Recipefiesta

Bookshop owner David Ezvan on market shopping, sea views and nights out on the Normandy coast

For a town of barely 4,000 inhabitants, Deauville has a pretty sophisticated dining scene, thanks to the weekend influx of Parisians and the tourists drawn here for the horseracing, polo and film festival. Franco-Korean couple Mi-Ra and Charles recently won a Michelin star for their creative fusion at L’Essentiel, which includes dishes such as tom yam-style prawns with salsify and horseradish.

Combining hard-hitting history and hands-on adventures, a new trail reveals stories of sorcery and the healing powers of nature

The tourists crowding into Edinburgh Castle can be forgiven for overlooking a small fountain and plaque near the entrance; it is easily missed. But we have come here especially to see the Witches’ Well. This modest monument marks the spot where more than 300 women were murdered – strangled and burned at the stake – in the 16th century. More “witches” were killed here than anywhere else in Scotland.

We are on a Real Women of Edinburgh walking tour with Invisible Cities, which employs people who have experienced homelessness. Our gregarious guide, Sonny, tells us with tales of witch-hunts, but also of women such as Maggie Dickson, who miraculously survived a public execution in the early 1700s, and Agnes Maclehose, for whom a besotted Robert Burns wrote Ae Fond Kiss.

It’s easy to see why the chic town in the south of France made such an impression on the famous artist

A slice of Parisian chic in the south of France, Aix-en-Provence is an idyllic place to while away an autumn weekend. In July and August, the Roman boulevards bake – the heat here is more intense than coastal Marseille just 30km away – and the rows of elegant plane trees along the Cours Mirabeau offer little respite. But come in November or early spring and the place is lively, thanks to a university population of 80,000, and the cafés and restaurants in its many leafy squares are vibrant and busy. The weather is crisper and fresher, too, meaning there’s more to do and less excuse not to try out the many walking and hiking trails around the town, including Mont Sainte-Victoire, the craggy peak that rises to 3,300ft to the east of the city.

Sainte-Victoire has iconic status in Aix. It’s almost inseparable from the work of Paul Cézanne, who painted its pitted grey angles more than 80 times. His style evolving from impressionism to something else altogether. The bold geometric shapes and abstract lines that came out of these compositions would inspire Picasso, earning Cézanne the title of founding father of modern art.

With five resorts all a two-hour drive from Aviemore, the Highlands glitter with the promise of ski adventures – and whisky

Take a right from the top lift at Glencoe Mountain Resort and you will quickly be confronted with one of the greatest views in Scottish skiing. The rugged bulk of Buachaille Etive Mòr, often called Scotland’s most beautiful mountain, overlooks the deep valley of Glencoe, just around the corner from the “007 Skyfall road”. The panorama then leads past the Devil’s Staircase, on the West Highland Way walking route, and round to Rannoch Moor, one of Europe’s great wildernesses, a sprawling peat moor dotted with lochans and ringed by rolling hills.

This is a glen hailed in guidebooks – and one that snowboarders and skiers in the UK can access in the atmospheric glimmer of winter at a fraction of what they would pay for a trip to the Alps or North America (weekday lift pass £30, £35 weekends), making it a budget option – with a much lower carbon footprint, too.

Still need your winter sports fix even with the pound in a slump? Here are our top tips for skiing on a budget, including when, where and how to go

Snow-risky early December, the cold depths of January and the sunny end of April are almost always the cheapest times to go.

The second series of HBO’s hit drama has moved from Hawaii to the Italian island. What has filming meant for the town of Taormina?

It must have been like manna from heaven when, in October 2020, HBO decided to locate its new hit drama, The White Lotus, at the Four Seasons on Maui, Hawaii. The luxury resort had been closed since the islands locked down in late March, but this meant suites could be reopened for filming and furloughed staff brought back to work.

