Category: TRAVEL

Sometimes you wait eagerly to watch your favourite football team play – and they concede within five minutes. From an own goal.

But then the disappointment is banished when they rally and win 4-1 with a swaggering performance, including a goal courtesy of a 35-yard screamer after a 20-pass build-up.

It’s an apt (ish) analogy of my experience at new hotel Concepcio by Nobis in Palma, which is in the elite Design Hotels portfolio, an organisation that curates some of the world’s best-looking properties.

Concepcio is a worthy inclusion, but first impressions were tainted.

Shortly after arriving we ordered some hummus by the courtyard plunge pool 10 minutes before poolside service finished, at 7pm.

But the dish lacked the requisite quantity of crudités, so I popped down to the restaurant a few minutes past 7pm and asked if we could have some bread to mop up the (delicious) hummus.

‘I’m afraid service by the pool has ended,’ I was told.

‘But I just want some bread,’ I replied with eyebrows raised as far as I could get them. ‘To go with the hummus we’re still eating.’

‘Service has ended,’ I was told again.

We were alone by the pool. The restaurant wasn’t busy. But no bread.

I was disgruntled at this jobsworth-esque customer service, especially considering the hotel’s position as a luxurious sanctuary.

When we returned to our room the next night, the cleaning staff hadn’t tidied the towels in the bathroom and I began mulling a headline – ‘The bathroom towel and bread-serving shambles that shames the Balearics’.

I know, an overreaction (and the lawyers wouldn’t like that). But I had high expectations and even my partner, who has a very forgiving nature, agreed that the hotel should reassess its towel and bread protocols.

However, when we checked out six nights later, we were fist-bumping the waiting staff and vowing, sincerely, to return.

What happened? Concepcio turned on the magic – and wooed us.

The interior design and architecture was the first stage in the seduction.

The 31-bedroom hotel occupies a site that dates to the mid-16th century and a property that has been a soap factory and a private residence.

Swedish studio Wingardhs and Spanish firms Jordi Herrero Arquitectors and Eduardo Garcia Acuna Arquitecto have done a magnificent job in revamping the building, fusing chic modernity with old-world elegance.

It became increasingly difficult to hold towel-and-bread-based grudges in a hotel that looked this damn good.

The eye-catching inventory of designer furniture, lighting and fittings – I particularly liked the Christmas tree light shade in the restaurant – the grand staircase, the beautiful green-and-white handmade watercolour-style tiles running through the bedrooms and public spaces, the alluring black beams and doors. It was all just so utterly photogenic. Hell, even the black light switches were worthy of a cover shoot.

And that courtyard plunge pool – stunning. An Instagrammer’s paradise.

Then there was the location.

Concepcio by Nobis is named after its location, Carrer de la Concepcio, a central thoroughfare that leads you right into the thick of the beautiful maze-like medieval Old Town – and its bounty of epic wine bars, cafes and restaurants.

Of the latter, we discover a few superstars: Patron Lunares (slightly out of the Old Town on C. de la Fabrica), Aromata (a two-minute walk from Concepcio), Botanic at Can Bordoy Grand House & Garden (a ten-minute walk from Concepcio, enchanting setting) and El Camino, a top-notch tapas restaurant a few minutes’ stroll away that’s run by Englishman Eddie Hart, who co-founded the renowned Barrafina restaurants in London.

We perched at the long marble counter for a lunch and in between mouthfuls of exquisite food – including sublime scallops with a moreish zingy sauce and impeccable jamón croquettes – and swigs of excellent wine (even the four-euro glass was heaven) we watched with smug amusement as our multi-tasking waiter turned away one person after another at the door hoping to get a walk-in seat.

Booking is a very sensible manoeuvre.

Concepcio also excels in the catering department – it delivered the most majestic room-service burger I’ll probably ever have, I had the most gloriously fruity cava in living memory at its slick Xalest restaurant (the tapas was on point, too) and breakfast (in the same room) was always sheer joy, not just because the chefs rustled up the creamiest of omelettes every morning, but because the cheery waiters were always on their game.

The welcoming, always-helpful reception staff get a hat-tip, too.

By the time we’d worked through our week-long itinerary of fattening up at local restaurants, ambling around the super-cute village of Valldemossa, driving around spectacular hairpins to reach the hidden-gem beach Cala Tuent, riding the fun pre-war (s) tram from Soller to Port de Soller and exploring the other-worldly Drach Caves on the far eastern side of the island, Concepcio was 4-1 up.

