Holidays

The lovely market town is well worth a visit – especially in the autumn.

Nestled along the gentle bends of the River Tees, Yarm is a market town overflowing with rich history and natural splendour.

Renowned for its idyllic setting, Yarm, situated in Tee’s Valley, is frequently hailed as one of the most beautiful towns in the area.

Another well-loved North Yorkshire town is York, which bears such a resemblance to Yarm that it has been dubbed a ‘mini York’.

However, this town, located just seven miles from Middlesbrough, is said to be more affordable than the bustling city of York.

Yarm’s historic past is mirrored in the town’s architecture, including the 15th-century Yarm Bridge, one of the oldest surviving bridges in England, reports the Express.

Its delightful high street is also adorned with a diverse array of independent boutiques, snug cafés, and welcoming restaurants, providing both locals and visitors with a warm, genuine experience in a truly unforgettable setting.

Yarm, also referred to as Yarm-on-Tees, is a favourite destination for tourists, especially during the summer months, when visitors can appreciate the town’s picturesque riverside location and historic allure.

But autumn is also an excellent time for a getaway to this quaint historic town.

Tees Valley’s parks and gardens radiate in stunning red and orange hues during the autumn months – a spectacle not to be missed.

One visitor wrote on Tripadvisor: “Beautiful village with lots of parking on wide main street but it’s very busy and can be difficult to find a parking place. We stopped at a pub on the riverside before crossing the bridge for lunch, which was very nice.

“Yarm has lots of independent shops with crafts and unusual things to buy and is worth a visit just for that. We enjoyed the shops so much we didn’t have time to go to the riverside, plus it was very hot. Plenty of eateries catering to every taste. We are definitely going back this time to the riverside.”

Another shared: “Called here Sunday afternoon and was fairly busy but just managed to get parked near [the] front but quite a few cars looking to get parked a big issue here.

“Once parked, some nice shops and eateries pubs charity shops etc some normal chains and some boutique posh shops for the footballers wags. Spent a hour or two here on a dry sunny day and had a nice stroll and a drink in Cafe Nero. Would visit again on another day but will get there early to park.”

Among my many memories of hiking around Southern California, I have a few that haunt me.

The time I got briefly lost around Mt. Waterman, where I’d been several times. When I ran out of water hiking Strawberry Peak on an unseasonably hot day. When I was dressed appropriately for a long day hike until I fell into the river and was uncomfortably cold for the rest of the day. When I thought I was on trail only to realize I was kind of stuck on a steep, unstable hillside.

Each time, I was underprepared. Each bad experience was preventable. That’s the lesson of today’s Wild.

I spoke to Dr. Rob Scanlon, author of the newly published “Surviving the Trail” (Falcon Guides), a guide book that lays out how we can prevent the most common hiking emergencies by slowing down and planning long before we hit the trail.

Scanlon said he sees his work as less of a “hiker safety” book and more of a “hiker empowerment” book.

“I’m hoping people will recognize that this is intrinsically a dangerous place to be,” said Scanlon, who is board certified in internal medicine, pulmonology, critical care and sleep medicine. “Being a little bit anticipatory, and certainly concentrating on the simple things you can control, will really lead to an almost near guarantee that you will not end up the subject of a news headline.”

I never want to write about any of you, dear Wilders, unless it’s to amplify the great work you’re doing in the outdoors. I do, however, want to help us all learn — through a thoughtful, not sensationalist, approach — how we can make the kinds of memories we enjoy reflecting on.

The subtitle to Scanlon’s book is “Five Essential Skills to Prepare Every Hiker for Adventure’s Most Common Perils.” Let’s dive into what those are.

On a hot day, it’s important to stay hydrated, including on hikes that lack shade, like this one in Griffith Park.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

1. Dehydration 🥵

Long before 7-Eleven, Buc-ee’s and (as an Okie, I must mention) QuikTrip, humans had to actually plan for hydration. Today, if you’re out and about and you’re thirsty, there are generally “20 places you could stop within a rock-throwing distance where you could grab something to drink,” Scanlon said. “We’re more acting in real-time in our off-trail lives, not anticipatory like it used to be.”

This mindset can lead to a lack of planning around hydration. And it shows in the data, as Scanlon notes in his book. “Thousands of hikers” require rescue every year because of issues around dehydration, he wrote.

In his book, Scanlon outlines not only how to determine whether you’re dehydrated on the trail but also, arguably more important, how to plan out your fluid needs. The key factors for determining how much water you should pack are: how fast you’ll be hiking, the terrain you’re traversing, the temperatures you’ll encounter and how humid it’ll be.

Scanlon outlines this in a handy chart, which I used to determine I’m generally bringing enough water: about 32 ounces an hour, given I’m going about 2.5 mph, gaining between 1,200- and 2,000-feet elevation and hiking in moderate temperatures.

“I try to stress strategy. Stopping at the local gas station on the way to the trailhead and grabbing a 12- or 16-ounce bottle of [water] is not a strategy,” said Scanlon, who lives in Georgia. “The strategy begins before the hike.”

Wild writer Jaclyn Cosgrove and dog Bonnie enjoy a frolic in the snow near Buckhorn Campground last winter.

(Mish Bruton)

2. Perilous weather ☀️❄️

As we head into colder temperatures here in Southern California — we just got snow in our mountains! — it is crucial to layer appropriately, including with the right materials.

Any hiker has experienced the phenomenon of bundling up at the car and then needing to shed at least one layer at the start of the hike. Scanlon said as we move and generate heat, we need to either shed or open layers, aiming to maintain feeling a little on the cool side.

My favorite cool-weather layering approach is a merino wool base layer with a puffer vest on top. Sometimes I add gloves, but it really depends on the wind temperature. I often wear either fleece-lined hiking pants, especially if I will be around snow, or thick leggings. And I almost always have on these socks, which all my friends are tired of hearing about. In my pack, I carry extra socks and another base layer that I often change into at my destination. I also like to have my rain jacket (with pit vents!) in case it’s windy at the summit.

All of this is informed by one basic thing I do before hiking: I extensively check the weather, which is not always a straight-forward process.

“Most only look at the weather forecast before traveling, but it often changes as hike time approaches and may not apply to whether the hike will actually take place,” Scanlon wrote. “Forecasts often pertain to the conditions in the nearest city center or local airport and not necessarily those in the hiking areas and surrounding mountains.”

Scanlon outlines great resources to be better prepared for mountain conditions, including this website.

Mish, a friend of The Wild, crosses a stream via logs on the Trail Canyon Falls hike.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

3. Crossing rivers and creeks

Drowning is the most common cause of death in national parks, including misunderstanding how to safely swim in or cross a river. Even the experts struggle with that, which emphasizes just how challenging — and dangerous — it can really be.

Scanlon told me about a five-day backpacking trip he took to the majestic Banff National Park. There was a man-made bridge over every creek crossing, except for one. The trail directed Scanlon and his friends to cross a wide, swift, deep river, and despite scouting other options, they found there was no good spot to cross elsewhere.

At first, Scanlon felt safe, knowing how to cross a river, including facing upstream

Scenes from James Murren’s story, “How to plan a bikepacking trip across Catalina.”

(James Murren / For The Times)

, leaning into the oncoming water flow and shuffling slowly, moving through stable sidesteps.

But as he entered the outside curve, which he knew would be the fastest and deepest part, he was in water almost to his hips, “which is the no-go zone.”

“But I was almost there, and I got pretty close to getting toppled over, but I leaned into the oncoming water extra hard to counterbalance it and somehow got through,” he said. “Even when you do it right, you can still have issues, but I think the majority of times it’s not knowing the technique, not knowing where it’s best to cross and maybe the hubris factor.”

4. Falling from high places

People are increasingly getting too bold in high places, especially in the name of selfies and social media posts, Scanlon said.

The way to get ahead of this problem on your own journey is to decide yourself and within your group that you will not let the glory ahead of you influence your behavior.

I did similar on a recent trip to Taft Point, where multiple travelers have fallen to their deaths. I’d seen the gorgeous images of hikers sitting or posing on a rock that juts out dramatically over Yosemite Valley, and I’d told myself, “Maybe not.” Instead, my dear friend Patrick captured my image safely from a lookout point (which, per optical illusion, looks like I’m much closer to the edge than I am).

It can be hard to fight against this FOMO, but going beyond safety rails or going off-trail for better views or trying to impress our friends can all lead to deadly outcomes.

“There are certainly people who’ve fallen from unstable ground beneath them, and that you can’t necessarily prepare for,” Scanlon said. “But the majority of [accidents] are bad behaviors, like poorly executed selfies and [people] doing things they really shouldn’t. We should not be doing our first handstand ever on an 800-foot cliff.”

A trail sign at Vasquez Rocks Natural Area reminds guests of one of the most important tenants of hiking: Stay on the trail.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

5. Getting lost

This is arguably both the most important chapter (Skill 5: Land Navigation) of Scanlon’s book and the most important thing you can understand outside of hydrating appropriately.

Because, as Scanlon pointed out to me, understanding the factors around how we get lost “is extraordinarily important to nail down because getting lost is the gateway to the other perils.”

So, how do we not get lost?

In an estimated 40% of cases, a hiker got lost because they wondered off-trail, Scanlon wrote. This could be because they accidentally followed a spur or game trail, thinking it was the true trail. Another 17% of cases involve bad weather striking, and hikers moving off-trail to seek shelter.

