These wacky watering holes take the art of swimming pool design to a whole new level. MailOnline has scoured the world for some of the kookiest places to dip, with a number of gems floating to the surface. At the Sweet Escape vacation home near Orlando, there is an ice cream-shaped swimming pool which follows the resort's candy theme. Meanwhile, at the Apartelle de Francesca apartment rental in the Philippines, there is a pool shaped like a foot, after the owner's fashion brand logo.

It is an extraordinary thing to holiday on a volcano. The beaches are black (bottom right), you can swim in hot springs and eat stews cooked by burial in volcanic earth (top right). Welcome to the Azores (main), writes Jake Wallis Simons, an archipelago of Portuguese islands marooned in the North Atlantic. He took his three kids (eight-year-old twins and a 10-year-old) there for an adventure that would give them memories that definitely won't blur into all the others when they are older.

Flight monitoring service FlightRadar24 released the animated map showing aircraft filling the skies around the globe on Friday after tracking 202,157 aircraft taking off and landing in one day. The Swedish-based website added that it was the first time it had ever tracked more than 200,000 flights in a day and that at the peak time, over 19,000 flights were in the air at the same time.

The award-winning actors have come together to create the second instalment of the celebrity filled safety briefing which will be shown before all British Airways flights starting this month. The video shows seven well-known faces who are seen 'auditioning' in humorous sketches while giving out important messages. They appear to be under the watchful eye of comedian Asim Chaudhry, who plays Chabuddy G as he attempts to direct their every move. Pictured are David Walliams, top left, Joanna Lumley, top right, Naomie Harris, bottom left, Olivia Colman, bottom right and Sir Michael Caine, inset

Boasting exotic wallpaper and a plaster monkey swinging from one of the doors, a swanky hotel suite in London promises to transport guests to the colourful world of Rudyard Kipling. Brown's Hotel in London's Mayfair is where Kipling penned some of the Jungle Book and it has a rather fabulous suite in honour of the British writer. The 1,665 square foot Kipling Suite - which costs from £6,000 a night with breakfast included - boasts a large king size bedroom, a spacious living room area and a stunning master bathroom clad with Italian marble. Pictured from top left, clockwise to centre: The suite's entrance way, the living room, the master bathroom, the bedroom and a portrait of Kipling, inset.

As a playground of the rich and famous, Monte Carlo conjures up images of glitz and glamour like no other. What the tiny principality of Monaco lacks in terms of size, it makes up for in stunning hotels and restaurants that have cemented the elegant destination as one of the world's most chic locations. Just a two-hour flight away from the UK, the coastal city - famed for its annual Grand Prix - is the perfect choice for a weekend of living life in the fast lane that will make you feel like a bona fide movie star, writes Louise Saunders, who stayed in the amazing Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort (top left, top right and bottom left). She also dropped in to the rather famous local casino (inset).

Should you continue half a mile to Ham or journey further on to Sandwich? MailOnline Travel has scoured the world for some of the most comical place names. They are so wacky it's hard to believe that they're real. Pictured, from top left clockwise: Cut and Shoot in Texas, Fertile in Iowa, Ham and Sandwich in Kent, Accident in Maryland, Condom in France and Sexbierum in the Netherlands.

Bringing a touch of the great outdoors inside, this kooky home in America is adorned with eye-catching pieces of wooden sculpture. The two-bedroom, five-bathroom property, located at 2700 N in Ashfield, Oregon, is currently on the market for $7.6million after its owners spend several years lovingly building it from scratch. From the outside, the 8,880 square foot home looks pretty standard but on walking inside, the place features an eclectic mix of lumber, from branches seemingly growing out of the walls to tree trunks propping up breakfast counters. Pictured, from top left clockwise to centre: One of the bathrooms, the kitchen, the main staircase one of the bathrooms, and an exterior view of the home.

Offering luxury jet travel for a snip of the price, a new airline is set to change up the aviation industry. AURA, which will start running flights in early 2019, has unveiled renderings of its state-of-the-art aircraft, complete with comfy armchair-style seats, large windows and slick interior design. A spokesperson for the Florida-based firm told MailOnline Travel that tickets will cost from $280 with frequent flights connecting Miami, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, and Los Angeles.

