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THE beautiful village of Dedham is getting a visit from royalty today.

King Charles and Queen Camilla will visit the pretty Essex village and pop into one of the country’s best pubs along the way.

The royal couple are heading through Dedham on their way to Colchester, to celebrate it being given city status two years ago.

The pretty Essex village is frequently named as being one of the most beautiful in the country thanks to its bright Tudor buildings, pretty high street and location on the River Stour.

The River Stour, which begins west of Great Bradley in Cambridgeshire and ends in the North Sea at Harwich, passes through the village.

It’s often used for canoeing and kayaking with picnickers sitting along the bank during the summer.

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Dedham village is found in the heart of Dedham Vale, which is known as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Last year, Dedham was named as one of ‘Britain’s 30 greatest villages’ by The Telegraph where it called it ‘picturesque’.

In 2024, The Times called Dedham Vale one of the best “off-radar places to target if you are craving countryside without the crowds.”

During their visit, King Charles and Queen Camilla will visit the Sun Inn pub – which was on 100 best pubs by the Good Food Guide.

The pub sits along the main High Street and was formerly a coach inn – the 500-year-old building previously served as a vital resting point for travellers and horses.

Now, it serves up grub to visitors – the Sun Inn has a seasonal menu and is well-known for its hearty roast dinners.

According to the Good Food Guide it’s a place where you’ll get some of the tastiest food in the country.

On the Sun Inn, the Good Food Guide said: “As slices of English heritage go, Piers Baker’s 15th-century yellow-washed coaching inn right in the heart of Dedham is nigh-on perfect.

“There’s a sense of seasonality too in menus that offer a winning mix of updated pub classics and more inventive, Italian-accented dishes built around prime seasonal ingredients.”

On Sundays you can get one course for £25, two for £35 and three for £45.

Mains include roast rump of beef, pork loin and celeriac puff pastry pie – each comes with roast potatoes, vegetables, Yorkshire pudding and gravy.

Upstairs are seven bedrooms available for visitors to book – some are dog-friendly, and all have big beds and ensuite bathrooms.

A one-night stay in February costs £185 and comes with breakfast.

The royals aren’t the only well-known figures to have stepped inside the pub – it’s previously been visited by Sting and ex-footballer Frank Lampard.

From the Sun Inn, King Charles and Queen Camilla will head to the Essex Rose Teahouse.

Here you can get breakfast, lunch and of course an afternoon tea, which comes with a selection of freshly made sandwiches followed by homemade fruit scones for £25pp.

If you don’t fancy a whole afternoon tea – you can get a cream tea from £9.95pp.

Dedham is 9 miles away from Colchester which was given city status just two years ago as part of The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

For more UK villages, here are five that will make you feel like you’re in The Holiday with cosy pubs and cottages.

And here are even more quaint British villages with toy-town cottages, car-free roads and cosy pubs – handpicked by our travel writers.

PLANNING a UK city break can be a right headache when you’re skint and short on time – but one must-do activity lets you see a lot without spending a penny.

Recently, my family came to visit me in London and even though I live in the city, I don’t often get the chance to be a tourist.

Stumped on ideas of what to do that pleases everyone but didn’t cost much, I took to Google and stumbled across London Walking Tours by Richard Jones.

On the website, there are a number of free, self-guided walking tours – but what makes them even better is that they aren’t to cliche spots, instead you get to uncover hidden pieces of history.

In fact, there are 22 free walking tours on the site to choose from.

I opted for the Soho self-guided walk, taking about two hours starting from Tottenham Court Road Station.

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The walk takes you around the area showing streets and alleyways frequented by famous figures like Charles Dickens and the Beatles.

One of my favourite things about the tour is that it takes you to places you would have otherwise missed.

For example, it took us down this rather normal-looking road to a house with a blue plaque.

The blue plaque simply stated: “John William Polidori, 1795-1821, poet & novelist, author of ‘The Vampyre’, born and died here”.

I had no clue who this person was, but the tour informed me that Polidori was actually a personal physician to the famous poet Lord Byron – whom he idolised.

