While Mexico's tourist resorts are still reeling post swine flu, the beguiling city of Campeche and its surrounds is as enchanting as ever.Read more: Great deals for visitors to MexicoMangroves and lagoons stretch along the northern half of Mexico's Campeche coast, home to countless flamingoes, while to the south the narrow bands of white sand beaches have always been cordoned off for turtles, not tourists. In the aftermath of the swine flu outbreak, Cancún, on the opposite side of the Yucatan peninsula, has been missing its usual planeloads of holidaymakers. But Campeche has never courted vast numbers of visitors and, while welcoming the few that come, can get by just fine without them. Lacking the Yucatan east coast's turquoise seas and sweeping beaches, this ruggedly beautiful western coast epitomises independent spirit. It's certainly safe again to bring your body here for healing winter sun; but more to the point, this area has always provided a unique medicine for the soul. Its inhabitants are justifiably proud of their abundant wildlife and rich cultural inheritance, while Campeche city itself is one of the most beguiling places in Latin America.Beat-up cars rattle through the narrow cobbled streets, a rusting Dodge parked up outside the pastel blue manicured splendour of a colonial house. The whole city centre is listed as a Unesco world heritage site: a perfectly preserved 16th-century Spanish colonial streetscape, where the fierce tropical sun tears shadows through curving wrought-iron balconies and window grilles, across the painted walls. Despite its overwhelming beauty, historical importance, and extreme safety, Campeche city is no stuffy museum piece. The vigorous thrum of Mexican daily life beats everywhere just beneath its stuccoed skin. The streets are filled with independently-owned shops selling pens, or tinsel, or radios. Women and old men pray beneath the chandeliers inside the finely-kept churches, or come to read their newspapers in the pews, finding sanctuary for the flesh as well as the soul in the cool limestone walls. Pelicans dive into the navy waters of the Gulf of Mexico beyond the city's sea walls, splashing down between small fishing boats, while Mayan women from the countryside sell mangoes on street corners and lanky boys shoot pool at battered green tables in antique colonnades.By night, the young Campechanos head out along the city's modern seafront, the Malecon. Open-top Beetles fly by with girls perched up on the back hood, holding on, brown knees bent against the sea wind; palm trees billowing high spikes sideways in the sky above. The strip is lined with bright taqueriaswhere I ate creamy hot rajas– green pepper tortillas – with new friends as the Mexico vs US baseball match played on TV. Afterwards, everyone goes to Rouge for salsa dancing, or to elegant old stone bars such as El Iguana Azul on Calle 55. For late-night eating, we visited the 24-hour La Parroquia restaurant on Calle 55; for top-class cuisine there was the romantic terrace restaurant at Puerta Campeche; while my favourite eating experience was in Sabor a Mexico on Calle 16 – a tiny colourful kitchen you can walk into from the pavement. I breakfasted here on chilli eggs, black beans, tortillas and a local drink made with jamaica flowers, for a handful of pesos, and was served by the owners' sweet-mannered children.On Friday evening at the city's heart, in the plaza in front of the cathedral, musicians were playing from the bandstand steps for their regular weekly audience. Lamplight caught the brilliant gold braiding on the mariachi jackets of the players, while fairy lights twinkled in the trees above the applause. Afterwards, I wandered back to the old arches of the Castelmar hotel, across terracotta tiled floors and courtyards to where the deep pool shone quietly underneath a soaring ochre wall and the night sky. Doing a lazy backstroke, gazing at Orion and Venus overhead, I could hear faint rushes of salsa from the cars in the streets; someone singing in a room.  In a Yucatan city with no beach, a hotel with a pool is almost a prerequisite. I loved the affordable Castelmar, with its high ceiling beams and big hardwood beds. I also stayed at the Puerta Campeche for a night of total indulgence. Housed in one of the city's old forts, its sybaritically minimalist suites are arranged around a garden courtyard filled with the sound of tumbling water and a series of interconnecting bathing pools that meander in and out of the buildings, between ruined walls.A few blocks away, the streets around Calle 10 are lined with shops selling jewellery and panama hats, as well as boutiques and panaderíaswhere you can pick up a bag of sugared pastries. I bought carnival masks and cream-stuffed boletas– all you need to eat cake in disguise. Later, at the rows of tables outside the cathedral, I joined in the evening game of bingo with amiable locals who managed to keep me right.On the west side of the cathedral plaza you find Casa 6, the old house of Campeche's founding father, Francisco de Montejo, now refitted to look as it would have in his day, and open as a museum. On the north side is the airy library, which I fell in love with, and its amazing collection of historical old books published soon after the Spanish conquest of Mexico. As Damián Dzib of the Instituto Campechano, put it to me: "They [the Spanish] preserved the history of what they found by writing it, even though they were destroying it." In one rare and mottled book, Brief Relation of the Destruction of the Indians, collected by Don Fray Bartolome of the Order of Santo Domingo, printed in 1552, a brave bishoppleads with the Spanish emperor for the indigenous people to be treated fairly. Other books give more idea of Campeche's past: an 1857 pamphlet on penal law for deserters; or an 1883 copy of Pirates and Aggressions of the English, 1690-1777. I wondered if my Anglo-Caribbean pirate ancestor, Stede Bonnet, was in there, but thought it might be more tactful not to find out.Pirate attacks were the reason for Campeche's fortifications. The town had been repeatedly plundered, and you can still see why. A solid silver altar and silver lectern gleam in the crystal-specked shadows of the checker-floored cathedral, while even the smaller churches are fitted out with gold and precious stones. To the ancient Mayans, jade was more esteemed than their plentiful gold. At the fort of San Miguel, built just outside the city as part of its defences, I spent a late afternoon exploring the collection of Mayan jade funerary masks and astrological stelae in its museum, watching the sun set over the old cannons and the now-peaceful sea. After several days of the city, I took off for a day's fishing in the mangrove inlets up the coast. I caught nothing more than sargassum seaweed, but was happy enough to drift through the amber shadows under the overhanging branches beneath occasional clouds of pure white garza herons; and to take a defeated doze beneath my sombrero, listening only to the sound of water lapping against the boat, the rustle of smaller birds close by in the leaves.The little ruined Mayan city of nearby Edzna has a similar air of peace. Campechanos sometimes come here for a walk, but it was very quiet when I visited and the place had the quality of an empty cathedral, or a garden at dusk. Its soft grey stones faced each other in perfect alignment, high above the planes of smooth green grass that had once been its squares and ball courts. As I stood on the top of its pyramid, the brilliant blue magpies rising from the canopy of trees in the surrounding woodland were the sole movement. Somehow they only accentuated the stillness.For my second week, I went to spend a few days out at a hacienda called Blancaflor. There are plenty of luxurious ex-hacienda hotels around, but the interesting thing about this less-luxurious place is that it still functions while also welcoming hotel guests. There were rows of tasselled, hand-stitched saddles by the gate, and old jeeps parked up outside, ready to help bring in the crop from the aloe vera and sisal fields. The food and the showers were basic but fine, and the house itself was stunning, with its antique furniture and arched walkways, and a shallow bathing pool filled from a freshwater well in the scented garden. I felt like a leisurely ranchera, out exploring the estate in the midday sun before collapsing sunburnt into my comfy candlewick bed. Packing an outback rucksack, I drove south along the highway for a couple of hundred miles to Calakmul, a vast and remote wildlife reserve near the border with Guatemala and home to jaguars. The stony peaks of one of the largest, most important Mayan sites in Mexico – from which emperors ruled long before Chichen Itzaexisted – rise up from this pristine jungle and give it its name. The 6,000 ancient structures lie 60km inside the reserve: I spent the night camping in a forest tent at Yaax'Che, just inside the reserve's perimeter, with anteaters snuffling around the canvas. I woke at five and drove on under a full moon, slowing for wild peacocks on the road. Dawn broke through chechen and ceiba trees thick with wild orchids, loud with howler monkeys, as I walked towards the ruined city. Ancient carved faces and symbols of birth surrounded a ziggurat with trees growing out of its steps; halfway up another stood an ornate stelae to an unknown female god. From the high top of Structure II, I watched the clear morning sunlight steam across a flat sea of green treetops, stretching to each horizon, broken only by the three nearby peaks of other smaller pyramids; a view unchanged for centuries. This whole area is full of intriguing sites. I spent another night at a forest cabin in Puerta Calakmul, next to Balamku. Jose and Luis, two excellent young English-speaking guides on a UN-funded training programme, pointed out various birds to me as we walked around the Balamku ruins: the wood-rails and yellow orioles darted around the opening to a hidden chamber inside the main pyramid, which was filled with spectacular carvings of gods and jaguars. Using a modern cottage at Chicanna Eco-Village as a base for my third night, I wandered the stones at Becan for hours. Likewise the ruins of Xpujil, and of Chicanna itself. As I climbed a temple to stand beneath the overhanging beak of a Chicanna deity, the sun chose to disappear. Raindrops clattered on the stone and on my head; I stood there, getting completely drenched as the rain ran ever louder into the thick leaves of the jungle. After the sky had cleared, I walked back down the path towards the gaping stone mouth of a Mayan earth god and a couple of rare visitors. The air was dry and bright once more, but now there was the sound of the rain that had been caught in the leaves, falling on to other leaves beneath – a second rainfall. Like rain that falls even after rain clouds have gone, this corner of Mexico gives you a peace and tranquillity that sustains, long after you've gone home.Getting thereSeveral major airlines fly into Mexico City; from there take an Aeromexicoflight direct to Campeche. The cheapest way to reach Yucatan is to get a charter flight to Cancun, then catch the coach across the ­ Yucatan (about US$15 each way, six hours).Where to stayHotel Castelmar (00 52 981 811 1204, castelmarhotel.com), doubles from $61. Puerta Campeche (+981 816 7508, thehaciendas.com), doubles from $234 (plus tax). Hacienda Blancaflor (+999 258 042, blancaflor.com.mx), doubles from $135. Campamento Yaax'Che (+983 871 6064, email ciitcalakmul@prodigy.net.mx). Puerta Calakmul (+998 892 2624, puertacalakmul.com.mx), doubles from $110. Chicanna Eco-Village (+981 811 9192, ­ chicannaecovillageresort.com), from $110.Further informationMangrove fishing: Campeche Tarpon(+981 816 4450, campechetarpon.com). Trips: Maya NatureSophie Cooke is the author of The Glass House and Under The Mountain, published by Arrow Books. MexicoCity breaksWinter sunCultural tripsSophie Cookeguardian.co.uk© Guardian News &Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms &Conditions| More Feeds

