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Our slow travel expert explores villages and forests on a narrow gauge line that terminates at the top of the Brocken, northern Germany’s highest peak

This year marks the 125th anniversary of the opening of the railway to the Brocken, the highest summit in Germany’s Harz Mountains at 1,142 metres. The Brocken line is part of a wider network of narrow-gauge railways – mainly hauled by steam trains – in the eastern half of the Harz region, which is a wonderful place to explore by rail.

Direct steam trains run to the Brocken from Wernigerode several times daily, taking about 1hr 40mins. But there’s an alternative: a once-daily year-round service leaving Nordhausen mid-morning and taking just over three hours to reach the summit. The northern route from Wernigerode and that from Nordhausen, well away to the south, converge at Drei Annen Hohne, a railway junction high in the Ziller valley on the eastern flank of the Brocken.

Shortly to tour the UK, this festival of exhilarating documentaries expands our notions of human possibility – and focuses attention on inequality and the environment

The Banff Mountain film festival opens the door to the inspiring stories of people who simultaneously confront their physical and mental limits and the elements. And with this year’s festival featuring films on a lawyer running ultra marathons to help women in Afghanistan, a mountain-biking family living with disability, and the first woman to kayak down a 30-metre waterfall, there’s more than a hint of activism over environmental and equality concerns.

The festival, which began in 1976, celebrates and showcases the best of mountain culture, sports, and adventure. Over 2023, it will tour the world, with in-person and online screenings taking place in more than 40 countries, including more than 50 cities in the UK and Ireland.

Rafael Bridi in Walking On Clouds

This year’s event is themed on queer contributions to cinema, with screenings, museum tours, talks and exhibitions from Glasgow to Margate

Since its launch in 2004, LGBTQ+ History Month’s aim has been to increase the visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, as well as uncover previously untold stories. This year events take place across the country, from seaside towns to our biggest cities, the theme being #BehindTheLens, a celebration of queer contribution to cinema.

Give yourself a regenerating boost at 10 of the most energising and uplifting mountain wellness resorts and spas

The first certified bio-organic hotel in the Vorarlberg region, this 500-year-old building is now home to a soothing mountain retreat, combining a programme of outdoor hikes, indoor yoga and spa treatments with plenty of cosy spaces for relaxing with a book or just drinking in the glorious views. The nightly rate includes all of the above, along with free use of the local bus network, making it easy to get out and explore the local countryside. The restaurant offers excellent vegetarian and vegan dishes alongside the best organic local produce.
Doubles from £281, including dinner, B&B; naturhotel.at

From wild camping in the Sahara and the Lakes to culinary adventures and tours of Europe, these holidays are also a fun way to meet new people

Intrepid Travel’s Real Food Adventures offers the chance to meet travellers with a similar appetite for delving into local cuisine on trips where culture and adventure come with a substantial side of cooking and eating. The Moroccan itinerary includes sipping mint tea on Casablanca’s corniche, eating a home-cooked feast in the “blue city” of Chefchaouen, exploring Fez medina and camping in the Sahara before finishing up in buzzing Marrakech. More than half of those booking these trips are travelling solo, so it’s easy to bond over cooking classes, tastings and street food trails.
From £980, 12 days, various dates, intrepidtravel.com

Travelling alone needn’t mean feeling lonely and left out: hostels, guided walks and foodie tours are great ways to both explore and meet new people

Young adults, new remote workers and empty-nesters on “gap” years are all fuelling a post-lockdown boom in solo travel. Figures from the website Solo Traveler suggest most of them are women and quite a few are in relationships: solo is not the same as single. Google searches for solo travel have quadrupled since 2020. Going on holiday alone means you’re in charge of the schedule and are more likely to make new friends. Here are 10 things that can make trips for one more fun, offer structure, security and company (for those who want it).

My first trip alone was daunting, but the romance and beauty of Paris, Florence and Rome helped me conquer my fears

I’ve never been to Paris before, but it’s living up to its reputation so far. I only arrived a few minutes ago and have parked myself in a posh 1920s-style cafe across the road from Gare du Nord, where the Eurostar train deposits Channel-hoppers like me.

