Top 10 alternative city breaks in Europe: readers’ travel tips

We had a huge response to our article on the 10 best weekend breaks in Europe’s smaller cities, with many readers making their own suggestions. Here are some of our favourite short-break destinations, chosen by you

Travel tips: Milan for art lovers, plus deals of the week

See Italy’s biggest ever Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition; plus freebies in Lincolnshire and the Loire valley by bike

40 best holiday villas and apartments in Europe

From posh with pools to basic but functional, we select new holiday lets in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece and the rest of Europe

Shuna: the overlooked jewel off the west of Scotland

The tiny Scottish island of Shuna (population: two) is a wilderness jewel of woodland, wildlife and whirlpools. Luckily, it also has some superbly equipped cottages from which to enjoy it

Artist Jakob Fenger on Superkilen park, Copenhagen

A radical art and design project has transformed an urban park in the Danish capital and brought it closer to its diverse local community by using objects from all over the world

Barcelona bar toasts experience by hiring waiters aged over 50

Entrepanes Díaz seeks to hire waiters with experience who see service as a profession, bucking local trends for low pay and young staff

Top 10 alternative city breaks in Europe

For great-value city breaks, look past the capitals and big names; some of Europe’s liveliest cultural scenes are in its smaller cities

Travel tips: the historic Potteries, plus deals of the week

Tour Staffordshire’s 300-year-old ceramics industry, enjoy a spa break in Essex or take the family to a cut-price Eurocamp in France

Great little ski resorts: Puy-Saint-Vincent, France

Clubbers might not find too much to excite them but this pretty resort is perfect, and reasonable value, for families with children up to early teens

Novelist Jessie Burton on Amsterdam

The author of The Miniaturist on the beguiling blend of tradition and modernity (and pancakes) in a city that provided the inspiration for her 17th-century-set debut novel and Waterstones Book of the Year 2014

Walking Italy’s medieval Salt Road in Liguria

A centuries-old network of paths in Liguria, once used by salt merchants and their laden mules, today makes a rewarding walking route in north-west Italy

Top 10 hotels and B&Bs in Malta

Malta’s hotels, from Valletta to Gozo, are sprucing up their image to reflect the country’s reinvigorated approach to tourism – with traditional package-holiday trips being challenged by boutique and budget options with bags of charm

Say boo to a moose in Sweden

On a moose safari in a snowy Swedish forest, Kevin Rushby learns that the animals don’t deserve their reputation for comical dim-wittedness – unlike our writer, who goes swimming in the river ice

Skiing in the Tatra mountains, Slovakia

New flights have brought Slovakia’s Tatras mountains – and their abudance of slopes, spas and waterparks – closer for skiers who are on a budget

Jerez: what to see, plus the best music, hotels, restaurants and tapas bars

Sherry, flamenco, tapas and horses … Is there anywhere more quintessentially Spanish than Jerez de la Frontera in Andalucía? With its flamenco festival kicking off this weekend, Sorrel Downer guides us through the merriment