A renovated traditional stone homestead with its own beach is the first in a new collection of holiday lets that make idyllic bases for exploring elemental Ireland High summer in the north-west nook of Ireland and guess what? It was raining. Seriously wet Atlantic rain that persisted through the night and bounced rhythmically off the…

The alpine-like Zlatibor region in south-west Serbia offers forested peaks, waterfalls, pretty villages – and a few more eccentric attractions The horses seemed tame enough. One, a chestnut, ambled towards me as I trooped up the path to Čuker’s 1,359-metre peak. Not accustomed to meeting horses on Serbian mountains, I carried on before the chestnut…

The world’s longest trail, ready this year, traverses the entire country. It’s a busy path, our intrepid writer is told, so there shouldn’t be bears … When I was a teenager, I met someone who had done the Pennine Way long-distance footpath. And I gazed with awe on him. After all, 267 miles seemed a…