See you next year!

Singer Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet fame reveals his like of Australia, Nashville and Verona – and recalls a scary flight from New York

By Sara Macefield For The Everyday Mail

Printed: 07:40 EDT, 28 August 2021 | Updated: 07:42 EDT, 28 August 2021

My first visit to the island of Spinalonga seems like it was yesterday. In fact, it was 20 years ago, almost to the day.

It was 2001 and we were on holiday. My husband, Ian, our two children (then aged ten and eight) and I were staying just to the east of Agios Nikolaos in Crete in an apartment complex with three other families. It was nice enough, with a swimming pool impractically shaped like the island of Crete, and access to the sea.

Each day, despite pressure from the children to spend the whole time on the beach or by the pool, we were determined to do some sightseeing. By the second week, we had visited most of the archaeological sites in Eastern Crete and all the museums. The kids in the group had seen enough coins and pot fragments to put them off ancient culture for a long time.

Then I noticed in the guidebook, a three-line entry: ‘Spinalonga: Uninhabited island. Venetian island fortress, Turkish settlement and leper colony 1903-1957.’ It was that latter date that caught my eye. I was born in 1959, and here was the opportunity to connect with a place that was considerably more recent than the Minoan period.

It would still have been warm with human presence when I was born. I knew little about leprosy other than having an image from Ben-Hur in my mind, of sufferers clanging bells and crying ‘Unclean! Unclean!’, and of facial disfigurements.

I imagined fear and stigma. I suppose my interest in going was also partly fed by a ghoulish fascination. It was hard to corral the group of 16, but finally we left and drove 40 minutes to catch the last boat that would take us across the short strip of water.

Spinalonga is less than half a kilometre from the mainland of Crete, and we soon found ourselves stepping off onto the rickety jetty. Since that first visit, I have probably been there well over 100 times.

Spinalonga remains much as it was two decades ago. You arrive beneath the imposing curved walls of the Venetian fortification and pass through a long, dark tunnel that leads into what was the main inhabited area of the island.

For a few moments, in the bend of the tunnel, you are in darkness and it is hard not to feel you are walking in the footsteps of those who were once diagnosed with an incurable disease, people who walked through these shadows and remained there for the rest of their lives.

Emerging into the light, you find yourself at one end of a charming street with little shops, pretty houses, pots of geraniums and often a cat lying in the shade.

Everything is in a state of gentle dereliction but somehow beautiful. The extraordinary thing about this place is that it looks like any other dilapidated but appealing village in the hills of rural Crete.

I was instantly charmed by it on my first visit, not least because of the paradox I encountered.

For more than half a century people were sent to Spinalonga (there was a law, following the discovery that leprosy was contagious, that anyone found to have the disease had to be isolated). Bluntly, they were sent into exile for the rest of their days.

What I always feel when I am there is a sense that they went there to live — not just to die. There is evidence of ‘normal life’ — not just shops, but also a cafe, a communal bakery and two churches.

Up on the hill, above the main ‘High Street’, is a big building that was used as a hospital (high-ceilinged rooms just visible through the boarded-up windows) and also an apartment building.

It takes exactly an hour to walk the circumference of the island.

Although the part which faces the village of Plaka is relatively sheltered, the side that’s open to the mouth of the bay where it is situated is windswept, uninhabited and bleak. 

On that side, you pass the cemetery where hundreds of patients were buried over that half century, their bones preserved in a communal ossuary.

There is one really significant fact that buoys up the visitor: that a cure was found for leprosy in the 1950s — hence the departure of any patients still surviving in 1957.

From the moment in 1898 when a Norwegian doctor, G. H. Armauer Hansen, identified the leprosy bacteria under a microscope, the real work to create a cure began. Until that time its source was mysterious and many still believed that it was a curse from God.

The same treatment (a sulphur-based drug) that liberated the patients of Spinalonga is still successfully used today wherever leprosy is identified.

On Spinalonga there were decades of suffering, but there was also redemption, and it is this sense of both joy and pain I feel when there. 

It’s a unique place, a monument to the strength of the human spirit — and a reminder of the extraordinary work that scientists do for us all in finding cures for common diseases.

In some of the restored shops, there is a series of excellent display boards with the history of Spinalonga from Roman times to the 1950s — along with objects that have been found from ancient to modern times.

