CITY

• For The Independent’s Michael Bywater “Fez is the opposite of Brussels” and all the better for it. As he describes the sights and sounds (you’ll find Al-Karaouine, the world’s oldest functioning university, and the notorious Chouara Tannery) Bywater urges you to lose yourself in the city – “the alleyways of the medina are so sinuous, straitened and overbuilt that there is, quite literally, no view. You never know what is around the next corner as it tilts down towards the river.” Best for getting lost: Fez
• “It’s ridiculous really. The British will visit Romania, Austria, Italy, even the Balkans. But they won’t go to Munich. They can’t pretend it is because there are no beaches – they go to Switzerland.” Alice Thompson at The Times finds that despite its relative unpopularity, she can’t help Falling in love with Munich as she discovers the city’s easy charm, Michelin-starred restaurants and nearby fairytale castles.
• The New York Times’ Jennifer Conlin spends 36 Hours in Istanbul , exploring what 2010’s European City of Culture can offer. According to her “the city is showcasing local artists in both historic areas and new museums – yet another example of how Istanbul is among the world’s most visually stimulating cities.” Recommendations range from a stroll down Istiklal Caddesi (a main thoroughfare) to a Mediterranean-Scandinavian restaurant and a music lounge housed in a former bakery.
• New inhabitant of Venice, John Brunton discovers The Venetian islands locals want to keep to themselves in the weekend’s Guardian, savouring the tourist-free zones of nearby towns – “all you do is buy an all-day public transport ticket then set off on an adventure that takes you from the steps of the Doge’s Palace, across the lagoon to the Lido, and then to the sleepy fishermen’s island of Pellestrina, that traverses the wild wetlands of the littoral, with the beaches and nature reserves of the Adriatic on one side, the calm waters of the lagoon on the other. The final leg, on the water bus, delivers you to the ancient port of Chioggia, a charming mini-Venice minus the crowds.”
• Edwin Heathcote, the FT’s architecture critic takes a tour of the town in the grip of a renaissance – Art Basel’s rising popularity has helped to forge Miami’s reinvention as a design capital: “The latest boom, though, has ended without a conspicuous legacy beyond the endless, bland apartment blocks and second homes. If there is something left over it is the reinvention of some of the city’s less palm-lined streets as design and arts districts. And the stage-set architecture of the city is proving a compelling backdrop to its reinvention as a design capital.”

ESCAPE

• Holly Finn writes about The ancient landscape of the Grand Canyon in the FT. “No faith is shaken when we’re told the oldest rock in the canyon, the Vishnu Schist at the bottom, is two billion years old. And yet, holy moly, this feels like a religious place. Looking into that fearsome 277-mile-long crack in the planet, you want to laugh, clap, sing. Then you want to stand very still and say nothing. You’d have to be wicked to leave here unmoved.”
• Best for sun-worshippers: Bondi Beach says Janet Street-Porter. Writing in the Independent, Street-Porter sings its praises describing it as “the most vibrant beach in Australia; perfect for a fun weekend break from the city. The combination of a beautiful bay, golden sands and a cosmopolitan crowd ensures that this is a beach for everyone”
• Looking for an escape? Well according to the Independent, Cyprus is your best bet. Jocasta Jones explains why – “we finally ventured west to view the ancient ruins and mosaics of Pafos, south to watch the ships pass by the bustling port town of Limassol, north to the fascinating walled city of Nicosia, the world’s last partitioned capital. We drove up into the hills to nibble on stickily preserved fruits in the enchanting village of Kakopetria, where shady squares brought welcome respite from the summer heat.” Best for island escapes: Cyprus
• The Times’ Daniel Finkelstein takes a family trip to Provence and attempts to learn the art of Golf and the flying trapeze at Club Med – “I was able to get out on the golf course. I write that as if it’s something I do routinely. In fact I’ve never been before. My golf handicap is that I can’t hit the ball. I wanted to go out and have a go, though, because the course looked so fantastic and also because I wanted to stand in the middle of the putting green and ring my broker on my mobile phone and tell him to sell my Harrods’ shares. I don’t have any Harrods’ shares, but you get what I mean.”

