VENICE IS BEST IN FEBRUARY

I read with interest your cover story on ‘Overtourism’ (‘Wow! Not a tourist in sight’, August 18). For most of the year Venice is deeply maddening; the squares of ‘La Serenissima’, flanked by its majestic palaces and churches, are choked with a seething mass of humanity.

But if one visits in winter a completely different side to Venice is presented, not warm maybe, but often beautifully clear. Clear enough, in fact, to view the Dolomites, that appear to start at the edge of the mainland, and the light can be magnificent, reminiscent of a painting by Turner or Canaletto. I venture there every year in February (being careful to avoid ‘Carnevale’), and experience

a very different Venice. Gone are the queues for the Doges Palace and St Mark’s, and gone are the ‘selfie’seeking masses around the Bridge of Sighs. In February on ediscovers a rare treat – a chance to meet real Venetians in cafes and bars, a virtual impossibility during the summer months. STEVE GREEN WINS A £250 RAILBOOKERS HOLIDAY VOUCHER

North of Seville, while on an Inntravel walk on a hot day, we lounged with a Spanish picnic, beneath fine cork trees. In a beautiful spot in Namsos, northern Norway, high among the trees, our supper included salmon portions and barbecued elk steaks! Nearer home we treasure simple picnics of soup, filled baps and ginger crunch in an attractive, little-known beach, on the Solway Firth. ROSALIND HALL

over the north Warwickshire countryside. There is a cave cut out in the red rocks, and a witch’s face carved on the upper edges to rush past.

More important than this was guaranteed lads aplenty there. Anticipation was great, we even walked past a pony in a field on the four-mile journey to get there. Heaven to teenage girls. It was the travelling hopefully, and the sense of occasion that eating out in the fresh air gave, that made us happy.

GILL YARDLEY