Europe

Looking for a summer holiday? There are plenty of trips here for you :-)

Aberdeen

Scotland

Shetland Islands

Kirkwall

United Kingdom

Glasgow

Campbeltown

Barra

Tiree

Belfast City

Northern Ireland

Inverness

Exeter

England

Jersey

Bristol

East Midlands

Shetland Islands, Stornoway, Jersey, and more 🏞️ in £80s-£190s rtn 

Copenhagen

Denmark

Edinburgh

Berlin

Germany

Billund

Bucharest

Romania

May public holiday trips 🌻 at €59-€76 rtn from Billund and Copenhagen

Non-stop long weekends over peak dates? This has got everything!

Dublin

Ireland

Inverness ⛰️ to Dublin ☘️ & vice versa in £150s-£180s/€180s-€190s rtn

Bournemouth

Alicante

Forget everything you thought you knew about a good time, because Spain is here to show you how it’s really done.
So, why visit Spain? Well, for starters, the Spanish food is legendary. We’re talking about diving headfirst into world-famous tapas and stuffing yourself silly with paella until you need a mandatory post-lunch siesta. But it's not just about the incredible cuisine; it’s a whole vibe. The sun-drenched streets, the impromptu guitar music wafting from a bar, the late-night dinners that make your 9 PM reservation back home look like breakfast—it’s all part of the glorious, chaotic cultural heritage. If you're looking for a destination where the default setting is fiesta, this is it.
One minute you could be sipping sangria while lounging on some of the Mediterranean’s best beaches in Spain, and the next you’re exploring historic sites that look like they’ve been pulled straight from a fantasy novel—think the whimsical architecture of Barcelona or the Moorish marvels of Andalusia. From the buzzing city life to the quiet, rugged mountains, Spain offers such insane variety it’s practically showing off. And it doesn't have to break the bank either, since our Flights make affordable travel to Spain a reality.

Spain

If you're looking for a destination where the default settings are fiesta and siesta, Spain is the one. You're in for legendary food, charming, sun-drenched streets, and mind-blowing architecture, and that's before you even hit the beach.

Birmingham

Beauvais

France

Madrid

Prague

Czech Republic

May bank holiday trips 🌹 at £31-£72 rtn from Bournemouth, Birmingham, East Midlands and Bristol

Gothenburg

Sweden

Edinburgh 🏰 at €34 rtn from Gothenburg 

Calgary

Canada

🧣 Edinburgh at $642 RT from Calgary 

It was great for the price! It's a short flight ans the seat was comfortable.

Postcard from Lorain

Postcard from Tsitsi Bashorun

Here we go again… booked amazingly cheap flights to both Amsterdam and Luxembourg for £59 return! Never seen those prices that low for peak summer! 

Postcard from Pawel

Just bought flights to Cagliari for the October half term. 5 of us return for less than £430. 
My first booking from you guys. Here’s to many more 🥂

Postcard from Claire

that we booked our flights to Venice for early June, so thanks a lot for the tip!
Keep doing what you do, it's awesome and we love your way of communicating.

Postcard from Christina & Michael

Booked the business class to Sydney with Etihad for € 2.400.-! Finally I can go there from Amsterdam without arriving totally wrecked. Been dreaming about a deal like this! Normal rates are around 7k 🤩

Postcard from René 

Italy

Vietnam

Mexico

Hey there, Travellers,
I'm heading to Senegal next month, and I can more or less guarantee that I will be attacked by the world's deadliest animal. That's not pessimism; it's just realism.&nbsp;
Apparently, the it isn't a hippo (though I hear they're pretty scary), and it's not a snake or a spider; it's actually the most annoying animal in the world, too&mdash;<a href="https://ourworldindata.org/deadliest-animals">the mosquito</a>.
I might try something new to keep them at bay and spend my whole trip&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/evaamsen/2019/04/05/skrillex-music-is-not-enough-to-keep-you-safe-from-mosquitoes/">blasting dubstep beats</a>, rendering myself the most annoying animal instead. But if you have any better, tried-and-true methods for keeping the bitey beasts away, please share your wisdom <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/detour-228-scotland-by-public-transport-the-creme-de-la-creme-of-cable-cars#comments">in the comments</a>.
Happy travels and safe landings,

Katy - Editor of The Detour

The Cr&egrave;me de la Cr&egrave;me of Cable Cars: As Chosen by You

With journeys spanning more than 30 countries and ten years, Akasha's best memories live in the pages of her passport. She always consults her tarot (and her cats) before any big trip. Currently based in Ireland, when she isn't travelling, she&rsquo;s probably drawing in a caf&eacute; somewhere.

By Akasha

The only line we&rsquo;ll happily wait in? The cable car queue&hellip;&nbsp;
Turns out we&rsquo;re not the only ones with this niche obsession! A few weeks ago we asked for your thoughts on the best cable cars you&rsquo;ve been on.&nbsp;
From Chile to China, our latest rabbit hole crisscrossed through centuries of architectural feats&mdash;including France&rsquo;s mercifully brief (yet whimsical)&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGbzYqcl6OI">underwater death trap</a>.&nbsp;
Your recommendations poured in too, along with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/jacksflightclub/permalink/2753016238387553/">some incredibly dizzying pics</a> in our Facebook community.&nbsp;
And we must say, they were pretty&nbsp;uplifting. Take a look! 
<h2 dir="ltr">Cableb&uacute;s, Mexico City</h2>
Manufacturer: Doppelmayr (Austria) / Leitner (Italy)
Objective: Mass transit system connecting high-altitude neighborhoods to the Mexico City Metro
Launch Date: 2021&nbsp;
Vertical Ascent: Varies by line; Line 2 traverses the Sierra de Santa Catarina volcanic ridge
Capacity: Each cabin holds 10; capable of transporting 3,000 people per hour per direction
Track Length: About 10,550 meters (Line 2)
Transit Length: 36 minutes (Line 2 total journey)

<a href="https://www.flickrhelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/40048459562388-Copyright-Licenses-on-Flickr">CC image</a> courtesy of Ted McGrath <a href="https://flic.kr/p/2pxDixx">on Flickr</a>

&ldquo;A great way to view Mexico City from above is by <a href="https://getlostinmexicocity.com/mexico-city-cable-car/">using Cableb&uacute;s</a>, Line 2 is the longest cable car in the world taking around 45 minutes, costing 7 MXP per journey (30 pence). You need a Tarjeta Card to tap in.
It&rsquo;s also an easy connection from the metro system; you just need to change cable cars at Xalpa to continue the journey. It&rsquo;s well worth getting off at&nbsp;<a href="https://mexicocity.cdmx.gob.mx/venues/mercado-quetzalcoatl/?lang=en">Quetzalcoatl </a>for the local market. Great views of the rooftop murals, and don't miss the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUWl-i9jY4-/">parked airplane</a> (turned library) on the ground.&nbsp;
Top tip: don't travel at rush hour, instead go off-peak to avoid the crowds&rdquo; - GallantHiker6933

Mexico City&rsquo;s cable car system isn&rsquo;t just for tourists! The line connects local communities in between Indios Verdes &amp; Cuautepec, cutting down on lengthy commute times and unsafe conditions. Not only that, it&rsquo;s helped reduce air pollution in this mega metropolis. Line 2 holds the Guinness World Record for the longest public cable car on earth (10.55 km), and over 100 massive murals and 3,000 brightly painted rooftops were commissioned specifically to be viewed from above.

<h2 id="prada-costabella-italy">Prada Costabella, Italy</h2>
Manufacturer: Graffer (Italy)
Objective: Direct transit from Prada (San Zeno di Montagna) to the Costabella ridge on Mount Baldo
Launch Date: August 2022 (Complete overhaul and reopening)
Vertical Ascent: Elevates passengers 838 meters
Capacity: Each "open basket" holds 2; capable of transporting 400 people per hour
Track Length: About 3,000 meters of cable (across two sections)
Transit Length: 22 minutes in total

&ldquo;Lake Garda. Rickety-looking&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prada-costabella.it/en/">birdcage thingies</a>! You could hear everything as there was no glass. Saw an eagle swoop right below us.&rdquo;&nbsp;- Emma

Rickety indeed! If you can get over <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VftUF7j_rLg">climbing into a metal cage</a> for one section of your journey, Funivia Prada Costabella&rsquo;s cable cars lead to mountain huts and the highest peaks of Monte Baldo with insane views of Lake Garda below. The baskets don&rsquo;t stop to let you on, and we&rsquo;re not sure which is more anxiety-ridden: the running jump start or the leap of faith to get off.