And there is, of course, a cafe (with toilets) selling souvenirs, a nice place to sit while you are waiting to board your boat to take you back to the mainland.

My novel about Spinalonga, The Island, which has been translated into 40 languages, was written for adults. 

A year or so ago, a school teacher in Crete told me that she wanted to introduce her class to loss, fear and isolation (all the more relevant now that we have lived through a period where an incurable disease threatened us all, both young and old).

I realised that the central character at the beginning of my original story is a little girl, Maria, so re-shaping it for children was a natural process.

The illustrator, Gill Smith, then came to Crete and I watched her gather inspiration and ideas for her exquisite and touching pictures. 

They capture the pathos of the situation in which Maria finds herself in a really magical way.

It sounds strange to say it, but from the moment I stepped onto this little island I felt a strong emotion — and many people who have been there tell me they felt this too.

This island, a former leprosy colony, changed many people’s fate in real life.

It changed mine, too.

The stunning brand new hotel overlooking Spinalonga 

Somehow, it seems wrong to be lying on a sunbed, drink in hand, staring at the tiny island where just 70 years earlier men, women and children were packed off to perish. But, then, it’s impossible to feel too maudlin when the sun is blazing and the iridescent water of the Gulf of Mirabello is lapping at your feet.

But this is the incongruous view we have from the beach bar of the Cayo Exclusive Resort & Spa. In fact, the former leper colony on Spinalonga is so close you can see its bleached stone houses.

The Cayo is the latest hotel resort to pop up on this chic stretch of north-eastern Crete, opening its doors in May to anyone lucky enough to be able to travel.

It sits on a hill above Plaka, the fishing village and former supply depot for Spinalonga, which is now a delightfully low-key string of vine-covered tavernas, boutiques and bars. The Cayo is an easy spot to unwind.

From the outside it’s all designer hewn stone, but inside the staff could not be warmer or more friendly, welcoming anyone from the UK with a joyous: ‘You’re here! We’ve so missed the Brits.’ 

There is plenty to do, from yoga to water sports but after such a torturous lockdown, my favourite spot was at the beach, lying under an umbrella on a padded sunbed doing nothing more vigorous than reading my book.

The menus in the three on-site restaurants are one of Cayo’s big draws, created by Lefteris Lazarou, the first Greek chef to be awarded a Michelin star and are the antidote to the feta-fatigue one can suffer while on Greek holidays.

Add two infinity pools and a spa, gym and wellness centre and you can’t be blamed for forgetting about the area’s grisly history, can you?

By Fiona McIntosh

For those not tied to school holidays, a September trip to France means far fewer tourists and still pleasantly warm weather. 

So with Covid restrictions now eased for the fully vaccinated, you can head off for fun in the sun on the Riviera, or escape for a quick mini-break across the Channel.

PUTTER DOWN THE CANAL

Running from Toulouse down to the Mediterranean coast, the Canal du Midi is one of Europe’s most beautiful waterways, with cathedrals, castles and ancient ruins along its route. Pick the part you want to putter down (maximum speed is 6mph) and let life slow down as you glide past vineyards and villages. One of the best sections is from Castelnaudary, where you can try the local speciality of cassoulet (a meat and bean stew) to the medieval city of Carcassonne, with its fortified citadel within the ramparts, plus a castle and cathedral. Better still, tour firm Le Boat has 20 per cent off trips in its comfortable self-drive craft this year.

A week’s self catering starting and finishing in Castelnaudary from £1,119 per boat for six (leboat.co.uk). Flights to Toulouse extra.

A BOHO MINI-BREAK 

If you have time only for a long weekend or a few days away, look no further than the little-known boho area of the Perche Ornais, where Parisians spend their weekends. A boutique hotel has just opened in the quaint village of La Perriere, built on a spur with views over the surrounding countryside. The Relais d’Horbe has a gourmet restaurant and deli as well as seven rooms, with beamed ceilings, wooden floors and minimalist furniture within original stone walls. Next door is the Maison d’Horbe, an old curiosity shop whose interior is filled with cabinets bursting with knick-knacks, and where you can dine among the antiques for sale. Visit the more chi-chi town of Belleme for more antiques, or explore the forest.

Rooms at Relais d’Horbe cost from £80, breakfast £8.50pp (lerelaisdhorbe.fr). Ferry crossings to Caen or Cherbourg from £122pp with car (brittanyferries.com).

