As Escape Worldwide celebrates its 11th birthday, the team take a look back at some of their favourite destinations. Karen Stewart recalls a trip to northern India, when the story of the  Taj Mahal  brought a tear to her eye. There are some places in the world that you feel you know even if you haven't been, and the Taj Mahal is one of them – it's such an iconic building that everyone knows what it looks like, but when you actually visit you're really blown away by just how beautiful this place actually is. I was part-way through a trip to see the highlights of northern India when I visited the Taj Mahal – it was my first trip to India and a real eye-opener to this fantastically diverse country. I began with a few days in Delhi, which acts as the main gateway to northern India and is a good place to get started, before moving on to Jaipur, which I have to say was my favourite part – there's something about the atm...

In 2012 we did a lot of travel, for research honest! One of Darren's favourites was Oman : “For a spot of winter sunshine late last year I had a long weekend in Oman, where temperatures were in the mid 30's - just perfect for lazy days in the pool! I stayed at the Al Bustan Palace, a Ritz Carlton hotel and a local landmark - there aren't many hotels I've been to where the local Sultan has a floor all to himself (not even the hotel's manager has been to the 9th floor, apparently!) Oman is a beautiful country and Muscat itself is a fascinating town - the area has some beautiful hotels but if you can drag yourself away from the beach then I'd really recommend exploring Muscat for a half a day. The Grand Mosque is a beautiful example of Arabic architecture, while the Downtown area of Mutrah has an excellent Souq that looks like it hasn't changed for hundreds of years - I bought some spices and a rather lovely stained glass light fitting that seemed like a b...

AIR PASSENGER DUTY (APD) has risen by 8%, as announced by the government in the Autumn Statement last year. For short-haul flights, the tax has increased from £12 to £13. For long-haul flights of more than 4,000 miles, it has gone up from £85 to £92. In light of the increase, airlines called on the Treasury to review the impact on "hard working families". A Treasury minister said the majority of passengers will only pay an extra £1 as a result of the rise. The changes in APD will also see it extended to private business jets for the first time. 'Tax review' In a joint statement the bosses of Easyjet, British Airways owner IAG, Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic said the increase would "hit millions of hard-working families and damage the wider economy". "We urge [Chancellor] George Osborne to make APD the first tax to be examined under the Treasury's new review of the wider impacts of taxation on the economy," they said. They added t...

Hi fellow travellers, Getting pretty feed up with the snow and really need some sun? Then check out our latest news letter: http://www.escapeworldwide.co.uk/newsletter/special/2010cmbmleb.html This weeks it features some great beach holidays and tours to Sri Lanka , which has a fascinating mix of golden beaches, miles of them, and a rich diverse culture. I did a tour of Sri Lanka a while back and it was simply amazing, I particularly enjoyed visiting the tea plantations and factories , I've not looked at my daily cuppa in the same light since. Sri Lanka has mile upon mile of rich golden beaches on which to chil out on...perfect! We're also featuring some great holidays to the Maldives , which is a true tropical paradise. I was fortunate enough to stay at the Taj Exotica , which is a simply stunning islands with soft white sands and the most amazing coloured sea, heaven! Or why not combining both of them! Happy travelling! Darren We have tons of other great long-haul h...

Escape Worldwide’s offices are located in Stratford, East London, home of the 2012 Olympic Games. Over the past months we’ve gradually watched various venues being built, and with the Olympic stadium being just a 15 minute walk from our office, it’s been an interesting period – if somewhat chaotic! With three years to go, the pace is hotting up. So here we are, 2 years after the initial announcement was made that the world was coming Stratford in 2012, and we have to admit, from our window we are very impressed with what has been going on. We’ve had a lot of disruption to normal life, with unannounced road closures causing traffic chaos being commonplace, noise from the demolition and reconstruction process becoming quite draining, and a semi-permanent layer of dust and dirt over everything, but the area is undergoing a really major transformation, so it’s nothing we didn’t expect. Just outside our office block, Channelsea House, is a walkway and cycle path called the Greenway, which w...

Creating the perfect twin centre holiday requires the combination of a number of factors, and with our experience we can put together the ideal itinerary. The first thing to consider is time, and how much of it you have. In many destinations, if you try to do things too quickly your memories will only be a blur, but if you spend too long in certain cities, things may get a bit much. Also bear in mind your total duration, of course. In busy cities such as Bangkok, three or four nights would be ideal to get to grips with it and to take in the main highlights – if you tried to do it all in a day you probably won’t remember much, but stay too long and the traffic will get to you! In Singapore, however, where things are more organised, a shorter trip will allow you to take things in without getting too hot & bothered. Next thing is location. If you’re only looking at a short stopover before hitting the beach, then the location of your hotel is an important factor when it comes to making...

Following a recent visit to South Africa, Mark ended up in Cape Town after a week-long drive along the Garden Route: “South Africa is such a diverse country that a drive through part of it turned out to be really rewarding and thoroughly enjoyable. I’d never done a driving holiday before, but I really liked the flexibility and independence, being able to go where we wanted, when we wanted. Picnics on the beach for breakfast (as dolphins swam past on one morning!), seafront cafes for a quick break, stops to take in the view over False Bay to the Cape of Good Hope or to see the penguins at Betty’s Bay, just because we wanted to! We’d driven about 1500 km from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town, via Knysna, Wilderness, Arniston and Hermanus, arriving in to Cape Town from the winelands at Stellenbosch and the Cape of Good Hope National Park. After the best part of a week on generally peaceful roads and in small towns, Cape Town was a bit of a culture shock! We drove in via the Lion’s Hill pass at...