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BBC show The Traitors featured beautiful glens, castles, forests and peaks as a backdrop for its scheming contestants. But where was it?

As I arrive on the southern tip of the aptly named Loch Glass, the snow-capped ridge line of Meall Mór is perfectly mirrored in its still waters. “What a day for it,” I say to the only other group of hikers currently in sight in this silent corner of Easter Ross in the Scottish Highlands. “Stunning,” comes the reply, before one of the hikers adds: “So, did you watch the show? The Traitors?”

I reply with a widening smile. “Yes I did.” It’s the reason I’ve ventured up to Loch Glass, home to Culzie Lodge, better known as the Pink House, from my home in Edinburgh. And this group, it turns out, have made the same pilgrimage from Inverness, 26 miles to the south. The Traitors tourism is alive.

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Tell us about a great arty hotspot in the UK – the best tip wins £200 towards a Coolstays break

It’s always a thrill to stumble across a hidden gallery or artist’s workshop on holiday. Whether it’s a jewellery designer’s studio that welcomes visitors, a cafe that doubles as a gallery for local artists, or an under-the-radar exhibition space for exciting new talent, we want to know what you’ve discovered on your travels in the UK. Perhaps you bought something you’ve treasured ever since, or perhaps you just popped in for a quick browse – but tell us where it was and why you loved it.

If you have a relevant photo, do send it in – but it’s your words that will be judged for the competition.

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A tour leader finds that, beyond the areas devastated by the earthquake, the country is open for business and keen that visitors keep coming

The desperate plight of those hit by the recent earthquakes in south-east Turkey and northern Syria, where the death toll now stands close to 50,000, moved many in Britain to donate towards the rescue effort.

Though such displays of foreign sympathy and generosity have been widely welcomed in Turkey, there is concern that the quakes may cause tourists to reconsider their Turkish holiday plans this year. In my own case the earthquakes occurred in theweek that I was to lead a winter tour of Istanbul and Cappadocia. Prior to the disaster, we had arranged for two of our guests to continue on a private tour that would have taken them right through the area destroyed by the earthquake.

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A magical mystery tour of the city reveals brilliant art, architecture and stories – with only minimal Fab Four interludes

At a Liverpool city council meeting in 1974, in response to an application for the installation of the first Beatles sculpture in Mathew Street, a councillor reportedly sniped: “What have the Beatles ever done for Liverpool?” One current estimate suggests an annual £100m in tourism, for starters. But while the city remains best-known globally for the Fab Four, Aintree, its football clubs and the Albert Dock, it also boasts 2,500 listed buildings and a bounty of public artwork and sculptures.

Thanks in no small part to Tommy Calderbank – who some call “the spirit of Liverpool” – the city’s residents have also fought hard to rescue some of their beloved buildings, including arts venue The Florrie and Toxteth town hall, and fund-raised for artworks such as the Bob Marley and Brian Epstein statues in the city centre.

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Its magnificent capital is justly famous but there are other lovely places to visit that are only a train ride away from Prague

The Czech Republic’s capital remains one of the most beautiful eastern European cities, with iconic sights such as the Charles Bridge, Prague Castle and elegant Wenceslas Square. The best way to explore is to walk; the city is famous for its street musicians, and many of the city’s churches hold concerts and recitals. Alongside the Old Town, the Jewish quarter is dotted with synagogues, historic buildings and traditional cafés. Pop into U Rotundy (urotundy.cz), which serves up hearty Czech staples – pork knuckle, dumplings – and excellent local beer. Visit Letná Park at sunset for gorgeous views across the city, and in the evening take a glass-topped boat trip along the Vltava to see the city’s elegant buildings picked out in warm, golden light. No trip to Prague is complete without a visit to a cellar bar – the modern city is built on top of the old, creating a network of caves, tunnels and cellars. Try U Sudu (Vodickova 677).