A stunning close-up shot of a humpback whale calf's tail has been revealed as the grand prize winner of the 2018 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year contest. Reiko Takahashi from Japan, who quit her office job to pursue her passion for underwater photography, took the striking image, titled 'Mermaid', off the coast of Japan's Kumejima Island. Along with choosing an overall winner, judges of the 2018 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year contest went about selecting winning photos in three categories including 'nature', 'people' and 'cities'. Pictured, from top left clockwise: Reiko's grand-prize winning shot, Alessandra Meniconzi won first place in the 'people' category, Enrico Pescantini scored second place in the 'cities' group and Gaanesh Prasad came third in the same class.

For deep-pocketed holiday makers, this luxury rental property in the Hamptons might appeal. Meadow Lane Estate in Southampton - which rents out for an eye-watering £29,299 a night - boasts a stunning ocean-facing location with amenities including a game room, tennis court, heated pool and gym. In total, the large main house can accommodate 18 people, with nine bedrooms and 12 bathrooms.

Ditching the mini bar for stashes of chocolates and sweets, these wacky and wonderful hotel rooms have been specially designed for children. For wannabe princesses, the Eloise Suite at The Plaza Hotel (inset) would be the ultimate place to kip - although stays come in at a bank-busting £1,653 ($2,193) a night. Meanwhile, aspiring knights might want to check out the castle-themed rooms at the five-star Shangri-La Hotel Singapore (bottom left), with turreted beds to keep them entertained. Other spots catering to tiny tots include the Gruffalo rooms at Chessington Safari Hotel (top right), the Despicable Me Kids’ Suites at The Loews in Orlando (top left) and the exclusive Cinderella Castle Suite at Walt Disney World in Florida (bottom right).

The Passenger Choice Awards took into account passenger feedback from almost one million flights across 428 airlines. Aeroflot (top left) was deemed the comfiest airline in Europe, while Southwest Airlines (top right) scored top points for its cabin service in the Americas. On the food front, Alaska (bottom left) came first in North and South America, with Norwegian (bottom right) being crowned the best budget carrier in Europe.

Striking eye-watering splits and sky-high leaps against the Hong Kong skyline, these ballet dancers certainly take the standard holiday 'jumping pose' to a whole new level. The Hong Kong tourist board has revealed a collection of stunning images by award-winning photographer Dean Alexander ahead of the city ballet's opening season. The eight ethereal images capture male and female performers in gravity-defying poses with various landmarks in the background. Pictured from top left clockwise: A dancer at Tin Hau Temple in Repulse Bay, a group with Hong Kong Island in the backdrop, two dancers on a traditional fishing boat and jumping among apartment blocks in Quarry Bay.

Train journeys tend to start and end at railway stations. But in Alaska they do things a little differently - and run a train that picks up passengers who simply flag it down. Anywhere on the route. The service is called the Hurricane Turn Train (main) and it is, as the Alaskan Railroad website points out, 'a train like no other'. Pictured left is luggage and a pet dog being loaded on board after passengers flagged down the train.

The world's top travel experiences have been announced by TripAdvisor, with a cooking class at a Tuscan farmhouse revealed as the most sought after and best-rated tour. The £87.60 ($116) experience, which sees people rustle up Tuscan cuisine from ingredients bought at a market, was followed in the rankings by a £28.60 ($37) bike tour of Berlin and a one-day sightseeing tour of New York, costing £64.41 ($84). Experiences in the UK were ranked separately, with a £139 ($184) trip to Stonehenge, which gives travellers exclusive access to the 'inner circle', bagging the number one spot.

Resplendent in shocking pink, a sleek 'Hello Kitty' bullet train, complete with special carriages festooned with images of the global icon from Japan, has been unveiled before it chugs into service this week. The special shinkansen or bullet train will run for the next three months between the western cities of Osaka and Fukuoka from Saturday, the West Japan Railway firm said, hoping that one of the country's most famous exports will boost tourism. Passengers will be in left in no doubt what train they are on, with Hello Kitty smiling down from the shades of every window and adorning every passenger seat cover.

