Recipefiesta

A clifftop bunkhouse built for the RAF during the second world war is perfect for a kid-friendly escape – with great views, sea swims, hiking and otter spotting

It’s not always possible to take a holiday, but sometimes the yearning to be somewhere else, to leave the pressures of daily life behind, is too hard to ignore. Last bank holiday weekend, with a 13th birthday to celebrate and a row of suns on the weather app, we found a solution. Our family of four, plus two of my sons’ friends, would drive two hours west, to Devon. We’d stay by the sea, go cycling and swimming, play Perudo and sit around a campfire, eating birthday cake. And be home the next day. We’d be 24-hour party people. Only less rock’n’roll, more rock pools and bacon rolls.

The catalyst was discovering Brandy Head on a Google Maps scroll. Like a mini youth hostel, sleeping six, with one double bed, two twin bunks, a shower room and an open-plan living, dining and kitchen area, this boxy little building sits on the clifftops between Sidmouth and Budleigh Salterton, accessible only on foot. Perched nearly 60m above sea level, its terrace is the big selling point, enjoying such gull’s-eye views of the sea that it feels like surfing a very tall wave every time you step on to it.

Austria’s upgraded sleeper proves an exciting way to travel between two absorbing, family-friendly cities for our writer and her young daughters

Toasted ham baguettes in hand, we cheered as the new-generation Nightjet drew into Vienna Hauptbahnhof. It was a little before 7pm, and as the carriages hummed past I felt a rush of joy, like celebrity trainspotter Francis Bourgeois, but without the GoPro on my forehead. For more than three years I’ve been documenting the renaissance of sleeper trains, and I’d wondered if I might one day tire of them. But the thrill seems only to intensify each time I embark on another nocturnal adventure, this time with my two daughters – aged eight and five – who were already arguing over the top berth. The first four carriages were designated for travellers to the Italian port city of La Spezia, the other seven carrying on to Roma Tiburtina, where we would alight at 10am. Once in Rome we had 24 hours to eat classic carbonara, dark chocolate gelato, and bike around the Villa Borghese before taking a train to Florence.

Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) has played the lead role in resuscitating Europe’s night trains. Towards the end of 2016, ÖBB launched its Nightjet network on 14 routes, using old rolling stock it bought from Deutsche Bahn. Then, to the delight of train nerds like me, it launched a brand-new fleet at the end of 2023, and now operates 20 routes across Europe. We were now on board this high-spec service, which smelled of freshly unpacked furniture, the carpets soft underfoot, the lighting adjustable to disco hues of neon blue and punk pink.

Fun and educational outdoor activities in the wild that will coax kids off their screens this summer

There’s no escaping sea and sky on Tiree, as the Inner Hebridean island is only 12 miles long and 3 miles wide. Shallow seas provide rich feeding grounds for marine life, and it is one of the UK’s best spots for whale watching. Tiree Sea Tours – a member of the WiSe national training scheme for minimising disturbance to marine wildlife – offers half-day and full-day sea-faris (from £75). Visitors can also try to spot basking sharks circling the island in the plankton-rich waters at viewing spots in Hynish Bay or Caoles, or from the deck of the CalMac ferry over to nearby Coll. Sunset Pods’ two cabins (from £700 a week, one week minimum stay in July-August) sleep four and offer views over Balevullin beach, a Dark Sky discovery site and home to Blackhouse Watersports.

Some of the most priceless holiday memories cost next to nothing – as my four-year-old son and I have found on our forays into nature around the UK

‘Aliens!” The call came loud and shrill from the trees as I scanned the foliage for the unmistakable shape of my four-year-old son. For a moment, nothing stirred. The beams of light from the sun spotlit a nearby clump of bracken so intensely it reminded me of the torches Mulder and Scully used in The X Files.

Then, a rustle came from up ahead. “Quick! I found them,” he yelled before disappearing into a clearing between the pines. I walked on, to find, in front of us, the curved edges and spherical lines of a UFO, coloured so dark it nearly blended into the shadows. It was, of course, a metal sculpture representing the alien vessel said to have landed here over 40 years ago. On top of it stood my son.

