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The As Artes, tucked away by the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela in Spanish Galicia, is the perfect city B&B, right at the heart of one of Europe’s most beguiling destinations. The seven bedrooms are prettily decorated, breakfast is substantial but leisurely, and the whole atmosphere is charming. Crucially, the beds are comfortable, the showers impressive, while the rooms - with obligatory wooden shutters - are well lit, spacious and quiet. To quote from the website, “the zones of leisure are sufficiently remote, which guarantees a calm rest.” The cathedral, in the Plaza do Obradoiro, is the final destination on a 1000 year old pilgrim’s route which stretches from France. Afternoon tea at the nearby five star Parador is the perfect spot to observe pilgrims limping past, some with donkeys. When I was there, Stephen Hawkins came trundling across the cobbles, due to lecture at the University. There is enough to explore for days amongst the medieval squares, convents and cloisters. The Museo do Pobo Galego is well worth a visit for its unusual double-spiral staircase alone.
Then, after an evening’s tapas-grazing, it’s much nicer to wander back to this intimate B&B than an anonymous hotel cell -and far cheaper.
www.asartes.com/index.php
Trav. de Dos Puertas 2, 15707 Santiago de Compostela
+34981555254
The only way to reach Costa Rica’s Jungle Lodge in the Tortuguero National Park on the Caribbean coast is by river launch, which takes you on a two hour journey right into the heart of dense rainforest. We were warned not to dangle our hands in the water - crocodiles are lurking. Howler monkeys serenade your arrival at the lodge, a charming and comfortable one storey wooden affair with long trellised veranda. The purpose of the overhanging roof was explained when a hammering tropical downpour woke us at 5am. Doors opened and one by one we guests abandoned sleep and enjoyed the warm rain together in the swimming pool. My daughter will always remember the jungle walk where two people’s shoes squelched off in the mud (they do lend you wellies), tiny green frogs that sat on her hand, and the boa constrictor in a tree. My favourite was the 'just after dawn' silent boat rides where our guide pointed out iguanas on the bank, spider monkeys and toucans high overhead in the jungle canopy. The richness of the exuberant foliage around the lodge itself was overwhelming, and just sitting around the pool or watching butterflies from the veranda was enough to experience the jungle and its creatures, barely restrained on all sides.
www.anywherecostarica.com/destinations/tortuguero-costa-rica/hotels/tortuguero-jungle-lodge
Tortuguero, 26-1017, Costa Rica - 223 1200
Google map: tinyurl.com/ycg2zlr
Romance lies not in overpriced long-stemmed red roses or intrusive gypsy violins. Better to let it find you at an endearingly quirky location like Heythrop Park Hotel near Chipping Norton, which doesn’t tout itself as a romantic destination but has all the ingredients of intimacy, a dash of intrigue and lashings of comfort. We were there for three days and forgot the car, tv and internet. It’s so remote we thought we were lost after several minutes on the endless drive. Yes, we had sparkling wine in a bucket of ice in our enormous room, chocolates, flowers, and yes, the obligatory white fluffy bathrobes and claw-footed bath. Heythrop is a mini Blenheim Palace, built in 1716 from honey coloured limestone by the handsome Duke of Shrewsbury, appropriately known as “The King of Hearts.” Set in 440 acres of sweeping parkland, it has Italian gardens, a secret garden, fern strewn grotto - which used to house the skeleton of a whale - and, tucked away by the golf course, a tranquil Jesuit cemetery from a later period. We had the entire grounds to ourselves, and discovered hidden statues amongst the undergrowth, tempting doors in garden walls and deer running through giant conifers. Inside, there are huge carved wooden ceilings and chimney pieces, a billiard room, ballroom, and huge galleried landings with stained glass windows. After making the most of the health club in the grounds, we were almost too relaxed to leave our room, Eldon (a hotel room must have a name to be romantic) to sweep down the huge staircase for dinner - though I did sweep several times in fact, for the camera. It’s not every day one plays Lady of the Manor in such a setting. There are some foibles in the hotel - a mediocre breakfast loses Romance points, we wanted a tray in our room to sustain the illusion of being country weekend house guests - but we overlooked everything for the sake of such an unusual, and yes, impossibly romantic, experience.
www.heythroppark.co.uk/
Enstone, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire
OX7 5UE
Google map: tinyurl.com/y944gm6
If destination heaven exists, fulfilling every exacting criteria of the jaded traveller, it would have to be Grootbos Nature Reserve on Walker Bay in South Africa.
