Easy Trips

This month...

…we’ve been enjoying the annual puzzle of compiling our longstanding

Behind the Scenes

How our team of writers and photographers made the February issue

Postcards

WHERE YOU’VE BEEN AND WHAT YOU’VE SEEN

Globetrotter

A WORLD OF TRAVEL NEWS AND DISCOVERIES

City of cold comfort

Quote the magazine when booking by 31 March 2017 for

SURPASS THE TEA

Afternoon tea has its time-honoured standards, but these inventive menus offer surprises beyond the scones

Sea and shore

On the New Forest’s southern edge, where ancient oaks peter

Frozen in time

For many years, it was one of London’s most hidden

Hit the fast track

With the possible exception of, say, San Marino, attempting to

Desert star

Basking in the sun for an average of 350 days

Boatels

Osbert and Palmer are two lovingly restored house boats that

TRIBES OF NEW YORK

New Yorkers divide into tribes delineated by a shared outlook on life, their group identities reinforced by the places where they hang out, eat and party. There are the smart Upper East Siders, preoccupied by the next big society gala. Only when they need a ride home does their world overlap with that of the city’s immigrant cabbies, connoisseurs of Queens’ hole-in-the-wall joints where they can get the best street food from back home. The neighbouring borough is Brooklyn, home to artists and artisans whose creativity has made it a byword for cool. But even this novelty-seeking crowd will endure a subway ride to seek out Manhattan’s unmatched cultural experiences. Nowhere does jazz music better than Harlem, the quality maintained by the vibrancy of its open-mic scene. Downtown, the club queens share a love of music – whether performing it in full drag, or throwing some shapes on a subterranean dance floor. To understand these tribes – to explore their versions of the city – is to know New York like a true local

Top gastronomic experiences

Gather seafood on wild Irish shores, follow a German brewery trail and learn to cook guided by an Italian countess, with Europe’s bucket-list epicurean breaks

Great British breaks

Explore Hindu temples, quaff the best bubbly and come face to face with eight-metre giants of the sea: there’s no need to leave British soil to get a taste of the exotic

Strange stays

From a floating tent to a millennia-old tower, these unusual abodes are the stuff that dreams are made on

PEAK practice

Head to Snowdonia in the footsteps of heroic mountaineers, for whom Welsh hills were the training ground for the ultimate adventure

Colourful weekends

You won’t need to put on rose-tinted glasses in Petra – it’s one of a select few colour-inspired locations where you can experience a full-spectrum view of the world

Mini-missions

From walking beside active volcanoes to swimming in freezing-cold lakes, here’s how to pack a miniature expedition into a humble weekend

LA FRANCE profonde

Deep in rural Burgundy, a journey by canal boat reveals a landscape of medieval churches and vineyards, where traditional French life still flows at a gentler pace

Wild weekends with kids

Set off on a campervan trip around the south of spain, seek out nature in Yorkshire or sleep under the stars in the desert – these mini-breaks will keep your mini-ones busy

You’re going where?

Bid farewell to the crowds and pack your Moldovan phrasebook – some of Europe’s greatest unsung destinations are within a weekend’s reach

The Photographer’s Story

I’ve been taking pictures of my homeland, Finnish Lapland, for

Budget Swiss Alps

Switzerland’s mountains host charming villages backed by colossal peaks and slopes that beg for outdoor adventure year-round – and not everything costs the Earth

Eating in Berlin

Berlin’s food is eclectic and creative. Old inns serve German classics and currywurst still rules, but there are gourmet kitchens, ethnic restaurants and Michelin stars, too

Alternative Lanzarote

Beyond the beach-holiday vibe, Lanzarote is a Unesco biosphere reserve of volcanic landscapes, island vineyards, history-laced villages and a legendary local architect

Three days in Tampa

Once the world’s cigar-making capital, this Floridian bayside city is flourishing thanks to its New Orleans-esque heritage district, Cuban culture and inventive dining scene

Cape Town heritage

Colour-filled suburbs, fusion cuisine, colonial-era relics and creative museums and memorials bring Cape Town’s history to life against a Table Mountain backdrop

Nature in Malaysia

Often overshadowed by Borneo, mainland Malaysia is crammed with fun for nature lovers, from primeval jungle and orchidtrailing paths to underwater sanctuaries