From trekking, camping and rock pooling in the UK to swimming in Austria’s lake district and hiking through forests to Dracula’s castle
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For 28 years we have been going to West Hook Farm in Marloes, Pembrokeshire, to camp. The farm has some lovely showers and toilets, and nothing else apart from beautiful fields full of meadow grass. The swifts and swallows dart along the top of the grass to eat bugs at dawn and dusk. All day long you can hear beautiful birdsong from birds such as skylarks. The fields run alongside the beautiful coastal path, which has a hedgerow full of wildflowers and birds. This is the most beautiful place on Earth (when it isn’t raining). The numerous beaches are full of soft white sands. Our children have grown up playing free in the fields on their yearly holiday – no computers, just outdoor fun.
Em

The Maasroute is the ideal entry-level, multiday bike trip for young children – flat with plenty of riverside cafes, family-friendly campsites and ice-cream stops en route

As early as I can remember, I’ve always got a thrill out of poring over a map, tracing wavy river lines with my fingers, roads that connect and borders that divide – all the routes I could take. The freedom of heading out on my bike and not knowing where I’m going to pitch my tent that night. Now that my children are aged seven and nine, I wanted to introduce them to the liberation of this kind of adventure. They adore a day out on their bikes, but this was to be our first multiday bike trip as a family of four, so it was crucial to find a route easy and fun enough to captivate them.

The Maasroute follows the course of the Maas River as it meanders for 300 miles (484km) through the Netherlands, from the inland city of Maastricht to the Hook of Holland, then loops back to Rotterdam. It forms part of the much longer Meuse cycle route (EuroVelo 19) that stretches from the source of the Maas (or Meuse as it’s known in France) on the Langres plateau, travelling through the French and Belgian Ardennes before crossing into the Netherlands.

Finns’ deep affinity with nature is blossoming in its restaurants, where a new generation of chefs are fusing local wild produce with more exotic flavours – all at reasonable prices

Unexpectedly, porridge is a Finnish obsession, available in petrol stations, schools and on national airline flights. But Helsinki’s gastronomic offerings are a lot wilder, featuring reindeer, moose, pike perch, salmon soup, herring, seaweed – and even bear meat. And from summer into autumn, Finns’ deep affinity with nature blossoms, fusing local organic produce with foraged berries and mushrooms. This inspires menus to feature whimsical fusions of textures and flavours, all straight from the land.

Garlanded with superlatives, from “friendliest” and “happiest” to “world’s most sustainable city”, this breezy Nordic capital is fast catching up on its foodie neighbours. Enriched by immigrant chefs, the youthful, turbocharged culinary scene now abounds in excellent mid-range restaurants with affordable tasting menus – although wine prices are steep (from €10/£8.60 for a 120ml glass). Vegan and vegetarian alternatives are omnipresent, as are non-alcoholic drinks, many berry based. Tips are unnecessary, aesthetics pared down, locals unostentatious and dining starts early, at 5pm. And, this being Finland, you can digest your meal in a sauna, whether at an island restaurant (Lonna) or high in the sky on the Ferris wheel (SkySauna).

From checking documents and what you may need to carry to factoring in motorway tolls and how to pay them

If you are driving your own car to mainland Europe this year, there are plenty of things to think about in addition to how you are going to fit all your stuff in the vehicle.

Where his family once farmed on a wild fringe of the Lycian shoreline, one man has built his dream retreat

Aged seven or eight, planting onions on his father’s land above Kabak Bay, Fatih Canözü saw his first foreigner. Before the road came in 1980, his village on the jagged coast of south-west Turkey’s Lycia region was extremely remote, isolated by steep valleys and mountains plunging into the sea. It took his family two days to get to the city of Fethiye on winding donkey tracks, to sell their apricots, vegetables and honey at the market. Despite his shock at seeing the outside world intrude for the first time, Canözü remembers thinking even then that tourism was the future.

Four decades on and having trained as a chef, Canözü has not only built a restaurant and 14 tourist cabins in Kabak, he has married a foreigner too: a former Middle East correspondent from England, who came here to research a novel and ended up falling in love. Now they are raising their family on this wild fringe of Anatolia’s Turquoise Coast, a region that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founding father of the Republic of Turkey, is said to have called the most beautiful in the country.

Slovakia is gaining an international reputation as a hot spring haven, offering affordable and high-quality spa treatments in breathtaking buildings

‘Centuries ago people used to say, ‘In three days the Piešťany water will either heal you or kill you.’” My guide Igor Paulech is showing me around Spa Island – a hot-spring haven in the middle of the Váh River that runs through Piešťany, Slovakia’s most prestigious spa town. Just an hour north of Bratislava by train, the town and its spa-populated island are packed with grand art nouveau and art deco buildings.

