Amsterdam is a city that celebrates individuality, encourages quirkiness and delights in difference. It has a long history of riches and rebelliousness. The glory-days of the 17th century, the über-cosy 1800s, the counter-culture explosion of the 1960s – they’ve all left tidelines along Amsterdam’s canals: opulent gables, Rembrandt and Van Gogh, barrel-lined cafés, gardens of rare blooms, marijuana-selling ‘coffeeshops’, and Miss Marple bicycles.

Now Amsterdam is sweeping into a new Golden Age, making a fresh mark with galleries, sharp shops, award-winning restaurants and hipster cafés. Bristles of audacious architecture have shot up round the city edges but the cobweb of gable-lined canals is still at its heart, with funky stores in the criss-crossing alleys of Negen Straatjes, new galleries to the west in the Jordaan, world-class museums and chic boutiques south around Museumplein, a market and further foodie paradise in De Pijp, and hot new quarters opening up all the time.

And here are our other Amsterdam guides, providing inspiration for hotels, restaurants, shopping, bars and cafés, attractions and free things to do (plus the best hotels near Amsterdam airport).

Festivities: Amsterdam turns 750

Amsterdam has been celebrating the lead-up to its 750th anniversary all year, with a vast programme of exhibitions, festivals, concerts and more. Anniversary events include a free Isamu Noguchi exhibition at the Rijksmuseum until October, showcasing the renowned sculptor’s works. An Amsterdam Eats exhibition is also on at the Allard Pierson Museum until early September, that walks through the history of the city’s culinary scene.

Concerts: Sounds of the Future

From August 15 to 24, venues along the canals – homes, gardens, terraces, concert halls, churches and outdoors – host the Grachtenfestival. Amsterdam’s rising young musical talent take to the stage to perform classic and jazz concerts in alluring settings. It’s the place to hear those who are teetering on the brink of fame.

Museum: Photography exhibition

Huis Marseille makes imaginative use of its two quite exceptional 17th-century canal houses (complete with ceiling paintings by Jacob de Wit) in Memento, running from June 28 to October 12. More than 100 photos from its rich photography collection track the changes, tangents and curious surprises of photography over the past 25 years.

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Historic sites

Its pre-historic sites include Bronze Age barrows and Iron Age hill forts, most notably Cissbury Ring, north of Worthing, one of the largest in the country. As well as being one of the most beautiful locations on the South Downs, Chanctonbury Ring, near Steyning, with its signature ring of beech trees was once an Iron Age hill fort and later a Romano-Celtic temple. Figures cut into the downland chalk include the 235-ft Long Man of Wilmington, which was once thought to date back to the Iron Age but is now thought to have been cut in the 16th or 17th century AD.

Stargazing

In 2016 the Park was granted International Dark Sky Reserve (DSR) status, making it one of the best places in the country to view the night sky and one of only 19 DSRs in the world. The Park attracts amateur astronomers from all over the country, particularly in autumn and winter when the nights are longer.

Wildlife

The Park is also known for its biodiversity and is home to more than 30 species of both butterflies and orchids – famously, more than 40 plant species can often be found within a square yard. Globally important habitats include lowland heath such as Woolmer Forest on the border of Hampshire and West Sussex, the only place in the country where all 12 of the UK’s native amphibian and reptile species can be found.

The Park is also home to many rare bird species including nightjars, skylarks, Eurasian curlews and Dartford warblers. Exotic butterflies include the mesmerising Adonis blue and the Chalkhill Blue, while its many species of orchid include the multi-coloured bee orchid with its striking resemblance to a laughing bee.

Wine

Starting in the 1970s, the South Downs has become a favourite location of English wine producers producing Methode Champagnoise sparkling wine. The ‘terroire’ is similar to the champagne region in northern France and the southeast receives more sunshine than any other region of the UK. There are now more than 50 vineyards in the region, nearly doubling in number over the last decade.

