Recipefiesta

With four public holidays over the next two months, we pick exciting breaks in town and country in the UK, France and the Netherlands

Culture in Hull
For a last-minute Easter getaway, a city break offers more choice and less chance of places being booked up. The UK’s 2017 City of Culture, Hull is an interesting, multifaceted destination. There are leaflets of trails at the tourist kiosk at the railway station for exploring Hull’s Old Town, which has become a popular film location: it stood in for wartime London in TV shows such as The Crown.

First city in the UK to impose such a charge hopes to raise £3m a year to develop its visitor experience

From tomorrow (1 April) tourists will have to pay a £1 tax to stay in Manchester – the first city in the UK to impose a tourist tax on visitors.

Overnight guests in city centre hotels or holiday apartments will be charged £1 a night, per room, as part of a new scheme which officials hope will raise £3m a year.

Great art, walks, history and cycles feature on these short trips that take in atmospheric places as diverse as Lincoln and Lausanne

Dinant is defined by cliffs, hills and the mighty Meuse River. You could take a lazy funicular trip to the fortress, gawp at the stunning citadel or check out the kitsch saxophone paraphernalia at Maison de Monsieur Sax – the town was the childhood home of Adolphe Sax. And you probably will. But Dinant is also a town for adventure with plenty of hiking and several ziplines. You can take an electric boat out on the Meuse itself, or better still, kayak the Lesse tributary, passing under weeping willows and over rapids. The chateau above at Walzin is screensaver material. Pick one of the many riverside restaurants to put those calories back on with a local Leffe beer and fries (with mayo).
Antony

Young Britons are the target for a crackdown on antisocial behaviour in the city – but are they the real problem?

It’s 9.30pm and groups of British lads are gearing up for a big night out in Amsterdam’s red light district.

Although the narrow streets echo with French, German, Spanish, Dutch and Irish banter, this week Amsterdam city council launched a campaign to tell Britons from 18 to 35 in search of a “messy night, to stay away”. Lewis Flanigan, 24, from Middlesbrough, is taking the chance to party while he still can. “My plans are for sex and drink, going around the bars until 6am,” he said, peering into brothel windows beside the Oudezijds Achterburgwal canal. His two friends – unnamed as they have “serious jobs” – have also come before things change.

An easy walk on both right and left banks of the Ribble offers an abundance of history – and pubs

A small rural village with three pubs is a rare thing, but that’s what Waddington has – and that’s where this walk is heading. My specific target is the Lower Buck, because it’s the “real pub” – focusing on ales and socialising – where the other two have gone for food. That said, on this circular riverside amble along a historic county border you could, with a few short detours, easily have a pint in a different boozer for every mile traversed. Is that because Yorkshire and Lancashire are full of heavy drinkers, or because where there are rivers and bridges there are also inns?

We began at Chatburn – we being me and fellow walker, writer and historian Nick Burton. Nick has been a handy guide and friend since I moved to the Ribble Valley a couple of years ago and I knew he’d tramped the Ribble’s paths before. Chatburn is near where I live and since I’m still finding my feet, it made sense to start near home.

The Himalayan country’s tourism board is seeking to boost the employment of mountain guides, increase income from visitors and improve safety

Independent trekking is about to be banned from Nepal’s protected mountain regions and national parks, in a move designed to boost employment and increase safety for tourists visiting the country’s Himalayan range.

From April all foreign trekkers, whether solo or in a group, must be accompanied by a licensed guide. The announcement was made by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) in early March, and applies to cyclists as well as hikers.

From woodland strolls in search of early bluebells to egg hunts, storytelling and sculpture parks, here’s our pick of the best outings

All five RHS gardens have giant egg hunts among the April blooms, from delicate violets and alpine pear blossom at Rosemoor in Devon to hellebores and flamboyant camellias at Bridgewater in Salford (garden entry from £12.35 adult, £5.95 child). The daffs are blooming in the Derwent valley, where there’s an Easter egg trail around the Heights of Abraham. Take a cable car up to the wooded clifftop park and explore two underground caverns, nature walks and epic adventure playgrounds (entry from £23.50 adult, £16 child). Arrive by train or bus and get 20% off.