I was lucky enough to find it when planning a journey from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth.
I’ve stayed before at places claiming to be “luxury,” which were anything but - but this is reassuringly expensive and did in fact prove to be more than worthy of the description. Well, if it was good enough for Brad Pitt and Kate Moss I should never have doubted it …
Bungalows are set in milkwood forest spread out either side of the main building. For two of us we had a huge lounge, outsize bathroom with bath you plod across to find the taps. There is a second shower room, and outside shower (for the brave or exhibitionist perhaps) on our own private decking, a kitchenette, dressing and storage area. The canopied bed was six foot wide. I lay in the bath looking at colourful birds inches away through the floor to ceiling window, surrounded by candles, then we lay in loungers on the decking, looking down across dunes to the sea as the sun went down.
But to recap. On arrival you are greeted with drinks and sat down to plan your stay - they like you to stay at least two nights as there is a full programme of activities, most of them included in the price. I was whisked straight off to go riding from the hotel’s own stables, in the “fynbos” - the local vegetation which is very pretty, very diverse and smells heavenly. Botanists go crazy apparently - David Bellamy has signed the visitors’ book.
The next day we went whale watching and had close-ups of southern right whales, cape fur seals and even a great white shark. There were only seven guests, the boat was comfortable and there was no danger of seasickness. We were there in October which is a great time to see whales, while the weather is still pleasant enough to swim.
We had a private guided jeep tour and walk in the extensive grounds with one of the local guides Silence, who pointed out plants, a mongoose scuttling across our path, birds - and even a highly venomous puff adder which had crept into the hotel’s ornamental pond and was being safely removed by an expert for relocation. Silence introduced us to weaver birds, bou bou, drongo, cape bulbul with their white-painted eyes, colourful sun birds and sugar birds, olive pigeons, yellow rumped widow, and the resident black harrier.
The restaurant was a dream, reached along the little wooded path from our bungalow, past the swimming pool and into the main central building. Five leisurely but elaborate courses with superb wine, attentive and friendly staff.
What I loved about the place was the combination of the feeling of absolute pampering, with touches like the soft white bathrobes, massive towels and full size up-market toiletries; but also a real sense of outdoor adventure, riding, sharks and unexpected wildlife encounters - it’s the real taste of how South Africa could be in an ideal world, where the staff are happy to take your round the local township and show you how they live, and the knowledge that the owners of Grootbos are aware of the fragility of the local ecology, sponsoring locals to visit the Eden Project to advise on the Fynbos, and giving much needed employment in one of the most outstandingly beautiful spots in the world.
www.grootbos.com/
P O Box 148, Gansbaai, 7220, South Africa
Google map: tinyurl.com/yc3psmv
The ten-acre Clinton-Baker Pinetum near Hertford is particularly lovely at this time of year. A pinetum is essentially a collection of conifers; but this one is planted within a mixed woodland. As the beech and larches turn golden-brown, field maples and dawn redwoods turn yellow and burnished gold, it’s a symphony of colour in autumn sunlight. Early evening, your shadow leads as you walk past the red-leaved and berried spindle tree, down to the entrance stile, the University of Hertfordshire’s white astronomy domes behind you, gulls following red tractor to the right; and lofty cedars, hemlocks and redwoods enticing you on.
Under the expert guidance of Dr Edward Eastwood, Curator, the Pinetum is gradually being restored to its full Victorian splendour, complete with fern-filled grotto and a tally of over 150 species of conifer. Join in a fungal foray, stroll down paths which Edward insists on keeping raked to “a crinoline width,” and admire the monkey puzzle dell and “stumpery.”
It’s not all about trees: you’ll be unlucky not to see - or at least hear - a jay or green woodpecker; and right now there are red and orange berries on yew, hawthorn and holly. The particularly succulent looking black ones are best avoided - it’s deadly nightshade.
Being in such a hidden spot, it was ten years before I realised this extraordinarily magical place existed, a mere fifteen minutes walk from where I live. Now I go for a restorative dose of therapeutic serenity. I’m gradually learning to identify the trees - though Edward says I’d still be clueless if they all swapped places in the night.