I’m here to begin a three-week grand tour across the continent: from Paris to Naples via Nice, Florence and Rome. I’ve never travelled to mainland Europe before. I haven’t been able to afford it, and even if I’d had the money, anxiety would have kept me home as I suffer from mild travel phobia. So, as well as a holiday, this trip will also be a sort of aversion therapy.

With a coastline that stretches thousands of kilometres, Australia is an all seasons, bucket list destination for on-water adventures

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When it comes to paddling destinations, Australia has an embarrassment of riches: there’s a coastline that stretches for about 34,000 km, easily accessible waterways for beginners and world-class rapids for thrill-seekers.

Rohan Klopfer, head instructor for Melbourne-based East Coast Kayaking, says Australia is a “bucket list destination” for international paddlers. And whether you’re canoeing, kayaking or rafting, travelling on the water allows you to load up with more gear than hikers or cyclists, making multi-day trips significantly more comfortable.

With villages around the town of Clitheroe now home to three of the UK’s top 50 gastropubs, we celebrate this unique north-western take on excellent pub dining

Only a handful of UK towns can lay claim to being culinary centres. Over the years we’ve had hype as well as hearty reviews for Bray in Berkshire – care of the Roux brothers and Heston Blumenthal. There is also Padstow thanks to Rick Stein and posh fish and chips; Ludlow; Abergavenny with its farmers’ market and popular festival; and Malton, dubbed “Yorkshire’s food capital” by the late Antonio Carluccio.

Now Clitheroe in Lancashire has joined the exclusive little set. Well, I say Clitheroe, but really I mean satellites of the market town, three of which now feature in the new Top 50 Gastropubs list from the team that produces the influential World’s 50 Best Restaurants and other hit parades. A fourth local pub just misses the premier division, coming in at number 56.

New rules spark furious debate as city tightens regulation of illegal rentals in attempt to defend housing stock for tenants

New York City’s latest plans to crack down on illegal short-term rentals – which could remove as many as 10,000 Airbnb listings later this year – is sparking fierce debates about housing, hotels, the tourist market and residents’ rights.

The new rules will hit those New Yorkers who make extra income by hosting – renting out apartments on Airbnb and similar platforms – but flout city laws, while potentially easing the burden on long-suffering city renters.

Mark Wedgwood traverses territory covered by every one of the 204 Landrangers and says none of his trousers fit any more

Beloved by armchair explorers and outdoors enthusiasts alike, Ordnance Survey’s Landranger maps have inspired countless adventures.

But for one keen cyclist they sparked a challenge that is almost certainly a first: riding across every map in Great Britain in a journey of more than 7,000 miles (11,250km).

Our tipsters confirm that the Emerald Isle’s pubs, cafes and literary hotspots offer brilliant backup for its huge variety of outdoor adventures. Scroll down to see the winner

I was fortunate to spend a few days in the seaside village of Portnoo, which made a great jumping-off point for exploring the multitude of white sand beaches – many of which wouldn’t have looked out of place in southern Italy. Dooey beach was a particular highlight and, other than a few surfers, was all but empty during my visit. The challenging but rewarding Wild Atlantic Way stretches along the coast and can be tackled in short stages. Proper pubs are abundant but Nancy’s in Ardara had the combination of excellent beers, food and craic.
Michael

The tale of a starry-eyed monarch’s fantasy fortress provides the backdrop to a dazzling walking holiday in Germany’s far south

In a clearing at the foot of the Bavarian Alps, a stoat breaks cover. The little creature flows quickly across the grass, its eyes set ahead, the ice white of its fur broken only by the black tip of its tail. The dazzle of its winter coat provides zero camouflage on this cold, mid-January morning – all the snow is further up the slopes – but its button nose and exquisite colouring are a vision all the same, a cartoon come to life in Germany’s far south.

The stoat isn’t the only thing to have fallen from a Disney animation. Minutes away, set against a frost-dusted cragscape of dark peaks, a hilltop palace spears into the sky. It is spectacular and preposterous, an ivory fortress that seems to have been formed in a dream. Turrets zoom up towards the clouds, asymmetric balconies gaze out across the land, statues of knights stand on pinnacles. This is Neuschwanstein Castle – the most flamboyant of many such creations here in the hills – and the story behind it is every bit as bonkers as its design.