There’s a faint aroma of sulphur in the air as Igor paces ahead, past peacocks and ponds full of lilies, imparting his home town’s history. The hot water that springs from beneath the island sandbank has created what we’re all here for: a blueish medicinal mud that’s rich in hydrogen sulphide and sulphur.

If you’ve ever been tempted by naturism, there is nowhere better to try stripping off than the idyllic, car-free Île du Levant

The trail hugs every curve of the cliffside. On my left, the Mediterranean Sea swirls beside craggy rocks, while flowering plants unfurl on my right. A quarter of France’s coast is lined with similar sentiers des douaniers(customs officers’ paths), which were once used to patrol the sea. The difference on this trail is that I’m wearing nothing but my backpack.

Off the coast of the southern French resort town of Hyères, Île du Levant is home to the only naturist community of its kind, the Domaine Naturiste d’Héliopolis. For 93 years, this rustic Eden has lured free-spirited lovers of nature and authenticity, as unabashedly naked as Adam and Eve before they ate the forbidden fruit. On every visit, I’ve found that when people shed their clothes, they shed their pretence. Unlike traditional naturist retreats where nudity is de rigueur, Héliopolis is peppered with clothing-optional spots. This makes it the ideal place for travellers to dip their toes into the naturist way of life.

The NSW coastal city has changed dramatically, says Newcastle writers’ festival’s Rosemarie Milsom. It now has excellent eateries, new arts festivals and bustling breweries

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Newcastle is on Awabakal and Worimi country. It has changed dramatically since I moved back here from Sydney in 2008. The cityscape is full of cranes with lots of new apartment blocks and hotels. The light rail is a newish, if controversial, addition and great coffee is everywhere.

A lot more tourists come here now. In her memoir The Taste of Memory, the late, great writer Marion Halligan described Newcastle as “that well-kept secret of a place”. Well, the secret’s out!

After serious floods and landslides, some of the great trans-Alpine routes have reopened – with new services added – offering unforgettable train journeys from Austria to the Adriatic

The planning of main rail routes through the Alps was shaped by national ambition and rivalries. The opening of Austria’s Semmering railway in 1854, the Mont Cenis route (also known as Fréjus) between France and Italy in 1871 and Switzerland’s Gotthard tunnel in 1882 defined the broad contours of Alpine railway geography in the late 19th century. But Habsburg planners were keen to secure better links with Adriatic ports, so in 1901 they sketched out a bold plan for the Neue Alpenbahnen (new Alpine railways), of which Austria’s Tauern railway was the most important. It opened in 1909. When it closed for rebuilding in November 2024, it was a sharp reminder of how much passengers and freight rely on a handful of key Alpine rail routes. Lose one key Alpine link and the effects of that closure are felt across Europe.

The last couple of years have been tough for Alpine rail operators. Landslides, floods and derailment have played havoc on the lines. So three cheers for the more recent good news stories. The important Mont Cenis route reopened this spring, having been shut after a landslide in August 2023 (though there was a wobble last week when another landslide briefly interrupted services). That closure necessitated the cancellation of all high-speed trains between France and Italy. These links have now been restored, allowing travellers this summer to speed from Paris to Turin in just 5hrs 40mins, or from Lyon to Milan in under five hours.

Exploring the magical landscape that inspired Narnia and stars as a location in Game of Thrones – just an hour outside of Belfast

Where is the finest mountain panorama in the UK? As a nine-year-old I was taken up Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and told it was the best. Even in those days, it was a struggle to see much except the backs of other people. The following summer Scafell Pike got the same treatment and the next year we climbed Ben Nevis. I disagreed on all counts. For me, Thorpe Cloud in Dovedale was unbeatable, despite it being under a thousand feet tall. What convinced me was the diminutive Derbyshire peak’s shape: a proper pointy summit with clear space all around, plus grassy slopes that you could roll down. The champion trio could not compare.

This panorama question is in my mind as I begin hiking up Slieve Donard, Northern Ireland’s highest peak (at 850 metres), but a mountain often forgotten by those listing their UK hiking achievements. And a proper peak it is too, with a great sweeping drop to the sea and loads of space all around, guaranteeing, I reckon, a view to beat its more famous rivals.

