Best Loved Hotel and Travel Guide 2018

H O T EL & T R AV E L GUIDE

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welcome l o oking f or t he perfect place to stay? Relax, we’ve got it covered. From John O’Groats to Land’s End, the wild coast of Kerry to the Norfolk Broads, Best Loved has travelled the length and breadth of the British Isles to find the very best hotels and guesthouses for you to enjoy.

With more than 20 years’ experience of hand-picking accommodation, from premier city addresses to grand country houses and cosy B&Bs, we’ve found something to suit everyone.

What’s on your tick list? Sea views? Check. Green pastures?

Check. Big city attractions? Check. Or perhaps a getaway just isn’t the same without a fantastic golf course or an amazing spa? Turn the pages to find all these choices and more. And, of course, we guarantee you’ll experience outstanding hospitality, top-quality facilities, and the finest food and drink.

Best Loved also knows the importance of your choice of destination. That’s why we’ve brought you stories written by some of the UK’s leading travel writers from the nine different regions covered by our 190 member properties. Our correspondents have found some truly entertaining tales. Find out how to get the London look of the sharp-suited spies from the action comedy ‘Kingsman’. Discover where to appreciate the dark skies of Dumfries and Galloway and enjoy a cuppa at Britain’s first tea plantation, in deepest Cornwall.

So sit back and enjoy the 2018 Best Loved Hotels’ Hotel & Travel Guide – you’re sure to be inspired about where to go next.

Julian Ebbutt, Managing Director, Best Loved Hotels B E ST L OV E D HOTE L & TR AV E L GU IDE 1

cover images:

Night-time view of Millennium Bridge with the dome of St Paul’s

Lake Vyrnwy, Powys

Looking down on the Cotswolds market town of Chipping Campden

A view towards Folkestone from the white cliffs of Dover

©VisitBritain/

Visit Wales Image Centre

VisitEngland/Alex Hare

VisitEngland/Alex Hare

VisitEngland/Jameskerr.co.uk

First Published 2016 Copyright © The Great British Hotel Company Ltd t/a Best Loved Hotels.

Julian Ebbutt has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the Author of this Work.

All Rights Reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, by photocopying or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage or retrieval systems, without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Published by The Great British Hotel Company Ltd t/a Best Loved Hotels, Sycamore Barn, The Village, Farnley Tyas HD4 6UD Designed, printed and bound by Riasca Enterprise Works, Long Lane, Honley, Holmfirth HD9 6EA ISBN 978-1-898889-97-7 Find us at bestlovedhotels on

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Give the GIFT OF T R AV EL Looking for the perfect gift?

Best Loved gift vouchers are flexible so you decide when and where to travel.

The vouchers work just like money – use them at the Best Loved hotel of your choice.

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th e w riting room adrian mourby

i’m standing in the doorway of a remarkable dining room.

There’s a lot of vivid red of a kind that early Victorian dyes made possible – it’s in the curtains and the carpet and even the wallpaper. From Charlotte Brontë’s letters, we know that these drapes are exact reproductions of those she ordered for the Haworth Parsonage ​in 1850.

There’s also a big fold-out table open in the middle of the room. “That’s where the sisters would walk round the table discussing their books,” says the custodian proudly. Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë did most of their writing in this room. Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Agnes Grey were probably handwritten at that very table and every evening, until their father called them to bed, the three young women would pace around the table discussing their fiction.

There’s a chaise on which the stubborn Emily Brontë is said to have died in 1848. The custodian tells me Emily decided too late that Charlotte should send for the doctor: “She’d grown so thin from TB that her coffin measured only 16 inches wide.”

At the end of the hall I pass the kitchen, which has been restored to how it might have looked when Emily acted as housekeeper, working with the family servant, Tabby, who used to tell her dark tales of the Yorkshire moors.

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left: Brontë Parsonage Museum, Haworth

©VisitEngland/VisitBradford

I’m not the only one to wonder how much Tabby influenced Emily’s masterpiece, Wuthering Heights.

Up the curved staircase, I come to Charlotte’s bedroom, which was extended after her marriage when, as the only surviving Brontë daughter and an acclaimed novelist, she found happiness with her husband. Sadly, enlarging this room meant sacrificing a wall of what had been Emily’s bedroom next door.

Her narrow room over the front door was where, as children, the three would-be novelists told each other stories about the fantasy lands of Angria, Gondal and Glass Town. They also wrote tiny books and drew on the walls. These pencil sketches – self-portraits and pictures of heroes – are now behind Plexiglas.

It was in this room that Emily and her sisters used their imaginations to escape from the unpleasantness of daily life in Haworth. While pretty today, Haworth was the most polluted English township outside London when they were children.

No wonder the Brontës all died young.

The bedroom is tiny now, not wide enough for a full-size single bed of the kind that crossed the window when Emily drew it in her diary. There’s a ​small day bed, a simple chair and a chest of drawers as memorials to Emily. And those drawings that show the fieriness of her imagination.

Adrian Mourby (www.adrianmourby.com) is the author of Rooms of One’s Own, 50 Places where great works of literature were written (Icon Press 2017).

above: The historic houses

of Haworth overlooking a cobbled street lit up at night

©VisitEngland/Thomas Heaton

t h e fa c t s

Brontë Parsonage Museum www.bronte.org.uk

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below:

View across the lake of a white house in the Lake District ©VisitEngland/Alex Hare

and f o r s o m e thing diff e r e nt . . .

ti c k o ff th e

y o r k m inst e r , the 12thcentury cathedral rivals Canterbury as Britain’s most iconic. www.yorkminster.org

Strictly fans can put themselves through their paces in the world-famous opulent ballroom at b l a c k p o o l t o w e r which dates from 1894. www.theblackpooltower.com

Take the f e rry a c r o ss th e m e rs e y . See if you can cross, to or from Birkenhead, without humming the Gerry and the Pacemakers hit. www.merseyferries.co.uk

Take a walk along hadrian ’ s to keep out the barbarians, it provides an atmospheric 73-mile route between Wallsend in the east and Carlisle in the west.

Max the credit card in the shops of the vi c t o ria q uart e r and discover why Leeds is known as the ‘London of the North’. www.v-q.co.uk

On w ind e r m e r e , England’s largest natural lake, indulge in everything from watersports to drifting by the picturesque shoreline villages. www.visitcumbria.com

m a j o r sights ...

w a l l . Designed

below: Chester Cathedral, as viewed from Church Street ©VisitEngland/Marketing Cheshire

Be in the audience of a top TV show at Manchester’s m e dia c ity . Countdown, The Sarah Millican Television Programme and The Voice are among the shows filmed at the Salford studios. www.mediacityuk.co.uk sa lts m i l l , once

a thriving cotton mill, surrounded by a Victorian model village, is now home to arts spaces, bookstores and café. www.saltairevillage.info

b e a m ish , The

Living Museum of the North, is the place to find out more about 19th- and 20thcentury life at this sprawling Chester-le-Street live-action exhibit. www.beamish.org.uk.

Ride a gondola across in the Lake District. This 19th-century steam yacht, with its plush saloon, has been lovingly restored by the National Trust. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/steamyacht-gondola

c o nist o n w at e r

Watch the wallabies at play at c urragh w i l d l if e par k on the Isle of Man, an exotic corner of the island that is also home to meerkats, red pandas, and flamingos. www.curraghswildlifepark.im Reach for the stars at j o dr e l l in Cheshire, where the world’s third-largest steerable radio telescope is trained on outer space. www.jodrellbank.net

b an k

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A PPLEBY MAN OR HOTE L & GARDEN SPA Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria

TH E A S S H ET O N A RMS Downham, Lancashire

Total relaxation along with an award-winning spa in the hidden beauty of Cumbria’s Eden Valley.

5-star Lancashire village inn with award winning food & picturesque Ribble Valley views.

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T HE BLACK SWAN H OTE L Helmsley, Yorkshire

TH E B L U E L I O N East Witton, Yorkshire

A classic North Yorkshire coaching inn turned 4-star boutique hideaway.

An 18th century coaching inn located in the heart of Wensleydale.

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T HE CHESTER GR OSVE NOR Chester, Cheshire

D E VON S H I RE A RMS H O T EL & S PA Skipton, Yorkshire

A stylish, contemporary hotel with Michelin-starred dining in the heart of Chester.

Luxurious indulgence in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales offering a 3 AA Rosette-winning menu.

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THE DEVO NSH I R E F E L L Burnsall, Yorkshire

D O X FO RD H A L L H O T EL & S PA Alnwick, Northumberland

Luxuriously styled boutique country hotel with breathtaking Yorkshire Dales views and delectable cuisine.

Splendid Georgian country house set in glorious Northumbrian landscape with yew tree maze, 4 AA Red Stars and excellent 2 AA Rosette restaurant.

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ESHOTT H A L L Alnwick, Northumberland

T H E FEN W I CK Claughton, Lancashire

Imposing 17th century country house with an awardwining restaurant and beautiful gardens.

Stylish rooms and fabulous steak & seafood in Lancashire’s Lune Valley.

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THE FEVER SHA M A R M S & VERBENA SPA Helmsley, Yorkshire

G U YZA N CE H A L L Morpeth, Northumberland

A historic and much beloved Yorkshire hotel in charming Helmsley.

Exclusive use riverside Northumbrian country house & estate.

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HE ADLAM HALL COU NTRY HOTEL & SPA Teesdale, Durham

H OL B ECK G H YL L H O T EL & S PA Windermere, Cumbria

Charming 17th century country house amid the beauty of Teesdale.

A connoisseur’s luxury hotel with sensational views of Windermere.

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HOTEL GOTHAM Manchester

L A U R A A S H L EY T H E BEL S FI EL D Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria

Magnificent architecture, timeless décor & retro opulence at this Manchester urban hideaway.

Stunning ultra-stylish boutique hideaway on the shores of Windermere.

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L E ATHES HEAD Borrowdale, Cumbria

M ONK FRYS T O N H A L L H O T EL York, Yorkshire

A luxury eleven bedroom Edwardian Country House Hotel, situated in the unspoilt Borrowdale Valley.

A picturesque country house escape in the Vale of York.

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THE OLD C OA C H H OU SE Ripon, Yorkshire

RO CK L I FFE H A L L Darlington, Co Durham

A fabulous hidden gem of a B&B near the Yorkshire Dales and the Yorkshire Moors.

Luxury 5-star resort on the banks of the River Tees with three restaurants, championship golf course, tennis courts and state-of-the-art spa.

