Destinations

It’s the home of Rowntree and Terry’s; George Cadbury and Lewis Fry studied their trade there – no wonder York has a reputation as the spiritual capital of chocolate. So where better to go for a staycation with the sis? We’re the daughters of a cornershop owner, so we were reared on York’s finest: the likes of Aero, Kit Kat, Quality Streets and Yorkies. Bring it on, say we. That’s fighting talk, as we soon found out. Make no mistake,...

Thought the Maldives was all sun, sea and sand? Well it is - but there's also plenty more to it. A unique phenomenon, there's aspects of the Indian Ocean that many guide books, travel tales and Pinterest boards often miss out, from its official no-booze status to the icky truth about the soft, white sand. Having visited its beautiful shores, we've compiled just a few of its elements which might not be so obvious at first sight - so consider...

Cyclists will adore Serbia. Not only is the main cities open to cyclists on the road, but amenities for mountain bikers is on the up as the sport grows in popularity. There are marked cycle routes on most of Serbia's well known mountain areas like Kopaonik, Zlatibor and Stara Planina, along with cable lifts for transporting cycles. Meanwhile Western Serbia has 400 km of marked paths crossing breathtaking areas such as Tara National Park, which itself has 27 bike path...

It seemed like a good idea at the time, the 7am VCE – LGW flight. Other people I knew were doing it, and it was so cheap, what was the worst that could happen? Well I’ve come through the other side, perhaps to tell everyone: DON’T DO IT KIDS. To state the bleedin’ obvious, Venice it has no roads - no not even ones that the guide book don’t talk about, which is what I expected. So being a city...

It's famous for the Grand Canyon, but Arizona also houses over 100 wineries in the state. Such is the growing quality that it's becoming a new Sideways destination choice for lovers of fine wine. Arizona's romance with winemaking, sparked by Spanish missionaries in the 17th century, was rekindled in recent decades by a group of passionate vintners who've helped turn the acres of vineyards into three wine trails. With visitors able to explore them by road, horseback or even kayak,...

Thought you'd exhausted the Caribbean? Or simply tired of going on second-hand holidays? (No, Nicholas from the service desk, you don't need to tell us every restaurant/hotel you went to in Cuba and INSIST we follow suit.) In that case a new destination has opened up for winter 2015/6, where the beaches are untouched and the spectacular natural scenes aren't fighting for space with resorts - namely Puerto Rico. Oddly, Norwegian airlines are set to be the only carrier to fly direct from London to Puerto...

By Milena Mihova Photographs: Hristo Rusev A row of ghostly looking abandoned houses alongside a road covered in potholes serve as a welcome sign to the secluded Bulgarian village of Kostur. Situated close to the Turkish border, the place is almost equidistant from Sofia and Istanbul. “Everything here is designed to give you that middle of nowhere feeling. It is sad and lonely,” explains a bus driver from the near by town of Svilengrad whose job is to take rare visitors to the village. Kostur...

@BenGelblum Walk along the Kent coast where Thames estuary turns into North Sea, wind farms and shipping rising out of the dark blue expanse: you come across the ghosts of Victorian holidays. Abandoned coastal cafes and crumbling concrete lidos built into the sea where once thousands flocked to bathe. And as you walk along the clifftops from Broadstairs, Stone Bay, Joss Bay, Palm Bay, Walpole Bay to Margate, cheeky haven of half-remembered childhood holidays, you find a resort frozen in...