A short stretch of chalk cliffs on the island of Møn could soon become a world heritage site due to its unique ecology of wild orchids and geology of 30-million-year-old fossils

As we sauntered along sun-splashed woodland paths, our knowledgable guide Michael started to explain the links between the local geology and flora. The unusually luminous light green leaves of the beech trees? “That’s due to the lack of magnesium in the chalky soil.” The 18 species of wild orchid that grow here? “That’s the high calcium content. You see? Everything is connected.”

That’s a phrase my companion and I kept hearing at Møns Klint on the Danish island of Møn. This four-mile (6km) stretch of chalk cliffs and hills topped by a 700-hectare (1,730-acre) forest was fashioned by huge glaciers during the last ice age, creating a unique landscape. In 2026, a Unesco committee will decide whether Møns Klint (“the cliffs of Møn”) should be awarded world heritage site status, safeguarding it for future generations.

The spectacular Shetland archipelago – with its dive-bombing gannets, ancient settlements and endless horizons – is the perfect spot for a holiday with kids

It takes us 38 hours – two trains, a tube, the Caledonian Sleeper, a day in Aberdeen, a hire car and the NorthLink ferry – to reach Shetland from our home in Oxfordshire, and yet the immortal words “Are we there yet?” are not uttered once. When the ferry docks at Lerwick, the kids, Lydia (11) and Alex (eight), are uncharacteristically silent as we take in the view: the town huddled on a low hill, the water shimmering in the morning sun, and islands as far as the eye can see.

We are spending a week in the archipelago, travelling first around Mainland, the main island, and then north to the less populated islands of Yell and Unst, linked by regular ferries. It turns out to be the perfect location for a family holiday: short journey times (it takes 80 minutes to drive from the southern tip of Mainland to the northern) combined with the sea almost always being in view, and the excitement of a boat or ferry trip every day.

From Llandudno’s promenade and Scarborough’s spa to Folkestone’s Creative Quarter and Portobello’s thriving community, these places offer a magical mix of tradition and innovation

Some British resorts are about the beach. In others it’s walking along the prom. The fashionable ones push gastronomy, drink, street art, culture. Others stick to arcades, funfairs, kids’ stuff. Llandudno delivers all of these and a bit more besides – and it does so unpretentiously, warmly and ever so slightly Welshly.

Fishing villages, lighthouses, seabirds and beachside cafes star in our tipsters’ favourite spots from Derry to Cornwall

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Between Aberystwyth and Cardigan the quiet coastline is sublime, with incredible sunsets, dizzying and spectacular coastal paths, gorgeous quiet beaches and dolphins. Start in Dylan Thomas’s old stomping ground, New Quay, and follow the coastal path south along cliffs and past Cwmtydu beach before finishing at gorgeous Llangrannog, where you get two beaches for one (perfect Cliborth beach requires a lower tide to access). Kayaking and surfing are great, and the Pentre Arms provides refreshments with a view.
Matt Lunt

From Ipswich’s medieval treasures to Ramsey’s seaside charm and Lancaster’s chilling legacy of witches and slavery

• Where tourists seldom tread, parts 1-16

The place names are tiny poems: Silent Street, where sound was deadened with straw out of respect for convalescing soldiers during the Anglo-Dutch wars of the late 17th century; Smart Street, named after a benevolent merchant and library builder, William Smarte; Star Lane for Stella Maris, Our Lady of the Sea; Franciscan Way, leading to Grey Friars Road, evokes monkish times. Thirteen medieval churches rise above the old town, some in disrepair. Others are renascent: St Mary-le-Tower was recently redesignated as a minster in recognition of its value to the community and its 1,000 years of existence. That’s not so long ago in a town settled very early – perhaps as early as the fifth century, and established by the seventh – by the Anglo-Saxons.

History comes to life on a hike through the woods and wagonways of County Durham, which takes in mining, trains, an award-winning museum – and corned beef and potato pie

The Great Northern Coalfield once provided the raw fuel that powered Britain through the Industrial Revolution. For over two centuries, coal from the mines of Durham and Northumberland was trundled down a maze of wagonways and rail lines to the coast to then be shipped to London.

The mines are long gone, but eight miles north of Durham city, relics of the north-east’s industrial heritage can be found hidden amid ancient woodland and a steep-sided gorge.