London's secret spots: A local's guide to visiting the capital
Global Travel Editor Annabel Grossman explores some of London's lesser-known museums, while US Travel Editor Ted Thornhill gazes at street art, enjoys a pint at a couple of quirky drinking spots and shares his tips for getting around the city – whether by bike, train or boat.
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Times
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- Times
10 of the best no-fly cruises
There's no need to start your cruise by battling through an airport. No-fly cruises sail directly from ports that can be easily reached by car, coach or train for a hassle-free holiday that will get you on board sooner. There are no airport security queues to deal with, no flight delays and no worries about getting from the plane to the ship in time. Instead, you can sail straight from UK ports such as Southampton or Tilbury, or hop on a train to depart from European ports including Paris and Amsterdam. Whether you want to head north to the snowy Arctic, potter around sun-soaked Mediterranean towns or even escape on a round-the-world voyage to far-flung destinations, it's possible to set sail without going near a plane. Here are some of the best no-fly cruises to consider. This article contains affiliate links that will earn us revenue £ | 10 NIGHTS Timed to maximise your chances of spotting the aurora borealis, this round-trip from Newcastle heads north to Norway and crosses the Arctic Circle. Stops include Molde with its museums, hiking trails and wooden houses; Alta, which has a rich Sami heritage; and Tromso, where a cable car up Storsteinen mountain provides panoramic views over the arctic fjords. The 1,250-passenger Balmoral is Fred Olsen's smallest ship and is specially designed to navigate narrow waterways and dock in destinations that larger ships cannot access. It has five restaurants, eight bars and lounges and two pools on board, plus cooking and dance classes, art sessions and the Atlantis spa. • Great Norwegian fjords cruises £££ | 110 NIGHTS Don't presume that you can only go as far as northern Europe if sailing from the UK. With more time to spare, there's no limit to the distance you can travel, with several lines offering epic, round-the-world itineraries that don't require flying. For added glamour, choose Cunard's 2,061-passenger Queen Victoria, which has swish white-glove service, a traditional daily afternoon tea, the Royal Court Theatre, black-tie gala evenings, ballroom dancing classes and room service for a touch of luxury. This round-trip from Southampton takes 110 nights and sails across the Atlantic and onwards to the Caribbean, the Panama Canal, Australia, Asia and South Africa. Among the overnight stops are New York, Los Angeles, Sydney, Hong Kong, Singapore, Cape Town and Funchal in Portugal. • More great round-the-world cruises £££ | 10 NIGHTS Expect port-to-port pampering aboard this Regent Seven Seas cruise from Southampton to Copenhagen. The luxury line doesn't skimp on inclusions on board, whether you fancy a craft cocktail, artisan coffee, room service, a spa visit, fine dining or free-flowing champagne. Unlimited shore excursions are also included on this ten-night cruise, so you can pack your days on land with activities. Standout stops include Bruges with its medieval architecture and pretty canals, Kristiansand for fjords and boat-fresh seafood and Oslo, where you could try a floating sauna or visit the Nobel Peace Center. • Best cruises from Southampton ££ | 8 NIGHTS It's a doddle to join this river cruise on the Seine by travelling on the Eurostar from London to Paris. You'll then board the contemporary 128-passenger Avalon Tapestry II, which has a sky deck with a whirlpool, a fitness centre, a bistro for alfresco lunches and a club lounge with 24-hour hot drinks and snacks. There are also bikes, hiking maps, yoga mats and walking sticks to borrow, plus daily shore excursions included