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From donkey hikes in France to high plains drifting in the Swiss Alps, you don’t need to go long-haul to have a memorable encounter with nature

A six-and-a-half-hour train ride from Helsinki, the town of Kajaani is the unofficial capital of Finland’s Lakeland region. The number of perfectly serene bodies of water here, ripe for paddleboarding, kayaking and myriad watersports, easily outnumber the settlements dotted between them.

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With its wild horses, varied activities and rich history, the small Balkan country embraces a bright new future of sustainable travel

As our Jeep crests the hill we see them, gathering around a nearby waterhole, drinking, grazing, play-fighting. The vast Kruzi plateau stretches before us, edged by the foothills of Mount Cincar, an untamed landscape of scrub and limestone karst in south-west Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“Look, here come more,” says Matej, our safari guide, and sure enough a herd of wild horses gallops past, a whirlwind of manes and clattering hooves. Dozens of horses, once used for farming and transport, were set free more than 50 years ago and replaced by machines. Today they number upwards of 700, living in the mountains high above the village of Livno. It’s a magical sight, and another surprise on my tour.

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Albania is recasting itself as a destination for alternative travel, with its spectacular landscapes away from the coast, and friendly farm stays

Albania, one of Europe’s fastest-growing travel destinations, will focus on alternative rather than mass tourism in a move that government officials hope will help set it apart from competitors. The tiny Balkan state, once hermetically sealed from the outside world, has soared in popularity on the back of a reputation increasingly seen as both trendy and exotic. Last year it attracted 7.5 million visitors, more than twice its population and up from a record 6.4 million in 2019.

“It’s another country compared with 10 years ago,” says the Albanian minister of tourism and environment, Mirela Kumbaro, noting that the nation has more than made up for losses incurred since the outbreak of Covid-19. “Things are changing so quickly … the Albania of 2023 is full of positive energy.”

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Across the French capital, old stations, factories and a university campus are being transformed into artists’ studios, theatres and some of the city’s hottest clubbing venues

An enormous art nouveau greenhouse rises from the Meudon forest, its front made entirely of glass. Inside, suspended from the ceiling, is a 21-metre-long shiny, inflatable zeppelin, which looks as though any minute it might burst through the facade’s central circular pane.

The airship is a permanent, site-specific artwork by Korean artist Lee Bul, designed to draw attention to and define the huge space: this is Hangar Y, the world’s first airship manufacturing hangar, built in 1878. Less than 10 miles south-west of Paris, it churned out airships and hot-air balloons until the end of the first world war. After a brief spell as an aeronautics museum, it was abandoned and left empty for 40 years.

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The protected summits and valleys of the Tatras offer a return to the pleasures of traditional winter holidays – this time with all mod cons

The Tatra mountains in Slovakia had been touted as a great destination for a family skiing holiday. But as we stumbled out of the sleeper train from Prague at Poprad station at 6am, we were more anxious than excited. From the station we could see the jagged peaks of the High Tatras rising like black and white knives with a luminous pre-dawn glow against a pale blue night sky. Across Europe the news had been dominated by the lack of snow, that climate change was bringing about the end of the skiing industry as we know it.

As the mountain railway from Poprad climbed up through the foothills and wound its way through forests of spruce and larch, stopping at several mountain villages before arriving at the main resort of Tatranská Lomnica, we were slowly reassured. The snow was not deep, but deep enough, and above us we could see the sweep of pistes beneath the peaks and the lights of the snow tractors crawling about their tasks.

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The county gets famously full in summer, but out of season it comes into its own as the roads quieten and the surf roars on its empty beaches

The empty sands of Sennen Cove sweep invitingly before us – the pristine beach shaded by a spectacular headland at the southwesterly tip of England. It’s a breathtaking spot for a day by the sea. Then the sun breaks through and the whoops of children surfing in the waves add to the atmosphere. The hardcore wetsuited family are the only people in sight, as the temperature remains stubbornly close to zero, with added windchill factor.

It is the first week in January, and we have come for a holiday to the rugged coast of Cornwall. You might ask why. The county is not known for winter holidays, with most tourists and second-home owners descending in their droves during the summer months, cramming themselves into all available cottages and campsites. But holidaying at this time of year offers the kind of peace that we long for after the excesses of December.

