Travel Agenda: Edinburgh Science Festival; LBC Travel Show; Turnberry Resort; Bloc Hotel; Six Senses resorts; Indian Ocean Drive

Today: The Edinburgh Science Festival gets underway. Highlights of the two-week event include "The Science of Fireworks", a talk about giant pandas, film screenings and a sleepover at Edinburgh Zoo (sciencefestival.co.uk).

This week: The LBC Travel Show, presented by Simon Calder of The Independent, is broadcast live from Les Deux Alpes, pictured, in France, at its new time of 7-9pm on Sunday (lbc.co.uk).

Meanwhile, on the west coast of Scotland, the Turnberry Resort is opening eight self-catering apartments in time for Easter with a vast playground and use of the hotel's facilities (landsofturnberry.co.uk).

In Birmingham, the Bloc Hotel opens on Monday, billing itself as the first in a chain of "boutique budget hotels" (blochotels.com).

And in the Maldives, Six Senses resorts launches the first of its year-long programme of "Slow Life" guest speakers, starting with explorer Tom Avery at Soneva Fushi (sixsenses.com/soneva-fushi) on Thursday.

In the diary: A new driving route has been launched on the west coast of Australia. The Indian Ocean Drive runs from Perth to Geraldton (indian-ocean-drive.com).