Gateway to the South Downs: take the train to a picture-perfect village with a cracking pub

The West Sussex village of Amberley, near Arundel, is easy to reach by train and offers great hiking in the national park, castles and a newly reopened pub with a focus on local food

A new long-distance walking trail in Wales takes in gorges, ruined abbeys and sweeping sands

From the Cambrian Mountains to Cardigan Bay, the 83-mile Teifi Valley Trail is a grassroots initiative designed to revive a once-thriving area

Winnie-the-Pooh’s 100th birthday is a great excuse to explore the Sussex forest that inspired the books

To mark the anniversary there are dozens of events planned around Ashdown Forest (aka the Hundred Acre Wood) – and, of course, playing Pooh Sticks is always a good idea

From gentle strolls to zipline thrills: summer hiking in the Swiss Alps

The vertiginous Valais canton offers adventures aplenty, from abseiling down gorges to wild swims in glacial pools – and nights swapping hiking tales in mountain huts

The perfect base for a Wind in the Willows weekend: a stylish B&B in the Chilterns

Taking a leaf out of Kenneth Grahame’s book, our writer spends a few days getting lost among the woods and riverside villages of Oxfordshire and Berkshire

On the shoulders of giants: roaming among England’s famous chalk figures

Ancient hill carvings of horses, giants and gods have fascinated artists, writers and travellers for centuries. I went in search of their stories

‘Walking is the best way to discover offbeat Corfu’: a spring hike across the Greek island

Explore wild scenery, empty beaches and beautiful villages on the 110-mile Corfu trail, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year

Walking with the weavers 200 years after the Lancashire uprising

Former mill towns in the West Pennine Moors tell the story of the workers’ rebellion against power looms, the new machines decimating their livelihoods

‘You’d be pushed to find a more soul-stirring landscape in Scotland’: walking in Beinn Eighe

It isn’t only climbers who get misty-eyed about the awe-inspiring mountains and ancient pinewoods of Britain’s first national nature reserve, created 75 years ago

On the trail of the Romantics in the Welsh borders

The ruins of Tintern Abbey have inspired artists and poets. Now, the restoration of a historic inn has given visitors a perfect base for exploring this corner of Monmouthshire

Five of Europe’s best accessible island escapes

From the Venetian lagoon to the sparkling Med, these island getaways offer a welcome change of pace just a short hop from the mainland

‘I have the island to myself’: how to be a castaway in Cornwall

Book an overnight stay in the cosy smuggler’s cottage on Looe Island and you get to enjoy this marine nature reserve after the day trippers have gone home

It takes a village – the pioneering tourism project breathing new life into India’s mountain communities

Over the past 21 years, Village Ways has been leading low-impact tours of remote communities in the foothills of the Himalayas, supporting traditional ways of life and offering a rare glimpse of pristine landscapes and wildlife

10 of the best affordable family adventures in Europe

From packrafting in Luxembourg to cycling in Slovenia and eclipse-spotting in Spain, here are some great ways to get the kids into the wild

‘Children see magic in the smallest adventures’: exploring Scotland with my four-year-old

On a tight budget, we stayed in a bothy, climbed a mountain, looked for Nessie and – best of all – made memories that money can’t buy