Five years on from their excellent co-production of “Jitney”, the Headlong theatre company and Leeds Playhouse have returned to August Wilson’s “Pittsburgh Cycle” with a “striking” revival of “Fences”, said Catherine Love in The Guardian.

Wilson’s 1950s-set play, which won both a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award in 1987, is a “drama of family, masculinity and thwarted ambition”, which paints “national issues of race and inequality on a domestic canvas”.

The play’s focus is the Maxson family and its patriarch Troy, a one-time baseball player who was robbed of professional success owing to the colour of his skin, and who now works as a garbage man. “Ray Fearon is horribly compelling as this tragic figure, a man made monstrous by circumstance.”

It’s a tough play, in which “brutality and injustice” are “shot through with fleeting moments of possibility” – but director Daniel Bailey’s staging deftly blends “gritty realism” with “playful theatricality”.

Wilson is not known for his subtlety, said Matt Barton in The Stage. “Where most playwrights might allow themselves one big, blustery speech, that’s effectively [his] default mode.” Yet in this terrifically performed production, the speechifying lands as “muscular, rather than cumbrous” – and the set-piece confrontations are “phenomenally powerful”.

With slow-building intensity, the play eventually attains the “heart-aching weight of an Arthur Miller tragedy”, said Holly Williams in The Times. And Fearon’s “superb” performance is matched by those of Madeline Appiah as Troy’s wife Rose, and Michael Ahomka-Lindsay and Josh Tedeku as their two sons.

Appiah’s understated turn does much to leaven the play’s prolixity and heaviness, said Jim Keaveney on WhatsOnStage. Simon-Anthony Rhoden is also excellent as Troy’s brother Gabriel, who suffered a brain injury during wartime service that has “left him in childlike innocence. His appearances lift the play with warm humour and pathos in a role that could too easily be played for laughs.”

Oxford Playhouse until 3 October, then touring; headlong.co.uk

When it comes to “Britain’s greatest cultural export”, forget James Bond or Doctor Who, said John Nugent in Empire. The accolade surely belongs to Shaun the Sheep, the “claymation lamb with a heart of gold”, whose “silent-movie-esque antics” have made him a “hero in over 170 countries”.

This is Shaun’s third big-screen outing, spin-offs from the TV series he was awarded after making his debut in a supporting role in the 1995 Wallace and Gromit short “A Close Shave”.

In “The Beast of Mossy Bottom”, Shaun and his flock are desperate to make Jack-o’-Lanterns for Halloween. So when a freak accident knocks out their crop of prize pumpkins, Shaun decides to play mad scientist, and concocts a growth potion. Alas, it goes terribly wrong when his beloved Farmer (John Sparkes) accidentally drinks it and turns into a Bigfoot-like monster who terrorises the local village. Think “Frankenstein” crossed with “The Wolf Man”, “only with Plasticine farmyard animals”.

Aardman has delivered “another excellent family film”, said Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian – “crammed as ever with top visual gags” and blessed with a sparklingly fun screenplay. There are clever references here to everything from “Psycho” and “The Archers” to “The Simpsons”. Look out for a hairdressing salon called Barber Black Sheep and the Stephen King pun hanging outside the pub in Mossy Bottom.

It takes Aardman’s animators a whole day to make just two seconds of footage, said Hadley Freeman in The Sunday Times, but “you would never guess how painful the process is from the high-energy joyfulness of the result”. “I honestly can’t remember the last time I laughed more in a cinema, or wished more that I could stay for a second screening to enjoy it all again.”

Sharon Horgan’s sharp new comedy-drama “Youth” (HBO Max) “perfectly captures what it is to reach your 50s and find that it’s no walk in the park”, said Anita Singh in The Telegraph.

Horgan plays Alex, a member of “the sandwich generation”, caught between the demands of being a parent and looking after her own ageing parents. She has a job as a literary agent, “where the lows include Damian Lewis (playing himself, perfectly deadpan) coming into the office and solemnly announcing that he has written a social satire called ‘Dog Meat’”. She is also divorced and tentatively stepping back into the dating scene, now that her son Ruarí (Aran Murphy) is leaving for university.

If you’re in the market for comedies about women in their 50s, this one “rings hilariously, despairingly true”.

“Thank God for Sharon Horgan,” said Rhik Samadder in The Guardian, “chronicler of all our journeys.” The sex scenes here are “hilarious and penetratingly insightful”, while the show’s depictions of the “uninspiring, Sisyphean grind of caregiving” are good enough to carry the series alone. Murphy (son of Cillian), meanwhile, delivers a “beautifully unforced” performance as Ruarí.

Horgan has become “TV royalty”, said Nick Hilton in The Independent, with a “quartet of fine shows” – “Divorce”, “Motherland”, “Catastrophe” and “Bad Sisters” – to her name. She remains “charming company” on screen, but “Youth” is missing the “pathos” of “Catastrophe” and “the nastiness” of “Motherland”. Hogan’s writing is “as warm and human as ever”, but it lacks her trademark “spark”.

The acronym Mice (money, ideology, coercion, ego) is sometimes used to describe what motivates people to betray their countries, said Oliver Bullough in The Guardian. But in Ben Macintyre’s enthralling new “work of true-espionage”, a fresh motivation emerges: erectile dysfunction.

Vladimir Kuzichkin was a KGB agent stationed in Tehran in the aftermath of the 1979 revolution. With the West “on the back foot” there, the Soviets saw an “opportunity to spread their influence south, to a strategic and oil-rich country”.

Kuzichkin’s role was “to further this aim by distributing money, arms and encouragement” to Iran’s communist party. Yet it was a job he loathed. Stressed and under constant surveillance, he was also frustrated by the corruption and incompetence of his colleagues, who’d celebrate each tiny success with “vast quantities of vodka”. All this took a toll on his marriage (to Galina), including on his performance in the bedroom.

Convinced that his problems were caused by an “overly tight foreskin”, Kuzichkin resolved to be circumcised, said Joseph Finder in The New York Times. But to prevent his “impairment” becoming known to his colleagues, he wanted the operation performed in the West.

And so, in October 1981, he entered the British Embassy in Tehran, and offered to “spy for Britain” – thus becoming, as Macintyre notes, the “first spy in history to demand, as the price of defection, the removal of his foreskin”.

Trivial though his motivations seemed, Kuzichkin’s actions had profound consequences, said James Owen in The Times. The Soviets were planning to foment a communist “coup against the ayatollahs, backed up by an armed invasion”; had this come to fruition, the US might have responded with tactical nuclear weapons.

The intelligence Kuzichkin provided alerted the UK and the US to the Soviets’ plan; MI6 informed the ayatollahs, who savagely clamped down on Iran’s communist party, ending any possibility of a coup.

The victory, however, was double-edged, said Clare Mulley in The Spectator. For in administering the “coup de grâce to Soviet aspirations”, MI6 “bolstered a murderous, fundamentalist regime” – with consequences that are still playing out today.

Redwood – named after MI6’s inadvertently humorous codename for the tall Russian – is an “enjoyable caper”, full of “twists, turns, desires, betrayals and unexpected outcomes”. And it serves as a useful reminder that “history is not solely written by great powers”; in some cases, the “very personal choices, desires and decisions” of a flawed individual can be equally important.

As autumn begins, the countryside “puts on its brightest show”, said Helen Daly and Emma-Louise Pritchard in Country Living. Now is the time to experience the season “at its most colourful” as woodland paths wind through “gold, russet and crimson”. Here are some of our favourite spots for a wholesome day out in nature across the UK.

Cannock Chase, Staffordshire

The woodland of Cannock Chase is “worth visiting all through the year, but there is something particularly special” about autumn, said Daniel Graham on BBC Countryfile. The “former medieval royal hunting forest” is mainland England’s smallest Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and is also home to endangered species such as the nightjar and woodcock. October is the best time to catch glimpses of the male fallow deer rutting, or see muntjac and red deer searching for the rare Chase berry, a “blueberry-cowberry hybrid”. This 6.5-mile walk, of moderate difficulty, “explores all of these habitats and their wildlife”.

Abinger Roughs and Shere Woodlands, Surrey

The 300-year-old “ancient, gnarly oak trees” on Abinger Roughs are the perfect antidote to an “existential crisis”, said Alexandra Sims and Rhian Daly on Time Out. Just a 15-minute drive away are the Shere woodlands, which are equally tranquil. As autumn turns to winter, you begin to understand why the village of Shere made a cameo in the film “The Holiday”. But for the next few months, you’ll find yourself “amid beech, cypress, yew and dogwood trees”, in the kind of woodland which “feels like it should be much further away from a capital city than it is”.

Castle Ward, County Down

The 18th-century mansion on the shores of Strangford Lough draws visitors for its “mix of palladian and gothic architecture”, said Jen and Sim Benson in The Times. But its 800-acre estate holds many moments of excitement for autumn walkers. Stroll through the “leafy deciduous woodland and historic follies, tracing the water’s edge to the ruins of an old castle”, with only short but steep hills in the three-mile loop. “Look out for vast flocks of light-bellied brent geese arriving from the Arctic in autumn and grey seal pups, born in November.”

Teign Gorge, Devon

This stroll is “perhaps the most famous walk on Dartmoor”, said Helen Daly and Emma-Louise Pritchard in Country Living. You start off in the shadow of the “imposing bulk” of Castle Drogo – the last castle to be built in England – and move on though “areas rich in history, with incredible views and abundant wildlife”. Along the way you will reach Fingle Bridge, which dates back to the 13th century and is a “popular focal point for budding photographers”, as well as Poohsticks in the river Teign. On the way back along the river, the “dense oak woodland” is filled with “vibrant shades of yellow and orange” at this time of year.

Allen Banks, Northumberland

Allen Banks is “awesome in autumn”, said Sarah Baxter in The Telegraph. It cuts through “deepest Northumberland”, following the river in a “sheer-sided gorge”, “flanked by the most extensive area of ancient woodland in the county”. Keep an eye out for “scampering red squirrels” and little “ornamental features added by the Victorians”. Autumn brings “fiery beech and oak spilling down the valley”, and, as an added bonus, 180 different species of fungi to observe.

Aardman Animations is back with its third feature starring Shaun the Sheep, “the claymation lamb with a heart of gold”, said Empire. The latest, a Halloween-themed film – “The Beast of Mossy Bottom” – sees Shaun and his loyal flock accidentally turn their “beloved if ungainly farmer” into a “Bigfoot-like monster who terrorises the local village”.

It’s 50 years since Peter Lord and David Sproxton set up Aardman, but the stop-motion animation remains “as sharp as ever” and the “commitment to silliness is genuinely admirable”. Here are some of the studio’s other prime films.

Chicken Run (2000)

Like every Aardman film, the premise is straightforward – “The Great Escape” with chickens – but “such is the animators’ ability to humanise the birds’ plight that it turns into an improbably emotional epic”, said The Guardian. Julia Sawalha gives what is arguably her best performance as the “feisty” hen Ginger who “practically forces her dozy fellow chickens to save themselves” from the “dreaded pie machine”. An instant hit, the film proved Aardman could “hold its own” in Hollywood.

Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)

The first full-length Wallace and Gromit film won Best Animated Feature at the 2006 Academy Awards. The action follows the best friends as they attempt to “subdue an enormous rabbit who terrorises Tottington Hall’s vegetable gardens in the nights leading up to their annual Giant Vegetable Competition”, said Vulture. With a star-studded cast of British actors including Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes, it’s packed with humour “teetering on the line between silly and absurd”.

Arthur Christmas (2011)

This festive film about Santa Claus’ clumsy son trying to deliver a misplaced present to a little girl is “impeccably put together and goes down a treat”, said The Guardian. Filled with “terrific action sequences” including a “legion of elf-ninjas slamming millions of presents across the planet on Christmas Eve”, the story is a “little more conventional” than other Aardman films but remains a pleasurable watch.

Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015)

Inspired by Aardman’s TV series about a “clever, enterprising” sheep, the film takes the show’s “bare-bones premise and runs wild with it”, said Vulture. Shaun and his flock must travel to the city to save their amnesiac farmer “before Animal Control nabs them all”. Featuring “kid-friendly sight gags” and “adult-friendly puns”, it’s a fun watch for the whole family. But its meditation “on urban alienation” also makes it potentially “the most emotionally mature film in Aardman’s catalogue”.

Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2024)

The beloved man-and-dog pair returned for this “perfectly made” feature that sees their relationship start to strain when Wallace “begins relying too much on his robot garden gnome”, said IndieWire. Beyond its “glossy and gorgeous” claymation, what really makes the film stand out is the return of the “terrifyingly evil” Feathers McGraw – the criminal penguin from the greatest Wallace and Gromit short, “The Wrong Trousers”. It’s a must-watch.

“Britain is now a nation of ‘shoulder seasoners’,” said The Times. For the “uninitiated” that means more of us are choosing to travel in May or September to avoid the crowds and soaring temperatures associated with peak summer holiday months.

Most of Europe’s “classic beach destinations” are more affordable in September when the kids go back to school. “But beware the weather.” While places like Faro in Portugal’s Algarve are still warm come autumn, the Atlantic Ocean can be “bracing”. If it’s sun you’re after, the further south you go “the better”.

For “reliable” October half-term temperatures of around 26C during the day, consider booking a trip to the Canary Islands. H10 Costa Adeje Palace in southwest Tenerife is right next to La Enramada beach, from which it’s easy to set out on “nice walks that spiral around the coast”.

If you love history, consider a last-minute trip to Greece. There’s “more room to breathe”, shorter queues for top archaeological sites, and you’ll be able to “relish the hike up to the Parthenon without melting in the heat”, said Condé Nast Traveller. A road trip that “traces the coast of the rugged and mountainous Peloponnese peninsula” is a great way to explore – as long as you’re prepared that it might be too chilly to take a dip.

Puglia is another excellent option for shoulder-season travellers, said The Independent. Outdoor enthusiasts won’t go wrong with a five-day, self-guided walk with Ramble Worldwide. Soak up the “beauties” of the coast as you weave your way from Otranto to Lecce “stopping for refreshing swims” while your luggage is taken ahead to your accommodation.

Or, head to Slovenia for “Habsburg-related history” and “cool wine regions” at a fraction the cost of neighbouring Austria, said The Times. By October, “the treeline cuts a russet-and-copper swathe across the Slovenian countryside as it climbs towards the mountains”. Begin your trip in Ljubljana and end up in Bohinj at its beautiful spa hotel overlooking the Julian Alps. Bliss.

Sonoma County has a reputation for outstanding wineries. Cool Pacific breezes and a variety of soils make this stretch of Northern California a perfect place to grow grapes. But there’s more to the region than its vineyards. These six refreshing options present Sonoma County in a different light, showcasing both nature and culture.

Take a walk on the wild side at Safari West

It’s easy to forget where you are during a visit to the wildlife preserve Safari West. Spread across 400 acres in the hills of Santa Rosa, Safari West is home to more than 900 animals, including giraffes, zebras, rhinos, flamingos, cape buffalo and impalas. As you make your way through the vast property on a guided open-air vehicle tour (sit on the roof for an extra thrill), it feels like you’re driving around the plains of Tanzania, waiting for the Great Migration to start.

Safari West was founded in 1993 by Nancy and Peter Lang as a wildlife conservation and education center. No two tours are alike; guides follow the animals’ lead and stay back, giving visitors the chance to appreciate the wildlife without encroaching. Along the way, guides share insights, and tours will stay in habitats longer when the animals are active and playing together or eating.

The fun doesn’t have to end once a tour is over. Guests can spend the night in one of Safari West’s custom-finished safari tents from Botswana. Each comes with a private bathroom, ceiling fan, space heater and viewing deck, and a continental breakfast. After dark, expect to hear the park’s nocturnal animals.

Stare up in awe at the Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve

For more than 1,000 years, the towering coastal redwoods at this natural reserve near Guerneville have stood tall, providing shade and tranquility. The wheelchair-accessible Pioneer Nature Trail passes by the Colonel Armstrong Tree, believed to be more than 1,400 years old and the oldest in the grove; the Icicle Tree, covered with substantial burl formations; and the Parson Jones Tree, the tallest in the park at more than 310 feet. The protected reserve covers 805 acres and is a reminder of what the landscape looked like before logging began in the 19th century.

Stop at downtown Guerneville for a heavenly buttermilk biscuit at Piknik Town Market. Order one with jam and butter, or go savory and get a biscuit topped with vegetarian gravy or stuffed with bacon, lettuce and tomato. While waiting for your breakfast, look around and shop for locally made shirts, hats, candles and tchotchkes. There are several stores along the main drag, including the whimsical Guerneville 5&10 filled with gifts, candy, greeting cards, art supplies and more.

Embrace a childhood favorite at the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center

The gang’s all here. Charlie Brown, Woodstock, Lucy, Linus and, of course, Snoopy are celebrated at the cheerful Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa.

“Peanuts” creator Schulz moved to Sonoma County in the late 1950s, and the museum is filled with his personal artifacts. They include mementos from his childhood and military service and murals he painted for his children’s bedrooms, plus original comic panels, a recreation of Schulz’s studio and an impressive tile piece made of more than 3,500 “Peanuts” strips. In the Education Room, visitors can be creative too, drawing characters and making animations for zoetropes.

Across the street is Snoopy’s Home Ice, an indoor skating rink Schulz built in 1969, where youe can “lace up your skates for public sessions and lessons” or “cheer on” the Santa Rosa Growlers hockey team, said Travel and Leisure. At The Warm Puppy Café, hot cocoa is a popular treat year-round, and Snoopy’s Gallery & Gift Shop offers “Peanuts” T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, magnets, stuffed animals and “all the other merch you could imagine.”

