How Berlin's techno scene came to define the post-wall city and earn UNESCO cultural heritage status — with a little help from Detroit

Of all the ways to explore southern Germany this summer, the most memorable is not by train, bus or hire car but by boat. Lake Constance, nearly 40 times bigger than Windermere and two hours south-west of Munich by public transport, is a wonderful water world ringed by harbour towns, and it makes an idyllic break from the Bavarian capital.

In 1961, future West German chancellor Willy Brandt declared: “The sky above the Ruhr must be blue once more.” His words were greeted with what sounded like applause but was actually his audience falling off their chairs. Because the Ruhrpott, or Ruhrgebiet, an agglomeration of industrial cities that includes Gelsenkirchen (where England will play their opening match of the European Championship this summer), Dortmund (which hosts group matches as well as a semi-final), Essen and Duisburg was a place where the chimneys of the coal, iron and steel industries poked up above the smog like candles on a giant grey birthday cake. You were more likely to slip in unicorn droppings than breathe clean air in the Ruhrpott.

It’s on about our fifth Kölsch that we begin to get the idea of Cologne’s constitution. We are sitting in Päffgen, one of the traditional brewhouses that produce the pale yellow beer unique to the German city. It comes in small straight glasses (it loses its fizz quickly apparently) and each time one is emptied, another one is delivered by a waiter swinging a kranz, or circular tray, which appears to defy gravity. The process of replacement goes on until you place a beer mat on top of your glass to signal that you’ve had enough.

It’s been a dazzling spectacle of the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, since Friday, May 11, across the night sky of the U.S., Canada and Europe, high-energy particles from the sun interacting with the earth's magnetic field to cause dazzling and mesmerizing geomagnetic storms.

Two online tour marketplaces say Dubai is far surpassing its pre-pandemic popularity. The city now ranks alongside Paris and Rome as a tourism hotspot.

Lübeck – Queen of the Hanseatic League – has a fading charm and vulnerability absent from the likes of Berlin, Munich and Hamburg … and most of Germany. I loved my trip there, wandering the cobbled streets, climbing every brick gothic church tower – generally alone! Thomas Mann wrote the unbearably sad novel Buddenbrooks there, then fled to the US from nazism in 1939. The Tin Drum author Günter Grass lived and worked in Lübeck in later life. Visit their former houses, now museums, the Grass-Haus and the Buddenbrook Haus. A singular German city, full of history and significance.Martin Charlesworth

Miral, the leading creator of immersive destinations and experiences in Abu Dhabi, announced record-breaking visitation numbers in 2023 across Yas Island and Saadiyat Island, witnessing an extraordinary surge in destination visits and setting a new benchmark. Revealed during Arabian Travel Market 2024, Yas Island recorded over 34 million visits, a rise of 38% compared to 2022, which recorded 24.9 million. Similarly, Saadiyat Island saw a 44% visitation growth compared to 2022.

Last year, Eric Schmidt made waves in the yachting community when news came out that he was the soon-to-be owner of the Alfa Nero, an 81-meter megayacht that belonged to a sanctioned Russian oligarch.

‘Do you ever get seasick?” Timm Schirmer, a 27-year-old DJ with a fabulous blond moustache, asks me shortly before we board the Techno Train. “When you’re dancing on the train it can feel like you’re at sea, because you can’t always see that you’re moving.” Worryingly, I have indeed spent many a past holiday retching on boats. But Timm’s question comes after I’ve paid €100 for a non-refundable ticket for what social media suggests is the most intense train ride in Europe. I knew it wouldn’t be plain sailing.

Are you planning some European travel this summer? Me too. Getting from A to B by train has never felt so exciting, with a thrilling mix of new routes, classic journeys, and under-the-radar options to choose from.

It was a 40-minute flight that airline insiders had been anticipating for seven years: the official launch of Lufthansa’s Allegris, the German flag carrier’s state-of-the-art cabin overhaul that was first announced in 2017 and finally confirmed last year.

Hyatt has struck a deal with Peloton to feature the fitness company’s bikes and rowing machines at 800 properties. Members of the hotel group’s loyalty program will earn points for Peloton workouts at participating hotels.