‘Framed by jagged peaks, it felt like stepping into a dream’: readers’ favourite mountain trips in Europe

From the Alpujarras to the Dolomites, our tipsters hike, camp and devour hearty mountain food in some of Europe’s most spectacular scenery• Send us a tip on European wilderness – the best wins a £200 holiday voucher

Viva Zapotec! A thriving ecotourism project in Mexico’s Oaxaca state

The people of the Sierra Norte have achieved a rare balance – preserving an ancient way of mountain life while welcoming visitors

How far can we go on the old hippy trail? Overland from Leeds to Georgia

We travelled 3,000 miles by bus and train to what is currently the eastern limit of independent overland travel

Walking up an appetite in Armenia’s Caucasus mountains

Neighbouring Georgia gets all the attention when it comes to Caucasus adventures and cuisine, but nothing beats the ‘primeval happiness’ of a post-walk feast in Armenia - and there are far fewer trekkers

Saddle up: 10 of the best horse riding breaks in Europe

From camping in Gypsy caravans in Cumbria, to trekking in Transylvania and cantering through olive groves in Crete

I travelled 2,000 miles from Italy to the tip of Spain – on horseback

I had to brave wolves, bitter weather and mountain passes during my epic journey, but it was transformative

It’s like plunging under the North Pole: my mind-stretching ice dive in the French Alps

Move over wild swimming … ice diving in a frozen mountain lake and camping under the Milky Way connects you with nature at its most raw and magical

Alternative wonders: why Yemen’s ancient terraces are a supreme human creation

The soil, treasured for centuries, turns steep Yemini slopes into fertile and productive land. Coffee grown here was served at London’s first coffee house in 1652

Alternative wonders: why the stone citadel of Sigiriya in Sri Lanka is my rock of ages

The landscape is not the dead relic of a foregone age. It is a living reminder of how knowledge tailored to the local ecology is essential

Alternative wonders: why Egypt’s Colossi of Memnon are my giants of history

Emerging from the heat shimmer, these two enormous statues in Luxor appear completely otherwordly – like giants in a wheat field

Alternative wonders: why Tibet’s Samye monastery is my spiritual inspiration

The region’s first Buddhist monastery is a complex of chapels and stupa towers from a vast mandala – a symbolic and spiritual representation of the whole universe

A sprawling megacity of multi-level madness: why Chongqing in China is my wonder of the world

This megacity is like Hong Kong on steroids – a vertically sprawling, astonishing urban phenomenon that can only be understood in three dimensions

From a feisty goddess to stone phalluses: why Turkey’s Temple of Artemis is my wonder of the world

The temple was an inspiration for countless Greek and Roman temples that followed and is twice the size of the Parthenon

‘The river that runs in the sky’: readers choose their wonders of the world

From Margate to Uzbekistan our tipsters reveal the special sites that made a lasting impression on them

Off the Cretan track: a skiing adventure on the Greek island

Away from Crete’s sandy shores, tall peaks dominate the landscape, offering great skiing without the crowds – or ski lifts