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Coping with the winter blues  MALCOLM
ROGERS looks at some winter holiday ideas.
Unwind in Umbria
The privately-owned Todi Castle and Tower of Orlando is perched high on
a hilltop, amongst the olive groves, vineyards and fields of golden sunflowers
in Umbria, central Italy.
A decade of conservation, undertaken by the Santoro family (the present
owners) has restored this 13th century property to its former architectural
glory.
Every suite is decorated in distinctive style — antiques, artworks
and minimalist furniture.
Panoramic views are, as you might imagine, part of the deal. Guests have
the option of a chef and staff, if you don’t fancy slaving over
the stove.
Instead you can sit down to the finest Italian cuisine, incorporating
locally-sourced truffles, olive oil, spices, cheeses and superb wine,
grown and produced nearby or on the estate itself.
The Todi Castle Estate is 1.5-hours drive from Rome and is a member of
the Union of European Historic Houses Association.
Weekly rates begin at e1,100, with some of the self-catering units sleeping
eight.
www.todicastle.com
The seductive South East
Morriscastle village is situated just 2 kms outside the village of Kilmuckridge,
Co. Wexford in the south east.
Wexford Beach Homes offers several four-star luxury, traditional Wexford
farmhouses.
The imaginative modern design provides spacious hallway, living room with
open fire, kitchen/dining room with double doors to a patio and private
garden.
Heating is by gas-fired central heating.
All the cottages have full sets of linen and towels, TV, microwave, dishwasher,
washing machine and dryer.
House cleaning and baby-sitting services plus shopping deliveries are
also available.
Until the end of March prices for a week are e350 for a couple (including
children).
www.wexfordholidayhomes.ie
Braving the northerly elements
Manor House on Rathlin Island, six miles off the Antrim coast, is a National
Trust-owned Georgian building with 11 rooms, a sitting room and dining
room overlooking Church Bay.
A walled garden next to the property provides herbs for the tea room.
Reinvigorated, you can explore Ireland’s most northerly inhabited
island, a haven for seabirds.
Tel 028 2076 3964. Single £23pp/pn, double £25pp, en suite
£27pp.
Downe-right healthy
Downe Health Spa and Cottages in Devon are set on the beautiful Hartland
Peninsula overlooking the Atlantic Ocean with sea views to Lundy Island.
Downe features five listed Victorian farm buildings that have been converted
to provide one three-bedroom, two two-bedroom and five one-bedroom cottages.
The on-site spa include facials, body wraps, manicures and pedicures.
Holistic therapies available comprise a variety of aromatherapy massages,
Indian head massage, sports massage, a holistic relaxation therapy, ear
candling, reflexology and stone therapy.
www.downespa.com
The cost of the Two-Night Getaway Pamper Break is £325 per person
(minimum two people).
 Chilling
in Cornwall
Calf Barn, some 16 miles north east of Bude in Cornwall, is a stylish
yet warm and cosy barn conversion which sleeps up to four people.
The property has open plan kitchen/diner/lounge area, an electric woodburner,
TV/DVD and hi-fi.
Terrific beaches, cliff top scenery and walks, the shops, restaurants
and pubs are all nearby but you will especially enjoy Bradworthy Transport
Museum, which is on your doorstep and is free to enter for guests staying
at Calf Barn.
Prices start from £288 per week.
www.holidaycottages.co.uk/devon/north-devon/calf-barn
tel 01237 479146.
Head east to Estonia
Estonia’s summer capital, the seaside resort of Parnu, has an altogether
more intimate allure when deep snow covers the beach in the winter months
and never more so than when you’re staying in the dazzling Ammende
Villa.
Recently restored, this 1905 art nouveau mansion in its own parkland has
a whole programme of winter indulgence including private dining in the
house’s turret, or a fireside picnic in the gardens followed by
a sauna and cocktails.
Baltic Holidays, tel 0845 070 5711, www.balticholidays.com
offers stays at the Ammende Villa from £359pp B&B inc return
flights, private transfers and welcome package.
Treats in the Tatra Mountains, Slovakia
Fourteenth-century townhouses and inviting restaurants (make a particular
note of Hotel U Leva) — the Renaissance town of Levoca makes a genial
base for some gentle trekking in the Tatras.
A cable car will put you on top of the world — or the 2,634m summit
of Lomnicky Stit, to be more exact.
Explore Holidays tel 0870 333 4001 www.explore.co.uk
offers four nights B&B from £399 inc flights.
All aboard for the Algarve
Algarve Retreats has a special offer for Vilabranca of a one bedroom apartment
for only £38 per night from March 23 to April 30 and £43 per
night from May 1-15.
A minimum of three nights stay is required for either offer.
