The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
The volcanic attraction of Gran Canaria
programme includes holidays to the Canary Islands and Madeira, whose dramatic, mountainous scenery is brilliant walking territory. The guided hikes on Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Madeira last between three and five hours and are graded as moderately challenging. On some departure dates, itineraries also include La Gomera or La Palma, which offer superb hiking too. Departures are usually from the UK, so there’s plenty of time for relaxing as well. Departing Nov 24 2018, the 14-night Magic of the Canaries holiday, round-trip from Southampton on the Balmoral, costs from £1,635 per person, including walks (01707 818368; ramblersholidays.co.uk/ cruise-and-walk). mere baby in geological terms but its lush thermophilic forest is well established. Flamboyant cacti, aloe vera, wild olive trees and comically large agaves flanked the pathway.
“It’s less about ‘if you go’ and more about how you right yourself when you go,” said ship escort Ian, as I turned to look at a spiky dragon-blood tree (its dark sap is called “dragon’s blood”) and began shimmying down the slope. Ian and Kathy, retired
and Portaloo-free music festival at sea themed on the Eighties. As well as headliners such as The Human League and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, an immersive experience is promised, with the chance to join in Eighties karaoke sessions and TV game shows, and watch films from the decade such as Top Gun. The threenight cruise departs from Southampton on Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas, and includes a day’s breather ashore in Bruges (from Zeebrugge). Departing Oct 12, 2018, the Throwback cruise costs from £649 per person (0844 417 0320; floatingfestivals.co.uk). Retreat (extra cost) has 15 private cabanas (complete with HD TV and a personalised fridge) set around a central whirlpool and a dedicated concierge. Spa treatments are also available. Ovation will sail in European waters over the summer. A 16-night Jewels of the National Trust tour of the British Isles, round-trip from Dover, calls at Dublin, Belfast, Liverpool and Edinburgh, as well as less-visited places such as the Isle of Portland in Dorset and the Orkneys. From £7,499 per person departing Sept 15 2018 (0344 338 8615; seabourn.com). schoolteachers who are now dance instructors on-board Saga Pearl 2, could probably have waltzed the 755ft down to the bottom were it not for the scree that carpeted the path.
Nearing the base we paused in the umbrella shade of a eucalyptus tree to reapply sunscreen. Bandama owes its name to Jean Van Damme, a canny Flemish merchant who noted the terroir and thought: “wine.”
As long ago as the 16th century As Viking’s ocean-cruise fleet grows, so does its range of Scandinavian itineraries. What catches the eye on this new one are calls at Skagen and Fredericia in Denmark and Kiel in Germany. Skagen is close to sand dunes and beaches while Fredericia was a military stronghold. Many cruise ships sail through the Kiel Canal but few stop at the city. The start and finish ports are Copenhagen and Amsterdam. The 10-night Scandinavia and the Kiel Canal cruise on Viking Star costs from £3,940 per person, departing on June 27 and September 26 2018, including some excursions and drinks with meals (vikingcruises.co.uk; 0800 298 9700). Enjoy a hike followed by a wine tasting on the island of Gran Canaria
Vigo is one of my favourite ports. You can enjoy great coffee and watch the world go by before walking down to the fish restaurants to eat some of the best seafood I’ve ever tasted. Aegean Odyssey spends much of its time exploring cultural ports in the Mediterranean so it’s a welcome surprise to find the ship making its first voyage to Norway in 2018. Guest speaker Roderick Dale, an expert in all-things Viking, will be making a significant contribution on board and ashore. The round-trip cruise from London Tilbury includes lesserknown destinations such as Ulvik, known for its cider, Hellesylt, a village split by a waterfall and Kristiansand, where you can try shrimps and mussels at the quayside. the English were fond of Spanish plonk. Shakespeare made several references to “sack”, “malmsey” and “canary” in his works and it wasn’t unusual for poets of the royal court to draw part of their salary in a “butt of sack” or Canary wine.
Above, kestrels wheeled and Nina pointed out doves, blackcaps and a buzzard. Inexplicably, a bit further on from the eucalyptus, stood an elderly man watering his potato patch. An inhabited smallholding in the pit of a volcano crater?
“It is farmed by Augustine,” said Nina. “He is 82 years old and was born here.” And so he remains, without electricity, occasionally venturing up to his sister’s house in the village, for a shower. I lingered by the vegetable patch, waiting for a photo opportunity. Before it came the hose turned on me.
I rejoined the group with a wet T-shirt, wet hair and a blurred camera lens. (Note to self: what if someone took a photo of you watering your geraniums?)
Exiting the caldera was easier but it was thirsty work nonetheless. The small hamlet is still a key producer of wine. A cork’s throw from the rim, at the head of the caldera’s hiking path is a small bodega, Hoyos de Bandama, where staff had prepared a tasting with tapas and flights of its dry whites laid out on barrel tables.
The small hand had barely passed nudged noon, but that wasn’t going to stop the Saga bunch from sampling the Caldera blanco seco (dry) from the Monte-grown grape which, quite possibly, inspired the line in Shakespeare’s Henry IV: “But I faith you have drunk too much Canaries, and that’s a marvellous searching wine, and it perfumes the blood ere one can say: What’s this?”
I’d say cheers to that. Saga’s Canaries in Spring cruise costs from £1,839 per person, round-trip from Southampton and departing on April 20 2018 (0800 504 505; saga.co.uk/ cruises). The Bandama Caldera excursion costs £39pp. The 14-night Norwegian Fjords cruise on Aegean Odyssey costs from £2,795 per person, departing June 23 2018, including most excursions, drinks with dinner and gratuities. Other ports include Bergen, Flam and Geiranger (voyagestoantiquity.com; 01865 302550). Seabourn’s new ship Ovation, an all-inclusive vessel with 300 balcony suites, will be sailing the round-trip from Copenhagen to Norway mere weeks after itsmaiden voyage. A standout from the stock ports of Flam, Alesund, Olden, Bergen, Stavanger and Skagen is Storstappen, a small island near the North Cape, noted for its vast bird colonies. Also featured are a scenic cruise in the narrow Trollfjord and a call at the glorious Lofoten Islands. The 14-night Majestic Fjords and North Cape costs from £7,799 per person, departing on July 7 2018. Excludes flights (seabourn.com; 0344 338 8615).