Travel & Culture

  • Even a pandemic can’t keep Ryanair from flying higher

    Even a pandemic can’t keep Ryanair from flying higher. Although profits may be down this week, the airline’s shares – and its chief executive’s optimism – are defying gravity

  • Six million may face holiday trauma if Spain and Greece join French restrictions

    Almost six million people could have their summer holidays ruined if Spain and Greece follow France onto the “amber plus” list, analysis shows. Labour said an estimated 5,857,558 people face the prospect of last-minute quarantine rules to protect against the spread of coronavirus after booking trips over the “summer of chaos”. Fully-vaccinated holidaymakers returning from amber list destinations no loner have to isolate for 10 days under the latest easing of restrictions on July 19.

  • Travellers complain of queues and ‘chaos’ at airports

    Airports and airlines are expecting their busiest weekend of the year.

  • Cornwall's tourist hotspots using large QR codes for conservation donations

    Cornwall’s beauty spots will start asking visitors for museum-style donations, as the county is braced for bumper numbers of tourists this summer. Cornwall Council will this week start putting up large QR codes on message boards at beaches and along rambling trails for people to scan with their smartphones. The codes will then open up donation pages for local organisations that look after the beauty spots or undertake conservation work across the county. The scheme is being introduced as Cornwal

  • Why the Marble Arch Mound is a slippery slope to nowhere

    Why the Marble Arch Mound is a slippery slope to nowhere. The artificial hill in central London seems a great idea, but it would be better to have done something that genuinely helped the environment

  • Come From Away, review: 9/11 musical given uplift by our current confusion and resilience

    Encapsulating the life-changing experience of townsfolk and 7,000 passengers (from 93 countries) when 38 planes were forced to land at Gander International Airport, Newfoundland, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, Come From Away was first seen on Broadway in 2017, arriving in London two years later. Since then, of course, the world has turned upside down all over again, not least when it comes to air travel. Ahead of the 20th anniversary of the attacks this September, the producers have boldly reo

  • The Life and Death of Alexander Litvinenko review – a heartfelt if flawed new opera

    The Life and Death of Alexander Litvinenko review – a heartfelt if flawed new opera . Grange Park Opera, West Horsley, SurreyFormer banker Anthony Bolton duly invests and borrows for his cleverly staged opera based on Marina Litvinenko’s account of her husband’s murder

  • Airports and airlines expect busiest weekend of the year as summer takes off

    Gatwick said flights to Spain and Greece are proving particularly popular with holidaymakers.

  • Holiday bingo: What to look out for on your travels today

    With school holidays starting and fully vaccinated British travellers off to enjoy quarantine-free travel to amber-listed countries, British airports look set for a busy few days. So if you’re looking for a way to while away those (now extended) hours at the airport, try your hand at our new game, air travel bingo, and see how many events you can cross off. Simply award yourself a point for every one of the following you spot – and let us know how you get on. Round 1 Amber-gamblers taking one la

  • Why Tebay is ‘the motorway service station from heaven’

    Why Tebay is ‘the motorway service station from heaven’. For 50 years, the Cumbrian services on the M6 – now featured in a TV documentary – has been a lifeline for local producers and farmers

  • UK holidaymakers booked for France could lose money if they do not go

    UK holidaymakers booked for France could lose money if they do not go. Some accommodation providers refuse to defer breaks despite Covid quarantine decision

  • Holidaymakers seeking budget beach break ‘should do homework’

    Post Office Travel Money found big differences in the cost of tourist staples at resorts across Europe.

  • Export bar placed on nativity painting valued at £460,000

    The artwork is by Baldassare Tommaso Peruzzi.