Now it’s the turn of another Four Seasons hotel, the San Domenico Palace in Taormina, Sicily, to be the star turn for the second series, which airs from October 31 on HBO/Sky Atlantic. Though lockdown is now just a memory for Italy, the choice of one of Sicily’s most beautiful towns (and certainly its glitziest) was welcomed by a country hit hard – and early – by the pandemic. The arrival of the international cast and crew in February was forecast to mean a €2m boost to the town’s hotels, rental flats, bars and restaurants, along with work opportunities for local people, including roles as extras. And the benefits are expected to continue.

It’s not on every walk you see boats float across the sky. The Pontcysyllte aqueduct, and the detour along Offa’s Dyke Path, are worth pondering over a fine pint

The canal boat drifted gently across the sky, 40 metres above the ground. Two men in a canoe followed. They were wearing lifejackets, although parachutes might have been more appropriate.

There is, it is safe to say, nowhere else in the world that you can float your boat so far off the ground as on this bit of the Llangollen canal, on Thomas Telford’s masterpiece, the Pontcysyllte aqueduct. It is a 307-metre long cast-iron trough perched on 18 stone arches that stride across the Dee valley in north Wales, a world heritage site that justifies its listing by being a genuine marvel of the Industrial Revolution.

From York’s chocolate factories to a loop of London and Spaghetti Junction from below, our tipsters share fabulous urban hikes. Scroll down to see the winner

This walk between Kelvinbridge and St Enoch subway stations follows Glasgow’s River Kelvin before it joins the more famous River Clyde, which leads you to the centre of the city. It’s full of contrast, leading through quiet riverside parks and by the side of busy dual carriageways, and passing some of Glasgow’s most interesting museums and galleries, including Kelvingrove, Kelvin Hall and the Riverside Museum. You’ll see reminders of the river’s past alongside the modern exhibition centre, arena and hotels promising a very different future.
Graham Dean

A prototype craft that will fly network telecoms starts trials with north Wales mountain rescue services next year

Drones circling above the peaks of Snowdonia, providing an airborne mobile network in remote areas, may soon become a feature of the region’s mountain rescue operation.

The drones – like small unmanned gliders but with twin engines – would carry equipment providing 4G and 5G connectivity that would link mountain rescue teams and other emergency services with people stranded, lost or injured in remote hills where the mobile phone signal is often patchy or nonexistent.

Adding to the country’s network of traffic-free greenways, three new trails encourage paddleboarders and kayakers to explore by river, canal and lake

On a small weir by the riverbank, a heron stands motionless. I feel a quiet reverence as I glide past in my kayak, propelled by the fast-moving River Suir. It’s a bright morning and I’m getting a nature fix, kayaking from Clonmel to the village of Kilsheelan in County Tipperary.

I’m exploring a stretch of the Suir Blueway Tipperary – which runs between Cahir and Carrick-on-Suir – with a 53km paddling trail and a 21km walking and cycling trail along the river between Carrick and Clonmel. It’s one of three Irish Blueways that opened earlier this year. The others are the Lough Derg Blueway (also partly in Tipperary) and the Boyne Blueway in County Meath.

Diwali, one of the most popular Hindu festivals, is celebrated by devotees all over the world. Also known as the festival of lights, it symbolises the victory of good over evil and commemorates Lord Ram’s return to the Ayodhya kingdom after a 14-year exile

It says there is nothing it can do and a ‘refund’ takes five to 10 working days

I’m trying to get my money back from Premier Inn. The hotel chain has taken £226 even though I have no reservation to show for it.

I tried to make a booking on 13 September but it didn’t go through, so I left the website. However, Premier Inn took the payment twice, meaning a total of £226 left my account. No booking was made, and this has been confirmed by the hotel chain.

From Rubens and van Eyck to cutting edge street murals and fashion, art is at the heart of the Flemish city, says local guide Tim Marschang. The beer and cocktails are decent too

Antwerp runs on coffee and my favourite haunt is Tartoer, a tucked-away coffee shop near Grote Markt in the old town. It has great homemade cakes and vintage Vespa memorabilia. My other favourite is Coffeebar Zulma in my home neighbourhood of Merksem – it serves the best chocolate cake in Antwerp.

