Travel News

Hadrian's Wall runs for 73 miles from Bowness-on-Solway in the west to Wallsend in the east. The Daily Mail's Tom Chessyhre hiked the length of the wall on a five-day adventure, where he described the going as good, the landscape as walker-friendly and the history as intoxicating. He wrote: 'An amble along the wall provides a rewarding glimpse into "Britannia" though you don't have to do it all in one go, of course. Dipping into a section offers a wonderful taste of ancient days gone by.'

The Inspector checked into The Bath Arms in Wiltshire, which underwent a transformation during lockdown, with its ivy facade stripped away. He describes it as a 'classically beautiful, 18th-century coaching inn surrounded by woods and Capability Brown parkland'. And adds: 'Just so we get the idyllic rural message, a hooting owl greets us on arrival.' Find out why he gives it a four out of five rating.

You've seen Toy Story on the big screen - now it can be an amazing holiday experience for both children and adults alike. That's because there's now an incredible Airbnb based on the Disney Pixar movies for those who fancy a post-lockdown trip to infinity and beyond. It's full of books and toys and pictures show that it has a Woody-themed bedroom and a dazzling living area with an Etch A Sketch-style TV.

These UK hotels and restaurants are definitely doing something right - and that's official. They are the hotels that have received new AA Red Star accolades and restaurant Rosette winners, establishments to target for post-lockdown treats. Red Stars are awarded to hotels offering the best customer experiences and highest levels of service and only restaurants with the highest-quality culinary offerings receive Rosettes. Pictured are some of the establishments honoured: London's 11 Cadogan Gardens hotel (top left), The Ritz Restaurant (top right), Shaun Rankin at Grantley Hall (bottom right), Albert and Michel Roux Jr at Inverlochy Castle (bottom left), and The Pig at Bridge Place in Canterbury (inset).

Remember, it really is a wonderful world. And these are the 50 most beautiful spots in it, according to a new ranking. Taking the top podium spot overall is Torres del Paine National Park in Chile, with the Faroe Islands hot on its heels. The bronze medal goes to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, with the Scottish Highlands and the Great Barrier Reef both making the top ten.

The contest, which aims to celebrate modern nature photography, attracted 19,000 entries from 38 countries. Submissions that impressed judges included an adorable snap of a mountain hare taken in Scotland (top left), an image of a column of king penguins on the island of South Georgia (top right), an atmospheric shot of two wild dogs in South Africa (bottom left) and a striking photo of a baby orangutan being prepared for surgery in Indonesia (bottom right).

Eve McGowan says Ringshall Grange in Suffolk is a top spot for a festive family break. She also recommends holiday homes in areas that include Gloucestershire, Suffolk, Lancashire and Cornwall. Although we all need to abide by the restrictions on travel and gatherings during the pandemic, it should still be possible to arrange a festive staycation for our nearest and dearest. To help, Eve has included prices that comply with the 'rule of six'.

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…

As well as London's Gherkin and the Eiffel Tower, the team gave the top-down treatment to the Sydney Opera House, the Statue of Liberty, the Colosseum and the Shwedagon Pagoda in Myanmar. To begin, the team captured satellite views of each location on Google Earth Pro. These, together with supporting imagery, were used as references in creating realistic views of the structures from above. Then, as a bonus, the team 'brought the photos to life', Harry Potter-style, using Adobe After Effects, combining different video footage to create animated images.

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.