This weeks best articles:
Editor's choice of this week's best travel articles
The 10 best family adventures 23/03/2008
Take it easy in Terminal 5 22/03/2008
Mallorca - it's just a step from heaven 24/03/2008
Fun on a shoestring 22/03/2008
Sun and spa but without the jet lag 23/03/2008
10 fabulous spring days out 23/03/2008
Go cocoa nuts in Brussels 24/03/2008
Rome: the perfect break 26/03/2008
Ski deals and heavy snow for Europe's resorts 26/03/2008
Can we recapture the romance of flying? 25/03/2008
Holidays for half the price 16/03/2008
Perfect Easter escapes 20/03/2008
Easter weekend brings bad weather 20/03/2008
Top 10 Greek islands 20/03/2008
EasyJet not to add fuel costs to tickets 20/03/2008
Skiing: pick of the late-season pistes 17/03/2008
Top 10 design hotels for under £100 17/03/2008
Continental holidays by rail 16/03/2008
The best hotels in Paris 18/03/2008
It's King Kong 19/03/2008
25 last-minute Easter breaks 12/03/2008
50 great things to do in the Caribbean 11/03/2008
UK hotels are the most expensive in Europe 12/03/2008
10 New York classics 10/03/2008
Seven of the best new cruise ideas 08/03/2008
How to be wild at heart 10/03/2008
Britain's 20 best summer music festivals 07/03/2008
Stockholm: permanent playtime with Pippi 10/03/2008
Paradise regained 09/03/2008
Like nothing else on earth 07/03/2008
Top 10 Easter ski breaks 29/02/2008
50 fabulous spring holidays 29/02/2008
Savvy Traveller: Easter holiday bargains 05/03/2008
The 15 best campsites in France 02/03/2008
20 fabulous French chateaux 29/02/2008
Six of the best northern Italian towns 01/03/2008
Skiing up an appetite 01/03/2008
Japan keeps its powder high and dry 03/03/2008
Havana feast in sultry Cuba 25/02/2008
48hrs in York 01/03/2008
10 top Easter weekends away 24/02/2008
Spa holidays: pampered, not pummelled 27/02/2008
The Complete Guide to Cuba 23/02/2008
Dubai... it's rather Posh 25/02/2008
Find yourself a villa thriller 25/02/2008
48hrs in Naples 23/02/2008
Oregon: the best of America 25/02/2008
Canada's scrummy lobster pot 25/02/2008
Spoiled rotten by my Tuscan Mamma 18/02/2008
A little horseplay in jaunty Jamaica 20/02/2008
Help! We need ideas for a family adventure 17/02/2008
High-speed to the Spanish coast 18/02/2008
Ryanair agrees to end ads for '1p flights' 18/02/2002
Brilliant days out? Not half! 18/02/2008
Confusion reigns over luggage rules 21/02/2008
An easy way to cruise around classical Greece 19/02/2008
Fine dining up the Eiffel Tower 16/02/2008
Career break: Walk this way 19/02/2008
20 top villas - with extras 17/02/2008
Globe troughing 16/02/2008
The best late season ski holidays 10/02/2008
Ryanair.com in weekend shut down 08/02/2008
Airline fares to soar as oil costs bite 09/02/2008
20 of the best new adventure holidays 10/02/2008
Semana Santa in Seville 04/02/2008
Blown away by the windy city... 13/02/2008
Top 10 London hotels 12/02/2008
Dubai tourists warned over tough drug stance 08/02/2008
Kenya: the paradise that faces disaster 08/02/2008
Top five budget hotels in Moscow 13/02/2008
25 summer holidays for under £500 03/02/2008
Cruising destinations for 2008 02/02/2008
North America 2008: Holiday booking guide 02/02/2008
La Palma: top banana for winter sunshine 03/02/2008
Madeira dull? Oh no it isn't 03/02/2008
Instant weekend... Verona > 03/02/2008
Insiders' Guide to Hong Kong 02/02/2008
Rio? Bravo! 04/02/2008
Yakutsk: Journey to the coldest city on earth 21/01/2008
Putting the cross into skiing 03/02/2008
50 ways to a cheaper holiday 25/01/2008
10 perfect Caribbean islands 27/01/2008
Miami Spice 28/01/2008
Chicago, Chicago 27/01/2008
Winter at the Grand Canyon 29/01/2008
Italy: an insider's holiday guide 28/01/2008
