Destinations

Culture goes on tour

~ Sarah Barrell

Museums and galleries across the British Isles are offering holidays so fine, they’re almost works of art

The past few years have seen many of our museums, galleries and learned societies team up with specialist tour operators to create unique itineraries that combine the institution’s expertise and the travel company’s know-how. Together, their clout and connections mean you can enjoy exclusive access to little-seen exhibits, or visits outside opening hours. Here’s our pick of the trips for 2013.

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/travel/Holidays/Learning/article1160865.ece

Western Australia: Take the Aerial Highway into Dreamtime

~ Sarah Barrell

The remote, luxury lodges of the Kimberley are now linked by air. Sarah Barrell flies to the final frontier

I’m scanning the ground for signs of life. So far, an hour into the flight from Broome to Australia’s remote north-western coast, I haven’t seen a thing. The ground below looks unreal, like a topographical map – globular layers of browns on greens on blues, and not a settlement in sight. The land doesn’t so much end here as fragment, gradually dissolving into the sea, before puckering up again in the shape of Indonesia, the next landfall, some 500 miles away. Sydney, meanwhile, lies 2,100 miles to the south.

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/ausandpacific/western-australia-take-the-aerial-highway-into-dreamtime-7984675.html

Singapore…from colonial to cool

~ Sarah Barrell

Singapore is slinging out its safe old image and ushering in an era of cutting-edge design and culinary delights.

From the air, Singapore looks like a castaway’s paradise. The island state sits within a patchwork of perfectly circular islands scattered in the South China Sea, each haloed with a ring of tropical sand. But as the plane lands, the massive cargo ships lurking in its waters and the forest of skyscrapers become visible. Singapore may be unveiling its own version of the Eden Project at the end of this month, but it’s a city that is determinedly urban.

Evening Standard, 27 June