Great Yarmouth’s Britannia Pier bagged the top prize at the National Piers Society’s annual Pier of the Year competition – and it’s easy to see why. With a rich history dating back to 1858, the pier has recently undergone a serious renovation and now features two on-site pubs, food stalls, various rides and one of the country’s few surviving pier theatres. But there are plenty of other piers for a fun family day out. Here are some of our favourites.

Llandudno Pier, Conwy

Last year’s Pier of the Year winner was this “splendidly Victorian” structure in north Wales, said The Sunday Times. Stretching 2,295ft into the Irish Sea, it “takes a fair bashing” from the elements. There’s a Ferris wheel at the landward end and benches dotted all along it for visitors to contemplate the “beauties of the bay on one side and the massive limestone headland of Great Orme on the other”.

Clevedon Pier, Somerset

If it’s beauty you’re after, head to Clevedon Pier in north Somerset. Opened in 1869 “to receive paddle steamer passengers from Devon and Wales”, it’s England’s only Grade I-listed pier made with “discarded wrought iron railway lines shaped into eight arches” almost 15 metres high, said The Guardian. “Clevedon without its pier would be like a diamond with a flaw,” the then poet laureate John Betjeman said during a campaign to save it from demolition in 1980.

Southwold Pier, Suffolk

Southwold remains “delightfully unspoilt”, said Cambridgeshire Live. Expect “colourful beach huts”, a working lighthouse and an Edwardian pier stretching into the North Sea that’s “packed with entertainment, shops and eateries”. It’s perhaps one of the UK’s “most eccentric” piers thanks to the arcade of “wacky” slot machines designed by inventor Tim Hunkin that provide “endless seaside fun”.

Blackpool piers, Lancashire

Blackpool is the “proud home” of three piers, said The Guardian. The oldest surviving is the Grade II-listed North Pier, which features an “art-deco theatre, a two-tier carousel, bars and an arcade”. On the Central Pier you’ll find the big wheel and a bar with live shows, while the South Pier promises a “high-octane funfair” with a rollercoaster and reverse bungee ride. Just watch out for seagulls when you stop for fish and chips.

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The Mediterranean is a place, a mood, a cooking ethos. Twenty-two countries border the cherished body of water, each with its own specialized manner of feeding their people. These books are no comprehensive consideration of every kitchen in the Mediterranean. But they sure are an exhilarating starting point.

‘The Food of Morocco’ by Paula Wolfert

Wolfert’s original book on Moroccan food was published in 1973, far ahead of its time in its insistence on the proper way to cook the food of the North African country. In 2011, she published an even more deeply considered version of that landmark book. “The Food of Morocco” is “hardly the quintessential Paula Wolfert cookbook,” said LA Weekly. “This book is Paula Wolfert.”

Her influence in the intervening decades was immense. The popularity of clay pots for cooking and the ubiquity of preserved lemons in many an American kitchen are all Wolfert’s doing. With “The Food of Morocco,” tagines of all sorts, lively salads with touches of flower water, and the proper way to make couscous can become second nature in American kitchens far from the shores of Rabat and Tangier. ($60, HarperCollins, Amazon)

‘The Food of Sicily’ by Fabrizia Lanza

Italy points its finger well into the Mediterranean Sea, but you could argue that the region most influenced by that body of water is the island of Sicily. Lanza runs a cooking school in Palermo, and “The Food of Sicily” (2023) sings a song many Americans know well, being that so many Italian immigrants to the U.S. were Sicilian.

But no entire cuisine travels with its migrants, so “The Food of Sicily” is loaded with surprises, too — swordfish stuffed with garlic and mint, octopus salad, and watermelon pudding included. Sicily has “always been at the crossroads of the Mediterranean,” said Lanza to Monocle magazine. “It’s a place where people have brought their own unique customs to enrich our table.” ($40, Artisan, Amazon)

‘The Glorious Foods of Greece’ by Diane Kochilas

Love your Greek salad and gyros to your heart’s oregano-laced content. There is a world of Greek food most Americans have never experienced. A “landmark for Greek cooking in the U.S.,” Kochilas' seminal 2001 book, “The Glorious Foods of Greece,” is the result of eight years of research across the country’s varied regions, from the mountains of Macedonia and Thrace in the north to Greece’s six main island groups, and “displays a deep grasp of history,” said Publishers Weekly.

The 400-odd recipes include savory pies of all stripes, a mind-boggling array of uses for many styles of cheese, and boundless vegetable dishes. Moussaka, you are adored, but Kochilas will have you seeing Greek cuisine in colors beyond blue and white. ($40, ThriftBooks, Amazon)

‘Istanbul and Beyond: Exploring the Diverse Cuisines of Turkey’ by Robyn Eckhardt

Turkey, a sprawling, varied country, in the hands of Eckhardt and the photographer David Hagerman, is a “picaresque portrait of a country that doesn’t really have a national cuisine at all; it has dozens,” said Max Falkowitz at Saveur. There are the famed Urfa chiles of the country’s southeast, the seafood, greens and corn in the north that edge the Black Sea, and the grand amalgam of influences in Istanbul.

“Istanbul and Beyond” (2017) is organized according to a number of Turkey’s regions, so you acquire a sense of place as you deepen your knowledge of Mediterranean cooking. Corn and creme fraiche biscuits, brown butter scrambled eggs, sun-dried tomato and pomegranate salad, and herbed fish cakes — this is Turkish food in its truest, most varied form with an aperture in every recipe. ($22, HarperCollins, Amazon)

‘Lebanon: Cooking the Foods of My Homeland’ by Anissa Helou

In “Lebanon” (2026), a book both personal and anthropological, the famed Beirut-born author Helou “returns to her girlhood roots, examining the country’s regional cooking as she makes her way from place to place,” said The Boston Globe. She learns aspects of her native cuisine she had never fathomed. Imagine, then, what we nonnatives glean.

Yogurt is everywhere, from dressing fava bean fatteh (bread salad) to wee meatballs. Vegetables, like chicory, plus artichokes and potatoes, are braised in extra-virgin olive oil. Zucchini and cabbages are stuffed; fish is cooked with tahini. This is Lebanese cuisine in all its familiar, surprising brilliance. ($50, Ecco, Amazon)

‘The New Book of Middle Eastern Food’ by Claudia Roden

Be not fooled by the title. The Middle East is a construct created by people in the West. Across 500-plus pages, the “great cook” and “captivating food historian” Roden captures the foods of countries like Greece, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey, said the blog Cooks Without Borders. What do all these countries have in common? Yes, they abut the Mediterranean Sea, just not the well-trod Mediterranean of the average American tourist.

In the book’s 16 central chapters, Roden wanders from central categories such as yogurt, egg dishes, breads and pickles, showing how the countries of this region prepare stunning variations of common foodstuffs. Your kitchen repertoire will mature as handily as your new lens on geography will if you take an open-eyed tour of “The New Book of Middle Eastern Food” (1985). ($55, Knopf, Amazon)

‘The New Spanish Table’ by Anya von Bremzen

All the hits are here — Spanish tortilla, patatas bravas, various kinds of paella. But “The New Spanish Table” (2005) is also a snapshot of the revolution in cooking that happened across Spain during the early part of the 20th century, an era in which Spanish cuisine began “rapidly usurping the culinary dominance of Italy and France,” said Publishers Weekly.

Von Bremzen spent decades traveling across and writing about Spain. There is both modernity and history in this book. The text profiles the cooking of such influential figures as the Catalan chef Ferran Adrià and the Basque Country’s Juan Mari Arzak and provides recipes for centuries-old dishes from Madrid. ($25, ThriftBooks, Amazon)

A “tangled web of 60-somethings” juggle “friendship, divorce, bust-ups, romance”, and the “decades of baggage” they “quietly carry on their backs” in this Australian six-parter, said Phoebe Loomes in The Senior. But the “charming and surprising” series shows that people in their 60s have “no appetite to slow down”.

It’s a “mood piece” and an “array of portraits of characters who have actually lived some life” and been “formed by meaningful experiences”, who are introduced to us at a “later stage” than we usually see on our screens, wrote Lucy Mangan in The Guardian. “They and we are only better off for it”.

“Beautifully written” and directed with “requisite subtlety”, the Paramount+ show stars Hugo Weaving as a “bonhomous retired cameraman”. A reunion of his old friends sparks a “feast” of “hilarious and heartbreaking” storylines shot through with the type of “irreverence and honesty that makes you instantly devoted to the whole endeavour”.

The characters’ history is “part of the attraction of the story”, with “marriages, children, careers, mistakes” and “decades-long friendships” that make their choices “more complicated, not less interesting”, said Scott Podmore on Starts At 60.

And they’re “not old old”, said Anthony Morris on Screen Hub. Yes, they are nearing retirement, but while some of them seem to have everything “worked out”, others are “unsure of themselves, questioning their choices” and “trying to figure out where they’re heading”. The “Sydney backdrop” makes “everyone’s troubles” seem “just that little bit more glamorous”.

“Even if you’re not in the target audience”, this is a “witty, thoughtful and often funny drama” that is well worth a watch. But if you are older and you’ve watched other shows by father-son producers John and Dan Edwards, you “finally” get the chance to “see your generation complain about aches and pains and talk about the good old days”.

With the kids back in school and movie theaters buzzing with their best audience numbers in years, September might be the perfect time to catch a matinee. These six upcoming features should be on your list of possibilities.

‘Fall 2: Deadpoint’

2022’s “Fall” was an unexpected low-budget hit with a simple premise — two best friends climb to the top of a television broadcast tower in the middle of nowhere, get stranded and must figure out a way down. In the sequel, Jax (Harriet Slater) links up with her late sister Shiloh’s friend Luce (Arsema Thomas) to embark on an insanely dangerous trail in Thailand, where they are soon stranded by a rain-driven rockslide. With a “great” concept, directors Michael and Peter Spierig’s film “looks like it’ll have a ton of high-tension moments,” said Anthony Nash at Coming Soon. (in theaters Sept. 2)

‘The Uprising’

Andrew Garfield is billed simply as “The Ploughman” in the new film from director Paul Greengrass (“The Bourne Supremacy”). It tackles the historically consequential 1381 Peasants’ Revolt in England against King Richard II (Woody Norman), driven by overtaxation and oppression. Cosmo Jarvis stars as Wat Tyler, the real historical figure at the heart of the uprising. The film, including a siege of London filmed in the signature shaky-cam Greengrass style, has “modern parallels in the anger, inequality and desire for justice that fueled the 14th-century uprising,” said Sophie Miller at Rolling Stone. (in theaters Sept. 10)

‘Bad Apples’

Featuring one of those film concepts whose poor taste is part of the pitch, “Bad Apples” stars Saoirse Ronan as Maria, a struggling young elementary school teacher who inadvertently imprisons Danny (Eddie Waller), the class bully, in her basement when neither the principal (Rakie Ayola) or Danny’s father, Josh (Robert Emms), seem capable of controlling his destructive behavior. She then plays dumb as a massive law enforcement operation is launched to find him. This “warped, needling and sometimes bitterly funny” film is an “odd, wicked little amorality tale,” said Guy Lodge at Variety. (in theaters Sept. 18)

‘If I Go Will They Miss Me’

Lil Ant (Bodhi Dell) is a cerebral 12-year-old with a Greek mythology obsession whose father, Big Ant (J. Alphonse Nicholson), returns from prison and immediately assesses his son as soft and sets about trying to toughen him up, much to the consternation of Lil Ant’s mother, Lozita (Danielle Brooks). Director Walter Thompson-Hernández’s film, full of metaphors and magical realism, unfolds like a cinematic poem. A “gorgeously composed” coming-of-age story, it is “defined by a bracing sense of wonder and an evocatively delivered humanism,” said Robert Daniels at Roger Ebert. (in theaters Sept. 18)

‘The Musical’

Looking to take its place alongside the great education satires like “Election,” director Giselle Bonilla’s movie follows Doug (Will Brill), an elementary school’s embittered theater teacher who uses his annual production to sabotage efforts to become a blue ribbon institution by staging a deranged musical about 9/11.

All because he discovers the object of his affections, Abigail (Gillian Jacobs), is involved with the slick Principal Brady (Rob Lowe). A film about “kids play-acting a previous generation’s trauma,” its “exuberant, hand-made quality” plays like a student film, though in the best possible way,” said Bilge Ebiri at Vulture. (In theaters Sept. 18)

‘Primetime’

Moviegoers of a certain age surely remember the brief run of a show called “To Catch a Predator” hosted by Chris Hansen in which actors play underage kids who lure predatory men in conjunction with law enforcement, amounting to a nationally televised series of sting operations. “Primetime” tells this pretty insane story as a “dark-but-oddly-zany bio-thriller” starring Robert Pattinson as Hansen, said Iana Murray and Jack King at GQ, and its “cultural relevance and basis on real events could be accessible enough to take Pattinson all the way to the Academy Awards.” Skyler Gisondo and singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers costar as an actor and a decoy in the stings. (in theaters Sept. 25)

Set beside the “cobalt” Moray Firth, a half-hour drive east of Inverness, Nairn is “arguably Scotland’s finest seaside town”, says Robin McKelvie in The Telegraph. Its beaches are beautiful, with their “starched white” sands, and its high street is “as elegant as any in the Highlands”. It is “alive with independent businesses” including bijou galleries, “old-school bakers” and “Instagram-friendly” artisan cafés.

Try the ice cream at James’s (the “creative” flavours, such as almond croissant, are a delight) and the Scottish seafood at Strathnairn Beach Café. The “classiest” place to stay is the Golf View Hotel – “a Victorian palace where time stands gloriously still”. And there’s much to see nearby, including Cawdor Castle (of “Scottish play infamy”) and wild places such as Culbin Forest, where scenes from Christopher Nolan’s recent “The Odyssey” were shot.

A wild coastal walk in New Zealand

At the northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island lie the Marlborough Sounds, a maze of deep, jagged ocean inlets and forested peninsulas. Tracing the length of one of these wild, winding promontories is the glorious, 46-mile Queen Charlotte Track, says Helen Pickles in The Times.

It’s one of the country’s most spectacular long-distance hiking paths, and the only one on which tour operators (such as Wilderness Guides and Marlborough Sounds Adventure Co) offer daily luggage transfers, typically included in a four-day package with nights in lovely, remote lodges. There are some steep climbs, but the highest point is only at 475 metres, and it’s all worth it for the “breath-catching ridge-line views”, sense of isolation and “dazzlingly empty” beaches along the way. Go between October and April, but note that the weather is always “capricious” – so pack sturdy waterproofs and plenty of spare clothes, including shorts and T-shirts.

Brescia’s amazing Roman remains

Long known mainly as an industrial city, Brescia isn’t touristy – but it’s a handsome place, says Mia Aimaro Ogden in The Sunday Times, and worth visiting especially for its “extraordinary” Roman remains. They include amazingly vivid temple frescoes and one of the finest surviving Roman bronzes, the 6ft-high “Winged Victory of Brescia”.

While in town, be sure to see the frescoes by Giandomenico Tiepolo (son of Giambattista) in the church of San Faustino, and the “marvellous” Santa Giulia history museum, which occupies a monastery dating back to AD753. Stay if you can at Lenel, a stylish new boutique hotel housed in a “surprisingly lovely” old electricity substation; eat at El Licinsì, an excellent osteria; and note that Lake Garda lies only 15 minutes away by train.

I’ve never been as excited by fossilised monsters as I am by living creatures, says Ruaridh Nicoll in the FT, but my four-year-old son is crazy about dinosaurs. Not only can he tell an Opisthocoelicaudia from a Micropachycephalosaurus, he can actually pronounce their names. So I decided to take him on holiday to Utah. With an array of “major dino-sites”, this state is arguably the best place on Earth to entertain a “dinosaur-mad” child, and it has enough glorious wild places to keep most parents happy too. We flew in to Salt Lake City, in the north of the state, and drove three hours east to Vernal, which sits at the top of the Dinosaur Diamond – a roughly diamond-shaped, 486-mile highway loop that passes close to all the places we wanted to see.

In Salt Lake City, we visited the Natural History Museum of Utah, where Santiago was thrilled by some “Tyrannosaurus gnashers” and a whole herd of Allosaurus skeletons “bringing down a massive, similarly unfleshed Barosaurus”. And Vernal itself was fun, with big fibreglass dinosaurs in front of half of its cafés, petrol stations and hotels, including our own, the Dinosaur Inn & Suites. More thrilling, however, was the Dinosaur National Monument, a reserve 30 minutes’ drive away through the foothills of the Uinta Mountains, “a rubble world glistening with every mineral colour imaginable”. Here, in 1909, the palaeontologist Earl Douglass dug up more than 350 tonnes of fossils, including Diplodocus and Stegosaurus, but left many more: there is a covered gallery where 1,500 bones “still poke from the dirt”.

At nearby Green River, we spent an idyllic hour paddling in the cool mountain water, then went kayaking and fishing at Red Fleet Lake, where we saw the footprints left by a Theropod on the rocky shore. Among other highlights were the Utahraptor State Park, the Prehistoric Museum in Price and – my favourite – the wonderfully remote Nine Mile Canyon, where ancient petroglyphs depicting animals and “spooky trapezoidal people” adorn the towering rocks.

Falling in love is close to a universal human experience. So it’s no surprise that audiences return again and again to see glamorous movie stars go through both the mundane and sublime beats of getting swept away — and sometimes shattered — by love, as in these ten brilliant films.

‘Casablanca’ (1942)

“Casablanca” may be unique in the history of cinema for its timelessness and cultural staying power. Humphrey Bogart is Rick Blaine, a gimlet-eyed bar owner in Vichy-governed Morocco, who must choose between his desire for his former lover, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), and his ability to use letters of transit for her and her husband, Laszlo (Paul Henreid), an anti-Nazi resistance leader. The iconic film “continues to fascinate audiences in a way that is beyond explanation, except to resolve that the picture seems to result from and fully encompass that somewhat fantastical notion of Movie Magic,” said Brian Eggert at Deep Focus Review. (HBO Max)

‘Roman Holiday’ (1953)

Audrey Hepburn plays Ann, the glamorous princess of some unnamed European kingdom, who is on an exhausting goodwill tour in Rome and slips out for some fun and respite. When she falls asleep on a bench, she is attended to by journalist, Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck), who accompanies her on a tour of the city, planning a scoop but eventually falling for her. The lovingly rendered portrait of Rome has inspired countless romantic getaways to the city. The film “takes an understated, dignified approach worthy of its royal protagonist” and rather than hitting the familiar beats of the romantic comedy, it ultimately “swerves to something more poignant,” said Caroline Siede at The A.V. Club. (Prime Video)

‘Doctor Zhivago’ (1965)

Director David Lean’s follow-up to “Lawrence of Arabia” is another sweeping historical epic, this one set in revolutionary Russia, where doctor and poet Yuri Zhivago (Omar Sharif) and Lara (Julie Christie) circle one another before, during and after the First World War and the tumultuous Bolshevik revolution.