  A restored 1950s rail carriage on the shore of Loch Awe is the perfect way to see the HighlandsAfflicted by a blizzard of officious notices in our everyday lives, most of us hope to banish the edicts of petty officialdom from our holidays. On the banks of a loch in Scotland, however, is a holiday home unusually well-stocked with signs telling you exactly what you can and cannot do."This carriage is reserved exclusively for passengers desiring to lunch or dine," barks a notice when you enter the railway carriage next to Loch Awe railway station. "Please have all tickets ready," instructs a sign in the kitchen. "Pull the chain – penalty for improper use £50" warn red alarm stickers below the emergency chain. "Shunt with care," suggests another notice, rather more obliquely.Perhaps it is because you can yank the alarm chain with impunity and sit in the dining room without desiring to eat anything, or perhaps the retro orders of British Rail are intrinsically more relaxing than contemporary bureaucracy, but somehow, the officialdom of the 1950s is a deeply calming experience. The signs are one small treat in this magical, eccentric gem with spectacular views overlooking the grey waters of Scotland's longest freshwater loch.Loch Awe Railway Carriage was built in York in 1956. Rail nerds would identify it as a Mark I carriage, which means nothing to me, but it serviced passengers on the east coast mainline for decades. When it was retired in the 1980s, the carriage was slid on to its own personal siding at Loch Awe in the West Highlands and converted into a cafe. Three years ago, a TV producer with an inability to walk past derelict railway buildings without wanting to restore them saw that the carriage cafe had closed. He bought the place and after a painstaking refurbishment, the coach reopened in May as self-catering accommodation with two bedrooms and five beds.I was not fully convinced about the appeal of a week alone in a railway carriage in the middle of nowhere, but from the moment I arrived on a dark night, over a footbridge from Loch Awe station, after an eight-hour journey – by rail, naturally – I was entranced by virtually living on the railway. The carriage's wooden panelling glowed under traditional lighting and the dining room looked just like a train, with its two tables and four original carriage seats that creaked and bounced when you sat on them. Beyond the living room, a sliding wooden door led to a corridor in the style of traditional corridor coaches, off which were two cosy bedrooms.After stowing my clothes on the old luggage rack, I fell asleep to rain pattering on the carriage roof. I was woken the next morning at the civilised hour of 8.50am by the gentle dur-dumph dur-dumph of the first train of the day on the line from Oban to Glasgow. When I pulled back the (original) blinds I lay in bed and gazed at the ruins of Kilchurn castle across the water and felt as if the carriage was on the move again: the wind-swept waters of the loch flowed past the windows so fast it felt like the carriage was trundling to Oban.In the 1950s and 60s, holidaying in old railway carriages was apparently commonplace until humble holidays fell out of fashion. None, I bet, would have had such fine views. I was unlucky with the West Highland weather and enjoyed two hours of sunshine during five days at Loch Awe but it did not matter in the carriage, which looks south across the loch: even on the murkiest of days the light poured in through the windows. I was so close to the water (about 10 yards), the loch never disappeared from view.If a 1950s carriage is like a time capsule that returns you to the pace of the 1950s, what pace does a 1950s carriage that does not move return you to? In the coming days, I very slowly pondered this question as I learned to tell the time by the six trains that passed every day. (None were early or late and made very little noise; this being a quiet branch line.) One day, I missed watching a passing train because I was enjoying the ambience of the brilliant lemon yellow sink, another wonderfully evocative original feature. I felt distraught: each train had become a little highlight, a chance to peer out on the outside world as it trundled by and see if anyone alighted at the lonely platform of Loch Awe. Hardly anyone ever did.There was satellite TV, should I have required the 21st century, and electric heaters which soon cranked up the heat in a carriage which I imagine gets fairly chilly in winter, but I was happy in the 1950s. There was food served at the Victorian splendour of Loch Awe Hotel, which towers on a rock above the carriage, and at the Tight Linepub, but I preferred to stroll two minutes to the village post office and choose what to cook for dinner: if I had wanted fruit or veg more exotic than an apple, orange, banana or potato I would have to bring it with me or take a train into Oban. (The post office does offer a useful service whereby you can pre-order a range of basic food which will be delivered to the carriage before you arrive.)There are high-class culinary treats available: you can arrange a boat trip to go for lunch at the Ardanaiseig Hotel, on the opposite shore, and Inverawe Smokehouseat Taynuilt is a couple of miles away – I can vouch for its extremely tasty smoked trout. You can also take a fishing trip on the loch; locals catch mostly perch and trout. Oban, meanwhile, has restaurants and is famed for its distillery, which offers an interesting tour (with tasting, of course).Despite the splendid isolation of the carriage, and only three trains a day into Oban, it proved perfectly possible to experience the West Highlands without a car. For walkers, there is Ben Cruachan to climb nearby, although the area is not very well-endowed with marked footpaths. Two tourist attractions are within walking distance: Kilchurn Castleand the hydroelectric power station at Cruachan (also a request stop on the train) which bills itself as "the hollow mountain" on account of its cavern which is buried 1km under Ben Cruachan.I went farther afield, taking a bus into Oban and buying a Three Isles ticket from the harbour which took me â€“ via five ferry trips – to the islands of Mull, Staffa and Iona. The ancient lava fields that formed much of Mull gave it the look of Iceland in places and an amusingly laconic coach driver/tour guide pointed out the sights, including the farmhouse where Phil Collins once lived next to a coniferous forest he planted for a wind – and tax – break.Staffa, an uninhabited island named by the Vikings for its spectacular staff-like columns of stone, has attracted daytrippers since Mendelssohn visited in 1829 and was inspired to compose Hebrides Overture Opus 26 by the strange echoes inside Fingal's Cave. On the day I visited, the ferryman surfed his small vessel through a huge swell to land safely between rocks so we, too, could poke around inside the forbidding sea cave.As the place where St Columba touched down from Ireland in 563 to bring Christianity to Britain, Iona is firmly on the tourist trail. A battalion of elderly tourists visited the abbey and bought Celtic tat from the gift shops, but I escaped my fellow daytrippers by walking through its tiny fields, past surprisingly lush organic gardens, to the northerly end of the island, where brilliant white sandy beaches met the rolling ocean in rainy isolation.On the way home, the train to Glasgow felt funny as it squealed and sweated up scenic passes, offering up views of waterfalls and great towers of cloud piled on mountains turning red with autumnal bracken. For a while, I could not work out what was so odd. Then I realised. I was in a railway carriage and it was moving.• Loch Awe Railway Carriage (scotlandrailholiday.com) from £340-540 per week (sleeps 5). Caledonian MacBrayne (calmac.co.uk) sails from Oban to islands of the Inner and Outer Hebrides. A Three Isles ticket (return ferry to Mull, return coach to Fionnphort, ferry to Staffa, ferry to Iona and return) costs £48. Book with Virgin Trains (08457 222 333, virgintrains.co.uk) for trains London and the south to Glasgow. ScotRail (0845 601 5929, scotrail.co.uk) trains go from Glasgow Queen Street to Loch Awe. You can also take ScotRail's Fort William sleeper service: get off at Upper Tyndrum and walk to nearby Lower Tyndrum station for trains to Loch Awe.ScotlandRail travelSelf-cateringGreen travelUnited KingdomShort breaksPatrick Barkhamguardian.co.uk© Guardian News &Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms &Conditions| More Feeds