Float down the Russian River

During the summer, “dawdlers of all kinds” head to the Russian River with their “kayaks, canoes, inner tubes — just about anything that will float,” said the Los Angeles Times. Starting in Guerneville, revelers glide past redwoods, vineyards, beaches and other “scenery that might as well be a Northern California highlight reel.” This area is filled with small, “quirky” communities like Monte Rio and Forestville, where you can rent equipment.

Go for a swim at Francis Ford Coppola Winery

This isn’t your typical winery. Academy Award-winning filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola purchased this Geyserville property in 2006 and used it as another canvas for his storytelling.

While designing the estate, Coppola was inspired by Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens and classic amusement parks, and wanted the property to be a place where people could gather for activities beyond drinking wine — a “rarity among vineyards,” said Secret San Francisco. There is a “massive” pool surrounded by comfortable loungers, along with cabins that have a private shower and changing area, a bocce court and a movie gallery.

Visitors can take a self-guided audio tour through the curated gallery, which features memorabilia from Coppola’s films and life, including Don Corleone’s desk from “The Godfather,” surfboards from “Apocalypse Now,” a Tucker Torpedo car from 1948 and several Oscar statuettes. After your tour, lunch at Rustic is only a few steps away. Offering a “quintessential Sonoma Wine Country dining experience,” Rustic focuses on seasonal ingredients grown on property and traditional Italian dishes, said USA Today. Pastas are made in-house, the pizzas are wood-fired and a bag of delicious savory zeppole is presented at the start of every meal. Save room for dessert: The house-made sorbetto is fantastic.

Enjoy R&R at the retro cool Flamingo Resort & Spa

Flamingo Resort and Spa opened in Santa Rosa in 1957 and “wears its midcentury influence on its sleeve,” said The Michelin Guide. The 10-acre, pet-friendly property is anchored by a huge pool, where guests can splash away from morning until well into the night. Renovated rooms are “midcentury in inspiration and totally modern in their comforts,” with mini-refrigerators, coffee and tea stations and floor-to-ceiling windows with blackout curtains.

Guests have access to tennis and pickleball courts and a fitness center offering spin, yoga, a sauna and a steam room, and barre and aerobic classes. For a relaxing massage or facial, head to the spa, and for dinner, look no further than the Lazeaway Club. Sit outside on the patio overlooking the pool and enjoy the delicious Cal-Pacific cooking, like the bulgogi burger with umami fries, bibimbap bowl and seared salmon with shimeji mushrooms in a coconut-lemongrass broth. End the night at the Vintage Space for live music, dance parties and Thursday night stand-up shows with Don’t Tell Comedy.

Catherine Garcia was a guest of Sonoma County Tourism

The lunchbox that’s been “lurking” at the back of the cupboard for the last few years “may finally be heading back to work”, said Andrew Ellson in The Times. Fewer of us are popping into Pret a Manger for a sandwich as more office workers are “rediscovering the packed lunch”.

As prices at high street shops continue to soar, polling from Ocado has found that more than two thirds (69%) of professionals think buying lunch out is too expensive. Almost half (46%) of them have started to bring in lunch from home more often than they did a year ago.

But a packed lunch doesn’t have to mean soggy sandwiches or a “punishment tub of undressed baby spinach and slimy sweet potato chunks”, said Jimi Famurewa in The Guardian. Instead, you can get creative with “punchy, textural riots” like Rukmini Iyer’s tasty chapati omelette rolls or Rosie Birkett’s celeriac, apple and lentil salad “brightened by lemony mayonnaise and an enlivening lick of dijon mustard”. Or, if there’s a kettle nearby, consider making Tamal Ray’s “veg-filled, rainbow-hued riff on everyone’s favourite additive-stuffed hangover salve: the noodle pot”.

For something easy but “great for gut health”, try whipping up a batch of ancient grains (you can use a Merchant Gourmet pouch from the supermarket) with feta and avocado, said Xanthe Clay in The Telegraph. Pack in as many vegetables as you like and add pumpkin seeds for a tasty lunch that will “boost your diet diversity” and deliver slow-release energy.

If you prefer a hearty lunch that will warm you up as the weather cools down, consider making a homemade minestrone with parmesan meatballs. Ideal for cooking at the weekend and freezing in batches, it “always tastes better the next day”.

Another brilliant recipe to “add to your repertoire” is an “oh-so-comforting” vegan chickpea and cauliflower dahl, said Good Housekeeping. Filled with “fragrant” spices and plenty of vegetables, it’s perfect served with “cooling” yoghurt, steamed rice or naan bread.

A long walk in the wild east, a “remote” upland region of northern Portugal close to the Spanish border, the Côa Valley feels like “an enchanted, parallel world”, says Ben Buckland in The New York Times.

To explore it thoroughly, you could walk the 124-mile Côa Valley Grand Route, or GR45, which follows the Côa River northwards from its source to its confluence with the Douro. There are medieval castles along the way, and beautiful old villages with pleasant B&Bs, still thriving despite decades of rural flight.

Eagles and wolves roam the countryside, along with “sleek” grey Sorraia horses, reintroduced by the charity Rewilding Portugal. And near the trail’s northern end, there’s an even more extraordinary sight: thousands of “crisp” rock engravings of animals dating back up to 24,000 years, now protected as a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Britain’s new marine marvels

As climate change warms Britain’s coastal waters, there has been a “huge influx” of spectacular species from seas to the south.

Keen to see some of them, I took a wildlife-watching boat trip from Brixham Harbour in south Devon, says Mark Stratton in The Telegraph – a day-long outing with Captain Ross Parham on his 42ft catamaran Spot On.

The sightings were plentiful, beginning with a sunfish – a “bizarre leviathan” with no tail and a round body that grows up to 10ft long. Later came “entrancing” pods of common dolphins (which are increasingly numerous here), and several 12ft-long Risso dolphins (“truly impressive beasts” with “bulbous, wrecking-ball heads”), which were seen doing “arching backflips” with “great splash landings”. The birds were dazzling, too – especially the Balearic shearwaters. Our “exotic” show concluded with a sighting of a 30ft minke whale.

The trip costs £135pp (naturetrek.co.uk).

A 1970s time warp on the Med

It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but if you’ve got a soft spot for 1970s urban planning, you might enjoy a trip to La Grande-Motte, says Mark C. O’Flaherty in The Guardian.

Conceived by the architect Jean Balladur, this “retro futurist folly of a resort town” lies on France’s south coast, 30 minutes’ drive from Montpellier. In the 1980s, it was seen as “gauche”, and later it gained a “trashy reputation”. But it seems to be undergoing a “renaissance”, and its “gleaming white” apartment blocks – like “Mesoamerican pyramids”, but with elegant balconies and lots of “intergalactic” curves – should please any “lover of postwar architourism”.

Stay at the three-star Hôtel Le Quetzal (refurbished, but still “fabulously vintage”), and make time for the more conventional sights nearby – notably the area’s salt marshes.

Travel is usually about “discovery”, but there’s also joy in introducing places you love to people you love. That was the idea behind the 15-night tour of China my husband and I took with our teenage daughters last Easter, says Helen Holmes in The Times – though, in fact, we found the country much changed since our last visit 18 years ago.

The biggest boon was its “gleaming” new network of high-speed railways, which cut once-epic journeys down to just a few hours. Be warned, though, the country’s increased prosperity has also created “hordes” of domestic tourists, which has contributed to over-tourism at some sites. It is a good idea, too, to research local payment apps which, once mastered, make life much simpler.

Buying train tickets is still complex, however, so we used an agency, China Highlights. Our trip was bookended by four-night stays in Hong Kong and Shanghai, and we spent time in two regions between the two. First came three nights in the “lush” southwestern province of Guangxi, with its “languorous” rivers, rice paddies and karst peaks – “the landscape of Chinese legend”.

In the historic town of Xingping (featured on the 20 yuan banknote), we stayed at the Giggling Tree, a guesthouse in a former farm where you can dine in the courtyard, “inhaling the fragrance of pomelo blossom” on the warm evening air. And we escaped the “selfie-seeking crowds” on a cycling trip along the “misty” Li River, returning downstream on bamboo rafts propelled by boatmen with poles.

We spent a further four nights in Hunan province, in central China, at the Forest Glass Inn, a stylishly converted Tujia minority compound in Zhangjiajie. The nearby Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, with its 3,000 “spiky” peaks topped with “improbable” mops of lush greenery, inspired the landscapes in the Avatar films. The park is simply “astonishing”, although exploring can be tiring owing to the “staggering” tourist crowds. Less stressful were our visits to the old towns of Fenghuang and Furong Zhen – both “delightful”.

With fall on the horizon, now is the perfect time to keep yourself warm by dancing the night away. Say hello to autumn with some big-name artists headlining tours across the country and the world.

Bryson Tiller

Rapper Bryson Tiller found mainstream success in 2015, and since then has become a star-powered name in the rap and R&B space. Fans can catch him live during the “Neo Trapsoul” tour.

The name of the tour is an homage to Bryson’s 2015 breakthrough studio album “Trapsoul” and runs across three continents. This will be a “celebration of more than a decade of music, giving fans a chance to experience the sound that put him on the map in a full live-show format,” said SeatGeek. One of Tiller’s “most ambitious headline runs to date.” (through January 2027)

Ella Langley

Country music singer Ella Langley had a massive Billboard hit with her April 2026 LP “Dandelion,” and the Alabama native is supporting the album’s success with her ongoing “The Dandelion” tour. The series takes Langley across the United States and marks her first-ever arena shows.

They will feature “90-minute sets packed with crowd singalongs, emotional storytelling and a closing moment” with Langley’s longtime collaborator Riley Green, said SeatGeek. People who see Langley live are “not just going to a concert — you’re witnessing a once-in-a-generation breakout while it’s still unfolding.” (through March 2027)

Karol G

Fewer names are bigger in reggaeton than Karol G, and the Colombian superstar is no stranger to world tours. Her latest, “Viajando Por El Mundo”, takes Karol G across three continents and began around the same time she released her latest studio album, “No Me Arrepiento de Sentir Tanto.”

The tour is a “celebration of not only Karol’s influence but cultura that binds millions,” said Rolling Stone. While “some transitions” in the show are a “bit clunky,” this is a performance that is “confident, strong, sexy, secure” and “full of heart.” (through July 2027)

Latto

Latto rose to prominence after a stint on a reality television show in 2016 and quickly rose through the ranks of the rap genre. Since then, she’s put out four albums, including one earlier this year, and is currently crisscrossing the United States and Canada supporting Doja Cat on the “Tour Ma Vie” tour.

While Doja Cat may be the concert’s star, Latto has a major supporting role, with her own unique style of rap. This is the latest of several collaborations between the two artists. (through December)

Lil Wayne

Few rappers have had a bigger career than Lil Wayne, and his six-set album series “Tha Carter” remains a rap tentpole. 22 years after the initial LP in the set was released, Lil Wayne is celebrating the albums with his “20 Years of Carter Classics” tour.

These concerts feature another major rap name: 2 Chainz is accompanying Lil Wayne for the majority of the stops. The tour is essentially an extension of Lil Wayne’s 2025 shows promoting the most recent “Tha Carter” album released last year. (through October)

Metallica

Legendary metal band Metallica wrapped their last tour only a few months ago but is back on stage again. Following the success of the band’s three-year “M72” world concerts, Metallica has landed in Las Vegas for a months-long residency at the Sphere.

The show, titled “Life Burns Faster,” features Metallica’s “entire catalog, enhanced by the venue’s immersive technologies that will allow you to experience the ’Tallica sound in new experiential dimensions,” said the band’s website. The Sphere shows “deliver a totally unique experience each and every night.” (through March 2027)

Olivia Rodrigo

Olivia Rodrigo has had a stratospheric rise since her start on the Disney Channel, transforming into one of the biggest pop stars in the world. Now Rodrigo’s fanbase can catch her latest globetrotting effort, “The Unraveled” tour.

The shows, which supports Rodrigo’s third LP, “You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love,” span cities in North America and Europe. They also come on the heels of Rodrigo’s news-making performance at the Daisy Chain Fields Music Festival, where she was “sharing the stage with music legends Stevie Nicks, Sarah McLachlan and Alanis Morissette,” said USA Today. (through May 2027)

Ozuna

Ozuna has become one of Puerto Rico’s most famous singers and is known for blending a variety of Latin genres. He is back on the road with his “Una Aventura” tour, marking Ozuna’s first concert series in four years.

The international tour spans Europe and Latin America and “presents a show designed to revisit the most important moments of his musical journey,” said ColombiaOne. The show includes “some of the biggest hits that established him as one of the leading figures in Latin urban music.” (through November)

Tame Impala

For a unique concert experience and musical sound, check out Tame Impala’s latest outing, the “Deadbeat” tour. The shows, supporting the Australian electronic band’s 2025 studio album of the same name, highlight two songs that have made waves across the charts this year: “Dracula” and “Loser.”

The performance itself has received critical acclaim and is a “fully enveloping sensory experience” that goes “far beyond the expected ‘live concert,’” said Rock Cellar magazine. It includes Tame Impala performing on a “pulsating platform that resembles a “spacecraft about to take flight.” (through July 2027)

Teddy Swims

Teddy Swims is the answer, if you want another genre-blending artist to see live. Since his breakthrough in 2023, the Georgia-born artist has embarked on a slew of concerts, including his latest, the “Ugly” tour.

The show spans venues across the world and comes a year after Teddy Swims released his second LP, “I’ve Tried Everything but Therapy (Part 2).” Additional concert dates were recently announced for 2027, “following the singer performing a huge run of live shows this summer, including festival slots at Bonnaroo, Coachella, Isle Of Wight Festival, Mad Cool and more,” said NME. (through April 2027)

“Launching an all-new coupé in 2026 is a brave move” given the dominance of SUVs, said Evo. But Honda isn’t expecting to sell a lot of these – 1,000 over the next two years, and it has few competitors.

The Prelude uses Honda’s “e:HEV powertrain” – a two-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine combined with twin electric motors, for an underwhelming 181bhp peak output and a 0-62mph time of 8.2 secs.

“A promising two-door coupé take on the hybrid sports car formula”, the Prelude strikes a “good balance between ride and handling”, said Auto Express. Sure, it lacks “gut-punching power”, but it’s well calibrated, with an “agile and responsive” chassis and plenty of grip.

The steering has decent weight; there’s a “sporty edge” to the acceleration. And the hybrid powertrain delivers “impressive efficiency” of 54.3mpg.

The Prelude will appeal to those who “love the sleek looks” of a sports car, but who don’t want to drive one, or sacrifice comfort, said The Telegraph. There’s just one model available, with high-spec advance trim and a “plush interior” with real leather upholstery.

The “snappy” touchscreen is simple to use and you get “proper buttons” too. But even children will feel cramped in the back, and the 284- litre boot is “pretty stingy”.

Europe’s art scene continues to be one of the richest and most diverse in the world. From Renaissance masterpieces, to innovative impressionism, the continent’s exhibitions have so much to offer this autumn. Explore some of the titans of industry in Dalí and Rembrandt, and discover lesser-known gems such as Mary Cassatt, for shows right up until April.

Willem de Kooning at Work

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Willem de Kooning (1904-97) was just 22 when he left Rotterdam for America. A stowaway on a freighter, he had no money and scarcely a word of English. Yet within 30 years, he was a titan of abstract expressionism. Marking the centenary of his departure, this exhibition explores one of the 20th century’s most revered painters.
9 October-17 January 2027

Bernini – Painter and Sculptor

Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria

Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) was arguably the ultimate Renaissance man. He painted, sculpted and even planned cities; and, as an architect, he arguably invented the baroque style. Vienna’s art history museum is mounting an unprecedented display of the artist’s masterpieces.
2 December-4 April 2027

Hals-Rembrandt

Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, Netherlands

Two giants of Dutch art are united here for a surefire blockbuster. Hals was lively and irreverent; Rembrandt dealt with subjects altogether more weighty. A shared sensibility as painters, however, shines through their respective bodies of work.
6 November-28 February 2027

Mary Cassatt: Being Independent

Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France

The impressionist master Mary Cassatt finally gets the retrospective she deserves. Cassatt (1844-1926), who was born in America but worked in Paris, was every bit as inventive as her better-known male peers: her pictures of children are stupendous, less soppy than Renoir, more modern than Manet.
6 October-31 January 2027

The Freudian Universe of Dalí

Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain

Surrealism was a movement inherently linked to Freudian psychoanalysis; this show features 62 works by Salvador Dalí, and explores his deeply odd beliefs from a therapist’s point of view. It will come as no surprise to learn there is a lot to unpick.
20 October-24 January 2027

Thanks to the smash hit success of “1536”, her “coruscating” play about three young women in Tudor England, the English writer Ava Pickett is flavour of the month, said Sarah Crompton on WhatsOnStage. Now, she has produced a new play – “Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy” – which is so powerful she might well prove to “be flavour of the year and of many years to come”. The drama, in which Helen (played with “high-wire intensity” by Michelle Dockery) is brought back to modern-day Essex after a civil war in England is “full of spit, fire and brilliance”. It’s like “Sarah Kane crossed with ‘The Only Way is Essex’ – devastatingly funny but utterly furious about the state of the world and the way that women within it are treated”.

Years ago, Helen left her husband Marcus (Menelaus) for a “foreigner”, prompting hordes of angry men to wreak havoc for a decade in her name, said Emma John in The Guardian. In a Towie-style home, her former close friend Cee, who is married to Marcus’s brother Mario (Agamemnon), hosts a tense event to mark her return – blood-spattered and still in shock. Given the recent scenes of masked men protesting in Dover and Portsmouth, Pickett’s dystopia feels “uncomfortably close, albeit infused with a Martin McDonagh-esque black wit”.

There are “tremendous” performances across the board, said Andrzej Lukowski on Time Out, and the pacey, emphatic direction from Lisa Spirling is “spot on”.