ADVENTURE/OUTDOORS

• Robert Adams goes on a 6 month adventure around Africa with two families (that’s five children) in tow, visiting some of the wildest parts of Africa – “North of Addis Ababa we took a hard, dusty mountain road to the ancient holy city of Lalibela and marvelled at the monolithic cave churches hewn from bare rock. The boys were captivated by the medieval world around us, the priests with their ornate gold crosses, the tunnels linking the churches, and the macabre sight of human bones sticking out of coffins and carved niches in the rock face.” This is Cape Town to Cairo – and back again
• In The Telegraph Lydia Bell gets away from the urbane pace of Cuba’s cities in search of a more relaxed way of life. Passing through the towns of Cienfuegos and Trinidad “an exquisitely preserved museum piece of cobblestone streets and sumptuous squares” Bell and her husband sit back and soak up the simple charms of these small towns – “On our way home we stop in Plaza Ignacio Agramonte and join the locals on the marble benches. We stay there until the sun fades then walk back through silent streets.” Cuba: Journey to the provincial heart
• In Iceland: Go with the floe Chris Heath from The Telegraph takes an 830 mile trip around the country, stopping for the many curiosities along the way – hot springs full of ‘uncommon’ bacteria, lava formations, waterfalls, glaciers. Culture comes in the form of a poetry reading, whale museum (which is also an indoor golf course) and erm, a penis museum – “Once you’ve been in Iceland for a while it barely seems surprising, let alone remarkable, that in a small fishing town on the northern coast a man would open what he calls the Phallalogical Mus eum, dedicated to the display of the world’s most extensive collection of mammalian penises” – but it’s the beauty of the island which most enthralls Heath.
• The Independent’s Maria Arnold, heads to a beginner-friendly ski resort in Sainte Foy as she heads to the slopes with her children on for their first time skiing: “Two great nursery slopes with magic carpets (gone are the jerky button lifts of yesteryear) got our young children off to a great start, and they quickly graduated to greens and blues. For them, the great highlight was the “Fox Run”, a narrow track through the woods with a big bump every few yards – producing squeals of delight as they came bobbing down, emerging from the trees with huge grins across their faces” Best for reluctant downhillers: Sainte Foy
• “Either everyone needed cheering up or it was national “make fun of a limey” day. Michael Jackson was on the sound system, encouraging us not to stop till we got enough. The women high-kicked, while I just looked like an arthritic old labrador on a one-way trip to the vet. I moved right as they moved left, and I shimmied when I should have sashayed.” The Times’ Will Hide finds himself enjoying the ball game, despite having to go Cheerleading with the Miami Dolphins in Southern Florida.

WILDLIFE/NATURE

• The Telegraph’s Jessamy Calkin takes his son Jonah Whale watching in South Africa, staying near the town of Hermanus, marvelling at the grace of these great creatures – “at one point she turned on to her side and Jonah and I, leaning over the side of the boat, found ourselves looking directly into her eye. I thought of Paul Watson, the eco militant…and the beginning of his fight to save the whales: ‘As the whale slid back into the water we saw his eye, which was the size of a dinner plate, and in that whale’s eye I saw recognition, compassion, empathy and understanding. Something passed between us and it changed my life for ever.’
• “When you are an old man, remember this moment,” I said to my companion, a six-year-old relative called Elliot. “Why?” said Elliot, licking his ice lolly. “Because when you are an old man the snow leopard will not exist.” – Nigel Richardson goes to mountains of Ladakh: Chasing the snow leopard, a creature which, partly due to its endangered status proves to be tantalisingly elusive.
• Sean O’Grady gets an animal education in Best for the wild at heart: South Africa, the Independent’s top tip for safari holidays: “I now know why leopards take their kills up a tree (so dinner isn’t stolen by hyenas), how to distinguish hippo and rhino tracks (hippo drag their feet) and how to age a lion (the darker the mane, the older it is).”
• In the New York Times Tara Mulholland enjoys a trip Into the Wild in Lush Guyana exploring the wildlife and off-the-beaten track isolation, although, she warns, it’s not for everybody – “At the Karanambu ranch, we ran into two Frankfurt-based couples, who, upon finding that Guyana did not provide the on-tap wildlife, chilled wines and lizard-free log cabins that, say, a chic safari trip might, had chartered a private plane to take them back to Georgetown.”