Scanlon goes into extensive detail — just over 100 pages — about how to navigate in the wilderness, including how to use the different types of compasses, understanding the different parts of the compass and more.

One of his suggestions is easy enough to follow: “Before venturing out on any day hike or backpacking trip, study the map ahead of time and identify the nearest safety point,” whether that be a nearby road, railway, local airport or nearby town. Whatever you choose, it should hold the highest potential for seeing other people who can help and have the fewest visible obstacles on the map to arrive there.

“Navigating to this safety point will be our fallback plan when we have become lost and all else fails to get us back to the trail or trailhead,” Scanlon wrote.

I hope you can take this knowledge and apply it to your next hike. I know I will (and probably also pack Scanlon’s book in my backpack), along with carrying this mindset with me on the trail:

“The No. 1 goal is everyone gets home in one piece, and the secondary goal to get to the summit” or wherever you’re headed, Scanlon told me. “As long as you start out with the predetermined goal that everybody gets home, I think everything you prepare for and every on-trail decision you make should be serving that goal.”

The views from the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook include Culver City and the surrounding L.A. area.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

3 things to do

1. Roast marshmallows in the Baldwin Hills
The Nature Nexus Institute and California State Parks will host a campfire stroll from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook. Families can participate in hands-on activities, listen at storytime and roast marshmallows for s’mores by the campfire. Register using the park’s Google form.

2. Heal the land in Elysian Park
Volunteers are needed in two shifts Friday at Elysian Park to help maintain native plant life. From 8 to 10 a.m., volunteers will work at the burn plot, an experimental restoration garden. Later in the day, volunteers will prune and water plants from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Learn more about the morning event at testplot.info and the afternoon event here.

3. Document flora and fauna in Pacoima
L.A. city’s junior urban ecologist Ryan Kinzel will host a community science-focused hike from 8 to 10 a.m. Saturday at Hansen Dam (10965 Dronfield Ave., Pacoima). Kinzel will lead guests in participating in the L.A. Nature Quest by using app iNaturalist to document plant and animal life as the group hikes. Learn more at the parks department’s Instagram page.

The must-read

Scenes from James Murren’s story, “How to plan a bikepacking trip across Catalina.”

(James Murren / For The Times)

There are so many ways to experience Catalina Island, including bikepacking. Times contributor James Murren took a two-day trip from East End to Little Harbor Campground and back to Avalon, covering 40-plus miles and about 5,000 feet of elevation. In his guide on how to bikepack the island, Murren writes about not only the beauty but also the surprising solitude he found there. “I had not seen another person for quite a while as I biked deeper into the hinterlands of the island, connecting to East End Light Road,” Murren wrote. “Along the ‘backside’ of the southern end of Catalina, it felt even more remote. East End afforded stunning views of the ocean and San Clemente Island to the south.” What a remarkable opportunity — and it’s only a ferry ride away!

Happy adventuring,

P.S.

Birders off the coast of Sonoma and Marin counties got quite the surprise last week when they spotted the critically endangered waved albatross, the largest bird in the Galapagos! It’s believed to be the first sighting of the bird north of Costa Rica, and it remains unclear what brought it more than 3,000 miles north of its homeland. Those lucky enough to see it included a seabird tour. “The excitement level on the boat when the bird was first identified was intense, with much screaming and shrieking, followed by beatific smiles from a dream come true,” passenger Glen Tepke told a Press Democrat reporter. Ah, the mystery and surprise that each new adventure brings!

For more insider tips on Southern California’s beaches, trails and parks, check out past editions of The Wild. And to view this newsletter in your browser, click here.

After Storm Alice wreaked havoc in Spain last week, Brits staying in the Los Alcazares area of Murcia have been left withouta basic essential for a week due to contamination

A number of British tourists have revealed the desperate conditions in Murcia, Spain that has left them without running water for a week. Flooding across the Iberian Peninsula triggered by Storm Alice led to water supplies becoming contaminated throughout the region, with Spanish authorities issuing evacuation orders in certain areas.

Those who stayed behind have turned to TikTok to document their ordeal. Jodie Marlow shared clips of her “reality” from Los Alcazares, showing her family had “no access” to water. “I’m in a flood zone and we have had so much rain,” she explained in a video, which showed residents wading through ankle-deep murky water flowing through the streets.

“Six or seven days with no water, it’s been crazy,” she continued. “The town hall has been amazing though in keeping us up-to-date and they tried to keep us as safe as possible in making sure we went to high ground.”

Grateful that her car had survived the disaster, Jodie continued: “As you can see there is mud everywhere, but the council has been amazing – the clean-up has been insane.”

Yet, venturing into a local shop, Jodie highlighted the desperate situation on its shelves. “We are on one week of no water… this is the reality of what the shops look like,” she added, showing that bottled water was now in extremely short supply.

Large tanker lorries on the back have been sent to the area. Other consequences have seen Jodie forced to travel to another neighbourhood to use a laundrette to wash her clothes, while her family have resorted to using paper plates and cutlery as they are unable to wash up. “It’s been an eventful week,” she summarised.

Meanwhile, a second Brit – Jade Gartshore – confessed she had been unable to shower for four days in her own clip recorded in Los Alcazares. Instead, she was forced to travel to a community centre for access to clean water.

“We are lucky enough that our neighbours in Cartagena are helping us with water and shower facilities!” she explained. “We’ve had news that in the storm it has damaged a system meaning that our water is contaminated, we have told that I can be anywhere up to five days without water. This is day four, today our water has been turned off to treat the water.”

Like Jodie, however, she was quick to praise the local authorities. “I have to say the councils have been absolutely fantastic, we have had updates every couple of hours from the mayors, even 3am!” she hailed. “I feel very grateful to be part of such a beautiful community even in a difficult time.”

Writing in response, another Brit commented: “Here in Sucina, the water is off possibly [for] 6 days. Just been in my pool for a swish off, getting plenty of notices about the situation and we have a water truck where we can fill our bottles up!”

Another holidaymaker shared their predicament: “We’re in San Pedro and it’s the same – we’ve booked a hotel in Pilar for the week to go back and forward to shower and wash clothes.”

Meanwhile, a third TikTok user from nearby La Torre chimed in: “We have been told tonight the water is now not usable for personal use. We’re now in the same boat. We’re all be washing in the Mar Menor [lagoon] soon.”

It comes after a tornado wreaked havoc in nearby Cartagena, Murcia, on Friday (October 10), leading to the evacuation of 67 people. Authorities issued a red alert in the area due to the storm, warning of “extraordinary danger”.

Pablo Gárriz, Director General of Emergencies and the Interior, expressed his concern at the time: “The situation that concerns us most right now is in those municipalities where we have identified the possibility of heavy rain, hence the orange alert.”

A MAJOR theme park that will transport visitors to previous decades is planned for one of the most-visited cities in the world.

Named RetroEscapes, the new theme park would be based in Las Vegas, America and claims it would be the world’s first retro theme park.

The attraction would be split into five lands, with each dedicated to a different decade – 1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s.

Then there would be an additional zone, that would allow a “glimpse into the unknown future“.

Once open, the theme park would include immersive attractions, rides, activities, dining, shopping and live entertainment – all themed around the five decades.

Social media influencer Daniel Leo Jr is behind the theme park which he has been working on with his father for the past seven years.

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Announcing the news on his Instagram, Danie-Leo Jr said: “When you enter the park, you will begin your journey through the time travel portal and then from there you will be transported back to the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s.

“The park will be anchored by the Fountain of Youth, that will feature a nightly firework and laser light show spectacle, that will celebrate the icons of American pop culture, through the decades.”

Little details about the theme park have been officially confirmed, but the company has released a lot of concept art revealing what could possible appear at the attraction.

In ‘The Fabulous 50s’ land, there would be ‘The King’ diner that appears to be a tribute to rock and roll legend Elvis Presley.

There would also be a ‘Monroe Cocktail Bar’ in this land, dedicated to icon Marilyn Monroe.

In this land, it looks like there will be a car water-based ride as well.

Heading onto ‘Peace & Love 60s’, the art shows there would be a ‘Yello Submarine Coffee House, perhaps as a tribute to The Beatles who rose to fame in the early 60s.

And the ‘Rocket Bar’ would be themed around the space race.

In the 70s land, there would be a ‘Twist and Shout’ restaurant and a ‘Disco Bar’.

Then for the 80s, decade icon Pac-Man will get its own bar.

For the 90s land, there will be a skate park area and a ‘Grunge’ area.

The futuristic zone looks like it would include lots of high-tech attractions.

Daniel-Leo Jr added: “RetroEscapes is being designed as a hybrid indoor/outdoor, multi-level park with cooling measures in place to ensure a comfortable experience year-round.

“We’re currently in active talks with land partners, the city/county, and strategic partners. It’s still too early to give an exact timeline, but updates will be shared as things progress.”

He also claimed that the park is being designed by PGV Destinations, the same company behind Ferrari World, Europe Park and Universal Studios Florida.

Despite not having a timeline, people are still getting excited with many taking to social media to express their love for the planned attraction.

One person said: “Can’t wait to watch this build out happen! Find me in the 90s era! Blockbuster and Pizza Hut, scrunchies and slap bracelets all day!”

Another commented: “Every millennials dream!”

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In other attraction news, a new theme park with world’s fastest and tallest rollercoaster is set to finally open this year.