The 10 best treehouses, tipis, cottages and cabins hidden in the fairytale forests of Britain

Wild ponies and deer will be your neighbours in this remote, dog-friendly two-bedroom New Forest thatched cottage with wood burner, hidden at the bottom of a woodland track. Two more guests can stay in the Fishing Lodge across the terrace, with rolling gardens overlooking the River Avon, home to otters. Close to the village of Fordingbridge, walk or cycle into the magical New Forest straight from the front door.
One-week stay from £1,570 in low season; undercastlecottage.co.uk; thenewforest.co.uk

When three siblings hike the Camino de Santiago, the fact that one has Down’s syndrome makes some things tricky, but the whole trip far more rewarding

The Camino de Santiago has been a confluence of culture since the eighth century, a trail where like-minded souls from all over the world share the sacred act of pilgrimage. Routes from the north, south, east and west of Europe crisscross Spain but all converge on the shrine of Saint James the Apostle in Galicia’s capital city, Santiago de Compostela.

Not that it’s a pious walk. Of the 178,912 people who reportedly completed it in 2021, a third did so for non-religious reasons. But pilgrims of all creeds share a common goal and a “Camino culture” of reaching out to help other walkers and sharing what food you have in your rucksack. Everyone works for the common good and that alone is reason for going. It is rare to find a grumpy pilgrim.

Housing campaigner says rental giant’s donation is a ‘cultural greenwashing’ to offset their poor publicity over the housing crisis

English Heritage has accepted a £1.25m donation from Airbnb to support its bid to “boost heritage tourism” and to continue the conservation of the UK’s most important historical attractions and houses.

The donation to the charity, which acts as a custodian to the country’s architectural legacy, follows the launch of the rental giant’s new historical homes category in July, which includes listings for historic places in which to stay.

British Airways and easyJet confident of fulfilling schedule in busiest weekend before Christmas

The chaos affecting international air travel in the summer has been firmly stowed away, according to UK aviation firms, with a smooth getaway expected in the busiest weekend before Christmas.

Passenger numbers for the biggest carriers and airports will peak at the start of what is for many the October half-term holiday, with easyJet and British Airways confident of fulfilling their schedule, and Heathrow to lift its passenger capacity cap later this month.

Craggy, harsh and wild, this stroll could be straight out of the Lord of the Rings films

The Peak District sprawls across five counties and 555 square miles. It became the UK’s first national park in 1951. Mixing the wild moorlands of the Dark Peak and the limestone dales of the White Peak, the south-west Staffordshire corner of the national park is a patchwork of waterfalls, blanket bogs, farmland, heath and high, craggy outcrops of wind-carved gritstone.

From the Three Horseshoes pub, on the edge of the national park and near the old textile town of Leek, you can walk up the road to follow a loop along the cascading River Churnet to Ramshaw Rocks and across country to the Roaches for unbelievably big views. To avoid the roadside half-mile to start, you could catch occasional bus 16 for one stop or park near Upper Hulme. The rest of the walk is on quiet lanes, paths and tracks and is spectacular. On a fine day, energetic hikers could make it all the way through Gradbach Wood to the mossy chasm known as Lud’s Church, but I am setting off in blustery drizzle and this seven-mile route is quite adventurous enough.

Hot chocolate in the Hague or Halloween in Transylvania – our tipsters share their best trips. Scroll down to find the winner

Forget the nearby costa and stay in Málaga for the best tapas, varied culture and vibrant nightlife. The Alcazaba is a restored Moorish fortress and gives expansive views across the city. Picasso was born in Málaga and a museum dedicated to his work from the early years to his last is situated in a 16th-century palace. If the heat gets too much, rent a bike and head north via a cycle path to the Botanical-Historical Gardens of La Concepción. Amble along an avenue of 80 trees from around the world and sit in the shade with an ice-cream. Eat tapas at Las Merchanas with a glass of manzanilla and enjoy a cocktail while you people-watch from one of the many terraces – it’s 23C in the evening.
Monique Gadella

Exploring ice tunnels, apple pressing and dolphin spotting are just a few of our ideas to keep kids happy

The famous engine will be 100 years old next February, and to kick off celebrations marking its centenary, the locomotive will be steaming up and down the heritage Swanage Railway during half-term.

