A trip to Thai for
SEE both Bangkok and Phuket during an 11-night twin centre Thailand trip for £995 from October 1. You get three nights at the four-star Century Park Hotel in Bangkok on a B&B basis, then eight nights for the price of four at the fourstar Patong Merlin Hotel, also B&B. Transfers and Heathrow flights are included. Ring 01293 762 456 or see hayesandjarvis.co.uk. THE holidays are in full swing but there are still plenty of great breaks combining culture, beaches and good food available. So pack the guidebook – and the bikini, just in case. OSTEND: Easy to reach just across the Channel, this Belgian coastal resort has a huge swathe of beach, brilliant for sand-yachting and sunbathing, but also rich with history. With casinos and piers and grand villas, this was a watering hole for Emperor Leopold II, the English aristocracy and even the Russian Czar. The town itself is renowned for its many restaurants, with specialities Dover sole, mussels and shrimp croquettes, all washed down with the local beer. Nearby De Haan is all gables and poodles and gentlefolk taking tea, and beautiful, medieval Bruges is just a short excursion away. GO: National Holiday’s five-day coach-based Ostend Inclusive & Paddle Steam package includes accommodation, three nights’ free bar, excursion to Bruges, and a canal cruise – from £269.10. See nationalholidays.com. BARCELONA: This city is one of the biggest shipping centres on the Mediterranean, for cruises, ferries and freight. The downtown port at the end of its famous boulevard, La Rambla, is an attraction in its own right, with boat trips and an aerial cableway, aquarium and chic marina. Most of the actual heavy shipping has moved south. Meanwhile just beyond the fishermen’s quarter of Barceloneta, the beach begins – and it stretches northwards for miles and miles. The water here may not be the cleanest but when you’ve got Mediterranean sun plus all the curiosities of Barcelona, with its Gothic Quarter and unique architecture of Antoni Gaudi, you can’t go wrong. GO: Sunshine Holidays, sunshine.co.uk, has four nights in the Occidental Atenea Mar Hotel, three minutes from the beach, for £968 for a double room, bed and breakfast. A wide range of airlines such as Ryanair, easyJet and Jet2 have cheap flights from airports across the UK. MALAGA: Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. This is the city which appears on so many airport departure boards, but most of whose users are heading elsewhere on the Costa del Sol. Now, though, the birthplace of Pablo Picasso has emerged as a destination in its own right. Pulling in the crowds are the dramatic Moorish fortress, the Alcazaba, which dates back to the 11th century, the long-standing Picasso Museum, plus relative newcomers the Carmen Thyssen Museum and the local branch of France’s Pompidou Centre, which opened just two years ago. Add to that the chiringuitos seafood bar scene and a selection of stylish places to stay, and you’ll definitely be in need of a long lie-down on its long Malagueta Beach. GO: Classic Collection Holidays has three nights at the Gran Hotel Miramar, a historic landmark building which has been painstakingly restored, from £784, B&B, with return flights from London. classic-collection.co.uk DUBROVNIK: Known for its Game of Thrones settings and Unesco World Heritage status, Croatia’s unique gem of a medieval waterside city is bursting at the seams with visitors in high summer, but by September will be SANSA SEBASTIAN: The Basque Country’s elegant, o old-fashioned resort city has a pair of beaches