Out to play: the best things to do around the UK this week
From surfing to wine tours, classical recitals to indoor climbing, here’s our weekly pick of attractions and events
Birch, Hertfordshire – review: ‘It’s like the most chaotic Pinterest board made real’
Birch is the latest ‘concept’ hotel to chase the Instagram generation, but haphazard design and pricey wellness and creative activities leave little room for relaxation
10 of the best motorway stop-offs: readers’ travel tips
Your pick of places to refuel and stretch legs near motorway junctions ranges from pubs and chippies to waffle delights and a llama cafe
Skip the services: 20 stopovers off British motorways and A roads
Long, hot journeys are more bearable if broken at a pleasant pitstop. Refuel at these farm shops and cafes with great food, and gardens for the kids
The Pig at Harlyn Bay: good food in a gorgeous setting in Cornwall – review
Near Padstow, the latest addition to The Pig’s pen of hotels dates from the 1600s and is a glorious retreat for cliff walks and beach strolls
10 of the UK’s best seaside cafes and beach shacks
Food writers and chefs pick their favourite chippies, pop-ups and cafes, all chosen for their creative use of seafood
Going back to Greece: the Peloponnese after lockdown
Taking one of the first charter flights to Greece for months, we find locals on the mainland delighted to see visitors, but sticking closely to the new rules
Post-lockdown camping: ‘It’s a taste of freedom’
On a first foray out of London, our writer kicks up her heels with a stay in a (freshly sanitised) yurt, boating on the Norfolk Broads – and drinks in several pubs
We’re at a pub – and staying the night! A post-lockdown break in the Derbyshire dales
Sunday lunch and an overnight stay at the Cow in Dalbury Lees is a joy after months of home cooking – even if it means hand-sanitiser, QR codes and no propping up the bar
France this summer: four under-the-radar holiday regions
France will be a popular option for a post-lockdown break, and is big enough to offer lots of places where crowds can be avoided
Italy’s remote villages now make an ideal escape
With Italians holidaying at home post-lockdown but wary of busy hotspots, the country’s historic but often half-empty villages are emerging from the shadows
My favourite memories of Spain: readers’ travel tips
Fairytale fortresses, shrimp fritters and sherry, ancient landscapes and illicit romance … our readers rekindle the magic of Spain
Cafe society returns to Paris as bars and bistros fill pavements
Inside spaces reopened this week, but it’s the relaxed rules on outdoor terraces that bar and restaurant owners feel will create a quintessentially Parisian summer vibe
Dreams of Italy: readers’ travel tips
A friendly football bar, the ‘real’ sword in the stone, plus walks, festivals and fantastic food ... you responded in droves to our request for Italian highlights
Probably the best bar in the world: readers’ travel tips
Cocktails on a deck by the Saigon river, a beer on a Portuguese cliff face, and a Belgian bar that might leave you shoeless quench our tipsters’ thirst