<h2 id="vung-tau-cable-car-vietnam">Vung Tau Cable Car, Vietnam</h2>
Manufacturer: Doppelmayr (Austria)&nbsp;
Objective: Direct transit from <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.ie/Attraction_Review-g303946-d8331363-Reviews-Front_Beach-Vung_Tau_Ba_Ria_Vung_Tau_Province.html">Front Beach</a> (Bai Truoc) to the summit of <a href="https://asialegend.travel/blog/big-mountain-vung-tau-guideline-for-first-timers">Big Mountain</a> (Nui Lon)
Launch Date: February 2010
Vertical Ascent: Elevates passengers 210-250 meters above sea level&nbsp;
Capacity: Each cabin holds 8; capable of transporting 3,000 people per hour&nbsp;
Track Length: About 455-500 meters of cable&nbsp;
Transit Length: 10 minutes

<a href="https://www.flickrhelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/40048459562388-Copyright-Licenses-on-Flickr">CC image</a> courtesy of &nbsp;Фотобанк on <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/moscow-live/44911896115/in/photolist-7XwdPi-7TBUga-8v2zZj-2bHoAJQ-2bqHd1t-P4eHwz-2bqHfDK-P4eHxX-2cPpZ2B-2cPpZ7X">Flickr</a>

&ldquo;When in the <a href="https://www.vietnamcoracle.com/vung-tau-city-by-the-sea/">criminally underrated Vung Tau</a>, a couple of hours south of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in September last year, I took the modest 5-minute cable car alone on the way to Hồ M&acirc;y Park - a mountain-top amusement resort that is as bizarre as it is fun.&nbsp;
Needless to say, I went in the middle of a full-on thunderstorm, and (even though I generally love cable cars) decided that the only way to 'survive' was to make no sudden movements and grip the metal bars with a force that Newton himself had never discovered.&nbsp;
A dramatic recollection? Yes. A fun evening? Also yes. Give it a go...?&rdquo;&nbsp;- RapturousWanderer78593

At its summit, you&rsquo;ll find a <a href="https://sklegendvungtau.com/Services/may-lake-tourist-area">mountaintop water park</a> (and an artificial lake), the first in Vietnam. Its &ldquo;Adventure Oasis&rdquo; is the world&rsquo;s longest water coaster designed exclusively for kids. 
<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/jacks-coolest-cable-car-rides">See more cable cars, ft. bendy roads and Balkan bobsleighing...</a>

Reader's Corner

A Local's Guide to Scotland by Public Transport

The Detour Editor Katy is a budget travel aficionado who has already travelled to more than 50 countries. Whether she's at home or on a foreign adventure, she has a particular talent for stumbling upon tasty Georgian restaurants.

By Katy

<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/local-guide-to-scotland-by-public-transport">Open the full article &rarr;</a>
When I was a student, I spent a couple of summers working in the Visit Scotland information centres in Aberdeen and Glasgow. People from all over the world would drop in for a map, some tips, help with accommodation, or to book a tour&mdash;but they all had a different idea of how they wanted to see the country and in what timeframe.&nbsp;
The majority of visitors staying longer than a few days tended either towards a self-drive road trip or a full-on guided tour. Both have their merits, of course, but I was surprised at how few people thought of taking public transport to get around the country. This has only intensified in recent years with the surge in popularity of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.northcoast500.com/">North Coast 500</a>.

Here&rsquo;s where I confess: I don&rsquo;t drive&mdash;rather, I can&rsquo;t drive. Buses and trains are my go-to whether I&rsquo;m at home or away. All it takes is a little patience and planning (and a decent podcast), and you really can reach most places without getting behind the wheel.&nbsp;
So here are some tips from me, a local and a public transport nerd, to help you make the most of travelling around Scotland without a car.
<h2 dir="ltr" role="presentation">Trains</h2>
ScotRail is the main train company operating routes across Scotland. Others do operate within Scotland, but they tend to be long-distance routes connecting us across the border. These include LNER, Avanti, TransPennine, CrossCountry, and Lumo. Additionally, the Caledonian Sleeper runs a night train service 6 days a week (no Saturdays) <a href="https://www.sleeper.scot/about/our-trains/">between London and various parts of Scotland</a>.
Our <a href="https://www.scotrail.co.uk/plan-your-journey/our-routes">train network</a> is actually pretty decent, connecting even more remote parts of the country and often syncing up with island ferries. That&rsquo;s especially handy for any of you planning to tackle the <a href="https://www.westhighlandway.org/the-route/">West Highland Way</a>, go on a <a href="https://www.edinburghwhiskyacademy.com/blogs/feature/exploring-scotland-s-distilleries-by-train-and-on-foot">distillery crawl</a>, or even just enjoy a <a href="https://www.airbnb.co.uk/s/stonehaven--united-kingdom/homes?refinement_paths%5B%5D=%2Fhomes&amp;place_id=ChIJCUqwt7MYhEgR5yb_p6JQLZg&amp;adults=2&amp;query=stonehaven%2C%20united%20kingdom&amp;flexible_trip_lengths%5B%5D=one_week&amp;monthly_start_date=2026-04-01&amp;monthly_length=3&amp;monthly_end_date=2026-07-01&amp;price_filter_input_type=2&amp;channel=EXPLORE&amp;ne_lat=56.56973657468622&amp;ne_lng=-2.5626367884672447&amp;sw_lat=56.547377010487565&amp;sw_lng=-2.605995674858775&amp;zoom=14.636762951783304&amp;zoom_level=14.636762951783304&amp;search_by_map=true&amp;search_type=user_map_move&amp;price_filter_num_nights=5&amp;search_mode=regular_search">windswept coastal retreat</a>.
It&rsquo;s easy to get swept up in the romance of a Scottish train journey, especially on the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/travel/article/20231204-the-west-highland-line-one-of-the-worlds-most-scenic-train-lines">West Highland Line</a> from Glasgow to Mallaig. Just look out for flying cars along the way&hellip; If you stick it out all the way to the end, you&rsquo;ll be treated to <a href="https://www.wayfaringkiwi.com/things-to-do-in-mallaig/#Things_to_do_in_Mallaig">rugged coastal beauty</a> featuring cozy pubs with live music and a roaring log fire.

<h2 dir="ltr">Buses</h2>
Anyone who has ever travelled on a budget in the UK has taken a long-distance bus ride. Sure, they take a little longer than the train, the legroom can sometimes be pretty rotten, and the single lavatory often makes itself known to everyone onboard. But it&rsquo;s always affordable, and sometimes it&rsquo;s your only option.
While the train network is decent, Scotland has a lot of rural spots in between that rely on bus connections. Taking a long-distance coach between bigger towns is a good start, but if you want to reach <a href="https://www.visitscotland.com/things-to-do/attractions/castles/scotland-castle-trail">those castles</a> and <a href="https://www.wowscotlandtours.com/blog/how-to-visit-the-old-man-of-storr/">rock formations</a>, you&rsquo;ll likely need to catch a local country bus from the closest hub, too.&nbsp;
Take the <a href="https://maltwhiskytrail.com/">Speyside Malt Whisky Trail</a>, for example&mdash;a major draw for international visitors who love a tipple. Somehow, the steam billowing from the distillery chimney stacks, nestled in among the hills and on the banks of roaring rivers, actually adds to the charm of these <a href="https://must-see-scotland.com/is-moray-in-the-highlands">(almost) Highland</a> towns and villages.
The buses here even go beyond our charming borders. Living on an island, it always feels like a novelty when I see a bus to a different country, but it is possible, even in Glasgow. If you want to avoid the cheap Ryanair hop from Scotland to Ireland, simply spend 9 hours on a coach*, and you&rsquo;ll be breathing in the brisk Donegal air before you know it.
*the coach may or may not board a ferry across the Irish Sea to Belfast before continuing west.

This summer, our friends at Lupine Racing are running a 3-day public transport race across the UK and Ireland! Join us for a fast-paced challenge by land and sea before a splendid summer soiree.

See You on the Scenic Route: a Public Transport Race Across the UK & Ireland!

<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/local-guide-to-scotland-by-public-transport">Read more, including island hopping, unlimited travel passes, and all the nitty-gritty...</a>

Travel Tips

All the important (or silly, or strange) travel news from across the web this week.
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">A man was arrested at the Nairobi airport for attempting to smuggle 2,000 Kenyan ants into China, and we&rsquo;re not sure which is weirder: this news story or the fact that it&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz7gd57z33zo">not the first time this has happened</a>. </li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">The US <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-restarts-global-entry-program-under-pressure-industry-2026-03-11/">reopened Global Entry this week</a>, after shutdown-induced lines kept international arrivals waiting for hours on end. </li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">An excellent reminder to switch your phone to airplane mode: These passengers got hit with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jan/12/mobile-phone-air-sea-charges-satellite-roaming">shockingly huge fees</a> when their devices kept trying to connect from the air. </li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Six guinea pigs <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxgd571497o">mysteriously appeared on the isle of Jersey</a>, and quickly scattered to evade capture. So if you&rsquo;ve got an island holiday coming up, keep an eye out for furry fugitives! </li>
<li>And finally, you might have forgotten your passport before trying to board a plane, but at least you weren&rsquo;t <a href="https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/jet2-flight-glasgow-turkey-delayed-36852518">supposed to be the one flying it</a>.</li>
</ul>

Travel News

A Local's Guide to Visiting Scotland by Public Transport & the Crème de la Crème of Cable Cars

As a Scot who travels a lot, it&rsquo;s not uncommon to find yourself meeting someone abroad who will tell you they love Scotland or they&rsquo;ve always dreamed of visiting Scotland. And quite rightly so, it&rsquo;s a fantastic wee country. The landscapes, the castles, the fluffy coos, the whisky: they all paint a pretty romantic picture. And Outlander hasn&rsquo;t done too much harm either, I suppose.
When I was a student, I spent a couple of summers working in the Visit Scotland information centres in Aberdeen and Glasgow. People from all over the world would drop in for a map, some tips, help with accommodation, or to book a tour&mdash;but they all had a different idea of how they wanted to see the country and in what timeframe. 
The majority of visitors staying longer than a few days tended either towards a self-drive road trip or a full-on guided tour. Both have their merits, of course, but I was surprised at how few people thought of taking public transport to get around the country. This has only intensified in recent years with the surge in popularity of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.northcoast500.com/">North Coast 500</a>.

