Tom Hall travel tips

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, which secured access for everyone to some of our wildest and most beautiful places. There are now 15 national parks across the UK, covering a staggering variety of landscapes, from the heather-clad uplands of the Cairngorms in Scotland to the chalky grasslands of the South Downs, England’s newest national park. We’d love to hear about your favourite beauty spots and outdoor activities, whether it be paddling the tranquil waterways of the Norfolk Broads or birdwatching on the craggy Pembrokeshire coast.

From the Renaissance splendour and symmetry of the Boboli gardens in Florence to the trickling fountains and rose gardens of the Alhambra in Spain, Europe has no shortage of “must see” gardens, but a tranquil escape from the tourist crowds they are not. Instead, we’d love to hear about your favourite “secret gardens” in continental Europe; oases of green that offer cool respite from a busy sightseeing itinerary and where you won’t be jostling for elbow room with coach parties of tourists. It could be a leafy public park, the grounds of a museum or gallery, or a botanical garden that turned into an unexpected highlight of your trip.

In the last two decades many UK seaside towns have undergone a quiet transformation. Art galleries, boutique hotels and Michelin-starred restaurants are breathing new life into once down-at-heel resorts such as Blackpool and Margate, while coastal hotspots like Padstow, Southwold and Whitby continue to draw the crowds on sunny days. While these places are popular for good reason, we’d love to hear about your favourite “unsung” seaside towns – the places that don’t often grab the limelight or become unpleasantly overcrowded, but which have kept their charm intact. You could win a £200 holiday voucher (sorry if you were hoping for a cuddly toy or some candyfloss).

With the weather slowly starting to improve, it’s time to start planning camping trips in the UK. We’d love to hear about your favourite places to camp. Maybe it’s somewhere wild near the sea, or a campsite with the best facilities for a memorable family holiday. Tell us about your adventures under canvas and in glamping pods and yurts for the chance to win a holiday voucher.

What’s your idea of beach heaven? A rocky path down to a secluded Mediterranean cove which is home to a simple beach shack and not much else? A wild expanse of Atlantic beach fringed by dunes and pounded by breakers? Or an elegantly faded old seaside town with a crescent of white sand and a handful of family-run hotels and restaurants, perhaps? From the Baltic coast to the Black Sea, the Atlantic to the Adriatic, we’d love to hear about the European beaches or seaside towns that have won your heart.

Few things beat the sense of freedom of the open road. Whether it’s an epic motorcycle ride along Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way or a leisurely pootle around the Italian lakes by car, a road trip is a brilliant way to explore a country at your own pace, enjoying varied scenery and discovering less-known spots en route. We’d love to hear about your favourite journeys in Europe – where did you go and what made it so special? The best tip will win a holiday voucher.

There are more than 500 national parks in Europe covering an astounding variety of terrain, from the wild taiga of northern Finland to the coastal dunes and wetlands of the Doñana national park in southern Spain. These protected landscapes offer pristine scenery and endless opportunities for activity and adventure. We’d love to hear about your favourite national park discoveries on the continent, whether it’s a hiking trail through a remote mountain range, a perfect spot for wild camping or an unforgettable wildlife encounter.

We’re all familiar with the Scandinavian concept of hygge, which is all about hunkering down and staying cosy in winter. So it will come as no surprise to learn that the Scandis have also got it sussed when it comes to making the most of the summer. Friluftsliv, a Norwegian word that translates as “open-air living”, is all about getting out into the great outdoors, connecting with nature and leaving a minimal environmental footprint. Whether it’s hiring a Swedish summer house, camping on a Danish island or kayaking in Norwegian fjords, we’d love to hear your recommendations for outdoorsy summer holidays in Scandinavia.

With spring almost here, now’s the time for lacing up your walking boots and getting back outside. Whether it’s woodland strolls, day-long coastal walks or more challenging hikes, we’d love to hear about your favourite lesser known destinations which come into their own at this time of year.

France was the most visited country in the world in 2023. Its capital, Paris, sits comfortably at the top of the league table of most desirable places to visit – a position that will only be strengthened when the city hosts the 2024 Olympics this summer. But away from tourist magnets such as the Eiffel Tower, Disneyland Paris and the teeming beaches of the Cote d’Azur, there are still plenty of places where you can experience “la France profonde”.

