Travel Industry news

• ‘Bless you, Alfred Wainwright … and you, Rishi Sunak’: England’s Coast to Coast walk gets an upgrade

  14-01-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  The multi-day trail between the Cumbria and North Yorkshire coasts is one of Britain’s most popular, and now upgrades, path repairs and trail officers aim to preserve it for future generationsA soft breeze tickled the waters of Innominate Tarn, sending ripples dashing across the pool, bogbean and tussock grass dancing at its fringes. From my rocky perch atop Haystacks, I gazed down on Buttermere and Crummock Water glistening to the north, the round-shouldered hulks of Pillar and Great Gabl
  
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• How to have a sustainable family ski holiday: take the train and head high

  13-01-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Cut out flying and you shred skiing’s carbon footprint. And opting for a high-altitude resort that needs less artificial snow makes it even greener. Les Arcs in the French Alps ticks both boxesI’ve always wanted to try skiing, but it’s not a cheap holiday and I have always had a lingering suspicion that some resorts are like Las Vegas in the mountains, with artificial snow, damaging infrastructure, annihilated vegetation and air-freighted fine dining – in short, profoundl
  
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• Share a travel tip on a holiday in Scandinavia or Finland

  12-01-2026 16:43 via theguardian.com
  From beautiful cities to dune-backed beaches and spectacular Arctic landscapes, tell us about a memorable trip to Denmark, Sweden, Norway or Finland – the best tip wins £200 towards a Coolstays breakScandinavia and Finland regularly top polls for the world’s happiest countries. So what’s their secret? We’d love to hear about your best travel experiences in the Nordic countries, whether it was designer shopping in Helsinki, soaking up the sun on a Danish beach, escap
  
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• ‘Waves break right on to the bus windscreen’: a car-free trip along County Antrim’s dramatic coast

  12-01-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Three trains, two buses and a ferry take our writer from Essex to Northern Ireland, to enjoy wild swims, whiskey, sandy beaches and the Giant’s CausewayOystercatchers fly off as I step through stalks of storm-racked kelp for an icy dip in the winter-grey sea. Actually, the water feels unexpectedly warm, perhaps in contrast to the freezing wind. But it’s cold enough to do its job: every nerve is singing and I feel euphoric. I’m exploring the Antrim coast, which has some of the U
  
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• 50 inspiring travel ideas for 2026, chosen by readers: beaches, city breaks, family holidays and more

  10-01-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Our popular readers’ tips column has been running for 20 years. We’ve selected some highlights from the past 12 months to help you plan your 2026 adventures
  • Enter this week’s competition, on life-changing holidays Continue reading...
  
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• ‘We were as stuffed as the dumplings’: a tour of Warsaw’s top vegan restaurants

  09-01-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Poland’s capital is now rated above cities like San Francisco and Copenhagen for its vegan options. We sample plant-based schnitzel, ramen and, of course,pierogi Pinny on, hands dusted with flour, I rolled out dough, cut it into circles, added a spoonful of filling and sealed it into little parcels. I was getting stuck into a dumpling cooking class in one of the most vegan-friendly cities in the world. Making gyoza in Tokyo, perhaps? Wontons in Singapore? Potstickers in Taipei?In fact, I w
  
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• How a TV interior designer is helping revive a remote Scottish island

  08-01-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  On Ulva, in the Inner Hebrides, Banjo Beale and his husband are transforming a rundown mansion into their dream hotel, while another adventurous couple have created a charming bothy for hardier folkUlva House is a building site. There are workmen up ladders, hammering, plastering, but I leave my muddy walking boots by the door. There’s no central heating or hot water and Banjo Beale and his husband, Ro, have been camping out here for weeks, but he greets me, dazzlingly debonair, in a burnt
  
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• Six of the best affordable UK country house hotels to beat the January blues

  07-01-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  The festive season can stretch waistbands and wallets to breaking point. Here’s our pick of boltholes for a new year reset – each with a spa and rooms for under £160 a nightVirginia Woolf described the South Downs as “too much for one pair of eyes, enough to float a whole population in happiness”. So where better to head at this time of year, when our happiness levels are traditionally at their lowest ebb? Striding across the rolling chalkland towards the teetering
  
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• A perfect winter walk between two great pubs in Cheshire