as you travel from Paris to Normandy on an eight-night round trip. These might include a bicycle tour of Le Havre, a Vincent van Gogh-themed visit to Auvers-sur-Oise or a full-day trip to the landing beaches of Normandy. • Best small ship cruises £ | 12 NIGHTS There are vast contrasts on this 12-night voyage from Amsterdam on the smart Celebrity Eclipse. One day you'll be admiring the rolling countryside of Scotland and the next gazing at the vistas, waterfalls and volcanic scenery around Akureyri and Reykjavik in Iceland. The ship has a gorgeous spa, a lawn on the upper deck for boules, croquet or a picnic and ten places to eat — so you can dine somewhere different on almost every night of the trip. ££ | 7 NIGHTS Make your own way to elegant Bordeaux for this voyage on Uniworld's lavish SS Bon Voyage, with parking at the port included. The seven-night, all-inclusive cruise explores the bucolic wine regions of the Médoc with some interesting diversions, including village tours, a Bordeaux heritage walking tour, the farmers' market in Libourne and tastings galore. There's an infinity pool on deck if the summer heat becomes too intense. • Best river cruises in Europe £ | 31 NIGHTS Follow the sun south as the days begin to shorten in November. This 31-night epic on Ambassador Cruise Line's comfortable Ambience whisks you from Tilbury to the furthest eastern reaches of the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas, visiting 15 ports of calls including La Goulette for Tunis, Zadar, Kotor and Dubrovnik. Other stops include Cephalonia, Valencia, Sicily and Lisbon. On board are elegant lounges, a pub and an Indian fusion restaurant, as well as a crafting studio, a library and an outdoor screen for films. • This is what it's really like on a cruise: the myths dispelled £ | 18 NIGHTS Board P&O Cruises' 3,078-capacity Ventura in December to soak up some sun before Christmas. You'll sail on a round trip from Southampton, visiting Madeira, Cape Verde, Gran Canaria, Cadiz and Lisbon over 18 nights. On board there's masses going on; some of the best venues include the sumptuous Oasis spa and Olly Smith's wine bar, the Glass House. ££ | 12 NIGHTS There's no need to sail too far from home if you don't want to. This twelve-night cruise on board Silversea's 274-passenger Silver Wind sails around Britain and Ireland, travelling from London to Edinburgh in the lap of luxury. Everything is included as you travel, from butler service to gourmet dining, champagne on tap, a customisable minibar and 24-hour room service. There's a stop every day to keep things interesting on this itinerary — highlights include Tresco, in the Isles of Scilly, with its white-sand beaches and Unesco-listed gardens; Cork for traditional pubs and coastal scenery; and Loch Ewe, gateway to the Hebrides. • More great UK cruises £ | 9 NIGHTS Take the kids on Royal Caribbean's fabulously family-friendly Liberty of the Seas for a Mediterranean adventure in the summer. You'll sail on a round trip from Southampton, visiting destinations including Cadiz, Vigo, La Coruña, Bilbao and Lisbon, each offering the chance for lazy days at the beach, plus museums, galleries and tapas bars galore. On-board thrills include water slides, ice-skating and a surf simulator. • Best family-friendly cruise lines• Best cruise lines for first-timers
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The riptide that turned my summer holiday swim into a life and death struggle... And why I'll never forget the young RNLI hero who risked everything to save me: KATIE HIND
It was supposed to be a carefree, post A-level holiday, my first trip away without my parents. A gang of friends from school in Sussex had driven to Cornwall and, as we'd arrived too early to check into our apartment, three of us went for a swim. Even on a cloudy day, Mawgan Porth, a deep, golden beach just north of Newquay, seemed idyllic – but I was soon to discover the deceptive power of the waves.
