The 7 best places to witness the winter solstice in 2023

Many experiences in Chiang Mai are ideal for the budget traveler – grazing on street food, enjoying relaxing traditional Thai massages, sipping red iced tea, renting a scooter to buzz out to waterfalls and hot springs – but everyone knows that the best things in life are free. And Chiang Mai has experiences by the bucketload that cost absolutely nothing at all.

For fans of Christmas festivities, London has some of the best activities and events in the world. The iconic landmarks and streets are lit up with dazzling displays, there’s Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, traditional Christmas markets offering unique gifts and seasonal treats and ice skating at beautiful venues like historic Somerset House. Here are a few suggestions if you’re visiting London this month.

Be it hammering down heart-thumping blacks in the ice-blue shadow of Mont Blanc, ski-touring beneath glistening saw-chiseled peaks or tree skiing through picture-book forests, France sports an unrivaled variety of skiing – for all abilities, styles and budgets.

Hiking in Ireland means magnificent coastal cliffs, rewarding family-friendly walks and a variety of terrain and scenery that'll leave you in awe of the beautiful Emerald Isle.

As options for the traditional chalet ski break have dwindled and prices risen, venturing to Europe’s far corners and beyond for a ski break can reap rewards. Costs are often lower, while luxury accommodation can be similarly priced to budget options in mainstream European ski resorts. As well as being potentially cheaper, skiing in territory off the beaten track can offer a rich cultural experience, plus better flight routes, less crowded slopes, sunnier days and a friendlier welcome.

Cheltenham also known as Cheltenham Spa, is located on the edge of the Cotswolds, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, in Gloucestershire England.

Moving to a new country can be daunting, especially if you don’t speak the language.

When people think about beers in New York City, most people think of the buzzy craft breweries of Brooklyn and yes, they are excellent but one of the best places to drink in NYC is in lower Manhattan, where excellent beer bars are mere blocks from each other and you can enjoy yourself with a semi-relaxed NYC style of quiet that the East and West Village, The Bowery and Alphabet City neighborhoods afford. Here are some of my favorite places in drink in Lower Manhattan.

Visitors to Canada are equally as wowed by the wildlife and wilderness as they are by the cultural and culinary offerings in the cities that speckle the sprawling nation.

A small capital with a huge reputation, Dublin is a multicultural, artistic city brimming with incredible architecture, beautiful green spaces, and great opportunities for entertainment.

Long before she entered the tent as the elegantly erudite judge of The Great British Bake Off, Prue Leith was already enjoying a fascinating career: Born in Cape Town, South Africa, she studied at the Sorbonne in Paris before opening a Michelin-starred restaurant in London. Among her many, many roles in the decades since, she has written a dozen cookbooks and nearly as many novels, opened several culinary schools, and sat on the board of British Railways and Orient Express.

In Britain, the Sunday roast is sacrosanct. Gathering together around a beautifully cooked joint of meat, with lashings of gravy, vegetables and billowing Yorkshire puddings, is, for many, the weekend’s social highlight. And where better to do to this than the pub? Not only do you avoid the washing-up but, centuries after the French dubbed Brits les rosbifs, you get to enjoy the roast at its most modern. In recent decades, Britain’s best pub chefs have, by focusing on seasonal ingredients, rare-breed meats and painstaking preparations of roast potatoes or root vegetables, brought a fresh glamour to this Sunday afternoon ritual.