48hrs in Budapest 26/01/2008
Walking up a thirst in comely Croatia 28/01/2008
Portugal 2008: holiday planning guide 26/01/2008
Sleep in John Lennon's bed 27/01/2008
Insider's guide to Spain beyond the beaches 21/01/2008
10 top UK spa experiences 19/01/2008
A bite of the Big Apple 21/01/2008
A freight way to travel 20/01/2008
Six things you must do in Montreal 22/01/2008
Instant weekend in Tunis 20/01/2008
20 style destinations for 2008 20/01/2008
Switzerland's magic mountains 18/01/2008
10 steps to a stress-free summer 13/01/2008
Top 10 love nests for Valentine's Day 16/01/2008
The perfect Greek island 13/01/2008
Insider's Guide to Greece: Hellenic heaven 14/01/2008
South Africa, with kids in tow 13/01/2008
A cowboy's life in amazing Idaho 15/01/2008
48 Hours in Edinburgh 12/01/2008
Instant weekend: Lisbon 13/01/2008
Sark - the island that time forgot 15/01/2008
Why singles have never had it so good 15/01/2008
If ever there was an event that needed a light at the end of the tunnel, it’s Christmas - which is why so many people book a holiday straight afterwards. But they book it – foolishly – for miles away, in July.
So pick up the phone now and snag a little treat. With the fuss out of the way – and with many prices tumbling in the quietest travelling month enjoy your January escape.
CANAPES ON EXMOOR
What better way to tackle January head-on than a weekend of blustery walks, duvet-on-the-sofa snuggling and some stunning – and light – cookery. Week Cottage is a 17th-century hideaway for two on the edge of Exmoor, complete with toasty log-burner and a surfeit of rugs and blankets – one of more than 100 West Country bolt holes for couples available from Classic Cottages. After tramping on the moorland, head a few miles south to Ashwick House, where the award-garlanded chef Steve Cox creates wondrous, cheerfully dainty grub from the best of Somerset.
Week Cottage: three nights £197 (01326 555555, www.classic.co.uk). Ashwick House: mains from £14 (01398 323868, www.ashwickhouse.com)
THE ROAD TO WELLNESS
If the Lake District ever secedes from the United Kingdom, there’s little doubt that Lucy Nicholson will be the first president. A visionary foodie entrepreneur, she’s opened a clamorously successful Ambleside restaurant, plus a bar, delicatessen and catering company – and now her Kendal cookery school is up and running, offering informal, laid-back courses in precisely the kind of healthy grub you’ll be craving come the new year. Upcoming one-day courses to look out for include low-fat meals (Jan 4), fish dinners (Jan 6, 12, 26, Feb 3, 15, 23) and vegetarian cookery (Jan 13, 22, Feb 24). When school’s out, head to the Punch Bowl Inn in nearby Crosthwaite, a stylish restaurant with rooms.
Courses from £100 (015394 32288, www.lucycooks.co.uk). The Punch Bowl: weekend doubles from £145 until Feb 7, from £160 after; main courses from £11 (015395 68237, www.the-punchbowl.co.uk)
MONACHYLE OF THE GLEN
Monachyle Mhor is fêted as one of the few hotels in the Highlands that thinks interior design means slightly more than putting some tartan drapes over the stag’s head in the hall. This spacious farmhouse, in a stunning location on the banks of Loch Voil, has the bold, arty feel and relaxed, trendy staff you might expect in downtown Stockholm, not the heart of the Trossachs. Best of all, though, all that pristine chic doesn’t preclude bringing in your muddy boots – there’s plenty of snowy tramping or icy hikes around here. And once you’ve burnt a few calories, acclaimed head chef and owner Tom Lewis presides over a magnificent restaurant - including, post-festive self-deniers might be pleased to note, a wonderful vegetarian menu.