Extend your walk through the hornbeams and oaks of Bayford woods and hunt out the sailor’s grave, a monument erected to a scion of the Clinton-Baker family who lost his life on the Jamaican high seas in 1804, when as commander of HM Sloop Pelican he led a party which perished while saving a foundering Spanish schooner.
The Pinetum has regular work parties sawing, hacking brambles and nettles, and piling up bonfires. There are snowdrop and bluebell walks in spring.
The Pinetum is owned by the University of Hertfordshire. To arrange a visit, become a member or find out about the next work party, contact Dr Eastwood on 01992 517622 or e.a.eastwood@herts.ac.uk. Members only have access to the private site by prior arrangement.
My heart sank the first time I visited Ashridge Estate in the northern Chilterns on the Bucks/Herts border. With so many cars parked, I envisaged hordes of people. But as soon as we set off on a three mile circular walk we lost everyone and had the panoramic views from Ivinghoe Beacon - and a glimpse of several deer sprinting off through the woods - to ourselves. There are 5000 acres so plenty of room for everyone to crunch over fallen golden beech leaves right now. At times we were walking part of the Ridgeway National Trail which looked enticing and could have extended our walk, but my favourite bit is spotting the lion chalk figure which advertises Whipsnade Zoo.
The tea rooms near the Bridgewater Monument are justifiably popular and the visitor centre staff are friendly and eager to share their knowledge of wildlife to look out for. Many dog owners were bonding while their pets bounded, and it was good to see a fair number of wheelchairs and pushchairs on the easy access paths.
Bookings are being taken for fallow deer rutting, and fungal foray events this month.
At Holkham in Norfolk you get two film locations for the price of one: Gwyneth Paltrow walked along the exhilarating expanse of the beach here at the end of ‘Shakespeare in Love,’ while Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes were among the cast of ‘The Duchess,’ which used Holkham Hall for interiors.
Ancestral seat of the Earls of Leicester, the Coke family has lived in Holkham since the 1750’s. It is still very much a family home: when I was there the present day Viscount’s wife and children were packing a silver caravan for their summer holiday. Visitors are encouraged to “walk on the carpets and get close to the ancient statues and treasures.”
The Hall is open for visitors from June to September. There is a café, shop and museum. A special exhibition shows costumes worn in “The Duchess.” The deer park is free and open every day except Christmas Day – visitors can walk around the 3000 acre grounds and are certain to see some of the 800 fallow deer. By the time we tore ourselves away it was early evening, just time to walk down Lady Anne’s Drive to the nature reserve and watch kite flyers on the beach until sunset. To spend more time in this designated area of outstanding beauty, stay in a lodge hideaway set in a folly on Holkham estate.
It’s no longer possible to pose, as my daughter and I did, on the sweeping staircase that Julia Roberts walked down during the 2001 film Oceans 11. The staircase, in luxury hotel Bellagio on the Las Vegas strip, was removed during a revamp in 2006. But you can still marvel at two thousand hand blown glass flowers on the ceiling, real flower displays in the Conservatory, and the dancing fountains which also feature in the film. We were slumming it at the Venetian, but this hotel, which quite literally dazzles, would be my first choice if money were no object. Imagine, a Bellagio Tower Suite with enough floor space for even my daughter’s strewn junk.
Poldark and I were married in a remote 13th century Towednack church, between St Ives and Zennor. Not to each other, sadly. It was Ross Poldark’s cousin Francis who was married there in 1975, during filming of the long running and hugely popular BBC TV series. My mother was an extra in the congregation, dressed in full 18th century finery. More exciting for her was being sat on top of a coach galloping through Gurnards Head, with Robin Ellis, who played Ross Poldark. It was freezing and they all swigged whisky between takes.
The scenery hasn’t changed much in the intervening years. It’s still possible to follow in Ross and Demelza’s footsteps, run as they did along Porthcurno beach (take care not to stray round the corner to Pedn-y-Vounder, unless you like nudist beaches), and spot other cliff and moor locations at Pendeen, Prussia Cove and Lelant.
Straw Dogs, released in 1971, caused a stir in my local West Penwith community when a film crew descended on this remote Cornish location, along with stars Dustin Hoffman and Susan George. They portrayed newcomers in the hamlet of St Buryan, near Land’s End. The stone cross in the churchyard features in the opening scenes. Many locals were hired as extras. A school friend married an assistant director and I got to meet actress Sally Thomsett, whose character was strangled to death - the catalyst for much controversial violence.