A new initiative in a Himalayan wildlife sanctuary is attracting birdwatchers and hikers to the remote foothills, and offering vulnerable villages a lifeline

With the morning sun on her face, Kamla Joshi sits outside her house in Dalar village peeling potatoes, preparing a celebration dish for Holi. I ponder whether I should pitch in, but there are constant distractions: the toddler being chased by her grandad, the buffalo shifting listlessly in the yard, and not least the view of Trisul – a snow-smothered Himalayan knife-edge that rears above the oak trees and mustard flowers of Kamla’s garden in the Kumaon Hills.

But I’ve only stopped for a cup of spicy chai and it isn’t long before I’m on my feet again, following a hiking path through Dalar with my guide Hem, Kamla’s husband. Our tea break was partly so that Hem could show off his family and the new homestay he’s building in the village where he was born, helped by money he earns as a guide with Village Ways in Binsar wildlife sanctuary. This 50 sq km reserve in Uttarakhand, a forested northern state backing on to the Himalayas, feels far off the tourist trail and is a haven for birds.

Share details of a favourite Greek escape – the best tip wins £200 towards a Coolstays break

With its rugged mountainous interior, thousands of islands scattered across the Aegean and Ionian seas, incredible ancient sites and endless coastline, Greece is one of Europe’s most alluring destinations. This week, we want your tips on the lesser-known side of the country, beyond the tried and tested hotspots.

From under-the-radar archaeological ruins to seldom-visited islands, hidden mainland beaches and remote stone villages, please share your discoveries. Or perhaps it’s a taverna or restaurant full of locals, or a traditional festival. Tell us about your Greek adventure for the chance to win a holiday voucher.

With festivals attempting to clean up their shocking environmental record, we pick the best planet-friendly events, all accessible without flying

Plastic cutlery, abandoned tents, artists flown in to perform … the traditional music festival has not been a bastion of eco-friendliness. Now several UK and European events are introducing measures to reduce their impact, using locally sourced food, low-emission transport and renewable energy. Sustainability-minded shows range from new-generation affairs, such as Italy’s Terraforma, to veterans like the Isle of Wight festival.

From buzzy rooftop bars taking in the Eiffel Tower to sunsets on the Seine, these are some of the best vantage points looking out over this ‘timeless town’

If it’s views you’re after, it doesn’t get better than Mama Shelter La Défense in Paris’s business district. Yes, it’s a bit further out, but there’s a metro and you can shoot into the centre in 15 minutes. There’s everything here that is signature Mama Shelter: quirky maximalism; watering cans dangling from the ceiling in the restaurant; a faux Louis XIV reception and a buzzy rooftop bar where you can marvel at the sweeping panorama east, taking in the Eiffel Tower, Place de la Concorde, the Grand Palais and the Champs-Elysées. The breakfast buffet is impressive with a dizzying range of bread, cheese, patisserie, charcuterie, coffee and tea. All in all, absurdly well priced for what’s on offer.
Doubles from £96 room-only, mamashelter.com

A Dorset cider orchard, a Highland glen, a rural idyll in Powys and rugged Atlantic views in County Derry make for superb walking as the evenings lighten and the air softens

If you drive along the A3066 towards Bridport in springtime, you might get a tantalising glimpse of pink apple blossom in the centre of Melplash village. If you park in the layby opposite the Half Moon pub, you will find there is a footpath that leads through the trees and on, up and over Hincknowle Hill.

Castlerigg and Long Meg and Her Daughters form a celebration of the landscape and astronomical alignments that signpost seasonal rhythms

Spring is coming, and I am planning a pilgrimage. I’m going to the vast landscape of the Lake District to visit two of the country’s most picturesque and fascinating prehistoric monuments: Castlerigg stone circle and Long Meg and Her Daughters.