LINGER IN LANDUEDOC

Opening in time for the grape harvest is the Chateau Capitoul, where you can gaze out at Languedoc and rows of vines from an elegant self-catering villa with pool, then toast the introductory offer of three nights for the price of two in the winery. It’s on the Massif de la Clape nature reserve, which has both its own wine appellation and a network of hiking and cycling trails, so you can explore this little-known part of the Mediterranean coast which includes the Roman city of Narbonne, with Fontfroide Abbey, or just enjoy the hotel’s Cinq Mondes spa before wining and dining in the restaurant.

B&B doubles for three nights from £460 and a two-bedroom villa for four from £1,055 for three nights until October 31 (chateaucapitoul.com). Train or flights extra.

BORDEAUX BY BOAT

Choose a Uniworld river cruise and you’ll find that everything is included, from on-board drinks to excursions and tips. That normally makes them pretty pricey, but if you book before the end of August you’ll get half-price deals on certain sailings, including the one along the Garonne, Dordogne and Gironde rivers. Stops en route will allow you to cycle through a Medoc vineyard, walk and wine-taste your way round medieval St Emilion, and discover Bordeaux’s Cite du Vin museum. 

But it’s not just about wine: you can take a yoga class in the heart of the fortress of Blaye and find out more about artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec at his mother’s home at Chateau Malrome and at Verdelais, where he is buried. Back aboard SS Bon Voyage, with its on-deck pool, there’s a bar inspired by Yves Saint Laurent’s Marrakech home, Villa Majorelle, and a brasserie and formal restaurant serving local specialities.

Week-long cruises in September and October from £1,749pp with flights from Heathrow (uniworld.com).

STROLL THE DORDOGNE 

The Dordogne buzzes with tourists in summer, but by September it’s much calmer, particularly along the upper reaches of the river. Hike between charming villages with turrets and half-timbered houses, then sit down without a guilty conscience in the evening to devour dishes featuring the region’s duck, wild mushrooms, walnuts and goats cheese. The seven-night trip starts at Beaulieu and takes in Port de Gagnac, Loubressac and La Vaysse, stopping at hotels such as the charismatic Auberge du Vieux Port, overlooking the River Cere.

Seven nights’ half board with three picnic lunches, transfers between hotels and return Dover to Calais ferry from £1,095pp, or 12 nights’ half board with seven picnics from £1,980pp (inntravel.co.uk).

BLISS IN BUBBLY CHAMPAGNE

Celebrate the return of travel in style, in the home of bubbles, Champagne. Here, the Royal Champagne hotel just outside Epernay makes a luxurious base from which to explore. The hotel has a champagne concierge who can arrange access to private champagne houses, as well as tasting and harvesting sessions with local producers. Hire an e-bike and ride to Hautvillers to see the tomb of Dom Perignon, who was instrumental in champagne’s rise to fame, then return to the hotel spa for vineyard views and luxury treatments.

Rooms from £340 a night (royalchampagne.com). The hotel is a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Calais. Alternatively book three nights’ B&B with flights from £1,055pp (inspiringtravelcompany.co.uk).

SADDLE UP IN THE LOIRE 

The beauty of the Loire – apart from the historic chateaux scattered along the river – is that the surrounding countryside is pretty flat, making cycling a relative doddle. Follow the network of well-marked, well-maintained cycle routes and quiet roads, taking in the fairytale Chateau d’Azay-le-Rideau or the glorious gardens of the Chateau de Villandry. 

Luggage is transported for you to hotels along the way, including the 19th Century Chateau de Vernieres near Saumur, conveniently located near the vineyards. Wine-lovers, history buffs and foodies who don’t feel up to pedalling can follow an e-bike itinerary.

Six nights’ B&B from £1,795pp (£1,935pp with e-bikes), with three evening meals, bike hire and luggage transfers, or from £1,885 (£2,025pp) with Eurotunnel crossing (cycling-for-softies.co.uk).

FIRST-CLASS FRANCE

A Grand Tour de France by train, taking in Lyons, Marseille and Bordeaux, is just the ticket – and it’s first class all the way. Three nights in four-star hotels are included in each city, bookended by a night in Lille on the way out and in Paris on the return. In the gastronomic capital of Lyons, there’s plenty of superb food, and history. 

