Travel
Tuning up to Linz
You never know who you might meet on a river cruise. It was my 89-year-old father-in-law, Noel, who first recognised…
Gibraltar, the rock of ages past
How lazy, snobbish and wrong it is to mock Gibraltar for the lager and fish and chips clichés. Yes, you…
Bitten by the cold: the strange attraction of polar exploration
‘We had seen God in his splendours, heard the text that nature renders. We had reached the naked soul of…
Boys’ Own adventures in the war-torn Middle East
Ask most people whether they fancy a four-month, 5,000-mile trek across the Middle East and they might conclude you need…
There’s a reason Unst is called the island above all others
‘I’d like a copy of the Times,’ said the visitor from the south. ‘Yesterday’s or today’s?’ the shopkeeper asked. ‘Today’s,…
Jan Morris talks to herself — about music, irony and cats
To Jan Morris, I am anathema. That goes, too, for David Attenborough. It is a word that this unarguably great…
The unknown Auden: the poet’s dashing brother
A book that opens in a Lahore refugee camp, shifts to Cat Bells Fell, rising above the shores of Derwentwater,…
Climbing Everest with Brian Blessed is the nearest anyone will get to encountering the yeti
In 1969 the body of an ape-like creature, preserved in ice inside an insulated box, came to light in Minnesota.…
The Empty Quarter is a great refuge for lonely hearts
Here’s a treat for desert lovers. William Atkins, author of the widely admired book The Moor, has wisely exchanged the…
Are cruise liners the solution to the housing crisis?
Looking at the sketchbook of William Whitelock Lloyd, a soldier-artist who joined a P&O liner after surviving the Anglo-Zulu War,…
Dear Mary: I keep needing the loo during formal dinner parties – help!
Q. My wife and I have been invited to a small but formal dinner in the presence of some impressive…
The wild and wintry wonders of Lapland
As Sini harnessed up the huskies they were all yelping with excitement, but once we set off and the forest…
How pleasant to know Mr Lear
Edward Lear liked to tell the story of how he was once sitting in a railway carriage with two women…
Octopus beaks and snake soup
Driving across Japan’s Shikuko island, the food and travel writer Michael Booth pulls into a filling station to find, alongside…
The saddest, most romantic view in Britain
Is there a more forlornly romantic spot in Britain than the moors east of Inverness where the Jacobite dream died?…
Joan Collins: The celebrity trend I just can’t stand
Not only are today’s young girls having to work hard on their abs, butts and glutes, now the likes of…
The 90th birthday present that the Queen really wants
The Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations start this week with the real thing and barely stop until her official birthday in…
The heart of Los Angeles feels like somewhere else entirely
There’s a certain kind of Englishman who falls hard for Los Angeles. Men such as Graham Nash, who swapped the…
Dear Mary: How can I make a conversation-stopping gaffe go away?
Q. What should a host do when a guest says something so embarrassing in front of the assembled company that…
Would you like to buy an American’s vote?
Killing time in a Heathrow first-class lounge, I notice how many men adopt an unmistakable ‘first-class lounge’ persona. They stand…
Aftershocks and polo ponies in Christchurch, New Zealand
On my first night in Christchurch, I woke at 3.32 a.m. to what felt like an explosion. My bed was…
Flying from Donald Trump to the beautiful ruins of another empire
Just as the presidential race in America started to get really crazy, I left for India. On the morning of…
Courchevel – from pickled cockles to the height of luxury
The last time I stayed in Courchevel it was in a tatty roadside chalet a long way down the mountain.…
A silky, air-conditioned introduction to Bangkok
Last time I went to Thailand, there’d been something of a misunderstanding about accommodation, and my friend and I ended…
There may never be a better (or cheaper) time to visit South Africa
There are plenty of places to fly to for winter sun, but only one place that offers five-star hotels for…