A stunning shot of an enormous piercing blue chunk of ice in Iceland and an image of flames erupting from a volcano in Mexico are among the winning images of a prestigious photography contest run by The Nature Conservancy. This year the non-profit said its photo contest received a record number of entries, with 57,489 shots sent in from applicants dotted across 135 countries. Pictured, from top left clockwise: A polar bear in the high Arctic, a volcano erupting in Mexico, a chunk of glacier in Iceland and an extremely narrow slot canyon in southern Utah.

A private jet once owned by Elvis Presley that has sat on a runway in New Mexico for nearly four decades is back up for auction. Online auction site IronPlanet has announced that the plane with red velvet seats had returned to the market. A previous auction house said that Elvis designed the interior. But the red 1962 Lockheed Jetstar has no engine and needs a restoration of its cockpit. The plane was owned by Elvis and his father, Vernon Presley. It has been privately owned for 36 years and is sitting on tarmac in Roswell, New Mexico.

MailOnline Travel's Sadie Whitelocks ventured to the Ladakh region of northwest India where she trekked to the remote village of Rumbak. A translator she was travelling with explained that around 200 people live in the mountain community, with farming being the primary occupation. The residents only get electricity for three hours a day, from 8pm to 11pm, and there is just one spot for trekkers to stay in. Pictured: A villager returning home (top left), a view of Rumbak (main), the valley where the community is situated (top right), a tea room in one of the houses (bottom right) and butter tea being served (bottom left). 

It's the video game that sees Nintendo characters whizz around on go-karts as they race on gravity-defying tracks. But tourists in Japan can go one better - and zoom around in a real-life Mario Kart game. Sort of. MariCAR tours allow fans of the game - or anyone who's partial to a zany outing - to dress as characters from it and tour Tokyo, Osaka and Okinawa in go-karts.

From splashing around in the Bahamas to exploring the wilds of Antarctica, these photos reveal how one globetrotting couple have managed to create a business that allows them to travel the world and earn $100,000 a year as they go. Jonathan and Kach Howe, aged 33 and 30 respectively, both gave up their day jobs in 2013 and met while travelling in Luang Prabang, Laos. They now run their own travel and lifestyle site www.twomonkeystravelgroup.com and sell their skills in marketing and trip planning, with this spread of work bringing in $70,000 to $100,000. Pictured, from top left clockwise to centre: Kach at the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, the couple catching up on some work, Kach swimming in the Bahamas, with her beau in Antarctica and the lovebirds with their cat, Captain Ahab.

Taking the world of adventure yachting to new heights, one expedition vessel comes complete with two Airbus helicopters. The 252-foot SeaXplorer 77, from Dutch ship builders Damen, has been commissioned by an unnamed client who has a passion for the outdoors and wants to use the choppers for heliskiing and touching down in remote places. Explaining the inspiration behind his luxury cruiser, the anonymous owner said: 'Some people think that fans of outdoor activities should stay in fleabag motels and dry their wet socks on radiators. I believe that you can combine the most active outdoor adventures and sports with ultimate comfort.'

These fascinating photos show how one man painstakingly created a jaw-dropping basement under his house, using just a hammer and chisel. Builder Levon Arakelyan (inset) spent 23 years crafting the incredible 65ft-deep, 3,000-square-foot subterranean space and he was even working on the project on the day he died in 2008, aged 67. He began working on it after his wife, Tosya, asked for a cool space for her potatoes. He got carried away. Today the hand-crafted cellar in the village of Arinj in Armenia is open as a museum and New Zealand-based Radio Free Europe photographer Amos Chapple recently journeyed to the attraction to shed some light on it.

