Will the Waverley return to Llandudno again in 2026?
More than 3,000 passengers took a trip on the vessel; this year, the Waverley returned to North Wales as part of a four-day visit. Cruises took in the Great Orme and Puffin Island and the Anglesey Coast.
There was also a 'special Captain's Choice' evening cruise.
Talking about the 2025 season, Samuel Brown, Marketing Manager at Waverley Excursions Ltd, told the Pioneer and its coastal titles, said: "We had a fantastic return to North Wales this year and were absolutely delighted to sail once again from Llandudno Pier - especially in the same year it's been named Pier of the Year 2025 by the National Piers Society.
"Across four days of sailings, we welcomed over 3,000 passengers on board for a variety of sailings including the Great Orme, Puffin Island, and along the stunning Anglesey Coast. There truly is no better way to explore the beautiful coastline of North Wales than from the decks of Waverley.
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Llandudno: I took a ride on Waverley - here's what I thought
"We want to extend a special thank you to the management and pier staff at Llandudno Pier who were excellent in assisting our passengers over the extended four day visit."
Samuel added: "Waverley will certainly return to North Wales in 2026, and we extend our sincere thanks to everyone who sailed with us and supported our return – in particular, Llandudno Pier and Holyhead Port."
The Waverley returned to Llandudno in 2023, marking the first time the vessel had set sail from Llandudno Pier in five years.
This followed a £3million refurbishment.
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Telegraph
8 hours ago
- Telegraph
Crime has got so bad in Britain that foreign governments are warning their citizens about visiting
Before Samuel* travelled from Australia to the UK last October, his friends and family warned him about London's reputation for crime. 'I had planned to travel all around Europe,' says the 27-year-old architecture student from Sydney, 'but my parents said, 'once you get to London, you need to be really careful''. Conversations about the soaring robbery and theft rates in London are commonplace for Australian travellers visiting the UK, says Samuel. 'Everyone knows of somebody [in Australia] that's had their phone stolen in London,' he says. 'It's definitely common to hear the warnings in Australia, everyone knows that.' Despite the warnings, Samuel became one of around 80,000 people whose phones were stolen in London last year. Walking up a flight of stairs at Euston station with his mobile in his back pocket, he noticed he had been pick-pocketed when he reached the top. The experience had such an impact on him that he still finds himself checking his pockets in Australia, even though phone theft is 'non-existent' out there. Warnings about London's crime are not just hearsay out in Australia; they are now being issued by the Australian government. The government website Smart Traveller has raised the UK travel advice from a Level 1 to a Level 2 warning, urging Australians to 'exercise a high degree of caution' when visiting Britain, adding that 'petty crime is common, including pickpocketing' and alerting readers to thieves who use 'scooters and bicycles to snatch belongings'. Two extra bullet points recommend travellers 'keep money and valuables such as mobile phones out of sight' and 'avoid putting valuables in [their] pockets'. In Australia, there are only four risk levels when it comes to travel warnings: Level 1 indicates that a country is 'similar' to Australia safety-wise, while Level Four is 'do not travel' because 'your health and safety are at extreme risk'. Level 2, issued to the UK, 'may reflect a weak law-and-order system, where violent crime is common,' explains the website, adding that the country 'may lack some key public services, such as a responsive police force.' Two fifths of mobile phone thefts in Europe now happen in the UK, according to the insurance company SquareTrade Europe. Its data reveals that phone theft claims in the UK have increased by 425 per cent since June 2021. One mobile phone is stolen every six minutes across the capital, according to the Metropolitan Police. Meanwhile, violent crime has gone up by 30 per cent during Sir Sadiq Khan's nine-year tenure as Mayor of London. In March, the Conservatives accused him of overseeing a 'woefully inadequate' response to the problem of phone theft after dedicating only two sentences to the increase in his policing strategy for the capital. In early July this year, the Home Office wrote on X that there had been a 44 per cent rise in street crime across the UK, record levels of shop theft and a million incidents of anti-social behaviour. There's been a 44% rise in street crime, record levels of shop theft and a million incidents of anti-social behaviour. We refuse to accept this for our towns. This summer, police forces are increasing targeted patrols to protect businesses from harm and increase public safety. — Home Office (@ukhomeoffice) July 4, 2025 Australia is not the only country warning its citizens to take precautions when visiting the UK. Research by The Telegraph has uncovered a slew of foreign countries that have either put out fresh warnings about the rising levels of crime in the UK in recent years, or updated the 'crime' sections of their websites with additional warnings. The countries include France, Canada, New Zealand, the UAE and, most surprisingly, Mexico. In a 'travel advice' section on the Mexican embassy website, it warns that 'in London, crime has increased, especially in crowded areas, on the streets, and on public transportation.' It lists 16 bullet points with practical advice on how to avoid petty crime on the street, in the hotel, and when travelling in a vehicle. 