Travel News

Now that the British Government has opened up an air corridor to the Maldives, it's become one of the few winter-sun destinations to which we can travel without having to quarantine for a fortnight on our return. And there are some amazing deals out there just waiting to be snapped up. But how to choose among the 167 resorts with their seemingly identikit villas on stilts? Well, that's where we come in…

Seventy years ago, a girl walked through a wardrobe into a land called Narnia. Little girls and boys have been trying to find their way there ever since The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, by C. S. Lewis, was published in October 1950. But there are other ways to find Narnia other than through a wardrobe. It just requires legwork. The Daily Mail's Mark Jones has been painstakingly recreating the walks C. S. Lewis took in his native Ireland and his adopted England that inspired his novel.

The first internationally branded hotel has opened in the Faroe Islands. A Hilton Garden Inn in Torshavn, the capital of the island of Streymoy (beach pictured bottom right) - known for its grass-roofed buildings (bottom left) - is now welcoming guests. Many of its 130 rooms offer 'scenic views of the Islands' beautiful natural surroundings' and facilities include one of the Islands' first wellness centres - boasting a sauna, an outdoor hot tub and a 24-hour fitness centre - as well as five meeting rooms with enough space to host up to 250 attendees.

Viewers see the two-year build process for the $950million (£733million) vessel, Iona, speeded-up into footage that's over in a few sips of tea. The footage was captured at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, with sections of the ship slotted together at break-neck speed before being floated out on to the water.

The Inspector checked into Mallory Court, near Leamington Spa, which has a new ESPA spa. He loved the building and his full English - but had mixed feelings about several aspects of his stay. He was surprised he would have to pay £15 to use the pool. He also says he was 'confused' by the dinner menu, which had 'two extremes', either soup and sandwiches or a £69 tasting menu. He writes: 'But it's not really a tasting menu. The first course is a tiny pot of olives, the second three canapes, the third is bread to share.'

Getting under the blankets to watch a horror movie is a time-honoured Halloween tradition - and now the most popular spooky-film choices in 19 countries around the world have been revealed. According to Google search data, the overall most popular Halloween movie is Alien, which takes the top spot in England, New Zealand, Spain, France, Germany, Norway and Wales and has the biggest search tally in total. The Shining is also a top choice, with America, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland all apparently seeing it as the best bet for a TV fright night.

This is one sure-fire way to feel like royalty. Holidaymakers can now rent a newly opened and restored apartment within the medieval Clock Tower (circled top left and pictured) of  Bamburgh Castle, which has played host to a succession of monarchs and has blockbuster views of the stunning Northumberland coast to Holy Island from its lofty position 150ft up on a volcanic plinth. The three-bed self-catered accommodation is set across the three storeys of the tower, with guests able to enjoy amazing sea views amid beautifully rustic decor - as well as peer down to one of England's most treasured cricket pitches and gaze across to the Cheviot Hills.

Every fall (that's Autumn for Britons), farms across the United States transform their cornfields into interactive mazes - perfect for a family outing. But unfortunately, many people won't be able to travel to visit their local mazes this year, as a result of the pandemic. To help them get their fix of corn-mazes, NetCredit worked with CG artists to digitally replicate a selection of some of the toughest and most unique, which they can try to escape from the comfort of their homes. The team recreated seven in total, from Maine to Michigan, and provided the solutions, too.

Truly, a sight for lockdown-weary eyes. These mesmerising panoramic shots have been revealed as the winners and shortlisted entries in the 2020 Epson International Pano Awards. This year the competition received 5,859 entries from 1,452 professional and amateur photographers in 96 countries - a record for its 11-year history - who were competing for thousands of dollars cash and prizes.

Rejoice in the glorious diversity of life on Earth - with the winners of the National Wildlife Photo Contest. The acclaimed competition, run by the Virginia-based National Wildlife Federation (NWF), drew more than 29,700 entries from around the globe, with winning images for 2020 including snaps of a pair of playful baboons in Zambia, the stunning Milky Way over the Yellowstone River and a hapless gladiator tree frog being devoured by a parrot snake in Costa Rica. The overall grand prize winner was Alex Rose from Woodridge, Illinois, with her amazing shot of an American crocodile gulping for breath in Cuba's Jardines de la Reina archipelago.

