by Musical entertainment in Budapest
The magnificent Music House is in the beautiful City Park in Budapest. After passing through the mushroom-like main entrance, you find a museum dedicated to the history of music. From the beginning of music to the present day through Gregorian chanting and Hungarian folk music, the House of Music is a wonderful place. With a superb audio player, and only 1,000 forints (£2.25), it’s well worth a visit.
Danny Baker
Tips from Guardian Travel readers
Every week we ask our readers for recommendations from their travels. A selection of tips will appear online and may be printed. To enter the latest competition visit the readers’ tips homepage
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Antiquities in Mérida, Spain
At Mérida, the friendly little capital of Extremadura, I was stunned by the ancient monuments. The Roman amphitheatre, the theatre, the 755-metre long Puente Romano (Roman bridge) and the Moorish fort are stunning – it’s amazing that the town is not overrun by tourists. Everywhere is very walkable – walk down quiet streets and come across the Temple of Diana or a portico or arch near houses and shops. The gorgeous central Plaza de España, with its towering palm trees, is a great place to recharge.
Melinda Leftley
West Yorkshire in literature
Based in the White Lion (doubles from £120 B&B) in Hebden Bridge, we planned a northern cultural tour. One highlight was our visit to locations from The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers about counterfeiters based around Cragg Vale. I read the book during our trip and also visited the atmospheric Heptonstall – where Sylvia Plath is buried, and Hardcastle Craggs.
penny
Three Erics in Morecambe
Culture? Bigger. Lunch at the Midland hotel to appreciate the view and the work of Eric Gill and Eric Ravilious. Walk along the prom for a selfie with Eric Morecambe, the statue of the great TV cultural icon and hometown boy. Back for a coffee in the art deco café Brucciani and finally a performance by a band at the old reconstructed railway station The Platform. Count the street scenes you notice from the TV series The Bay (described by the Guardian as Broadchurch in Morecambe) along the way. Stay at the Broadwater guest house (doubles from around £130 for two nights, B&B), which has interesting 20th century antiques.
Stephen Shaw
Art by the beach in Bournemouth
I walked into The Russell-Cotes gallery in Bournemouth on a swelteringly hot day last summer – and what a treat it is, with its panoramic sea view, shady garden and interesting art. Housed in an impressive late Victorian art nouveau building, it has a stunning layout over two floors with elegant sculptures such as Othello by Pietro Calvi, The Bathers by Edward Bowring Stephens and Samuel Giovani Benzoni, completed in 1859. Merton and Annie Russell-Cotes traveled the world at the end of the 19th century, so the collection is quite eclectic in terms of geography, including work from Sierra Leone and the Congo. The ceiling is ornate and tiled in art nouveau and includes pre-Raphaelites paintings, with works by Rossetti, such as Venus Verticordia, among others. In winter it has special “candle nights”.
Nigel Cox
Roman magic at Hadrian’s Wall
It’s the site that left me in awe this year here in the UK, visiting Hadrian’s Wall for the first time. I went to Sycamore Gap in June (didn’t realize at the time how lucky I was to see the tree). I was excited to go there but I didn’t expect to feel so soft as a wall. It feels ancient, and has such a strong identity, I put my hands on it and imagined the soldiers who guarded it thousands of years ago. I visited the Great Wall in China a few years ago and Hadrian’s Wall is much smaller, with fewer visitors, but just as magical. It is rugged and you can climb and climb around it, embracing its ancient heritage. A must see.
Sarah Collings
Ruins of a fortress in Catalonia
Away from the crowds on the Costa Brava near the village of Ullastret (10 miles inland) are the ruins of an ancient Iberian fortress, Ciutat ibèrica d’Ullastret, which dates back to the 6th century BC. It is great to visit with children as the site is surrounded by a huge wall to capture the imagination. The site is on a hill overlooking the countryside. There is a small museum that includes a skull with a spike driven through the head. Admission for adults is €7.
Bernard
The attraction of science in Geneva
It may not be art but I was overwhelmed by a visit to Cern, the particle physics research centre. I spent two days showing him around the site, where all his interesting – and very photogenic – equipment could be seen up close. It’s a great experience to see scientific research at the edge of knowledge actually being done. Entrance is free.
Norman Rimmell
Georgia’s ancient wine method
Traditional and ancient Georgia wrong The wine making method is Unesco listed and after we got to know the ruby-red saperavi wine, the master craftsman Zaza Kbilashvili, whose winery is in Telavi, eastern Georgia, showed us how to make the clay vessels. Clay is mixed with water and shaped by hand before being dried, coated with concrete and fired in an oven large enough to hold 10 huge 1,400 liter vessels. After being baked at 1,200C for a week, they are lined with beeswax. The qvevri are then placed in the ground and whole grapes are added to them and left to ferment naturally. Tour around, we sat surrounded by sunken qvevri and tasted the wine. Amazing.
Roy Messenger
Winning tip: Karen Blixen and three trains, Denmark
I had a great day out of Copenhagen using one rail line. First stop, Kronborg Hamlet Castle at Helsingør (20 minutes walk from the station) which was a great history lesson, then back to Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (short walk from Humlebæk station) with thrilling installations and beautiful sculptures, including a Henry Moore looking out to sea and across to Sweden. Finally, we circled Karen Blixen’s house (a mile from Rungsted Kyst St station) and final resting place. Its decoration and objets collected over its fascinating life made you want to move in immediately. Then it was time to go back to the city for dinner with a heart and a head full of everything we would like to have.
Kate Copeland