'Avoid displaying jewellery, cameras, cell phones, or other valuables,' the website advises. The UAE embassy website also warns travellers of a 'recent increase in violence and knife crime' in London, 'including a number of attacks on citizens of Arab Gulf states'. It says: 'We advise our citizens to take special care, especially at night, and avoid wearing valuable items that attract attention in public places'. Twelve bullet points follow, with advice 'to make your visit to London safer'. They include making sure to check that the hotel door has a functional lock and a dead bolt. Like Australia, the Canadian government has increased its warnings about crime in London. In 2017, the Canadian website increased the risk level of the UK from the first level ('exercise normal safety precautions') to the second level ('you should exercise a high degree of caution '). Canada only has four risk levels, the fourth being 'avoid all travel'. Though the update seems to have been made following the Westminster terror attack in 2017, the volume of advice about 'crime' in London has grown startlingly on the website over a decade. Web archives show that in 2012, the Canadian government published one line warning of 'petty crime' including 'pickpocketing, purse snatching and mugging'. By 2017, the section on crime had grown to three paragraphs, and included a new warning of 'violent crime such as mugging and sexual assault'. In 2019, the government was listing areas in which to be most vigilant, including 'pubs and bars', and had published a line that 'cellphone theft is rampant in tourist areas'. Now, in 2025, there are three lengthy sections on 'petty crime', 'violent crime' and 'spiked food and drinks' with detailed bullet points advising Canadians to 'avoid showing signs of affluence'. And it's not just foreign governments issuing warnings: back in the UK, London hotels are now also warning travellers of the high rates of petty crime. 'We always mention to be wary of phone snatching; there's a lot of phone snatching in Piccadilly Circus', says a concierge, who did not want to be named, at a luxury five-star hotel in central London. 'Also, when they are wearing jewellery, we mention that they should be careful.' Unsuspecting guests falling victim to phone snatching has 'happened a few times,' they say, 'but there's not much we can do. It happened once with an external member of the public, it was over a year ago: it can be guests, or people from outside. It's most likely phones.' It's lunchtime in central Victoria. 'Hop-on hop-off' buses are embarking on their tours of London, filled with huge groups of tourists. One bus steward is shepherding a queue of eager foreign visitors into a brightly coloured, open-top coach. He says that in the last year, he has been witness to six or seven 'live' phone snatches alone. 'Most of the time they come on electric bicycles, they snatch from the footpaths and they go away: they're really fast,' he says. Now he worries that it could detrimentally affect the tourist industry he is part of. 'It could impact tourists because tourists are afraid of where the crime is… it could impact the business', he admits. 'People are still afraid. Previously I heard that London was the safest place, but crimes are going up now'. Is he concerned for the future of his job? 'Yes, there is a concern,' he admits, before suggesting that 'we should tighten immigration laws' and that 'people should be punished when they commit the crime.' Online, social media is awash with warnings for those visiting the UK. 'So I moved to London this week, and I am so anxious walking on the streets,' says Australian social media user Alicia English while filming herself in a TikTok post. 'Apparently everyone's phones get stolen off them, people drive past on bikes and just snatch them out of your hands… that is making me anxious because I really can't afford a new phone right now.' Her video has nearly 200 comments. 'I saw someone have a phone snatched out [of] their hands on Oxford Street last week,' says one respondent. In May 2024, Calina Chehade, a 24-year-old video editor, saw a string of warnings about crime in London on TikTok before her trip to the city. Chehade, who lives in Lebanon, was travelling to the UK for an Olivia Rodrigo concert. 'Phone snatching is especially talked about and famous in London,' she tells The Telegraph. 'My mum sent me a TikTok of someone with a black eye because someone stole their phone. It definitely got on my nerves.' Before she travelled to London, family members who had visited before gave her tips to prevent her phone being stolen. 'I remember my cousin telling me 'wear a big coat and put your wallet inside your coat, and close it well and hold on to your belongings,' she says, before reciting, as if by heart: 'Always walk with confidence. Don't let them know you're a tourist.' Though Chehade did not have her phone snatched, she views herself as one of the lucky ones. 'It was fine, luckily,' she reflects of her visit. 'But there is luck involved, it's not just me being prepared. Thank God, nothing happened.' Then she confides, almost in amazement, and perhaps with a slight tinge of disappointment: 'I didn't even witness a phone snatch while there.'
