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Many of us now dream of simple things, such as visiting the Yorkshire Dales

HOME COMFORTS

BUCKET lists... most of us are making one for when travel restrictions are over and now Travelodge has conducted a survey to find out just what we are dreaming about experiencing after lockdown.

Interestingly, almost half of us have included places inspired from our childhood. Most concentrate on the countryside such as the Peak District or Yorkshire Dales as well as iconic train journeys.

It’s the simple activities such as having a Cornish Pasty in Cornwall, sipping scrumpy in Somerset, eating fish and chips at the seafront, or having afternoon tea at The Ritz that we’re all craving.

Perhaps this lockdown will encourage us to get back to basics and appreciate what we have on our very own doorstep.

Visit travelodge.co.uk

CRUISE WESTERN EUROPE

P&O Cruises is offering a seven night cruise on Iona (G028) from £399 per person for an inside cabin.

Departing December 12, 2020, the price includes kids’ clubs, full board meals and entertainment on board.

Leaving from and returning to Southampton, ports of call are Hamburg, Rotterdam (tours to Amsterdam), and Zeebrugge.

To book, visit pocruises.com, or call 03453 555 111.

ENJOY A VIRTUAL TOUR

WHILE we’re still locked away, search engine KAYAK has just launched its fun Travel From Home virtual guides.

Destinations include London, Berlin, Copenhagen and Amsterdam.

Included is pretty much all you need to know, from learning the lingo to eating like a local and where to get the best views.

Scroll through attractions to the tune of relevant soundtracks and find out where to enjoy traditional tipples. Armchair travel at its best. Visit kayak.co.uk

Which island is for you? Whether you’re a hiker or a hedonist, a kitesurfer or a sun-seeker, the Canary Islands have something for everyone, says

TENERIFE

High society

THE largest of the islands, Tenerife is the most popular with British visitors. It has the most unmistakable silhouette in the form of El Teide, which rises a stonking 12,198ft from the sea and is the highest mountain in Spain.

Of all the islands, Tenerife is the best adapted to big-number tourism, with its main golden beaches and most popular resorts, Los Cristianos and Playa de las Americas, down on the southern corner, where the sun is strongest, close to the main airport.

More sophisticated and palatial hotels are around the corner on the west coast, with black volcanic sand up by the cliffs of Los Gigantes.

The island has something for everyone – from theme parks in the south to remote hiking trails up on the north-eastern corner.

For Tenerife culture, the heritage destinations are up on the northern coast around Puerto de la Cruz. This is a gentrified resort with lots of shopping and eating in pleasant pedestrianised streets, but it has no beaches, and its weather is frequently overcast.

Santa Cruz, the island capital on the north-east coast, is unexceptional, except when it goes carnival-crazy in the second half of February.

Head up to El Teide, winding up through belts of cloud-shrouded pines and into the huge crater of the extinct volcano. Up here the air is so clean it almost squeaks.

Alternatively, seek out the 800-year-old dragon tree in Icod – then sit in the back patio of Casa del Drago and sip a dragon’s blood liqueur, made with tree sap.

Don’t miss: GRAN CANARIA

Bridge of continents

OFTEN described as a continent in miniature because of its mountains, forests, beaches and urban development, Gran Canaria is also a bridge between Europe and the Americas, with a proper deep-sea port, strong Christopher Columbus connections and a main city, Las Palmas, which feels like a Canarian Havana.

This is the island with the best and biggest beach, Maspalomas, its extensive dunes making the most of the island’s sunniest southern shore.

Here, Playa del Ingles is the veteran resort, now looking a bit tired, while Meloneras is the new more sophisticated luxurious development.

Inland, Gran Canaria is a place of small fertile farms in steep mountain valleys, laced with walking trails. Up in the northwestern corner you get the likes of Agaete, a small narrow-laned town in a valley filled with orange groves, with a burial ground of the original islanders – the guanches – who were all wiped out by Spanish settlers.

Visiting a city seems wrong when you’re here for winter sun, but Las Palmas has its own surprisingly attractive beach, Las Canteras.

Don’t miss:

Meanwhile, its southern district, Triana, feels a bit like Barcelona, home to designer shops and fashionable restaurants, as well as the ritual evening paseo (a stroll). Cocktail bars such as Azotea de Benito are where the island’s hipsters hang out.

LANZAROTE

Badlands made good

ITS unusual appearance, thanks to sombre-coloured lava landscapes, makes this island an acquired taste, but Lanzarote has turned its barren

Malpais into a tourist attraction, and also offers a strong sideline in sporting holidays, particularly for cyclists.

The two key destinations are Puerto del Carmen, the cheerful original resort with a big beach, and Playa Blanca, the more upmarket newcomer with big-brand hotels and villa complexes. In addition, there are quirky places to stay in the island’s centre, immersed in the unusual landscape.

Key features of the latter are the wine-growing region of La Geria, its slopes covered with eyebrows – stone semi-circles ingeniously designed to condense the overnight dew and feed the grapes.

Then there’s the Timanfaya national park, with its rictus sea of