Sea tips

I have travelled all over Spain for both work and fun in the past two decades, but the Catalan seaside town of Cadaqués had somehow failed to register on my radar. Last year, my husband was working in Catalonia and when he had a few days off between jobs, I proposed an impromptu tryst. The brief: somewhere by the sea.

I am looking for the gates to Hades, but have overshot the turn. Somewhere below is the cave from which Heracles dragged the fearsome three-headed dog Cerberus into daylight so bright its slobber formed yellow flowers of aconite. Instead, I find a beach of pale rock and water that's glass-calm to the horizon. Beneath its surface are hundreds of curled little fish with flanks of tarnished silver.

In the morning I wash my face with The Outset’s Gentle Micellar Antioxidant Cleanser and then I use the Firming Vegan Collagen Prep Serum and Nourishing Squalane Daily Moisturizer. My last step is our sunscreen coming out this month. It’s super hydrating so you get the protection and skin care benefits. At night I use the cleanser and Restorative Niacinamide Night Cream. I wish I knew about dermaplaning sooner. I do it with a Tweezerman Facial Razor and my skin feels so soft after.

Big news, cruise fans: There's a new port for you to visit when cruising to Alaska — at least, that's the hype from tourism officials.

Summer is for music festivals and the best way to celebrate tunes and sunshine is at a new resort in the Riviera Maya. Located along Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, Margaritaville Island Reserve Riviera Maya opened last June and is the place to be for an adults-only vacation with endless island vibes. The resort, inspired by the lyrics and lifestyle of singer, songwriter, and bestselling author Jimmy Buffett, is beautifully decorated with quotes, photos, and artwork. There are murals of colorful parrots around the property and cheerful and laid-back Buffett fans are fondly known as “parrot heads”.

It was the small and enigmatic Berlengas archipelago that drew us to Peniche harbour. Peniche, 60 miles north of Lisbon, is famous for its surfing beaches, but the islands off its coast often get overlooked. Every morning a couple of hardy passenger boats bounce over eight miles of waves from the peninsula of Peniche to Berlenga Grande. We took our seats on deck between sacks of onions and oranges and, flecked with sea-spray and followed by flocks of screaming gulls, we watched green hills emerge from blue waves ahead. At the port, the goods are unloaded with gulls wheeling and cawing overhead.

Denmark is a haven for cyclists of all abilities, with 11,000km of marked cycle routes to ride. From adventurous cycling on multi-day trips that take in the country’s most varied scenery, to day trips and wine tours, these are the country’s best bike routes for everyone, from hobbyists to expert-level athletes. To make it extra easy, accommodation options line the routes, including simple campsites and shelters, run by the Danish Nature Agency and offered for free or almost free, as well as B&Bs and hotels especially set up for cyclists, with bike rooms, e-bike charging stations and rooms made available for fixing your bike as you go. Aktiv Danmark has a list of bike-friendly accommodation and there is also a group of Danish Bike Hotels that have bike facilities. Bike rental is available in major cities and towns all over the country.

I hadn’t heard of Pesaro before my ex-flatmate sent me there in summer 2018. I was writing a book at the time, and Giulia reckoned the best place for me to do such work was in her grandad’s old flat, a modest unit in a block put up in 1946, during the short reign of Umberto II. It had lain empty since her nonno – Dottor Spinicci – died of liver failure, having failed to take his own medicine.

On a still summer morning on Washington State's Orcas Island, I rented a pair of tandem kayaks from a sleepy-eyed, flaxen-haired attendant barely out of her teens, who quickly returned to painting watercolors in the tall grass beside the weather-beaten sales kiosk. A gentle wind went shhh through tall hemlocks as my family paddled, two by two, to a rocky islet at the center of Mountain Lake, on the flank of Mount Constitution. There we clambered ashore, and the kids, Agnes and Rex, immediately began darting among the lodgepole pines, collecting sticks and pine cones to build fairy houses. Aside from the faint smell of a forest fire burning in the Cascades and a smudge of smoke on the eastern sky, it could have been a scene from my own childhood.

