The one country Telegraph readers long to rediscover more than any other – Telegraph.co.uk

Telegraph writers have been dreaming of trips to Greece, Croatia, California, France, Italy, Russia, Switzerland, Portugal and South Africa when this is all over. Heres where you long to visit after lockdown is lifted.

Our expert Tim Jepson had 20 good excuses to return to Italy after coronavirus. It seems that many readers will do exactly that.

Sheenagh Gordon-Hart: I will return as soon as I can to my husband and dogs in the hills above Lago Trasimeno, a spot in Umbria that is for me unsurpassed in beauty and tranquillity. I miss it terribly. Italy just has everything and while Umbria itself offers art and history in abundance, the magnetic attractions of Florence and Rome are easily accessed too. Oh, please let this plague be over soon.

Terence Courtnadge: My favourite part of Europe has, for more than 50 years, been Calabria: the toe of Italy. It is an intriguing mix of culture, modernity, wildness and rugged scenery. But for some reason Tuscany is where most Britons seem to go.

Gavin Smithers: I live in Lugano, on the border, and as soon as they open the doors again, we will be over there. I had to cancel a weekend in Liguria and one in Piedmont in the last month. The hotel owners were super-polite but you could sense their despair.

John Blackley: My dream of returning to Italy - may it come true soon - consists largely of a leisurely few weeks exploring hill towns, making the acquaintance of some people who live there, shopping in local shops and eating comfortable meals outdoors while reading a good book. I'll be back outdoors before sunset, with my book and something pleasant to drink before taking dinner at whichever restaurant is available. That'll do nicely.

Amitis Etemadi: I will go back to Italy the day it opens and stay there for as long as I can. Hopefully forever. I will go south to Sicily where I can eat and appreciate the simple life, but then I will have to go to busy Naples and die of excitement at all that livelihood and mess. The I will ride along the coast and eventually make it to the islands: the glamour of Capri and the craziness of Ischia. But then Rome is one city with a soul I cant live without, a place of surprising beauty thats never boring. Then I will drive to Marche, Umbria and then Tuscany, where I can enjoy the landscape and inhale the fresh air.

Peter Bulmer: It is funny but a lot of people do not realise that Sardinia is in Italy and it has had a relatively easy ride as far as virus infections are concerned, partly because it is an island. But it has everything you expect from Italy, and is a lot less crowded. Theres fantastic food and people, and nice secluded beaches, particularly in the north.

Anthony Peregrine offered 20 fine reasons to return to France, and it seems many of you hope to return as soon as foreign trips are permitted. Indeed, it is currently topping our poll of places to go back to.

Diane Farnden: It is my favourite place to visit. Every region has something different to offer throughout the seasons. In early autumn we usually drive through it, eventually ending up in the Luberon where we watch the grapes being harvested and stock up on wine from the vineyards - lovely, heady, southern Rhone reds essentially, but some very good whites too. All will change post-Brexit, but it won't stop us going though. We love the food, the people, the culture and the language.

J Harper: The diversity of landscape is extraordinary. From snow-capped mountains to beautiful forests to wide rolling vistas and fantastic gorges and rivers. So much to see and explore, and take wonderful photographs.

Michael Tame: Driving south of Poitiers along D1 backroads past poplars and crimson rose-decked stone walls, picking up bread and cheese for picnics next to slow moving streams. Prix Fixe menus at shaded tables. Cool dank romanesque churches. Vin rouge. Soft sheets.

Linda Holley: Our two visits there in 2019 were eye opening. As soon as this horrible nightmare is over, we are moving there from the US.

Richard Vinson: I live in France. Why should I go anywhere else?

Our old favourite, Greece, will be one of the first places to which many Telegraph readers return.

Roy Leask: A great way to experience the Greek islands is under sail. Easy to do and a lot of fun when you can charter a small yacht or catamaran out of Kos marina, perfectly placed to explore the Dodecanese. If its your first time, consider hiring a skipper who can show you the ropes and take you to places only sailboats can reach.