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Eerie ghost town on fringe of Las Vegas thousands flock to every year
Goodsprings, Nevada, is a ghost town located just 30 minutes outside of Las Vegas - and it's proving incredibly popular with tourists, with thousands flocking in each year Located in the middle of nowhere and allegedly haunted, the ghost town of Goodsprings is far from the most obvious tourist destination. Coupled with its proximity to the dazzling lights of Las Vegas, it would be easy for Goodsprings to be overlooked. But, despite its spooky history and sparse amenities, the town finds itself subject to thousands of visitors every year. Just half an hour away from the city's bustling strip and vibrant nightlife, life in Goodsprings could not be more different. Home to around 200 residents, this quiet town at the base of the Spring Mountains in the Nevada desert was once a bustling mining hub. In its heyday in the early 1900s, it housed 800 inhabitants and boasted amenities such as a hospital, hotels and a school - which remarkably still operates today, albeit with only two pupils on its roll. However, as the ore reserves in the Goodsprings mines dwindled, so did its populace. In 1942, the town served as the base for a special search mission following the tragic plane crash that claimed the life of actress Carole Lombard. Her aircraft crashed into Potosi Mountain, and her husband, Hollywood legend Clark Gable, anxiously awaited news at Goodsprings' Pioneer Saloon. It's said that Gable's cigar burns can still be seen on the Saloon's bar to this day. Consequently, there's a memorial room at the Pioneer honouring its connection to the iconic couple. Today, Goodsprings has a somewhat eerie aura. A drive through the town on its dusty roads evokes a spooky feeling. Often the subject of folk tales and ghost hunts, Reddit users have shared their experiences of visiting the town. One stated: "When I went to Goodsprings a few years back with my wife, it was completely dead. "No one was outside or driving around, it looked like a wild west ghost town that time had forgotten". Despite its remote location, the owners of the Pioneer Saloon are eager to provide a warm welcome to visitors. Stephen Staats, also known as Old Man Liver, purchased the iconic pub in 2021 and discovered Goodsprings' unique place in pop culture. The town serves as the starting point for the cult classic video game Fallout: New Vegas, which features the main character revived after being buried alive in Goodsprings cemetery. Many of the game's characters are based on real-life residents, and the Pioneer itself is featured in the game, rebranded as the Prospector Saloon. Recognising the town's popularity, Staats hosted a Fallout-themed event on National Video Game Day, July 8, in 2022. He expected "maybe 100 in a crazy world", but was taken aback when more than a thousand fans showed up. Since then, it has grown year on year, and following the launch of the acclaimed Amazon Prime Video series based off the game, 6,420 people visited Goodsprings in 2024. Fallout fans have praised the town's atmosphere and welcoming spirit on Reddit, with one saying: "The locals love it, and it's kind of their only form of tourism." Another, who visited before Staats took over the Pioneer, said: "They were incredibly friendly and welcoming both times I went, and there's even a marble wall inscribed with the town's residents since it's founding, movies and TV shows that have filmed there, all sorts of stuff." With a second season of the Amazon Prime show greenlit and likely to be set in and around 'New Vegas', Goodsprings could become an unlikely destination to rival the dazzling city that casts its wide shadow over the Nevada desert.
