Dream islands & beaches

• 21 Luxury on the high seas
  When you hear the word 'cruise' perhaps you picture a kind of floating package tour aboard a vast and impersonal ship where thousands of passengers occupy identikit cabins in a kind of multi-storey floating...

• 22 Asturian beaches: something for everyone
  Spain's Principality of Asturias looks north out over the Bay of Biscay and the Cantabrian Sea, but the coast takes so many twists and turns you could find yourself looking in almost any direction. Compared...

• 23 Float away on holiday
  Whether you fancy the bustle of a modern city getaway or the tranquillity of a tropical island, floating hotels are a way to make sure you get 24 hours enjoyment from every day you spend away. Have a look...

• 24 Oman: a country of contrasts
  A country of contrasts, the oil-rich Sultanate straddles between the sea and the desert, between ancient history and the ultra-modern. The Portuguese took and occupied Muscat – now the capital –...

• 25 Follow Catherine Zeta Jones' lead with a luxurious break in Bodrum
  Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones certainly know how to take a holiday.  The pair recently kicked back by sailing on a million pound yacht around one of the most beautiful spots in the world...

• 26 Sailing off the coast of Croatia
  Once it was rebuilt after the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, Dubrovnik became one of the most popular destinations around the Mediterranean. No doubt its cobblestone streets, lined with whole neighbourhoods...

• 27 The glamour of the Cote d'Azur
  Before Brigitte Bardot became Saint Tropez's most famous resident, the French Riviera had long been a haven for artists, writers and other bohemians. Then the fashion icon put the little fishing village...

• 28 Djerba, the land of the Lotus Eaters
  Homer tells how Ulysses, fleeing from the siren's haunting song, came across a beautiful island where delicate fruit grew: the home of the Lotus Eaters. All the sailors tasted the strange fruit –...

• 29 Treat yourself to a celebrity holiday
  Whether it's simply taking time out from their latest filming or tour commitments, a visit to enjoy the nightlife and culture of some of the world's most cosmopolitan destinations or for more personal...

• 30 Cyprus, home of the gods
  According to mythology, the coastal city of Paphos was the birthplace of Aphrodite, and references to the goddess of love and beauty abound on the island, so you'd be forgiven for thinking this land must...

• 31 Hawaii: islands and marvels
  Leave your work clothes behind. Just pack a bag with bikinis, sandals and pareos, and head west. Way out west. Hawaii may be the 50th American state, but the archipelago is actually the northernmost island...

• 32 The world's best sunsets
  Serengeti, Tanzania People who have had the good fortune to visit the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania say that until you've seen the sun set over the great orange plains you haven't lived. The image...

• 33 The romance of the Seychelles
  On the map, the name seems to float unsupported in the middle of the blue, but as you zoom in on the Indian Ocean, the islands of the Seychelles archipelago begin to appear. First you'll see the inner...

• 34 Perivolas, a place to unwind
  The island of Santorini is the largest of the islands of the Santorini archipelago and was formed as the result of the biggest volcanic eruption in recorded history, said by some to be the source of the...

• 35 Capri: a luxury resort since Roman times
  Back in classical times, the Emperor Augustus described it as the island of dolce far niente – the expression that captures so well the Italian understanding of 'the sweetness of doing nothing';...

• 36 One&Only Palmilla, a paradise on the Mexican coast
  Originally accessible only by yacht or private plane, the resort dates from the Fifties when it was a tropical hideaway that welcomed such guests as John Wayne, Lucille Ball and Bing Crosby. Its popularity...

• 37 Sardinian chic on the Costa Smeralda
  The transformation of this wild, practically uninhabited, stretch of Sardinia's northeastern littoral began back in the Sixties, when it was 'discovered' by the Aga Khan. Together with a group of wealthy...

• 38 Bodrum: where the Aegean meets the Med
  Homer described Ionia – as the Ancient Greeks knew this stretch of the beautiful Aegean littoral with its pristine beaches and crystal waters – as “a land of eternal blues”, and...

• 39 Spoil yourself at the Zannos Melathron
  In the South Aegean Sea, the delightful island of Santorini is the result of a careful balance of the work of man and Nature. The island and its cliffs are dotted with romantic white villages, but it...

• 40 In Brazil, life's a beach
  From Jeri to Florianopolis, Brazil is home to beaches that border on perfection. Indeed, there are so many candidates for the title of 'most beautiful' that it would be hard to list them all, let alone...