Travel

Memories of Hemingway, Spain Café Iruña in Pamplona, Spain was a favourite of Hemingway when he visited the city for the annual running of the bulls. With high ceilings and wooden panelling, the bar-restaurant evokes bygone days and you can almost imagine Hemingway writing in a corner, particularly as there …

I’m an inch down a flute of buck’s fizz when a journalist careers into a buffet table, clasping her bloodied neck. “She’s had her throat slit!” peals a thirtysomething dressed as Jessica Rabbit. A young man in a lime-green cycling skinsuit giggles: “Murder, murder, ahahaha!” and claps his hands. Immediately, …

Dawn comes at a little past 7am, when the early September sun pokes its head over the ridges east of the northern Georgian town of Stepantsminda, and paints the glaciers and knife edges of Mount Kazbek in hues of peach and magenta. On the wooden deck where I stand, shivering, …

There’s nothing like a good carol to get you in the mood for Christmas, especially when accompanied by crisp conditions, a mince pie and a winter warmer. Carols from King’s College in Cambridge set the mood in millions of living rooms around the world on Christmas Eve. But that can’t …

There’s a sense of healing among the pines and tangled roots. Skulking somewhere in the snowy woodlands is an Alpine ibex, a distinctly Viking-horned goat, once hunted to extinction in Switzerland before being reintroduced a century ago. Hidden in the forest, an endangered black grouse is whistling as it forages …

Aside from its vast expanse of heather, undulating hills and ancient woodlands, there’s so much to love about the North York Moors national park, which celebrates its 70th anniversary this month. It’s where sheep really do roam on village greens, and you can pass through serene valleys on a heritage …

I came late to a love of travel. A combination of early marriage, child rearing and a focus on my own front yard were to blame for the delay. But I recovered from all three and started to focus on the horizon instead. Being well into my 50s, I knew …

Dunham Massey, Cheshire A pair of giant sparkling reindeer welcomes visitors to Dunham Massey’s illuminated trail, with both the grounds and the exterior of the house blazing with vivid, festive colours. Highlights include the Rose Garden, with 150 illuminated roses that fade and brighten in time to music, and the …

We all need a bit of cheer at this time of year, when nights are long and days are often dark – maybe now more than ever. Luckily, the UK’s stately homes, galleries, gardens, theatres, churches and steam trains have been planning ahead and are ready with art and music, …

A pub is a vital part of a country walk, but which way to do it? The whole walk first, then pub for well-earned food and beer? Or pub as halfway mark, to restore flagging body and spirits, the uncovered miles making that second or third beer a bad idea? …