Considered the jewel of the Austrian Alps, the Gastein Valley lies an hour south of Salzburg, in the heart of the majestic Austrian Alps. Other than the fantastic thermal spa and panoramic views of the Hohe Tauern National Park, the mountains surrounding Gastein are what it’s all about. From the…

  This vibrant beach city is a modern, liberal haven amid a conservative, contentious region. Yet it manages to effortlessly combine its easy-going lifestyle with a fast-paced high tech industry, attracting both young Israelis and internationals looking to spend their afternoons in the sun while still involved with ambitious start-ups.…

You cannot move ten feet in this country without bumping up against some striking reminder of a long and productive past. Wherever you turn you are confronted with wondrous and interesting things – 20,000 scheduled ancient monuments, 600,000 recorded archaeological sites, 140,000 miles of public footpaths, 280,000 miles of hedgerows,…

A land of shepards, wild landscapes and ancient forests. Leave Rome its Pantheon and Venice its canals. Let Tuscany have its art, and hoards of visitors. Where you want to be is camera-shy Umbria – Italy’s authentic slow-food capital. Pastoral rolling hills and broad, sunny valleys dominate its western reaches,…

Beyond the shiny, high-profile regeneration projects, independent left-field Manchester is thriving. A city of swagger and spirit, heritage and hedonism, fashion and football, Manchester warrants its billing as England’s ‘capital of the north’. Best known for its industrial past and a near-peerless musical and sporting legacy, it has been transformed…

Despite jokes about accents and what, exactly, a chip is, London remains a popular destination for American travellers, which has no shortage of tourist staples: Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, Tower Bridge, Big Ben, the House of Parliament, but London’s appeal doesn’t lie only in its architectural and cultural treasures. It’s…

Not only is Edinburgh a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it’s also Scotland’s capital city and home to phenomenal festivals, which have the city buzzing with a sense of excitement all year round. Packed with medieval tenements, narrow streets through the Old Town and a sweeping elegance which swathes the Georgian…

The Western Cape’s reputation for wine is undiminished – but now its cooking has caught up, with young chefs savouring exotic homegrown ingredients and looking to their own traditions rather than to Europe. When it comes to eating opportunities, you don’t get much hotter than Bree Street’s central reaches. It’s…

Paarl: the Pearl of the Boland A 40-minute drive outside Cape Town, at the foot of the second-largest granite outcrop in the world, you’ll find an unexpected jewel: the scenic town of Paarl, a place brimming with Cape Dutch, Victorian and Art Deco architecture, country hospitality, but more importantly, world-class…

From Britain’s iconic bread and butter pudding, to the best of British cheeses, London’s best chippy, an East End boozer, three curries, a salted beef beigel, and a bit of Shoreditch tart – this is feast that awaits your senses when you explore the cosmopolitan culinary scene in London’s ‘East…

The Roscoe Head (24 Roscoe Street) is an authentic English public house bursting with character which has survived the onslaught on the super pub chains. It’s a local city centre pub which remains unspoiled; with patrons from all walks of life – regulars like Zutons singer Dave McCabe and ‘The…

There’s a quiet culinary uprising catching on in Norway; a new-found pride and a change in attitude towards food traditions. This has given rise to the production of local and organic produce which people in the know claim is the result of their climatic conditions and landscape. To find out…

If you are bored with the uniformity of five-star hotels and prefer personalized treatment, a daily gourmet food experience, sport followed by wellness to recover, you want to read on.
The 89-roomed Grand Park, with its understated elegance and obliging service staff, is Bad Hofgastein’s only five-star hotel. Its location…

Now is the time for wine and nature lovers to rejoice; not only do Sussex vineyards produce beautiful wines, they also provide opportunities to sample, tour the vineyards and meet the Vintners. Fizz On Foot, who offers guided walk and wine tasting tours, combine the great outdoors with walks through…