Our tipsters’ horticultural finds from Hanover’s formal terraces to the world’s oldest university botanical garden in PaduaVarenna is the perfect Italian village, from its hilltop castle to the shore of Lake Como. Easily accessible by train or ferry, it is host to a spectacular botanic garden. The meandering Passeggiata degli Innamorati – the Lovers’...

Along the coast through Liguria to the French border, our slow travel expert enjoys the mix of tunnels and dramatic coastal viewsNature has its way of derailing travel plans. A landslide in August 2023 in the French Alps blocked the main railway just west of the Mont Cenis tunnel. This route is used by all trains from Italy to Lyon and Paris. The sleek...

Avoid the tourist hotspots of the Lake District and you’ll discover a more authentic side to the area with artists, microbreweries and community pubsYou’d be forgiven, as a visitor to the Lake District, for imagining that the governing attractions are daffodils, Grasmere gingerbread, Herdy (the bleating fell-side variety and the brand), mountain watercolours...

Share a favourite water activity or great place to stay on a river or lake – the best tip wins £200 towards a Coolstays breakFew things are more relaxing than spending time by the water. Whether it’s kayaking on the Dordogne, navigating Dutch canals on a houseboat, whitewater rafting in Slovenia, swimming in Alpine lakes or escaping to a waterside cabin...

From badly behaved travellers to horrendous carbon emissions, summer holidays aren’t always an unmitigated good. Here is how to travel responsibly and still have a great timeTourism is almost back to pre-pandemic levels – which is good news and bad news. However much holiday destinations rely on them, no one wants badly behaved tourists blocking views,...

We were supposed to be on the Italian Riviera, but an impromptu switch to a glamping break on the Llŷn peninsula proved a more than acceptable substituteEveryone has a good holiday disaster story, don’t they? Even experienced travel journalists.Ours was a twist on the classic passport fiasco, that saw us having to “exchange” a two-week trip to the sunny...