Getting the flavour of…

Symphony of ice in the Dolomites It has to be the “coolest concert on the planet”, says Andrew Eames in The Sunday Times. Not only are we listening to music in an igloo on the edge of a glacier, but the instruments are made of ice. Here in the Italian resort of Tonale, an “ambitious” music festival is currently playing to ruggedup audiences in temperatures of -12°C. The man behind it is Tim Linhart, an American ice artist who has made “every instrument you can think of”, from a grand piano to a flute which can only be played for “a couple of minutes before it starts to melt”. The violin and viola are preserved by “breath defenders” on which the players rest their chins, and audience numbers are limited to prevent too much respiration (the igloos are designed so that body heat “dissipates through holes in the roof”). Linhart’s icy creations are wonderfully rich and clear, but owing to the musicians’ numbed fingers, the concerts are confined to a brief – but “memorable” – 45 minutes. Ice concerts on Thursdays and Saturdays until 30 March. Tickets £18. valdisole.net/en/ice-music. Tenerife’s other hotspots The “knobbly” lava fields of Teide National Park are Tenerife’s hottest attraction (literally), says Helen Ochyra in The Times. And at the centre of them is the imposing cone of Mount Teide. You can get up to the peak with the crowds on a cable car, which stops 150 metres short of the summit; alternatively, get a permit and head out before sunrise for the hour-long hike to the top. All you need is a head torch, “sturdy boots” and reasonable stamina. Teide last erupted in 1909, and at its top the rocks are “warm to the touch” and the air is filled with sulphurous wisps. In the “strawberry light of dawn”, the volcano casts a pyramid-shaped shadow across the sea – an extraordinary sight few visitors get to see.

Jersey without the crowds Summer in Jersey brings “guaranteed sun”, says Helen Coffey in The Independent. But that also means “guaranteed people”. Go in winter, and you’ll have its “starkly beautiful” beaches and hiking trails to yourself. No one else would be “bonkers enough to sign up” for winter sea-kayaking, so you’ll get “a one-on-one tutorial” and, even better, a guide can take you close to nesting sites of peregrine falcons, egrets and oystercatchers that in summer are blocked by tourist boats. Over at the Jersey War Tunnels – an interactive museum charting the Nazi occupation – there are no queues to access its exhibits, nor at the bar afterwards. “For the entry-level loner”, off-season Jersey “has it all”. Absolute Adventures (absoluteadventures.je) has two hours sea kayaking for £38pp, including all gear.