‘Champing’ has had a record year with people bedding down in churches across England and Wales while throwing a lifeline to these historic buildings

For millennia, pilgrims have taken time out from their epic hikes to overnight in churches, mosques, temples and monasteries to eat, sleep, pray and meditate while recovering from one day’s hard slog and preparing for the next. Christians keep up this practice on pilgrimage routes across Britain and Europe.

Now, people of all faiths and none are being invited to “champ” – church camp – in historic churches across England and Wales. The scheme was launched in 2016 by the Churches Conservation Trust (CCT), the charity that protects Anglican churches made “redundant” (closed) and considered at risk. The project offers unusual accommodation to travellers and provides churches with funds to keep buildings maintained.

About 350 out of 900 seats normally left unsold on the first services between London, Paris and Brussels

Peak time Eurostar trains are daily forced to run across the Channel with hundreds of empty seats because border police cannot process passports quick enough.

About 350 out of 900 seats are normally left unsold on the first services between London, Paris and Brussels despite “huge demand” for the greenest form of international travel, Eurostar bosses said.

The UK is full of extremely rude-sounding towns and villages. But what’s it like to live in them? Some locals can’t wait to change the names, while others embrace the quirk – even selling signpost souvenirs

On the road to Twatt, a message arrives from a resident there. Am I making the pilgrimage up through Scotland to this hamlet on the island of Orkney only to admire its notorious, unwittingly rude road sign? If so, don’t bother. “Our council was so frustrated by that sign being stolen, they have now not replaced it,” says Judith Glue, who runs a gift shop selling pictures of the old Twatt sign to tourists who might otherwise leave the region disappointed. Grateful for her warning, I thank Glue and read over a list I’ve made of those other dwelling places in the UK that through some quirk of linguistic evolution have found themselves with fantastic, filthy-sounding names. At Cock Bridge, in Aberdeenshire, they have the same trouble as in Twatt. “Our sign is constantly being pinched,” says Geva Blackett, a councillor for the region. “People have been taking them away as mementoes. Why do they do it?”

It’s an early lesson from my road trip around these towns, villages, parishes, hamlets and farms, many of which are irresistible to Insta-tourists and sign thieves – always phone ahead. One autumn day, I drive for over an hour to visit an Ass Hill in Dorset, just to find it’s an unremarkable and uninhabited lane between hedgerows. The village of Shitterton, about 20 miles away, is much more interesting. Residents here are quite accustomed to hobby-horse types like me wandering through to have a nose around and ask questions. Most are proud, even defiant about this startling name of theirs, which derives from the fact that about 1,000 years ago the site was an open sewer.

Invisible Cities’ tours take visitors to the Scottish capital’s juiciest and least-known stories – and with guides who have known homelessness, they are rooted in real experience

Edinburgh is a city that wears “dreich” weather well. The gloomy, overcast greys and short, damp days of winter suit the brooding architecture, and the Scottish capital’s often murky, deviant past.

These are the streets that were bombarded during the wars of Scottish independence, giving Edinburgh’s centrepiece the claim of being Europe’s most-besieged castle. It’s where cages once had to be introduced over graves to stop bodies being dug up and sold to the medical school, and where, round the corner, tightly packed tenements hosted peasants and poets, philosophers and kings. The city is, as the poet Hugh MacDiarmid wrote, “a mad God’s dream”.

From a warehouse brewery to a giant bookshop and glorious lakeside parks, Cosmin Cîrîc, manager of the city’s thermal spa, guides us around the Romanian capital

Traditional Romanian food is dishes like sarmale (cabbage or vine leaves stuffed with meat, rice and vegetables), polenta, ciorbă (sour soup) and Transylvanian goulash, which simmers for eight hours in a wood-fired oven. Two restaurants in the historic centre are good for these: Lacrimi și Sfinti and Hanu’ lui Manuc. For street food, there’s a lot of saormă (shawarma) thanks to the Turkish population, and for something more contemporary I enjoy the fresh pasta at 18Lounge. They also do papanași, one of the greatest Romanian desserts: a doughnut filled with sweet fresh cheese (similar to ricotta) and topped with sour cream and jam. At the Therme spa, the Mango Tree cafe serves plant-based mains and Thai food, but it’s also known for colourful vegan desserts such as mango mess, made with meringue, mango, kiwi and papaya.