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THE ROSE A ND C R OW N AT ROMA L D KI R K Barnard Castle, Co Durham

RO T H AY MA N O R Ambleside, Cumbria

18th century coaching inn deep in unspoilt Teesdale.

A Regency country house with a fine dining restaurant on the edge of beautiful Ambleside.

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STON ECR OSS M A NOR HOTE L Kendal, Cumbria

T H E TA L BO T H O T EL Malton, Yorkshire

Charming retreat near Kendal and the best of the Lake District.

A beautifully restored Yorkshire country hotel with cookery school in a gourmet destination.

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T EMPLE SOWERB Y HOU SE H OTE L Penrith, Cumbria

TH E TR A D D O CK Settle, Yorkshire

Timeless hospitality and fantastic food between the Lakes and the Pennines.

Relax and recharge in a truly majestic Dales setting.

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W HI T LEY HA LL Sheffield, Yorkshire

TH E W I N D ERMERE S U I T ES Windermere, Cumbria

A graceful mansion and wooded estate in the heart of historic Yorkshire.

Luxury boutique guest house near the shores of Windermere.

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T HE WORDSWORTH H OTE L & SPA Grasmere, Cumbria Historic Grasmere riverside hotel with spa and great food.

V I S I T BES T L O V ED . CO M OR CA L L + 4 4 ( 0 ) 3 3 3 3 3 2 0 4 4 4 FOR FULL DETAILS AND PRICES

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left: Vale of Rheidol Railway

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©VisitBritain/Visit Wales Image Centre

fu l l st e a m ah e ad d av i d at k i n s o n

t he st eam l o co arrived with a hiss, a plume of smoke and a waft of soot. I had come to Aberystwyth with my two daughters for a family day out, riding the historic Vale of Rheidol Railway through rural Mid Wales. We’re not railway obsessives and haven’t watched Thomas the Tank Engine in years, but riding this iron horse reveals, we soon discovered, the stories behind the landscape.

The railway was founded in 1902 to transport metal from the mines and timber from Hafod to Aberystwyth and, after its wilderness years, was brought back to life in 1989 as a railheritage charity for tourism. We trundled out of Aberystwyth, smoke belching and restored Twenties carriages rattling, to head inland into woods and farmland, ascending through the Rheidol Valley at the very heart of the Cambrian Mountains.

Along the way, we picked out stoic, white-walled farmhouses amongst the fir trees and spotted red kites soaring overhead on the thermals. But the landscape still also bears the scars of its industrial past with bald patches of metal mining debris dotted amongst the trees.

The train made a couple of short stops along the route at Capel Bangor and Aberffrwd for walkers to unload their GoreTex loads and dog walkers to ferry their four-legged friends in style. By the time Rheidol Falls came into view, cascading down

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the hillside via a tree-shrouded gorge, we had started the final climb in earnest. The turning leaves of autumn ushered us forward.

“Horses,” exclaimed Olivia, aged seven, marveling at the closeness of nature beyond the carriage windows. “Shame the smoke is so stinky.”

The craggy, stone-cut tunnel appeared to close in around us as we approached the final stop at Devil’s Bridge, a foreboding darkness briefly engulfing the carriage. This is Hinterland country, the backdrop to the S4C Welsh-noir detective series, and home to generation-spanning folk legends.

The short nature trail around the falls showcased the bridge over the River Mynach and the fable of how an old woman outsmarted the devil to save her soul. But the village name in Welsh, Pontarfynach, reveals an alternative narrative as a gateway for the holy monks to make their pilgrimage to the nearby Cistercian Abbey of Strata Florida.

Beelzebub is certainly nowhere to be seen at the Two Hoots Tea Rooms. Just off the station platform, with cups of tea, cosy sofas and the call of wind chimes on the breeze, the only thing devilish here was the chocolate cake. A sign on the wall read: “A million miles from city life”.

“This,” agreed Maya, aged 11, “is the life. I could snuggle up here all day.”

Back in Aberystwyth there would be fish and chips on the promenade and a trip to the funfair to look forward to. But, meanwhile, we boarded the train for the return leg and sat back to soak up the widescreen nature that is forever Wales.

David Atkinson (www.atkinsondavid.com) is a Chester-based, award-winning travel writer and blogger.

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t h e fa c t s

Vale of Rheidol Railway www.rheidolrailway.co.uk

below: Craig Goch Dam and Reservoir, Elan Valley, Powys ©VisitBritain/ Visit Wales Image Centre

WALE S Don a hard hat and follow in the footsteps of generations of miners at the b ig p it

above: Black Mountain, Brecon Beacons

nati o na l c o a l m us e u m

in Blaenavon. (Find out why the mine shaft has become the perfect place to mature cheese.) https://museum.wales/bigpit

©VisitBritain/Visit Wales Image Centre ti c k o ff th e

and f o r s o m e thing

Cardiff ’s p rin c i pa l ity stadiu m , the home of Welsh sporting pride, where tours go behind the scenes of international fixtures. www.principalitystadium.wales

su p l o c a l a l e s

m a j o r sights ...

The castles of b e au m aris and c o n w y , built around North Wales by Edward I in the 13th century, for living testaments to Wales’s rich history. www.cadw.gov.wales The sn o w d o nia nati o na l par k for lush, widescreen scenery and mountain vistas. www.eryri-npa.gov.uk s w ans e a ’ s nati o na l

w at e rfr o nt m us e u m , one

of the new-generation museums that is great for hands-on history and a sense of cultural identity. www.museumwales.ac.uk

diff e r e nt …

Cross the Menai Straits to Anglesey to take a selfie with the sign for the Welsh town that claims Europe’s longest place name – l l anfair p w l l g w yn gy l l g o g e ry c h w yrndr o -

at one of Wales’s burgeoning microbreweries, such as The Purple Moose Brewery in Porthmadog. www.purplemoose.co.uk

b w l l l l antysi l i o g o g o g o c h .

See the p uffins at s k o m e r off the Pembrokeshire coast, the largest colony in southern Britain. Visit in spring to see the bluebells and pink campion in full bloom. www.visitpembrokeshire.com

is l and

The village at p o rt m e iri o n , home to cult TV series The Prisoner and, latterly, the hip Festival No. 6, brings a frisson of Italianate architecture to Wales. www.portmeirion-village.com

Catch the w o r l d

bog

sn o r k e l l ing c ha m p i o nshi p

in Llanwrtyd Wells, the swimming race through the stinking black waters of a peat bog that’s held each August. www.green-events.co.uk

below: Lake Vyrnwy, Powys ©VisitBritain/ Visit Wales Image Centre

Walk a section of the w a l e s as the stretch through rural Ceredigion, for fresh coastal air and closeness to nature. www.walescoastpath.gov.uk c o ast path , such

Sample some l o c a l d e l i c a c i e s , such as bara brith (fruit bread) or a bowl of cawl (lamb stew), from one of the many farmers’ markets. www.visitwales.com/things-to-do/ attractions/food-and-drink

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T HE I MPERI AL HO TE L Llandudno, Conwy

L A KE V YRN W Y H O T EL & S PA Llanwddyn, Powys

Stunning seafront location, traditional with a contemporary twist.

4-star country house with undoubtedly one of the finest views in Mid Wales.

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L L ANGOED HALL Brecon, Powys

M I L E B R O O K H O U S E H O T EL Knighton, Powys

Former home of Laura Ashley and now a multiaward winning luxury country house hotel & exclusive venue, perfect for weddings, conferences and any other occasion.

Relaxation, excellent cooking and natural beauty in the Welsh Marches.

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ST BRI DES SPA H OTE L Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire

T REFED D I A N H O T EL Aberdovey, Gwynedd

Beautiful Pembrokeshire sea views and highly acclaimed spa.

A traditional beachfront hotel on the edge of Snowdonia.

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V I S I T BES T L O V ED . CO M O R CA L L + 4 4 ( 0 ) 3 3 3 3 3 2 0 4 4 4 WARPOOL C OU RT HOTE L St Davids, Pembrokeshire Beautiful sea views on the stunning Pembrokeshire Coast.

FOR FULL DETAILS AND PRICES ON ANY HOT EL

below: Mawddach Estuary, Snowdonia ©VisitBritain/Visit Wales Image Centre

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HANDMADE IN

HEREFORDSHIRE

Visit us Distillery Tours: Tuesday - Saturday To book: + 44 (0)1432 820455 tours@chasedistillery.co.uk www.chasedistillery.co.uk

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left: Looking down on the Cotswolds market town of Chipping Campden ©VisitEngland/Jameskerr.co.uk

st e p p ing o ut mark rowe

t hink l ong distanc e trail, think the Pennine Way or perhaps the Camino de Santiago. Either way, think gruelling – hair shirt optional. Then think the Cotswold Way, the UK’s prettiest and most bucolic long-distance trail. This path whispers its way through 102 utterly gorgeous miles of Middle England, taking in hidden villages that doze happily while the 21st century passes them by, escarpments where you can bounce along flower-filled meadows, medieval commons grazed by freeroaming cattle, and canals where a kingfisher may whistle past as you munch your sandwiches.

For those without the time or inclination to walk the whole thing, the beauty of the Cotswold Way is that it lends itself to bite-sized chunks. Conveniently, two sections perfectly suited for such an approach bookend the trail. From the way’s northern terminus in Chipping Campden, a path winds uphill for five miles through woods to the plateau of Dover’s Hill and the folly of Broadway Tower. From here, it can feel as though much of western England is laid out in front of you, with vast plains sweeping timelessly towards a blurred horizon of hills and mountains amid the Welsh Borders. At this point you are presented with the most delightful of quandaries: to return to the tearooms of Chipping Campden or barrel down the hill into Broadway and its similarly appetising suite of eateries?

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Fast forward to the trail’s southerly conclusion. The village of Cold Ashton is a good place to begin the Cotswold Way’s final 10 miles to Bath. The path first scuttles through the delightful valley of Lower Hamswell and only when you reach the landmark viewpoints of Prospect Stile and Kelston Round Hill (the ascent is mildly, briefly, gruelling) does Bath finally reveal itself. The view from here is among the best of the entire route and feels truly ancient: the Black Mountains of Wales beckon to the west, the Mendip Hills to the south, while the Wiltshire Downs stretch away to the east.

