Recipefiesta

Combine beautiful locations with musical creativity on these perfectly pitched learning breaks from Somerset to Marrakech

The Kora Workshop is a small UK company that makes beautiful, high quality koras (a type of West African harp) and teaches people how to play them. UK festivalgoers may have bumped into its staff at Womad or Tribal Earth, but it also offers week-long immersion workshops in the Aveyron in southern France. They include seven days of tuition (both individual and group sessions), as well as shared accommodation and the loan of a kora. The first week got booked up quickly, so move fast if you’re interested.
14-21 Sept, £510, thekoraworkshop.co.uk

Ireland’s west coast is home to a flourishing live music scene, with the pubs and music festivals attracting world-class players

A hilly lane curves round Bunratty Castle. Through an open window, I hear a harpist plucking notes at a banquet drifting as the sun sets low over the battlements. On the other side of the lane, smoke drifts from Durty Nelly’s pub, where a singer is halfway through The Parting Glass. A short walk away, the limestone facade of the Creamery hints at its past lives – as a stagecoach stop, a dairy, a roadside inn. Tonight, it’s a pub.

Inside, Bríd O’Gorman plays the fluttering melody of The Cliffs of Moher on her flute, accompanied by Michael Landers on guitar – a quiet moment before the small crowd erupt into applause as Cian Lally pulls our pints. Just 10 minutes from Shannon airport, Bunratty village sits in the south-eastern corner of Ireland’s most musical county. Along the bar, visitors from the US and France lean in, quietly captivated – likely having their first experience of an Irish music session.

With help from Gordon Dedman, a consultant on Alone Australia, Rafqa Touma learns how to survive in the wild

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On our very first night in the bush, Gordon Dedman issued a warning: “Fussy people die.”

Dedman, a man with an apt name for a military survival instructor, is all muscle and green khaki. Sat by the fire, he addresses his students.

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The opening of the V&A Storehouse and Sadler’s Wells East mark the transformation of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park into an exciting new creative hub for the capital

There’s a collective intake of breath as the curator slowly unzips the white garment bag to reveal the treasure within: a white military-style jacket embellished with gold buttons and epaulettes, worn by Elton John on his 1981 World tour. To my left, laid out on a table, are a gold Versace bag and a pair of daintily embroidered blue silk shoes dating from the 1720s. To my right, a Vivienne Westwood corset and a Balenciaga pink taffeta evening dress from the 1950s. It’s a fashion lover’s fever dream and it’s all here, at my fingertips.

I’m at the V&A Storehouse in east London, a radical new museum experience that allows anyone to order up any item from the V&A’s vast collection – for free – and to examine it at close quarters. Housed in the former Olympics Media Centre, on the edge of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, this lofty warehouse space gives unprecedented access to more than 250,000 objects, from an 11m wide stage cloth designed by Picasso to a cross-section of a maisonette from the Robin Hood Gardens council estate in Poplar. Gone are the glass cases, white walls and carefully curated exhibits of a traditional museum space. Instead, visitors are invited to look behind the scenes of a working museum, to wander among open shelves stacked high with deliriously eclectic objects and to peer into the workshops where conservators are at work. The effect is part Ikea store, part Victorian cabinet of curiosities. It’s bonkers, exhilarating and I love it.

The South West Coast Path and the Coleridge Way link National Trust bothies, pubs and sea cliffs on an exhilarating three-day walk

Where was Wilhelm of Prussia crowned German emperor? Which year did Ian Botham make his Test match debut? And how long can a sea anemone live? These were the big questions we considered, sitting outside Heddon Orchard Bothy, listening to the river gurgle through the steep valley (for answers, see * below). I had a fat Penguin book of trivia (1991 edition) balanced on my knees, gifted by a past guest who’d written on the yellowing flyleaf: “This is your only entertainment.”

In some ways they were right. The bothy – a 19th-century apple store turned bare-bones bolthole – has nothing. No electricity. No running water – just space for sleeping and access to a loo, 100 metres away. In other ways it has everything you really need.

The pavilion at Tarlair lido, on the coast outside Macduff, has reopened after a decade-long restoration campaign. Now swimmers await the whistle to hit the pools again

The vastness of Tarlair lido is hard to comprehend. Just a mile east of the town of Macduff, in Aberdeenshire, the lido’s three bodies of sea water are supplied by a tidal filling system and divided by a concrete wall, slippery with seaweed. The water’s reflection announces a striking mint-and-cream art deco pavilion, and a cinematic sea view. From the pavilion’s roof terrace, where dandelion-coloured tables and chairs are set out, it’s easy to lose a few minutes gazing beyond the salty outcrops to a northerly horizon.

