New holidays

South of Seville, light-flooded plains roll towards the sea. Silver-grey with olives and rich with the scent of oranges, this for many is iconic Spain – cradle of flamenco, home of traditional tapas and land of the great sherry bodegas. There’s time to enjoy all three pleasures while you explore Seville, Jerez and Cádiz as part of our journey by rail – as well as providing notes for self-guided city walking tours, we also list our favourite tapas bars and sherry producers.

First-rate hospitality is also the order of the day at the Hotel Kristall in the Austrian Tyrol, another great choice for a winter holiday featuring cross-country skiing and winter walking. While the region may be hosting the World Nordic Ski Championships in February 2019, there is something for guests of all abilities – indeed, the flat terrain makes the skiing particularly good for beginners and intermediates. Winter walkers are spoiled for choice, too, with beautiful trails that meander into Gaistal – one of Austria’s least-visited valleys – and up to the panoramic Wettersteinhütte.

The name of our journey by rail and boat across northern Europe, Nordic Cities Explorer in Winter, speaks for itself. The cities in question are Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki, which, if they had to be summed up in one word, would probably be best described as cool, stately and trendsetting, respectively. They are, however, far from one-dimensional, and there’s plenty to discover in each, from Copenhagen’s world-class galleries and museums to the Finnish capital’s Design District and fusion of eastern and western cultures, via Stockholm’s canals and medieval district.