Holiday & Travel

Pine Cliffs, a Luxury Collection Resort, has revealed it has picked up a duo of accolades at the 2016 World Travel Awards Europe. At a glittering ceremony held on the island of Sardinia last night, the celebrated cliff-top retreat took the highly contested top spot as Europe's Leading Family Resort – building on its impressive list of industry honours, which include six previous World Travel Awards for Portugal's leading family resort.

The Monte-Carlo Beach Hotel is inspired by the glamour of the Roaring Twenties combined with the beauty of its location directly on the waters of the French Riviera. Contemporary design and styling meets the spirit of a bygone golden era at the elegant hotel.  Close to nature, Monte-Carlo Beach Hotel’s main focus is to reduce its environmental impact. All five of its restaurants - Elsa, The Deck, La Vigie, Cabanas and La Pizzeria use 100% organic fruits and vegetables.

Blue Air, the largest Romanian carrier that started operations earlier this year from Birmingham Airport, is adding another route to its network. The airline will start flights to Larnaca on the south coast of Cyprus from April 2017. Having only started in March 2016 with a twice-weekly service to Bucharest, on the success of this it then announced a second route to Cluj-Napoca, the capital and heart of Transylvania, commencing in December this year.

Chewton Glen has won the title of 'UK Holiday Hotel 2016' for the third time, in the prestigious Condé Nast Traveller Readers' Travel Awards, which was held last night in London's Ham Yard Hotel. Chewton Glen's sister property Cliveden House was also awarded 4th place in the same category, a tremendous achievement for both hotels.

In Japan, New Year's Eve is widely considered the most exciting festivity of the year. It is the time when families and friends gather for feasts with rigour and pay homage to the stunning shrines and temples, embracing a fresh outlook and optimism for the coming 12 months. While family celebrations are prevalent during this special period, there is also no better time to experience Japanese culture as a holidaymaker.

Secluded and private, Villa Pangi Gita lies beside the banks of the Pangi River in the traditional Balinese village of Pererenan, south-west Bali. Water is an important feature here, and its importance is reflected in the villa's name which translates to 'the singing river Pangi' - a reference to the small river that borders the property and enhances the ambience with its therapeutic melody.

Exclusive drone footage of Uluru, offering a never before seen perspective of the 600 million year old monolith has been released by Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia. These spectacular birds-eye views of Australia's spiritual heart were captured by the first drone to ever operate under permit inside Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.

With the end of summer fast approaching, Wendy Wu Tours welcomes the warm colours and vibrant landscapes that come with the change in season. The award-winning travel operator offers a range of unique itineraries that are perfect to explore in the autumn including the golden autumn leaves in Japan and the red-tinted trees of Zhangjiajie National Park in China.

Earlier in the summer, a range of independent seaside events in Northumberland joined together under the banner of the Festival of the Coast. The centrepiece of the 2016 Festival of the Coast is the prestigious North Sea Tall Ships Regatta coming to Blyth in south-east Northumberland during the August Bank Holiday weekend. With fun for all the family, this is a weekend not to be missed.

The city of Jaffna, while home to centuries worth of history and heritage, is also youthful in its stride into the future. As the foundation of Tamil tradition in Sri Lanka, a visit to the city exposes you to the colours and fervour of a culture that is vibrant and energetic. A casual walk through the quiet inroads has you treading the paths of the ancient kingdom of King Sankili, complete with palace ruins and royal bathing pools. Kovils painted in colours that span the spectrum of the rainbow can be found at every turn and the faithful gather at these sacred places for worship throughout the day.

Traveling is all about exploring new places, having a pleasurable stay and finding inspiration within new destinations. The way we travel today has changed. Mostly thanks to technology, but also because of changes in lifestyle. This year, millennials represent the fastest growing group of travelers, exploring the world with their smartphones and digitally connecting with new places.

Old and new, colour and chaos, sticky cities and lush mountain ranges – India is a bustling hot mess of wonderful that blazes a trail in travellers' memories long after they've returned home. Contiki, the world leader in authentic youth travel experiences, is returning to this colourful destination after 40 years with the introduction of a brand new Indian Itinerary.

Autumn's coming and the impending change in temperatures welcomes a new range of seasonal produce to the table, providing enticing flavours and comfort to avid food lovers. Laidback luxury boutique hotel Ett Hem houses one of the city's most secret and delightful small restaurants, showcasing seasonal Scandinavian delicacies.

This natural phenomenon will be seen to varying degrees across the southern half of South America but it is in Patagonia where the totality of the eclipse can be seen. The 15-day Highlights of Chile with the solar eclipse holiday starts in the capital, Santiago, before journeying south to the wilderness landscapes of Torres del Paine National Park where guests can enjoy rewarding hikes to the peaks, lakes and waterfalls of the UNESCO biosphere reserve.

Following the publication of this years A-Level results, gap year specialist tour operator, TruTravels, has released a set of expert travel tips to help students as they set off on their gap year travels. Consisting of ten pieces of expert advice for new travellers, including everything from learning about local customs before they travel, to planning their general direction of travel within a week of arrival, the list provides a useful starting point for any budding traveller.