The caves near How Stean Gorge are particularly suited to young explorers – especially when a day of gorge-scrambling is topped off with an underground feast and chalet stay

The road to Upper Nidderdale is a road to nowhere. Somewhere ahead of us, the ashphalt runs out and farm tracks take over. In the village of Bewerley, my son points out the slow-down road signs illustrated with comic rubber ducks. We pass a beer garden shaded by a two-storey waterwheel carcass, like a long-abandoned prop from the mines of Moria in the Lord of the Rings.

Tourists don’t end up in this remote part of the North Yorkshire – an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the border the Yorkshire Dales national park – by chance, and historically that’s been part of the challenge for the little-known adventure hub at How Stean Gorge, where I’m heading for a family weekend of caving and gorge scrambling. I spend the last few miles of our journey holding my breath as we edge past tractors between mossy drystone walls.

Tell us about a great hike in or on the edge of a UK city. The best wins £200 towards a Sawday’s stay

New data released by the Ordnance Survey has revealed the most popular city walks among its 3.5 million users, from panoramic views from Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh to a hike that takes inthe final resting place for many of Manchester’s great and good. Now we’d like to hear about your favourite city walk, whether it explores its history and heritage or heads out into nearby countryside. If you have a relevant photo, do send it in – but it’s your words that will be judged for the competition.

Keep your tip to about 100 words.

From Cardiff to Edinburgh, here are OS users’ favourite urban and countryside rambles. Just download the app and you’re on your way

A paper Ordnance Survey (OS) map is of course the quintessential walkers’ tool, but the OS Maps app on your phone, with a handy red arrow telling you exactly where you are, takes the usefulness to new levels. Other apps – Komoot, for example – do the same, but the backing of OS data brings extra reassurance.

A subscription to the app has changed my attitude to country walks. Before, we’d see an inviting footpath sign but have no idea whether it went anywhere interesting or was just a shortcut to another road. Now we just pull out a phone and can see where the path leads, with maybe a link to loop back. Following a path on the app also gives you confidence when the trail isn’t very clear: you can be sure you are on a right of way even if, say, it appears to lead across someone’s front lawn.

Boomers are eschewing the traditional cruise holiday in favour of exploring the world with a backpack or in a camper van

David and Viv Boardman have just arrived in Germany after a long bus-ride between Lille and Dusseldorf. They’re in the middle of a five-month stint backpacking around Europe, America and Australia, deciding where to go a week in advance, and they’ll return home when their money runs out. They haven’t recently finished school or university – they’re both 66 and on a “grey gap year”.

The pair are spending several months exploring the world for the first time in their lives after growing up in a time when extended travel was not the norm. Retirement has given them newfound freedom, and they want to enjoy it.

Full of fabulous architecture, waterways, parks and museums … No wonder it’s such a great place to live, says the Time Out Copenhagen author

In a town renowned for its bakeries, airy Hart’s Bageri on the islet neighbourhood of Holmen is a favourite. It serves amazing pastries and cakes, like the apple-bottom spandauer and cardamom croissants, and bakes perhaps the best sourdough bread in Copenhagen. It’s part of a foodie corner facing the colourful harbour of Nyhavn that includes outdoor food market Broens Gadekøkken and Popl, a burger joint run by veterans of Noma (the five-time winner of the world’s best restaurant) that serves organic beef, veggie and vegan varieties.

From a contemporary art hotel in Bristol to sleek refurbs in Edinburgh and Margate, plus three London openings

Step through the gleaming white portico of the Nici and you could be in South Beach, Miami. Statement artworks, bold fabrics and clean white walls mean Bournemouth finally has a luxury hotel that’s bang on trend. The best rooms have sea views, overlooking the pristine lawned garden and shimmering pool, while downstairs the South Beach restaurant offers cocktails on the terrace, local seafood and poolside snacks. Families are welcome, with a children’s playroom, activity centre in the garden and children’s activities in holidays and half-terms.
Doubles from £212 B&B; thenici.com

As the cost of living crisis deepens, a ‘house swap holiday’ seems appealing – but are there pitfalls?