<h3 dir="ltr">The nitty-gritty</h3>
Ticket pricing on trains in Scotland (and the UK in general) can vary wildly from one service to the next when you&rsquo;re booking in advance. Typically, the earlier you can book, the lower the price will be.&nbsp;
Buuuut there are exceptions, which are utterly mind-boggling if you&rsquo;re not a local (and, frankly, also if you are). There is no advance pricing on short-distance, high-frequency commuter routes in Scotland. You&rsquo;d think that would just apply within cities, but it also applies to journeys between Glasgow and Edinburgh. So on these routes, just rock up and hit the rails whenever it suits.
Generally, though, planning your route in advance will pay off. ScotRail releases tickets 12 weeks ahead, so if you want the best fares on longer distances at the times that suit you, set a reminder to book.
That said, if you&rsquo;re a UK resident planning a somewhat spontaneous train-based trip within Scotland, I&rsquo;d recommend checking out the unlimited travel passes that ScotRail offers&mdash;yet doesn't really advertise! Pick from 4 different options to suit your trip length and the areas you want to see, and away you go. Even better, book a combined Rail and Sail ticket, and you needn&rsquo;t worry about a separate ferry booking.
For those of you resident in other countries, it&rsquo;s even better. You can use a Global Interrail/Eurail pass to combine your travels with other parts of the continent, or you can hone in on Britain with a <a href="https://www.britrail.com/">BritRail pass</a>.

<h3 dir="ltr">The nitty-gritty</h3>
The big hitters in the Scottish long-distance bus game are CityLink, Megabus, FlixBus, and, more recently, Ember. CityLink has the most elaborate network, connecting all the major cities and also taking you up to towns like Ullapool in the northwest, where no other train or bus is brave enough to go.
Megabus and Flix usually compete for the lowest fares on the intercity routes, while <a href="https://www.ember.to/">Ember</a> is the new kid in town, with modern electric vehicles and a pretty competitive network.&nbsp;
Aside from Inverness, none of Scotland&rsquo;s airports have their own train stations. Since most visitors from abroad will be flying into Edinburgh or Glasgow, it&rsquo;s worth mentioning that you&rsquo;ll find long-distance bus connections straight from both to other parts of the country.
From Edinburgh Airport, you can get &ldquo;through&rdquo; to Glasgow, as we say, in under an hour on the bus, without having to head into Edinburgh first. You can also find FlixBus and Ember connections north to cities like Aberdeen, Dundee, and Stirling, and even over to Oban on the west coast.
It&rsquo;s a similar story from Glasgow Airport, with many of the CityLink buses from the city stopping by on their way up the west coast and plenty of coaches heading northeast through the city. Just be aware that trips to and from airports tend to cost a fair whack more than non-airport counterparts double their length.&nbsp;
If you&rsquo;re gallivanting around the country for a week or two, I&rsquo;d definitely recommend considering a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.citylink.co.uk/tickets/explorer-pass/">CityLink Explorer Pass</a>. They work much like train passes, but they&rsquo;re soooo much cheaper and available to all, regardless of where you live.&nbsp;

<h2 dir="ltr" role="presentation">Ferries</h2>
As alluded to above, many train routes offer combined &lsquo;rail and sail&rsquo; tickets, and certain buses straight up just board the boat with you. These tickets are great for connections to the Hebrides and Northern Isles in particular, where flights can be particularly expensive.&nbsp;
Most ferries in Scotland have a nearby train station for easy connections; however, the route from Ullapool to Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis is an exception. Since there&rsquo;s no train line up there, the CityLink bus from Inverness is your best bet. Island day trips from Glasgow are also feasible to Arran, Cumbrae, and Bute with a well-planned rail and sail.&nbsp;
Island hopping is a big thing off Scotland&rsquo;s west coast, but it will take a little planning. CalMac ferries let you make all your bookings in one go, and they have some&nbsp;<a href="https://www.calmac.co.uk/en-gb/blogs/ultimate-guide-to-island-hopping/#/">inspired suggestions for island-hopping routes</a>. Public transport gets spottier once you reach land, so I&rsquo;d recommend asking your accommodation host for tips about buses and taxis.
For Orkney and Shetland, your connection is with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.northlinkferries.co.uk/book/routes-times-and-prices/timetables/">NorthLink ferries</a> from Aberdeen. The port is close to both the bus and the train station, so it&rsquo;s fairly easy to line up with transport from all over the country.&nbsp;
You&rsquo;ll notice that the vibes up on the Northern Isles are more rugged and Nordic than anywhere else in Scotland, while the Hebrides are famed for their traditional music, the Gaelic language, and beaches to rival the Caribbean. There are more than 90 inhabited islands to choose from, so pick wisely.
In all this overland public transport chat, the one exception I&rsquo;ll make is an essential part of any Orkney trip: the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/reels/DLpTGIVI1tV/">world&rsquo;s shortest scheduled passenger flight</a>. If you have the chance, make the journey from Westray to Papa Westray (usually in under 2 minutes) and live the aviation enthusiast&rsquo;s dream.

There&rsquo;s a lot more I could say about my favourite public transport routes around the country (Glasgow&rsquo;s no. 90 bus is pretty fantastic, I must say), but these are my starting points for encouraging you to get out there without a car.&nbsp;
Using a combo of buses, trains, ferries, local taxis, and public bike rentals, you&rsquo;ll never have to worry about where to park, how to pay, driving on the wrong side of the road, who&rsquo;s on distillery driving duties, etc. Some may see travelling without a car as limiting, but I like to think of it as freeing. Take your time and enjoy the journey as much as the destination.
If you have any questions about routes or destinations in Scotland, ask away in the comments or <a href="mailto:katy@jacksflightclub.com">drop me an email</a>. I'm always happy to share my tips or bother my family and friends for theirs!

Visiting Scotland by Public Transport: a Local's Guide

United States

Guatemala

Netherlands

Finland

Fiji

Sri Lanka

Hey there Travellers,
Like much of the world this week, Katy's off on holiday, so I get the special honor of sending out the first Detour of 2026 🎉
New Year's Eve, for many folks, is a time of reflection! It's the perfect excuse to dig through some old memories and take stock of those meaningful moments.&nbsp;
So that's our theme for this week: memories.&nbsp;This Detour is chock full of them &mdash; from this year's highlights, to nostalgic travel tattoos from trips long past.&nbsp;
Let's make 2026 another great year, Travellers! And let us know in the comments which travel memories you're hoping to create in the next twelve months &mdash; maybe we can help :-)
Wishing you a safe and happy New Year,

Olivia - Sub-Editor of the Detour

Permanent Souvenirs: Our Travel Tattoo Tales&nbsp;

You know a trip is worthwhile when that bittersweet thought crosses your mind: I wish I could bottle up this moment and keep it forever.
It&rsquo;s the feeling that drives souvenir sales and fills up your photo albums, but for travelers who&nbsp;really want to keep those memories close, there&rsquo;s another option &mdash; having that memory permanently added to your body.
Despite the discomfort of traveling with a fresh tattoo, getting inked on the road is a time-honored tradition. Captain Cook&rsquo;s sailors are said to have returned home from Polynesia sporting some new body art. Even 700 years ago, religious pilgrims to the Middle Eastern Holy Land were <a href="https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1235759">getting small tattoos as evidence of their journey</a>. By the 19th century, the list of folks with travel tattoos even included <a href="https://www.rct.uk/collection/exhibitions/japan-courts-and-culture/the-queens-gallery-buckingham-palace/features/royal-tattoos">British royalty</a>.&nbsp;
Nowadays, there&rsquo;s an entire culture built up around travel tattoos. Some shops in touristy areas even&nbsp;depend on the demand. And just like in centuries past, there are still a myriad of motivations behind the decision.&nbsp;

During my (rather formative) few months in New Orleans, I realized I&rsquo;d regret it forever if I didn&rsquo;t leave that city with an inked reminder. Next thing I knew, I was face-down on a leather table, surrounded by NOLA-typical spiritual decor, while a stranger put me through excruciating pain for so long that I felt like my soul was leaving my body.
Unfortunately, in my case, that meant I was having a panic attack, desperately trying to keep still while hyperventilating and gasping through the pain. I tried to focus on a fixed point in the room to ground myself, but ended up locking eyes with a large, weeping statue of Santa Maria. It seemed less unnerving than the taxidermied animals, the bloody crucifixes, or the clutter of figurines stuck with nails or covered in bones and teeth.&nbsp;
When it was finally over, I paid the artist with shaking hands and basically ran out of the shop. I cannot even describe the headspace I was in. The relief was so strong that I felt like an entirely new person. All I wanted was a drink and a place to sit down.
Fortunately, that&rsquo;s not a tall order in New Orleans &mdash; I popped over to Bourbon Street and entered the first bar I saw.&nbsp;

Midway through a whisky, while listening to a bartender&rsquo;s story, I realized my new tattoo had started bleeding. There was a gruesome, oozy red smear running down my leg and trickling onto the floor of the bar.
&ldquo;Sorry, could I just get a napkin?&rdquo; I say, interrupting the bartender. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m bleeding onto your floor.&rdquo;
She casually handed me a napkin without even pausing her story. She had no reaction at all to hearing a patron say they were bleeding onto the floor of her bar at 2pm on a Monday.&nbsp;
I guess that&rsquo;s business as usual on Bourbon Street!
The tattoo has long since healed, but whenever I look at it, I remember what a wild time it was. I had no idea it would be that intense, but I&rsquo;m honored to have been given such a distinctly NOLA experience &mdash; one that really embodies the chaotic excitement of my time in the city. It&rsquo;s how I got hooked on travel tattoos!
So, as a person with so much access to well-seasoned travelers who understand the value of overseas memories, I just&nbsp;had to ask the Jack&rsquo;s Flight Club staff and Community for a few more tales.
And I heard some great ones! Like the new tradition started by our reader Zo&euml; and her wife, which started out as a space-saving measure:

&ldquo;My wife and I have a tradition of getting a tattoo on every *far* trip. Makes the long haul flight home worth it&hellip; Wanting to collect &lsquo;souvenirs&rsquo; whilst living in a small flat at the time was the original inspiration. We&rsquo;ve collected them from Thailand, Bali, and Singapore so far. Many more on the travel wishlist.&rdquo; - Zo&euml;

Or our Jack&rsquo;s Navigator Henry&rsquo;s story, about a priceless memorial that only cost &euro;15:

&ldquo;When I was 19/20, I lived in Spain and became friends with a good group of people. I moved back when someone at home died, but while I was at home, one of my friends in Spain died (very tragic, I know). So when I came back to visit my friends, one of them mentioned that another guy was starting off as a tattoo artist, and he needed guinea pigs to get the business&nbsp; going, so I said I would volunteer one night we were out. So the next day, we went to Seville and got this done. It is of course the song of Liverpool Football Club. But the tattoo is actually for everyone who is no longer with us. The words of the song make more sense than whatever I will say here 😂 It took 3 hours and cost 15 euro.&rdquo;&nbsp;- Henry

Our writer Akasha&rsquo;s tales of stick n&rsquo; pokes in Central American hostels could probably fill an entire novel:

"After almost an hour with my face wedged in the crook of an old Maltese man&rsquo;s pungent armpit as he bent over backwards attempting to tattoo my ribcage, eighteen-year-old me was hooked.&nbsp;
'For each country I visit, I&rsquo;m going to get a tattoo to commemorate it,' I excitedly told my boyfriend at the time. He rolled his eyes. He was the typical Irish lad, one that would 'go on holidays' once every 5 years to Benidorm or Magaluf. Something about the Irish pubs there.
He probably didn&rsquo;t expect that by my twenties, I&rsquo;d be lying on a sagging mattress in the jungles of Guatemala, a Czech apprentice straddling my torso, carving her gun of pain into my arm for four hours without a break.
Or that I&rsquo;d let a French guy hand-poke a reiki symbol onto my wrist in exchange for covering a bar shift.&nbsp;
Stick and poke became my preferred way. So naturally, my ears perked up when a German tattooist blew into the hostel I worked at in Chiapas. It&rsquo;d take me a few weeks to propose a trade he simply couldn&rsquo;t refuse: I&rsquo;d bleach his dreadlocks in return for some artwork."

"This was probably my most painful one. Not from the needle but from the cup of rubbing alcohol he poured over my raw skin, and the violent slap that followed. A sick and twisted joke because it was midnight and I couldn&rsquo;t scream without waking the hostel guests.
And while I haven&rsquo;t managed to stay true to my promise of getting inked everywhere I&rsquo;ve wandered, I&rsquo;ve done a pretty good job of collecting permanent stamps.
Mostly, the ink I&rsquo;ve gotten along the way is a map itself - of the girl who showed up clueless and curious, reckless and scared, but booked the ticket anyway."&nbsp;- Akasha

And lastly, our Detour queen Katy shared the story of her first tattoo, a remnant of a teenage adventure in the Netherlands:

"When I finished high school, I didn&rsquo;t go on the big group trip clubbing in Ayia Napa. That wasn&rsquo;t my thing at all. I wanted to see some of the world before starting university, not just the inside of a bar, surrounded by people I&rsquo;d mostly never see again.&nbsp;
Instead, myself and some of my closest friends decided to go Interrailing around Europe for 5 weeks. As is common when leaving high school in Scotland, most of us were only 17 at the time. We couldn&rsquo;t even (legally) drink in bars at home, so a month of European rules was exciting. And when we realised that we&rsquo;d even be old enough to get tattooed in The Netherlands&hellip;
Well, let&rsquo;s just say a few of us decided to give it a go &mdash; a fact my mum only found out three years later, when I was lazily lying in bed with my leg hanging out from under the sheets.
When getting your first tattoo, there&rsquo;s a lot of pressure to make it meaningful, so I opted for something I knew would always be important to me &mdash; music. I was right, playing music is still part of my life. But perhaps more important is the fact that I got it while on a memorable adventure with people who are still part of my life."&nbsp;- Katy

When I look at all of these stories together, there&rsquo;s a common thread: Most things in life are temporary. People enter and exit, chapters close, and that return flight is always rapidly approaching. I can go back to New Orleans, but I can&rsquo;t go back to that trip. Travel, by definition, has to be ephemeral.&nbsp;
We might be staking our money, time, and energy on a very short-lived experience, but we often return home permanently changed. I think travel tattoos owe their prolonged popularity to that change &mdash; they can help make the outside match the inside.
So if you feel the same, and have a travel tattoo (or several) of your own, feel free to send them our way. Maybe you&rsquo;ll see them in part two :-)

Travel Tales

Jack's Gone Global: Where We Went in 2025

As you might expect, the Jack's staff is always jetsetting around the world! 2025 was no different &mdash; We traveled everywhere from the Caribbean to the Arctic Circle.&nbsp;
Here's a few highlights from another fantastic year of travel...

<h2 id="lapland">Lapland</h2>
Hannah Deals &amp; Content

&ldquo;We took a day-trip over to the <a href="https://arcticsnowhotel.fi/en/">Arctic SnowHotel </a>during our trip, as well as snowmobiled through the forests, and took reindeer and husky rides on a tour with the Snowmobile Park company &mdash; they were great and included proper snow gear in their prices, so would highly recommend.
And last but not least, the northern lights! While you can hunt for them on a guided tour, it gets pricey. Instead, we stayed just outside of the city (towards Ounasvaara) in an AirBnB and were lucky enough to spot them dancing above the house most nights we were there.&rdquo;

<h2 id="lapland">Fiji</h2>
Larissa Deal &amp; Content Manager EU

&ldquo;Fiji was such a surprise to me! I went for a family celebration and didn&rsquo;t have many expectations (given I knew a lot of the holiday would be resort-bound), but we managed to do a decent amount in Nadi and the surrounding <a href="https://www.koroyanituheritagepark.org/plan-your-trip">Koroyanitu National Heritage Park</a>. My highlights were DIY-ing a hike through the park to an incredible waterfall lookout, and visiting the <a href="https://maps.app.goo.gl/Qs6PyZGqz5nm2PF9A">Sri Siva Subramaniya Swami Temple</a> - the intricate paintwork inside was incredible!&rdquo;

<h2 id="lapland">France &amp; Scotland</h2>
Andrea Member Experience Team Leader

&ldquo;My trip to France and Scotland healed parts of me I didn't know needed healing. The little girl in me who thought she might never make it to Europe and visit her dream city and the grown girl in me that found her soul city.
My favorite moment of my adventures was being able to see and touch the Eiffel Tower. I knew that I would cry the moment I laid eyes on her and I very much did! LOL The tears were joy and marvel and finally realizing that I did it, I made it, I was standing in Paris!! I was looking at a monument I had only seen in books and movies. I checked a place off of a very long bucket list. I had macarons and croissants from French boulangeries and strolled along streets with beautiful architecture. I spoke terribly broken French from the years of Duolingo that I had been doing and I was out of this world happy.
However. My favorite place was Scotland. I had never traveled and felt at home anywhere the way I did there. The buildings, history, slight gloom and chill in the air. The beautiful stone streets and castles, this was my place. A place I felt very happy and comfortable, where I could wander for hours and not feel tired. I am still day dreaming about my time there and thinking of the things I want to do and see when I go back. It was on my bucket list and still is. There's so much more I need to see and experience (highland coos, for example!)&rdquo;

<h2 id="lapland">Sri Lanka</h2>
Fran&nbsp;Deals &amp; Content/Social Media

&ldquo;We loved our train experiences in Sri Lanka, and we&rsquo;d suggest every curious traveller give it a try at some point. I even wrote <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/the-truth-about-traveling-by-train-in-sri-lanka">an honest guide</a> about it. It sparked our curiosity to venture beyond the tourist-packed routes and discover the more authentic, less crowded journeys in the future.&rdquo;

<h2 id="lapland">St. Croix</h2>
Olivia&nbsp;Deals &amp; Content/Detour Sub-Editor

&ldquo;The highlight was definitely the Cruzan Rum Distillery, which you can read more about <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/detour-179-st-croix-historic-distillery">in my article here</a>. Between the informative tour, the historic setting, our lovely guide, and drinks enjoyed at a breezy, palm-lined patio bar, we couldn&rsquo;t have been more pleased. There&rsquo;s a reason every guide to St. Croix name-drops this spot, and I can happily add myself to its list of fans&rdquo;

<h2 id="lapland">The Netherlands</h2>
Gabi Product Team

&ldquo;I had such a great time in the Netherlands. I started off in <a href="https://www.holland.com/global/tourism/discover-the-netherlands/visit-the-cities/the-hague">Den Haag</a>, where I decided to try haring (the famous raw herring, just a full fish) which not everyone loves but I&rsquo;m absolutely crazy for (I really love pickled stuff). I spent the rest of my time wandering around the city center, renting bikes with nerdy names, and cycling to some pretty spots like Haagse Bos. That same day I rode all the way to Scheveningen, which turned out to be a super lovely beach with a big pier. I sat there with a hot Chocomel in hand, feeling very Dutch. It also POURED rain the minute I hopped on the bike.&rdquo;

How about our readers? Where did you travel in 2025? Let us know in the comments :-)

