Cats and dogs checking in
For more great holiday ideas, pages 42,43 & 45
inexpensive place with a brilliant blend of history and waterside life. Plus it had an adjacent resort called Sopot, with a decent beach.
In downtown Gdansk, the ancient riverside warehouses have been turned into restaurants, punctuated by arched water gates.
The far side of the water is an island world with a glitzy marina and fancy hotels. There is a lot of history to be unearthed here – including the first deaths of the Second World War – and a guided tour is essential to understand it all.
Flights with Ryanair from £55. See ryanair.com.
Little gem Ios, Greece
In recent years, many Greek islands have become chic – meaning expensive – particularly Mykonos and Santorini. But between the two there is a cheaper alternative, with 28 pristine beaches.
BRITISH Airways had an unusual group of passengers last week – 14 cats and 36 dogs abandoned in Cyprus. The airline teamed up with AIA Pets to fly them to Heathrow on a cargo flight full of medical supplies.
A group of Cypriot
This is Ios, and we spent contrasting early autumn evenings there. The first was in Pathos, a sunset bar full of beautiful people, which is part social media fantasyland, part football stadium. The DJ played Nessun Dorma as the sun went for its final dip.
Next evening, we were cocktail-less and sitting up by three simple chapels above Ios’s capital, Chora. A beautifully sheltered inlet and port was spread out below as the sun set and the Bronze
Age village of Skarkos was around the corner.
Ios has no airport so fast ferries from Mykonos and Santorini pop in daily. For details, see luxurios.com.
Nippy city Lille
There is always a temptation for one final adventure before the daylight properly fades and animal charities had rescued the animals to find them new homes here.
They travelled by road to Gatwick’s Animal Reception Centre before being collected by their new owners from around the UK and a rescue centre. last year we grabbed ourselves a late-autumn weekend in Lille, which is just a short dash across the Channel.
With its Flemish baroque architecture, its web of boutique-lined cobbled streets, its typical towering belfries, and its Grand Place, it stands up well against Brussels and Bruges.
It is a place of good food and window shopping, for snacking on waffles, particularly from Patisserie Meert, which has been selling cakes that are works of art since 1677.
We dined well, especially at Barbue d’anvers, a restaurant in a Parisian attic-type setting just off Rue Esquermoise. Here the Lille speciality carbonade flamande – a sort of beef stew with chips – set us up well for winter.
Eurostar has overnight breaks plus train travel for from £244.
See eurostar.com.