The Travel
Check-In
(2nd November 2026)
Welcome to the new look Travel Check-In, every week we will bring you:
The latest travel news
The Best of the travel journal
The Travel Edit each week focusing on
Cruises & Voyages
Ski & Winter Holidays
Adventure & Wildlife
Family & Celebration Holidays
Luxury Escapes & Wellbeing
Culture, Cities & Slow Travel
Sport & Specialist Holidays
Latest Travel News
Foreign Office warns of strikes and demonstrations in Italy
What has happened
The Foreign Office warned UK travellers to Italy, including Vatican City, to expect possible disruption from a national strike and demonstrations. The strike was called by the Grassroots Trade Union (USB) across public and private sectors and ran from the evening of 29 October to the evening of 30 October. Demonstrations were expected in more than 50 cities, including Rome, Milan and Naples.
Foreign Office issues advice after Galapagos declares flooding emergency
Heavy rain on 31 October caused flooding on Santa Cruz, the main island for visitors to the Galapagos. The local authorities declared an emergency. Road closures, power cuts and disruption to travel to Baltra Airport have been reported, and Puerto Ayora has been affected.
Ryanair introduces baggage drop deadline
What is changing
From 10 November, Ryanair passengers who check in a bag must drop it at least 60 minutes before departure. The current cut-off is 40 minutes. The change applies at all of Ryanair’s departure airports.
Best of the Travel Journal
Which cabin is worth paying more for?
Most people choosing a cruise cabin ask the wrong question. They ask what the cheapest option is, or what the best one is. The better question is how much time you will actually spend in the cabin, and what you will be doing there.
Hidden Ski Holiday Gems
There's a shift happening in ski travel, and it's worth paying attention to. Resorts that used to sit quietly in the shadow of the big names — Flaine and Les Menuires in France, Bansko in Bulgaria — are seeing a real increase in visitors. Not because they've changed, but because travellers have.
Celebrating New Year Abroad
New Year's Eve at home tends to follow the same pattern every year — so if you're thinking about spending it somewhere else this time, you're in good company. Whether you want a warm-weather beach party, an elegant city fireworks display, or a proper multi-day festival
A Guide to Seeing the Northern Lights
The Northern Lights are one of the few genuinely bucket-list travel experiences left, and 2026/27 is shaping up to be a good window for it. Solar Cycle 25 peaked around October 2024, and while activity is now easing, history shows some of the strongest storms actually land.
Alternative Christmas Markets 2026
Vienna, Strasbourg, Nuremberg and Rome tend to hoover up all the attention every winter, and for good reason — but they're also where the crowds and the prices are highest. This guide looks past the UK, Germany, France and Italy to some of the best Christmas markets in the rest of Europe,
How to choose a ski holiday
Most people choose a ski resort by the photos or by where a friend went last year. That is how you end up with a beginner in a resort full of steep runs, or a keen skier in a village with a handful of easy slopes. A few honest questions at the start save a lot of disappointment.
The Travel Edit
(Sky & Winter Holidays)
Italy Ski Holidays
Italy does skiing differently. The slopes are world-class, but so is the espresso at 3,000 metres, the three-course lunch on the mountain, and the village you come home to at the end of the day. If you want a ski holiday that's as much about the food, the wine and the atmosphere as it is about the pistes, Italy is hard to beat.
At Yugen Trouvaille Piste, we build Italy ski holidays around how you actually want to spend the week — whether that's a family trip to the Dolomites, a couples' break in Courmayeur, or a group week in one of the bigger resorts. Every trip is arranged directly with us, not a call centre, and every detail is checked before you travel.
Cervinia, Reliable snow, easy mileage, one border to cross
Cervinia was a shepherds' summer pasture until European mountaineers, drawn by Edward Whymper's 1865 ascent of the Matterhorn, turned the Breuil basin into a resort. Engineer Dino Lora Totino built the first cable car in 1936; by 1939 the lift reached Plateau Rosa, and the resort has skied on glacier ever since.
Chalet La Godille
Some chalets announce themselves from the road. La Godille reveals itself the other way around — you arrive at the top, at the quiet bedroom floors, and only discover the heart of the house as you make your way down through it, floor by floor, toward the fire, the terrace and the hot tub built into the hillside below.
In the next edition
2027 travel trends
The best cruises for 2027
The latest travel news
Destination focus Singita Sabi Sand, South Africa
How to plan a Singita Sabi Sand safari holiday