Dinner, bed and breakfast from £187 for a double room; B&B from £95, available midweek only; dinner £46pp (01877 384622, www.mhor.net)
THE ORIGINAL DIRTY WEEKEND
Wouldn’t it be nice to have some time to yourselves, without worrying about waking up Auntie Pat in the spare bedroom? Well, Brighton has reclaimed its crown as the nation’s sauciest city, thanks to such arrivals as Drakes hotel. This seafront swank-pad’s “super-king-size room” proudly presents the largest known bed in the city, a group shower, of all things, and a love hamper (don’t ask). For the final touch, catch some smoky jazz or steamy burlesque at the decadent new Hanbury Club nearby.
Doubles from £95; giant bed with love hamper, £290 (01273 696934, www.drakesofbrighton.com). Supper from £20 (01273 605789, www.thehanburyclub.com)
TAKING THE PULLMAN TO BATH
A treat for those nostalgic for a gentler age, but who can only spare a day from the modern world. The Orient-Express Pullman eases out of Victoria in time for brunch en route through the Wiltshire Downs to Bath. Once there, you can either take the guided Roman tours on offer or disappear shopping – better still, book a sneaky treatment at the city’s new Thermae day spa, close to the station. Puffed and preened, roll home through the gloaming, tucking into a fine dinner on the way.
Pullman: £310pp on January 16 (0845 077 2222, www.orient-express.com). Lunch and a body scrub at Thermae, £75 (0844 888 0844, www.thermaebathspa.com)
THE FRYING PAN OF SPAIN
Languid, elegant Seville is the most reliably balmy city in Europe, and on a January recharge trip there’s an excellent chance you’ll get enough warmth to spend all day outdoors – the perfect antidote to Christmas sofa-slouching. In addition to pavement cafes and orange-grove parks, you’ll need a roof terrace to soak up the sun, and the beautiful Casa del Maestro hotel in the Santa Catalina district has the perfect specimen. Sevillanos also know how to beat the winter blues – with more partying. Visit on January 5 and the surreal Wise Kings parade floats will celebrate the end of the holiday season.
Doubles from £67 (00 34 9545 00007, www.lacasadelmaestro.com). Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) flies to Seville from Stansted, Liverpool and Dublin, from £20
STROLL A WINTER GARDEN
One of Brown’s great Capabilities was creating gardens that still look stunning without leaves, blossoms or blooms – and Blenheim Palace park is perhaps the finest example of this knack. On a winter’s day, mist gathers on the lakes and streams, and the sculpted meadows turn either to crunchy carpets or, if you’re truly lucky, the best possible setting for a snowball fight. Nearby Woodstock is a crowded field for bolt-hole hotels, but the recently renovated Feathers hotel is an excellent post-Christmas option, as its bistro serves helpfully light meals and there’s a fine spa.
The Feathers: doubles from £165; bistro mains from £9.75; full body massage £50 (01993 812291, www.feathers.co.uk). Blenheim Palace park entry £3
COME TO THE CABARET
The all-new Bobin’o club is the high-kicking stiletto up the backside that the Parisian cabaret scene has needed for decades. A giant renovation has created a joint that isn’t living on past glories, but is thriving on offering excellent haute cuisine, a rare dose of service with a smile, and a 40-performer revue. At £80 for dinner and a show you’ll expect a treat - and you’ll get one. For a convenient stumble from the club, stay in St Germain – which means you can allow yourself a room at the lovely Hotel Duc de Saint-Simon.
Bobin’o: £80 dinner and show (00 33-1 43 27 24 24, www.bobino.fr). Hotel Duc de Saint-Simon: doubles from £158 (01 44 39 20 20, www.hotelducdesaint simon.com). Eurostar weekend returns (www.eurostar.com) from £42
THE SPA OF THE YEAR
Asked for her fave pampering treat, our luxury-travel expert, Susan d’Arcy, is crystal clear – “It would have to be the beautiful Barnsley House spa.” With the kind of spacious, airy look one associates with tropical resorts, this Cotswolds design hotel’s new relaxation centre is the place just to hang out and breathe deep, while the eastern-influenced treatments lean towards mental recuperation rather than physical perfection. If you can get away midweek in the new year, the hotel is offering spa days from £89, including lunch and full body massage, and an overnight spa break from £345 a couple, for bed, breakfast and a massage.