There’s a palpable sense of the changing seasons at this time of the year – longer days, warmer weather, and the feeling that people are stirring from winter hibernation. The parks are getting busier, tennis courts are being used and pelotons of cyclists are starting to appear on our roads. There are so many ways of enjoying the great outdoors while keeping yourself fit and healthy. You may have enjoyed a kayaking trip, a hiking break, cycling through beautiful scenery or a wild swimming holiday. Whatever gets you up and out for an adventure, we’d love to hear about it.

It’s the time of year when nature is waking up across Europe, with great gardens and parks coming into bloom. From multi-coloured tulip displays in Dutch gardens, to cherry blossoms in parks in Germany or freshly verdant chateaux gardens in France, we want to know where you’ve been impressed by floral displays in spring or early summer.

The UK is blessed with countless ancient sites, many of which are easily accessible to the public, and often free to enjoy. Some are still being excavated and can offer us valuable new insights into what life would have been like for our distant ancestors. Whether it’s an iron age hill fort, Neolithic standing stones, the remains of a Roman fort or a recreated Saxon village, we’d love to hear about the places you’ve visited in Britain which gave you a powerful sense of connection to the past.

One of the fastest growing travel trends in recent years has been the rise of the “digital detox retreat” as we look for more ways to switch off from our screens. But you don’t necessarily need to shell out for a fancy spa break. From stays in remote off-grid cabins to forest bathing, foraging, yoga and mindfulness retreats, we’d love to hear about the UK getaways that have helped you to unplug and reconnect with nature.

If you’ve rambled along La Rambla in Barcelona, climbed the Eiffel Tower in Paris and checked out Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, it’s tempting to tick Europe’s major cities off the list. But even in the most well-visited cities, there’s often a new and surprising angle to discover. We’d love to hear about the unexpected discoveries that made you see a European city in a new light, whether it be modernist architecture in Vienna, street food in Amsterdam or contemporary art in Rome.

You can visit all the museums you want to, tick off all the historic sites and lie on all the beaches, but if you really want to get to the heart of a destination, take a look at what’s on your plate. Food-centred travel is one of the quickest shortcuts to understanding a place and its people and can create memories that linger long after the holiday is over. Whether it be an unforgettable meal in an unassuming taverna or trattoria, a visit to a vineyard or a street food market, or your first taste of a local speciality, we’d love to hear about your memorable foodie experiences while travelling.

These dull, wet winter days are the perfect time to reminisce about sunny breaks spent on favourite beaches in southern Europe – and to plan future trips. Whether you love shingle and rock, busy town sands, or secluded coves at the end of a glorious hike, we’d love to hear about your golden discoveries. Is there a particular beach that you long to go back to? Don’t forget to mention any great beach bars and places to eat at or stay in on your shoreline travels.

Adventure means different things to different people. For some, it means overcoming a challenge such as climbing a mountain or a long-distance bike ride. For others, it’s about pushing themselves out of their comfort zone – travelling solo, perhaps, or heading out into the unknown on a road or rail trip with no fixed destination or itinerary. However you define it, we’d love to hear about your adventures – the trips that challenged you and took you somewhere new.

One of the joys of travel is that moment when you come across something unexpected that lingers long in the memory. It could be a little-known church with stunning stained-glass windows, a backstreet cafe that offers toothsome pastries, a country walk that serves up cinematic views, an offgrid campsite that delivers peace and serenity, or a stopover town that you wished you had more time to explore. We’d like to hear about your best travel discovery of 2023 – but please restrict your tips to Europe.

What could be more romantic than the sight of a pillar-box red train gliding through a pristine Alpine landscape of snow-capped mountains, frosted fir trees and frozen waterfalls? The answer, of course, is having a seat inside the Bernina Express, cradling a cup of hot chocolate and gazing at a winter wonderland through the train’s panoramic windows as it pulls onwards to St Moritz. Or maybe, it’s pretending to be on the Hogwarts Express as you cross Glenfinnan Viaduct on your way from Glasgow to Mallaig. Or, at this time of year, listening to carols on board the Santa Claus Express from Helsinki to Rovaniemi. Whatever your choice, we’d like to hear about your favourite romantic, dramatic and seasonal railway journey in Europe.

At this time of the year, there’s no nicer feeling than when you stand on the threshold, shake the rain from your jacket, scrape the mud from your boots, and step into the warming fug of a friendly pub. The scent of roast dinners mingles with the aroma of burning logs and the smell of hops from the pump, and you’re instantly cheered by a feeling of bonhomie. It’s an integral part of what makes autumn and winter bearable on these soggy isles. So, we’d like to know about your favourite watering hole that serves winter-warming comfort food. It doesn’t have to be fancy – just wallet-friendly.