Bavaria is ride on
THE WELCOME The mile-long drive through meadows of leaping bunnies, dazzling daffodils and dozy pheasants quickly sets the scene. Catching sight of the 17th-century manor, springing from 13 acres of Grade II-listed gardens, takes your breath away and whisks you to a world of Downton Abbey. Hunter wellies are lined up neatly by the front porch. THE NEIGHBOURHOOD City dwellers will revel in the greenery of the market town of Dorking. Not that you need to leave the hotel’s grounds, featuring Instagram-friendly Italian gardens, Roman temples, manicured lawns and tennis courts. Guests can hire bikes from reception to explore local landmarks, from a waterfall and lush woodlands to a gatekeeper’s pub. THE ROOM Since the house was developed by John Evelyn – the 17th-century botanist behind Crabtree and Evelyn – some refurbished rooms are named after flowers. We stayed in Primula, a spacious suite with a tremendous kingsize bed, throw-laden sofa and double wardrobes. We had a stunning view of the gardens plus a flat-screen wall-mounted TV So we flitted between watching a movie and a real-life raucous wedding party in the grounds below. A Roberts Revival radio tuned in to Classic FM created the perfect soundtrack for a bubble bath. THE FOOD The £6million refurb did not neglect the 1877 Restaurant – a stylish fine-dining experience showcasing the very best of British, sourced locally, from water-bathed corn-fed chicken to smoked wood pigeon. The room even has its own fairy-light tree centrepiece. THE SERVICE Staff were very attentive. A barman even replaced a beer when a fly flew in it outside. LOVED The old-meets-new vibe – timeless glamour oozing with modern luxury. The gym, pool and spa were the cherry on top. HATED Having to leave. BOTTOM LINE Rooms from £89.40. CHECK IT OUT phcompany.com/de-vere/wotton-house. IF you fancy cycle touring but do not have the kit or fitness, a seven-night supported tour of Bavaria’s fairytale castles could be just the thing. Bikes are provided, your luggage is carried between hotels and two nights are spent staying in a small brewery. Leaving on May 27 the trip costs from £975 per person – see headwater.com for details. THEY may not have the marketing muscle of Disney, but these overlooked affordable theme parks in Europe can add pizzazz to your holiday plans. This is Europe’s second busiest theme park, after Disneyland Paris. In Germany’s Rhine corridor, it is close to France and Switzerland, between Basel and Strasbourg.
Like Disneyland it is a fully fledged resort, with a choice of accommodation and a couple of days worth of top-end shows, simulators and white-knuckle exhilaration.
It is organised into villages representing European countries. So for the UK, for example, there are crazy black-taxi rides and song-anddance shows in an mock Globe theatre.
Family-owned with high standards, it regularly wins the prestigious Golden Ticket award for the world’s top theme park. Families heading south for Mediterranean sun won’t be disappointed if they take a break here en route. ESSENTIALS: Adults £40, children £35. Disneyland Paris is £61. See europapark.de. Enchantment, tradition and imagination are cornerstones of this long-established Dutch theme park, found between Eindhoven and Amsterdam. It is visited by one in five of the Dutch population every year.
The park, known as World of Wonders, is a mix of old and new, combining fairy tales and troll kings with a river rapids ride through the Inca empire and a 100-year-old steam-driven merry-go-round. There are fast rides, but the overall leaning is towards gentler pursuits, such as miniature worlds, musical mushrooms and magical cottages.
There is a choice of accommodation but you could come here as a side trip during visits to Brussels or Amsterdam or en route to Germany. ESSENTIALS: Adults and children £32, efteling.com. Located in woodland just this side of Paris, Parc Asterix is particularly good fun for anyone who has read the Asterix books and appreciated their humour.
Set in a giant stockaded village, it has knockabout shows, some hairy roller coasters and five water rides including the Grand Splatch, in which you are water-bombed by giggling Gauls hiding in woods on the riverbank. Given there’s not much written or spoken English around, the children might even pick up some French, mercy bucketix!
There’s a hotel on site or come here on a trip from Paris, which is 30 minutes away. ESSENTIALS: Adults £42, children £35, parcasterix.fr. A theme park with no rides but based around historical re-enactments may sound grim. But this “theatre park” which started in 1978 as amateur dramatics in a field south-east of Nantes, now covers 140 acres and employs hundreds of actors, plus dozens of animals.
The idea is to animate juicy morsels of history in a series of 26 shows, so gladiators battle in a Roman stadium, Vikings loot a village and the French and English armies fight over a medieval castle in an episode taken from the Hundred Years War.
In the evening, there is the giant Cinéscénie show,sh with water nymphs and fairies rising out of a lake, plus music and fireworks.
The park has elaborately themed hotels but pa part of its success is its position in the Vendée re region, famous for fine beaches so already busy w with summer visitors looking to be entertained. ESSENTIALS:ES Adults £28, children £20, pu puydufou.com. One of the oldest and prettiest theme parks in th the world is set in the heart of Copenhagen. But do don’t come here expecting all-day excitement be because the central location means this is also on one of the smallest.
At its heart it is a funfair, very elaborately an and prettily dressed, with compact rides. But sh shopping and eating also play a big part, as do m music and dance. Tivoli is at its best in winter,