Castlerigg, a circle of 38 boulders of varying sizes, the tallest standing over two metres, is about a 1½ miles from Keswick. It sits on a plateau ringed by some of Cumbria’s highest fells: Blencathra, Helvellyn, Grasmoor and Skiddaw. The view from the circle is so impressive that when Samuel Taylor Coleridge visited in 1799 with his friend William Wordsworth, he declared “the mountains stand one behind the other, in orderly array as if evoked by and attentive to the assembly of white-vested wizards”.

Gender equality campaigners celebrate rule change, which affects indoor and outdoor pools

When a lifeguard asked police to remove Lotte Mies for bathing topless at her local indoor swimming pool in Berlin it was a move that would inadvertently trigger a rule change allowing all women, including visiting female tourists, the freedom to go topless while swimming in the city.

The decision to change clothing rules around swimming in the German capital was made after two women, including Mies, filed complaints about being thrown out or barred from the city’s pools for refusing to cover up, and demanded the same rights as their male counterparts when bathing “oben-ohne” (topless) at the city’s public pools.

British viewers are showing an interest in travelling to Canada after launch of reality show’s third series

Canada’s tourism industry this week expressed hopes for a rise in UK visitors after the third series of BBC’s Race Across the World launched in the UK to rave reviews.

The reality show, in which five couples travel 10,000 miles (16,000km) from one side of Canada to another on a shoestring and without flying, could be a boon to the country’s recovering tourism sector. Arrivals were down 40% in 2022 from their high in 2019, but there are hopes for an increase with UK viewers inspired by the epic scenery and charmed by helpful Canadians.

Discover Rachel Whiteread and Henry Moore in a PM’s parkland, Emin and Freud in the pub, and a picture-postcard beach

Make the trip for …
North Norfolk is peppered with grand houses with impressive art collections. Houghton Hall near King’s Lynn, which was built for Robert Walpole in the 1720s, is no stuffy stately home. Its parkland is a treasure trove of modern sculpture by Rachel Whiteread, Anish Kapoor, Henry Moore and more. Some large-scale pieces are in full view, but many others are hidden. Armed with a numbered map, visitors search mazes, walled gardens and woods to track down the artworks – so it’s great fun for kids, too.

The first sculpture to be commissioned, one of James Turrell’s Skyspaces, created in 2000, is still one of the most impressive, while Jeppe Hein’s Waterflame is mesmerising. This year, Sean Scully has a sculpture exhibition in the grounds, plus paintings in the house and the Contemporary Gallery (23 April-29 October, adult from £20/under-18s free). There is also an exhibition of artists and makers based in East Anglia, East to East, and a model soldier museum. The house itself is a Palladian mansion with sumptuous state rooms.

The seaside town hosts a street-art festival and the world’s first digital art park, while nearby Leigh is packed with galleries

Make the trip for …
Southend-on-Sea, a traditional British resort, may not be an obvious art destination, but it is an emerging street-art destination. Southend City Jam, its inaugural street art festival, took place last September. More than 100 local and international artists created murals for the city centre and seafront, and many are now permanent fixtures. This year’s event is set for 1-3 September. There is a map of the art at southendcityjam.co.uk, or for a quick fix, the railway bridge over the High Street has three excellent examples. The LuminoCity light festival also launched last year, and returned last month.

Now what?
The free Beecroft Art Gallery has a collection of 2,000 works donated to the town by Walter Beecroft, a local solicitor, in 1952. His tastes were eclectic: 17th-century Dutch masters, an early work by Constable, a Jacob Epstein bronze. The gallery also houses Southend’s fashion collection – including 500 bathing suits – while the Jazz Centre downstairs hosts live music on Saturdays.

The former mining town is home to Velázquez, Murillo and El Greco, the art of pitmen, and its own artist-designed tweed

Make the trip for …
A regeneration charity has used art to help transform the fortunes of this former mining town. The Auckland Project is a multi-venue art exhibition in the town centre, whose star attraction is the Spanish Gallery, which opened in 2021 and has a jaw-dropping collection of 16th- and 17th-century Spanish art by Velázquez, El Greco, Murillo and more, housed in a beautifully converted former bank and school.

