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A hidden gem in the north of Spain is the town of Comillas (Cantabria region.) It was one of the first in the country to supply electricity to its inhabitants as a result of the royal visit of the then king Alfonso XII who chose the town as his preferred location for a summer holiday.
It has got everything one could wish for: a superb beach within walking distance of the town centre, a Friday morning market of fresh produce in the main square, trendy night-time bars and some beautiful historical buildings such as the impressive neogothic Sobrellano Palace and "El Capricho" by the world renown architect Gaudi. For the scholarly visitor, the Pontificial University is a necessary stop. It overlooks the town from a spectacular vantage point and has been recently restored to its former glory. It is now open for tours and offers summer language courses and cultural events. The town itself is the perfect location to explore the north of the country and it is only 20 minutes away from Santander airport and ferry port. Pick up information from the tourist information office in the main square. Over the summer the town celebrates several popular festivities, so don't be surprised if you are passing by the harbour and you end up savouring some freshly barbecued sardines on crusty bread with a glass of wine for free. You may also come across the shows, a mobile "churreria" with mouthwatering Spanish delights that visits the town every summer or decide to enjoy fireworks on the beach at midnight.
There are some amazing walks over the hills to nearby villages and hamlets for the entire family to enjoy. If you are itching to get to know this diverse and unique part of the world, take a trip to the medieval town of "Santillana del Mar", drive through breathtaking scenery in the Picos de Europa or visit the caves of "El Soplao" and "Altamira" with some of the earliest prehistoric paintings discovered in Europe. Finally, if you want to try some traditional Spanish food on a budget, go to "La Venta del Tramalon" a roadside restaurant well known by the locals just outside the town in Ruiloba. Comillas is a truly unforgettable location and more importantly, you will be spoiled for choice!
www.comillas.es/english
www.turismocomillas.com
Google map: bit.ly/LBPOGq
La Venta del Tramalon:
Calle Tramalon s/n, 39527 Ruiloba
+34 94 2725050
If you want to make the perfect paella, then you need the perfect rice from Calasparra in the depths of Murcia. The town celebrates its famous crop from the rice thrower fountain that greets you to the annual festival celebrating the rice harvest in early September, which features, among other events, daily bull runs through the town. Add to that walks with stunning views, a much visited sanctuary and friendly townsfolk. The recipe for a perfect break!
www.murciatoday.com/calasparra_39-t.html
www.murciaturistica.es/en/tourism.cities?localidad=calasparra
www.calasparra.org/index.php?idioma=en
Google map: bit.ly/MGXLLW
Victoria Peak is the highest point on Hong Kong Island which means 360 degree views of the island and a breathtaking harbour vista as you look across to Kowloon side. Hong Kong's most popular tourist attraction is a definite must-see, but I have a couple of tips that the guide books don't include.
My first top tip relates to getting up to the Peak. Your guide book will tell you take the Peak Tram, a funicular railway that's been running since 1888 which creaks 396 metres up the side of the hill at a hair-raising gradient. The ride is an experience not to be missed but the queues to catch the tram up the Peak (at the Garden Road Terminus in Central) snake right around the block morning, noon and night. The queues at the top to ride back down again however, are much smaller and anyway, in my opinion, the ride down is even more exciting and roller coaster-esque than the ride up. So, I always save the tram for the way down the hill and just jump in a cab on the way up thereby skipping the maddening queues at the bottom (Hong Kong's cabs are plentiful and cheap - the red and white taxis are for hire when the red circle on the dashboard is lit up and the white taxi sign on the car's roof is alight).