  Cider, calvados, pommeau . . . On Normandy's celebrated Cider Route, the only question is which nectar to sample nextImagine sitting on a terrace 22m above the ground, in a 250-year-old plane tree, watching the windmills turning on the rolling hills of the Pays d'Auge. The Nid d'Aigle (Eagle's Nest) is one of Le Domaine de Canon's three luxury treehouses. The elegant estate (00 33 2 50 67 10 74, coupdecanon@gmail.com; entrance, €2) is also a cider and calvados producer where visitors may take part in honey and apple harvesting, according to season, and an organic discovery farm, where they can pet Hungarian sheep, Normandy cows, woolly pigs (a genial half-pig, half-rug type creature) and llamas. The Domaine is a highlight of the Route du Cidre, for both day visitors and treehouse dwellers.Lower Normandy's Pays d'Auge is home to the mellow meadows of the well-signposted (with an apple) Route du Cidre, or Cider Route, the only one of its kind in France, where cider and calvados producers in half-timbered manors are happy to show you how the magic is wrought. It's a 40km circular route, along which you'll pass villages where tiny galleries in squat, turreted cottages showcase local artists, and creperies serve cider in teacups; hotels half-hidden in high oak copses beside waving cornfields; and everywhere apple orchards, perfect for picnics and sampling a drop or two of distilled nectar.An excellent starting point for the route is the pretty village of Cambremer, in the heart of the Pays D'Auge. The terrace of the Café des Sports (rue Pasteur, +2 31 63 03 52) on the Place de l'Eglise is a popular place for a coffee or a glass of cider. Opposite, you'll find the picturesque Restaurant Au P'tit Normand(+2 31 32 03 20) and the tranquil beams of the Grange aux Dîmes gallery, which showcases local artists.Just around the corner is Calvados Pierre Huet(+2 31 63 01 09; guided tour and generous tasting, €2,50), one of the Pays D'Auge's most celebrated producers of cider, calvados and pommeau (a mix of apple juice and apple brandy), with its beautiful colombage manor house surrounded by orchards, the great distilling barns tucked away behind.According to our eloquent oenologist guide, François, the origin of the Normandy apple tree is "lost in the night of time". The first mention of its presence appears in the year 862, in books of obscure writings at the Benedictine abbey of Saint Wandrille, some 100km to the north-east. Sailors from the Basque Country are said to have introduced cider, or sagardoa (Basque for apple wine), to Norman mariners as early as the sixth century, and by the 12th century, the Spaniards had exported cider making to Normandy. By the 1600s, cider had supplanted cervoise (an ancient barley beer) as the region's tipple, which it remained until the middle of the last century when beer took over. Today, apple trees are cultivated using traditional methods on flint clay soil and sedimentary rock.The apples come in four varieties: bitter, sweet bitter, sweet and acidic, with names such as gentle bishop, yellow knight, white calf and skin of dog – for a charm of powerful trouble . . .After being shown around Calvados Pierre Huet's sorting, steeping and pressing sheds, the long, low cider and pommeau cellars with their whorled oak barrels, and the great stills with their copper streamers and coolers for the concoction of calvados, we repaired to the shop to taste fragrant apple juice, sweet cider with its woody tang, tantalising pommeau that misleads you with its gentle apple-juice entrée before the fiery aftertaste, and various vintages of calvados: the caramel surge of the eight-year-old vieille reserve, the apricot dragon of the 12-year-old hors d'Age (my favourite), and the 30-year-old cordon or, which tasted like a liquid version of a very heavy, alcoholic Christmas cake. If you feel the need to soak all that up, the convivial Madame Therouin of the nearby Hôtel &Bar Restaurant Commerce provides a hearty menu ouvrier(workers' menu) – and a comfortable room to sleep it off.To the north of Cambremer, at Victot-Pontfol, the Dupont family has been creating cider and calvados for four generations (+2 31 63 24 24, calvados-dupont.com). They number the famous Parisian hotel George Vand Tour D'Argentrestaurant among their clients, and on warm days, visitors may picnic on their lawns for a €5 fee.Beuvron-en-Auge, 4km north along the route, is a cutesy village regularly voted one of the most beautiful in France. If you like geraniums, tourist knick-knack shops and antiques, this is the place for you. If not, take the lovely country lanes that lead you around the rest of the Cider Route, north-east to bucolic Beaufour-Druval, with its ancient cemetery, vast, spooky caves, and Lepage cider and calvados producers (M Bernard Lepage, +2 31 65 12 75); then east to the ancient village of Bonnebosqr; south to the dinky hamlet of La Roque-Baignard, over which the young French writer André Gide presided as mayor, in what may be the tiniest mairie (town hall) in all of Normandy, a little pointy-roofed building about the size of a British police box; and lastly to tranquil St-Ouen-le-Pin, with its dappled churchyard where lies the French historian and politician François Guizot. If you visited every cider producer you found around these villages, the route could take you through harvest time and straight on till Christmas, but equally a day or two is plenty for a taste of autumn sunshine in a bottle.If you'd like a luxury hideaway on the ground rather than in the trees, Château Les Bruyères is a chic yet relaxing hotel in an 18th-century manor house with sumptuous suites, an elegant champagne bar and pretty restaurant, a lovely garden swimming pool in 10 hectares of grounds, and an amazingly pet-friendly attitude: guests' dogs and cats are welcome, as long as they're civil to the resident dogs, cat, donkey, horses and rabbit, and if you turn up with your own horse, it gets free apples and lodging. It's a laidback, generous approach that's typical of this area of Normandy. Perhaps it's something to do with centuries of drinking cider on sunny days.Getting thereBrittany Ferriessails Portsmouth-Caen and LD Linessails Portsmouth-Le Havre.Where to stayNid d'Aigle(Eagle's Nest) is one of three treehouses at Le Domaine de Canon, from €180 for two in high season, €100 in low season (Nov to March), incl welcome drink and room-service breakfast; four-course dinner, €25pp, also delivered to the treehouse. Château les Bruyères, Route du Cadran, 14340 Cambremer (+2 31 32 22 45). Twin and doubles from €150 and €190. Restaurant à la carte from €42pp.Further informationFor more information on the cider route, visit cambremer.com/normandy/cambremer_gb.htm(French and English); francethisway.com/normandy/normandyciderroute.php(English); or routeducidre.free.fr/(French).Food and drinkFranceShort breaksRoad tripsHotelsguardian.co.uk© Guardian News &Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms &Conditions| More Feeds

  Emulating New York's Meatpacking District, Kødbyen, or 'Meat City', is now the hippest area in townWe've seen it happen in the Meatpacking district of Manhattan, and Smithfield's in London; now those groovy butchers have done it again. Copenhagen's meat-processing quarter, Kødbyen (literally, and none too appetisingly, "Meat City") is the hottest nightlife destination in town right now. It seems that wherever there are butchers, the young, the trendy, their avant-garde hairdressers and cutting-edge mixologists are keen to follow.In the case of Kødbyen (pronounced "cool-boo-en"), the influx of bars, galleries, clubs and restaurants is the result of a conscious decision by the city council, which owns the 1930s warehouse complex, a couple of minutes' west of the central station. Thanks to Denmark's pork industry, Kødbyen is said to have once boasted the highest density of butchers in Europe, but when most of the industry moved out of town around the turn of this century, there were fears that the area would become a ghost town. Then, in 2005, the council landed on Manhattan's Meatpacking District as a model."The idea is for Kødbyen to be open 24 hours a day. You will come out of a cocktail bar in the middle of the night and bump into butchers as they are on their way to work," the director of the project told one newspaper at the time.The first I heard were whispers of an unspeakably cool new restaurant and cocktail bar that had opened there. Siblings Jeppe and Lærke Hein's Karriere(Flæsketorvet 57, 0045 33 21 55 09, karrierebar.com/en/) had light installations by Olafur Eliasson, the Icelandic-Danish artist famous for his Weather Projectinstallation in London's Tate Modern. We went to check it out one Friday night, arriving at the entrance to the deserted butchers' warehouses, and wandering slightly nervously between dormant container trucks until we finally spotted lights like 50s spaceships, cameras – and a great deal of action.Three years on, Karriere has lost some of its buzz, but it's still packed at weekends, and the party mood is spreading throughout Kødbyen. Just across the way is – this week's – hottest bar, Jolene (Flæsketorvet 81-85, myspace.com/jolenebar) – so cool, it has no sign. Filled with an artful selection of ramshackle furniture, it's run by two Icelandic women, both named Dora. In its first incarnation, in a residential neighbourhood, it was so successful, the neighbours complained. Now it is free to make as much noise as the patrons like, with a mix of live music, DJs and dancing. Together with the three-storey, post-industrial, Berlin-style Kødboderne 18 nightclub (Kødboderne 18, kodboderne18.dk), these three form the cornerstone of Kødbyen's scene.And yes, the revellers do pass the butchers on their way out at the end of an evening's partying. "We're pretty much used to it all by now," a butcher on a morning cigarette break told me. "It's nice to have some life here.""It's really cool that the butchers come in," said Cecilie Bepler of the photoart gallery Dask (Flæsketorvet 24, daskgallery.com). "We had an exhibition of food close-ups recently, and they loved that! They made a mistake in New York, I think, in moving the butchers out. There's a good attitude here, a bit of character."Gallery manager Gitte Madsen of V1(Flæsketorvet 69-71, v1gallery.com) often gets the "meat scene" popping by to look at her contemporary art, shown in the walk-in freezers. "I had a butcher in this morning," she tells me. "She was, like, 'Wow! I could never have imagined you could use this space like this.'"Dask and V1 are two of several recent arrivals keeping the momentum going in Kødbyen by day as well as at night. Another is Mette Ohlendorff, of the art collective Art Rebels (Flæsketorvet 17-19, artrebels.com), a group of artists, designers, musicians and new media types with clients including Diesel and Hummel who moved here in December last year from the city's previous "coolest" quarter, Islandsbrygge.The spare, white rooms and massive plate windows of the old butchers shops look perfect for galleries and bars, but all of Kødbyen is subject to a strict preservation order which has raised some problems. "We love the fact that we can make as much noise as we want, and we love this industrial space, but the problem is we can't change anything," says Ohlendorff. "If one of the tiles falls off we have to replace it. And it's not as if they are special tiles!"That's not the only stumbling block in the council's attempts to "funkify" Kødbyen. "Yet another example of Copenhagen being turned into one more Tivoli," complained one reader of a Danish newspaper to its letters page. More seriously, the butchers are slowly being driven out by the local council who have recently raised rents in line with market rates (in some cases by 200%). There are now just eight left, where once there were 50, and there are fears that, without its indigenous population, there'll soon be metaphorical tumbleweed blowing through Kødbyen during the day.For now, at least, if you visit Kødbyen by day there is still plenty of life. By lunchtime the labourers are sitting on upturned packing crates after a long morning shift, beneath the noble bas relief of the cow that is Kødbyen's symbol. You can still see the butchers at work and, come lunchtime, the