I was almost alone among critics in not taking to “1536”, said Clive Davis in The Times – and I didn’t much care for this play either. It’s “vivid”, and features “vivacious performances”. But its “erratic mix of myth and modern-day melodrama” leads from one “overwrought standoff to another” – while the characters “never come fully into focus”. It’s not a “perfect” play, said Sarah Hemming in the Financial Times, but it’s “bloody good”. It is true that the “bigger political picture remains peculiarly hazy for a country mired in civil war”. Even so, the “audacity of the narrative keeps you pinned to the action”. This is “bracing, provocative and scintillatingly written” drama, laced with “needle-sharp humour”.

stratfordeast.com Theatre Royal Stratford East, London E15. Until 10 October

“There’s no shortage of worthy films about D-Day,” said David Sexton in The New Statesman. To name just a few, there are “The Longest Day”, “Saving Private Ryan”, “Overlord”, “The Big Red One” – and, of course, we also have TV’s “Band of Brothers”. Yet “Pressure”, from the producers of “Darkest Hour” and based on a play by the actor and writer David Haig, “finds a niche not yet occupied”. Uniquely, the drama focuses on the days immediately before the Normandy landings of 6 June 1944, and the “momentous” weather forecasts made by Scottish meteorologist James Stagg. Eisenhower had decided Operation Overlord should go ahead on 5 June. Stagg, however, became convinced the day would be stormy – bringing swell and poor visibility that would spell disaster. But on 4 June, Stagg forecast a calm interlude for 6 June. In Pressure, Stagg, played by Andrew Scott (“the film’s main attraction”) must persuade Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser), the “irascible” General Bernard Montgomery (Damian Lewis), and Stagg’s US counterpart, Irving P. Krick (Chris Messina) to trust the data he has gathered, and delay the seaborne invasion by 24 hours.

“Dramatically speaking, this is all a bit more interesting in theory than in practice,” said Adam White in The Independent. The film is “largely confined to a series of identikit studies and war rooms”, and the eventual recreation of the landings sparks “unflattering comparisons to ‘Saving Private Ryan’, budget constraints on full display”. Thank goodness, then, for Scott, said Danny Leigh in the Financial Times, in whose “every pained expression, we see the gravity of the situation – and an allergic inability to simply smile and nod”. His performance “really is superb”.

Isle of Wight: Vine Cottage, Old Town, Cowes

This attractive, period cottage (pale blue) enjoys glimpses of the sea from the upper floors. With easy access to the high street. 4 beds, 2 baths, kitchen, 2 receps, garden. £545,000; Spence Willard.

Ceredigion: Brynymor House, Cardigan

A stunning Georgian house on the Teifi Estuary. Newly renovated, it boasts glorious views and direct access to the river. 8 beds, 2 baths, kitchen, 2 receps, outbuildings, garden, parking. OIEO £1.65 million; Country Living Group.

Essex: The Farmhouse at Coppingdown Farm, Castle Hedingham

A handsome house with fine rural views. 5 beds, 3 baths, kitchen, 5 receps, garden, parking. £995,000; David Burr.

Suffolk: Tipplers, Rickinghall

This striking and characterful Grade II listed thatched cottage sits at the heart of a highly sought-after village. 4 beds, 2 baths, kitchen/dining room, recep, garden, garage. OIEO £375,000; David Burr.

Wiltshire: Stoford House, Stoford

A fine Grade II Georgian house set in mature gardens of approx. 3⁄4 of an acre in the Wylye Valley. Main suite, 3 further beds, shower, kitchen, 3 receps, study, outbuilding, garden, parking. £895,000; Myddelton & Major.

Oxfordshire: Ossicles, Henley-on-Thames

This unique architect-designed contemporary property is set in mature gardens. The property features a limestone terrace running the length of the dining and reception area and a wall of glass that opens, giving the sense that the garden is an extension of the house. 5 beds, 4 baths, kitchen/breakfast room, 3 receps, garden, parking. £2.5 million; Knight Frank.

Kent: York House, Deal

A charming Georgian house, with a distinctive Dutch gable facade, in the heart of a conservation area close to the beach. The property includes a wooden-framed studio situated at the bottom of the garden. 3 beds, 2 baths, kitchen, 3 receps, studio, garden. £750,0000; Bright & Bright.

Shropshire: The Old School House, Bucknell

A delightful Grade II early 17th century timber-framed village house. Situated in a tranquil rural area, and set in mature gardens on the banks of the Redlake. 4 beds, 2 baths, kitchen/ breakfast room, 3 receps, garden, period barn, parking. £695,000; Knight Frank.

Not all castles are as they seem. Many have been transformed into hotels, where guests can live out their aristocratic dreams behind stone walls and high gates. These historic castles offer a stay you won’t experience anywhere else — plus the chance to be king or queen for the night.

Burghotel Auf Schonburg, Oberwesel, Germany

The moment you step inside this 1,000-year-old castle you can feel its storied history. There are 31 rooms and suites, each with its own design and antique furnishings, and several have balconies that look over the Rhine. Head to the interactive Tower Museum to learn more about how the castle defended itself against attacks, and stroll through the sprawling fairytale gardens for some quiet reflection.

Dalhousie Castle, Bonnyrigg, Scotland

For more than 800 years, Dalhousie Castle near Edinburgh has welcomed royalty, poets, politicians and now, you. This is the oldest inhabited castle in Scotland, complete with turrets, arched windows and red stone walls. In the Dungeon Restaurant, diners feast on contemporary Scottish cuisine, their tables surrounded by suits of armor and shields.

Dromoland Castle, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Ireland

Upon arrival, you’ll immediately notice Dromoland Castle’s “legendary” porters and doormen, who carry your bags to your room with “cheery smiles and lots of stories,” said Condé Nast Traveler. Their excellent service is just one perk of staying at the property.

You’ll also enjoy “castle-appropriate” activities like falconry walks and candle-lit dinners with “white glove service” at the Earl of Thomond restaurant, said Condé Nast Traveler. Take time to explore the “maze-like” main building, where architectural details include stained glass windows and carved ceilings.

Hever Castle, Edenbridge, England

Spend the night where Anne Boleyn spent her childhood. Her family moved to Hever Castle in the early 1500s, and this is where the doomed queen “received letters from Henry VIII,” said Time Out.

There are 26 rooms in the “beautiful” castle, which underwent a complete restoration in the early 20th century, courtesy of William Waldorf Astor. Even if you don’t have a “thing for the Tudors,” it’s “impossible not to be impressed” by the property and its “superb” gardens.

Ozu Castle, Ehime, Japan

This meticulously restored wooden castle is one of only a few still standing in Japan — and the first to welcome overnight guests. It’s believed that the original fortress went up in the 14th century, about 200 years before the Kato clan took control of Ozu.

There’s a focus on ensuring amenities and items like sheets and tableware are made locally and that guests are introduced to the area’s history. One way is through the 1617 Sadayasu Kato Takeover, a reenactment guests can participate in.

Pousada Castelo Estremoz, Portugal

Built in the 13th century by King Dinis I for Queen Saint Elizabeth of Portugal, Pousada Castelo Estremoz offers “sweeping views” of the Alentejo region, said Condé Nast Traveler. Rooms and suites come with “gorgeous” canopy beds, and outside there are “manicured” gardens, a swimming pool and a terrace perfect for meditation sessions. The palace sits in the historic center of Estremoz, known for its white marble quarries.

Apple TV’s “critically lauded” series of adaptations of Mick Herron’s books has returned for a sixth season, said Ed Power in The Telegraph, and has once again pulled “off the perfect balancing act between dark humour and misanthropic spycraft”.

As before, the disillusioned MI5 agent River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) is stuck with the grumpy and flatulent “mastermind” Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) at Slough House – “a banishment room” in London for underperforming spies. Here, Cartwright and his colleagues do not live the lives of international mystery they once aspired to but are instead “condemned to a bureaucratic purgatory straight out of Samuel Beckett”.

The mood among the horses is, as ever, “decidedly gloomy”, said Ben Dowell in The Times. The rain beats down incessantly, Lamb’s personal habits have not improved, and poor Cartwright is grieving someone close to him. “Oh, and they keep getting bumped off.” A shadowy pair is hunting down individuals with links to Slough House and dispatching them with “deadly precision”. “It’s as brilliant as ever”, with “thrilling storytelling and some deftly applied comedy”. As always, everything is lifted whenever Oldman is on screen, “chomping crisps next to a dead body”.

It’s a very good batch of episodes, said Rebecca Cook in Metro, but it doesn’t “quite click”. The one-liners and “Lamb-isms” aren’t up to scratch and the best gags are all in the trailer. “Slow Horses” has “set itself an impeccable standard” – one that this series does not quite meet.

Ghent is a little overshadowed in the Belgian city break stakes by Bruges. But as well as great bars, restaurants, sights and shops, Ghent, too, has canals, medieval buildings, cobbled streets, a belfry and castle. It isn’t swamped by tourists, as Bruges can be. And at three hours by Eurostar it’s half an hour closer to London St Pancras.

Through a discreet glass door on the cobbled Graslei quay by St Michael’s Bridge, a spot in almost every shot of Ghent, is 1898 Porter’s House. With three suites and one room, it opened in September 2026 after refurbishment by Geraldine Dohogne, who also transformed the adjoining hotel, 1898 The Post.

Why stay here?

All the rooms are different shapes, sizes and layouts, but all share inviting textures and deep, rich colours – cocooning décor that feels profoundly welcoming. Mine is dark blue, with solid wooden beams.

Above the vast bed, with impeccable white linen and tweedy headboard, is the TV, almost as vast, although you can watch it only from the bed, not from the velvet armchair – just one in a room undeniably designed for two. That comfy seat is a perfect perch for a cup of tea from the in-room supplies, which also include ready-mixed in-house cocktails – just add ice. The kettle and coffee machine are tidily housed in a drawer, plugged in invisibly.

Thoughtful touches abound, such as a warm throw, books – including a bespoke “500 Hidden Secrets of Ghent” guidebook, yoga mat and blocks, umbrella and flip flops. Just inside the entryway, there’s ample hanging storage – although not long enough for my midi dress.

The marble bathroom with underfloor heating is equipped with bath, twin sinks and a rainfall shower with overhead roses and handheld attachments too, stocked with citrussy Guerlain Impériale toiletries. The loo, classily, is separate.

Two of the suites have a plant-filled roof terrace. As well as sunloungers, a table and chairs, mine has a copper bathtub. At night this is lit by strung lights and lanterns, perfect for an al fresco dip above the urban buzz, while inside lamps cast a soft glow, and thick Roman blinds and bedroom curtains block out all light.

Eating and drinking

A short stroll along Graslei takes you to breakfast in The Post’s breakfast room, The Kitchen, which becomes The Cobbler bar by night. Although the buffet size is small, it’s densely packed with desirable ways to start the day: mini croissants, mini pains au chocolat, cheeses and meats, yogurt, granola, seeds, an impressive array of fruit, plus eggs cooked to order and power shots of ginger, turmeric, and lemon, orange and pineapple juice.

It’s easy to find more great food in Ghent. For elevated dining, head to Sensum, housed in a Louis XVI mansion – which won its Michelin star in 2023 – and try its simply described four- or five-course experience menu. As a vegetarian, it was strange to choose dishes with names like Gobetto prawn and French pigeon, but staff reassured me that my food would be meat- and fish-free yet focused on the component flavours. Service was relaxed, attentive and informative, each course explained on arrival.

The food was exquisite, inventively prepared and impeccably presented. Memorable mouthfuls include an amuse bouche of panna cotta made with smoked milk; beetroot roasted for 72 hours then rehydrated, served with sour cream mousse, and gooseberry granita, which appeared on the menu as royal Belgian caviar.

Near the Museum of Industry is the cool, contemporary interior and vine-shaded courtyard of Edgar Kaasbar, whose short menu focuses on cheese (kaas), from raclette and fondue to croquettes and platters, with suggested wine and beer pairings. My pungent plateful grew in strength from tomme to Shropshire blue, accompanied by crusty bread, fruit and nuts.

Don’t miss out on Belgian specialities, such as chips and mayonnaise, a classic now with heritage status (although here beef stew is the preferred topping).

There are plenty of fine chocolate shops; I took home a tempting trayful from Deduytschaever near the Belfort. At the other end of the taste spectrum: excellent Tierenteyn mustard. This Ghent condiment’s quality apparently results from a family feud.

Boasting Ghent’s biggest beer selection, at over 500, is Café de Dulle Griet (which translates as ‘mad Meg’, taking its name from a nearby cannon). To sample the house beer, Max, served in a long glass on a wooden stand, you must surrender one shoe to a wire cage on the ceiling, returned when you return the glass.

Café den Turk, popular with locals, is the city’s oldest bar, dating from the 13th century, but its simple approach doesn’t trade on that.

Sample jenever, Belgian juniper-flavoured spirit, at t’Dreupelkot, by the river at Groentenmarkt 12, which dispenses shots of over 200 flavours, including coconut, cactus, vanilla and chilli.

For a nightcap, stay close to home with a cocktail in The Cobbler, a cool hangout for both residents and non-residents. My Kintsugi, with gin, kaffir lime and ginger, was fragrant and floral.

Things to do

Get yourself a Visit Gent CityCard – at just €49 for 48 hours, with free entry to sights, plus free tram, bus, bike and boat travel. Orient yourself with an overview of the city – literally – at the STAM, or Museum of Ghent, with a vast aerial photo to walk across, among varied exhibits including 13th-century frescos. Turn left out of the hotel and walk along the river. To return, board the hop-on, hop-off boat with your CityCard for a 90-minute city tour (hopping off not obligatory).

Gain a bird’s-eye view atop the 12th-century Belfort (belfry), with an array of bells and clock mechanisms within the tower.

The fairytale 12th-century castle, Gravensteen (Castle of the Counts) has enough battlements, turrets and crenellations to satisfy history buffs and small children. Inside, as well as the good city views, there’s a torture museum.

Fusing architectural styles is St Bavo’s (or Sint Baaf’s), the not-to-be-missed cathedral, boasting 22 altars, plus the world-famous “Adoration of the Mystic Lamb” altarpiece by Hubert and Jan van Eyck, the world’s first work using oil paints, in around 1432. Book the VR tour to better appreciate the glowing, vibrant figures and scenes in detail, and to learn its history, including multiple thefts – its return was part of the Treaty of Versailles after the First World War. The Museum of Fine Arts is carrying out restoration work on some of the original panels, which you can watch until 31 December. (Van Eyck portraits are on show at London’s National Gallery from 21 November.)

The verdict

A truly welcoming environment, from the decor to the historic artefacts in the myrrh and vetiver-scented public spaces that encourage you to slow down, to the endlessly good-humoured and patient staff. As the hotel’s interior designer Dohogne said: “it’s a sophisticated space that respects the guests’ needs and builds a world around them.” Feeling completely at home, I was happy to inhabit this world, if only for a short time.

Adrienne Wyper was a guest of 1898 Porter’s House, 1898portershouse.com

Anita Brookner was in her early 50s when she began writing fiction. She was a respected art critic, and unmarried. Anthony Blunt, her boss and mentor at the Courtauld Institute (where she was a lecturer), had just been exposed as a Soviet spy. “Reeling”, depressed and lonely, she found herself writing what would become “A Start in Life” (1981), said Lucy Atkins in The Guardian. It established a “process” that she stuck to religiously over the next two decades.

“Each novel took only three months from start to finish. She’d roam London forming sentences in her head, then simply write them down, at speed.” The novels sold well, and her fourth, “Hotel du Lac”, won the 1984 Booker Prize. But there was also much carping from male critics about how they were all about “sad spinsters” pining for love. (Private Eye called it “Hotel du Lac of Interest”.) Ten years on from Brookner’s death, aged 87, Hermione Lee has written an “astute and tireless” biography bringing this “intriguing, contradictory” figure to life.

Brookner was extraordinarily private, and did her best, as she put it, to “leave no trace”, said Johanna Thomas-Corr in The Times. She destroyed all her private papers. With “heroic” scholarly devotion, Lee pieces her life together from the scraps of evidence that remain: her alienating upbringing, an only child in a large extended family of Polish-Jewish émigrés in south London; a few “intoxicating years” in post-war Paris; an unwanted return to London to care for her “increasingly demanding, ailing mother”. Lee scours Brookner’s “few appointment diaries” for liaisons with possible lovers – such as the art historian Michael Jaffé and the publisher Christopher MacLehose. And while the “narrative suffers in the second half”, with “dutiful summaries of Brookner’s 25 novels”, overall it displays the “rigour and authority” that made Lee’s previous lives – of Penelope Fitzgerald and Tom Stoppard, among others – so “indispensable”.

This is indeed a “tremendous” biography, full of striking details about Brookner’s quirks, said Laura Cumming in The Observer. (She often lied about her age, was a “slavish” fan of Philip Roth, and “never missed” “The Archers” or “The Bill”.) Lee describes her appearance brilliantly: “When she was young, she looked old and, when old, she became ageless.”

Lee’s portrait of this “recalcitrant” subject is “gripping and illuminating”, said Lucy Scholes in the Financial Times. “One likes to think that, while she might not have fully approved, Brookner would nevertheless admire the result.”

“I love summer as much as the next person, but I have to admit that, once the calendar gets to mid-August, I just cannot wait for autumn to arrive,” said Alessia Armenise in Condé Nast Traveller. As the weather cools down and the “back-to-school atmosphere is in full swing” the “long-awaited autumn activities can finally begin”.

The season for apple picking is about to hit its peak, with orchards all around the country opening their gates for people to fill their baskets. Here are some of our favourite places for a wholesome day out.