  06-01-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  This 14-mile section of the Sandstone Trail crosses an ancient landscape of hills, woods and ridges, bookended by two fine old inns Deep in the heartland of rural Cheshire, there’s a wind-scoured ridge of sandstone that hides a two-storey cave known as Mad Allen’s Hole. Here, on the flanks of Bickerton Hill, it is said that in the 18th century a heartbroken man called John Harris of Handley lived as a hermit for several decades.As locations to weather the storm of romantic trauma go,
  
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• Share a tip on a life-changing holiday or adventure

  05-01-2026 15:45 via theguardian.com
  Whether it was learning mindfulness or surfing for the first time, tell us about a trip that changed your life – the best tip wins £200 towards a Coolstays breakTravel can affect our lives in many positive ways – and some holidays really can be life-changing. We’d love to hear about trips that have changed you – perhaps it was a wellbeing retreat, a learning or yoga holiday, going fishing or sailing for the first time, or a long-distance hike or kayaking adventure,
  
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• I ran 1,400 miles around Ireland

  05-01-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  On a running pilgrimage in the land of my forebears I was blown away by the scenery – and even more so by the warmth of the people As a long-distance runner, I had always wanted to use running as a means of travel, a way to traverse a landscape. I’d heard of people running across Africa, or the length of New Zealand, and the idea of embarking on an epic journey propelled only by my own two legs was compelling. I had just turned 50, and some might have said I was h
  
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• Swim, run, ride and row for charity: 10 challenges for 2026 in the UK, Europe and beyond

  04-01-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Climbing, skiing and paddleboarding also feature in our round-up of this year’scharity challengesSwimQuest’s annual Isles of Scilly challenge is a 15km island-hopping swim, broken into five sessions with walks in between. The longest swim is the 6km leg from St Agnes to Bryher; the shortest is 600 metres from Bryher to Tresco; and the island walks in between are no longer than 45 minutes. Swimmers can opt to complete the challenge in one tough day, or space it out over two – th
  
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• Hebridean high: joy, tears and camaraderie on a 100km trek for charity across the Isle of Skye

  03-01-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  A 100km hike to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer proves uplifting and challenging in equal measure, with friends made for lifeThe day starts with a gentle trek. We clamber up from Flodigarry to circle under the black cliffs of the Quiraing where clouds flood around the bizarre rock formations. At the pass, we meet a howling wind and force our way down with shrieks of laughter.I’m walking on the Isle of Skye, specifically a section of the Trotternish Ridge for Copp
  
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• From climbing Kilimanjaro to cycling the Tour de France route … readers’ favourite organised challenges

  02-01-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Whether it’s for the satisfaction of completing a tough physical challenge or to raise money for charity, our readers select their most memorable adventures
  • Tell us about your favourite beach in Europe – the best tip wins a £200 holiday voucherWhen tackling a big cycling challenge, choose an event with strong support – it makes all the difference. Riding the full Tour de France route with Ride Le Loop was tough, but the incredible staff turned it into an unforgetta
  
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• Hull’s maritime history thrusts city into world’s top places to visit in 2026

  01-01-2026 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Historic trawler and floating lighthouse among East Yorkshire city’s attractions as it gears up for tourism boostA combination of a world record-breaking trawler, a floating lighthouse and a dizzying array of maritime objects that include a stuffed polar bear called Erik are all helping to make Hull one of the top 25 places in the world to visit in 2026.The East Yorkshire city is on the verge of completing an ambitious £70m transformation, which, supporters believe, will propel it in
  
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• 10 of the best learning holidays in Europe for 2026

  01-01-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  From rock climbing in the Peak District to honing your creative writing skills in Crete, why not take a break with like minds and fellow learners this year?Even complete beginners will soon be scaling sheltered Peak District crags on this two-day course with Pure Outdoor. Participants will master tying in, belaying and several climbing techniques, as well as abseiling down. With a maximum of six learners to one instructor, there is a lot individual attention and personalised targets. The course
  
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• ‘It’s bigger than Hogmanay’: Shetland’s Up Helly Aa Viking fire festival

  31-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  The raucous celebration of the new year and the islands’ Nordic heritage culminates in the ritual burning of a longship – and much drinkingBeyond a misty veil, dawn breaks above Shetland – sort of. The days feel as if they never quite get going here at this time of year, and it’s important, as the long nights of winter drag on, to have a hobby. Here in Lerwick, the capital of the archipelago, the locals have divined a unique way of passing the time, while honouring the de
  