Their simmering chemistry carries the narrative through war, hardship, romance and tragedy, set to the now-beloved score by Maurice Jarre. It is a “timeless tale, outliving the era when it was set and the era when it was made,” and even with its 3 hour and 20 minute running time, is an “unforgettable experience,” said William Cook at the BBC. (Prime Video)

‘The Way We Were’ (1973)

Director Sydney Pollack’s “The Way We Were” tells the story of the love between the handsome, conservative Hubbell (Robert Redford) and the rabble-rousing communist Katie (Barbra Streisand), set against the backdrop of the early 1950s Hollywood blacklisting affair. They meet in college, marry and then struggle to reconcile their politics when they move West so that Hubbell can pursue his dreams as a screenwriter. It’s “one of those romantic melodramas that can send you to bed in inconsolable tears,” said Steve Vineberg at Critics at Large, yet is nevertheless a “deeply lovable film. (Prime Video)

‘Before Sunrise’ (1995)

The simple premise of director Richard Linklater’s “Before Sunrise” is part of its enormous charm. Celine (Julie Delpy) and Jesse (Ethan Hawke) meet on a Vienna-bound train. Taken with each other, Celine agrees to continue talking with Jesse in Vienna before his morning flight. Their one, magical, conversation-driven night together is now the definitive Gen X romance. A film that “isn't just about 23-year-olds in love, but about the condition of being 23 years old,” it also provides a “breathtaking end to, simply put, one of cinema's finest depictions of the delightful immaturity of being young and being in love,” said Tim Brayton at Alternate Ending. (Prime Video)

‘In the Mood for Love’ (2000)

In perhaps the most beautiful film ever made about unconsummated love, Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) and Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung) are neighbors in an apartment building, devoted, or at least loyal, to their spouses, who they realize are having an affair with each other. Chow and Su gradually develop feelings for one another, even re-enacting how they believe their spouses’ affair unfolded. Director Wong Kar-wai’s “In the Mood For Love” is “ravishing beyond mortal words,” said Ed Gonzalez at Slant magazine, and its protagonists “come to resemble butterflies caught in a rainbow-tinted industrial web.” (HBO Max)

‘Love & Basketball’ (2000)

Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps play Monica and Quincy, best friends, aspiring basketball stars and eventual lovers who are torn apart and later brought back together. Told in four segments, the story takes them from childhood rivalry to heady high school romance through college and their respective professional careers. In addition to the consistently riveting relationship story, “Love & Basketball” is also a superb sports film well ahead of its time by taking women’s professional leagues seriously. The movie is, “at its heart, a passionate love letter to basketball and friendship and Black love and ambition,” said Roxane Gay at Current. (Prime Video)

‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ (2004)

Jim Carrey plays Joel, a man who decides to have the memories of his relationship with Clementine (Kate Winslet) digitally erased after discovering that she did so first. During the procedure he realizes he doesn’t actually want to forget and races through a prismatic rendering of his own memories to preserve them. It’s a movie that “makes the unique argument that failure is an essential, precious part of romantic experience” and in so doing “celebrates the essential untidiness of love, the beautiful messes two people can make together,” said Scott Tobias at The Guardian. (Prime Video)

‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ (2019)

Writer-director Céline Sciamma’s searing love story follows Marianne (Noémie Merlant), a painter newly arrived at a gorgeously rendered, remote seaside town in 18th-century France. She is hired to paint a wedding portrait for Héloise (Adèle Haenel), and the two fall madly in forbidden love. It’s a film that is “about the erotic, electric connection between women when they find their desire for creative experience fulfilled in each other, but it is equally about the powers of art to validate, preserve and console after a romance is over,” said Rachel Syme at The New Yorker. (HBO Max)

‘Past Lives’ (2023)

In director Celine Song’s “Past Lives,” Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) and Na Young (Greta Lee) are childhood best friends whose bond is severed when Na Young moves with her family to Canada. They later rekindle their relationship as adults from a distance before Na Young (who becomes “Nora” in Canada) marries Arthur (John Magaro). When Hae Sung visits Nora in New York more than a decade later, they grapple with their unrealized love and the struggle not to hurt Arthur with their feelings for one another. Its “mix of nostalgia, love and remorse” is what makes the film “so effective and lovely,” said Monica Castillo at Roger Ebert. (Prime Video)

“Has any actor, especially a glamorous former ‘EastEnders’ star, embraced the grotesque on stage as admirably and wholeheartedly as Tamzin Outhwaite,” asked Nick Curtis in The London Standard. Following her “utterly un-vain” performance as Kath in “Entertaining Mr Sloane”, Outhwaite now reprises her “monstrous” turn as Beverly, the “egomaniac” hostess from hell in Mike Leigh’s 1977 comedy “Abigail’s Party”.

“In a diaphanous orange frock and ratted Farrah Fawcett wig”, she gives a “tour de force” star turn in Nadia Fall’s assured revival: “every gesture, every wag of her sandalled ankle, reeks of self-satisfaction and command”, even as her drinks party descends into chaos. And there’s fine support from Kevin Bishop, deploying a roster of “sitcom harrumphs and double-takes” as Beverly’s “pretentious, prating” husband, Laurence.

“Revitalised by a crack cast, this is a party you won’t want to miss,” agreed Kirsten Grant in The Telegraph. Casting two Asian actors in the roles of new neighbours Angela and Tony adds edge to certain lines about the local area (in suburban Essex) going downhill. Lauren Patel is “deliciously tactless” as the prattling Angela. As the taciturn Tony, Omar Malik winces with “embarrassment and pent-up frustration”.

And Pandora Colin is “superlative” as Sue, said Fiona Mountford in The i Paper. A divorcée whose teenage daughter, Abigail, is holding her own party a few doors down, she’s an “unassuming woman who would just like some proper dinner”.

“Abigail’s Party” has often been accused of snobbily punching down on the aspiring working classes, said Clive Davis in The Times. In fact, like “The Diary of a Nobody” – of which Mike Leigh is a huge fan – the play is a brilliant study in “how we construct facades”.

The only flaw in this show, said Arifa Akbar in The Guardian, is that the darkness of the ending does not quite land. The play has all been so enjoyably comical that the switch to tragedy leaves Beverly “speechless and at sea, for once”. Otherwise, Fall’s production “proves that this period comedy of manners is eternally resonant”.

Harold Pinter Theatre, London SW1. Until 19 September.

The first series of the BBC’s “affable cosy crime saga” “Ludwig” was “almost irresistible”, said Rebecca Nicholson in the Financial Times. David Mitchell starred as John Taylor, a famous puzzle setter known as Ludwig, who has a knack for solving “seemingly uncrackable” murders.

When his detective twin brother, James, disappears, Ludwig impersonates him to help his sister-in-law, Lucy (Anna Maxwell Martin), solve the mystery. Series two continues in the “same lively vein as the first” with each episode combining a murder-of-the-week mystery set against the overarching storyline about James’ disappearance.

I was worried that the new series couldn’t possibly be as good as series one, said Anita Singh in The Telegraph. “Relief: it is.” The script is “cracking”, Mitchell is “great”, and the supporting performances, including Sian Clifford as a slippery lawyer and Mark Bonnar as a local newspaper editor, are “faultless”. The first crime, featuring an elderly woman stabbed to death, is “a belter”: John’s method of unmasking the killer “made me squeak with delight”.

How you feel about series two will depend on your tolerance for cosy crime, said Annabel Nugent in The Independent. “Ludwig” remains “as light as ever”, and the murders, though plentiful, are still bloodless – they are “cases lifted from a ‘Cluedo’ board” that are often “barely plausible”.

Still, it is a solid comfort watch for autumnal nights – “best enjoyed like a mug of milky tea, sipped down easily and without much thought”.

“Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” is “a title so good you feel the film to which it’s attached should really have to earn it”, said Robbie Collin in The Telegraph, and “happily it does”.

Starring Gillian Anderson as “fading horror queen”, it is both “extravagantly funny” and “recklessly bizarre”. Hannah Einbinder plays Kris, an “earnest yet self-loathing” director who has been asked by a Hollywood studio to reboot “Camp Miasma”, a fictional 1980s US slasher franchise.

The original is now regarded as “embarrassingly non-PC”, chiefly because its villain, Little Death, is the spirit of a gender-nonconforming child killed by other campers. As a celebrated, self-styled “queer filmmaker”, Kris is just the person to make the rebooted film: she’s a horror nerd who has been obsessed with the original since childhood, particularly with Squeak, its “final girl” (the last female character left alive). She tracks down Billy Presley (Anderson), who played Squeak and now lives, in creepy “Norma Desmond-esque” seclusion, at the former summer camp where the original was filmed.

As Kris tries to convince Billy to appear in the reboot, the pair form a bond, said David Sexton in The New Statesman. And as their relationship deepens, fiction and reality begin to blur, and the film turns into something both “sexy” and “slaughterous”.

“Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” “won’t be to everyone’s taste”, said Larushka Ivan-Zadeh in the Daily Mail – the title gives a fairly good sense of whether it’s for you or not. “It gets messy. It gets pretentious.” And it’s not particularly scary (the violence is “almost cartoon-like”). But it is beautifully shot, funny and “marvellously camp – in both senses of the word”. “Either way, Anderson is terrific.”

Kazimierz Moczarski, the author of this “astonishing” book, was a Polish Resistance officer in the Second World War captured by Stalin’s secret police in 1945, and declared an enemy of the state and incarcerated for 11 years in Warsaw’s Mokotów Prison, said Frances Wilson in The Telegraph.

While there, he “endured 49 different types of torture”, one of which was to share a cell for 255 days in 1949 with the former SS Commander Jürgen Stroop, an “architect of the Holocaust and liquidator of the Warsaw ghetto, now awaiting execution”.

Moczarski, who had once tried to assassinate Stroop, discovered that his cellmate was entirely unrepentant, and willing to discuss his crimes freely. Lacking notebooks, he memorised what he was told and later used those memories to produce “Conversations with an Executioner” – a book first published in a censored edition in Poland in 1977, and only now fully translated into English. Composed largely of dialogue, it offers a unique perspective on the “narcissism of Nazism” – and deserves to be considered a “masterpiece”.

Moczarski, a trained journalist and former law student, “grasped that he had been handed the opportunity of a professional lifetime” when he was forced to bunk up with Stroop, said Roger Boyes in The Times. Guided by Moczarski’s promptings, Stroop told him everything: about his rise through the Nazi ranks; about his time setting up Jewish labour camps in southern Poland; and finally, about how he oversaw the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto in 1943, which he still regarded as a “career high”.

With relish, Stroop recalled “tucking into steak and pommes frites” after spending the day watching flame-throwers being “blasted at Jews in hiding”. Asked if he ever pitied his victims, Stroop replied: “Praise be what hardens.” Superbly translated by Sean Gasper Bye, this book will “gnaw at you like a prison rat”.

Because Moczarski was forced to rely on memory, questions have been raised about the reliability of his account, said Jo Glanville in The Guardian. He argued that imprisonment had so intensified his recollections “that he could replay his conversations with Stroop as if they were a tape recording”. While writing the book after his release in 1956, he “fact-checked Stroop’s version of events” – and found that everything the SS general had told him seemed true. Moczarski died in 1975, two years before his book was finally published. It offers a “remarkable insight into the genesis and mindset of a Nazi war criminal”.

The Week is partnering with Stratford Literary Festival and Dorchester Literary Festival

Autumn is the busiest season of the publishing year, with new books by Richard Osman, Marlon James and Barbara Kingsolver set to hit shelves. That means it’s time to start planning which literary festivals to visit. The UK is home to an array of events where you can meet your favourite authors, attend talks and workshops, discover rising stars and, of course, come away with plenty of reading to keep you busy right through the winter. Here are some of our top picks.

Cheltenham Literature Festival

Launched in 1949, Cheltenham Literature Festival is still going strong over seven decades later. The revered author of “Empire of Pain”, Patrick Radden Keefe, will be discussing his latest book about the mysterious death of a 19-year-old in London with The Sunday Times chief literary critic Johanna Thomas-Corr, and Mary Beard will be making an appearance to examine the surprising ties between antiquity and the present. Budding writers can also book a lively two-hour workshop that will help them finally write their first novel.
cheltenhamfestivals.org; 9–18 October

Durham Book Festival

Pet Shop Boys icon Neil Tennant will join Durham University Chancellor Fiona Hill to talk about how growing up in Newcastle shaped his music, as part of the festival’s “Forged in the North” series. And if you’re interested in life writing, join Louise Doughty and Nicola Wilding to find out how they used letters and photos to examine the complex lives of family members for new memoirs. Bestselling author Susanna Clarke will also be introducing her historic novella, “The Bishop of Durham Attempts to Surrender the City”.
newwritingnorth.com; 9–11 October

Dorchester Literary Festival

Dorchester Literary Festival returns in October for an exciting week of star-studded talks, debates and live events covering everything from poetry to politics. Highlights include Jung Chang discussing the follow-up to her epic memoir, “Wild Swans”; the creator of “Downton Abbey”, Julian Fellowes, reflecting on his glittering, multi-decade career; and bestselling author Victoria Hislop sharing details of her thrilling new novel set in post-war Greece. Don’t miss the literary walk hosted by Mark Chutter, chairman and academic director of the Thomas Hardy Society, followed by a cream tea.
Tickets are on sale from 31 August, and The Week readers can receive a 10% discount using code T4YVJSDM (valid for a maximum of 10 tickets bought before 30 September). dorchesterliteraryfestival.com, 17–24 October

London Literature Festival

Dua Lipa has curated this year’s festival at the Southbank Centre. The pop star and founder of the Service95 Book Club will be hosting a series of conversations with her favourite writers including Zadie Smith. Other literary stars to look out for include “Noughts & Crosses” author Malorie Blackman and the Sudanese Canadian poet Mustafa.
southbankcentre.co.uk; 20 October – 1 November

Stratford Literary Festival

Expect another jam-packed line-up at Stratford Literary Festival this year, with fascinating talks by the likes of Celia Imrie, Greg James and Marina Litvinenko. Baroness Margaret Hodge will be discussing her memoir, “Battle Axe”, and Bonnie Garmus will be talking about her new novel, “Peck and Peck”, about a young man whose life is turned upside down when he lands a job at a prestigious poetry journal. Neill Cameron will also be discussing the latest instalment of his bestselling kids’ graphic novel series “Donut Squad”.

The Week is the Festival’s media partner and there is an inclusive discount on tickets to some events for The Week readers with the code SLFW26A on checkout. stratfordliteraryfestival.co.uk, 29 October–1 November

Filmgoers love sports movies for the same reason that networks linger on players celebrating championships after the big game, then cut to the losers to capture their heartbreak: Sports narratives are innately moving. These nine superb dramas keep audiences riveted because they are about much more than winning or losing.

‘Bang the Drum Slowly’ (1973)

John D. Hancock’s largely forgotten “Bang the Drum Slowly” is the story of a friendship between New York Mammoths star pitcher, Henry Wiggen (Michael Moriarty), and his unsophisticated catcher, Bruce Pearson (Robert De Niro), a frequent target of his teammates’ cruelty who receives a terminal diagnosis and plays brilliantly through it for one last season.

“From here on in, I rag nobody,” Henry announces at the end of this quiet, moving character study, a mantra more people could stand to adopt. Its “mixture of fatalism, roughness, tenderness and bleak humor” hit home despite the lack of “telegraphed big moments on the field,” said Roger Ebert at the time. (Prime Video)

‘Rocky’ (1976)

For a niche sport, boxing has produced an outsized share of the greatest sports movies, including “Rocky,” a movie that still inspires countless people to run up the stairs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Sylvester Stallone (“Rambo”) is Rocky Balboa, a down-on-his-luck Philly boxer who gets an unexpected shot at greatness when reigning champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) chooses him to fight in the exhibition bout that comprises the film’s final set piece. A movie that features “some of the most wildly exciting fight footage ever put on the screen,” its most winning element is Rocky himself, a “character of enormous appeal and charm,” said Arthur Knight at The Hollywood Reporter. (Netflix)

‘Raging Bull’ (1980)

The turbulent life of boxer Jake LaMotta gets the biopic treatment in director Martin Scorsese's instant black-and-white classic. Robert De Niro plays LaMotta as almost tortured with kinetic jealousy and bottomless insecurity, at one point pummeling another boxer in front of his wife, Vickie (Cathy Moriarty), because she had said he was handsome.

“Raging Bull” is also a groundbreaking film in the depiction of domestic violence, one of the first commercial films to take the scourge seriously. This “brutally nihilist tale” is told in a “stunning, dreamlike series of episodes in and out of the ring,” with the boxer ultimately “brought down by his own toxic machismo,” said Peter Bradshaw at The Guardian. (MGM+)

‘Hoosiers’ (1986)

Gene Hackman delivers one of the best performances of his long, storied career as Norman Dale, a fallen college basketball coach who steps in to lead the high school basketball team in tiny Hickory, Indiana. Tasked with transforming a motley crew of unseasoned players into a contender, he hires the recovering alcoholic Shooter (Dennis Hopper) as assistant coach, and the team gels and starts winning.

“Hoosiers” sounds like a hundred other sports films. But its attention to detail sets it apart, produced in large part by casting mostly unknown local actors as the players. In director David Anspaugh’s film, the “emotions it asks us to feel are genuine and fairly achieved,” so its “artful familiarity becomes a balm instead of a stumbling block,” said Kenneth Turan at ESPN Classic. (YouTube)

‘Bull Durham’ (1988)

Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon) is a baseball groupie who picks one ballplayer a year on the minor-league Durham Bulls to sleep with and tutor. She picks the gloriously named Nuke Laloosh (Tim Robbins), a fireballer with an unfortunate lack of depth and wisdom but comes to prefer the aging veteran Crash Davis (Kevin Costner).

Full of timeless observations like Crash noting that “strikeouts are boring and besides that they’re fascist,” it is uproariously funny but also succeeds as both a romance and a baseball film. Written and directed by former minor-league ballplayer Ron Shelton, it is a “long, smart kiss to baseball” with the “loping narrative rhythm of a baseball season,” said Richard Corliss at Time. (Mubi)

‘Million Dollar Baby’ (2004)

After spending the bulk of his career on Westerns and vigilante films like “Dirty Harry,” Clint Eastwood underwent an astonishing transformation into a widely respected directing auteur. Here he also stars as Frankie Dunn, an aging, dyspeptic coach who agrees to take on the unpolished Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank), as she seeks to rise through the ranks of women’s boxing.

The film’s turning point is a tragedy during a fight arranged by Frankie, making its second half more of a dirge than a sports film. A “rueful rumination on sin and absolution,” Eastwood’s “striking framing has the muscular simplicity and directness of Ernest Hemingway's prose,” said Colin Kennedy at Empire. (Paramount+)

‘Moneyball’ (2011)

A movie about the data analytics revolution in baseball is an unlikely contender for one of the best sports movies, but director Bennett Miller’s take on Michael Lewis’ 2003 book gets it done. Brad Pitt stars as Billy Beane, the general manager of the woebegone Oakland Athletics, who hires data wizard Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) to revolutionize the team’s scouting and gain an edge over the team’s better-funded peers. Featuring a “sharp, sleek script,” it is as much about a “fundamental cultural shift and the rise of the information elite” as it is about baseball, said Manohla Dargis at The New York Times. (Netflix)

‘The Fire Inside’ (2024)

Ryan Destiny (“Grownish”) anchors “The Fire Inside” as Claressa Shields, the two-time Gold Medal-winning boxer from Flint, Michigan, and her coach, Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry). Written by Barry Jenkins (“Moonlight”) and directed by Rachel Morrison in her feature debut, it is both an unflinching look at the obstacles faced by a community that would soon be plunged into a national news-worthy water crisis and an unusually well-shot sports film whose boxing sequences jump off the screen. It asks a question rarely posed in sports films: “If you don’t come from privilege, what happens when you fight your way to the top, only to realize that it looks a lot like where you started?” said Alissa Wilkinson at The New York Times. (MGM+)

‘Marty Supreme’ (2025)

One of the only feature films about the niche sport of ping-pong, “Marty Supreme” is a character study of the distinctly unlikeable antihero Marty Mauser (Timothée Chalamet), one of those people who leaves a wake of chaos, heartbreak and destruction wherever he goes. He also happens to be a truly gifted table tennis player who pursues his dream of becoming the world’s top-ranked with savage self-interest, running cons on everyone from his own love interest, Rachel Mizler (Odessa A’zion), to Gwyneth Paltrow’s depressed, aging film star Kay Stone. Buoyed by Marty’s “endless slippery charm,” it is also a “very unconventional coming of age story,” said Kieran Battams at Voice. (HBO Max)

This summer, Dominic Sessa stars as a young Anthony Bourdain in “Tony”. The “coming-of-age” film set during a summer restaurant job which “helped shape the beloved late chef and TV host into the icon he ultimately became”, said Deadline.

