Bargain Baltic bliss cruise
For more great holiday ideas, see page 37
outside, is not as pricey as it looks. Doubles cost from £80. See imperialhotel blackpool.co.uk.
Showy shoal Cromer, Norfolk
There is something a little bit posh about the north Norfolk coast. Beaches and dunes go on for miles, with many a grand country mansion lying inland.
But the Victorian resort of Cromer is reassuringly down to earth, perched on a small cliff with the beach below and a web of alleys and lanes busy with holidaymakers eating crab sandwiches. Cromer’s attractions are low-key but charming – there’s the pier, still with live shows, but out beyond it is Norfolk’s equivalent of the Great GRAB a two-week cruise of the Baltic capitals for under £1,000. P&O Cruises has the summer deal on Arcadia for an inside cabin. Departing July 8 from Southampton, the £999pp price includes full board meals and Barrier Reef – the Cromer Shoals chalk bed, dating back to the dinosaurs and best seen by snorkelling at low tide.
Then there are the seal trips and the Lifeboat Museum, celebrating legendary Henry Blogg, who served for 53 years and helped save 873 lives. STAY: Beverley House is a well-maintained six-apartment Victorian property a five-minute walk from the town centre, with prices from £250 for a week. See beverley-house.co.uk.
Perfect Ten Tenby, Pembrokeshire
It would be difficult to find a setting more picturesque than Tenby’s.
The town, surrounded by a medieval stone wall, has four beautiful Blue Flag beaches entertainment. Ports of call are Skagen in Denmark, Stockholm, Tallinn in Estonia, St Petersburg, Helsinki, Copenhagen and Oslo. To book, visit pocruises.com or call 0345 3555 111. perfect for swimming and sandcastling. From there you can do sea fishing trips and boat trips to Caldey Island. The town itself is stuffed with restaurants, cafes, shops and pubs, all linked by cobbled streets. And there is the National Trust’s Tudor Merchant’s House, a fascinating place that has been recreated to look just as it would have in the late 15th century. Check out Tenby Museum and Art Gallery, the oldest independent museum in Wales. For families, Tenby Dinosaur Park is on the way to St Florence and Manor House Wildlife Park, owned by TV presenter Anna Ryder Richardson, is a mile further down. STAY: Coastal Cottages of Pembrokeshire’s apartment Little Harbour View sleeps two and is 30 yards from the promenade above the North Beach. It costs from £403 for seven nights. See coastalcottages.co.uk.