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• Saunas, electronica and air guitar: Oulu, Finland’s tech city, is European Capital of Culture 2026

  30-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  This Nordic city and digital hub is having its moment in the (midnight) sun, offering cultural, arty events and pleasingly eclectic sillinessA floating community sauna on frozen Lake Oulu seemed as good a place as any to ask Finnish locals what they think of the European Capital of Culture bandwagon that will be rolling into their city in 2026. Two women sweltering on the top bench seemed to sweat more over my question than over the clouds of sauna steam – the result of a beefy Finn ladlin
  
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• ‘A watery gold sunrise lights the turbulent water’: the wild beauty of the Suffolk coast

  29-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Coastal erosion may threaten the area around Southwold, but a new ‘movable’ cabin makes a great base for exploring its windswept beaches, remote marshes and welcoming innsThe crumbling cliff edge is just metres away. An automatic blind, which I can operate without getting out of bed, rises to reveal an ocean view: the dramatic storm-surging North Sea with great black-backed gulls circling nearby and a distant ship on the horizon. A watery gold sunrise lights the clouds and turbulent
  
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• 11 of the UK’s best winter walks – all ending at a cosy pub

  27-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Too much turkey and Baileys? Blow away the Christmas cobwebs on one of our rambles. And if that doesn’t work, they all end at a pub for a hair of the dogDistance 7 miles
  Duration 5 hours
  Start/finish Ditchling village car park Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Emerge from misty woods above a sea of clouds’: readers’ favourite UK winter walks

  26-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Readers revel in winter light, wildlife spectacles and cosy pubs from Norfolk to Northumberland
  • Tell us about your favourite European beach – the best tip wins a £200 holiday voucherWho needs the Swiss Alps when you have Macclesfield Forest on your doorstep? Walking from Trentabank car park, the 506-metre peak of Shutlingsloe is the gift that keeps on giving. The panoramic views from its summit, dubbed Cheshire’s mini Matterhorn, are breathtaking at any time of year. But
  
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• Around the world in 50 countries: the globe-trotting Christmas travel quiz

  25-12-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  From the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World to Donald Trump’s territorial wishlist, test your travel knowledge. Every answer is the name of a countryName the six countries or territories Donald Trump has said or suggested he would like to annex, acquire or take control of. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘It’s a social hub more than a pub’: Scottish community reopens its local inn just in time for Christmas

  24-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  As pubs nationwide buckle under soaring costs, one Argyll village spent three years buying and restoring theirs – and has ambitious plans for the futureIt’s opening night at Scotland’s newest community pub, Oakbank Inn, which sits on the Holy Loch in the village of Sandbank, Argyll. It’s a clear, cold night, and the inn couldn’t look more welcoming: a cosy glow from within the historic building, the Cowal hills beyond. The Christmas lights are twinkling, the glasses
  
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• ‘An unsung alternative to the Cotswolds‘: exploring Leicestershire’s Welland valley

  23-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  This hidden gem has country inns, canalside walks, a stunning viaduct, the historic town of Market Harborough – and not a tour bus in sightIt was a chilly Sunday in November 2000 when the gods chose to smile on Ken Wallace. The retired teacher was sweeping his metal detector across a hillside in Leicestershire’s Welland valley when a series of beeps brought him up short. Digging down, he found a cache of buried coins almost two millennia old. He had chanced upon one of the UK’s
  
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• Stargazing in the Lake District: a new forest observatory opens in Grizedale

  22-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  There’s no shortage of stunning scenery and daytime activities in the Lakes. Now, an observatory is offering stellar nocturnal events tooA tawny owl screeches nearby in the dark and her mate replies, hooting eerily from the forest below. A white dome floats in the gloaming above a plain black doorway outlined with red light, like a portal to another dimension. I’m in Grizedale Forest, far from any light-polluting cities, to visit the Lake District’s first public observator
  
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• Come on in, all ye faithful: 18 of the UK’s best mass swims for Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day

  21-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Festive sea swims are pure joy – and also blow away the cobwebs, unite communities and raise money for charity. Here are some old (and new) favouritesFelixstowe, Suffolk
  A proper community affair, with hundreds of participants resplendent in festive finery racing into the North Sea at 10am sharp while much of the town gathers along the promenade to watch. The event raises funds for St Elizabeth Hospice, and every year brings new tales of heroics and even romance (there’s been the odd
  
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• I took my kids to Lapland on the Santa Claus Express – but would the big man deliver?