students from the city's largest cooking school, also based in Kødbyen, roam in gangs in their chefs' whites.Kødbyen has also become the city's new restaurant hot spot with several recent openings. The largest is BioMio(Halmtorvet 19, +45 33 31 20 00, biomio.dk), a 200-seater, self-service organic restaurant with an open kitchen, run by Australian Peter George. All the ingredients used are organic or biodynamic, and low priced – at least for Copenhagen (£10-£14).Kødbyen's Fiskebar (Flæsketorvet 100, +45 32 15 56 56, fiskebaren.dk/da), is a contemporary Scandinavian fish restaurant with raw concrete walls and hypnotic, jellyfish-filled cylindrical fish tanks. The man behind it is Anders Selmer, part of the team that started Copenhagen's Noma– voted third-best restaurant in the world this year.The newest arrival, Paté Paté (Slagterboderne 1, +45 39 69 55 57, patepate.dk), takes its name from the fact that this winebar used to be a liver pâté factory. The owners, brothers Dan and Kenn Husted, have form as wine sellers, having opened the much-loved Bibenduma few years back. Their latest, inspired in part by London's Momo, is next door to BioMio and spills out on to pavement tables, oblivious to the savoury – and sometimes unsavoury – aromas from their neighbours.Michael BoothNorwegian Air Shuttle (norwegian.no) and easyjet.comfly to Copenhagen from the UK. Return train fares from London to Copenhagen from £177pp with Rail Europe (0844 848 4064, raileurope.co.uk) The stylish Axel (0045 33 31 32 66, hotelguldsmeden.dk), with blond parquet floors, friendly staff, garden and spa has doubles from £165. The Balinese-style Bertrams Hotel on Vesterbrogade is part of the same chain.CopenhagenCity breaksCultural tripsFood and drinkguardian.co.uk© Guardian News &Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms &Conditions| More Feeds

  The island's untamed southern coast may not be as pretty as its more famous beaches, but it has plenty to recommend it, not least a secluded uber-chic villa overlooking the MedExcuse me," says Gioacchino Sortino – who looks every sharp-suited inch the Sicilian businessman – reaching for his mobile. "It's my mama, she worries about me." And Gioacchino is worried about us. Wild, beautiful, unpredictable – and a little bit scary, Sicily has lived up to its tempestuous reputation by staging the most spectacular electrical storm. During the night, our villa – a glass hymn to modernism – felt as insubstantial as one of those plastic snow-storm domes as the elements raged about us. It's not hard to see why the ancient Greeks chose to settle in Sicily on this imposing cliff top facing Africa – or to imagine what portents they might have read into the furious display from the gods above. This morning, though, all – with the exception of Gioacchino's mama – is calm, the horizon as straight as the crease in his trousers.Gioacchino used to work as a sommelier at Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's, but came home to set up SoloSicily – with his brother, naturally – to prove to visitors that there's more to his country than the mafia. Compared with the manicured elegance of its most popular destinations, fashionable Taormina or charming Cefalu, southern Sicily is still undoubtedly the scruffy relation. It might not be as conventionally pretty as its neighbours, but the south coast has its own rugged beauty and plenty to recommend it that still seem to be something of an inside secret, remaining largely untouched by the tourist explosion that followed the arrival of cheap flights to Palermo and Catania around a decade ago.Casa d'Eraclea perches on the edge of Europe, its magnificent infinity pool dropping, apparently seamlessly, into the Mediterranean below. A modern architect-designed house, everything is clean lines, light and glass. Pool and sea dominate. It is like waking up to find oneself in the bright, deliquescent world of a David Hockney LA painting. Even the cactus-studded, hammock-slung garden is all symmetry and pleasing shapes. Its surroundings may be a little rough around the edges, but Casa d'Eraclea most certainly is not.If it sounds a little unSicilian, this is in keeping: it is here that the influences of centuries of occupation – Greek, Roman, Arab, Spanish – are most strongly felt. Looking loftily down on the tiny town of Eraclea Minoa, named after the Cretan king, Minos, Casa d'Eraclea commands a view that would have pleased any conquering monarch, yet you could lounge around naked as a Greek goddess all day if you so desired without any danger of having to turn an impertinent onlooker into a fawn or a gecko.Eraclea Minoa is a strictly one-street, one-shop, two-trattorias type of town. Arriving on the late flight from Trapani, on the western tip of the island, it was hard to appreciate its sleepy charms. But it does boast one of best beaches in Sicily: a great sweep of forest-edged sand. It's very popular in August, apparently, but in September was almost deserted. Any fellow philistines who, ignoring the cultural pull of Italy's galleries and churches, have driven miles in desperate search of a beach – not a lido, as the Italians, tellingly, like to call it, but a scrap of sand unpolluted by rows of expensive sun-loungers adorned with beautiful-limbed Italians – will know what a rare and joyous find this is. And it's only a 10-minute, pine-scented walk from the villa. Here, you could enjoy the sort of bucket-and‑spade holiday I always thought was too unchic for Italians.Eating options are limited – there's the Sabbia D'Oro or the Lido Garibaldi, serving, well, pizza or pasta, which might seem so-so to your homegrown Sicilian, but seemed pretty damn good to us. Sabbia D'Oro was the livelier and looked as if it did a brisk trade at the height of summer. You could bring young children without worrying, or have a romantic (in an unscrubbed-up sort of way) supper for two looking out at the sea.The hilltop village of Caltabellotta and its nearby caves are absolutely worth a visit – true Godfather territory. Climbing up to the remains of the medieval Norman castle provides views not only down on to the tangle of cobbled lanes of Caltabellotta but 21 other villages, apparently (we couldn't count that many). After an espresso in the square, we headed to the fishing port of Sciacca and spent a happy afternoon wandering its picturesquely dilapidated streets. Here, groups of old men topple over pasta bellies in raucous rounds of boules or sit silently in the shade intent on their cards; good-looking young men share gelatos in the sunshine; women of all ages and sizes gossip in doorways. (It's impossible to resist the cliche of the Mediterranean lifestyle – when I'm an old lady, please God, let me be a Sicilian one.)Continuing further west through untidy seaside resorts stuck barnacle-like on the coast, we ended up in the tiny fishing village of Porto Palo. Nestled unassumingly at the end of the road is the restaurant Da Vittoria. When I sit down to supper in unsunny Shepherd's Bush it warms my soul to know that overlooking a stretch of forgotten beach somewhere on the tip of Europe, tables of noisy Sicilians are tucking into great plates of pasta and sea creatures so fresh they think they're still in the sea.Heading east from Eraclea Minoa are the region's most impressive attractions – including ancient ruins to rival some of the best-preserved in Europe. But, with its modern towns and brutal industrial sites, there's no pretending this is an attractive stretch of coastline. First up are the Turkish steps, which presumably take their name from their resemblance to Pamukkale in Turkey – a ghostly series of white ridges shimmering in the cliff face. Once you have sat on this strange, almost lunar-ish stairway – and marvelled at the Italian ability to sunbathe anywhere – there is little to linger over, so we pushed on to southern Sicily's proudest attribute, the Valle dei Templi– standing sentry over the unprepossessing town of Agrigento. Ruins – whisper it - always leave me woefully underwhelmed (a shameful failure of imagination), but even the most committed rubble-phobe couldn't fail to be awed by the Valley of the Temples: you can almost see a sandalled Russell Crowe swaggering between the towering columns.It would be ridiculous to claim that southern Sicily is "undiscovered" when we are following in the footsteps of literally centuries of visitors. But if "getting off the beaten track" means not hearing a single British or American voice in a whole week then this small patch of Europe is as uncharted as other more remote regions of the world.The dramatic storm struck on our last night in Eraclea Minoa – maybe the gods would prefer the spoils of the south coast to remain a Sicilian secret.• A one-week stay at Casa d'Eraclea (sleeps 9, four bedrooms) starts at €1,820 in low season, with SoloSicily (020-7193 0158, solosicily.com). SoloSicily features villas (sleeping 2-38) and boutique hotels throughout the island. Book a 2010 holiday before 28 November and pay 2009 prices on selected properties. Ryanair (ryanair.com) flies to Trapani from Birmingham and Luton and from Stansted to Palermo from around £50 rtn inc tax. SicilySelf-cateringItalyRomantic tripsBeach holidaysFamily holidaysFood and drinkLisa Allardiceguardian.co.uk© Guardian News &Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms &Conditions| More Feeds