  • Tate Modern invites people to doodle on floor for new exhibit – but will remove rude graffiti

    Art gallery attendants are usually occupied by ensuring that a respectful silence is maintained and that no one strays too close to priceless masterpieces. But from Saturday, staff at the Tate Modern’s new exhibition inviting visitors to sketch on the gallery’s floor will be tasked with monitoring the drawings in case some who take part are tempted to daub the kind of rude graffiti normally seen on the back of lavatory doors. People of all ages will be welcome to doodle on the floor of the Londo

  • Fears Edinburgh could lose world heritage status over giant 'bin hubs'

    Edinburgh could become the next UK city to lose its world heritage status, councillors fear, after plans were unveiled to install giant “bin hubs” on its historic Georgian streets. Locals warned that the planned overhaul to rubbish collections in the city’s New Town would “desecrate” an area that is home to some of the finest neoclassical architecture in the world and inspired Edinburgh’s claim to title of 'the Athens of the north'. The major row broke out after the city council was accused of r

  • Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella gets new date in August after closing

    Cinderella at the Gillian Lynne Theatre will resume next month on Wednesday 18 August before the opening night will take place on Wednesday 25 August. It was written by Oscar-winning writer Emerald Fennell who is behind hit movie Promising Young Woman. Then the show’s opening night - set for Freedom Day when all restrictions were lifted on Monday July 19 - was also cancelled hours before the show was set to open.

  • An art gallery in a football stadium? OOF! Spurs kick off a new era

    It’s not balls

  • How the island that launched the Covid app is now on its knees due to pingdemic

    When the Isle of Wight became the first place to trial the NHS Test and Trace app, residents and businesses said that they were proud to be leading the fight against coronavirus. But now the island which pioneered the technology is being brought to its knees by it, with business owners warning that the so-called "pingdemic" could do more harm than the actual pandemic. Just as they head into their busiest time of year, the pubs, restaurants and attractions which rely on tourism to survive are hav

  • Trash talk: What can we do about our pandemic litter problem?

    The UK's litter nightmare has become even worse during the pandemic - here's what's being done, and how to join in.

  • Tell us your stories of first-time camping holidays

    Tell us your stories of first-time camping holidaysAs camping gear flies off the shelves in the UK this summer, we’d like to hear from new campers about their holidays Was your first time in a tent a dream or a disaster? Photograph: PeopleImages/Getty Images

  • Visiting Cornwall? Take a Covid test, holidaymakers told

    Holidaymakers visiting Cornwall have been told by tourism bosses to get a Covid test ahead of the summer dash. Tourist and council chiefs urged people to order a pack of lateral flow tests and ensure they are negative before they head to the county. With Covid cases rising to 40,000 a day and hundreds of thousands of people being pinged by the NHS app, Visit Cornwall warned that "the virus is still out there" and added: "We would suggest that you test yourself and your family before setting out

  • Heathrow airport set to introduce £5 passenger drop off charge

    Heathrow is set to introduce a £5 passenger drop-off fee for travellers arriving at the airport by car or taxi. The AOA said UK airports lost out on £2.6 billion of revenue between April and September 2020, and expects a similar loss across the whole of 2021.

  • Is Oscar Murillo the new Jean Dubuffet? Plus the real Dubuffet! – the week in art

    Is Oscar Murillo the new Jean Dubuffet? Plus the real Dubuffet! – the week in artMurillo shows work he commissioned by children in 30 countries, Alison Watts says it with flowers and time is ticking to catch the must-see Dubuffet – all in your weekly dispatch Turner prize-winner … Oscar Murillo. Photograph: Courtesy of the artist and David Zwirner

  • 12 of the best pubs with rooms under an hour from London

    Foodies, assemble! Travel expert Martin Dunford has your next staycay sorted

  • How to navigate this weekend’s holiday rush

    School’s out, and many families around the country will be packing their bags for what could be their first holiday abroad in many moons. This is also the first weekend that fully vaccinated British travellers have been exempt from quarantining when returning home from amber-list countries, meaning it’s likely to be a busy few days at Britain’s airports. Unfortunately, travelling abroad is no longer just about remembering your passport and a plastic bag for your toiletries. These days there is a

  • Grant Shapps urged to open up travel to more destinations

    Trade association Abta wants more locations added to the green list, and testing requirements eased.