In an ideal world, you’d time your walk to pass over this last ridge with twilight approaching and a full moon rising, and with the comforting knowledge that Bath’s pubs await at the end of a downhill run. The ornate west doors of Bath Abbey mark journey’s end. Having polished off the walk and photobombed day-tripping tourist snaps with your hiking boots, you can now polish off a slice of cake and look that glass of wine or pint of beer squarely in the eye.

Mark Rowe is a travel and environmental journalist, walking expert and the author of The Outer Hebrides, The Western Isles of Scotland from Lewis to Barra.

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t h e fa c t s

OS Map: OL 45 The Cotswolds The Cotswold Way: A Walkers’ Guide, by Mark Richards (Reardon Publishing, 1995) www.nationaltrail.co.uk/ cotswold-way

below: View from Broadway Tower, over the Cotswolds landscape at sunset ©VisitEngland/Rich Thrift

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©VisitEngland/VisitPeakDistrict

ti c k o ff th e

m a j o r sights ... b l e nh e i m pa l a c e , in

Oxfordshire, is a brilliant, Baroque extravaganza built for the Duke of Marlborough – and the birthplace of Winston Churchill. www.blenheimpalace.com

c hats w o rth , the

Derbyshire seat of the Duke of Devonshire, is one of England’s most Arcadian stately homes. www.chatsworth.org Take a walk in the southern hills of the p e a k distri c t . Try the Limestone Way from Middleton, or, south of Warslow, Ecton Hill and Thor’s Cave. www.peakdistrict.gov.uk

Watch a performance by the r o ya l sha k e s p e ar e c o m pany in Stratford-uponAvon, the Warwickshire town where the Bard was born. www.rsc.org.uk Browse the state-of-the-art visitor centre at w o r l d o f w e dg w o o d at Barlaston.

You can tour the Staffordshire works and view exquisite pieces from the 18th century, too. www.worldofwedgwood.com Go on the trail of

h e r e f o rdshir e ’ s b l a c k

and w hit e vi l l ag e s , a 40-mile self-guided tour of

Shin kicking and Tug O War are two of the hotly contested events in the o l i m p i c k ga m e s near Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds, held each summer. www.olimpickgames.co.uk

pretty market towns with eyecatching timbered houses. www.blackandwhitetrail.org and f o r s o m e thing diff e r e nt . . .

Meet Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, Soay sheep with curling horns and other rare breeds at the c o ts w o l d far m par k . www.cotswoldfarmpark.co.uk

Well-dressing – decorating old wells with art made from natural materials – is a curious tradition that takes place across the Midlands. Head to tissingt o n in Derbyshire in May for the blessing of its wells, dating from the 14th century. www.tissingtonhall.co.uk

Ride the e v e sha m va l e l ight rai lw ay – steam trains run from Twyford station through Evesham Country Park. www.evlr.co.uk Blast off at the nati o na l s pa c e c e ntr e in Leicester and take an interactive journey through the universe, including a 3D simulated rocket launch. www.spacecentre.co.uk Stand in the shade of the Major Oak of sh e r w o o d f o r e st , said to be the hideout of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Its crooked branches spread to more than 92ft and its trunk has a 33ft girth. www.experiencenottinghamshire.com

right: Great Dining Room at Chatsworth House ©VisitEngland/ Chatsworth House Trust

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B A GSHAW HALL & SL E E P L OD G E Bakewell, Derbyshire

TH E B AY T REE H O T EL Burford, Oxfordshire

Peak District gem in the centre of Bakewell with boutique suites within an historic hall.

Charming Burford inn welcoming visitors since 1565.

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T HE BELMONT HO TE L Leicester, Leicestershire

B I L L E S L EY MA N O R H O T EL Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire

A stylish 4-star boutique retreat near Leicester city centre.

Beautiful 4-star Elizabethan manor house three miles from Stratford-upon-Avon.

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T HE BROADWAY HOTE L Broadway, Worcestershire

TH E C A S T L E H O T EL Bishop’s Castle, Shropshire

A delightful & historic escape in Broadway, “Jewel of the Cotswolds”.

Open fires, real ales and good food in the beautiful South Shropshire Hills.

2 8 CALL + 4 4 (0 ) 3 3 3 332 0444 F O R F U LL DETA ILS A ND PRICE S

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CASTLE H OU SE Hereford, Herefordshire

CAV EN D I S H H O T EL BA S L O W Chatsworth, Derbyshire

Elegant boutique townhouse hotel in the heart of this ancient city with a highly-acclaimed restaurant.

One of the treasures of the Chatsworth Estate, located in the heart of the Peak District.

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COTSWOLD H OU SE H OTE L & SPA Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire

T H E CO T S W O L D PL O U G H H O T EL & RES TA U RA N T Clanfield, Oxfordshire

Tranquillity, comfort, exceptional food & a stunning spa in the Cotswolds.

Stylish yet informal country house set in a quaint Oxfordshire village. Fine food and the Gin Pantry has hundreds of gins on offer.

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THE DEVO NSH I R E A R M S AT BEELEY Chatsworth, Derbyshire

T H E D EV O N S H I RE A RMS AT PI L S L EY Chatsworth, Derbyshire

Picturesque 4 star inn with 2 AA Rosette-winning food located on the Chatsworth Estate.

Traditional inn including beautiful rooms, great food and cask ales, located on the Chatsworth Estate.

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T HE ELMS HOTEL & SPA Abberley, Worcestershire

TH E F EAT H ERS Woodstock, Oxfordshire

A luxurious Queen Anne manor house set in ten acres of rolling Worcestershire countryside.

Stylish & luxurious townhouse on the doorstep of Blenheim Palace.

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FISHMORE HALL Ludlow, Shropshire

TH E HO RS E & G RO O M Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire

Beautifully restored Georgian house with wonderful new spa and stunning views over Ludlow & the Shropshire countryside.

A picture perfect Cotswolds country inn and pub in the conservation village of Oddington.

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K IN GS HEAD CI RE NC E STE R Cirencester, Gloucestershire

L OR D S O F T H E MA N O R Upper Slaughter, Gloucestershire

The perfect blend of historic charm with contemporary comfort and style in Cirencester.

An effortlessly luxurious Cotswolds country manor awarded 4 AA Red Stars with a highly acclaimed fusion of Modern British and French cuisine.

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LOSEHI LL H OU SE H OTE L A ND SPA Hope, Derbyshire

T H E MA N O R AT W ES T O N - O N - T H E- G REEN Oxfordshire

4-star boutique hotel with panoramic Peak District views, fine spa & outdoor hot tub.

Beautifully appointed country house hotel in a delightful Oxfordshire village.

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MAN OR HOU SE H OTE L Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire

T H E MAYN A RD Derbyshire

Enchanting 4-star Cotswolds coaching inn with relaxed country house atmosphere in the market town of Moreton-in-Marsh.

Independently owned country hotel in the Heart of the Peak District, boasting panoramic views of the Derbyshire countryside.

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THE MOU NT HOTE L COUNTRY M A NOR Wolverhampton, West Midlands

N O . 3 8 T H E PA RK Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

Period architecture, contemporary style and a country house feeling near Wolverhampton.

Stylish boutique B&B set in a stunning Georgian townhouse in Regency Cheltenham.

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NUMBER FOUR AT STOW H OTE L Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire

P E N- Y- D YF F RYN CO U N T RY H O T EL Oswestry, Shropshire

A contemporary boutique gem in the heart of the Cotswolds less than a mile from Stow-on-the-Wold.

A spectacular setting at this idyllic country retreat between Shrewsbury and Chester.

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T HE RAVEN HOTE L & R E STA U R A NT Much Wenlock, Shropshire

R E D E S D A L E A RMS Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire

Much praised in Much Wenlock – an idyllic Shropshire gourmet destination.

A haven of quaint charm in the magical Cotswolds.

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S O ULTON HALL Shrewsbury, Shropshire

STONE H O U S E CO U RT H O T EL Stonehouse, Gloucestershire

A stately bolt-hole amidst the rolling Shropshire Hills.

17th century manor house in stunning grounds overlooking the Stroud Valley.

3 2 CALL + 4 4 (0 ) 3 3 3 332 0444 F O R F U LL DETA ILS A ND PRICE S

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TEWKESBU RY PA R K HOTE L Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire

T H E W H EAT S H EA F I N N Northleach, Gloucestershire

Family-owned award winning country house with glorious views over the Severn Valley & Cotswolds offering golf, leisure club, spa treatments & private wedding facilities.

Delightfully stylish traditional Cotswolds coaching inn and gastropub located in the market town of Northleach.

below: Aerial view over Ironbridge Gorge ŠVisitEngland

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left: Bungay Castle

k ings o f th e c ast l e s sophie butler

“ l o ok on my works, ye mighty, and despair!” The words of 19th-century poet, Percy Shelley, flit across my mind as I run my hand over the weed-loosened flints in the outer walls of Bungay Castle, near Beccles, in Suffolk. Just like the pitifully wrecked statue of Ozymandias, the all-powerful Egyptian pharaoh described in this famous poem as once the “king of kings”, this building, the most impregnable Norman fortress in 12th-century England, is now a tumbledown ruin.

Its seven-metre-thick battlements are worn away like broken teeth, thorny undergrowth envelopes the ancient bailey and the wispy remains of birds’ nests spill out of the chinks and crevices of its crumbling ramparts. But despite the decay, or rather because of it, these romantic remains, on a raised earth mound (or “motte”) at the heart of a small rural town, make an alluring place to visit. A throwback to another time and another age, it symbolises an era when the strength and size of flint walls could mean life or death for those who lived behind them.

As I walk through the narrow entrance, still guarded by the twin towers of a forbidding gatehouse, I think back to the time when skilled masons created these solid defences. A moment in history when Suffolk’s rich lands became the highly prized spoils, snatched from the Saxon nobles and divided between the Norman knights who fought alongside William the Conqueror

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in 1066. Out of the need to protect their new-found wealth, the French invaders undertook a series of extraordinary building projects, including this one. An initiative that transformed the architectural landscape, not only of East Anglia, but of England, sending out a message of power and domination to the defeated population.

Unlike others in the region, this castle is no show-stealer.

It doesn’t compare to the vast Norman keep that dominates the city streets of Norwich or even the magnificent castle at nearby Framlingham, where the 12th-century walls have been restored and renovated over centuries. There’s no ticket office, audio guide or shop selling chutneys and garden gifts. But to my mind, it’s the small, understated sites like this one that really make an impression. Forget the glitzy interpretation, bring your sandwiches and your imagination – and spend a couple of hours enjoying the sunshine. This ancient edifice, like Shelley’s subject, may be a sad shadow of its former self, but it has become a wonderful picnicking spot in a magical setting.

