The perfect weekend — a lot closer than you think

What are the criteria for a perfect weekend? Obviously it depends on who is taking the trip. Are you travelling as a family? Does your ideal journey need to combine culture and countryside? Since no single solution fits everyone, we visit three destinations in our travel story, “The perfect weekend”. Torquay, on England’s south coast, is a charming old-fashioned resort. Your guide is Colin Beaven, our British columnist, who discovers the beauty of Agatha Christie’s home, tours a manor house and takes a trip on a vintage cliff railway. The journey begins on page 12.

Our weekend in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, is a trip that offers entertainment for the whole family. From the Camera Obscura — a building packed with interactive experiences — to Edinburgh’s historic dungeon where the city’s grisly past is on display, everyone in the family will find something to enjoy. The action starts on page 20.

For those who prefer not to leave Germany, but would like an authentic English-speaking experience, it seems that a good place to find this is in the backwaters of Bavaria. A hotel that began as the project of a bohemian Brit, a model farm that is home to an American artist and a magnificent English breed of horses — we visit these places and more in our Bavarian weekend beginning on page 28.

While you’re in the mood for travel, remember that Spotlight-reisen is offering guided bilingual trips to Devon in August and September, and one special highlight will be an afternoon and evening in the delightful company of Colin. Find out all about the trips on pages 8–9.