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Tell us about your favourite train trip – the best tip wins £200 towards a Coolstays break

Nothing beats the romance of a great rail trip, whether you’re gazing out at spectacular scenery you’d miss from the road, or being lulled to sleep by the gentle rock of a sleeper train. We want to hear about your favourite train trips in Europe. It might just be a short but stunning coastal hop in France, or perhaps an epic mountain climb in Switzerland, or a picturesque intercity route. Tell us what it is and why it’s special – and you could win a voucher towards a holiday.

If you have a relevant photo, do send it in – but it’s your words that will be judged for the competition.

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A 60-mile sandbar dotted with forests and icy lagoons, the Curonian Spit’s buried villages, elk and elemental beauty attracted Sartre and De Beauvoir

Small icebergs bob on the waves. The beach is grey and frozen. To the north are the Dead Dunes, and to the south – past the Valley of Death – is the forested peninsula that marks the Russian border. Squeezed between a freshwater lagoon and the roaring Baltic Sea, the shifting sand beneath my feet has swallowed villages, occasionally spitting out bones from abandoned cemeteries. It is, perhaps, an unlikely destination for a winter holiday.

But everything about Lithuania’s Curonian Spit is unlikely, and this is the secret of its stark, unreal beauty. A 61-mile-long sandbar that arcs alongside the Baltic coast, half in Lithuania and half in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, its unique ecology has gained it Unesco world heritage site status. A landmass formed from enormous dunes that rose from the sea 5,000 years ago – legend says they were created by a giantess called Neringa – the spit became densely forested with birch, oak and pine.

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Not only is Avoriaz part of one of the world’s largest ski areas, it also hosts a banging week-long music festival, so you can ski in and boogie out

There’s nothing quite like blinding white, early-morning mountain sun, a blast of crisp, cold air and an Alpine valley stretching ahead of you to start your day. Welcome to Avoriaz, sitting on a cliff-face at 1,800m – and the only fully pedestrianised resort in France. It is also home to Snowboxx, a week-long music festival where you can combine skiing with partying, electronic music, late-night DJ sets and forest raves. As it’s ski-in, ski-out and vehicle free, you can get everywhere by foot. Better still, take a horse-drawn carriage to get around.

Part of Portes du Soleil, one of the world’s largest ski areas, offering some 600km of ski runs, Avoriaz is a modern resort that crisscrosses France and Switzerland. It was purpose-built in the 1960s, with high-rises and chalets sharp-angled and wooden-clad, working in sympathy with the mountains.

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Bagging a great-value break is still possible despite rising prices – but it does involve research and planning, says our cheap holiday expert

Recent headlines have not been kind to those of us who like a bargain getaway. With the price of hotels, self-catering and package holidays all rising, there’s been a barrage of bad news, putting a dampener on our summer holiday plans even before we’ve started looking.

But just how hopeless is the situation? I have made it my profession to search out cheap holidays, so I’m not prepared to throw in the towel just yet. True, I would be in denial if I refused to acknowledge current climbing costs, but I also think these straitened times give us an opportunity to hone our holiday booking skills while embracing one of my favourite things about travel: trying something new.

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With culture and beautiful sands aplenty, the coastal towns of Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia make for a break with a difference

Gdańsk is one of the most interesting cities in Europe. Birthplace of philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, author Günter Grass (when it was still known as Danzig) and the Solidarity movement, the old town, artfully rebuilt after the second world war, thrives with hotels and a buzzy bar scene (a standout is the Red Light pub, with comfy armchairs and vodka cocktails). The city has two superb museums, the European Solidarity Centre and the immersive Museum of the Second World War.

