All posts tagged: Holiday

Embroidered summer holiday scenes – in pictures | Culture

Embroidered summer holiday scenes – in pictures | Culture

The French artist La Filature, whose real name is Sandrine Torredemer, began embroidering at five years old with her grandmother and great-grandmother and hasn’t stopped since. “What was a passion has almost become a necessity,” she says. “It is a very good way to escape from the world a little.” Originally from Perpignan, near the Mediterranean coast, Torredemer is inspired by beaches, and interprets photos by combining old fabrics with embroidery to create intricate vacation scenes. “I have always loved summer,” she says. “Everything seems lighter and carefree, problems are put aside. There’s a whole little world organising its life around a parasol and a few colourful towels.” Source link

Typhoon Ampil approaches Tokyo, holiday traffic snarled

Typhoon Ampil approaches Tokyo, holiday traffic snarled

TOKYO: Typhoon Ampil bore down on Tokyo on Thursday (Aug 15), prompting airlines to cancel hundreds of flights and railways to suspend part of their operations in the peak summer travel season. The typhoon, categorised as “strong” by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), was about 690 km off Japan’s Pacific coast at 9am (8am, Singapore time), heading towards Tokyo and surrounding regions. The agency has two higher categories – “very strong” and “violent”. Ampil was blowing winds of 35m per second, with a maximum gust of 50m per second, according to the JMA. “With this typhoon approaching, we urge the public to be highly vigilant against storms, high waves and heavy rains,” a JMA official told a news conference. Japan Airlines said it planned to cancel 191 domestic and 26 international flights, many of them leaving or arriving at Tokyo’s Haneda airport, on Friday. Another major airline, ANA, announced it would cancel 280 domestic flights that were originally slated for Friday, affecting more than 60,000 passengers. Central Japan Railway said it would cancel all the …

Tell us: if you work in the UK holiday industry, how has business been so far in 2024? | Travel & leisure

Tell us: if you work in the UK holiday industry, how has business been so far in 2024? | Travel & leisure

We’re interested to hear from people working in the UK travel and leisure industry about what business has been like to date in 2024. If you work or own a business in UK tourism, tell us what bookings, cancellations and profits have been like this year, or if you’re a seasonal holiday worker in Britain tell us how busy things have been and whether you’ve been able to work as much as you’d like. Whether things have been positive or whether you have concerns about the UK holiday industry or your position in it, we’d like to hear about it. Share your experience Tell us how you’ve experienced this year’s holiday seasons in the UK if you work in the British tourism and leisure industry. Your responses, which can be anonymous, are secure as the form is encrypted and only the Guardian has access to your contributions. We will only use the data you provide us for the purpose of the feature and we will delete any personal data when we no longer require it …

Tell us: if you’ve booked a last minute summer holiday, share why and where you are going | Travel

Tell us: if you’ve booked a last minute summer holiday, share why and where you are going | Travel

As extreme weather may have contributed to the rise in late bookings reported by the holiday firm Jet2 this summer, with many Britons making arrangements for last minute getways, we’d like to know where people are going. If you have booked a last minute holiday this summer or are about to, tell us where you’re headed and why you’ve waited until now to book. Share your experience Tell us why you have waited until the last moment to book your summer holiday this year, where you are travelling to, and why. Your responses, which can be anonymous, are secure as the form is encrypted and only the Guardian has access to your contributions. We will only use the data you provide us for the purpose of the feature and we will delete any personal data when we no longer require it for this purpose. For true anonymity please use our SecureDrop service instead. Source link

Castles, spas and coastal gems: eight memorable Welsh holiday experiences | Holidays To Remember In Wales

Castles, spas and coastal gems: eight memorable Welsh holiday experiences | Holidays To Remember In Wales

Experience mountain bike paradiseWith its famously hilly terrain, dense forests and sweeping valleys, Wales is a mountain biker’s dream. From the rugged trails of Coed y Brenin in Eryri (Snowdonia), north Wales, to the forest tracks of Afan Forest Park in south Wales, there’s an epic adventure for every rider. For an adrenaline-fuelled biking experience try Antur Stiniog’s network of 14 trails, from beginner through to rocky, technical options. There’s also a handy uplift service, so you can enjoy the downhill thrill without the upward push. Meanwhile, BikePark Wales, near Merthyr Tydfil, boasts more than 40 purpose-built trails for novices and pros alike, complete with jumps, drops and technical sections. Most facilities offer high-quality bike hire, too. Be enchanted by PortmeirionDesigned by Welsh architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1973, Portmeirion is both wonderfully charming and entirely unexpected. An Italian-inspired village nestled on the coast of north Wales, its vibrant, pastel-coloured buildings, lush subtropical gardens, and scenic coastal views make it a photographer’s dream. Indulge your Wes Anderson fantasies as you explore quirky shops, …