Doubles from £290, two-hour signature treatment £155 (01285 740000, www.barnsleyhouse.com)
BLOW AWAY THE COBWEBS
Few parts of Britain look their best in midwinter, but the Norfolk coast, all scudding clouds, swirling birdlife and wide, empty beaches, will be at its elemental finest just when you’re in greatest need of some brisk, breezy walking. The Peddars Way path captures the best of the coast, from Holme to Blakeney, and the clever new CoastHopper bus cuts out the need to retrace a single step. You’ll need a welcoming place to warm up – and the White Horse at Blakeney is ideal: a beautiful restaurant with rooms with a seafood slant; and here’s the kicker – midweek in January and February, all rooms are half-price.
White Horse: doubles from £100, £50 midweek; mains from £9.95 (01263 740574, www.blakeneywhitehorse.co.uk). Find the Peddars Way at www.nationaltrail.co.uk. The CoastHopper bus costs £5 for a day (www.norfolkgreen.co.uk)
Best budget ski resorts 01/12/2007
Snow for the whole ski season 02/12/2007
Christmas in Britain 02/12/2007
The Complete Guide To: Festive getaways 01/12/2007
Weird and wonderful New York 30/11/2007
Bangkok: stopover city 01/12/2007
A bargain guide to London 01/12/2007
48 Hours In: Las Palmas 01/12/2007
Say aloha to the stars! 03/12/2007
Naples - the perfect break 28/11/2007
Caribbean special: booking advice 24/11/2007
Hong Kong: stopover city 24/11/2007
Prepare for take-off in Dubai! 26/11/2007
Is Prague the new Prague? 25/11/2007
Naples: the perfect break 28/11/2007
20 great learning holidays 25/11/2007
Strasbourg's Christmas market 25/11/2007
Zermatt: Horn of plenty 24/11/2007
Scotland: simply the best 25/11/2007
A gastro river cruise in France 25/11/2007
Festive winter cities: With everything from cool bars and clubs to beautiful museums and galleries, these cities are sure to spice up your holiday season. 1. New York City 2. Las Vegas 3. Paris 4. Rome 5. Barcelona 6. Amsterdam 7. Prague 8. Hong Kong 9. Madrid 10. Berlin
Editor's choice of this week's best travel articles
50 best travel websites of 2007 22/11/2007
Escape the winter blues this Christmas 18/11/2007
48 Hours in Prague 17/11/2007
Top 10 hotels in Rome 22/11/2007
The West Indies for less 17/11/2007
Bonaire - The Caribbean's little known paradise 19/11/2007
Instant Weekend - Copenhagen 18/11/2007
Miami: stopover city 17/11/2007
Eurostar: small wonders are a step closer 17/11/2007
Morocco - much more than deserts and donkeys 19/11/2007
50 best travel websites of 2007
First things first. This is not a definitive list so don't complain if your site is not included. It is not comprehensive, not objective and not an all-encompassing-list-of-every-travel-website-that-ever-was. But it isn't a half-bad list, a recognition of sites that have shown innovation during 2007 and which have added to or improved their offerings to become truly worthy of adding to your favourites.
Most have cropped in our regular Website of the Week features, and we link through to those reviews which have appeared on the site during 2007. The 50 are not necessarily ranked in any order.
But we still invite your comments and recommendations because there will inevitably be some that even we are not aware of. Shame on us.
And if you want a guide to more websites that can be more prosaic but none the less incredibly helpful, then read the Times Online top 100 travel websites.
Between these, we hope we've got it covered....