Being a film location is definitely the only bit of excitement St Buryan saw last millennium, but it’s a beautiful spot for moors and stone circles. Watch out for man traps.
My diary says it was “a really big one”, which is understandable as the Schilthorn mountain in Switzerland is a whopping 2970 meters. I was actually referring to the last of a series of cable car rides to the peak, so high I eventually just closed my eyes. Apparently on arrival there is a spectacular 360˚ view over glaciers, lakes, and 200 minor mountains including the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. All I saw was fog, as I froze on the viewing platform - and this was August. Warmth returned while revolving slowly in the Piz Gloria restaurant, better known as villain Blofeld’s hideout in the 1969 film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service with George Lazenby as 007.
Location scouts found the place half built, and filming was permitted on the condition the restaurant was completed afterwards - financed by the film company. Downstairs, a room shows film clips of dashing ski chases on a loop. If you must, you can have a James Bond buffet and a martini – shaken, not stirred. Naturally.
Piz Gloria Restaurant
The Schilthorn
Switzerland
Imagine a giant heap of pink and gold tagliatelli dropped in the middle of vineyards in Rioja, Spain, and you have an idea of the Marqués de Riscal hotel, designed by Frank Gehry. It’s well worth a detour after visiting his Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, 100 kms to the north.
We were desperate for a closer look at this crazy and beautiful titanium tangle; but had to blag our way in, relayed by guards, under the pretext of being rich folk wanting afternoon tea on the terrace. The 5€ per cup was worth every cent, with tranquil views across to Elciego’s medieval church.
If you can afford the rooms they are as thrilling as the exterior. Otherwise a compensatory purchase of a bottle of Marqués de Riscal wine from the surrounding vineyard might ease your regret at having to leave.
Rooms €261 - €450 per night
www.hotel-marquesderiscal.com/en/
Not that I’m biased; but there is only one possible way to enjoy a cream tea. It has to be a Cornish cream tea, in Cornwall, and within sight and sound of the sea. Walk the circular coastal path of St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, take all day, and it’s possible to fit in at least three. With the ambience right, attention can then be turned to the secondary requirements: yes, you will be sat outside in tranquil gardens where “peace comes dropping slow,” yes there is enough thick yellow Cornish clotted to make you feel nauseous (after your third loaded scone), real jam, pretty crockery, and unlimited refills of tea with no stinting on the milk. I first did this cream tea crawl on my honeymoon in 1983 and I’ve been taking my husbands along ever since. Juliet’s Garden and Carn Vean Tea Gardens are highly recommended; but once back in Hugh Town, the crème of cream teas can be enjoyed on the ramparts of Star Castle Hotel, an Elizabethan castle in the shape of an eight pointed star, overlooking the harbour. (When the nausea passes off, you might feel like going down when the sun does, to the Dungeon bar below and ordering the best five course dinner on the island).
www.star-castle.co.uk/
Cream teas are £5.00 per person and include 2 home-made
fruit scones, clotted cream, strawberry jam and a pot of tea.
The Hotel Argentina in Luarca, Asturias, is a mini palace, a box of delights, a supremely charming villa built in 1899 and still owned by the same family. Described as being in the "Indian" style, this merely refers to the fact the family were returning from South America with the money to build expansively - in fact think stained glass windows, high ceilings, balconies, exquisite china, rugs and paintings. Outside, a pool, and an extensive, well stocked garden to explore.
We were overwhelmed by the courtesy of the staff, two constantly smiling, sweet natured brothers, descendents of the original family, who came out to the car to help us with our cases, suggested we view the four available rooms to choose one, and allowed us to romp around taking endless poser shots draped over the chaise longue, and in the beautiful light through the stained glass. We walked into the harbour town of Luarca to eat, but kicked ourselves later when we realised we could have eaten in a small dining room in the garden, where we joined an Irish/Canadian and a German couple for drinks that lasted into the early hours. Both couples return year after year.
When we left we heard the Irish man playing his banjo - he belongs to an Appalachian band - it's that sort of hotel, you feel like hanging around all day and know you'll be welcome. The food is second to none, the ambience relaxed but efficient, and choosing one from those four themed rooms, all different but all utterly enticing - large and spotlessly clean with dream bedding and towels - was so, so difficult. When we stayed, the exchange rate was better than it is now; but the prices are per room, not per person - and what you are getting for that price, I have never experienced anywhere in England.
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