Times
3 hours ago
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My first British camping trip, aged 40 (plus 26 more glam options)
Some families camp, others marvel at their fortitude, writes Harriet Walker. I grew up in the latter … camp. My only nights under canvas have been in a raucous Guides tent, then a smaller, equally raucous one at a rainy festival, halfway through which I booked into the nearest hotel. Like my delicate flower forebears, I assumed I (allergic to everything, quick to sunburn) was simply not cut out for camping. Some in my daughter's school year go annually en masse, an expedition I found laudable but 'not for us'. Being wide awake and cold all night in a tent with her brother, a toddler, had all the appeal of a mini-break to a war zone. And yet. When this year my daughter asked for camping instead of a birthday party, I worried that I'd deprived her and agreed to give it a whirl. That toddler is almost five now, and I feel sturdier than I have done in years. Also, camping in the southeast during a heatwave is different to doing it in the Peak District climate of the late Nineties. We and three other families booked pitches in the South Downs, eschewing the luxurious bell tent and shepherd's hut options and borrowing a friend's Decathlon kit. With a petting farm attached and a craft brewery tap room 40 minutes' walk away (three minutes by car), Hale Farm in East Sussex had something for everyone, including a man called Gino who arrives on site in a coffee van each morning and an ice cream truck in the evening. Flushing toilets, hot showers and washing-up facilities were further reassurance that this was not the hair-shirt version I had been warned off in my childhood, where men shaved in sand and women had to walk to the nearest village to use the loo. No, I thought on our first night as I quaffed ice-cold Lady A rosé on a folding chair at sunset then ate perfectly barbecued curried lamb under a star-filled sky and full moon, this is not the wind-blasted endurance test I had been expecting. After a perfectly good night's sleep on squashy mats (sleeping bags for the children but pillows and a duvet for us as per advice from camping veterans), stepping out into fresh air and glorious sunlight was magical. I am now a person who wakes at 7am regardless; doing so in a two-bedroom blackout tent was not like the memory of coming round in a two-man, dry-mouthed at noon and cooking from the inside out as the drum'n'bass marquee performed a soundcheck next door. • Read our full guide to camping holidays The weekend was even more bucolic for the children. Our London kids (albeit leafy ones) were able to roam without being told repeatedly to decrease their volume, stay in sight or watch out for dog poo. After a 20-minute drive to Pevensey Bay for a sea dip followed by fish and chips, they made their own fun (and some alarmingly Blair Witch-esque twig sculptures) in the nearby woods then donned headlamps and wrist torches to toast marshmallows by the fire pit. We celebrated Freda's eighth birthday with the sort of giant sparklers it would be hard to relax around in a small and enclosed back garden. I could feel the extended time outdoors — plus the fact that I had no phone reception or reason to scroll — doing us all good. My inherited view was that camping was punitive time spent away from creature comforts to toughen up, but I see that with modern kit so improved as to be comfortable and idiot-proof (it took us about half an hour to put the tent up, once we had figured out the instructions), trips like this are the complete opposite: time off from devices, schedules and hectic city pace. A chance to enjoy nature. As long as the rain stays away. What is it they say about the zealotry of the convert? We're considering another camping trip next month — though I'll be checking the weather right up to the moment we leave, Walker travelled independently. Hale Farm in Chiddingly, East Sussex, costs £14 per adult and £6 per child a night ( This article contains affiliate links that will earn us revenue By Sarah Baxter Retreat into your own family bubble on the edge of Bodmin Moor. Ekopod's secluded geodomes are off-grid — great for a screen-free break — but have all the comfy mod-cons: super-kings, sofa beds, simple kitchens, bathrooms with shower and tub. Magic is added with hammocks, fairylights, welcome cookies and hot chocolate, and views through the roof to the stars. The onsite play area has a pirate ship sand pit and mud kitchen, the communal barn is stocked with books and games, and north Cornwall's beaches are a short drive Two nights' self-catering for four from £320 ( • 22 of the best campsites in Cornwall It's fairly posh just pitching at award-winning Brook Meadow. The spacious family-farm site has shared washrooms befitting a boutique hotel, 'moovie' nights in the