Europe and Middle East

Exclusive guide to the best holiday destinations in Europe and Middle East. independent reviews from award-winning travel writers

Rupert Parker reports back from the Kurent Festival in Ptuj.. A n historic Slovenian carnival

Kurent Festival in Ptuj. A Slovenian Classic Carnival.

Huge shaggy horned giants, wielding clubs are chasing me down the cobbled street. The noise from the huge cowbells hung from chains around their waist is deafening. They follow me through squares lined by medieval houses, monasteries and churches. This is the Kurentovanje, the Slovenian equivalent of Mardi Gras, and one of the world’s top ten carnivals.

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Holborn Dining Room Gallery 960x598

Holborn Dining Room

It seems the opulent Rosewood London Hotel has injected a dash of glamour and sophistication into this part of London and its signature restaurant is loving every minute of it.

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Rosewood London Entrance Wrought Iron Gates

The Rosewood London Hotel

The Rosewood London Hotel brings elegance and luxury living to Holborn. It’s an area of London that has long needed something to brighten it up despite it being so close to the trendy spots of London’s theatre district.

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Montpellier Antigone fountain

Montpellier. Modern metropolis with a mediaeval heart 

Anthea Gerrie reports on Montpellier, a vastly under-visited city in southern France. It’s a modern city but with a mediaeval beating heart.

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Ferrara Via delle Volte. andy mossack

Ferrara. Emilia’s hidden gem.

Ferrara, with its ancient palaces and piazzas is a pearl of the Emilia-Romagna region. A region famously productive for so much of Italy’s attraction.

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Up Helly Aa

A hundred years from now, Shetland’s fire festival, Up Helly Aa, will be the stuff of legend; a litany of morphed tales of Viking lore handed down over the generations

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