Rebecca Ann Hughes

The Jeddah Historic District programme will see the restoration of some 600 historic properties for residential, tourism and business purposes.
In the airy, high-ceilinged dining room of Beit Johkdar Hotel, Jeddah, breakfast is being served. It begins with a basket of warm bread - sesame seed encrusted, cardamon infused and traditional flatbread - with herby butter and black honey.
Next come the entreés, spicy olive tapenade, grilled halloumi with apricot jam, fried vegetables and a mini loaf...

2024 is a Jubilee year for Caravaca de la Cruz - which only comes around every seven years - so there are additional events and attractions to boot.
As we round a clump of pine trees, my guide Inma points to the horizon. On a rocky mound above the town of Caravaca de la Cruz is a colossal, honey-hued sanctuary. It is our arrival point, and the end of the Camino de Levante, a 118km pilgrimage and hiking trail in the south of Spain.
As the famed Camino de Santiago continues to be crowded with w...

From the window of Ca’ Zen, a pinkish brick villa deep in the northeastern Italian flatlands, I can see the reedy grass banks of the Po, Italy’s longest river.
This is the same spot where Lord Byron cast his eyes on that “deep and ample stream”, inspiring him to write stanzas to the Po. The poet came here, to the Po Delta, from hedonistic Venice in pursuit of a woman and found the sweeping waters and wild nature the perfect poetic reflection of his passionate romance.
I have lived in the Po D...

Enveloped in mist and mystique, Bhutan is a tiny Buddhist nation wedged between India and China which has long enchanted travellers. Hemmed in by mountains creating natural roadblocks and access difficulties, it was once dubbed the forbidden kingdom. Now, Bhutan has opened up to the world – albeit with a strict tourism strategy – giving visitors a glimpse of its remote agrarian communities, ancient spiritual practices and cherished values of compassion and happiness. With a new luxury hotel j...

White water rafting down one of the highest waterfalls in the world.

Puglia—the region occupying the stiletto of Italy’s boot—has acres of olive groves producing 40% of the country’s olive oil, idiosyncratic conical houses, and nonnas who make fresh pasta on the streets. It also has two long coastlines of contrasting character: the Adriatic side of sheer cliffs and giant rock pools and the Ionian stretch of paradisiacal beaches nicknamed the “Maldives of Italy.”

The region has long been a favorite getaway for Italians themselves, thanks to its hot, dry summers...

BARGA is a town in Tuscany of ochre-coloured houses with terracotta roofs and a Romanesque church shaded by cypress trees.
But as you wander through the narrow streets, you’ll spot Scottish flags fluttering outside windows, waiters with Glaswegian accents, a grocery shop selling Irn-Bru and the odd kilt-wearing resident.
The Tuscan community is dubbed “the most Scottish town in Italy” and earned its moniker after swathes of the population emigrated to Scotland in the early 20th century in sea...

It’s Saturday evening in the Piazza del Popolo, a stone-flagged square lined with ochre and yellow buildings, and people are gathering for the daily aperitivo ritual.
Groups sit around tables and sip on tangerine spritzes while waiters weave among them holding dishes of crisps and olives.
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It could almost be a scene from a Venetian campo, but for the fact that people are speaking in an accent belonging to Emilia-Romagna, the region directly to the south of Venice.
This is Ravenna, a ...

When Venice swarms with tourists, savvy travellers head for its outlying islands – just a waterbus ride away, and miraculously free of crowds and queues.
One such is Pellestrina, a strip of land seven miles long – and as little as 16ft wide at points – which forms a boundary wall between the Adriatic Sea and the Venetian lagoon. Activity here centres around fishing and market gardening, a slower side of lagoon life most tourists never see – and with a nature reserve, wonderful seafood restaur...

For as little as €10 a meal, you can eat like royalty in Tbilisi.
Georgia’s capital Tbilisi is a beguiling blend of European, eastern, medieval and Soviet culture.
The city offers up a cocktail of different characters from the faded elegance of the Chugureti neighbourhood to the late-medieval jumble of the old town and the monumental Soviet Mother of Georgia sculpture on the hillside.
With cheap, abundant food and low-cost activities, Tbilisi is the perfect destination for a budget break.
Her...

Stretching just over 32 miles in length from the foot of the snowy Alps to the sun-drenched Padana flatlands, Lake Garda is the largest body of water in Italy. Its extensive shoreline is a spectacular succession of Roman remains, medieval towns, ancient olive groves and grand villas. The lake has attracted tourism since the classical era, when wealthy Romans came to enjoy the salubrious thermal waters that bubble up along its edge. Today, Garda still exudes the languorous feel of a summery Me...

The Valbona Pass is an accessible (though not easy) hiking route that local tour companies have incorporated into a convenient three-day adventure.
After a four-hour, lung-busting ascent, we climb the last steps up the rocky scree to reach the vertiginous summit of the Valbona Pass.
Surrounding us is the untamed wilderness of the irresistibly-named Accursed Mountains in northern Albania. Ominous storm clouds are gathering between the jagged peaks and ridges in the direction of our descent ove...

It's now easier to get to Tartu, Estonia's second city and the European Capital of Culture
Massive medieval towers, dense forests and daily saunas were what I’d come to Estonia for. What I hadn’t expected was to find a trendy food scene, tasting menus and Michelin stars.
The Baltic country has found new fame in 2024 with the awarding of the European capital of culture to Tartu, its second city located in the southeast.
Along with the capital Tallinn, the cities have attracted increasing numbe...

I’m in the cacophonous kitchen of Trattoria da Noemi, a restaurant established in 1958 in the northern Italian city of Ferrara. Maria Cristina Borgazzi, daughter of the titular owner, is demonstrating how she prepares her pièce de résistance.
A thick layer of sweet pastry sits on a wide plate. As I watch, perplexed, Borgazzi deftly piles on cooked maccheroni pasta, bechamel sauce, meat sauce and truffle shavings, modelling it all into a hefty dome. She then takes another chunky sheet of sweet...