All the important (or silly, or strange) travel news from across web this week.
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Unfortunately, we have to start the year off with some tragic news: Chaos in Machu Picchu as <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gweww8rjro">two trains collided</a> last Tuesday, causing one death and injuring 40 others.&nbsp;</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">On a more hopeful note, National Geographic released their <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/travel-adventures-best-trips-to-book-2026">top 20 picks for adventures to take in 2026</a>. The key words? &ldquo;Immersive&rdquo; and &ldquo;Transformative.&rdquo;</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Sicily&rsquo;s Mount Etna has been in a bit of a turbulent mood lately, but that&rsquo;s not stopping the local skiers from <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/cz7n4px7e41o">hitting her slopes</a>.</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Central Asia <a href="https://www.euronews.com/culture/2025/12/22/kobyz-and-the-yurt-central-asias-living-knowledge-enters-unescos-intangible-heritage-lists">got some love from UNESCO</a> as a regional stringed instrument and a style of yurt both got added to the organization&rsquo;s list of intangible cultural heritage.</li>
<li>And finally, got any questions about life at an Antarctic research station? Now&rsquo;s the time to ask &mdash; <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/27/climate/thwaites-glacier-expedition-antarctica.html">the NYT is heading on down</a>, and they want to know what you want to know.</li>
</ul>

Ringing in 2026 with Our Travel Memories

Like every year, 2025 has presented a never-ending stream of &ldquo;the best cities to visit this summer,&rdquo; &ldquo;the cheapest city to visit,&rdquo; etc. I always keep an eye on these lists, because just occasionally, they dig up somewhere new or less-visited. 
Not so for the new list of &lsquo;<a href="https://www.cntraveller.com/article/top-uk-destinations-to-visit-this-summer-revealed">top UK destinations to visit this summer</a>,&rsquo; as named by CN Traveller based on recommendations from online travel agent Hoppa. Essentially, it names five of the most famous cities in the UK outside London &mdash; hardly revelational, but they are all well worth a visit. Suggesting we visit in summer, though&hellip;? That was the tipping point for me.
To save you the trouble, the article names Manchester, York, Belfast, Edinburgh, and Bath as the best places to visit this summer. If you&rsquo;re coming to the UK on a big summer jaunt, those cities are likely to be on your radar already, but if you live in the UK, or you&rsquo;re keeping your plans loosey goosey, I&rsquo;d recommend looking elsewhere.

I&rsquo;ve visited four of those five cities over the last year, and every single one of them is best enjoyed outside peak summer.&nbsp;
Take York, for example; I was there two weeks ago. It&rsquo;s gorgeous, and there are lots of great restaurants. When you visit, you&rsquo;ll likely want to walk around the old town, along <a href="https://www.chasingthelongroad.com/england/shambles-york/">The Shambles</a>, and visit the Minster. You may even want to lean into <a href="https://www.hauntedrooms.co.uk/haunted-places/york">the city&rsquo;s spooky side</a>.&nbsp;
But a summer trip is basically an invitation to wait in lines, battle along narrow streets through hordes of tourists, dodge the raucous hen and stag parties, and pay over the odds for fairly basic accommodation.&nbsp;
In fact, that&rsquo;s a theme that repeats across all these destinations: big money, big crowds. Meals out are expensive, reservations are hard to come by, and frankly, there&rsquo;s just so little room to breathe and enjoy your surroundings.

Having lived in Glasgow on and off since 2007, I&rsquo;ve always had one rule about visiting our more famous and desirable neighbour, Edinburgh &mdash; don&rsquo;t do it in August. And if you must, come prepared.&nbsp;
A trip to Edinburgh in August should be a conscious decision to join the tens of thousands other visitors descending on the city for the festival. Or should I say &ldquo;festivals&rdquo; &mdash; there&rsquo;s not just one, but five, spanning art, opera, comedy, literature, and more. You can catch big names on small stages, street performers on corners, up-and coming stars in bars. It&rsquo;s great if that&rsquo;s what you&rsquo;re into! But even strolling down Princes Street becomes a mission during this time.
Visiting the castle is a must for any first-timer, but be sure to book your tickets well in advance during summer. Usually, I&rsquo;d say you can save a few bucks by skipping the tour and just taking in the views from the outside, but they&rsquo;ll be blocked off by the set-up for the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.edinburghcastle.scot/whats-on/military-tattoo/">military tattoo</a>.

All that to say, readers, I just don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s worth it if you really want to experience a city.&nbsp;
Even in May, Belfast was buzzing and pricey, with little chance of grabbing a table without planning ahead. Manchester in August required the specialist knowledge of a local to find us a brunch spot worth making those reservations for, and the only affordable accommodation within the city was a noisy hostel room with no air conditioning. It was safe and didn&rsquo;t break the bank, at least.
So where would I recommend in summer? Here are a few suggestions, the first of which likely won&rsquo;t surprise you:
<h2 dir="ltr">Glasgow</h2>

First off, it&rsquo;s within easy reach of Edinburgh if you do want to dip into the festival scene. Trains connect the two cities during the day in only 50 minutes, while buses run all night to get you home after a late show.&nbsp;
 But there&rsquo;s plenty to see and do in <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DHT4ItFIHDR/?hl=en">Scotland&rsquo;s under-rated largest city</a> without heading east. The grand architecture, free museums, and quirky character like <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/duke-of-wellington-statue">Duke of Wellington&rsquo;s perpetual cone hat</a> and the old, <a href="https://www.summerleetg.co.uk/blog/blog9.html">circular subway system</a> are enough to make anyone fall for Glasgow&rsquo;s charm. Plus, it's a <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/indy-eats/glasgow-best-restaurants-bars-food-scene-london-b2770764.html">haven for foodies.</a>
<h2>Folkestone</h2>

Isn&rsquo;t that where the Channel Tunnel goes to France? Why yes, actually, it is. But Flight Finder Larissa assures me it&rsquo;s also a great spot for a weekend break. In her words, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s particularly cute &mdash; it has a very Brighton vibe without being so crowded as Brighton.&rdquo; 
By that, she means you&rsquo;ll find cobbled streets full of&nbsp;<a href="https://folke.life/folkestone/places/old-high-street/">colourful, artsy, and independently-owned</a> shops and caf&eacute;s, as well as a city beach safe for surfing and swimming. It&rsquo;s got its fair share of wartime history behind it too, with the nearby <a href="https://www.battleofbritainmemorial.org/">Battle of Britain Memorial</a> and the <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/zigzag-path">Zigzag Path cave</a>. And on a clear day, you can even <a href="https://folke.life/folkestone/places/the-leas/">see France from The Leas</a>.
<h2 dir="ltr">Lincoln</h2>

Looking for that gothic cathedral, fortified castle, and cutesy cobblestone street vibe you&rsquo;d expect in York or Edinburgh? Turns out&nbsp;<a href="https://jamiechancetravels.com/blog/things-to-do-in-lincoln/">Lincoln&rsquo;s got it too</a>, minus the millions of tour buses.&nbsp;
Between the Arboretum, Roman ruins, nearby country parks and <a href="https://www.doddingtonhall.com/">Downton Abbey-esque mansion</a>, you can easily fill a few days of glorious summer sunshine. By day, you&rsquo;ll stumble across <a href="https://www.visitlincoln.com/shopping/markets/">market stalls</a> selling fresh produce and local crafts, and come nightfall, the local <a href="https://www.lincolnghostwalks.co.uk/">ghost walk</a> serves up a more gruesome slice of local lore.
But should the British summer show up in traditionally unpredictable fashion, you still can pass the time with a spot of history; Lincoln Castle houses an <a href="https://www.lincolncastle.com/explore/magna-carta">original Magna Carta</a> from 1215, while the nearly 1000-year-old cathedral was the tallest building in the world for over 200 years. Be sure to look out for its <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-lincoln-imp">demonic resident</a>!
There are certainly more cities around the UK &mdash; and indeed, across Europe &mdash; that deserve a shout-out here for their charm and affordability. Get in touch and share your favourite summer city breaks off the usual tourist trail!

Why You Shouldn't Visit the Most Popular UK Destinations This Summer

<a href="https://www.fluentin3months.com/hello-in-vietnamese/">Xin Ch&agrave;o</a>, JFC-ers!
A week ago, I stepped off a plane in London Heathrow to be greeted by temperatures little above freezing. A stark contrast to the 30 &deg;C+ I&rsquo;d been experiencing in Ho Chi Minh City just 16 hours earlier, to say the least!&nbsp;
Between enjoying copious quantities of phở and soaking in lantern-lit streets, I was delighted to meet fellow JFC-ers who had been summoned by the call of Vietnam. Both by the pool and on the streets, we found ourselves surrounded by like-minded travellers, many spending a month or more traversing Southeast Asia.
In fact, my friend Rachel and I had the good fortune of arriving in both HCMC and Hội An just a couple of days behind JFC-ers Kate &amp; Bex, whom I first met in Bari&rsquo;s rather depressing ferry terminal during last year&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a href="https://lupine.co.uk/race/about.html">Lupine Race to Tirana</a>. Lucky for us, they&rsquo;d already sussed out great spots for beers with a view by the time we touched down (the first place we met in Ho Chi Minh was very literally called &lsquo;The View&rsquo;).
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/e7600ef86bbe632b9804dd601cace1aed9c9768b" width="459" height="344" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
There&rsquo;s nothing quite like getting travel tips and advice from other JFC-ers. All the recommendations I got from you to head up the coast to Da Nang and Hội An instead of Phu Quoc are a major part of what made my trip so memorable. The weather may not have smiled down upon us so much, but we were delighted just to spend hours getting lost in the historical old town.
And that leads me to the next ask. We&rsquo;re on the lookout for a new <a href="https://jacksflightclub.com/join-us">Senior Full Stack Developer</a> with a deep understanding of Python to join the Jack&rsquo;s Flight Club team! We usually find that the best candidates are already JFC-ers, so if you or anyone you know fits the bill, apply via the link above.
Happy travels and safe landings,

(Re-)Learning How to Cross the Road

Detour Editor Katy is a budget travel aficionado who has already travelled to more than 50 countries. Whether she's at home or on a foreign adventure, she has a particular talent for stumbling upon tasty Georgian restaurants.

