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Head to one of these ski resorts to ensure you spend as much time as possible on the slopes Weekend skiing at its best means maximum time on snow and minimum time away from work. Achieving this involves detailed planning, professional help from a specialist tour operator - or both. The argument is that two full days - or better, three - on the mountain can be just as rewarding as a week. Most suitable resorts are within a 90-minute drive from a major airport. Specialist companies will meet you off your evening flight. They will have already arranged lift pass, equipment rental, and guide in advance so that no time is wasted on the first morning. Laax, Switzerland Laax is linked to Flims and Falera, and together they form one of Europe's largest but least-known ski areas with 220km of mainly intermediate pistes. The skiing goes up to 3,018m with the lower villages at 1,100m. A daily shuttle service from Friedrichshafen and Zurich airports takes 90 minutes and costs £103 return. The area opens at weekends in November and the winter season lasts from November 30 to April 21. Laax is unofficially the freestyle capital of the Alps and attracts a strong 20-something following, with the action both on and off the slopes centred upon Laax Murschetg, the most ski-convenient bedbase. best for all standards, party-goers. Recommended tour operators Alpine Answers (020 7801 1080: alpineanswers.co.uk), Iglu Ski (020 8542 6658; igluski.com), PowderBeds (0845 180 5000; powderbeds.com), Powder Byrne (020 8246 5300; powderbyrne.com), Ski Safari (01273 224060; skisafari.com), Ski Solutions (020 7471 7700; skisolutions.com), Sno.co.uk (020 8133 8899; sno.co.uk), Snow Finders (01858 466883; snowfinders.co.uk), Snow-wise (020 3397 8450; snow-wise.com), Zenith Holidays (020 3137 7678; zenithholidays.co.uk).

Vacation is the time to kick back, relax…and have one hell of a party. A new book rounds up the best places to experience a new culture by getting down with the locals. Researching a book entitled 101 Places to Get F*cked Up Before You Die: The Ultimate Travel Guide to Partying Around the World may seem like the most fun job ever. But editor David S. Miller stresses there's more to it than one might think. He describes the compilation of wild, first-person adventure stories pulled from the community of travel writers that comprise the Matador Network as a "Trojan Horse:" the sensationally-dubbed cover opens to reveal real cultural experiences. The book's crazy title gave Miller pause when he was first approached about the project, but he soon realized there was a lot missing in the current travel literature. Most features flaunt the best beaches and sunsets, but they lack details on how visitors can have authentic cultural experiences. "People are just trying to sell the destination," he says. But he wanted this book to provide readers with "culture and stories you wouldn't find in every travel book." "The whole ethos behind the book is: it doesn't really matter where you go…even in Antarctica or the middle of the Bolivian salt flats…if you're the kind of person who isn't much of risk-taker, this is a time to get out and mix it up," says Miller. The crazy stories told in the book, organized into booze-and, occasionally, drug-fueled chapters like "High Elevation" and "Under the Radar," give readers tips on how to have fully immersive experiences while on vacation. Intertwined among tales of getting "f*cked up" are accounts of how to make real connections with local people who can serve as guides to the region, taking the traveler to the most genuine spots.

Telegraph Travel's new app promises to cut through the white noise to bring you only the very best of a destination. Written by resident experts, the free app offers innovative functionality and intuitive advice. Want to make the most of your holiday? Let our award-winning experts help you explore the world's leading destinations with this must-have app. Already selected by Apple as one of their "best new apps" it includes New York, Amsterdam, Rome and Paris among its initial destinations, with Barcelona, Edinburgh and Venice among those to follow. Our resident experts have personally reviewed every attraction, restaurant, bar, beach and shop to bring you only the very best the destination has to offer. Built with offline access and solely reliant on GPS to track your movements, there is no risk of expensive roaming charges. Once you have downloaded them - and some 15,000 of you have this week already done so - you can use the apps to navigate around the destination with the Telegraph as your guide. Short, insightful reviews written especially for the app, easy-to-use interactive maps and simple categorisation will help you ensure your next choice is the right choice. We won't just leave you at the door either - each recommendation comes with tips and insider knowledge about the local delicacies to order, how to get the best table, how to beat the queues and how to save money. As well as hand-picked recommendations, our experts have created customised itineraries to help you plan the perfect trip. All the key information - such as phone numbers, prices, websites and booking advice - will also be at your fingertips. Every location is plotted on your iPhone's map, so you can see where you are and quickly get where you need to go and all the information is constantly reviewed and updated. Over the coming weeks we will be adding new destinations and new functionality, but we also want to hear from you. Where do you want this app to take you

Valentine's is coming up and there are more than enough ways for couples to experience something different but altogether romantic. Instead of going the traditional route, why not go for an intimate getaway in the offbeat track? Planning early? Travelers Today has prepared a list of some of the world's lesser-known gems couples deserve to discover. 1. Plitvice, Croatia For couples who love nature, Plitvice National Park in Croatia can make for a fantastic, educational and unforgettable tour. It's a UNESCO site and is home to Europe's most beautiful nature reserves, which consist of 16 emerald lakes each, connected by a waterfall. Couples should look close enough and focus less on taking photos, as it's incomparable to personally see the colors of the lakes change from turquoise to navy. To add to the experience, it's best to stay in a rustic yet homey B&B. 2. Hiddensee Island, Germany For both beach bums and nature enthusiast, Hiddensee Island is a dream come true. It's a place that's seemingly stuck in time with a picturesque view of the sea and a virgin beach perfect for a romantic escape. Couples should try snuggling into a big beach basket made for two, which locals call Strandkorb and enjoy the view of the sunset. 3. Bettmeralp, Switzerland For nothing short of a cabin romance, settling in Bettmeralp is the best choice a couple can make while in Switzerland. Guests board a cable car, which leads them to a car-free zone and into the quaint little village. There's an incomparable view of Snowcap Mountains. Not to mention the best-tasting Swiss chocolate to add to the sweet vacation. 4. Canary Islands, Spain While Barcelona and Madrid sound good for a vacation, a true romantic getaway this Valentine's Day in Spain is to be brought to the Canary Islands. These lands have everything any couple wants in a perfect trip. Secluded beaches, cozy tapas bars, wine vineyards, volcanic hills and cliffs poss