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The Balkan countries of Croatia, Bulgaria, Albania and Montenegro have warm sunshine and great prices in the shoulder season of June and September

When picturing Bulgaria’s 235-mile Black Sea coastline, most people think of the big party resorts such as Sunny Beach and Sozopol. But head further north towards the Romanian border and past the port of Varna, and the coast is less busy side. Until 2016, the town of Kavarna used to throb to the sound of heavy metal every summer during the Kavarna Rock Fest, but it’s now an agreeably laid-back place with a long town beach and a large nature reserve practically on its doorstep. Hike up the cliff to Chirakman to get glorious views of the coast, as well as a look at the ruins of the Byzantine Bison Fortress.

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The hike to the Garn Coch iron age fort may be pretty by day, but a new guided full-moon walk offers a whole other experience

I’m under the moonlight, the serious moonlight, and my imagination’s running riot. Surrounded by vast mounds of rocks – the chaotic remains of 2,000-year-old ramparts – I picture families clad in animal skins huddled around their roundhouse hearths, secure from the savage winter chill, howling wolves and marauding Celtic tribes.

My overactive mind’s excusable. The potent combination of a dazzling snow moon and enigmatic hilltop ruin is guaranteed to stir the senses. It’s exactly what Carmarthenshire walking guide Lisa Denison hoped for when she launched a new series of full-moon hikes exploring Garn Goch, an iron age fort on the western fringe of Brecon Beacons national park in south Wales.

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From a 15,000-egg omelette and four courses of figs to a famous lemon carnival, here’s a foodie tour de France

11-26 February
Beat the winter blues with a trip to one of France’s sunniest towns: Menton is famous for its lemons which thrive in the microclimate in this corner of the Côte d’Azur. For two weeks each February, the town celebrates all things citrus with huge sculptures made from 150 tonnes of oranges and lemons, which get sold off to locals for jam-making at the end. This year’s theme is rock and opera and there are walking tours of the groves, locals’ food stands, special menus in the restaurants, and visits to the town’s many botanic gardens. But the highlight is the carnivals that see huge floats adorned with fruit, as well as dancing and music troupes from around the world.
fete-du-citron.com

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Tell us about a great affordable beach holiday – the best tip wins £200 towards a break at a Coolstays property

With the cost of living sky high, finding a holiday that won’t break the bank is more essential than ever. So we’re looking for your suggestions for seaside pads in Europe that are fabulous but also affordable. Whether it’s a great-value campsite on the coast in France, a casita overlooking the ocean in Spain, or a Portuguese villa that’s surprisingly light on the wallet, we want to hear about fantastic places to stay on a budget. Feel free to send in images to go with your entry – but it’s your words that will be judged for the competition.

Keep your tip to about 100 words

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As the biggest ever show of the artist’s work is unveiled in Amsterdam, we retrace the enigmatic painter’s footsteps in Delft and also The Hague

Dodging the oncoming bikes, I climb a low mound a few feet above water level and look across at the city. It is a clear evening: the horizon holds a delicate tang of orange that ascends, becoming royal blue, then indigo. In front of me is a quay where a few boats are moored; beyond that, an expanse of water, and then the city itself, a smudge of bare trees, steep gables and church spires. It’s pleasant, but scarcely dramatic, and yet I think that this view changed the way my brain is wired. In about 1660 an artist came down here and painted what he saw. Johannes Vermeer was not a famous man then, nor would he be for more than 200 years, but that picture, View of Delft, would prove pivotal in art history.

Delft is a small Dutch city of about 100,000 people, just 40 miles south-west of Amsterdam. It was carved out of low-lying land in the 13th century, then grew into a centre for printing, pottery and, by the early 17th century, fine art. Perhaps it was the light that inspired the painters: those big northern skies reflected in the canals and the contrasting shady interiors filled with men in black hats and women with pale, enigmatic faces.

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A wilderness break in the Highlands offers eco-friendly accommodation and travel, and visits to projects promoting regenerative farming and reforestation

The sky’s a hazy grey as the sun starts to rise, just visible behind the dense low-hanging cloud. We slide slowly – though not silently – into mirror-smooth Loch Ossian. Reflections of bare-branched trees ripple, a bird of prey hovers on the horizon. It doesn’t get much wilder than this; a full immersion into the elemental Highlands.

