Where the experts holiday: Patricia Schultz, author of 1,000 Places to see before you die

Patricia Schultz, author of the newly revised #1 New York Times bestseller 1000 Places to See Before You Die, talks travel

Santa Cruz secrets

Approximately 1, 65 miles south of San Francisco, lies the quintessential californian beach town of Santa Cruz. Come for the surfing but stay for the quirky shopping, sensational meals and mountains, says Santa Cruz resident Kayla Peterson

ABTA

From the website:

“Formed in 1950 by 22 leading travel companies, ABTA – The Travel Association – now represents over 5,000 travel agencies and more than 900 tour operations, throughout the British Isles. Our Members range from small, specialist tour operators and independent travel agencies through to publicly-listed companies and household names; from call centres to internet booking services to high street shops. All of them carry the ABTA logo, which means choice, value, and high levels of service. ”

Paul: An Instant Tourist Attraction for Middlesbrough

Some destinations toil for years building leisure parks, attractions or restoring crumbling piles so that they can attract visitors. Paul has proved there’s another way. Just pick the winners of the matches Germany has played in and then the final of the World Cup.
Paul is, of course, the octopus that has achieved his fifteen minutes of international fame by creating an astonishing record that gamblers would envy. As you will remember, Paul had two cubes each emblazoned with the flag of the playing country. He chose one- and the one he chose just happened to win. 8 times in a row. (Apparently a £10 bet would have given a return of £3,000 if you had rolled the winnings on). But Paul is now a bigger winner. At least for Sea Life in Oberhausen and Oberhausen itself.

Brits want to book holidays to escape 2012 events

A survey by ABTA has revealed that at least 12 percent of Brits are looking to escape on holiday, in order to avoid once in a lifetime events such as the London Olympics and Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Kew Gardens: Opening for Nothing

On New Years day, Kew Gardens opened its gates and waived its entrance fees. Why?To begin the year long celebrations for its 250th birthday. In 1759 it opened its gates for the first time and some of the trees planted about that time still survive. Apparently some 26,000 of us visited Kew on that day. [...]

One woman and her dog

After a year of hard work and few breaks, Poppy (my 10-month old Puppy) and I decided to have a week away between Christmas and new year. Unlike the Marloes holiday last June, we decided to do this just a few days before departure.