Mubashir

Every spring, Japan turns pink. For a few short weeks, millions of cherry trees burst into bloom, and the whole country celebrates with picnics, night-time illuminations and festivals. The difficulty is timing. Peak bloom in any one place lasts only about a week, and if you arrive too early or too late, you'll see bare branches or falling petals. In this video, I'll show you when the cherry blossoms bloom in each part of Japan, the best places to see them, and a route that improves your chances of catching them, even if the forecast changes. Let's start with how the season works. The cherry blossom front. Cherry blossoms don't bloom everywhere at once. The season moves across Japan like a wave, from the warm south to the cold north. The Japanese call it the sakura zensen, the cherry blossom front. That's great news, because it means if you miss the bloom in one city, you can often follow it north. January to February: Okinawa. The earliest blossoms appear in Okinawa...

On the second of August 2027, in the middle of the day, the sky will go dark over parts of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. The temperature will drop, birds often go quiet, and bright planets and stars become visible. Around the hidden sun, the solar corona appears as a white glow, which you can only see during a total eclipse. This total solar eclipse is unusually long. Near Luxor, in Egypt, the darkness will last over six minutes, making it one of the longest total eclipses over land in more than a century. In this video, I'll show you where to watch it, which places have the best weather odds, and how to plan your trip, because the best spots are already filling up. How a total eclipse works. A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes directly between the Earth and the Sun and completely covers the Sun's disc. Only a narrow strip of the Earth's surface, the path of totality, experiences full darkness. Outside that strip, you'll only see a partial ec...

Egypt has been studied for over two hundred years. Archaeologists have mapped its temples, read its hieroglyphs and opened thousands of tombs. And yet, some of its greatest sites still hold questions nobody has fully answered. In this video, we'll look at three mysteries of ancient Egypt that scientists are still working on, what we actually know, what we don't, and how you can see each of these places with your own eyes. The third is the search for the tomb of Nefertiti. Mystery one: the hidden spaces inside the Great Pyramid. The Great Pyramid of Giza was built around four and a half thousand years ago for the pharaoh Khufu. It's the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing. For centuries, people assumed we knew everything about its interior: the descending passage, the Grand Gallery, the King's and Queen's chambers. Then, in 2017, a team of scientists from the ScanPyramids project used a technique called muon imaging. Muons are particles ...

 In 2027, several events give you a specific reason to travel: a total solar eclipse, a World Expo, two European Capitals of Culture, and several major sports tournaments. Here are twelve places to visit in 2027, each with a specific reason why this is the year to go. Number one is Egypt, where the August eclipse lasts longest. Number twelve: Belgrade, Serbia. From May to August 2027, Belgrade hosts a specialised World Expo, with countries from around the world presenting pavilions on the theme of sport, music and art. Even without the Expo, Belgrade is one of Europe's most underrated capitals: a huge fortress above two rivers, a legendary nightlife on floating clubs, and some of the best value food in Europe. Number eleven: Évora, Portugal. Évora, in the Alentejo region, is one of the European Capitals of Culture in 2027. It's a walled city with a Roman temple, white houses, and a chapel decorated with human bones. The capital of culture year brings exhibitions, concerts, and ...

Thailand is one of the few countries in the world where you can travel well on fifty dollars a day, or spend five hundred and feel like royalty. The beaches and temples are the same on both budgets. The differences are in where you sleep, what you eat and how you get around. In this video, I'll compare a day in Thailand on fifty dollars with a day on five hundred, category by category: where you sleep, what you eat, how you get around, and what you do. At the end, I'll show you a middle budget that gives very good value. Before we start, a quick note on prices. All amounts are rough per-person figures for a couple travelling together, with the exchange rate at around thirty-three to thirty-four baht to the dollar. Prices in Bangkok and on the islands are higher than in the north. Round one: where you sleep. On fifty dollars a day, you'll spend around ten to twenty-five dollars on a bed. That gets you a dorm bed in a good hostel, or a simple private room in a family guesthou...