Alongside his work as a chef and presenter, Bourdain was also “one of the best food memoirists of all time”, said Izzy Titherington in The i Paper. His “seminal” 2000 book “Kitchen Confidential” opened readers’ eyes with an “unfiltered” portrayal of “work in professional kitchens”, including everything from poor food practices to his own “struggles with drug use”. Here are some of our other favourite culinary memoirs.

‘Blood, Bones, and Butter’ by Gabrielle Hamilton

“If Bourdain wrote like a rock star, Hamilton writes like a poet,” said Abhya Adlakha in Esquire India. She rose to fame at the helm of Prune, which she described as a “tiny restaurant with 30 seats and a kitchen the size of a school bus”. Bourdain called her “magnificent” book “simply the best memoir by a chef ever. Ever.” The sentences are “so beautiful you forget to be impressed that she's also feeding people”. The opening to her work, describing a lamb roast in a New Jersey field, with her “bohemian mother in espadrilles” is “one of the great first chapters in American memoir, full stop”.

‘The Devil in the Kitchen: Sex, Pain, Madness and the Making of a Great Chef’ by Marco Pierre White

This memoir is simply “exhilarating”, said Titherington in The i Paper. White gives us an insight into the “obsession and sacrifice” behind his journey as the “youngest-ever chef in the UK (and the youngest anywhere at the time) to earn three Michelin stars – and then the first to give them all back”. We follow him through his working-class upbringing in Leeds, dealing with the death of his mother when he was six, and his subsequent “rise as one of the culinary world’s original rock-star chefs”.

‘Cellar Rat’ by Hannah Selinger

“If you harbour romantic ideals of what it’s like to work in a fast-paced, high-pressure restaurant, here’s a reality check,” said Jim Webster in Smithsonian Magazine. Hannah Selinger’s memoir explores her years working in some of the “most recognisable temples of gastronomy” in New York. For all the adrenaline, in a professional kitchen “drama can be more like trauma, and a lot of the actual romance falls far short of ideal”. She tells “raw” stories, “names names” and “takes responsibility for many of the things that happen along the way”, in adventures that are “as believable as they are heartbreaking”.

‘Accidentally on Purpose’ by Kristen Kish

Having grown up as a South Korean adoptee in the American Midwest, Kish “interlaces kitchen anecdotes, the rigours of culinary school and restaurant life with deeper reckonings about identity, belonging and love”, said Saskia Kemsley in The Standard. Still only 42, Michelin‑trained Kish won the 10th season of “Top Chef”, and, most recently, became the “Emmy‑nominated host of the show she once watched as a young child”. She writes “candidly” about coming out, the “pressures and pleasures of professional kitchens, and how comfort can take shape in both food and relationships”. This is not just about the prodigal rise of a chef, but a “reflective account of how an unpredictable life can resolve into purpose on its own terms”.

‘Salt, Sweat & Steam: The Fiery Education of an Accidental Chef’ by Brigid Washington

In Washington’s “fast-moving coming-of-age” memoir, there are “injuries, flirtations, squabbles, name-drops, and dishes gone awry”, said Bettina Makalintal in Eater. It has been described as “‘The Devil Wears Prada’ for the ‘yes chef’ generation”. The work explores her “gruelling” days at the Culinary Institute of America, where she “reluctantly chose to enrol after a breakup pushes her to get out of North Carolina”. She reconstructs “vivid scenes” and recalls distant characters “with a sense of ease”. This book will appeal to “anyone who’s been curious about culinary school but hasn’t made the commitment themself. You might even learn a few things.”

When you make a purchase using links on our site, The Week may earn a commission. All reviews are written independently by our editorial team.

People in the U.S. eat so much Mexican food in restaurants that you could be fooled into thinking there’s no such thing as Mexican home cooking. You would be wrong. The best Mexican cookbooks lift the veil, revealing a world of lush, inviting, easy recipes that have all the elements you adore in Mexican food. And if you are doing it right, it will be different than you ever knew Mexican food could be.

‘My Mexico’ by Diana Kennedy

Prolific researcher and author Diana Kennedy is a complicated figure in the world of Mexican cookbooks. She did champion the cooking of “rural Mexican women, Indigenous women and working-class women,” said Tejal Rao at The New York Times. But she also “never reckoned with her authority over Mexican cuisine as a white British woman.”

Nonetheless, “My Mexico” is a benchmark, a personal travelogue. Kennedy wanders across the country, picking up a recipe for pozolé de camarón in Jalisco, chuletas de puerco en agridulce (sweet-and-sour pork chops) in Morelia, and chilaquiles en salsa verde from her longtime home state of Michoacán. These are purist dishes that tell the story of place as only cooks from those locales can. ($45, University of Texas Press, Amazon)

‘Oaxaca: Home Cooking from the Heart of Mexico’ by Bricia Lopez with Javier Cabral

Serious food people know that Oaxaca, in central Mexico, has some of the finest cuisine in the country, if not the world. It’s the land of many moles, inspired uses of corn, and sparkling seafood on the coast. And one of the U.S.’s best trumpet-bearers for Oaxacan cuisine has long been Los Angeles’ family-run restaurant Guelaguetza.

In “Oaxaca,” one of the restaurant’s owners, Bricia Lopez, works to “demystify this idea that it takes days to make mole” and other signature Oaxacan dishes, she said to the Los Angeles Times. It’s less anthropology and outsiders looking in and more hands-on cooking. “We are just people, and this is our story. We are not exotic.” ($45, Abrams, Amazon)

‘Pati’s Mexican Table’ by Pati Jinich

With her boundless positivity and irrepressible curiosity, Pati Jinich is a cross-border Pollyanna. She has hosted 15 seasons of her PBS show, “Pati’s Mexican Table,” and her first book, by the same name, is a cheerful invitation to embrace an open-ended version of Mexican cooking. There’s nothing slavishly authentic here, but the recipes’ bones are pure Mexico.

Burgers are laced with ancho chiles and served with lime aioli. A variety of dried chiles are snipped into a plucky take on spaghetti with garlic and olive oil. And hibiscus flowers appear in a vinaigrette that dresses spinach festooned with goat cheese and caramelized pecans. Cook from “Pati’s Mexican Table,” and you too will be a beacon of optimism. ($35, HarperCollins, Amazon)

‘The Taste of Mexico’ by Patricia Quintana

Published in 1986, this book is a “straightforward guide” to the “fundamentals of regional Mexican cooking,” said Saveur. Patricia Quintana, a Mexico City chef and author, introduced American readers to the nuances of good Mexican cooking long before the country’s cuisine took over the U.S. in all its varied glory.

“The Taste of Mexico” operates like a greatest hits of Mexico’s regional food styles. Chiles en nogada from Puebla, draped in a creamy walnut sauce, capture the tricolors of the Mexican flag. Including Oaxacan black mole, beer-soused pinto beans from the north, and European-influenced dishes from Mexico City, the cookbook celebrates the “sumptuous breadth” of Mexican cuisine, said Publishers Weekly. ($20, ThriftBooks, Amazon)

‘Truly Mexican’ by Roberto Santibáñez

Sometimes you want an anchor, rather than the full catamaran, when you aim to understand one of the world’s finest cuisines. In Mexican cooking, those moorings are salsa, moles and their kin. “Truly Mexican” shows you how to prepare them and only them.

You will learn to assemble both cooked and raw tomato salsas and be reminded that endless other traditional salsas have never seen a tomato in their life. Adobos, whether with three chiles or the lone suave guajillo chile, become life-giving purees for marinated fish, chicken and beef shank. Moles are here too in many hues of the color wheel. With “Truly Mexican,” you will gain the “necessary skills to master other recipes,” said New World Review. It’s precisely what one wants from a cookbook. ($38, HarperCollins, Amazon)

‘Yucatán: Recipes from a Culinary Expedition’ by David Sterling

A grand self-contained microcosm much like its subject, “Yucatán” hovers at nearly 600 pages, telling the varied food stories of the far southeastern edge of Mexico. The food of the Yucatán Peninsula, aside from a few restaurants in several U.S. cities, is not known well north of the border. And Sterling, who died in 2016, aimed to change that.

This “beautiful and comprehensive” book opens with an ingredient primer, then grabs the reader by the wrist and wanders across cities like Valladolid and Mérida, from coast to inland, and into the region’s pueblos and their singular foods, said Portland Book Review. Few books mark the scope of a place so thoroughly, let alone a locale so underrepresented in the U.S. ($60, University of Texas Press, Amazon)

Most people who visit Ireland head straight for Dublin or Galway, said Andrea Bussell in National Geographic. Even some locals aren’t familiar with the “great green valley that stretches through County Tipperary” in the heart of the country’s “Ancient East”. But, tucked between the Galtee Mountains and a “forest-clad sandstone ride known as Slievenamuck”, the Glen of Aherlow is the perfect place for a “slower, nature-centric” holiday.

Here, “tall emerald mountains” rise from “cattle-grazed pastureland flecked with miles of trees” and “scattered rural villages”. To get to know this stunning landscape and discover its “most sacred corners”, explore the Heritage Trail. Along it, there are many artefacts and landmarks to visit, including the “striking, well-preserved” remains of Moor Abbey on the banks of the River Aherlow, and St Pecaun’s Holy Well between Bansha and Cahir, where people have visited for centuries to pray and drink the “therapeutic waters”.

County Tipperary is known as Ireland’s equestrian capital and a visit here “wouldn’t be complete” without taking a riding lesson; Ballyhoura Trekking Centre and Hillcrest Equestrian Centre are good options.

“For me, nothing beats an evening by the water at Garrykennedy,” said Vic O’Sullivan on Lonely Planet. This tiny village on the eastern shore of Lough Derg is a “sublime” setting, with an “old stone harbour” and bobbing sailboats moored at the pier. Enjoy “hearty pub fare” and a pint in the Larkins’ beer garden before wandering down to Ryan’s to listen to live music and watch as “sky and shoreline darken to an inky blue”.

Sports fans should visit Thurles’ Semple Stadium to catch some hurling. Watching this native sport with a roaring crowd is a “thrilling cultural immersion”: “even if you don’t know the rules, the speed and passion of the game will leave you hooked”.

Travelling by car is the best way to soak up the area’s “magic” and reach the villages where buses don’t go. Before you leave, be sure to pay a visit to the Rock of Cashel. Perched on a “limestone outcrop”, the medieval ruins are home to a round tower, a 13th-century cathedral and Cormac’s Chapel, “where faint Romanesque frescoes still survive”.

For every traveler who wants to kick back and relax on their vacation, there’s another who refuses to sit still. These seven hotels and experiences are for the active voyager who is never too far from their golf clubs, knows where all the best tennis courts are and is always game for a new sport.

Play padel at Adare Manor, Ireland

Pickleball had its moment, and now it’s padel’s time to shine. A mix of tennis and squash, this racket sport is growing in popularity, and Adare Manor has the perfect spot to learn the game or hone your skills.

The Padel Club houses two custom-built padel courts, with instructors on hand to teach newbies and a selection of racquets to borrow. Once the ancestral home of the Earls of Dunraven, the grand Adare Manor sits in a “secluded” area, and its many activities on top of padel, like fishing and falconry, are “fit for Irish nobility,” said Forbes.

Hit it out of the park at the rooftop batting cages at ‘Alohilani Resort, Oahu

It’s all swings, no misses when you have a view like this. The rooftop at ‘Alohilani Resort is part of the property’s fitness hub, and guests can gaze out at Waikiki Beach and feel the Pacific Ocean breeze while practicing their hitting in the batting cages. An open-air TRX gym and red clay tennis courts are also located on the recreation deck, which often hosts yoga classes and other wellness events.

Pick up polo at Coworth Park, England

It’s “hard to imagine a more pleasant setting” than Coworth Park, tucked away in the Berkshire countryside, said The Telegraph. There’s a lovely meadow filled with wildflowers, lake with swans and polo fields where you can take customized lessons through the Guards Polo Academy. Learn to properly swing a mallet and glide across the field, or for the more confident rider, enjoy a day out playing with polo club members.

Get your heart pumping at Miraval Arizona, Tucson

At Miraval Arizona, you’re encouraged to take a flying leap and go out on a limb — safely, of course. While on the property’s Challenge Course you can also swing through the air, climb up a giant ladder, cross a tightrope and elevated platforms and zipline.

The course “encourages you to step out of your comfort zone, both physically and mentally” and is “designed for personal growth,” said Condé Nast Traveler. The Sonoran Desert spreads out around you, a “stunning backdrop” to your adventure.

Hang 10 at Nobu Ryokan Malibu, California

The Pacific Ocean is your playground when staying at Nobu Ryokan Malibu. The 16-room property is right on Carbon Beach, and through its new surfing program, guests can ride the waves on a custom surfboard during a private lesson from Malibu Fit Concierge. Afterward, put on your best bathing suit for a two-hour water photo session with celebrity photographer (and former competitive surfer) Steven Lippman.

Try wing foiling at Oil Nut Bay, British Virgin Islands

Water sports are a big deal at Oil Nut Bay. This beautiful property provides “pure laidback luxury,” and that extends to its activities, said Travel and Leisure. Tubing, waterskiing, wakeboarding, snorkeling, kayaking, paddleboarding, kiteboarding and Hobie Cat sailing are all offered (with instructors and experienced drivers), plus two more unusual options: wing foiling and Seabobbing. Wing foiling is developed from windsurfing and kitesurfing, while a Seabob is an electric underwater scooter.

Explore the trails at Río Perdido, Costa Rica

The outdoors is your gym at Río Perdido. Hike, run, do yoga or take a peaceful stroll on the property’s 1,500 acres.

Guests have access to a vast network of solid rock trails for mountain biking that twist and turn through dry forest and a thermal canyon, and can spike their adrenaline by whitewater rafting on the Tenorio River. This proves to be “both intense and exhilarating if the rapids are strong,” said Condé Nast Traveler. Wind down in the property’s naturally heated thermal river and mineral pools, covered by a canopy of lush tropical foliage.

Baros Maldives is the grande dame of resorts in the archipelagic country. A tiny island located near the capital Malé, it’s been open since 1973, one year after the first hotel appeared in the Maldives. It channels many years of experience to provide flawless service as well as one of the most easily accessible house reefs teaming with colourful fish.

Why stay here?

It takes 25 minutes by speedboat to get to Baros from Malé – no waiting around for a seaplane transfer after you land. The atmosphere is low-key but looks-wise the island is a showstopper – it’s surrounded by a beautiful aquamarine lagoon with stunning beaches and vibrant marine life.

You can walk around the whole island in 10 minutes. It was peaceful and quiet during my visit. I didn’t see any children even though it’s not explicitly an adults-only resort (kids over eight are welcome).

The most impressive thing about the resort is the house reef, with abundant fish, just a few metres from the beach. I saw colourful schools of fish flashing neon as they whizzed past me, a stingray bobbing along and a small shipwreck on the seabed, with coral nurseries threaded through the withered remains. Night snorkelling is also available and you’ll often see people floating on by, illuminated by their torches in the darkness, as you eat dinner on the terrace at one of the restaurants.

Beach and overwater villas are styled like traditional cottages, while the interiors are decorated in greys and beiges with colourful patterned rugs. The terraces come with a large outdoor sofa, sunbeds and an infinity pool for guests to do laps as they gaze out into the startlingly blue sea. The look is understated rustic chic that is simple and unobtrusive.

Eating and drinking

Lime Restaurant is located by the pool with sea views. At the breakfast buffet you’ll find plates of freshly cut fruit, sushi, several types of Maldivian curries, dumplings, cold cuts, salads, cereal and pastries galore. There’s also a fantastic à la carte menu, which includes eggs benedict, a chia mousse açai bowl and a Japanese breakfast set, which comes with grilled salmon and miso soup.

For lunch, there are two options – Sails Bar on the beach or Cayenne, the grill restaurant overlooking the sea. They both serve the same menu at lunch. At Cayenne, I ate delicious tiger prawn skewers covered in olive oil and punchy garlic with the tastiest chargrilled flatbread. I returned for dinner one night and enjoyed a perfectly grilled whole lobster with steamed vegetables and their zingy signature salad with mixed leaves, avocado, plump mangosteen and hazelnuts.

The Lighthouse is a fine dining restaurant that serves up French cuisine with an Asian twist – the bar upstairs is also the perfect spot to watch the sunset. I ate a tender wagyu steak with a tasty peppercorn sauce, crisp potatoes and artichokes. Around me, other guests opted to have dishes cooked at their table. I saw a lobster bisque being flambéed from a cart – this is classy dining with dramatic flair.

Things to do

It’s hard to beat a sunset cruise. As I floated along on their traditional boat Nooma, I enjoyed non-alcoholic champagne and canapés. The roof is padded so you can sit down comfortably while taking in the views. Watching the sky turn orange and pink while surrounded by the sea was really peaceful. Dolphin-watching and sunrise fishing trips as well as other excursions are also on offer.

Baros has a piano deck – a wooden platform shaped like a piano – that sits in the middle of the sea, where it’s the dreamiest shade of aquamarine. It’s only reachable by a short speedboat trip and once there you can eat a sunrise breakfast or have a romantic dinner during the sunset. It’s an intimate and novel destination for a cosy meal with an endless expanse of the sea cocooning you.

The verdict

Even though it’s close to Malé, Baros is incredibly tranquil. This is the resort to come to if you want to while away your days watching sea chickens scuttling across the sand or herons flying on to your pool in the early hours. Many of the guests are repeat visitors who come back year after year and it’s easy to see why – this intimate island is an oasis of calm.

Ann was a guest of Baros Maldives;you can plan your Maldivian journey with the experts at Angelfish Travel

We’re used to puréeing watermelons with sugar syrup and freezing it into granita. Or at barbecues, plugging their “emerald-rinded posteriors” with “an upturned bottle of vodka” for a boozy treat, said Ravinder Bhogal in the Financial Times. But more and more people are now pairing watermelon’s “refreshing flesh” with salty, herby, even hot flavours to unlock vibrant new levels in savoury dishes. Here are some of our favourite deliciously unusual watermelon combos.

Peanut and watermelon chaat

Chaats are crunchy, spicy fried snacks, often served as appetisers throughout South Asia. “Every chaat has a little bit of sweetness, a little bit of tartness, a little heat, and a little crunch,” said chef Vishwesh Bhatt in Food & Wine. He flavours his peanut-based chaat with chilli, cayenne, chaat masala, thinly sliced cucumber, red onion, radishes, mint, basil, coriander, lime juice and “the fleeting succulent sweetness of watermelon”.

Sour watermelon and monkfish curry

For a “bold, new” take, I combine watermelon with “dashes of umami fish sauce, blistering chillies and mouth-puckering tamarind”, said Bhogal in the FT. In a monkfish curry, watermelon chunks bring “bright, pleasing bursts of sweetness” to temper the spiciness of the sauce. “Serve with sticky rice, topped with plenty of fresh Thai basil.”

Spiced pork belly with quick-pickled watermelon

Watermelon pickled with grapefruit, lime, chilli and fish sauce makes a “chunky salsa” so tempting you’ll want to eat it “straight out of the bowl”, said Diana Henry in The Telegraph. But, paired with “punchy” pork belly, marinated in chillies, lime, ginger and garlic, it makes a “delicious sweet-meets-savoury main”.

Watermelon and tomato salad with spicy feta sauce

Chef Ana Sortun has given a much-loved Mediterranean classic a spicy twist, said Adam Dolge Food & Wine. Sprinkling charred jalapeño onto the simple chopped melon and tomato base adds a “subtle smokiness and gentle heat”, and the creamy feta sauce brings a “tangy, savoury richness” that strikes a “pleasing balance with the sweet fruit”.

Watermelon rind pickles

“Don’t toss out that watermelon rind,“ says Jodie Kautzmann in Food & Wine. With ginger, allspice, black peppercorns, bay leaves and lemon peel, you can turn it into “crunchy, tangy” pickles that are “perfect for adding to a charcuterie board” or “chopping into a relish for burgers and hot dogs”.

