Rebecca Ann Hughes travel tips

The gloomy combination of long dark days, totting up Christmas overspending and returning to work means holidays to far-flung destinations are a distant dream for many at this time of year.

Irish airline Ryanair is suing a passenger for €15,000 after unruly behaviour onboard one of its flights.

The rampant wildfires consuming vast swathes of Los Angeles have forced around 180,000 people to evacuate. 

Edinburgh is set to become the first city in Scotland to introduce a tourist tax after the Scottish government granted powers to local authorities to introduce visitor charges. 

In 2024, hiking continued to gain popularity as a travel activity from walking pilgrimage routes to trekking along hut-to-hut mountain trails. 

Despite the open borders of the Schengen Zone, driving around Europe can be a challenge thanks to the myriad national road rules to get your head around.

Venice has introduced a ban on alcohol consumption on New Year’s Eve as a safety measure.

Italy is peppered with villages from hilltop hamlets crowned by medieval castles to coastal resorts with fishing-boat-filled bays.

As of 1 January 2025, Romania and Bulgaria will officially become full-time members of the Schengen Area, which allows free movement between member states for 450 million citizens.

Starting today, tourists arriving in Spain will have to provide more personal data to authorities.

There has been growing discontent in European destinations around the proliferation of Airbnb properties and the disruption this brings to neighbourhoods. 

Overtourism has been plaguing European destinations since travel rebounded post-pandemic, exacerbated by low-cost flights and a surging cruise industry. 

Passengers on an Antarctic cruise have staged a hunger strike after the ship’s engine failed, forcing the expedition to be cut short. 

One of Europe’s busiest airports temporarily closed two of its runways on Tuesday as part of search efforts to find a missing dog. 

A volcano in Iceland has erupted for the seventh time since December, spewing red lava through a 3-kilometre fissure on the Reykjanes Peninsula.

Following the recent US election result, Google searches for ‘how to move to Europe’ increased by more than 1,000 per cent in some countries. 

This year has seen destinations from Venice to Amsterdam bring in rigorous new rules like daytripper taxes and Airbnb bans to tackle growing problems with overtourism.

Madeira has introduced a new fee for non-residents on some of its most popular hiking trails. 

Visitors to Italy’s summer hotspot Lake Como are spoilt for choice when it comes to souvenirs, but a can of local air probably isn’t top of their shopping list. 

As the days turn colder, many Europeans will be searching for winter sun destinations. 

The UK is soon set to introduce the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), which will apply to visitors from destinations including Europe, Australia, the US and Canada.