Robert Beavis: I am scared to recommend the following as they are my secret. Fly to Athens, pick up a hire car and drive via the autoroute to Sparta for a stop and then to Glythio for a couple of days. Its a tired run-down Greek port, but fantastic. Stay at Aktion Hotel on the seafront, where rooms are about 35 per night with breakfast. Very old fashioned but spotless. Then, about 35 mins away, youll find Skoutari. It is the best beach in the world, with a family taverna and, at the other end of the bay, the best fish restaurant, also family-run, serving fresh fish caught by their own boat.

Thomas Mein: Western Crete has fabulous beaches and some of the best locally grown produce anywhere in the Med. And Chania old town is one of the nicest places you could wish for.

Simon Coulter: Its almost a year since our last holiday - my first in Greece - and it was to Santorini which is perhaps pricier than most destinations - and where the main sunset viewpoints fill with cruise ship passengers. We stayed on the beachfront, far from the hotspots and had a little hire car which took us absolutely everywhere on the island - even to Oia and Fira but we were wise enough to leave before the swarms descended. Lovely meals, right on the beach, every evening.

Greg Dickinsons ode to Porto struck a chord with many of you.

Andrew Blyth: I cannot claim to know Portugal well, and Porto ditto. However, last year I left a boat moored up the river to see all those famous houses literally lining the river and it was extraordinary. The Portuguese people that I met, whether in markets, bars or just going about business, were incredibly welcoming, some spoke English, some did not, but by sign and just by being polite, we all got along. Perhaps things will resume after all this crisis, probably not, but Portugal I will remember very well.

Brian Corbett: Superb place, if you can manage steep hills. Got back just as it all kicked off, my last holiday for some time I suspect. Don't bother with the bookshop though, the queue goes down the street.

Darren Rodgers: My wife and I just visited Lisbon, Porto and the south of Spain so we could visit Gibraltar. Porto was our favourite: very easily walked (parked the car for the three days we were there) and very affordable for food and drink. We stayed at an Airbnb near the Douro river. The architecture is stunning. Can't wait to return.

Annabel Fenwick Elliott wrote about her favourite country: South Africa. Many of you agree.

Tim Woodcock: I first went there in 1995, primarily to watch cricket, and have been back numerous times including a four-day visit to Tswalu, my favourite safari location. I once spent six months working out there in Johannesburg when nobody else in the office would put their hand up for the job. After the 1995 trip I asked my mate why it should be the first time I had felt I really did not want to return from holiday and he just said SA gets under your skin. Twenty-five years later he still could not be more right.

Christopher Lee: Well, as someone currently locked down 50m above Boulders Beach, I couldn't think of a better place anywhere in the world I would rather be right now.

Glen Mills: I could not agree with you more. SA is a beautiful place and South Africans are the warmest, most friendly people.

Robert Bailey: As a South African born British citizen, who loves the UK, I have to admit I am desperate to go back to SA for a visit. An amazing country. Will be booking a flight as soon as I can.

However, the vast majority of you are not thinking about foreign climes - you are looking forward to getting out and exploring the wonders on your doorstep once again.

Will Hide: Im looking forward to exploring more of the UK. Theres so much lovely stuff on our own doorstep. If one good thing comes out of all this maybe it should be to slow down a bit and look closer to home. There are lots of parts of Wales and Scotland I need to revisit.

Paul Lewis: When the lockdown is over and we are allowed to travel freely again, people wont want a foreign holiday, nor a holiday in a busy hotel or holiday complex. I believe they will want a quiet holiday home by the coast, where they can get out and about as a family without the crowds.

Brian Johnson: There are so many places. The northNorfolk coast, and a stop on the way at North Creake Abbey. The Welsh Marches. Hadrian's Wall. South Devon.

Irene McGovern: North Devon. We had a holiday home for many years there in a small hamlet outside Barnstaple. We loved to wander in and out of Exmoor National Park and the coastline. I had my first holiday there in 1958 and it never really changes much.

Kelland Hutchence: Tenby and the Pembrokeshire coast, Parsley Hey in the Peak District, to hire a bike and ride along the Tissington Trail, and finally Plockton to stay with the wonderful Mrs McKenzie [a local b&b].

David Impey: If I might chip in: the saltmarshes of Essex and Suffolk: Burnham, Blackwater, Walton-on-the-Naze.

