Docked a five-minute walk along the waterfront from St Mark’s Square, CroisiEurop’s MS Michelangelo is perfectly positioned for exploring the canals and walkways of Venice yet is a haven from the hubbub that fills the city.

The five-day Venetian Treasures cruise calls this home but travels to both ends of the vast lagoon, visiting islands, the seaside and historic sights.

The cruise

Docked in the heart of Venice

This is a short break, a city break and a cruise with the air of an escorted tour by ship. Venice is at the heart of things and we arrive late in the sun-drenched afternoon.

Starting point is the easily accessible San Basilio waterfront, close to the bridge that links Venice to the mainland, as well as the now empty ocean cruise terminal where ships would cluster before the city banished the big boys. We carry only 154 guests and we’re off on what people would regard as a premium city cruise.

We set off along the main waterway, past the entrance to the Grand Canal, stirring close-up views of St Mark’s and grand Palazzo Ducale.

Just a little farther on is our mooring, past a string of footbridges across tiny rivers where gondoliers paddle, on the Seven Martyrs waterfront, by the start of Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, a long, straight street filled with restaurants, bars and shops. The views, to the southwest, are astonishing, palaces, polished teak speedboats and the waters lapping in the fiercely setting sun. We’re all presented with a welcome glass of fizz as we marvel at the sights.

One of Venice’s ‘back streets’

Next day it’s an early breakfast, properly continental with coffee, cheese and croissants, before a walking tour that takes us over bridge after bridge, down hidden streets and paths, looking in shop windows that appear to have been the same for centuries, wandering through the Rialto fish market then having coffee and nibbles in a waterfront café by the busy Rialto bridge.

The courtyard of the Doge’s Palace

Lunch on board as we set sail across open water (there are 118 islands in the lagoon) for the placid island of Mazzorbo. A brief waterside walk and we’re across the little bridge to Burano, a busier island with a small cathedral thronged by visitors.

After time to explore, those on our excursion board a smaller boat and head for Murano. There’s a demonstration of glass-blowing in a historic workshop, with plenty of the arty pieces the island is known for on sale at eye-watering prices. Thankfully, the delicate ornaments would never make it home in our luggage so no one is tempted. We sail back to Venice in a thunderstorm where MS Michelangelo is waiting.

The colourful island of Burano

Next day we have the morning to ourselves so wander across bridges, through squares and along waterfronts, seeing the off-the-beaten-track Venice that day visitors tend to miss.

There’s time to pop into the fabled Harry’s Bar, refined and with waiter service, for its signature drink, the bellini, a soothing coming together of peach juice and prosecco. The afternoon treat is a tour of the Doge’s Palace, a Venetian Gothic masterpiece on St Mark’s Square, residence of the head of the ancient Venetian Republic. Hidden in the vast complex is the dark, stone Bridge of Sighs, across which forlorn prisoners were led to their cells on the other side of a narrow canal.

Padua’s mammoth Basilica of St Anthony

Our final day is more cruising, heading west across the lagoon to the town of Chioggia, pretty with its waterways and a gorgeous ocean beach along its narrow peninsula. Our excursion, however, takes us inland, to the medieval city of Padua, highlight of which is the Basilica of St Anthony, massive with an architectural mix taking in Gothic and Byzantine. Our return sailing stays close to the long, wafer-thin islands that divide lagoon and sea, pretty spots lined with beaches, marinas, verdant greenery and pastel-painted buildings.

The ship

MS Michelangelo… sleek and stylish

Ms Michelangelo is sleek and white, small and easy to wander around. To one end are two decks of cabins, simple and unfussy, stylish in creams and browns. To the other is a lounge with bar (drinks are included in the cruise price), plenty of strikingly coloured sofa and a dance floor. On the deck below is a smart dining room. Both have windows running their length, giving fabulous views across the Venetian waters and their spellbinding sunsets. Top deck is given over to sun-loungers.

MS Michelangelo’s stylish lounge

Food is good and plentiful, as one might expect from a leading French cruise company – lunches are three-course meals rather than a simple buffet. There are Mediterranean and Italian flavours – the cured sopressa sausage, the dried and salted cod baccala –and the gala dinner features Andalusian gazpacho and foie gras as well as the cruise staple dessert, baked Alaska.

A smartly understated cabin

The trip

The five-day Venetian Treasures cruise sails in March, July, October and November, fly-cruise from £783pp, two sharing, including all meals and drinks and wifi. Excursions extra. No single supplement for solo travellers. croisieurope.co.uk

Night falls in Venice…

The post CroisiEurope’s Venice Lagoon adventure cruise review on MS Michelangelo appeared first on The Travel Magazine.

The cost of renewing your British passport is set to rise again by another 7 per cent. On 10 April the fee for a standard online application made from within the UK will rise from £88.50 to £94.50 for adults and from £57.50 to £61.50 for children.

If you prefer to renew by post the fee rises from £100 to £107 for adults and from £69 to £74 for children. If you opt for the   “Premium Service” which will give you a one day turnaround,  this will rise from £207.50 to £222 for adults.