Originally commissioned by Macduff town council in 1929, the pavilion and pools – a paddling pool, boating “lake” and swimming pool – were designed by architect John C Miller and opened two years later as one of only three art deco lidos of their kind in Scotland. The site reopened in late March after 30 years of closure and a decade of work costing approximately £2m. Momentum is building around the pavilion’s heavily anticipated summer comeback and it is hoped that the pools will eventually be able to welcome swimmers again, too.

You won’t see legions of tourists on this trail in Peneda-Gerês, first blazed by ancient imperial invaders – but it’s just possible you’ll see a lone wolf

‘Fabulous views in wonderful scenery,” say today’s walking notes. I don’t doubt it. But now, with the wind getting up and a mist creeping over the ridge, there’s little to see other than the ground at our feet. Which is why my attention is drawn to, shall we say, a canine deposit.

“But there are no dogs up here. It’s been two hours and just over four miles since that yappy little mongrel in the last village. And there are certainly no dog walkers; not one hint of another human in this wild terrain. No, the size, shape and furriness of this trailside offering reveal its author was the ancestor of all dogs: a wolf.

From a castle in Cumbria to a subtropical paradise in Cornwall, these are some of the top unsung gardens across the country

In the dash for Cumbria’s lakes and fells, the area’s other green attractions can get missed. On Knipe Scar, at the edge of the Lake District national park, Lowther’s acres sprawl around the shell of a ruined 19th-century castle. Wildflower meadows, bee-friendly tree hives and rambling woodland contrast with a parterre, sculptured hornbeams and a Sleeping Beauty-inspired rose garden designed by Dan Pearson. Bikes and ebikes can be rented for pootling around the estate’s trails or perhaps a five-mile cycle to Ullswater. There is a Lost Castle adventure playground and a cafe. Before leaving, visit the west terrace for views across the Lowther valley to distant fells. Open daily, adults £15, children £10, lowthercastle.org

With its vibrant festival scene, gorgeous swimming spots and rugged mountain biking trails, the Victorian town has a lot to offer, says local writer Doug Wallen

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Beechworth is on the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri, Wavereoo, Dhudhuroa, Min-jan-buttu and Ya-itma-thang people, who collectively make up the Pallanganmiddang nation. It’s about three hours from Melbourne. People used to visit en route to the Victorian alpine region ski fields but it’s become its own destination now, known for its well-preserved gold rush-era sandstone buildings.

Before they closed in 1995 and 2004, respectively, most residents worked at Beechworth Asylum (also known as Mayday Hills) and Beechworth Gaol. Later, Beechworth Bakery (which opened in 1984) got popular for its pies and cakes, more things opened and now tourism is the main industry.

Our tipsters discover rainforests, rare flowers blazing with colour and the finest tea and cake

Thornton Hall Gardens, near my home town of Darlington, are described by its owners as “a hobby that got out of hand”. With no previous gardening experience, the owner Sue Manners began to work on the garden alone after buying the old hall in 1989 with husband Mike. Nowadays, the gardens are among the finest in the country. As you wander, you’ll discover a rich variety of rare and unusual flowers mingling with striking trees and beautiful shrubs. Over 100 roses bloom alongside vibrant collections of delphiniums, peonies, and irises, all set within lush, flowing borders and thoughtfully arranged island beds. Because Thornton Hall is a working farm, the gardens are only open on nine days this summer (£10, 10am-4pm).
Mike Ladyman

I’m partially sighted so birding has always felt out of reach for me. But a stay at Slimbridge wetlands centre learning to identify bird song helped me connect with nature

Silhouettes dart across a lake and the pale morning sky. Avocets screech high-pitched cries, defending their eggs from a squawking crow that circles above, while a barnacle goose with a barking call flies overhead.

There are 12 of us watching and listening on a dawn chorus workshop at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) Slimbridge centre in Gloucestershire. Being partially sighted, birding has felt out of reach for me. But this morning is about identifying birdsong, and I’m curious as to whether this will help me feel a deeper connection with nature.

