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Chill out and feel the buzz in the French Alps

HURTLING down a mountain, clinging to a bike for dear life, wasn’t quite how I pictured a luxury stay in the French Alps.Read

Jewel on the Omani coast

SITTING beneath the stars, all is calm. A full moon glows against the night sky and the rugged mountains stretch far into the distance.Read

WHAT strikes us most is the utter silence. Sitting on the sand, surrounded by nothing but barren desert, all we can hear is the bubbles fizzing quietly in the champagne that’s come courtesy of staff who carried it on foot from where we’ll be camping for the night.Read

Blyton country’s Devon on earth

AS a boy, reading Enid Blyton’s books was like stepping into another time and another place.Read

A perfect engagement in London

THERE can be few better places to spend a weekend in London than the Lanesborough.Read

Portugal good for all seasons

THERE is no better endorsement for a travel review than to immediately declare I was so happy with the Four Seasons Fairways Resort in Portugal we have already booked to return for a week next year with the rest of the family.Read

A taste of the good life

I BOUGHT an old house with my husband about a year ago. Read

Iceland is a country of real extremes

"IF I don’t come back, it’s probably best not to follow me," our guide says as, axe in hand, he cautiously navigates around the boulder of ice that blocks our route.Read

Beautiful Lanzarote sure to impress

BEFORE I jetted off to Lanzarote my image of the island was that it was a non-stop party place, up there with the likes of Tenerife and Magaluf.Read

Relaxation and romance

IN the distance, snow whitewashes the Pentland Hills and overhead, a seagull swoops narrowly by.Read

Surf’s worth the extra miles

WHO needs to travel the length of Britain for a beach holiday when they live on the North East coast?Read

Experience Hell in a tropical haven

I’VE been to a fair few music festivals over the years, and, while they all offer various distractions of a non-musical nature, I’m fairly confident that there’s only one festival in the world where you could feasibly pop out to swim with stingrays halfway through somebody’s set.Read

Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace Theatre

Take a super break to London

BATHROBES, Billy Elliot and a big, big breakfast: Barbara Hodgson samples a Superbreak to London.Read

Taking a trip to Montenegro

AFTER a few glasses of rather fine local red wine, I was drawn into a debate about which smart hotel on Montenegro’s sparkling Adriatic coast was the backdrop for James Bond and Casino Royale.Read

Prepared for loads of fun

THE first tip for holidays in Britain is to be prepared for every eventuality in terms of weather.Read

Magic island of the gods

DEEP in the Ionian Sea lies a jewel of an island unspoiled by mass tourism.Read

Hidden treasures of Emerald Isle

AS a holiday destination, it had a lot to live up to. Having spent an idyllic week in the Republic of Ireland a few years ago, it had been our intention to return to Galway, or perhaps explore another area in the south.Read

Dazzled by Dubai delights

FROM fine dining to shopping and world-class spas, there is plenty on offer for couples in the ever-changing city of Dubai, as Liz Lamb discovered . . .Read

Zorba rocks out in Cyprus

MOST places in Cyprus are special, but straying from the beaten track will almost certainly take you into an extra dimension of scenic beauty and solitude.Read