HISTORY

• Tom Chesshyre visits Mandela’s prison island, 20 years on, led by tour guides who are former inmates of the prison: “Tours to Robben Island take about four hours – 45 minutes each way on the ferry, with a walk through the prison compound and a drive around the island on buses bearing the slogan: “The journey’s never long when freedom’s the destination.”"
• In the FT, Andrew Mueller visits monuments linked to the Civil Rights movement in Montgomery, Alabama, in homage to the Ghosts of Alabama’s civil rights struggle and the Montgomery bus boycott – “A museum named after Parks, a few blocks from the King church, recalls the boycott in detail. It’s a heartening illustration of what can be accomplished by determined and reasonable people. Like all of Montgomery’s civil rights heritage, it’s worth travelling a long way to see.”

CITY

• “I didn’t travel all the way to Gothenburg to seek the spirit of Christmas in an amusement park… And yet here I was standing at the gates of Christmasland,” says Tam Leach in the Independent. “Prepared for the worst, I stepped inside. Rather irritatingly, it was beautiful.” Gothenburg Christmas market: A smorgasbord of festive fun
• “Mention Malta at a dinner party and eyes glaze over. Associations with mass tourism are ingrained,” says Nick Redmayne in The Telegraph. “However, Valletta’s bastions have endured and the city remains unconquered, a surprise of Baroque delight characterised by history, architecture and fine art.” Valletta: the heartbeat of Malta
• “…what do visitors do when the Thai capital overwhelms? Most take the easy way out, get back to their hotel rooms and switch on the air conditioning,” remarks Andrew Spooner in The Independent. “Yet there are alternatives. The city’s lesser-known parks and green spaces can provide a welcome sanctuary.” Spooner reveals the hidden green gems of Bangkok: Real Thai tranquillity
• “Winter coats Krakow in frost and snow, making this picturesque city even more beautiful – if a tad cold,” says Garrett Van Reed. “In December the main square is taken over by a huge Christmas market, with stalls selling warming bigos, a thick meaty stew, and grzaniec, Polish mulled wine.” The Observer’s Krakow: from our correspondent
• “Alexandria is a city of the imagination, which permits only ghostly glimpses of her illustrious past,” writes Teresa Levonian Cole in The Telegraph. But beyond the historical sights, Cole spends time “idling through her backstreets, sipping coffees served in tiny cups at pavement tables, lingering at simple fish restaurants overlooking a bobbing fleet of colourful boats and unwrapping the semi-opaque onion layers of her past.” Alexandria, Egypt: in praise of Alex
• Ian McCurrach is The Independent’s City Slicker: Geneva. “In sharp contrast to the general atmosphere of wealth, reserve and conservatism, you have the lively student areas of Plainpalais, Pâquis and Augustins, where impromptu concerts and art exhibitions – housed in old abandoned warehouses, such as those on Place des Volontaires – keep the counterculture vibe alive.”

ESCAPE

• In The Independent Rory Ross goes beyond the Half Moon in Jamaica. “I reached the hamlet of Negril…I wished I’d arrived sooner – I mean sooner in life. It is the sort of place that makes you forget what brought you here in the first place, and what it is you have left behind.” Jamaica: Cool in the Caribbean
• In The Times Catherine Nixey travels to Italy to Hear the Pope’s new album in Tuscany. “…the smart money for the Christmas No 1 isn’t on The X Factor but the XVI factor: Pope Benedict and his album of Latin liturgy, Alma Mater… I settled on the route between Pisa and Siena, finishing in the great Monte Oliveto Maggiore monastery, where the monks chant, for all to hear, five times a day.”
• Stephen Cave explores The ancient Egyptian city of Amarna for the FT, reporting that “in January this year, the Egyptian government lightened the travel restrictions, once again opening up this beautiful region to the intrepid sightseer.”
• Matthew Teller in The Independent offers The Traveller’s Guide to the Red Sea. Teller reveals the best of the Red Sea from diving in it, travelling afloat, staying on the shore and its history and cultural highlights.
• I’m no Alex Haley, but this feels just like home says Peter Victor in The Independent, as he returns to his parents’ birthplace – St. Lucia. “I feel divided: part tourist, part prodigal son. It strikes me that St Lucia, small as it is, is also divided: one island, but two worlds.”

