Europe holidays

‘The hike of a lifetime’ – a circuit of the Écrins national park in France

I first learned about the Écrins national park in relation to a specific nature reserve within it. The réserve intégrale du Lauvitel was established in 1995 to “monitor the...

‘Just the right amount of edge’: how Marseille became 2024’s on-trend city

When a place becomes a meme, you know it is having a moment. This is what is happening...

Time travel in the Italian Alps: a glam stay in a 70s design hotel

When I was about seven years old, my aunt brought me back a souvenir from her trip to...

Tourism that does less harm: Lanzarote away from the big beach resorts

The sky is clear as I sit sipping coffee in the sunny courtyard of an 18th-century house –...

It was genuinely healing to return to Ibiza, the place where I’d nearly died

The thing that might surprise you about Ibiza is the quiet. Even in August, there are pockets of...

A beach as it might have looked 1,000 years ago: Sardinia’s north-west peninsula

People rave about La Pelosa beach in Sardinia’s north-west: it has “stunning white sand”, “clear turquoise water”, “breathtaking beauty” and is one of Lonely...

Austrian town gets its lederhosen in a twist over modern art

I’m walking through the town of Bad Aussee, in Austria’s alpine Salzkammergut region, where I’m expecting a vision of depravity to emerge through the...

Leaving the herd behind on a family trip in the peaceful southern French Alps

High above the Champsaur Valley, in the southern French Alps, the plateau is shrouded in cream-coloured froth. But it’s not clouds I’m surrounded by;...

Fjords and seaweed safaris: a new cycle trail along Denmark’s east coast

When I heard about Denmark’s “island of wild rabbits”, I knew I had to check it out. And the isle of Endelave did not disappoint. Rabbits...