With tourists starting to be deterred by the frequent heatwaves and soaring prices in the Mediterranean, Lithuania has been growing in popularity as a beach-holiday destination. It is generally cooler and more affordable than the Med, and it doesn’t lack for natural beauty, said Sarah Rodrigues in The Guardian.

On a recent trip, I visited the beach resort of Palanga, “kitsch” and “rowdy” in parts, but I loved its 19th-century Tiškeviciai Palace and “uncrowded” sections of white-sand beaches, where the sea is shallow for a long way out (making them perfect for families). And the Curonian Spit – a forested sandbar more than 60 miles long – is magnificently “untamed”.

I stayed there at the “basic, comfortable” Hotel Nidus, cycled along some of the spit’s wild trails, climbed the 220-metre-high Vecekrugas Dune, and particularly enjoyed eating smoked fish with fresh tomatoes and drinking cold beer at one of the lagoon-side shacks in the village of Preila.

New York’s real Little Italy

There aren’t many Italians living in Manhattan’s Little Italy these days, just a lot of “mediocre” Italian restaurants, aimed at tourists. For the real deal, New Yorkers will tell you to head to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, said David Farley in The Telegraph – accessible on the B train. A century ago, this low-rise street was known as “the Italian colony” for its community of Italian labourers, and it is still packed with restaurants, delis and bakeries selling produce from the old country. Don’t miss the pinolate biscuits in the 108-year-old Madonia Bakery, or Pace’s Italian Market, which has 100 varieties of Italian cheese. But you should explore the side streets too. They are full of Balkan and Mexican stores and restaurants, the fruits of a new cycle of immigration that began decades ago: “This is America”, after all.

Luxury boltholes in the wild Algarve

Known as the Costa Vicentina, the southernmost stretch of Portugal’s west coast is famed for its towering cliffs and “pristine” surfing beaches. Much of it lies within a protected natural park, but a couple of boutique hotels have recently opened on the site of old farms, said Amelia Duggan in The Times – ideal for travellers who “prefer their wilderness to come with a high thread count”. Set about five miles back from the sea near the medieval town of Aljezur, the Vale Palheiro Earth Resort nestles in an “emerald” valley, its “vast” villas built with rammed earth. And further north, closer to the sea near the village of Odeceixe sits Amaria, a “white farmhouse complex”. Its suites have a “pared-back, contemporary aesthetic”, with walls of glass, “diaphanous” drapes and freestanding baths.

I’ve never liked camping, riding or group travel, so I wasn’t an obvious candidate for a group camping and riding trip in Kyrgyzstan, said Rachel Johnson in The Sunday Times.

I hadn’t reckoned, however, with the “adventuress and entrepreneur” Alexandra Tolstoy, a distant cousin of Leo, who has spent years guiding visitors through this landlocked Central Asian country on horseback (past guests have included the actor Dominic West, the “pie magnate” Charlie Bigham and the late satirist P.J. O’Rourke).

She’s a “natural saleswoman” who made the prospect sound “irresistible” – and thus it was that I found myself on a Turkish Airlines flight to Bishkek in May, to join her and some “yummy mummies from the Cotswolds and Chilterns” for a six-day, 120-mile trek among the “jagged”, snow-capped peaks of the Tian Shan, or Celestial Mountains.

We were accompanied by five Kyrgyz horsemen and a support team who moved our camp daily, packing our tents and the two “plastic thrones that served as our khazis” into former Soviet army trucks and transporting them along sheep tracks. A cook prepared “slap-up” breakfasts, lunches of plov (rice with “gobbets” of lamb) and good dinners (including freshly baked cakes), and I soon found I was enjoying myself – even falling “in love” with riding, camping (“you sleep so well in a snug tent by a rushing river”) and the “nomadic life”.

What helped most, of course, was the “indescribable” beauty of the surroundings – a mountain range that rises above 7,000 metres, and is “Edenic” in the late spring, its green valleys alive with wildflowers. We rode through walnut forests, skirted villages where boys on donkeys herded sheep, and watched a game of kok boru – polo with a goat carcass for a ball (the “tenderised” flesh is then cooked). But honestly, there were “too many highlights to list”, from swimming in “swirling” rivers to galloping beside magnificent lakes to siestas in verdant glens.

The Ultimate Travel Company has a 10-night trip from £7,215pp, excluding flights.

Westerns are often thought to glorify the violence and vigilantism of the 19th-century towns on the expanding American border. But the best films of the genre, including these eight superb entries, generally interrogate rather than reinforce that mythology.

‘My Darling Clementine’ (1946)

Director John Ford’s classic — perhaps better known to modern audiences by way of 1993’s retelling of the same story in the excellent “Tombstone” — is well worth revisiting. Henry Fonda stars as Wyatt Earp, one of three brothers en route to California when they encounter Old Man Clanton and his sons.

While Wyatt goes into the rough-and-tumble town of Tombstone, the Clantons murder his brother James. Wyatt then takes the open job of marshal in Tombstone and sets his sights on revenge — and on Clementine Carter (Cathy Downs), the ex-fiancee of local gambler Doc Holliday (Victor Mature). The movie’s themes of transition from lawlessness into civilization on the frontier are explored with “elegance, poignancy and dexterous economy,” and the film builds its world by “eschewing clear-cut character rivalries in favor of more complex emotional and social configurations,” said Matthew Connolly at Slant Magazine. (Prime Video)

‘High Noon’ (1952)

Gary Cooper is Marshal Will Kane, who receives word that Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald), an outlaw he banished to prison, is coming back on the noon train with his gang to exact revenge. Kane’s wife, Amy (Grace Kelly), begs him to reconsider, but he feels duty-bound to show up.

He tries to rally support from the town’s citizens but finds that they would prefer to let him face the music alone, a plot machination widely regarded as a commentary on how Hollywood treated those blacklisted during the McCarthy era. Director Fred Zinnemann’s “unusually circumspect and politically loaded” film “stands out as the proto antiwestern, questioning the conventions of a genre long before doing so was in vogue,” said Scott Tobias at The Guardian. (MGM+)

‘The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance’ (1962)

Part romantic triangle, part political parable about the underbelly of pushing the frontier westward, director John Ford’s “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” might be his finest work. Told in the form of an elaborate flashback, the narrative follows newly minted lawyer Ransom Stoddard (Jimmy Stewart) from his arrival in a freewheeling town in unincorporated territory through his deepening friendship with Tom Doniphon (John Wayne), their love of Hallie (Vera Miles) and his final confrontation with the nefarious Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin).

The give and take between the institutionalist Ransom and the take-matters-into-your-own-hands Tom mirrors long-running debates in American society about law and order and justice. The film is a “somber reflection on what was lost when education and morality” moved westward with the U.S. government and its “civilizing influences,” said Sight and Sound. (Prime Video)

‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ (1966)

Director Sergio Leone popularized a new subgenre of frontier cinema: the spaghetti Western, named as such in honor of the Italian filmmakers who dominated the format, including Leone himself. The final and best entry of Leone’s trilogy, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” is an origin story for Clint Eastwood's sharp-witted antihero “Blondie.” It’s a preautomotive road movie, as Blondie, Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef) and Tuco (Eli Wallach) race across the Civil War-era American West in search of a trunk full of Confederate gold. Featuring characters “united by their greed and virtually shorn of any humanity,” it “makes a mockery of any conception of good and evil,” said John Naughton at Empire. (YouTube)

‘The Grey Fox’ (1982)

Much less well known than most films on this list, director Phillip Borsos’ “The Grey Fox” stars Richard Farnsworth as Bill Miner, a stagecoach bandit who heads to the Pacific Northwest in Canada to rob trains when he is released from prison after thirty years. He falls in love with a radical, Kate Flynn (Jackie Burroughs), as he tries to stay ahead of Detective Seavy (Gary Reineke).

Setting the film on the Canadian frontier rather than the American sets it apart from its peers, and the more languid pacing and character-driven plotting continue to distinguish it as a mannered classic. Featuring a “smorgasbord of wide shots of the Pacific Northwest,” the movie’s “slower pace works, challenging the audience to appreciate not only the nuanced performances of its actors” but also the “natural beauty,” said Thaddeus Buttrey at Loud and Clear. (Kino Film Collection)

‘Unforgiven’ (1992)

Clint Eastwood directed 40 films, but it is this riveting Western that will be remembered as his masterpiece. He also stars as Will Munny, a retired outlaw with a checkered past who is talked into pursuing one last bounty. He enlists his friend, Ned (Morgan Freeman), to help track down and kill the men who brutally scarred a prostitute named Delilah (Anna Thomson). To do so, he must go through Big Whiskey’s corrupt sheriff, Little Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman).

“Unforgiven” is full of both quotable quips and savage violence, in the process upending sentimental notions about the American frontier. A film that explores a “range of moral ambiguities and profound historical questions,” it also challenges the “history of the American West and furthermore Eastwood’s own role in defining the West in cinema,” said Brian Eggert at Deep Focus Review. (Prime Video)

‘The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford’ (2007)

Despite containing a plot summary in its title and a tepid reception when it was released, director Andrew Dominik’s meditative film manages to be both suspenseful and insightful. It narrates the last months of the notorious Jesse James (Brad Pitt), whose gang is riven by suspicion and rivalry. Robert Ford (Casey Affleck) is a young gunslinger who joins James’ gang along with his brother, Charley (Sam Rockwell), but grows resentful of the legendary outlaw. Offering a “kaleidoscope’s prismatic tunnel vision on the Old West,” this is an “immaculately conceived, perfectly cast epic” that “patiently and meditatively observes an outlaw’s obsolescence,” said Nick Rogers at Midwest Film Journal. (Prime Video)

‘True Grit’ (2010)

Once upon a time, the Hollywood landscape was littered with Westerns of varying quality, but today they are somewhat scarce, making gems like directors Joel and Ethan Coen’s remake of the 1969 original all the more notable. When her father is murdered by the bandit Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), 14-year-old Mattie (Hailee Steinfeld) hires U.S. Marshall Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to track him down.

The hard-drinking, washed-out Cogburn is joined by LaBoeuf (Matt Damon), who is after Chaney for a different reason. It “adheres to many of the familiar touchstones of the Western genre, while remaining unmistakably Coenesque” and full of “all kinds of wonderful exchanges, unforgettable scenes and moments of weirdness,” said Ryan Lambie at Den of Geek. (Paramount+)

The Spectre, Rolls-Royce’s first electric car, launched in 2022 and is its bestselling model in Europe. The “Series II picks up where Series I left off”, said Matt Bird on Piston Heads: it is “Rolls’ most desirable car, made even more so”.

The two-door, four-seat coupe has 18% more range (up to 390 miles WLTP), 14% faster charging and a boost in power to 600hp, or 680hp for the Black Badge model. Combining “the best parts of the EV experience with the majesty and swagger of a Rolls-Royce really is a match made in heaven”.

The effortless nature of electric power is the perfect fit for a Rolls, said Will Dron in The Times. The extra weight of the battery isn’t a problem in such a hefty car; with “epic levels of brute force”, the dual-motor system can propel this “near-three-tonne lump” from 0-62mph in just 4.5secs (or 4.3 in the “potent” Black Badge version).

Putting your foot down feels “surreal” – there’s a “deceptive” sense of speed, as the cabin is so “ridiculously hushed” and the performance so smooth. “Deftly tuned”, “the steering feels light” and the chassis “beautifully pliant”. The Series II is “supremely comfortably sprung”, with a “dignified poise” even when it’s covering ground “disarmingly quickly”.

With a “truly sumptuous cabin”, the Spectre II feels “ultra luxurious without being fussy”, said Yousuf Ashraf in Evo. It’s far less digitised than most luxury cars, with a modest central screen and physical switches for major functions. A “5.5-metre blank canvas” for bespoke paint choices and trims, the Series II offers new options, including a blended two-tone paint scheme and fabric like a “Gucci bag with puffy quilting”. This update isn’t radical, but it “ticks pretty much every box”.

All the signs that summer is winding down are here — kids heading back to school, the days getting shorter and Halloween decorations taking over stores. Before giving in to fall’s arrival, celebrate the end of summer by going on a seaside escape. These six destinations offer one last beachy thrill.

Hampton Bays, New York

A weekend in the Hamptons is a summertime ritual for many New Yorkers. There are nearly two dozen hamlets and villages to spend time in, each with its own personality. Hampton Bays, part of the town of Southampton, is a relaxed option.

Set up shop on Ponquogue Beach or Meschutt Beach, and enjoy frolicking in the water and listening to the waves. Spend the night at Canoe Place Inn & Cottages, a “laid-back” waterfront property where the rooms are “well decorated and cozy” and the summer programing, like free outdoor yoga classes and concerts, “shines,” said Condé Nast Traveler.

Islamorada, Florida

South of Miami and north of Key West, Islamorada is the “perfect blend of Old Florida charm and salty barefoot luxury,” said Travel and Leisure. It’s known for excellent sport fishing, a vibrant arts enclave and the “state-of-the-art” Florida Keys History & Discovery Center. Learn about the area’s “complex” history through exhibitions on “Indigenous peoples, Spanish treasure fleets, Henry Flagler’s railway and the 1935 Labor Day hurricane.”

Kennebunkport, Maine

If you’re looking to experience “iconic” and “charming” New England, head to Kennebunkport, said Condé Nast Traveler. This historic town is filled with beaches and opportunities for kayaking, paddleboarding and lobster-boat cruising. Those who prefer to enjoy the water from land can walk around Dock Square, visit the Seashore Trolley Museum and hit up the Lobster Roll Trail for a taste of local seafood.

Pacific Grove, California

Spend any amount of time in Pacific Grove, and you’ll likely start daydreaming about living in this idyllic town. Victorian homes dot the landscape, and the views of Monterey Bay and its wildlife — otters, whales and seals — can’t be beat. Lovers Point Park is a great spot for swimming and picnicking, while Asilomar State Beach gets you close to tide pools.

Pacific Grove has a quaint downtown with cute shops like The Quill, a fabulous stationery and gift store, and beautiful boutique hotels. The historic Seven Gables Inn is right above the bay, and each charming room has windows you can open, letting in the sound of the waves.

Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina

With its surf, sand and “perfect spots to relax and watch the sunset,” this walkable town is a “beach lover’s heaven,” said Southern Living. Take the paved 2.5-mile Loop path to explore the area and soak up the scenic water views, or veer off for visits to Wrightsville Beach Park, the Wrightsville Beach Museum of History and Wrightsville Beach Arboretum. If the farmers’ market is happening, pick up some locally grown produce or handmade crafts.

Yachats, Oregon

Forget about racing around, trying to pack a ton of activities into your visit. Yachats is all about slowing down, connecting with nature and enjoying the scenery.

The best place to do this is at Cape Perpetua, where the forest meets the sea. Go for a hike through the giant spruces or stay at the overlook and stare at the Pacific. Nearby is Thor’s Well, a collapsed sea cave also known as the Drainpipe of the Pacific. Take caution when walking around here; the rocks can be slippery and waves have swept people out to sea.

By the time he won the Literature Nobel in 2010, Mario Vargas Llosa, the Peruvian novelist who died last year aged 89, had come to be regarded as the “Julio Iglesias of contemporary fiction”, said Nicholas Shakespeare in The Spectator.

For six decades he’d “defined headlines”: a global celebrity, owing not least to his “turbulent private life”, the winner of “numerous literary prizes” (some awarded “for mere famousness”, in the words of a critic). As Gerald Martin puts it in this biography, Llosa was a “literary adventurer, politician, diplomat and warrior” in one.

Politically, he had shifted from communist student to “reverential supporter of Thatcher and Reagan” – and come close to Peru’s presidency. Personally, he was an iron-willed, selfish man motivated by resentment and revenge.

It all began with “a whopping lie”, said Maya Jaggi in The New Statesman. Born in 1936, the Nobel laureate spent his first 10 years living with his mother and her snobby family, believing that his father, a merchant seaman, was dead; then, aged 11, he was told that his father was not only alive, but coming to live with them.

Ernesto Vargas proved to be a tyrant who beat his “spoiled son”. Thus, as Martin puts it, “10 ostensibly idyllic years without a father” were followed by 10 brutal years with one. His subsequent experiences – at a cadet school in Lima, a spell as a reporter on a crime beat – would feed his “brilliant early novels”; later, his decision to elope, aged 19, with his uncle’s sister-in-law inspired his 1977 novel “Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter”. Portrayed here as a cynical love rat, he dumped Julia to marry his cousin Patricia, 10 years his junior and “practically his sister”.

Martin believes that his “sadistic and often pornographic” fantasies about his “Lima Lolita” fuelled his 1966 novel “The Green House”. Fifty years on, he abruptly left Patricia for the socialite Isabel Preysler (Iglesias’ ex).

Martin – also the biographer of Gabriel García Márquez, with whom Llosa spectacularly fell out – has written a “genuinely critical life”, said Pratinav Anil in The Guardian. He “restores the women whom Llosa reduced to literary raw material”, and argues the writer was never really a socialist, so much as beguiled by a socialist he met at college (Lea Barba).

The book has flaws, said Ian Thomson in Literary Review. There are too many exclamation marks and the writing “can be breathy”. Still, it is a “considerable achievement”: “gossipy, erudite and deeply researched”, it will be the “last word on the man who wanted to be the most famous writer in the Hispanic world since Cervantes”.

“I’m ashamed to say that I’d never heard of the 1901 novel ‘My Brilliant Career’ by Miles Franklin,” said Anita Singh in The Telegraph. Having watched the new Netflix adaptation, I have now “devoured it in one sitting”.

Described as Australia’s answer to “Pride and Prejudice”, it tells the story of a young woman “kicking against convention in turn-of-the-century Australia”. Sybylla Melvyn (Philippa Northeast) is an aspiring writer who has grown up running wild on her family’s outback farm. She is sent to live with her well-to-do grandmother (Anna Chancellor), who hopes to teach her how to be a lady and bag a husband.

Sybylla, who wants nothing more than to be an author, rationalises that she must “fully experience the world before I can write about it”, said Luke Buckmaster in The Guardian. Soon, she encounters a potential suitor, Harry Beecham (Christopher Chung), who in this version is Chinese-Australian and “totally ripped”. Sybylla becomes involved in a love triangle with Harry and an English visitor, Frank.

The six-part series is “steamier” than the novel, and at times “a tad syrupy”. But it has “pluck and sass”, and Northeast gives an “entertaining, high-voltage performance”.

The series “takes a very 2020s approach” to early 1900s Australia, said James Jackson in The Times, with a gay subplot, and another involving a young Indigenous horse trainer. It’s easy to make it sound “pretty naff”, but “My Brilliant Career” is “self-aware” – and thanks to Northeast’s “terrific performance”, it is highly enjoyable.

“Those of us pining to see more Sian Clifford since the end of ‘Fleabag’, in which she played Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s fierce sister”, have been rewarded with this “barnstorming” mockumentary comedy, said Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian.

Clifford plays Lady Isabella, a “haughty, but troubled” aristocrat who lives on a grand country estate (the movie was filmed at Somerleyton Hall in Suffolk), where she hosts an annual children’s talent competition, Stately Stars. Desperate to prove that she has artistic talent of her own, Isabella decides to compete against the youngsters, staging an elaborate multimedia performance, which includes poetry, action art and photographs of her “apparently dead body around the grounds”.

On hand to witness the mayhem is Sam (Laurie Kynaston), a “pushy, insecure young director” who shows up at the stately home to make a documentary. Funny, poignant and increasingly bizarre, “Lady” plays like a psychedelic “B-side to Saltburn”.

There is plenty of David Brent in this “frequently hilarious” film, said Kevin Maher in The Times, along with “bits of Alan Partridge and a dash of ‘This Country’”. The twist comes when the action suddenly veers into science fiction, and Isabella begins quite literally to disappear. The metaphor is clear – Isabella has become invisible to her husband, her peers and herself – and at times, her desire to be seen is almost “unbearably poignant”.

