New routes to Guernsey, London light festival, and Réunion Island: Travel agenda

Where to go and what to know

Lumiere London

Light up

The capital welcomes its first light festival next weekend. At certain times between 14 and 17 January, parts of Mayfair, Piccadilly, Regent Street, Trafalgar Square and King's Cross will be closed off to host Lumiere London. Exhibits will include glowing plastic bottles in Trafalgar Square's fountains, aimed at highlighting the damage done by rubbish dumped in the Pacific.

visitlondon.com

NZ via TX

Travellers to New Zealand have a new one-stop option: to fly via Houston. Air New Zealand now flies five times a week from Texas's largest city to Auckland. The 15-hour flight is a code-share with United Airlines, which has three flights a day from Heathrow to Houston. On a round-trip it could be combined with stopovers in San Francisco or Los Angeles.

airnz.co.uk

Castle rescue

A 15th-century castle, seven miles south-east of Glasgow, that was formerly ruined, is to open on 1 April as a luxury nine-bedroom hotel. Crossbasket Castle, overlooking the River Calder in High Blantyre, will be managed by the same firm as Andy Murray's Cromlix.

crossbasketcastle.com

Channel hop

Aurigny Airways is adding new routes to Guernsey this summer. The island's “flag carrier” will fly from Leeds/Bradford four times a week, and from Norwich on Saturdays. Both services begin in May and are operated by ATR42 turbo-props.

aurigny.com

Piton des Neiges

Island trek

World Expeditions has several adventurous new itineraries for 2016, including a Réunion Island Explorer. The six-day guided trip to the Indian Ocean island includes trekking in the collapsed caldera of Piton des Neiges volcano and the chance to spot wildlife including parrots and panthers. Departs May-September, from £1,490pp, excluding flights.

worldexpeditions.com

Border check

Passengers travelling from Denmark to Sweden now face identity checks. The new European Rail Timetable says these take place at Copenhagen's Kastrup airport, which has rail links with both the Danish capital and Malmo in Sweden. There will no longer be a direct service between the two cities.

europeanrailtimetable.eu

Lyft off

Transport from Los Angeles airport gets easier from this week. The ride-sharing app Lyft has gained permission to make pick-ups at LAX. Its rival, Uber, is expected to follow suit soon. Until now, both services could take travellers to the airport, but not collect them.

bit.ly/LaxLyft

Cruise news

The most extreme cruise ship repositioning voyages are made between Antarctica and the Arctic. Hurtigruten has expanded its range to include a 19-night cruise that connects Brazil with Morocco. From £2,586pp; departs March 2017.

hurtigruten.co.uk