Travel News

Share a tip on a holiday in Europe’s mountains

Tell us about your best trips and experiences, from Alpine activities to unforgettable vistas and great places to stay amid Europe’s peaks – the best tip wins £200 towards a Coolstays break This week we want to know all about your favourite (non-ski) holidays in Europe’s mountains. It could include hiking, via ferrata or cycling routes, activity or spa breaks, regional food, wonderful vistas and places to stay, such as a mountain refuge or cabin. The best tip, chosen by Tom Hall of Lonely Planet wins a £200 voucher to stay at a Coolstays property – the company has more than 3,000 worldwide. The best tips will appear in Saturday magazine and on the Travel website. Continue reading...

My search for the perfect Polish dumplings in Gdańsk

Pierogi are a religion in Poland, but I’d never been a believer. Could a recce in the charming Baltic city convert me? I used to live in Poland. I worked in a fish-and-chip shop in the western city of Poznań , boning cod and peeling potatoes for £1.50 an hour. With the exception of that job, I enjoyed everything about my time in the country, not least the food. I liked the chicken broth with noodles, the slippery herring, the knuckles of pork the size of basketballs, the cold beetroot soup that beats gazpacho hands down. One thing I was less delighted by were Polish dumplings – pierogi. It wasn’t that they weren’t nice – they were – it was more that they didn’t seem to warrant the extreme levels of affection and esteem Poles often bestow on the doughy parcels. By being ambivalent about them, I was going against a well-established grain. Continue reading...

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Tuscany’s treasured islands: five to explore

Want to avoid the crowds in Florence and Siena? Escape to these islands, from lively Elba to tiny, car-free Giannutri Scattered between the Tuscan coast and Corsica, the seven islands of the Tuscan archipelago offer a striking contrast to mainland Tuscany. All are part of a protected national park, but each has its own character – some are lively, others tiny and sparsely inhabited. Montecristo and Gorgona are only accessible via strictly limited guided tours, but here’s a brief guide to the highlights of the other five. *** Continue reading...

A slow travel success story in Slovenia’s secret valley

Tourism is only just taking hold in Vipava, but the locals are determined to do it right, by putting community first and preserving what makes it special The drive to Pedrovo is vertiginous, and each hairpin bend has me sending a silent prayer that we won’t meet a tractor coming the other way. When we near it, we abandon the car and continue on foot to the hamlet, a scattering of red-roofed, whitewashed houses high on the steep karst hillside. The air is warm and dry, scented with wild sage. We follow a hand-painted sign to Čilčevi Farmstead. Descending stone steps to a lush garden, we find a shaded table set with fresh cheeses produced at the farm’s own dairy. Below, the valley stretches in both directions, a wide flat plain hemmed in by steep mountain slopes, with the Vipava River winding lazily through fields and vineyards. Continue reading...

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‘Lapped by the turquoise, crystal seas’: readers’ favourite unsung European islands

From secluded coves in Ireland to an evening passeggiata on Italy’s Aeolian islands, readers share their discoveries • Tell us about your most memorable food and drink discoveries in Europe Giant griffon vultures glided parallel with my bus as it reached the highest point of Cres , the least populated of the four main islands in the Kvarner Gulf at the very north of the Croatian Adriatic. Covered in scrubby heath, olive groves and lavender, with small towns and villages on its coastline, its wildness is its appeal. Some, like Cres town, are unobtrusively set up for holidaymakers; in others local people just quietly get on with the life they’ve lived since the Venetians ruled here. All are lapped by the turquoise, crystal seas Croatia is known for. Rhiannon Continue reading...

My best ever British holiday: ‘I’ve travelled further, at greater expense, and had nothing like as much fun’

Five travel writers share their favourite holidays at home, from gravel biking in Scotland and a steam train ride in Yorkshire to rowing all the way from Oxford to London One of my best UK holidays was the week I spent in June 2013 rowing from Oxford to London with two friends, James and Tom. Continue reading...

‘Tuscany may be beautiful, but do they sell sticks of rock?’: readers’ favourite UK holidays

Your best UK breaks include an island off Mull, a rail journey along the County Antrim coast and Dorset’s best-kept secret • Tell us about your favourite under-the-radar European city – the best tip wins a £200 holiday voucher Mudeford feels like one of England’s best-kept secrets, the sort of place visitors from abroad might never imagine exists here. Golden sand and sparkling water give it an almost Mediterranean feel, while Hengistbury Head adds beautiful coastal walks and wide-open views. Our perfect day is simple: arrive early, wander along the headland, let the children play on the beach, then stop at one of the relaxed cafes for lunch or an ice-cream. My tip is to take the little ferry across the harbour – it turns an already lovely day out into a proper seaside adventure. Priti Singer Continue reading...

‘It’s one huge adventure playground’: readers’ best summer trips in the lakes and mountains of Europe

From the Alpine meadows of Bavaria to a pristine lake in Italy and the pilgrim routes of the Pyrenees, here are some of your favourite discoveries. • Tell us about a lesser known European island – the best tip wins a £200 holiday voucher Haldensee is a clear, sparkling cold lake located at the bottom of the Tannheimer Tal valley in the Austrian Alps (about 90 miles south-west of Munich). We visited last year, just when summer was on its way out, and it was too cold to skinny-dip in the lake (unless you were very brave). Nonetheless, if you’re a hiker, a ski lift takes you up into the Allgäu Alps where you can walk through dense forest to Bad Kissinger Hütte serving refreshing apfelschorle , warming soups and seasonal bakes to refuel for the journey downhill. When going down, we were accompanied by tinkling cattle, ambling along the mountain-side springs, which made the experience so much more memorable. Kovida Continue reading...

How to explore Britain and Ireland’s most beautiful rivers on foot, bike or boat: readers’ travel tips

Our rivers may be running low at the moment, but they still offer an abundance of adventure and nature to explore. Here are your favourites, from the Tees to the Shannon • Tell us about a favourite holiday in the UK – the best tip wins a £200 holiday voucher Last summer, I enjoyed a six-mile walk along the fast-flowing River Wharfe from Ilkley to Bolton Abbey, with calming vistas of the Yorkshire Dales every step of the way. I set out at Ilkley’s Riverside Gardens on the south bank, near the remains of a Roman fort. Trace the path to the ancient stone bridge and along to the picturesque village of Addingham with its Low Mill weir and views of late bronze age or early iron age Castleberg fort . Simply carry on hugging the riverbank to the splendid remains of 12th-century monastery of Bolton Abbey , situated in wonderful woods and parkland. Helen Continue reading...