Recipefiesta

While other parts of Spain struggle with the pressures of over-tourism, these wild, expansive and almost tourist-free mountains are a lungful of fresh air

As with paint colours or lipstick shades, naming a mountain range requires serious consideration. It should suggest character, create intrigue, and kindle desire. Who doesn’t want to explore the Crazy Mountains of Montana, or make a fiery pact with California’s Diablo Range? While studying a map of Spain, my interest was piqued by a patch of grey and green emptiness bearing the enticing words: Sierra de la Demanda.

I’ve travelled all over Spain for work and play in the last two decades, but somehow these “demanding” mountains had eluded me. Located in the remote northern interior, halfway between Madrid and Santander, their isolation (and a dearth of English-language Google results) only added to the mystique. The Sierra de la Demanda covers a vast area across Spain’s least populated regions of Burgos, Soria and La Rioja. An investigation of more detailed maps revealed an almost roadless expanse of limestone peaks, valleys, ravines, rivers, gorges and glacial lakes, with the highest peak, San Lorenzo, towering at 2,271 metres (7,451ft). The calling was real.

With many tourists boycotting the US, we’ve come up with European destinations that give you the same bang for your buck – from the Italian Everglades to Montenegro’s Grand Canyon

Sprawled on a towel, observing silhouetted surfers chasing the ocean-plunging carmine sun, I don’t need to squint to imagine I’m in the Golden State. But my sandy toes and salty hair are products of the Atlantic, not the Pacific. And this Santa Cruz belongs to Portugal’s Costa de Prata, not California.

Readers revel in extraordinary landscapes from black sand deserts in Iceland to haunting forests in Poland, spotting wolves, bears and honey buzzards along the way
• Tell us about a trip to Turkey – the best tip wins a £200 holiday voucher

The Julian Alps are mostly in Slovenia, but I have gone on many trips to the little known Italian portion of this mountain range to visit old friends in the ski town Sella Nevea. The scenery is awesome: pointed white, limestone peaks above deep and mysterious pine-forested valleys. The books of mountaineer Julius Kugy romantically describe this large wilderness, the obscurity of which amazes me. Nature is abundant with various large mammals, bird life and flora. If you love alpine adventure but don’t like tourists then seek it out, there’s nobody there!
Paul

A couple have combined their passion for sustainability with chic hospitality set a stone’s throw from West Cork’s art scene

The drive south through County Cork grew prettier with every turn. From Gougane Barra, where a tiny chapel sits at the lake’s edge, the road winds through old rebel country, into deep forests where foxgloves bloom along the mountainside. Bantry House – a magnificent estate overlooking a lovely bay – marked our path toward Ballydehob, West Cork’s boho village just north of the Mizen Head peninsula.

It’s a suitably impressive setting for Native, a new off-grid eco-guesthouse just a stone’s throw from the village. The brainchild of Didi Ronan (who previously worked in public policy and the music industry) and husband Simon (who runs the sustainable landscape architect studio SRLA), the aim was to create somewhere that has a positive impact on both the environment and local community.

Ths resort was ahead of its time – built to handle industrial numbers of tourists while not displacing residents. And beyond the full English breakfasts and pub crawls, there’s an authentic Spanish side to it

Last year, Benidorm welcomed close to 3 million visitors. Despite its reputation as a British holiday mecca – nearly 900,000 UK travellers visited the city in 2024 – it was actually Spanish nationals who made up the largest share, with more than one million domestic visitors flocking to the Costa Blanca resort, according to Benidorm city council. I have a feeling that these visitors did not come for the stereotype of full English breakfasts and pub crawls, but for something often overlooked by international tourists: the authentic, everyday rhythm of Spanish coastal life.

In a country where tourism makes up about 15% of GDP but has also spurred a housing shortage and countermovements, Benidorm offers a contrast to cities like Barcelona and Madrid, where tourism pressures are acute. The city’s mid-20th-century reinvention as a purpose-built resort might once have been controversial, but today it looks surprisingly sustainable in the context of a national housing emergency.