By contrast, the Mining Art Gallery has a moving display of more than 400 works made by coalminers. Miners’ sketching societies were set up between the first and second world wars and some of the men left the pits to become professional artists, including Tom McGuinness and Norman Cornish.

A new series of long-distance hikes in Calabria take in captivating scenery and the legacy and legends of eco-conscious Francis of Paola, the first recorded vegan

A new sculpture appeared in a square in the town of Paola, Calabria, in April last year. It’s not the usual man on a horse, or even anything with legs; it’s a many-times-lifesize trout in grey stone – all fins, bulgy eyes and pout.

The unusual monument was erected to commemorate a miracle performed by the town’s patron saint, Francis. (He was actually made a saint in 1519, but Covid delayed the celebrations for the 500th anniversary of his canonisation.) This Saint Francis followed in the spiritual – and, for a time, literal – footsteps of his better-known predecessor, Francis of Assisi, but dialled up his reverence for the natural world and became one of the first recorded vegans.

Share a tip on an excellent place to go in early summer – the best tip wins £200 towards a Coolstays break

It’s been a long winter, and if you’re lucky you may be plotting a trip to warmer climes for some early summer sun. Whether you’ve enjoyed a trip to Spanish city before the July heat kicks in, Alpine slopes spangled with wildflowersor the beaches and islands of Greece, we’d like to hear the details. These could include great discoveries you’ve made: a hotel, restaurant or perhaps a walk, train route or a secret beach.

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

Prices for popular destinations could be up almost 60% on 2022, analysis carried out for the Guardian shows

People planning to hire a car abroad this summer face having to pay almost 60% more than they did before the coronavirus pandemic.

New figures for six popular destinations show average car rental prices are continuing to rise, with the average cost coming in at about £565 for a week’s hire.

Food tour operator Jessica Hammer on where to eat, drink and even where to tango in ‘la Ville Rose’

I love taking visitors around all the local producers at the Marché Victor Hugo, where we get to sample a bit of everything, from the cheese, charcuterie and macarons to, of course, the wine.

A haven for artists since the 19th century, the harbour town of Kirkcudbright offers art walks, trails and a resident Rembrandt

Make the trip for …
This harbour town on the River Dee is known as the artists’ town, thanks to the creative types who lived and worked there from the 1880s – and the artistic community that is still active today. Fiona Lee’s Kirkcudbright Art Tours are a great way to discover the compact town on foot (£12, from April).

She takes visitors to Broughton House & Garden, the Edwardian home and studio of the Glasgow Boy EA Hornel; Kirkcudbright Galleries, with work by the Faed family, Charles Oppenheimer and Samuel Peploe; and the Tolbooth Art Centre, which has an exhibition of Jessie M King’s work. Fiona may also introduce them to some of the contemporary artists who have studios and homes in the town, including printmaker Laura Boswell and landscape artist Richard Brinley.

A repurposed 19th-century public bathhouse, an old factory housing vintage caravans and a former Stasi spy hub are among the eclectic places to stay in the German capital

Since opening 14 years ago, the Michelberger has built a community of both locals and tourists who flock to this historic factory turned modern boutique hotel. Nestled between Berlin’s most lively districts of Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg, its 140 rooms, aimed at catering for all budgets, attract an eclectic, artistic clientele. Transport links can take you across town 24/7, not that you’ll be travelling far. In-house courtyard concerts, yoga classes, ice baths and saunas are on offer; there are plenty of bars and restaurants in every direction, while Berghain – the city’s most famous nightclub – is only a short stroll away, if you fancy your luck getting in.
Rooms from £79, michelbergerhotel.com

Lee Miller, Frank Auerbach and Picasso have all starred recently at this pretty market town’s eyecatching new gallery

Make the trip for …
This pretty market town is known for its antique shops, but now also has an agenda-setting new art gallery. Newlands House Gallery, which opened in 2020 in a converted Georgian townhouse, focuses on “the great artists of the 20th century”. It has had a run of stellar exhibitions so far, including Lee Miller, Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró.

