Stanley Spencer’s ‘village in heaven’: an arty weekend in Cookham, Berkshire

Niseko Village, otherwise known as the “Aspen of the East,” is elated to unveil Niseko-yo in time for the 2023-2024 winter season. Among Hokkaido’s pristine powdery paradise, Niseko-yo offers a blend of gastronomy, nightlife, and other exceptional experiences.

When a regular backpack isn’t enough and your travel suitcase is overkill, a weekend bag is the golden answer to this strange and too familiar predicament. The perfect weekend bag is versatile and adaptable to any type of trip. It fits as a carry-on but packs like a checked bag. You can wear it as a backpack or roll it like luggage. Whether you’re packing for a beach weekend getaway, or a visit with your family, we’ve compiled a list of the best weekend bags for your adventures.

When Margaritaville at Sea launched last year, the company offered short and inexpensive 2-night getaways. Now, the cruise line is expanding with 3-night sailings to take advantage of a long weekend.

Thanksgiving may come with a heaping side of travel headaches this year. In its annual travel forecast, the American Automobile Association (AAA) predicts that 55.4 million people—2.3 percent more than last year—will venture more than 50 miles from home this year. (The forecast tracks trends during the five-day period from the Wednesday before the holiday through the Sunday after.) To put this into perspective, it marks the third busiest year since the association started tracking data in 2000.

More than 55 million Americans are expected to travel over the Thanksgiving holiday this month, AAA projected Monday, with this year’s holiday weekend expected to be the busiest for air travel in nearly two decades as travel continues to rebound after the pandemic.

Ecuador’s Oyacachi has been recognised as one of the Best Tourism Villages of 2023, according to The World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). This global initiative sees Ecuador’s villages leading the way in the preservation of cultures and traditions, celebration of diversity, creation of opportunities and protection of wildlife, through tourism as a positive force for transformation, rural development and the well-being of communities. This award follows Ecuador’s success in 2022, where Aguarico and Angochagua received the same accolade.

In the 1790s, what had been the small fishing port of Hastings in East Sussex blossomed into a popular seaside resort and today it’s one of England’s favorite coastal towns. With its pebbly beach and black wooden fishing huts, the imposing castle on the cliffs and a charming cobblestoned old town, Hastings offers a mix of old-world allure and modern experiences and it’s a town of surprises. Hastings is the birthplace of television. TV’s inventor, John Logie Baird, conducted experiments in his lodgings on Queen Street, which resulted in the world’s first television in 1925. The shingle beach, the Stade, is home to Europe's largest fleet of beach-launched fishing boats with the freshest seafood on sale daily from small huts.

Candy coloured beach huts, coastal homes of red brick, timber and thatch, smart bakeries and shrieking gulls — you’ll find all of these clustered at end-of-the-road settlements along Suffolk’s coast. It’s a scenic stretch, where several long estuaries slink to the sea through marsh and reeds — havens for birds, otters and seals. But there’s plenty to sustain its human visitors, too, with the area’s sandy soils optimum for breeding pigs, and local meat and charcuterie highly prized. The shores are rich in seaweed, with sea purslane and rock samphire, both brine-loving herbs, used to make Fishers Gin, while, further out, under big skies, fishing boats haul in the bounty from the North Sea, whose cold waters are rich in native lobster, sea bass and skate.

In our A Total Trip series, writers document what they spent on a recent getaway. In this edition, writer Conall Molloy, shows us what he spent on a culturally-rich weekend in Florence.

While Southern California cities like Santa Monica and Malibu earn abundant acclaim for their scenic beaches, they’re far from the only destinations worth visiting across Los Angeles County. Long renowned for its close ties to the film industry, Culver City has developed into one of the region’s most charming municipalities, loaded with high-end restaurants and hotels for newcomers to explore. As you plan your next visit to the Golden State, be sure to save some room on the itinerary to explore Culver City, a historic settlement that improves with each passing year.

Maison Villeroy is a very distinctive hotel in Paris: intimate, private, luxe without being showy about it. Starting November 13th, its parent company The Collection, which operates ultra luxury properties in London, St. Barths, St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and Courchevel apart from Paris renting for weekly or monthly stays, is bringing that style to New York with the opening of Maison Hudson. This time, though, the property bordering the Hudson River in New York’s Far West Village is being fashioned for a minimum stay of 30 days only. Given the design, accoutrements, and services plus the vitality of the neighborhood surrounding it, anyone planning that length of stay in New York should definitely consider moving in.

When Samantha Brown accidentally rated a Delta Airlines representative poorly after a call, she panicked and wanted to rectify the situation. Her quick action led the airline to eventually throw a surprise party for the employee — where Brown was then able to meet the woman who assisted her on that fateful day.