Sophie Butler is a travel writer who specialises in consumer affairs and is a regular contributor to Telegraph Travel. She has lived in East Anglia for more than two decades.

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above: Pub and traditional

houses in Bungay, Suffolk

©VisitEngland/Diana Jarvis

t h e fa c t s

Bungay Castle www.bungay-suffolk.co.uk

TH E E AST OF E NG LAND above: A pony in autumn on The Broads ©VisitEngland/Broads Authority/Tom Mackie ti c k o ff th e

m a j o r sights ...

From Southwold to Aldeburgh in Suffolk to Cromer and Wellsnext-the-Sea in Norfolk, tour the e ast ang l ia c o ast . www.visiteastofengland.com h o l k ha m and

sandringha m , Norfolk’s

grand

country estate houses, have lavish interiors and vast deer parks. www.holkham.co.uk, www.sandringhamestate.co.uk

Get a head for heights on a tour of the roof and tower at l in c o l n c ath e dra l of St Mary. www.lincolncathedral.com At sutt o n h o o in Suffolk a 7th-century Anglo-Saxon burial site was discovered in the 1930s. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ suttonhoo

See c a m b ridg e b y p unt .

Drift along the “backs” for the best views of the colleges. www.visitcambridge.org In c o nsta b l e c o untry , pick out the scenes made famous by the 18th Century landscape painter on the Suffolk and Essex border. www.visitessex.com and f o r s o m e thing diff e r e nt . . .

Spot gr e y s e a l s lolling around on the water’s edge at Blakeney Point in Norfolk. www.beansboatrips.co.uk Take a stroll through the gorse and heather of dun w i c h h e ath and b e a c h in Suffolk,

passing by the tiny village of Dunwich – once a lively city of 4,000 souls. www.nationaltrust.org.uk Nostalgia is alive and well at the b u b b l e c ar m us e u m in Lincolnshire, showcasing microcars from the 1950s and 1960s. www.bubblecarmuseum.co.uk Pay a visit to the new nati o na l h e ritag e c e ntr e f o r

h o rs e ra c ing and s p o rting

at Palace House in Newmarket, to find out how racehorses are retrained. www.palacehousenewmarket.co.uk

art

Mess about in a boat on the Meare at the fantasy village of th o r p e n e ss in Suffolk. www.thorpenessmeare.co.uk below: Jockeys training at the Gallops area in Newmarket, Suffolk, England ©VisitBritain / Rod Edward, Additional Credit: Choose Suffolk

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B R AN STON HALL HOTE L Branston, Lincolnshire

C ONG H A M H A L L Kings Lynn, Norfolk

An ideal country house escape in Lincolnshire.

A fantastic Norfolk country house hotel with a fabulous spa.

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T HE CROSS KEYS Saffron Walden, Essex

D OW N H A L L H O T EL & S PA Bishop’s Stortford, Essex

History meets contemporary design at this charming boutique inn.

4-star country house hotel with great food & spa nestled in 110 acres on the Hertfordshire and Essex border.

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T HE GLOBE I NN Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk

H E A C H A M MA N O R Hunstanton, Norfolk

Stylish inn and lovely restaurant in the delightful North Norfolk town of Wells-next-the-Sea.

A charming 16th century country house & golf course on the North West Norfolk coastline.

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P E TWOOD HOTEL Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire

WA SHI N G BO RO U G H H A L L H O T EL Lincoln, Lincolnshire

A quintessentially English historic country house in the heart of Lincolnshire.

Beautiful Georgian manor in a village near the centre of historic Lincoln.

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WIVEN HOE HOUS E Colchester, Essex 4-star luxurious 18th century house once painted by Constable near Colchester.

V I S I T BES T L O V ED . CO M OR CA L L + 4 4 ( 0 ) 3 3 3 3 3 2 0 4 4 4 FOR FULL DETAILS AND PRICES ON ANY HOT EL

below: Hunstanton Beach, Norfolk ©VisitEngland/RodEdwards

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Tregothnan Tea Estate ©Tregothnan

th e c o rnish hi m a l aya julia buckley

i’v e seen t ea plants before, but never quite like this. I’m standing in a pagoda, banana tree to my left, overlooking the terraces of thick green bushes, plants that, however many times I see them, never look quite like I expect tea to look.

Below me, in the dip between the pagoda and the hill of tea (the “Himalayan Valley”, as it’s called here), are three large ponds, each one running into the next. Above, shading the tea plants, are hulking great trees – oaks, Japanese cedars, a rare Plymouth Pear. To the right, at the end of the ponds, is a fence. And beyond that? “A deer park,” says Jack, my guide.

“Sometimes they get in and cause havoc.”

Rampaging deer probably aren’t major issues in most teaproducing areas, but here at the Tregothnan Estate in Cornwall, things are a little different. When gardener Jonathon Jones planted his first tea bush on the banks of the River Fal in 1999, everyone – including his boss, Lord Falmouth – thought he was crazy. Eighteen years later (they harvested their first crop in 2005), England’s first tea-growing estate produces more than 10 tonnes and 25 types of tea and infusions. The leaves are picked from April to October – every 10 days, if they’re growing well.

The fact that the climate at Tregothnan – cool, damp but never cold or too warm – is almost identical to that of Darjeeling made Jones realise he could plant tea here.

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But it was the estate’s history that gave him the idea. As one of the South West’s great country piles – founded in 1334 by the Boscawen family, who still own it – Tregothnan was always big on gardens. In the 19th century, it became the first place in the UK to grow camellias outside. That tea comes from the “sister” plant, camellia sinensis, was a signal to Jones that attempting the impossible might be possible. That the “Earl Grey” who leant his name to the eponymous tea was supposedly a Boscawen was the icing on the cake.

As a working estate, Tregothnan doesn’t really advertise visitor access. But it’s possible, on weekdays, to go for a cream tea in the small hut sitting next to the claret-coloured, corrugated iron shed, where the tea is made. It’s also possible to take a tour of the estate – its 150 acres of pesticide-free tea, kaleidoscopic colours and animal-filled fields – and have a tasting class, too, either with Jonathon or tea blender Julie Symons.

Over a cuppa, Julie shows me how to slurp the tea to taste it properly. We try the Cornish Smoked Manuka Earl Grey, a blend made for Raymond Blanc’s business-class Eurostar menu.

There’s just enough astringency, lots of body and an underlying sweetness from the home-grown manuka. It’s a tea you’d drink in a five-star hotel, yet it’s made in a “Himalayan valley” that just happens to be 30 miles from my front door.

Julia Buckley is Travel Editor of The Independent and Evening Standard. Her new book, Heal Me, will be published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in spring 2018.

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t h e fa c t s

Tregothnan www.tregothnan.co.uk

above:

Tregothnan Tea Estate ©Tregothnan

below:

Jurassic coastline

©VisitEngland/Heart of Devon/ Tony Howell

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Approaching Carbis Bay, on the South West Coast Path

©VisitEngland/South West Coast Path/Paul Melling

below:

ti c k o ff th e

Lands End at sunset

m a j o r sights ... c l ift o n sus p e nsi o n b ridg e

is Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s signature masterpiece, cutting across the dizzying Avon Gorge at Bristol. www.cliftonbridge.org.uk

tat e st iv e s has been the catalyst for this Cornish seaside town’s revival and, with the Barbara Hepworth Museum, offers an introduction to its role as an important art colony. www.stives-cornwall.co.uk

Marvel at the industry of ancient man at st o n e h e ng e on the chalk downs of Wiltshire. www.english-heritage.org.uk e d e n p r o j e c t , in

Cornwall, is the largest indoor rainforest in the world. www.edenproject.com On p ly m o uth h o e , in Devon, take the air in the footsteps of the bowls-playing Sir Francis Drake. Pick out the Eddystone

©VisitEngland/Alex Hare

Lighthouse on the horizon, 13 miles offshore. www.visitplymouth.co.uk In Bath, visit one of the bestpreserved remains of a Roman bathhouse and take a dip in the open-air thermal waters at the nearby th e r m a e s pa . www.visitbath.co.uk

Walk along the Cob, at ly m e r e gis in Dorset, the heartrending cornerstone of John Fowles’ The French Lieutenant’s Woman, picturesquely jutting out to sea. www.lymeregis.org a lt o n b arn e s w hit e h o rs e

is the least visited of the eight chalk white horses of Wiltshire.

Ascend from Milk Hill where the whole of the south of England seems laid out below. www.wiltshirewhitehorses.org.uk

and f o r s o m e thing diff e r e nt …

Visit the village that calls itself a city, w e l l s in Somerset. The cathedral in the smallest city in England houses one of the largest collections of medieval stained glass in the country. www.wellscathedral.org.uk

Enter another era at k i l l e rt o n , near Exeter in Devon, a graceful estate with a serene arboretum, glorious in spring and autumn, perched on an extinct volcano. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/killerton

See a play at the m ina c k th e atr e near Penzance in Cornwall. This performance space created on the edge of a cliff in the 1930s is still as popular today with hardy theatregoers. www.minack.com c ast l e dr o g o may look centuries old, in fact it was built at the turn of the 20th century.

Take a closer look and you’ll find the portcullis is powered by electricity and there’s a Teasmade in the bedroom. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/castle-drogo

left:

Great Pulteney Street, Bath

©VisitEngland/BathTourismPlus

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A B BEY HOTEL Bath, Somerset

A L E XA N D RA H O T EL & R E STA U RA N T Lyme Regis, Dorset

A superb independently owned hotel & restaurant in the heart of Bath.

An English classic on the Jurassic Coast.

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AT LAN TI C HOTEL Newquay, Cornwall

B OVE Y CA S T L E North Bovey, Devon

Classic glamour & modern luxury at this 4-star hotel with sensational coastal views.

A stunning country house with golf and spa in the heart of Dartmoor National Park.

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B R I DGE HOUSE Beaminster, Dorset

C A R LY O N BAY St Austell, Cornwall

Cosy country comforts and luxury chic near the stunning Jurassic Coast.

4-star luxury with championship golf, spa and AA award-winning restaurant overlooking breath-taking St Austell Bay.

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THE CASTL E H OTE L Taunton, Somerset

T H E CO RBYN H EA D H O T EL Torquay, Devon

Historic family run 4-star hotel and foodie favourite in the Gateway to the South West.

