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

Spotlight on San Francisco

Ahead of the Golden Gate Bridge’s 75th birthday on May 27, San Francisco has never looked more golden writes Kaye Holland. Read her guide to the city with its head in the clouds, here

HM Revenue and Customs

From the website:

“HMRC’s purpose is to make sure that the money is available to fund the UK’s public services. We also help families and individuals with targeted financial support”

Beijing for all budgets

One year on, Beijing is still buzzing from the Olympic Games; indeed it’s estimated that 85.4 million tourists visited the Chinese capital in the first half of this year alone – despite the downturn in the economic market and the outbreak of swine flu. CD Traveller spoke to Sarah Keenlyside – a former Time Out Beijing journalist and founder of Bespoke Beijing, a Beijing based travel service offering travellers up to date insider information about Beijing’s best sights and bites – to get the lowdown on what to see and do in one of the 21st century’s most exciting destinations

Ryanair to raise its bag fees in 2012

Passengers planning to fly with budget airline Ryanair in summer 2012 will need to travel light. Michael O’Leary’s no frills airline has revealed that it will be increasing its online baggage fees by 25 percent

Understanding Scottish Tourism

I confess I am perplexed.
Scotland has a strong image to attract tourists. It has history, a unique culture, heritage, scenery, a tremendous success in the Edinburgh Festival, empty roads for the most part in the highlands and yet the industry constantly seems in ferment. The National Trust for Scotland had had a difficult couple of years and I’m not sure members believe it any good at organising or running much at all. Visit Scotland has seen of its long term chief executive with a handsome payoff and some of its paymasters are grumbling about the results they have had back from their work. Small groups of individuals are banding together into their own promotion groups unhindered by the larger bodies and funded, more often than not, only by themselves. Now Deloittes have come up with a thought that Scotland has woefully under-calculated the value of tourism to the Scottish economy.

Amtrak: practical hints on riding the rails on the west coast

Adrian has some hints to help you enjoy your travels with Amtrak – arguably America’s best kept secret