The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 19, 2026, 4:31 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. 19, 2026, 4:31 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. 19, 2026, 4:31 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. 19, 2026, 4:31 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. 19, 2026, 4:31 p.m.

Tell us about a favourite small museum or gallery you’ve discovered on your travels – the best tip wins £200 towards a Coolstays break While Europe’s famous museums and galleries draw the crowds with their blockbuster exhibitions, it can be more rewarding to discover wonderful art in out-of-the-way places. Whether it was a museum dedicated to tapestries in France, a quirky gallery in Berlin or an artist’s studio in Italy, we’d love to hear about your less-known discoveries.

Tell us where it was and why you loved it. The best tip of the week, chosen by Tom Hall of Lonely Planet wins a £200 voucher to stay at a Coolstays property – the company has more than 3,000 worldwide.

The best tips will appear in the Guardian Travel section and website. Continue reading...

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 19, 2026, 4:31 p.m.

Charente-Maritime is a more affordable, less manicured family destination than nearby Île de Ré Dinner comes with a spectacle in La Tremblade. Before I sit down to a platter of oysters at La Cabane des Bons Vivants , one of the village’s canal-side restaurants, I stand and watch orange flames bellow up from a tangle of long, skinny pine needles inside a large, open oven.

They are piled on top of a board of carefully arranged mussels and, by setting fire to the pine needles, the shellfish cook in their own juices. This is the curious tradition of moules à l’éclade , a novel way of cooking mussels developed by Marennes-Oléron oyster farmers along the River Seudre in the Charente-Maritime, halfway down France’s west coast.

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 19, 2026, 4:31 p.m.

Beth’s liberated and open-minded attitude to sex has helped Alex reignite his passion after his former wife came out as a lesbian • How do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymously We’re always letting our hands wander under restaurant tables, or on the escalator in the Tube Continue reading...

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 19, 2026, 4:31 p.m.

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

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 19, 2026, 4:31 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. 19, 2026, 4:31 p.m.

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts • This week’s readers’ replies: Should speed cameras be hidden? How can we accept that what feels like overwhelming love for someone is unrequited, and how can we get over it?

HH, Suffolk, by email Post your answers (and new questions) below or send them to nq@theguardian.com . A selection will be published next Sunday.

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