Ampleforth Abbey, Yorkshire

This is the “perfect place to spend a full autumn day out”, said Condé Nast Traveller. September and October are prime months for apple picking, with plenty of other activities to keep you entertained. The abbey has its own cider mill, and you can learn about the site’s history of making its own apple juice and cider. Once you have enough apples, “you can visit the abbey, explore the grounds and indulge in an afternoon tea”.
ampleforthabbey.org.uk

Brogdale Collections, Kent

This south east gem is known for its “diverse array of fruits, set in a stunning natural setting”, said Lauren Hughes in Country Living. Visitors can opt for guided tours which run until the end of October, allowing you to “explore the grounds and sample seasonal fruit”. Most importantly, the orchard also runs “Pick Your Own Fruit” weekends until 1 November, with both apples and pears available to get your fructose kick!
brogdalecollections.org

Hillfield Nursery, Norfolk

More than 250 varieties of apple are planted at Hillfield, “meaning the season starts early in the summer and finishes well into autumn”, said Rebecca Seal in National Geographic. The William Crump and Ellison’s Orange varieties are “rare”, and just two of many “real treasures among the trees”. Apple aficionados can also broaden their horizons, sinking their teeth into “plums, quince and medlars”, with the latter “a wonderful fruit that’s barely ever cultivated and looks like a cross between an apple and a rosehip”. They can be “picked hard, sour and unripe in autumn and then stored inside until they become aromatic and sweet” when they are usually used to make jam.
hillfieldnursery.co.uk

Hawarden Estate, Flintshire

Apples, pears and pumpkins are all up for grabs in this Welsh haven, said Siobhan Grogan in The Times. After filling your punnet, you can head to the estate’s onsite bakery for more sugary sustenance. In the afternoon, expand your range foraging for mushrooms in the grounds: after the three-hour guided woodland walk, you’ll know your “shaggy parasols from your chanterelles”. The estate is also home to an “18th-century castle where the four-time prime minister William Gladstone lived”, so plenty for history buffs too.
hawardenestateholidays.co.uk

Mersey Vale Nature Park, Manchester

Further north, there is “apple picking in abundance”, said Emmeline Banks in Secret Manchester. Mersey Vale Nature Park is a “wonderful destination any day of the week”: the city’s traditional community-run orchards sit next to “two ponds with dipping platforms” and a “wildflower meadow”. It is “more of an informal experience” here, with members of the public free to “wander through the trees, taking in what nature has to offer, and pick the tasty apples for themselves, free of charge”. There’s a real drive to use the nature reserve to “educate and support locals in eating healthily and understanding the importance of local produce”.
stockport.gov.uk/community-orchards

The modern history of civilization provides ample, almost endless, inspiration for writers, who can draw on both well-known and obscure events to build dazzling narratives. From classic works to recent and more structurally daring standouts, historical fiction remains one of writing’s most popular forms.

‘A Tale of Two Cities’ by Charles Dickens (1859)

Some classic works of literature from centuries ago were themselves works of historical fiction, perhaps none more beloved than Charles Dickens’ sprawling saga “A Tale of Two Cities.” Set against the backdrop of events prior to, during and after the French Revolution, it’s the story of Lucie Manette and her two suitors, the wealthy Frenchman Charles Darnay and the melancholy English lawyer Sydney Carton, who bear a physical resemblance to one another that serves the plot machinations at key moments. “Epic in historical scale, it is also an intimate book, showing how the personal and political intermingle and what the causes and effects of violence are,” said Anita Sethi at The Guardian.

‘Cities of Salt’ by Abdelrahman Munif (1984)

Abdelrahman Munif’s haunting novel traces the rapid transformation of an unnamed Gulf country into a petrostate starting in the 1930s. Set in an oasis called Wadi Al-Uyoun, its historical arc begins with the arrival of American surveyors and concludes with the transformation of Harran from a sleepy fishing port to a kind of Dubai, casting a critical eye on corruption and the ways that Gulf societies were warped by such a sudden change. This “timely and intelligent novel” brilliantly “captures the confusion and, in the end, the sadness wrought by sudden change, by greed and by two peoples who understand too little of each other,” said David Lamb at the Los Angeles Times.

‘Blood Meridian: or the Evening Redness in The West’ by Cormac McCarthy (1985)

The Kid is an illiterate 14-year-old runaway with a “taste for mindless violence” who gets swept up in the gruesome rampage of the Glanton gang, led by the hairless, philosophizing sociopath Judge Holden. “The Judge” dispenses wisdom like “moral law is an invention of mankind for the disenfranchisement of the powerful in favor of the weak” as he commits unspeakable crimes.

The gang hunts members of the Apache tribe and sells their scalps at the behest of the Mexican government, and Cormac McCarthy’s unrelenting novel follows its members around Mexico and the American Southwest during the 1840s. This “extraordinary poetic novel” serves as an “exploration, at times explicitly philosophical, of the relationship between culture and violence,” said Andrew Hislop at the Times Literary Supplement.

‘Lonesome Dove’ by Larry McMurtry (1985)

Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is regarded as one of the finest novels of the American frontier. Augustus “Gus” McCrae and Woodrow Call are former rangers living in the titular border town in Texas when a former colleague, Jake Spoon, convinces them to pick up and move to the Montana Territory. Driving a herd of stolen cattle, the novel depicts their often violent and brutal journey from the Mexican border to Montana less as a heroic embodiment of the American spirit and more as a slow-moving tragedy. A “crushingly brutal” book, in McMurtry’s world “there’s also love and humor and heroism” in the air “despite the copious death,” said Nate Rogers at the Los Angeles Review of Books.

‘Wolf Hall’ by Hilary Mantel (2009)

Hilary Mantel’s “Wolf Hall” is the kind of sensation that pushed through the boundaries between literature and pop culture. The book is a fictionalized account of the erratic and emotional Henry VIII’s history-altering divorce and then marriage to Anne Boleyn, told through the eyes of the king’s adviser Thomas Cromwell.

The book follows this story for the critical eight years between 1527 and 1535, which led to the enduring schism that created the Church of England. An “expansive novel that unfolds in bits of gossip and dreamlike flashback,” this revisionist portrait of Thomas Cromwell “could forever alter him in the popular imagination,” said Macy Halford at The New Yorker.

‘The Luminaries’ by Eleanor Catton (2013)

Eleanor Catton’s “The Luminaries” burst onto the literary scene by making her the winner of the prestigious Booker Prize for fiction at the age of 28. Set in 1866 New Zealand, it follows Walter Moody, a gold prospector who meets twelve local notables convening in his hotel to discuss a series of strange events, from disappearances and murders to a cache of stolen gold, that have engulfed the town.

The events are recounted from each of the locals’ perspectives and at 832 pages, it remains the longest Booker Prize winner. It’s a novel that is “trying both to revive plot as a literary mode and to consider what a storyline looks like in our real, unplotted life, in which things reveal themselves to have a shape only in retrospect,” said B.D. McClay at The New Yorker.

‘The Underground Railroad’ by Colson Whitehead (2016)

Colson Whitehead blends both science fiction and history with “Underground Railroad,” which imagines the slavery-era patchwork of safe houses and escape routes as a literal underground railroad. Cora, the granddaughter of a woman kidnapped from West Africa and sold into slavery, flees her captor’s plantation, plunging her into the book’s alternate steampunk reality where she is pursued by the merciless slave catcher Ridgeway. It is “essential reading, forcing us to examine the chasms that we have willingly created and maintained in our attempts to wrestle with the gravity of atrocity and turn away from our own roles in mythologizing its content and consequences,” said The Book Habit.

‘Great Circle’ by Maggie Shipstead (2021)

Maggie Shipstead sets her novel in two timelines. In one, we follow the exploits of an aviator named Marian Graves, from her impoverished Montana childhood to her improbable career as a fearless pilot, which culminates in an attempt to circumnavigate the globe. The second follows Hadley Baxter, a troubled actress who has signed on to star in a biopic of Graves after her journal from the grand flight is found.

Shipstead’s electrifying novel spans decades and brings the period of early aviation to thrilling life, in the process touching on themes of women’s empowerment and struggle. A novel that “starts high and maintains altitude,” it “grasps for and ultimately reaches something extraordinary,” said Lynn Steger Strong at The New York Times.

‘Matrix’ by Lauren Groff (2021)

The best historical fiction gives readers a visceral sense of what it might have been like to be alive at different points in history, something Lauren Groff excels at with “Matrix.” In Groff’s imagining, the real figure of Marie de France is a gangly teenager exiled by her lover, Eleanor of Aquitaine, to oversee a dreary English abbey sometime during the 12th century.

Marie painstakingly builds the abbey into a regional power center to which notables must pay their respects. Loosely based on real-life figures and events, “Matrix” is a “highly distinctive novel of great vigor and boldness” that plunges readers into everything from “mystical visions that may or may not be divine, to the earthy business of abbey pigs, diseases and account books,” said Alexandra Harris at The Guardian.

It’s been over two decades since a “brown furry beast with purple prickles all over his back” made children’s book author Julia Donaldson a “household name”, said Laura Harding in The Independent. Now, she is back with a third instalment in her “witty and smart” Gruffalo series. “Gruffalo Granny” sees the Gruffalo and his daughter venture into the “deep dark wood” to source and prepare a special meal for grandma. Donaldson’s prose is as “pleasing as it ever was” and her long-time collaborator Axel Scheffler turns in some “incomparable” illustrations. “It was worth the wait.”

Donaldson is no one-beast wonder, though; she has written plenty of other enchanting children’s books. Here are our top picks.

Stick Man

This tale about a stick who is torn away from his family and must make an “Odyssean journey” home is “just about as epic as picture books get”, said Stuart Heritage in The Guardian. At one point, he approaches “what seems like certain death” – an “impressive” moment “in any story” but “doubly so” in a book for toddlers.

The Snail and the Whale

It’s “impossible” to separate Donaldson’s rhyming text about a tiny snail who hitches a ride on the tail of a whale from Scheffler’s incredible pictures, said Heritage in The Guardian. “Quite frankly, the whole thing reads like a love letter between them.” It’s one of their “very best” collaborations.

The Highway Rat

A “greedy rat” rides along the highway, terrorising other animals and stealing their food in this “swaggeringly illustrated” book, said Marianne Levy in The i Paper. “Nuts, milk, clover – nothing is safe from his dastardly paws”. That is, until he crosses paths with a “devious duck who lures him into an echoing trap”. Donaldson herself has said this gallopingly rhythmic tale is one of her favourites.

The Paper Dolls

No Scheffler artwork on this one but Rebecca Cobb’s “gentle illustrations” are the perfect accompaniment for this “exquisitely subtle” story, said Levy in The i Paper. A chain of paper dolls “dance through the house and garden, singing”, until a boy “snips them into confetti”. He thinks they’re “gone for ever” but he’s wrong: the dolls “have flown into the little girl’s memory”, where they dance on. “Are you crying yet?”

The Gruffalo

Our list would, of course, not be complete without mentioning “The Gruffalo”. Published in 1999, it quickly became a “publishing phenomenon”, said Sophie Knight in Closer. The “simplicity” of the tale about a “clever mouse escaping the clutches” of other animals by inventing a terrifying monster, combined with Scheffler’s “wonderful” pictures, have kept it a “firm family favourite” ever since.

It’s not surprising that a trip to the Galapagos Islands “tops many travellers’ wish lists”, said The Times. The “far-flung Ecuadorian archipelago” is home to “astonishing landscapes” and an array of rare wildlife from blue-footed boobies to marine iguanas and giant tortoises.

It is best navigated by a small ship, all of which are “strictly regulated” in order to protect the “pristine natural area known to have inspired Darwin’s theory of evolution”. These vessels are limited to a maximum of 100 guests, and travel with “resident naturalists” to share fascinating insights about the surroundings.

We took an early morning flight from Quito to Baltra Island in the centre of the archipelago before boarding the National Geographic Islander III, said Marc Shoffman in The Independent. With just 48 guests it’s an intimate boat: you won’t find any waterslides or ice cream shops, but my daughters were happy “snorkelling among the turtles, parrot fish and manta rays in the unseasonably warm waters”.

There are “a few rules” to follow. Guests must travel in groups of up to 16 and be accompanied by an expert guide to “keep crowds down”. You can’t take anything home with you, however tempting, and you must always stand six feet away from the wildlife. The reward is how close you can get to the incredible creatures that seem “unbothered” by human presence.

It’s worth getting up early to avoid the heat and “capture the wildlife at its calmest”. On South Plaza Island we were greeted by “sleepy sea lions and the region’s unique swallow-tailed gulls”, and on Las Bachas “rare birds such as the red-footed booby and shiny white Nazca boobies simply waddled by”. The best moment, though, was watching the “famous giant tortoises as they calmly ate grass at the Rancho El Manzanillo, unfazed by our gawping”.

If you love the water, Celebrity Cruises is a good option, said The Telegraph. During the seven-night itineraries guests have plenty of opportunities to “splash around with the archipelago’s diverse and diverting marine wildlife”. Snorkelling sessions are a great way to get close to sea turtles, reef sharks and, if you’re lucky, the “darting, bullet-like form of a Galapagos penguin”.

Or if birdwatching is more up your alley, try one of Silversea’s luxury expeditions exploring the Outer Loop. The first stop is Genovesa, dubbed Bird Island for its incredible variety of avian life including the “hard-to-spot short-eared owl” and magnificent red-throated frigatebirds.

The best psychological thrillers use their characters’ paranoia and uncertainty to create similar feelings of dread and doubt in their viewers. These nine classics skillfully keep audiences guessing while depicting different kinds of waking nightmares, making the protagonists’ traumas our own for a few entertaining hours.

‘Rear Window’ (1954)

Endlessly imitated but rarely, if ever, equaled, director Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” stars James “Jimmy” Stewart as Jeff, a photographer laid up with a broken leg trying to pass the time people-watching from his window during a stifling New York City summer. One night after hearing a woman scream and the sound of breaking glass, Jeff notices his neighbor, Lars Thorwald, behaving strangely.

When Thorwald’s wife is nowhere to be seen the next day, Jeff is convinced that Thorwald murdered and dismembered her. Jeff enlists his nurse, Stella (Thelma Ritter), and his girlfriend, Lisa (Grace Kelly), to help confirm his suspicions. “Witty, suspenseful, sad, funny and wise,” it is “at once accessible to a mass audience and deep enough to be worth dozens of reviewings and critical analyses,” said Kim Newman at Empire. (Prime Video)

‘Vertigo’ (1958)

Possibly the best-known and beloved of director Alfred Hitchcock’s library of psychological thrillers, “Vertigo” is both a literal rendering of the main character’s syndrome as well as a description of what you feel as you watch the film. Jimmy Stewart plays Scottie Ferguson, a retired detective with a well-earned fear of heights, who is hired by Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore) to surveil Elster’s wife, Madeleine (Kim Novak), who Ferguson instead falls for.

After she jumps to her death in front of him, Scottie sees a woman who looks just like her, making him question his sanity and reality itself. A “strange, drifty, hallucinatory romance,” it “keeps “bringing us back to the same places, turning us in relentlessly on ourselves,” said Terrence Rafferty at The New York Times. (Prime Video)

‘Jacob’s Ladder’ (1990)

Tim Robbins is Jacob Singer, a Vietnam veteran and postal worker who lives with his girlfriend, Jezzie (Elizabeth Peña), in mid-1970s New York City. When he begins to experience hallucinations and seemingly unexplainable phenomena (like being told by his VA clinic that they have no record of him being a patient), he comes to believe that a haunting memory from the war might help explain the strange things occurring around him.

This disturbing film was prescient in its deployment of trauma as a plot device in psychological thrillers as well as a unique entry in the anti-war canon. Director Adrian Lyne’s movie “enters into the hallucinations of a desperate mind and lives there,” while it “evokes a paranoid-schizophrenic state as effectively as any film I have ever seen,” said Roger Ebert at the time. (Paramount+)

‘Open Your Eyes’ (1997)

Memory, or the absence thereof, plays a prominent role in so many of the most effective psychological thrillers, including director Alejandro Amenábar’s “Open Your Eyes,” which was remade in the U.S. as “Vanilla Sky.” After he meets Sofía (Penélope Cruz in her breakout role) at a party, César (Eduardo Noriega) is disfigured in a car crash that kills his ex-girlfriend, Nuria (Najwa Nimri).

Sofía can’t bear to see him, and during one evening of self-medication, he awakes into what appears to be a different reality, with his good looks restored and an adoring Sofía at his side. Which reality is the real one? This is an “ambitiously complex, disturbing and terrific-looking thriller” whose “nightmarish, demanding plot giddily leaps from past to present, from fantasy to reality and back again,” said Jonathan Holland at Variety. (HBO Max)

‘Memento’ (2000)

The twisty, mind-bending hit that began director Christopher Nolan’s journey to Hollywood royalty, “Memento” stars Guy Pearce as Leonard, a man whose difficulty forming new memories means that he has to scribble notes on his skin and mirrors. While looking for his wife’s killer, he gets involved with Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss), a bartender who may be helping or manipulating him. Teddy (Joe Pantoliano) is a cop with his own agenda.

Told in reverse chronological order, “Memento” is more than its central gimmick. Nolan’s “neo-noir puzzle box plays like one of the key artworks of the 21st century, predicting an era where reality is more a personal, selective construct of comforting biases than a widely agreed-upon set of facts,” said Scott Tobias at The Guardian. (Netflix)

‘Mulholland Drive’ (2001)

Director David Lynch’s audacious, trippy classic is like two movies in one. You think you’re watching a dreamlike story about an aspiring actress named Betty (Naomi Watts), who helps and falls in love with Rita (Laura Harring) after a car wreck leaves her with amnesia.