  There are only 200 of these three-wheelers in the world, and they're the most fun you can have on the road – especially in the twisting mountain region of Germany's Black ForestIt's easy to spot our hire car when we arrive at Frankfurt airport. It's the one causing a commotion, at the centre of a small circle of curious onlookers. But then, calling the Carver a car is like calling champagne table wine. It's not really a car at all. It's a machine beamed down from the future.It has two back wheels, like a car, but the front wheel of a motorbike. The driving seat looks like the cockpit of a fighter plane, and right now the front half is tilted at a 45-degree angle, a neat trick that's the key to its appeal, which enables it to "carve" around corners. And the technical stuff: a convertible with a 660cc turbocharged engine, it does 0-60 in eight seconds with a top speed of around 115mph.It's such an exclusive machine that there are only 200 in the world, with about 30 here in Germany. And for three days only, this one's mine. But first I've got to learn to drive it . . .Carsten Becker is my guide and, with fellow Carver expert Felix Zuckschwerdt, he gives me a quick drill in how to handle the tilting mechanism. Basically, you drive it exactly like a normal car, except you accelerate into corners, as you would on a motorbike. Crucially, you have to get used to your world tilting from side to side like a fairground ride.Brief over, I'm ready to hit the road, or the autobahn, to be exact. "It's easier to get used to it on straight roads," Carsten assures me. I'm not sure if he notices how white my knuckles are, gripped around the racing-style steering wheel.But once on the highway, I'm surprised by how quickly I take to the Carver. Germany is a nation of car lovers, and the autobahnon a weekend is like a meeting of car ads . . . but all eyes are on me: people hang out of windows laughing, wave and point, and give me the thumbs up at the lights. Unbidden, Kraftwerk's Autobahn pops into my head. I'm a machine! Look at me go. I catch sight of the speedometer, 160km/h (around 100mph). Slow by German standards, but as a Sunday driver, I'm horrified.We soon leave the autobahnand head towards the Black Forest. I've been given a detailed map, with suggested stopping-off points, to that night's destination outside Freiberg. Idyllic villages slide past, wooden chalets decked out with flowers, country churches and carved shop fronts already decorated with Halloween pumpkins. Deeply wooded hills rise up on either side, and every so often the fresh tang of pine fills the air as we pass logging mills.Freiberg is a historic university town with lively bars and restaurants, and a beautiful, ornate cathedral. We arrive at the Hotel Schloss Reinach with the sun still shining for a cool Weiss beer in the garden before tucking in to venison with beetroot and apple.The following day we continue into the heart of the Black Forest, and I can understand why Carsten calls the roads here perfect "Carver roads". They loop gracefully up and down the mountains and I find myself eagerly hoping for the next set of dramatic curves so I can push the tilt to its limit. It's like skiing on a bike. Each town we stop at draws new admirers. As we eat schnitzel in the old market square at Freudenstadt, a child comes up to ask if I can make it fly. By the time we reach Hotel Heiligstein, among the vineyards near Baden-Baden, I'm completely used to the curiosity. It turns driving into a really sociable way of travelling.Before we head back to Frankfurt we stop for lunch at Hirschhorn Schloss, one of the many old castles in this region. It sits on top of a steep hill with spectacular views over the Neckar river. A terrace restaurant serves traditional dishes such as sausage and cabbage, and Flammkuchen, a type of German pizza. As I eat, a disturbing thought crosses my mind: to my horror, I find myself agreeing with Jeremy Clarkson. As he concluded on Top Gear recently, the Carver is possibly the most fun you can have in a car.• i2c Tourmanagement (00 49 61 75 79 88 62, i2c-tourmanagement.de) runs bespoke Carver tours. A two-person, three-day package costs from €2,399, including fuel, four-star accommodation with dinner and breakfast, transfers and itinerary. Hotel Schloss Reinach, Freiburg (+49 76 64 40 70, schlossreinach.de), has doubles from €109. Hotel Heiligenstein, Baden-Baden (+49 72 23 96 140, hotel-heiligenstein.de), has doubles from €110. British Airways (0844 493 0787, ba.com) flies from Heathrow and London City to Frankfurt from £109 rtn inc taxes. For more information on Carver cars, visit carverconcept.comGermanyRoad tripsEuropeHotelsMotoringGeorgia Brownguardian.co.uk© Guardian News &Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms &Conditions| More Feeds

  The fishy theme at this new restaurant with rooms goes beyond the sublime food – you'll find it in the plush decor tooThere's no doubting the theme here, I think, as we pull up outside this 18th century former coaching inn bedecked in lobster pots.The Fish House is a new restaurant with rooms, at the foot of the South Downs, four miles from Goodwood racecourse and six north of Chichester. It's a bold investor who opens a £4m venture in the midst of a recession – but owner David Barnard is no risk-taker. With two highly successful restaurants under his belt – The Crab &Lobsterin North Yorkshire and the award-winning Crab at Chieveleyin Berkshire (he sold both) – he felt ready for a new challenge. If the Saturday night we visited is anything to go by, he has nothing to worry about. My beaten up, rusty Honda looked a sorry sight next to the gleaming 4x4s and BMWs. Inside there were a lot of men in their best Saturday slacks and women who looked as if they'd had their hair done for the occasion.I've stayed here before in its previous incarnation as the White Horse Inn, a B&B whose owners were among the first to adopt a comprehensive eco-policy. Barnard says the Fish House is as eco-friendly as its predecessor – with eco-cleaning products, eco-insultation and low-output machinery all in use – he just doesn't advertise the fact.Inside, the bar and dining room are dripping with fishy paraphernalia, from little metal fishing boats hanging above the oyster bar to chairs that look like coiled rope, from the fish-print cushions to the fish tank that forms part of a glass wall between restaurant and kitchen. All of which felt a bit odd in a country inn 15 miles from the coast. However, Lawrence, the manager, assured us that, bar the oysters (from Carlingford Loch in Northern Ireland) and the Scottish hand-dived scallops, the fish is ordered daily from sustainable sources on the south coast. And any sense of incongruity soon evaporated when we sat down to dinner. My lobster and mango blini starter was fancy but somehow underwhelming, but my companion's crab lasagne – delicious hand-made pasta with fresh crab and a seafood bisque – gave me food envy. My main of dover sole with a brown shrimp sauce was perfectly cooked and the lemon tart was probably the best I've ever tasted.Retiring to our room took the gloss off the evening a little. The 15 rooms, all named after fishing ports, are arranged in two wings behind the inn (with two above the bar). There are four themes; ours was driftwood but what struck me more than the chunky wooden bed and lime-washed wardrobe was the colour scheme: a garish feature wall with an orange and red sea-anemone print – or were they chrysanthemums? – with matching orange and red rug. Every other room was occupied so I couldn't sneak a peek at the other themes: Bhutan (I've no idea how this land-locked country became a theme), plum and aqua, but I suspect they might have been more soothing on the eye.There's certainly been no scrimping on the rooms: Egyptian linen, an espresso machine, plasma screen, furniture made from reclaimed wood and a shower head in our bathroom the size of a dustbin lid.At breakfast we watched through the fish tank as the chefs cooked our fry-ups – another excellent meal of homemade black pudding (very good, by all accounts), local sausages and bacon, before we headed for the downs to walk it off.Top tip Drive a mile or so up the road to Harting Down, for a heart-pumping walk that takes you up on to a ridge for classic views of rolling countryside punctuated by church spires.• Sunday and Monday evening deal is £150 per room for DB&B. It's worth checking for late deals: I called on a Tuesday morning and they had two rooms that night for £49 each, room only. Sally Shalam is awayHotelsShort breaksRestaurantsUnited KingdomIsabel Choatguardian.co.uk© Guardian News &Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms &Conditions| More Feeds

  Sue Prince, owner of Beechenhill Farm B&B, lists her favourite localspotsThe Yew Tree Inn, Cauldon LowAfter walking your legs off in the hills and valleys of the Staffordshire Peak District, step back in time at the Yew Tree at Cauldon Low for a pint of Burton Bridge. The pub, unchanged for hundreds of years, is crammed with traditional pub games and a treasure trove of antiques, from penny-farthings to Zulu shields and several pianolas – which often get an airing. 01538 308348. Lud's ChurchUp on the moors above Gradbach, in Staffordshire's Black Forest, you'll find Lud's Church, a 100m-long, 15m-high cleft in the gritstone hillside. A barely discernible trench to the side leads you into the emerald-green depths of the ravine. Dripping grasses, mosses and ferns cling to its rocky sides, the sunlight shafts creating natural stained-glass patterns. This is allegedly where the Lollards (condemned as heretics) hid in the 14th century – it's easy to see why. OS map ref: SJ 987656, near Gradbach.Museum of Cannock Chase The site was once the Valley Colliery, a training pit for those working in the coal industry. Now there's a museum and art gallery in the old colliery corn store, where the pit ponies' food was kept. Where else can you immerse yourself in a medieval royal hunting forest and a 19th-century coal-field community? The gallery hosts innovative exhibitions, and there's a friendly coffee shop. 01543 877666, cannockchasedc.gov.uk/museumLes Oakes Architectural ReclaimJust outside the market town of Cheadle, this huge reclaimation yard and museum is a locals' secret. Hunt through an acre of tiles, ceramic bathroom fixtures, fireplaces and finials, with sheds full of benches, beams and boxes of treasure. Take sandwiches – you'll stay for a day.lesoakes.comBeechenhill Farmis an organic dairy farm and B&B in the Staffordshire Peak District.Peak DistrictWalking holidaysShopping tripsBed &breakfast directoryMuseumsArchitectureUnited Kingdomguardian.co.uk© Guardian News &Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms &Conditions| More Feeds

  For Sara Wheeler the open road is home. She has criss-crossed the world, exploring its wonders. But having children didn't mean her adventures had to endThere we were, me and my three-month-old son Reggie, in freezing temperatures, north of the Arctic circle in Swedish Lapland. We were staying with my Sámi friend, Lennart and his family. While we lounged in the lávvu– a Lapp tent-house made from peat and pelt – Lennart cooked up a máles, the Sámi meal prepared at slaughter time, which consists of almost every part of a reindeer boiled in the same pot: liver, tongue, bone and steak with its hump of canary-yellow fat. "Even the hooves are boiled!" Lennart announced, handing me a green birch skewer with which to poke marrow from bone. I could see the flickering ion-stream of the northern lights through the roof opening. Lennart's wife offered a chunk of cooked reindeer fat on a plate."For the baby," she said."He's not weaned yet," I said."I know," she said. "That's what we wean them with."I was in the Arctic researching my new book, The Magnetic North, the story of a sequence of east-to-west journeys around high polar latitudes. I have been a travel writer for almost my entire career and in the dozen years since I've had my children, I have adapted our family life to the vagaries and requirements of my schedule. It hasn't always involved boiled hoof. But it hasn't been a picnic, either.Unsurprisingly, the history of travel writing reveals few mothers. Have a baby, and you lose your passport to that mysterious and magical world of anonymity, impulse and sleazy bars. The famous fathers of the genre usually had that most valuable travel accessory: a wife who stayed at home minding the squalling brood. (Forget the multi-outlet electrical