Finding a holiday to suit a teenage boy and his mum is tricky – but getting crafty and learning new skills provide the perfect solution

How best to bond with a teenage boy? When my son, Hugo, finished his A-levels, I knew I wanted to “take a journey” with him, to have some sort of final trip before he left home. Ideally a journey that would leave both of us with a few happy memories.

Easier said than done: a midlife woman and a teenage boy are completely different beasts. I wanted to walk. He wanted to be driven. I wanted to get up early. He wanted to sleep in. I wanted unusual food. He wanted pub grub. I wanted to be safely active. He wanted to lie on a sofa or scramble along a vertiginous precipice. I wanted conversation. He didn’t (at least not with me, hour after hour). The problem of where to go seemed insurmountable.

The children’s book author spent the precious long Nordic days in simple, off-grid cabins on small dreamy islands – a tradition many Finns still follow

It’s after 10pm and the sky has only just lost the high blue of the day. Sitting by the Baltic Sea, toes in the water, I gaze at distant, tree-covered islands as gentle waves lap over the long, flat rocks. I follow a rough, winding path back to my cabin, through woods so quiet you can hear the pine needles fall.

I’m in Santalahti woods, near Kotka on the south-east coast of Finland, on the trail of Finnish author, novelist, painter and illustrator Tove Jansson (1914-2001). Best known as creator of the Moomins, and for her love of island living, Jansson also wrote for adults. Last year, her first novel, The Summer Book, was made into a film starring Glenn Close and directed by Charlie McDowell. One film critic has described it as “an ode to Finnish archipelago nature”.

With outdoor concerts, alfresco dining, rooftop bars and plenty of parks and places to swim outdoors, these cities make for a great summer getaway

Quite why the Latvian capital remains so under the radar is a mystery; the cobbled streets of the Vecrīga (old town) and the elegant art nouveau architecture make it one of the most beautiful cities in eastern Europe. Long summer evenings, with temperatures rarely topping 30C, form the backdrop for rooftop bars thrumming with live DJs, as well as alfresco concerts in leafy parks, while the beautiful sandy beaches of seaside Jūrmala are just a half-hour bus ride away.

In the Baltic nations, midsummer celebrations are rooted in pagan traditions around fire and fertility. They are also a good excuse to meet up with family and friends for a party in the forest

Towards dusk a bonfire was lit and, one after another, the friends we were eating and drinking with hurdled the leaping flames, a pagan ritual thought to provide benefits including improved physical and mental strength, prosperity and fertility.

Further heat came from a sauna we made using five sacks of logs – too many, we agreed afterwards. When it got too hot, we escaped into the cool shallows of the pond just a few metres away, repeating this cycle several times.

Incredible views and secluded swimming holes are just the beginning, says local artist Nastia Gladushchenko. The world heritage-listed area has award-winning beer, steamy bathhouses and a thriving arts community too

• Read more local’s guides to Australia

My partner and I are both creatives. Six years ago we were living in a tiny apartment in Sydney’s inner west, and I was paying extra for a studio. It wasn’t sustainable so we decided to move to Katoomba, on the traditional lands of the Dharug and Gundungurra people.

I read an article recently saying something like “skip it, it’s not at its best” but Katoomba has a beautiful authenticity, even if it’s not quite polished.

From traditional festivities in the Arctic Circle to blaring techno on the banks of the Seine, our tipsters celebrate midsummer across Europe

• Tell us about your favourite UK coastline – the best tip wins a £200 holiday voucher

I enjoyed midsummer at a rented beachside cottage in the Skåne village of Bjärred, north of Malmö,with Swedish friends. We ventured to the local church to enjoy the dancing round a midsummer pole decorated with vibrant blue and red flowers, with many local residents adorned in intricately decorated flower crowns. After taking a dip in the Öresund strait along the long jetty with its bathhouse, we towelled off to indulge in deliciously sweet strawberries and sip Briska ciders into the late hours of daylight.
Caitlin

Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on the island of Flores, east of Bali, erupted on Tuesday afternoon, leading to several airlines cancelling flights

A volcano in eastern Indonesia has spewed a colossal ash tower into the sky, forcing the cancellation of some flights to and from Bali.

Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, a 1,584m twin-peaked volcano on the tourist island of Flores, east of Bali, erupted at 5.35pm local time on Tuesday, the volcanology agency said in a statement.

A new trail follows the 26-mile route of the world’s first passenger train journey on the Stockton and Darlington Railway

It was as strange a sight as you could stumble upon in the English countryside. As a muggy summer’s day began outside Shildon, Durham – rain threatening, bees drowsy in the hedgerows – I found myself standing on an embankment, surveying two rows of colossal stone teeth jutting through the earth. It looked as if someone had buried a sleeping giant.

“You wouldn’t believe it by looking at it, but this is one of railway history’s most amazing feats,” my companion, rail expert Richie Starrs, said as we gazed down at the molars beneath our feet. A closer look revealed they were abandoned rail sleepers, laid out between the hawthorns and along which coal wagons were once pulled uphill by steam traction locomotives. “This is the Brusselton Incline, a section of the original Stockton and Darlington Railway. Nationally, it’s a story that’s not well known, but it’s one we’re rightly proud of.”

Breckland is a little-known part of England that sings with peace and rare wildlife. It would undoubtedly be a national park if so much of it hadn’t been commandeered by the military. But there is a place to stay on its borders

The small white signs with red lettering are dotted through the landscape: “Military training area – keep out”. It adds to the eerie feel of unusually quiet roads and twisted Scots pines, which gather the long summer dusk around them.

But when we arrive at our accommodation on an old farm bordering a forbidden area where the British army conduct secretive manoeuvres, the whole place sings with peace. A red kite cavorts in the breeze over handsome parkland, a cuckoo calls and, down by the Wissey, a gin-clear chalk stream, reed warblers chunter from deep within the rushes.

With cooler air, fewer crowds and lower prices, the mountains make a great alternative to the coast

All Italians race to la spiaggia in summer, leaving the hinterland marvellously empty. Tuscany gets a lot of love, but travel one region over to Umbria and Monti Sibillini national park bewitches with views of the Apennines and eyrie-like, honey-coloured hill towns such as Castelluccio, soaring above a plateau of brightly coloured poppies, cornflowers and daisies. It’s a gorgeous spot for hiking, biking and tracking down a trattoria to dig into specialities such as wild boar with locally grown lentils. You’ll find some of Italy’s finest salami in butcher shops in Norcia, as well as black truffles on the menus of restaurants such as the Michelin-starred Vespasia, which is in a 16th-century palazzo. Alternatively, you could join a tartufaio and their dog to head into the woods on a truffle-hunting tour.
How to do it Organic farm Agriturismo Casale nel Parco dei Monti Sibillini (doubles from £84 B&B) has truffles and wild herbs in its grounds, and a terrific restaurant serving up local and homegrown produce.

Our writer recalls his favourite mountain experiences, from hard-won views to splendid isolation and the comforts of simple refuges

After a tough scramble to the summit of Rhinog Fach, we look down into the deep valley holding the chilly waters of Llyn Hywel, then west across several miles of heather, bilberry and bare rock to the Welsh coast. Turning my gaze north, there is the entire Llyn peninsula leading east to the peak of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), no doubt weighed down by thousands of visitors. Up here there are just two of us in an utterly peaceful landscape. No clouds on the horizon. No surprises.

I lie down for a few minutes and feel myself drift off. There are no human voices to be heard, only birds. Summer has come early to these mountains and I wouldn’t be anywhere else, drinking in that particular kind of tranquillity to be found on a peak under a blue sky.

From the Alpujarras to the Dolomites, our tipsters hike, camp and devour hearty mountain food in some of Europe’s most spectacular scenery
• Send us a tip on European wilderness – the best wins a £200 holiday voucher

After a gruelling journey from the UK, arriving at Alpe di Siusi during golden hour felt like stepping into a dream. Farmers turned hay in some of Europe’s highest alpine meadows, framed by jagged Dolomite peaks glowing in soft evening light. We can recommend staying at the Hotel Schmung, a family-run gem with delicious northern Italian food and direct access to scenic hikes. Rifugios provide great lunch stops along the trails. The peaceful setting, breathtaking views and freedom to explore on foot without needing a car make this a perfect base for the Dolomites.
Louise

A decades-long crackdown on organised crime is opening up Catania, with previous no-go areas now welcoming tourists and new businesses. Discover its restaurants and bars before the prices catch up

In 1787, Goethe wrote: “To have seen Italy without having seen Sicily is not to have seen Italy at all, for Sicily is the clue to everything.” I’d go one step further and claim it’s impossible to really understand what makes the island tick without visiting Catania.