  20-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  If meeting Santa is on your family wishlist, this trip on a festive sleeper train from Helsinki to Rovaniemi, with reindeer and huskies thrown in, is Christmas with jingle bells onChristmas was only a few days away and the Finnish capital of Helsinki was ringing with festive cheer as we explored the Tuomaan Markkinat in Senate Square, sipping from mugs of hot, spicy glögi (mulled wine), and biting into joulutorttu (jam-filled puff pastries shaped like catherine wheels). A cold front had bro
  
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• ‘You can’t beat a wintry walk on a crisp, bright day’: readers’ favourite UK winter activities

  19-12-2025 09:00 via theguardian.com
  From rockpooling in Somerset to stargazing in Northumberland, our readers share their favourite seasonal outdoor activities
  • Tell us about a beach holiday – the best tip wins a £200 holiday voucherArrive at Fowlmere RSPB reserve, 10 miles south-west of Cambridge, an hour before nightfall to allow yourself time to find a good vantage point to enjoy the spectacle of the murmuration. Starlings gather and swirl in fluid Spirograph shapes, framed by shadowy trees against sunset reds
  
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• Why west Cornwall is the perfect place to mark the winter solstice

  18-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  With ancient standing stones and modern midwinter festivals, the West Penwith peninsula is a land of magic and mysteryThe light is fading fast as I stand inside Tregeseal stone circle near St Just. The granite stones of the circle are luminous in this sombre landscape, like pale, inquisitive ghosts gathered round to see what we’re up to. Above us, a sea of withered bracken and gorse rises to Carn Kenidjack, the sinister rock outcrop that dominates the naked skyline. At night, this moor is
  
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• Share a tip on your favourite beach in Europe

  17-12-2025 18:02 via theguardian.com
  Tell us about a lesser-known European beach – the best tip wins £200 towards a Coolstays breakAt this time of year, thoughts turn to warmer days and dreamy holidays on sun-drenched beaches. We’d love to hear about beaches you’ve discovered on your travels in Europe (excluding the UK). We’re interested in places beyond the usual tourist haunts – coves and sandy stretches overlooked by the holiday crowds.The best tip of the week, chosen by Tom Hall of Lonely Pla
  
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• Share a tip on a favourite beach in Europe

  17-12-2025 18:02 via theguardian.com
  Tell us about your favourite lesser-known European beach – the best tip wins £200 towards a Coolstays breakAt this time of year, thoughts turn to warmer days and dreamy holidays on sun-drenched beaches. We’d love to hear about favourite beaches you’ve discovered on your travels in Europe (excluding the UK). We’re interested in places beyond the usual tourist haunts – lesser-known bays, coves and sandy stretches overlooked by the holiday crowds. Tell us where i
  
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• A winter tour of Luxembourg’s fairytale chateaux – on the country’s free bus network

  17-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  This tiny country is awash with atmospheric castles, many of which you can stay in, making for a magical wintry break. And it won’t cost you a cent to travel between themThe top of the tower had disappeared in the mist, but its bells rang clear and true, tolling beyond the abbey gates, over the slopes of frost-fringed trees, down to the town in the valley below. Final call for morning mass. I took a seat at the back of the modern church, built when the Abbey of Saint Maurice and Saint Maur
  
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• Delizioso! Six of Italy’s tastiest local food delicacies – and where to try them

  16-12-2025 08:01 via theguardian.com
  It will come as little surprise that Italian cuisine has been added to Unesco’s cultural heritage list. Here are a select few of the country’s countless regional specialitiesLast week’s announcement that Italian cuisine has been added to Unesco’s intangible cultural heritage list came as no surprise to anyone familiar with that country’s obsession with food. Unesco called Italy’s cooking a “communal activity” in which “people of all ages and
  
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• All I want for Christmas … is to escape and go travelling

  15-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Going away for the festive season has left me with unforgettable memories, from a boat trip with Bangladeshi fishermen to exploring Castro’s Cuban hideoutI have made a point of escaping Christmas for as long as I can remember. Not escaping for Christmas, but avoiding it altogether – the stressful buildup, consumer chaos, panic buying, the enforced jollity and parties. When the first festive gifts start appearing in the shops in September, it’s time to confirm my travel plans, i
  
