Snowdonia activity break: dream trips for daredevils

With inland surfing, ziplining and caving on tap, Snowdonia doesn’t lack thrills, but climbing Snowdon itself is still the pinnacle of excitement

A women-only surf break on Northern Ireland’s Causeway Coast

On a surfing and paddleboarding trip in Derry, our writer finds adventure and camaraderie as she braves bracing temperatures

Six of the best activity centres in the UK: readers’ travel tips

With ziplines, surfing, mountain-walking, climbing and cycling on tap, there is little risk of getting bored at these hubs for fresh-air excitement

Hit the heights of Everest – in England

Climbing the roof of the world is beyond most of us, so one man set out to scale his own personal Everest at home, breaking down 8,848 metres into 12 stages, starting on a Cornish hill and peaking on Scafell Pike

Night swimming in Snowdonia

Wild swimming in a lake, under the stars and dark skies of north Wales, is a bold and bracing escape from light pollution

Why Chile’s Route of Parks will be a ‘game changer for tourism’

Patagonia’s dramatic wildernesses are opening up to visitors, but the growth in tourism will be married to conservation and locals’ needs, says the woman behind the project

Truly, madly, steeply: a via ferrata tour of the Dolomites

Northern Italy’s iron paths give hikers the chance to feel like mountaineers but without rope, anchors or knots. Our writer straps in for the high-altitude thrill of his life

Island baggers: the people competing to visit all 706 isles around Britain

Whether by boat, swimming or on foot, dedicated travellers are steadily ticking off Britain’s ‘baggable’ islands – and the leader is on 518

Next stop, Stockholm: one family’s European rail adventure

London to Sweden by train and ferry made for a fun, frenetic family trip – then calm arrived at a holiday cabin amid the blissful waters of the Stockholm archipelago

Voyage of discovery to St Helena

Big fish, cloud forests and spectacular food make the wildly remote South Atlantic island worth the journey

The Júcar gorge: Spain’s very own grand canyon

This dramatic 40km limestone gorge, off the tourist track in rural Castilla-La Mancha, has historic villages and troglodyte dwellings and, now, a chic new cave hotel

Sealife encounters around the world: readers’ travel tips

Colourful rockpools, the sight of orcas hunting under the aurora borealis and huge skies full of sea birds have left our tipsters in awe at the wonders of the marine world

My favourite holiday: celebrities on their most memorable trips

Kim-Joy is on another planet in Iceland, Ruby Wax falls in love with Brazil, Marcus Brigstocke goes off piste – and Simon Reeve is all over the place …