Vilabranca village is just on the outskirts of the beautiful Algarve town
of Lagos in Portugal and is set in about 11 acres — open space is
not a problem here.
The old town centre and Porto do Mos beach are about 15 minutes walk from
the resort but a courtesy bus travels between the village, beach and town
centre several times a day.
The air-conditioned apartments either have a terrace or balcony and overlook
one of the two pools.
All the apartments have full kitchens and satellite TV.
In addition to the two pools, Vilabranca has tennis courts, a games room,
pools for children and a poolside bar.
An excellent restaurant on site serves local and international cuisine
throughout the day and evening.
Tel 01283 821072
www.algarve-retreats.co.uk
 Languish
by the loughside
Ballealy Cottage is a 19th Century deerkeeper’s cottage on the Shane’s
Castle estate, beside Lough Neagh, Co. Antrim.
Set in a woodland by a stream, Ballealy presents a fairytale appearance
of irregular gables and half-hipped roofs, edged with ornate bargeboards
of trefoils and bold horned curls.
The accommodation is built around a tiny central courtyard and is entered
through an arched passageway.
The outbuildings include a venison store should you be in a hunting and
gathering mood.
Cottage for five/seven, £364-£546 a week.
Contact: 25 Eustace Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2; +353 (0)1 670 4733;
www.irishlandmark.com
Georgian elegance in view of the Mournes
This exquisite house is early 18th century and enclosed within the ancient
walls of Carlingford, probably the best preserved medieval town in Ireland.
The beautiful setting at the foot of Slieve Foy with views across Carlingford
Lough to the Mourne Mountains are guaranteed to make every meal a visual
as well as a culinary treat.
Stay in the time-worn atmosphere of the main house or the converted dairy
next door.
Ghan House, Carlingford, Co. Louth, tel 00 353 (0) 42 937 3682. Doubles:
£96-£115 per night, weekend deals available.
Psyche yourself up for a psychic weekend
The Psychic School with the Psychic Sisters is holding a three-night break
from March 7 with talks on clairvoyancy, mediumships, tarot cards and
aura readings.
Events take a spine-chilling turn with a ghost hunt around your accommodation,
the Tudor manor Littlecote House Hotel in Berkshire.
Three nights cost from £299, tel 08001 388399 www.warnerleisurehotels.co.uk
and remember to look out behind you.
Walking holidays
 Long-established
walking specialist operator, Ramblers Worldwide Holidays, is this month
launching its first dedicated Family Holidays brochure, entitled Ramblers
Family Adventure Holidays.
The price of all holidays featured includes flight, coach or train transport
to your hotel and half-board accommodation in a three or four-star hotel
for seven nights. Plus the services of a first-aid trained hiking leader
are included.
- Klosters, Switzerland:
Flower-filled meadows, rustic alpine huts and majestic tree-lined valleys
— all set against an awe-inspiring backdrop of snow-clad peaks.
If that’s not enough to whet your appetite, there are cable cars,
swimming, saunas, bowling alleys, tennis, golf, horse-riding and even
bar football for those who don’t want to venture on to the slopes.
One week costs £677.
- Andalucia, Spain:
The base is on the edge of the rugged Sierra Nevada National Park in the
mountain spa village of Lanjaron.
Activities include hiking in the Alpujarras; visits to the Alhambra in
Granada, the Parque de las Ciencias (with its planetarium, tropical butterfly
house and astronomy garden) and the Cueva de las Ventenas with its stalagmites,
stalactites and gullies.
Climbing, archery and swimming are also available.
Price is £806 per person (child from £733).
- The Sorrento Peninsula, Italy:
Saturated with history and culture, from here you’re within striking
distance of Vesuvius, Naples, the Amalfi Coast, Capri and Pompeii.
Activities include swimming on the beach at your Hotel Oriente; a cable
car to the top of Monte Faito; and hydrofoils to Capri.
Price is £578 per person (child from £459).
- St. Anton, Austria:
This holiday is based round St. Anton am Arlberg — an Alpine hideaway
in the heart of Austria.
Offers both easy walking and challenging mountain hikes.
Sauna, indoor swimming pool, a weekly barbecue at the hotel, golfing,
mountain biking and archery.
Price is £725 per person (child from £443).
- Oman:
Relive the Arabian Nights amongst oases, waddis, souks, camel markets
and forts.
Also included in the price are stunning star-scapes, looking out for turtles’
nests on the beach and walking up a waddi to the clear mountain waters.
You can also enjoy swimming pools at all the hotels, a visit to the Al
Hoota caves, criss-crossing the desert in 4x4s, a visit to the Nizwa Camel
Market and beautiful beaches at Ras Al Had and Ras Al Jinz.
Cost is £1,537 per person (Child from £1,172).
www.ramblersfamilyadventures.co.uk
Tel: 01707 386766 |
