travel

Today, people go to the Himalayas to meditate with Buddhist monks. Irish Christian monks were meditating 1,200 years ago in equally impressive surroundings, as a visit to Skellig Michael, off the west coast of Kerry, shows.

There's no sign on the door, but if you're at 394 Broadway in South Williamsburg, you're in the right place. Moto sells some seriously good beers such as Corsendonk from Belgium and Guinness from Ireland.

William Shakespeare died in 1616 and was buried in the Church of the Holy Trinity in Stratford-upon-Avon. This is where he had been baptised in 1564. "My words fly up, my thoughts remain below: Words without thoughts never to heaven go." — Hamlet.

The place to go this year is Istanbul: along with the Ruhr Valley and Pécs, Hungary, it's one of the three European Capitals of Culture. Mike Pilewski takes us to the megacity on the Bosporus in a land caught between East and West, between tradition and modernity.

Valentine's Day, on 14 February, is a great opportunity for a romantic getaway. ANNA HOCHSIEDER presents words to talk about the hotel room you might be staying in.

Extending north from Newcastle to the Scottish border, Northumberland's landscape is marked by romantic Norman castles, while Hadrian's Wall reminds visitors that this is frontier country. Walk the Cheviot Hills or relax in fishing villages.

South Africa is a multitude of magnificent experiences, from the colonial towns of the Garden Route to the vast plain of the Karoo. Then there's the glamour and the glitz of Cape Town and its coastline as photographed by Franz Marc Frei.