Upon showing Byron one of his submissions to Byron’s 1816 writing competition – ‘The Vampyre’ – Polidori was dismissed as having little potential.

Not long after, the New Monthly Magazine had published ‘The Vampyre’ but attributed it to Lord Byron – who denied any involvement.

Polidori wrote to the magazine, but was accused of plagiarism and ended up taking his life.

If you aren’t so much of a history fan though, there are other options that are more themed.

For example, you could spend the day on a magical tour that heads all over London showing you locations that have been featured in the Harry Potter movies.

Or perhaps, you want to add in a fun game?

Then head on the Mayfair to St James Quiz Trail, where, as you explore different places, you have to find the answers to a number of questions and complete photo challenges.

But what if you are on a city break elsewhere?

There are plenty of different sites out there offering free walking tours.

For example, if you are exploring Manchester you could opt for The Ultimate Manchester Free Walking Tour, where you can discover history about the famous Britannia Hotel and stop by the bustling Corn Exchange for some food.

In Birmingham, you could go on a self-guided Discovering Britain walking tour which takes you to the popular spots but shares information you may not know about them.

Lots of councils also have guides on their websites, as well as walking maps.

To get the best search result for the city you want to explore, make sure to search the name of your city along with ‘free self-guided walking tour’.

By doing this, you will get results which are free and also aren’t led by anyone, which means you can do the tour at your own pace and even stop along the way for a cuppa or bite to eat.

One thing I learned from the tour I did, was definitely print the tour if you can before heading off on it.

I had the tour open on my phone, but obviously walking around London, or any other large city for that matter, with your phone constantly in your hand isn’t the best idea…

For more things to do in the UK, here are the best free activities for Brits this week for families, couples and mates.

Plus, the top 15 UK attractions for 2025 revealed…including six which are totally FREE for the summer holidays.

FANCY a mini-break but don’t want to spend too much money? Well, how about a short cruise to Europe for the same price as a meal at Pizza Express for a family of four.

Travellers can head off on a two-night cruise between Hull and the Netherlands.

The P&O Ferries mini cruise allows you to travel overnight, usually leaving Hull at around 8:30pm and arriving in the Netherlands around 8:45am.

You can opt between heading to Rotterdam or Amsterdam on a return sailing from Hull to Europoort, with two nights in an en suite cabin, return coach transfers into the city centres and the live entertainment on board.

In between you will also get to explore either Rotterdam or Amsterdam – all for just £65 per person.

For example, one £65pp sailing heads off on March 3 and returns on March 5.

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Included in the price you pay is a two-bunk cabin with an en suite shower room with a WC.

Towels and bed linen are included too.

There are of course add-ons, if you wish to include them – such as the kitchen dinner for £25 per person, which is a buffet of international dishes.

If you fancy breakfast on board, that will set you back £13.50 each too.

Or you could get a package for both dinner and breakfast for £35.95 per person.

Though it is worth baring in mind, these prices are all per way.

Coach transfers from the port to either Rotterdam or Amsterdam are listed as £12 per person, per way – though they are included in the £65 per person price.

The cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam in the Netherlands are both great to explore for a day.

In Rotterdam, you can head to one of the maritime museums to learn about its history as a port city.

Then, you could swing by the Cube Houses, known for their unusual architecture.

Opposite the Cube Houses you will find Markthal, which is a large market hall home to around 96 food stalls.

Alternatively, if you choose to head to Amsterdam you can explore the intricate network of canals that sprawl across the city.

One of the most popular tourist spots in the city is the Anne Frank House, which is a museum inside the actual house where Anne Frank hid during World War II.

To explore the canals further, you can also hop on a canal tour via boat.

If you fancy an even more memorable sailing you can head on a Mini Cruise Live.

These cruises have different entertainment onboard, often including celebrities.

For example, you could head on a Noughties Takeover cruise from February 27 to March 1.

On board, the entertainment includes JLS star Marvin Humes and Blazin’ Squad star and former Love Islander, Marcel Somerville.

