WHERE TO TRAVEL IN APRIL

Seoul – South Korea’s booming, boisterous capital – remains one of the world’s most addictive and untouched hubs for nightlife, food, history and culture. This alone is one of the best reasons to travel to this famed East Asian country this April.

A rewarding mix of Balkan, Italian, and Austrian culture. Between this stellar blend lies medieval villages, white churches, and train-line excursions that bend and yaw between the snows and the waters.

Pine forests, deep and rich and dark; turret-thronged castles, amongst snow-slicked mountains; a buzzing compact of squares, churches, museums and eateries. Germany has it all, and in enviable heaps.

If we had to plan a perfect day in our favourite Himalayan destination it would start with a helicopter journey to Bumdra at first light. At its end? A private dinner at Changangkha Lhakhang, the region’s oldest temple.

April 13th marks the beginning of Songkran (Thai New Year). Lasting three days, Songkran brings people far and wide for what’s essentially one big street water fight, paired with daily prayer, food and dance. Symbolically, it washes away the previous year so people can prepare for the next.

Belize means beach. And the wispish archipelago of Placencia might lay claim to being Central America’s most down-to-sand stretch of coastline. You’ll snorkel off the reefs of Silk Caye before hitting the rum. Life doesn’t get much better than this.

Salsa in Cartagena, private yachts to the Rosario Islands, conservation and wildlife in Los Llanos. Each time we travel to Colombia, we find something new. And in April, you can too whilst avoiding the crowds from the recently ended peak season.