With the weather slowly starting to improve, it’s time to start planning camping trips in the UK. We’d love to hear about your favourite places to camp. Maybe it’s somewhere wild near the sea, or a campsite with the best facilities for a memorable family holiday. Tell us about your adventures under canvas and in glamping pods and yurts for the chance to win a holiday voucher.

I cycled into birdsong, into colour, the light glimmering against the white of the low stone walls. There was a spaciousness as I cycled, a lateral stretching of soundscape, big skies, birds fluting. I didn’t meet anyone else on the narrow lanes and had a sense of being completely alone on an island of 2,000 people. Is there anything happier than being on a bicycle early in the morning, heading to the sea?

Some of Spain’s most popular seaside cities and villages will soon be linked by a new train line.

If you want to go on an all-inclusive vacation at sea, you no longer need to book an ultra-luxury, ultra-expensive cruise line.

If you've been invited to a beach wedding, you're in for a treat. A cool sea breeze, romantic sunset, and ceremony on the sand—it's the perfect excuse to take a tropical vacation. But despite the picturesque setting, it can be difficult for wedding guests to know just what to wear to a destination wedding like this. Beach weddings present a number of obstacles when it comes to appropriate attire—you need shoes that can be worn on sand, and a dress that's lightweight enough to keep you cool and easy to pack without wrinkling or taking up too much real estate in your suitcase.

Once seen, never forgotten. Croatia’s fabulously beautiful coast and islands (1,246 to be precise) – with their rocky coves, iconic beaches, historic towns and gorgeous sunsets, all surrounded by some of the most breathtakingly blue waters imaginable – are places that stay in the mind, and they have a habit of luring you back.

Located on the southwest coast of Norway, Haugesund is a historic town recognized as one of the country’s premier cruise ports. As a cruise port, it appeals as a gateway to exploring Norway's coastal landscapes and rich Viking heritage.

Whether you’re hopping on a plane en route to a dreamy, faraway beach or road tripping for a closer-to-home sandy retreat, packing the right bag helps ensure you have just what you need to make your trip to the beach as easy and relaxing as possible. Of course, a solo traveler’s idea of the best beach bag can be quite different from someone on a family vacation who is in charge of carrying everything for everyone. We’ve got both of those needs covered, and everything in between.

Since 2022, when World's 50 Best first began ranking North America’s 50 Best Bars, New York City and Mexico City have vied for the top spot. Always the bridesmaid, CDMX's Handshake Speakeasy has earned second place for the last two years in a row (first trailing Attaboy, then Double Chicken Please—both beloved Lower East Side joints). This year, however, the Colonia Juarez cocktail bar takes first place at long last.

Italy’s best-known beaches are renowned worldwide, thanks to their dramatic seascapes, sparkling seas and settings that offer other-worldly sunrises and sunsets. Fame brings crowding and over-tourism, of course, and while it’s a challenge to find an empty beach almost anywhere in peak season (except boat-access-only coves), there are plenty of under-the-radar and less frenzied spots with ample helpings of natural beauty and historic attractions. These places have not lost their local rhythms and charms to a tidal wave of tourists, and are frequented by Italians who live in nearby towns.

Cinque Terre is one of the most iconic, picture-postcard images of Italy, with its pastel-colored houses perched on the north-west coastline of Italy on the hills above the Mediterranean sea.

It’s inevitable: Every spring when we pull together the Hot List, our annual collection of the world’s best new hotels, restaurants, and cruise ships, a staffer remarks that this latest iteration has got to be the best one ever. After a year’s worth of traveling the globe—to stay the night at a converted farmhouse in the middle of an olive grove outside Marrakech, or sail aboard a beloved cruise line’s inaugural Antarctic voyage—it’s easy to see why we get attached. But this year’s Hot List, our 28th edition, might really be the best one ever. It’s certainly our most diverse, featuring not only a hotel suite that was once Winston Churchill’s office, but also the world’s largest cruise ship and restaurants from Cape Town to Bali. We were surprised and inspired by this year’s honorees, and we know you will be too. These are the Hot List hotel winners for 2024.