We arrive in the pouring rain at London’s Old Street Silicon Roundabout – the centre of the Tech Hub that’s meant to rival California with lots of spacey new buildings. The M by Montcalm Hotel is one of those, thrusting skywards, a few minutes’ walk away. There’s a cocktail bar on the ground floor and…
New York – autumnal cycling around New York’s iconic Central Park, USA
New York on wheels may put your head in a spin – from the traffic jams to the busy subway, commuting in the city is far from a relaxing journey. That was my mind-set before our latest visit to the Big Apple, when I discovered the two-wheeled kind was in fact not only a great…
Gatwick Airport plans make its second standby runway take off
Gatwick Airport is preparing a planning application to remodel its emergency runway so that it can be used on a regular basis. If granted, the alterations to the standby runway will be completed and fully operational by 2026. At the same time the airport’s north and south terminals will be extended and three new hotels…
Fascinating Fairs and Festivals in India You Should Not Miss
India is well known for its rich cultural diversity which is what attracts thousands of travellers every year to visit here. It’s also known for the many fairs and festivals in India. Compared to many European countries, it is a really vast region with each region having a distinct set of traditions, rituals, and festivals.…
Hotel booking sites ditch pressure selling and misleading discounts
Hotel booking sites have been notoriously adept at using marketing tactics that hint at scarcity or use misleading headline discounts to encourage bookings. But this practice has come to an end as the big six make formal commitments to change their ways. A government authority has stepped in after having “serious concerns”, to put a…
5 family days in SLO CAL – San Luis Obispo County
Roughly halfway between the booming technology hub of San Francisco and the showbiz cauldron of Los Angeles to the south, SLO CAL is fast carving out a name for itself as, not just a handy pit stop between the two cities, but a fascinating holiday destination in itself. Journeying around parts of San Luis Obispo…
Thomas Cook risks collapse as stock dives but there may still be wind beneath its wings
Thomas Cook travel company, has come a long way since its formation in England’s rural Leicestershire during the early Victorian era. The iconic brand started some 178 years ago as a fledgling company and became a huge global travel group, with annual sales of £9bn, 19 million customers a year and 22,000 staff operating in…
BA cancels flights on 27 September two weeks ahead of pilot strike
As the BA pilots’ strike looms the airline has taken the step of cancelling around 1,700 flights on 27 September. The strike is likely to affect tens of thousands of passengers. Passengers have begun to receive emails about the cancellation with offers of refunds or rebookings for trips around 27 September. Earlier in September almost…
Heathrow Airport: Climate change protesters to disrupt flights with drones UPDATE
Update 13 September: There are no disruptions at Heathrow Airport due to drones The climate change activists have experienced a “technical glitch” and claim their drones’ signals were jammed by authorities, preventing the aerial devices from taking flight. Update 4pm: Today at least five activists have been pre-emptively arrested in advance of tomorrow’s drone disruption. Robert Hallam,…
Hurtigruten: the first battery-powered ship crosses the Atlantic to the Pacific
Hurtigruten, the world’s largest expedition cruise company, made history this week by introducing the world’s first hybrid battery-powered cruise ship to cross the legendary Northwest Passage. When the expedition cruise ship, MS Roald Amundsen, arrived at Nome, Alaska, in the evening of September 10, captain Kai Albrigtsen made a monumental entry in the ship’s logbook:…