Written by Katy

Lesson number one during any trip to Vietnam is crossing the road.
It sounds mundane, but honestly, it&rsquo;s far from it. Who needs to go skydiving, bungee jumping, or canyoning when you can simply cross from one side of Ben Thanh Market square to another.
Doing even a little research on Ho Chi Minh City will quickly tell you that motor scooters/mopeds are a way of life here, not just a means of getting from A to B. They&rsquo;re truly vehicles for the whole family (and their dog). In a densely-packed city of around 9 million, that makes for some seriously chaotic roads. But at least there are pedestrian crossings&hellip;

Before I travelled, I watched a video on &ldquo;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DEwaavWP9dZ/?hl=en">How to Cross the Street in Vietnam Like a Pro</a>&rdquo; &mdash; the fact this exists was enough for me to take it seriously.&nbsp;
In the video, a local tour guide explains things like moving slowly and predictably, don&rsquo;t back-track or stop abruptly, don&rsquo;t run, etc. All fairly straightforward tips. But then there&rsquo;s the advice to raise your hand as you cross the road to make yourself more visible. In fact, she says that this is now law and raising your hand is essential when you step out in front of traffic.&nbsp;&nbsp;
There&rsquo;s also the buddy approach, where you smile awkwardly at a local and hope they&rsquo;ll shepherd you across, or the defensive line, where you hide yourself at the far side of a large group, essentially using them as human shields. I&rsquo;d be lying if I said I didn&rsquo;t employ that last tactic on more than one occasion.&nbsp;
With all this in mind, and having witnessed the sea of scooters weaving around our car from the airport, I felt apprehensive about taking those first steps out of our hotel on day one. Apprehensive, but about as prepared as I could be, I suppose. I&rsquo;d just step out, raise my hand and go.&nbsp;
The reality check came immediately, when we attempted to reach the coffee shop directly across the street from our hotel. We made our way to the crossing (no traffic lights, just lines painted on the ground), took a few deep breaths and waited for a gap in the traffic.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Okay, 3, 2, 1&hellip; go!&rdquo;

Rachel and I launched out onto the crossing, hands raised, attempting to keep our eyes open while vehicles came hurtling towards us. We were met with horns blaring, as a large car and 5 scooters rushed down our &ldquo;quiet&rdquo; side street. More than few expletives escaped from my mouth at that moment, but we persisted.&nbsp;
Once safely* on the other side of the road (I&rsquo;ll come back to this later), we debriefed. None of those drivers had any intention of stopping for us, despite the marked crossing. The horns &mdash; why?! We did what we were told. Then I remembered that video; while scooters will weave around you, cars can&rsquo;t, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean they&rsquo;ll stop. Basically, avoid cars at all costs.
We caught our breath and bravely pulled ourselves together before heading into the coffee shop where we&rsquo;d meet our future holiday romance: <a href="https://www.lordlucy.com/post/vietnamese-iced-coffee">Vietnamese iced coffee</a>.&nbsp;
There&rsquo;s really no right or wrong place to drink coffee in Vietnam, it&rsquo;s all great. But ultimately this was the beginning of our love affair with <a href="https://www.highlandscoffee.com.vn/en/origin.html">Highlands Coffee</a> &mdash; a local chain more prolific than Starbucks in the West. You could say that a chain is the wrong place to sample the local produce, but the condensed milk to coffee ratio there was the soothing hug we needed to tackle more simple pedestrian activities.
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/d6cfdcda22183e5805dc39635469a8f85af36ea5" width="250" height="404" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
As we continued along our route towards Ben Thanh Market (approximately 5 minutes&rsquo; walk from our hotel), we tested our nerves on a couple more small crossings. We waited for the cars to pass, looked both ways a thousand times, and only stepped out when the gap in the traffic seemed great enough for us to make our presence known. We survived.
Then we turned onto the big street. The huge street. We were on one side, the market was on the other. More expletives.
But here we had two things on our side: other pedestrians and traffic lights. This felt like it could be a game changer, so we gathered in among the crowd of other tourists who were vibrating anxiously at the side of the road. The moment the man turned green, we stepped out en masse.&nbsp;
It turns out that the human shield/defensive line approach was the right one for our first Big Road. Like much of the rest of the world, you&rsquo;ll find that in Vietnam, traffic can still turn the corner into the lane you&rsquo;re crossing. When that&rsquo;s 30+ scooters weaving around and among you, it is intimidating to say the least, so we learned to stay close to the pack.
Another thing that quickly became apparent was the lack of raised hands &mdash; in fact, the only other people raising their hands were clearly tourists. Not once during our two-week trip did I spot a local doing it. Part of me suspects that may be by design. After all, it&rsquo;s we tourists who are the unpredictable pedestrians, the ones locals really need to look out for.

After a few days in Ho Chi Minh City, we were less intimidated by the roads. We developed rules that worked for us, like never rushing to catch the end of a green man &mdash; always wait for the next one, wait until you&rsquo;re both fully prepared to step out, and if in doubt, throw your arm in the air and hope it helps. And wherever there was the option, always use a crossing with lights.
Now for that caveat about being &ldquo;safely on the other side of the road.&rdquo; With so many vehicles comes a huge demand for parking. And where better than on the pavement? We frequently found ourselves scrambling between parked mopeds, but it was not unusual to have to walk out along the edge of the road to get by. Somehow, this was less scary than crossing.
During our trip, we&rsquo;d meet other foreigners at crossings and in central reservations, all taking deep breaths and looking around frantically, like rabbits in headlights. Like us, most would steady themselves and step forth. But the one tactic I never saw twice came from a woman who raised her arms and released high-pitched noises similar to a siren as she darted across with purpose. She made it across just fine.
All this to say, if you thought you knew how to cross the road, you&rsquo;ll never truly learn until you visit Vietnam (or, perhaps, India). Even in smaller, partially-pedestrianised tourist hubs like Hội An, throngs of pedestrians are at the mercy of the next scooter-rider rushing home for dinner.&nbsp;
But it&rsquo;s not an impossible challenge to overcome, and the beeping of horns quickly becomes a soundtrack to your trip. And in those moments where you&rsquo;re beginning to wonder whether the treasures that lie across the other side of the road are even worth it, just remember there&rsquo;s probably a Highlands Coffee waiting to give you a soothing hug just a few yards further along.

&ldquo;My parents, husband and I are planning to drive to Edinburgh from Yorkshire in May for a long weekend. Probably a Thursday to Sunday. Thinking where is best to stay and what to do? Is it advised to drive round Scotland or take public transport like tram.
An itinerary for 3/4 days would be great!&rdquo;

Answered by Katy 

Hi there, reader! I may be biased, but I think a trip to Scotland sounds like a great plan, and May is about the time when a little sunshine should make an appearance.
I previously wrote up a suggestion for a <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/the-best-cross-country-scotland-road-trip-according-to-a-local">week-long road trip around Scotland</a>, so have a look at that for some all-around Scottish destination inspiration. But with only 3 or 4 days on the ground in Edinburgh, you&rsquo;ll find yourself with plenty to do without even leaving the capital.&nbsp;
I&rsquo;d suggest honing in on what you want to see there first &mdash; maybe the castle, the <a href="https://edinburgh.org/blog/the-secrets-underneath-edinburghs-streets/">underground streets</a>, the views from <a href="https://ewh.org.uk/calton-hill/">Calton Hill</a> or <a href="https://www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/holyrood-park-and-arthurs-seat-p914341">Arthur&rsquo;s Seat</a>? If you&rsquo;re fans of Dan Brown&rsquo;s Da Vinci Code, you&rsquo;ll probably need to schedule in a visit to <a href="https://www.rosslynchapel.com/">Rosslyn Chapel</a>, too.

It&rsquo;ll be tough to work out a way to squeeze it all into a couple of days, but obviously I&rsquo;d suggest visiting Glasgow as well (I&rsquo;ll even show you around!). The two cities are less than an hour apart by train, which makes the trip incredibly easy. Alternatively, you can head to Stirling to see its&nbsp;<a href="https://great-castles.com/stirling.html">historical castle</a> and the <a href="https://www.nationalwallacemonument.com/explore/our-story/">Wallace Monument</a> &mdash; and maybe pop in for a dram at the <a href="https://www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/curly-coo-bar-p1177261">Curly Coo whisky bar</a>.&nbsp;
With so much to see in Edinburgh alone, you&rsquo;ll probably want to stay pretty centrally. But hotels can get pricey, so you may want to look closer to Haymarket station than Waverley. That&rsquo;ll keep you within reasonable walking distance of the main sights, while also in a convenient spot for catching buses and trams.
On that note, I would suggest leaving your car at home if you can. With LNER trains connecting Edinburgh to London via York and Doncaster, you should hopefully be able to find a convenient route north.
Plus, for only a few days in the city, you really won&rsquo;t need to drive. Buses, trams, and trains will be able to take you anywhere you need to go, usually with a simple tap of your card or a conveniently placed ticket machine.&nbsp;

Hopefully this has answered a few of your questions, reader! I look forward to hearing how your trip goes, and don&rsquo;t hesitate to get in touch if you decide to visit Glasgow :-)
 Do you have a question or idea you'd like to see in the Detour? Let us know below!

