The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 18, 2026, 5:36 p.m.

Cut out flying and you shred skiing’s carbon footprint. And opting for a high-altitude resort that needs less artificial snow makes it even greener.

Les Arcs in the French Alps ticks both boxes I’ve always wanted to try skiing, but it’s not a cheap holiday and I have always had a lingering suspicion that some resorts are like Las Vegas in the mountains, with artificial snow, damaging infrastructure, annihilated vegetation and air-freighted fine dining – in short, profoundly unsustainable. However, if there’s a way to have a green family ski holiday, then sign me – and my husband, Joe, two kids and my mum – up.

Here’s how to do it. Continue reading...

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 18, 2026, 5:36 p.m.

The multi-day trail between the Cumbria and North Yorkshire coasts is one of Britain’s most popular, and now upgrades, path repairs and trail officers aim to preserve it for future generations A soft breeze tickled the waters of Innominate Tarn, sending ripples dashing across the pool, bogbean and tussock grass dancing at its fringes. From my rocky perch atop Haystacks, I gazed down on Buttermere and Crummock Water glistening to the north, the round-shouldered hulks of Pillar and Great Gable looming to the south.

A pair of ravens cronked indignantly, protesting against the intrusion on their eyrie; otherwise, stillness reigned. Bless you, Alfred Wainwright, I murmured, picturing the hiking legend whose ashes are scattered around this lonely tarn.

And then, surprising myself: you too, Rishi Sunak. In very different ways, both had brought me to this most spectacular of Lakeland crags.

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 18, 2026, 5:36 p.m.

Dipping in the freezing waters of Scandinavia, Greenland and Finland was life-changing – and full of warmth thanks to saunas, hot springs and like-minded people Warm lights shine from the houses that dot the wintry slopes of Mount Fløyen and a cold wind blows as I stand in a swimming costume trying to talk myself into joining my friends in Bergen harbour. Stars are already appearing in the inky mid-afternoon sky.

Life-changing moments are easy to spot in retrospect, but at the time they can feel so ordinary. I didn’t know then that my wintry swim would lead to a year of adventures.

I was a hair’s breadth from wimping out, but then I was in. The water was so cold it burned.

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 18, 2026, 5:36 p.m.

Our readers bask in the memory of great beach discoveries, from Latvia to Sicily • Send us a tip on Scandinavia or Finland – the best wins a £200 holiday voucher Forty miles east of Palermo, the magnificent Sicilian resort town of Cefalù juts out beneath dramatic cliffs. The town has a perfect half-moon beach of golden sands melding into the gorgeous clear turquoise sea.

Medieval lanes of stones in a diamond pattern lead up to a lively square offering great Italian food. It’s fronted by a beautiful Norman cathedral with twin towers and Byzantine mosaics inside.

David Innes-Wilkin Continue reading...

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 18, 2026, 5:36 p.m.

Thirty years after she first visited, our writer is relieved to discover that the town has managed to swerve the worst excesses of tourist development My favourite memory of Akyaka? The second evening of our most recent visit: the beach floodlit by the last embers of a flaming sunset, the mountains that stand sentry around the town softening into deep purple hues.

Before our eyes, all was transformed: sunloungers stacked away, waiters whisking back and forth with tables, menus and small rechargeable lamps. A little further along, in one of the bar areas on the beach, a trio of Turkish women, their hair in shades of pepper and smoke, sat with their toes in the sand, happily knitting.

I recalled other beaches in Turkey, where oligarchs and influencers preen and pose, and thought – yes, this is exactly where I want to be.

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 18, 2026, 5:36 p.m.

Kick back and dream of summer with our pick of seaside gems, including a stylish Andalucian bolthole and a villa with views of Stromboli Wild, windswept and wonderfully unspoilt, the Costa de la Luz is the Spanish coastline time forgot; a great swathe of Atlantic drama, fringed with sandy beaches and small seaside villages and resorts. Hotel Madreselva , surrounded by the pine forest, wetlands, dunes and sea cliffs of the Breña y Marismas de Barbate nature reserve, makes a suitably tranquil base, with a palm-shaded courtyard, flame-walled pool area and 18 stylish rooms, all with a private patio.

A minute’s walk from the beach at Los Caños de Meca, the hotel is perfect for watersports lovers, as well as exploring this unspoilt corner of Andalucia.

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 18, 2026, 5:36 p.m.

Jenny (left), 27, a gallery assistant, meets Sara, 29, a researcher Continue reading...

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 18, 2026, 5:36 p.m.

Couples not sharing religious beliefs or going to each other’s places of worship isn’t unusual, but perhaps there’s something else going on here When I met my husband eight years ago , I knew he was churchy, but as a low-church Protestant, I thought this wouldn’t be a problem. Outside church, I am comfortable with our religious differences .

I sort of believe in God, and find immense spirituality in nature, but think Christ was simply a good man, whereas my husband believes it . He respects my beliefs and has never imposed his on me.

The problem I have is with the church we attend. I often feel a fraud as I don’t share the beliefs of the rest of the congregation.

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 18, 2026, 5:36 p.m.

These microscopic mites, which burrow under your skin and cause ferocious itching, are incredibly hard to get rid of – and cases in the UK have soared. What is causing the outbreak, and is there anything we can do about it?

Louise (not her real name) is listing the contents of a bin liner she has packed with fresh essentials in case of emergency. Clothes, toothbrushes, hairbrushes, a teddy … “Although it should be two teddies,” she re-evaluates, quickly.

I can hear her trying to quell her panic. A diehard survivalist preparing for catastrophe?

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 18, 2026, 5:36 p.m.

Sustainable fresh scallops are best treated simply, and this herby, garlicky breadcrumb topping ticks all the right boxes As a kid growing up in West Bay, Dorset, I used to sit on the harbour wall and watch the small trawlers coming in with their catch. My friend Mark’s dad’s boat, along with all the others, would be stacked high with sacks of queenies that they’d dredged up only hours before, and Mark’s mum would pack us off to school with a tub each of queen scallop meat doused in Sarson’s vinegar and white pepper, to eat later as a playground snack.

At the time, I thought nothing of it, but, looking back now, I realise quite what a luxurious schoolday treat this was.

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