Take the funicular from the cathedral with its astronomical clock up the hill to see the Basilique Notre Dame de Fourviere and the remains of the Gallo-Roman city of Lugdunum. From Marseille, take day-trips to the port of Cassis or follow coastal tracks to tiny coves before moving to Bordeaux, with its wines and neoclassical grandeur.

Eleven nights’ B&B with rail travel from King’s Cross St Pancras from £1,595pp (planetrail.co.uk)

TAKE THE WATER AT EVIAN 

You know the water will be top-quality at the spa town of Evian-les-Bains, but the food is pretty good too – the resort has a Michelin-starred restaurant, Les Fresques. Take cookery lessons with chef Patrice Vander, or improve your game of golf with tuition from former world pros at the David Leadbetter Golf Academy.

In the mountains a 40-minute drive from Geneva airport, the resort makes a great base for walkers and cyclists. Stay in either the smart Hotel Royal or the more family-friendly Hotel Ermitage.

Rooms from £255 at Hotel Royal or from £148 at Hotel Ermitage (evianresort.com). Three nights’ B&B at Hotel Royal with a half-day wellness option, a dinner at Les Fresques and three adventure day-trips, with flights from Gatwick, from £1,975pp (azurecollection.com).

OH-SO-PRETTY PROVENCE

The Luberon – dubbed the heart of Provence – sizzles in September. Visit the little village of Lacoste, once the home of the Marquis de Sade, and take in the explosion of colour at Roussillon, which makes you feel you’re in Australia’s red centre. Stay surrounded by vineyards and lavender fields at Coquillade Provence Resort & Spa. Depending on your interests, you can take bike tours into the surrounding hills – experienced cyclists can even try the Mont Ventoux climb, which challenges riders in the Tour de France – or book a wine experience, viewing the 17th Century wine cellar at Chateau Constantin and sampling organic wines at the Chateau de Mille.

Five nights’ B&B with flights from Gatwick to Marseilles and transfers from £930pp (seventytentravel.com). The guided ascent of Mont Ventoux costs €450pp, wine touring from £85pp. 

PICK GRAPES… IN THE ALPS

It may be in the Alps, but the 14th Century Chateau de Candie near Chambery grows its own grapes to make viognier white wine. At harvest time, towards the end of September, join hotel staff and locals who pick the grapes, or just sample the results of their efforts from previous harvests. 

Check out the Fontaine des Elephants in the town centre, featuring elephants carved in stone, as well as the impressive Chateau des Ducs de Savoie, or venture further afield to Aix-les-Bains for hot springs, Roman remains and a lakeside esplanade lined with plane trees.

A week’s B&B in a two-bedroom suite for four costs from £472pp (skifrance.co.uk). Flights extra.

CAR-FREE CORSICAN IDYLL 

Really get away from it all on the little island of Cavallo in the Lavezzi archipelago, between Corsica and Sardinia. Here there are no cars, so you take golf buggies to the white-sand beaches lapped by azure seas. 

As well as a number of privately owned villas, there is a single hotel, the Hotel des Pecheurs, and it’s seriously lovely. Built from local stone and decked out in blue and white, its rooms and suites are clustered by the water’s edge, where the scenery is like something from the Seychelles. A restaurant on the jetty serves the best of French and Italian food.

A week’s B&B from £1,719pp with flights and transfers (redsavannah.com).

Want to know how many bacteria are exchanged in a kiss? Then visit the remarkable museum dedicated to MICROBES (which has an interactive kiss-o-meter)

• Amsterdam’s Artis-Micropia museum reveals all about the world of microbes
• Visitors can learn how microbes influence what you can smell and taste 
• A body-scan device tells visitors how many microbes they’re carrying 

By Sarah Holt For Mailonline

Published: 06:41 EDT, 25 August 2021 | Updated: 07:07 EDT, 25 August 2021

The dreaming spires of Oxford are shrouded in mist, the streets hushed with test silence as we wander out of the metropolis alongside its canal. Quickly, we be part of the Thames Route and continue for a several miles to The Trout Inn at Wolvercote, a person of Inspector Morse’s favourite watering holes.

It looks only fitting to pause for an ale prior to heading across state, by way of the very village of Bladon, exactly where Winston and Clementine Churchill are buried in a incredibly modest grave, then on to Blenheim Palace, home to the Dukes of Marlborough but also in which Churchill was born.

Soon after admiring the palace and its artworks, we walk on via Capacity Brown-landscaped gardens, earlier a 300-yr-previous cedar of Lebanon which functions in Harry Potter And The Get Of The Phoenix, ahead of reaching Woodstock.