OUTDOOR / ADVENTURE

• In The Observer Jeremy Hart has Gone to play golf at Nullarbor Links. I may be some time. “The Nullarbor Links, which opened last month, may not have the best-kept fairways in the world, but it can claim to be the world’s longest course – beginning in Kalgoorlie, a gold-mining town in Western Australia and ending 860 miles to the east, at the coastal town of Ceduna, South Australia. You can play it in either direction.”
• “Skiers love to talk about huge dumps of snow, epic quantities of powder   it’s their equivalent of fishermen’s tales – but what’s happening in Whistler, British Columbia, at the moment really is something special.” In The Observer Tom Robbins reports from Whistler: Too much snow? No such thing
• “Never heard of Garmisch-Partenkirchen?” asks Sean Newsom in The Sunday Times. “You’re not the only one.” In 1936, Adolf Hitler came to the town to open the Nazis’ own Winter Olympics, and – as Meehan notes – “there’s nobody quite like Adolf Hitler to give your public image the kiss of death.” But as Meehan goes Back to Germany’s best ski slopes he discovers that this is a ski resort “that deserves to be back on our list.”

FOOD

• In the FT Mary Taylor Simeti recounts Syria’s inimitable cuisine. “We also ate, of course, magnificently and uninterruptedly. Yet, at the end of the trip, what remains most precious to me is the sense of having been the guest of a gastronomic tradition of great integrity, cultivated through many centuries and with great passion. According to my guidebook, Syria is nearly self-sufficient in terms of food production. Everything we ate was fresh, local, rigorously seasonal and rich in flavour”
• Robert Ryan takes the New Los Angeles metro line for foodies in the Times. “Such is the interest in this movable feast that the Metro system has produced its own map for dining along the line.” Ryan highlights the best gastronomical stops en route.
• In Chicago’s Great Culinary Middle Ground in The New York Times, Peter Meehan notes that “the city is home to some of the world’s finest temples of haute gastronomy as well as its greatest collection of hot dog stands. But the middle ground…has been a notable absence.” But, continues Meehan, that is “No more. In the past few years, a number of chefs and restaurateurs have taken on everyday foods, revisiting, revising and approaching them with care and, often, a twist or two.”

USA

• Jaime Gross spends 36 Hours in Austin, Texas in The New York Times. “The city’s unofficial motto, “Keep Austin Weird,” blares from bumper stickers on BMWs and jalopies alike, on T-shirts worn by joggers along Lady Bird Lake and in the windows of independently owned shops and restaurants. It’s an exhortation for a city that clings to eccentricity, even in the face of rapid development.”
• Henry Shukman goes Walking Into the Earth’s Heart: The Grand Canyon in The New York Times. “Although the canyon is a desert, it’s a kind of oasis in winter – a place of peace, sequestered from the rest of the world. In three days of hiking I saw only two or three mule trains, each carrying baggage not riders, and maybe two dozen hikers in all.”
• In The New York Times Nan K.Chase is Seeing San Francisco From a Different Angle, exploring the districts of Bernal Heights and Glen Park. “Visitors to San Francisco can linger two or three days off the tourist track in this hilly and little-known tangle of streets, hiking, picnicking on fresh California fare and working up an appetite for the dozens of international restaurants and cafes they’ll find.”
• In The New York Times Harvey Araton takes a Sopranos themed bus tour…Climb Aboard, Sopranos’ Fan. Next Stop, Bada Bing.. Stops on “The Sopranos” tour include a diner under the Pulaski Skyway where the character Christopher Moltisanti was shot.

