Fancy a Belgian city break without the crowds of Ghent or Bruges? Mechelen might be the answer
The majestic Flemish city is dotted with renaissance palaces, great bars and eye-catching contemporary art – yet it’s firmly off the tourist trail
Where the art of Edvard Munch comes alive: a city break in Oslo
As a new exhibition celebrating the portraits of Edvard Munch opens at London’s National Portrait Gallery, we take a trip to the artist’s home city in Norway
Far from the madding crowd: my personal pilgrimage on the quiet paths of Thomas Hardy’s Dorset
My mother wrote about the meandering trails from the novelist’s cottage, through countryside loaded with literary references – now I’m following in her footsteps
I got lost in Morocco’s maze of medinas – and loved every minute
The medinas of Fez and Tétouan offer a welcome chance to ditch the GPS – and a return to random encounters
Falling for Alassio – the rebirth of an Italian resort
The former fishing village on the Ligurian coast was once a favourite with the wealthy British set. Now instead of tennis and tea parties, it offers scenic treks and seafood feasts in glorious spring sunshine
10 reasons to visit Italy in 2025: the best new holidays and cultural events
Walking and cycling tours, family holidays, great places to stay, blockbuster exhibitions and more launching this year
Exploring Siena, Tuscany’s other artistic masterpiece
A major new exhibition at the National Gallery puts the spotlight on the Tuscan town’s artistic heritage. But nothing beats exploring its historic neighbourhoods on foot
A ‘gorgeous medieval’ town in Tuscany and other readers’ tips across Italy
From a Sicilian city brimming with life to serene Dolomite villages, our tipsters share their Italian highlights
Where tourists seldom tread, part 15: three more UK towns with unsung stories
Our tour of unheralded towns continues with Black Country legends in Dudley, Renaissance-style architecture in Enniskillen and Middlesbrough, birthplace of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Sète: the seaside town with year-round sunshine in the south of France
Surrounded by canals, a lagoon and the Mediterranean, the port town has fabulous seafood and some quirky cultural traditions
Merchants of Venice: 10 of the city’s most beautiful historic shops
From an elegant apothercary to a jewellers in a baroque salon, these stores all have atmospheric interiors and a history of exquisite craftsmanship
Mardi Gras the Balkan way – alternatives to Venice carnival
In Croatia, Montenegro and Albania, the legacy of Venetian occupation lives on in a series of spectacular carnivals that these days have a local twist
When in Rome … go where the Romans go, not the tourist crowds
The Eternal City’s monuments and museums are busy at the best of times, but there remain myriad treasures to explore that are well off the beaten track
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