Last summer’s Frank Auerbach: Unseen was a superb collection of paintings, etchings and drawings by one of Britain’s greatest living artists. The current exhibition is Two Worlds Entwined: Annie Morris and Idris Khan, showing the artist couple’s work side by side for the first time in the UK (adult £14.50, child £7.25, until 7 May).

In the first of a new series of art-inspired field trips, we explore the tiny city that is home to Wales’s first contemporary art hotel, Graham Sutherland exhibitions, and an epic coastline to sketch

Make the trip for …
Britain’s smallest city (population 1,350) has history and heritage in spades, and is close to the beaches of the Pembrokeshire Coast national park. It is also home to the country’s first contemporary art hotel. Twr y Felin, a windmill built in 1806, is now a hotel/gallery. The owner commissioned more than 100 artworks representing Pembrokeshire and St Davids when the hotel opened in 2015, and a further 70 for an extension in 2021.

Sinister portraits of Welsh stars such as Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey by street artist Pure Evil eyeball diners in the restaurant; spray-painted landscapes by Mr Jago enliven the gallery-like lounge; and depictions of drunken antics, inspired by Dylan Thomas and painted by Cherry Pickles, spur on drinkers in the bar.

Now what?
Oriel Y Parc, St Davids’ eco-friendly gallery and visitor centre, is a stone’s throw from the hotel and has exhibits about local nature, geology and archaeology. The gallery often shows works by Graham Sutherland, who was inspired by the Pembrokeshire landscape, and holds temporary exhibitions by visiting artists in its tower. The Riverside cultural centre in Haverfordwest, 16 miles from St Davids, also displays works by Sutherland, plus other Welsh artists including Gwen and Augustus John.

Painting or sculpture, photography or crafts … our tipsters recommend lesser-known galleries and art spaces across the country

The Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre, actually a gallery, is a wonderful stroll through beautiful madness. Just minutes from Buchanan Street in Glasgow, this storyland is filled with mechanical figures made from wood and metal and all sorts of scrap, arranged in two different “performances” of scenarios and stories. The place is peaceful and frenetic, and like nothing else I’ve found anywhere in the world. You’ll marvel at the skill behind the creations and come out with a big daft grin on your face.
Anna

From the wild Irish Sea coast of Bangor to the crocus fields of Berkshire, our tipsters experience the joy of the spring awakening. Scroll down for the winning tip

Deep in the ancient woodlands at Hever Castle and Gardens, you smell the wild garlic before you see the pretty white flowers grouped beneath trees with fresh lime-coloured fringes signalling their new spring growth. Rare telamonius plenus daffodils (from the 17th century) surprise you as you walk deeper into the woodland, but come mid-April, the bluebells are the real stars of the trail that meanders across the estate near Edenbridge in west Kent, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn. Dogs are welcome and you can enjoy a picnic as you extend your walk by taking the path around the lake. Access to gardens from £17.50 adult, but there are also walks in the surrounding woods on the Eden Valley path towards more Tudor homes at Chiddingstone and Penshurst.
Vicki Rimmer

The classic Irish bar, whose hallmarks evoke the qualities of an earlier era, has been in steady decline – but recently its future has started to look a little brighter

There’s more to traditional Irish bars than their vernacular design or their location on almost every street corner and village green inIreland. Behind their distinctive facades is an elusive character that has barely changed over the centuries: the rustle of the newspaper on a Sunday afternoon, the banter from the bartender or the gentle thud of a perfectly drawn pint of stout on solid, time-smoothed timber.

