Travel

The long winding road that leads to Lainston House Hotel fills you with giddy anticipation from the first instance. Set in 63 acres of beautiful Hampshire parkland the hotel is housed in a 17th century country building that oozes grandeur. “I wish this was my house,” said Mrs TLE as we parked up, you and me both, I thought, as I tried to soak in the luscious green trees and hedges that swamp parts of the building, complementing the white and pink flowers that are...

NYC & Company announces Taylor Swift as New York City’s Global Welcome Ambassador  —Yearlong Global Tourism Collaboration to Use ‘Welcome To New York’ from Taylor Swift’s New Album 1989 to Celebrate New York City— By Neil Kook I very much like Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift has joined NYC & Company, New York City’s official marketing, tourism and partnership organisation, to announce her participation as New York City’s Global Welcome Ambassador for 2014–2015. As part of the collaboration with Taylor, NYC & Company...

THE TOP 10 HAUNTED SITES AROUND THE WORLD By Neil Kook Halloween may be over for most, but travellers need not give up the ghost. From presidential palaces in Colombia to film centers in the Philippines, the most normal places are not always as they seem.In honor of Halloween here are the top ten as selected by global real estate marketplace, Lamudi.   Lawang Sewu, Indonesia A landmark of Semarang, Central Java, Lawang Sewu (which translates as “Thousand Doors”) is a former...

By Ben Gelblum  Cannock Chase, a 78 kilometre square Area Of Outstanding Beauty in the heart of the Midlands, has been thrust into the headlines this autumn with a spate of ghost sightings. The ancient royal hunting ground has long had all manner of sinister supernatural sightings. Recently, the tabloids have been full of stories of an apparition Staffordshire locals call the “Black Eyed Child.” Families on woodland walks though the Birches Valley area of Cannock Chase have reported coming...

By Sky Holmes, Travel Editor  Plans to regenerate London’s Victoria district, including introducing more visible security and increasing green spaces, have been unveiled by the Victoria Business Improvement District (BID). Victoria BID, established in April 2010, most recently outlined proposals to raise £8m through a levy on local businesses to regenerate the district. The Victoria 2020 Business Plan will also focus on brokering local employment opportunities, as well as introducing more public art and cultural attractions. Victoria BID will ballot...

The Philippines: Jungle experiment By Sophie Turton   “Slow down!” The motorcycle bounces as we accelerate over aged cement, veined and grouchy. El Nido’s Roller-coaster road is not kind; it twists unexpectedly, careens round, juts out towards the archipelago and then pulls back into the land. Stones and broken glass, sunburnt cement downtrodden by thousands of vehicles and horses and people, all fly up like fire crackers and snap at our bare legs. It is ten in the morning and...

I've never been to Newmarket, but like most people I know I've lost quite a lot of money there, the town's racecourse getting the better of me on numerous occasions. Despite being well aware of how much Newmarket folk like their horses it wasn't until I arrived that I realised just how much they like them. In Newmarket it isn’t just a sport, nor just a tool for draining your bank balance on misguided punts, it’s almost a religion. But...

An African tourist in Africa: Cote d’Ivoire, Otherness and Ebola. By Audrey Sebatindira   There are few things better than being a tourist. It’s that sense of wonder that comes with seeing the ordinary from the perspective of an outsider; nothing is taken for granted. Everything is strange and new and therefore worth stopping in the middle of the street for, camera in hand, oblivious to locals who sidestep you in pursuit of lives that seem far too banal for...

Did your holiday romance stand the test of time? At 100 days since the start of summer, loveholidays.com reveals the secrets of the British holiday romance By Neil Kook     Results of a new survey by leading online travel agent loveholidays have revealed the true secrets of Briton’s holiday romances, but are we as naughty as we are often made out to be? Summertime, a time to let down your hair down and hit the beach with your friends,...