Why is it so hard to book a holiday? | Life and style

Why is it so hard to book a holiday? | Life and style

Once again summer is here and I have forgotten to book a holiday. I don’t know how you lot do it, with your diaries and your dates, and your savings, and your organising the cat, and your knowing what you want, before you want it. It’s not that I don’t want it enough. I want it more than enough. My internal holiday clock begins ticking in the barren dead of winter, a fantasy of beaches and freshly caught fish, but as the clock continues, the rest of me remains static, frozen in indecision and lack of imagination. This, I realise now, must be when the rest of you are booking your time off work, scrolling your houses to rent near the sea, negotiating which group of your friends you can live with for a week without upturning the table of ancient relationships, negotiating which of your friends’ children you can live with for a week without… best not say. Good for you. Good for you. As I scrabble around now for somewhere to take my …

Beware WhatsApp and fake listings: how to avoid holiday fraud | Scams

Beware WhatsApp and fake listings: how to avoid holiday fraud | Scams

Can you imagine arriving in a small Greek village after a long flight and bus transfer, only to find out that the luxury villa you and your family were expecting to spend the next two weeks in – and spent £5,000 on – simply does not exist? The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. Some holidaymakers are poised to find themselves in exactly that position this summer, and many more holidays will be ruined as people realise they have been defrauded before they have left for the airport. Holiday scams have been estimated by Action Fraud to cost British tourists £15m a year, but the true figure is likely to be much higher. Guardian Money has put together a guide to make sure you don’t become the next victim. Booking As more of us now choose to put together our own holidays – organising the accommodation and flights separately – fraudsters are finding new opportunities to target victims. So successful have they been, …

Think twice before buying your holiday clothes from Zara | Business News

Think twice before buying your holiday clothes from Zara | Business News

If you’re heading to Spain this summer and might get some of your holiday clothes from Zara, you might be better off waiting until you’re over there. The Spanish company sells items much cheaper over there – whether it’s women’s, men’s or kids’ clothes. You can search prices in English on their Spanish website to get an idea of how much you’d save. We found big potential savings on just about every item we looked at – and the savings are even bigger than usual, with the pound reaching a two-year high against the euro on Wednesday. For example, this white mini dress with ruffled hem is €27.95 in Spain but £32.99 (or €38.74). Image: Pic: Zara A black dress described as “flowing voluminous” is €29.95 over there, but £35.99 (€42.27) in the UK. These men’s “balloon fit” jeans are €35.95 in Spain, but £45.99 (€54.01) in the UK. Money latest: This savings account could bag you a free £8,500 in five years Image: Pic: Zara A double-breasted blazer suit and trousers is €129.9 in …

Be a better tourist! 28 ways to have a fantastic holiday – without infuriating the locals | Travel

Be a better tourist! 28 ways to have a fantastic holiday – without infuriating the locals | Travel

Tourism is almost back to pre-pandemic levels – which is good news and bad news. However much holiday destinations rely on them, no one wants badly behaved tourists blocking views, partying wildly in the streets or pricing local people out of their own cities. Overtourism, carbon emissions, nature depletion and plastic pollution are all huge concerns. But that doesn’t mean you have to cancel your holiday. Here are 28 ways to be a better tourist this summer. Think experience first When planning a holiday, the first thing most people do is pick a destination. But Justin Francis, the co-founder and executive chair of Responsible Travel, says: “Ask not: ‘Where do I want to go?’ but ‘What do I need from this holiday?’ It might be excitement, relaxation, learning … Think back to your favourite trips – what made them enjoyable?” Anne de Jong, co-founder of the Good Tourism Institute, says: “What kind of traveller do you want to be? What sort of experiences are you looking for? You might think you want to go to …

How an eco-campsite in north Wales rescued our family holiday from disaster | Wales holidays

How an eco-campsite in north Wales rescued our family holiday from disaster | Wales holidays

Everyone has a good holiday disaster story, don’t they? Even experienced travel journalists. Ours was a twist on the classic passport fiasco, that saw us having to “exchange” a two-week trip to the sunny Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera for sitting on a compost toilet in Wales. Map for Llyn peninsula camping trip Like all good stories retold among friends, that is a bit of an exaggeration. But after “passport-gate” – once the blame and threats of divorce had subsided – Bert’s Kitchen Garden, an eco campsite on a five-hectare (12-acre) farm in the Welsh village of Trefor on the Llŷn peninsula, became a half-term life-saver for our family of four. The panic started just 24 hours before we were supposed to depart, with our six-year-old daughter remarking that she still “looked like a baby” on her passport. Yup, it was out of date, and this set off several stages of rapid-fire grief, which we had to cycle through before I could land on “acceptance” and start hatching an emergency plan to rescue half-term. …