Top 10 Valentine’s breaks

Boutique hotel experts Mr & Mrs Smith have sifted through the schmaltz to find Valentine’s packages that will really set hearts aflutter (and won’t involve soggy petals clogging the plughole). Here are 10 hot properties that offer something a little bit different…

A day in… Dundee

Dundee is transforming its waterfront, to draw visitors in. Adrian looks at what there is for the short break tripper

Real (French) Men Eat Quiche

The number of people who move to France and embrace the French way of life, the countryside or cities as well the people can be counted in hundreds of thousands. As we draw towards the end of France Week, here is news of just one, Kate Rodde.

Antipodean adventures for all ages

Last month CD Traveller reader, T Fleetwood, wrote in for some recommendations on what fifty somethings should see and do Down Under. Always aiming to please, we asked the experts –Tourism Australia and Tourism New Zealand –for a few ideas. Here’s what they had to say…

London Midland Train Deal

We’ve mentioned before the train deals available to those over 55. Many other deals are dependent on you being a senior, under 25, having a railcard or both. Here comes an offer from London Midland that provides a 50% discount for anyone regardless of age.
From 1st August to 5th September you can travel anywhere on the London Midland network which extends from London to Liverpool, from Hereford via Worcester to Birmingham and from Shrewsbury to Stratford-upon-Avon and Leamington Spa. That’s pretty much the whole of the West Midlands area, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Northants and Buckinghamshire.

In the light of the difficulty of finding the cheap air tickets as advertised, do these exist?

Plymouth Airport Closes

It is unusual for an airport to close. Expansion wishes by the management yes; controversy over greenhouse emissions yes; noise pollution, yes; angry nearby residents, yes. These are the sort of stories that tend to occur. But most stories are about the withdrawal by an airline from an airport. Even Sheffield Airport which had been under threat has been given an investment boost.

Our First Cruise – Shall we or Shan’t we?

This year, my husband and I took the plunge (almost literally!) and booked our first ever cruise. We had been talking about it for ages, when a mailing dropped through the door in May, offering a tour round the Arcadia and lunch for £20 a person. About 100 of us were shown all over the ship, during the 4 hours or so between one lot of passengers disembarking and the next lot boarding. We saw all the various grades of cabin, plus the public areas such as the theatre, library, swimming pools and bars, followed by a silver service lunch. The tour lasted about 3½ hours, and answered lots of our questions about the ship, and we were then given a voucher for additional on board spend if we eventually booked a cruise.