Quick links:

• MIDDLE EAST
  
• CITY
• OUTDOORS/ADVENTURE
• ESCAPE
• ART

MIDDLE EAST

• The Middle East is emerging as one of the hottest travel destinations. Annabelle Thorpe asks five experts from Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Jordan to reveal The best of the Middle East.
• As the Middle East garners much attention this weekend, Chris Haslam asks Family holiday + Jordan. Does it work? Despite a few early tears and frowns, the Dead Sea, lost city of Petra and a camel ride won over some very tough critics.
• “The restored 1920s Villa Belle Epoque has plenty of Cairo’s exotic allure yet none of its irritants” explains Teresa Machan of the Villa Belle Epoque, Cairo, “this is one of those owner-run gems where you can squander precious sightseeing hours without feeling at all guilty.”
• If you’re after a mobile phone free break, the Winter Palace, Luxor could be the hotel for you. With mobile-free zones, high tea and jasmine-filled garden, Teresa Machan reviews this Egyptian hotel.
• “You could be forgiven for thinking you’d washed up at the home of an ancient Arabian” says Teresa Machan of the Al Moudira, Luxor. Close to the Valley of Kings, the hotel is a maze of arches, domed ceilings and hidden courtyards.
• The Hilton Resort and Spa Luxor, a chic Nile-side has just undergone a $45 million revamp. Teresa Machan reveals the highlights and lowpoints of this luxury hotel in Egypt.
• Ruined forts, remote villages and dramatic canyons are the highlights of Oman.
Annabelle Thorpe tells us that visitors are missing out in Oman by sticking too close to the luxury hotels and private beaches. Her advice? Take the high roads to find Oman’s hidden treasures.

CITY

• If the Parisians have put you off Paris, allow Pauline Harris and Simon Kuper to explain. Both residents of Paris, Harris and Kuper have created A user’s guide to understanding Parisians. This enlightening guide sheds light on the interesting behaviour of those in France’s capital.
• Jane Ure-Smith reveals the best of Berlin in Berlin’s Coming of Age, and finds a city that changes on every visit.
• “Residents of Juneau brag that their town is the most beautiful capital city in America, and they have a strong argument” says Cornelia Dean after 36 Hours in Juneau, Alaska. With its rainforest, glaciers and whales, perhaps the residents are right.
• Lionel Beehner looked beyond the garbage and torn-up streets of Lipscani, a small pocket of Bucharest, and discovers a hub of arts, culture and night life. As Lipscani, a Bucharest District, Struts Again, Beehner finds the best watering holes to soak up the atmosphere.
• In Spain, Ben Ross does Travel By Numbers: Madrid. From the Temple of Debod to the oldest restaurant in the world, it all adds up perfectly. Apart from the 0 complimentary drinks on the flight.

ESCAPE

• If you enjoyed a round of golf this sunny bank holiday weekend, and are thirsty for more, Brian Viner heads out the USA for a game. Despite vultures, alligators and snakes on the course, he maintains that There’s nothing finer than golf in Carolina…

• If you’re on the hunt for an island hideaway and all its tropical trimmings, the Independent can help. The Big Six: Latin American island retreats features six island escapes in places such as Belize, Honduras and Ecuador.
• The Villa Lucia health spa in Tuscany isn’t all about pain and denial. On the contrary, Adrian Mourby enjoys Wine and chocolate on the ultimate health retreat.
• Joshua Stein ventures into the mountains of northern Italy, discovering tiny villages that have fostered different culinary specialities. From white beans to wild boar, porcini to brusso, Stein gives us A taste of rural Liguria.