adaptor. Get a wife!). The Great Railway Bazaar: And the Kids Came Too. I don't think so. For my own part, I still desperately miss those halcyon days when I shampooed my hair in washing-up liquid, slept on the roofs of moving trains and came home when I felt like it. Home, in fact, was wherever I stashed my carpetbag.My partner, Peter, also works for himself, though not as a writer, and we had never really planned how things might work out when or if infants arrived. When I was first pregnant in 1997, I sold a series to a Sunday newspaper called Travels with My Baby. It was a panic reaction. We needed my income, and I couldn't think of any other way in which I could continue working. So when the baby, Wilf, sprang forth, he and I spent our first year flogging round the globe. One of my first assignments was on the QE2, sailing from Sydney to Manila. Hardly slumming it, I admit, but it was exhausting. I wish, in retrospect, I had stayed in Starbucks with the other women from my antenatal group. I feel I missed out on something. It was a rubbish series, too.After about 10 months, I began to relax, and to get the hang of my new status as a double-act. Improvisation was the key to keeping the show on the road. Once, in a town in the American heartlands that might have been called Coma, I asked the motel owner if he could possibly provide a crib (cot), as I had forgotten to book one in advance. They didn't have such a thing, but the man kindly said he would see what he could do. An hour later, there was a knock on our door and he wheeled in a shopping trolley.When our second son, Reg, was born five years after his brother, the New York Times asked me to go to Bangkok at short notice. I was barely sleeping (of course) and permanently knackered. But they bribed me with a business-class ticket, Peter and Wilf enjoyed a boys' week at home in London, and Reg and I preened ourselves at the Mandarin Oriental. During the day we whizzed around town on a tuk-tuk, while in the evenings I hired a babysitter from among the fabulous Mandarin staff while I went out to conduct cutting-edge late-night reportage.It worked out all right, though I never did get round to sleeping, as I was up the other half of the night breastfeeding. (At least Thai well-wishers didn't advise me to shove tin foil down my shirt as my Sámi friends had. They said it reflected the heat back. In fact, I found that lactation was the only bodily function unimpaired by temperatures of -30C.) As for the other two back in England, they had a high old time. It was the first of many family experiences in which we split into pairs. It seems to suit us. One year we even spent Christmas apart – Wilf and I hiking in South America while Reg and Peter manfully tackled the family turkey without us back in London.Toddling was in many ways the most difficult period, for obvious reasons. It was much harder than babydom, anyway. But as the children grew more robust, I chose projects I could incorporate into family life. My last book was about a man who lived in East Africa, and we often decamped en famillefor research trips: Peter and our sons rather took to safari life. (The children liked in particular the fact that you don't get to wash very often.) Besides that, I picked assignments that suited us all. In Morocco we rode camels, and the New York Times picture editor commissioned the man who does the Babar illustrations (the son of the author, who set the series in north Africa) to paint a picture of Daddy Babar, Mummy Babar and Little Babars on camels for the cover of the magazine. I bought the original, and Wilf still has it framed on his bedroom wall. It cost more than the fee I received for the piece, but it looks cool.I have a residual conviction that I am a worse mother than everyone else on the planet because I don't bake cakes or build Lego replicas of the Taj Mahal, and no doubt for other reasons too. But there has never seemed a choice other than battling on. And, at heart, I try to make it into an experience that my children will always remember.Many years ago I wrote a book on Chile and when the publishers asked me to return to write an introductory essay to a second edition, I decided to take Wilf, then nine. We cycled in the Atacama desert, kayaked in the Pacific and rode horses for three days up an old trading route into the Andes. There was to be none of the drink-sodden Santiago lowlife I recalled so fondly from my first trip. It was only when I struggled on to my horse at the beginning of the Andean trail that I remembered how much I hate riding. The route was precipitous and constructed entirely of large, loose stones, and I was terrified before, during and after every step. Wilf loved it. I began to find that the children were more adaptable than me.In addition, their ability to make friends wherever they fetch up has opened many doors, real and imaginary. In the streets of old Havana they played an endless succession of baseball matches with Cuban boys, often with a piece of wood for a bat, always effortlessly bridging the language barrier. It brought another world close, and added another dimension to my own journey. In a settlement in the Masai Mara, Wilf mesmerised adults and children alike with a bendy wooden toy snake that went from hand to hand amid uproarious laughter. When we left, he presented it to the head man.Tricky moments? Of course. In South Africa with a one-year-old Wilf, the rangers in one reserve informed me that his mewlings attracted game, as hungry big cats mistook the sound for a wounded impala fawn. We wanted to see big cats, but were less keen on providing dinner. Elsewhere on the continent, a domestic guard dog bit Reg. Just thinking about it still makes my stomach twist up. We are always inoculated to the max; I established that the hound had received its rabies shot and calls to a paediatrician friend at home took care of the rest.I am not a diligent mother when it comes to forcing the children to keep holiday journals. I was afraid it would turn them against the trips and, besides, I couldn't be bothered. But Wilf is a keen birder – I am sure as a result of his travels – and I have stimulated his hobby as much as I can with books, ornithological lectures and special outings to hides. He's a far better spotter than I am and is often commended in the bush for sighting a lesser-striped lullaballoo or cream-faced loon. His comments on flora and fauna in general regularly find their way into my work, usually disguised as my own observations so I get the credit. In sub-Saharan Africa I've noticed that he gets more out of the walking safaris, which look at insects. And he's right: micro-ecology is more fascinating than lions. At any rate, the wildlife potential of our peregrinations goes some way to making up for not having a dog. I can just about keep it all going with children. But I can't do it with a labrador as well.It's much harder to schedule trips now that we are in the iron grip of school terms (two different schools, to make matters worse). But school makes it easier for me to sneak off alone, and I find that during term I can now leave them all without undue trauma. Peter can take up the slack, though we do still have a live-in nanny, who has been with us for five years.It's an occupational hazard of being a travel writer that you never enjoy a proper holiday. You always have a notebook in your pocket and a narrative running in your head. To keep the gas man at bay, I turned us into a house-swapping family, guaranteeing a plentiful supply of stories that I could turn into income under the guise of adventurous family holidays. Working through a home-exchange website, we have decamped to Nova Scotia; to the Greek island of Lesbos; and to Agadir in Morocco – all a success, the only downside being the need to tidy our own house in north London before our house-swapping partners arrived.For this article I asked Wilf, now 12, to nominate the highlight of his travelling life so far. He thought for a while. "My first polar bear," he said. "Definitely." I had taken him on a Russian icebreaker across the Arctic ocean in the course of my work on the magnetic north. Setting off from Murmansk, we headed north to the uninhabited Russian archipelago of Franz Josef Land before smashing west to the top of Svalbard and across to the remote east coast of Greenland, ending up in Reykjavik. The all-Russian crew adopted Wilf, the only child on board, and in the evenings took him into the staff sauna (a feature of all Russian ships) for a good thrashing with birch twigs.In short, I've made the best of what seemed at the outset like a stiff challenge. I enjoy sharing the joys of the open road with my boys, and I enjoy, equally, stealing a bit of my old life back and venturing forth alone. I hope the children have absorbed some of the rewards of travel: the power of the fleeting moment; the glimpse of another world; the whiff of a souk, recalled when the walls close in.Sara Wheeler's most recent book is The Magnetic North: Notes from the Arctic Circle, published by Jonathan Cape at £20. To order a copy for £18 with free UK p&p go to guardian.co.uk/bookshop or call 0330 333 6847FamilyGreenlandKenyaFamily holidaysTravelSwedenguardian.co.uk© Guardian News &Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms &Conditions| More Feeds

  A new book of stunning panoramas captures parts of the French countryside that have remained almost unchanged for centuries