Magnificent sea views and a beachside location, with Torquay town centre and Harbour both less than a mile away.

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COTTAGE HOTE L H OP E C OVE Nr Salcombe, Devon

FA RT H I N G S H O T EL A N D RES TA U RA N T Taunton, Somerset

A delightfully traditional seaside hotel in a spectacular and secluded location.

West Country hospitality in elegant Georgian surroundings.

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FOX AN D H OU NDS COUNTRY HOTE L Chulmleigh, Devon

T H E G A RRA CK H O T EL St Ives, Cornwall

A country hotel set on the banks of the River Taw & the scenic Tarka Trail.

A secluded hotel with spectacular views across the Atlantic and St Ives Bay, just a pebble’s throw from the town with its beautiful beaches.

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T HE HEADLAND H OTE L A ND SPA Newquay, Cornwall

H I G H BU L L EN H O T EL , G OL F A N D CO U N T RY CL U B Umberleigh, Devon

Enjoy beach side living, with rock-pooling, surfing and sunsets at Cornwall’s iconic hotel and spa.

An idyllic 4-star North Devon country house and estate with top level leisure facilities.

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ILSI NGTON COUNTRY HOUSE HOTEL Ilsington Village, Devon

TH E I M PERI A L H O T EL Barnstaple, Devon

Peace, tranquillity and unspoilt vistas within Dartmoor’s National Park.

Elegance & classic style at this Devon riverside retreat.

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T HE LUGGER HOTE L Portloe, Cornwall

M I L L E N D H O T EL Chagford, Devon

Sublimely romantic seaside getaway in the timeless Cornish village of Portloe.

Country house heaven in the heart of Dartmoor.

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NO. 15 GRE AT P U LTE NE Y Bath, Somerset

O RES T O N E MA N O R Maidencombe, Devon

A beautiful boutique townhouse hotel in Bath - witty, elegant and theatrical with interesting curios, bespoke art and lighting.

A magnificent family-run Georgian country house on the South Devon coast with spectacular sea views over Lyme Bay.

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PENTI LLI E C A STL E & E STATE Saltash, Cornwall

PERCY’ S CO U N T RY H O T EL Virginstow, Devon

An award winning, family run boutique B&B in a magnificent Cornish country castle set on an enchanting 2,000 acre estate on the Devon and Cornwall border.

Set in 50 acres of diverse & amazingly spectacular woodland & wildlife ponds. The organic homegrown seasonal food is utterly delicious.

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THE RAM’S HE A D I NN Winkleigh, Devon

T H E RO S EAT E V I L L A BAT H Bath, Somerset

A welcoming home-from-home 17th century boutique coaching inn with great food located between Dartmoor and Exmoor.

A chic, stylish and tranquil boutique luxury hotel in central Bath.

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T HE ROYAL DUCH Y HOTE L Falmouth, Cornwall

SA U NT O N S A N D S H O T EL Braunton, Devon

A luxury hotel with glorious views over Falmouth Bay.

A spectacular family friendly seaside Devon getaway.

Voted Best Loved Hotel of the Year 2018.

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S T MELLI ON HOTE L INTERNATI ON AL R E SORT St Mellion, Cornwall

TR E G A RT H EN ’ S H O T EL St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, Cornwall

A unique blend of contemporary style, traditional Cornish hospitality and 4-star facilities (including a European Championship Golf Course and first rate spa).

Stunning seaside hotel on St Mary’s with great food and some of the best views to be found on the Isles of Scilly.

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T R EGLOS HOTEL Padstow, Cornwall

VI C TOR I A H O T EL Sidmouth, Devon

Exceptional hospitality overlooking the dramatic Cornish coast.

Effortless seaside luxury on the South Devon Coast.

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left:

A vineyard on the South Downs

©VisitEngland/Mischa Haller

gra p e e x p e c tati o ns sarah barrell

t he v ine s ar e on the turn. Orderly rows of yellow and green rake up the hillside towards a summit overlooking the misty South Downs, Brighton’s seaside just beyond. Narrow strips of lush grass divide the ripening vines, the peripheries of which flash red in the sunlight.

“The grapes have already come in from those far plots,” says Rebecca Le Good, our guide at Bolney Wine Estate in East Sussex. “Once they’re picked, the leaves turn red. Pretty, isn’t it?” Our group of 30 nods in unison, blinking into the autumn sunlight. “It looks bucolic but like much farming, it can be horrendously stressful.”

As with most European vineyards, a late-spring frost saw yields at Bolney cut almost in half this year. “What we have is great quality,” says Rebecca. “So that’s something. There’s a saying in this business that to make a small fortune you need to start with a large one.” Bolney’s award-winning Pinot Gris entirely sold out to Wimbledon this year, and not one but two of its Chardonnay vintages are earmarked exclusively for British Airways’ first-class cabin, so perhaps things aren’t too testing.

For a business that grew out of a four-acre chicken farm back in the 1970s, Bolney is a vanguard British winery making good on that exponential fortune. Now a 39-acre estate, expanding to 60 next year, it is winning medals not just for

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Champagne-method sparkling wine and early ripening whites – for which English soil is most suited – but even for reds. And it’s not alone.

In the past decade, the South Downs has not only become a national park but also home to some nationally – and internationally – award-winning wines. What was once a source of Gallic ridicule, is now a prize; the French are buying up swathes of these gently rolling chalk hills in search of fine new wine terroir. “We had Taittinger in yesterday,” says Rebecca, “looking to buy local plots. Pommery and Bollinger are making enquiries, too.”

Along with the latest wine-industry gossip, as we tour the vines, and the pressing and disgorging rooms, we’re treated to a veritable jeroboam of facts about winemaking, from Champagne’s origins as an English tipple, to fascinating technical titbits about how much pressure each bottle contains (six bars – double that of your average car tyre). Then, of course, there’s the tasting. On a sunny balcony above the vineyard, in a private room off the café, we sit and sip and compare notes not just on Bolney’s varied wines, but on the many local tours available.

England’s medal-winning wineries are scattered far and wide, from Kent to Cornwall, but they’re densely packed in Sussex, which has more vineyards than anywhere else in the UK and all within an hour of the country’s capital. Even the English would have laughed at that just 10 years ago.

Sarah Barrell (sarahbarrell.com) is a travel journalist and food writer, Travel Editor at BBC Good Food magazine and Associate Editor at National Geographic Traveller.

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above: A view towards

Folkestone from the white cliffs of Dover

©VisitEngland/Alex Hare

t h e fa c t s

Bolney Wine Estate bolneywineestate.com

TH E S OUTH & CH . IS L ANDS ti c k o ff th e

m a j o r sights ...

Take a walk along the tha m e s va l l e y from Hurley in Berkshire to Runnymede in Surrey, where the Magna Carta was signed in 1215. www.thames-path.org.uk See the Mary Rose and Nelson’s HMS Victory at p o rts m o uth ’ s hist o ri c d o c k yard . www.historicdockyard.co.uk in Hampshire is a vast natural wonderland, from wild horseroamed heath to wooded shores. www.newforestnpa.gov.uk

th e n e w f o r e st

Take in the view from the w hit e of southern England at Dover in Kent, or Beachy Head and Seven Sisters in East Sussex. www.sevensisters.org.uk c l iffs

w inds o r c ast l e , on

the royal trail in Berkshire, is the largest and oldest occupied castle in the world. www.royalcollection.org.uk

Take the chairlift from the cliffs to Alum Bay for a stellar view of th e n e e d l e s , the chalk stacks off the Isle of Wight. www.theneedles.co.uk

left: Knole Park in Kent ©VisitEngland/Alex Hare

and f o r s o m e thing diff e r e nt …

is a family owned business located in Hampshire specialising in premium English sparkling wines. www.hattingleyvalley.co.uk

hatting l e y va l l e y

The h e nry

moore

at the great sculptor’s long-time Buckinghamshire home is a world-class celebration of his work and international sculpture in general. www.henry-moore.org

f o undati o n

Discover the scandalous goingson of the Bloomsbury Group on a tour of c har l e st o n , the East Sussex country home of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. www.charleston.org.uk

above: Sunset at the

Reculver Towers in Kent

©VisitEngland/Alex Hare

Decipher the symbolic meanings of Victor Hugo’s eccentric interior design at haut e vi l l e h o us e , the writer’s home in exile on Guernsey. http://maisonsvictorhugo.paris.fr Find out about the lives of the codebreakers at b l e t c h l e y par k , where Alan Turing built the Enigma machine during the Second World War. www.bletchleypark.org.uk Cycle (or walk) up one of Britain’s most iconic climbs at b o x hi l l in the Surrey Hills – and reward yourself with afternoon tea at the summit. www.nationaltrust.org.uk left: Ditchling Beacon, viewed from the South Downs ©VisitEngland/Diana Jarvis

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2

A S HDOWN PARK HOTE L & CO UN TRY CLUB Forest Row, Sussex

B R I TA N N I A H O U S E Lymington, Hampshire

A Victorian mansion with golf, spa & fine food in the Ashdown Forest.

Charming 4 Gold Star B&B in Lymington with homely atmosphere, quirky decor, ideal location, superb service & excellent breakfasts.

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CAPTAI N’ S CLUB H OTE L & SPA Christchurch, Dorset

C A R E Y S MA N O R H O T EL & S EN S PA Brockenhurst, Hampshire

Contemporary hotel with a nautical-inspired design and panoramic views of the River Stour.

Luxury 4-star retreat with a state-of-the-art spa in the heart of the New Forest.

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6

T HE CLUB HOTEL & SPA St Helier, Jersey

C OB O BAY H O T EL Castel, Guernsey

Chic boutique luxury & renowned Michelin-starred cuisine in the heart of St. Helier.

Boutique hotel overlooking one of Guernsey’s most beautiful bays.

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CROSSWAY S H OTE L Wilmington, Sussex

D ’ PA RYS Bedford, Bedfordshire

A warm welcome and excellent food in the South Downs.

A sleek & elegant boutique escape in the heart of Bedford.

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DRI FTWOOD B E A C H H OU SE Whitstable, Kent

T H E D U K E O F RI CH MO N D H O T EL St Peter Port, Guernsey

A delightful three room beachside boutique B&B near Whitstable a stone’s throw from Seasalter Beach.

Boutique elegance, sea views and a heated outdoor pool/terrace at this stylish hotel located just up the hill from St Peter Port.