Several rules for international travel have changed in the past year. There are new border systems, new online permits, higher tourist taxes and fees at some of the world's most popular places. Most of these changes are small on their own. But together, they can mean longer queues, unexpected costs, or even being refused boarding if you're missing a digital permit. In this video, I'll walk you through the most important travel rules for 2027, country by country, so nothing catches you off guard. Number one is the EU's new Entry/Exit System, because it affects the largest number of travellers. Number ten: entry fees for nature hotspots. More and more destinations charge visitors directly to fund conservation. The Galápagos Islands doubled their park entry fee for most foreign visitors to two hundred dollars. Bali charges international tourists a levy on arrival, which you can pay online before you fly. And Bhutan has long charged a daily sustainable development fee. None...

By February, the holidays are long over and the days in northern Europe are still short. A week of sunshine helps, and February and March are often cheaper than the Christmas holidays, with fewer crowds. In this video, I'll show you ten places where it's still warm in February and March, from short flights in Europe to long-haul escapes. For each one, I'll tell you what temperatures to expect and the one thing you need to know before you book. Let's start close to home. Number ten: the Canary Islands, Spain. The Canaries are Europe's most reliable winter sun destination. In February and March, daytime temperatures usually reach the low twenties, with plenty of sunshine, especially in the south of Tenerife and Gran Canaria. The ocean is fresh, around eighteen to nineteen degrees, so not every day is a swimming day. Tip: Lanzarote and Fuerteventura are windier, but quieter, and La Palma and La Gomera are good for hiking away from the resorts. Tenerife has the most var...

Halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole lies a group of islands where the sun doesn't rise for months, polar bears live outside the town, residents carry rifles when they leave the settlement, and cats are banned. There are even rules about burials. This is Svalbard. Around two and a half thousand people live in its main town, Longyearbyen, one of the northernmost towns in the world. In this video, we'll look at how people actually live here, why the rules are so unusual, and how you can visit this winter. The end of the road. Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, about two-thirds glaciers and bare rock. There are no roads connecting the settlements. Between towns, people travel by boat in summer and by snowmobile in winter. Longyearbyen has an airport with flights from Oslo and Tromsø, a supermarket, a school, a hospital, a university centre, a cinema and even a brewery. It feels like a small town, but beyond its last houses lies true wilderness. The polar...

Antarctica has no cities and no permanent population. Visitors come for the ice, the whales, and large penguin colonies. It's a trip many people dream about for years, and the price is usually the first thing they look up. In this video, I'll break down the real price of an Antarctica trip, from the cheapest way to get there to the most luxurious, including the costs most people forget about. At the end, I'll tell you which option I'd book myself. How you get there. Almost all tourist trips to Antarctica go to the Antarctic Peninsula, the part of the continent closest to South America. Most ships leave from Ushuaia, at the southern tip of Argentina. From there, you cross the Drake Passage, around two days of open ocean, famous for being one of the roughest stretches of sea in the world. Some days it's calm as a lake. Other days, waves of several metres throw the ship around. Crews call it either the Drake Lake or the Drake Shake. The alternative is a fly-cruise. You...

Winter in Iceland brings Northern Lights, ice caves, frozen waterfalls and hot springs under falling snow. It also brings short days, storms, and icy roads, and many visitors arrive unprepared for them. Here are fifteen things I wish I'd known before visiting Iceland in winter. Number one is about winter driving. Number fifteen: the days are really short. Around the winter solstice, Reykjavik gets only around four hours of daylight, with sunrise after eleven in the morning and sunset around half past three. Plan your sightseeing around the light. Leave early, so you're at your first stop when the sun comes up, and keep the evening for hot pools and food. Number fourteen: the light is great for photos. The upside of the short days: the sun stays low all day, so you get hours of soft golden light and pink skies. For photographers, winter is the best season of the year. Number thirteen: the weather changes in minutes. Icelanders joke that if you don't like the weather, wait fi...

