Cultural

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.

When diplomat and author Sir Harold Nicolson landed in Singapore in 1957 he was stunned. “It is about the greenest place I have ever seen”, he writes in his travel memoir Journey to Java. “It is like entering Dartmouth on a muggy August afternoon.” Aboard a cruise ship on a last hurrah to the era of cruise ship travel, Nicolson saw the island before it blossomed into the Singapore we know today. The transition from a little more than a fishing village to a futuristic first world country all happened within just 50 years.

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.

Looking for some where to go for the weekend? Have you thought of Kotor? This small hideaway off the coast of Montenegro is an up and coming area that was only on the conversation list.  With the influence of billionaires bucks the area is changing attracting a new crowed while keeping the old - It's history and scenery minus the crowds.  This is an amazing corner of the world that’s about to change forever – make the most of it while you can.

Once an intriguing stop-off for passing traffic, Singapore has now established itself as the new go-to holiday destination for savvy travellers with a taste for adventure. With a long and rich history tracing back 700 years, the relative size of this city-state compared to other Southeast Asian destinations means visitors have a chance to explore everything it has to offer in just one holiday.

Northern Ireland is always a great place to visit at any time of year, as well as gorgeous scenery, charming country pubs and lively cities, there's a warmth to the welcome that's unbeatable.  With Belfast and the Causeway Coast highlighted as its must visit locations. You can ticked off a few locations in one visit; you can be in the heart of Belfast city in the morning, grabbing brunch in a chic cafe, then standing atop a mountain in glorious solitude just a couple of hours later.

With its five-star villas, white beaches and temperatures higher even than the balmy Caribbean average, Barbados is a byword for the dream holiday.  Barbados might have more than 70 miles of stunning shoreline, but there is so much more to this island than sea and sand (though that’s not a bad place to start).  Browse the Lime grove boutiques, play golf on some of the finest championship courses in the Caribbean, see the island from a different angle on a jeep safari, wander the beautiful Flower Forest, or swim with turtles with Jammin’ Catamaran Cruises.

Athens is one of the world’s oldest cities, with a history that spans more than four millennia, so it should come as no surprise that there’s plenty to discover. Athens became the leading city of Ancient Greece in the first millennium BCE, and its cultural achievements during the 5^th century BCE laid the foundations of western civilisation.

We have put a list of 10 destination that you must visit in 2018. If you want you can start ticking off with list with a bang by visiting one of these destination to ring in the New Year, Budapest is our recommendation. There is a mixture of old and new names, you can even chose one for your winter break with a mix of skiing.

A visit to New York doesn't have to be a long one.  A weekend break to the Big Apple is feasible and good way of exploring it bite size chunks.  So, armed with your to-do list: perhaps with activities like to eat a pretzel in Central Park, wander the art-lined walls of the Metropolitan Museum, stroll wide-eyed along Broadway, catch a world-class show, shop the big brands of Fifth Avenue and the vintage boutiques of Williams-burg and go up a very high building.