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THE FARM H OU SE H OTE L St Saviours, Guernsey

F I V E A RRO W S Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire

Country house charm meets contemporary design in the scenic Guernsey countryside.

Victorian character, charm, fantastic food and modern comfort at the gates of Waddesdon Manor.

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TH E S OUTH & CH . IS L ANDS

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T HE FORBURY RO SE ATE H OTE L Reading, Berkshire

F R E DRI CK ’ S H O T EL R E STA URA N T & S PA Maidenhead, Berkshire

A stylish and opulent boutique townhouse with exquisite décor and AA Rosette-wining cuisine located near the centre of Reading.

A 4-star Thames Valley Escape with 2 AA Rosette cuisine and an exceptional spa.

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T HE GEORGE I N RY E Rye, Sussex

TH E G R A N D H O T EL Eastbourne, Sussex

Luxurious boutique hotel in the medieval town of Rye.

Majestic seaside Victorian palace on the Eastbourne promenade.

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GRASMERE HOUS E Salisbury, Wiltshire

G R E E N H I L L S CO U N T RY H O U S E H OTE L St Peter, Jersey

A riverside country house hotel with stunning views of Salisbury Cathedral.

A tranquil gem in the heart of rural Jersey.

6 0 CALL + 4 4 (0 ) 3 3 3 332 0444 F O R F U LL DETA ILS A ND PRICE S

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HEVER CASTL E L U XU RY B & B Edenbridge, Kent

H U RL EY H O U S E H O T EL Hurley, Berkshire

Luxury B&B accommodation located on the Hever Castle estate, home to Anne Boleyn.

Top design, a fine pub and amazing food in the Thames Valley.

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LAURA AS HL E Y TH E M A NOR Elstree, Hertfordshire

L U T O N H O O H O T EL , G O L F & S PA Nr Luton, Bedfordshire

Country house design chic only minutes from central London with breathtaking views over the London skyline.

Grand stately home just north of London set in a 1065 acre estate.

23

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THE MANOR AT B I C KL E Y Bickley, Kent

MO N TA G U A RMS H O T EL Beaulieu, Hampshire

Beautiful 19th century country house set in landscaped grounds with excellent food.

Charming 17th century New Forest country house with sublime cuisine.

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TH E S OUTH & CH . IS L ANDS

25

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M ORTONS HOUSE H OTE L Corfe Castle, Dorset

TH E OL D G O V ERN MEN T H O U S E H OTE L & S PA St Peter Port, Guernsey

Graceful Elizabethan manor perfect for exploring the Jurassic Coast.

Delightful 5-star hotel in a prime position at the heart of St Peter Port with spectacular views over the harbour.

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PA RK HOUSE, HO TE L & SPA Midhurst, Sussex

RY E L O D G E Rye, Sussex

A charming country house hotel in the South Downs National Park with excellent food, fabulous spa and leisure facilities.

Elegance, restful charm and great attention to detail in historic Rye.

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TA PLOW HOUSE HOTE L Maidenhead, Buckinghamshire

TY L NE Y H A L L H O T EL & G A RD EN S Hook, Hampshire

Stunning 4-star Georgian retreat situated on the border between Berkshire and Buckinghamshire near Heathrow and Windsor.

A superb Victorian stately home in 66 acres of landscaped gardens.

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URBAN BEA C H H OTE L Bournemouth, Dorset

T H E W EL L I N G T O N Stevenage, Hertfordshire

Boutique urban style and a relaxed vibe located a five minute walk from Bournemouth’s beach and Boscombe Pier.

A handsome historic inn with traditional architecture & ultra-modern facilities.

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THE WHI T E HOU SE Herm Island No cars, no crowds, no worries: luxury retreat on the magical, secluded island of Herm.

V I S I T BES T L O V ED . CO M O R CA L L + 4 4 ( 0 ) 3 3 3 3 3 2 0 4 4 4 FOR FULL DETAILS AND PRICES ON ANY HOT EL

below: View of the Isle of Wight from Dorset ©VisitEngland/Diana Jarvis

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left: Savile Row

LO ND ON

©VisitBritain / Juliet White

spies l i k e us andy jones

i’d be hopel e ss at fighting bad guys, but I can definitely handle the sharper-than-a-switchblade Kingsman wardrobe.

Styled as James Bond for the modern age, the comedy-action film raises the bar for both slapstick violence and perilously sharp tailoring.

Live the movie – without the violence or having to join a spy task force – on a walk through London. As the suit is the modern man’s armour, the only place to start is Huntsman on Savile Row. Established in 1849, the tailor is utterly stitched into the fabric of the film and not just because its wooden horses and oak panelling form the backdrop to many key scenes.

During filming, the tailor’s, aka the Kingsmen’s HQ, was flipped from shop to set in 48 hours, but you can expect a similar transformation in your own appearance in less than an afternoon. I can’t quite afford the £1,550 price tag for an offthe-peg two-piece (double that for a bespoke), but I do at least leave knowing how to do a Full Windsor, like Eggsy (Taron Egerton) in the film, and get to dress up in front of the fittingroom mirror that is so important to the movie.

Next, I head to Old Bond Street. There, I step into the heels of the stars by investing in a pair of Oxfords – never brogues – at George Cleverley. “Invest” is definitely the right word because not only will an elegantly handcrafted pair like those worn

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by Harry Hart (Colin Firth) set you back £595, they will last almost as if the Kingsmen bullet-proofed the pair themselves.

Like Hart’s motto, “Manners maketh man”, having an unshaven face simply won’t do, so I banish my bristles at Pankhurst. Part speakeasy, part barber’s, it totally fits the lifestyle and – just as in the new sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle – everything tastes better with bourbon. Opting for the deluxe haircut, shave and scalp massage combo, it’s about the only time in my life I’ll manage effortless cool with a blade at my throat.

No Kingsman can march on an empty stomach, so I jump into a black cab – although I don’t travel on the roof like Eggsy does – and head for the Black Prince at Kennington, the location of Hart’s memorable brawling-with-an-umbrella scene from the original film. I sink into one of the booths in the cosy South London pub with real ale taps and toast Mr Hart with a delicious Guinness. Firth does about 80 per cent of his own stunts in the film, and you can reimagine this fight, frame by frame, from when he makes a pint glass airborne with a flick of his umbrella to him clearing a roomful of thugs with a few carefully placed elbows and fists. Thankfully, you won’t need to use the same tactics to reach the bar.

Andy Jones (www.andyjones.co.uk) is a London-based journalist and broadcaster.

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t h e fa c t s

Huntsman www.hunstmansavilerow.com George Cleverley www.georgecleverley.com Pankhurst www.pankhurstlondon.com Black Prince www.theblackprincepub.co.uk

below: Night-time view of Millennium Bridge with the dome of St Paul’s ©VisitEngland/Alex Hare

LO ND ON left: Old Royal Naval College, from Greenwich Park ©VisitEngland/Visit Greenwich

ti c k o ff th e

and f o r s o m e thing

Visit b u c k ingha m pa l a c e in summer for an inside view of the London home of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch. www.royal.gov.uk

Admire the newly reopened d e sign m us e u m , in Kensington. There’s triple the space for exhibits at John Pawson’s clever remodelling of the former Commonwealth Institute building. www.designmuseum.org

m a j o r sights ...

Take a Beefeater tour of th e to see all four towers, the crown jewels and a dungeon. www.hrp.org.uk

t o w e r o f l o nd o n

At n e l s o n ’ s c o l u m n get that iconic happy snap with the hero of Trafalgar and his coterie of pigeons.

Take a tour of the pa l a c e o f w e st m inst e r . A Blue Badge guide leads the way on this fascinating 90-minute journey through the House of Lords and the House of Commons. www.parliament.uk

diff e r e nt . . .

Slip down the world’s tallest and longest tunnel slide – the latest exciting addition to the ar c e l o r m itta l o r b it , in Stratford. arcelormittalorbit.com Take to the river Thames on the p u p p e t th e atr e b arg e , a cosy floating theatre that departs Richmond telling updates of traditional tales and children’s classics. www.puppetbarge.com

Join a high - e n e rgy adv e ntur e across various city locations, solving clues and evading the enemy along the way. games.fire-hazard.net Explore the capital’s r o ya l on a half-day tour on two wheels, taking in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Green Park, and St James’s Park. www.fattiretours.com gr e e n s pa c e s

Take a peek at the souk-like rug room in one of London’s most iconic stores, l i b e rty , hung with fine handmade Oriental and Persian floorcoverings. www.libertylondon.com

Browse the works in l o nd o n ’ s

w o r l d - b e ating m us e u m s ,

from the Tates to the V&A, the National Gallery to the Natural History Museum. www.visitlondon.com rid e ar o und th e str e e ts

like a Londoner in an icon of the city – jump on a big red bus or in the back of a black cab.

right: Great Marlborough

Street, viewed from Argyll Street

©VisitBritain/Britain on View

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T HE ARCH LONDON

D R AY C O T T H O T EL

An ideal 5-star urban hideaway steps from Marble Arch, Hyde Park & Oxford Street.

5-star luxury hotel in the heart of Chelsea steeped in elegant Edwardian splendour.

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HOME HOUSE

TH E M I L ES T O N E H O T EL & R E SI D EN CES

Fabulous private club with stylish rooms and great food located across three historic Georgian West End townhouses.

A luxurious five star Grade II mansion hotel, located directly opposite Kensington Palace and a popular destination for afternoon tea.

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T HE RUBEN S AT THE PALACE

TA J 5 1 BU CK I N G H A M G AT E SU I TE S & RES I D EN CES

Luxurious, calm and regal 4-star hotel located opposite Buckingham Palace and the Royal Mews.

A suite-only, 5 star heritage hotel, perfectly positioned close to Buckingham Palace and Mayfair.

7 0 CALL + 4 4 (0 ) 3 3 3 332 0444 F O R F U LL DETA ILS A ND PRICE S

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TOWN HAL L H OTE L AN D APARTM E NTS Stylish rooms, studios & apartments in an architecturally fascinating former town hall building in the hip and vibrant East End.

V I S I T BES T L O V ED . CO M O R CA L L + 4 4 ( 0 ) 3 3 3 3 3 2 0 4 4 4 FOR FULL DETAILS AND PRICES ON ANY HOT EL

below: Trafalgar Square, with Big Ben in the distance ©VisitEngland

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S COT LAND

th e s k y at night jamie lafferty

left: Dark Sky Park Galloway ©James Hilder

w hen i hear d that the Galloway Forest Park had become Europe’s first dark sky park, my initial thought was: what’s the point? My scepticism was 25 years old; my family’s first – and only – visit to that gorgeous little corner of Scotland had been a wash-out, one of those clichéd British holidays so rainy the ocean and sky seemed to have swapped places. I don’t remember seeing the sun once, nor any stars for that matter. But puddles – puddles, I remember.