Located on the east coast of the island, Catania is Sicily’s second-largest city and has been dubbed the Black City because of how prominently basalt features in its baroque architecture. Until recently this Unesco world heritage city, whose beauty can more than compete with its flashier neighbours, Palermo and Taormina, was blighted by organised crime and bad governance. But this is now changing, and fast. A decades-long crackdown on the Cosa Nostra has borne fruit, and previously no-go areas are now welcoming tourists and new businesses. My father’s family hails from San Cristoforo, the city’s poorest neighbourhood, and our conversations often centre on how the good times are finally arriving in Catania. But price points haven’t yet caught up with the city’s new-found buzz, especially in its many restaurants.

How an enterprising couple have transformed their farm into a bucolic base amid cider orchards and vines – perfect for exploring an ancient landscape and flourishing arts scene

In Old English its name meant “the land of the summer people”, after the local practice of coming down to the Somerset Levels after the winter flooding receded. Today, Somerset is still somewhere where seasons are felt vividly, as Sophie Brendal and Panu Long discovered when they and their two children moved to Thornfalcon, their farmstead in a village of the same name, 15 minutes’ drive from Taunton, at the end of 2022. Here, they are on constant weather watch, tending their young vines (Panu, now a winemaker, has a background in the drinks industry) and harvesting daily from the kitchen garden. They are also busy making plans for the apple harvest, which will go into the 150-year-old cider press.

In addition, they have created a handful of places to stay on their 16-hectare (40-acre) site, which sprawls through woods, orchards and vines to a reed-fringed lake. Walking around it at the end of May, you feel the cusp of summer, from the water lilies coming into bloom and the nesting swan, guarded by her mate. “Soon the eggs will hatch, and later she’ll teach the cygnets to fly, before taking them down to the Somerset Levels,” says Sophie.

A six-day hike on Arran – a new Unesco Geopark – reveals tales of dinosaurs, tectonic plate collisions and lightning strikes from millions of years ago

Around 240m years ago, a 12-foot-long reptile called a chirotherium walked along a beach in what was then part of the supercontinent of Pangaea, and what is now the shoreline of Kildonan village, on the rugged, southern coast of the Isle of Arran. Natural dykes of black igneous rock – cooled magma – jut out into the ocean here. The houses on shore are backdropped by grassy cliffs.

We know that this giant proto-crocodile once roamed here because it left behind footprints – which can still be seen today. “This is older than the dinosaurs,” says Malcolm Wilkinson of Arran Geopark, as we crouch down next to the trace fossil. I place my hand in the massive print and attempt to imagine the world millions of years ago, when Scotland sat just north of the equator and the climate was tropical.

Still gliding above the town of Wuppertal on an overhead track 125 years after it was built, the charming Schwebebahn has lost none of its magic

It’s easy to be seduced by the romance of train travel. Think of sleeper trains, boat trains, vintage steam railways, elegant dining cars. But it’s rare that an urban transport system can capture the imagination quite as much as the Wuppertal Schwebebahn in Germany caught mine, and that of anyone else who’s clapped eyes on the world’s oldest suspended railway.

In October it will be 125 years since Kaiser Wilhelm II took a test ride in the Schwebebahn, just a few months before the hanging railway officially opened for business in March 1901. It was an incredible feat of engineering then, and remains so today. Even with sleek modern carriages having long replaced the original ones, it looks like something imagined by Jules Verne, with carriages smoothly gliding under the overhead track. They have even preserved the first 1901 carriage, nicknamed Kaiserwagen, which can be hired for private occasions.