According to the government, the rise in fees will reduce the need to rely on general taxation and put the onus on passport holders.

“The new fees will help the Home Office to continue to move towards a system that meets its costs through those who use it, reducing reliance on funding from general taxation.

“The government does not make any profit from the cost of passport applications.

“The fees contribute to the cost of processing passport applications, consular support overseas, including for lost or stolen passports, and the cost of processing British citizens at UK borders.”

This rise follows on from the 9 per cent increase in February 2023, and a further 7 per cent rise in April 2024. In effect the cumulative rise 25 per cent.

The Home Office says that most renewals are straightforward and that applications are processed in three weeks or less.

If you are applying from outside the UK the fees are as follows:

• the fee for a standard online application when applying from overseas for a UK passport will rise from £101 to £108 for adults and £65.50 to £70 for children
• overseas standard paper applications will increase from £112.50 to £120.50 for adults and £77 to £82.50 for children

There is still time to avoid the price hike.

If your passport expires by 25 November 2025, and can apply to renew by 9 April and you will avoid the £6 price hike.

TOP TIP: if you are a frequent flyer you may want to consider paying an extra £12 (or £13 after April 10) to get an extra 20 pages. This will cater for the clear pages needed by countries outside the EU who demand a whole clear page or even two for their visas.

You may also want to read:

• The countries that taxe to enter or stay overnight.
• Is my passport valid for travel?
• Travelling to the UK – you may need an ETA – here’s what you need to know.
• The new cost of a UK Passport renewal

The post Passport Price Hikes for Brits – yet again. appeared first on The Travel Magazine.

Park City, only a 35-minute drive from Salt Lake City (and its direct flights from London) is a Victorian-era mining town that’s turned into a hip and happening year-round destination. Winter, however, is perhaps when it is at its best, its main street twinkling with lights, snow on the ground and its ski resorts noted for some of the world’s best powder snow.

Park City Mountain

Park City panorama

Generally just referred to as Park City, skiing started here in 1963 with possibly the world’s most unusual ski lift. The mountains sit on more than 1,600km (that’s 1,000 miles) of tunnels and a mine train used to carry skiers 4km in complete darkness to a mine lift that took them to the surface 540m above. Later, mine cableways were converted to passenger use and many of the towers still remain.

Now part of the nationwide Vail Resorts group, this is the biggest lift-served ski resort in the US. In 2015 it was linked by gondola to what had been a separate resort, Canyons (which had first opened in 1968 as Park City West).

Canyons, now known as Canyons Village, at the opposite end of the ski area from Park City itself, has expanded hugely from the original Grand Summit hotel to a full base resort, with the likes of the Pendry, a boutique hotel with contemporary mountain lodge atmosphere, while a 10-person gondola arrives for 2025-26 season, increasing speedy access to the slopes. The united area (the base an impressive 2,073m while top point is a very snowsure 3,056m) is a third bigger than Vail itself and allows for long end-to-end and back again day trips, although many skiers stick to the area of their accommodation. Park City is more open with wide runs, Canyons does what it says on the tin – while still having runs for every level, the terrain is more enclosed.

The Town Lift base area

Park City Mountain Village, the main base area, is a 15-minute walk from the old town’s heart but the resort is served by a string of bus lines, free to everyone not just lift pass holders. However, it is possible to ski the pretty blue Quit’n Time run into town, the piste crossing an iron bridge over Park Avenue – just remember that Town Lift is a slow, long chair back up, although there is wildlife – I saw a beautiful ermine, snow white with coal-black tail tip, playing not 6m below me.

Deer Valley

The base area of Deer Valley with the hilltop St Regis hotel

Posh skiing where the slopes are as sleekly perfect as the accommodation. The resort, in Park City, opened in 1981 on the site of the Snow Park ski area that started operating in 1946. Since then it has maintained its push for excellence and is in the middle of major expansion. Three new lifts arrived this season, providing 20 new runs, with seven more lifts to follow for the 2025-26 season. Another six are set to swiftly follow bringing a further 80 runs, creating a resort total of 238, not far short of doubling the skiing.

East Village and the waterside Grand Hyatt hotel

Just opening is East Village, a whole new base area in a beautiful spot alongside Jordanelle Reservoir. I was one of the early riders of the Keetley Express, a fast chairlift from the base with canopy and heated seats, after cruising down the long, new McHenry piste, part of three-mile run from 9,100ft Flagstaff Mountain. Already open is a 436-room Grand Hyatt hotel to be followed by a Four Seasons with plenty of rooms plus residences, along with the Velvaere ‘wellness community’, homes up to $10m and with its own ski lift. A gondola in this area is already being built and another is set for the resort’s main Snow Park Lodge base, along with more restaurants and shops when the sprawling car park is sent underground.

Skiers here will, by next season, be able to access 10 peaks (Park, Big Dutch, South and Hail, adding to the current six), all neatly part of a resort where ease of access is as important as piste perfection. Service also includes free ski storage at the base.