This sailing costs from £139 per person.

With the family? Then head on the Family Cruise from April 8 to 10, with K-Pop Live and Cirque: The Greatest Show – a circus-musical experience with songs from The Greatest Showman, La La Land, Rocketman and Moulin Rouge.

There will also be face painters on board, and tickets to this sailing also cost from £139 per person.

Fancy something a little different? Head on the Murder Mystery Mini Cruise from March 4 to 6.

On board, passengers will get to enjoy two murder mystery experiences with Cheeky Blinders on night one and 1925-based mystery The Maiden Voyage on night two.

This sailing costs from £99 per person.

In other cruise news, the ‘affordable luxury’ Nordic cruise where temperatures hit 28C.

Plus, our pick of the eight best cruises for both hot and cold weather – from Caribbean sailings to Icelandic glacier tours.

It’s time to think about shaking off winter and looking forward to spring. Whether it was a coastal Mediterranean town without the crowds or a southern European city that comes to life at this time of year, we’d love to hear about places you’ve discovered on your travels that can be reached by rail. Tell us what you got up to and why early spring is a great time to visit.

The best tip of the week, chosen by Tom Hall of Lonely Planet wins a £200 voucher to stay at a Coolstays property – the company has more than 3,000 worldwide. The best tips will appear in the Guardian Travel section and website.

Keep your tip to about 100 words

If you have a relevant photo, do send it in – but it’s your words we will be judging for the competition.

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The competition closes on Monday 9 February at 10am GMT

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OLBIA in Sardinia was recently named one of the ‘best places to travel to in 2026’ by Lonely Planet, and it’s arguably the easiest beach city break destination in the world.

Located on the northeast coast of the island, the city has a charming old town, ruins and white sandy bays, it also has one of the best transfer times – just 3 minutes drive from the airport to the town centre.

British Airways will soon launch a new service, with flights running twice a week on Saturdays and Sundays from London Stansted to Olbia – starting on May 23 and ending on September 27, 2026.

The journey takes two and a half hours and a one-way ticket starts from £127.

Olbia has a great mix of pretty beaches, Roman and Greek history, and plenty of bars and restaurants.

Be sure to try the local dish of bread lasagne,made of cheese and bread soaked in broth.

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Crispy Sardinian flatbread, mussels, stuffed dumplings and pecorino cheese also feature heavily on the menu, washed down with locally-made wine like Cannonau.

Late spring is a great time to visit, with highs of between 22 and 24C and rooms from £31pp a night.

For proper sunbathing weather, average highs reach the early 30s in July and August, when tourists head to the beach to cool down – two of the most beautiful are Costa Corallina and Porto Istana Beach, which has fine white sand.

Porto Istana also has views across to Tavolara Island which is a sought-after snorkelling spot where you’ll see shipwrecks and plenty of colourful fish.

Then, hop onto a boat for an excursion towards Figarolo and the Golfo Aranci for bottlenose dolphin-spotting.

Dolphin tours generally start at £30 per person.

For souvenirs as well as boutiques and gelato spots head down Corso Umberto which is the main shopping street that stretches from the train station down to the waterfront.

When it comes to staying in Olbia, you can book a seven-night stay at the Olbia City Hotel & Spa from May 23 to May 30, 2026 for £217pp – or £31 per night.

Just a five-minute drive from the city centre, the 4-star hotel has a garden, a bar, small swimming pool and air-conditioned rooms.

Lonely Planet named Sardinia as one of its best places to travel to in 2026 thanks to its “pristine beaches”.

Sardinia was also named as a Destination of the Year by Expedia Group’s Unpack ’26: The Trends in Travel report.

If you fancy exploring more of Sardinia, one must-see is the beach called Cala Goloritzè, which is two hours south of Olbia.

Cala Goloritzè is tucked away in-between enormous limestone cliffs and was awarded the title of being 2025’s best beach in the world.

For more inspiration, Travel Reporter Cyann Fielding headed to Sardinia last year where she ventured to the south side of the island.