cowshed, pop-up cocktail evenings and lakeside yoga on summer Saturdays. This year it's hosting a family-friendly music festival (September 13). Take it up a notch by glamping instead, ideally in Marabou, an out-of-Africa fantasy of timber-stilted canvas, with exquisitely picked and upcycled furnishings that bring the Masai Mara to the Pitches from £32, four nights' self-catering for eight from £570 ( Staying somewhere that your brood can run wild doesn't have to mean going feral. Penhein is all about getting kids outside: there's a natural playground, a wildlife hide, a stream to paddle in and trails to follow, as well as bookable activities, from junior bushcraft to the Mini Adventurers Club (both £35pp). Penhein's elegant alachighs (Persian-style yurts) are civilised indeed, with proper beds, private monsoon showers and en suite loos. If you like, you can try cooking on your fire pit. Alternatively, buy delicious prepped meals from the Pantry, made with local Three nights' self-catering for six from £465 ( The biggest luxury? Exclusivity. Which is what you get at Spot House Farm. Book this bijou site out on the edge of Romney Marsh and you will have it to yourselves. It has all that's required for a great outdoor gathering: four smart, handmade bell tents with crisp-sheeted beds, vintage fittings and wool blankets (designed by the farm's owner); a full field kitchen stocked with fresh eggs and coffee roasted on site; a hot open-air shower; woodlands and meadows to explore; and a big table for dining out under the Two nights' self-catering for ten from £1,193 ( There are four small pods at this forest-backed Tweed Valley site. Deer Hunter is cosy and perfect for families, with its double and sofa bed. You could spend hours sitting on its deck, watching for hedgehogs, deer and red squirrels. However, adventures beckon. Innerleithen Forest's vast network of mountain-biking trails is a mile away; the Glentress trail centre — which has some of the country's best MTB routes — is 2.5 miles. No matter if you get muddy — the pods have hot showers, plus shared drying lockers and a bike One night's self-catering for four from £120 ( • Read our full guide to glamping holidays The beauty of Broadleaves is that you can drive there, then ignore your car for the rest of your stay. Six elegant bell tents, sleeping two to six people and each with an outdoor kitchen and access to a luxe bathroom block — lie in the heart of the National Forest alongside Foremark Reservoir. Walk to Foremark's children's play area or the Burton Sailing Club, which offers watersports including paddleboarding and windsurfing for beginners. Or ramble across to the National Trust's Calke Abbey estate to hire a bike, find its 1,200-year-old oak tree and enter the atmospherically crumbling One night's self-catering for two from £99 ( Sitting pretty within the UK's only coastal national park, Stackpole Under the Stars is perfect for accessing some of the UK's best beaches, including the soft sands of Broad Haven South and Barafundle. It's a peaceful spot with ten pitches: five for campers, five for glampers. The latter include two yurts, two safari tents sleeping seven and a posh wooden barrel-shaped pod. Opt for the cheaper eco-package (bring your own sheets), then spend the savings on an on-site axe-throwing session (£8); under-eights can fling mini squishy axes instead. Details Pitches from £23, one night's self-catering for four from £115 ( Stay at the Original Hut Company and you get a bit of everything. The site is a delight, set amid ancient woodland with the River Rother running through. The shepherd's huts are classy and snug, with hobs inside and fire pits out. The Hub café sells camper hampers if you want to cook, local-sourced dishes if you don't. Meanwhile, the on-site activity centre offers paddleboarding, kayaking and canoeing as well as archery and bushcraft. If you can pull yourself away, roam through the orchards to magnificently moated Bodiam Pitches from £28, one night's self-catering for five from £150 ( During school holidays this award-winning glampsite, tucked in a nature reserve near the Suffolk coast, is for families only. That means it's a haven for kids then, but others will love it at other times. Sleeping options run from a converted horsebox to luxury tented lodges with country-style kitchens, four-posters, bunks and a den-like cupboard bed. There's a rich mix of nature-based activities, from goat walks and 'meet the animals' sessions to bow-making and whittling. Fresh-made stone-baked pizzas can be bought from a van on site, while Easton Farm Park, Framlingham Castle and Jimmy's Farm are all close One night's self-catering for six from £155 ( Want to switch off? Head to Welsh Glamping, squirrelled away in the remote Cambrian Mountains. There's no phone signal or wi-fi here, but there are 185 acres of wild