Is the cruise industry ready for the rise in solo travel?

TikTok may have helped make destinations like Lake Bled in Slovenia and overcrowded nightmare, but the video sharing site has also given us an off-beat alternative: destination dupes. These are places with a similar aesthetic and attractions to the honeypot spot but with fewer crowds.

The memories of my first encounter with the California desert are so clear and intense that sometimes I wonder if I invented them, but I don’t believe so. I was hitchhiking across the States — it was the 1970s — and I was a young Englishman ‘on the road’, having read too much Jack Kerouac. My lift dropped me at a gas station near Barstow, a city in the Mojave Desert, in the south of the state. The car was air-conditioned and as I got out, I was hit by a wall of heat as strange and thrilling as anything I’d ever experienced. 

Qantas debuted its new air safety video on Wednesday, and it hasn’t gone down well. The Australian flag carrier proudly posted a 10-minute version on social media that instantly sparked criticism. Aside from its length, comments have centered around distracting visuals and vague safety instructions. 

This is an as-told-to story based on a conversation with David Purcell, 78, a retired attorney. It has been edited for length and clarity. Purcell was among the dozens of people who signed up for a three-year cruise with Life at Sea — an around-the-world journey that was canceled two weeks before its departure. He and 77 other would-be passengers who have not received refunds are asking the US Attorney in Southern Florida to open a criminal fraud investigation into Miray Cruises, the parent company of Life at Sea.

Chasing after the northern lights usually means booking a trip to far-flung destinations like Iceland or the tip of Norway.

On an out-of-season trip to Zakynthos, a Greek island famed for intoxicated British teenagers that also happens to be beautiful, we stumbled upon Xigia Sulfur beach on the east coast. We were first greeted by the smell of rotten eggs, because of its sulphurous springs. Despite the smell, it’s brilliant: the glistening turquoise waters are framed by the towering cliffs, and the sulphur bubbles out of the seabed. A dip on this beach is said to be good for the skin and generally therapeutic. There are other little coves nearby, linked by paths.Lucas

The Seven Seas just got a bit more crowded: Nine new world cruises have recently set sail, joining Royal Caribbean's ongoing Ultimate World Cruise in a quest to travel around the world in 2024.

Bern has been rated the most liveable city in Europe again, according to one expert ranking.

When the Moroccan financier Aziz Nahas decided to buy and regenerate a farm outside Marrakesh about two decades ago, he underestimated how much would grow there. Now, the 10-acre plot produces organic vegetables and fruits as well as hosting an artist residency program and a ceramic studio, all under the name Sanctuary Slimane. In 2021, Nahas’s friend the French restaurateur Benjamin Pastor suggested they partner up to start a cafe and farm shop in the busy Marrakesh neighborhood of Gueliz. Last spring, they opened the coffee shop Blue Ribbon, with offerings including fresh salads served with halloumi or beets and almonds and a bánh mí sandwich on fresh sourdough. In the fall, they added a seating area next door and the Slimane Farm Shop, which sells vegetables and products like honey and dried herbs that are grown and produced on the farm. Up next: Farmers, a restaurant headed by Blue Ribbon’s chef and located in the same building. The 46-seat space, lined with colorful Popham tiles, is scheduled to open at the end of February.

Luxury cruise expert Mundy Cruising has launched an extraordinary programme, The Ultimate Luxury Cruise, which combines iconic destinations, amazing travel experiences and superlative accommodations to create a 105-day journey, departing Tokyo on 14th April 2025 and finishing in Dubrovnik on 26th July 2025. Customer research at the top end of the market by Mundy Cruising has revealed a range of travel trends and priorities for its discerning client base, including longer trips, slow travel, iconic experiences, bucket list destinations and a desire to return to gentler (and arguably Pre-Covid) times.

If your New Year’s resolution was to finally take the plunge and move abroad, this report might help you make the daunting choice of where to live.

The third Monday of January has become known as ‘Blue Monday’, the day of the year people are supposed to feel most depressed.