Travelling in Japan still offers many opportunities to experience traditional culture in a hypermodern society. Dr Kathleen Olive explains, in this exploration of “shukubō”, or temple lodging, on Mount Kōya.

Discover Ferrara in Maggie O’Farrell’s novel The Marriage Portrait, and the titans of painting and literature it’s produced from the Renaissance to the modern day.

Walking around Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean, often feels like stumbling onto a giant film set - just watch season 2 of The White Lotus and you’ll see what we mean! In this article, we explore the island through our favourite films.

Saint-Émilion is both a pretty village near Bordeaux, in Aquitaine, and a celebrated wine district that stretches across the rolling hills outside it. It has a millennial history of producing wines with France’s most prestigious appellations, and a fascinating medieval townscape of underground churches, ruined cloisters and prominent towers.

Italy’s beautiful small towns are a must-see, from medieval hamlets like Bevagna in Umbria to the baroque extravagance of Sicily’s Palazzolo Acreide. But did you know that there is an official list of Italy’s borghi più belli, or most beautiful villages? And that inscription on that list is a hotly-competed honour?

Dr Kathleen Olive introduces you to four great contemporary artists from Japan, and how their work captures the tension between a love of tradition and the relentless pace of modernity in Japanese culture.

We hear so much about high season crowds, but what is Tuscany like to visit in the off season?