9 of the best free things to do in Munich

After winter made a couple of extra encores in Britain this year, summer has finally arrived. It's time to book some friends and pack your bags for a weekend of unbridled joy, with live music, dress-ups and fairground rides, plus performance poets, world food and pop-up hot-tubs – the UK’s music festivals are worth planning a holiday around. 

It’s all about the heat come July, with the northern hemisphere’s sizzling summer temperatures adding an extra shine to some of the world’s most popular travel destinations.

China has extended visa-free travel for 11 European countries and Malaysia until the end of 2025.

Hubby launches eSIM in the UK, On The Beach is its first UK partner.

Medallia’s and Kantar’s partnership with Virgin Atlantic has been awarded the “Best Use of Customer Insight” accolade.

Dog-friendly year-round but with an on-leads rule between 1 April and 31 August to protect ground-nesting birds, Holkham beach is a brilliant family destination. The walk down to the golden sand is enchanting – along boardwalks and through pine forest – and there’s a cafe serving homemade sandwiches and cakes. Lots of great local walks too. Stay pet-friendly Sueda Cottage, with its own walled garden, is a minute’s walk from the harbour and pub. From £89a night (sleeps 4, plus two dogs)

I often recall the deep cherry lip tint I wore on my first night in Paris. My dear Parisian friend complimented me, borrowed it, and planted a kiss on my cheek. Plenty of smiles came my way on the Métro, thanks to her lipstick stain on my face. On a cloudy day in Berlin, I applied a tinted suede shade of pink, kissed a cozy café’s free postcard, and sent it to my friend back home in NYC. In Manhattan's West Village, one friendly (and perhaps tipsy) stranger asked if she could borrow my NARS Hot Kiss lipstick to use as her blush. She was visiting from Italy—it was her first night, and tragically, she had forgotten to pack her entire makeup bag.

Over 260 villages across 60+ countries have applied for the 2024 Best Tourism Villages by UN Tourism, setting a new record and underscoring tourism’s role in rural development.

Wild Canvas, one of the recent wave of pop-up campsites with a festival vibe, has a host of new additions for its fifth outing this summer. The campsite makes the most of its riverside setting on the Turvey House Estate near Bedford. It has a new wellness area, the Nest, with direct river access (BYO paddleboard!) plus a yoga yurt, a mobile sauna, a treatment tent for massages and free early-morning activities from meditation to boot camp.

It would be an understatement to say that there’s a lot more to do in Dublin than drink your weight in pints at Temple Bar — the city is rich with deep-rooted history and offers an incredible English literary scene that easily rivals any other big English-speaking city. The pint at the end of the day is really just a bonus.

The natural world is full of wonders, but is there anything more mesmerizing than swimming at night in a sea glowing with bioluminescence? Or spying on flickering fireflies in woodland as they dance through the air? 

I first arrived in Chiang Mai in May of 1992. I came to visit a high school buddy who had married a local – a professor at Chiang Mai University. They introduced me to the local cuisine, and to their friends and family members who took me under their collective wing.