These great little weekend getaways combine history, atmospheric surroundings and buzzing central locations

An ideal weekend retreat, the Eastbury was originally designed as an 18th-century “gentleman’s residence”, and now houses 27 individually styled bedrooms, with designs inspired by the herbs, flowers and trees in the hotel’s award-winning walled garden. The garden is also home to the hotel’s spa, which boasts an outdoor hot tub as well as two treatment rooms. Upmarket dinners come with live music on Friday and Saturday nights, while the Pod, a glass sphere in the garden seating up to four, is ideal for a special occasion.
Doubles from £235 B&B, theeastburyhotel.co.uk

Our pick of healthy getaways from the Highlands to the Isle of Wight aslo includes cold-water therapies and wild swimming

Seven of Warner’s country house hotels offer wellness breaks once or twice a year, with sunrise and sunset yoga, meditation and mindfulness, qigong and pilates, sound baths and health seminars. The retreats include access to the spa, pool and gym and have nightly live music. Locations are the newly renovated Heythrop Park in Oxfordshire, Bodelwyddan Castle in Denbighshire, Nidd Hall in North Yorkshire, Thoresby Hall in Nottinghamshire, Cricket St Thomas in Somerset, Littlecote House in Berkshire and Studley Castle in Warwickshire (pictured).
From £404.25 for three nights, next retreat 10 February (Studley Castle), warnerleisurehotels.co.uk

Wellness tourism is almost exclusively a white domain. But one lifestyle coach has made it her mission to challenge that status quo. We join her Essex retreat

I had reached the ripe old age of 42 without ever having been on a retreat. But my partner and children were going to remain at home while I, freed from my frantic routine of ferrying the kids around and thinking up healthy meals, was to spend four days trying to relax.

Yet, days before departure, I find myself worrying about the backlog of “to dos” I’ll have waiting for me on my return. Rather than ease into the much-needed rest, I start telling myself I can’t afford so much time away. To quell the rising panic, I text Abi Osho, holistic lifestyle coach and creator of Soul Melanin Reconnect Freedom Sista Retreats for black women, warning her that I might not last the full long weekend.

Need to rebalance your life? From sunny Greece to snowy Finland we pick the best restorative breaks

This four-night yoga and meditation retreat is led by experienced teacher Yogi Ashokananda. Accommodation overlooking Lake Begovac is in simple log cabins (called “monk pods”), or guests can camp. Daily yoga and meditation takes place on a platform with great views, and there are guided nature walks, lake swimming, vegetarian meals, optional massages and visits to a potter and Plitvice Lakes national park. The centre is the newly opened sister to a retreat in India.
27 April to 1 May, from £510 for four nights, ashoktree.com

Author Philip Marsden on how Raban, who has died aged 80, brought us his darkly comic and sardonic view of the world

• Jonathan Raban, travel writer and novelist, dies aged 80

Jonathan Raban, who has died this week at the age of 80, was one of a generation of writers who helped to drag travel writing away from its hotel-reviewing, holiday-brochure corridor and into the halls of literature. Colin Thubron, Paul Theroux, Redmond O’Hanlon and Bruce Chatwin were among those (almost all men) who in the late 1970s and early 1980s resurrected the journey as one of the great narrative structures. They produced books that celebrate big ideas, remote places and the endless and ageless diversity of our planet. In Raban’s case, he did it with a view of the world that was both darkly comic and sardonic, delivered in prose that can pierce your heart with its accuracy.

As well as his travel books, Raban wrote dazzling essays and criticism, spotting writers’ weaknesses but always relishing success when he saw it on the page. John Updike “comes to grip with the contrary fabric of things with a kind of intelligent wonder”. Byron “had a genius for turning his entire life into a grand retrospective exhibition”.

