Travel

On this windless autumn Saturday, the landscape is curiously hushed. Occasionally, a tiny chorus of coal tits gathers to chat in the pines above my head, but otherwise it’s soundless, the muffled stillness willing me to slow my pace. As the track turns from soil to sand, I skitter over smooth …

This tale of two islands – and a city – was not the usual Croatian island-hopping experience, say, from Split to Hvar and Brač. I set out to enjoy a quieter, more laid-back alternative farther north, where the overlooked city of Šibenik is the jumping-off point to a very different …

Winning tip: wild camping and walking in the Pyrenees The best ever walk I’ve been on was actually two weeks of walking, along the GR11 on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees from Candanchú to La Guingueta d’Àneu. We got the train to France, packed food for a week and …

On the terrace of a brasserie on Rue Cler, a chic Parisian market street, I’m chatting over a tongue-lubricating glass of Sancerre with Sébastien de Lavalette, 33, a French travel company head and my language exchange partner. Sébastien compliments my French accent, or at least I think he does: “You …

A large French Alpine ski resort has announced it is to close, citing a lack of funds to become a year-round destination, as low- and medium-altitude mountain areas around Europe struggle with a truncated season due to global heating and declining snowfalls. Local councillors voted not to reopen Alpe du …

Swimming through the cool clear lake, I’m aware of the densely forested mountains behind us, with pale rocky peaks to our right. A cable car snakes up the side of one, and the sky is turning grey, hinting at an Alpine storm. A standup paddleboarder with blond hair who is …

At 8.45am, I stroll down the steps of The Queen at Chester hotel and into the midweek flow. The roads are full of delivery vans, the station is lined with taxis and the pavements are busy with commuters. I move among them lightly, a roamer bound for distant lands. Well, …

From the Neolithic Carnac stones of Brittany to the thousands of Roman and Greek ruins across the Mediterranean, Europe has an incredible array of ancient ruins to explore. We’d love to hear about your favourite sites – places where the past feels within touching distance, whether it’s a prehistoric cave …

In the land of the Brothers Grimm, I was expecting creepy overgrown forests, quaint medieval towns, and maybe a gingerbread house or two. But, it turns out, the Brothers Grimm tales weren’t from the Black Forest region of Germany (most are from the central part). Why did I think they …

There are two times of year I particularly love being among trees. The first is at the height of spring, when new leaves and woodland plants are at their most intensely green. The second is the point in autumn when the summer hues shift overnight and the woods take on …