The shifts “from quirkiness to horror to tragedy” aren’t always seamless, said Gayle Sequeira in Sight and Sound, and some of the jokes go on too long. But by the end, the silliness gives way to something “meaningful and life-affirming”. “‘Lady’, much like the aristocrat at its centre, is an odd duck: erratic, but possessed of a tender heart and scrappy spirit.”

A day out in London usually comes with a hefty price tag – but it doesn’t have to. There’s still time to plan an affordable trip to the capital for the whole family before the kids go back to school. Savvy savers take note.

Spend an afternoon museum-hopping

Get your “cultural fix” at one (or more!) of London’s free museums and galleries, said Secret London. Children will love the “glittering jewellery” and “ancient sculptures” at the V&A or you could take them to the Horniman Museum and Gardens in Forest Hill to gawp at the “weird and wacky” objects on display. There’s also an “impressive garden and nature trail” to explore.

Take the kids to an outdoor show

“If you’re running out of juice towards the end of the summer hols” try dropping in at the Greenwich + Docklands International Festival, said Time Out. Running from 21 August–6 September, it’s “absolutely free” and includes a jam-packed line-up of “spectacular” outdoor theatre and dance. You’ll find something to keep “all ages” entertained.

Immerse yourself in nature at a park

Pack a picnic and “reconnect with nature” at one of London’s leafy parks, said Secret London. Stroll along the South Bank to the “hidden” Queen Elizabeth Hall Roof Garden, which is home to more than 200 wild plants and a “luscious lawn”. There are plenty of spot to lounge in the shade too. Or take the kids for a bike ride at Walthamstow Wetlands. Here, there are “over 13 miles of paths across an untamed, wildlife-friendly site”.

Visit a city farm

“You don’t have to head deep into the countryside to experience rural life,” said Which? Bring the kids along to Surrey Docks Farm in southeast London, where they can “make new furry and feathery friends”. For £3 each, you can also book a “meet the small animals” session for little ones to get up close to the rabbits, ferrets and guinea pigs.

Relax at a pop-up beach

The Costa Del Croydon is back on the level 3A rooftop of the multi-storey car park at the Centrale and Whitgift shopping centre. Running until the end of August, entry to the “urban beach” is free, said MyLondon. Once inside, kids can “enjoy creative workshops” and play in the splash zones and sandpit.

Whether the ’80s were “morning in America” or the beginning of the end for the post-war political consensus, there is no question that the decade produced its share of landmark cinematic achievements as well as seat-filling blockbusters. These nine memorable films include huge box office hits as well as gems known mostly to dedicated cinephiles.

‘The Shining’ (1980)

Novelist Stephen King famously despised director Stanley Kubrick’s take on his story of hard-drinking writer Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), who slowly loses his mind when he serves as the winter caretaker at the snowy Overlook Hotel with his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and son, Danny (Danny Lloyd). Beyond its now-iconic scenes, including Danny scribbling “murder” backwards on a door and Jack announcing “Wendy, I’m home!” as he chops his way through a door with an axe, Kubrick’s visionary film continues to lure in new generations of viewers with its mixture of technical wizardry and delirious performances. It’s a film that succeeds in “elevating horror to a different plane, removing its camp wiggeries and bogeymen to infuriate and bedazzle,” said Ian Nathan at Empire. (Prime Video)

‘Blade Runner’ (1982)

Harrison Ford, at the peak of his fame, plays Rick Deckard, one of the titular agents who hunt and retire rogue synthetic “replicants” in a bleak, polluted future Los Angeles set in 2019. Deckard is tasked with eliminating a band of rebellious replicants led by Roy (Rutger Hauer) who have returned to Earth to confront their creator, the CEO of the Tyrell Corporation.

In the process Deckard meets and falls in love with Rachael (Sean Young), a replicant programmed to believe that she is human. Director Ridley Scott’s sci-fi masterpiece raises still-relevant questions about the nature of synthetic consciousness, wrapped in a stylish noir casing. A “visionary” film that presents the “future as a black market, made up of scrambled sordid aspects of the past,” its unforgettable visual canvas gives it its “place in film history,” said Pauline Kael at The New Yorker. (YouTube)

‘Amadeus’ (1984)

A gripping biopic of Mozart (Tom Hulce), told from the perspective of the envious Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham), “Amadeus” is one of director Milos Forman’s two masterpieces, along with “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” Salieri plots to destroy the arrogant, often-unhinged Mozart, upend his relationship with Emperor Joseph II (Jeffrey Jones) and steal his final composition, “Requiem.” It gives us a “surprisingly true Mozart — young and tragically flawed, riddled with childlike tendencies whilst possessing the beautiful voice of God through his music” while “exploring themes of legacy, success, betrayal and the nature of talent,” said Victoria Vireikyte at Voice. (Prime Video)

‘Paris, Texas’ (1984)

Director Wim Wenders helms this slow, often surreal drama about a man, Travis (Harry Dean Stanton), who suddenly appears in the desert four years after going missing following the dissolution of his troubled marriage to Jane (Nastassja Kinski). His brother, Walt (Dean Stockwell), and his wife, Anne (Aurore Clément), have been raising Travis and Jane’s son, Hunter (Hunter Carson), in Los Angeles, and Travis decides he wants to try to find Jane in Houston. It’s a film that “shreds the emotions, leaving the viewer as raw and wounded as Travis,” while also being a “wholly American piece of storytelling in that the country’s ethos is rooted in self-discovery and redefinition,” said Brian Eggert at Deep Focus Review. (HBO Max)

‘Back to the Future’ (1985)

The ’80s were full of enjoyable pulp science fiction films, including E.T., but it is director Robert Zemeckis’ “Back to the Future” that left the most enduring mark on cinematic culture. Michael J. Fox is Marty McFly, a high school student whose mad scientist mentor, Emmett “Doc” Brown (Christopher Lloyd), accidentally sends him back in time to the 1950s in a DeLorean.

While there, Marty inadvertently interrupts the meet-cute that brought his parents together and threatens to snuff out his own existence if he can’t fix it. A movie that turned Fox into a superstar, it is the “modern era’s zippiest comedy about the collapse of the American dream” that might also be “Hollywood’s richest, cleverest blockbuster,” said Amy Nicholson at the Los Angeles Times. (Starz)

‘The Sacrifice’ (1986)

While certainly not the best-known 1980s film about nuclear war, celebrated Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky’s “The Sacrifice” remains one of his finest. Erland Josephson is Alexander, an actor and journalist celebrating his birthday at his family’s Swedish estate when he and his family get word that World War III has broken out, with much of the world likely already destroyed.

Desperate to avoid the coming nuclear holocaust, he agrees to a bargain with God — to give up all of his earthly loves and possessions if the disaster can be reversed. An “extraordinary and rich film with profound depths,” it represents a “bravely uneasy capstone to a titanic career,” said Tim Brayton at Alternate Ending. (Prime Video)

‘Full Metal Jacket’ (1987)

Hollywood’s belated reckoning with the disastrous Vietnam War reached its apotheosis in the late 1980s, with two classic films released within a year of one another, first “Platoon” in 1986 and then Stanley Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket” in 1987, which follows a platoon of Marines including razor-witted Private Davis (Matthew Modine) and much-ridiculed Private Lawrence (Vincent D’Onofrio) from basic training through the ordeal of combat in Southeast Asia. The first half of this “astonishingly assured piece of film-making” depicts the “steady dehumanization of Marine recruits” at the hands of the abusive Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (R. Lee Ermey) while the second half builds to a tragic climax that is a “mini-inferno of sniper fire and gushing bullet wounds, hard to live through but impossible to forget,” said John Patterson at The Guardian. (Prime Video)

‘Do the Right Thing’ (1989)

Writer-director Spike Lee’s groundbreaking film made him a household name, and Lee was only the second Black writer nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards. He stars as Mookie, a young father and delivery man at the eponymous neighborhood pizza joint run by Sal (Danny Aiello), a flashpoint for racial tensions between the largely black community and the restaurant’s racist owner. When Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) is killed by police after a confrontation with Sal, the neighborhood erupts in violence. Lee’s seminal film is a “virtuoso act of creation, a movie at once realistic and symbolic, lighthearted and tragic, funny and savage,” said Roger Ebert at the time at The Criterion Collection. (YouTube)

‘When Harry Met Sally’ (1989)

The standard against which all modern romantic comedies are measured, director Rob Reiner’s “When Harry Met Sally” is more than the sum of its well-known vignettes, including Sally (Meg Ryan) publicly demonstrating to Harry (Billy Crystal) the ability to fake an orgasm, and Harry’s unforgettable riff about how men and women can’t be friends. Harry and Sally are thrown together for a car trip from Chicago to New York after they graduate from college and dance around one another for years into their 30s as friends before taking the plunge into a romantic relationship. A movie that “treasured its characters, atmosphere, and setting,” it is also a “collection of finely hewn set pieces — nearly all of which pivot around nothing more than a conversation,” said Sonia Saraiya at Vanity Fair. (Prime Video)

Lisbon, Portugal’s beautiful capital by the sea, mixes pastel buildings and pretty tiled churches with incredible restaurants and quick access to beaches and mountains. Andaz Lisbon is the newest addition to the city’s hotel scene. Located right in the heart of central Lisbon, staying here is like being blasted with a rush of dopamine – its quirky and fun design choices make it a must-visit for style-conscious travellers.

Why stay here?

Andaz Lisbon is a maximalist’s colour-drenched fantasy bursting into life. Housed in a former bank – with the original doors intact – there’s nothing staid or corporate about this glamorous new hotel. If you’re a fan of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, you’ll love the hotel’s pick ’n’ mix clash of colours and patterns that are emblazoned on every corner.

When you first walk in you’re greeted by the original marble staircase decorated with Joan Miro-esque vases by Sofia Kruz. The hotel’s design delights in making everything big and bold with giant murals as feature walls in public spaces like the hallways.

Rooms are warm and inviting. A bright orange velvet armchair, pale blue-grey sofa and abstract 3D art on the walls provide pops of colour. There’s open shelving for your clothes with a floor-length mirror. The decor is a modern take on mid-century cool. There’s also a small mini bar with snacks – the first round is complimentary, which is a nice touch.

The bathroom is sleekly decorated with burgundy tiles and matching walls, beige marble, and bronze fittings, with Byredo Eleventh Hour toiletries on offer.

Eating and drinking

With its views out to São Jorge’s castle, an abundance of plants and a patchwork of clashing patterns, rooftop restaurant Luzzi is achingly stylish and brightens up your day instantly – and that’s before you even get to the food. For breakfast, it offers a well-curated buffet with crispy artisan bacon, homemade hash browns, a selection of cold cuts and cheeses, a mini salad station, and coconut pastries and plump doughnuts in their sweet corner. There’s also an à la carte menu where you can order fluffy pancakes or eggs however you like them.

Andaz Lounge downstairs pays homage to the kiosks you find dotted around Portugal offering casual light bites. It’s the perfect spot for lunch – try the cod and sweet potato fritters and the smash burger with port-caramelised onions. Then sink into one of the squidgy bouclé sofas with a tipple – all of the wines offered by the glass there are made by female winemakers.

At night, Luzzi is the perfect spot for a romantic dinner or group party – chef Bruno Alves has created a menu with nods to Portuguese heritage so there are Brazilian chicken coxinha, a doughy snack, and Peking glazed duck rice, which draws inspiration from Macau’s Portuguese heritage. The standout dish is lobster acorda, juicy chunks of charcoal-roasted lobster served with a soup made of bread, garlic and olive oil, infused with a rich seafood flavour – and it’s a hearty enough portion for two. For dessert, try serradura, made from cream and crushed biscuits. Luzzi’s heavenly version is layered with almond, fig, honey and bavaroise.

There’s also a bar with colourful checked walls, comfy low chairs decorated with geometric cushions, and little outdoor terraces – be sure to bag the one closest to the view of Rua Augusta Arch. With its marble tables and dedicated DJ booth, it’s like an upscale club without the sticky floors. Make sure to check out the loo at Luzzi – there’s red (yes, red) toilet paper, which somehow works with the rest of the decor.

The staff are uniformly kind and attentive – at breakfast one day I mention I won’t be staying long as I have to rush off for a day trip and someone brings me a takeaway box and cutlery, with a bag to carry it all in, so I can pack a lunch from the buffet.

Things to do

The hotel’s location right in the heart of Lisbon makes sightseeing a breeze. The iconic – and enormous – square, Praça do Comércio, and the riverside are just metres away. Take a walk around Baixa Chiado, marvel at the Santa Justa outdoor lift connecting the lower areas of the Baixa with the higher Carmo Square, and head to the ruins of an old church at Carmo Archaeological Museum. Don’t forget to grab a pastel de nata – egg custard tart – from the famous pastry shop, Manteigaria.

The verdict

Andaz Lisbon makes a welcome change from the stark minimalism that seems to be the default decor of many luxury hotels. It’s bold, loud and proud, catering to guests who care about good style, and offers an avant-garde twist and fine dining in a trendy new space. Don’t be surprised if it starts popping up on your Instagram feed very soon.

Ann was a guest of Andaz Lisbon

There are many stretches from Anthony Bourdain’s “gritty” and “well-chronicled” life that could work for a biopic, said Tim Robey in The Telegraph. But in “Tony”, Matt Johnson sticks with “just one summer” in 1975, when the celebrity chef was 19 – long before he found fame and fortune.

Based on the opening chapters of Bourdain’s bestselling memoir, “Kitchen Confidential”, the film opens as Tony – Dominic Sessa, the “deeply talented” young actor from “The Holdovers” – leaves home after failing to get a prestigious summer writing fellowship. He follows the “girl he fancies”, Nancy, to Cape Cod and gets “self-pityingly drunk” when he finds out she has a boyfriend.

After being thrown out of an oyster shack, a kindly chef (Antonio Banderas) gives him a job washing dishes and Tony finds himself in the “cramped, all-male milieu of flying expletives and cruel practical jokes”.

Johnson effortlessly mixes the “toxic camaraderie” of these scenes with montages of Bourdain’s slow-but-steady daily improvements. “It plays like ‘Rocky’ with kitchen knives”.

Gradually, Tony’s “insufferability” is “hosed away”, said Danny Leigh in the Financial Times, and Sessa dazzles in the “contradictory” role of the “charismatic sad-sack”. Johnson has made a “funny, sun-kissed biopic” that is “spry” and “enjoyable” despite the “complicated brief”. “Tony” is aimed at those who know that the chef’s life story will lead to both “glory and tragedy” (Bourdain died by suicide in 2018). The film “isn’t the whole story”. But that’s “probably fitting” – the chef was “nothing if not a spinner of yarns”.

I found it a bit “strange”, said Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian. “Tony” is an “entertaining” watch but the “feelgood trajectory is compromised by what we know” about Bourdain’s troubled life and death. A scene in which Banderas tells Tony about a chef to Louis XIV who “killed himself in shame when the key ingredients didn’t arrive for a banquet” is “presumably there tacitly to acknowledge Bourdain’s heartbreaking fate. It sits oddly.”

Mostly, though, it’s a “rollicking, surprisingly sunny coming-of-age tale”, said Larushka Ivan-Zadeh in The Times. “Picture ‘The Bear’ with less angst and more innocence.” Johnson manages to capture the “blistering, sizzling energy” of Bourdain’s memoir and Leo Woodall is “succulently charismatic” as Tony’s “cocksure, coke-snorting” co-worker, Sal.

But the real star is Sessa who “nails Bourdain’s annoying young Turk braggadocio” while giving us a peek at the “unformed vulnerability beneath”. In all, it’s a portrait of the fiery young chef that’s “spicy, salty, and just sweet enough. I’d happily have second helpings.”

A Detroit-style pizza hits all the right notes — a thick crunchy crust, caramelized brick-cheese edge called the frico and rich red sauce spooned over the toppings. Find the real deal at these seven Motor City institutions, including the spot where the glory began.

Buddy’s Pizza

This is the birthplace of Detroit-style pizza, so it’s “no surprise its pies rank among the best,” said Detroit Metro Times. Back in 1946, Italian immigrant Gus Guerra borrowed forged-steel pans from an auto plant and made his first square pizza, its interior “soft” and bottom crust “crispy.”

The rest is history, with countless other pizza places putting their own spin on the style. Buddy’s dough is “light and airy” and the “gooey, flavorful” cheese “caramelizes into crispy perfection,” said Detroit Metro Times. There are multiple locations; the flagship is at 17125 Conant St.

Cloverleaf Bar & Restaurant

Gus Guerra didn’t just leave his mark at Buddy’s. After selling the pizzeria (and his recipe) in 1953, he went on to establish the beloved Cloverleaf Bar & Restaurant in Eastpointe, which his family still operates today.

The menu features a build-your-own pizza option, alongside more adventurous specialties like the BLT with bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise and the Mexican Pizza covered in ground beef, banana peppers, green peppers and cheddar cheese and served with sour cream and salsa.

Grandma Bob’s

Grandma Bob’s “creative” flavors bring traditional Detroit-style pizza into a “new age,” said Bon Appétit. Take the Lobster Roll Pizza. It’s a classic, crispy square pizza topped with lobster, “herbaceous” crème fraîche, crushed kettle chips and chives, with drawn butter and lemon on the side for your “dipping and drizzling pleasure.” Vegans can also get in on the fun combinations; the Big Mack is loaded with Impossible Burger, vegan mozzarella and Thousand Island dressing, pickles, white onion, iceberg lettuce and sesame seeds.

Loui’s Pizza

This “iconic” pizzeria “stands in a league of its own,” said the Detroit Metro Times. Loui’s pies start with crusts that are the “ideal mix of crunch and fluff,” and only get better as a “bold and tangy” sauce is “generously ladled” over an “abundance of cheese.” The atmosphere inside the restaurant is “just as inviting as its pizza,” with wine bottles hanging over the tables covered in checkered cloths.

Michigan & Trumbull Pizza

There’s always a new pizza to try at Michigan & Trumbull. The menu is “guided by Detroit’s seasons,” with monthly specials featuring locally grown ingredients, said Bon Appétit. While Detroit-style pizza is known for its “racing stripes of red sauce,” Michigan & Trumbull has a robust selection of white pizzas, like the Cadieux e Pepe, which “reimagines” cacio e pepe, and the Bagley Chorizo with pickled red onion and cilantro ranch. For the “staunch traditionalists,” you can build your own pie with red sauce, mozzarella, parmesan and whatever toppings you’d like.

Shield’s

Open since 1937, Shield’s is a “real old-school pizza restaurant,” and you can savor history in every bite, said Tasting Table. Pies are cooked in pans that have been used for years, and it’s almost like the flavors from the past are “infused into every new pizza made.”

For all of its “fantastic” pies, said Tasting Table, Shield’s uses the customary brick cheese, which melts all over the crust. There are nearly a dozen specialty pizzas to choose from, with the spicy Gold Medal, featuring Italian banana peppers and sweet red bell peppers, an award winner.

Sicily’s Pizzeria & Subs

Sicily’s, known for its sourdough crust, has been feeding Detroit since 1989. Fans appreciate this twist on the traditional approach, along with Sicily’s dedication to using locally produced ingredients. Other menu items that set the place apart include the Tomato Pie, which eliminates the mozzarella, and the East Coast White Pie that’s heavy on the garlic and multiple cheeses.

Katendrecht was “once at the heart of the world’s busiest port” and home to a “lively sailors’ quarter”, said Pat Riddell in The Guardian. But this “thin peninsula” on the south bank of the Nieuwe Maas River in central Rotterdam has undergone a dramatic transformation.

The regeneration of historic warehouses has seen the former red-light district turn into one of the city’s “most vibrant” spots, with craft breweries, boutique shops and galleries popping up everywhere. Last year, the opening of the Fenix museum of migration gave a boost to the “formerly downtrodden” neighbourhood’s “lively cultural and arts scene”.