farmland, woodland, rivers and waterfalls, plus star-spangled dark skies and smarter camping options. The bell tents are a bargain: you bring your own sheets but get an iron-frame bed and futons, a simple kitchen and private bathroom from £45 a night. The luxury log cabins, made from wood felled on site, offer cosiness and more mod-cons, from £120 a Two nights' self-catering for two from £90 ( • I love camping and have done for 40 years — these are my best tips Happy to pitch your own tent but want to upgrade the experience? Woodfire Camping supplies plenty of idyllic green space across its two sites at the foot of the South Downs. It also supplies the food on request. Each night big meals are made from scratch, prepared over an open fire — think spicy beef stew, flame-grilled chalk stream trout or ember-roasted beetroot (£10 to £20pp). You bring your own plates and cutlery, and wash them up after. All the joy of eating alfresco, en famille, none of the hassle of cooking. Details Pitches from £22 per adult, £10 per child ( Get an African savannah feel a ten-minute taxi ride from downtown Peterborough. Teal Lodge is one of four billowing canvas bolt holes looking over a grassy meadow to a tree-fringed lake. The owners used to live in Kenya, and have recreated a tiny piece of it here — you can even jump into their Land Rover for a wildlife safari. Use the lake to swim, fish and paddle (there are kayaks, free to borrow), build a den in the woods, dip in the outdoor bath or watch a movie on a projector, under the One night's self-catering for six from £188 ( Secreted in the rolling Welsh borders where a wooden bridge at the site's edge marks the meeting of England and Wales, Barnutopia is a place to roam free. It's great for big groups, who can spread across a range of good-value glamping spaces: comfy yurts, cabins, tiny houses, bunkhouses and lean-tos. And it's especially good for single parents — they get a 10 per cent discount year-round, plus the site runs single-parent takeovers on selected dates that include accommodation, breakfasts, suppers, marshmallow toasting around the campfire, scavenger hunts, donkey walks and the company of like-minded Three nights' self-catering for four from £245 ( The enormous beaches and wide horizons of the north Norfolk coast are perfect for outdoorsy breaks. And Wild Luxury is particularly perfect, offering easy outdoors access from the most comfortable in canvas living spaces. A handful of smart, spacious safari lodges — sleeping between six and ten — are dotted across two sites. One of them, Summerfield, is surrounded by woodland and birdsong, with possibilities for den-building and zip-wiring amid the trees, while Drove Orchards, near Holme Dunes, is a hop-skip from the sea, a nature reserve and great local Two nights' self-catering for six from £464 ( Their wheels no longer go round and round, but it's still gleeful to stay in one of the nine restored buses at this site overlooking the Lammermuir Hills. Each vehicle has been kitted out with cosy beds and wood-burning stoves but retains its essential bus-ness: kids (big and small) will love sitting in the driver's seat. 'Eco buses' have loos but share bathrooms and a Kitchen Bus, while the 'luxury buses' have cooking areas and en suites. While there, book a tour of the surrounding farm to meet alpacas, sheep and goats (£25 per adult, £15 per child).Details One night's self-catering for two from £145 ( Want to wake up and smell the apples? There are two handmade, individually designed yurts hidden away on this 22-acre family-owned Herefordshire orchard. Cai is great fun, with bright red-yellow decor and apple trees flourishing all round; Zephyr sits apart, on a raised platform, with big views towards the Marcle Ridge. Orchard-bathing is encouraged on site — the owners suggest walking barefoot between the trees, letting your senses be your guide and sampling the fruits. Community events and gatherings are often held here too. Details One night's self-catering for four from £75 ( Sitting between Eryri National Park (Snowdonia) and the sea, Nyth Robin is small but very well formed. There are nine pitches for campers and a handful of options for glamping, each with a unique feel. Bluebell makes a fun off-grid family base, with its bunting-strung bell tent, rustic kitchen and fire pit. New for 2025, the Dome sits in its a private glade, offering hotel-style smartness — pretty decor, a super-king bed — and a covered camp kitchen outside, so you get the best of both worlds. Details Two nights' self-catering for four in a bell tent from £160 ( The Essex coast is big sky country, and the Lushna cabins at Lee Wick Farm ensure the biggest views. These budget-friendly huts are glass-fronted so both beds — downstairs and on the mezzanine — look out across the surrounding pasture and salt marsh. It's a short walk to a