But the plot loops and falls in on itself, rendering the dreamlike first half open to interpretation, and leaving viewers to sort through its many possible explanations. A film that offers “certain truths about the grotesque desires at the heart of the American project,” it simultaneously asks viewers to “interrogate ourselves, again and again, in search of some kind of absolution,” said Suzanne Enzerink at the Los Angeles Review of Books. (Prime Video)

‘Caché’ (2005)

Anne and Georges Laurent (Juliette Binoche and Daniel Auteuil) are comfortable Parisians who begin receiving videotapes of the house they share with their teenage son, Pierrot (Lester Makedonsky), being surveilled. Then more arrive, with increasing menace, turning husband and wife against one another and leading to inevitable revelations, both about an incident from Georges’ childhood as well as France’ brutal colonial past. Renowned director Michael Haneke brilliantly “transforms the viewer into both the author and the participant” in its central mystery and the film stands as an “astounding unification of form and content,” said Brian Eggert at Deep Focus Review. (Prime Video)

‘Black Swan’ (2010)

Natalie Portman is Nina Sayers, an obsessively dedicated ballerina who wins the role as the lead in Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake for the New York City Ballet after the aging Beth (Winona Ryder) is forced into retirement. But she faces a new rival in the mysterious Lily (Mila Kunis), who triggers hallucinations, jealousy and desire in Nina.

Director Darren Aronofsky’s chilly mind-bender is mesmerizing, terrifying and perplexing in equal measure. A “witchy brew of madness and cunning,” it moves deftly between being “deadly serious, downright goofy and by turns shocking, funny and touching,” said Manohla Dargis at The New York Times. (Prime Video)

‘Watcher’ (2022)

In this slow burn, Maika Monroe is Julia, a young woman struggling to figure out what to do with herself when she moves with her husband, Francis (Karl Glusman), to the Romanian capital of Bucharest, where there is a serial killer on the loose. Convinced that a neighbor is stalking her, she tries in vain to convince Francis, and the police, that she is in danger.

Director Chloe Okuno builds an atmosphere of dread, keeps the audience guessing and subtly underlines the film’s message about gaslighting and misogyny. It makes viewers “just as anxious as Julia, staring into the faces of every man that walks by,” and stands as “one of the best thrillers of this style to come out in decades,” said Stephen Rosenberg at Horror Geek Life. (AMC+)

The “real preserving season” begins now at the “deep, sticky end of summer”, said Itamar Srulovich in The Guardian. “In fact, September may well be the best jam month of all.”

As the weather starts to cool there is plenty of produce to turn into jars of the sweet spread. Plums offer “near endless possibilities” and some varieties can “take a surprising amount of spice”, while figs’ “honeyed sweetness” matches up perfectly with a “few pods of cooling cardamom for balance”. It’s well worth “sweating over” pots of fig jam in late summer, so that there’s a “little bit of jarred sunshine” ready and waiting for the dark, cold winter months.

Things are a bit trickier when it comes to grapes. They must be chosen carefully as most of the sweet commercial fruits lack the “funk” and “acidity” needed for a good jam. The fragola variety, with its “intoxicating, wild strawberry flavour”, is a “rare treat”.

Making jam has an “undeniable romance”, said Jane Black in The Wall Street Journal. Just three ingredients are needed: fruit, sugar and lemon juice. Heat them over the stove, and they become “summer in a jar”. “It’s true alchemy.”

It might sound simple, but perfecting the texture and consistency of homemade jam can be surprisingly difficult. Jam-making business owner Daniel Perry suggests using a copper jam pan which “conducts heat extraordinarily well”, and making jam in small batches to ensure the fruit on the bottom doesn’t burn. It’s also worth macerating the fruits in sugar and lemon juice the night before to help “extract juice” before you move on to the cooking.

For a “well-rounded”, gently spiced blackberry and apple jam, try Elspeth Biltoft’s recipe in Stylist. The founder of Rosebud Preserves uses golden granulated sugar in her jams, only cooks with seasonal fruits that are “fresh, firm and slightly underripe” and carefully labels every jar with the date and tasting notes so you can improve your recipe each year.

Istanbul is a city that seamlessly blends old and new. One moment you’re standing beneath the soaring domes of an Ottoman mosque, the next sipping cocktails overlooking one of the world’s busiest waterways as sleek ferries weave between Europe and Asia. Few hotels capture the contrast better than The Ritz-Carlton Istanbul. Named the city’s best hotel in the 2026 Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards and ranked sixth in Europe, it occupies prestigious Süzer Plaza in the elegant Dolmabahçe district, away from the busiest tourist streets yet within an easy walk of Taksim Square and Dolmabahçe Palace.

With 239 rooms and suites, Turkey’s only Nobu restaurant, four further dining venues, a rooftop terrace with infinity pool and an extensive subterranean spa, it makes an ideal base for exploring one of the world’s most intoxicating cities.

Why stay here?

After a day negotiating Istanbul’s energetic streets, the rooms feel wonderfully restorative. Our partial Bosphorus view room is flooded with light thanks to lofty ceilings and large windows framing water, woodland and the city skyline. Soft neutral tones are lifted by a curved leather-and-wood headboard, striking blue wall art inspired by traditional Turkish textiles and elegant pendant lighting that gives the room warmth rather than hotel uniformity.

In the bathroom, white Turkish Afyon marble is paired with hand-painted Iznik tiles, tulip motifs and a handsome dark-wood vanity. A deep soaking tub, walk-in rainfall shower and Diptyque Philosykos toiletries invite an unhurried bathing ritual before dinner.

Guests looking to splurge can book the 120 sq metres Ritz-Carlton Suite, complete with dining room, whirlpool bath and panoramic Bosphorus views, or the Nobu Suite that combines Japanese minimalism with Turkish craftsmanship and features a private terrace with an onsen tub overlooking the water.

There’s much to tempt beyond the bedroom too. Descend to the hotel’s expansive spa where you’ll find a traditional hammam, treatment rooms, indoor pool and fitness facilities, or make straight for The Roof, where Istanbul unfolds beneath you. By day, guests recline on chunky loungers beneath towering palms and oversized parasols and cool off in the petite infinity pool; by evening, the atmosphere shifts as DJs take to the decks. Yoga classes and open-air cinema nights are also held in this appealing rooftop space.

Eating and drinking

The Roof is the perfect place to begin the evening. As the sun dips behind the skyline, cocktails arrive. My Lychee Tax – a deliciously fruity blend of strawberry rum and lychee purée – slipped down quickly.

The Ritz-Carlton is home to Turkey’s first Nobu, still one of Istanbul’s hardest restaurant reservations to secure. The celebrated Japanese-Peruvian menu delivers all the signatures that have made the brand famous worldwide. We began with buttery toro with yuzu and pulled beef tacos scented with truffle before moving on to Nobu’s legendary black cod, which lived up to its reputation, and perfectly steamed turbot bursting with clean, delicate flavours. Every mouthful was a surprise.

Breakfast and dinner are served at Atölye, a light-filled dining room delivering sweeping Bosphorus views. The menu celebrates modern Anatolian cuisine using regional ingredients and traditional recipes with a contemporary twist. Smoky aubergine atom, reminiscent of an elevated babaganoush, and black cabbage stuffed with walnuts and roasted peppers made memorable starters before beautifully cooked shrimp arrived alongside hibeş, a rich, spicy tahini dip. Exceptionally tender lamb Küşleme was served with crisp aubergine chips, and dessert took the form of an ingenious fig-shaped pudding that concealed flowing fig jelly beneath a white chocolate shell. Watching darkness settle over the Bosphorus as dinner unfolded made the experience all the more memorable, helped by attentive but discreet service.

For something altogether different, Limoré brings Italy to Istanbul. Bright, contemporary interiors provide the backdrop for handmade pasta, excellent pizzas and generous Italian classics. Bucatini cacio e pepe would satisfy even discerning Romans, and truffle risotto, osso buco and sole mugnaia round off a dinner that tasted just like nonna made it.

Things to do

One of Istanbul's greatest pleasures is discovering how effortlessly the city layers empires, religions and cultures. Although traffic is often gridlocked, the efficient tram network makes many of the major sights surprisingly easy to reach.

Begin at the Grand Bazaar, where more than 4,000 shops are packed in a labyrinth of vaulted passageways that have bustled with traders for over 500 years. Amid the calls of merchants selling spices, carpets, jewellery and ceramics, we stocked up on fragrant Turkish delight before wandering towards Sultanahmet, home to two of the city’s greatest architectural treasures.

The sixth-century Hagia Sophia remains one of the world’s most extraordinary buildings. Originally a Byzantine cathedral before becoming an Ottoman mosque and now an active place of worship once more, its vast marble interior, soaring dome and shimmering gold mosaics still inspire awe nearly 1,500 years after it was built. Just across the square, the Blue Mosque is equally magnificent. Its six slender minarets dominate the skyline, while inside more than 20,000 hand-painted blue Iznik tiles decorate the cascading domes. Between prayer times, visitors quietly share the space with worshippers, who gather at the fountains outside for ritual ablutions before entering.

For a change of pace, head to Balat, one of Istanbul’s most characterful neighbourhoods. Its steep cobbled streets are lined with brightly painted Ottoman houses, art galleries, vintage boutiques and second-hand bookshops, offering a more bohemian feel than the grand monuments of the historic peninsula. We paused at the delightfully quirky Velvet Café for cappuccino and a superb serving of rich Kaymaklı un helvası before visiting the remarkable Bulgarian Church of St Stephen, whose prefabricated cast-iron construction and dazzling gilded interior make it unlike any other church in the city.

Back near the hotel, Taksim Square marks the heart of modern Istanbul. From here, lively Istiklal Street threads through elegant 19th-century buildings housing international brands, cafés and historic landmarks including the Church of St Anthony of Padua. Don’t miss the compact but excellent Pera Museum, home to celebrated Orientalist paintings, Turkish ceramics and a café centred around a piano once owned by Maria Callas. Afterwards, head back through leafy Cihangir, where independent coffee shops, vintage stores and Istanbul’s famously pampered street cats provide a reminder that some of the city’s greatest pleasures are found on a quiet wander.

The verdict

Superbly located between historic and modern Istanbul, The Ritz-Carlton delivers polished service without pretension. Add beautifully appointed rooms, Bosphorus views, Turkey’s first Nobu, an excellent spa and one of the city’s finest rooftops, and it’s easy to see why it ranks among Europe’s most celebrated luxury hotels.

Vicki was a guest of The Ritz-Carlton Istanbul; ritzcarlton.com

Tucked into a dense forest in Trentino’s Val Rendena, Lefay Resort & SPA Dolomiti occupies an enviable position perched on the edge of the town of Pinzolo, one of the gateways to the UNESCO-listed Dolomites.

Opened in 2019, the resort cascades down the mountainside across nine levels, with contemporary architecture that complements the landscape rather than competing with it. While many alpine hotels lean heavily on knotty pine and chalet nostalgia, Lefay takes a more refined approach. The exterior combines locally sourced larch and fir; the interiors layer chestnut, oak, stone, leather and bronze in a palette that feels quietly luxurious rather than overtly rustic.

The soaring A-frame bar is the architectural showpiece, its timber ceiling echoing the jagged silhouette of the Brenta Dolomites beyond. As dusk falls, the mountains perform one of nature's great spectacles: enrosadira, the phenomenon that bathes the limestone peaks in shades of coral and crimson. It’s best enjoyed from a window seat with a glass of Trentodoc sparkling wine or a classic Negroni in hand.

Why stay here?

Accommodation comprises 88 suites and 23 private residences, all generously proportioned and designed with understated elegance. Our suite was a blend of alpine warmth and contemporary Italian design: chestnut panelling, buttery leather armchairs, oversized rugs and sculptural lighting softened by a calming palette of taupe, charcoal and cream. A spacious living area included a work desk, generous seating and a large television, while the bedroom featured a king-size bed dressed in crisp Beltrami linens, a second, swivelling, TV and huge sofa positioned to frame the mountain views. Two walk-in wardrobes offered space for ski gear and hiking clothes alike.

The bathroom occupied almost the entire length of the suite and felt more spa than ensuite. Grey marble lined the expansive walk-in shower, and a deep whirlpool bath comfortably accommodated two. A private Finnish sauna, twin vanity areas and Lefay’s signature horse chestnut and verbena toiletries completed the indulgent experience.

The resort’s centrepiece is its 5,000 sq metres spa – one of the largest in the Alps. Inspired by traditional Chinese medicine and the changing seasons, it encompasses a series of thermal experiences including a Finnish sauna, salt grotto, tepidarium, hydrotherapy pools, plunge pools and sensory showers. Quiet relaxation rooms and outdoor terraces are focused firmly on the surrounding peaks, encouraging guests to look up rather than down at their phones. The heated indoor-outdoor infinity pool, complete with massage jets and bubbling hydrotherapy stations, proved the perfect perch for mountain-gazing.

Eating and drinking

Dolomia, the resort’s all-day restaurant, enjoys panoramic mountain views through floor-to-ceiling windows and centres around a striking glass wine cellar showcasing bottles from across Trentino-Alto Adige and beyond. Breakfast is particularly impressive, with fresh pastries, seasonal fruit, local yoghurts, eggs cooked to order and regional cheeses and cured meats. At lunch, hearty mountain dishes share the menu with lighter Mediterranean fare. Standouts included paccheri with slow-cooked white veal ragù, grilled beef entrecôte with roasted potatoes and a richly satisfying Caesar salad topped with prawns. A toasted sandwich filled with locally produced Fontal cheese and sautéed red cabbage elevated comfort food into something more memorable.

Dinner continues the regional theme, with beautifully executed northern Italian cooking. Buckwheat ravioli filled with Prà Fiorito cheese and Swiss chard celebrated local artisanal ingredients, while a refined chicken cacciatore demonstrated impressive restraint. Unmissable desserts included a subtle wild berry cheesecake on a chocolate cookie base.

The culinary highlight, however, is Grual, the hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant named after the mountain that rises behind the resort. The intimate dining room evokes an alpine woodland at twilight, with deep teal walls, sculptural lighting and stylised tree motifs.

Chef Matteo Maenza builds menus around ingredients sourced from the surrounding valley, mountain pastures and high peaks. It offers tasting menus of eight or 12 courses, but ordering à la carte allows each dish to shine. Red turnip gnocchi paired with smoked ricotta and black tea delivered earthy complexity; rabbit ravioli with candied walnuts and local cheese struck a perfect balance between richness and finesse. A beautifully constructed cocoa millefeuille provided an elegant finale. Service throughout was warm and impeccably judged.

Things to do

The Dolomites take centre stage year-round. During summer, the Pinzolo cable car climbs to Doss del Sabion at 2,100 metres, where panoramic views stretch across the Brenta range and an extensive network of walking trails caters for everyone from casual hikers to experienced mountaineers. Winter transforms the area into part of the Skiarea Campiglio Dolomiti di Brenta, linking the pistes of Pinzolo with Madonna di Campiglio and Folgarida-Marilleva for a combined 150km of skiing. The hotel shuttles skiers to the cable car.

Back in town, Pinzolo remains refreshingly low-key, with weekly markets selling local produce, clothing and handcrafted goods alongside independent cafés serving excellent cappuccini.

The spa treatments are central to the resort and deserve dedicated time in the itinerary. In a private chalet-inspired treatment suite, the Amongst the Forest ritual began with a shared soak in a handcrafted wooden tub before a couples’ massage using aromatic mountain herbs designed to ease tired muscles. The 80-minute Il Cerchio della Luna Anti-Ageing Facial combined Lefay’s botanical skincare range with deeply relaxing massage techniques, and L'Aurora nel Lago invited us to float for 40 minutes in a warm salt pool beneath a star-filled ceiling – unexpectedly meditative and wonderfully calming.

The verdict

Lefay Resort & SPA Dolomiti successfully reimagines the alpine wellness hotel for a modern international audience. The architecture is striking without overwhelming its surroundings; the food celebrates the region with confidence, and the spa itself is reason enough to visit. Whether your idea of a perfect mountain escape involves swooshing down the mountains, hiking through the Brenta Dolomites or simply watching the evening alpenglow from a bubbling outdoor pool, this is one of Italy’s most sophisticated mountain retreats.

Vicki was a guest of Lefay Resort & Spa Dolomiti; lefayresorts.com

A winding five-hour drive from Bhutan’s capital, Thimphu, the Phobjikha Valley is one of the Himalayan kingdom’s most beautiful places, and also a prime spot to see black-necked cranes, said Ian Trower in DestinAsian.

With their striking black-and-white plumage and crimson crowns, these rare birds are “revered” by locals, who call them “birds of heaven”. Conservation efforts have helped boost global numbers from around 6,000 in the 1990s to more than 17,000 today, and each year several hundred overwinter in Phobjikha’s “farm-fringed” wetlands.

Their arrival is celebrated with a festival of folk music and dancing at the 17th-century Gangtey Monastery. Tour operators such as Ampersand and hotels such as the luxurious Gangtey Lodge offer bird-watching walks, and there’s also an exhibition at the valley’s “decagonal” Black-Necked Crane Information Centre. Go between November and mid-March, when the birds return to the Tibetan Plateau for the summer.

Hiking in the mountains of Bavaria

It’s not particularly popular with British visitors, but the Allgäu region of southern Bavaria is a lovely place for summer hiking, said Will Hide in The Times.

On a recent trip, I stayed at the Hubertus Mountain Refugio, a 66-room “wellness resort” with a big spa, an outdoor pool and friendly staff dressed in dirndls and lederhosen. The surrounding Alpine peaks rise above 2,600 metres and allow for lots of long, bracing walks through woods and flower meadows.

For lazier days, there’s plenty of cultural interest within easy reach, including Lake Constance (a 45-minute drive west), the picturesque historic town of Kempten, and Neuschwanstein, the “fairy-tale” palace built by King Ludwig II. Two of his other residences – Hohenschwangau and Linderhof – are also within striking distance.

A coastal walk in northern Cumbria

Few corners of the UK feel as on the edge of things as the north Cumbria coast, a low-lying strip hemmed in by the Lake District fells, said Chris Moss in The Guardian.