Below we end for the very first evening on our 8-day wander from Oxford to Bath, a journey of 103 miles. The new route, provided by Headwater Holiday seasons, is aimed at these who ordinarily might take one particular of their strolling trips abroad. But with abroad travel nonetheless up in the air, the organization has boosted its United kingdom itineraries and this 1 backlinks two attractive towns, winds its way together the southern periphery of the Cotswolds, and normally takes in a wide variety of Roman streets and national trails.

On our 3rd working day, just outdoors the current market town of Witney, we occur across bathers in various states of undress after having a dip in the River Windrush.

The river served Witney obtain fame as a seat of blanket producing, as it presented clear water in the volume required for the fabric-making approach.

From the late Center Ages, the ‘Golden Fleece’ of the Cotswold sheep established a increase in the wool trade and still left an unrivalled legacy of grand manor houses, ‘wool’ church buildings financed by rich retailers and farmers, and beautiful market towns.

We move by the Quality II shown Asthall Manor, in close proximity to Burford, wherever the Mitford sisters lived, and the church in the same village. 

Its clumsy restoration prompted the foundation of the Culture for the Safety of Historic Structures in 1877.

Numerous of the UK’s extensive-distance trails consider in impressive pieces of the countryside but depart out the cities and towns, practically as if hikers are averse to a bit of urbanity, but this route is a superb mix of city and country.

It avoids the busier Cotswold destinations these as Chipping Norton and Stow-on-the-Wold and usually takes in a host of quieter but similarly enchanting places, which includes Burford, Tetbury, the impossibly very Castle Combe, and Cirencester, wherever the regional museum has some of the ideal Roman mosaics remaining in this region.

The unifying aspect of the spot is the famed limestone, which lends the designed landscape a exceptional warmth and harmony. It is in proof all over the place: in the design of properties, the networks of dry-stone partitions, ancient footbridges and the flower-abundant limestone grasslands, which fed the sheep that developed the wool trade.

Ironically, the decline of this trade led to the area’s revival in the 19th Century, brought about by the pioneers of the Arts and Crafts movement who fell on a landscape mainly untouched by the Industrial Revolution. William Morris explained Bibury as ‘the most attractive village in England’, and we are inclined to concur as we stroll earlier its gorgeous and now-iconic chain of terraced workers’ cottages, Arlington Row. A National Belief notice politely reminds us that these are homes and we try out not to be way too obvious as we photograph them.

The aesthetic perfect at the heart of the Arts and Crafts movement is even now extremely a great deal in proof in our accommodation alongside the route: boutique B&Bs, Tudor coaching inns and classy Georgian townhouses, where we unwind in roll-top baths, sip tea from china cups and sleep in 4-poster beds.

We ordinary 10 to 15 miles a day (our baggage is transported) and the terrain is carefully undulating but wonderfully diverse. We stroll across high Wold ridges, along river banks, and through water meadows, woods of historical beech and leafy glades with banks of the wild garlic.

Our remaining day’s stroll is 17 miles and we enter Bath alongside the banking companies of the Kennet and Avon Canal in advance of climbing stone methods that deliver us out beside the renowned pump rooms – a fittingly symmetrical close to a journey that started on the banking companies of the canal in Oxford.

As we sit in a pub backyard garden overlooking Pulteney Weir, we toast the completion of our wander from Oxford’s dreaming spires to Bath’s steaming spa.

Fancy relaxed staycation dining with fantastic food? Pick one of Britain’s 16 Michelin-starred gastropubs, from the Hand & Flowers in Marlow to the Pipe & Glass Inn in Yorkshire

• The Hand & Flowers is the only pub in the UK with two Michelin stars
• Enjoy top food in the shadow of a 450-year-old yew tree at The Pipe & Glass Inn
• The thatched-roofed Masons Arms, Devon, is a relaxed but stylish gastropub 

Published: 17:01 EDT, 21 August 2021 | Updated: 06:09 EDT, 23 August 2021

Great British boltholes: The jovial Welsh hotel on a stunning stretch of coastline where you will be treated like family

• Porth Tocyn in Abersoch was one of the first post-war country house hotels
• There are 17 guest rooms, plus a shepherd’s hut and a self-catering cottage
• Walkers will enjoy exploring the Wales Coast Path, a beautiful cliff route 

By Sarah Hartley For The Mail On Sunday

Published: 17:01 EDT, 21 August 2021 | Updated: 17:01 EDT, 21 August 2021

Families in Britain face paying 15 to 20 per cent more for a foreign holiday next year compared to pre-pandemic prices as demand surges, industry experts say.

