UK

Hi-de-Hi? No de no! Welcome to the British holiday park, 21st-century style

Seven o'clock on Friday night and the weekenders are descending on Elveden Center Parc in Suffolk. The car park is nearly full; most guests have dropped off the luggage at their lodge and dutifully parked up, because at midnight, car access within the grounds is restricted until it's time to quit this rural idyll on Monday morning.

Inside UK

This new spa offers frazzled parents a little slice of Haven

Sunday, 29 June 2008

My toes are still tingling from the loving attention lavished on them. "Deluxe", "Zenspa" ... I'll have the lot. After months of bad weather and thick boots, I want sexy sandal feet. Next up, a facial. As the therapy lights move through their rainbow repertoire, she barely touches my forehead and I drift off on a cloud of calm.

Take a trip that doesn't play on your conscience

Sunday, 29 June 2008

Inspired by the rallying call of friends who needed help to raise the timber frame on their eco-build in north Norfolk, I decided to extend my trip and take my five-year-old son Inigo to check out Kelling Heath, an environmentally friendly holiday park near Holt.

Trail Of The Unexpected: King of the castles, turrets, towers and timekeeping on the Kent coast

Saturday, 28 June 2008

There's a definite novelty factor to ordering a pizza to be delivered to your very own 13th-century tower at Dover Castle. Ideally, we would have rustled something up in our brand-new kitchen – complete with all mod-cons and probably one of the best views in Britain – but it was Sunday, we'd been out seeing the sights and hadn't made it to the supermarket in time.

Take a barge in Britain's industrial back yard

Sunday, 22 June 2008

It has to be the Slow Movement's ultimate holiday – meandering up the Trent and Mersey Canal on a barge at 4mph while watching commuters belt along the Manchester to London high-speed railway line at close on a ton. The names of the boats we pass tell the story of a fraternity that has found the escape hatch – Dunwurryin, Duntorin.

Around The UK

Sunday, 22 June 2008

1. Canary Wharf comes alive today with Dancing City, one of the events rounding off the Greenwich & Docklands International Festival. From 1pm to 5pm, its squares and outdoor spaces will be animated by performances that include a football-themed piece, Bend It (festival.org).

Five British Hotels By The Sea

Saturday, 21 June 2008

These chic new openings mean that the coast has just got a lot cooler

To Hull and beyond

Sunday, 15 June 2008

Most people go to London to seek their fortune but I came to Hull, so I guess I'm a Yorkshireman through and through. I grew up in Upton, a mining village in West Yorkshire, and after going to Leeds University and teaching drama in Pontefract, I was asked to interview for the job of artistic director of Hull Truck Theatre Company. That was back in 1983 and I've stayed ever since.