She said: “Most travellers head to Olbia in the north of the island, but Cagliari in the south – the capital of the island – is also a great destination to explore.

“The south of the island and around Cagliari is full of quaint villages, rocky hills and breathtaking beaches. You can also do a number of activities from the resort, including a two-hour horse ride up into the island’s hills.

“The city is small, but even on a sunny Saturday at the end of August, its streets were quiet, free from hordes of tourists.”

For more on island holidays, here are five island-hopping holidays across Europe and the Maldives.

And see what one Sun Writer got up to when he went to a barely-visited Greek island with Hawaii-like beaches that wants Brits.

Dublin offers partying, parks and pints galore which make it a perfect place to visit for 48 hours from the UK

Whenever I have been to Dublin I find there’s always a buzz of excitement in the air. There are so many places to visit with a warm and friendly atmosphere, and it’s all created by the locals. Whether it be music or museums, Guinness or gourmet food, it is a great location for a 48-hour break.

Our base was the Ruby Molly Hotel, fewer than 10 minutes away from the main action. Our room offered a calm haven away from all the hustle and bustle, and if you get back and still have the energy for a nightcap or some food, the bar is open late and the signature cocktails are recommended!

There are a lot of great pubs and bars in Dublin but perhaps the best place to start for a pint is The Guinness Storehouse, which is both a museum and the place where the black stuff is brewed in the city.

Anyone who has watched House Of Guinness on Netflix will know there is a lot of history and drama behind the dark drink. The Storehouse goes through the legacy of the Guinness family, the brewing innovations and the extraordinary advertising around the brand. At the end of your seven-floor tour you are rewarded at the top in the Gravity Bar with a pint and a chance to take in an incredible 360-degree view of the famous city.

If you get a taste for this kind of thing, there are also whiskey distilleries dotted around, including the famous Jameson Distillery, where you can also do a tour and sample more booze.

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For those short on time, The Little Museum of Dublin is famous for its 29-minute guided tour celebrating the art of great Irish storytelling, with history, comedy and some of the friendliest people in Ireland.

The city’s Trinity College is also a place to visit with many landmarks, including a breathtaking library known as The Long Room which is home to more than 200,000 books.

Dublin is a great city to tour on foot, and while you’re there you’ll also be able to see a number of landmarks, including Dublin Castle, the Ha’penny Bridge and The Spire sculpture.

The city offers a Do Dublin Freedom Pass which includes public transport and the Hop-On Hop-Off Sightseeing Bus Tour, a great way to get around if you want to relax and learn about the history of the city at the same time, with many of the drivers adding in their own jokes or songs. Of course, all of this exploring can help you build up an appetite.

The Woollen Mills is a must-visit for literary fans, given that author James Joyce once worked in this very location. Expect hearty fare with plenty of Irish beef on the menu alongside long ray and chips.

Meanwhile, The Church Bar & Restaurant is, as the name suggests, set in a former church, with Taylor Swift as a recent guest when she dined there during the Eras Tour. The food is quintessentially Irish, and very tasty, and if you don’t have time to eat here, it’s worth a stop for a drink at the bar, where there is traditional Irish music and dancing in the evenings.

For something that feels a bit more decadent, Dublin’s newest rooftop experience, DÍON offers a wonderful way to spend an evening. The food and cocktails – as well as the amazing views – made it a perfect place for a romantic date. Dishes included Irish crab soldiers, dover sole, king prawns and fillet steak.

In terms of places to drink, there are far too many to mention. The pubs and bars seem to continue to thrive here, with live music in many of the bars. The Temple Bar area is considered to be for tourists only and you will pay more for pints there, but the pubs will be busy and the atmosphere is always good.

Recommendations from locals for the best pints include The Lord Edward, The Long Hall, The Cobblestone and Mulligan’s. I can also vouch for the odd-sounding Darkey Kelly’s and the oldest pub in Dublin, The Brazen Head. And if you want a change from Guinness and pubs, you could try the cocktails at Bar 1661 instead.