Rising from the Po valley to the green Apennines, this little-visited region has good living down to a tee, with its fine wines, great food and historic villages

‘Look at the colour,” says tasting expert Carlo Veronese, sitting at a restaurant table in the village of Bosmenso. “Check how flexible it is, then give it a sniff and think about what you smell.” Only after we have given proper attention to appearance, structure and aroma do we taste the speciality before us.

We are not trying fine wines, however, but what many say is the world’s best salami: salame di Varzi, made in 15 villages around the town of the same name in south-east Lombardy.

A boat trip to Denmark’s South Funen archipelago takes in the North Sea coast, the historic Kiel canal and the Baltic before delivering its crew to an idyllic island rich in maritime culture

A south-westerly wind blew us to Ærø. This little Baltic island (pronounced Air-rue) in Denmark’s South Funen archipelago is home to some 6,000 fortunate residents who enjoy free bus services, shallow swimming beaches and picture-perfect villages. The 54 sq mile island has a history of building sailing ships and there is an excellent maritime museum, so it seemed appropriate to arrive on a historic wooden sailing boat, Peggy, a Bristol pilot cutter built in 1903.

“We’re going to Ærø without a plane,” quipped one crew member as we set the sails on leaving the German Baltic port of Kiel. Our overland journey from the UK had started with a 12-hour train trip from London to Cuxhaven, a German port on the North Sea; a short taxi ride to Cuxhaven marina; an overnight stay on Peggy in the marina; and then a two-day transit of the Kiel canal, the busiest in the world by number of vessels, with some 35,000 ships transiting annually.

With a stunning coastline, brilliant surfing and a B&B in the forest, this quiet corner north of the Algarve makes for an idyllic break

‘I declare this the best beach in the world,” my youngest son shouts, leaping from a three-metre-high dune on to the soft, golden sand. We’ve come to Praia de Monte Clérigo to watch the sun sink into the sea, and stumble upon a bay ripe for play with a babbling brook, rock pools, gentle swell, towering cliffs and rolling dunes. As I gaze across to colourful fishers’ cottages circling a simple beach bar, I can’t help but agree; this could indeed be the world’s best beach.

“Why’s it so empty?” my son asks. It’s a good question, given the beauty of our surroundings, but we soon realise that having the place to ourselves is a common occurance on our slow adventure exploring Portugal’s least-populated coastline.

NSW national parks want to institute flat rates for low and high seasons. But many campers are troubled by the proposed pricing structure change

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After he’s got the fire at his campsite roaring, Andre Laudams likes to sit down and look up.

“Getting to see the stars at night is one of the best things about camping,” the Sydneysider says. In the city, he is used to them being hidden behind a veil of light pollution.

It took a few adjustments on both sides – she wasn’t keen on snails or Rembrandt – but after seeing Paris, Berlin and Venice, she wants to go again next year

A year ago, I discovered a bit of a travel hack – that if accompanied by an adult (obviously) children under the age of 12 can explore Europe by train for absolutely zilch. Profoundly susceptible to any sort of bargain, even those that promise a net deficit in the long run, I determined to take advantage of Interrail’s generous offer, despite lacking dependents of the specified vintage.

Sourcing someone under 12 was far easier than I’d imagined. When I lodged an enquiry about my 10-year-old niece, asking if Annabelle might be available for an Interrailing stint at Easter, my brother couldn’t sign her up fast enough. (Though he did insist on some caveats: in bed by 10pm, out of bed by 9am, and no watching sweary Gordon Ramsay shows).

These ancient rocks have inspired myth and mysticism for millennia, and a new book and festival celebrate their enduring power

The first bluebells are out along the Dart gorge, creating a faint purple haze under the twisted oak trees. I’m on my way to Luckey Tor, one of Dartmoor’s most hidden rock stacks, which sits by the river, shrouded in vegetation like Sleeping Beauty’s castle. It’s not the easiest of walks. The path peters out as I get deeper into the gorge, and the final approach to the tor involves clambering and hopping over large mossy boulders and navigating huge shelves of rock that border the river.

The first sight of it is unforgettable. A small stream, the Row Brook, runs in front of it, like a moat. The tor looms up squarely from the valley floor, dwarfing everything around, framed in a grassy clearing that is a popular place to bivouac. Its position is unusual. Most tors are at the summit of a hill, dominating the views for miles around, standing grandly in the landscape, devoid of trees. Luckey Tor is sequestered in the folds of the Dart valley, and in the summer is mostly obscured by foliage; when you find it, you feel as though you’ve entered a secret kingdom.

