magical

More and more Gen Zs and Millennials are hiring UK holiday homes in order to dress up together, away from the scrutiny of their parents, partners and society at large

“It’s difficult playing at your house. You’re trying to get in the mood to slay a vampire, and then someone’s boyfriend comes in to get a snack.”

It’s a problem we’ve all had. Or at least, those of us who are among the growing number of British Dungeons and Dragons players who are swapping sunbeds in Lanzarote for a cottage in the Lake District, and trading their piña colada for a couple of D4s and an orc costume.

Driven by “cosy crime” hits such as The Traitors and Agatha Christie adaptations, one in four Brits and half of Gen Z have booked a staycation specifically to host a murder mystery, games night, or TV-themed weekend with friends or family, according to an exclusive cottages.com study.

An early adopter of this trend is young Millennial Georgia Johnson, who has just celebrated a decade of leaving the boyfriends behind in London and heading to somewhere secluded to roll dice.

“We’ve been to Valencia twice, a place in Kent, a friend’s house in Bath and up to the Lake District,” the North London DnD player explained.

For Georgia and her costume-clad pals, getting away from it all really helps to set the mood.

“One time, we knew we were going to have a fortune telling, so we put out loads of tarot cards and dice and had a candlelit session,” she explained.

“Cottages.com has spooky castles and chapels you can stay in, and a button that shows you a nearby pub. Generally, you get up, DnD, have lunch at a pub, come back, more DnD, then around midnight it can get a bit silly and hazy. At the moment, we are playing Curse of Strahd, which is modelled on Dracula. We are hoping to go to Whitby to finish the game. We want candles lit and spooky music.”

For the uninitiated, it’d be easy to overlook the ubiquity of role-playing games like DnD, or consign them to the ‘80s fad bin’ only recently revived by a starring role in Stranger Things.

In fact, they’ve been growing in popularity for years and continue to reach new peaks. 52 years after its invention, DnD has 13.7 million active players. One study suggests that interest in tabletop role-playing games has increased by roughly 85% since 2020. This purple patch extends to Nottingham-based Warhammer, which was worth £4.7bn at the end of 2024.

For many gentler souls, such games are a fantastic way of expressing oneself creatively. Among Georgia’s clan is Ben, an office worker during the week who dons a moustache and becomes “officer of the post” Derbert Clifton-Brown at the weekend.

He is joined by creative Kash, who has purchased ears specifically designed for people of colour, and Oliver, who likes to paint himself green.

Before the crew started travelling to play, Georgia’s mum walked in on them in the act. “She said she would’ve rather found us having an orgy,” the 33-year-old said.

Another great RPG lover is James Mackenzie-Thorpe. Not only has he travelled across the UK to enjoy weekend sessions with his friends, but he has also brought dozens of DnDers to a unique tourist attraction.

“My first day working at Kents Caverns I heard some colleagues talking DnD. I asked if I could play, but there was no work group. Later on, I woke up from a dream and thought I should write an adventure set in the caves. So I wrote it and played it with a group of five, in the caves. It went really well. Then another group. Then we decided to do it for the public. Now, for three years, I’ve run DnD in the cave for the general public,” James explained.

Kents Caverns are a network of prehistoric caves in Torquay, Devon, that lie beneath the hotel that inspired Fawlty Towers. James takes tours by day and hosts quests by night.

And he puts a lot of effort into it, paying for maps to be professionally painted and bringing rechargeable lanterns to light up the skull-lined caves.

“It’s been a tremendous amount of fun. You never know what you’re going to get with each group. We’ve had people travelling from Cornwall and Somerset. One group had been playing with each other online during Covid. They had never met in real life before they came and played with me in the caves. They booked an Airbnb and stayed together,” he said.

For James, the real joy of DnD comes in seeing people express themselves freely, which traveling to a cottage or heading underground can help some do.

“We have a young member who has been four or five times to play in the caves. They’re non-binary and are just starting to come to terms with that. To see everyone really take that person in hand, to really help that person come out of their shell, it makes me really proud,” he said.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been driving all over Los Angeles doing something I haven’t done in a long time: playing pretend.

I pretended I was in a medieval castle at a French cafe in Miracle Mile and that I was looking for trolls on a fern-filled hike in Griffith Park. I imagined that Tolkien’s elves built the creekside restaurant where I met a friend for brunch in Topanga and that I was eating alongside real witches in a forest-themed dining room in North Hollywood.

In a Whittier tea room, I poured a glittering potion that said “Drink Me” into a glass of Champagne and in Beverly Hills, I stared awestruck at the platonic ideal of a witch’s house, half expecting a bent old lady with a wart on her nose to come out and turn me into a toad.

It’s been a rough start to 2026 and these brief moments of make-believe have served as a joyful balm in sad and scary times. I’m not looking to bypass reality, but taking a break from it every once in a while can be a welcome reprieve. Fortunately, Los Angeles is especially good at creating transporting experiences that drip with fairy-tale ambience. This is the home of Hollywood after all, the land of artifice, the spot where Walt Disney dreamed up the Happiest Place on Earth. Seeking and finding moments of happily ever after, even if they last just a few minutes, is part of the city’s collective DNA.