Over the past 19 years, Ewan and Laura Hastings have been on 59 holidays. But the couple are not millionaires with a jet-set lifestyle – they live in a small village in Scotland and work in the voluntary and public sector. Their secret is house swapping, a tactic that has saved them an estimated £70,000.

“Last month we went to Pacific Grove in California and spent two and a half weeks in this beautiful detached house with wonderful views overlooking Monterey Bay and the coastal mountains,” Ewan says. “Next month we’re off to Berlin.”

At Abta conference, talk of buoyant market peppered with uncertainty – and anger at government

Liberated from pandemic restrictions, travel firms finally looked through the worst. Yet as industry leaders jetted in for a “survivor’s celebration” in Marrakech this week, fresh storm clouds were gathering.

With their customers facing the biggest cost of living crisis in a generation, two articles of faith are sustaining the UK travel industry. One, a holiday remains sacrosanct. And two, no economic turmoil can be as bad as Covid-19.

Holidays aboard Evrima aim to ape life on a billionaire’s superyacht with dedicated PAs, restaurant, humidor and nightclub

A version of the Ritz-Carlton hotel chain will take to the seas on Saturday offering 298 passengers – paying a minimum of £5,020 a week – a cruise holiday designed to ape life on a billionaire’s superyacht.

Evrima, launched by the five-star Ritz-Carlton hotel chain, boasts a restaurant designed by a three-Michelin-starred chef, “dedicated personal assistants”, four pools, a champagne bar, humidor (cigar room), nightclub and even “non-surgical facelifts”.

With the fourth series of Babylon Berlin starting on Friday, this atmospheric stroll peels back the history of a city that rarely stopped dancing – even during its darkest days

A cold mist lingers on the River Spree as autumn tightens its grip around Berlin, beams of neon lights refracted in the thick air, the art deco logo of KaDeWe department store reflected on the damp ground. This city, with its loaded, complex history, provides the ideal backdrop for drama.

A drama such as Babylon Berlin, the detective noir television series set in the chaotic world of jazz-age Berlin. With season four starting on Friday on Sky Atlantic, I’d come to explore what echoes of the last era of the Weimar Republic linger in the city. The new series brings us to 1931, where sinister forces are not so much lurking in the shadows as thrusting themselves front and centre – a place where the people went on dancing as the world began to fall apart.

‘We won’t have a world to show our customers if we don’t act soon,’ delegates are told at tourism conference

The travel industry has been urged to prove its commitment to sustainability with “rapid decarbonisation” to avoid a climate disaster.

James Thornton, chief executive of Intrepid Travel, one of the first carbon-neutral tour operators, warned delegates at the Abta travel convention in Morocco that urgent change was required.

Awesome night skies, richly coloured woods bursting with life, waterfalls and follies lure our tipsters outdoors, even as the weather turns. Scroll down to find the winner

My family enjoyed a long autumn weekend at Newton Hall’s cabins (from £185pn, sleeping 2-6) near Seahouses. Cabins are luxurious and child- and dog-friendly and have hot tubs and fire pits. There is so much to do in the area, including Lindisfarne – the lady from English Heritage was so friendly and full of knowledge. Then on to Bamburgh Castle and beach – fantastic. Nearby Alnwick Castle is a great day out – we all loved trying on the medieval costumes. My favourite though is Seahouses. Take a boat to Farne island (from £20) – the best time to see the seals is autumn. Then wander round the Farne Islands gift shop. Really takes you back to your childhood. Back at Seahouses there’s proper fish and chips among other meals at the Olde Ship Inn – the food is very good and staff so friendly.
Elizabeth

This region of north-west Italy is brimful of brilliant small food producers. Meanwhile, a British-born artist has slapped a wodge of vivid colour onto its bucolic scenary

It’s brown, muddy-looking and could make your breath a bit stinky, but for lovers of the pungent and salty, bagna càuda is glorious. The recipe is simple: sliced garlic (a whole head per person!), olive oil and anchovies, cooked slowly to a sticky sludge into which diners dip potatoes, peppers (roasted or raw), celery, spring onions and, in Piedmont especially, cardoons – a thistle-like artichoke relative. With good friends, good bread and jugs of good red wine, it makes for a convivial evening.