The Galloway Forest is supremely dark in part because of its low population. Even as a child, I could sense that – the absence of people, the feeling of something wild, less than an hour from my family home. In that regard, little has changed in the twoand-a-half decades between that visit and this one. The rolling hills still have more sheep than people; the lochs are still fringed only by recalcitrant fishermen in waders. I’d expected the sky to be most unchanged, but now there are wakes of red kites, a cause célèbre for conservationists when I was young – whatever they did must have worked.

But scenic as the park, and wider Dumfries and Galloway are, I’ve come to look for something trillions of miles away.

Rather than leave it to chance, I kept a close eye on the weather forecast and waited for a clear night to make the most of the now-famous darkness in the area.

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All day long it duly tips it down, but shortly after 8pm, the rain stops. I get in my car and drive to the Clatteringshaws Visitor Centre in the heart of the park, along an empty country road, a spectral fox my only companion.

Star-gazing trips leave from here a few nights each week through autumn and winter, owing to its deeply dark location next to a loch. When solar activity is high enough, there’s also a good chance of seeing the Northern Lights at this time of year, despite the forest’s relatively southerly location. With no gathering tonight, I have the place to myself.

Alone under the blanket of black, the cold air numbing my nose, I wonder if I’ve made a mistake in coming out here, but then the sky unravels to reveal a silvery sheen, stars beyond stars, like noise on a galactic television. Perhaps if I’d had sharper eyes, a child’s eyes, I’d see more of the 7,000-plus stars visible to the naked eye here, but there’s no mistaking the Big Dipper, nor Orion’s Belt, nor the Milky Way. Under their distant glare I feel very young indeed.

Jamie Lafferty (www.jamielafferty.com) is a travel writer and photographer based in Glasgow who writes for publications including The Sunday Times, The Guardian and National Geographic Traveller.

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t h e fa c t s

Galloway Forest http://scotland.forestry.gov. uk/forest-parks/gallowayforest-park/dark-skies

above: Dark Sky Park

Galloway

©James Hilder

below: The Bruce Stone, Glen Trool, Galloway ©VisitBritain/VisitScotland

S COT LAND left: Fingals Cave on Staffa Island

©VisitBritain/VisitScotland

below: St Andrews Castle

ti c k o ff th e

m a j o r sights ...

©VisitBritain/VisitScotland

At e din b urgh c ast l e learn about the country and its capital’s history, as well as appreciating cracking views of this ancient city. www.edinburghcastle.gov.uk

In a l l o w ay , visit the home and museum dedicated to the Scottish bard, Robert Burns, who wrote ‘Auld Lang Syne’. www.burnsmuseum.org.uk

Cruise l o c h n e ss in search of the infamous monster, Nessie. www.cruiselochness.com

and f o r s o m e thing

Head for e i l e an d o nan most iconic fortress in the land, which sits on its own island amid views straight off a shortbread tin. www. eileandonancastle.com

Drive the cliffside road known as th e e l e c tri c b ra e , in South Ayrshire, an optical illusion that gives the impression of going up when going down. www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk

Enjoy a wee dram at s p e ysid e , where whisky devotees can taste some of the finest tots at the nation’s most famous distilleries. www.visitscotland.com

Marvel at the medieval r o ss lyn c ha p e l , one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in Scotland, the inspiration for The Da Vinci Code. www.rosslynchapel.com

c ast l e , the

Take in the views from the end of the road at j o hn o ’ gr o ats , start, or finish, of many an endto-end journey between it and Penzance in Cornwall. www.visitjohnogroats.com

diff e r e nt . . .

The is l e o f arran , a compact yet diverse isle that earns its moniker of “Scotland in Miniature” with many of the countries best attractions in one place. www.visitarran.com

Ride the b o rd e rs rai lw ay , which heads from Edinburgh deep into the rolling hills so beloved of writer Sir Walter Scott. www.scotrail.co.uk Leaf through the ‘Scottish play’ below the boughs of the b irna m o a k o r sy c a m o r e , the sole surviving trees of the ancient wood in Perth, made famouse by Shakespeare in Macbeth. www.visitscotland.com Ride the j a c o b it e st e a m train from Fort William to Glenfinnan, crossing the magnificent viaduct featured in the Harry Potter films, alighting at the destination of the Hogwart’s Express, Glenfinnan Station. www.westcoastrailways.co.uk left: The Brig O’Dee across the River Dee ©VisitBritain/VisitScotland

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B A LCARY BAY HO TE L Castle Douglas, Dumfries & Galloway

B L A C K A D D I E H O U S E H O T EL Dumfries, Dumfries & Galloway

Magnificent sea views from this romantic hotel on the Galloway coast.

Delightful family-run hotel with refined restaurant on the River Nith.

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B OATH HOUSE Nairn, Highlands

C A R NO U S T I E G O L F H O T EL Carnoustie, Angus

Majestic Regency mansion & Michelin-starred restaurant in a 20 acre Highlands estate.

Luxurious hotel & spa overlooking the famously challenging & historic golf course.

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CO LON SAY Isle of Colonsay, Argyll

C OR R I EG O U R L O D G E H O T EL Fort William, Highlands

A hidden treasure of the Southern Hebrides.

A culinary retreat in one of the most beautiful locations in the Highlands.

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CRAI GADA M Castle Douglas, Dumfries & Galloway

D A L H O U S I E CA S T L E A N D S PA Bonnyrigg, Lothian

A taste of Scotland in the Galloway Hills.

A magnificent 13th-century castle, award-winning restaurant and state-of-the-art spa just 8 miles from Edinburgh.

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DUNALASTA I R HOTE L SU I TE S Rannoch, Perthshire

ED N A M H O U S E H O T EL Kelso, Roxburghshire

Boutique elegance amid the stunning Highland scenery of Loch Rannoch and Schiehallion Mountain.

An exquisite country house escape with world class fishing and terrific food on the banks of the River Tweed.

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FONAB CA STL E H OTE L Pitlochry, Perthshire

F O U R S EA S O N S H O T EL St Fillans, Perthshire

The ultimate in luxury with a fresh modern twist. A truly special 5-Star Scottish experience located on the banks of Loch Faskally in the heart of Perthshire.

One of the best kept secrets in The Trossachs National Park, with one of the most breath-taking views in Scotland. Under new ownership.

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GL EN MORAN GI E H OU SE Tain, Highlands

KI L C A MB L O D G E Strontian, Highlands

Enjoy exceptional Scottish hospitality at Glenmorangie’s Highland home and discover what we mean by “tranquillity restored.”

Breathtakingly situated on Loch Sunart, where otters and eagles are daily visitors.

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K IN CRAI G CASTLE H OTE L Invergordon, Highlands

KNOC K I N A A M L O D G E Stranraer, Dumfries & Galloway

Beautiful 4-star country house with excellent cuisine perched above the Cromarty Firth only 20 minutes from Inverness.

Romantic boutique hotel & gourmet escape on the Galloway Coast.

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M AR HALL GOLF & SPA R E SORT Glasgow

M E L D RU M H O U S E & G O L F RES O RT Oldmeldrum, Aberdeenshire

A 5-star luxury Edwardian country house, golf and spa resort in 240 acres near Glasgow and the River Clyde.

4-star country house hotel set in 240-acres with luxurious accommodation and inspired, relaxed fine dining. One of Scotland’s top destination hotels with 2 Red Rosette dining & an 800-year-old Cave Bar.

8 0 CALL + 4 4 (0 ) 3 3 3 332 0444 F O R F U LL DETA ILS A ND PRICE S

S COT LAND above: The Wallace monument with a view to the Ochil hills ŠVisitBritain/VisitScotland

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THE PEAT I NN St Andrews, Fife

RA EMO I R H O U S E Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire

A celebrated Michelin-starred restaurant just a short drive from St Andrews.

Princely Aberdeenshire retreat on the doorstep of Balmoral.

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ROMAN C A M P C OU NTRY H OU SE Callander, Perthshire

RU F F L ET S St Andrews, Fife

A wonderful family run country house in the Trossachs with great food.

The best of country house living near the Home of Golf boasting a 2 AA rosette restaurant and 10 acres of award-winning gardens.

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S HERBROOKE CASTL E Glasgow

TH E TAYN U I LT: E TI VE RES TA U RA N T W I T H RO O MS Taynuilt, Argyll

4-star Baronial castle hotel set in beautiful gardens in Glasgow’s leafy Southside.

A traditional coaching inn with wonderful food near Oban.

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T R I GONY HOUSE Dumfries, Dumfries & Galloway A rustic treasure hidden amid the serenity of Nithsdale valley. below: St Andrews Castle ©VisitBritain/VisitScotland

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IR ELAND

left: Downpatrick Head, Ballycastle, North Mayo ©Failte Ireland

wild ti m e s nicola brady

f r om t he t iny car park on the blustery coast of County Mayo, Downpatrick Head seems fairly nondescript. If one of the bronzed Wild Atlantic Way signs hadn’t pointed me towards it, there’s a good chance I would have driven by without passing any heed. But I make my way up the cliff to be met by one of the most striking sights on the Irish coast.

The ground bounces and springs underfoot as I walk over grassy pods that wouldn’t look out of place in Hobbiton on the approach to the cliff ’s edge. A woman just ahead of me is lying on her belly on the precipice and I follow suit, nervously sliding forwards to peek over the edge. Ahead, the Dún Briste sea stack juts forth from the crashing waves, the layers of multi-coloured rock peppered with sea birds.

The Wild Atlantic Way traces 1,500 miles of Ireland’s coastline, but the section in Mayo is one of the most striking, and also one of the least-visited; when you pull in at one of the WAW Discovery Points (marked by distinctive wayfinders) you won’t be jostling for a view. There are more than 150 of these points along the whole coastline, but 31 of them are on the 337mile stretch through Mayo.

I drive 20 minutes from Downpatrick Head to the Céide Fields, the secrets of which are hidden below the ground.