'For most of human history we had literally no idea where we were.' This is the startling observation made by authors Ian Goldin and Robert Muggah in the introduction to their fascinating new book, Terra Incognita - 100 Maps to Survive the Next 100 Years, which certainly brings the reader right up to speed. It not only charts the mesmerising development of geographical maps, from an AD150 illustration of the world to slightly less wonky pinpoint-accurate modern versions, but also contains maps that reveal insights into global cultural developments, including the incredible rise of McDonald's and Neflix.

To say that Reza Pakravan has a thirst for adventure may be an understatement. He's absolutely gasping, it seems, to find outlets for his derring-do. The 46-year-old has cycled 11,000 miles from Norway to Africa, biked across the Sahara Desert and undertaken a 4000-mile journey across the Amazon rainforest. Last year he was back on the wild frontiers of travel - this time journeying across the width of Africa from Senegal to Somalia via the Sahel, a belt of land stretching across the southern boundary of the Sahara Desert. It's an astonishing odyssey chronicled by new show The World's Most Dangerous Borders. Pictured: A funeral in Mali (top left), climbing up a rock-hewn church in Ethiopia (top right), trekking in Somaliland (bottom right) and meeting a hunter in Mali, who defends the population against terrorists (bottom left).

Here we look at some of the top spots for al fresco eating and quaffing in England and Scotland, from a pub in East Sussex with corrugated iron pods (top left) to a swanky hotel in Reading with a secret garden (bottom right), and from rooftop bars and Michelin-starred restaurants in London to sea-view terraces in Dorset (inset).

Did you have to postpone a big celebration this year, or was your summer holiday cancelled? Then take a look at the Seychelles for some well-deserved winter sun. The country has just reopened to British tourists, although you must stay in a designated hotel for the first five days of your visit. However, that's not a big problem if you're on a beautiful private island resort, as not only are you staying in paradise but during this quarantine period you can use many of the facilities as usual. There are some terrific deals to be had too, with savings of up to 40 per cent. Read on for our pick of the Indian Ocean idylls for this winter. All include direct flights with British Airways, unless otherwise stated. Pictured: The island of Félicité (main), one of the pools at the Hilton Seychelles Labriz on Silhouette Island (inset left) and a peek inside one of the cottages on remote Denis Island (inset right).

Face masks, temperature checks, endless forms, Covid testing, 'approved' accommodation, travel corridors, quarantines... the world of travel is bewildering. Yet there is a silver lining: bargain-basement holiday prices. Deals abound, especially in the Caribbean, much of which is quarantine-free. Here are some of the best winter-sun deals...

Sunshine? Plenty. Average daily high temperatures are in the 20Cs throughout winter. Flight time? Four hours and 30 minutes - half the journey to Florida (and, anyway, you can't go there due to travel restrictions). Are we welcome? Yes! The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has just made the Canaries a 'travel corridor'. So there's a green light to go, quarantine-free both when you arrive on one of its islands and when you return. But which island is for you? Here's our guide to the Canaries...

They say size doesn't matter, but it's hard not to be impressed by these vast new overwater retreats in the Maldives - which UK holidaymakers can now visit via the freshly opened travel corridor. They aren't the biggest overwater villas in the world - that honour goes to the 18,300-square-foot Private Reserve at Gili Lankanfushi - but it's claimed that they are the biggest one and two-bedroomed overwater villas. They opened earlier this month at Soneva Fushi, on Kunfunadhoo Island Baa Atoll, with the one-bedroom villas covering 6,286 square feet and the two-bedroom retreats covering 9,224 square feet. Each one of the eight new retreats boasts a 62ft (19m) waterslide that plunges directly into the ocean, a retractable roof - which slides back above the master bed to reveal sunny skies or starlit nights - a private swimming pool and see-through glass flooring so guests can peer at the fish without having to move a muscle.