From Dorset to the Danube delta, our tipsters pamper themselves with yoga, walking, meditation and simply by gazing at landscapes. Scroll down for the winning tip

Yoga at the Mill runs a wonderful mindfulness for wellbeing break in theNorfolk countryside at Fishley Hall. Accessible by train to Acle, on the Norwich to Great Yarmouth line, the four-day retreat with Lucia and Vikki offers lots of gentle movement, mindfulness and the opportunity to relax. The focus is on yoga practices that are influenced by the contemplative aspects of the wider yoga tradition, such as nidra. Lovely local walks fill your free time and tasty vegetarian food nourishes the body and spirit. We left refreshed and energised.
Julia Wunderlich

A new surf camp in Andalucía offers sunshine and a high chance of perfect waves, combined with low prices and a friendly vibe

The sun is blindingly bright, the air balmy, the sea a clear turquoise-blue and 18C, with no suspicious murky stripes of pollution. Paddling out into the Atlantic from El Palmar, on south-west Spain’s Costa de la Luz, is a far cry from a January surf experience in the UK.

I’ve come to Andalucía to escape the bleakness of the British winter with a stay at The Sea Retreat, a new surf camp on the coast between Cádiz and Tarifa. Set up by Marina Nieves and her husband Callum Jelley in the laid-back community of El Palmar – the name means “palm grove”, it caters for beginners and intermediates, with a maximum of eight adults staying in the surf house at any one time (some rooms can accommodate extra children too).

Renaissance for open-air swimming as communities restore derelict sites and campaign for new pools

This year is set to be the “year of the lido”, with three new or revamped outdoor baths due to open in England in 2023 and more communities across the UK agitating for the opportunity to swim in the open.

What campaigners are dubbing the “lido revolution” has been given extra impetus following the National Lottery Heritage Fund awarding £99,800 to a project aimed at helping people bring their local pools back to life.

The British author, who lived in the US, blended memoir and travelogue in books that were often inspired by the sea

Jonathan Raban, the British travel writer, critic and novelist known for his candid accounts of travelling the world in books such as Passage to Juneau and Coasting, has died aged 80, his agent has confirmed.

Born in Norfolk in 1942, Raban grew up the son of an Anglican clergyman in several Church of England vicarages. The family had little income but several “upper-middle-class connections: coat-of-arms, one-time country house”. “We belonged nowhere,” he wrote in his 1986 book Coasting. “We had the money of one lot, the voices of another – and we had an unearthly goodliness which removed us from the social map altogether.”

Engaging study of artists and radicals hanging on at the legendary New York building in the face of hungry developers is charming but vague

New York’s Chelsea Hotel (strictly, the Hotel Chelsea) is the almost mythic building renowned for the radical bohemianism and life-on-the-edge danger of its famous residents, who have included Dylan Thomas, Patti Smith, Sid Vicious, Bob Dylan, Madonna and Iggy Pop. But unlike CBGBs or checker cabs, the Chelsea is a New York institution that does in fact still exist, and is the subject of this interesting, if meanderingly vague documentary from Maya Duverdier and Amélie van Elmbt.

It is all about the now ageing artists and radicals still living there, such as dancer and choreographer Merle Lister, who once staged performances in the Chelsea’s beautiful stairwell with its wrought-iron balustrades. They are the ageing holdout generation with legally protected tenancy – and they resent the forces of gentrification for trying to evict them and ruin the Chelsea’s artistic spirit. A property developer bought it in 2011 and has been striving for an upgrade. But this is more of an apartment building than a hotel, so the overhaul is no simple matter.

With its tree-lined ski slopes and starlit forest hikes, the traditional village of Villard-de-Lans, near Grenoble, made me fall back in love with skiing holidays

‘Off-piste? You must be joking!” It was my first post-pandemic ski trip after a few years off the slopes, and I’m not a hugely confident skier at the best of times. I had been nervous before setting off, and unsure whether I could face the hassle of skiing holidays (the cold! the boots!) any more. Like lots of people, I’d lost my travel mojo. What was wrong with hibernating at home for the winter?

Then I arrived at Villard-de-Lans, a traditional village resort in the Vercors plateau in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-eastern France. The sun was shining, the pistes were quiet and a couple of easy warmup runs reminded me why I fell in love with skiing 25 years ago. Before long, I was swishing down gorgeous, tree-lined slopes backdropped by huge limestone crags. The resort connects two villages, Villard and Corrençon-en-Vercors, and is absurdly picturesque – a mix of forest runs winding between fir trees and powder fields with panoramic views of peaks and canyons. This year, a lack of snow has affected the resort – as with many places across Europe – but pistes have reopened this week.