  Find days out, UK breaks and last-minute holidays abroad in our round up of the latest travel dealsUK days out Juice: NewcastleGateshead's festival for children and young peopleA free weekend of extreme sports at Xperience'09, film-making, pumpkin-carving and a Beetlejuice family art workshop are just some of the 40 events at this festival for under-18s. Other events include a parkour and dance workshop (£5pp) and a sleep-inspired installation for children under six years.• From 22 October to 8 November, Juice Festival.British Ski &Board Show at Birmingham's NECTry your hand at snowboarding and skiing with a free lesson, go tobogganing and ice climbing or just enjoy watching the experts in aerial displays by world champs - plus much more.• British Ski &Board Show, 0844 581 0734. From 30 October to 1 November. Child £2.50 any day, adults £5 on Friday (£11 on the door Sat and Sun). Download a two-for-one-voucher here1 night's stay and play in Leicestershire: £99 for fourPrice includes one night's bed and breakfast in a hotel for a family of four, plus entry to three attractions from a choice including Twycross Zoo, the National Space Centre in Leicester, Conkers, Snibston museum and Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre and Country Park.• Stay Play Explore.Snow Tubing at Transition Extreme in Aberdeen: £5 for twoThis autumn Visit Scotland are offering "buy one get one free" on many outdoor activities, including "tubing" down a slope on huge inflatable rings. Also paintballing, wildlife watching and highland biking.• Download vouchers at Visit Scotland.Virtually free family activities in ExeterFamily fun that won't even break a fiver. There's storytelling for the under-fives, an art drop-in (£2pp/all ages), and the chance to create a mask from your own photo.• 25 October Exeter Phoenix; +44 (0)1392 667080.UK breaks1 night in Oxford: from £80 per family of fourFour Pillars Hotels is offering up to 45% off weekend stays at a selection of their hotels throughout September, October and November, including during half-term (26-29 October). Children up to 12 years stay and eat free (maximum two children per two adults). Children up to 16 stay for free with breakfast. Price depends on choice of hotel and includes Oxford Spires close to the city centre (for £59pp) and Abingdon (£40pp).• Four Pillars; 0800 374 692.3 nights in the Scottish Highlands: from £200 for twoThe Inch Hotel is offering three nights for the price of two and free stays for children during half term. The hotel will also be hosting DVD nights for children. The price is based on two sharing a room and includes full Scottish breakfast.• The Inch Hotel; +44 (0)1456 450900.7 nights on the Isle of Wight: from £162.50ppEnjoy a self-catering break at Gotten Manor on the Isle of Wight in the two-bedroomed Cart House. The price is based on four sharing and includes return Wightlink car ferry crossings from Portsmouth or Lymington departing 23 October. To entertain the kids, visit historic Appuldurcombe House 26-31 October, take a ghost walk around the 18th-century haunted house and enjoy a host of spooky Halloween activities (£24 per family/£30 on 31 October).• Wightlink; 0871 376 0013.7 nights in Newquay: £654 for eight This deal is for a week's self-catering accommodation from 24 October at the four-star Greenacre Lodge in Atlantic Reach. There are spa facilities, a pool and a children's play area. Pets welcome.• Cornish Horizons; +44 (0)1841 533 331.7 nights in Cornwall: £473 for four A waterfront, period cottage at St Mawes, South Cornwall is reduced by 25% for the week starting 23 October. The cottage is within minutes' walk of village shops, pubs and restaurants while the National Maritime Museum at Falmouth is a ferry ride away.• Helpful Holidays; +44 (0)1647 434063 (ref S213).7 nights in Scotland: £395 for sixThis deal is for one week's accommodation starting 24 October at Seahorse Cottage, located near the harbour in the village of Gardenstown on the Moray coast in Banffshire. Heating, bedlinen and towels are included in the price.• Ecosse Unique; +44 (0)1835 822277.4 nights' camping in Scotland: £165 for sixEnjoy a four-night mid-week break (26 to 30 October) at the award-winning Cobleland campsite, in the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park. Walking, fishing, orienteering and cycling are on offer as well as a choice of ranger-led activities.• Eurocamp; 0844 406 0552.Going abroad7 nights in Greece: £1,664 for a family of fourThis price represents a saving of £1,250 for a family of four for a holiday in Porto Sani Village, Greece. Price includes return flights from London Gatwick with easyJet, transfers and accommodation in a standard suite with garden view on a half-board basis. Price based on two adults and two children under the age of 12 sharing, for travel on 23 October.• Kids in the Med, 0845 277 3300.7 nights in Mallorca: £223, accomodation onlyA two-bedroom seafront apartment, Porto Cari 2J, in Cala d'Or is reduced to £223 (saving £149) for the week commencing 24 October. The apartment is spacious with sea views, a shared pool and a choice of restaurants in the harbour nearby. Sandy beaches and nightlife are only a short walk away. Sleeps four, the price equates to £56 per person, if full.• Mallorca Farmhouses , 0845 800 8080.7 nights Port Bourgenay Holiday Village, France - £350 (previously £417) This price is for one week in a studio apartment sleeping up to four people. The car-free holiday village is set in 90 hectares near Les Sables-d'Olonne, in the Vendée region. Facilities include three pools, sailing on the lake and a beach. Comfortable self-catering apartments and houses are spread over five areas - choose a view of the ocean, lake or golf course. There are complimentary kids' clubs and a children's farm.• See Pv-holidays.comfor more details.Late offersUnited KingdomBudget travelShort breaksFamily holidaysguardian.co.uk© Guardian News &Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms &Conditions| More Feeds

  In the first of a new series of blog columns, Susan Greenwood looks back on some of this summers' riding and previews some of the hottest MTB and road biking trips over the winterWhen it comes to off-road riding, there are reasons why places become legendary. Moab in Utah, with its slickrock trails and epic views, is the stuff dreams are made of. And I'm still dreaming, as I never made it there, aborting my road trip from Las Vegas at Zion National Park when jetlag kicked in.Zion may not be as famous as Moab but there's a reason why the Red Bull Rampage MTB eventis held there every other year. Heading out to the trails on Gooseberry Mesa the drops were still massive and the riding still technical (read cactus-tormented) but the crowds were zero. Definitely worth checking out – ask the staff at Bike Zionto show you the way or you'll have a butt-crushing seven-mile off-road ride to the start of the trail.In riding terms it's been a busy summer, with the Utah road trip ending at Interbike in Las Vegas– a massive bike show in the desert. It was a chance to demo all of next year's bikes, followed by an attempt to raise enough money through gambling to buy them. Top tip: the easiest casino to leave is definitely Planet Hollywood. Stay at the Venetian and you will be old before you ever find the exit.Hopefully the cycling momentum built up recently can be carried over into the winter months. Yes it's October but, no, that's not an excuse to hang up your spokes for the winter. The brochures may be turning to all things snowy but, as the chaps at IceBikehave proven, this is no barrier to getting out and using your bike for some cracking winter travel options.Winter mountain biking, road training and forward planning• First up Flow MTBhave two spaces left on their legendary Ride Morocco trip, deaprting 24 October to 1 November. The riding is on challenging mule tracks but a Land Rover is there to offer an uplift service. Cost is €900 (£828) which includes guides, transfers, accommodation, food and water but not flights or alcohol.• Still on a mountain bike theme, Mountain Bike Adventurehave just revealed a new cross-country route in the Algarve to add to their growing roster of mountain bike, erm, adventures. The company are currently offering a 20% discount for customers booking as a group of four or more.• It may be becoming obvious now that we like a bit of mountain biking. Hang in there, there's some road riding coming up, honest. Before that, Joyriders MTB in sunny Cordoba, Andalucia, Spain have just secured sponsorship by clothing brand Spiuk, meaning clients will be able to get their hands on some snazzy riding jerseys to wick away the winter sweat. Plus the company have just added a new uplift day to their roster so if you're a budding downhill rider you can treat yourself to sunshine days on the area's black runs without having to push back up. Heaven. Full suspension bikes available for hire too. What a great way to spend those dark winter days …• Still in Spain and the winter training camps offered by Andalucian Cycling Experienceare looking quite attractive. The company is offering a seven-day beginner's road riding camp from 6 to 13 February, covering a total of 354km, or 490km if you feel like pushing yourself. Prices from €525 on a B&B basis.• On a future-forward note, if you're looking to plan next year's cycle adventures the Adventure Cycling Associationhave a great resource for getting your ideas into some sort of system which will be of use to you when you next look at it.• Put the 2010 Passportes du Soleil MTB eventin your diary: 26 and 27 June. If you've ever wanted to take in two countries and 75km of trails in one day, this is the event for you.• And finally Charge bikeshave sent two of their sponsored riders, Juliet Elliotand Posy Dixon, out to San Francisco to check out the riding there. The fixie girls will be updating their blog daily as well as compiling a travel Ride Guide to the city that embraces fixed gear riding with penache, which we will be hosting here shortly.• And let's not forget homegrown adrenalin rushes. After many years of machinations and digging, Gisburn Forest in Lancashireis now playing host to a series of new MTB trails ranging from an 8km 'blue' route to a 22km 'red' course for thrill seekers. This adds to north-west's already fantastic Grizedale and Whinlatter trails among others. Check out more trails - and add your own - on our interactive map.Cycling holidaysShort breaksCyclingCyclingSusan Greenwoodguardian.co.uk© Guardian News &Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms &Conditions| More Feeds

  From an ancestral castle to a riverside restaurant with rooms, it's amazing what you can get for under £100. This selection from the new AA guide all combine indiviual character with great food in fabulous UK locations1. Jerichos at The Waverley, Windermere, CumbriaLovingly restored, the Waverley dates back to around 1870, and is centrally located in the delightful town of Windermere. The sunny, airy bedrooms are elegantly furnished with a strong contemporary feel and some of the top floor rooms have views of the fells. There's a comfortable lounge with a real fire on chillier days, the ideal place to relax after exploring this beautiful area. The chef/proprietor Chris Blaydes has established a strong reputation for his creative menus using the best local and seasonal produce. • Jerichos at The Waverley, jerichos.co.uk, +44 (0)15394 42522. From £35 for a single room, £60 for a double.2. 3 Norfolk Square, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk Delightfully refurbished property in a quiet location just a short walk from the seafront and town centre. The smart, thoughtfully-equipped bedrooms have coordinated soft furnishings and some have sea views. Breakfast and dinner are served in the lower ground floor dining room/bar, and there's a large, comfortable lounge. The Norfolk Broads and wide, empty beaches are within easy reach, or check out the seaside razzamatazz of Marine Parade, Great Yarmouth's Golden Mile. There is a no children policy.• 3 Norfolk Square, 3norfolksquare.co.uk, +44 (0)1493 843042. £20-£40pp per night.3. Carlton Riverside, Powys, WalesSet beside the river in Wales's smallest town, Carlton Riverside is a restaurant with rooms offering award-winning cuisine. Mary Ann Gilchrist sources the very best of local produce, which is served in the stylish dining room, a memorable blend of traditional comfort, modern design and river views. Full of character, the four comfortable and individual bedrooms have tasteful combinations of antique and contemporary furniture, along with welcome personal touches. Plenty to do, with great walks, mountain biking, castles and gardens to visit and the Cambrian Mountains to explore.