My second tip centres on what to do once you get up there. The majority of visitors flock straight to the Peak Tower, a wok-shaped viewing platform 428 metres above sea level. You undoubtedly get breath-taking views from this lookout point but it sits atop a giant shopping mall packed with tacky souvenir shops and generic chain restaurants. While I see the Peak Tower as a definite must do (it’s a great place to snap a few impressive skyline photos) I’d suggest that you don't confine your Peak experience to this Disneyfied corner but instead combine it with something that not everyone does. Ask your cab driver to drop you off outside the Peak Tower and take a gentle stroll along the Hong Kong Trail, a route which loops for about an hour around the top of the Peak through lush greenery that chirrups with cicadas. Along this trail you'll get beautiful views across the city and wind past some of Hong Kong's most luxurious houses (prices of the real estate up here exceed even those of Monaco's mansions). This is a perfect walk to take during the latter half of the afternoon so that you end up back at the Peak Tower just before sunset. Head to the viewing platform in time to watch the sun sink below the skyscrapers and stay until the city’s kaleidoscopic lights come up. By this point you should have worked up a healthy appetite.
Which brings us to my third tip - where to eat. Scoot straight past the shopping mall chain restaurants and head directly across the road from the Peak Tower to the Peak Lookout, the quaint cottage-like building that twinkles under chains of fairy lights. The restaurant sits on the site of the former resting shelter of the sedan chair carriers whose job it was to ferry the Peak's wealthy residents up and down the hill. Bag a table out on the terrace which overlooks the South side of the island and refuel with jet-fresh seafood, tandoori oven fired meats accompanied by pillows of fluffy naan or a char-grilled steak from the barbeque.
www.thepeak.com.hk/en/1_2_1.asp
128 Peak Road, The Peak, Hong Kong Island.
Google Maps: goo.gl/maps/yziA
The Hong Kong Trail
www.thepeak.com.hk/en/1_3.asp
The Peak Lookout
www.peaklookout.com.hk/
121 Peak Road, The Peak, Hong Kong Island.
(852) 2849 1000
Google Map: goo.gl/maps/TT7Y
* Natalie is our local for Hong Kong. You can read all about her here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/hong-kong-local-natalie-robinson.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/natalierobinson
She also has her own blog at: www.3badmice.com/
The perfect little black dress of restaurants: works for any occasion from brunch to business meeting, always makes you feel great, and the one that you know you can rely on if all else fails.
Since Posto opened in Soho in 2009, it's become a firm favourite. I head to this open-fronted American Italian for after work prosecco with the girls, long lunches, late night suppers and morning-after, hangover busting brunches. The perfect spot for people watching, always bustling and buzzy - even if the food was average, the atmosphere would still keep me coming back. And the food’s anything but average. Creamy, homemade mozzarella (and if you get in very quickly, incredible Burrata – so legendary that it sells out almost instantly every day), crusty ciabatta served with peppery, green olive oil and rock salt, homemade pastas and slabs of mouthwatering pizza. All ingredients are organic, of the highest quality and where possible, sourced locally.
The staff are efficient, charming and always on hand to walk you through the menu and tell you exactly what bucatini is (spaghetti with a hole in the middle apparently...). Perch at the worn, dark wood bar for a couple of drinks and a quick snack (my top picks are the veal meatballs or the arancini) or nab one of the leather booths for a more languid, drawn-out affair.
The best way to eat here is family-style, so grab a menu, get ordering (inevitably over-ordering as your eyes greedily spy dish after dish that you just have to try...) and when it arrives, all dig in, tasting a bit of everything and fighting over the last chunk of mozzarella. Roll out a couple of hours later smiling and very, very full. Repeat as often as possible…
postopubblico.com/
G/F, 28 Elgin Street, Central, Hong Kong Island.
+(852) 2577 7160
Google Map: bit.ly/LT5p2Q
* Natalie is our local for Hong Kong. You can read all about her here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/hong-kong-local-natalie-robinson.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/natalierobinson
She also has her own blog at: www.3badmice.com/
El Rincon del Cani is a wonderful restaurant in the tiny village of El Colmenar - also known as Estacion de Gaucin. The food is fantastic and excellent value, the service is great and the locals extremely friendly. I've never eaten as well, and so cheaply, as I have here. The swordfish and revueltos in particular are incredible and the wine list, concentrating on local wines from Malaga and Cadiz, never fails to disappoint.
