Picasso in Paris, Terry Venables' new hotel, and London's Restaurant Festival
Where to go and what to know
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Your support makes all the difference.1. Fly west
Halifax in Atlantic Canada gains another flight from Britain on 30 May next year. The first in a summer season of non-stop services to the Nova Scotia capital takes off from Glasgow, courtesy of the Canadian no-frills airline, WestJet. It is deploying a small Boeing 737 on the five-to-six-hour hop until late October. The cheapest round-trip we have found on test bookings is £365.
2. Eat London
More than 250 restaurants are taking part in this year's London Restaurant Festival, until 27 October. Special menus are available, plus a number of restaurant-hopping tours that let you have each course in a different place.
3. Insider tips
Finnish Lapland has introduced "locals on call" to give visitors insider tips and advice. The 16 locals have shared facts and information about their area of Lapland, online and are also contactable via email, Skype, WhatsApp or Facebook for any specific queries.
onlyinlapland.com/meetthelocals
4. BA drops SL
Sri Lanka is falling off the British Airways map once again from March next year. Flights to the Indian Ocean island restarted last year (via Male in the Maldives) after a 15-year hiatus, but the Gatwick departures have not proved profitable. SriLankan Airlines continues to serve the island with nine non-stop flights a week from Heathrow.
5. El Tel hotel
The former England football manager, Terry Venables, has opened an upmarket, 12-room hotel in the middle of a National Park in Spain. La Escondida is a 19th-century former hunting lodge near Penaguila, about an hour's drive north of Alicante. The owner describes it as a "Hispanic haven barely compatible with the Costa coastlines". Rooms start at €134, including breakfast.
6. New arrival
Facebook millionaire Ezra Callahan, the social media site's sixth employee, is building a 32-room boutique hotel in Palm Springs, California. The hotel, called Arrive, is scheduled to open by summer 2015.
7. Picasso in Paris
After five years of closure and a £42m renovation, Musée Picasso in Paris will reopen to the public on 25 October. The museum is located at 5 Rue de Thorigny in the Marais district. Its collection features more than 5,000 works, including around 400 by Picasso himself.
8. Photo op
Herb Lester has launched a collection of mini city guides to great European capitals. created in collaboration with local Instagram users. The guides, for London, Paris and Berlin, feature the Instagrammers' recommendations of places to visit, a basic map and tips on the best spots for taking perfect pictures.
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