Most people visit Europe's great cities in summer. That means long queues and the highest hotel prices of the year. In winter, many of the same cities have short queues at the museums, and hotels often cost much less than in July or August. In this video, I'll show you ten European cities that are perfect for a winter city break, what makes each one special in the cold months, and when exactly to go. Number one is Vienna, because of its ball season. Number ten: Seville, Spain. Let's start with a city where winter doesn't really feel like winter. In January, Seville often reaches the mid-teens during the day, with lots of sunshine. The orange trees that line the streets are full of fruit, the Alcázar and the cathedral have shorter queues than at any other time of year, and the summer heat, which can be brutal, is long gone. Pack a jacket for the evenings, but expect lunch outside on most days, and book the Alcázar online to skip the ticket line. Number nine: Lisbon, Port...

In the far north of Finland, there are weeks when the sun doesn't rise at all. Temperatures can drop to minus forty. The nearest neighbour might be a few kilometres away, and there are more reindeer on the roads than cars. Many of the people who live here say they wouldn't want to live anywhere else. This is Lapland. Most visitors know it as the home of Santa Claus, glass igloos and husky rides. But behind the postcards, there is a real place where people go to school, run businesses, raise families, and get through one of the harshest winters in Europe. In this video, we'll look at how people actually live in Lapland, why they stay, and what you can experience yourself if you visit this winter. The land at the top of Europe. Finnish Lapland covers almost a third of Finland, but only a few percent of the country's population lives here. Most of it is forest, fells, rivers and lakes, which freeze solid for half the year. The capital, Rovaniemi, sits almost exactly on the...

Every winter, thousands of people fly north to see the Northern Lights, and a lot of them fly home without seeing anything. Often the aurora was active, but the sky was cloudy where they stayed, or they left after one or two nights. In this video, I'll show you where your chances are highest this winter, which months work best, and the simple mistakes that ruin most aurora trips. I'll also tell you which region I'd pick for a single trip, and why. First, where the sun's activity stands right now. The sun moves through a cycle of roughly eleven years. The last peak was in late 2024, which gave us some of the strongest auroras in decades. We're now on the way down, but that doesn't mean the show is over. Big storms are rarer, but moderate activity remains frequent, and in the far north you don't need a big storm. Under the auroral oval, even an average night can light up the sky. So yes: winter 2026 to 2027 is still a very good time to go. Number seven: Icelan...

 If you visited Japan a few years ago, the Japan you land in next year will feel slightly different. The departure tax has gone up, tax-free shopping works differently, and places like Kyoto and Mount Fuji have rules that didn't exist before. Japan is still easy to travel in, but if you don't know the new rules, you may pay more or queue longer than you need to. Here are the biggest changes and the rules you need to know before you visit Japan in 2027, from what happens at the airport to how shopping works now. Number one is the new tax-free system, which started in November 2026. Number ten: the departure tax has tripled. Since July 2026, everyone leaving Japan by plane or ship pays three thousand yen, up from one thousand. You don't pay it at a counter. It's added to your ticket price automatically, so you'll mostly notice it when you compare fares. Tickets issued before the change kept the old rate. Number nine: hotel taxes are rising, especially in Kyoto. Many J...

Every December, millions of people squeeze into the same handful of Christmas markets. You stand shoulder to shoulder and queue for every cup of mulled wine. Yet a short train ride away, there are markets with half-timbered houses, candlelight and room to move, and few people outside the region have heard of them. In this video, I'll show you ten Christmas markets in Europe that most travel guides skip, why each one is worth the detour, and how to plan around the crowds. Number one is set up in a gorge in the Black Forest, beneath a railway viaduct. Number ten: Ljubljana, Slovenia. Slovenia's capital turns its whole old town into what locals call Festive December. Wooden stalls line the Ljubljanica River, lights hang between the bridges, and the city is compact enough to walk end to end in twenty minutes. Prices are noticeably lower than in Vienna or Munich, and the crowd is mostly locals meeting after work. Go on a weekday evening, grab a cup of kuhano vino, and walk the river...