Times
4 days ago
- Times
Family holidays: what we got wrong — and right — by the experts
It starts with such good intentions, writes Siobhan Grogan. When you first consider a family holiday, you might picture all the quality time spent together, long sunny days chatting and picnicking, perfectly built sandcastles on the beach, perhaps a glass of wine while your angelic child plays quietly nearby. But children have an uncanny knack of upending even the best-laid plans, whether you're in the Maldives or Margate. They get ill at the most inconvenient times, have screaming meltdowns on planes, won't eat anything but chicken nuggets or decide they're terrified of the sea. Yet we continue to live in hope for that rare time that everything goes perfectly to plan. Here are our writers' own tales of their best and worst family holidays to — hopefully — help you to avoid our mistakes this summer. The stylish Peligoni beach club and villa set-up in northern Zakynthos manages to be heaven for children and adults. The kids' club, open four hours a day, runs activities such as sailing, tennis, tie-dyeing classes and so on, which means parents can get coffee, go to the gym, even talk to each other. Samuel, my four-year-old, was at the club every minute he was allowed. When we went last October half-term, the weather was absolutely chef's kiss: low twenties, still-warm sea, blue skies. It made me realise my non-negotiable on all future holidays: childcare. Everything that could go wrong on holiday went wrong on our Barbados trip, when my son was 18 months old. We were all sick from unfiltered water; he didn't sleep and had severe nappy rash; it rained. We were tutted out of lovely linen-tablecloth restaurants when he lost interest in loud iPad videos. I had wanted to see the island so had booked us into five hotels in totally different places, and we spent most of our ten-day break travelling between them. Even nightly rum punches didn't cheer us up. It's the closest we've been to divorce. To top it off, we flew from Manchester. On a recent (child-free) trip to Marbella, I noticed a family on holiday with two nannies and one toddler. This, I have learnt, is a reasonable adult-to-small-child ratio. One of our best holidays so far has been to a Landmark Trust house in Lyme Regis, Dorset, with my sister and her young family plus our parents. No airports, no (quickly crushed) expectations of sunbathing with a book. The cousins played (largely) happily together, chasing chickens around the garden and hiding behind curtains. The grandparents covered bedtime stories and the domestic drudgery was divvied up. One night, to celebrate a special birthday, a caterer came to cook dinner for us. Champagne! Canapés! No washing up! The ultimate treat. City breaks, for me, mean walking for miles, dipping into shops, visiting galleries, sipping the odd overpriced drink in a hotel bar and dining out. None of which is suitable for young children. We took ours to Florence and, while they were doted on by the Italians, it was all a bit of a challenge. Narrow pavements, no playgrounds (at least that we could find), lots and lots of tourists, very late dinner times. Our eldest had a meltdown because I wouldn't let her hold the handmade marbled paper I'd bought. Even the chocolate gelato had to work hard to bring her round. One of the benefits of having kids is that they don't know anything. So when you say things like 'We're going to Belgium!' they might be excited. This was the case when my lad was 12 and we took the train to Bruges. I was aiming for some kind of culturally uplifting experience, full of art, canal rides and architecture. But what was I thinking? The plan went straight out the window and we basically just larked about, eating fancy chocolate for breakfast, racing up the steps at the bell tower and laughing like drains in a museum dedicated to French fries. Who needs plans? You know that feeling when you go camping and everything works out really well? No, me neither. But as a broke single dad, summers invariably used to involve at least one week sitting in a cheap tent somewhere in Yorkshire waiting for the rain to stop. The summer of 2014 was particularly memorable as my seven-year-old and I were joined in Robin Hood's Bay by, drum roll, Ex-Hurricane Bertha! Yes, I did eventually manage to catch up with the tent as it blew down the hill. No, I didn't notice the huge tear until I'd put the wretched thing up and unloaded the car. Yes, I had left the coolbox full of food at home on the kitchen table. No, I didn't cry that much. The cottage looked adorable online. Exactly the kind of place you would choose if this was your first trip to Sardinia and you really wanted to see the island at its best. Unfortunately, when we pulled up outside — in the middle of a rainstorm — it became apparent that the guy who'd photographed the place had carefully framed out the depressing agricultural complex that dominated the landscape and the inescapable air of dark gloom within. Three rooms didn't have windows, the 'garden' had a broken twin tub in it and, worst of all, there was no television. I'm not ashamed to say I wept. As