• Carlton Riverside, carltonriverside.com, +44 (0)1591 610248. From £40 for a single room, £75 for a double4. Dungiven Castle, Co Derry, Northern IrelandThis splendid building is the ancestral home of the O'Cahan clan, who ruled the area between the 12th and 17th centuries, and is centrally located between the famous Giant's Causeway and the city of Derry. Spacious, elegant bedrooms overlook the 22 acres of landscaped gardens, with the Sperrin Mountains providing a stunning backdrop. Each individual Laura Ashley-designed room has its own unique character and features charming handcrafted furniture and a host of thoughtful extras. Don't miss dinner in the award-winning restaurant.• Dungiven Castle, dungivencastle.com, 028 7774 2428. From £45 for a single room, £90 for a double.5. The Old House, Ventnor, Isle of WightSet in lovely countryside close to the coast, this beautiful old building has a wonderful atmosphere. Careful restoration has created comfortable, rustic bedrooms with lime-washed walls, wooden floors and fantastic antique bathtubs. Delicious organic breakfasts using the finest ingredients, including local bread and homemade jams, are served in the cosy dining room, and the spacious lounge with an open fire is the perfect place to spend a relaxing evening after sampling the island's delights. • The Old House, gottenmanor.co.uk, +44 (0)1983 551368. From £75 per night based on two sharing6. Wesley House, GloucestershireThis beautiful 15th-century, half-timbered property in Winchcombe's picturesque high street is named after John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church, who stayed here while preaching in the town. Bedrooms are small but cosy and full of character, and this is the ideal base for a break in the Cotswolds. The restaurant serves great food, and a glass atrium covers the outside terrace, allowing you to enjoy the lovely views as you eat.• Wesley House, wesleyhouse.co.uk, +44 (0)1242 602366. From £80 for a double room (£65 for single occupancy).7. Newton House, Knaresborough, North Yorkshire Newton House is just a short walk from the river, castle and square in this lovely market town, just four miles from Harrogate and in a great position for discovering the delights of North Yorkshire. A former coaching inn, the elegant Georgian building is entered through an archway into a courtyard. The well-proportioned, handsome bedrooms, stylishly decorated, have a calm and relaxing atmosphere. Memorable breakfasts feature local and homemade produce, and owners Mark and Lisa do everything possible to ensure a perfect stay. • Newton House, newtonhouseyorkshire.com, +44 (0)1423 863539. From £50 for a single room and £90 for a double.8. Craigadam, Dumfries and Galloway, ScotlandSet on a farm, this elegant country house offers gracious living and a relaxed environment. The very large bedrooms (most set around a courtyard) are strikingly individual in style, with great attention to detail and comfort. The billiard room has a comprehensive honesty bar, and the panelled dining room, with magnificent 15-seater table, is the setting for excellent meals. Sporting access to 25,000 acres makes this a great place for fishing and outdoor breaks.• Craigadam, craigadam.com, +44 (0)1556 650233. From £60pp for a single room and £45pp sharing a double room.9. The Queen's Head, Loughborough, LeicestershireA smartly refurbished pub in the village centre with a fresh, modern feel to public areas. The individually designed bedrooms feature lovely big beds and crisp white linen, and are very well-equipped. The restaurant has earned a well deserved reputation for its award-winning cuisine; the menus are based on the freshest, locally sourced quality produce. Well-placed for access to Derby, Nottingham and Leicester, this is a great place for exploring the East Midlands. • The Queen's Head, thequeenshead.org, +44 (0)1530 222359. From £80 for a double room.10. Old Orchard Guest House, Chichester, West Sussex A contemporary, spacious house, Old Orchard Guest House is conveniently located just a few minutes' walk from Chichester's historic city centre.  The smart modern bedrooms are very well-equipped, stylish and comfortable, with fine bed linen and individually-designed decor.  The breakfast room is bright and airy, and the full English breakfast features homemade marmalade and local free-range eggs. • Old Orchard Guest House, oldorchardguesthouse.co.uk, +44 (0)1243 536547. From £35pp. • These properties are a selection from the AA Bed and Breakfast Guide 2010HotelsUnited KingdomScotlandWalesShort breaksBudget travelTop 10sFood &drinkFood and drinkguardian.co.uk© Guardian News &Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms &Conditions| More Feeds

  From a warm winter hideaway in Paris to a cheese-lovers' haven in Amsterdam, we bring you the latest instalment of insider tips from blog network Spotted by LocalsLa Mer à Boire - rainy days and Mondays in ParisParis is a place that is magnificent when the sun is out, but a little less appealing when the skies open. It's a northern city that thinks it's in the south, a Latin soul stuck in the wrong climate.The city doesn't really do cosy, certainly not in bars, and you'd never see a comfy sofa placed invitingly in front of a roaring fire. However, rather than just sit at home and watch the raindrops slide down the window, I take a walk through the Parc de Belleville in raincoat and boots and dry off at La Mer à Boire.Inside, although not cosy it is definitely comfortable, but what is of particular interest is the fact that you can relax with friends and drinks and play one of the many board games that are made available, or simply sit and read a comic book (the bar specialises in this art form, organising regular events with authors and illustrators).As the weather changes quickly in this part of the world, simply wait until the sun peeks through the clouds then move outside to the large terrace. Here you are at the highest point in Paris, and you can appreciate the best panoramic view available anywhere in the city.Adam Roberts• La Mer à Boire, 1-3, Rue des Envierges, Belleville, +33 (0)14 35 82 943. Beer (Demie) €2.60 (£2.40). Open 12pm–1am daily.Riccos - all-day coffee joint in CopenhagenThis wonderful corner coffeeshop has not been open long but it is already a neighbourhood favorite. And I think I know why.It's the combination of a coffee-thirsty neighbourhood, a great location on the corner, really good coffee, friendly service, enough seats (about 20 inside) and the right atmosphere of urban retro cool. Not forgetting the fact that they are open from eight in the morning (hello espresso!) to 10pm (goodnight espresso!). This would make a great stop if you are out exploring the more unknown sides of Amager.And who stops by here? Everybody from young moms to students, artists needing a break and families (like my own!) on the way home, just craving something delicious, hot and sweet.At Riccos you can not only have great coffee at a very fair price. You can also buy beautiful porcelain from the talented Helbak. And if you don't like coffee you can try one of the tasty Anton-beverages. All natural juice in a bottle. My kids love them. Rasberry is really great.Behind the name 'Ricco' you find Ricco Sørensen who now is the proud owner of seven coffeeshops around Copenhagen. You never go wrong with coffee from Riccos.Kathrine Felland Gunnlögsson• Riccos, Holmbladsgade 52, Amager. Double espresso DKK22 (£2.70). Open 8am–10pm daily.Džamija – Getaway island in ZagrebDžamija is a great place to go to if you simply want to stop and take a five minute break, read a book, enjoy the sun or talk to a friend. If art interests you, you can always check out an exhibition, because the building itself is a museum.Džamija is a Croatian word for mosque. Even though this building really was a mosque from 1944 for a short period of time (before that it was a Association of Artists Ivan MeÅ¡trović, and now is a Croatian Association of Artists) local people still call it džamija. The round shape of the building, its exterior and the fact that the place is surrounded by the roads, streets and traffic has always made me think of džamija as a getaway island from the city noise, situated in the city center. Even though you can still hear the noise while sitting there, it is only a background sound that you don't pay much attention to.When I was in high school this was my number one spot to go to when skipping classes. Nowadays it's my number one spot when I just want to sit and relax.Spotted by Kristina Petreković • Džamija, Trg žrtava faÅ¡izma bb, Lower Town. Free. Open 24 hours.K. Zeppos cafe - easy AntwerpI often visit this cafe/restaurant whose name comes from a Belgian TV programme for kids: Kapitein Zeppos. The programme played from 1964 to 1968 and was very successful. When you enter the cafe you see a huge picture of the actor that played Kapitein Zeppos.K. Zeppos is a very 'practical' café/restaurant. It's in the middle of the city but not in the heart of the tourist zone. It has an enormous terrace on a big square for summer, and in winter it's very comfortable inside. Good atmosphere, nice food for an okay price. It's a perfect meeting place for little groups. If I want to see a bunch of my friends we think of K.Zeppos - especially if people are hungry. You can eat classic Belgian food, but they have also meals from all over the world. Spotted by Ysabel Jongeneelen• K. Zeppos, Vleminckveld 78, Meir, +32 32 31 17 89. Main meal from €15. Open from 10am daily.De Kaaskamer - cheese shop and delicatessen in AmsterdamI can't repeat enough how much I like cheese. This is why visiting De Kaaskamer is a treat for me. Looking at (and smelling) all the different sorts of cheese makes my mouth water.I usually go here to get a delicious baguette for lunch. You can pick any sort of cheese or meat and other toppings and it will fill your stomach for the rest of the day. The shop is hard to miss, you can smell it metres away. When you go inside you won't know where to start. Luckily the personnel are really friendly and they let you taste different cheeses too.My tip would be to get yourself a baguette, and eat it beside one of the beautiful canals. Then on your last day in Amsterdam head to the shop again and fill your wholesuitcase with cheese. Enjoy.Gisela Clarke • De Kaaskamer, Runstraat 7, +31 20 62 33 483. Baguette €5. OpenMon 12-6pm, Tue–Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 12-5pm.City breaksTravel websitesShort breaksFood and drinkAmsterdamAntwerpParisCopenhagenZagrebguardian.co.uk© Guardian News &Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms &Conditions| More Feeds