OUTDOOR/ADVENTURE

• Amelia Hill goes kayaking on the Dordogne and takes the river at a gentle pace. In idyllic solitude, amidst dragonflies and kingfishers, she wonders where all the Brits have gone.
• Taking A road trip across Namibia’s unexplored south, one of the most sparsely populated places on Earth, John Gimlette finds that it’s not all tough and rough. Chic does exist in the desert.
• As a 45ft yacht glides through the blue waters, Gareth McLean would be forgiven for thinking he was in the Cote D’azur or the Seychelles. No, he was Sailing the tiny islands off of Lanzarote – a far cry from Lanzarote’s tacky image.

ART

• If you think Tintin is merely childs’ play, think again. Charles de Gaulle, the Dalai Lama and Andy Warhol have all been influenced by the Belgian character. Andrew Mueller visits Belgium where The Hergé Museum celebrates Tintin. He discovers that there’s more to Tintin than Tintin, and more to the Herge than Tintin.
• Artists of the world descent on Russia for the forthcoming Biennale of international modern art. Tom Parfitt guides us through the exhibition spaces and edge hangouts and reveals The top spots for catching up with Moscow’s new art elite.
• Every year in autumn art-lovers descend on the German capital for Art Forum, a contemporary art fair exhibiting works from around the world. As Art Renews Another Strip of Berlin … Kimberley Bradley picks out the best of the galleries.

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John Julius Norwich, writing for The Financial Times finds that Bhutan is everything he could have hoped for in Bhutan’s unique identity: “The old clichés were rolled out again and again… In a way, I felt I knew it all already. Anyway, the whole thing sounded too good to be true; Shangri-La, as everybody knew, didn’t exist. Then, last year, we went there – and found that it did.” A final round-up from Claire Wrathall highlights the most luxurious lodges Bhutan has to offer. Lesley Downer paints a lavish portrait of the country her father loved in Living among the hill tribes of Laos: “My father was one of two people in the world – other than the native people themselves – who spoke the languages of the Yao and Hmong hill tribes. He lived in their villages in Vietnam and later in Laos for months at a time and came home with stories of sleeping snuggled up against the horse in winter to keep warm, trekking in the mountains, keeping an eye out for tigers, and hiding under a table in Saigon with his Vietnamese mistress, Madame Ving.” Alice Albinia charts the numerous changes as she travels The road between China and Pakistan: “I have travelled through Pakistan at least eight times…I have friends from Karachi to Kalam, a salwar kameez (traditional dress) for every occasion, and an array of choice Urdu swear words. There are parts of the country I know better than the land I grew up in. And yet standing on the outside, looking in, I feel afraid.”

In The New York Times Michael Kaminer writes of the slow process of gentrification in Skid row to hip in Toronto as “block by block, they [the young and artsy] are transforming this stretch of Dundas Street West from a grimy skid row into a bright enclave filled with quirky bookstores, vegan restaurants and organic cafes.” In Root, root, root and buy me some eel Ingrid K. Williams’s visit to a Tokyo baseball game provides an illuminating insight into Japanese culture: “The fans of the team in the field maintained a respectful hush, interrupted only by an exuberant wave of applause after each out. Questionable calls were never booed. No jeers rang out when an error was made. These fans radiated only love for their teams.” In Tasting Slovenian cuisine right on the farm, Hannah Wallace gives the big cities a miss in search of agricultural tourism on farms in the Karst region of Slovenia, and is impressed by the food – “Next came green salad topped with brown beans and sautéed eggplant, finished with olive oil and sea salt from nearby salt pans. Then it was roasted veal with herbs and sides of roasted red peppers, gnocchi and a narrow slice of zucchini-flower frittata (called frtalja) with fresh herbs. The vegetables had been picked that day, the meat recently slaughtered.”

