Singapore: Where Explorers Meet in London
This year is an important year for Singapore as it commemorates its Bicentennial – the 200th anniversary of Sir Stamford Raffles’ landing in Singapore in 1819 – a key turning…
Travel Topics
This year is an important year for Singapore as it commemorates its Bicentennial – the 200th anniversary of Sir Stamford Raffles’ landing in Singapore in 1819 – a key turning…
On 14 May, the world-famous Blackpool Tower celebrated its 125th anniversary, having opened for business way back in 1894. This celebration will in turn draw attention to one of the…
Mark Bibby Jackson travels to Hampshire where he learns of cricketing tales of yore, seafaring adventures and discovers a most poignant reminder of man’s follies in the D-Day Story. Although…
Roger Hermiston and Eileen Wise spend a night in London taking in Covent Garden and the West End before dining at Simpson’s in the Strand. Despite living the life of…
Adam Jacot de Boinod visits northern Italy to discover the things to do in Verona on foot, unearthing a wonderful medieval city full of culture. I knew Verona was going…
During the days of the Onam Festival, the biggest and most spectacular festival of Kerala, the entire Indian state goes on a spree of celebrations, music and dance performances, elaborate…
Lynn Gail visits the Manggarai people on the Indonesian island of Flores, where an age-old Caci ritual of whip fighting symbolises new life. The horizon comes in and out of…
Summer holidays are all very well, but nothing guarantees a warm glow more than having an autumn escape in the diary. Tick India’s Golden Triangle off the bucket list on…
Staged in the historic hillside estate of Vittoriale degli italiani overlooking the shores of Lake Garda on the Gardone Riviera, The Festival del Vittoriale (20 June – 26 July…
Unleash your inner foodie and try Rabbie’s tasting menu of trips around the UK and Ireland. The tours showcase the craftsmanship and history behind many…
Hull’s flagship cultural event, Freedom Festival, celebrates one of the city’s most famous sons, anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce, and 2019…
Escape the hordes descending on the tourist hotspots and head to the secret gems of Umbria, Tuscany and Le Marche on this seven-night escorted tour, accompanied by a private art…
Continuing his Central America travel adventure, Mark Bibby Jackson ventures to Roatan Honduras for adventures with dolphins and reminders of banana republics before returning to the wild Pacific in El…
Are you watching the new five-part mini-series, ‘Chernobyl’ on Sky Atlantic/NowTV? The programme dramatises the 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant… …
Mark Bibby Jackson discovers a wealth of culture and history during his Central America travel through El Salvador and Honduras. Momentarily disregarding my middle-aged spread, I emerge from the turquoise…
From sampling the local cuisine to visiting the amazing Shwedagon Pagoda, Joe Ogden discovers there are many things to do in Yangon on a short break to Myanmar’s largest city…
Butterflies are set to emerge as the newest art installation at Staffordshire’s award-winning Trentham Gardens – creating a stunning visitor attraction …
Also called the Olympic Games of nomads, the spectacular Naadam Festival in Mongolia is the country’s biggest event and its national pride. Taking place every July, men and women compete…
The start of April saw Exeter and Cardiff celebrate new flights to Malta with Ryanair. The twice-weekly flights are expected to attract up to 85,000 customers a year to each…
In recent years, the twin towns of Kampot and Kep on the Gulf of Thailand in southeast Cambodia have emerged as tourist destinations. Famed for pepper and durian fruit, Kampot…
From the small Tuscan village where he was born (Vinci) to his masterpiece, ‘The Last Supper’ in Milan, this new tour retraces the life of perhaps the world’s greatest polymath…
Audley Travel has introduced a new sample itinerary for its tailor-made trips to South Carolina, designed to take advantage of BA’s new direct flight to Charleston…
Johan Smits takes a deep breath before plunging into the world’s most crowded city, Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka. I’m a fan of Sci-Fi films. And often it’s the atmospheric, non-tech parts…
Not just the recent opening of the new Bauhaus Museum puts Weimar firmly on the map as a stand-out art and design destination. A new permanent modernism exhibition at Neues…
For many an appreciation of the culture of the country or community that you visit on your holidays is a major part of the travelling experience, especially for the more mature traveller.
Whether you are taking a short city break to Amsterdam or Paris, or going on a longer trip to a distant and exciting land, your experience is enriched by an appreciation of the local culture.
Ideally, time your trip to coincide with a major festival. At Travel Begins at 40 we have a whole section devoted to some of the most colourful and spectacular festivals from around the world. So whether it is the whirling dervishes of Konya, Nagaland’s Hornbill Festival, the Tsagaan Sar in Mongolia or Benin’s Voodoo Festival that tickles your cultural fancy, let us guide your way.
Visiting an unfamiliar country can lead to a bit of a cultural shock, but don’t let this put you off making that special journey. Often it is when we leave our comfort zone that we reap most rewards.
Not that we always have to travel that far to have a rich and rewarding cultural experience. Hull is the current city of culture in the UK, and a trip there can be a surprisingly rewarding experience. Enjoy it.