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From vast landscapes and giant glaciers to sly foxes and posing seals, we share some of the myriad reasons to visit Svalbard in the Arctic
Known as the last stop before the North Pole, Svalbard proved to be the Arctic we had always imagined: midnight sun, gleaming glaciers and snowcapped peaks, a frigid ocean riddled with ice and extraordinary wildlife including walruses, sea birds and polar bears.
In the land of the midnight sun, Kia finds a place of raw nature, rare wildlife and one of her most memorable moments of travel
It is said that you can’t die in Svalbard, the remote archipelago that lies midway between Norway and the North Pole. The permafrost here not only preserves corpses, it sometimes pushes them to the surface. The truth is that authorities would prefer you didn’t die on Svalbard. Coffin burials are not allowed due to the permafrost, so critically-ill patients are usually flown to mainland Norway.
The best national parks in Europe are home to vast tracts of wilderness, often overlooked by those who flock to its cities
When we think of wild continents, Europe is probably last in line. Asia’s fearsome mountains, South America’s lush rainforest and Africa’s vast savannah are surely more impressive. Europe in comparison is famous for its cities: London, Paris, Rome and their ilk.
We’ve selected six of the best El Chaltén hiking trails, showcasing the finest Andean vistas around Argentina’s trekking capital
Patagonia’s El Chaltén hiking trails should be on the bucket list of every serious hiker. The trekking capital of Argentina provides access to a network of well-maintained hiking routes with some of the most breathtaking alpine viewpoints on the continent.
From island-sized icebergs to close encounters with humpback whales, we share some of the myriad reasons to visit Antarctica
Antarctica was the final frontier for us. It was the only continent we hadn’t visited – our seventh – and a twice-postponed adventure that we had been planning for over two years.
Kia explains why a voyage to Antarctica finally gave her a sense of peace
I am one of six sisters, which has always earned me a certain cachet; a sort of second-hand, useless celebrity like that of air hostesses and identical twins. The last time I mentioned “all my sisters” in public, a stranger cut in to ask how many. People are often keen to know if we all get along, how often we see each other and what it was like growing up.
In a world dominated by men, a select group of women have shattered the ice ceiling. Here we review some daring first ascents by female mountaineers
I’ll be honest: it rankles to write the words ‘the first female’ to do such and such. It feels patronising, as if to say you weren’t good enough to play with the big boys but I’ll pat you on the head anyway.
I finally got around to hiking England’s Coast to Coast Walk. Only, as the trail practically runs past my house, I did things a little differently
Feeling restless after months under lockdown, and loosely inspired by Laurie Lee’s As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, I decided to walk across England… twice.
Author Amit Patel tells us about his favourite trip, what remains on his bucket list and how travel changed for him after his sight loss
Amit Patel was born to be a boy racer. In his teens, he nearly rode himself (and two of his friends) into a pond on a clapped-out motorbike. Around the same time, he joined his local squadron of the Air Training Corps and took to the skies every chance he got. When he finished his GCSEs, he celebrated by jumping out of a plane at 13,000 feet.
Take a vicarious breath of fresh air by touring the best trees in Britain
Over the course of the last year, many of us have remembered just how much we depend on nature for quiet, everyday relief. Although some of us joke that when the pandemic is over, we’re “never going for a walk in the park again”, it’s undeniable that these walks have kept us sane.
As an ode to nature, we share below the 20 best trees in Britain.
Two thru-hikers lied and broke the law this year to finish the Appalachian Trail. Should we dismiss it as a daring adventure or tackle what lies deeper?
The first thing to admit before I begin is that I’m a person who follows the rules. I never cheat at games or quizzes despite being stupidly competitive. I hate being late to meetings or gatherings and I’ve even been known to Google “how late to arrive at a dinner party” because I know it’s impolite to turn up on time (the consensus is 15 minutes).
The K2 base camp trek is a stunning journey to the foot of a legendary mountain in the Pakistani Karakoram
The K2 base camp trek through the mighty Karakoram mountains of Pakistan is one of the world’s finest high-altitude treks. Earlier this year an opportunity arose to join Lost Horizon Tours and Treks on a trek to K2 base camp combined with a crossing of the Gondogoro La Pass.
Trekking the Arctic Circle Trail in Greenland has long been a dream of mine. A dream I came tantalisingly close to fulfilling but for a freak natural event
I wanted to begin this post by triumphantly announcing that I had finished trekking the Arctic Circle Trail in Greenland – but I can’t, for my trek ended in bitter disappointment. It (quite literally) left a stale taste in my mouth and gave rise to a cloud of unanswerable questions; a maddening maelstrom of ‘what ifs’ and ‘maybes’ to lament and regret.