Book it

Rooms at the Ruby Molly Hotel start from €96 (approximately £83). Dublin hosts a brilliant series events around New Year’s Eve which are the climax of a winter programme. For more information on the city and further afield too head to ireland.com

Carlos Alcaraz becomes the youngest man to reach all four slam finals and can now become youngest to win all four.

Carlos Alcaraz overcame cramps and injury to fend off Alexander Zverev in an epic, momentum-swinging five-setter to become the youngest man in the Open era to reach the finals of all four Grand Slam events.

At 22, he’s aiming to be the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam.

He reached his first Australian Open final the hard way, winning 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-7 (4), 7-5 in 5 hours, 27 minutes on Friday.

That’s despite being two points away in the third set from a semifinal victory in a tournament where he hadn’t dropped a set through five rounds.

He was behind in the fifth set after dropping the first game and didn’t break back until Zverev was serving for the match in the 10th.

Alcaraz will next face either two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner or 10-time Australian Open titlist Novak Djokovic, who is bidding for an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam singles title. The long afternoon match delayed the start of the night’s semifinal.

The top-ranked Alcaraz was leading by two sets and appeared to be in the kind of form that won him the US Open last year and has helped him evenly split the last eight majors with Sinner.

But in the ninth game of the third, he started limping and appeared to be struggling with an upper right leg problem. After holding for 5-4, he took a medical timeout in the changeover. It may have been cramp, but he rubbed the inside of his right thigh and called for the trainer, who also massaged the same area.

Zverev was demonstrably upset, talking with a tournament official, when his rival was given the three-minute break for treatment.

Even with his limited footwork, Alcaraz was able to hit winners and get to 6-5 before the trainer returned in the changeover to massage the area again.

When he went back out, the crowd gave him rousing support. Zverev served a double-fault to open the next game, and Alcaraz lobbed and then slapped a forehand winner down the line to get to 0-30. But Zverev won four straight points to force the tiebreaker and then win it.

No 3 Zverev, the 2025 runner-up, retained his composure despite Alcaraz’s obvious discomfort on the other side of the net, and the crowd on Rod Laver Arena firmly behind the Spaniard.

He was in front for the entire fourth set, but Alcaraz stayed with him, until Zverev again took charge in the tiebreaker. More than four hours had elapsed when the match went to a fifth set, the first five-setter on the centre court in the 2026 tournament.

Alcaraz dropped serve in the opening game of the fifth set but hung with Zverev, getting five breakpoint chances without being able to convert.

The drama lifted in the sixth game, when Alcaraz sprinted across court to track down a drop shot and slid at full pace for an angled forehand winner. The crowd went crazy.

Alcaraz finally converted the break when Zverev was serving for the match at 5-4 in the fifth set.

He held for 6-5 and converted his first match point when Zverev was serving to stay in the match.

The Dodgers’ $240-million signing of Kyle Tucker revived anguished cries that the team is ruining baseball. It also revived a strange chapter in team history, with frenzied online commentary that the signing of Tucker was made possible in large part because Major League Baseball long ago rewarded the Dodgers’ owners with preferential financial treatment that continues to this day.

Is that true?

Yes and no.

Uh, thanks. Go on.

Remember Frank McCourt, the Dodgers’ former owner?

In 2011, after then-commissioner Bud Selig rejected a proposed $3-billion local television deal between the Dodgers and Fox Sports, McCourt took the team into bankruptcy court before agreeing to sell. That meant Selig and the MLB owners would not pick the new Dodgers owner. McCourt would, in a process controlled by the court.

With the Dodgers’ local TV rights soon to expire, McCourt realized bidders for the team might offer more — and he might make more — if the bidders knew in advance how much the league would take from the sale of those rights.

In a settlement with McCourt — and to avoid the risk of the judge imposing a deal less favorable to the league — MLB agreed the fair-market value of a Dodgers TV deal would be based on the very Fox deal that Selig had rejected.

Why did that matter?

That value was $84 million for the first year and would increase thereafter, with the league taking its standard 34% cut and sharing that among all its teams.