All the important (or silly, or strange) travel news from across the web this week.
<ul>
<li>It&rsquo;s been another scary week for aviation, as a Delta Air Lines plane found itself landing upside down on the runway in Toronto. Thankfully, all those onboard have survived, and now Delta is offering up <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/delta-plane-crash-toronto-30k/">$30,000 compensation</a>. </li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Passengers flying from New York to Dublin last weekend were treated to an <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/united-airlines-plane-diverted-canada-dublin-newfoundland-b2701340.html">impromptu weekend on the Canadian island of Newfoundland</a>. Luckily for anyone attending Mass on Sunday at the nearby cathedral, passenger Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, found himself with plenty of time to kill. </li>
<li>If all this leaves you feeling more than a little anxious about flying, take a look at <a href="https://www.afar.com/magazine/expert-tips-and-advice-for-overcoming-a-fear-of-flying">these expert suggestions</a> on managing your fears. </li>
<li>And finally, first came the fake pandas, then came fake tigers, and now there&rsquo;s fake snow. Unseasonably warm temperatures at China&rsquo;s Chengdu Snow Village meant that this year&rsquo;s Lunar New Year celebrations were less blanketed in snow and more <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/snow-village-in-china-apologises-for-using-fake-snow-during-unusually-warm-weather-13311766">blanketed in cotton wool</a>. Despite all apologies and offering refunds, it could take them a while to live down that flake news.</li>
</ul>

Vietnam - where learning to cross the road isn't childs play

Japan

Australia

Costa Rica

Federated States of Micronesia

India

Season's greetings, JFC-ers!
There's something about all the joy and glee going around in December that makes me actively seek out the weirder side of the festivities. And this year's Creepy Crimbo Crown goes to... Greece's&nbsp;<a href="https://www.argophilia.com/news/kallikantzaroi-greek-christmas-goblins/232499/">kallikantzaroi goblins</a>!
Much like Iceland's Yule Lads, these wee guys roam around causing mischief, until they're banished on 6th January. But don't worry, just hang a pig's jawbone above the front door and your house will be just fine. How very festive indeed!
Safe travels and happy holidays,

Katy - The Detour Editor

Two Years Living in Airbnbs: Here's What I've Learnt

Flight Finder Olivia splits her time between San Diego and Seattle. When she&rsquo;s not at her local coffee shop writing about the benefits of slow travel, you&rsquo;ll find her hiking or road tripping along the West Coast.

Written by Olivia

I&rsquo;ve spent almost two years living in Airbnbs full-time as a digital nomad. I usually stay for about 1&ndash;3 months (with some shorter term rentals in between) so it&rsquo;s safe to say I&rsquo;m pretty familiar with the lifestyle.&nbsp;
Airbnb is an incredible resource for slow travel, but there&rsquo;s definitely a learning curve to it, and lots to look out for when it comes to using it safely, affordably, and ethically. There are also some misconceptions that could use clearing up, and some secrets that should be shared!
I usually stay in the US or Canada, with a couple stays in England. So I&rsquo;ve checked in with my fellow writer Kristi, who has a lot of international experience with long-term Airbnbs, and verified that these tips apply pretty widely around the world.
We&rsquo;re also not affiliated with Airbnb in any way &mdash; that&rsquo;s how you know you&rsquo;re getting the real truth here.

Misconceptions
Let&rsquo;s get these out of the way first &mdash; while it&rsquo;s far from a perfect company, I think a lot of hesitation towards Airbnb comes from inexperience. Here&rsquo;s my take on some popular complaints, and why they don&rsquo;t stop me from using the service.
&nbsp;&ldquo;Airbnb owners drive up housing prices and wreck the market!&rdquo;
There&rsquo;s&nbsp;some truth to this, but it&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/28/economy/housing-affordability-airbnb-vrbo-backlash/index.html">nowhere near as widespread as people imagine</a>. There are too many other factors at play controlling rapid rent inflation.&nbsp;
Without getting into too much detail about housing markets, I can say from experience that many properties on Airbnb are not places that would be available for permanent housing if the website disappeared. Think basements, spare rooms, guest houses, and trailers. Some people even rent vacant lots to campers. Those flashy mansions on the homepage represent a surprisingly small fraction of what&rsquo;s actually available.
So if this is what&rsquo;s holding you back, you&rsquo;ll be happy to know I&rsquo;ve never found it difficult to book the sort of place that wouldn&rsquo;t be on the market at all without Airbnb, one where I know my money is mostly going into local hands.

&ldquo;That must be super expensive!&rdquo;
Monthly Airbnb rentals are always going to be pricier than standard leases in the same neighborhood, but there are a few things to consider:
<ul>
<li>You have nearly absolute flexibility on move-in and move-out dates. </li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">You don&rsquo;t have to do a credit/background check or fill out applications like you might with a regular lease. </li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">It&rsquo;s fully furnished, with utilities included. </li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">You have a host (usually onsite or close-by)&nbsp;whom you get to review at the end. </li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">You will almost never pay the nightly price. Most hosts offer massive discounts for stays of 30+ days. This has saved me over $1,000 a month before. There&rsquo;s a reason I prefer hotels for short stays and use Airbnb for longer rentals.</li>
</ul>
I generally stay in one-room homes like guest houses (comparable to a studio apartment) in either small cities or rural areas in the US and Canada. My monthly costs range between $1,100 and $1,400 USD per month. In my hometown of San Diego, studio apartments regularly cost $2k-$3k, so it&rsquo;s actually far cheaper for me to switch Airbnbs every month than to try and rent a permanent spot at home. While you can definitely find some swanky places on the site, you don&rsquo;t need to break the bank to use the service.&nbsp;
More cost-saving tips below!
&ldquo;Airbnbs have crazy rules and cleaning expectations!&rdquo;
I&rsquo;m honestly not sure where this myth comes from. Hosts set their own rules, so you&rsquo;ll find some oddball requests once in a while, but you don&rsquo;t have to book those rentals. That is absolutely not the norm. The most I&rsquo;ve ever been asked to do is not throw parties or smoke indoors, and to take the trash out before I leave. Just read the listing thoroughly to make sure you&rsquo;re okay with the host&rsquo;s expectations.

My tips for booking long-term Airbnbs
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Book as far in advance as you can. Prices don&rsquo;t typically fluctuate like airfare. Because you need long stretches of availability, it&rsquo;s best to book your spot as soon as you&rsquo;ve made your decision. I usually aim for 3&ndash;5 months in advance. </li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Stay in each spot for at least 30 days to get the discount. Hosts set those discounts, so some might offer it for 14 days, or 60 days, but there&rsquo;s almost always a discount. Play around with the trip length until you&rsquo;re satisfied with your savings. </li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Be flexible on location (or prepare to make other compromises). There are three main components to a good booking: location, quality of home, and price. You need to be highly flexible on at least one of those criteria, and I suggest you loosen up on the location. You&rsquo;re there for at least a month! You&rsquo;ll have time to explore. You don&rsquo;t need to be right next to the action. Especially if you work from home, you&rsquo;ll be happier in a nicer room. I cast pretty wide nets: &ldquo;Southern Utah&rdquo; or &ldquo;anywhere in England&rdquo; or &ldquo;somewhere in the desert&rdquo; are all criteria I&rsquo;ve started with and found comfortable, affordable spots. When I want to stay in a specific city, I generally have to either take a huge hit to my comfort level, splurge for a month, or get extremely lucky. </li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">Read listings with a fine-tooth comb. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t need to make sure that amenity is listed, every home has that!&rdquo; WRONG. You have no idea what kinds of things can be missing from Airbnbs. If you have deal-breakers (even basic things like heating or hot water) then you need to ensure they are either listed on the page, or message the host and ask. And be warned &mdash; it&rsquo;s common for hosts to say they have a &ldquo;kitchen&rdquo; when what they really mean is a mini fridge and a microwave.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
<li>You can haggle. You can also reach out to hosts and try to negotiate a lower price. Kristi did this all over Europe and regularly saved cash ($500&ndash;$1200 a month!) &nbsp;Her advice: &ldquo;Find 3&ndash;5 options that are slightly higher than your budget and send a friendly and polite message stating your maximum budget and ask if they would be willing to negotiate on the price. I found that at least 1 of the 5 would say yes, and I would go from there.&rdquo;</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Lastly, remember that the host also reviews you as a guest. Bad reviews can tank your chances of securing bookings, but if you&rsquo;re polite, follow the rules, and don&rsquo;t leave the place a wreck, you&rsquo;ll be fine. </li>
</ul>
So, while Airbnbs can absolutely be expensive, complicated, and unethical, they don&rsquo;t have to be. There's a reason they became so popular so quickly, and that homely comforts aspect really can win out over a hotel, especially if you'll be staying awhile like me.
If you&rsquo;re thoughtful and open-minded about your decisions, living full-time in short-term rentals makes a great way to explore the world without dropping your entire savings on a vacation. 
Do you have experience of staying long-term in Airbnbs (or similar)? I'd love to hear your tricks for finding your next temporary home, and hear about what makes short-term rental accommodation more appealing to you than a hotel. Just hit 'Reply'!