We’re staying at the Loch Ossian youth hostel at the water’s edge, one of the most remote in the UK. Off-grid, with no vehicle access and sleeping 20 in two bunkrooms, it’s a place to truly escape from the world. Old black-and-white photos of early female mountaineers hang on the walls; our damp hiking gear dries on racks by the fire; at night the pitch-black sky twinkles with countless stars.

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Foodies should make tracks to the UK county that now boasts the most Michelin stars

One of the most welcoming hotels in the Lakes, the Gilpin combines flawless service with a warm informal feel. This extends to Gilpin, the hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant, helmed by Ollie Bridgewater, formerly of Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck. The cooking is note-perfect, from charcoal-roasted cauliflower steak with black garlic ketchup to roast cod with saffron compote and vermouth emulsion. There is also an à la carte option if the tasting menu feels a little daunting. Paired wines add to the experience and the optional extra cheese course should not be missed.
Tasting menu £120pp; doubles from £285 B&B; thegilpin.co.uk

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The views are better from a slow train, says our rail expert, who recommends six leisurely routes across some of Europe’s most captivating landscapes

Few pleasures compete with relaxing on a comfortable train and watching the landscape slip by beyond the window. Here are six of my favourite routes, ranging from under four to over nine hours, so easily completed in a day. Interrail passes are valid on all these journeys, although a small supplement (€1.50 to €4) is payable by passholders on the French, Polish and Spanish routes.

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From festivals to museums to the great outdoors, there’s plenty on offer for those on a budget

Family days out can be expensive but it is possible to stick to a budget during the February half-term school holidays by taking advantage of cheap and free activities – everything from robot coding sessions to “sword school” classes and hip-hop dance workshops.

The week-long break begins on 13 February for many schools in England, Scotland and Wales, although some schools break up the following week.

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While Istanbul, Ankara and the Aegean coast are operating as normal, tourists are advised to avoid the immediate vicinity of the earthquake

• Turkey and Syria earthquake: follow latest updates

Holidaymakers are being urged to be cautious when travelling to Turkey following the two earthquakes that hit the south-easte of the country, as well as neighbouring Syria, on Monday.

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These stylish places to stay, eat and drink have city centre locations and are within walking distance of the station – just the ticket for an easy break

Terminus Nord hotel, opposite Gare du Nord, Paris’s Eurostar terminal, is inspired by the multicultural inhabitants of the surrounding 10th arrondissement. The reception is reminiscent of a French kiosk, there are street art murals in the communal areas, and the individually designed, colourful rooms are themed on Africa and Asia. The Neni restaurant serves Israeli-Mediterranean dishes and the bar is dimly lit, with inviting leather armchairs. In the Jogging Corner, guests wanting to explore the city on foot can find maps and route suggestions. Bike hire and guided cycle tours are also available.
Doubles from €143 room-only, 25hours-hotels.com

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Our author and her family are wowed by an ethical travel break, meeting local schoolchildren and visiting eco resorts set in verdant countryside and by pristine beaches

There is a moment of absolute stillness – the battered football whizzing through the air, all eyes following it, before it crashes down into the glass case and tiny gasps escape little mouths. Thankfully, it rolls off, leaving the glass and the encased Buddha statue unharmed.

We are playing football on a dusty, sunbaked escarpment with a group of farm children, and amid the excitement I almost destroy the village’s religious relic. But the game goes on, with limbs flying everywhere, toes (mine) getting stamped on and the football continuing to fly skywards.

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Catalonia’s design gems don’t begin and end with Gaudí. The works of Lluís Domènech i Montaner deserve a closer look on the centenary of his death

Barcelona is justly renowned for its architecture but there’s a lot more to it than Gaudí and the still unfinished Sagrada Familia. This year Catalonia is celebrating the centenary of the death of Lluís Domènech i Montaner (1849-1923), one of Gaudí’s contemporaries and a leading light in the Catalan modernisme movement,

Over the course of the year there will be talks, videos and conferences celebrating the work of this prolific architect, as well as a route taking in some of his 26 buildings, 11 of which are in Barcelona. Domènech, who was prominent in the Catalan cultural revival known as the renaixença, combined modern techniques such as steel-framing with nostalgic and often romantic concepts of Spanish and Catalan culture. Ornamental ironwork, ceramics and stained glass characterise his lavishly decorated buildings.