shingle beach and nature reserve; a mile away is Curve Wake Park, where you can kayak, paddleboard or leap off giant inflatables. The site's Secret Garden camping area is more basic but, with three pitches, very Pitches from £35, two nights' self-catering for five from £155 ( Channel your inner cowboy/girl at Loose Reins in north Dorset, where the log cabins have rustic finishes, rocking chairs on the verandas, stable doors and faux fleeces and furs so they feel fit for the American Wild West. Named Gold Panners, Ranchers and Trappers, three sleep two adults, two kids, while Foresters is a little bigger, sleeping five. The joys of the Jurassic Coast are close and, if you want to play real-life wrangler, Bushes Equestrian (a ten-minute drive away) offers horse rides for all Two nights' self-catering for four from £500 ( Feel the relaxing benefits of blue space at Kingfisher Lakes, where varied glamping options — yurts, safari tents, lodges with hot tubs — sit beside two lakes in the Yorkshire countryside. They all have decks or terraces with water views: watch for kingfishers, bring a rod to fish for huge carp or hire a kayak for the length of your stay (from £45). The Lily Pad yurt suits small families — compact and comfy. Hare's Hideout safari tent offers more space and has ramp access for Three nights' self-catering for four from £300 ( The joy of Loveland Farm's nine geodesic pods is that they're see-through on one side, so you feel immersed in nature, but they have every creature comfort. Each pod is unique, but all have outbuildings with private showers and kitchenettes. Eden is a fun choice: there's a tepee inside — a tent in a tent! — that contains a double bed, there's another bed on the mezzanine, and table football below. If the weather's fine, nearby Bude provides sand and surf, if it isn't, there's an indoor heated saltwater pool on One night's self-catering for four from £179 ( There are some lovely too-posh-to-pitch options at Cotswold Farm Park. Go minimalist with a budget glamping pod — a step up from camping, these come with bunkbeds, electric sockets and little else — or opt for the comfort of a glamping tent, which has more style and pretty much everything you could need. Either way, all overnighters enjoy free access to the Farm Park, with its rare-breed animals, giant sandpit, softplay and discovery barn, where you can hold chicks and watch ducklings take a One night's self-catering for four from £80 ( With one of Ceredigion's loveliest beaches, Llangrannog, three miles away, and chances to spot dolphins at Cardigan Bay just along the coast, Ffynnonwen is a fantastic site for sea-loving campers. If you don't want to pitch your own, the site has two simple bell tents, one amid the meadows, another tucked among the apple trees. You get real beds and real seclusion. Pick up veg grown on site, fresh eggs from the resident ducks and herbs from the communal patch then cook a feast in your camp Pitches from £44 for two nights, two nights' self-catering for four from £136 ( There's a pleasingly Hobbity vibe to these conical-roofed hideaways, tucked deep into Blelack Estate in the Cairngorms National Park. The solar-powered, off-grid timber retreats, raised and flanked by trees, have been integrated into the century-old Scots pine forest to cause minimal disturbance to nature but maximal immersion in it for guests: look out for blossoming heather and blaeberries (especially in August-September), woodpeckers, buzzards and sparrow hawks, scurrying red squirrels and roe deer drinking from the lochan. This is an excellent area for mountain-biking, hill-walking and castle-visiting Two nights' self-catering for four from £265 ( Sherwood Pines, originally part of ancient Sherwood Forest, was replanted in 1925 to counter wood shortages after the First World War. Now it is Forestry England's flagship site, with camping pitches, geodome tents and (slightly higher priced) bothies spread amid the trees. Glampers get their own kitchens and living spaces but share the site's solar-powered bathrooms. Other facilities include a play area, a nearby Go Ape course and a handy bike wash — the forest has a wide network of trails, from gentle loops to gnarly downhills. Details Two nights' self-catering for six from £216 ( A short drive from north Norfolk's beaches and tucked into the Stiffkey Valley, two smart safari tents sit on a 350-acre farm. Roll-up gabled fronts and west-facing decks for watching the sunset make them as romantic as can be, while the interiors feature furniture by Norfolk designer of the moment Birdie Fortescue. Home-cooked meals can be arranged and plonked in your fridge, to be enjoyed before a nice hot open-air bath. And you can pick your own sunflowers. Details A night's self-catering for two from £200 ( Are you more into camping or glamping? Or neither? Let us know in the comments