El Colmenar can be reached by train from Algeciras, or even better, from Ronda - one of the truly great train journeys in Spain. The train takes about an hour and winds down a river valley with spectacular views on either side.
c/ Ruiz Zorrilla, 2
+34 952153179
Google map: bit.ly/LMVcoO
www.eportbic.com/Destinations/content.cfm?ContentID=52
Consuegra announces itself from a distance with an elegant line of white windmills perched along a hilly skyline, in the otherwise endless plains of La Mancha in the heart of Spain. An excellent base for exploring the historic town with its medieval castle and peaceful square - complete with nesting storks - is La Vida de Antes, its gracious rooms set around a central courtyard. At up-and-coming restaurant Alfar, Antonio the young owner told us about the local saffron industry and recommended local dishes and wines. But it is the photogenic windmills and their association with Don Quixote that are the real attraction.
www.lavidadeantes.com/
www.restaurantealfar.com/
Google map: bit.ly/KfHspR
Up in the hills of cork forests above Girona, Joanet is a sleepy hamlet by day, but at night on the weekends locals come from miles around to eat at the terrific bar and restaurant which serves succulent barbecued steaks and awesome pigs' cheeks. Work up an appetite by following the GR83 national walking path or mountain biking paths which lead through the village to neighbouring Arbucies or Sant Hilari.
www.arbucies.cat/ca/2806
www.toprural.com/Casa-rural-alquiler-%C3%ADntegro/La-Pallissa-de-Joanet_19550_f.html
Google map: bit.ly/Lf7GWZ
Great location to sit and drink and watch the world go by, on Piazza Santa Croce. The Santa Croce church is just yards away.
For such a prime location, the prices were surprisingly good. We only had drinks but at €3.50 per large glass of house white we were not complaining.
Service was good.
www.finisterraefirenze.com/
Piazza Santa Croce, 12 - 50122 Firenze
+39 055 2638675
(On Piazza Santa Croce with Santa Croce church only yards away)
Google map: bit.ly/MBannZ
Wonderful ice cream from this establishment. Three heaped scoops in a tub cost €3.80.
The girl behind the counter offered us samples of the wide array of flavours before we settled on our choices.
Some seating indoors but we sat on the Ponte Santa Trinita as we looked at the more famous Ponte Vecchio in the background.
www.gelateriasantatrinita.it
Piazza Frescobaldi 11-12/r Ponte Santa Trinita, 50125 Florence
Google map: bit.ly/KZxZlZ
South William Street's Clement & Pekoe is a veritable Aladdin's cave of loose leaf tea and coffee. The black tea caddies and art deco chandeliers certainly lend an air of eastern promise and decadence, but it's the carefully selected teas and coffee beans that really elevate Clement and Pekoe above the competition.
The owners are husband and wife team Dairine Keogh and Simon Cummins and they pride themselves on sourcing the finest pickings from around the globe whether it's leaves, blends, herbs, tisanes or freshly roasted single origin beans.
Choose from their selection of Black Tea, Green Tea, White Tea, Fruit Tisane, Herbal, Oolong, Puerh and Rooibos and they'll be only delighted to advise you on the best combinations to suit your taste and brew your chosen tea exactly to your liking. When the sun is shining, grab a seat out front on their picnic bench and enjoy one of their cooling iced teas including: Turkish apple, mango, or finest Ceylon tea, all served with ice, lemon and fresh mint. Oh and don't pass up on their delicious scones.
www.clementandpekoe.com/
50 William St S Dublin 2, Ireland
+353(0)87 637 0123
Google map: bit.ly/KW9XZ4
* Fiona is our Been there local for Dublin. You can follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/FionaHilliard and read her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/trails/been-there-locals.jsp. She also has her own blog: www.traveledits.com
Capel Street is having a bit of a moment, and it's places like the recently opened Brother Hubbard that are playing a central role in this new found trendiness. Don't be fooled by the clean lines and utilitarian styling of Brother Hubbard, already this café is becoming as famous for the friendly manner of owners Garrett Fitzgerald
and James Boland as it is for its delicious cakes, coffee and tea.
