Rory MacLean: 'I doubt I'll read a more delightful, celebratory and honest travel book this year'

Charles Nevin was worried about taking his adopted children back to Central America. But they loved Guatemala's vibrancy - and the locals loved them

As green travel has become big business it has sparked a rise in faux ecotourism, or 'greenwashing'. Richard Hammond on the responsible travel schemes to trust.

One of the smallest countries in Central America, this former British colony has beautiful beaches and rainforests, which make up most of the country.

Having a toddler doesn't mean you can't live out your Robinson Crusoe fantasies on a tiny island in the Caribbean.

Jacques Cousteau reckoned that the soft coral capital of the world was Fiji, but for a more balanced fish'n'coral combo, Belize has more kudos than the Great Barrier Reef.

Jo Adetunji leaves traffic and troubles behind on the mainland and finds a Belizean caye where the living is easy

... la isla bonita. Madonna sang about it and Polly Rodger Brown knew why when she found this laid-back island hideaway

Thomas Keegan dons his snorkelling gear to keep a lunch appointment with whale sharks.

Esther Selsdon cancelled Christmas and took her two small children to Guatemala and Belize, where rainforests, volcanoes and crocodiles are all in a day's play.