Set within a “century-old warehouse”, this “showstopper” of a museum uses art to portray migration “not as an abstraction or headline, but as a shared human experience”, said Karen Bershtein in Time magazine. Inside, a “mirrored, double-helix steel staircase” winds up to “sprawling views of the River Maas” and the city. Contemporary works include the “Suitcase Labyrinth”: a striking installation “assembled from thousands of donated pieces of luggage”. And “don’t miss the Nederlands Fotomuseum” where you can see a vast collection of Dutch photography, said Derek Robertson in Time Out.

Evenings are easy to fill at the Theatre Walhalla: an intimate venue that hosts an eclectic programme of over 300 performances each year. It’s also worth checking to see whether you can catch a family-friendly show at the youth circus school, Circus Rotjeknor.

When it comes to food and drink, Delistraat is “buzzing from morning to night”, said Riddell in The Guardian. Here you’ll find “flaky pastries” at Jordy’s Bakery, a “huge range of whiskeys” at Café de Ouwehoer, and the “small but perfectly formed fine dining establishment”, De Matroos en Het Meisje, which offers a daily changing menu of four to six courses.

Consider booking a room at Hotel New York where you’ll find luxurious suites in the “former offices of the Holland-America Line’s directors”, or check in at the “permanently moored” former cruise ship, SS Rotterdam, which has been turned into a 254-room hotel. With much of its original decor preserved, it feels like “stepping back in time”.

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Cold, al dente truth: What we generally know about Italian food in the U.S. is a mere snapshot of the country’s grand diversity. These cookbooks unveil that scope. Some include full-kitchen immersions in foodstuffs like balsamic vinegar and prosciutto, while one laser-focuses on a northern Italian region less-known in America. Together, the books expand the mind and guide the hands in the myriad delicious ways Italian cooking exists.

‘Cooking by Hand’ by Paul Bertolli

The right obsessive is destined to write a cookbook that will “wake up the imagination and capture a cuisine in both recipes and prose,” said Serious Eats. “Cooking by Hand” is that book, a personal homage and textbook from a man entrenched in a lifelong fascination with Italian cooking.

Bertolli, once a chef at a number of legendary San Francisco Bay Area restaurants before debuting his salumi company, Fra’ Mani, devotes 14 pages to his fondness for true balsamic vinegar and 12 ways to think about cooking with tomatoes. It is that kind of book, one that commemorates the “heart and soul of Italian cooking as much as its technical execution,” said Serious Eats. The recipes and instructions are built for a cook to “marvel at” because Bertolli’s “enthusiasm for the result is infectious,” said Publishers Weekly. ($40, Clarkson Potter, Amazon)

‘Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking’ by Marcella Hazan

No cuisine is a monolith. Even traditional recipes from one city can be interpreted immeasurable ways by various families. “Essentials of Italian Cooking,” however, purports to be the one true path to true Italian cooking. In truth, it is a vision of Italian food seen through the strong-willed lens of its author, Marcella Hazan, who had opinions and “was not afraid to share them,” said Aimee Levitt at Eater.

A strong point of view is a boon for kitchen literacy. You learn Hazan’s way as you cook through this “foundational text,” said Serious Eats, that aims to “enlighten, instruct and offer key cultural insights in one fell swoop.” Then, in time, you excavate your own path so that you too might be full of righteous opinions about the proper way to cook Italian food. ($45, Knopf, Amazon)

‘Pasta e Verdure: 140 Vegetable Sauces for Spaghetti, Fusilli, Rigatoni, and All Other Noodles’ by Jack Bishop

Cook with pasta and vegetables for an extended period of time, and you learn that the repertoire expands with possibility every time you shake your dinner from skillet to serving bowl. “Pasta e Verdura” is like an infinity mirror: a collection of more than 100 sauces organized alphabetically by vegetable base. Flavor and variations that go on and on.

These are “simple recipes that combine common ingredients into gourmet vegetarian meals,” said Teri Bickmore at Midland Daily News, including asparagus with mushrooms and shallots, leeks with white wine and parmesan, spinach with melting gorgonzola, and butternut squash with sage. “Pasta e Verdure” might soon be one of a “very few indispensable cookbooks” in your kitchen. ($27, ThriftBooks, Amazon)

‘The Silver Spoon’ [NO AUTHOR]

There are tomes, and then there is “The Silver Spoon.” At almost 1,500 pages, the most magnum of Italian magnum opuses was first printed in 1950. “No matter where you turn” in the beloved cookbook, you’ll be faced with the “sight of something delicious,” said Serious Eats.

“The Silver Spoon” leans toward recipes that are forthright, ones that combine a “few ingredients to make simple dishes with rustic appeal,” said Serious Eats. The allure of these recipes’ “simplicity is that many can be combined or tweaked at will.”

Still, it is too large of a book to be perfect. Sometimes the recipes are so terse, they confuse. But as a source for creative thinking in the kitchen, for expanding one’s resourcefulness in the kitchen, “The Silver Spoon” is an expansive gift. ($55, Phaidon, Amazon)

‘The Talisman of Happiness’ by Ada Boni

An almost century-long journey brought one of Italy’s most beloved cookbooks to the United States. The book’s author, Ada Boni, published “The Talisman of Happiness” in 1929, and its more than 1,500 recipes aimed to capture the breadth of Italian cooking, the cuisine of a country that was still rather new when the book was written. Boni, said the book’s publisher, Michael Szczerban, to NPR, is the “most important forgotten culinary icon in Italian cooking history.”

As of 2025, “The Talisman of Happiness” is available in English. “Regional home cooking was essential to maintaining Italy’s national culture, and the book evolved along with the cuisine,” said Kim Severson at The New York Times. Cook through “The Talisman of Happiness,” and you learn that a national cuisine is, in truth, a compendium of how home cooks across various topographies and miles feed their people with what is available nearby. ($60, Voracious, Amazon)

‘La Terra Fortunata: The Splendid Food and Wine of Friuli Venezia-Giulia, Italy's Great Undiscovered Region’ by Fred Plotkin

So much of what we consider Italian food in the U.S. is, predictably, a product of migration patterns. We know well the red-sauce extravagances of southern Italian cooking. A culinary blind spot for most Americans is the cooking of the far north of Italy, which has more in common with Italy’s neighbors, Slovenia, Croatia and Austria, than it does with a tomato.

Plotkin’s essential book, “La Terra Fortunata,” captures the food and wine culture of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, the northeasternmost region of Italy. It is a locale where gnocchi are stuffed with plums, and penne with cinnamon and ricotta sauce turns the “palate upside down,” said Amanda Hesser at The New York Times. You will also learn an ensnaring new way with cheese: the frico, in which shredded Montasio cheese melts then hardens into a “crisp, golden cheese snack,” said New York Daily News. ($35, ThriftBooks, Amazon)

This is the way to enjoy the British summertime. Battered fish and salt-and-vinegar-seasoned chips have been a staple for hundreds of years, best paired with stinging seaside winds and spray. Wherever you are in the UK, there will always be a handful of chippies vying for your order. Here are some of the best seaside establishments, giving you decades-crafted favourites, and some newer twists on tradition.

Anstruther Fish Bar – Fife, Scotland

“My heart belongs to Anstruther Fish Bar,” said Gordon Thomson in The Telegraph. Edinburgh has “salt and sauce”, a “piquant brown-sauce-and-vinegar combo”, and in Glasgow, the “mighty ‘fish supper’ reigns”, but fish on the east coast of Scotland is something else. Once you’ve navigated the queue under the “watchful eye of the mannequin fisherman”, you settle down into an “old-school caff table”. Last time I was there, I had haddock, with the “most incredible chips – perfectly crisp and yet fluffy inside – and mushy peas, all washed down with white wine and a craft beer”. Truly “award-winning fare”.
anstrutherfishbar.co.uk

Aldeburgh Fish & Chips – Aldeburgh, Suffolk

“The Cooney family and their faithful tribe of fryers have been frying in beef dripping on Aldeburgh High Street since 1967,” said Chris Haslam in The Times. There are actually two spots on the high street to pick up your supper, and you’ll get the “same shatteringly crispy battered fish” at both. Above the second location, the Golden Galleon, there’s a small dining space, but Aldeburgh’s “windswept sand and shingle beach is an unbeatable picnic spot”. I’ve even known a seal to have “bobbed along to say hello”.
aldeburghfishandchips.co.uk

Whelan’s Fish and Chips – Lytham St Annes, Lancashire

Whelan’s has been visited by some esteemed figures in the culinary world – such as Gordon Ramsay and Rick Stein – and yet it primarily “remains a favourite with the locals”, said Delicious. It was established in 1937, and “since it started, not much has changed and for all the right reasons”. They source fish from “sustainable stocks, they use local produce (wherever possible)” and you are always looked after by “welcoming” staff. Of course, you can’t go wrong with something traditional, but keep your eyes peeled for one of the “gourmet fishcakes which often feature as a daily special”.
whelansfishandchips.co.uk

Ainsworth’s – Bridge Street, Caernarfon, Gwynedd

Now this is a “treasure trove of a place”, said Joanna Whitehead in The i Paper. Naturally, “no two chippies are the same”, and each place is “dazzling with individuality”: a “gratifying phenomenon in a homogenised world of chain eateries”. It is hard to beat cradling a “box of their glowing offering under your arm” and heading “to the waterfront to eat between bay and castle”.
ainsworthscaernarfon.co.uk

The Rockfish – Dartmouth, Devon

If you need convincing, look no further than celebrated chef Mitch Tonks’ “65 awards”, said Food and Travel Magazine. “Set overlooking the bucolic River Dart with its fishing boats meandering up and down with the ebb and flow of the tide, you can almost taste how good The Rockfish’s wares are going to be before they arrive.” In winter, the restaurant’s log burner is the perfect antidote to “long yomps across the moors”. There are a few West Country change-ups from your classic chippy menu: the “South Coast calamari with aïoli” and a “South Devon crab roll, served with pickled cucumber, Marie Rose sauce and lashings of sweet white crab meat” are fan-favourites.
therockfish.co.uk

Set midway between Amsterdam and Groningen in the northern Netherlands, the village of Giethoorn is the kind of place that should be prescribed for depression, said Gavin Haines in The Telegraph. With its thatched houses and “manicured” gardens, it’s “almost too perfect to be real” – but what makes it particularly “idyllic” is that it’s built largely around canals. Its charms are no secret: it receives about a million visitors a year (roughly a third of them from China), and the central waterway is often gridlocked.

Still, one local said he wasn’t much troubled by the crowds: the village still feels peaceful thanks to the absence of cars, and most of the visitors are daytrippers who leave around 5pm. If you go, book a B&B in advance, and hire a canoe or rowing boat to explore the wetlands in the nearby Weerribben-Wieden National Park.

The timeless charms of Tinos

A relatively quick two-hour ferry journey from Athens, Tinos is one of the more “wild and untouched” of the Cyclades, said Francesca Angelini in The Times – an “otherworldly” place with towering mountains, “frills-free” old chapels and gorgeous beaches. For a family holiday, I rented a “chic, understated” villa through The Thinking Traveller on the “sheltered” west coast, a 15-minute walk from the sandy beach of Kalivia.

From there, we visited other beaches (Kolymbithres was lovely), went on some good hikes, and explored several enchanting villages. I loved “mystical” Tarampados, with its medieval, Venetian-style dovecotes (“ornate” two-storey stone structures), and Volax was wonderful, with its “bizarre” rock formations (boulders which were apparently “hurled down by Zeus in a moment of rage”) – but most “spectacular” was Kardiani, a “maze” of whitewashed houses on the “precipitous” hillside above our villa.

A cookery and craft retreat in Japan

The little Japanese mountain town of Yamanaka is known for its hot springs, traditional crafts and food culture, all explored in Water, Wood, & Wild Things, by the American writer Hannah Kirshner. For those keen to experience them first-hand, Kirshner runs a biannual four-day retreat, Foodways and Craftways, said Jessica Kozuka in DestinAsian.

Guests stay at the “venerable” Hanamurasaki ryokan – an inn founded in 1902 with a rooftop onsen bath – and take part in cookery and craft workshops at Mokkei, a renovated 100-year-old house with an open kitchen. The programme also includes foraging trips, tea ceremony classes at one of the town’s tea schools, and traditional pastry lessons at a fifth-generation confectionery.

The Yucatán Peninsula is Mexico’s prime tourist hotspot, but most visitors stay in the north, around the “mega-resort” of Cancún and the stretch of Caribbean coast known as the Riviera Maya. The south of the peninsula is a different world, said Martin Symington in The Times – a vast, sparsely populated region which is relatively little visited by holidaymakers.

The distances involved in exploring it are considerable (the Yucatán, which stretches into Belize and Guatemala, is nearly as big as Great Britain), but so are the rewards. As you head south from Cancún, low forest and scrub give way to “deeper, darker” forest, and hidden away among it are some “magical” places, including one particularly “stupefying” sight – the ancient Mayan city of Ichkabal.

In the north, I stayed at Belmond Maroma, “a peach of a beach-fringed hideaway”, and visited the old colonial town of Valladolid, as well as the spectacular Mayan ruins of Chichén Itzá – “an archaeological honeypot up there with Petra or Giza”. Ichkabal feels very different. Its biggest pyramid, at 40 metres high, is taller than Chichén Itzá’s, and stands beside a “stadium-sized” central precinct surrounded by other monumental structures. All are half-covered in vegetation, and set in an “impenetrable” rainforest that stretches further than the eye can see.

This city reached its zenith between AD200-600, and was later abandoned and – incredibly – only rediscovered in 1994, when archaeologists working on another project “stumbled” upon it. Last year, it was opened to visitors, and yet – while I came across several jungle creatures (including a crocodile swimming in one of the city’s original reservoirs) – I saw only a handful of other tourists. Other unmissable sights include the Lagoon of Seven Colours, a narrow, 60km-long lake. Its water is wonderfully clear – great for snorkelling – and there are some “tranquil” boutique hotels on its shores, including the Habitas Bacalar.

Anime is a unique version of animated storytelling indigenous to contemporary Japan, a style that exploded in international popularity during the 1990s. With the ongoing proliferation of streaming services, international audiences have greater access to the large and diverse catalog of anime films than ever before, including these eight classics.

‘Grave of the Fireflies’ (1988)

A harrowing anti-war film, “Grave of the Fireflies” follows Seita (Tsutomu Tatsumi) and Setsuko (Ayano Shiraishi), siblings struggling to survive the final cataclysms of World War II after their mother is killed in the firebombing of Kobe. They move in with an indifferent, cruel aunt and then escape to an empty bomb shelter, where they try to survive by the light of fireflies.

To say that “Grave of the Fireflies” does not soften the cruelty of the children’s fate is putting it lightly, but even in sorrow the movie offers viewers breathtaking beauty. Watching the film is an “emotional experience so powerful that it forces a rethinking of animation” and leaves its haunting impression “not by reproducing reality but by heightening and simplifying it,” said Roger Ebert. (Netflix)

‘Akira’ (1988)

Kaneda (Mitsuo Iwata) is a teenaged motorcycle gang leader in 2019 “Neo-Tokyo,” a postnuclear apocalypse megalopolis. When his friend Tetsuo (Nozomu Sasaki) is abducted by military elites bent on turning him into a supernatural killer, Kaneda tries to rescue him. But Colonel Shikishima (Taro Ishida) finds that Tetsuo could become as powerful as the being Akira, rumored to be capable of destroying the world. Director Katsuhiro Otomo’s “Akira” is “one of the most important flashpoints in the history of animation,” and its depiction of a “rotting society held together with cruelty and desperation” has ongoing relevance today, said Tim Brayton at Alternate Ending. (Prime Video)

‘Kiki’s Delivery Service’ (1989)

Kiki (Minami Takayama) is a 13-year-old witch-in-training who leaves home for the first time with her talking cat, Jiji (Rei Sakuma). Settling into a seaside hamlet, she uses her new broom-riding skills to work as a kind of analog flying Uber Eats for the baker, Osono (Keiko Toda), who gives her a free place to stay while she trains.

Kiki also befriends a boy, Tombo (Kappei Yamaguchi), who yearns for her ability to fly — until she loses her magic altogether. Whimsical, beautiful and quietly moving, it is a coming-of-age masterpiece. Director Hayao Miyazaki’s “timeless” movie is “made for young hearts but also has a way of growing up with us, taking on new meaning when viewed at different life stages,” said Melanie McFarland at Salon. (HBO Max)

‘Ghost in the Shell’ (1995)

Major Motoko Kusanagi (Atsuko Tanaka) is an agent with Public Security Section 9, which tracks cybercriminals in the dizzyingly futuristic New Port City circa 2029, where people can wire their brains directly into the Internet. She’s tasked with apprehending The Puppet Master (Iemasa Kayumi), a hacker who appears to be tapping directly into these networked minds and altering memories. Director Mamoru Oshii's “hugely influential cyberpunk classic” is a heart-racing thriller that also “dialed deep into the potential of the information age, advances in robotics and subsequent philosophical questions” about digital consciousness, said Ben Travis and Luke Bradley at Empire. (Prime Video)

‘Princess Mononoke’ (1997)

In 15th-century Japan, Ashitaka (Yoji Matsuda), the prince of a dying kingdom called Emishi, is infected by a forest demon and travels west searching for a forest god that provides a cure. Instead, he stumbles into a war between the rapacious smelters of Iron Town, led by Lady Eboshi (Yuko Tanaka) and a coalition of forest spirits and creatures led by the wolf god, Moro (Akihiro Miwa), and her human daughter, San (Yuriko Ishida).

Crafted by Hayao Miyazaki, it is a film that “stands against intolerance in all its forms, political or social, and demands coexistence and understanding from its audience,” said Brian Eggert at Deep Focus Review. It is also a “sprawling, perceptive wonder” that “could not be told through another medium.” (HBO Max)

‘Spirited Away’ (2001)

By winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2003, “Spirited Away” gave an art form known to Americans mostly through Saturday morning cartoons and the Pokémon phenomenon the kind of prestige previously reserved for high-end Disney and Pixar films. While 10 year-old Chihiro (Rumi Hiiragi) and her parents are en route to their new home, they take a wrong turn and wind up in what at first appears to be a derelict amusement park.

There, her parents are transformed into pigs and Chihiro is thrust into a vibrant but terrifying underworld. She is forced to take on a job in a spirit world bathhouse, as she tries to retrieve her parents and return them to their human form. The film is generally regarded as director and animator Hayao Miyazaki’s finest work. A “tremendously original and beautiful film,” it gives viewers the feeling of a “nightmare that’s not at all frightening but instead marvelous in its alienness,” said MaryAnn Johanson at Flick Filosopher. (HBO Max)

‘The Girl Who Leapt Through Time’ (2006)

If you associate anime with only one kind of genre — futuristic science fiction or magical realism — you’re in for a surprise with the moving coming-of-age story “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.” When adolescent Makoto (Riisa Naka) discovers that she can travel back in time, she uses her new powers to hold her friendships with two boys in suspended animation, traveling back again and again to short-circuit any developing romantic feelings and to preserve their childhood relationships. This “sweet, credible study” has a “fantastical premise” and succeeds with “subtle character studies rather than large-scale effects,” said Kim Newman at Empire. (HBO Max)

‘The Colors Within’ (2024)

Anime filmmaking remains dominated by men, making Naoko Yamada’s “The Colors Within” a triumph on multiple levels. It not only plants a flag for women in the industry, but as a gentle musical driven by character development rather than plot, it is also a departure from the kind of storytelling most commonly associated with the art form.

Totsuko (Sayu Suzukawa) is a boarding school outsider who has a kind of synesthesia, seeing other people’s auras as vibrant colors. When she links up with fellow misfits Kimi (Akari Takaishi) and Rui (Taisei Kido), they form a band and face the challenges of adolescence and growing up together. Yamada’s film “paints an exquisite rainbow of adolescent blues in this gentle tale of music and friendship,” and its “musically diverse songs beautifully channel the personalities of each member,” said Phuong Le at The Guardian. (HBO Max)

There’s more than one way to barbecue in Texas. Each region has its own “distinct approach to the ’cue,” influenced by the cooking styles of 19th-century German and Czech immigrants, Mexican Americans and Indigenous and enslaved people, said Houstonia.

