Take me there: Celtic Connections, Glasgow
More than 2,000 musicians from around the globe, including Martha Reeves will descend on Glasgow this month for the annual folk, roots and world music shindig that is Celtic Connections (celticconnections.com). Growing in stature each year, the festival will run from 19 January to 5 February and feature 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, art exhibitions, workshops and free events in concert halls and venues across the city. Expect an eclectic line-up ranging from Senegalese salsa bands to Scottish pipers – and don't miss the after-hours sessions at the Festival Club which are famed for spawning unlikely and memorable one-off musical collaborations.
Travel clinic: trekking in the UK
The dilemma My husband and I are keen walkers and would like to try winter hillwalking or snowshoeing. Can you suggest some guided walks we can sign up to in the UK? Claudia, by email
Joanne replies Cumbria-based Eden Outdoor Adventures (edenoutdooradventures.co.uk) offers tuition in snowshoeing and guided walks in the Lake District, Northern Pennines and Scotland. Whether you wish to climb Scafell Pike or bag a munro, they provide qualified guides and equipment (from £140 per day for two). The winter-skills courses cover navigation, avalanche awareness and use of ice axes and crampons. They can arrange accommodation and pick-ups if you arrive by train. For a longer trip, you can't go wrong with Wilderness Scotland (wildernessscotland.com). Its five-day winter-walking expeditions in the Cairngorms (from £575pp) suit people with little or no experience, with accommodation in a cosy country-house hotel. Torridon in Wester Ross is holding its first Winter Walking Festival (3–5 March, thetorridon.com/activities/Walking-Festival) with a varied programme of guided walks, from gentle low-level hikes across frozen glens to more challenging ice-climbing expeditions, all departing from the Torridon Inn.
If you have a travel dilemma, email Joanne O'Connor at magazine@observer.co.uk. For more travel suggestions, go to guardian.co.uk/travel
Three of the best: Cotswolds inns
As the January gloom descends, what could be more appealing than to cosy up in front of an open fire at one of these traditional Gloucestershire inns with a modern twist?
1. Ragged Cot, Minchinhampton Modern makeover of a 17th-century inn. Great value and good walks on the doorstep. Rooms from £75 (theraggedcot.co.uk)
2. Wheatsheaf Inn, Northleach Gorgeous boutique bedrooms and posh pub food: the perfect weekend retreat. Rooms from £120 (cotswoldswheatsheaf.com)
3. New Inn, Coln St Aldwyns Recently renovated creeper-clad inn with sumptuous rooms, a terrace and garden in a pretty Cotswold village. From £140 (new-inn.co.uk)