did my two children. But, magically, this then turned into … … the best holiday, because my husband — not normally one for bold decisions or reckless expenditure — simply took out his credit card, held it aloft in front of his weeping women-folk and said: 'Behold: the solution.' Twenty minutes later we were in a frankly magnificent hotel on a white-sand beach with swimming pools that the kids spent all day in. Everywhere reeked of jasmine, the hotel restaurant did a cocktail that became my main source of hydration, and the thrill of pulling off a good holiday, having glimpsed the prospect of a nightmare one, kept us buzzing all week. Best of all, there was a TV in our bathroom. One rainy morning me and both kids watched all of Mamma Mia! while up to our necks in hot bubbles. Money: is there nothing it can't do? • Read our full guide to Sardinia A week on the beach at Watergate Bay in Cornwall has been a fixture on our family calendar from the get-go, with Granny and Grandpa stalwart supporters for many of those years. Accommodation has ranged from hotels to cottages to campsites. Our beach buddies have included like-minded London families and, now, teenage friends from school. Every year is the same, but also different. We surf. It rains (heavily) twice. The kids grow ever more capable. At the end of it we always wish we could stay another week. We got our timing wrong with ski holidays. I'd heard loads of stories from the locals about how their children were skiing straight out of the cradle (well, almost) and so tried our son, Sam, in ski school in La Plagne, France, when he was three. When we picked him up later his face was white with dried tears and snot. He did one more day and then we gave up — and no one skied much after that. He loves it now, of course, but we should have waited until he was in reception year back home and not so freaked out by the company of strangers. • 16 of the best family adventure holidays Renting an out-of-season villa in the middle of nowhere in Umbria was risky. There was little close by for the kids to do, it was too early in the year to use the pool, and the nearest shop was half an hour's drive away if we ran out of milk (aka wine). In fact, we whiled away a surprisingly sunny week playing football and Frisbee in the garden, ate vats of no-frills pasta on the terrace, day-tripped to hilltop Assisi for great views and gelato, and discovered a vineyard within walking distance, where the owner lavished hunks of parmesan on the kids as we sampled the vino. It's the most relaxed I've ever felt on holiday. Everyone loves Cornwall, apparently. Well, everyone can't have spent the best part of a day stuck in a traffic jam en route listening to the chirpy Peppa Pig theme tune at the start of each new episode on the iPad. My two-year-old was sick several times on the journey — we later discovered she has chronic travel sickness — and our rented cottage had a death-trap staircase our daughter wanted to spend the entire day going up and down. Plus, the 'short drive' to the nearest beach was not so short once you'd factored in hours spent battling for a parking space. I still shudder when I see Peppa Pig. • 20 of the best family-friendly hotels in the UK Every summer between the ages of 5 and 15 with my parents and siblings, and now as an adult with my own children, I have spent a week on a narrowboat. It's always the highlight of our year — normal life fades away. Last year our route took us through Skipton and the Yorkshire Dales. On golden afternoons my niece lay on the roof reading Agatha Christie aloud to her cousins as emerald-green hills slipped by. True, there was a sticky spot when we ran out of water and no one could shower for two days. But that was all part of the fun. Once I had aspirations that we would become a 'van family'. We bought a second-hand VW when our sons were two and four and headed to a sprawling campsite behind Rhossili beach on the Gower peninsula. We spent an hour trying to get the van level and erect our awning, then it began to drizzle. When it stopped raining we collected driftwood from the beach and made a campfire, but got nothing but black smoke. We thought we'd go for a meal then realised we couldn't get anywhere without packing up again. The boys went back to their iPads in the van, while my husband and I sat silently outside in the cold and dark, watching other families happily barbecuing and drinking beers. Mum died. Not on the holiday, but before. Also before was the London Olympics, so the biggest month of my professional career. Bradley Wiggins had won Great Britain's first gold medal and I was waiting to speak with him when I got the call to say come home, quick. She went that night. I took one day off then carried on working. So there was no time to grieve, no time to process and when we finally got to our villa that was beginning to show, physically and mentally. Then I fell down the stairs. Speaking to the owners about an air-con issue, I must have dripped water on my way up, slipped on it coming down. Marble. Top to bottom. Not good. At least I wasn't hospitalised. Shame, because it was lovely, I'm told. Roberto