The classic East Texas style “dominated” Houston for decades, with pitmasters focusing on “slow-roasted meats and sweet, tomato-based sauces,” said Houstonia. But by the 1960s, the techniques of Central Texas — sprinkling briskets with salt and pepper and cooking them over indirect heat — started to become more commonplace.

Today, Houston is at the center of a vibrant barbecue scene that offers those traditional styles alongside new ones influenced by Asian and Tex-Mex flavors. Visit any one of these eight beloved institutions, and you’ll leave full of delectable meat and appreciation for Houston’s take on barbecue.

Brisket & Rice

What do you get when you combine Vietnamese cuisine with Texas barbecue? Brisket & Rice, a “bustling” restaurant that shares a parking lot with a gas station, said The Michelin Guide.

Chef Hong Tran’s signature dish is his pull-apart tender brisket served with barbecue fried rice, a “reflection on his Lone Star upbringing and Vietnamese roots,” said The Michelin Guide. Adding pickled jalapeños and onions takes the dish to the next level. Other favorites include the house-made jalapeño sausages, “delicately” smoked pork ribs and a pulled-to-order pork sandwich on a potato bun. Don’t forget banana pudding for dessert.

Burns Original BBQ

The late Roy Burns started sharing his iconic barbecue with the public in 1973, dishing out plates of brisket and ribs from a pickup truck on the side of the road. His family is still operating Burns Original BBQ, now in an “old school” building “smack-dab in the middle of a residential neighborhood,” said Texas Monthly.

During your visit, the hardest decision you’ll make is whether to go with the “saucy” pork spare ribs, robust chopped beef sandwich or massive loaded baked potato that’s “so big the Styrofoam lid has to be taped down,” said Texas Monthly. Make it easy on yourself by coming with a few friends and ordering one of everything for a finger-licking feast.

CorkScrew BBQ 

Barbecue lovers in Houston routinely make the trek to the suburbs to enjoy CorkScrew BBQ in Spring. Owners Will and Nichole Buckman operate a “love letter to smoked meat,” with all sides and sauces made in house, said Travel and Leisure.

CorkScrew is famous for its smoked brisket, but the pulled pork and pit-smoked beans “steal the spotlight,” said Travel and Leisure, thanks to the “perfect blend of seasoning and sauce.” For dessert, try the cobbler of the day.

Gatlin’s BBQ

Pitmaster Greg Gatlin has perfected the art of “decadent” barbecue enhanced by “craveably” sweet and balanced sauces, said Bon Appétit. The “marbled, juicy and glorious” brisket, like all the meat on the menu, has a “punchy” aroma, thanks to hickory smoke, and the chopped meat sandwiches on “buttery” Texas toast have a “rich, bacon-like taste.” For a little of everything, try the Gatlin’s Kitchen Sink sandwich, a behemoth of sausage, sliced brisket, onions and jalapeños, with sides of the “well-seasoned” collard greens and Cajun-style dirty rice.

Pinkerton’s

The star of the show at Pinkerton’s is the “hulking” beef rib, which is all but guaranteed to sell out by early afternoon, said The Michelin Guide. Pitmaster Grant Pinkerton has “made a name for himself” with his delicious meats, smoked over oak and mesquite.

The sweet, sticky St. Louis-style pork ribs are “brilliantly tender,” said The Michelin Guide, and the duck-and-sausage jambalaya offers a welcome bayouland change of pace. After looking at the menu, check out the back wall, where “daily specials are written in small print.”

The Pit Room

The flavors of Texas and Mexico collide at The Pit Room. Bite into one of the chopped brisket tacos “drizzled with salsa roja and served on tortillas freshly griddled in rendered brisket fat,” and you can see how the two “marry beautifully,” said Bon Appétit. The Pit Room, founded by Michael Sambrooks in 2016, uses two custom barrel-style offset smokers and a vertical sausage cooker, resulting in “standout” meats.

Stop in early for “decadent” pulled pork hash and egg tacos, said Bon Appétit. Or wait for lunch and grab one of the “hefty” beef sausages with a side of “exceptional” elote and “hearty” charro beans.

Roegels Barbecue Co.

You should visit Roegels Barbecue Co. any chance you get, but Thursdays are special. That’s when you can order the state’s’ “best pastrami Reuben,” said Texas Monthly.

During visits the other days of the week, you can’t go wrong with the house-made sausages, “newly perfected” by owners Russell and Misty Roegels, and the ribs, said Texas Monthly. Sample a little of everything by ordering The Trinity (a quarter pound each of sliced brisket, pork ribs and sausage, plus two sides) or the Texas Two-Step sandwich with brisket and sausage.

Truth Barbecue

Set your alarm — you’re going to want to beat the crowds at Truth Barbecue. Fans arrive well before opening to line up for “what may be Houston’s best version of the classic Texas Trinity,” said Southern Living. That would be a heaping plate of Truth’s “superb” brisket, pork ribs and smoked sausage. The “impressive” sides are just as delicious, with owner and pitmaster Leonard Botello pulling out “all the stops” with his “creamy, cheesy” tater tot casserole, thick corn pudding and loaded baked potato salad.

The British Museum and the Natural History Museum tend to steal the headlines when it comes to an educational day out. But the UK is also home to many more eclectic offerings. Here are some of our favourite museum oddities across the country.

The Crab Museum, Kent

This Margate museum bills itself as “Europe’s first and only museum dedicated to the decapod”. It’s also one of the UK’s “most bizarre institutions”, said Amy Houghton in Time Out. Founded in 2021, the space is “crammed with crab trivia” and “hilarious tongue-in-cheek information panels”. The exhibits not only celebrate crustacean culture, but humans too. “For instance, there’s a slipper lobster dressed as a suffragette” and a “spotted reef crab dressed as a trade unionist in a diorama depicting the 1926 General Strike”.
crabmuseum.org

British Lawnmower Museum, Southport

“The grass is always greener in Merseyside”, said Etan Smallman in The Telegraph. In this Northwest museum, lawnmowers are “honoured as the revolutionary gadgets they truly are”. Visitors can walk through the history of the machine first patented in 1830 – English engineer Edward Budding tested the prototype at night to avoid the ridicule of his neighbours – and a “plethora of Victorian and Edwardian models”. One of the highlights is the “ever-expanding” showcase of “Lawnmowers of the Rich and Famous”. Old contraptions owned by King Charles, Princess Diana, Alan Titchmarsh and Brian May all feature.
lawnmowerworld.co.uk

The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, Cornwall

In Boscastle for more than 70 years, this has been “one of Cornwall’s most popular museums”, said BBC Countryfile. Look out for signature exhibits including a “bellarmine jar found hidden in a house near Plymouth – complete with hair, nail clippings and pins”. You can find out about occult practices from British folklore and around the world, and “investigate examples of curses, spells and charms”. At a safe distance, of course.
museumofwitchcraftandmagic.co.uk

The Morbitorium, Wales

This certainly makes for a “peculiar day out”, said Lizzy Reece on Rest Less. It may only consist of three rooms but it is packed with a “huge range of oddities and curiosities”, spanning everything from “antique lobotomy tools and Ouija boards to mummified cats and Victorian sex toys”. There are special “after-dark” tours, and the site offers workshops and you can book a “private tarot, oracle, or rune reading”. “It’s sure to be unforgettable!”
morbitorium.co.uk

The Dog Collar Museum, Kent

This museum is devoted to “canine neckwear, not canonical uniform, by the way”, said The Londonist. Located within the grounds of Leeds Castle, near Maidstone, the museum is home to the largest collection in the world, though it would be hard to imagine “too much competition”. It displays more than 130 collars, spanning an “impressive” range from five centuries.
leeds-castle.com

If you need a break from nerve-shredding thrillers and true crime documentaries, try switching to something a bit more comforting. From a big-hearted coming-of-age tale to a star-studded drama, these escapist TV shows are best enjoyed curled up on the sofa with a tub of ice cream. Enjoy.

Sterling Point

“If escapism is the brief, then ‘Sterling Point’ fulfils it expertly,” said Micha Frazer-Caroll in The Guardian. The perfect antidote to dark, gritty shows like “Euphoria”, the coming-of-age drama follows “highly strung” 17-year-old Annie who discovers she’s inherited a house on a “picturesque Canadian island” and embarks on a “secret trip in search of answers about her late mother’s life”. Warm and funny, the show “manages to transcend the limits of its YA niche” and turns out to be “quite juicy”. It doesn’t have the “intensity” or “existentialism” of darker teen shows – but I found myself wanting to “stay with these characters and inhabit their island bubble”. “I didn’t want to go home.”
Amazon

The Five-Star Weekend

This “sun-soaked” drama stars Jennifer Garner as a food blogger struggling to cope after a “devastating loss”, said Nathalie Whittle in Good Housekeeping. She invites old friends from “different stages of her life” to visit her Nantucket home – but what starts as a “soul-searching weekend” soon unfurls into something far harder when “secrets emerge and friendships are pushed to their limit”. The result is a fun, absorbing series that’s “the pinnacle of escapist TV”.
Sky

Imperfect Women

Bingeing this show is like being “jet propelled into the captivating, messy world of people with far more exciting lives than your own”, said Lucy Wigley in Woman & Home. Based on the novel of the same name by Araminta Hall, the glossy mystery follows a tight-knit group of women whose lives are shattered when one of their friends is murdered. “Lavish”, “polished” and “utterly absorbing” this is the type of show you can “lose yourself in”. “Add it to your watch list.”
Apple TV

Heated Rivalry

This hit series follows the “years-long romance” between promising rival hockey players Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozonov (Connor Storrie), said Michael Arceneaux on HuffPost. Much like the book it’s based on, the show is “fun and escapist and as horny as it is heartfelt”. Season one secured a 96% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes – and the second instalment is “on the horizon”. Watch this space.
Apple TV

Gilmore Girls

This is “everything one could ever want or need in a comfort show,” said Andrea Park and Nicole Briese in Marie Claire. “Gilmore Girls” ran for seven seasons from 2000 to 2007 and follows single mother Lorelai and her precocious daughter Rory as they go about their lives. Set in the sleepy fictional town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut, where it’s “seemingly always autumn and wacky townspeople abound”. “Need we say more?”
Netflix

Gossip Girl

There’s something “uniquely comforting” about watching the “drama-fuelled escapades” of these “impossibly wealthy Upper East Side teens”, said Ranyechi Udemezue in Vogue. The show ran for six seasons between 2007 and 2012, reaching “a crescendo” as the friendship group enters adulthood. “If I’m ever stuck in a rut, ‘Gossip Girl’ will be sure to lift me out of it.”
Netflix

There is no need to cram yourself into a tasting room in Napa or Burgundy like a wine-thirsty sardine. The globe is increasingly loaded with notable wine-making regions and traditions that offer boundless surprises: bottlings made from unique indigenous grapes, topographies you could never imagine that squeeze out wine, and calm, personalized vineyard tours. So put down the beefy cab sauv and start exploring.

Bolivia

Perhaps nowhere is as surprising a wine destination as this landlocked South American country. It has “grapes that shouldn’t grow” and a “rocky, punishing terrain,” said The New York Times. There are both 500-year-old forest vineyards in the Cinti Valley and Tarija’s “mountainous vines,” which are “among the highest elevation vineyards in all of the Americas” and produce 90% of the country’s wine, said Wine Enthusiast. Many of the grapes grown here, like negra criolla and tannat, have a European legacy, understandable being that Spain colonized the area.

The country’s wine-making boom has coincided, intentionally, with a tourism push, one that birthed the Ruta del Vino Bolivia. It is a “relatively under-the-radar” wine trail, said Wine Enthusiast. Travelers can expect “authentic, uncrowded experiences” that include half-day winery tours and a multiday tour that takes you to six wineries and a variety of local attractions. It’s all to experience a region that’s “both closer to the heavens and deeply connected to its roots,” said the Times.

China

There are many Chinas, with the country being 3.7 million square miles. Likewise, China’s wine boom comprises many styles across a “dozen distinct wine regions,” said Wine Enthusiast, including north-central “Ningxia, where vines are buried in the winter to stave off the extreme cold, to more temperate coastal and southern regions, such as Shandong and Yunnan.” Ningxia, by volume, is the winemaking hub: In less than 30 years, the region went from 200 hectares of vines to almost 39,000 hectares, an “area comparable to the entire vineyard surface of New Zealand,” said the drinks publication SevenFifty Daily.

Ningxia is known as the Bordeaux of China, so it tracks that some of the notable grape varieties grown in the area are famous grapes of Bordeaux, like cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Still, Ningxia is carving a wine space of its own, too, with grapes like aging-friendly marselan (a cross between cabernet sauvignon and grenache) and soft-edged cabernet gernischt. Treat a visit to Ningxia like you would a trip to Napa or, yes, Bordeaux: Make winery visits the centerpiece of the experience. They tend to be grand encounters in the wine-making heart of China.

Essex, England

At the International Wine Challenge in May, English wines won 25 awards, 15 more than the country won in 2025. One of the areas on the rise is Essex’s Crouch Valley, a region that was “identified by researchers as a location that could soon bear even sweeter fruit for wine producers” courtesy of a warming planet, said The Guardian.

England was once known only for its capabilities with sparkling wine. Essex has shown its particular suitability for “ripening Burgundy’s hallmark grapes chardonnay and pinot noir,” said Elite Traveler. So much so that winemakers from Burgundy are “scoping out plans to buy land in the valley,” said The Guardian.

While you’re in the area, explore how “gold-green fields roll to stone churches with lopsided Norman towers” and the coast is “fretworked with cockle-shell beaches, salt marshes and mudflats that trill with migratory birds,” said The Telegraph. Quaint villages, sublime restaurants, hidden fossils — Essex is primed for all kinds of jaunts.

Morocco

The most popular areas of this North African country, like Marrakesh and Casablanca, can be overrun with tourists. Not so with Morocco’s wine-making regions, like Meknes and Essaouira. A wine-centric trip can be a respite from big-city medina mayhem.

Native grapes, like the “crisp and floral Faranah,” said Wine Enthusiast, are inching their way back into production. There is also the local favorite vin gris, a “pale rosé made from minimal skin contact.” But the bulk of the country’s wine is currently made from European grapes. “The Syrah grape variety is, I think, very well adapted to our terroir, our climate and our way of doing things,” said winemaker Stephane Marriot to Grape Collective.

In the city of Meknes itself, you can marvel at the splendid Bab El Mansour gate and tune into the history of “diverse” Moroccan music at the National Museum of Music, said Lonely Planet. Or head to Essaouira for a sharp 180-degree flip. The coastal city is a liberal town with a surfer mentality, a city that “doesn’t take itself too seriously,” said Afar.

North Carolina

A lot can happen in two decades. In about 20 years, the Tar Heel State went from having a few dozen wineries to now boasting more than 200. The state’s first American Viticultural Area (AVA), the Yadkin Valley, was created in 2003. These days, the AVA “includes more than 45 wineries within 45 minutes of Winston-Salem,” said Food & Wine.

The state’s varied topography has birthed three growing regions: the Blue Ridge Mountains, the central Piedmont and the Coastal Plan near the Atlantic. “Wines are made in every style,” said Wine Enthusiast. Out west is optimal for European grapes like cabernet franc, and sauvignon blanc. The surprise is the way the coastal region handles the sweet, thick-skinned native grape, the muscadine. The best of the area’s cutting-edge wines harness the “musky aroma of muscadine wines without the treacly taste,” said Food & Wine.

Choose your travel destination based on your weather wants, alongside your drinking preferences. Asheville in the western mountains, Raleigh in the Piedmont or Wilmington and its environs for an ocean, muscadine breeze.

Slovenia

Slovenia has “long been a secret whispered among wine lovers,” said the wine publication Winera. But now the good word is out about the eastern European country. Slovenia, however, still hums barely audibly among the wine-tourism blips and pings that zero in on places like Tuscany and the Napa Valley.

The wines in Slovenia taste like they could be made nowhere else, even though they are influenced by the country’s neighbors, Italy and Austria. The diversity of winemaking is startling. The Vipava Valley is the “perfect place” to encounter the native grapes zelen and pinela, said Winera. Stajerska’s “rolling” hills are home to “expressive” sauvignon blancs and sparkling wines that “rival Champagne.” Brda, a municipality in the country’s west, is sometimes called the Tuscany of Slovenia and bottles “full-bodied wines from indigenous varieties like Rebula.”

The Vipava Valley sits a short drive from the capital, Ljubljana, and boasts a “magical combination” of “dramatic” karst landscapes and “medieval castles towering over pretty villages,” said CNN. If it is summertime, go for a hike. If it is wintertime, consider it the ideal excuse to hunker down and be subsumed by the top-tier eating and drinking.

The 1990s were a period of transition for the film industry, seeing the rise of both smaller, independent studios and the spectacular growth of home movie-watching. Despite this tumult, the decade produced countless films of enduring artistic and commercial significance, including these eight memorable classics.

‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991)

Both Anthony Hopkins as the cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter and Jodie Foster as FBI trainee Clarice Starling turn in iconic performances in Jonathan Demme’s downbeat procedural. She is tasked with interviewing Lecter, imprisoned in an asylum for the criminally insane and one of the few characters in the film who doesn’t treat her with knee-jerk misogyny, who may have insights that could help catch “Buffalo Bill,” an active serial killer.

The film’s bleak aesthetic shaped a generation of noir-ish procedurals on the big and small screens. It endures as a classic because it is a “multifaceted interwork of classical storytelling, horror conventions and procedural standards, together reshaped into both a feminist landmark and a powerful study of transformation and identity,” said Brian Eggert at Deep Focus Review. (MGM+)

‘Boyz n the Hood’ (1991)

The late director John Singleton’s drama follows three childhood friends, Tre (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), Doughboy (Ice Cube) and Ricky (Morris Chestnut), first briefly as children and then as teenagers struggling to navigate the endemic violence and poverty of South Central Los Angeles. As one of the first mainstream films to depict the plight of urban neighborhoods with sympathy, humanity and nuance, it stands as a true cinematic landmark. A film that “showed how white supremacy set the conditions that ended in neighborhoods devastated by crime and, ultimately, violence,” it depicts an almost “post-apocalyptic world,” in which “what was destroying their landscape wasn’t an alien invasion or a virus” but racism, said Lawrence Ware at The New York Times. (Starz)

‘Groundhog Day’ (1993)

While time loops are a now-familiar part of the sci-fi landscape, director Harold Ramis’ “Groundhog Day” is the first English-language feature film to highlight the concept. Bill Murray plays Phil Connors, an irritable, cynical weatherman sent to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to report a story about the town’s quaint groundhog ceremony.

Trapped there by a massive snow storm, he realizes he is living the same day over and over again. After fruitlessly trying to kill himself in increasingly clever fashion, he gradually falls for his producer, Rita (Andie MacDowell). By avoiding “sentimentality and smalltown stereotypes in favor of one genuinely hysterical set-piece after another,” it is “not only one of the finest comedies of the 90s, but actually remains fresh, funny and original after repeated viewings,” said Caroline Westbrook at Empire. (Prime Video)

‘Pulp Fiction’ (1994)

Director Quentin Tarantino’s era-defining, endlessly quotable and propulsive thriller popularized the use of nonlinear narratives in mainstream filmmaking. The impossible-to-summarize plot follows multiple sets of characters over the course of three (very, very eventful) days.

Tarantino uses a “chapter” structure to tell the loosely intersecting tales, including one about philosophizing hit men Vincent (John Travolta) and Jules (Samuel L. Jackson), sent on a job for their boss, Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames), that goes hilariously awry. Uma Thurman’s career-making turn as Marsellus’ wife, Mia, is just one of many heart-stopping performances in a movie that is simultaneously ultraviolent and side-splittingly funny. An “absolute classic,” it is a project that “set the bar for cinema cool and redefined independent filmmaking,” and in the process “forever changed Hollywood,” said Jordan Crucchiola at Wired. (Paramount+)

‘Big Night’ (1996)

Tony Shalhoub and Stanley Tucci are brothers Primo and Secundo, immigrants operating a failing Jersey Shore restaurant during the 1950s. Primo is the stubbornly perfectionist gourmet chef, a character who prefigures the 2000s-era celebrity chef boom, and Secondo is the slick businessman who regards the popular Olive Garden-esque restaurant up the road, run by Pascal (Ian Holm), with envy while carrying on a secret affair with Pascal’s wife, Gabriella (Isabella Rossellini).