Yet, they have never been at greater risk. Despite thwarting the epidemic of McPubs on Irish shores, or even the arrival of global chains with localised shamrock branding, the traditional pub is in steady decline with more than over 21% of premises having closed since 2005. However, their future has recently started looking a little brighter. In 2022, the Cobblestone Bar in Dublin scored a minor victory against the big guys by successfully battling developers’ plans to turn it into a hotel.

Heritage is as good an excuse as any to enjoy a pie and a pint. Here are more excellent reasons to visit places that rarely feature in the guidebooks

Part one / Part two / Part three

No compelling reasons underlie the selection of Bury, Burton upon Trent, Wigan, Workington and Whitehaven. These are not places with a single major attraction. None fits neatly beside the adjectives we use to sell and hype a sense of place – quaint, fashionable, cool, happening, filmic. One reason for holidaying somewhere is that no one else does. But for this edition, food and drink are a tangential focus. A few decades ago, dining was a peripheral, an extra, for travellers; today there are festivals everywhere and every week, for seafood, rhubarb, curry, real ale, eels, seaweed and even tripe.

The Haute Maurienne valley has slopes for everyone from children to off-piste adventurers yet is still quieter and wilder than its neighbouring ski areas

I was crossing a steep-sided valley in the Vanoise national park in the French Alps by car when something in the sky caught my eye. My brain, unable to process what the huge black raggedy-looking thing could be, jumped to the conclusion it must be a drone, trailing a bin bag, so incomprehensible was its size. But, as it passed overhead, I saw a flash of orange underbelly and realised I was looking at an enormous bird.

A quick bit of Googling suggested it was not a golden eagle – though they live there too – but a lammergeier, or bearded vulture, and several breeding pairs inhabit this part of the Savoie. These colossal scavengers, whose wingspan can reach 2.8 metres, were reintroduced to the Alps in the 1980s, having been hunted to extinction a century ago. Back then, they were known as “devil birds”, considered predatory not only to sheep (the name translates as “lamb vulture”) but small children also. Mindful of the comparative size of my own two kids in the back seat, I could see why. I clicked the childlock.

Tell us about great places to go for a weekend away in the UK and elsewhere in Europe – the best tip wins £200 towards a Coolstays break

With an additional day off to mark King Charles’s coronation on 8 May, many of us will be making plans for one of the approaching long weekends, whether it’s a peaceful break in the countryside, a hop across the Channel for some spring sunshine, an epic weekend of adventure, or just a saunter down to your favourite pub to spend some time with family and friends.

We’d like to hear about your favourites spots to spend a long weekend. If you have a relevant photo, do send it in – but it’s your words that will be judged for the competition.

Mountains or lakes, French forests or Dutch seaside, these fun breaks all start at a train station rather than the stress of an airport

Heading to Italy overland from the UK suits those looking to relish the journey and give kids a once-in-a-lifetime geography lesson. The most spectacular route is on the Treno Gottardo, a revamped 19th-century railway line that skirts Lake Lucerne and creeps through snow-capped mountains in the Ticino valley between Basel and Locarno, Switzerland’s warmest town, on Lake Maggiore.

Greece’s largest and most southerly island is gorgeous in spring – there’s no better time to go trekking

Rather than braving the furnace heat of Greece in summer, why not visit in spring, when the climate is reliably balmy and temperate? Factor in the manageable journey time, delicious food and reduced accommodation rates, and you have a perfect combination for a crowd-free escape.

Expect luminous landscapes enlivened with trees in bud, wildflowers in bloom and cloudless blue skies.

David Attenborough’s new documentary series celebrates Britain’s native fauna and flora. Here’s how to spot them for yourself

The huge bulk of Bass Rock sits pretty in the Firth of Forth, three miles offshore from the idyllic town of North Berwick, on the east coast of Scotland. When viewed from the mainland, the island has the appearance of an enormous stone scone with a mighty bite taken out of one side. A dusting of flour seems to cover the landmass and sprinkle the skies above.

But as our boat bobs gently over to the island, those sprinkles come into focus and we see the stunning sight that has brought us here: the largest colony of gannets in the world.

