Angkor Wat Away from the Crowds
Marissa Carruthers takes a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see Angkor Wat temple away from the crowds and finds it both an exhilarating and disheartening experience. It’s an eerie sight; almost apocalyptic…
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Marissa Carruthers takes a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see Angkor Wat temple away from the crowds and finds it both an exhilarating and disheartening experience. It’s an eerie sight; almost apocalyptic…
The area around Hastings might be called 1066 Country, but as Mark Bibby Jackson discovers there is more to pique your historic interest than the Battle of Hastings and all…
On their two-and-a-half week New Mexico road trip Roger Hermiston and Eileen Wise discover a Land of Enchantment and a rich cultural heritage. You quickly understand why they call New…
Before the Coronavirus pandemic gripped the UK, Mark Bibby Jackson took the short trip to Suffolk to discover a plethora of things to do in Bury St Edmunds, from drinking…
Combining lush rainforests with clear, beautiful waters and an amazing history, Belize is the perfect destination for those looking for a remote getaway. As social distancing…
Back in the days when global travel was ‘normal’, on his Belize holidays James Clark delved deep into the jungle and ended up swimming with the sharks. Mayan ruins, tropical…
With a bag of fresh fruit from the nearby market in hand, we boarded the train for the 7:50am departure at Bangkok’s Thonburi railway station. The Bangkok to Kanchanaburi train…
Chile, the world’s longest country, is home to an abundance of ancient historical sites set in some of the world’s most dramatic scenery. From the oldest mummies ever discovered, found…
The longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, the Summer Solstice is a time when the days really get long and the nights are short. There is no better time of the year to celebrate…
As ultimate travel experiences go, a voyage to Egypt ranks right up there with the best, but as Mark Bibby Jackson writes, a Nile Cruise on the SS Sudan ship…
Mark Bibby Jackson visits the beautiful medieval city of Kortrijk in Flanders to discover a place rich in history, with a wonderful cuisine and excellent spa. One of the great…
During Uttarayan, one of India’s most eagerly awaited celebrations, the International Kite Festival in the state of Gujarat sees millions of kites…
In the second of this two-part series featuring his favourite Bangkok attractions, Johan Smits leads us off the tourist trail to five nostalgic gems. Bangkok Attractions: Scala Cinema Remember the…
A new exhibition at The British Museum Troy: Myth and Reality is the first major Troy exhibition in the UK. Irene Caswell reviews it. The Trojan War lasted for 10…
Mark Bibby Jackson pays a visit to Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, a stately home that is steeped in history associated with the country’s most famous son. I first visited Blenheim…
Billed as America’s oldest folklife festival and hailed as one of the country’s top celebrations, the Kutztown Folk Festival is a veritable journey back into time with plain, good old-fashioned…
Mark Bibby Jackson takes the ferry from Ibiza to Formentera to discover an otherworldliness to the small Balearic island on his Formentera Holidays. My trip to Formentera almost became cancelled…
Travel Begins at 40’s Johan Smits shares his love of the brilliant rickshaw art in Bangladesh with a series of colourful photos. To foreign visitors in Bangladesh, the ubiquitous and…
Machu Picchu and Cusco are rightly world famous, but how many other sites of ancient Peru can you visit? Many, says Mike East. Remnants of Peru’s ancient civilisation abound throughout…
Travel Begins at 40 spills the beans about five themed and truly off-the-beaten-track destinations in different parts of Asia. When travelling in Asia, you may feel it’s getting increasingly hard…
The magnificent Royal Barge Procession in Thailand, a very rare and grand event with much splendour, will take place again this December after a seven-year-long hiatus…
After visiting some Loire Valley Chateaux and the Apocalypse Tapestry, Mark Bibby Jackson continues his French cultural Odyssey to Fontevraud Abbey and Saumur. The Loire Valley isn’t solely about wine…
Mark Bibby Jackson travels to France to traipse around Loire Valley chateaux, sample the local wine and stand in amazement. There are moments in your life when you enter a…
After visiting Rotterdam, Mike East planned to spend just a few rushed hours in Maastricht; however, the city trapped him with unexpected charms. It was supposed to be a hop…
The older a civilisation, the richer its heritage. Whether you are in the UK, Europe the Far East or the Americas, an appreciation of the local culture will make your holiday the more rewarding.
Local festivals are a wonderful way of appreciating the rich culture that has been crafted over centuries and even millennia upon occasions. At Travel Begins at 40, we have a whole festival and events section so you can easily access information on festivals local to where you are visiting.
The UK is blessed with a long history that is demonstrated in the wonderful castles, cathedrals and ancestral homes dotted around the country. Many of these are maintained by organisations such as English Heritage and the National Trust and open to the public.
Europe has a similar rich tradition, and holidays in the continent can focus on the Grand Tour involving highlights of Roman, Greek and even Morish civilisations.
If all this sounds like a Eurocentric, culturally elitist approach, then fear not, we also have articles focusing on native culture from early civilisations that might have been missed out in some history books. Make your next journey a culturally rewarding one.