Tuck into their freshly baked cinnamon and walnut rolls, oven-warm scones and chocolate brownies. Alternatively, you won't feel guilty about trying one of their wheat- and dairy-free seed slices. The coffee is Has Bean, provided by Dublin’s 3FE, while the tea comes from none other than Wall & Keogh.
brotherhubbard.ie/
153 Capel Street, Dublin 1
+353 (0)1 441 1112
Google map: bit.ly/KW9Jku
* Fiona is our Been there local for Dublin. You can follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/FionaHilliard and read her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/trails/been-there-locals.jsp. She also has her own blog: www.traveledits.com
Portobello's Wall & Keogh lay dormant for 40 years. But it was tea that revived this former painting and decorating shop. Big glass jars full of pungent, organic loose leaf tea.
From the chilled out beats on the sound system to the interesting, eclectic furnishings, these days owner Oliver T. Cunningham likes to keep things cool and classy.
Tea is something of an art form at Wall & Keogh. They take their time over blends, the whole infusion process can last between three to 15 minutes - the perfect excuse to sit back and have a game of chess or just enjoy the background music, most probably mixed by owner Oliver himself. It's that kind of place.
A large pot of tea will set you back €4 and homemade cakes include rocky road, lemon slice, banana cake and brownies.
Should your tea break run into a lazy lunch, (it happens) there's sushi on standby to sate your appetite. And another thing, when the weather is fine, you can take your picnic out back and bask in the sun-dappled canal bank location.
www.wallandkeogh.com/
45 Richmond Street South, Portbello, Dublin 2
+353 (0)1 475 9052
Google map: bit.ly/MnyQtj
* Fiona is our Been there local for Dublin. You can follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/FionaHilliard and read her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/trails/been-there-locals.jsp. She also has her own blog: www.traveledits.com
The Beaches, known to locals as “The Beach” is a great neighbourhood to visit all year-round, but especially more so in the summer.
The boardwalk, stretching for hours, has some of the best views of Lake Ontario, with buskers and artists selling their goods on hot summer days. Located 15 minutes via streetcar east of the downtown core, the area’s main strip is Queen Street East, which has antique shops as well as specialty and one-of-a-kind boutiques, restaurants, cafes, and pubs. Visit Licks Burgers, www.lickshomeburgers.com, located at 1962 Queen Street East for a quick bite. A local institution for the over 30 years, I’ve been eating burgers and ice cream here for decades and am never disappointed.
The boardwalk goes through four different beaches, two of which are certified for cleanliness and swimming: Kew Beach and Woodbine Beach are always filled with sunbathers as soon as summer hits. I’ve taken many long walks on the trails, and on a few occasions, I’ve walked from the east end of the city to the west end, in about roughly four hours.
There are parks near the boardwalk as well, with trails, a playground, water park, boat launch and a marina.
From Queen or Osgoode subway station, take the Queen streetcar 501 east.
www.lickshomeburgers.com
1960 Queen Street East, M4L 1H8
Google map: bit.ly/Ly549l
* Giulia is our Been there local for Toronto. You can see her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/places/canada/toronto/index.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/GiuliaFalsetti
Absolute superb find. This pizzeria located in what looks like a German beerhall serves great pizzas for extremely reasonable prices.
Two large pizzas cost about €7 each and one litre of house white cost about €6!
Was family friendly as well.
www.pizzeriadabbe.com/
Via San Bernardo 26, Pisa (PI)
+39(0)50 500 872
Google map: bit.ly/Mn9DC2
For a bar in the heart of Florence, it feels like a bar in a small town in Italy. Bar serves small tapa like portions (from 75c) as well as larger paninis.