Five hours by ferry from Split – and a world away from the clubs of Hvar – the islands’ wooded hills, pine-shaded beaches and transparent waters are buzzing with nature

The sound of a baby crying echoes eerily in the night sky, seemingly coming from the uninhabited Zaklopatica islet that faces the terrace of our holiday rental in Lastovo. “Do you think that’s a bird?” I ask my husband. “At this time of night? Doubt it,” he says.

Fast forward a couple of days and we’re in a park ranger’s motorboat bumping around the far-flung Lastovo archipelago in the Adriatic. All its 46 islands (including the main Lastovo island), islets and reefs were declared a nature park in 2006. By luck, I’m with the ornithologist whose discovery of the nesting sites of some of the Mediterranean’s most endangered birds – yelkouan and Scopoli’s shearwaters – was instrumental in Lastovo getting the official protection it deserves.

The authors of a new marine guide share their favourite spots to catch a glimpse of submerged species – plus tips on how to snorkel safely

The British coastline is a thriving marine habitat, with a biodiversity that’s driven by high tidal range and strong nutrient-rich currents. When conditions are right, snorkelling in British waters brings a connection with a variety of species and stunning terrain: sea lochs, sheltered bays, shipwrecks, tidal pools, kelp forests, sandy seabeds and rocky reefs. You might see sharks, seals, scorpionfish, octopus and cuttlefish. These are our 10 favourite spots.

Even in high summer, Europe has plenty of unspoilt bays and hidden coves where you can escape the crowds

Surrounded by the unspoilt Sudoeste Alentejano and Costa Vicentina nature park, Odeceixe rolls out from the mouth of the River Seixe. It’s a world away from the crowded Algarve beaches further south, and offers excellent surfing and bodyboarding, with the river shallows ideal for small children. Blue-flagged, with lifeguards in summer, the beach is overlooked by a village made up of little more than a handful of apartments around a tangle of streets. Settle in beneath the vivid parasols at Bar da Praia for platters of black pork chorizo, Portuguese clams or fresh oysters, and book a simple apartment at Casa Dorita (doubles from £69 B&B on booking.com), most with fantastic sea views.

A new Which? Travel report on overtourism also cites Mallorca and Paris as destinations suffering from an influx of visitors, but some argue that bad behaviour is as much of a problem as numbers

In Great Yarmouth there are some signs of regeneration: the vast glass palace of the Winter Gardens is being refurbished and the ornate Cafe 1903 next to the historic Hippodrome is busy. But the bustling tourist industry of the Edwardian era is long gone. “When Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show came in 1903, the tent held 5,000,” says local historian Roger Silver. “A couple of years earlier the Bass Brewery brought 10,000 workers on a day trip from Burton upon Trent. It took 16 trains.”

Coincidentally, that is the same number of visitors who poured into the Italian mountain village of Roccaraso (population 1,500) in January, drawn by the presence of Tik Tok influencer Rita de Crescenzo. But the similarities end there. The Yarmouth invasion received no complaints, while the residents of Roccaraso reacted with horror. The mayor, Francesco Di Donato, threatened to call in the army.

Our tipsters bask in the sunshine at town beaches and ‘secret’ bays from Sweden to the Greek islands
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While staying on the northern Pelion peninsula in Greece we made our way by foot along the coast path to Paralia Fakistra beach, which is only accessible via a walk in from local villages along the coast. The white pebble beach is backed by a freezing cold waterfall, which cools you down after the dusty, challenging coast path route. The crystal-blue water is home to lots of sea life and snorkelling was joyous. One of the attractions that keeps visitor numbers down is that there are no cafes or bars or even shade, so I recommend taking a light parasol and some cool drinks, but keep your load light as the walk can get hot, especially along the coast path from nearby Damouchari, another great beach spot on the Pelion.
Layla Astley

This week, the Channel Islands celebrate 80 years since liberation from Nazi occupation, but the fascinating bunkers, tunnels and towers that remain have found a new lease of life

I’m woken by a tractor uprooting jersey royals in the potato field next door. In my simple hexagonal room, dawn illuminates five high slit windows marked with military coordinates and a compass etched into the ceiling. But heading downstairs, I timeslip into a 19th-century lounge where gothic-style windows frame sea views in three directions.

During the second world war, Jersey’s occupying forces requisitioned Nicolle Tower, a whimsical two-storey folly, and added an extra level. In what is now the bedroom, German soldiers kept lookout for an allied invasion that never came.