It is beautiful but “gritty” too, and scarred by industry in parts, as I discovered on a recent three-day walk along its portion of the England Coast Path. From Maryport (a pleasant town where L.S. Lowry liked to paint), I went south to St Bees Head, with its “spectacular” cliffs, a journey of 23 miles.

Highlights along the way included Workington (a friendly place that “looks as its name sounds”) and Whitehaven, surely one of England’s “loveliest” coastal towns – a former “industrial powerhouse” with “crumbling” grandeur in spades, but which also has a “striking” new hotel, The Edge, an angular, “rust-coloured” building by the sea.

Known for their mild climate and “sandy botany”, the four Charente islands lie just off France’s Atlantic coast. With their “preposterously pretty” harbour towns and great oyster beds and salt marshes, they have long drawn holidaymakers, said Antonia Quirke in Condé Nast Traveller.

But though they “jump with life” from early summer, they retain an “enduring tranquillity” and an “immaculately civilised” air. Best known is the Île de Ré – the second largest, at 33 square miles, and the smartest, favoured by wealthy Parisians and so “utterly Gallic” it feels “as if staged by set dressers”. Oléron – the largest, at 67 square miles – is busier and “less bourgeois”, but it too is “full of fresh air” and “good spirits”, as are Aix and Madame, which are tiny by comparison.

From La Rochelle, it’s a quick drive over the toll bridge to Ré. In its “stylish” main town, Saint-Martin-de-Ré, families stroll along the port and through the “stone-flagged” lanes, where bicycles are propped everywhere below “sun-blistered” shutters.

Equally lovely is the village of Ars-en-Ré, where locals queue for quiche and fruit tarts at the bakery in the main square. Honeysuckle “droops” down terrace walls, and scattered across the countryside beyond are whitewashed cottages “fringed in hollyhocks”. The landscape has a “timeless” quality, with its low horizons, pine forests and vast stretches of sand “the colour of apricots”.

Along the coast, shacks sell a half-dozen “world-class” oysters for a few euros, and there are some wonderful food markets in the towns. Ré has some of the archipelago’s best places to stay, such as Hôtel le Sénéchal and Hôtel de Toiras. But it’s worth spending time on Oléron too, an island that looks “especially astonishing” when approached by boat from Ré.

On a recent trip, I cycled around its “mesmerising” marshes, still “prowled” by paludiers, who harvest salt using wooden hand tools. I also visited the Île d’Aix, where you can tour the villa from which, in 1815, the British took Napoleon off to exile on St Helena.

It’s going to be a big fall for museum lovers. Major exhibitions focusing on a legendary tapestry, extraordinary needlework created by American schoolgirls and bejeweled Islamic art are all opening, each one displaying priceless objects from around the globe. Peep these six standouts.

The Bayeux Tapestry, British Museum, London

One of the most important works in European history is the Bayeux Tapestry, a nearly 230-foot-long embroidered cloth that tells the tale of the 1066 Norman conquest of England. The remarkable piece of art is almost 1,000 years old, and on display at the British Museum thanks to a historic agreement with France. Abundant in “visual thrills, horrors and humor,” the tapestry is “stupefying and delightful,” laid out in a case that fills the gallery, said The Guardian.

The tapestry is the hottest ticket in London, and if you can’t secure entry through the traditional channels, there’s another way. One Aldwych is offering the Bayeux Tapestry package until the end of the year, which includes an overnight stay in this luxe Covent Garden hotel, plus two tickets to see the Bayeux Tapestry, two themed cocktails, English breakfast in the morning and a curated in-room mini-bar. (through July 11, 2027)

‘Broken. The Power of the Fragment,’ Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy

These remnants tell a story, piece by piece. “Broken. The Power of the Fragment” examines the “reasons and circumstances that have led to the destruction or damage of sculptures,” from war to natural disasters to vandalism, said Palazzo Strozzi. In this well-rounded exhibition, works by Michelangelo and Auguste Rodin are shown next to modern art by Louise Bourgeois and Huma Bhabha, who have “taken the fragment as a starting point for new expressive possibilities.” (Sept. 25, 2026-Jan. 24, 2027)

‘From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art,’ Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art, Washington, DC

This groundbreaking exhibition of 26 objects from the Louvre’s permanent Islamic art collection marks the first time the museum has loaned the set to another institution. The “treasures” include “Baptistery of Saint Louis,” a 14th-century brass basin from Syria or Egypt, and two “jewel-embedded” ivory pen cases believed to have been commissioned by 17th century Mughal emperor Jahangir, said Artforum. All of the objects — paintings, jade, ceramics, glass and metalwork — are from the 7th to 19th centuries. (Sept. 26, 2026-Jan. 18, 2027)

‘Locating Girlhood: Place and Identity in Early American “Schoolgirl” Art,’ American Folk Art Museum, New York City

The “spectacular” handiwork of 18th and 19th century American girls will be on display at this exhibition “several years in the making,” American Folk Art Museum Deputy Director Emelie Gevalt told Antiques and the Arts Weekly. This collection of more than 100 examples of needlework and other decorative arts, on loan from dozens of museums and private collections, is one of the most “significant” presentations on the subject in years and “sheds new light on a rich but understudied genre.” (Oct. 9, 2026-Feb. 28, 2027)

‘Losing Ourselves Together: The Art of Bobby Anspach,’ Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio

The Toledo Museum of Art invites you to enter the world of Bobby Anspach. The late Toledo-born artist created sculptural installations, and “Losing Ourselves Together” is “anchored” by his immersive “eye machines,” which use “light, sound and carefully constructed optical effects” to alter your sense of “time and space,” said the museum. At your visit’s end, stop in the reflection room, a space for “contemplation and relaxation.” (Oct. 17, 2026-March 14, 2027)

‘Mathematics and the Art of M.C. Escher,’ The National Museum of Mathematics, New York City

Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher specialized in “mind-bending images” of “impossible architecture, tessellations and visual paradoxes,” making him a “beloved figure in both the art and math worlds,” said the National Museum of Mathematics. In this exhibition, the focus is on his works that feature “elegant mathematical structures,” spotlighting more than 60 wood engravings, drawings, lithographs and 3D objects. (Oct. 1, 2026-Feb. 8, 2027)

Rising from the Kazakh steppe – a vast sweep of grassland so flat that the horizon seems to run in a perfectly straight line – Astana has few hills, forests or other natural features to interrupt the view. Yet the city itself is anything but understated. Giant pyramids, sweeping towers, an 150-metre-high tent and one of Central Asia’s largest mosques punctuate the otherwise level landscape, giving the capital a rather theatrical presence.

This is largely because modern Astana is a young capital. It became Kazakhstan’s capital, succeeding Almaty, in 1997, when it was still a relatively small northern city known as Akmola. What followed was a vast programme of construction – with architects from around the world brought in – that turned the northern steppe city into the political and administrative centre that it is today.

The result is a city of striking contrasts. Spend the morning having a look at the ambitious architecture, the afternoon walking beside the Yesil River, and the evening eating horse sausage in a hidden cocktail bar. There is plenty here that is polished and monumental, but some of the best experiences are considerably more ordinary.

Things to do

The best place to understand Astana’s architectural excess is Nurzhol Boulevard, the ceremonial spine of the modern city. The broad 2.5km pedestrian axis runs between the Khan Shatyr shopping centre and the Ak Orda Presidential Palace, passing some of Astana’s most recognisable buildings along the way.

The landmarks arrive in quick succession on a walk along the boulevard: the Presidential Palace, the sweeping headquarters of government ministries and the distinctive Northern Lights (Severnoye Siyaniye) towers – a trio of curving, blue-green glass skyscrapers that appear to lean towards one another. Baiterek Tower stands roughly in the middle, its golden sphere visible from much of the surrounding city. With a viewing platform at 97 metres above the ground and open to visitors, this is the city’s centrepiece, inspired by a Kazakh legend of the tree of life and the mythical bird Samruk.

At the end of the boulevard, it is difficult to miss Khan Shatyr. Norman Foster’s 150-metre-high structure looks like a gigantic translucent tent and is officially the world’s largest tent-shaped building. Inside, however, the concept is much less exotic. It is a shopping and entertainment centre with shops, restaurants, cinemas and an indoor amusement area.

You’ll also find Sky Beach Club here: an indoor beach with imported Maldivian sand, palm trees and warm water. It is a strange but rather enjoyable response to Astana’s climate. In a city where winter temperatures can plunge to brutal levels, the idea of going to the beach without going outside is difficult to argue with. Entry to Sky Beach is expensive, so unless you are desperate for tropical temperatures in the middle of the steppe, it may be enough to admire the architecture and move on.

For a more local scene, head towards the Yesil River. The promenades on either bank make for some of the city’s nicest walking and cycling, flanked by coffee, boba and ice cream shops aplenty. The Atyrau Bridge, a pedestrian and cycle bridge built as a gift from the Atyrau Region for the capital’s 20th anniversary, links the two sides with a striking structure inspired by a sturgeon fish, referring to Atyrau region’s Caspian fishing heritage. During the summer, the river also becomes a cooling-off spot for the locals. The Gorodskoy Plyazh, or city beach, is a designated swimming area in Central Park, and on warm afternoons it fills up quickly.

For another reminder of the scale of the new Astana, visit the Nursultan Mosque. Opened in 2022, it is the largest mosque in Central Asia, with four 130-metre minarets surrounding a huge blue-and-white dome that can accommodate more than 30,000 worshippers. One of the minarets has a lift to observation decks at 90 and 110 metres, offering an unusually good perspective on the city.

Over the other side of the river, Saryarka, one of the older districts, is a useful antidote to the monumentalism of the new capital. The historic centre has an old square, fountains and a collection of low-rise buildings, including several former merchant houses, like that of Matvei Kubrin, built in the early 20th century and now occupied by a supermarket. Other buildings associated with the Kubrin family have been converted for different uses, their survival offering a glimpse of the commercial town that existed here before Astana became a capital.

The Holy Assumption Cathedral – one of the city’s major Russian Orthodox landmarks – is yet another reminder of Astana’s layered identity, bringing a very different architectural vocabulary to the streets. Meanwhile, the Wall of Peace is a small but interesting monument to the city’s role as a venue for international religious and diplomatic dialogue. Neither needs hours of sightseeing, but both help discredit the idea that Astana is simply a city of shiny new buildings.

Astana’s surroundings are considerably greener than the city itself. Burabay National Park, about three hours away by train, makes an easy day trip. Take an early train to Borovoe station and arrange a taxi to take you around the park. The landscape changes quickly and pine forests, granite hills and clear lakes replace the flat steppe around Astana.

Hike Bolektau Peak for views over Burabay and the Chebachye Lakes, go boating on Burabay Lake, or rent a bike to explore some of the area’s extensive cycling trails. In summer, Chebachye is also a popular swimming spot.

There are several stops worth building into the day. Aqmaral deer farm collects naturally shed antlers for use in traditional medicine, while Sokolov’s cheese farm produces around 38 varieties using Italian techniques, with wheels of mature cheeses including a 31-month-old Montasio ageing on wooden racks in a cool storeroom.

For lunch or breakfast, Tary Café’s signature breakfast – featuring qatlam, a flaky pastry filled with cheese, qazy horse-meat sausage, eggs, ayran cheese dip and tea made from zhide, or oleaster berries – is particularly good. The cafe overlooks the lake and pine forest, making it an especially pleasant place to eat after arriving by train.

Eating and drinking

Astana has a growing restaurant and bar scene, although it is still considerably smaller than Almaty’s. Qazaq Gourmet is a good introduction to contemporary Kazakh cooking in a polished setting with wine pairings. The restaurant’s menu combines traditional recipes from around Kazakhstan with modern techniques, and their 11-course Ómir tasting menu uses individual dishes to explore different aspects of Kazakhstan’s culinary and cultural traditions.

Line Brew has been part of Astana’s dining scene since 1997, and is best known for its house-brewed beer, with the line-up ranging from a straightforward premium lager to fruitier pomegranate, raspberry-lime, wild strawberry and blackcurrant brews. Its sprawling menu runs from Burgundian-style escargots, to steaks and dry-aged beef.

For cocktails, Temple Bar is considerably more clandestine. There is no obvious sign, and the entrance looks sufficiently like a janitor’s cupboard that you may wonder whether you have taken a wrong turn. Once inside, red velvet curtains open into a dim, living-room-like space furnished with mismatched sofas and lamps. There is no cocktail menu. Instead, the bartender asks what spirit you like, what flavours you want and how strong you want the drink to be. Ask for something spicy and sour with tequila and you might end up with a clarified coriander cocktail, suspiciously close to exactly what you wanted. The bar also serves zhaya, made from the salted, cured, and smoked or dried meat of a horse’s rump. Astana, it seems, is quite happy to be futuristic and traditional at the same time.

Where to stay

The Hilton Garden Inn Astana is a comfortable base for your visit to the Kazakh capital. It is centrally located, making it relatively easy to reach the main sights, while its rooms and service offer a level of comfort that feels more expensive than the rates suggest. The Russian and Turkish steam rooms are a welcome place to unwind after a full day of crossing Astana’s enormous distances.

Avantika was a guest of Visit Astana and Visit Aqmola.

Bermondsey: Java Wharf, Shad Thames, SE1

A stylish waterfront warehouse studio apartment with a private balcony, next to Tower Bridge and looking over St Saviour’s Dock. The balcony is a relaxing, tranquil space and, internally, the main studio room is cleverly laid out, with a fitted, open-plan kitchen, a work-from-home space as well as dining and living room areas. Residents of the historic building benefit from a daytime building concierge, the rights to moor a boat on the dockside, and access to a large shared west-facing roof terrace with panoramic London skyline views. £399,950; Anderson Rose.

Alexandra Park: The Chantry, N22

Charming split-level apartment within a church conversion of unique character, which retains the large original windows. The property is close to Muswell Hill Broadway and all the amenities at Alexandra Palace and park. Main suite, 1 further bed, family bath, semi-open-plan kitchen/recep. £375,000; Martyn Gerrard.

Notting Hill: Linden Gardens, W2

A beautiful apartment occupying the raised ground floor of an elegant Victorian conversion, offering a refined blend of period elegance and contemporary design. The open green spaces of Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park are within easy walking distance, as are Queensway’s extensive amenities. 2 beds, family bath, kitchen/recep, sunroom. £995,000; Landstones.

Wapping: St Katharine’s Way, E1

An impressive Grade II fourth-floor riverside apartment within a warehouse conversion, with lift, balcony, secure parking, concierge and well-maintained communal areas. Principal bed with en-suite and excellent storage, 1 further bed, shower room, recep, kitchen, parking space. £1.195m; Knight Frank.

Bermondsey: Bermondsey Street, SE1

Characterful Grade II house built in the early 1800s. The property is tucked within the Conservation Area and directly overlooks the green open expanse of Tanner Street Park. Believed to have been a watchmaker’s, the original shopfront remains intact. 2 beds, 2 baths, 2 receps, kitchen, courtyard and terrace. £1.35m; Knight Frank.

Shepherd’s Bush: Bloemfontein Way, W12

Superb architect-designed freehold house with gated access, tucked away from the bustle but close to a range of independent shops, restaurants, pubs and music venues, as well as excellent transport links. 2 beds, family bath, recep, kitchen. £595,000; Savills.

City of London: Creechurch Lane, EC3

A bright and spacious apartment in a converted Victorian tea warehouse overlooking a quiet internal courtyard, tucked away off Leadenhall Street. The amenities of Liverpool Street and Aldgate are close by. 1 bed, family bath, kitchen, large recep with juliet balcony. £475,000; Anderson Rose.

Notting Hill: Pembridge Villas, W11

First-floor apartment set within an elegant period conversion designed by Patrick Williams of Berdoulat, one of House & Garden’s Top 100 Interior Designers. The world-famous Portobello Road is a stone’s throw away, as is Westbourne Grove. 2 beds, family bath, open-plan kitchen and recep, balconies. £1.395m; Savills.

Barbara Cartland, like most successful writers, was a creature of routine. Every day, between 1.15pm and 4pm, she would recline on a chaise longue, “clad in brilliant pink, hair a platinum helmet”, and dictate around 7,000 words to a secretary while “fondling a Pekingese”, said Wendy Holden in Literary Review.

By these means, she churned out roughly 20 novels a year – more than 700 over the course of her lifetime – and sold 750 million copies, a figure “exceeded only by Shakespeare and Agatha Christie”.

While her “tales of virgins and sheikhs, pirates and princesses” were devoured across the world, they proved especially durable in the Middle East: “Arab men,” she noted, “can’t get enough of the sort of girl I write about.”

It would be easy simply to mock Cartland, but the journalist and broadcaster Matthew Sweet avoids this trap in “The Great Dictator”. Without skipping over her faults, he “gives her virtues full credit” and treats her as a figure of “cultural and historical importance”. The result is a “fantastically enjoyable, drily hilarious and incredibly well-researched biography”.

Cartland may have had a “marshmallowy exterior”, but Sweet shows in this “brilliant book” that behind it “lurked sinews of high-tensile steel”, said Kathryn Hughes in The Guardian.

Coming of age just after the First World War, at a time when there “were not enough husbands to go around”, she resolved to be “financially self-sufficient”.

She spent the 1920s working as a gossip columnist, reporting on the escapades of the Bright Young Things, before making a “tactical marriage to a dull man called Alexander McCorquodale”, who proved to be an alcoholic. Divorcing him after having a daughter, Raine (the future Countess Spencer, stepmother to Diana, Princess of Wales), she “effected a neat swap” by marrying his paternal cousin, which meant she didn’t even need to change her surname. In 1950, the pair settled in Camfield Place, a manor house in Hertfordshire, where she lived until her death in 2000, aged 98.