Pascal, who covets Primo’s culinary genius, tells Secundo he can get jazz great Louis Prima to make an appearance at their restaurant, and the brothers plot one last big, extravagant dinner to save the business. A film of “great wisdom and delight,” it is “about food not as a subject but as a language — the language by which one can speak to gods, can create, can seduce, can aspire to perfection,” said Roger Ebert at the time. (Paramount+)

‘Breaking the Waves’ (1996)

A film that was a kind of spiritual precursor to the aesthetically austere and hugely influential Dogme 95 film movement, Danish director Lars von Trier’s haunting masterpiece also shaped a generation of independent filmmakers. When oil-rig worker Jan (Stellan Skarsgard) is paralyzed in a work injury, he encourages his new wife, Bess (Emily Watson), to sleep with other men and tell him about it.

Believing this to be a kind of divine mission, she presses on with her struggle despite hostility from church elders and her sister-in-law, Dodo (Katrin Cartlidge), until a truly unforgettable ending leaves viewers stunned. A “raw, crazy tour-de-force,” it dares to “fuse true love with lurid exploitation and pure religious faith,” said Janet Maslin at The New York Times. (Mubi)

‘The Big Lebowski’ (1998)

Joel and Ethan Coen made several 1990s classics, including “Fargo.” But it is “The Big Lebowski” that remains the enduring cultural touchstone. Jeff Bridges is Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski, a middle-aged burnout whose apartment is ransacked by nihilist enforcers who are actually after a different person with the same name.

When The Dude tries to get reimbursed for the damage from the intended Jeffrey Lebowski (David Huddleston), he gets caught up in a lurid slacker-noir kidnapping caper, encountering a series of memorable goofballs including Lebowski’s daughter, Maude (Julianne Moore). A film that “warns us from the start not to expect any of its narrative threads to lead anywhere,” it takes the audience on a “labyrinthine route followed solely for the diversions encountered along the way,” said Jonathan Romney at Sight and Sound. (Netflix)

‘The Matrix’ (1999)

The brilliance of directors Lilly and Lana Wachowski’s “The Matrix” has been diluted over time by its inferior sequels and many imitators, but its inventively choreographed action sequences and dystopian narrative endure. Keanu Reeves plays Neo, a computer hacker who discovers that his reality is an illusion maintained by rogue AI overlords who keep humans in a state of permanent suspended animation while harvesting them for resources.

Neo joins a rebellion led by Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) while evading Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving). The movie is also the source of the concept of “red-pilling” that plays such a prominent role in contemporary cultural discourse. “The Matrix” is a film of “immense scale and complexity” that “understood where things were headed far better than any film did at the time,” said Scott Tobias at The Guardian. (Peacock)

Nostalgia for trifle has led to a “sudden resurgence” in sales of the classic British dessert, said The Times. Made with layers of “sherry-soaked sponge, fruit, custard, whipped cream and jelly”, the traditional pudding is even popping up on the menus of fancy restaurants.

The origins of the dish go back to the late Tudor period but the cake base layer was only added to the recipe in the mid-18th century. Today, the dessert is no longer “just a festive centrepiece” but instead the “ultimate nostalgic crowd-pleaser” embraced “all-year-round”, Charmaine Katz, chef tutor at Waitrose said in The Times. Its popularity comes down to how “versatile” the dessert is: recipes can be either “quick and easy” or “dramatic and technical”.

Chefs are finding ways to put innovative spins on the traditional dish. At Restaurant Roots in Bournemouth, for example, the “bitter chocolate millionaire’s trifle” is “laced with Rémy Martin cognac”. Nowhere is “seemingly too posh for a trifle” as five-star hotels and restaurants, including The Ritz, have found their own “twists for a modern palate”.

Want to try making one yourself? Nigella Lawson’s showstopping “Anglo-Italian” trifle recipe is a “delightful summer pudding” perfect for “garden gatherings”, said WalesOnline. The recipe calls for soaking trifle sponges in limoncello then layering – the “shiny black of the berries” and “soft whiteness of the mascarpone”, topped with the “golden toastiness of the almonds” making it look ”beautiful”.

For a “gloriously pink” version, try Georgina Hayden’s “twist on the traditional Greek dessert ekmek” on the BBC. Swap sponges for “crisp, buttery kataifi” as your base, then drizzle over rhubarb syrup and top with custard and whipped cream.

A good trifle, however you make or eat it, is a “self-indulgent concoction” that will have you “sink into a pleasurable, full-sated stupor”, said Rowan Pelling in The Telegraph. “It’s the food stuff of hedonists: innocent-looking, nostalgic, yet laden with booze, not to be underestimated or (forgive me) trifled with. Edible heaven.”

A southwards-pointing peninsula in the northern Adriatic, Istria lies mostly in Croatia today, but Slovenia also has a small chunk of it – which provides the entirety of that country’s 29-mile coastline. It is a lovely area, said Laura Coffey in The Guardian, with green hills, pretty villages and “colourful” seaside towns.

The largest and most “beautiful” of these, 25 miles south of the Italian city of Trieste, is Piran, known for its medieval Venetian architecture. Nearby lies the Strunjan Landscape Park, with a gorgeous beach, Moon Bay, and Izola, another “vibrant” historic harbour town. I can recommend the DeGrassi hotel there (“supremely comfortable”), as well as Kmetija Medljan, a simple farm stay in the hills. And I enjoyed visiting some artisanal wineries and food producers, including Korenika & Moškon, where the belica olive oil has a “powerful kick”.

Hiking the ‘Great Wall’ of Seoul

Hiking is South Korea’s most popular sporting activity – and thanks to the forested hills that reach far into the city, you can even do it in Seoul, said Oliver Berry in National Geographic Traveller.

Trails rise to 836 metres in the Bukhansan National Park, a little way out of town, but there are smaller peaks next to Seoul’s historic centre, traversed by the city’s medieval battlements (“Seoul’s answer to China’s Great Wall”). I walked along the wall’s northern section, passing three of the original city gates and climbing the “dome-shaped” summit of Inwangsan, which is only 338 metres high, but “punishingly steep”. The path was fragrant with juniper and mountain pine, and shaded here and there by cherry and maple trees – and there were “sweeping” views across downtown Seoul.

Doing Route 66 by train

It’s 100 years since the opening of Route 66, the “legendary” highway between Chicago and LA. Plenty of people are celebrating the centenary by driving it, but I made the 2,000-mile journey west by train instead, said Adrian Bridge in The Telegraph – which allowed for “leisurely contemplation” of America’s “stunning” landscapes, as well as plenty of “convivial” dining-car conversation.

A sleeper train, the Southwest Chief, does the route in 45 hours – or you can break up the journey, as I did. Among the highlights were St Louis (“the city of Miles Davis and the Blues”), Kansas City (where the Beaux Arts railway station is “an absolute gem”), and Flagstaff, Arizona (a “key” Route 66 staging post, full of “1950s-style diners”). But nothing could beat sunset at the Grand Canyon.

“The klop, klop of water under the bows of a small boat will cure most troubles in this world,” wrote Arthur Ransome in his 1934 novel “Coot Club” – and, after my recent solo sailing trip in the Norfolk Broads, I have to agree with him, said James Stewart in the Financial Times.

Ransome’s book is set in this network of tidal rivers and shallow lakes, which “cumulatively snake” for 125 miles through the east of Norfolk. The lakes are medieval peat diggings that were flooded by rising seas in the 14th century, and long plied by cargo boats known as wherries.

The Victorians “reimagined” the area as a holiday destination, and operators began renting small yachts to visitors. Motorboats are now far more numerous, but sailing boats are still available to charter. Founded in 1932, Hunter’s Yard in Ludham has a fleet of yachts from “the golden age of Broads cruising”, some with cabins sleeping two to four. Renters must know how to sail, but novices can sign up for a “Learn to Sail” week.

The 90-year-old yacht I chartered, Hustler, was like “an Edwardian gentlemen’s club shrunk to a Wendy house”, with “lustrous” mahogany panelling and a Royal Doulton sink. And it had a “secret weapon”. Most motorboats won’t fit beneath the medieval bridge at Potter Heigham, and so are restricted to the southern Broads. But yachts can lower their masts to squeeze through, into a world where “the throb of boat engines” is replaced “by birdsong in sibilant reeds”.

I found the Broads “surprisingly social”. Dog walkers and fishermen waved, and a canoeist kept pace for a chat. The birds were wonderful, too, from kingfishers to marsh harriers and cranes “like dowager flamingos”. But mostly there was just me, the sound of creaking ropes, and the “low bosky horizons” stretching “beneath heroic skies”.

This was “landscape as serenity”, particularly in the dusk at Horsey Mere, reminding me “how sailing could still be” – “an interlude in which everything else can fall away, a momentary back eddy in the restless tide of the world”.

A great vacation doesn’t have to break the bank. Stretch your vacation dollars at these seven budget-friendly destinations where affordable food, attractions and accommodations can be found around every corner.

Albania

Albania’s coastline is its “main event,” with Sarande, Vlore and Himare all known for “stunning seaside scenery,” said Time Out. Hikers can hit several trails in the Albanian Alps, like the popular Blue Eye Trail through rugged terrain, while those seeking a more cosmopolitan experience make the trek to the “lively” capital, Tirana, a “vibrant whirl of traffic, consumerism and unfettered fun,” Lonely Planet said. A highlight is Bunk’Art, a Cold War bunker turned contemporary art museum that shares the modern history of Albania.

Dominican Republic

Close your eyes, think of the Dominican Republic, and “delightfully tropical” white sand beaches and “lush” rainforests will likely come to mind, said Fodor’s. The island offers more than a beachy escape, with ample opportunities for activities like horseback riding, ziplining and exploring historic areas like the Zona Colonial in Santo Domingo.

Because there has been such heavy investment in tourism, the Dominican Republic’s infrastructure is “designed to accommodate large volumes of visitors.” So, hotels and all-inclusive resorts “compete aggressively on price” to fill their rooms year-round, Travel and Leisure said.

Estonia

The same culture and stunning scenery you’ll find in more expensive locales like Prague or Stockholm are also in “under-the-radar” Estonia, said The Washington Post. Tallinn, the country’s “storybook” capital, is filled with cobblestone streets, medieval walls, palaces and castles and trendy restaurants and shopping.

The city is a few hours away from “national parks, seaside villages and peaceful islands,” including Saaremaa on the Baltic. Book a day at one of the many affordable spas and enjoy saunas, indoor and outdoor pools, mud baths and body treatments.

Kenya

The “geographic diversity” of Kenya means visitors could be “admiring rhinos one day and lounging on an Indian Ocean beach the next,” said Travel and Leisure. It also means your “safari dreams can come true” because visitors can book trips inside Nairobi National Park, an affordable alternative to visiting remote reserves for multiple days. For the best prices, go during the off-season November through March, when the weather is dry and warm.

Malaysia

You’ll want to see all of the sights in Malaysia, but the hands-down best way to “dive into the culture and history” is by eating your way around the country, said Lonely Planet. Malaysia is at the “crossroads of China, India and dozens of Southeast Asian maritime kingdoms.”

The melting pot cuisine — tender beef rendang, rich nasi lemak, crisp roti canai and steaming bowls of laksa noodle soup — is “budget-friendly, plentiful and delicious.” By visiting local establishments and hawker stalls, steering clear of tourist traps and skipping alcohol, it’s likely you could eat for under $20 a day.

Poland

Sticking to Poland’s smaller cities and more rural areas offers visitors a “fabulous value,” said Time Out. Once an industrial center, Katowice is now one of the country’s most “innovative” cities, known for its festivals and vibrant musical scene, and “gorgeous” Poznan, Wroclaw and Lublin are home to an “arresting” mix of Art Nouveau, Gothic and Renaissance architecture. Bring your appetite to Gdansk, where you can “fuel up” on pierogi and zapiekanka, the Polish take on pizza, and relax on the “sandy sweep” of Brzezno Beach, said National Geographic Traveler.

Vietnam

There are opportunities for multiple types of trips during one visit to Vietnam. Head to the country’s eastern side for “palm-lined beaches and islands,” then go to “bustling” Ho Chi Minh City for cultural activities like water puppet performances and architectural tours, said Afar.

The central and southern countryside is “impossibly beautiful,” with “rice paddies extending in every direction” and highlands shrouded in mist. Train service is “dependable” and a wallet-friendly way to get across the country, and because of the “relative cheapness” of taxis, that transit method is optimal while in bigger cities.

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is exciting, eccentric and entirely bonkers. The energy that takes over the Scottish capital every August is utterly infectious, from street performers plying their trade to newbie comedians promoting their first shows. There is a reason why around three million people hit the Scottish capital for the festival every year.

But this popularity brings its own challenges. The Old Town’s famous lanes are packed with impenetrable crowds, prices shoot up to crazy levels, and it can all become a little overwhelming. But don’t worry, Edinburgh is a city of multitudes, and there are plenty of places to catch your breath.

Leith

The setting for Danny Boyle’s “Trainspotting”, now 30 years old, Leith has seen a transformation over the past decades and become a real foodie hub. This port district has no fewer than three Michelin-starred restaurants alongside others serving food of the highest quality. The recently opened Browns of Leith is a former engineering works that is now home to several eating and drinking options. The Royal Yacht Britannia is moored here, offering refreshments in the Royal Deck Tearoom or for something stronger, grab a cocktail or two on the riverside in The Shore area. Check out my favourite eaterie Eleanore, whose head chef Roberta Hall-McCarron is known locally for her bold flavours and inventive menus.

It is connected to the centre by the 1.2km Leith Walk, a lovely softly descending stroll on a sunny day and the perfect place for a pub crawl or spot of shopping in the one-off boutiques.

Portobello

There’s nothing more peaceful than a day at the seaside, and the Victorian town of Portobello – a 25-minute bus ride – offers two miles of golden sands and the perfect escape from the city. Take a dip with views of the Firth of Forth (check Sepa's water-quality index after heavy rains), grab an ice cream from award-winning Oscar’s Gelato, or enjoy a walk in nearby Figgate Park. The Portobello Bookshop is a lovely community-owned spot, and The Velvet Easel Gallery hosts contemporary Scottish artists.

Morningside

This suburb to the south of Edinburgh is packed with quirky things to see. Try to find the hidden Wild West lane, an alleyway decorated for an advert by a cowboy enthusiast some 30 years ago, which has stayed unchanged. The Dominion is a 1938 Art Deco cinema, a good spot when it's raining, and for walks, Corbie’s Crag is one of the lesser-known spots with sweeping views over the city. The nearby Royal Observatory Edinburgh also hosts talks on selected Tuesdays between November and March.

Stockbridge

This leafy, affluent neighbourhood is the kind you might look at in an estate agent’s window, picturing a new life. It has long been the bohemian village within the city, and there’s lots to see. You can easily spend a few hours discovering the delights of the Royal Botanic Gardens, founded in 1670, and housing one of the largest plant collections in the world. Or head to Raeburn Place, where you will find independent bookshops and cute little cafes, and if you're visiting on a Sunday load up on local produce at Stockbridge Farmer’s Market.

Cardinal, from chef patron Tomás Gormley, is making waves in the area with its divine tasting menu and fabulous, unpretentious service. Finish up with a walk along the Waters of Leith towards our next stop…

Dean Village

Just half a mile away is historic Dean Village, an adorable neighbourhood that was once home to 11 working mills. Sights include the arts and crafts Well Court, built in the 1880s, and a great spot to take some snaps, and St Bernard’s Well, which was built in the 1700s when locals believed the waters of the natural spring had medicinal healing properties. Dean Cemetery is beautiful when the leaves turn amber, so grab a hot drink from The Dean Coffee Shop and wrap up warm. Nearby is The National Galleries: Modern One, an impressive contemporary art museum.

Jaymi was a guest at Cardinal and Eleanore

In the wrong hands, a salad is a vapid strategy for healthful eating. In Hetty McKinnon’s hands, a salad is a gallivanting exploration of flavor, place and texture.

“Neighborhood: Hearty Salads and Plant-Based Recipes from Home and Abroad” is McKinnon’s second cookbook. “Twice every week,” beginning in 2011, she writes, “I would cook healthy and hearty plant-based salad boxes, stack them into my bicycle basket” and deliver them to locals in her then-home of Sydney. She and her family moved to Brooklyn, New York, in 2015, and McKinnon published “Neighborhood” in 2017. Lucky for roughage lovers, McKinnon’s salad daring also made the transcontinental move.

Hearty economy

At the book’s outset, McKinnon banishes the notion that salads are consumptive meals: frail assemblages that keen and collapse if you look at them sideways. No, salads can — and should — be both sound and protean.

Her four-point approach to using leftover salad is alone worth the book’s price of entry: 1) “put an egg on it”: self-explanatory; 2) “blend it into a soup”: blender, salad, plop, broth, whirr; 3) “make a grilled cheese”: melty vegetable crunch, yes; 4) “go kuku!”: beat a bunch of eggs, add the leftover salad, bake into the Iranian version of a frittata. Salad as adaptable bedrock. Who would have imagined?

Vegetable traipsings

The salad-making blueprint of “Neighborhood” comprises six chapters, taking the reader from McKinnon’s current home in the United States back to Australia, with stops in France, the Mediterranean and Asia. The recipes strive for inspiration not purity.

Chili is molly-whopped into a substantive dish of various beans, bell peppers and tomatoes served with a vibrant sauce of yogurt, avocado, cucumber and lime. A salade niçoise becomes greenified, with fried green beans, oozy steamed eggs, lentils and caper mayonnaise. A dressing of honey, fresh ginger and toasted sesame oil napes quinoa, edamame and sautéed bok choy. The salad, in McKinnon’s kitchen, wonders and wanders, and the author heeds its inquisitiveness.

A bonus chapter stars dessert recipes, like a three-ingredient raspberry mousse and rice pudding with caramelized pears, from some of McKinnon’s friends. “Neighborhood” stands without a coda. McKinnon cannot help herself, though. She, like so many of the best cooks and recipe developers, is a giver.

“Someone give Tom Holland a holiday,” said Kevin Maher in The Times. Not only did he just give “The Odyssey” its “beating heart”, the 30-year-old Londoner has also been tasked with rescuing the “ailing superhero genre”. The latest – 38th! – instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe opens not with the usual montage of Avengers clips but with images from Holland’s hugely successful appearances as Spider-Man.

After a series of expensive misfires for the most commercially successful film franchise of all time, the message is clear: “Marvel is now the house that Tom built.” “Brand New Day”, Holland’s fourth outing in the role, picks up where 2021’s “No Way Home” left off, with mild-mannered Peter Parker having arranged for the world to forget that he ever existed.

So we find him back at square one, living in a scuzzy New York apartment, “lost and broken” – not least because his sweetheart MJ (Holland’s real-life wife Zendaya) and his best buddy Ned (Jacob Batalon) have been “cruelly memory-wiped out of his life”.

Those opening 20 minutes are “the strongest of the film”, said John Nugent in Empire. Holland is “brilliant” as the once puppyish Peter, “bruised by grief and solitude”. But what rescues the film is Zendaya’s performance, said Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian. Playing a non-superhero, she is able to bring a grown-up acting presence to the fore to cut against the silliness.

In other respects, it is the same old Spideyworld, with lots of swinging between skyscrapers and leading, as in all MCU films, to “apocalyptic but weirdly temporary destruction in the digitally confected big city”. It makes for an “entertaining spectacle” – but we could have done with “a more radical reboot”.