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…

When I first went to Los Angeles many years ago it was a city of the car. Highways seemed crammed with cars ravelling slowly because the one in front was blocking it. That’s changed.

Adrian explores Belfast in a year when the city majors on its links with the ill-fated Titanic.

The signs are unmistakable. It’s wet, windy and dark at four o clock so it must be time to head abroad and bask in some winter sun. If the daily grind is getting you down and you need to recharge your batteries in a tropical paradise, may we suggest Barbados?

Wouldn’t it be the most romantic short break to go to where St Valentine lies? Then consider a short break in Roquemaure which is in the south east of France on the banks of the Rhone near Avignon.

Jane Egginton discovers a strong identity and villages of character in a hidden but much loved corner of France

Walk around the centre of Belfast and you will see banners hanging from lamp posts all promoting Belfast tourism. Called “Your Time Our Place,” the event’s host, Eamonn Holmes even tweeted afterwards that we should come and visit “our wee country.”

Lynn journeys to Livingstone and gets up close and personal with Namibia’s desert elephants

Frederic explores Kazakhstan, a country unknown to most of us but which offers an exciting destination of the future – particularly if you like the outdoors

Around the start of the year, Samoa hit worldwide headlines because they decided to lose a day. It certainly encouraged interest so what is there for the visitor?

That’s what South Africa suggests you do this winter. So why not visit Cape Town?

After a long absence, Anthony returns to look at what Boulogne offers the visitor

Ankara doesn’t come quickly to the mind when you consider city destinations. Istanbul, yes but Ankara? And then just to visit one suburb? But a day in Hamamonu will show you a very different side.

From early April to October, the Netherlands will be hosting an event that takes place only once every ten years. Floriade is a gardener’s paradise

From today, January 11th, the annual “Soldes d’Hiver” mania hits France. The British are used to the rush for sales on Boxing Day. We French have to wait a little bit longer.

Utah says that it is 5000 miles from the UK. And that its 5000% worth it. But not that many people from Britain or Ireland holiday there. Why should we?

Known as the city of tribes or the cultural heart of Ireland, Galway has more arts organisations based in the city than any other city of comparable size in the world and is the home of one of the most prestigious – the Galway Arts Festival which takes place each July.

Sawday’s has scoured the land for places to stay where dogs are not simply tolerated, they are quite literally ‘top dog’ in the attention stakes. Here they share four special places for canines – and their (human) companions – to stay

The Tourist Authority of Thailand has launched a marketing campaign called Beautiful Thailand to attract more visitors to the country. But the older promotion they used, Amazing Thailand, is more apt. Why?

This is the name of a book that new arrivals to this South Pacific country can get when they arrive. To most of us, Vanuatu may be just a name. Don’t think just of beaches. That wouldn’t fill a 167 page book!

In an area just over 150 square miles lie 400 wineries with a reputation for quality that has increased at a huge rate over the last forty years. Welcome to the Napa valley of California.

That’s the claim made by Puerto Rico, the Caribbean island that is part of the USA but not a state. And now it has decided that it wants more of us to visit it.

This was the name of a ten-part series that the chef/presenter and all-round espouser of all that is Cyprus, Tonia Buxton, had on television a little while ago. It is also the name that could be given to the current promotion being aimed at us by Cyprus.

It looks as though many more of us visited Sweden last year than the year before and mostly that is due to the impact of Stieg Larsson’s crime novels.

The CD-Traveller team share their top 2011 travel experiences and look at the top spots for 2012

Lyn gives us the low-down on inspirational Italian rehab clinic , San Patrignano