However, with a bidding war looming between Fox Sports and Time Warner Cable, Selig knew the rights would be worth more than Fox had offered in its extension with McCourt, who needed immediate cash.

In bankruptcy court, an attorney for Guggenheim, the winning bidder and still the Dodgers’ owner, said the settlement represented a “substantial component of the value proposition of the transaction” — that is, a primary justification for the then-record $2.15-billion purchase price.

In 2013, one year after buying the team, Guggenheim sold those local TV rights. Were they indeed worth more?

You might as well ask if Shohei Ohtani is good. The rights that McCourt wanted to sell for $3 billion were bought by Time Warner Cable for a record $8.35 billion.

Because of the settlement, the league would take its cut based on a deal worth $3 billion rather than based on a deal worth $8.35 billion.

And the league was fine with this, because it wanted to help a marquee franchise return to glory?

LOL, no. In 2012, an MLB attorney had warned the court that the settlement could result in a league of “the Dodgers and the other 29 teams.” Under its terms, the Dodgers could keep tens of millions of dollars each year that otherwise would be shared with the league.

In the wake of the massive Time Warner deal, Selig’s office told other owners it planned to treat television revenue for the Dodgers like television revenue from any other team.

However, thanks to McCourt, the bankruptcy court was in charge, not the league. MLB did not have the power to redo the court-approved settlement, because Guggenheim could have asked the court to uphold the deal and order the league to abide by it.

After negotiations, MLB and Guggenheim made a modest adjustment, setting the “fair-market value” of the Time Warner deal at about $130 million for the first year rather than $84 million. That figure is used to determine the league’s cut, which for all local TV deals has since increased from 34% to 48%.

Just about every report on the Dodgers’ TV deal says the team is guaranteed $334 million each year. Is that accurate?

That $334 million is the annual average. The deal started at a lower value and increases every year.

By the time the deal ends in 2038, the Dodgers will be getting more than $500 million per year.

How is that possible? Aren’t local sports channels dying?

The parent company of the FanDuel Sports channels — including the one that carries the Angels — emerged from bankruptcy last year but now is fighting to remain in business. If your company spends millions upon millions on sports rights, and if your financial success depends on cable and satellite customers paying for a programming bundle that includes sports channels most viewers do not watch, you’re doomed.

The Angels’ local television revenue took a big hit last year and probably will do so again this year. The Milwaukee Brewers, the team that plays in the smallest market in the majors, reportedly got $35 million in its FanDuel deal last year.

The Dodgers own SportsNet LA through a related entity, American Media Productions (AMP), and the television revenue comes via a marketing and distribution agreement with Charter Communications, which inherited the deal when it acquired Time Warner Cable in 2016.

Charter’s revenue in 2024: $55 billion. The giant television, telephone and broadband company is not going out of business anytime soon, even as it is stuck with a money-losing Dodgers deal.

What did Dodgers chairman Mark Walter say upon the establishment of SportsNet LA?

“The creation of AMP will provide substantial financial resources over the coming years for the Dodgers to build on their storied legacy and bring a world championship home to Los Angeles.”

Nailed it. So why would Walter consider forsaking some of those substantial financial resources?

In 2028, when MLB national TV contracts expire, Commissioner Rob Manfred would like to offer traditional networks and streaming services the chance to bid not just on national broadcasts but on an all-baseball, all-the-time outlet where fans could watch any team, wherever they lived, and with no blackouts. With that, the league believes, it could strike gold — and then share the wealth among all 30 teams.

That would require teams to turn over their local broadcast rights to the league. The Dodgers’ local television revenues provide a massive competitive advantage. It’s hard to imagine Walter (and owners of other big-city teams with similar TV riches) surrendering those riches without the league offering him something significant in return.

Like what?

Perhaps a chance to exempt the Dodgers from sharing ticket revenue, or to secure the Japanese television rights now controlled by MLB. Maybe the league would buy SportsNet LA. Could be anything. But that is a 2028 issue. First up is collective bargaining, and the possibility of owners shutting down the sport next winter in pursuit of a salary cap.