from Nantes to Mont-Saint-Michel

  05-09-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  La Régalante is a 170-mile cycle network linking historic villages, windmills and abbeys in less-visited parts of Brittany and the Atlantic Loire, with pitstops at lovely bars and B&Bs We wave au revoir to Nantes and, moments later, we’re rushing towards the sea on hired touring bikes. We’re heading along France’s newest cycle route, from the Pays de la Loire through Brittany to the tidal flats of Normandy. My friend and I have an appointment with Mont-Saint-Michel i
  
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• One Spanish region where tourists are welcome – especially spaghetti western fans

  04-09-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A new walking route around Burgos, in northern Spain, offers film pilgrims a close-up of the iconic locations used in Sergio Leone’s movie The Good, the Bad and the UglyIn the mountains of northern Spain, the sleepy town of Santo Domingo de Silos is accustomed to welcoming pilgrims. In the province of Burgos, on the Camino de Santiago, it is home to one of Spain’s most famous monasteries.Built in the seventh century, the Monasterio de San Francisco was catapulted to unlikely stardom
  
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• ‘Plus-size people face a lot of barriers’: the campaigners helping larger walkers to enjoy the great outdoors

  03-09-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  From being properly kitted out to planning a walking route up Mam Tor, our writer finds her feet and her tribe in the Peak DistrictIt is raining. Heavy drops hit so hard they bounce back into the air. Cloud hangs over the highest peak, today’s destination. I gather with the small group of women in larger bodies, all facing the same challenge as me, with similar demons whispering into their ears, “You’re too fat, you’re not fit enough, you don’t belong here, you will
  
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• Share a tip on a gap year or sabbatical – you could win a holiday voucher

  02-09-2024 18:18 via theguardian.com
  Tell us about a favourite long trip – it could have been a gap year, a sabbatical or a spell volunteering abroad – the best tip wins £200 towards a Coolstays breakGap years are not just the domain of students in search of adventure after A-levels or university. Increasing numbers of us are choosing to take a career break or sabbatical later in life to travel abroad or try something new. Have you taken time out to volunteer overseas, to see the world, or to study abroad? We&rsqu
  
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• Driving to the Italian Alps with two small kids – and camping: the unholy trinity of travel?

  02-09-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The idea of a family road trip across Europe to reach Trentino’s celebrated Lago di Ledro felt daunting. Turns out getting there was more than half the funFloating motionless in the deep water of northern Italy’s exquisite Lago di Ledro in beating sun, I felt the contradictory sensation of simultaneous exertion and relaxation. My heart was thumping from the front crawl I’d just done, yet my mind basked in the beauty of this tree-lined valley and my brief, heavenly solitude
  
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• Viennese waltz: top travel tips for a spin around Austria’s capital

  01-09-2024 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  From the ferris wheel featured in the Third Man to an evening with Mozart and the world’s largest collection of Klimts, here’s how to make the most of a break in ViennaWalk some of the city’s 23 districts, each one with its own distinct identity and history. The 9th district is a great place to start. Elegant and rich in art nouveau and art deco architecture, it was also home to Beethoven, Schubert and Freud. Visit one of the most famous addresses in psychoanalytic history, Wie
  
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• Saving the seas one dive at a time in Northumberland

  01-09-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  We dip beneath the North Sea waves with Britain’s first eco-dive centre, to see how it is inspiring divers to help clean up the seas they loveOn the outer side of Britain’s Farne Islands, off the Northumberland coast, is the Longstone lighthouse, which was home in 1838 to a reluctant heroine called Grace Darling. She was the lighthouse keeper’s daugher, and at the age of just 22, she jumped into a rowing boat in the midst of a violent storm and successfully saved nine people fr
  
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• How I spent 16 months journeying from the top to the bottom of England in a canal boat

  31-08-2024 12:00 via theguardian.com
  From within sight of the Lake District to Surrey, an epic – and slow – journey along the length of England’s waterwaysMy home is a floating island on more than 2,000 miles of interconnected inland waterways in England and Wales. In my 17-metre narrowboat home, I have travelled from the most northerly of the joined waterways – within sight of the Lake District – to the most southerly, about 30 miles from the Channel.It took me 16 months to complete but I was never in
  
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• Sea swims, sensational Scandinavian food - and the odd disagreement: Interrailing with my 75-year-old mum

  31-08-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Taking the train from Manchester to Oslo led to 10 action-packed days me and my Zumba-going mum would never forgetMy mum had just one stipulation when it came to our mother-and-daughter holiday: she didn’t want to do any of the planning. She would not lift a finger – payback, perhaps, for my tricky teenage years, which saw me ruin one Pyrenean road trip by vomiting on every hairpin. I tried to claim it was food poisoning rather than the result of a night of underage drinking with the
  
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• ‘It was more than a journey, it was an immersion’: readers’ favourite slow travel adventures

  30-08-2024 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A night train to Venice, a Provence river cruise and ferries between the Aeolian islands – our tipsters share their slow travel highlightsOne of my most memorable travel experiences was drifting down the Rhône from Lyon to Avignon. Instead of rushing through France, I chose to embrace the slower pace of a river cruise, allowing the beauty of Provence to unfold gradually. As we glided past vineyards and lavender fields, I could almost taste the crisp rosé waiting for me in Tain
  
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• In the footsteps of DH Lawrence: across the Alps from Germany to Italy

  30-08-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  More than a century on, the route from Konstanz to Como across lakes and Swiss mountains must also contend with traffic, but it still inspires a novel‘When I went from Constance, it was on a small steamer down the Rhine to Schaffhausen.” So wrote DH Lawrence in 1913. While his lover Frieda Weekley (née von Richthofen) was trying to explain their love affair to her family in Germany, Lawrence decided to walk south across the Alps, to Como and Milan, about 230 miles, taking stea
  
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• Austrian town gets its lederhosen in a twist over modern art

  29-08-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Bad Ischl is the first alpine town to be awarded European capital of culture status, bringing nudity and surreal sculptures to a rural area more in tune with classical music and mountain pursuits I’m walking through the town of Bad Aussee, in Austria’s alpine Salzkammergut region, where I’m expecting a vision of depravity to emerge through the drizzle. The artists Wolfgang Müllegger and Georg Holzmann gleefully tell me how their big pink sculpture, which was recently place
  
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• Is Derby the UK’s worst short break destination? How I ‘bussed’ that myth

  28-08-2024 01:00 via theguardian.com
  With good public transport services to surrounding attractions, and riverside walks for ornithologists, the East Midlands hub defies pollsters’ findingsA peregrine falcon is flying high over the gothic tower of the cathedral while elegant grey wagtails hop across the curving weir among flocks of gulls and geese. Is this really the worst city in the UK? Derby recently came bottom in a Which? poll of big UK cities for a short break. I’m only passing through on my way to the Peak Distri
  
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