Travel News: New connections to south of France and Mumbai

Hot Travel is very excited that Ryanair have just started flying from London Stansted to Rodez, the sleepy, little-visited capital of the Aveyron department in southern France.

Worth a visit in its own right – its cathedral and 15th century Episcopal Palace are both wonders to behold – Rodez is also the ideal hopping-off point for the cave-studded Cévennes National Park with Toulouse 150kms to the south.

After a four-year break, Virgin Atlantic reintroduces its London Heathrow-Mumbai service on October 27with 8hr55min eastbound and 10hr10min westbound flight times.

With British Airways and Air India also covering the route, expect lots of tasty ticket offers. virginatlantic.com.

A 17-metre cloth that a sake-fueled Kawanabe Kyosai adorned in 1880 with grotesquely vivacious portraits of ghosts and demons is among the startling exhibits at Manga, a celebration of the venerable Japanese art form, which is residing at the British Museum in London until August 26. Tickets are €19.50. britishmuseum.org.

Manhattan’s massive Wrightwood 659 space is the venue for About Face: Stonewall, Revolt And New Queer Art, which is running until July 20 and features work from such legendary figures as Keith Haring, Gilbert & George, Maria Elena Gonzalez and Harvey Milk.

It’s part of the half-century commemoration of the New York City riots, which gave birth to the modern gay rights movement. wrightwood659.org. Across town at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is Camp: Notes On Fashion, a journey through four centuries of fabulousness. Jean-Paul Gaultier, Oscar Wilde, Jane Kaplowitz, Angela Hicks and Susan Sontag all feature in the exhibition, which runs until September 8. (metmuseum.org)

With the Wild Atlantic Way and the Ancient East doing wonders for their respective regions, plans have been announced for The Rebel Way to weave its way around “the territory from Kinsale in the east to the Beara Peninsula in the west, and from the Wild Atlantic Way along the South Cork coast to the Cork Macroom/Killarney Road in the North.”

Launching last week was the Bray Celtic Camino Coastal Route, a 30.5km walk starting on Bray seafront and finishing at St. James’ Church up near the Guinness brewery.

It’s been officially sanctioned as part of the famous Camino de Santiago in Spain, which walkers have to complete 100km of to be granted a certificate by the church authorities there. ----------------------------------------