1. Trustedplaces.com - A site that learns your tastes and recommends hotels and restaurants - read the review
2. Tripit.com - Pedantic travel planners will love this site, which customises a travel itinerary and has some useful tools - read the review
3. Yapta.com - A great tool for travel bargain hunters, although a bit too much of a US bias - read the review
4. TripAdvisor Traveller Network - The hotel review site dabbles with social networking. Ginny McGrath is impressed - read the review
5. Multimap.co.uk - Mark Frary praises the new look site, with new functions that are 'a leap forward' - read the review
6. Excess4carhire.com - A site that makes car hire charges more transparent can only be good news - read the review
7. Itravelishop - An excellent shopping guide and hotel review site we use regularly
8. Kayak.co.uk - A general travel but natty US site that has launched here - with a new hotel review facility - read the review
9. Iloho.com - A travel community website that's launching airline reviews - read the review
10. Bringsome.com - Exotic tastes and homesick cravings are catered for with this community 'shop and swap' site - read the review
11. I-escape.com - One of the original style hotel sites goes from strength to strength, adding an Argentina section this winter
12. Door2tour.com - An unglamorous subject, but this is a flashy website selling coach trips - read the review
13. Foundem.com - The latest contender to be the Holy Grail of flight websites is put through its paces - read the review
14. Welove2ski.com - A new kid on the wintersports scene this winter, but we know the Ed and he knows his snow
15. About.com/travel - Ginny McGrath recommends an encyclopedic site that's highly addictive - read the review
16. Mylifeoftravel.com - Another networking site in travel but one that shows big promise. And it's UK-based too
17. First-floor.it - A minnow of a site about Italian B&Bs, but we're won over by its cute design and fun, informative chat - read the review
18. Travelistic.com - A site dedicated to hosting travel videos is a good place to start your trip planning - read the review
19. Whydontyou.com - An elite travel agency has launched a holidays website for the non-members - read the review
20. Ze-bus.com - A shocking pink website with a good dose of Gallic humour, which will appeal to backpackers and surfers in France - read the review
21. Coolhunter.com - Eye candy, great fun, stunning images - recent features have been on a Swiss ski chalet and best outdoor hotel pools
22. Google Maps - A new feature offers street level views of US cities and is causing a stir among bloggers - read the review
23. Gridskipper.com - an excellent urban travel site. Probably the best city style guide on the web
24. Gayfriendlyrooms.com - There's a few teething troubles with this young site, but the idea is sound - read the review
25. Blacktomato.co.uk - From nowhere to everyone's favourite top-breaks-with-ideas-and-style site
26. Talkshoe.com - If you've got the time to sift through the garbage, there's some gems among these travel podcasts - read the review
27. Planyourinvasion.co.uk - An attractive design, and a site that backs up style with substance - read the review
28. STATravelTools - A clock that counts down to your holiday is among the free widgets to add to your blog or desktop with this site - read the review
29. Foulerton.com - A minnow in the travel blogosphere, but a good example of how it should be done - read the review
30. Simplyparking.com - Another comparison site, and this one does what it says on the tin, comparing airport parking prices with reviews
31. Cruisebruise.com - Misadventures on the high seas with this alternative cruising website - read the review
32. TravelTurtle - A new travel health website that covers jabs, bugs and drugs - read the review
33. Haystack.lonelyplanet.com - Ginny McGrath finds some help with that eternal search for the right hotel - read the review
34. Realtravel.com - If you like to meticulously plan and record your journeys, this is an attractive and free place to do it
35. Heritagepubs.org.uk - A passionate listing of the country's finest historic pubs - read the review
36. Passportstamp.com - A bit of fun, but be warned, this site can get very competitive - read the review
37. Wayn.com - The world’s biggest travel community, with more than 8m members, this was its big year to date
38. Hostelz.com - Views of your fellow travellers of hostels on this handy, simple and effective site. Very useful
39. BabyFriendlyBoltholes- There are other family travel advice sites but this was the freshest and most useful to emerge in 2007
