I’VE never been a fan of theme parks. Disney films were scarcely screened in my home - to the horror of school friends. And I dislike big crowds - especially when screeching children hyperventilating from excitement and too much sugar are involved.

STRETCHING out in my business class seat, glass in hand, I’m beginning to relax into the flight to New York when suddenly the unthinkable happens.

From Szczecin to Craiova and Osijek, budget airlines are flying to ever more obscure cities that make perfect weekend destinations

NORSE Atlantic has up to 15 per cent discount from November 15 to March 31, 2025. Book by November 3 with TREAT24 (flynorse.com).

HOW can you run out of bacon? If stocks are low, surely you send someone out to the nearest corner shop and buy some.

Not everyone fancies a vessel carrying thousands of passengers – so here are the best boutique sailings with perks galore and no more than 245 guests on board...

QUEEN VICTORIA is thought to have picked the future capital of Canada by sticking a pin in a map.

Charlotte Hawkins, TV presenter and former Strictly contestant

THERE seems to be a subscription for just about everything - from TV streaming to online beauty clubs, recipe clubs and discounts on make-up and vet fees. Then there’s loyalty membership for petrol stations, supermarkets et al.

THE Barnsdale, a hop and a skip from Rutland Water (the largest reservoir in England), opened two years ago as a sister hotel to the Signet Collection’s acclaimed Mitre on the Thames at Hampton Court and The Retreat at Elcot Park, near Newbury, in Berkshire.

THIS time of year, the idea of ­booking a break to the guaranteed warmth and golden beaches of the Caribbean begins to look ever more appealing.

EVEN for locals, London harbours surprise. I make my way to Putney Bridge to catch what I had always thought of as merely a convenient means of access for City commuters: Uber Boat by Thames Clippers. How wrong I am.

THINGS are looking up on the accommodation front in Henley-on-Thames. At one end of the High Street, The Relais Henley (formerly the Red Lion)has spruced itself up; at the other end, the Tavern Townhouse opened last week offering six impressive room-only options.

Booking a stay and paying for everything up front has never been more popular - but does it really offer value for money?

I’M GETTING hammered. No cocktails are involved; it’s an esoteric treatment at the spa involving light masonry equipment. ‘Congratulations on the award,’ I say between taps. ‘We’re very proud,’ says the therapist.

THEY may offer endless scores out of five - but how many stars do the big review sites themselves deserve?

From Namibia’s remote Skeleton Coast to Route 66 across America and Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way – it’s time to pack your bags and hit the road...

I’M IN jail but it’s highly enjoyable. The 18th century Old Gaol, built in the style of a mini-castle by the local architect Sir Gilbert Scott, is Buckingham’s landmark building.

THE joke goes that skiing is the only sport where you spend an arm and a leg to break an arm an a leg.

WIND whips loose cinders off the huge hump of this naked grey mountain gashed by ruddy-tinged gullies. I gaze in disbelief, reminding myself of a preposterous fact: this whole mountain is yet to celebrate its third birthday.

BARNSLEY House and The Pig are a perfect match. As it happens, Robin Hutson, the group’s founder (who is standing down as chairman at the end of the year) and his wife Judy, who overseas the interiors, had their eye on this magnificent 17th century house for at least 20 years, ever since Rosemary Verey and her family lived here, during which time Mrs Verey created a garden of outstanding beauty and became a gardening confidante of the then Prince Charles.

Bag a spot on the top deck – even at dawn – for glorious views to last a lifetime

Base yourself in this dramatic Spanish town for crowd-free autumn hikes and tapas galore

AFTER visiting the Amalfi Coast in 1953, John Steinbeck wrote: ‘Nearly always when you find a place as beautiful as Positano... your impulse is to conceal it.’

Harlan Coben, Thriller Writer

AVOIDING online holiday scams is getting trickier than ever. ‘Fraudsters are using increasingly sophisticated methods to target consumers,’ says Mark Tanzer, boss of the Association of British Travel Agents.

...as chosen by star names in food and drink – from Raymond Blanc to Prue Leith and Tom Parker Bowles

HEAVEN knows what was going through Edvard Munch’s mind when he painted The Scream. But my face contorts in similar agonised fashion when paying £9 for a small bottle of water in a suburb of Oslo.

Jeff Wayne, Composer and conductor

BELIEVE it or not ‘Don’t drop the monkey’ is not a ­euphemism, but rather the advice I received from my husband when a wild macaque hitched a ­shoulder ride during the Lopburi Monkey Festival in Thailand (an estimated 3,000 wild monkeys gather here ­annually to feast like kings on 4,000kg of food offerings).

It’s quieter, cheaper and still warm enough in parts of Europe and the Canary Islands to splash about – so here’s where to go for the perfect autumn break

This vibrant city makes for a spectacular autumn break — especially for foodies

OYSTER farm tour manager Renny Hall is clutching a 650g oyster shell, known as a jumbo, in Whitstable Oyster Company’s Grading Shed.

Kiki Dee, Singer

THERE was a time, not long ago, when this great, ­historic city, full of architectural delights, was in danger of attracting what snobs might call the wrong kind of tourist. Cheap beer and stag nights were tarnishing its image as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

THE Meltemi winds are raging as we climb the steep, labyrinthine paths of Chora to the tiny church on its peak.

SIR Richard Branson’s Virgin group has just opened its first London hotel - in the same brick building in Shoreditch, East London, that once housed The Mondrian and, before that, The Curtain. Neither survived.

The BBC show is a big hit – but it’s not just its contestants who have caught the eye. Here’s how to experience the standout locations

Matt Tebbutt, Saturday Kitchen presenter

Summer may be coming to an end – but there’s still plenty of fun-filled family UK events to enjoy next month

Maisie Summers-Newton, Paralympic swimmer

THE Crown & Anchor sits just off the green in the pretty little village of Ham, a short drive from Hungerford, amid the chalk hills of Wiltshire. Marlborough is not far to the west, Newbury to the east.

WE all have a cunning ‘travel tip’ or two up our sleeves.

COLOSSAL and confusing in equal measure, Istanbul is as captivating these days as it was under Emperor Constantine and in its subsequent Ottoman heyday.

Reeta Chakrabarti, Broadcaster

Wifi at 30,000ft is becoming increasingly common - but which airlines are best?

CATARINA on reception is doing her best - but she’s all alone and busy on the telephone explaining the rate to a potential guest while several actual guests (including me) are waiting to check in.

WHISPER it, but (with some exceptions, such as the cancellation of Easyjet flights to and from Portugal this week due to industrial action), travel this summer has been relatively trouble-free when compared to the mountains of missing luggage, IT meltdowns and queues snaking outside airports inflicted on travellers in recent years. Next year, however, is set to be a different story, with warnings of hold-ups lasting from dusk till dawn at border controls when a new ‘entry-exit system’ (EES) is introduced.

An outdoor pool revival is under way across the country - and these are the best spots to dive in

AMERICA’S sweetheart fell in love with England - and an Englishman, actor Joe Alwyn, with whom she has since split - eight years ago. Her enduring affection for Britain continues and, as she wraps up the UK leg of her worldwide Eras Tour, here’s where you can follow in her footsteps.