The harvest is now in and the fruity golden glow of cider is inextricably linked to the glorious season that is a British autumn. There's nothing more relaxing than walks in orchards and tastings on farms surrounded by the wonderful smell of fresh apples. And cider is no longer a rough and ready drink - consider it to be artisanal, small-batch and award-winning. Soil conditions and climates in counties such as Somerset, Devon and Gloucestershire are perfect for apple cultivation. Here we round-up the best cider farms in the UK to visit for tours and unique tasting experiences. Plus we've picked some great nearby cottages and B&Bs;, so you can make a rural break of it. Pictured clockwise from top left: Ilfracombe, Devon, where you'll find Mary's Cottage, a holiday cottage in a historic cider farm; cider-making monks at Ampleforth Abbey; Slad Valley, where Laurie Lee wrote his autobiographical account of a rural upbringing, Cider With Rosie; Lynton, which is home to Caffyns Farm, which serves Exmoor cider, and Woolton Farm near Canterbury (inset), where four generations of the Mount family have grown apples.

The Aerial Photography Awards invited photographers from around the world to submit their best photos - using drones, helicopters, kites, balloons, or airplanes - to win $10,000 ($7,663). And it's clear the entrants pulled out all the stops. The competition received thousands of entries from 65 participating countries, with 106 pictures commended in some way. The grand prize winner, though, was Belgium's Sebastien Nagy, who was declared Aerial Photographer of the Year 2020.

For those who like their hotels to be in locations that are on the windswept and remote side, this one, which sits on a craggy island off the coast of Sweden, could be just the ticket. It's called 'Pater Noster - A Home on the Horizon', with the first part of the name drawn from the 19th-century lighthouse on the site, and the second because there really isn't much in the way of landscape nearby. The location is the island of Hamneskar - 22 miles from Gothenburg on Sweden's west coast - and the property boasts nine rooms that can accommodate 18 guests. The site also boasts an outdoor sleeping area, a restaurant, a bar and an outdoor cafe.

It's hard to put a price on finding your 'happy place' in the middle of London, during a global pandemic, writes Ian Walker, after a stay at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park to see how the hotel is coping in the hospitality fight-back against Covid-19. The iconic hotel was one of the first London five-star hotels to reopen, on July 17, following lockdown, and since then new guest services and 'staycation' offerings have been introduced. The legendary service is as top-notch as ever, Ian finds, Heston Blumenthal's Dinner restaurant truly memorable and his Park suite fabulous.

The splendour of Britain's rural and urban landscapes have been captured in breathtaking fashion for the 13th time - by the shortlisted and winning entries to the 13th Landscape Photographer of the Year competition. Every time, without fail, the winning and shortlisted images by the nation's most talented amateur and professional photographers take the breath away. As before, prints of the top shots are presented in the lavish Landscape Photographer of the Year coffee-table book (AA Publishing).

The world's 20 most lusted-after honeymoon destinations have been revealed - and it's Bali that takes the No1 spot. To draw up the ranking researchers turned to Pinterest, which many couples use for wedding planning, and analysed tens of thousands of boards dedicated to honeymoons. They calculated the most wished-for places for a post-wedding getaway by noting which destinations had been 'pinned' to boards the most often. Unsurprisingly, many of the top countries are exotic destinations with picture-perfect beaches and endless sunshine.

MailOnline Travel's Ted Thornhill checks into Wiltshire's The Manor House hotel, which sits in the chocolate box village of Castle Combe - where War Horse and Stardust were filmed - and boasts a Michelin-star restaurant, the Bybrook. The hotel also runs a 12th-century pub in the village - The Castle Inn. Ted immerses himself in this idyllic haven and reports back.

When it comes to afternoon teas, the British are sticklers for convention. But not all the time, as we show here, with a mouthwatering selection of themed offerings including a Charlie & The Chocolate Factory Afternoon Tea at London's One Aldwych hotel (bottom left and inset) and a science tea at The Ampersand Hotel in South Kensington that includes jams served in Petri dishes, freeze-dried dessert toppings presented in test tubes and mousses shaped liked planets (top right). Top left is the Potion Room tea at Cutter & Squidge in London and bottom right is The Lanesborough's Peggy Porschen tea.

