By Mark Hodson, editor, 101 Holidays

We’ve been busy updating the site, introducing some great new holiday ideas.

I’m a huge fan of India. I once spent three months travelling around the country, saw some amazing places (including some that have proved to be my most memorable travel experiences) yet, inevitably, I came home having barely scratched the surface.

Since that time, while writing for The Sunday Times, I’ve been on a number of more upmarket trips to India, where I stayed at beautiful historic hotels and was shown around by top-notch local guides. One of those visits was organised by Pettitts, one of the UK’s leading specialists to India and we’ve chosen them as our recommended tour operator for these superb private journeys in Northern India and Rajasthan.

We’re all big fans of Sir Rocco Forte, one of Britain’s greatest hoteliers. He helped changed the industry twice, firstly improving the standards of budget hotels then by creating some of the world’s most elegant prestige hotels. His latest creation is the Verdura Golf & Spa Resort, a beautiful property on the southern coast of Sicily. We’ve selected Sardatur Holidays (our recommendation for holidays and honeymoons in Sardinia too) as our recommended tour operator as they know Italy so well, and we trust them to provide the very finest service.

Finally, we have a new recommendation for Italy’s Amalfi Coast. This is one of our must-see European destinations, with some excellent hotels, superb restaurants and so much to see and do. Driving that coast road is a truly memorable experience, though it’s not for the faint-hearted.

Our recommended tour operator for the Amalfi Coast is Italian Expressions. Again, they are true, long-standing Italy specialists. We know the team there personally and trust them to provide the best advice, service and a great hand-picked selection of hotels.