“Sweet writes with great wit and brio but also considerable sympathy,” said Lynn Barber in The Observer. He points out that Cartland was a “great organiser”. While clothes were rationed during the Second World War, she set up a scheme to lend wedding dresses to Auxiliary Territorial Service brides. Later, she led a campaign to create a reservation for Gypsies near Camfield Place: “Barbaraville” opened in 1963 and “remains to this day”. It is, Sweet suggests, “perhaps her most lasting achievement”.

Tracy-Ann Oberman has form when it comes to bold theatrical reboots, said Dominic Cavendish in The Telegraph. In 2023, the actress “memorably reclaimed” “The Merchant of Venice”, turning Shylock into an East End matriarch in the 1930s. Now, she takes on “Present Laughter”, Noël Coward’s arch self-portrait of a vain, ageing, star actor Garry Essendine (anagram: neediness).

Directed by Lindsay Posner, the production turns Garry into Geri, and shifts the action from 1930s London to 1970s New York, though the characters remain mostly British. It is an evening of “mild mirth” rather than “wild guffaws”, but the transpositions work well, and Oberman, playing Geri, has the “glittery presence to hold the flimsy, at points farcical, affair together”.

“What initially sounds like a gimmick proves surprisingly effective,” said Kris Hallett on WhatsOnStage. Oberman is “tremendous”, switching effortlessly between diva-ish theatricality and genuine loneliness. “Present Laughter” is not prime Coward: “It is expertly constructed and often very funny, but beyond its central character, there is precious little flesh and blood.”

And Posner’s production moves, if anything, too swiftly; “what starts as pace eventually feels like rushing”. But it is a visual treat, with a design that evokes an impossibly stylish Manhattan existence, with Warhol-esque portraits of Geri, and a “parade of immaculate dressing gowns”, and “shimmering gowns”.

It is not only the central role that has been gender swapped, said Mark Lawson in The Guardian. Coward’s ghastly avant-garde playwright Roland Maule here becomes Rosina, an “intense cross-genre experimentalist for whose work no theatre is far enough off-Broadway”.

The standout performance, though, is from James Dreyfus as Geri’s long-suffering assistant Monty, said Ben Kulvichit in The Stage. Dreyfus made his name in 1990s sitcoms such as “The Thin Blue Line”, and his “funny bone is as strong as ever”: he communicates “decades of devotion and exasperation with the bristle of his moustache, and his line readings are drier than gin”.

Festival Theatre, Malvern, from 15-19 September, then touring until 28 November.

“There’s a marvellous tenderness and generosity to this elegant tale of autumnal regret; an intimate movie acted with effortless grace by Willem Dafoe,” said Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian.

Dafoe plays Ed Saxberger, an ageing New Yorker who works for the post office, living alone in a small, book-filled room, drinking and playing pool with his friends in the evening.

One day, he is amazed to be accosted by “a dandyish young hipster” outside his apartment building; this is Meyers (Edmund Donovan), who has found Saxberger’s long-since out-of-print volume of poems. He declares him a neglected genius; he and his rich, “callow and excitable” literary friends take up his cause, and want to use their connections to get him republished.

Amused, and more thrilled than he wants to let on, Saxberger finds the attention of these young people dizzying – particularly because one of them, a beautiful and volatile actress (the “superb” Greta Lee), has “a kittenish crush” on him.

Director Kent Jones has great fun with these “achingly mannered” aesthetes, said Danny Leigh in the Financial Times. They call themselves the “Enthusiasm Society”, and describe their meetings as “fermentations”; one of them even “wears a cape”. But “drama pulses under the comedy, too”, and a “cool astringency” grows.

“Late Fame”, adapted from a novella by the Austrian author Arthur Schnitzler, is “razor-sharp on class and art”, said Kevin Maher in The Times. Unearned riches, it tells us, “are mostly for the rich”.

In the end, “it’s Dafoe’s film”. It’s a reminder that he’s often at his best when he’s not at full stretch in “loony mode” (as in “Poor Things” or “The Northman”). “He’s in nearly every frame, quiet and serious, achingly sympathetic. It’s worth watching just for him.”

The Bayeux Tapestry, which opens today at the British Museum, is “shivers-down-the-spine, tell-the-grandchildren sort of stuff”, said Laura Freeman in The Times. Textbooks can tell you the facts: “seventy metres, 58 scenes, 626 figures”, but the reconstructions and photographs are nothing like the real thing. In fact, it’s “more than a shiver of excitement”, it’s the “loan of the millennium” and truly "magnificent".

The British Museum is offering a “once-in-a-lifetime – no, once-in-history – opportunity to experience a genuine wonder of the world at close quarters”, said Mark Hudson in The Independent. Right from the off, it is best to “let the images carry you”. After Harold assumes the throne, having sworn allegiance to William on a trip to France, the early sections of the Normans’ preparations for war have a “documentary veracity” and “cinematic drive, that propels us remorselessly onwards to the departure of the Norman longships towards the English shore”.

Throughout, the Tapestry portrays “storytelling of the highest order”, and “simply getting it to London is a momentous achievement”, said Alastair Sooke in The Telegraph. Its “most famous section”, the Battle of Hastings, feels like an “11th-century equivalent of Pablo Picasso’s anti-war masterpiece ‘Guernica’ (1937)”. It is “pure carnage”. Horses fall, warriors are decapitated and a mace flies through the air: “an emblem of anarchy and violence”. But far from a “tub-thumping celebration of Norman power”, it is striking how much it feels like a “requiem” for Anglo-Saxon England. “To see this astonishing artefact back in Britain for the first time in 1,000 years is the most moving moment of my career.”

The pace of the battle scenes “hurtles along”, said Jonathan Jones in The Guardian. But in the borders, the Tapestry sets out its action in a “wider world, and even, when it shows the comet, a larger cosmos”. Against the brutality of the violence, depictions of peasants working the land are stitched in “distracting, vibrant detail”. This is both “pointed and poignant: whoever wins, whoever rules England, country people will still work the soil”.

Some of the best bits are when there is no violence at all, said Jo Lawson-Tancred on Artnet. The artwork certainly has some historical “limitations” of accuracy, but most importantly it offers a “rare, secular insight into a medieval way of life that might otherwise feel too remote to imagine”. We see unique depictions of a “lavish” Norman feast of food seized from the English in Pevensey, with striking detail of cooking in a “cauldron over fire and serving roast meat on skewers”.

There are moments of levity, too, said Andrzej Lukowski in Time Out. It may be “extravagantly otherworldly”, but it is also “accessible by dint of its simplicity”. The narrow tapestry is “topped and tailed by joyously random images of fantastical beasts and the odd weird naked guy”. This is not just an artefact consigned to the past: “it’s boyishly excitable about the details of conflict, an action comic realised in millennium-old cloth”.

The Bayeux Tapestry is on display in the British Museum from 10 September 2026 until 11 July 2027. Tickets will next be released on 21 October for viewings between 1 January and 31 March 2027.

Jean-Georges Vongerichten, the prolific chef and restaurateur in New York City, operates more than 45 restaurants around the world and has written five cookbooks. All of his books capture the remarkable way he merges simplicity and elucidative flavor combinations. His fourth book, 2011’s “Home Cooking with Jean-Georges ($40),” does so in a particularly utilitarian fashion.

Cooking with eyes wide open

Vongerichten’s five-ingredient watermelon salad, for example, is a ferocious overturning of how to think about a favorite fruit. The rich funk of the blue cheese and resonant twang of freshly ground black pepper convince the watermelon to let its sweetness glow. The fruit’s juicy core tangoes with extra-virgin olive oil’s grassy unctuousness. Pop, pop goes a dusting of flaky salt.

In the recipe’s intro, Vongerichten offhandedly notes the salad “tastes even better when the watermelon is cold and the cheese is room temperature and soft.” Texture steps into the spotlight and turns a sublime recipe all the grander. Vongerichten tosses this intel at the reader as an aside. He cannot help himself. Wisdom plops out of him like ice in a sleet storm.

Such is how “Home Cooking with Jean-Georges” flows. This is a book in which the tricks, takeaways and techniques are embedded in the recipes themselves. Parmesan chicken teaches you that breadcrumbs are extraneous when you grate Parmesan on both large and small holes on a grater, coat chicken breasts with it, bake, and, whammo, savory, textural contrast without the filler.

You might in no other cookbook see someone add a stick and a half of butter to boiling water to cook mustard greens. Then you eat those greens, all silky, their jagged acerbity mellowed after four minutes of boiling, and you shake your head in confounded appreciation.

Famous chef, best-in-class writer

A chef creating a cookbook is only as reliable as their writer. For “Home Cooking,” Vongerichten enlisted one of the finest recipe writer-developers in the game, Genevieve Ko, who is currently an editor at The New York Times.

Ko ensured the recipe’s instructions in this book were as pristine and legible as Vongerichten’s cooking is nimble and gleaming. A watermelon salad can say so much and teach so readily if its quiddities are conveyed with precision. Effortlessness has perhaps never been presented with such rigor.

“What a challenge”, said Liz Else in New Scientist. Penning the “first major biography” of Stephen Hawking with the theoretical physicist’s estate and the “whole scientific world” all “watching closely to see the result”. But science writer Graham Farmelo has pulled it off. “Kudos all round.”

Farmelo paints a “comprehensive and accessible portrait” of Hawking as an “extraordinarily determined man” who had a darker side to which the public and scientific community “mostly turned a blind eye”, said Philip Ball in The Guardian.

The “uncomfortable but unavoidable truth” is that Hawking’s refusal to give scientific credit to others, sexism and “controlling behaviour” were largely “ignored because of his disability”. “I think it is indeed going to take us years to process that.”

Farmelo first covers the science which offers a “genuinely inspirational tale”. Hawking’s work on black-hole thermodynamics would have been “impressive by any measure”. But achieving it while living with “debilitating and ultimately paralysing” motor neurone disease is remarkable.

The “problematic stuff” emerges from “those closest to him”. His friends at Oxford found him “lazy and entitled”; his youngest son said his father never let him win at board games as a child; and his “unsparing ridicule” of the religious beliefs of his first wife, Jane, contributed to the unravelling of their marriage. We also learn how “scandalously bad” he was at acknowledging the work of others, something that became clear early on when he “failed to indicate his debt” to the physicist Roger Penrose.

This pattern of “accepting more than his fair share of credit” certainly “ruffled feathers” in the scientific community, said John Gribbin in Literary Review. But in person he was “gregarious and generous” to his students.

Farmelo gives non-scientists a “good sense” of why Hawking’s work matters, including “succinct discussions of how black holes evaporate” and the “nature of gravitational waves”. But his book also puts the facts into “context”. The result is an “absorbing and informative account of the life of the most interesting physicist of the second half of the 20th century”.

Sweden’s “second city”, Gothenburg, is less crowded than Stockholm and, thanks to the “icy, clean water surrounding the coast” is known for its excellent seafood, said Arielle Domb in The Independent.

Located on the country’s southwest coast, at the mouth of the River Göta, the city has been a “crucial” destination for the fish and shellfish trade since the 18th century. Its daily indoor fish market, Feskekörka, is still open today. Housed within a building that resembles a church with “pointed Gothic arch windows”, you’ll discover “vibrant fish stalls” selling everything from lobsters and crayfish to whole salmon. A two-day seafood festival “celebrating west coast ingredients” takes place every September, this year from 18 to 19.

Gothenburg is “brimming” with trendy restaurants and coffee shops. Bar Bulot is a lovely spot for natural wines and seafood dishes like “delicate halibut ceviche with thin slices of melon” or “oyster with a tangy tapioca mignonette”. For a really “exquisite” meal try Champagnebaren, where you can feast on “edible flower-decorated dishes that look like paintings”. And if you feel like a cocktail after dinner, head to the “stylish” bars Bruno or Unity Jazz, both “around the corner”.

If the city has one “must-see district” it has to be Haga, said Alicia Miller in National Geographic. Grab some salty liquorice at Lakritsroten to munch while you explore the “cobbled streets and cute boutiques”, and stop to browse in the antiques shops.

There is “nothing more Swedish” than fika – slowing down for the country’s cherished “coffee-and-cake ritual”. If you want to “feel like a local” go to “sip artisanal coffee” at da Matteo on the central shopping street of Magasinsgatan before buying a sourdough cinnamon bun from Alvar & Ivar to “nibble in Slottsskogen park”.

To “get to grips” with the city’s history, consider spending an afternoon at the Museum of Gothenburg which is “primely placed in the 18th-century former Swedish East India Company headquarters, on the banks of Stora Hamnkanalen” (Great Harbour Canal).

Perhaps best of all, Gothenburg is within easy reach of a “beguiling” archipelago, said Lizzie Frainier in The Times. Vrångö, the southernmost inhabited island, is just a 30-minute ferry ride from Saltholmen port. With fewer than 400 residents, it’s home to two “ruggedly beautiful” nature reserves, each with its own hiking trail. There is only one hotel on the island – Kajkanten Vrångö – where traditional boat houses have been transformed into pared-back “self-catering” accommodation that look out over the water. Order a seafood hamper from nearby Fiskeboa to enjoy the “sweetest langoustines you will ever taste”.

Shandy is “poised for a resurgence”, said Jane Denton on This Is Money. The thirst-quenching mix of lager and lemonade has become an “unlikely” drink of choice for 20-somethings who are seeking out lower alcohol content tipples that “don’t compromise on taste”.

Originating in 1850s England as “shandygaff” – a mixture of beer and ginger ale – the popular drink had dropped the “gaff” by the end of the 19th century and swapped in lemonade for a citrussy twist. Shandy “started going out of fashion” in the 1990s, Jane Peyton, founder of the School of Booze, told the publication but it is now “undergoing a revival”.

Ocado sales of shandy have climbed by 40% year-on-year, said Rachel Dixon in The Guardian, and the drink is popping up in supermarkets everywhere. Made with just two ingredients, it’s “easy to make at home” and “shouldn’t get you too sloshed”. Use a “chilled glass”, pour in classic or cloudy lemonade up to the halfway point, then “slowly add the beer”.

For a fruity twist, try mixing lager with pink grapefruit soda or pale ale with lime soda. And for a sweeter tipple you can blend lager with cola to create a sweeter, amber-brown coloured cocktail that’s known as diesel in Germany. “Yes, it’s a thing”.

If you’d rather buy your shandy ready to drink, try Pillars Radler, said Melissa Cole in The Telegraph. Packaged in a “suitably nostalgic” stubby bottle with a “charming” yellow label, it blends “quality” lager with orange zest and lemon juice for a touch of “refreshing acidity”.

Other options to keep an eye out for include LoFi’s Raspberry Radler which feels like “inhaling a slightly jammy slice of summer”, and Shandy Shack Ginger Beer Shandy which perfectly balances the “bready malt” of the pale ale with “decently spicy ginger pop”. It’s a “belter”.

Home to the world’s largest Japanese diaspora, as well as sizeable Korean and Chinese communities, the Brazilian megacity of São Paulo is one of the best places outside Asia to enjoy Asian food, said Austin Bush in Travel + Leisure.

In the thriving Japanese district of Liberdade, where street lamps resemble torii gates, beloved old izakaya (Japanese pubs) rub shoulders with stalls selling Japanese-Brazilian street food such as hot rolls – breaded, deep-fried sushi.

The nearby district of Bom Retiro has a similar concentration of Korean bars and restaurants. And, in recent years, a new culinary wave has emerged, as chefs create bold fusion dishes or, more subtly, adapt Japanese recipes to uniquely Brazilian produce, from Amazon river fish to jambu, a tongue-tingling herb. Among the finest exponents of these trends are the “highly acclaimed” Kotori, Aizomê, Kanoe and Goya Zushi – restaurants as exciting and distinctive as any in the city.

A Croatian island without the crowds

Croatia’s best-known islands (Hvar, Korčula and so on) lie in its far south, but there are plenty of others, many of which are beautiful but much less touristy. Among them is Dugi Otok, said Mark Palmer in The Times – a verdant, 26-mile-long sliver of limestone that lies an easy ferry ride from the fascinating harbour town of Zadar.

Take a boat tour of the nearby Kornati National Park, an “otherworldly” wilderness of stark, arid islands criss-crossed with ancient stone walls. And be sure to spend some time in Zadar itself (I can recommend the Hotel Bastion), an elegant place with some lovely museums and architectural “treasures”, including impressive Roman remains.

A week-long walk in the eastern Alps

An “epic” 466-mile hiking path, the Alpe-Adria-Trail runs from Austria, via Slovenia, to Italy’s Adriatic coast. For anyone wanting to see the magnificent Alpine landscapes through which it passes, however, there’s an easier option, said Paul Bloomfield in The Telegraph: the Alpe-Adria Circular. This 83-mile circuit passes through all three countries, offering an intriguing sample of their overlapping cultures, and is usually done in a week (Walks Worldwide has a self-guided eight-day package, with luggage transfers, from £895).

Most walkers start in the Austrian town of Villach, from which the path winds through wildflower meadows and beechwoods to “chocolate-box” Alpine pastures, “teal-emerald” lakes and photogenic hamlets such as Borgo Lussari in Italy. The highest point is the 6,043ft summit of the Schwarzkogel, with spectacular views of the Julian Alps – including Triglav, the triple-peaked mountain that adorns the Slovenian flag.

A remote town of some 900 souls beside Hudson Bay in Canada, Churchill is known as the “polar bear capital of the world”. Every autumn, as the bay freezes, hundreds of these bears gather around it before heading out across the ice, and thousands of tourists come to see them. But Churchill also hosts another annual wildlife spectacle, said Oliver Smith in the Financial Times – one that attracts fewer visitors but is equally worth seeing.

