Holiday & Travel

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.

Snowdonia is mountain biking mecca, so when you are here, unless you have a severe aversion to bikes, you should make the effort to give it a go. There are trails for all abilities from beginner to advanced and makes for an amazing day out. Set in the most beautiful forest just outside Dolgellau, there are 8 trails in total ranging from a simple forest road, a blue trail perfect for children and families and a series of 6 red and black trails to keep even the most experienced of riders going.

The site of the old look-out and flag signaling station at the top of Signal Hill which overlooks Victoria has significant potential to become one of Seychelles’ most popular and visited sites alongside such other natural and cultural heritage sites as the Mission Ruins or Copolia. It has two of the most essential elements which make for a successful visitor attraction: view impact and historical interest.

Stepping outside of the usual and experiencing something new to even the quirkiest soul is what traveling is all about.  From the odd to the eccentric, these can't- miss, curious attractions are celebrated for keeping Greater Palm Springs and the surrounding California desert region utterly unique.

If you've been thrilled by the drama of the Perseid meteor shower, head to one of these dark sky glamping sites from Campsites.co.uk for a short break spotting stars and distant galaxies. Remember to take a blanket to lie on, warm clothes and download a star gazing app to help you identify the incredible nighttime sights.

Lofoten Links, one of the world's most northerly courses, has announced that visitors will now have the opportunity to stay in one of the most uniquely positioned golf resorts on the planet as it launches a range of accommodation in the beautiful setting of the Lofoten Islands. Managed by Troon, the leader in upscale golf course management and development, Lofoten Links, in Norway, sits 95 miles north of the Arctic Circle at 68 degrees latitude and can provide every visitor an experience of a lifetime, whether golfing under the Midnight Sun and teeing off 24 hours a day during the summer months or enjoying the Northern Lights, visible from late August until April.

The sun might be shining (finally) but it's never too soon to book a ski holiday, especially with the wide selection of early-booking offers from Ski Safari available. Celebrating 20 years as specialists of tailor-made ski and snowboarding holidays across the world, Ski Safari can share its first-hand knowledge of numerous resorts, to make sure your time on the snow ticks all the boxes.  

OVER half (59 per cent) of Brits would now consider going on a nudist holiday, sunbathing in the buff or visiting a nudist beach, a survey reveals. As guests go nuts for the launch of nude restaurants in both Australia and the UK, and butt-naked dating on TV is now a thing, more than a third of British men (35 per cent) say they would consider sunbathing naked this year and 14 per cent would go on a nudist holiday, compared to 17 per cent and six per cent respectively for women.

From tasting chips covered with curd and gravy to running across ice-covered rivers for sport, Québec is full of the weird and wonderful and is truly a one-of-a-kind destination. The second most populated province in Canada and the only one with a predominantly French-speaking population, the province is full of unusal experiences, quirky food traditions and adventure attractions that can only be found in Québec…

Menai Holiday Cottages, a self-catering holiday cottage company based in North Wales, has sponsored the creation of a film and outdoor painting installation. Menai Holidays hopes that the installation will encourage visitors to the region to make a deeper connection with the region's dramatic landscapes and the incredible forces - natural and man-made - that have shaped them.  A preview of the film which accompanies the High and Low installation was released online this week.

Pet owners travelling with their animals to the Olympics should be vigilant to reduce the risk of mosquito-borne infections, according to MedicAnimal, the UK’s leading online pet healthcare retailer. Data from Holiday Lettings, a holiday accommodation booking site, showed that enquiries for pet-friendly accommodation rose 150% in a year, with more UK pet owners looking for ways to bring their pets along with them, both on domestic trips and abroad.