Lovers of the national park mourn loss of right to camp – for some a balm for their mental health, for others a rite of passage

Visitors to Dartmoor and local people have reacted with dismay to the loss of the right to wild camp in England and Wales after a high court ruling against the pitching of tents in the national park without the landowner’s permission. Campaigners have vowed to fight the ban. Here, readers share their memories of camping on Dartmoor and what the national park means to them.

Once, it seemed an economical and adventurous alternative to a hotel. But I doubt I’ll be using it again

Some people call it “wasting time on Twitter”. I call it “qualitative research”. Having engaged in a lot of qualitative research recently, I’ve discovered the following: everyone is sick of Airbnb. In its early years, Airbnb was a more economical and adventurous alternative to a hotel. Nowadays, it costs a small fortune to rent a shack on Airbnb and, when you get there, you are forced to abide by a long list of rules and buy your own toilet paper. It’s become a bit like staying with your cheapest, most uptight friend – and paying them for the privilege.

I’m not the only person to have made this observation. Every few weeks a tweet dunking on Airbnb seems to go viral. The latest example comes courtesy of a writer called Jeremy Gordon, who got more than 100,000 likes for tweeting the following: “Decided to stay in a Holiday Inn instead of an Airbnb for an overnight trip and strongly feel, one hour after check-in, that there has never been a more luxurious experience in all of human history.”

It can be hard to explain to friends and strangers, but the tradition goes back decades

The most important question a newcomer to my family can be asked is not “which footy team do you root for?” or “milk and sugar?” or “beer?” but: “Are you rabbit hunting tonight?”

Uninitiated partners, friends and park rangers alike tend not to know how to answer this question, and their confusion is only compounded further when it’s followed up with: “Are you scaring, or are you in the van?”

I was privileged to host international travellers wishing to work in exchange for lodgings but tighter entry rules have made it impossible

When I first heard about Workaway it sounded too good to be true, and perhaps in some ways it was: a website on which travellers could exchange their skills for free accommodation sounded like something that only happened in dreams. Perhaps that’s what appealed to me about it – the triumph of community over cash.

When I moved to a ramshackle Somerset cottage without enough skills to do the renovations myself, or money to pay tradespeople, I turned to Workaway for help. For the past year it has kept me in labourers and friends.

Officials point to similar policy in Canada and ask Madrid to lobby EU as high prices push out local people

Officials on Spain’s Balearic Islands want to ban non-residents from buying property as soaring prices in Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza drive local people out and create “ghost villages” of empty homes.

Such a move could make it impossible for foreigners to buy a holiday home in the archipelago. It follows a similar scheme in Canada, which introduced a two-year ban on property purchases by non-residents, with exceptions made for immigrants and legal residents.

When Nooraini Mydin was approaching her 60th birthday, she was determined to pursue her dreams. So, despite her fears of loneliness, she boarded a train, bound for Kuala Lumpur

Nooraini Mydin’s 50th birthday passed without much of a marker, so she was determined to do something memorable for her 60th. She had always been curious about the Trans-Siberian railway but thought “how about I make it really exciting and get the train from London all the way to Kuala Lumpur?” she says. “I am such a chicken, or I was at that time. I used to get very lonely when I travelled alone.” But in August 2016 she set off with two suitcases – containing her laptop, to write about the journey, and several packets of instant ramen noodles, for comfort and economy reasons – for the seven-week journey.

She had had a varied life up to that point. She had been a journalist in Malaysia, but moved to the UK in the 80s, where she had a difficult, short-lived marriage. She worked as a council press officer, in the bakery at Harrods and in admin at a hospital. “Then I started collecting degrees,” she says. She studied law, but didn’t become a lawyer, instead working in the law department of University College London.

Staff said I would get my money back, but the company later told me it needed to ‘get more information’

Back in September I made a booking at an Ibis hotel in Burton upon Trent for 8 December. Three weeks before the stay, I received an email saying my booking had been cancelled as the hotel needed to shut for essential maintenance and that I would receive a refund soon. This was confirmed by phone.

When the money hadn’t arrived two weeks later, I called again and was told that Accor had my money and I needed to contact it.

