Flavours of Madeira: 5 dishes and drinks that define the Portuguese archipelago

Jet2.com and Jet2holidays announced they would launch their award-winning flights and holidays from Liverpool John Lennon Airport back in May this year, marking the latest stage in their continued growth and success story.

From Venice to Athens, Europe’s most popular destinations are buckling under the weight of unsustainable tourist numbers.

According to professional travel organisation, European Best Destinations, the Portuguese island of Madeira is the best place to see the annual New Year’s Eve fireworks display. The travel experts polled a panel of 11,963 travellers from 112 countries, mainly from the United Kingdom (22,42%) and the United States (18,91%) and found the top destination to count down the 2024 New Year is Madeira, followed by Marbella (Spain) with London ranking number three. Here are the top ten.

The marigold façade of the Pousada Convento in Tavira, a town on Portugal's southern coast, gleams in the late-afternoon sun. Refreshing as it is to sip chilled pineapple juice in the Algarve heat, it's not the promise of shade that leads me into its cloisters. The tranquil courtyard, flanked by cheery yellow walls and weathered colonnades, is a portal to the 16th century, when the structure was built for an order of Augustinian nuns.

With revenge travel - taking a trip that was cancelled during the pandemic - still prompting soaring visitor numbers, some popular destinations took steps to crack down on overtourism in 2023.

Situated around 20 miles from Spain on the tip of North Africa, where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Mediterranean Sea, Tangier has been a coveted naval prize for centuries. Phoenicia, the Roman Empire, various Islamic caliphates, Portugal, Spain, England and France all laid claim to this hilly port town. After World War II, the city was an international zone — administered by several countries — until Morocco achieved independence in 1956 and regained full control of it. It was this colorful heritage and these scenic surroundings that helped to entice a steady stream of writers, artists and eccentrics in the mid-20th century, the city’s bohemian heyday.

I’ll be ringing in the New Year in France this year… but I’m likely to be asleep well before midnight.

“Trust the grip,” my canyoning guide, Filipe Ferreira from Madeira Adventure Kingdom, tells me, more than once. Still, I step slowly. Rushing freshwater sluices past my extra-grippy boots and over smooth boulders, before plunging over a 40ft drop, which I’m expected to rappel down. I look back up the canyon in the direction we came from, but there’s no turning back.

Of the many conveniences that hotels offer, few are as welcome as the in-house breakfast. Whether you’re raring to go or still slumped over after that early morning wake-up, there’s no better reward for having made it out of bed at all than the sumptuous spread that awaits. Here, we’ve rounded up the most sublime hotel breakfasts our editors have enjoyed this year, comprising national dishes, pastry repasts, snow-day bread baskets, and so much more.

Spain now has the world’s most powerful passport, according to a new index.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is known for its vibrant, spirited events like Carnival — and beautiful beaches like Barra da Tijuca, Copacabana, Ipanema, and Leblon. Visitors can admire landmarks like the Christ the Redeemer Statue, visit Tijuca National Park, or check out the Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro — among other attractions. Here’s where to spend the night in this spirited city.

I recently put caviar on an extra-toasty Cheez-It, and I’m obsessed. I took my inspiration from Alexis Cervasio, proprietor at hip Boston market EBO & Co. and proponent of putting caviar on everything,