Package holiday giant Tui admitted this month that ‘prices are higher than 2019’ with travellers now ‘generally booking longer and more five-star than four-star’.

It reported a 120 per cent rise in holidays sold for next year after taking 1.3million bookings from the UK and Europe – with 744,000 breaks for 2022 sold since May.

The past 18 months seen staycations surge among Britons put off from going abroad by rapidly-changing rules, costly PCR test prices and self-isolating requirements. 

And with destinations still limited for Britons this year, the Kayak website has seen prices for international flights for Easter 2022 rise by around 20 per cent on 2019.

The average international flight prices are £441 for the Easter holidays next year, compared to £365 in 2019. Kayak added that domestic flight prices are also up by 31 per cent, with average flight prices at £150 compared to £115 in 2019. 

Kayak told MailOnline that although prices are up, overall flight searches for both domestic and international travel are still down by 77 per cent compared to 2019. 

And a travel industry source told the Daily Mirror that ‘prices for next year are higher than in 2019’, adding the average rise for foreign trips could be 15 per cent.  

Some experts warned the 15 per cent figure could be ‘quite optimistic’ while others suggested a rise could be caused ‘if more people are willing to travel next year’.

Martyn James, of online complaints service Resolver, said: ‘We all need a holiday but it will be more expensive. Prices are going to go up. I think 15 per cent could be quite optimistic.’

And Emma Coulthurst, an expert at the holiday price comparison website Travelsupermarket, told MailOnline today: ‘Prices are the lowest I’ve ever known them this summer. 

‘So, next year is bound to be a bit more than this year. But, if you compare how prices are at this time of year if you were looking 2019 for 2020 or 2020 for 2021 with if you are looking now for 2022, prices are lowest now for 2022.’

She also told how TravelSupermarket’s research of its package holiday price comparison data on its website showed that holidays this summer are ‘between a quarter to as much as half the price of 2019/pre-pandemic’, adding: ‘These are unprecedented prices.’ 

Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, also told MailOnline: ”With inflation increasing, prices are naturally rising both for U.K. and overseas trips. But some trips will cost at least 10 per cent more as airlines and other providers seek to rebuild after the pandemic and strengthen their financial position. 

‘The last thing consumers need is to see businesses failing so it’s vital that they shore up their finances and increase rates where relevant. 

‘There are still many packages and flights which remain good value however, especially if booked well in advance as businesses would prefer cash in the bank now, and reward consumers with lower prices as a result.

‘The premium end of the market is rebounding quickly in some destinations, especially the Caribbean and parts of Europe, and recovering despite higher prices.

‘What’s clear is that there will be less choice over the next year as it will take time for airlines to rebuild their networks and for hotels to re-open. So prices overall will rise due to more demand for fewer destinations and packages.’ 

Next Monday, a new BBC Panorama documentary will investigate the boom in British staycations – saying that the basic cost of a holiday in the Lake District can be as much as three times more than one at Italy’s Lake Garda.

‘The Great British Staycation: Winners and Losers’, presenter by Mobeen Azhar, will also look at how the cost of some self-catered accommodation has risen by more than 40 per cent.   

It comes as the competition watchdog insists it gave advice to Government officials about coronavirus travel testing in April, amid claims it has been too cautious in taking action.

Travel industry leaders expressed frustration last week when the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced it would report its recommendations around testing ‘within the next month’ following a request by Health Secretary Sajid Javid.

But a CMA spokesman said yesterday that the organisation ‘gave advice to DHSC (Department of Health and Social Care) officials about the PCR testing market in April and we gave further advice to the Secretary of State last week’.

Mr Charles from The PC Agency said that this is ‘further evidence’ that the Government has been ‘too slow in reducing the costs of testing, and dragging its feet on the untruths told by some providers’.

He continued: ‘The delay in dealing with cowboy operators, which continues to this day, is putting off people from travelling and hindering recovery among travel firms.’

Following its initial response to Mr Javid last week, the CMA said it was looking at whether there were any ‘immediate actions’ the Government can take.

It is understood that the watchdog first provided analysis to the DHSC in April and May about the potential risks arising from the rapid development of the coronavirus testing industry.