Plus, a massive European theme park less than three hours from the UK has been named the best in the world – beating Disney and Universal.

SOUTHWEST Airlines has revealed its new cabin interior and the seats have been made to be extra comfy.

The budget airline says it has listened to travellers and improved facilities in its updated cabin like USB chargers and entertainment holders.

Southwest Airlines is the world’s biggest budget airline as it serves the largest number of routes around the world.

Now, it has revealed the new design onboard its Boeing 737 MAX 8 – the airline even took passenger feedback into account when creating the new cabin.

It has covered “employee perceptions of color, comfort, and aspirations for the overall onboard experience, and it’s meant to create a cabin environment that feels modern, welcoming, and uniquely Southwest.”

The airline added that its seats “are intuitively designed for ultimate comfort, while maximizing seat width and overall support”.

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The design should make for better lumbar support than the current seats on Southwest’s planes.

Along with a new seat design the cabin has bigger overhead lockers with space for 60 per cent more bags, USB-A and USB-C chargers at every seat and carpeting and lighting updates.

It even has a holder for electronic devices on the back of seats, and tray tables have inset drink holders on left and right.

On the plane are extra legroom rows which have been fitted ahead of the official launch of assigned seating from January 2026.

More than half of the carrier’s planes have now been fitted with extra legroom as of mid-October 2025.

So while economy seats have been fitted with extras, they aren’t any bigger. The pitch is 31″, while extra legroom seats have five inches more legroom.

Extra legroom seats also come with two free checked bags, early boarding, premium drinks and snacks, and free Wi-Fi.

Earlier this year, Chris Perry, a Southwest spokesperson, told USA TODAY: “We didn’t want to remove any seats from the planes so we pulled down an inch of pitch to accommodate the ELR [extra legroom] seating and stay at 175 seats” referring to the Boeing 737-800 and Max 8 planes

He added the airline’s 737-700s will each have six fewer seats after retrofits.  

Meanwhile, another airline has revealed its new cabin configuration which stops passengers in basic economy from fully reclining its seats.

WestJet announced it has had a “full cabin refresh” and introduced economy seating with a “fixed recline” to its Boeing 737-8 MAX and 737-800 aircraft.

WestJet explained that the reason for this is to “help preserve personal space”.

For passengers who do want to put their seats back, you can do so in premium – a new seating option which has been added to the aircraft.

The airline went on to add that the new seating options are good news for passengers as it will result in cheaper tickets.

It’s not uncommon for airlines to reduce the size of an economy pitch altogether.

This is because filling economy seats means that airlines can cover basic costs, whereas selling premium or first class tickets is where they make their money.

By reducing the size of economy seats, or even taking some out altogether, airlines have room to create more space for high-profit cabins.

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Here’s one major airline that has launched its first lie-flat beds in premium economy.

Plus, one of the world’s best airlines reveals plans to launch ‘game-changer’ new economy seats.

ANYONE seeking Christmas luxury can add a trip on this incredible train to your festive wish list.

For the seasonal period, the Northern Belle has launched three new offerings from exploring Edinburgh to wandering around Christmas markets, and indulging in dinner with all the twimmings.

From November 15 until December 20, the Northern Belle, is going all out for Christmas.

One of the experiences is for the ‘Christmas Lunch’ where guests are welcomed in style as a red carpet is laid across the platform.

Onboard there’s welcome Champagne and tasty canapés, once guests are settled into a comfortable armchair, they will be served a seven-course festive feast.

The sample menu includes a Scottish salmon roulade starter, roasted white onion potage and a turkey dinner.

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There’s a choice of three desserts; spiced apple and cranberry tart, dark chocolate and hazelnut delice, and a mandarin and gingerbread panna cotta.

To finish off the meal will be a seasonal dessert, cheeseboard and glass of Port.

Throughout the meal, live musicians will play festive tunes, and there’s even an onboard conjuror to entertain.

After the meal, passengers can relax with a Fortnum & Mason cup of tea and petite fours.

The Northern Belle is heading all over the country for the festive treat, and is heading to cities like Newcastle and York.

But it will also visit some market towns too. For example the journey from Norwich will also pick up passengers at Ipswich.

Heading up to Newcastle, the train will make two stops at Darlington and Durham.

On the journey to Preston, the train will make three initial stops at Chester, Liverpool and Wigan – but wherever you get on, the Northern Belle does a round-trip to each destination.

Tickets for Christmas lunch on the Northern Belle start at £395 and are available to book now.

The Northern Belle is known for its luxury experiences and was voted as being one of the best train trips in the world at the Conde Nast Traveller 2025 Readers’ Choice Awards.

The Northern Belle came in fifth place between the Glacier Express at number four and the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express at number six.

Other trips onboard the Northern Belle include Historic Edinburgh at Christmas.

The journey begins in Hull at 7.25AM where passengers can enjoy a three-course brunch with a Mimosa or Bloody Mary cocktail.

Passengers will journey up to Edinburgh where they will have five hours to explore the city.

On returning to the train, guests can indulge in a champagne reception that awaits before enjoying a six-course dinner with fine wine – the price for this starts at £495 per passenger.

The other Christmas offering is exploring York’s festive markets for passengers who hop on in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The journey involves the same cocktail and three-course brunch offering as the Edinburgh exploration and then free time will be exploring York and the markets.

On the return journey guests will again get to enjoy a six-course dinner – tickets start at £495pp.

Next year, the train is offering Mother’s Day Lunches onboard, Afternoon Tea, as well as trips to Cheltenham, Chatsworth House, the Sandringham Flower Show, Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Torquay.

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See if the Northern Belle will be making a stop at your local city or town for Christmas lunch…

Glasgow-Edinburgh: November 29

Liverpool-Crewe-Chester: December 4

Swansea-Cardiff: December 5

Norwich-Ipswich: December 12

London Victoria: December 13

Coventry-Birmingham: December 14

York-Doncaster-Sheffield: December 17

Darlington-Durham-Newcastle: December 18

Glasgow-Edinburgh: December 19

Manchester-Huddersfield-Leeds: December 20

Plus, check out what Assistant Travel Editor Sophie Swietochowski made of her journey on the Belmond British Pullman.

And Travel Reporter Cyann Fielding took a journey up to Scotland on the Caledonian Sleeper – here’s everything she got up to along the way.

Hedda Felin, boss of the Norwegian firm, has raised concerns about the rapid growth of the cruise industry and has issued a warning of what could happen if changes aren’t made

The cruise industry has to change or it faces being banned out of existence, the CEO of Hurtigruten has warned.

Hedda Felin, boss of the Norwegian firm, has raised concerns about the rapid growth of the cruise industry in an interview with the Mirror. She says more must be demanded of passengers visiting ports, while calling for dirty fuels to be scrapped to ease the significant environmental impact of the industry.

Hedda is particularly worried about the size of cruise ships and the burden their vast numbers of passengers are placing on coastal towns. If restrictions are not put in, anti-cruise ship protests such as those that have broken out in Barcelona and Venice will spread, she predicts.

“I am very concerned about the future. Local communities will react (if we don’t act). We will see more ‘cruise ships go home’ mentality. There will be no future if you don’t leave behind more than you take,” Hedda said.

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Hedda spoke to the Mirror at a moment of unprecedented growth in the cruise industry. This year, the world’s largest cruise ship set sail after the industry brought in just shy of $80 billion in a year. That figure will hit $171 billion by 2035, according to one study.

Norway, where Hurtigruten is based, has seen a 70% increase in cruise traffic since 2019 – growth that Hedda calls “kind of overwhelming”.

“I am concerned, I am worried for Norway. It is a long coast, but it has small communities. The communities are overwhelmed by the size of the cruise and the number of visits every day. Local communities are more and more skeptical. 5,000 passengers are trying to fit into villages of 300 people.”

A major gripe among those living and working in busy cruise ship ports is how little passengers spend. Often they visit for a short period of time, see the public sights and then return to their all-inclusive ship.

“We (Norwegians) as a nation demand too little of the visitors and how much they leave behind. There are so many things you could do easily. We could ban heavy oil fuel along the coast. (Hurtigruten) banned it 15 years ago. There could be more restrictions on NOx emissions.

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“Hurtigruten has chosen to only use local suppliers. We get the local expertise, as well as quality food and drink. It is possible to impose requirements that, for example, 30% of the supplies must come from the nation you’re visiting.

“We have our own seaweed farm, which we use to make protein for food, soup and socks. It is a huge contrast to all-inclusive, vacuum-packed food.”

Hedda argues that the issue isn’t about growth generally but the wrong kind. Hurtigruten’s fleet has grown from seven to 10 ships over the last two years. In the future, the CEO hopes it can become less environmentally damaging. She also backs size limits on future ships.

“We want to create the world’s most energy-efficient product, as close to zero as possible. We want energy-efficient sails, solar panels powered by the midnight sun. My dream is that it will be ready by 2030,” Hedda said.

“We, clearly, need to restrict and reduce the building and size of new ships. We do not need more of the big cruise ships. They need to be a completely different environmental standard. If we managed that, it can be a good way of travelling. It has to be local value creation. If growth continues, it will be some years and then it will be completely banned. It will meet huge resistance.”

Not everyone is so pessimistic about the future of the cruise industry, however. Jonny Peat, head of cruise for Advantage Travel Partnership, is enthusiastic about the growth predicted for the coming years.

“The most striking number is that less than 3% of the leisure travel market is made up of cruise passengers. We’ve not even scratched the surface.”

