Adventure

It’s no coincidence that multiple films – including the star wars Han Solo spin-off, have been filmed on the Canary Islands. The Atlantic archipelago’s incredible landscapes are thanks to their volcanic heritage, which are still making waves 60 million years after emerging from the depths of the ocean. In fact, to this day, the most exciting activities across these islands of fire – from lava hikes to black sand beaches and Europe’s highest vineyards – are all volcanically inspired.

Sliced bread. The electric guitar. Non-iron shirts. History is littered with examples of well established ideas that, at a stroke, were tweaked and elevated to a higher plane even when it didn’t seem necessary. The Californian road trip is already iconic. Its promise of louche adventure and itinerant escapism on vanishing point highways and winding coastal routes has long since been immortalised in popular culture and is as quintessentially American as the stars and stripes.

Over the last decade, Prague has become a real favourite of Brits abroad looking for a great night out, whether it’s in the pubs and bars of the Old Town – popular with tourists – or the winding streets and secret cafes of the Lucerne Passage. Beer is incredibly cheap and consumed pretty much around the clock, so make sure to line your stomach in one of the city’s many schnitzel restaurants!

Eye-poppingly beautiful, Florence – or Firenze as the Italians know it – is rich with unforgettable architecture and beautiful scenery. The city features historic works of art including Michelangelo’s David and the birth of Venus in the world – renowned Uffizi gallery. Perfect for couple, you can take a stroll through the stunning Boboli Gardens, enjoy a late-night walk along the Arno River and see the Golden Bridge before a romantic meal at one of the city’s many top restaurants.

To be bored of Italy is to be bored of bliss. Whether pouring that second glass of prosecco on the edge of a glistening Lake Como, sampling pistachio gelato outside the Colliseum or stealing another forkful of tomato laden fresh pasta in a Tuscan ristorante, there really is no destination more reliably decadent and delicious new world of Italian splendour still to be discovered. Discover the magical hidden villages just beyond the beaten track.  Pack a bag, grab your passport and start your next adventure with one of these gorgeous unspoilt hideaways.

Samoa has one of the South Pacific’s most beautiful and varied coast-lines, complemented by a lush mountainous interior. An ideal island getaway, visitors here can pick and choose between paddling round kiddie pool lagoons of vast breadth but knee-high depth, to catching the spray off gargantuan waves crashing into craggy sea cliffs. Or both, because more often than not such lazy lagoons and hard-pounded precipices are just a few minutes’ drive apart, and surrounded on all sided by waterfalls, swimming holes, cave pools, white sand beaches and rainforest trails.

If ever proof was needed that Spanish festivals are the craziest and biggest, Las Fallas in Valencia is it. The concept of setting the city alight for a four-day celebration seems insane, but the result is an amazing visual spectacle. Guy Fawkes has nothing on these Spaniards!
The festival of Las Fallas, which means ‘fire torch’ in Spanish, dates back to the 18th century and pays tribute to St Joseph – the patron saint of carpenters.

Experience Macedonia's Pristine Powder
Skiers looking for perfect powder, that fluffy, untouched stuff of dreams and snow that's all but guaranteed love Popova Sapka in northwest Macedonia, which one reviewer called "the Balkans' St Moritz".  Set at 1,700m up in the rounded peaks of the Dinaric Mountains, Popova is higher than most of its Eastern European competitors meaning good cover is pretty much a given from January to March (the town's simple, effective slogan is: 'We have snow').  No wonder, then that it's hosted both the European and Balkan Ski Championships along with the Sarplaninski Cup, which was launched at Popova in 1947.  Wide, open runs combined with plenty of incredible off-piste terrai and great value accommodation mean Popova is one of Eastern Europe's best kept ski destinations.

Tired of going to same place each and every Christmas?  Well we have found five destinations that you might like and enjoy. Whether you want to be in Europe, the States or down South, one of these will fit  your budget.  You can sleep in a hotel with a difference with the opportunity to see the Northern Lights or join an expedition down in Antarctica to learn more about penguin and do some Whale watching.

With the winter ski season coming, the craving for that soft white powdery piste is starting to kick in, and you might be thinking, where should I go? With so many options where can you go to get this year's fix  of adrenaline rush and the feeling of that fresh scripts wintery wind in your face as you ski down chosen run: blue, red or black. For this season we want you to set your sights beyond Val d’Isere, because we have a list of some weird and wonderful mountains from which to hurl yourself.