The joys of the UK's best walking festivals

Holiday deals Club
The joys of the UK's best walking festivals

The UK’s 150 walking festivals make hiking convivial, as we found on a Black Mountains trek in Wales. Plus, read on for more events around the country We started in drizzle, progressed into blow-you-off-your-feet wind, moved into milk-chocolatey mud and finished in stair-rod rain. But it was great to be outside. Following guides Anthea and Wally, their energetic collie and a bunch of other waterproof-encased walkers along this Black Mountains route, I’d ticked off 11 miles, three hills and one legend-laced lake (home, they say, to the Afanc, the Loch…

Read More

Japan’s arty-pelago: Naoshima and beyond

Holiday deals Club
Japan’s arty-pelago: Naoshima and beyond

Among shrines, rice fields and abandoned buildings, contemporary art has transformed 12 rural islands into a creative paradise – the setting for the 2019 Setouchi Triennale I’m sitting on a concrete floor watching water droplets as they skitter across the smooth surface. Around me, other people seem equally transfixed. They stand in silent contemplation staring at beads of water bubbling up from tiny holes in the floor, or lie gazing at the vast domed roof, where two oval openings let natural light flood in. The slightest movement echoes around the…

Read More

'I have lost my wallet and brother': reuniting at Kumbh Mela, the world's largest festival

Holiday deals Club
'I have lost my wallet and brother': reuniting at Kumbh Mela, the world's largest festival

As an estimated 15m Hindus gather at convergence of holy rivers in India, the huge lost-and-found centres go digital Day and night, through crackling loudspeakers, the announcements ring out. “It is Babu speaking,” says a shrill voice. “I have lost my wallet and brother. Please come here the moment you hear this.” “Lal Ram is here,” a woman says a few times. “Come and collect him from the yellow tower.” Continue reading… Read the full story

Read More