40. Travolution.blogspot.com - the most useful list of travel-related blogs around?
41. Vroomvroomvroom.co.uk - good new site comparing car rental prices
42. YHA.org.uk - A new site in 2007 for this hugely growing sector of travel, youth hostels
43. Travelsupermarket.co.uk - The goliath of travel added a new function, a B&B search - read the review
44. Tailoredtours.com - If you want to walk New York, this is the site - read the review
45. Walesinstyle.com - A slick and intuitive site which has everything to plan a chic weekend break in Wales - read the review
AND 5 SITES TO WATCH IN 2008
46. WorldReviewer.com - Another social networking site in travel which claims it will have 100 experts. Promising start
47. CruiseCritic.co.uk - The US-site site has spun off a British version and is looking for an editor. Bright prospects
48. Travelmag.co.uk - There will be a host of travel writing sites launching in 2008. This, from Jack Barker, is one of them
49. Travelintelligence.net - The travel writing, hotel review and booking site has a new editor and is about to get a huge facelift
50. Gowander.com - Just launched: a new social networking site from one of the best independent travel magazines in the UK
In a perfect world Those ever so modish folks at Monocle magazine have given us an exclusive preview of their 50 top tips for travel to be published next week. We mere mortals may never be able to afford them, but we can always dream ...
Happiness is ... an icy prosecco in Mr Schumann's bar Munich. Photograph: Monocle
1. Bars to get happy in
Having just completed a round of renovations, Copenhagen's K Bar is our top spot for a good glass of pretty much anything in northern Europe. Jumping over to London, it's nice to get cosy with the papers and a robust red in the tiny bar at Durrants behind Manchester Square. Across to Munich, we'll take either of Mr Schumann's branches and enjoy a morning coffee and an icy prosecco at any other hour. Up to Zürich, it's always the Kronenhalle's bar because the art's nice to look at, the room is an icon and the crowd is made up of interesting media-minded locals. And in Tokyo? We begin at Montoak because it's across from the office. After that, we run over to the concrete box-of-a-room at Higashiyama (1-21-25 Higashiyama, Meguro-ku, + 81 3 5720 1350). From there Kita-Aoyama Salon (Yamahazi Bldg, B1F, 2-7-18 Kita Aoyama, Minato-ku + 81 3 3489 7533) works to round off the evening or kick-start a new day.
2. Cosiest city hotel concept: Hotel Cortiina, Munich
It would be a shame if the Cortiina ever tried to take its concept pan-European, but it would certainly make life easier if it did. It may not boast a gym, treatment rooms or sprawling bathrooms but it does have a delightfully cosy bar, a hearty breakfast buffet and the buzzy Bar Central across the street. It's the hotel that you're always looking for in other cities but can never quite find. It's not easy to be classically modern and not fall for silly designer details but the Cortiina's done just that. Best features: Kiehl's in the bathroom, big flat pillows you can crush into any shape you want and a perfect location.
3. The most tastefully over-the-top hotel: George V, Paris
The Four Seasons George V comes dangerously close to teetering over the edge of good taste and into Jeddah sur Seine, but just manages to save itself. Perhaps this is why we love it. The guests in the bar are always a delight to study, the club sandwich never disappoints and the spa does a good massage. When peckish, it's also a bonus that Noura is just a block away for falafel and sharp Bekaa Valley rosé.
4. Europe's top weekend escape: Hotel la Minervetta, Sorrento, Italy
Hotel La Minervetta is not for the spontaneous who decide they want to spend the weekend in Italy on a Thursday afternoon, and expect to be splashing in the Med 24 hours later. This tiny hotel perched on a cliff-face is usually booked solid, but don't let this put you off. More rambling home than hotel, the food is perfectly prepared and the terrace will demand you book again for later in the season. Best features: The rooms' colour schemes, the views and the breezy, easy air of comfort.
5. Best 48-hour weekend escape: Murata Ryokan, Yufuin, Oita, Japan
The Murata is one of those places you hesitate to tell people about because you never want to find that you can't get a room. In the case of this ryokan, it's a bit late as it's booked up by savvy Tokyoites and fans of architecture/design firm Simplicity, which did the latest rooms. For Europeans and visitors from the Americas, it's a bit of a hike, but two nights in this type of ryokan makes you feel like you've been away for a week – hence it's worth it.