Go hiking

The South Downs Way is one of 16 National Trails in England and Wales and is both a footpath and a bridleway. It is also the only National Trail to lie entirely within a National Park. The 100-mile trail connects Winchester in Hampshire with Eastbourne on the coast of East Sussex. The trail follows the chalk escarpment of the South Downs with views over the English Channel and the Isle of Wight to the south and the Weald to the north. As well as walkers and horse riders, the trail is used by mountain bikers and passes through a variety of wildlife habitats including chalk grasslands and ancient woodland. It also traverses five National Nature Reserves (NNR) and dozens of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Sardinia is undoubtedly best known for limpid turquoise sea and exquisite beaches on the Costa Smeralda, but there are plenty of those elsewhere on the island too, and for a fraction of the price. Food and wine is just as important here as well – the island is a designated ‘Blue Zone’, a region where the people live longer and healthier lives than anywhere else on the planet.

But unless you’re a fan of the History Channel, you might not know that Sardinia is one of the most mysterious places on earth. The oldest landmass in Europe, it has archaeological sites, discovered in the 1970s, that date from between 1900 and 730 BC (Sardinia’s Stonehenge). Little is known about the Nuraghic civilisation, but there are over 7,000 stone fortresses (the oldest in Europe) around the island, and some of the giant statues created are over eight-feet tall, giving rise to the notion that Sardinia might really have been a ‘Land of the Giants’.

Scroll down for our suggested day-by-day summary of the best things to see and do. For further Sardinia inspiration, see our guides to the island’s best hotels, restaurants, nightlife, beaches and things to do.

Rome has been around for almost three thousand years and yet carries all that weight of history with a dolce vita lightness of heart. It’s a city that combines the intimacy and human scale of a village with the cultural draws of a historic, art-laden European metropolis.

Classical ruins and early Christian places of worship stand next to – or sometimes lie beneath – Renaissance palazzos and Baroque fountains. But there are also great neighbourhood trattorias, quirky shops and a buzzing aperitivo scene. The golden rule for visitors? Don’t try to cram too much in. Rome moves at a slower pace than many northern cities, and to enjoy it you should take time out in pavement cafés as well as ticking off all the big cultural draws.

Explore our in-depth guides to Rome’s best hotels, attractions, restaurants, shopping, nightlife and free things to do.

New hotel: Orient Express La Minerva opens its doors

The former Grand Hotel de la Minerve has reopened as the Orient Express La Minerva, after a four-year renovation. This is the luxury rail brand’s first hotel in the world. The interiors now glow with Art Deco chic, and the rooftop restaurant has reclaimed its place as one of the most spectacular in Rome’s centro storico, with direct views over the Pantheon’s massive cupola.

Concerts: Rome Summer Fest

Italian and international stars take to the stage for the city’s annual music festival, Rome Summer Fest. There are more than 70 concerts scheduled between June and September this year, including A-listers from Sting and Alanis Morissette to Nick Cave. Performances are held in the outdoor Cavea at Renzo Piano’s modern Auditorium Parco della Musica, a delight for architecture aficionados, as well as music fans.

Patron Saint celebrations: Feast Day of Saints Peter and Paul

Rome’s 2025 ecclesiastical calendar is filled with Jubilee-related events, but there’s one summer celebration that is uniquely Roman: The Feast Day of Saints Peter and Paul, which honours the city’s patron saints each year on June 29. People will be out in droves for the Mass at the Pantheon and an infiorata (floral display) in front of St Peter’s. The main attraction however, is the Girandola, a spectacular fireworks display over Castel Sant’Angelo that lights up the sky around 10:30pm.

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Cornwall is on everyone’s lips these days. Those lingering shots of wild moorland, Grecian blue sea and soft pale sand in every episode of the BBC’s Poldark have drawn visitors from around the world. Despite such popularity the county retains its cloak of tradition and sense of isolation. Yet hidden behind the stone walls of farmhouses and fishermen’s cottages are stylish apartments and restaurants where acclaimed chefs serve up the finest seafood.

The largely unspoilt coastline inspires Enid Blyton-style adventures: tripping through fields fringed in wildflowers to a remote beach; digging around in rockpools that are works of marine art, and swimming with seals or learning to surf a wave. Beyond the beach there is plenty to entertain, from wildlife conservation centres and hands-on farm experiences aimed at children to historic sub-tropical gardens, steam railways and working mines, reminders of the county’s rich industrial heritage. A few days of breathing fresh, clean Cornish air, eating fish straight from the sea and sleeping deeply in a clifftop eyrie is the perfect antidote to the stress of city living.

For further Cornwall inspiration, see our guides to the city’s best hotels, restaurants, beaches, walks, nightlife, cream teas and things to do.