Forbes Travel Guide has added 36 hotels, restaurants and spas to its exclusive list of Five-Star properties. Among them are 15 hotels, bringing the total number of Five-Star hotels to 97 worldwide, the most in its history. A number of the hotels on the list are newly-opened or recently renovated, which Forbes Travel Guide President Michael Cascone says is proof of an uptick in investment in the luxury hotel industry. "In other words, the capital is flowing back into this segment," Cascone says. "The outlook remains strong for this segment." Luxury hotels suffered the most during the recession. Many projects came to a halt, as occupancy levels and average daily rates dropped. Still, through November of last year, 75.4% of luxury hotel rooms were filled, while the average daily rate was $287.94, according to STR. In 2009, at the height of the economic downturn, 63.7% of luxury hotel rooms were occupied with an average daily rate of $243.98. Forbes Travel Guide has been handing out stars since 1958. A team of inspectors anonymously evaluates properties against about 800 standards, the company says. Cascone says those include such factors as décor and cleanliness. But most importantly, it's about consistently top-notch service, he says. "It's first and foremost service," he says. "That consistency is what we look for, and that's what ultimately the best of the best end up doing." The newly renovated Mandarin Oriental, San Francisco and The Pierre New York, A Taj Hotel earned Five Stars. The recently constructed St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort, Four Seasons Hotel Toronto and Trump International Hotel & Tower Toronto also earned Five-Star ratings. Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts had a strong showing. It's the brand with the most Five-Star properties this year, with a total of 18 hotels in 11 destinations. The company has tripled its number of honored hotels in the past decade.

With each trip I take, I make it a point to bring home cultural souvenirs - gold nuggets of experiences I'll remember all my life. Whether it's sitting and talking with a Muslim at the Great Mosque of Granada in Spain, waving a flag at an Irish hurling match, or getting naked with Germans at a spa in Baden-Baden, it's experiences like these that give each trip that extra sparkle. Whenever I'm in Turkey, I make it a point to see a whirling dervish. This is not a performance, but rather, a religious ritual done by the Mevlevi, followers of a 13th-century Muslim mystic named Rumi. Dervishes whirl while praying in a meditative trance. A dervish once explained to me: "As I spin around, my hand above receives the love from our Creator, and my hand below showers it onto all of his creation. " One night, while walking through Istanbul, I came upon a big patio filled with tourists, enjoying a single dervish whirling on an elevated platform. My immediate reaction was negative, as I have a bad attitude about dervishes doing their whirl for tourists, who have no idea what's going on. I prefer seeing the real deal at a place like the Galata Dervish Monastery or the Foundation of Universal Lovers of Mevlana. But on that night, I buried my bad attitude and simply enjoyed the beauty of his performance there in the Istanbul night. In Barcelona, it's a joy to join in the sardana dances to celebrate Catalan culture. Locals of all ages seem to spontaneously appear in the cathedral square. Everyone is welcome. Participants form a circle, hold hands, then raise their arms-slow-motion, Zorba the Greek-style - as they hop and sway gracefully to the music of the band. The rest of Spain mocks this lazy circle dance, but for me, it is a stirring display of the Catalan region's pride and patriotism. Good things come to those who participate. All of my Protestant life I've watched hardscrabble pilgrims and frail nuns climb Rome's Scala Santa Holy Stairs on their knees.

No question about it, airfares on some routes are higher than they were four or five years ago, although Airfare watchdog airfare searchers frequently find hundreds of fares crisscrossing the country for $250 or less round-trip. And even though fares seem higher, let's not forget that, adjusted for inflation; most fares are actually lower than they were 10 or 20 years ago. That said, here's my best advices for making your airfare dollars go further. 1. There's no "magic" day or lead time to buy the best airfare. 2. So search often, over a long lead time, and pounce when there's a deal! 3. Get airfare alerts by e-mail 4. Sign up for the airlines ' e-mail feeds and frequent flier programs 5. Use Twitter 6. Be a flexible travel date flier 7. Search airline sites individually, but online travel agencies are still useful. 8. Use Priceline for last-minute trips 9. Use consolidators, but beware of the restrictions 10. Consider the extra fees before you buy 11. Combine two separate fares rather than buying one fare 12. Use alternate airports creatively 13. Buy tickets on an airline that will refund the difference if a fare goes down Go Here: http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/columnist/hobica/2014/04/01/how-to-find-airfare-deal/7122673/ Extra resources: http://answers.oreilly.com/topic/21800-the-corliss-group-world-travelers-on-surviving-hong-kongs-wildest-sporting-event-of-the-year/ http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1dfsns_the-corliss-group-luxury-travel-agency-barcelona-tourist-guide-the-easy-way-to-plan-your-trip_travel