Complete with homely interiors and sweeping seaside views, these photos show the hotel which is said to have inspired Enid Blyton's classic Famous Five children's novels. Picturesque Knoll House Hotel in Studland, Dorset, passed to new owners last year and efforts have been made to retain its traditional charm, with rooms featuring Roberts radios and vintage-style furniture adorning the place. Blyton, also famed for writing the Secret Seven and Noddy books, was such a fan of the historic guesthouse, that she would visit three or four times a year, often for weeks at a time. Nowadays rates start from £70 for a single room and £175 for a three bedroom suite.

Harry Potter fans can immerse themselves in a world of wizardry and dark arts at this quaint holiday rental - because it sits right opposite the creaky old house that was used in the Deathly Hallows Part One as the birthplace of the young magic wrangler (inset). Pilgrims cottage (pictured) - which is available to rent from £470 per week - is situated in Lavenham, Suffolk, and the two-bedroom property can be found across the road from De Vere House. This beautiful old building is where the young wizard's parents were killed by Lord Voldemort, who then gave baby Harry his zig-zag forehead scar.

A crack in an engine caused the British Airways jet to burst into flames at Las Vegas airport while the captain, Chris Henkey (inset) from Reading, Berkshire - hailed as a hero at the time - was to blame for a 'chaotic evacuation', federal investigators said. One flight attendant was seriously injured after fire ripped through the engine of the aircraft at McCarran International in September 2015. All 157 passengers and 13 crew on board the Boeing 777-236ER jet, which was bound for London, were able to evacuate but the plane was substantially damaged by fire. Investigators said Henkey took 22 seconds to shut off fuel to the engine that was on fire and that he called for an evacuation before completing an evacuation checklist. He left an engine running that hampered the deplaning process.

They say the camera never lies. That may be true. But as this photograph shows, it can definitely be hilariously crafty. The image here duped a group of young men from Scotland into thinking they were getting an Airbnb rental in Croatia that would feature a full-size pool table. In fact it was just children-sized, the owners having used a clever angle to make it look big. One of the group, Brian Ashe, posted a series of images on Twitter showing the picture from the listing and how big the actual table was. Uploading a side-by-side image, he said: 'Hahahaha when one of the troops books an Airbnb specifically for the pool table.'

U.S photographer Christian DeBaun (right) visited Scotland and made a Facebook post on cultural observations that went viral. He noted how there are no bathrooms in Scotland on the roads, no billboards, hardly any police cars (he saw two) and that it's 'ridiculously windy'. The Scottish Daily Mail's Gavin Madeley reports.

MailOnline Travel's Sadie Whitelocks ventured to Lhasa in Tibet, one of the highest cities in the world at 11,995ft. Highlights of her trip included visiting the Potala Palace, the former home of the Dalai Lama (top left), witnessing locals throwing themselves to the floor in prayer (bottom left) and dining on yak momos (inset).

The UK welcomes over 30million foreign tourists each year from all corners of the globe. But they don't all home in on the same areas. New research, which looked at bookings over the past five years, reveals that many nationalities are drawn to certain parts of the country, with the French loving Yorkshire and Americans obsessing over Scotland. The Germans, meanwhile, love London and Australians love Cambridge.

The world's beaches have been ranked according to how many times they've been snapped on Instagram, with Whitehaven Beach in Australia (top left) deemed the most popular. Lanikai beach in Oahu, Hawaii (top right), came in second place, with Horseshoe Bay in Bermuda (bottom left) close behind. Meanwhile, Bournemouth Beach (bottom right) has been ranked as the most popular beach in the UK and seventh globally with 72,503 snaps branded with #bournemouthbeach.

The world's best-value public airport lounges have been revealed, based on the number amenities they offer for the price. The Al Ghazal Lounge in Abu Dhabi International's Terminal 2 (top left) has been revealed as the top place to check into before a flight, with £21.45 ($28.76) bagging customers free drinks, food, Wi-Fi and newspapers to peruse. Coming in second place, is the slick Strata Lounge in Auckland Airport (top right), which comes with an open bar, buffet and children's play area all for £28.15 ($37.72). Lounge @ B in Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport (bottom left) has been rated as the third best-value spot, while 1903 Lounge in Manchester Airport's Terminal 3 comes fourth (bottom right).

