The Independent - Travel RSS Feed

Protesters lift Thai airports siege

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 08:44:32 GMT

Victorious anti-government protesters lifted their siege of Bangkok's two airports today while the ousted government's leaders met to decide on a caretaker prime minister to lead Thailand.

Around the world in 80 clicks

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:00:01 GMT

Sometimes, when things got particularly tough for George Bush during the last eight years, he found comfort by looking at his family ranch in Texas online. "I've forgot the name of the program," he told a CNBC interviewer, "but you get the satellite, and... I kinda like to look at the ranch. It reminds me of where I wanna be sometimes." The program is Google Earth, the virtual representation of the planet made out of a patchwork of satellite images and aerial photography which has become a must-have for any computer user since its launch in 2005. It allows anyone with a broadband connection to explore our world from above, with about 30 per cent of all land visible in such detail that you can see individual houses, trees and cars. However, over the last three years, most people have followed President Bush's lead and used it simply to look at their own homes.

Thomas Cook profits rise after capacity cuts

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:26:31 GMT

Thomas Cook today reported a 32 per cent hike in annual profits after the travel giant cut costs and capacity to cope with the consumer downturn.

BA in merger talks with Qantas

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:38:26 GMT

British Airways today revealed it was in talks over a potential merger with Australian rival Qantas.

Aer Lingus rejects new €738m offer from Ryanair

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:00:01 GMT

Ryanair made a €738m (£645m) cash offer for Irish rival Aer Lingus yesterday, just 18 months after its €1.5bn bid was rejected by the European Commission on competition grounds.

Ryanair plans new bid for Aer Lingus

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 08:42:09 GMT

Low-cost carrier Ryanair revived its takeover interest in Dublin-based airline Aer Lingus today.

Duty-free allowances double, thanks to Brown

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:00:01 GMT

From today, travellers returning to Britain from outside the European Union will be able to bring back double the amount of wine, electrical goods and souvenirs without paying tax.

Katy Holland: How to ease the pain of travelling with children

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:00:01 GMT

Oh, the joys of travelling with children. Why do we punish ourselves so? Juliet Merrick from London has written to me asking if I can recommend something to ease the pain of a 12-hour road trip to the Alps at New Year with two squabbling nearly-teens in tow. Yes, Juliet, it's simple: don't do it.

Tips and deals: 30/11/2008

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:00:01 GMT

The gear

New from firebox.com, the Wrap-up Tripod is a protective case featuring an integrated stand. Attach the die-cast aluminium tripod to your camera's screw-in socket for use on the move with the minimum of fuss. Price £19.95.

Belarus is missing a tourist trick with Chagall

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:00:01 GMT

The childhood or working homes of most painters of world renown are now well-established tourist honey pots. The massing of art-hungry visitors at Monet's Giverny came to mind as I wandered, alone, around the house of Marc Chagall. Despite his Francophone name, Chagall lived in a bungalow down a quiet cobbled lane, which is to be found in Vitebsk in the international tourism backwater of Belarus.

It's all go in the rainforests of Dominica

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:00:01 GMT

Would Tom Cruise choose to take a mud bath? His Hollywood hair and Rodeo Drive wardrobe couldn't cope with such squalor, right? Wrong. And Dave, a Dominican who divides his time between farming the land and taking visitors out into the private rainforest estate that surrounds his bright-yellow home, was eager to prove the point to me, leafing through a worn photo album to show me snaps of Cruise caked in thick mud.

Stay the night: Rose Walk, The Cotswolds

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:00:01 GMT

Something's stirring in the sleepy Cotswolds. At the end of the year, a campaign will be launched to make this area the Rural Capital of Culture. The idea is to draw attention to the array of cultural events that brings the area to life throughout the year (see cotswolds.com for the full calendar) and prove there's more to the Cotswolds than the olde-worlde charm of its villages.

Don't panic! We can go skiing and save the planet

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:00:01 GMT

'The world is going to end and no one's doing anything about it!" As a statement of fact, this is hard to argue against, particularly with an upset 13-year-old fed a daily diet of climate apocalypse.

City Slicker: Why Boston is best for shopping

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:00:01 GMT

Why visit?

Should you go Christmas shopping in America this winter? The pound doesn't offer the amazing value that it has for the past few years, and though sterling steadied after the Chancellor's pre-Budget report, the economic situation remains volatile.

Disaster? Megéve was a triumph

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:00:01 GMT

Let me count the ways in which this should have been a disaster. We'd chosen the last-but-one week of the season, a warm and sunny Easter holiday, in a region untouched by snow in the whole of the previous April. We'd booked horrendously early flights with easyJet. (Can saving a couple of hundred quid ever compensate for a 3.45am alarm call?) By the time we'd reached Megève via a minibus transfer from Geneva, midday felt like midnight, and there was a whole afternoon's skiing ahead.

Fantasy islands: Joanne Harris heads to Hawaii

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:00:01 GMT

When I was very young I had a book in French called Hina, la petite Hawaïenne. Lavishly illustrated with black-and-white photographs, it features a six-year-old Hawaiian girl and her everyday life on the island; shows her hiding in the jungle with a flower in her hair; shows her fishing; sailing; swimming with sea turtles; playing her ukelele; picking fruit; running for sheer joy along what looks like unbroken acres of gorgeous white sand. I still have my battered copy and ever since then I have dreamed of Hawaii, hoping one day to see Hina's island paradise in colour.

Family travel: 'We want a rural, festive weekend'

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:00:01 GMT

Q. Our extended family is unable to spend Christmas together, so we're hoping to get together for a weekend in the next few weeks. However, we're finding availability difficult for 12 of us. Since we will be travelling from various parts of the country, somewhere in the middle would be ideal, as would somewhere with facilities and/or activities for children and some scenic country walks. Any ideas? F Worth, via email

Something to declare: Thailand; Kuala Lumpur; city breaks in vision; maps and guides for less

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:00:01 GMT

Simon Calder: Air Passenger Duty is still in a hopeless mess

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:00:01 GMT

The runway to hell is paved with good intentions. Look, here is what the Treasury said only this week about flying: "The Government was minded that aviation duty, as a per plane duty, should apply irrespective of the passengers carried." At last: recognition that an aircraft with only half its seats occupied has almost as much impact as a full one. I have been banging on for a decade about the need for tax to reflect the damage caused by aviation, by applying Air Passenger Duty (APD) to every seat whether or not it is occupied. Airlines would be incentivised to fill their planes, and flights which regularly flew with lots of empty seats would be grounded.

Travel Agenda: St Andrew's Day celebrations; luxurious new East African lodgings; Art Basel hits Miami Beach

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:00:01 GMT

48 Hours In: Strasbourg

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:00:01 GMT

Pizza with more pizzazz: Puglia is a food-lover's paradise

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:00:01 GMT

The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to learn how to make a pizza – and that's why I came here. But as often happens when travelling, the world was taking me over. It was increasingly hard to stay focused on my task.

Five luxury barns

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:00:01 GMT

The Complete Guide To: Byzantium

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:00:01 GMT

Can you ski in Spain?

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:00:01 GMT

I was off on another ski trip. "Where are you going this time?", asked a friend. To Spain. "Spain! Why do you always ski in such peculiar places?"