Best places to go in Sunderland, England
Penshaw Monument, arguably Sunderland’s best-known landmark, resembles a Greek temple. As you stand on Penshaw Hill you might quietly wish the weather was more like Greece’s.
Places to visit
City break in Stuttgart in winter
Travelling to Germany during Advent means being able to visit Christmas markets. Stuttgart, in Baden-Württemberg, has stalls at its centre and is a convenient base for exploring those in nearby cities, including Esslingen.
Top things to do in Alnwick, Northumberland
Beautifully landscaped, The Alnwick Garden was created by the Duchess of Northumberland. Highlights include a cascading fountain, a vast treehouse and the world’s largest orchard of Japanese Taihaku — flowering cherry trees. Typically, the cherry trees in Alnwick blossom in late-April or early-May.
Local tips on things to do in Riga
Spilve Airport, Riga’s old air hub, is one site that most people skip. It’s one of Riga’s hidden gems. The architecture from inside, the Soviet-era murals, is something different. You have to see it to believe it. The main mural shows Latvia people in traditional costumes along with Soviet flags.
Going naked at a sauna in Germany
Naïvely, I’d imagined that there’d probably be a nude sauna, for those who were into that sort of thing, plus an area where people continued to wear their swimming costumes. The part with people in swimwear would be where I'd spent my time. I’d searched but that bit didn’t exist.
10,000 performances of The Lion King in London
“People of all ages can see and enjoy The Lion King, but what you're going to experience as a kid is very different to what you're going to experience as an adult,” says Nick Greatrex, Senior Marketing Manager at The Walt Disney Company.
Interview with a Canadian lumberjack
“I come from a family of five generations of loggers,” says Darren before explaining that meant working in the bush, bringing logs to the sawmill and processing them. “I’m carrying on the legacy…in the form on promoting it for tourism, team building and allowing people who wouldn’t normally have the chance to get a taste of what it’s like to be a lumberjack and do it for a day with their friends.”
A city break in Marrakech, Morocco
The Medina is busy but is packed with character (and characters). Strolling through it is a way of getting a feel of the city’s soul and is well worth doing during a Marrakech city break.
Walking in Memphis, Tennessee
Dazzling morning sunlight silhouettes the larger-than-life-size statue at Elvis Presley Plaza. The bronze sculpture depicts the youthful King of Rock and Roll with slicked-back hair, gripping the neck of an acoustic guitar.
Things to do in South Shields
Every year thousands of runners are pleased when they arrive into South Shields on the Coast Road, which skirts the North Sea’s shoreline into town, to cross the finish line of the Great North Run. No half-marathon in the world attracts more participants.