If you've ever pounded city pavements and wondered what's lurking underneath, then have a peek at these revealing photos. Slovakian-born, London-based photographer Tomas Sentpetery decided to delve into some of Europe's most popular tourist destinations and show a side people rarely see. His photo series titled 'Look Deeper' juxtaposes street shots with images taken below the surface, with daylight shed on the Underground tunnels of London and the skull-lined vaults of Paris.

Starry-eyed renters will want to get their hands on this impressive Royal observatory - but they’ll need deep pockets as it is on the market for £37,500 a month. King George III had the observatory built at Old Deer Park in Richmond, Surrey, in 1769 so he could track the transit of Venus crossing the sun. Now, after a three-year refurbishment, the four-bedroom property is being made available for residential rental for the first time in its 249-year history through joint agents Jackson-Stops and Knight Frank.

Complete with turrets, thick stone walls and arched windows, a castle where Winston Churchill plotted the Normandy invasion is welcoming guests as a luxury homestay. Pennsylvania Castle boasts a prime location on the Isle of Portland, an island which juts out from Dorset into the English Channel with road access to the mainland. For a princely £2,500 per night, the nine-bedroom mansion can be privately hired with on-site amenities including a swimming pool, bar, helipad and library. Round-the-clock catering can also be arranged.

MailOnline Travel's Dan Sanderson struggled to think of a time when all had seemed more right with the world than when he took his family to St James's Club & Villas in Antigua (four main pictures). His young children enjoyed the kids club where they hunted for chocolate, painted faces and swum and the adults enjoyed aqua yoga and some well earned rum cocktails on the beach afterwards. Dan (pictured inset with his young children) writes: 'If there’s a more perfect resort for young families I haven’t found it.'

The new designs for Alitalia's customer facing staff were unveiled during Milan's Men's Fashion Week in a special presentation on the steps of the the city's famous Duomo di Milano. Created by Alberta Ferretti, known for her feminine style, the collection includes navy blue dresses, skirts and trouser suits for Alitalia staff, adorned with green and red striped bows and cuffs, and golden buttons.

There are Tuscan villas – and there’s this Tuscan villa. Described by its letting agents – Sotheby’s International Realty – as an ‘architectural masterpiece’, it is probably the perfect Italian countryside retreat. The 17th-century property is situated in the Ancaiano district near Siena and was built in 1680 for Pope Alexander VII. The grounds, says Sotheby’s, ‘are considered among the most exquisite gardens in Italy’. And the villa features ‘traditional Tuscan fireplaces, terracotta tiled floors, vaulted and beamed ceilings and beautifully frescoed walls’.

Rows of exposed elevators glide up and down the imposing lobby inside the $1.1billion 'Morpheus' resort, a 42-storey addition to Macau's glitzy skyline named after the Greek god of dreams and developed by Melco International. Iraqi-British Hadid, who died in 2016, was the first woman to win the prestigious Pritzker Prize for architecture. Her major works in China included the Guangzhou Opera House and a mega mall in Beijing. Extravagant duplex villas with their own in-room gym and massage quarters are located on the top floors of Morpheus for VIPs, along with a gaming area exclusively for these residents.

The building, in Minchinhampton, near Stroud, began life as a chapel in 1902 and was named the Victoria Memorial Chapel to commemorate Queen Victoria in her passing. It held services until 1984. In 2016 it was transformed into a beautiful rental. Gothic panelling was added throughout, dividing the main hall into a bedroom, study area and shower room. Lastly, the vestry was turned into a fully functioning kitchen.

National Geographic's Travel Photographer of the Year competition has attracted a host of stunning entries from crocodiles in Costa Rica to wild horses in Iceland. Its People's Choice Award gives people the chance to vote for their favourite photographs which are captured in beautiful locations from around the world, while the other winners are decided by judges. Pictured on the left is Paul Tsui's picture of a quiet street in Macau, while on the right is a group of crocodiles captured in Costa Rica and sea spray seen on Ipanema beach in Rio De Janeiro. At the end of June the winners of the competition will be announced.