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• Our 25 favourite European travel discoveries of 2025

  13-12-2025 11:41 via theguardian.com
  The most exciting places our writers came across this year, from untouched islands in Finland to an affordable ski resort in Bulgaria and the perfect Parisian bistroOn a midsummer trip to Ireland, I saw dolphins in the Irish Sea, sunset by the Liffey, and misty views of the Galtee Mountains. The half-hour train journey to Cobh (“cove”), through Cork’s island-studded harbour, was especially lovely. As the railway crossed Lough Mahon, home to thousands of seabirds, there was wate
  
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• ‘We walked in awe, gazing across the sea’: readers’ favourite travel discoveries of 2025

  12-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  From Essex to Istanbul, and from a soul music bar to a dramatic mountain pass, our tipsters share their personal travel highlights of the yearMoments after stepping off the bus, I wanted to text my friend: “What have I done to you, why did you tell me to come here?” As I weaved my way through coach-party day trippers, my initial suspicions dissipated. I came to swim, but Piran offered so much more. Venetian squares provided a delicately ornate backdrop, while cobbled passageways hous
  
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• Underground art: exploring the unique designs of London’s tube seats

  11-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Most metros use plastic or metal, but the distinctive fabrics on London’s network are full of clues to its historyWhen I first came to London from Yorkshire in the late 1980s, I found the tube replete with bizarre novelties. Among them was the way most trains required me to sit sideways to the direction of travel, as on a fairground waltzer. Directly opposite me was another person or an empty seat, and while I knew not to stare at people, I did stare at the seats – at their woollen c
  
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• Why I love Portscatho in Cornwall – especially in winter

  10-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  It’s a far cry from the sun-kissed beaches of Cape Town where she grew up, but the simple pleasures of a seaside village in Cornwall draw the author back year after yearThe idea of the sea that I grew up with was associated with sundowners and souped-up cars and skipping classes to sunbathe with the models who took over Cape Town’s beaches each summer. As a student, long nights would end, not infrequently, with a swim at sunrise (until, one morning, the police arrived to remind us th
  
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• ‘This is the real Santa’s workshop’: a trip to Germany’s toy village

  09-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  You don’t have to be a child to enjoy Seiffen, the magical ‘home of Christmas’ where they’ve been making traditional wooden toys for hundreds of yearsI feel terrible … I’ve left the children at home and Seiffen, nicknamed Spielzeugdorf (The Toy Village), is literally a Christmas wonderland. Every street is alive with sparkling fairy lights and soft candlelight. There are thousands of tiny wooden figurines, train sets and toy animals displayed in shop windows,
  
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• ‘When the church door opens, it’s like a miracle’: the phone app that’s a key to Italy’s religious art

  08-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  A cultural initiative in Piedmont is unlocking a trove of priceless medieval frescoes in rural churchesThe Santa Maria di Missione chapel in Villafranca Piemonte, northern Italy, stands at the end of a long cornfield. Behind it, the mountains rise gently, their outlines caressed by the sun. The colours of autumn frame the 15th-century frescoes that embellish the structure’s interior, painted by Italian artist Aimone Duce, of the Lombard school. The chapel is the municipality’s o
  
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• Supermarché sweep: the treats we love to buy on holiday in Europe

  07-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Italian sweets, Irish smoked fish, honey cakes in Belgium … travel writers choose the stores and local delicacies they make a beeline for when travellingI fell in love with Belgian snacks when cycling the amateur version of the Tour of Flanders some years ago. The feed stations along the route were crammed with packets of Meli honey waffles and Meli honey cake. I ate so many that I suffered withdrawal symptoms after finishing the last of them at the end of the 167-mile route. Continue rea
  
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• Where the real Rudolph lives: reindeer herding with the Sami people in Sweden’s wild west

  06-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  In the snowy mountains of Grövelsjön, visitors can get a rare glimpse into alittle-known traditional way of life – and sleep in a tipi under the starsOn the summit of a snow-covered hill, two men sit on a patch of lichen, their backs against their snowmobiles. They are wearing thick padded clothing and hats with ear covers. One is scanning the valley with binoculars, the other is checking their drone. “We’ve got a speaker on it to play various calls. Thermal imaging h
  