Since this is officially our festive edition, we thought we'd rustle up our own take on a famous Christmas song, and gift you 12 altogether less usual travel ideas for 2025...
🥁For twelve drummers drumming: Head to Japan over Easter, 19th-20th April, for<a href="https://www.festicket.com/festivals/let-it-roll-open-air/"> </a>the <a href="https://narita.com/topics/archives/113?lng=en">Narita Drum Festival</a>. Expect a whole weekend of traditional Taiko drumming echoing through the streets as part of the 35th annual festival.&nbsp;
The event typically sees around 200,000 spectators flock to the impressive venue of <a href="https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6401.html">Naritasan Temple</a> over the course of the weekend, so prepare to compete for a good view!
🎺For eleven pipers piping: You shouldn&rsquo;t be shocked by this one &mdash; it&rsquo;s a bagpiping festival in Scotland! <a href="https://bagpipe.news/event/piping-live-2025/">Piping Live!</a> and the World Pipe Band Championships will be taking place in Glasgow from 10th&ndash;17th August, attracting pipe bands from all over the world for a week of concerts, parades, and good old-fashioned bagpipe show downs.
😈For ten lords a&rsquo;leaping: Head to the little town of Castrillo de Murcia in northern Spain, which hosts one of the world&rsquo;s strangest festivals every year during June&hellip;<a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/el-colacho-baby-jumping-festival-murcia-spain">El Colacho.</a>
During the week-long religious festival, performers in devil outfits run riot through the streets, insulting and whipping passers-by and generally causing chaos &mdash; before they&rsquo;re finally driven out by the good men of the town.
El Colacho ends somewhat controversially, with the performers symbolically leaping over the town&rsquo;s babies (who are laid gently on a mattress, we should emphasize) to protect the infants&rsquo; innocence.
We have to admit that it all sounds a bit terrifying, but there have been no reports of accidents in the festival&rsquo;s history, thankfully. And for less child endangerment, there&rsquo;s always the<a href="https://youtu.be/SzTyn3qxi8s?si=RZP9jQoL5i1Uhqwr"> adumu jumping rituals</a> of the Maasai.

💃🏻For nine ladies dancing: Take a trip to the beautiful<a href="https://www.visityap.com/getting-here/"> subtropical Yap</a> in Micronesia.
Yap&rsquo;s waters are home to over 100 manta rays, and if you go for a dive at the islands&rsquo; cleaning stations between December and April, you might just witness nature&rsquo;s most spectacular dance-contest.
As part of their courtship rituals, female manta rays will lead hordes of males through the sea on<a href="https://blog.mares.com/photographer-engulfed-manta-ray-mating-dance-yap-micronesia-6485.html"> long, elaborate dances</a> for hours at a time. Uncanny. Unearthly. Unforgettable.
🐄For eight maids a&rsquo;milking: Fly over to the city of Bra in northern Italy during September, and take part in<a href="https://cheese.slowfood.it/en/"> Cheese 2025.</a>
It is (yes, you guessed it), the world&rsquo;s biggest dairy festival, with crowds coming in their thousands to sample delicious curds and whey from across the face of the globe
The event's chill vibes and focus on animal welfare and environmental sustainability is a great fit for Bra in general.
It's<a href="https://prettyslow.life/cittaslow-movement-slow-city-sustainable-living/"> a 'Slow City'</a>, part of an Italian movement that has deliberately stepped back from factories and industry to embrace relaxed, peasant-style eco-living &mdash; with a fully pedestrianised city centre, an array of communal vegetable gardens, and more.
🦢For seven swans a&rsquo;swimming: Stop by <a href="https://en.japantravel.com/hokkaido/otofuke-tokachigawa-swan-festival/66204">Tokachigawa Onsen</a> in Hokkaido, Japan during late January to mid-February each year.
Renowned for its hot springs and glorious winter views, this charming town also plays host to a yearly &lsquo;swan festival&rsquo; of lights, with an impressive illuminated display in the snow that&rsquo;s meant to resemble the elegant movement of birds. Because what says &ldquo;elegance&rdquo; better than a <a href="https://youtu.be/8-XIgPFTQvc?si=-C1SWSPe0Rj8RECs">laser show</a>?

🐣For six geese a&rsquo;laying: Visit the Mother Goose House, found in a town called Hazard, in rural Kentucky. This<a href="https://www.kentuckytourism.com/hazard/history-heritage/historic-districts-sites/mother-goose-house"> bizarre and delightful home</a> was built to resemble a colossal goose back in the 1930s, and has since become a beloved local landmark.
Tragedy struck a few years ago, when strong winds led to<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/kentucky-town-rallies-to-restore-beheaded-mother-goose-people-b1823424.html"> Mother Goose being beheaded</a>. Local residents rallied around, and successfully raised the funds required to rebuild her.
💍For FIVE GOLD RINGS: Book your flights to Australia, where you can legally<a href="https://www.trulyaus.com/gold-panning-australia/"> buy a miner&rsquo;s permit</a> and search for gold buried in the hills like an old-fashioned prospector.
Your odds of finding a nugget as big as your fist are slim, unfortunately &mdash; but in 2019, one prospector<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-22/large-gold-nugget-found-near-kalgoorlie-as-gold-price-soars/11135228"> stumbled onto a $100,000 lump of gold</a> near Kalgoorlie-Boulder in Western Australia, so we&rsquo;d suggest starting there!
Alternatively, head to the<a href="https://www.sovereignhill.com.au/visit/"> old-timey town of Sovereign Hill</a> and learn more about the fascinating history of gold mining in Oz.
🦜For four calling birds: Pay a trip to the sprawling <a href="https://www.monteverdeinfo.com/cloud-forests">cloud forests of Monteverde</a>, Costa Rica, home to magnificent waterfalls and a ton of rare wildlife, including the Resplendent Quetzal (what a name!).&nbsp;
There are over <a href="https://www.birdingplaces.eu/en/birdingplaces/costa-rica/monteverde-cloud-forest-reserve">400 species of bird</a> living in Costa Rica&rsquo;s cloud forests, so don&rsquo;t forget your binoculars, a little patience, and a rain jacket &mdash; unsurprisingly, it can get a little damp up there (evidence from my trip there this year below).

🐔For three French hens: Perhaps unsurprisingly, Kentucky is the place to head for a real hen party &mdash; on the last weekend of September each year, Laurel County hosts the <a href="https://chickenfestival.com/">&lsquo;World Chicken Festival&rsquo;</a> in honour of its very own state hero, Colonel Sanders.
If giant skillets of deep-fried chicken don&rsquo;t sound like your thing, you can always take a walk in the 700,000-acre depths of the nearby<a href="https://www.kentuckytourism.com/an-insiders-guide-to-the-daniel-boone-national-forest"> Daniel Boone National Forest.</a>
🐢For two turtle doves: Stop by the coastal village of Velas in western India during March.
This is the time when adorable, baby Olive Ridley turtles hatch from their eggs and crawl towards the shore - and Velas holds a yearly<a href="https://www.travelandleisureindia.in/featured/velas-turtle-festival/"> Turtle Festival</a> in honour of the event.
If you&rsquo;re crying out, &ldquo;but wait, those are turtles, not turtle-doves!&rdquo; then you might prefer a trip to eastern England during the spring&ndash;summer breeding season. Turtle doves can be tough to spot, so your best bet is to <a href="https://operationturtledove.org/see-a-turtle-dove/where-to-see-habitat-and-time-of-year/">head to a nature reserve</a> that they&rsquo;re known to visit.
🍐For a partridge in a pear tree: As Nat Geo sensibly points out,<a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/animals-birds-holiday-culture-christmas"> partridges don&rsquo;t tend to sit in pear trees.</a>
But if you go cycling through the<a href="https://en.normandie-tourisme.fr/hidden-gems/apple-and-pear-trees-in-blossom/"> Normandie-Maine Regional Natural Park</a> in France during the spring, you&rsquo;ll be treated to the spectacular sight of the region's pear trees in bloom.
There&rsquo;s even a<a href="http://poire-domfront.fr/tourism-and-poire-domfront/itineraries/"> &lsquo;Pear Route&rsquo; you can follow</a>, stopping off at the charmingly colourful town of Domfront which is renowned for its delicious pear cider). Sant&eacute;!

Travel Inspiration

All&nbsp;the&nbsp;important (or silly, or strange) travel news from across&nbsp;the&nbsp;web this week.
<ul>
<li>Bleary-eyed revellers suffering the effects of the office Christmas party last weekend could have been forgiven for thinking they were hallucinating, as <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/santacon-attendees-overrun-new-york-boozy-event-2000954">thousands of Santas ran rampant</a> through the streets of New York City.</li>
<li>Also on the loose this week is the <a href="https://www.bas.ac.uk/media-post/worlds-largest-iceberg-a23a-breaks-free/">world&rsquo;s largest iceberg</a>, which is slowly making its way north from Antarctica.</li>
<li>It looks like Editor Katy was ahead of the curve on this one, as <a href="https://www.timeout.com/news/this-central-asian-country-has-been-named-the-worlds-most-desirable-emerging-destination-121624">TimeOut puts Uzbekistan top</a> of its &lsquo;most desirable&rsquo; list.</li>
<li>And finally, it turns out pigs really can fly! Dutch airline KLM had an absolutely stinking week, as a flight from Amsterdam to Mexico City had to be diverted to Bermuda due to the awful pong emanating from the 100 pigs in the cargo hold.&nbsp;
After a 30-hour beach break and a stretch of the trotters, passengers, pigs, and crew were all able to return to the plane and continue their journey.
</li>
</ul>

Scotland

Shetland Islands, Stornoway, Jersey, and more in £80s-£190s rtn

€59-€76 rtn

Inverness to Dublin & vice versa in £150s-£180s/€180s-€190s rtn

£31-£72 rtn

€34 rtn

$642 RT