Sports Travel Articles

• Graceland Mansion: Ogle the ornate splendor that was Elvis Presley's life.
  

  Overview Since it opened to the public in 1982, Elvis Presley's beloved Graceland has become the nation's most-visited home, second only to the White House. What's the attraction? Perhaps it's the decor, which runs the gamut from the royal blue-and-white living room with its limousine-sized couch, to the wildly tacky jungle room, where a ceramic monkey stands guard over the leopard-print sofas a [...]

• Sumo: martial art or fight in a pub doorway?
  

  The Japanese have successfully enthralled Westerners by exporting all manner of popular distractions – karaoke, manga, Super Mario Land, karate – but sumo wrestling remains, squatting stubbornly in its birthplace, refusing to leave. Valiant attempts have been made to popularise the sport outside Japan, but to little avail. James Bond pops into a sumo stadium in You Only Live Twice, but predict [...]

• Japan, a fascinating country undimmed by disaster and very much back on its feet
  

  A year on from the tsunami, Tokyo’s spirit is as strong and bright as ever, finds Harry Mount as he enjoys the food, sights and, er, sumo wrestling.

• Retirement travel: 'Age can be a plus for the intrepid'
  

  Bus rides in Albania? Motorbiking in the desert? At 83, this is the way to travel, a Telegraph reader tells Jolyon Attwooll. People in Midhurst, a busy county town beneath the South Downs, know where to find Doug Pelling in the summer. He is often swinging a tennis or badminton racquet at the local club, where he is an honorary member. If he's not there, you'll find him in a match on the greens of [...]

• Zany new activities for a day out
  

  Great day out ideas, from learning to can-can to becoming a human bowling ball• Have a go at human bowling at Lakeland in Cumbria (015395 35999, lakeactivities.co.uk; from £5.50 per person, minimum four people). One poor person gets strapped into a ball-shaped cage and rolled down a hill towards a set of pins. Strike!• Extreme Dodgems does what it says on the tin – with rally cars adapted f [...]