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Countryside havens, Jacobean houses, beach hangouts and a converted chapel are among our pick of openings and revamps in 2023

Boys Hall, a gorgeous Jacobean house in Ashford, Kent, has been restored as a restaurant with rooms. There are five suites with original four-poster beds, window seats and roll-top baths; three doubles with en suite bathrooms; and two smaller doubles with shower rooms. The oak-beamed dining room looks out on to the walled garden and serves dishes inspired by classic British comfort food: fillet of venison with spinach and smoked garlic (£32), say, followed by beef suet sticky toffee pudding (£9). There is also a wood-panelled pub serving Kentish ales and posh bar snacks such as confit duck eclairs. The Grade II-listed hall, built in 1616, has more than a hectare of landscaped grounds; treatment rooms and luxury cabins around the pond are in the pipeline.
Doubles from £160 B&B, boys-hall.com

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from Travel | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2023/feb/07/10-best-new-hotels-to-stay-at-in-britain

A shoreline-hugging bus route from Penzance and a cross-country one to St Ives come into their own in this exploration of the county’s historic, cultural and natural riches

The fields ahead are yellow with daffodils and a soft ocean breeze smells of seaweed and smoked fish. I’m on an open-topped bus above Newlyn harbour near Penzance, where I arrived by train this morning. Through window of that train, I passed a frozen wonderland of icy floods and frosty trees, but west Cornwall feels like another country: lush ferns, palm trees and bright pink camellias flourish in coastal gardens. There are ancient crosses where green lanes meet, and Cornwall’s tallest still-standing stones, the Pipers, cast afternoon shadows like a giant sundial. Just beyond them, there’s a perfect top-deck view of the Merry Maidens stone circle. It may seem counterintuitive to explore by bus in a county known for twisty lanes and summer traffic jams, but it proves reliable and cheap as well ass sustainable.

One of many remarkable things about this spectacular three-hour journey on the Land’s End Coaster, which runs round the tip of Cornwall to St Ives and then cross-country back to Penzance, is that it costs just £2. The bus is part of an ongoing scheme across England, capping many single fares until 31 March. Even when the scheme ends, a day ticket in Cornwall will be just £5 for unlimited travel across the county on buses run by any company. The circular Land’s End Coaster route helps cut down on traffic at honeypot sites and – as a year-round service – it’s useful for local transport. Several people get on and off with shopping bags, and three walkers with dogs climb on board at the saffron-walled Gurnard’s Head Inn.

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Away from the tourist hotspots, this popular Aegean island still has plenty of magic

Lunchtime in Apollona, a small village situated in the khaki-tinged hinterland of Rhodes, and all is quiet – save for one terrace set on a small side road above the houses. Here, a mix of locals and visitors sit around wooden tables, on which half-drunk carafes of wine, platters of roasted meats and feta-freckled salads are placed next to bowls of homemade bread. Between the tables, a stout man in an apron bustles around, explaining dishes, telling stories and pouring the wine he sources from friends’ vineyards on the island. This is Giannis, owner and creator of the taverna, Paraga, and a man consumed by a passion for the rich foodie heritage of Rhodes.

Lunch begins with three types of bread and an aubergine dip thick with sesame and yoghurt. Many of Paraga’s recipes have been handed down through the generations. Our main course, a rich beef stifado, has been cooked in clay since the morning, giving Giannis a wonderfully theatrical moment of gently cracking open the ceramic pot to reveal an unctuous stew, served alongside succulent, stock-soaked potatoes. We eat gluttonously, gazing out over the lush green hills, holm oaks and Italian cypress popping up between the silvery-grey olive groves and spindly vineyard lines.

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