Park City and Deer Valley – Close friends

At their highest points, Park City and Deer Valley ski areas run alongside each other, and there is a ridgeline piste on either side of a rope fence. It would be so easy to combine the two areas, but that rarely happens in US skiing. And certainly not here, despite everyone being on friendly terms. Park City is owned by Vail and on the multi-resort Epic Pass, while Deer Valley is part of Alterra Mountain Company and its Ikon Pass.

Where to stay

The foyer lounge at Lodges At Deer Valley

There’s plenty of slopeside places. Park City Lodging has plenty of options, not least the condo community of Snow Flower, opening right onto the base area piste at Park City Mountain Village.

Canyons Villages is filled with hotels and condos. Deer Valley runs much of its own accommodation, including Lodges At Deer Valley, a charmingly timbered collection of everything from hotel rooms to three-bedroom apartments, with Brass Tag bar/restaurant and year-round outside pool and hot tub.

Aside from the town’s buses, Deer Valley has DV Direct, an Uber-like set-up, where anyone in Deer Valley lodging can use an app to get a free ride, in 4×4 or minibus, to and from the lifts or even downtown. All are visited by Ski Butlers, and a bookable ski hire service.

A stylishly timeless room at the Lodges

Other activities

Snowshoeing here is fascinating with tours from the edge of town up narrow Daly Canyon and past mining heritage – entrance buildings, dynamite stores and other landmarks. https://whitepinetouring.com/historic-snowshoeing-tour.php

There are walking tours through Park City, looking at heritage but more often looking at the food and drink, not least the craft beers and the small batch spirits. https://www.deliciouscities.com/parkcityapres

Sundance Film Festival

Banksy’s cinematic rat

The country’s biggest independent film festival fills Park City with lights, movies and stars each January (January 22-February 1, 2026). Even if you can’t get tickets for movies (or the celeb parties) the place is alive and there’s a great chance of seeing someone you recognise in one of the bars. https://festival.sundance.org

Utah Olympic Park

Getting ready for the bobsled

Salt Lake City hosted the 2002 winter games and is already gearing up for their return in 2034. This is the home of the ski jump and the bobsled and is open to the public. There are two free museums, one devoted to the Olympics and Paralympics, the other to the local ski achievements. But the big attraction is the bobsled. The track is open most days with sessions in a real bobsled with driver – it’s $225 (around £175) for the ride that lasts less than a minute, but it’s a wild bone-shaking experience you’ll never forget.

More info here.

Nightlife in Park City

Park City is one of the liveliest ski towns in America, perhaps because it’s not simply filled with rental shops or casual bars. There’s an artiness amid the historic architecture – Main Street is on the National Register Historic Districts.

And even Banksy, here for the 2010 film festival, made his mark – well, 10 of them – two were painted over by an anti-graffiti squad and two were lost in redevelopments but three remain, including a rat wearing 3D cinema glasses.

Alpine Distilling

Bars range from the expected (No Name Saloon, the busiest bar in Utah and also serving half-pound buffalo burgers) to the esoteric (Alpine Distilling Social Aid & Pleasure Club, hip with ever-changing décor, the feel of a private club with sofas and cocktails but also with its own craft distillery, Alpine Distilling, and the Alpine Gin Making Experience).

The names speak volumes – Burgers & Bourbon, Daly’s Pub & Rec, a gastropub with microbrews, darts and bowling alley, Boneyard Saloon, Old Town Cellars, a private label winery with tasting room, High West Saloon (another noted distillery) and on and on.

The southwestern cuisine and atmosphere (‘Southern Mexico to Southern Utah’) of Chimayo is excellent. And at Grub Steak you can get a 40oz tomahawk ribeye, although it is $139.75 (about £108) but does include fries and a starter.

Just one of the high-end drinks on offer…

At Deer Valley there are options in Snow Park Lodge (Edgar’s, a smart take on a sports bar with ski décor; Cast & Cut, a $127 multi-course seafood bounty) while the nearby St Regis hotel has an upmarket selection (Rime for seafood/steaks, Brasserie 7452 (French), Vintage Room (champagne and sushi) and La Stellina (a plush take on simple Italian fare).

Park City’s Egyptian Theatre, dating from 1926, features everything from musicals to hip rock bands such as the North Mississippi Allstars.

Verdict

The big sky that surrounds the slopes of Park City and Deer Valley

Two top US ski resorts in one picturesque, lively town. As with US winter trips generally, you don’t simply get a ski holiday, you get an American holiday, full of history, culture, food, drink and other experiences. Park City is a gem that you’ll never get tired of – and living life in the fast lane doesn’t get faster than the bobsled.

How to do it

Delta has three direct flights a week from Heathrow to Salt Lake City International Airport (famed as the first newly-built airport in the US this century) along with flights via other hubs. Iglu (igluski.com) can arrange packages including flights and accommodation. Park City Lodging and Deer Valley Resort have a wide array of options.

Airport Transfers: Haroon Transportation offers transfers from the airport in everything from Cadillac saloons to 10-person vans and you stand a good chance of spotting moose on the snowy hillsides).

More information about Park City here.

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