Each summer, thousands of beluga whales migrate to the mouth of the Churchill River, to feed on small fish and nurse their young. These pale cetaceans, which grow up to 18ft long, look from a distance like countless “white-topped waves” in the river (which is more than a mile wide here), and visitors can safely kayak and paddleboard among them.

Churchill is inaccessible by road, so I flew there in a prop plane from Winnipeg, admiring the “vastness” below, where sunlight danced on rivers, and the forest gradually gave way to tundra. (You can also travel by train – a two-day journey.)

The “wind-harassed” town sits in pancake-flat surroundings studded with “landmarks of rust and ruin” – the wrecks of a cargo plane and a steamship, the remains of an old rocket research facility, and so on. I stayed at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, where lay visitors mingle with research scientists.

My six-day Belugas for the Bold itinerary included shared accommodation, guided nature walks, lectures on ecology and indigenous culture, and water activities. The town’s museum has beautiful indigenous artefacts, and on walks you will see lovely flora and might spot polar bears.

But most wondrous is the chance to see the belugas. Apparently, they are sometimes “mischievous” enough to tip paddlers into the water, but I felt a great sense of peace among them. So low to the water, I could “almost sense the stroke and whip of each flipper”, and every time a curious whale surfaced, I felt a “jolt of surprise, as though aquarium glass were fracturing”.

The trip costs from £2,075, excluding flights (churchillscience.ca).

When it comes to weekend breaks, a good location is essential. It doesn’t matter whether the hotel is perfect – if the surroundings leave something to be desired, you’ll find yourself longing to get home. Luckily, Woodstock is charming. Just eight miles from Oxford on the eastern edge of the Cotswolds, the pretty market town is lined with traditional stone cottages, old pubs and bakeries.

On a quiet road close to the centre lies The Feathers. Tucked amid 17th-century townhouses, it looks fairly unassuming. But when you step through the doors, it’s clear that this is a swanky spot. Local property developer Daniel Ede bought the hotel in 2023 before carrying out a multi-million-pound revamp. Fast-forward to today and the hotel has an air of confidence: a collection of awards are proudly displayed on a chest in the reception area.

Why stay here?

The location is outstanding. We went for a short walk before dinner and stumbled upon the grounds of Blenheim Palace, where families lounge with picnics on the grassy slopes overlooking the lake.

Back at the hotel, the calming interiors encourage proper rest and relaxation. Our generously sized room – the Goldcrest Suite – had been carefully renovated with plush grey carpets, gilded mirrors and an enormous (and very comfy) king-size bed framed by flowing white drapes.

The layout felt a little unusual – a mini-sofa and TV were tucked awkwardly behind a semi-dividing wall, and the freestanding bathtub is in the main room, although you can pull across a golden chinoiserie-style folding screen for privacy. (There’s also a separate bathroom, with a shower, stocked with Urban Apothecary fig-scented toiletries.) This is likely due to the nature of the rambling Grade II listed building: the total of 23 suites and rooms vary in shape and size.

Thoughtful touches were everywhere, from the carefully selected tapestries adorning the walls to the tasty snacks laid out for our arrival including slices of lemon drizzle cake. Efforts have clearly been made to preserve the building’s historic details like the stone fireplace, while rooms have been updated with modern touches.

Eating and drinking

The Nest is a fun spot for dinner. Glowing wicker lamps sit atop marble tables in the bustling wood-panelled restaurant. Staff are attentive and knowledgeable but unobtrusive, and the cocktails are excellent. The menu changes with the seasons: we enjoyed a goat’s curd and parmesan tart bursting with sweet, juicy Isle of Wight tomatoes and flaky pan-roasted hake served with a decadent vadouvan curry sauce, tiger prawns and fennel shavings. Be sure to order a side of the crispy potatoes and the zingy herb salad. The Cotswolds sourdough rolls with whipped butter were a nice touch, too. If you’re looking for something more casual, head to The Aviary bar and outdoor terrace for pizzas and small plates.

Breakfast is served at The Nest. There’s a selection of fresh juices, pastries and muffins, alongside heartier classics like the full English, or smoked salmon sourdough crumpets.

Things to do

You won’t find a gym, spa or pool at The Feathers, but there’s plenty to do nearby. Keen walkers can set out on foot into the grounds of Blenheim Palace to soak up the stunning scenery. Afterwards, head back into Woodstock for ice cream at Alfonso Gelataria on the high street.

Oxford is a short drive away; consider a day trip to the historic city to wander through the colleges, go punting along the River Cherwell, or while away an afternoon in one of the many pubs or cafes.

The verdict

The Feathers ticks a lot of boxes for a weekend break. It was a cool, calming refuge when we visited during one of the many summer heatwaves, but come autumn it will be cosy and inviting. This is the type of place you leave feeling exactly as you should: well-rested, refreshed and relaxed.

Irenie was a guest of The Feathers, feathers.co.uk

Midnight sun is a simple enough concept in theory, but it’s oddly disorientating in practice. I was almost a thousand miles north of Iceland, closer to the North Pole than to Reykjavik, and I knew the summer days would last all night. But my eyes or mind (or maybe even my soul) just wouldn’t stop waiting for dusk.

On overcast afternoons, the sky often brightened as the evening wore on, as if the world were turning in reverse. Sometimes, long after a sensible bedtime, the sun would break through the cloud for the first time that day. I took photos, but they didn’t capture the weirdness. They couldn’t, of course, because the sense of weirdness came from within – from my body clock and its sense of how the world had always worked, until that moment. Now, thrillingly, it seemed that all bets were off.

Under the skin of the Arctic

It’s a soulful place, Svalbard, all rock and ice and sky. The peaks are dark and snow-capped, the valleys deep and glacial. Sometimes photos come out black and white even when you take them in colour. The sea, rarely out of sight, has many moods: near the glaciers, it is flat and milky from the minerals released after centuries trapped in ice. Further out in the fjord, it is black, glossy and angular. Our guide steered skilfully through the swell and we pitched, rolled and occasionally crashed our way through the white-frothed waves.

We were on our way to Isfjord Radio, a historic communications station that directed transatlantic shipping and air traffic from 1933 until GPS rendered it obsolete in 1999. The historic buildings once occupied by radio operators now house guests of Basecamp Explorer, which runs a range of Arctic adventures on Spitsbergen, the largest of Svalbard’s islands. Rugged exteriors and simply furnished rooms are warmed by the exceptional hospitality of the Basecamp crew, who conjure up sophisticated tasting menus featuring Arctic fish and game. Reindeer tartare with fig and black sesame was one of the highlights; a smoky seal yakitori was another.

I had spent the previous two nights at Nordenskiöld Lodge, the most remote of the three Basecamp Explorer properties, and indeed the world’s northernmost commercial accommodation. You are totally off-grid here, relying on solar panels and a log-fired stove (and sauna). Home-cooked meals are prepared by your hosts, whose responsibilities also include taking a dinghy out to the nearby glacier and hauling in boulder-sized chunks of ice to melt down for drinking water and cooking.

A Svalbard safari

Every visitor wants to see a polar bear, but only a few will be lucky. I almost was, which felt unluckier still: the day after I left, a mother and her two cubs wandered past Isfjord Radio. (The day before that, one member of my group had spotted a whiteish bear-shaped object, some distance away, amid a field of dark gravel and moss. “I cannot be certain it’s a rock,” our guide said, lowering her binoculars. So maybe I had been lucky after all.)

They may be hard to find but polar bears are common enough, and dangerous enough, that armed guides are compulsory anywhere outside Longyearbyen, the archipelago’s largest town (which is not that large – its population of 2,100 is outnumbered by the bears). In the town itself you may see Arctic foxes, patrolling the lower slopes of the valley, and dozens of geese. At sea, eider ducks are common, puffins slightly less so, but you will see them from time to time, flapping alongside the boat. They seem to work hard to stay in the air, unlike the elegant Arctic terns that soar high above.

We saw seals, too, lounging on little icebergs, and reindeer, both from the boat, as they meandered along the shore, and on land, as we hiked to a walrus colony. Our most memorable encounter was with a pod of minke whales. We had, in theory, finished sightseeing and were motoring back to the lodge when a gyre of gulls caught our guide’s eye. Soon we saw fins, and then a whole head lurching out of the water in front of us, its throat swollen with seawater and fish. We spent an hour with them, watching them dive and then surface again in some unexpected place. The backdrop was spectacular too: black hills in the distance under billowing clouds.

A seasonal adventure

Summer and winter deliver two different Svalbards. In one, you will cross dark, frozen seas by snowmobile and race through valleys with a pack of huskies. In the other, the dogs pull a wheeled cart rather than a sledge, and you have to stick to gravel tracks – but you can kayak in the shadow of a glacier, dodging the remnants of the pack ice.

One constant is the promise of a sauna (and an icy plunge) at the end of the day. The other, at Nordenskiöld Lodge, is the glacier. Just a few hundred metres from the cabin, it’s your constant companion – and impossible to ignore. Sometimes it was the creak or rumble of ancient ice that caught my attention, but I was drawn to it when it was quiet too. Each time I looked it seemed a little different: the packed snow deeper blue or brighter white, the ice cliff more or less forbidding.

Hiking high on to its plateau revealed previously hidden textures. Crags barely visible from the ground reared up above us, and deep crevasses fell away below. With spikes strapped to our boots and icepicks in hand, we climbed ridges, followed frozen streams and rested by an eerily blue lake.

The sun was obscured by leaden clouds, but the glare was strong. Night would not return to these slopes until the first, fleeting sunset of the autumn, six weeks later. By then the glacier would have received a fresh coating of snow, the sea temperature would be falling again and the residents of Svalbard would be readying themselves for the long polar night.

Holden Frith was a guest of Basecamp Explorer. The company’s seven-day signature summer adventure is £7,450 / $10,090 per person, based on two people sharing, including all meals, activities and boat transfers.

Wiltshire: Bowden Hill House, Chippenham

A Grade II country mansion dating from the mid-19th century and set above the picturesque village of Lacock. In all about 34 acres, including dilapidated outbuildings. The house requires extensive renovation, with potential to be reinstated to its former glory. 21 beds, 7 baths, 5 receps, 2 kitchens, cellar, gardens, disused swimming pool. OIEO £1.5 million; Carter Jonas.

Kent: Chainhurst Farm House, Marden

Substantial Grade II* home with an abundance of period features, offering the buyer the flexibility to update and add their own touch. Master suite, 5 further beds, 2 baths, 5 receps, kitchen/breakfast room, gardens, paddock, around 4 acres. £1.45 million; Jackson-Stops.

Berkshire: Rippling Waters, Marlow

Charming Victorian boathouse dated c.1880 that has come to the market for the first time in over four decades. 2 beds, 2 baths, 2 kitchens, 2 receps, 1-bed annexe with potential for enlargement, mooring. £1.7 million; Knight Frank.

Surrey: Red House, Frith Hill

A substantial Grade II* residence dating from 1889, which combines the genius of Sir Edwin Lutyens with the horticultural influence of Gertrude Jekyll. Set on high ground (about 0.75 acres in all) above Charterhouse School, the house is a rare opportunity for buyers to acquire an important piece of the Arts & Crafts movement. 12 beds, 4 baths, 4 receps, kitchen/dining room, gardens. £1.35 million; Knight Frank.

Pembrokeshire: Eaton Hall, Dale

A Grade II grand residence (white building, centre) in a prime waterfront position with spacious gardens and an adjacent “reading room” building. Having recently undergone external renovation work, the three-storey property with larger cellar has vast potential for modernisation. 6 beds, family bath, kitchen, 4 receps, utility, large garden. £795,000; Country Living Group.

Wiltshire: The Red House, Church Street, Lacock

An attractive, unmodernised detached family home dating from 1778, with original floors and stone fireplaces. It would benefit from being updated. Master suite with dressing room, 5 further beds (1 en suite), 3 baths, kitchen/breakfast room, 3 receps, summer house, garage, garden room, garden. £1.1 million; Savills.

Lincolnshire: The Priory and The Dower House, Eastgate

The Grade II house The Priory was built as a private residence but most recently served as a hotel; it is no longer in operation and requires refurbishment. The Dower House is a well-maintained 4-bed home with expansive gardens and views over the surrounding parkland; 3.5 acres in all. £1.25 million; Fine & Country.

Wiltshire: Thompsons Hill, Sherston

A pretty Grade II detached Georgian cottage, on a 0.65-acre plot, that is conveniently situated on the edge of the village. Would benefit from some updating and modernisation. 3 beds, family bath, office, kitchen/breakfast room, 3 receps, gardens and orchard, car port, outbuildings. £695,000; James Pyle & Co.

A “completely new design” built on a fresh platform, the Compass is “ground-up new”, which is a relief because the previous one was “largely rubbish”, said Car Magazine.

There are three electric versions on offer: two front-wheel drive with a range of 311 and 419 miles respectively; and an all-wheel drive 4xe with a range of 377 miles. This is “a refined, well-equipped and unashamedly family-friendly electric SUV”.

Jeep’s first electric Compass appears “refreshingly different”, with proper off-road “attitude”, in a sea of “samey SUVs”, said The Independent. The steering is “capable and reassuring”, but there’s “noticeable lean” on twisty roads; it has traded some “polish and precision for a more rugged, substantial feel”.

Overall, it’s a “useful” family car with a “real Jeep flavour”, although “ride comfort, efficiency and value stop it from beating the very best”.

The interior isn’t plush, but feels “sturdy” and well-equipped for family life, with plenty of space, “wetsuit-like upholstery and rubberised switches”, said What Car?. The elevated driving position means good visibility; there’s a sharp 10.25-inch driver’s display, plus a “responsive” 16-inch infotainment screen.

The Compass has “impressive off-road credentials” and a practical interior, but “poor road manners” let it down.

Many shows from this summer’s Edinburgh Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe are being staged elsewhere in the UK this autumn. Here’s our pick of the best...

Evita Too

Sh!t Theatre’s non-Lloyd Webber production tells its own version of the extraordinary story of Isabel Perón, the former go-go dancer who became the first female president of Argentina, leading the country for 18 months before being ousted by a military coup. It’s a “rad-fem riot of a show”, said Neil Cooper in The Herald – a heady mix of song, dance and naked roller-skating.
Tours to Ipswich, Bristol, Canterbury and Salford, 6 November-9 January; judithdimant.com

Bryony Kimmings: Bog Witch

The performance artist’s latest show turns her ironic eye on her decision to relocate to a tumbledown cottage in the countryside. The subject is a familiar one, but she “makes it fresh, organic and akin to a vital ritual of renewal”, said Dominic Cavendish in The Telegraph. Having begun lightly, the story “spirals into a tempest of upset”, before ending in a place of “fragile wellness”. It is “lovely stuff”.
Tours to Lancaster, Cardiff and Leeds, 11 September-1 October; bryonykimmings.com

John Kearns: Tilting at Windmills

Kearns’s “scintillating” show relates the end of his 12-year relationship with the mother of his child, in the form of a travelogue inspired by T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land’ – all delivered while wearing dodgy false teeth and a loose-fitting tonsured wig. It sounds strange, and it is, but it’s also a “joy from start to finish”, said Dominic Maxwell in The Times. “When I wasn’t laughing out loud, I was beaming at the skill and nerve of it all.”
Tours to Tunbridge Wells, London, Canterbury, Corsham, Poole, Lancaster, Liverpool, Salford, Aberdeen, Carlisle, Norwich, Faversham, Newcastle, Glasgow, Durham, Taunton and Cardiff, 10 September-6 November; johnkearnscomedy.co.uk

Bigfoot Ripped My Dog in Half I Saw It

This “brilliantly conceived” show from New Yorkers Xhloe and Natasha is about two teenagers who stage fake Bigfoot sightings in their Appalachian town. When a neighbour’s dog is found torn to pieces, it starts a panic. Combining deft acting with “intense acrobatic athleticism”, this is “one of the sharpest, most significant, and most breathtakingly executed physical theatre shows of the year”, said Joyce McMillan in The Scotsman.
Soho Theatre, London, 7-26 September

Crybabies: The Scaring

This “fantastic” horror pastiche from the BBC Radio 4 trio is a tale of demonic possession that combines chills, jump scares, laughs and illusions, said Brian Logan in The Guardian. “Set in a guesthouse that makes the Overlook in ‘The Shining’ seem five-star by comparison”, it’s packed with smart gags, and its plotting is twistier than Regan’s neck in “The Exorcist”.
Soho Theatre, London, 3-23 September

Pedro Almodóvar has explored his own profession before, said Helen O’Hara in Empire, notably in “Pain and Glory”, in which Antonio Banderas starred as a suffering film director. But, in his new movie, in which he looks at the way artists cannibalise the lives of those around them – to the detriment, perhaps, of their own relationships – there is an added sense of self-flagellation.

The film opens over Christmas in 2004, with Elsa (Bárbara Lennie), a sometime filmmaker and commercials director, being hospitalised with an appalling migraine. Fortunately, she has a supportive boyfriend (Patrick Criado), a firefighter who moonlights as a stripper. We later learn, however, that Elsa is actually the fictional creation of Raúl (Leonardo Sbaraglia), an urbane filmmaker who is drawing heavily on incidents in his own life, and that of his long-time female assistant (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón).

A “witty and sensitive mea culpa”, the film will delight Almodóvar fans, said Vanessa Thorpe in The Observer. While the tension between fiction and reality is a theme, “Bitter Christmas” is also an examination of profound grief, and a “belated, guilty tribute to all the older women who do much of the caring and facilitating of artists’ lives”.

This drama has many fine qualities, said Donald Clarke in The Irish Times, but its postmodernist structure drains it of a certain “emotional weight”. At times, it “feels like an exercise: a challenge the director has set for himself”. And yet, Almodóvar still delivers an “attractive package”: the shots “flow with poetic discipline”; the locations are bleakly beautiful. Even when he is coasting, Almodóvar “cannot help but charm and entertain”.