Right now, 37 million passengers set sail on cruise ships worldwide each year. By 2028, that will hit 42 million. “Despite the fact that some people think there are too many ships, leisure cruise liners make up 1% of the overall maritime industry. Cruise isn’t going anywhere,” Jonny said.

Both cruise ship size and total number have rocketed in recent years. According to a Transport & Environment report, the number of cruise ships has increased more than twentyfold, from only 21 in 1970 to 515 vessels today.

SET in the grounds of the Chatsworth Estate is a new hotel with cosy rooms and restaurant.

Not only is there the hotel to explore there’s also the Chatsworth stately home, garden, farmyard and woodland play area – plus, rooms are under £100 per night.

Chatsworth Escapes has opened a new hotel in the Peak District called The Hide.

It’s on the very edge of the Chatsworth Estate and is described as a place to “relax, reconnect and take advantage of the Peak District”.

The 25 rooms range from Cosy, to Comfortable, Spacious, Bunk and Accessible Rooms – and the rates start from £99 per night.

The cosy rooms come with a double or king size bed, power shower and free Wi-Fi, meanwhile the spacious or bunk rooms are more suited towards families.

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As for eating, The Hide serves up food throughout the day at The Hide Grill and Pizzeria from buffet breakfast to a Full English in the morning.

There’s also mains from fish and chips to beef and ale pie, burgers and steak which comes with skin-on fries and house pickles.

On Sundays, you can enjoy a roast at £18pp from Chatsworth Farm beef to rotisserie chicken, lamb and butternut squash wellington – each comes with roast potatoes, veggies and Yorkshire puddings.

In the summer months, the hotel opens up its outdoor pizza oven, BBQ and even has a fire pit for making s’mores.

Guests can enjoy direct access to the estate’s park moorland as well as entry to Chatsworth House, garden, farmyard and adventure playground.

As part of their stay, those staying at The Hide can add exclusive perks including multi-entry tickets to Chatsworth and private tours of the house when it is closed to the public.

The hotel is set on the grounds of Chatsworth House, it was built in the 1600s and is well-known for featuring as Pemberley in the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

It’s also appeared on the screen in The Duchess, The Wolfman, Peaky Blinders and Death Comes to Pemberley.

Also on the grounds is Chatsworth’s farmyard where families can meet the animals from pigs to horses, goats and guinea pigs.

There’s also the woodland adventure playground which has ladders, a climbing wall, tower and turrets.

It has a huge woodpecker model for playing on too with a zip wire, swings, and a giant sand play area.

The Hide is managed by Chatsworth Escapes who also run award-winning The Cavendish Hotel.

Earlier this year, The Cavendish Hotel bagged the number one spot for ‘Hotel of the Year’ from The Times.

And it won “best and brightest in British hospitality” in the AA Hospitality Awards.

In comparison to The Hide, The Cavendish Hotel has 28 rooms, two restaurants and incredible views of the Peak District.

Room rates start at £195 for a cosy double, to add on breakfast and dining experiences comes at an extra cost.

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For more stately home stays, here’s one with its own campsite right by the beach – and even Prince William and Kate Middleton are fans.

And check out the inside little-known historic property starring in huge Netflix movie with code-breaking playground and turtle skulls.

After having travelled across the UK for some weeks, American woman Amber Kacherian has shared four things about British hotel rooms that she found confusing or mind blowing

An American has shared the four things she found strange in her hotel room during her recent visit to the UK, but Brits soon came to explain the reasoning behind it all.

A woman named Amber Kacherian has taken to TikTok, where she has over one million followers, to share her experiences as she’s been travelling across the UK with some of her friends. While her viewers have loved watching her experiences, Brits have often taken to the comment sections of her videos after they were left confused by different things that differed to the way they do things in the USA.

In a recent video, Amber went on to share four things that she had found weird in one of the hotels she’d stayed in, but Brits soon came to explain the differences usually were for the better.

“Things in my British hotel that are weird to Americans,” she said at the start of her video, where she was seen standing in what appeared to be a standard hotel room.

No plug sockets in bathrooms

The first thing on her list was not having any sockets inside the bathroom.

“So the only outlet in this bathroom is just a small one for an electric shaver,” she explained.

Amber went on to say that she in particular had found this frustrating due to not being able to use the hair blow dryer or a curling or straighten iron when in the bathroom, as the closest plug was in the middle of the hotel room.

“Which begs the question, where do you plug in your hair styling tools?” she asked her viewers. “How do you do your hair with no mirror?”

Two flush buttons on the toilet

“Number two, no pun intended, two different buttons to flush the toilet,” Amber revealed as she showed the two flush buttons on the wall above the toilet.

She went on to explain that over every toilet, there are two buttons – a big one and a smaller one. She went on to explain that she’d assumed they are different depending on what you’re flushing.

“So, in America, there’s just one switch that flushes everything, We do not have two different flushes based on how much you just deposited into the toilet,” she explained. “Just one switch takes care of it all.”

Ground floor is not the same as first floor

For her third point, Amber went out of their hotel room to the lifts, where she showed the sign which had all the different floors of the building.

“The ground floor here is called zero instead of one. In America, we would call the ground floor the first floor,” she told her viewers. “And the floor above that would be the second floor.”

She went on to explain that when they had gotten their room number, which was on the first floor, they had found it confusing that they’d had to go up to the first floor, which is what they had considered the second floor, in order to find their rooms.

Light switches outside the bathroom

Next up, Amber expressed her confusion after finding that the light switches for the bathroom was located outside the bathroom door instead of inside the bathroom.

“Why do they put the light switch outside the bathroom?” she asked in confusion. “Because that means you could turn off the light on someone who’s in the bathroom while they’re in there.”

This sparked inspiration, as she was then seen running over to her friend’s room in order to turn the light to the bathroom off while he was in there.

While the American friend group had been left confused by these things, Brits soon took to the comment section to explain the reasoning behind some of these ‘weird‘ things.

“Yeah it’s against the law to have sockets in bathrooms because you know safety,” one person explained. Another person added: “Anything electrical that needs a 3 way British plug aren’t used where there is water and steam. Too dangerous…”

Someone else went on to say: “To be fair I’m not sure most of us understand the flushes. We just press something and hope for the best.”

Budget airline Ryanair has announced it is reducing capacity in another European hotspot this winter over a tax row with the German government – it comes after cuts to routes in Belgium and Spain

Ryanair has revealed plans to reduce its capacity in Germany this winter, following earlier route cuts in Spain and Belgium. The move will affect 24 routes across nine German airports, reducing the airline’s carrying capacity by 800,000 for the season.

The decision comes amid a tax dispute with the German Government. Ryanair is urging Germany’s transport minister to lower the costs of air travel in the country, claiming that current charges are reinforcing Lufthansa’s alleged “monopoly” in the region.

The Irish airline has warned the German government that it will relocate this cut capacity to other EU countries unless the 24% aviation tax increase introduced in May 2024 is reversed and air traffic control charges are reduced.

Speaking from Berlin, Ryanair’s CMO, Dara Brady, said: “It is very disappointing that the newly elected German Government has already failed to deliver on their commitment to reduce the regressive aviation tax and sky-high access costs which are crippling Germany’s aviation sector.

“As a result, Ryanair has been left with no choice but to reduce our Winter ’25 capacity by over 800,000 seats and cancel 24 routes across 9 high-cost German airports. This completely avoidable loss of connectivity will bring our capacity below Winter ’24 levels and will have a devastating impact on German connectivity, jobs, and tourism.”

The carrier told ministers that German air traffic will keep falling unless the nation becomes more competitive alongside other European destinations. But it also highlighted that if officials choose to slash costs, Ryanair could potentially double passenger numbers and generate more than 1,000 extra jobs across the country.

Ryanair’s reductions will affect the following airports, among others:

• Berlin
• Hamburg
• Memmingen
• Dortmund
• Dresden
• Leipzig

Germany transforms into a tourism magnet during winter months thanks to its famous Christmas markets. Plus the snow-covered landscapes of the Black Forest is an idyllic backdrop couples flock to for a cozy winter break.

Ryanair’s declaration follows shortly after it announced a 16% cut in its carrying capacity across Spain. Last month, the budget airline disclosed this was also down to a row over airport charges.

At the end of August, Ryanair slashed its operations to Brussels Airport by 6% citing “high” airport fees. CEO Michael O’Leary also confirmed the carrier wouldn’t be rolling out any expansion schemes in Belgium this winter because of the extra levies.

IT’S that time of year again where it’s cosy pub season – and one UK spot takes it to the next level with an extravagant Christmas display.

The Churchill Arms in Kensington, London may just be the most Christmassy pub in the country.

Each year it glows with over 22,000 lights over the festive period and is adorned with 80 Christmas trees.

This isn’t the most Christmas trees the pub has boasted, though – back in 2019 the pub featured 105 trees, which were dedicated to the NHS.

And if you head there on November 13 at 6pm you can watch the lights get switched on.

During the event, guests can grab some mulled wine and mince pies.

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The pub’s Christmas menu includes lots of Thai dishes such as Jungle Curry for £14, which features coconut milk and vegetables cooked in Thai herbs.

Alternatively, you can grab some chicken wings for £7.50.

For dessert, a classic apple pie will set you back just £5.25.

When it comes to having a tipple, you can expect everything a normal Fuller’s pub would have, including craft lager and seasonal ales.

