Antonia Windsor

Explore Guernsey the island where Victor Gugo wrote Les Miserables

Madrid is an old favourite of travel writer Antonia Windsor who spent a weekend visiting friends when she was young, free and single. But is the city still fun with three young children in tow?

Earlier this week the small Highland village of Tomintoul was in jubilant mood as they celebrated becoming part of a gold-tier dark sky park. The Tomintoul and Glenlivet Cairngorms Dark Sky Park, which was officially approved by the International Dark Sky Organisation on Monday, is now the most northerly dark sky park in the world.
The highest village in the Highlands, Tomintoul sits on the edge of the Cairngorms National Park in the north east county of Moray, otherwise known as malt whisky ...

Well if anyone ever had fears about travelling in pregnancy the Duchess of Sussex has put paid to that by jetting to the other side of the globe while being at least three months pregnant ....

Didn't we have a lovely time? Our favourite writers certainly did – they even sent us postcards from their holidays. And as thoughts turn to next year, we wrote back with ideas on how to enjoy summer even more. Read the eight lessons they learnt this summer below.

It has been a project 20 years in the planning with a number of false starts, but a redevelopment of St Lucia’s international airport is finally underway, according to the minister for tourism, Dominic Fedee.
The Hewanorra airport on the Eastern Caribbean island currently operates a single terminal for both domestic and international arrivals and departures and it can get chronically overcrowded on busy weekends. The plans, which will cost in excess of $100 million (£76.7m), include expansion...

The Caribbean island of St Lucia provides poetry and plunge pools, with a backdrop of mountainous beauty, writes Antonia Windsor

Guernsey is perfect for those who love to step out and explore
When you stand on the cliff path on Guernsey’s south coast on a sunny day, with the coconut smell of gorse in the air and the white surf rolling below on an azure sea, you feel a complete sense of well-being and joy.
It is no surprise that the painter Renoir fell in love with this Channel Island – and you can find his painting of Moulin Huet Bay in the National Gallery in London

Swishy, swashy, swishy, swashy, swishy, swashy…” My three small children chanted those words while dragging their feet through tall seeded grasses interspersed with sunny yellow bird’s foot trefoil, bright pink thrift and nodding purple foxgloves. We were traipsing across St Helens Duver on the Isle of Wight – and we were going on a bear hunt.
It was the picture of the perfect, natural childhood that this London mother had been craving. Earlier in the week we had “stumble tripped” through woo...

Guernsey’s capital is emerging as a foodie hotspot, so don’t miss these top eateries
With a glut of new openings in the past few years, the characterful capital of Guernsey, St Peter Port, is becoming a destination for foodies.

Foodies will find everything from superb seafood to artisan gin
Long before small-producer artisan food was a trend, Guernsey was home-growing its own, cut off as it was from mainland Britain.

Drift away to unspoiled spots in the warmer waters around Guernsey
Think of summer holidays and you might think of white sandy beaches, crystal-clear waters and the joy of hopping from one pristine island to another in a thoroughly carefree fashion. But did you realise you can do this without leaving the British Isles? Take a 40-minute flight from London to Guernsey and you have the other Channel Islands of Sark, Herm and Alderney to explore.

When people think of going to the Channel Islands they usually weigh up the advantages between cosmopolitan Jersey or the more underdeveloped Guernsey and its outlying, car-free islands of Herm and Sark.
Alderney, the most northern of the Channel Islands, is often overlooked – which means fewer tourists on its glorious, sandy beaches and flower-strewn cliff paths. Inhabitants of the other islands dismiss Lapins (as Alderney people are affectionately known – after the many rabbits found on the...

Travel writer Antonia Windsor traces the Channel Islands' dramatic coastlines – and spots some of the abundant wildlife

A Motability Scheme car or scooter can bring a great sense of freedom, especially if you want to get out and about in the UK – but what if you want to head further afield? Take some inspiration from Antonia Windsor