Paleontologists do not have the highest of profiles. But that could change with the release of Ammonite, the film starring Kate Winslet (inset with Saoirse Ronan) who plays Mary Anning, the prolific 19th-century fossil-collector and paleontologist whose gender and poverty prevented the full fame she deserved. Responsible for finding the first ichthyosaur skeleton - still on display in London's Natural History Museum - Anning scoured Lyme Regis's beaches with passion. Dorset remains a favourite among fossil hunters, but it's far from being the only coastline to scour. All you need is keen eyesight, plus, ideally, a chisel, hammer and goggles. A Thermos of tea usually helps, too. Here's our pick of the top spots, which include Charmouth beach near Lyme Regis (top left), the Isle of Wight (top right), the Isle of Skye (bottom left) and County Antrim (bottom right).

Grenada has hills, valleys, rain forests, waterfalls, an abundance of fauna, farmlands growing citrus, cocoa and an array of spices that justifies the country's 'spice island' moniker. The Daily Mail's Mark Palmer visited the Caribbean island and found that its people are 'infectiously joyful' and that its soul 'has not as yet been consumed by tourism'.

Edward Elgar, the English Civil War and the Wars of the Roses - all are connected to the River Severn in some way. As the Daily Mail's Michael Henderson reveals, you can brush up on your history while also enjoying the sights on a river cruise (inset), including Worcester Cathedral (top left), Upton upon Severn (top right), Tewkesbury Abbey (bottom right), and the Malvern Hills (bottom left).

They say less is more - and that's certainly the case with Andrés Gallardo Albajar's stunning new photography book, Urban Geometry. The book is brimming with stunning architectural images but as journalist Rachel Segal Hamilton says in the introduction, rather than present the buildings in their entirety, the photographer 'shows us less and therefore reveals more'. She continues: 'He hones in on precisely those details that make these structures so extraordinary.'

Andrew checked into The Idle Rocks hotel in St Mawes, which is owned by former world rally champion David Richards. The whitewash-and-slate waterfront hotel opened in 2013 and sits amid green rolling hills and secluded beaches. Highlights included one of the best hotel meals Andrew had ever had, courtesy of ex-Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons head chef Dorian Janmaat, who's now in charge in the kitchen, rooms so close to the sea you can practically touch the water and a nautical-theme interior.

It's known as Devil's Island, but as these pictures show it looks just heavenly - and it could all be yours for £2.5million. What you get for that big spend is an island 'perfectly positioned' in the middle of Norway's Sørfjorden (Osterøy) that comes with 23 acres of woods, meadows and pathways and 30 buildings - including a 'majestic' main house. Its formal name is Ulvsnes (also Ulvsnesøy), with the Devil's Island moniker originating in 1881, when it housed a school for 'misbehaving boys'. According to the listing agent, in folklore mothers would yell at their children 'if you're not a nice boy, I will have you shipped to the Devil's Island'.

If you're looking to stay somewhere truly spook-tacular, then look no further. This spine-chilling Scottish castle is available as a holiday rental - and it comes with a 'murder hole' and prison pit under a trapdoor. Law Castle in West Kilbride, North Ayrshire, is a 15th-century property that was originally constructed as a wedding present for Princess Mary, the eldest daughter of James II of Scotland.

If you want to saddle up for a cycling challenge then the Shropshire Hills could be the place. This spectacular part of the country is home to some gruelling climbs as well as lovely pubs and hotels. The Daily Mail's Steve Thomas suggests using Church Stretton (inset right), known as Little Switzerland', as a base. One of Britain's most iconic road climbs leads straight out of it 'like a tarmac serpent'.

Drivers of new cars know just how nerve-racking it is the first time they have to steer through a narrow entrance. So imagine what it must have been like for cruise line Captain Kim Tanner (inset) less than two weeks after picking up the £300million Spirit of Adventure when he was faced with sailing into a lock with only 20in to spare on each side (main and top right). The challenge came on the Saga ship's first voyage from its shipyard in Germany to dock at Tilbury, Essex, on Sunday.

The Duchess of Cambridge has announced the winner of the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPOTY) competition, run by the Natural History Museum. Her Royal Highness, who is patron of the museum, revealed during an online awards ceremony that Sergey Gorshkov has been declared the 2020 grand title winner for his 'magnificent' image of an Amur tigress hugging an ancient Manchurian fir tree in the Russian Far East. Amur, or Siberian, tigers are only found in this region and it took more than 11 months for the Russian photographer to capture the incredible scene with hidden cameras.