During the period the pub’s tables are first-come, first-served and the restaurant is walk-in only.

The pub was built back in 1750, making it one of the older pubs in London.

Plus, the pub has even had some notable visitors, including Winston Churchill‘s grandparents – which ultimately led to the pub being called what it is today.

And inside guests can look up to the ceiling which is full of items from the world wars and lots of garlands.

On the walls there are evening newspapers, such as an old copy of the Daily Mail with the headline ‘Stalin Attacks Churchill’.

There are multiple different areas to explore too, including one section with lots of hanging plants and another cosy area with a fireplace.

Look out for a small plaque ’round the back of the pub as well, which is dedicated to Gary O’Brien who was the pub’s landlord for 32 years before retiring in 2017.

It isn’t just Christmas when the pub has a spectacular display either.

In the summer, the pub is known for its extravagant flower displays which have even resulted in the spot becoming a Chelsea Flower Show winner.

One recent visitor said: “Such an adorable spot.

“We grabbed two pints of some tasty raspberry cider just to try out the place and it was very busy on a midday Friday.”

Another added: “Cool Christmas lights, definitely gets you in the festive mood.”

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If you are looking for a pub to visit near you, then here are the UK’s best pubs which have been crowned in a huge awards list as finalists named.

Plus, there’s a unique pub with a real beach in central London.

The Entry Exit System (EES) was introduced on Sunday, which involves people from third-party countries such as the UK having their fingerprints registered and photograph taken to enter the Schengen area, which consists of 29 European countries, mainly in the EU

A last-minute change has been made to the rules set up to track travellers entering the EU.

On Sunday, the long-awaited Entry/Exit System (EES) went live. It requires individuals from third-party countries such as the UK to register their fingerprints and have their photograph taken to enter the Schengen area, which is made up of 29 European countries, primarily within the EU. For most UK travellers, the EES process will be carried out at foreign airports.

However, when it comes to Eurostar services from St Pancras, border checks are carried out by French officials in the UK, rather than in Paris.

When the Mirror was shown how the system would work prior to its launch, uncertainty surrounded one part of it – the questions travellers are required to answer.

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They are:

1. Do you have somewhere to stay?

2. Do you have a return ticket?

3. Do you have sufficient funds to support yourself during your stay?

4. Do you have medical insurance?

It remains unclear what the consequences are if passengers answer ‘no’ to any of those questions, or if they lie in their answers.

Now, it has been announced that passengers will not be asked those questions when travelling on the Eurostar from St Pancras.

A spokesperson for Eurostar told the Mirror: “Following constructive discussions with the French Ministry and our colleagues, we’re pleased to confirm that the questions will be technically removed from the kiosks during the initial six-month introduction phase of the new system.

“We welcome the pragmatic approach being taken by the French border authorities to help ensure a smoother experience for our customers during this transition period.”

This week Simon Lejeune, the chief safety and stations officer for the cross-Channel train operator, said that some passengers are being processed through the EES in as little as 50 seconds.

To facilitate the new demand, Eurostar has set up three areas at St Pancras, housing a total of 49 kiosks where pre-registration for EES can take place.

Mr Lejeune informed the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee that the process at the station is initially being handled solely by French border officers, and there have been “really good transaction times”.

He stated: “I was observing transaction times of 50 seconds. That’s for the full biometrics, as well as the passport check and the stamping for EES-eligible passengers.

“So quite encouraging, and that’s without the kiosks that do that pre-registration, which we’ll be introducing over the next few weeks.”

The pretty harbour town stuns throughout the year, but autumn could be the perfect season for a relaxed visit

Coastal lovers know the perfect spot for anyone seeking a quiet escape with peaceful walks and splendid views. For anyone who finds themselves near Cornwall, Fowey could offer an ideal autumn day out or staycation.

The pretty harbour town attracts visitors year-round, but there’s lots to charm autumn visitors, who might like to take in the atmospheric cobbled streets and less-crowded coastal walks with a hot chocolate in hand. Ruby’s Ice Cream, which offers ice cream shops in Cornwall, praised Fowey as an autumn destination in a recent social media video.

Taking to TikTok, @rubysicecreamshop shared a post titled: “7 reasons you should visit Fowey this Autumn.” The list read:

1. The artisanal shops and cafes2. The dining3. The ferry across to Polruan4. The hot chocolates5. The quiet coastal walks6. The bakeries7. The ice cream

Visit Cornwall describes Fowey as “perfect for exploring.” The tourism board’s website says: “Perched on the banks of a deep river, Fowey is a picturesque town overflowing with history.

“Dating back to medieval times, its narrow cobbled streets are now lined with Victorian and Edwardian buildings which cascade towards the water’s edge.

“Fowey’s natural deep-water harbour and sheltered waters established it as an important trading hub throughout the centuries for tin, copper and China clay – the latter of which is still exported from the area today.

“The town sits within the South Coast – Eastern National Landscape and is bordered by farmland, rugged coastline and pretty beaches. The meandering creeks of the river wind through ancient oak woodlands, making the area perfect for exploring.”

On TripAdvisor, the Fowey Estuary has hundreds of excellent ratings. One reviewer wrote: “Whenever we visit this part of Cornwall, we always try to get to visit Fowey. There are plenty of pubs, cafes, and restaurants to choose from, and a good selection of shops, including some local independents.

“We always make time to walk out to Readymoney Cove, and sometimes also St Catherine’s Fort, enjoying the views of the estuary along the way. There are toilets and a small beach shop at Readymoney Cove.”

Another visitor said: “What a delightful place. We parked at the top of the town and walked down. This is quite steep for anyone who may have difficulty walking. The lovely streets with quaint shops enable you to just meander down to the estuary. But you just have to buy some delicious Cornish pasties too.”

Someone else praised: “What a beautiful place, loads to do around the town with some of the best restaurants, great shops and fantastic views. Will be back again.” Another fan wrote: “Great place to unwind, and chill on the river. Fowey Town has a thriving mix of restaurants pubs and variety on entertainment to easily keep you there for a week.”

THE new EES is officially underway – and the new system has already been causing long wait times at certain airports.

Passengers at Brussels Airport have complained about waiting for up to three hours to get through border control this week.

One passenger spoke to The Brussels Times about her ordeal getting through border control at Brussels Airport claiming she waited for more than three hours.

Rebecca Wells who was travelling with a US passport, told the publication that the queue for those arriving outside of the EU was much longer than the one for EU passports.

She added: “There was nobody there to brief you or tell you what was going on.”

And when it came to the new EES system, it wasn’t used. Rebecca explained that her passport was “stamped like normal”.

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Despite there being a spot to take fingerprints, it wasn’t used.

Another disgruntled passenger took to social media taking a picture of the queue and remarked that just two out of the five customs booths were open during “peak time”.

However, another passenger who also spoke to The Brussels Times on an EU passport said it was “all digital” and she had no issues going through.

When The Brussels Times approached Brussels Airport for comment, they could not confirm whether the long wait times were due to the EES system.

A spokesperson for the Federal Police, which is responsible for the airport’s border control, told the publication that the long wait time was due to “a combination of factors”.

The new EES rules began the first phase of the rollout on October 12, 2025.

For travellers, it means having fingerprints scanned and photo taken at European borders.

The new system is being rolled out across Europe gradually and is set to be completely operational at all external Schengen border crossings by April 10, 2026.

At Dover, the new EES is required by coach drivers and won’t apply to other passengers until November 1.

Meanwhile, Eurostar has started with just business travellers, and the Eurotunnel will begin with coaches and lorries before moving to cars.

The first time you travel and will be required to use the EES system, you’ll need to register at a special machine called a kiosk.

You’ll scan your passport, then the machine will take your fingerprints and a photo.

Kids under 12 will not need to give fingerprints.

You will also answer four quick questions on the screen about your trip, such as where you are staying and confirming you have enough money for your holiday.

Once registered, your details are stored for three years, and on future trips, you’ll just need a quick face scan to verify it is you.

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Here’s more on the new EES rules and how it will affect your travels.

And here’s more information on the ETIAS – set to be in place from late 2026.

Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane has expressed interest in running trains between London and Paris with a stop in the southeastern county of Kent, meaning an extra direct train route to Europe

A new train service would provide a second direct route from the UK to Europe.

At the moment, if you want to get from the UK to Europe by train (and you aren’t in your own vehicle), the only option is to go on the Eurostar from St Pancras International in London.

Eurostar trains used to make stops in Kent, but service was halted in 2020. Services stopped operating at Ashford International and Ebbsfleet International because of the coronavirus pandemic, but they never returned when international travel did.

Earlier this year, Eurostar said just 4% of passengers travelled from Ashford, or Ebbsfleet, which is also in Kent. At peak times, it says there were 50 passengers from Ashford on each 900-seat train.

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That hasn’t stopped the Kentish people from expressing their dismay at the scrapped service. Around 80,000 of them have signed a petition to get their European link back. Jean-Claude Cothias, a Frenchman who moved to Ashford due to its connections with the Continent, has even considered leaving the town now that Eurostar doesn’t stop there.

“That connection, if it’s not there, it is hugely detrimental to the economic environment in the town and to its attractiveness,” he told the BBC.

It seems that their protests have worked. Italian operator Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane has expressed interest in running trains between London and Paris with a stop in the southeastern county.

The competitor is one of several train companies competing to run a cross-Channel route. Its plans include a £1 billion investment into the British economy, and the construction of an ‘innovation hub’ at Ashford station, according to the Times.

