Closer eye
NEAR is the new far, which means most of us will be pulling in our horns for the foreseeable future. And there is plenty to discover closer to home.
Ferry adventures French coast
Yearning for the Med? As it is getting a bit late in the year for lying on the beach, explore the northern coast of Europe, which is culturally and historically more rewarding, and you can retreat home quickly if need be.
In Brittany, there is the offshore monastery island of Mont St Michel, the seafood nirvana that is neighbouring Cancale, and walled city on the sea of St Malo. See brittanyferries.com.
Heading east, that is followed by Arromanches, with all the epic history of the Normandy landings, and then the French
Impressionist hangout at
Honfleur, best reached by ferry to Dieppe. See dfds.com.
And discover the posh stretch of Cote d’opale, which thinks it’s the Cote d’azur, around Le Touquet, where the
Macrons have their holiday home. See eurotunnel.com.
Port stars Belgium and the Netherlands
The broad beaches of France continue into Belgium, and its coast has the longest tram ride in Europe. The Kusttram stretches for 43 miles from De Panne to Knokke, taking two hours to stitch together the Belgian Riviera, including Zeebrugge. Get there by ferry from Hull. See poferries.com.
Eastwards from here, as it moves into the Netherlands, the coast fragments into big ports like Antwerp and Rotterdam, worth a visit alone for its water taxis, which are more like speedboats. But its poise is restored on the shores of the inland sea of the Ijsselmeer.
Here, immaculately-preserved Golden Age ports such as Hoorn and Enkhuizen are filled with classic boats, while cycle routes, canal networks and cheese shops create a typically Dutch landscape. A regular ferry connects Newcastle with Amsterdam, see dfds.com.
Chill-out island The Frisian Islands
Forget the Greek islands, the North Sea has its own archipelago. Though little-known internationally, the Dutch and the Germans love the Frisians for their sense of space and peace.
There are 14 of them lining the northern edge of the shallow Unesco-listed Wadden Sea. The Dutch love busy Texel and laid-back Terschelling, the Germans prefer Norderney.
These are places for cycling, hiking and deepbreathing and are favoured by more mature travellers. But at the far end of the Frisian chain, just before the border with Denmark, the German island of Sylt is a very trendy resort for the young and well-heeled.
Most are served by car ferries, and northern Germany is ferry-accessible from Amsterdam, dfds.com, and the Hague, stenaline.co.uk.
Freedom Treks has a Holland-based range of boat and bike options. See freedomtreks.co.uk.
European safari Romania and Scotland
You don’t have to go all the way to Africa to marvel at powerful predators. Romania’s
DUTCH FAVE: Island of Texel
Carpathian C mountains host very generous populations po of wolves and bears, and the latter are ar easy to see from hides in Transylvania.
Romania’s huge Danube Delta, with flocks of pe pelicans and local island-dwelling fishermen, is lik like a slice of Africa, too.
Naturetrek offers a tour that combines both, se see naturetrek.co.uk.
And even Scotland has its own share of sp spectacular creatures, with an expert-led w wildlife centre like Aigas offering a combination of accommodation and themed wildlife weeks. Se See aigas.co.uk.
Summit new The T Atlas and the Alps
Long-distance Lo treks with porters to Himalayan mountain m villages are out of bounds right now, and an will likely remain so for a while. But you can
get a similar experience at much lower altitude in Morocco’s Atlas mountains.
Hike out from the popular village of Imlil, about an hour from Marrakesh, and you will soon encounter the mule trains and Berber villages. And there is an even closer option on the Eagles Walk in the Austrian Tirol.
This high-altitude path has several mountain huts along its length and these huts are substantial buildings with staff and dormitories and restaurants. One of them, Ansbacher Hut, is staffed during the season by Nepalese people, who hang prayer flags in the communal areas, so it feels like the Himalayas. For the Eagles Walk, see tyrol.com.
Real scream Theme parks
Plenty of European theme parks are well capable of filling the Orlando gap. The biggest among them is Disneyland Paris, offering a fuzzy transplant of America in Europe.
But there is also a more home grown French park closer to hand in the form of Parc Asterix, north of Paris, which is also a resort with hotels on site. See parcasterix.fr.
And the Dutch, too, have their own – Efteling. It is a place of enchantment, with fairytale forests and boat tours through the Forbidden City. It is aimed squarely at a younger family market, although it provides some roller coaster thrills rills and spooky adventures for older children ldren too. See efteling.com.
And not forgetting Germany’s s
Europa Park, the most popular non-disney attraction in
Europe, which is a cultural lesson in itself. It is organised into villages that epitomise 16
European countries – England has a traditional merry-go-round
SAFER BET: Palestine, UK
HIGH HOPES: Ansbacher hut and replica of The Globe for outdoor shows. And there is a new waterworld called Rulantica for giggles too. See europapark.de.
And finally UK soundalikes
You don’t have to leave the UK to go somewhere exotic sounding. There’s an Egypt in Buckinghamshire, although being on the edge of Burnham B Beeches makes it very green and leafy, with no non-egyptian property prices.
Th There is a Palestine in Hampshire, a very unc uncontroversial sleepy hamlet not far fro from Andover. And a California Beach in No Norfolk, on the outskirts of Great Ya Yarmouth, with more focus on the Br Broads than babes. Plus a Hollywood just so south of Birmingham, although you’re not likely to glimpse any stars here, unless you a are out at night.