From Baltic beach holidays to Spanish city breaks and cruising on French canals, here’s our pick of the best getaways for dogs – and their owners

Dogs have a sense of adventure, don’t they? We thought Missy would enjoy exploring France and Spain. She had other ideas
Plus tips on travelling with dogs

When, two years ago now, our dog sitters cancelled on us just 24 hours before we were due to go on our summer holiday, we felt more than a little put out. Aware that we couldn’t leave Missy, our border terrier, home alone with a tin opener, we sent out frantic texts and made urgent phone calls before at last finding someone, a friend of a friend of, I think, another friend, and simply hoped for the best. What else were we to do? The flights were non-refundable.

It all turned out fine, but it was not an experience we were keen to repeat. And so, the following year, we took Missy with us. Dogs are portable, after all, and have a nose for adventure. Also, this was to be an extended holiday, away for a full month – working part time in order to fund it – and we couldn’t be apart from her for that long.

The city once neglected its most famous son. But this summer visitors can immerse themselves in a major new exhibition and see the artist’s restored studio, home and the landscapes that inspired him

Paul Cezanne is everywhere in Aix-en-Provence: there are streets named after him as well as a school, a cinema and even a sandwich (a version of traditional pan bagnat but with goat’s cheese instead of tuna). And from late June, the whole city will go Cezanne mad, as the painter’s atelier, north of the centre, and the family home to the west reopen after an eight-year restoration.

But during Cezanne’s lifetime, and for years after his death in 1906, Aix seemed at pains to ignore the artist later called the “father of modern art”. When his widow, Hortense, offered several paintings to the city’s main Musée Granet, director Henri Pontier declared that Cezanne paintings would enter the gallery only over his dead body.

The broadcaster and author can’t get enough of this stretch of England’s south coast, and has even set his first murder mystery there

My earliest memory of Devon is being lost, and my mum crying. I was at junior school. I had a friend whose mother was described as “vague” – this was the 1970s, so that could have been code for almost anything. The vague mother had given my normally quite organised mother directions to a remote house where my schoolfriend spent his summers. We were “popping in” (70s code: spending the day there). The instructions to find the place were something like, “Turn left after South Zeal, pass the dirt track and follow the direction the sheep are facing.”

After an hour of pretending we were still on the right route, my mum suddenly burst into tears and uttered a rare denunciation of a fellow human being. “That SILLY woman!” she shouted. “We don’t know where we are. Nobody does.”

The hike offers dramatic views of the Swiss Alps’ ‘murder wall’ – and poignant insights into the climbers who first braved it. For the son of one of those pioneers, it had a special resonance

A few years ago, my dad told me of a mountain where I could easily sense another world. “There is a special air and light,” he had said, vaguely. “You just have to walk close to it to feel and see it. Stand in one place and just look up.”

The mountain on my dad’s mind that day was the Eiger, Switzerland’s 3,970-metre ogre of limestone and ice. Like few others, the peak exerts a gravitational pull on climbers and it remains the chief symbol of the Bernese Oberland; its most notable feature, the 1,800-metre north face, is the largest in the Alps. This gigantic slab looms over the village of Grindelwald, to the south-east of the town of Interlaken, appearing at sunrise as an immense black spectre in a valley of green.

With tuition from West End pros, this week-long singing break in southern Spain hits all the right notes

‘Do you prefer alto or soprano?” asks Steve Moss, poised at his electric piano. My mind goes blank. I’m usually more of a pinot grigio girl, but that’s not the answer the former musical director of Les Misérables is looking for. Although I struggle to carry a tune in a bucket, I’m an enthusiastic karaoke singer, a big musical theatre fan and a shameless show-off, so Sing the Greatest Showman, a residential singing retreat in Spain, is right up my street.

Founded by Zane Rambaran, a veteran concert promoter with his roots in musical theatre, Sing Eat Retreat offers a choice of breaks here throughout the year (from Sing Les Mis to Sing Mamma Mia), with 30  hours of tuition by West End professionals. (In October, Sing The Sound of Music will be held in Salzburg too, with guests recording tracks in a studio and performing in the actual movie locations. I’ve already packed my dirndl.)