Virgin, German-owned organisation Deutsche Bahn, and startup Evolyn have been gearing up to make bids for access to the Channel Tunnel.

A Virgin Group spokesperson said: “Virgin is talking to Kent County Council and other stakeholders about stopping at both Ebbsfleet and Ashford as it set out in its ORR submission. Reopening the stations to be able to accommodate international services requires commitment and resources from all parties and potential competitors involved – but if the stations are opened, Virgin will stop in Kent.”

In January Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was “keen” to see international services reinstated to Ashford “as soon as possible”, when responding to Ashford MP Sojan Joseph’s question in the House of Commons. Like Ashford and Ebbsfleet, Eurostar no longer stops at Calais’s international station – Calais Frethun.

Ashford Borough Council invested £25m for the infrastructure of the town’s international station, which opened in 1996. It also spent £8.5m more to upgrade signalling in 2020, so newer Eurostar trains could access the station.

Council leader Noel Ovenden has been a vocal critic of both Ashford International and Ebbsfleet stations lying unused by direct European services. “We want it open now, not in another five years. We need to keep banging the drum, louder and louder, and push hard to get this station reopened,” he told the BBC.

UNIVERSAL has revealed further plans for yet another theme park which is due to open next year.

Set to open in Texas, America, Universal Kid’s Resort will be solely focused on children’s attractions.

The park will feature seven lands in total, all based on popular children’s shows and stories.

The lands will include Shrek’s Swamp, Puss in Boots Del Mar, Minions vs Minions: Bello Bay Club, Jurassic World Adventure Camp, TrollsFest, SpongeBob SquarePants Bikini Bottom and Isle of Curiosity.

Visitors will enter through the Isle of Curiosity where they will be able to meet Gabby from Gabby’s Dollhouse and enjoy a dance party together.

Then in Shrek’s world, which Universal describes as a “waterlogged paradise”, guests will be able to meet Shrek and Fiona, as well as grab a photo at the onion carriage.

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The land will have two interactive play areas as well – Shrek’s Swamp Rompin’ Stomp and Shrek’s Swamp Splash & Smash.

For kids who prefer Puss in Boots, they can meet the character themselves as well as Mama Luna and Perrito from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

The land will also have a series of carnival-themed games and concept arts suggest there will be a swing carousel.

One of the main attractions in the Minions land, where Yellow Minions battle Purple ones, will be a water ride that snakes around the world.

Onlookers can participate in the fun too, by using water pistols to spray those on the ride.

Aspiring paleontologists will get the opportunity to see a newly hatched baby dinosaur in the Jurassic World Adventure Camp as well as climb up Lookout Towers in a play area.

Concept art also reveals a rollercoaster and drop tower ride.

In the Trolls land, visitors can once again meet characters such as Poppy and Branch and experience two play areas – Poppy’s Playland and Trolls Critter Crawl.

In addition, some of the concept art shows that the land may also have a rollercoaster, hot air balloon-themed ride and a netted climbing area.

Heading ‘undersea’ to SpongeBob’s land, kids can head to Mussel Beach and also see SpongeBob’s iconic pineapple house.

Across the park, there will be multiple sensory gardens with different touch, sound and colour attractions as well.

For families looking to stay close-by, the theme park will have a colourfully-themed 300-room hotel.

Molly Murphy, president of Universal Creative said: “Universal Kids Resort embodies the spirit of igniting thrill that drives everything we create — designed to bring our youngest guests and families together through play, creativity, and beloved characters and stories.”

Brian Robinson, executive vice president and chief creative officer at Universal Creative said: “We envisioned this park through the unbridled creativity of kids where infinite imagination, curiosity and free-spirited play were core to our design philosophies.

“It produced a park that’s pure joy and an absolute celebration of what it is to be a kid.”

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In other family attraction news, a new theme park with world’s fastest and tallest rollercoaster to finally open this year.

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THE NEW series of The Traitors is in full swing backstabbing and scheming amongst popular celebs for the very first time.

But where exactly is the famous castle? Well, you’ll find it on the outskirts of this very quiet Scottish town.

Called Alness, the Scottish town in the Highlands is home to just under 6,000 residents and is slightly inland of Cromarty Firth.

It’s not overly well-known, but millions have seen its nearby Ardross Castle on-screen as it stars on The Traitors.

The 19th-century building sits on the outskirts of the town set in formal gardens and over 100 acres of parkland.

As for Alness, the Highland Guide describes it as a ‘charming highland town’ known for its “friendly community, and scenic beauty”.

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In fact, Alness stop on the North Coast 500 (NC500) route – a popular 516-mile scenic road trip in the Scottish Highlands.

Around Alness you get great views as it’s close to the Cnoc Fyrish hill, and the Cromarty Firth which is home to seals and bottlenose dolphins.

One of the best views is up near the Fyrish Monument, a stone ruin high up on the hillside that overlooks the Cromarty Firth.

For anyone driving through on the NC500, or visiting, make sure to make Dalmore Distillery one of your stops.

It’s one of Scotland’s most famous whisky producers and Dalmore Distillery has been making single malt Scotch whisky since 1839.

The site has said it will re-open to visitors in 2026 with a “new experience” for whisky enthusiasts.

Very near the distillery is Dalmore Farm Shop & Restaurant, the town’s locally run farm where you can pop in for a bite to eat.

The farm shop won a Travellers‘ Choice Award in 2025 for its consistently high reviews, particularly for its cakes.

But they also serve up breakfast from eggs benedict and the ‘breakfast stack’ to lunch, like steak flatbread to scampi and chips.

For anyone wanting to hunker town in Alness, the two hotels on the high street are the Commercial Hotel with rooms from £80 per night.

Or at the other end of the high street is the larger Station Hotel with big rooms around £110 per night, and there’s a pub underneath.

Nearer to Ardross Castle is the Kildermorie Estate, a traditional Scottish Highland Estate open throughout the year.

It’s around 19,000 acres with plenty to do for those looking for activities from fishing in the lochs to bird watching and hiking up the Carn Chuinneagh mountain.

There’s accommodation on the estate too from cottages that sleep two to the lodge that can host up to 20 guests.

As for Ardross Castle, it’s sadly not open to visitors.

But if you’re up for a hike, some fans of the show have said you can get views of the front of the castle across the valley at Wester Lealty.

Others say you can hike along the coastal path where you can spot the castle in the distance.

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Here are 7 castles you can stay in to feel like you’re on The Traitors…

Leasowe Castle
Leasowe Castle is nestled along the Wirral seaside and is a 15 minute drive from Liverpool city centre. The castle has basic twin, double and master bedrooms with four-poster beds. It also has suites in the castle including one in the tower and one in the turret. Historically, Leasowe dates back to the 16th century, and has a unique octagonal tower.

Tulloch Castle Hotel

Tulloch Castle is a 12th-century-castle set against the landscape of the Highlands of Scotland, and is a five-minute drive away from Dingwall. The hotel is dog friendly, and nature fans can explore the North Coast 500 route too. The castle retains many of its period features, including the 250-year old panelled entrance hall, and restored original fireplaces and ceilings.

Castle Bromwich Hall

Castle Bromwich Hall really gives off Traitors vibes thanks to its gothic appearance. The mansion on the outskirts of Birmingham is a Grade I listed building and has retained many original features from the 1700s, including the huge entrance hall and grand staircase. The bedrooms are kitted out with traditional looking furniture, from four poster beds to chandeliers and claw foot bath tubs. You can even stay in their ‘Bridal Suite’ which was used in by Queen Elizabeth I.

Cave Castle Hotel

Cave Castle Hotel has over 350 years of history with original turrets and stone features. The huge castle in Hull has 71 rooms, some with four-poster beds and modern features in the newer wings. Cave Castle also has offers like Galentines, which for a girls night away includes Prosecco on arrival and treatments at the spa. The hotel has got ratings of 4 out of 5 on Tripadvisor with guests “impressed” by the “spectacular” building and “picturesque” grounds.

Walworth Castle
Walworth Castle, in the Tees Valley countryside, dates back to 1189, and is set in 18 acres of lawns and woodlands. It’s a good choice for anyone who has an interest in the paranormal as the castle its said to be haunted, with murder mystery evenings too. They offer four poster tower suites with double Jacuzzi baths as well as an also an award winning restaurant and farmers bar.

Lumley Castle Hotel

Surrounded by parklands and overlooking the River Wear is the Lumley Castle Hotel in County Durham. Lumley Castle Hotel was built in 1388 and converted into a hotel in 1976. The most impressive room is the King James Suite which has a 20ft high four-poster bed, its own reception room and Jacuzzi bath.

Ruthin Castle Hotel and Spa

The four star castle hotel is found within the Clwydian Range in North Wales and has been dubbed “romantic” by guests. Ruthin Castle has rooms from standard to deluxe suites as well as on-site spa with mud room, woodland hot tubs and massages, body scrubs and facials. Guests on Tripadvisor were particularly impressed with the gardens and the “peacocks on the grounds”. They also have garden games like croquet and giant chess.

Here’s more on the Scottish Highlands from one Sun Writer who went on the UK road trip that felt more like New Zealand – with white sand beaches, rugged mountains & magical islands.

And another stayed in a historical former monastery in Scotland that felt like something from Harry Potter.