With free public transport for all – including tourists - exploring the vineyards, mysterious canyons and lush forests of the Grand Duchy couldn’t be easier

I am not sure what surprises me most when I get off the train at Luxembourg’s main station – the sheer friendliness of locals who seem to greet everyone as they pass by with a cheery Moien (hello), or the fact that from this point I will not be paying a penny to travel the length and breadth of the Grand Duchy.

Five years ago, Luxembourg became the first country in the world to actively tackle its carbon footprint by making all public transport free for everyone, including tourists. So I have come to see how it works in practice, aiming to travel to the country’s little known vineyards hugging the slopes along the Moselle River and then trek through the mysterious canyons and forests of the Mullerthal region.

Saved from tourist development by a ‘favourite daughter of Andalucía’, Cabo de Gata is a spectacular national park perfect for an adventure on foot

If you study a map of Spain, in the south-east corner you’ll see a strip of empty space along the edge of the Mediterranean. It contains no major towns and barely any roads. Its coastline is equally barren – no ports or resorts; just a few tiny villages tucked away in intriguingly named coves – “raven”, “coal”, “bitter water”. This patch of emptiness is the Cabo de Gata-Níjar national park, a protected haven of desert wilderness on the edge of Europe.

Having been forced to cancel an expedition to the Algerian Sahara earlier in the year, this park appears to be the answer to my yearning for the arid warmth and stark beauty of desert travel. Zooming in on the satellite view, a network of paths appears, suggesting a walking route of around 40 miles (64km) – from the Cabo itself, up the coast, along the cliffs, to the beach town of Agua Amarga. My husband, a keen Iberophile and relentless explorer of España vacia (literally, empty Spain) is always up for a wilderness adventure, so we get in the van and head south.

Ten years ago, the late land artist Charles Jencks created Crawick Multiverse out of an ugly open-cast mine in southern Scotland. Today, it is an inspiring exploration of the universe

The sun warms my face as I pause between the Andromeda and Milky Way galaxies to gaze at the rolling hills of Dumfries and Galloway beyond. I am not, surprisingly enough, in outer space. I’m at the Crawick Multiverse, a cosmos-themed land art installation in the south of Scotland that was built on the site of an old open-cast coal mine and is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year.

The galaxies here are huge, spiralling mounds of earth, their perimeters reaching out towards one another but never quite touching.

A challenging solo hike through stunning Provençal scenery is eased by lovely inns, dining by the seaside and leaving the planning to the experts

Behind Cassis beach, the castle-topped cliffs glint red-gold in the late afternoon sun. Couples stroll on the sand, kids play on the carousel, pastel-coloured buildings reflect in the still waters of the old harbour. In the main square, lined by plane trees, a group of elderly men concentrate on a game of petanque. It’s a charming slice of Provençal life, a world away from the Cote D’Azur’s more glitzy hotspots. In summer, tourists flock to the narrow streets and pretty coast, but off season the buzz is gentler, with weekenders feasting on bouillabaisse along the water’s edge.

I grab a seat at a bar overlooking the Med and check out my walking route for the next day. Cassis is in the heart of the Calanques national park – an extraordinary place of steep fjord-like limestone inlets, deep green pines and turquoise sea – perfect for exploring on foot. It’s a fitting finale to a solo self-guided hiking trip with Macs Adventure, which has taken me from the Sainte-Baume mountains down to the Riviera over six days. While my hiking legs have been put to the test with up to six hours of walking each day, I’ve not had to worry about logistics. The routes are plotted on the app and my luggage is transferred ahead, leaving me to simply enjoy the scenery.

France does many foods exceptionally well, but certain areas offer unique and exceptional culinary experiences. We select 10 delicacies and the best regions in which to try them

Of course you can enjoy exquisitely crafted patisseries all over France, but Paris is home to many of the country’s best pâtissiers, and many of the individual gateaux have a connection to the city. As you delve into the layers of almond sponge, ganache and buttercream that form the opera cake, you may see how it was inspired by the ornate balconies of the Palais Garnier opera house; while the Paris-Brest, a wheel-shaped choux, was first made in 1910 to commemorate the famously brutal cycle race. Seek out a rum baba – a brioche-like treat soaked in rum‑infused syrup – and you might be told the story of how it was created by Nicolas Stohrer, the chef of the exiled Polish king Stanislas. The patisserie that bears his name has been at 51 rue Montorgueil since 1730 and is officially classed as a historic monument.