ran the house and cooked for us — 'very fresh, very typical' — and one of my lads still says it's the best villa we've had. Pity I wasn't really around to enjoy it. Just came back from it, thanks for asking. Only ten days, but as the family gets older it's harder to be in one place together. But this was us — my three sons, all the girls, even our Australian exiles. The villa in Zakynthos was superb, again — 'I reckon better than that one in Sardinia where you fell down the stairs,' said Art — we swam in the Ionian Sea, Rob fanned the barbecue and Will cooked some nights, so we dined like gods. And Art has a new Australian hip now, so is getting his life back. No crutches any more. I could have whiled away hours just watching him walk. Had it rained every day — and, no, not a drop — it would still have felt perfect. • 18 of the best family hotels in Greece I was a weird teenager because I really enjoyed hanging out with my family. Which was just as well because in the summer of 1997 we crammed into our car, drove to Hull, caught the ferry to Zeebrugge and then spent the next fortnight on the road. The Black Forest! The Swiss Alps! Austria! The shores of Lake Garda! I was 15, had made an incredible mix tape — which I made everyone listen to constantly — I read The Secret History by Donna Tartt and my parents even let me have the occasional beer. From watching Aida staged in Verona's Roman arena to guzzling sausages at a Bavarian village fête run by drunken firemen, I loved every single minute of it and still think about it weekly. Our first holiday as a family should have been great: a pretty little villa not far from the south coast of Mallorca where we could decompress after successfully completing our first 12 months of parenthood — ie alternate between nailing cold cans of Mahou Cinco Estrellas, paddling in the sea and taking nap after nap after nap. Unfortunately our son decided to run an explode-the-thermometer temperature and have a violent febrile seizure. Cue an ambulance ride to the hospital, where we all spent the next four days sharing a stuffy, windowless hospital room. On the plus side the hospital canteen had a wine list — quite good, actually — but I've never wanted to be home while on holiday quite so badly. • 15 of the best family holiday destinations for 2025 In 2008 we decided to take no risks on our first holiday as a family of four — just a cosy Dartmoor cottage in late September. Where better to be sleep-deprived and out of our parenting depth? Alas, the cottage was not as described: one tiny broken bed, several broken windows and a swamp for a driveway. Which would have been fine except it was raining, from the minute we arrived to the minute we left (three days early). Which would have been fine except the farmer who rented it lived right next door. He was a lonely old man who tried to whittle wooden animals but always ended up with wooden mushrooms. He liked to come into our kitchen to make himself a brew. We left with two mushrooms and three colds — and a renewed gratitude for our own cosy home. In 2010 we decided to take some risks on our third and final family holiday before Child A started school. We set off on a four-week camper van trip across France feeling like expert parents. For the first three weeks and two days it rained, and we were worn down by the damp, the drudgery, the fermé signs in every restaurant window. Then, for the first and probably last time, I decided to hang the expense. I booked us into the most expensive luxury château I could find in Bordeaux. We arrived and a team of valets unpacked all our waterlogged equipment. They hung our bell tent in the wine cave to dry while we sat on the terrace ordering lunch. The sun came out and I don't think I've ever been happier. Even though I grew up a few hours away, I'd shamefully never taken the family to Montreal. Last October we stepped out of the Gare Centrale just as the autumn leaves were peaking and summer was heaving a final sigh. Obviously we headed straight out for poutine at La Banquise. Then we hit Saint Laurent Boulevard, which is rammed with vintage boutiques, and relaxed on Larrys café patio just as the Halloween revelry was getting into gear — children in zoo animal onesies on the early shift, sexy nurses and Village People on the late one. My eldest was so charmed she decided to go to university there. • Canada's most fun city break — with a French twist Living in Shanghai with two toddlers was intense, so we booked a week in Yunnan, the mountainous province in China's west, for some fresh air and exercise. Right off the bat we realised how badly we'd planned, showing up in historic Lijiang during a high-traffic public holiday with a double buggy and a hotel reservation at the top of a steep, cobbled hill. The girls, with their white-blonde hair, endured constant curiosity from crowds reaching out to touch them. After dinner in the old town, two of us got food poisoning from a misguided bowl of yak curry and spent the night on the floor of the lavatory. We gave it another day but ended up quitting after two nights. Share your own family holiday highs and lows in the comments
