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Get ready for a royal good time

Tue, 29 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

What's the attraction?

With a bonus bank holiday and hundreds of events taking place across the UK, there's no escaping the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations this weekend (2-5 June; thediamondjubilee.org) – all coinciding with half-term. On Sunday, more than 10,000 street parties are being held around the country (thebiglunch.com); and 1,000 boats will form a flotilla on the Thames (thamesdiamondjubileepageant.org), while thousands of onlookers line the route under 23km of bunting. Throughout the long weekend and the rest of half term, there's everything from medieval-themed days out to indoor, outdoor, vintage and modern family days out to choose from.

Summer 2012: Close to home

Sat, 26 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

The best of British is on offer on a Champagne, Bucket & Spade Break at Hawke's Point (01726 884072; hawkes-point.co.uk) in St Ives, Cornwall.

Here, the coast is always clear: Celebrating sixty years of Pembrokeshire's National Park

Fri, 25 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

On a late spring morning I explored one of Britain's most beautiful bays, yet mine was the only set of footprints on its exquisite golden beach; I have the photo to prove it. Not that I was entirely alone: a huge white seabird with black-tipped wings, which I later found out was a gannet, was diving spectacularly into the foaming swell of the sea, searching for a fishy breakfast without much success.

Thorpeness: The Suffolk holiday village that sailed to success

Sat, 19 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

Craig Block, boatman at The Meare in Thorpeness, is explaining how some of the canoes, dinghies and rowing boats in the shed he's showing me around are named after local girls. "I called my daughter after one of the boats – it was easier than painting a new name on one," he laughs.

Natural harmony? Listen to your elders

Fri, 18 May 2012 11:00:01 GMT

The human animal can still get a thrill from using wood to suit our purposes. Taking the time to carve your own whistle from an elder branch traces the handiwork of our ancestors and resounds in us long after the note has vanished into the air.

Take a break where the spa's the star

Tue, 15 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

What's the attraction?

Great British Escapes: Summer 2012

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:00:01 GMT

Britain is banking on a bumper year for tourism in 2012. The Olympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee provide two compelling reasons for people at home and from abroad to harvest a premium crop of special events, and also discover what else the UK has to offer holidaymakers.

Great British Escapes: The countryside

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:00:01 GMT

Gone Swimming, Wales

Great British Escapes: The coast

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:00:01 GMT

South West Coast Path

Great British Escapes: The cities

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:00:01 GMT

Dorset Square Hotel, London

Spiritual journey: The A303's enduring appeal

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:00:00 GMT

The A303 extends from just west of Basingstoke to a few miles east of Honiton in Devon. The distance is little more than 90 miles, which makes it a baby among major arterial routes. (The A1 is 400 miles, the A38 290.) But the A303 straddles spheres.

North Yorkshire: Follow a moorland of glorious greens and a classic ridge line to Little Fryup

Sat, 05 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

After a gloriously wind-pummelled plod across the moor – two steps forward, one sideways – amid a monochrome of brown, I was unprepared for the view as we edged down the southern ledge of Ainthorpe Rigg. The mosses, lichens and grasses here combined into extraordinary shades of green – too many to count – morphing into a luminescent mass of bubbling vegetation. Had I waited until sunset, it would not have surprised me if they'd glowed in the dark.

Kent: A feast of sandwiches and a celebration of Dickens

Sat, 05 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

It's anniversary time in Kent. The Sandwich Celebrations (sandwichevents.info; 12-13 May) will mark the moment when John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, wrapped two slices of bread around a tasty filling, 250 years ago. The present Earl – the 11th – will host special events around the town, which will feature suitable period fun such as a Food Fayre, a teddy bears' picnic and, of course, a re-enactment of the "invention" of the sandwich.

