HAVE A BRRR-EAK IN THE ICEHOTEL
HAVE an ice stay in Sweden’s winter wonderland – the place just perfect for chilling out opens on December 14.
The annual Icehotel, which is built on the banks of the Torne river in Jukkasjärvi 125 miles north of the Arctic Circle every year, will have ice art carvings in the rooms.
Discover the World has direct flights from Heathrow to Kiruna, a 20-minute transfer to the hotel, from December to March. Threenight breaks will include husky sledding, ice sculpting, snowmobiling, reindeer rides, Northern Lights photography, wilderness dinners and winter skills survival classes. Prices start at £1,117pp on B&B with two nights in a warm room – and one sleeping on an ice bed. Visit discover-the-world. co.uk/icehotel
SWORDS clash as two men fight it out in the mud. Then one strikes fast, plunges his blade and the other drops to the ground. Not your average sight at a visitor attraction admittedly but then this is not your average trip.
Much talked-about new Netflix film Outlaw King, starring Chris Pine as Robert the Bruce, is set to spark interest in not just Scotland’s history but also the country’s breathtaking scenery which plays a prime role on screen.
And tourism chiefs are ahead of the game, organising location tours which have brought me to this mini battle scene.
We’re at Duncarron medieval village in Stirlingshire which is run by members of the Clanranald Trust who are experts in weaponry and combat. And if the fight scene they’re re-enacting for our benefit looks genuine, it’s no surprise as these are the men who helped to add much of the realism to Outlaw King’s muddy, bloody battles.
Appearing in action sequences in films such as Gladiator, and teaching actors the ropes, is their bread and butter – and they love what they do.
The work also helps support their self-funded replica early medieval village, currently taking shape and due to open next year as a fullycomplete visitor attraction and educational facility.
And, as we eat authentically-made medieval dishes by candlelight with these sword-bearing, costumewearing ‘villagers’, it really does feel like stepping back in time.
So, it’s no surprise that our guide Donald McKenzie, who conducts
BARBARA HODGSON’S
■ trip was organised by Visit Scotland. For more information visit visitscotland. com
■ She stayed at Edinburgh Grand which costs from £200 per room per night in November. See edinburghgrand.com, and Stirling Court Hotel, whose rooms start at £61 for B&B, based on single occupancy. See stirlingcourthotel.co.uk
■ An Outlaw King tour with Clan MacKenzie Routes costs from £90 per person for a shared set itinerary or from £320 for a private tour. See clanmackenzieroutes.com for details. tailor-made tours, has this new village earmarked for his future programme.
Like Visit Scotland, Donald has been quick to latch on to the potential for film and TV locationtheme tours, given the recent boom in interest by filmmakers which will see Mary Queen of Scots the next film to hit the big screen.
And he proves he knows his country’s history inside out as we set out to track down a handful of the locations used in Outlaw King (several of which also will be familiar to viewers of hit TV series Outlander).
The film captures only a brief – and pretty dark – chapter in the turbulent life of Robert the Bruce as the Scottish king takes up the post-William Wallace fight against English occupation in the 14th Century.
So Donald began filling in the gaps in the history chain for us the moment we set off from the five-star Edinburgh Grand hotel; a newlyrevamped former bank building in the capital where I’d spent the night in an apartment so luxurious I had to prise myself away.
But if Robert the Bruce and his fight for the crown had seemed a world apart from my overnight haven, history came rushing back on our visit to Linlithgow Palace in West Lothian – a royal ‘pleasure palace’ and birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots – which featured in Outlaw King as Perth Castle during the crowning scene.
The focal point of its central courtyard is a 16ft-high stone fountain – the oldest in the UK – which must look impressive on the limited days it is in operation.
Even more impressive would have been the occasion in 1745 when its flow of water apparently was replaced with wine to mark a visit by Bonnie Prince Charlie.
When the weather took a sudden turn for the worse as we explored its open rooms, it added to the atmosphere because places such at this, with black birds cawing in the upper towers, are made for bad weather days.
We had to stretch our imagination, however, to visualise scenes of colour and comfort inside the palace walls from the time of its royal residents.
With a wind whipping up, we paid a fleeting visit next to nearby Blackness, on the River Forth – a castle appearing hewn from the uneven rock underfoot into a shape resembling a vessel and, nicknamed ‘the ship that never sailed’, it doubled as Yorkshire Castle in the film and also features in Outlander.
Our next stop was a lunch invitation at Broomhall House, Dunfermline: Bruce family’s ancestral home where, we heard, we’d see the king’s very sword.
And so we did, after Alexander Bruce, a direct descendant of Robert’s brother, regaled us with colourful tales about more recent family history – extraordinary stuff featuring viceroys and explorers – while he himself has added to the pot by branching out into whiskymaking.
As we enjoyed with our lunch a beer-tasting from the Loch Leven Brewery, producers of, among others, a lovely golden Robert the Bruce ale which uses barley grown on farmlands which once belonged to the king – there, tucked away in a glass case, was Robert the Bruce’s battle-marked sword making its
Hop on board a narrowboat
CANAL getaways for 2019 are on sale at Waterways Holidays, with early booking saving up to £549. Narrowboats at locations around the UK have 25% off for July and August and 20% off for other dates. Book by November 30. See waterwaysholidays.com
MORE hotels than ever feature in the Inghams Italy 2019 brochure, with over 200 properties across 13 regions, ranging from bespoke multi-centre itineraries to beach breaks. And get access all arias with bookings for opera tickets. See inghams.co.uk
AS Dominica recovers from last autumn’s hurricane, tourists are heading back. Award-winning hotel Secret Bay has reopened and Citrus Creek Plantation will follow in January. March sees the launch of Jungle Bay Eco Villas. Visit discoverdominica.com