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.

Vanessa Collingridge has travelled the world from the frozen Antarctic to Tahiti. Here, the renowned geographer, explorer, author and presenter shares her experiences with CD Traveller and reveals why Scotland will always hold a special place in her heart

The last 12 months or so have not been kind to Thai tourism. Visitors have been deterred from going there because of the deeply held views of supporters of the government and the trenchant views of the opposition. Disruption has occurred in Bangkok and some other places and there have been outbreaks of violence. The British Foreign Office recommended that visitors stay away and as that can affect some insurance policies, some will have followed that advice. Although the stand-off still exists between government and opposition, things have been quieter. Throughout this year, very few tourists have been affected even where they fly in to Bangkok.

It’s Day 8 and its been a glorious day as far as the weather an scenery has been concerned. But before I get too over excited lets get you back to a few days ago.

Nice run up through the island via Campbell River were we stopped over for one night before travelling on via Telegraph Cove and then on to Port Hardy. The trip to Telegraph Cove is one of the tour highlights as we charter a boat and go out cruising the offshore islands searching for wildlife but sadly the whales were not around but we did have some great encounters with the Bald Eagles.

We’ve teamed up with Alastair Sawday to bring you Britain’s best boozers

CD Traveller has teamed up with Alastair Sawday to pick the pubs that offer not only flavoursome beer but fine – locally sourced –food, handsome accommodation and the warmest of welcomes. Is there a better way to while away an afternoon?

During my childhood, the age of the train altered dramatically. Being brought up near a huge rail junction called Pontypool Road in South Wales it seemed to me that steam typified travel. Just a few years later diesel took over and then Dr Beeching scythed whole railway lines out of existence. Within about fifteen years I had lived through different ages from where the train could take you nearly anywhere to a state where only major places seemed to be connected.
This year sees the 175th anniversary of the Great Western Railway, God’s wonderful railway as it was nicknamed so there are celebrations at Swindon as mentioned previously in CD-Traveller. Don’t forget though the National Railway Museum in York which chronicles all rail not only in our countries but some abroad as well

Three women, one dog, a geology hammer and a long weekend

At the end of May I turned 32. No biggie (well, a bigger number than I would am comfortable with!) but, in February, some friends and I thought it would be nice to get away for a few days. May is a good time to visit Glen Coe and, since the Open University Geological Society had organised a couple of days “geologizing” in Glen Coe, that’s where we headed.

What would your reaction be if you had planned a holiday somewhere but there was a chance of a strike disrupting your plans? Would you take no notice and still go? Would you immediately plan to holiday elsewhere? Would you still plan to go but check your travel insurance first and then decide?
Greece has decided that tourism is so valuable to its economy that it has announced that if disruption is caused by strikes or even a return of the volcanic ash problem, they will cover whatever extra costs a tourist might have to face. The tourism minister, Pavlos Ggeroulanos, said that they (the Greek Government presumably) would guarantee to pay for any extra accommodation costs in the event of a strike. At the same time he announced a new tourism campaign to persuade us to take our holidays this year.

While there is no denying Beirut’s many charms, there is more – so much more – to Lebanon than simply this city. To judge a country on its capital is the equivalent of saying that you’re intimately acquainted with the US because you’ve had a Big Mac.

Heading north, fill your days visiting the Jeita Grotto [...]