Medieval tips

Massive medieval towers, dense forests and daily saunas were what I’d come to Estonia for. What I hadn’t expected was to find a trendy food scene, tasting menus and Michelin stars. 

The time to appreciate the tumbling terrain of central Italy is at dawn.

Krakow has no shortage of medieval monuments and tucked away bars to explore. But a few days in Poland’s compact second city is enough, giving you time to explore further afield.

A gorgeous little sprawl straddling the River Nore in Ireland’s southeast, Kilkenny is a place you can walk in a day, fall in love with over a weekend and still find things to discover after a week. Its imposing Anglo-Norman castle and 13th-century cathedral bookend the Medieval Mile, a historic strip cutting through the city. But it’s between the old set pieces that the magic happens — the record store hidden down an alley; the talkative host of a pub squished into an Elizabethan townhouse; the stumbled-upon galleries, craft studios and vintage shops. Late summer and early autumn are good times to visit, with Culture Night (22 September) followed swiftly by Kilkenny Animated, and the Savour Kilkenny food festival a month later. 

Tim Chester joins a group of friends for a restorative mini-break at the historic New Inn in Peasenhall in the heart of Suffolk .