Advice

All hotels have been independently reviewed and selected. We will earn a commission if you book via the links below, but this never affects our rating. Our expert writers are usually hosted on a complimentary basis in order to gain the first-hand experience necessary for their review. Neo-Moorish arches, Triana tiles, arcaded patios and Islamic

Precious antiques, one-of-a-kind boutiques fizzing with indie cool, luxury hat ateliers and food markets – Vienna is seriously underrated as a shopping destination and deserves to be better feted. Our Telegraph Travel experts round up their pick of the best options, whether you are after traditional Viennese ‘candy mosaic rock’, a dirndl with a modern

Kraków is a university town, which sets the tone for a lively nightlife, further fuelled by the introduction of tourist bar crawls. Don’t let that put you off though, this city has plenty of easy-to-find, off-the-radar drinking spots, where you can savour a range of vodkas or the burgeoning craft beer scene. In fact, there

Poland’s geographical position has meant a history where the country’s borders have changed and changed again, leading to cities which blend a variety of influences in their architecture and food. Kraków though is resolutely Polish and seen by many as their spiritual capital. Walk the cobbled streets, observe from a café on the vast Market

Kraków is the home to the country’s only 2 Michelin star restaurant, Bottiglieria 1881, crowned in 2023 to great acclaim. Here Chef Przemysław Klima draws deep on the culinary soul of Poland, and his childhood memories of perfect rural summers, to offer dishes such as pickled beetroot, apple-wood smoked trout and a sauce made from

Krakow is one of central Europe’s jewels; with a history that stretches back to the 10th century. It is also the best preserved city in Poland, the old town centre having escaped the destruction that befell the rest of the country in WWII. It brims with atmosphere with narrow, cobbled streets radiating off the impressive

Scotland and tea have been in a relationship since the 1600s, with the first tea served at Holyrood Palace in 1680. Originally smuggled into the country and affordable only for the very rich, by the mid-1800s tea was regularly taken with bread and butter in the afternoon and the rest is history: a saga of

Just an hour from Edinburgh, ­Berwickshire is a naturally beautiful region in Scotland’s southeast, imbued with maritime heritage, and yet shamefully under-visited. Its coastline runs south from Cove Harbour, just a few miles south of “Sunny Dunny” Dunbar, all the way to the English border, where Berwick- upon-Tweed topples just over onto the English side

The Sorrentine peninsula pushes out into the Tyrrhenian sea like a gnarled finger, its southern shores blessed by some of the most spectacular coastal scenery in the world. Linking the towns is the SS163, the legendary Amalfi Coast Drive, a 16 km twisting, turning two-lane road that weaves and dips torturously in and out and

Stand between the fragrant orange trees that line the main square in Vila Real de Santo António, surrounded by charming 18th century town houses and a mosaic of bold black and white cobblestones at your feet and you could be forgiven for thinking this little town’s claim to fame lies in its looks. In many

As a Latin American mega-capital, Mexico City, unsurprisingly, serves up the full gamut of hedonistic options come nightfall. A major arts and cultural centre, its theatres host world-class opera, ballet, pop and rock, and its clubbing scene ranges from all-night salsa to cutting-edge electronic music, often given a Mexican twist by local, though well-travelled, DJs.

Mexico City is big – so get a city map and plan your experiences a little. It’s best to see museums and sights in clusters, so you don’t have to keep hopping into a cab or on to the metro. To really get into it, and to do some city walking, aim to see a

Regionalism is a powerful factor in Mexican cuisine. Oaxaca does its own variety of mozzarella. The chile poblano – a mild green pepper used in chiles en nogada, the de facto national dish – takes its name from Puebla. Tequila was a place before it was a drink. From Yucatán comes the pit-oven technique known in

Mexico City, familiar to all as the most populous city in the western hemisphere, is a lot more than that. The crossroads of ancient cultures, it has a storied past, with Aztec ruins embedded in the modern city’s fabric. The key northern seat of the Spanish conquest, it has a cultural and historical heft rarely

All hotels have been independently reviewed and selected. We will earn a commission if you book via the links below, but this never affects our rating. Our expert writers are usually hosted on a complimentary basis in order to gain the first-hand experience necessary for their review. Portugal has many strengths, but its beaches must

Marseille is going straight – cultured, even. New museums and galleries sprout. Trendy restaurants and bars abound. Hotel openings bang into one another. The 21st-century city is recapturing the trading grandeur of the 19th century. It’s got a sophisticated swagger as it aspires to regain world city status. Yet it remains Marseille, where the staring

Despite being a classic bucket-and-spade destination, there is so much more to Rhodes than its 300-plus days of sunshine and long, sandy beaches. The grand Dodecanese island’s Unesco World Heritage-listed capital is Europe’s oldest continuously inhabited medieval town and worth a visit in its own right. The Knights of the Order of St John, the

All hotels have been independently reviewed and selected. We will earn a commission if you book via the links below, but this never affects our rating. Our expert writers are usually hosted on a complimentary basis in order to gain the first-hand experience necessary for their review. Studding Italy’s heel are fabulously exotic ‘masserie’ –

The name says it all. Meaning ‘wild coast’ in Spanish, the Costa Brava is one of Europe’s most romantic, unspoilt stretches of coast. Where else, less than a two-hour flight from Britain, can you explore rugged pink clifftops with the teal-coloured Mediterranean glittering below, framed by grand arabesquing pines? It’s a scene reminiscent of France’s

That Lyon is a sterling choice for bon vivants becomes evident within seconds of tucking into coq au vin in a jam-packed bistro, admiring fine art in a Renaissance abbey, or getting deliciously lost in a traboule (secret passageway) used by 19th-century silk weavers. It’s a enthralling, richly storied city. Street-smart Romans first spotted the city’s extraordinary