6. Best high-altitude retreat: Bolzano, South Tyrol, Itlay
We have always been fans of healthy mountain living, so when opportunity arises, we make for South Tyrol and book at either Bad Dreikirchen, or Briol, two idyllic hotels located in the Isarco Valley. Three-and-a-half hours from Munich, these family-run alpine retreats offer gemütlichkeit (cosiness) in spades. At Dreikirchen, the Wodenegg clan offer 30 rooms with all-wood furniture, updated bathrooms and tasteful common areas – no 70s kitsch here. The flat-roof Bauhaus-inspired Briol, meanwhile, is the perfect antidote to those unimpressed by the boutique hotel fad. At 1,300 metres, its spartan interiors, spruce floors and simple detailing make for the perfect refuge. Awake to a breakfast of farmer's ham, yogurt and muesli, then sit on the veranda and wait for a lunch of Tyrolean dumplings and fruit tarts whipped up in the Von Klebelsbergs' kitchen. Repeat as necessary.
7. Best in-room amenities: The Dojima, Osaka, Japan
Osaka was in desperate need of a funkier hotel and thanks to hospitality concept gurus Transit General Office Inc, it got it. The Dojima feels a bit like the Claska in Naka-Meguro, and a bit like the Mercer in New York – and that's not a bad start. What makes it a cut above in the bathroom department is the supply of Agronatura products. Made in Japan from herbs and flowers grown in Italy, Agronatura is becoming a skincare force in Japan and is a favourite of ours under a blast of good water pressure.
8. Best place to colonise for a holiday: Lake Orta, Italy
When we first set eyes on Lake Orta from the comfort of our first-class carriage on the Cisalpino, our hands went reaching for the train's emergency cord. West of Lake Maggiore, this 13km-long sliver of water is the most unspoilt of Italy's sub-alpine lakes. Fed from tiny streams and springs, it offers perfect swimming conditions. Tourism is limited to elderly French and Swiss pilgrims, who pay their respects at the hilltop shrine but by nightfall are long gone. In the car-free village of Orta San Giulio, you'll find one of Italy's prettiest piazzas, where Riva motorboats ferry passengers out to the medieval isle. The town has a couple of gastronomic gems where you can sample carpaccio and drink local Nebbiolo, plus there's half a dozen gelaterias. Book at the seven-room hotel in the main square and eye the listings for that perfect lake-front villa.
9. Best new restaurant: The Grand, Stockholm, Sweden
With chef Mathias Dahlgren at the helm and Ilse Crawford on the interiors, the Grand has cranked it up a gear in a city that's in need of some hotel innovation. For a big corporate dinner, the dining room does everything it's supposed to with a bill to match, but we prefer the intimate, less formal food bar. The menu is firmly local and the crowd is always as tasty looking as the dishes.
10. The world's most underrated capital: Taipei, China
You have to feel sorry for poor Taipei. First you start losing all your direct air links to Europe because carriers are more interested in expanding their routes to second-tier Chinese cities, and then Beijing goes and lands the Olympics. This hasn't made the city any less interesting. In fact, it might become more dynamic as it has to fight harder to stand out.
The full Travel Top 50 can be found in the December 07/January 08 issue of Monocle magazine - for further details, visit monocle.com
Editor's choice of this week's best travel articles
10 Caribbean islands with direct flights 11/11/2007
Paris special: Free wheeling by the Seine 10/11/2007
Top 10 Paris hotels 13/11/2007
20 cosy inns for winter 11/11/2007
Take the fast track to Europe's finest cities 11/11/2007
Door to shore: Putting the new Eurostar to the test 14/11/2007
48 Hours in Fez 10/11/2007
Los Angeles: stopover city 10/11/2007
Egypt's golden face of eternity 11/11/2007
A liftful of dollars 5/11/2007
Blog by blog guide to … festive shopping Gear up for a Christmas spending spree with a spot of online window shopping.
Paris Insider
We'll start with a slinky little number recommended by our pals on the fashion desk. Chic Shopping Paris is a renowned tour company offering bespoke shopping tours — "the ins-&-outs that only a good Parisian friend would share with you". Handily, founder Rebecca Perry Magniant runs the company blog, full of valuable tidbits pruned, one assumes, from the tours themselves. The best bits are the tips for your shopping downtime, like Catherine Deneuve's recently redecorated café and salon in the Cinema du Pantheon, and the Christian Lacroix-designed Hotel du Petit Moulin, in the up-and-coming Haute Marais district. Occasionally the little people are thought of too. This post is a keeper, where Rebecca shares her Paris sales strategy. Over at the similarly excellent La Coquette, this post is a great rundown of her favourite places to shop in Paris, half of which are thrift, vintage, surplus stock or flea market.