Options to address concerns over the price and reliability of tests and the quality of service from test providers have been sent to Mr Javid to consider.

Former CMA chairman Lord Tyrie accused the watchdog of being ‘too slow to react’. It ‘could and should have been better prepared’, he told the BBC.

Travellers arriving in the UK require one or two PCR tests, depending on where they have been and their vaccination status. 

Some can take a third test for a shorter self-isolation period.

Tests must be bought from providers listed on a Government website.

Some firms advertise prices as low as £19, but many holidaymakers have complained it is impossible to book tests that cheap.

PCR tests taken at home typically cost around £65, with some private clinics charging approximately £200.

There has also been frustration over delays in receiving tests and results, and overflowing drop-off boxes.

Mr Javid has acknowledged that the cost of PCR testing can be ‘a barrier’ to people wanting to travel and said consumers and families need to be protected from ‘exploitative practices’.

He has ordered his department to urgently review the list of private providers on gov.uk to ensure pricing is clearer and transparent.

 It’s the ultimate mini home on wheels.

An incredible £36,000 ($50,000) accessory, the ‘CyberLandr’, has been unveiled for the Tesla Cybertruck that turns it into a camper complete with shower, cooker, toilet and seats that transform into a double bed.

There’s even a sink with a voice-controlled tap.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the Cybertruck for the first time in November 2019 and famously managed to shatter two of the vehicle’s ‘bulletproof’ windows during the launch event.

The prototype hit the streets of Manhattan in May of this year, leading hundreds of New Yorkers to line up outside the Tesla showroom to catch a rare glimpse of it.

In July, Musk revealed production is now being delayed to sometime in 2022, over battery shortages. The anticipated recommended retail price is from £29,249 ($40,000) to £51,186 ($70,000).

The all-electric truck’s body is based on a 1976 Lotus Esprit sports car Musk owned in 2013 and the rest of the design pulls inspiration from vehicles in Blade Runner, Mad Max, Back to the Future and Alien.

The team behind CyberLandr say the camper attachment for Musk’s truck will make it perfect ‘for wilderness and urban adventures’.

And it’s high-tech, just like the mother vehicle.

When it’s not in use, the CyberLandr will become completely invisible, folding stealthily inside the Cybertruck’s rear and unfolding at the press of a button on an app.

Inside owners will enjoy a whole range of mod cons, including underfloor heating, Wi-Fi – and much more.

Renderings reveal a compact kitchen inside, complete with the smart tap and an invisible induction stove under a porcelain countertop.

The living space will be fitted with surround sound audio, a 32inch television, featuring streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime, and the lighting will also be voice-activated.

Those hoping to get work done will be able to take advantage of the StarLinkTM satellite dish, which will provide high-speed internet.

The freestanding reclining seating will turn into a queen-sized bed that mounts above the countertop, and there will be enough room on the floor underneath for two children or one adult to sleep.

The ‘spa-inspired’ bathroom will feature a dry-flush toilet, a self-cleaning bowl and the shower will have five flow patterns.

The CyberLandr – designed by Las Vegas-based Stream It – will weigh 1,200lbs, extend to 11ft in height with the attachment deployed, have solar panels that create 500 watts of energy, and it will be able to carry 40 gallons of fresh water.

Lance King, the co-creator behind the concept, came up with the idea during the pandemic, eventually bringing it to life with his collaborator, Bill French.

The idea was unveiled in April, and by August, they hit more than £58million ($80million) in pre-orders, Lance told Business Insider.

Prices start at £29,224 ($39,995) for the CyberLandr for customers who put down a £3,653 ($5,000) deposit on the accessory.

Customers will be able to install the camping attachment in a DIY fashion, but CyberLandr says it would prefer to perform the install at its factory, which conveniently will be ‘just down the street’ from the Tesla factory in Giga, Texas, where the Cybertruck will be made.

Customers will be able to deliver their Cybertrucks in person, or CyberLandr will intercede the shipping and perform the install, before sending it to the customer via Tesla delivery.

Mr King told MailOnline Travel: ‘By bridging the gap between a pickup/SUV and an RV, CyberLandr can fundamentally redefine what a vehicle is expected to do. As the ultimate mobile tiny home, CyberLandr allows you to take your kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom, and office with you anywhere and everywhere you go.’ 

And does it have Elon Musk’s stamp of approval? Last month he tweeted that it’s ‘cool’.