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• ‘One of the most breathtaking cathedrals in the world’: readers’ favourite churches in Europe

  05-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Wonderful art, amazing design and beautiful locations have drawn our tipsters to chapels, churches and cathedrals from Norway to Bulgaria• Tell us about a great charity challenge you’ve taken part in – the best tip wins a £200 holiday voucherThe Tromsøysund parish church, commonly called the Arctic Cathedral, in Tromsø is a modernist delight. The simple, elegant exterior that reflects the surrounding scenery and evokes traditional Sami dwellings is matched by
  
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• We tested Europe’s luxurious new ‘business-class’ sleeper bus between Amsterdam and Zurich

  04-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  A new overnight bus service in the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland offers comfort and sustainabilityI feel my travel-scrunched spine start to straighten as I stretch out on the plump mattress, a quilted blanket wrapped around me and a pillow beneath my head. As bedtime routines go, however, this one involves a novel step – placing my lower legs in a mesh bag and clipping it into seatbelt-style buckles on either side; the bed will be travelling at around 50mph for the next 12 hours and
  
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• We found the authentic Liguria: an off-season road trip through north-west Italy’s brilliant villages and cuisine

  03-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  By avoiding the famous hotspots and travelling in December, we enjoy culinary delights and historic charms without the summer crowdsThe copper pot is filled with a custard so golden it looks like liquid sunshine. Our waiter carefully ladles the sugary, egg-yolk elixir, zabaglione, into two bowls for dunking warm pansarole doughnuts. Our conversation stops, a silent competition to nab the last one. We are literally living la dolce vita.This dessert is a tradition in Apricale, a fairytale-like vil
  
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• 10 of the best pop-up ice rinks in the UK

  02-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  From city rooftops to seafront winter wonderlands, these are some of the best places to slide into ChristmasLeicester Square in the West End of London has its first ice rink, encircling the statue of Shakespeare that has stood on the spot since 1874. Unusually for a London pop-up rink, there are tickets available every day for walk-up visitors, with skating sessions starting every 15 minutes from 10am to 10pm. A bar serves hot chocolate, mulled wine and mulled cider, and Christmas market stalls
  
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• Share a tip on taking part in an organised challenge in the UK or overseas

  01-12-2025 14:17 via theguardian.com
  From charity treks to open water swims and urban trail runs, tell us about a trip based around a physical challenge – the best tip wins £200 towards a Coolstays breakForget the sun lounger, more of us than ever before are signing up for trips which involve completing a tough physical challenge, whether it’s to raise money for charity or just to put ourselves to the test. From taking part in the UK’s Three Peak Challenge, a sponsored open-water swim or charity trek, to com
  
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• ‘It’s like striding across the top of the world’: the Pennines’ new Roof of England walk

  01-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  The route showcases the North Pennines’ unsung landscapes. We road test a 50-mile section that takes in golden forests, high moors and pretty villagesUp on Langley Common the wind is rising. The tussocks under my boots cover the Maiden Way, perhaps the highest Roman road in Britain, but the sense of being close to the sky – today a simmering grey – remains as palpable as it would have been 2,000 years ago. Looking north, a rainbow arcs across the horizon, the full rea
  
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• ‘I was hooked’: the rise of the intrepid female solo traveller

  30-11-2025 16:00 via theguardian.com
  Women of all ages, especially older ones, are actively choosing to travel alone. What’s behind the trend?UK travel companies have reported an increase in bookings for solo travellers, primarily older women, often leaving partners behind to “explore on their own terms”.Last month, the tour operator Jules Verne said solo travellers accounted for 46% of bookings for its trips departing next year, up from 40% in 2023. Just under 70% of its current solo bookings are made by women. C
  
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• Winter warmer in the woods: a sizzling sauna and cool, cosy cabin deep in a Sussex forest

  30-11-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Architect-built cabins and a sauna blend seamlessly into the High Weald landscape and make the most of its magnificent viewsI sat stock-still on a bench fashioned from a fallen silver birch, scanning the woods for a sudden movement or a flash of blue. Deer and kingfisher visit this secluded copse and its stream, and I hoped to spot at least one of them. There was a rustle in the undergrowth, but it was only a more familiar winter visitor: a cheery robin.It was a chilly day for wildlife-watching,
  
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