Nairn: a bewitching seashore city in Scotland

Set beside the “cobalt” Moray Firth, a half-hour drive east of Inverness, Nairn is “arguably Scotland’s finest seaside town”, says Robin McKelvie in The Telegraph. Its seashores are lovely, with their “starched white” sands, and its excessive avenue is “as elegant as any in the Highlands”. It is “alive with independent businesses” together with bijou galleries, “old-school bakers” and “Instagram-friendly” artisan cafés.

Try the ice cream at James’s (the “creative” flavours, similar to almond croissant, are a delight) and the Scottish seafood at Strathnairn Beach Café. The “classiest” place to remain is the Golf View Hotel – “a Victorian palace where time stands gloriously still”. And there’s a lot to see close by, together with Cawdor Castle (of “Scottish play infamy”) and wild locations similar to Culbin Forest, the place scenes from Christopher Nolan’s current “The Odyssey” have been shot.

A wild coastal stroll in New Zealand

At the northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island lie the Marlborough Sounds, a maze of deep, jagged ocean inlets and forested peninsulas. Tracing the size of considered one of these wild, winding promontories is the wonderful, 46-mile Queen Charlotte Track, says Helen Pickles in The Times.

It’s one of many nation’s most spectacular long-distance mountaineering paths, and the one one on which tour operators (similar to Wilderness Guides and Marlborough Sounds Adventure Co) supply day by day baggage transfers, usually included in a four-day package deal with nights in beautiful, distant lodges. There are some steep climbs, however the highest level is barely at 475 metres, and it’s all price it for the “breath-catching ridge-line views”, sense of isolation and “dazzlingly empty” seashores alongside the best way. Go between October and April, however word that the climate is all the time “capricious” – so pack sturdy waterproofs and loads of spare garments, together with shorts and T-shirts.

Brescia’s wonderful Roman stays

Long recognized primarily as an industrial metropolis, Brescia isn’t touristy – nevertheless it’s a good-looking place, says Mia Aimaro Ogden in The Sunday Times, and price visiting particularly for its “extraordinary” Roman stays. They embody amazingly vivid temple frescoes and one of many best surviving Roman bronzes, the 6ft-high “Winged Victory of Brescia”.

While on the town, make sure you see the frescoes by Giandomenico Tiepolo (son of Giambattista) within the church of San Faustino, and the “marvellous” Santa Giulia historical past museum, which occupies a monastery relationship again to AD753. Stay in the event you can at Lenel, a trendy new boutique lodge housed in a “surprisingly lovely” previous electrical energy substation; eat at El Licinsì, a wonderful osteria; and word that Lake Garda lies solely quarter-hour away by prepare.