A first-timer’s guide to Kazakhstan

It’s a country pub in a city. That’s my thinking as bartender Michael O’Donovan lets my pint of Murphy’s settle on the counter, pausing for an intuitive amount of time before topping off the stout’s creamy crown. There are licks of flame in a tiled fireplace nearby. The wood spits and crackles as the conversation eases into gear.

Tom Houghton picks up a pair of binoculars from the sand-covered desk and slowly scans the beach in front of him. It’s June and things are starting to get busy at one of Cornwall’s biggest beaches. Stretching for more than two miles up the county’s north coast, and backed by craggy cliffs and rolling dunes that reach nearly a mile inland, Perranporth attracts crowds of sunbathers, swimmers, bodyboarders, surfers and dog walkers.

Landscapes as green and lovely as everyone says. Literary giants in Dublin; Titanic history in Belfast. A pint and good craic in a traditional pub. The lure of Celtic legends.

International dialling code: +41 Currency: Swiss f

Smaller than Wales, Belgium’s southern, mainly French-speaking region may be compact but packs a diverse punch. Wallonia is a jewel of a destination that sparkles with centuries of history, architectural splendour, glorious nature, fascinating culture, wonderful gastronomy and beautiful cities, towns and villages.

It’s easy to pigeonhole England’s south-west as overrun with visitors, yet there is a national park here that is one of the UK’s least visited. The reason perhaps lies with its location, in the shadow of its Devon neighbour. Indeed, when I told one person I was heading to Exmoor for a break, they queried: “Do you mean Dartmoor?”

Nestled in the north-west corner of Ireland, the city of Derry-Londonderry (Northern Ireland) and the county of Donegal (Republic of Ireland) sit snugly side by side. Taken together, this pair have every ingredient you could want from a short break: a dollop of history, a splash of culture and immeasurable quantities of nature and adventure. Better yet, it’s a combination that few have yet to put together.

The 2,000 year old Roman walls that encircle the city are the longest, most complete, and oldest, still standing in Britain today. A walk around the walls will take 45 minutes to an hour depending on how fast you walk and how often you stop. You can see the entire city from the walls, including the UK's oldest racecourse and the Eastgate Clock - one of the most photographed clocks in England. There’s a lovely place to stop by the river, where you can watch the boats float by while tucking into an ice cream. Take centre stage at the Roman Amphitheatre The Roma

As I bowled along the roads linking Herefordshire’s ‘Black and White Villages’ (named in honour of their two-tone buildings), I believed, for a second, in time travel. Here, in one of England’s least populated counties, little appeared to have changed for decades, centuries even.

For somewhere as fabled as the ‘birthplace of British tourism’, the narrow, steep lane leading to Symonds Yat’s waterfront was remarkably quiet. In fact, it almost felt like a dead end until I turned a tight corner and there was the River Wye, spread out before me in all its glory.

In Willemstad, the capital city on the island of Curaçao, the waterfront is dotted with buildings the color of tropical fruit: mango orange, banana yellow, kiwi green. Paired with the bright blue water in nearby bays, it’s almost a full kaleidoscope of color. Originally, the structures were limestone white, but an 1817 law forbade white facades on buildings to protect islanders’ eyesight from the bright reflections of the Caribbean sun – but locals joke that it was a money-making bid on behalf of the island’s only paint supplier.

Most people think traveling from the US to Europe means crossing the Atlantic Ocean, usually on a six-plus-hour flight. However, there’s a whole other part of Europe smack in the middle of the ocean that melds the green, rocky hillsides of the UK with the Mediterranean vibes and culture of Portugal.