Kilian Jornet, one of the world’s most accomplished mountaineers, did something this month that left even other elite athletes gasping: He climbed all 72 summits in the contiguous United States that stand over 14,000 feet tall.

In 31 days.

That’s like climbing California’s Mt. Whitney — the nation’s tallest mountain outside of Alaska — two-and-a-half times per day, every day, for a month.

But reaching so many summits, so quickly, was only half the battle. In fact, it was “the fun part,” a surprisingly rested-looking Jornet said in a Zoom interview from Seattle earlier this month, three days after summiting Mt. Rainier in knee-deep snow to complete the grueling journey, which he started in early September.

The hard part was negotiating the spaces in between.

Spanish mountaineer Kilian Jornet treks through the Sierra Nevada range known as the Normans 13, which connects 13 summits over 14,000 feet.

(Andy Cochrane)

“If you’re driving, you see the landscape,” Jornet explained. “But you don’t feel it.”

OK, how do you feel it?

By running the hundreds of miles of remote mountain ridges, and biking the thousands of miles of desolate highway, that separate the towering summits scattered across Colorado, California and Washington.

In total, Jornet covered 3,198 miles under his own power. He biked 2,568 miles. He ran 629 miles. He climbed 403,638 vertical feet.

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Tommy Caldwell, arguably the best technical rock climber of his generation and the first to climb Yosemite’s nearly impossible Dawn Wall, followed Jornet’s progress on Instagram. When the Spaniard finished, Caldwell posted, “my mind is officially blown.”

Like many elite climbers, Jornet, 37, slips into a stoic, been-there-done-that voice when describing mountain conditions that would terrify mere mortals. But he broke character, briefly, talking about climbing the summit of Mt. Shasta in Northern California.

As often happens on that free-standing volcano, a howling gale struck just as Jornet approached the 14,162-foot summit.

Shaky video shot by a climbing partner shows Jornet’s trekking poles flailing and his feet sliding around on the ice as he struggles — and fails — to remain upright in what sounds like a hurricane.

“It was crazy,” he conceded, “probably the windiest day I have ever had in the mountains.”

Asked why, exactly, he puts himself through so much agony, he snapped back into aw-shucks mode. He sank into his comfy seat, smiled with the confidence of a man who has parried that question a thousand times, and said:

“Why not?”

Spanish mountaineer Kilian Jornet climbed 72 summits over 14,000 feet in the contiguous U.S. in 31 days.

(Nick Danielson)

In an age saturated with professional outdoor athletes competing for social media attention and lucrative sponsorships — and in a world where the most iconic summits have been climbed, the biggest waves have been surfed and the wildest rivers have been run — one fashionable way to stand out is by setting a fastest known time, or “FKT.”

Jornet’s jaunt over and between those 72 summits, which he dubbed “States of Elevation” and gorgeously documented for his 1.8 million followers on Instagram, was, by all accounts, the fastest known time. It was also the only known time. Apparently, nobody else has tried to link all of those summits together in a single, human-powered push.

“Yes, it’s hard,” Jornet said with a laugh when asked if the constant, grinding pain was worth it. But after a while, “you get used to the discomfort, it’s just part of it, it doesn’t really bother you.”

The finale of Jornet’s 72-peak feat was a 14,441-foot volcano covered with glaciers, one of the broadest and most visually imposing mountains on the planet. Few people even attempt to climb Mt. Rainier this time of year because the weather can be so brutal.

As Jornet pedaled closer to the peak, it started to rain down in the flats, so he knew that meant snow on the mountain.

Crossing the glaciers with their immense, yawning crevasses hidden by fresh snow would have been too dangerous, so Jornet chose a steep and challenging rock route known as Success Cleaver. But even that was buried in knee-deep snow.

After summiting Mt. Rainier, Jornet posted that his U.S. journey was, “never about just the numbers, but rather a deep connection to wild places, and true test of resilience in body and mind.”

Anyone else claiming that might have been met with eye rolls, but Jornet is one of the few outdoor athletes who probably doesn’t need to pad his resume: He cemented his legacy as one of the all-time greats long ago.

Spanish mountaineer Kilian Jornet hikes in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado in September.

(Nick Danielson)

Born just outside of Barcelona in 1987, he grew up in a ski area in the Pyrenees where his father was a mountain guide. He climbed his first mountain over 10,000 feet when he was 5.

At 20, he won the first of six titles in the Sky Runner World Series, an international competition consisting of long, high-altitude foot races that test speed and endurance on steep mountainsides.

At 26, he set FKTs for climbing Switzerland’s Matterhorn and France’s Mont Blanc, the tallest mountain in Western Europe. A year later, he broke the speed record climbing the bitterly cold and deadly Denali, in Alaska, the tallest mountain in North America.

A few years after that, he climbed Mt. Everest twice in one week without supplemental oxygen.

In addition to all of the technical mountaineering, Jornet has been one of the most successful ultramarathoners in history, winning the prestigious Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc, a 100-mile race through the Alps, four times.

After his early career dominating distance races in relatively cold climates, Jornet showed up at Northern California’s Western States ultramarathon in 2010. It’s a 100-mile race that starts near the shore of Lake Tahoe and descends to the Sacramento suburbs in late June, when the sun and temperatures can be unforgiving.

He was comically unprepared. “I didn’t do any heat training,” Jornet recalled, “so when I arrived I was like, ‘Should I have brought water for this race?’” Still, he came in third, then returned the next year to win.

In June, he went back to the Western States 100 for the first time in 14 years. The event has evolved since then: The field is fitter and more professional. But even at his relatively advanced age, Jornet came in third, dropping more than an hour off his winning time in 2011.

Back then, he relied mostly on raw talent, Jornet said. “I train much better now, I know I need to prepare specifically and put in the work.”

But does he ever just kick back and spend a weekend sprawled on the couch, a remote in one hand and a bowl of ice cream in the other?

“For me, that’s not relaxing,” he said, recalling the time he and his wife, Emelie Forsberg, also a world champion runner and skier, tried to take a normal vacation.

They had just completed a race on Reunion Island, off the coast of Madagascar, when they decided to spend a week on the nearby tropical island of Mauritius.

“We said we’d just sit on the beach and read books, and that’s all,” Jornet said. But by the end of the first day they looked at each other and wondered if they should change their flight to get back to running and skiing in the mountains. “It was like, yes, yes, yes for both of us,” Jornet said.

Spanish mountaineer Kilian Jornet in the Sierra Nevada range known as the Normans 13, which connects 13 summits over 14,000 feet.

(Andy Cochrane)

After years living in Chamonix, France, a hard-partying resort in the Alps regarded as the mountain sports capital of the world, Jornet and Forsberg moved to a house by a remote fjord in Norway. It’s a quiet place to raise their three young children, grow their own vegetables and train in the surrounding mountains, some of which have no names.

“Sometimes when you’re climbing Everest, or Mont Blanc, or Mt. Whitney, it’s like you’re climbing the famous name,” Jornet said. As he matures, he prefers climbing mountains simply “because they’re beautiful.”

But he still craves big challenges.

Last year, he climbed all 82 summits in the Alps over 4,000 meters (13,123 feet) in 19 days, traveling the 750 miles between them on foot and bicycle.

“This was, without any doubt, the most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my life, mentally, physically, and technically,” he wrote on social media. “But also maybe the most beautiful.”

That got him thinking even bigger, trying to imagine the most “aesthetic line” for a similar expedition in the United States.

After landing in Denver last month, he went straight to the trailhead for 14,256-foot Longs Peak. “But I really felt like crap,” he said, blaming a combination of jet lag and the air being so much drier in Colorado than in Norway.

For the first week, he wondered if he should just quit. But then, somewhere along the way, his body switched, “from fighting to adapting,” and he settled into a comfortable rhythm.

After summiting 56 mountains in Colorado, Jornet hopped on his bike and pedaled 900 miles to California, where 15 more high peaks awaited. At times, the headwind was so brutal he slowed to a maddening crawl, even when going downhill.

He’d also lost 10 pounds in the mountains and, at 5’7” and about 130 pounds, his slender frame has nothing to spare. So he spent much of his time on the bike shoveling calories — even spiking his water bottles with generous helpings of olive oil — to replace lost fat.

His long slog on the bike ended in Lone Pine, a dusty town four hours north of Los Angeles, where the Eastern Sierra rise 10,000 feet, like a solid granite wall, from the desert floor.

Jornet had covered nearly 200 miles that day, and faced a 6,000-foot climb to the Cottonwood Lakes trailhead, where he would sleep before starting the toughest part of the whole trip.

The road up to Cottonwood Lakes is 23 miles of harrowing switchbacks, with vertigo-inducing views of the valley below at almost every turn. The drive, alone, freaks out a lot of people.

“It was cool that I arrived there in the dark,” Jornet said, undaunted by the prospect of pedaling off the side of a cliff. “Nice to do the climb when it wasn’t so hot.”

The next morning he started running “Norman’s 13” — a baker’s dozen of 14,000-foot summits along the Sierra Crest between Lone Pine and Bishop, the most remote and punishing alpine terrain in California. He made astonishing time: cruising over 14,032-foot Mt. Langley and 14,505-froot Mt. Whitney like they were speed bumps.

But for all their imposing altitude, the standard routes up Langley and Whitney don’t require any special skills, they’re just long hiking trails with very little exposure to deadly falls. Things changed when Jornet reached a section called the Palisades Traverse, just up the hill from Big Pine.