A thrilling tour of the mountainous island – with two small boys in tow – takes in beaches, culture and dramatic scenery

It’s changed again!” the seven-year-old says as we hit the snowline at about 1,400 metres. He’s impressed that such a small island can contain so much. The mountains close in and the road bends sharpen; we’ve only been in the car for an hour, but this morning’s beach feels a long way away. The constantly shifting scenery keeps restlessness at bay – no mean feat with a seven- and a nine-year-old in the back seats.

Lying between mainland France and Italy in the Ligurian Sea, and often referred to as the Île de Beauté, Corsica is renowned for its geographic variety: two-thirds of the island is a crumpled mass of granite peaks, torrents and valleys formed 250 million years ago.

Scenery, sandy beaches and solitude are key to the Ionian island’s appeal, according to the report, which put party-loving Mykonos in last place

Kefalonia, the largest of the Ionian islands, with its emerald-coloured mountains, secluded coves and underground lakes, has been crowned the best Greek island by Which?.

Abundant sandy beaches, scenery uninterrupted by high-rise buildings and access to much-sought-after solitude sealed the deal for the island, off the west coast of mainland Greece, in the consumer body’s annual survey. Which? asked more than 1,000 visitors to rate the 10 main Greek islands on factors including beaches, attractions, scenery and value for money.

Our tipsters recall the gorgeous scenery and off-the-beaten-track towns on rail journeys from the Arctic Circle to the Peloponnese.
Scroll down to see the winning tip and enter the competition to win a Coolstays break

I recently took the sleeper train between Amsterdam and Vienna. On the way, I had a compartment to myself until the early hours when I was woken by a couple with a 10-month-old baby, who wanted to know if I would rooms so they could have their own compartment. The guard said this wasn’t possible but I did volunteer the top bunk so that the dad could easily exit the room and look after the baby. The rest of the journey involved him going out in the corridor to walk around with the child. That’s the fun of sleeper trains – you don’t know who you’ll meet! I shared with a research engineer on the way back. Oh, and Vienna was amazing too.
Mark

Soak up wild sea views and rich maritime history, then tuck in at one of County Cork’s best pub restaurants

Ballycotton is the kind of place that people like to call a hidden gem. But it’s hard to stay hidden when you’re a picture-perfect fishing village a short drive from the city of Cork, surrounded by sandy beaches and home to several fine pubs.

In the summer it’s popular with walkers, anglers and foodies, but on a windy winter’s day we find a parking spot right outside Cush, an old pub turned restaurant that is regularly listed among the best places to eat in Ireland. We have booked lunch here before our walk.

Decision by Civil Aviation Authority comes despite airport having argued for higher fees

Heathrow airport has been ordered to cut passenger charges by about 20% next year after airlines convinced the regulator to reassess its proposals, an outcome that could contribute to lower fares.

The decision by the UK regulator the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) was described as “making no sense” by Heathrow, which had sought to charge much higher fees to airlines to fund baggage handling, security and other costs.

Groups like this West Yorkshire LGBTQ+ rambling society are great for health – mental and physical – and provide a reassuring way to meet new people

It doesn’t take long to spot Queer Out Here, an LGBTQ+ walking group, as I stride up to Hebden Bridge station. There’s a Pride flag hung on a picnic bench, where a cluster of people have gathered. The location is appropriate: this West Yorkshire town is sometimes referred to as “the lesbian capital of the UK”. The 2021 census, meanwhile, cemented Hebden Bridge’s status as a rural hub for the LGBTQ+ community more generally: it revealed that 9% of its residents are lesbian, gay or bisexual – around three times the national average.

From the off, the atmosphere is friendly. I’m greeted by Ben Beckwith, who is leading today’s seven-and-a-half-mile route up Stoodley Pike, a 400-metre hill in the south Pennines. After introductions, we set off in overcast weather, with Beckwith setting a gentle pace along the canal path. There are almost 30 of us; some have come with friends while others are here to meet new people in the LGBTQ+ community.