A Wild Weekend on the 42 Acres estate near Frome offers fresh air, cosy rooms, sumptuous food and a chance to get hands dirty with some land regeneration work

The honk of the geese as they take off from the lake is comically loud, reeds quiver and the reflection of the clouds on the water is momentarily fractured. A butterfly flits by, landing on my boot. We’re on a guided walk at 42 Acres, a regenerative farm, nature reserve and retreat centre near Frome in Somerset – and the whole place feels vibrantly alive.

Our guide Tasha Stevens-Vallecillo, a font of knowledge on plants and wild food and one of the visionaries shaping the retreat, stops to point out yarrow, ribwort plantain and a giant white reishi mushroom as we walk. “There’s medicine everywhere on the land. You just need to know where to look,” she says.

A book club in a disused petrol station, an electronic music hub in an old bus garage … Yorkshire’s largest city is a hotbed of grassroots creativity

‘Leeds has an independent, thriving arts scene,” says Emma Beverley, the director of programmes at last year’s cultural showcase, Leeds 2023. “A lot of that is grounded in an artist-led movement that is pretty pioneering.”

In 2017, Leeds had put in a bid to become European capital of culture, with £1m already invested, which hit the buffers when Brexit automatically ruled any British cities out of contention. In typically stubborn Yorkshire fashion, the city pressed ahead with its own year-long celebration of culture.

On a weekend break in rural Lincolnshire, the ‘smiling yogi’ takes this ancient practice back to its origins, with an emphasis on mantras and mindfulness

Often when I’ve turned up at various yoga studios in London, the groups I’ve encountered have been overwhelmingly white, svelte and middle class. Perhaps I’ve not found the right class, but as a south Asian woman, it always felt like I was in somebody else’s space.

Yoga originated in ancient India, and I wanted to connect with my Indian roots, so I started looking for an authentic Indian yoga teacher in the UK. I thought it would be a lot easier than it was. In a 2020 report about UK yoga, 91% of practitioners who responded to the survey were white, and south Asian instructors regularly speak out about the lack of diversity in the industry.

Its glorious beaches, great food and fine walking make it a magnet for Portuguese families in summer, but this Alentejo resort is largely unknown to British visitors

Coastal and river beaches coalesce beside the Alentejo’s Vila Nova de Milfontes, a lyrical name meaning “new town of a thousand springs”. This resort at the mouth of the Mira River is a magnet for Portuguese families in high summer but largely unknown to British visitors, despite its glorious beaches, great food and fine walking.

At this spot in the upper half of the 100km-long Parque Natural do Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina, the main beaches are found at the ria, where the river meets the sea. Across the ria from town is Praia das Furnas, a long beach, which is reached by car or ferry, with sandbars at low tide that make playing in the crashing waves fun. Nearer town are Praia da Franquia, Praia de Vila Nova Milfontes and Praia de Farol (Lighthouse Beach), with its sloping sands.

Unlike its noisy neighbour Mykonos, this peaceful island is known for its laid-back cafe-bars, taverna dinners and ancient footpaths that link beautiful villages

We are staying in the House of Light (from £62 a night, £90 in summer, sleeps three, on Airbnb), which is a work of art where even the shower drains through locally handcrafted ceramic. I pad along barefoot to the terrace and sit down on the stone bench in the sun, looking across a field of daisies, poppies and mallow to the crumbling dovecote.

As with all the villages of Tinos, Kato Klisma is busy in the summer months, says our host, but in May it is bliss; silent except for whistling bee-eaters. If I walk down one nearby alley, the croaking of frogs leads to a maze of bamboo-encircled fields where sheep graze on artichokes. The valley stretches to Kolymbithra, a sweep of white sand drifting up to blue cliffs, backed by dunes and lagoons populated by ducks and wading birds.

A life-affirming spirit of joy and entertainment builds from noon at the beach bars and restaurants in this laid-back coastal town near Cádiz

Even the geology conspires to make Sanlúcar de Barrameda feel laid-back. Spain slows and drifts out peacefully in this coastal cul-de-sac of estuarine sandbanks, wide beaches and shallow rippling sea in the corner of the province of Cádiz. It certainly helps that there are no rocky cliffs and surfer waves, and that the thick sand keeps the beaches soundproofed and free from the rattling drawl of pebbles.

I live among uneven green mountains in the Sierra de Cádiz, so a visit to this flat expanse of navy blue and cream is tantamount to therapy. Each August, horses thunder down the sands in a series of evening races, but that burst of exertion aside, the mood on its several beaches is generally tranquil. Especially in winter and spring.

There is little more to Centuri than the harbour and its restaurants, but the setting and the speciality dish lend it a sophistication despite its remoteness

As I dangle my feet in the cool, clear waters off northern Corsica, I have only a yacht moored 100 metres away for company. Sailing would have been the more glamorous way to arrive at the port of Centuri, a small fishing harbour on the far north-west tip of Cap Corse, but instead I have the thrill of the drive.

I follow the twisting lanes carved out of the steep hillsides that descend into the sea with barely room for two cars to pass. While the drive may be heart-stopping, the views are simply jaw-dropping; Centuri comes into view when I stop at the Moulin Mattei look-out point, where a terracotta-roofed windmill is set on the former site of the island’s much-loved Cap Corse distillery.

Port Talbot, Rochdale, Wick, Croydon and Kettering – we continue our series on places the guidebook writers skip
Where tourists seldom tread, parts 1-7

Port Talbot recently returned to the spotlight, when Tata Steel announced electrification and layoffs last month and the BBC broadcast Michael Sheen’s television series The Way this week. Politicians and foreign companies can shut down entire towns with impressive equanimity when the factories they are mothballing and the lives they are destroying are invisible. Port Talbot, however, would seem hard to ignore. As you approach on the M4, which undulates gamely on stilts across the skyline, the view of the vast Tata Steel plant is bracing. The hills on the inland side are squat, solid-looking lumps but greenish and pleasant enough. The sea glints on the far side of the works. You may catch sight of beautiful Aberavon Beach. Whitish steam – and a 50th of the UK’s CO ₂ emissions – curls up into grey estuarial cloud.

Our tipsters recall their adventures while exploring 10 of Europe’s finest cities

A museum store – but not as you know it... The minute you spot the enormous mirrored ark that is Rotterdam ’s Depot , you know you’re in for something extraordinary. Open to the public, its Escher-like staircases are designed to encourage visitors to get lost; to discover objects from below, from above, to look at the backs of pictures. Tours (you get to wear a white coat for this bit) give visitors insight into the storage of objects and the complex process of a museum loan. And when you are full of wonder, you can fill up on delicious teas and food at the rooftop restaurant, enjoying city views from the roof garden. Tickets are €20.
Lydia Thornley