The most extensive Stone Age site in the world, the Céide

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Fields cover a vast area of stonewalls, tombs and enclosures, all preserved by bog land. Another hour’s drive takes me to Erris, where the landscape seems to change almost by the minute. As I weave through farmland and past mountains, the craggy shore gives way to wide expanses of rock-strewn fields, with cut turf lining the roadside.

Further along, the Mullet Peninsula has an otherworldly air.

Most of its residents speak as Gaeilge, and though it’s connected to the mainland, it has an island feel, with tiny, unspoilt beaches with sand as white as snow. On one of its most blustery corners, I park up at Dún na mBó, a blowhole with a striking sculpture built around its edges. Beneath my feet, the water churns, smashing against the rocks in hues of turquoise, green and grey.

The sight is as hypnotic as it is beautiful – and I have it all to myself.

Nicola Brady (www.nicolabrady.com) is a travel writer based in Dublin.

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t h e fa c t s

Wild Atlantic Way www.wildatlanticway.com

Mayo Tourist Information www.mayo.ie

below: Wild Atlantic Way ©Failte Ireland

IR ELAND left: Mulranny Beach ©Failte Ireland ti c k o ff th e

and f o r s o m e thing

m a j o r sights ...

At the c l iffs o f m o h e r , in County Clare, enjoy a lofty view of the Atlantic and – on a clear day – Ireland’s islands, mountains and coast, right down to Kerry. www.cliffsofmoher.ie Take a boat to one of the

is l ands o ff th e w e st c o ast , including

Great Blasket and the old monastic settlement of Skellig Michael. www.marinetours.ie, www.skelligislands.com

Tour k i l l arn e y nati o na l in County Kerry, for its woods, lakes, waterfalls and mountains, including Macgillycuddy’s Reeks, Ireland’s highest range, and Carrauntoohil, the country’s highest mountain. www.killarneynationalpark.ie par k ,

diff e r e nt . . .

Visit ga e lta c hts (pronounced gailtucked), the Irish languagespeaking areas, including parts of Donegal, Kerry, Mayo and Galway. www.gaelsaoire.ie Kiss the b l arn e y st o n e in County Cork to be bestowed with eloquence. It’s attached to a castle built nearly 600 years ago by the chieftain Cormac McCarthy. www.blarneycastle.ie Step out on the basalt columns of the giant ’ s c aus e w ay , on the County Antrim coast, made of magma that oozed from the deep 60 million years ago. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/giantscauseway below: Royal Portrush Golf Club ©Failte Ireland

fungi e th e d o l p hin moved into Dingle Harbour in County Kerry more than 30 years ago and can be seen from land, or for a closer look, from a boat. www.dingledolphin.com e n j o y a t o t o f irish

on a tour of Bushmills in County Antrim. www.bushmills.com

w his k e y

th e e ng l ish m ar k e t in

c o r k c ity , opened in 1788.

Browse the stalls of fish, meat, cheese, vegetables – and crafts. www.englishmarket.ie

in the autumn off Baltimore in County Cork for a chance to see humpback, minke and fin whales. www.corkwhalewatch.com

g o w ha l e w at c hing

th e b urr e n nati o na l par k ,

in Clare, is a lunar-like landscape of limestone rock that attracts exotic plants and insects. www.burrennationalpark.ie

w at c h th e hur l ing at

c r o k e par k in du b l in , the fast-paced game reminiscent of hockey, which is thought to date back 3,000 years. https://crokepark.ie

B E ST L OV E D HOTE L & TR AV E L GU IDE 87

IR ELAND

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A S HFORD CASTLE Cong, Co Mayo

B U SHMI L L S I N N H O T EL Bushmills, Co Antrim, Northern Ireland

5-Star castle hotel, estate and resort set in 350 magnificent acres on the Shores of Lough Corrib.

Historic oak-beamed luxury Inn set against the backdrop of the Giant’s Causeway and Bushmills Distillery.

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CARRI G COUNTRY HOU SE & R ESTAURAN T Killorglin, Co Kerry

G R E AT N AT I O N A L B A L LY K I S T EEN G O L F H O T EL Limerick Junction, Co Tipperary

Enchanting country house hotel & gourmet restaurant on the shores of Caragh Lake, Ring of Kerry.

Family friendly golf hotel in the shadow of the Galtee Mountains, only half an hour from Limerick City.

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GREAT NATI ON AL CO MMON S I NN HOTE L Cork City, Co Cork

G R E AT N AT I O N A L H OTE L BA L L I N A Ballina, Co Mayo

Traditional hotel ten minutes from Cork City centre – perfect for exploring the major local attractions.

Contemporary 4-star hotel a short drive from Ballina Town – ideal for exploring the Wild Atlantic Way.

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IR ELAND

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GREAT N ATI ONA L MULRAN NY PA R K H OTE L Mulranny, Westport, Co Mayo

G REAT N AT I O N A L S O U T H CO U RT H O T EL Raheen, Limerick, Co Limerick

4-star seaside getaway overlooking Clew Bay & Croagh Patrick Mountain and perfect for walking the Great Western Greenway.

Spacious hotel located on the edge of Limerick City and only 20 minutes from Shannon Airport.

below: Humpback whale and Stags, West Cork ©Failte Ireland

89

Small Danish Hotels is a chain of more than 80 beautiful inns, modern hotels and fairytale castles packed with charm, intimacy and warmth. You will find us along the coasts, in the towns and cities and out in the country. What all hotels have in common is the attention to personal service and great hospitality. We call this ‘moments of happiness’.

Explore more at

www.smalldanishhotels.com

INT ERNATI ONAL

be st l ov ed hot els has recently joined a new alliance of more than 700 independently owned hotels, in over 65 countries around the world.

Known as The Global Alliance of Private Hotels, this is the world’s largest alliance of privately owned hotels.

We have carefully selected a handful of hotels from the Alliance to whet your appetite, alongside some of our favourite international properties from Red Carnation Hotels.

For more information on the Global Alliance, visit www.gaph.online We look forward to further inspiring your travels, not only in the British Isles, but around the globe.

BUUSTAMONS F J Ä L L G Å R D Jämtland, Sweden

T H E CH ES T ERFI EL D PA L M BEA CH Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.

Nestled among ski paths and sitting cosily in genuine and charming surroundings, this is Åreskutan’s highest situated hotel.

Elegant and chic hotel in the heart of residential Palm Beach, just steps from designer boutiques and white sandy beaches.

WWW. B ESTLOVED. COM

INTERNATIONAL HOTEL D’A NG L E TE R R E Geneva, Switzerland

HOTEL LES JARDINS DE LA MEDINA Marrakech, Morocco

Refined Swiss style and hospitality with British charm at this 5-star hotel overlooking Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc.

Les Jardins de la Medina offers the quality of a charming boutique hotel and the traditions of an authentic riad.

HOTEL TI A L L A NNE C Trebeurden, Brittany, France

K RA G ERU P G O D S Zealand, Denmark

Expect a warm welcome, crackling fires, lounges, terraces, gardens and wonderful sea views at this hotel on Brittany’s Pink Granite Coast.

A respectfully renovated historic hotel with a moat situated in Zealand in beautiful forest surroundings.

Equipped with a new wellness area.

NATURI DYL L HOTE L BERGSCHL ÖSSL Luson, South Tyrol, Italy

N AT U RI D YL L H O T EL ED ELW EI S S WA G RA I N Wagrain, Salzburg, Austria

The perfect hotel for hiking, wellness and families in South Tyrol – a refuge for lovers of nature that are seeking enjoyment and recreation.

A place of relaxation in a unique panoramic highaltitude location with a stunning view and an environmentally-friendly Green Spa. B E ST L OV E D HOTE L & TR AV E L GU IDE 93 93

INTERNATIONAL

R IMFORSA STRAND Lake Åsunden, Östergötland, Sweden

R I NG H O T EL CEN T RA L Ruedesheim, Rhine-Main-Area, Germany

A charming hotel, with a warm and friendly ambience and serene surroundings in the most beautiful part of Östergötland, two hours south of Stockholm.

Enjoy scenic castles and vineyards in the picturesque Ruedesheim, with its lovely half-timbered houses by the romantic Middle Rhine valley.

R INGHOTEL LUTH E R H OTE L E ISEN ACHER HOF Eisenach, Thuringian Forrest, Germany

TH E TWELV E A PO S T L ES Cape Town, South Africa

Enjoy prime accommodation in the town that Martin Luther called home in a hotel situated right on the hiking trail to Wartburg castle.

Stunning 5-star boutique hotel situated on Cape Town’s most scenic route near Table Mountain and the Twelve Apostles mountain range.

T Y RSTRUP KRO Jutland, Denmark Idyllically situated in the middle of fields and woods, near the gingerbread town Christiansfeld in Jutland.

Internationally known restaurant.

V I S I T BES T L O V ED . CO M OR CA L L + 4 4 ( 0 ) 3 3 3 3 3 2 0 4 4 4 FOR FULL DETAILS AND PRICES

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ON ANY HOT EL

SMALL HOTELS WITH GREAT KITCHENS The only thing small about a Petit Hotel is its size.

Our hearts and souls are all big.

Petit Hotels includes many of Sweden’s finest small hotels. Most of them are located in the countryside in beautiful, peaceful surroundings. Crystal-clear lakes, rivers and forests, as well as nearby golf courses and cultural events, together create unforgettable experiences for our guests. With their stylish, comfortable rooms and highly creative kitchens with gastronomic menus, often based on fresh local and organic produce, these hotels offer indulgence for both the body and soul.

www.petithotel.se

Enjoy the true Pleasures of Home

If you come to Germany, rest assured that you can expect all of the amenities you have grown to appreciate: individual hotels with a familial atmosphere, personal service and authentic local ambiance.

Whether you like to be on an active vacation by bike or by foot, you would like to relax with your beloved ones or just have an exclusive menu in one of our excellent restaurants, featuring seasonal and regional products – enjoy the Pleasures of Home in one of our Ringhotels, from the Alps to the North Sea, all across Germany.

info@ringhotels.de | www.ringhotels.com

CHELTENHAM RACECOURSE

THE HOME OF JUMP RACING WORLD CLASS HORSERACING ACTION FROM OCTOBER – MAY FEATURING THE FESTIVAL™ 12th - 15th MARCH 2019

CHELTENHAM.CO.UK

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Wines Ltd y e ll a V y Hattingle Alresford , ld ie W Lower J SO24 9A e ir h s p m Ha

with love from Hattingley Valley X discover the secrets of our success To book a tour and tasting visit www.hattingleyvalley.co.uk or call 01256 389188

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