It was wine that had drawn us to this part of north-west Italy: the Langhe area is famous for premium wines such as Barolo and Barbaresco. But I’d been intrigued also by a hilly area next door called Roero – Unesco-protected since 2014 – whose wines are starting to make their mark, and by the food specialities they compliment.

Families are booking into resorts in huge numbers next year, according to easyJet – and it is all to do with the cost of living crisis

Name: All-inclusive holidays.

Age: Approximately 70 years.

With just nine residents, the Peloponnese retreat of Vamvakou was on the brink of extinction. Now it’s at the centre of a multi-million-euro project to lure back tourists and transform it into a tech hub

At first glance, Vamvakou seems like many other mountain villages in the Peloponnese, with pretty, stone houses and cobbled streets fanning down to a large square. But Vamvakou is no ordinary village. In fact, it’s at the centre of an ambitious plan to revive the fortunes of Greek mountain villages, many of which are on the verge of extinction.

In 2016, Eleni Mami and her husband Anargyros Verdilos (who is from Sparta, but has roots in the village) were holidaying in Vamvakou when they decided they wanted to do something to stop the village’s seemingly inevitable death. In summer, the village was a hive of activity when the Vamvakite diaspora descended on their ancestral homes. But during winter, only nine older residents remained, custodians of a village that, like so many in Greece, was slowly but surely disappearing.

Whether you’ve enjoyed a brilliant city break, a visit to a food festival or a hike we want to hear about your favourite autumn trips – the best tip wins £200 towards a Sawday’s stay

With food festivals and the harvest season in full swing, the countryside wearing its most colourful finery and cities oozing autumnal atmosphere, this is a great time to visit Europe. Tell us about your favourite trips to city, town, or village – ideally somewhere less heralded. Highlights could include a walking route, museum visit, a cultural occasion or a superb bar or restaurant.

Please restrict your tips to Europe beyond the UK this time.

Travel industry research finds strong demand after pandemic but fears over inflation and weak pound

One in three holidaymakers will cut back on spending next year due to the cost of living crisis, according to travel industry research.

The travel association Abta said a strong recovery in demand for travel this year was expected to continue next year, but its own surveys suggested people would opt for cheaper trips and cut back on spending money.

Experiences led by knowledgable locals are often the ones that stick in both young and old minds. The authors of a new guide to slow travel family breaks pick their favourites

Brockwell Park is one of London’s essential green lungs and part of the lifeblood of the Brixton/Herne Hill area. After your kids have run around the park, tried out the BMX track and the brilliant lido, head up the hill to Brockwell Park Community Greenhouses, where unsupervised activities include a mud kitchen, a sound trail, an orchard, vegetable and herb gardens and fern gulley. In school holidays there are kids’ workshops on everything from twig weaving to berry ink writing (October half-term sessions include Bonkers about Birds and Luscious Leaves - Why do they fall? for ages six to 10). Or rock up for Story Stompers, where preschoolers are invited to enjoy storytelling sessions and let the garden inspire them to create.
Entry to Community Greenhouses free; other events from £4, brockwellgreenhouses.org.uk

The open house event will see 60 historic buildings in the city free to visit. A local expert picks his must-sees

This weekend, on 15 and 16 October in the first York Unlocked event, 60 historic buildings will open free to the public, with volunteer stewards on hand as guides.

To grow up in York, as I did, is to be spoilt rotten with historical riches. Having been the capital of Roman Britain, York was arguably Britain’s second city at various times between the 10th and early 17th centuries. In 1642, Charles I attempted to escape his London difficulties by establishing his court at the sprawling, picturesque King’s Manor in the middle of town, and this will be one of the attractions open this weekend.