Let’s talk a little about China. Not that I’ve ever been there and this is the first year since 1975 I have not been outside the UK (actua...

A week ago, the health secretary, Matt Hancock, was pretty blunt about our hopes for pretty vacations. (With apologies to the Sex Pistols.) He said th...

A story last year on the satirical Arabic website Al-Hudood (apparently it’s bit like a cross between Private Eye and the Onion) ran under the h...

Venice’s affectionate nickname, La Serenissima, means ‘most serene’. From outside it usually looks like an enviably calm and tranqui...

It is not always easy to arrange but I do think it can be quite a rewarding plan to make sure that at least one book you read while on a trip abroad r...

Yes, it’s Greece again! Following on from my trip to the Peloponnese in February, this time it was a family trip to Corfu. (Or Cor-Phew, as I...

In October 1827, Europe witnessed the last major naval battle to be fought entirely by sailing ships. This was the Battle of Navarino in Greece, on th...

I have been fortunate enough to have visited Paris so many times. My first trip was in September 1976, the most recent this past September. The Eurost...

St Tropez is surely one of the most glamorous places on the French Riviera. A military stronghold and fairly ordinary fishing village until the begin...