Montana: behind the scenes of our Best in Travel video

In addition to a reliable suitcase, most frequent travelers will tell you a trusty backpack is a must for any trip. But what makes the perfect travel backpack? It depends on the scenario, but most would agree that it’s a combination of the right size, an array of organizational pockets, comfortable shoulder straps, and a durable, ideally weather-resistant material. With all of these factors in mind, I’ve rounded up some of the best knapsacks out there right now. Whether it’s a carry-on size bag that’s suitable for a five-day trip or a packable daypack that you can carry at all times, here are the best travel backpacks to gift this holiday season.

Sometimes the best gifts for travelers are not about what they need, but what they want to help enhance their trips and experiences. One of the best ways to do that for the tech-savvy globetrotter is to get them the latest gadgets. Because while we may have purchased a great pair of headphones or a solid camera a year or two ago, an update is always much appreciated. And this year there have been some phenomenal enhancements to many beloved travel accessories. From compact power banks to the newest drone, here are 12 gadgets travelers won’t want to leave home without.

Few dishes link Britain so closely to its gastronomic past as the pork pie. Indeed it’s one of the rare everyday foodstuffs that would be instantly recognisable to our medieval forebears. Perfect for picnics but spectacular enough to form the centrepiece at a party — they were the Christmas Day breakfast of novelist DH Lawrence — a pork pie is a foodstuff for every occasion.

The drive along Italy's Amalfi Coast, preferably in a vintage Alfa Romeo Spider, is the stuff of travel legend.

There are places I feel compelled to visit once, and there are places that beckon multiple visits. As Mexico’s fourth largest city and a cradle of signficant cultural and culinary importance, Puebla falls squarely into the latter category. It took one trip in 2017 for me to fall hard for the historic center’s candy-colored buildings, Baroque-style churches, artisan crafts like Talavera pottery, and last but not least, the local food and drink.

In Bangor, Maine, a framed birth certificate of Paul Bunyan hangs in the city clerk’s office.

More than 55 million Americans are expected to travel for Thanksgiving this year, one of the busiest Turkey Day holiday periods in recent history.

Increasing the use of public transport and minimising car dependency are two significant ways to help Europe reach ambition climate and energy-saving targets. At the heart of achieving both is the continent's railways.

From a luxurious, multi-day adventure through Peru to a short hop across the border from Switzerland to Italy, ­­these rail routes all have one thing in common — towering mountain views.

You might think Magic Kingdom is the be-all and end-allof the Christmas season at Disney World, with highlights including Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, holiday parades, holiday fireworks, and snow raining down on Main Street USA.

Eighteen months ago, when the New York-based T writer at large Aatish Taseer began planning his reporting trips for this month’s three-part feature story — an exploration of religious travel in Bolivia, Mongolia and Iraq — he was already well acquainted with the idea of pilgrimage. His first book, the 2009 memoir “Stranger to History,” opens with what is arguably the world’s best-known faith-motivated journey, the hajj to Mecca, and ends with what he describes as a personal pilgrimage to meet his estranged father in Pakistan. In Delhi, India, where Taseer grew up, quick trips for the purpose of worship were commonplace. “People would do a pilgrimage on an ordinary Sunday,” he says, “instead of going to an amusement park.”

Tall people may quarrel with this, but there's nothing worse than flying while short.