So grab your broom and make sure to leave a trail of bread crumbs behind you. L.A. has plenty of magic to share. All you need to do is open your mind and explore.

This stunning 17th century estate was home to the Jones family for centuries and is now a real-life time capsule open to visitors

Near Moreton-in-Marsh in Oxfordshire sits a magnificent estate, which once belonged to the very same family for centuries.

Originally constructed as an enormous display of wealth and influence in the early 17th century, it has since transformed into a public space where visitors can explore and immerse themselves in British history.

Chastleton House remained a constant fixture within the same family for hundreds upon hundreds of years, as the estate continued to stay in their possession, handed down through the generations.

Today, the property stands in Oxfordshire as a genuine time capsule, barely altered, featuring an impressive great hall, gallery room and numerous collections that once belonged to the distinguished family.

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Guests can wander the grounds and take a guided tour of the rooms that contain countless memories for the Jones family.

One visitor wrote on TripAdvisor: “Beautiful house and gardens with discrete but attentive guides. From the entrance to the exit, a fantastic visit. A huge family home with a fascinating past.”

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Early history

It’s thought that some form of settlement has stood in Chastleton for over 1,000 years, but by the 16th century, the site of the house as we recognise it today was owned by the Catesby family.

That was until Walter Jones bought the land and previous house from Robert Catesby, and it remained within his family for 400 years.

He demolished what remained of the original property and constructed a stunning building in its place, completed in 1612.

His acquisition was intended to mirror his illustrious legal career, and he sought to establish himself as a country gentleman, having now become a landowner.

Throughout the following century, the Jones family continued to form unions with several well-established gentry families, helping to cement this standing.

The final direct descendant of Walter Jones, however, was Arthur Jones, who inherited the estate in 1813 and carried out some structural enhancements to the residence.

Following his death, the property stayed within the family, though not with a direct descendant; rather, it was handed down to a distant cousin by marriage named John Henry-Whitmore Jones.

The final chapter of this family tree’s ownership concluded in 1991, when the National Heritage Memorial Fund purchased Chastleton and transferred it to the care of the National Trust.

Regrettably for the final occupants, the expense of maintaining the building was becoming far too substantial.

Preservation

The National Heritage Memorial Fund acquired Chastleton in 1991, and the majority of its original contents remained precisely as they were before it was transferred to the National Trust.

In an effort to maintain that mystical ambience that can only be attributed to centuries of tales and memories on the grounds, there was a plan to preserve the house, not restore it.

With this, they merely repaired parts that were damaged, which took a total of six years, to ensure the building was structurally sound and stable.

The stunning home was later reopened for the public to witness all its magic up close in 1998.

Visiting

It’s thought that one of the true treasures of the house is the Long Gallery, boasting the longest-surviving barrel-vaulted ceiling in the country. Due to neglect, the plasterwork required some refurbishment, which occurred in 1904.

Part of the room’s splendour is attributed to the mask heads located at the west end of the room, extremely rare survivals from the 1600s era, believed to have been used as a weapon to ward off evil spirits.

Beyond the confines of the house lies a vast, impeccably maintained garden, offering a sense of tranquillity and relaxation. Contributing to this glory is the Jacobean Pleasure Garden, also known as the Best Garden – a name that speaks volumes about its beauty.

To fully appreciate it all, visitors can embark on the Wilderness Walk, designed to provide not just a soothing stroll around the gardens but also the very best views of the house and the ever-changing gardens through the seasons.

One recent visitor said: “The house is amazing, a time capsule of a grand country house decaying over the years, with the fantastic result of being able to see how things really were without Victorian (or other) alterations. And top tip, do enjoy the Chastleton Teas at the church right next door.”

The property welcomes visitors from mid-March onwards with opening hours of 1pm until 5pm. Adult admission is priced at £15, while children’s tickets cost £7.50 and families can purchase a ticket for £37.50.

Travel expert Simon Calder has shared one of his favourite destinations for an autumn escape and it’s perfect for pensioners

Travel expert Simon Calder revealed one of his top picks for an autumn getaway: the picturesque seaside town of Cassis, located in the south of France. Simon highlighted that there are numerous budget-friendly flights from UK airports and mild temperatures in spring and autumn.

Cassis is also an extremely walkable town, making it ideal for pensioners seeking an inexpensive destination that’s also straightforward to explore.

The travel expert stated: “I just came back from Côte d’Azur on Friday, and it was absolutely magical, particularly the lovely town of Cassis. Beautiful port, very close to St Tropez. It’s just a gorgeous place, the food is great!”

“You can even take a bus from Marseille that costs £3 and takes you around one of the greatest drives in the world.”

Travel expert Sam wrote on her blog theblondescout that Cassis was “one of the nicest surprises” during her time living in France.

“This small fishing town is colourful, quaint and next to one of the most extraordinary landscapes I have ever witnessed: the dramatic limestone inlets that make up the Calanques between Cassis and Marseille.”

She noted that Cassis is a compact town, so it is “very walkable and easy to get around”.

“All of the streets are picture-perfect and have that colourful French Riviera vibe! Our favourite little square was at the bougainvillaea-filled Place Baragnon.”

Other locations suggested by travel expert Simon Calder include the Algarve, in southern Portugal, a stunning and “very affordable” coastal destination that’s not overly busy at this time of year.