Pedestrian Zone Munich’s central pedestrian zone stretches along Kaufingerstraße and Neuhauser Straße to Karlsplatz/Stachus. Here you will find all the major European chains and many department stores. Estimates show that Germany’s largest retail turnover per minute happens right here. Beyond Stachus, there are more stores in Sonnenstraße, Schützenstraße, and in the Elisenhof at the main … Read more

1.    Turner’s Buttermere Cumbria Julia Bradbury climbs the gells above Buttermere for a picture perfect view The grandeur for the Lake District has inspired artists and poets for centuries. The grandeur for the Lake District has inspired artists and poets for centuries. JMW Turner painted many watery landscapes there on his northern tour, Joseph Farington’s … Read more

2.    Walk Cumbria Grizedale Forest Grizedale Forest Find magical sculptures among the trees on this walk through hilly Lakeland forest Rippling across the crags between Windermere and Conistion, Grizedale is 8,000 acres of mixed forest laced with tracks and endowed with a renowned series of outdoor sculptures. Inaugurated in 1977, the sculptures dot the forest … Read more

3.    Heritage Gainsborough exhibition Compton Verney, Warwickshire See 18th-century rural life captures in oils in this tranquil art gallery Gainsborough exhibition The changing fortunes of many the great English country houses are encapsulated at Compton Verney. From barons to billeted soldiers, suffragettes to secretive appeasers, and foxhunters to film stars, the house has been all … Read more

5.    Tunnicliffe’s Malltraeth See the island haven that inspired one of our greatest wildlife artists See the island haven that inspired one of our greatest wildlife artists In the late 1940s, renowned wildlife illustrator Charles Tunnicliffe moved home from England to the wilds of Malltraeth on the Isle of Anglesey, where his studio overlooked the … Read more

Daley Center & Plaza Daley Plaza with its famed Picasso sculpture was the setting for a sensational chase scene in cult movie classic The Blues Brothers (1980). Stars John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, playing ex-criminal brothers, dramatically crash their car through the center’s plate-glass windows, specially installed for the filming, as the authorities hopelessly attempt … Read more

All city beaches have lifeguards on patrol 9am–9:30pm, Memorial Day–Labor Day. Millennium & Grant parks As well as a center for world-class art, music, architecture and landscape design, the 24-acre (10-ha) Millennium Park offers winter ice skating, interactive public art, al fresco dining and free classical music concerts. Together with the adjoining 19th century Grant … Read more

7.    Hockney’s Bigger Trees Warter, East Yorkshire The Wolds have found a powerful advocate in David Hockney’s bold images Previously one of the undiscovered gens of England, the Yorkshire Wolds hit the headlines though the art of David Hockney. His colorful tributes to East Yorkshire, recently seen in a major Royal Academy exhibition, shine a … Read more

9.    Henry Moore Walk Hertfordshire Step into the mind of an abstract sculptor Step into the mind of an abstract sculptor Henry Moore is known for his semi-abstract bronze sculptures that are dotted around the world. The majority of his work features human figures, usually female or mother-and-child, and has attracted a huge following since … Read more

Blooming gorgeous What’s new: It’s about time! After five years, Gardens of the Bay will open its Bay South Garden on June 29 with a two-weekend-long series of events. Expect live concerts by Jazon Mraz and Corrinne May, family carnivals, storytelling and kids’ programmes, and a movie under the stars. At 54 hectares, it’s about … Read more

Alameda The look is LA or Sydney, the food is Brazilian. The well balanced menu includes good- value set lunches and dinners that change with the availability of fresh ingredients but great steaks are standard. Alameda Cafe Sambal Sambal, a sauce made with chillies, features on the menu at this stylish Malay restaurant, along with … Read more

Bed Tapas & Bar The perfect Beijing bar – an old courtyard house kitted out with antique furniture, including kang-style beds. Excellent food, plus weekend DJs . Bed Tapas & Bar Centro Beijing’s classiest bar is off the lobby of one of the city’s swankiest hotels. Louche and loungey, it boasts live jazz, sexy waitresses, … Read more

Cocido Madrileño This classic Madrid stew goes back to the days when the working class housewives of Lavapiés and La Latina would keep a cooking pot simmering on the stove, adding whatever ingredients came to hand. Today’s typical cocido might include pigs’ trotters, beef shank, chicken, sausage, chickpeas and vegetables. Served in stages, first the … Read more

La Ardosa This popular watering hole has a pedigree going back more than 200 years – Goya sold some of his paintings here. The pub was given a makeover in the 1980s and the owner claims it was the first bar in Madrid to celebrate St Patrick’s night. That was when they started serving Guinness … Read more

NOTE Ocean Park “Connecting people with nature” is what it’s all about at Ocean Park. The Giant Panda Habitat, Atoll Reef, Sea Jelly Spectacular and Dolphin University exhibits will keep children engrossed for hours. Older kids will love the supervised sessions where you can touch some of the animals. The park also features around 20 … Read more

From the corporate vanities of Central district’s glass towers, through the vodka bars and galleries of SoHo, and spilling down flagstone lanes to the raucous shophouses and old docksides of Western, the Island’s northwest potently concentrates all of Hong Kong’s surreal contradictions. In the concrete gullies between futuristic banks and statement office blocks you’ll find … Read more

A Day in Central Morning From Des Voeux Road take the tram westwards from Central and jump off outside the handsome colonial building housing Western Market . Browse among the ground floor trinkets, select a pattern from the many bolts of material on the first floor and enjoy excellent dim sum at the upstairs restaurants. … Read more

Capuchin Crypt If you like a good haunted house, this is your first stop. The bones of thousands of deceased monks have been used to decorate every conceivable surface in the most ghoulish designs. Those corpses that weren’t taken to bits have been hung on walls, decked out in cowled robes . Museo della Casina … Read more

Gianicolo Saunter around arm-in-arm in this elegant park and take in a traditional puppet show, perhaps buy a puppet or two and check out the carousel. But most of all, enjoy the views, considered by many to be the best in the city. If you happen to be here at noon, get ready for a … Read more

Amateur soccer game Boating Thompson Boat Center in Georgetown rents kayaks and canoes to reach Roosevelt Island and tour the waterfront. The Washington Sailing Marina rents sailboats for excursions on the Potomac. Call about certification requirements. Thompson Boat Center 2900 Virginia Ave, NW 202 333 9543 Open 9am–6pm daily Washington Sailing Marina 1 Marina Drive, … Read more