There, a ridge of jagged granite rises like an upside down saw’s blade over one of the last remaining glaciers in California. There are no hiking trails, just daunting towers of shattered and jumbled rock, where seemingly any misstep can lead to a thousand-foot fall.

Only the most committed mountaineers go there, and they tend to take their time, waiting for good weather and climbing with ropes and harnesses.

But when you’re on a mission like Jornet’s, you don’t get to “choose your weather,” he said. You just start and then you’re committed, you have to take what comes.

What came the day he reached the traverse was a surprising, early-season blizzard. It covered the usually reliable, grippy granite with about 4 inches of snow and ice. The storm made climbing “more complicated,” Jornet said, and more miserable.

It was cold and “I was completely soaked,” Jornet said. But with the help of Matt Cornell, a well-known climber from Bishop, he was able to keep going and finish the 100 miles of Norman’s 13 in 56 hours, shaving more than 19 hours off the previous record.

He only slept once during that span, he said, for about an hour and a half, lying in the middle of a trail.

When speed climbing over peaks, Jornet traveled light, carrying only the bare essentials to stay nourished and protected from the weather.

When possible, he was accompanied by photographers and videographers, most of whom had to be exceptional athletes to keep up.

He also stayed in contact with his press team and social media producers, and he sometimes slept in a support RV at the trailheads.

But after the frigid Palisades Traverse he indulged in a bit of luxury, pizza and a glorious night in a hotel bed in Bishop. The next morning, he hiked 14,252-foot White Mountain and then hopped on the bike for the 500-mile ride to the unexpected ordeal that awaited him on Mt. Shasta.

Having survived that with no serious damage, he biked through Oregon, finally with a tailwind, and then surmounted Mt. Rainier.

When he finally descended, instead of popping champagne in front of cameras and an adoring crowd, he and a few close friends spent a quiet night in an RV, swapping stories from the road and sharing shots of pickle juice — an inside joke that started somewhere during the trip.

“I’m not a big celebration guy,” Jornet explained.

He wouldn’t say what his next project will be, but several times he returned to the idea of climbing without crowds or fanfare.

“I do these things because I love them, because they bring me joy and happiness, not because I think they’re very important.”

One place he can sit quietly is at home in Norway, looking out the window, across the fjord to the nameless, snowcapped mountains in the distance.

He lets his eyes linger on their faces, settling on pretty lines to climb up or ski down.

Are you eating out less? Is it starting to feel like a sit-down dinner, even at a casual restaurant, can set you back what you might have paid for a big celebratory meal not too long ago?

Daytime is one thing, with lunch deals or happy hour discounts coaxing more consumers out for a bite. But at prime dinnertime lately, getting the check can come with sticker shock.

Industry trends show diners are getting more selective about dining out as inflation worries wallop U.S. consumers. In a 2025 survey from global accounting firm KPMG, 85% of respondents said they are eating at home more often to save money due to budget limitations. As a result, U.S. restaurants and bars saw one of the weakest six-month periods of sales growth during the first half of 2025 — even weaker than during the COVID pandemic when lockdown orders were in place, according to a CNN analysis of Commerce Department data.

In Los Angeles, the added factors of the 2025 wildfires, ICE raids, and rising rental and labor costs make the trend feel especially acute.

But with a little strategy, it’s more than possible to have a standout meal at some of L.A.’s most exciting haunts right now without breaking your budget. For this guide, the Food team challenged ourselves to find 50 L.A. restaurants where you can dine for $50 or less per person, including tax and tip.

A nice dinner out translates differently for everyone, so we set a few parameters before beginning our search:

• The pre-tax total should be no more than $38 per person, in order to account for a roughly 10% sales tax and 20% tip. Sometimes it needs to be even less if a restaurant includes a mandatory service fee.
• The restaurant doesn’t have to offer table service, but there must be seating available to enjoy your food on-site.
• It must be open until at least 9 p.m.
• You must be able to order at least two menu items, whether that’s a starter and a main, an entree and a dessert, or a large plate and a cocktail.

The final list ranges from places ranked on The Times’ annual 101 Best Restaurants guide that require specific hacks to stay within budget, to more casual options where $50 lets you sample a wide swath of the menu. And just in case you’re bringing a date or a friend, we share suggestions for how to approach this challenge as a duo.

Note that the prices outlined below are accurate as of our most recent visits but may change based on which location you visit, whether you’re ordering in person, for pickup or delivery and other factors.

A seasoned globetrotter has visited more than 90 countries and has one ‘soulless spot’ he has no desire to revisit – and its not just the culture that has put him off

A well-travelled explorer who has visited more than 90 nations spanning six continents has revealed which region he considers his worst destination.

Gabriel Morris, a globe-trotting YouTube content creator, has spent over three decades travelling the world.

To be precise, Gabriel has visited “97 United Nations member states plus the three disputed countries of Kosovo, Northern Cyprus, and Taiwan which do not have UN member status.”

Yet, there’s one ‘soulless spot’ from his vast travels that he has pledged never to return to.

With 613,000 subscribers on YouTube, Gabriel’s travel content regularly garners substantial attention and engagement from fellow explorers and enthusiasts keen to learn about his adventures, reports the Express.

In his latest video titled ‘I’ve Been to 100 Countries – Which Place is the Worst?’, the YouTuber revealed that the Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf) ranks as the most disappointing location he’s experienced.

Speaking to his viewers, Gabriel explained: “I’ve seen a fair amount of the world and many of those countries I’ve been to over and over and travelled around a lot. I’ll just tell you at the beginning here, my least favourite part of the world is the Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf).”

It’s worth noting Iran refers to it as the Persian Gulf, whilst the nations situated on the southern and western shores of the Gulf call it the Arabian Gulf.

So, why does Gabriel find the Persian Gulf region less appealing?

The content creator explains: “Now, I haven’t been to Iran, and Iran looks absolutely incredible. And so I’m not including Iran in this. I don’t know that along the Persian Gulf there is anything especially nice to see there.”

Gabriel has travelled to countless destinations around the Persian Gulf, including Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh and Jeddah, where he rented a vehicle for a day to explore beyond the urban limits, plus Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, encompassing Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Yet none of these destinations particularly enchanted him.

He said: “There’s a little bit more to see in the desert outside of the cities, but not very much. Mostly it’s just flat desert. Basically, I am thinking of the main cities on the Persian Gulf, and then including the cities of Saudi Arabia, which aren’t near the Persian Gulf but do border it. I just find these cities to be devoid of anything particularly interesting as a traveller. I find them to be very boring and stale.

“The streets are practically empty of people other than those in their cars. You don’t get the bustling, busy marketplace experience. All of those cities are built in a very similar style of massive skyscrapers. It makes for an impressive skyline, but then you get there on the ground and it’s big, wide streets that can be almost impossible to cross. There’s lots of traffic, massive distances, and not really anything that I want to do there. You can go in malls, you can go to some restaurants. Alcohol is banned for the most part, so that’s another drawback.”

Branding them as “soulless”, Gabriel added: “I just find them to be kind of soulless and not unique in any way. You could drop me in any one of those cities and not tell me which one it is, and unless you had a view of, say, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai or some particular landmark, if you were in a typical neighbourhood you couldn’t distinguish it from any of the others. They’re all built exactly the same and just super boring. Now, they aren’t bad places to live necessarily or to raise a family. They are safe, they’re clean, and they’re hassle-free. There’s no hustling, scams, or anything really to worry about.”

Apart from Qatar and Dubai, which Gabriel ranks as his top two destinations respectively, Gabriel reckons that of all the places around the world, he has “no desire to go back to that part of the world”, though he admits the culture is “certainly fine”.

Nevertheless, Gabriel thinks there’s another problem at hand.

He explained: “Most of the people you’re going to interact with aren’t even the local Saudis, Emiratis, Qataris, Kuwaitis, or Bahrainis, because the local populations in all those countries are actually a minority. The majority of people you’ll encounter are workers from South Asia – Indians, Pakistanis, lots of Bangladeshis – who are working in restaurants, malls, hotels, and other service positions.

“The locals, as I understand it, receive paychecks from oil revenue and don’t really have to work, at least not in the typical service jobs. Maybe that’s not true in every country, but in general, if they are working, it’s more likely to be in business or professional roles, so you’re unlikely to interact with them as a visitor. That’s just one more thing that makes the experience feel kind of watered down – you don’t really get much of a local cultural experience. So, it’s nothing personal against the people,” Gabriel concludes. The digital creator had a rather unnerving encounter in Kuwait City when he was stopped and questioned for filming.

Recalling the incident, Gabriel shared: “I think it was in Kuwait City where I got questioned for filming. I was filming near one of the palaces – or something like that – and I had made a point of not filming one particular place that I thought could be a problem.

“But then I started filming something else, and a security guard waved me over. At that point, you definitely don’t want to run or try to avoid them, because that just makes things worse. So I walked over, and I believe he spoke English. He asked me what I was filming for, asked a few questions, and then let me go. But despite the relatively harmless outcome, it was still a very harrowing experience in the moment – being questioned by an authority figure without knowing how it’s going to play out.”

Reflecting on the potential outcomes of the encounter, Gabriel added: “They could easily say, “I want you to talk to my superior,” and then you’re being taken into some office where they’re suspicious of you and start asking more questions. It’s always a pretty traumatic experience, and it basically makes you want to leave. That’s exactly how I felt afterward-I just hoped I could get out of there without any more hassle. So that was one more drawback.”