In Live high on the hog in the Languedoc for The Guardian, Ian Belcher finds the range of activities on offer at Les Jardins de Saint Benoît hugely enjoyable: “I’ve seen the future of holiday villages and it involves taking pot shots at wild boar, treading Corbières grapes, and – if you’re feeling reckless – tickling speckled trout. Wind surfing and sailing lessons? They’re just so last season, chéri.” In Following the green line of the Iron Curtain Kate Connolly treks through the nature reserve that has now sprung along the old border between East and West Germany. “For four decades up to the end of the cold war in 1989, around 600 threatened species of animal and plant life were given a free rein in a no man’s land overshadowed by minefields, metal fences and watchtowers. The legacy is a unique and extraordinarily rich chain of ad hoc nature reserves running for nearly 1,400km.” Kathryn Tomasetti sings the praises of Turkey’s new trains in Turkey: from Istanbul by train on a budget, describing them as “spotless, spacious and relatively efficient…the train network connects many of Turkey’s main sights, including Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara, Ephesus and Lake Van.” Adrian Mourby delights in the Food and opera at the Tuscan Sun Festival, the annual festival in the small town of Cortona. in the afternoons “I felt I had the city to myself while the shopkeepers, wine merchants and farmers took their rest. This is the charm of Cortona. Its streets and piazzas are never clogged with tourists.” This week the Great French weekends series went to Pas de Calais: The North of France is rather underrated when it comes to tourist destinations but Liz Boulter discovers the hidden gems with a little help from her greeter – “locals with a passion for their area, who will take you (for free) off the beaten track, to places that match your interests.”

In The Telegraph Lisa Young hits the Big cat country in the Pantanal, a Unesco World Heritage site in Brazil: “A huge, golden jaguar has just landed a few feet in front of our small car. The solitary creature stands in the middle of the gravel track. Its thick head turns to look at us, and then slowly and provocatively, the jaguar moves along the road like a model down a catwalk.” In Stagecoach Festival, USA: King of the road country music fan Jon Blair gets into the swing of things as he heads to Palm Springs, driving a Butchko motor home most of the way: “As for the music, some of it was fantastic, some was more like teenage pop, and some was a revelation. With three stages going constantly from midday until well into the night, one was spoilt for choice.” Thailand’s Issan Province is A breath of fresh air by the Mekong for Sasha Bates: “I thought I knew Thailand – Bangkok, the hills, the beaches – and was slightly tired of what I knew. Or more specifically, I was fed up with the countless visitors, and the industries set up to cater for their needs.”

In Making waves for The Independent, Steve Connor’s base is one of the huts built by Marconi, inventor of the radio, for his experiments; all whilst exploring the charms of the Lizard Peninsula in Penzance. If camping’s never been your thing Hannah Russell might just persuade you in her round up of Five luxury French campsites. In Fore site Claudia Winkleman surmounts bad weather and eyesight for a golfing holiday, complete with a little help from the staff at Penha Longa Hotel. “Robert Judd came on holiday to the Penha Longa six years ago and hasn’t left since. He is now one of their golf coaches. At this point, I should explain that I am allergic to any form of exercise. Sweating makes me actually cry, so it was with trepidation that I got into his golf buggy. ” For a real taste of Lebanon, go back to the land according to Joy Lo Dico, who visits Souk-el-Tayeb farmers’ market in Beirut, where efforts to reconnect the land and the city are helping bridge the emerging gulf between the modern-day Beirut and rural Lebanon. “It hums with a mix of Eurotrash style and Middle Eastern traffic chaos: loud, brash and ostentatiously wealthy. As with many capital cities, it offers a façade behind which lies quite a different country.” Peace and quiet are a stone’s throw from the coast at West Penwith in Cornwall, where Mark Rowe revels in the isolation of complete and utter isolation from the tourist tat of Land’s End: “Even on a bright summer’s day, you will find tranquillity among the empty upland granite moors – the cairns, stone circles and rings are your only companions.”

“Remote barely covers it. Nihiwatu, set in 483 acres of lush rainforest, follows the Sumbanese “less is more” philosophy, housing just 30 guests in villas and bungalows. ” For The Times Kate Graham gets away from it all on Sumba: the wild little sister of Bali. Kate Quill sees life through a lens as she goes on A photography course in Abruzzo: “I had expected to be confronted by an anally retentive bearded fellow — all telephoto lenses, nylon bags and Velcro-fastening combats — blinding me with jargon. In fact our three tutors were young, fun and friendly. Dressed like members of an indie rock band, they were all trained, accomplished photographers.”