Family campsites: Tent poles at the ready for a wild adventure

Sat, 05 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

In a world of iPhones, computer games and relentless reruns of Peppa Pig, enjoying the great outdoors has almost become a forgotten art for today's kids. A recent National Trust survey found that fewer than 10 per cent of children play out in the wild compared with almost half of us a generation ago, and that a third have never climbed a tree. This is a poor reflection on our cotton-wool-encased culture, where we have become so overprotective that our children are no longer exposed to the rough and tumble of the real outdoors. Children should be encouraged to get outside and get stuck in; otherwise we risk unlearning all those essential skills handed down through the generations. Skills such as catching fish, hunting for insects and rolling down a big hill until you get dizzy.

A Welsh wander: Tackle the 870 mile-long Wales Coast Path a little at a time

Fri, 04 May 2012 11:00:00 GMT

The first coast path to outline an entire country officially opens today: the Wales Coast Path. This 870-mile trail runs from the Welsh border near Chester all the way to Chepstow in south-east Wales. It connects certain existing coastal paths, such as those on the Anglesey coast and Pembrokeshire. The resulting continuous route forms and joins up the 177-mile Offa's Dyke Path national trail along the Welsh-English border to create a complete circuit of Wales.

The Big Six: British tree houses

Fri, 04 May 2012 11:00:00 GMT

Chewton Glen, Hampshire

Lancashire hotspots: Northern cities experience tourism boom

Wed, 02 May 2012 23:00:01 GMT

Northern England has thrown off its international reputation as a place of dark satanic mills and boarded-up terraces by confirming its position in the ranks of Britain's top tourist destinations.

Britain's best Bank Holiday beaches (just in case it doesn't rain)

Wed, 02 May 2012 14:46:31 GMT

With the weather man trying to beat the hose pipe-ban with admirable belligerence, you're unlikely to find yourself basking on warm sands this Bank Holiday weekend.

Stay the night: Anderton House, North Devon

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 23:00:01 GMT

Armed with printed directions, a road atlas and satnav, I should have made easy work of finding Anderton House. But the satnav sent me to the end of a drive on a private estate; the road map wasn't quite detailed enough and the Landmark Trust – which owns Anderton House – assumed I was good with directions. Happily, a well-versed and willing neighbour led me back out of her courtyard and pointed down a steep drive in the opposite direction. Even from here, the house was elusive – where it should have been, I saw only the hazy splodges of sheep on the other side of the valley.

Game for Gummer's How: Wild camping and fell racing on an epic Lakeland adventure

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 11:00:00 GMT

Ullswater shimmered in the late afternoon sun, silver flashing across its black depths. Ahead of our steamer's prow towered the mountains that would be my home for the next two nights. Slate-grey clouds gathered ominously around their snowy summits. It looked a tough training ground, but I needed to acclimatise. In 48 hours I was going to try to convince my legs that I was a fell runner.

Farm-stays: There's more lying in than mucking out

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 23:00:01 GMT

What's the attraction?

A foot in two nations along the Tweed

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 23:00:41 GMT

An innocuous grassy lane, no more than three metres wide, makes for one of the world's sleepiest borders. You'll find it, overlooked by hazel trees and set against a backdrop of sweeping hills and isolated farmsteads, five miles west of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the town that famously lies in England but whose football team plays its away games in Scotland.

On The Road: For a true taste of spring, try the Lakeland damsons

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 11:00:00 GMT

Spring has come to Cumbria's Lyth Valley. The rural enclave between Kendal and Windermere is transformed for a fortnight each year by an explosion of snow-white damson blossom. I've timed my visit perfectly. In a field outside the village of Crosthwaite on a crisp spring morning, the blossom cascades around me like the first flakes of winter. Daffodils and primroses add splashes of colour. Beyond the farm lies Underbarrow, verdant and alive, while Kentmere sports a heavy frost on the tops of its fells.

The Big Six: Coastal Cornish rentals

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 11:00:00 GMT

The Limit, Holywell Bay

Food miles: Spring's bounty is all over these isles – and waiting to be eaten

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 23:00:01 GMT

Spring is an exciting time for gourmet travel in Britain. The fields, hills and hedgerows are abundant with delicious seasonal treats including asparagus, wild morel mushrooms and lamb, providing inspiration for restaurant menus, cookery classes and events all over the UK.