Paul Dover: I would mention the North Yorks Moors, Northumbria and Cumbria. Also the Isle of Mann, Dornoch and Portknockie,where I would happily live.

Anne Pasco: The Isle of Purbeck, where I was born, and now visit too rarely - a magical and unspoilt area.

Brian O'Sullivan: Malvern Hills, Exeter Cathedral, Richmond and how about fresh fish and chips in the Kyle of Lochalsh and then over to the Isle of Skye?

Jim Binks: The Forest of Bowland, Durham, Liverpool, Isle of Skye, lln Peninsula and my garden here in wonderful Wigan.

Neil Owen: Six locations: Loch Etive and the drive down to it; Rannoch Moor and Glencoe; Woolacombe Bay through to Morte Point; Lavenham; Powis Castle and the Welsh Borders; Almost anywhere along the banks of the River Severn.

Robert Brown: A week in Buttermere would be just about perfect as far as I'm concerned.

Stuart Wright: On a trip last year to the UK for a wedding my wife and I walked the Dales Way from Ilkley to Bowness-on-Windermere. Stunning. I would do it again tomorrow.

Terence Courtnadge: A riverside pub in Lechlade, Gloucestershire, near the source of the Thames and the heart of the Cotswolds.

Pauline McCabe: Our coast is beautiful, and to clear away the cobwebs there is nothing better. There are some great webcams around our beaches. Some, like the one at Norfolk's Sheringham, have sound, so we can always pretend for now.

Alistair Stewart: A cottage on the west coast of Scotland without mobile signal, Wi-Fi or television.

Catherine Powell: Glenfinnan Monument on Loch Shiel.

Mike Bell: Bamburgh via Durham City.

Bernhard Karrenbrock: Having travelled the UK for the last 50 years, my choices are:

Bess Tinshow: I'll keep it simple and just cross the border into Herefordshire.

Geoffrey Johns: I did think of showing a bit of solidarity with Greece but yes, I think, for my first post-corona hols, it'll be Blighty for me - North Yorkshire probably.

Paul Edeson: Back to the Alps and Dolomites in the South Tyrol, my favourite place.

Kurt Wright: Zermatt for glacier skiing as soon as they reopen. We missed out on all the spring skiing this year.

Robert Alan Sutton: Well, since I am not just stuck in Ukraine (under National Quarantine till 24 April, probably 12 May) not just stuck in Dnepropetrovsk (as there are no trains) but - with no buses - stuck about 15 miles from there, in an albeit idyllic spot by the River Dnieper, my first visit when this is all over will be to the UK. And if I can't go there, then Sweden, but not Malmo.

Clive Batterbury: I would suggest going to Namibia for a less crowded country, friendly people, amazing animals and stunning scenery.

Richard Oaten: I will head back to Harare to see my friends there and enjoy the friendly welcome they always give. If you think we have problems then see what they have to face.

@AndeanImaging: Ill be straight back to Western Australia for time with my parents, and walks on Australias finest beaches. Then a big road trip along the Coral Coast to Exmouth, taking in dolphins, pink lakes, humpbacks and whale sharks, before heading to the red bluff cliffs of Cape Leveque.

@TheTravelGuy420: Ill be heading to a remote spot in the Pacific, in search of isolation. Not enforced isolation. No. The good kind. That kind that sends you into a serene, otherworldly trance. One where the rhythm of your being moves with the tide while day rolls softly into night.

Emma Reed: Copenhagen. We were making plans to go with our family at Easter after I became obsessed with Denmark after reading Helen Russells A Year of Living Danishly. We are hankering after some Scandi cool and minimalism after our cooped up maximalism.

Marilyn Smith: For me, it has to be high in the Tramuntana mountains on the beautiful island of Mallorca, where you can still find your oasis, if you know where to look.

Sara Donovan: I will go firstly to Spain, anywhere except the overcrowded Costas, the food is wonderful, the people are lovely and the scenery and history are great. Secondly, we will go to South Africa which we love like a second home. I also like France, Switzerland and Germany. Italy is a must. After this problem is solved I want to drive all over Europe and revel.

Patrick Freel: I'm planning a trip to the pub when all this is over.

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The one country Telegraph readers long to rediscover more than any other - Telegraph.co.uk

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