The New York sartorialist
Scott Schuman is one of the online stars of the fashion world, a former director of men's fashion at Bergdorf Goodman in New York, now a prolific photo blogger at The Sartorialist. The blog itself is a series of snaps taken by Schuman, pretty much chronicling anything he sees and digs — his eye for a good look has him included in Time Magazine's Top 100 Design Influences. The SartoriaList section of the blog features the personal tips of a series of New York lookers (more cities coming soon, well, in April 2008 apparently), including the man himself. Elsewhere, the ever-excellent Gridskipper has maps of New York's best trainer stores, vinyl stores and flea markets.
The face of fashion
Photo blogs chronicling particular individual's fancies are prolific on the web, and they all seem to link to each other. Believe me, it's a rabbit hole. The links on the right hand side of the facehunter blog seem to flag up pretty much all of them — hundreds of "street style" blogs around the world, from Amsterdam to Zurich. For the most part this is a long, painfully moreish process of oohing and aahing at the really, really ridiculously good looking people of the world but there is certainly tipster gold in the billions of pics — most will namecheck specific stores and boutiques, if not only in the title, every now and then. This tag on Stil in Berlin, for example, picks out two of its favorite Kreuzberg stores.
Cool store hunting
The Cool Hunter's "stores" tag is always worth keeping an eye on, as is much of the site, for its hopelessly modish trendseeking and its fine array of pretty pictures. The stuff is generally high-end, but it's one of the most enjoyable online window shops you can have. Their descriptions would put even the most daring of wine critics to shame - the JC/DC Store in Paris has "an air of theatre without being theatrical, drama without being dramatic and history without being historical. A retro, semi-aggressive undertone, propped up by whimsy and surprise." Which is nice. Boutique Beams in Tokyo is a great find — applying the idea of a sushi conveyor belt to T-shirts. Their profiling of Chicago's Boring Store shows that even the haughtiest of fashonistas have a sense of humour — the store deliberately sells nothing of any utility, specialising in comedic spy gadgets.
Material world
You may have noticed a theme by now - most of the blogosphere's fashion offerings have a distinct lack of editorial grace. But who needs syntax when you've got style, eh? Condé Nast Traveller's The Materialist is a shining exception, in particular the excellently penned adventures of shopping correspondent Nandita Khanna. The recent posts are a little America-centric, but a browse through the archives will find plenty of tales of her various sartorial field trips, filled with recommendations and links. This post on her trip to Jaipur highlights Hot Pink, a boutique owned by French jeweler Marie-Helene de Taillac, and the wares of Namarata Joshipura, "Anna Sui meets Gaultier in Goa". Elsewhere, she hunts through Istanbul bazaars for silk ikats, embroidered wools and cotton weaves.
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Christmas shopping: Boston unwrapped 20/10/2007
More than just skiing in Canada 20/10/2007
Little Britain in balmy Bermuda 22/10/2007
48 Hours In: Funchal 20/10/2007
The 50 sexiest places to be fed 21/10/2007
Australia: high art down under 20/10/2007
Thailand put a smile on my face 16/10/2007
Our treasured island 17/10/2007
Steve Redgrave takes to the water in Thailand 20/10/2007
10 classic wintersun destinations 14/10/2007
Chilling out in the mazy Maldives 08/10/2007
Barbados: Don't let its elite reputation put you off 13/10/2007
Down the slide to dizzying Dubai 08/10/2007
The Complete Guide to Cyprus 13/10/2007
All the fun of the Pharaohs 13/10/2007
For top-class skiing, you can't beat the French Alps 13/10/2007
Forget spag bol & bunks, ski chalets have gone posh 14/10/2007
My Cape Escape 10/10/2007
Countdown to a happy Christmas 14/10/2007
Five best New York hotels on a budget 06/10/2007