I traveled a lot in my 20s, but solo travel is the best now that I'm in my 30s

Swimming coach Emma MacDonald set up Wild Hebridean Swimming in 2022 after moving back to Mull. The company offers holidays for open water swimmers, but also retreats for those who can only tread water or do a bit of doggy paddle. These involve short dips in the clear waters of the Inner Hebrides, where there are seals, underwater kelp forests and waterfalls. Longer swims can be arranged on request. The programme also includes a guided walk on Iona, the burial place of 48 Scottish kings including Macbeth. Guests stay at Achaban House, which has woodburners and a wood-fired hot tub, where there is a choice of activities, including yoga and massage. From £895 including all meals and wine, next retreat 8-11 March, wildhebrideanswimming.com

Maybe it’s the nation’s glut of centuries-old cellars and tunnels. Or perhaps it’s the world-class bar scene, which led the way with speakeasy-style drinking dens when they were trending a few years back. Either way, the UK today is full of quirky places to say ‘cheers’ at a subterranean level. Whether your preferred tipple is wine, beer, whisky or a mixologist-crafted cocktail, these celebrated bars from London to Edinburgh will serve it to you amid atmospheric underground vibes.

It’s hard to believe that Puglia once played second fiddle to the likes of Tuscany.

From basic mountain huts to self-catering luxury villas, there are lots of accommodation types to choose from in Croatia. Though hotels abound in cities and popular tourist destinations, the majority of accommodation on offer is made up of tourist apartments, owned and often managed by locals.

Puglia embodies everything that is seductive about southern Italy: rolling countryside blanketed in almond and olive groves, luridly turquoise beaches, snug whitewashed villages, and long, lazy lunches washed down with prized local vino.

The world outside my sleeper-train compartment was black and white: trees with feather-like branches silhouetted against snowy fields; the grey stretch of the A9 and then the sleek steel of a river; white candy-floss clouds against an ever paler sky.

Transoceanic voyages may be among the most romanticized cruise itineraries. With their vast scope and leisurely pace, gliding across gaping seas, these epic sailings evoke the adventure and glamor of the “Golden Era of cruising" when star-studded transatlantic crossings were the epitome of luxury travel in the early 1900s.

If you are an English speaker planning to move to Europe in 2024, you might want to find a country where you’re likely to be understood from the get-go.

Skies above the UK could soon be filled with the dancing Northern Lights thanks to a period of extreme space weather in the coming weeks and months.

Extreme weather events have been causing travel chaos across Europe this winter.

There's no wrong way to do Dubrovnik. But the best way to experience this centuries-old city is from just beyond the walls of Old Town. Close enough to soak up the cinematic views of the setting sun dipping into the sea behind the white-stone city but far enough away to be removed from the throngs of tourists, the Hotel Excelsior Dubrovnik is the perfect vantage point from which to experience the very best of Dubrovnik.

TikTok may have helped make destinations like Lake Bled in Slovenia and overcrowded nightmare, but the video sharing site has also given us an off-beat alternative: destination dupes. These are places with a similar aesthetic and attractions to the honeypot spot but with fewer crowds.