A judge’s decision making it unlawful to pitch a tent on the moors without the landowner’s permission is set to spark a wave of right-to-roam protests

Standing at the summit of Hound Tor, wind whistling, ponies grazing nearby and the greens and browns of Dartmoor visible through the filter of the wet mist, the imposing facade of the high court could not feel more distant.

But on Saturday morning, carrying his backpack containing his tent, a rubbish bin, trowel and cooking equipment, Mark Hayhurst, 43, came here to mourn a ruling by the court on Friday that made it unlawful to wild camp on the land without permission.

Get away from the stress and strain of everyday life at one of these stylish boltholes

With the Norman stronghold of Bamburgh Castle looming impressively over Northumberland’s spectacular coast, this is the place to pair blustery seaside walks with cosy afternoons in front of the fire in this light, airy lodge designed with clean Scandinavian lines. Floor-to-ceiling windows in the open-plan kitchen-diner and sleek lounge bring vibrant natural colours into the cream-and-grey rooms, while upstairs the bedrooms have a soothing, sanctuary-like feel with soft hues, woollen throws and rugs, and polished wood floors.
Sleeps 6; a week costs from £880; crabtreeandcrabtree.com

From Croatia’s dramatic sinkhole lakes to rewilded glens in Scotland, our travel writers pick fun and sustainable adventures for the coming year

If you’re longing for a desert island, head to Fuseta, an almost empty spit of white sand in a turquoise sea that could be in the Indian Ocean (just a little more bracing). This is a relatively unspoilt fishing town about 12 miles east of Faro. It’s small and in summer has wonderful open-air restaurants grilling fish by the harbour. A locals’ favourite is Casa Corvo, where it’s hard to spend more than €18 for straight-from-the-sea dourada (sea bream) on the charcoal grill. Get to the mercado municipal early enough and you may see fishermen unloading their boats.

I’m mortified by the idea of quibbling over prices – though my wife is unimpressed by my principled profligacy

On a vast, empty stretch of beach a few miles south of Essaouira in Morocco, there is a woman doing yoga while facing the sea, a warm breeze lifting her hair out behind her as she lowers herself slowly on one leg. She is at peace, until a column of nine quad bikes comes barrelling down the shore, spraying sand and belching smoke as they pass.

This sudden invasion seems both jarring and a little contemptuous, especially from my point of view: I’m driving the fourth quad bike in line.

Campaigners condemn government plan to update list of countries whose GR certificates are automatically recognised

Rishi Sunak has been told he risks “re-toxifying” his government’s record on LGBTQ+ rights and introducing “an effective trans travel ban” after the equalities minister announced a review of countries whose process for changing gender on legal documents is recognised by the UK.

Kemi Badenoch notified the Commons on Monday of plans to update the list of approved countries and territories whose systems for gender recognition allow individuals with certificates obtained there to use the fast-track process when seeking a gender recognition certificate (GRC) in the UK.

Guided e-mountain bike rides in south-west Wales reveal a wild landscape of woods and rocky summits, plus a valley so secluded it still follows the Julian calendar

The path on which I’m riding my e-mountain bike across the hills of north Pembrokeshire is known as a bridleway, but to Ed Sykes, who grew up in these hills, it’s an “e-trail”. Ed is the founder of Hidden Routes in Newport (between Cardigan and Fishguard), an e-mountain biking outfit that takes clients on guided rides through what is probably the least-known corner of Pembrokeshire.

He came up with the term “e-trail” because, he says, he “wanted a name that differentiated what we do from regular mountain biking. Our routes are rideable on a normal mountain bike, of course, but we just reckon they’re more fun – and easier – on an e-mountain bike.”

Winter walks by day and night, remote hideaways, French riviera rail trips and Turin’s hot chocolate are among our tipsters’ remedies for dark January days
Scroll down to see the winner

Nothing beats an impromptu road trip when it comes to an exciting journey to somewhere new at the darkest and dullest time of year. To the south of Glencoe village, Glencoe Mountain Resort (microlodges for two from £75 a night) provides accessible sledging and skiing, and lovely winter walks – a near-Scandi experience for those on a budget. Breathing the bracing Scottish air and enjoying the stunning landscapes are the tonics we all need to keep us going until spring. Sleeping in a cosy microlodge adds to the adventure and makes the best of this short getaway.
Claire Renton