What really struck me about this place was that people served themselves (both wine and food) and paid for it at the end. From the crowds of locals milling about the place on the road outside (as there is very little room inside) it seems like a popular spot.
Via de' Neri 65, 50122 Florence
+39(0)55 2382723
Google map: bit.ly/LPLoZ2
For a bar in the heart of Florence, it feels like a bar in a small town in Italy. Bar serves small tapa like portions (from 75c) as well as larger paninis.
What really struck me about this place was that people served them selves (both wine and food) and paid for it at the end. From the crowds of locals milling about the place on the road outside (as there is very little room inside) it seems like a popular spot.
Via dei Neri, 65-red, 50122 Firenze, Italy
+39 055 238 2723
Google map: bit.ly/LCocAS
Great trattoria and pizzeria in the heart of Florence just yards from the Santa Croce church. In our three days in the city, we had the best pizzas here.
Pizzas were between €6 and €8. For two pizzas and a bottle of white wine, we paid €29.
Surprisingly good value in a central location in Florence.
www.baldovino.com/
Via di San Giuseppe, 22 50122 Florence, Italy
+39(0)55 241773
Google map: bit.ly/OhfN6F
Perche No! (translated as 'Why Not?') is a wonderful ice cream vendor in the heart of Florence, going since 1939. Not particularly cheap but the ice cream tastes great.
www.percheno.firenze.it/
Via dei Tavolini, 19-red 50122 Florence, Italy
+39(0)55 239 8969
Google map: bit.ly/KldqLW
If you want to spend time outdoors in Paris, you can't go far wrong with some lounging in the sun along the Canal St Martin. Hang out with the beautiful young things along the cobbled walkways next to the water and admire the green wrought iron swing bridges as the boats go past, or take a turn with a promenade around the quartier surrounding the Rue de Lancry. The boulangerie Du Pain et des Idées (open Mon-Fri) on Rue Yves Toudic has delicious picnic fare, and if you want a post-fun apéritif the Verre Volé wine bar on the Rue de Lancry serves delicious wine and light bites, or Chez Prune café on the Quai de Jemmapes by the canal's edge is great for people watching.
Canal St Martin, 10th arrondissement
Google map: bit.ly/MhEIre
I wouldn’t say the tiny, walled village of Pedraza has something for everyone, but if you like medieval dungeons, imposing castles, nesting storks and outlandishly good ham then Pedraza has something for you. Better known to the city slickers from Madrid who flood the town on the weekends, Pedraza is very much off the beaten path for Brits visiting Spain.
We visited this atmospheric village on the last day of a walking tour in the Segovia region. It may be my own bias, but I can’t help feeling that, despite the large public car park near the castle, walking is much the best way to approach the place. We felt like wandering pilgrims as we trekked up the side of a dramatic valley and through the massive stone archway to enter the village. It was a quiet Tuesday in April, and our only company were the storks making graceful circles overhead. Not a car or other human being in sight. In the spring, storks build enormous, gravity-defying nests in the belfries and ledges of the village. Watching them at their work is awe inspiring.
With fewer than 100 full time residents, the village wasn’t much busier than the scenic valley around it. We ambled through the cobbled streets, stopping at the wee exercise area that overlooks the valley near the castle. I’m sure you could get a serious workout if you were so inclined, but we goofed around like kids, swinging on the chin-up bars while enjoying the spectacular views. Later, we toured the Carcel, a 15th-century prison that still bears the evidence of a time when prisoners were kept in chains in a dark pit and had their food lowered down in buckets.
Luckily the food offerings for today’s visitors are a little more sophisticated. Visitors can belly up to any of the excellent cafes and restaurants that ring the main plaza. Vegetarians beware - meat is everywhere. The plaza also seems to be the centre of village life. We witnessed a lively parade rehearsal by local school children while we were enjoying ham sandwiches and beer. Que bueno!
www.pedraza.info/
Google map: bit.ly/K4vfnC
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