Holidays at home

15 alternatives to a European break

THE COTE D’AZUR Sincerest apologies to: Nice

Splendid substitute: Hayle Estuary

It can never be an exact replica. For one thing, France’s south coast revels in average temperatures of about 26C in July; the north coast of Cornwall some five degrees lower. But the trick to a glorious beach break is a fine stretch of shoreline, and a place to stay which pushes all your right buttons. Gaze at the River Hayle where it reaches the sea – the grand arc of Carbis Bay to the west, the epic sands of Hayle Beach and Mexico Towans Beach to the east – and you won’t think that you are in Cannes. But you won’t care either.

Do it A seven-night stay for two at the five-star Carbis Bay Hotel, arriving on August 6, costs from £3,080 in total; £3,850 with breakfast (01736 795311; carbisbayhotel.co.uk)

THE GREEK AEGEAN Sincerest apologies to: Skiathos

Splendid substitute: St Mary’s

Greece is the undoubted European specialist in small islands in sun-sparkle seas; outcrops where your pace decelerates the moment you arrive, but there are still enough waterside tavernas to satisfy both stomachs and eyes admiring the view. Head for the very south-west tip of England, and you find something similar. St Mary’s is the biggest of the Isles of Scilly – but “big” is a red herring on an outcrop of just 2½ square miles. Equally, Hugh Town is dwarfed by the word “capital”, but has eateries galore – and Town Beach is a joy.

Do it A four-night stay at the three-star Tregarthen’s Hotel, above the beach, checking in on August 13, starts at £1,520 in total with breakfast (01720 422540; tregarthens.com)

THE CROATIAN ADRIATIC

Sincerest apologies to: Korcula

Splendid substitute: Herm

It always needs to be mentioned that the Channel Islands are part of “the British Isles”, rather than the UK per se. But no matter. Even if Jersey et al cannot easily be described as dead ringers for Croatia’s many low-slung fragments in the Adriatic, some of their scenery is as wonderful. Take Herm – a ferry hop from Guernsey. The beaches along its east coast – Belvoir Beach and Shell Beach – are a match for anything on Korcula or Brac, and much less likely to be crowded, even in the blur of high season.

Do it You can still book Pennywort Holiday Cottage – a one-bedroom nest at the heart of the island – for the week beginning July 18, for £1,120 in all

(01481 750000; herm.com)

TUSCAN VILLA Sincerest apologies to: Montepulciano

Splendid substitute: Somerset

There is a something about a holiday in Tuscany – perhaps the way the light slants across those hilltop citadels – that cannot be mimicked. Then again, one of the core delights of a villa break in Italy’s most beloved region is the chance to relax in style – mornings dozing in the garden, meals on the terrace that stretch into the night. And if you can’t go to Montepulciano, let (a few bottles of) Montepulciano come to you.

Do it Luxury villa specialist Scott Williams (01749 812721; scottwilliams. co.uk) still has high-summer space at Somerset Long House. A week’s stay at this eight-bedroom country pile in the village of Redlynch – checking in on August 5 – costs £14,000 in total

FRENCH VINEYARD

Sincerest apologies to: Provence

Splendid substitute: East Sussex

years that, not only does the idea of a tasting session in rural Kent or Sussex no longer seem a wildly niche idea, spending a night or two among the vines is now both plausible and desirable. Of course, you can find vineyards with hotels all across Provence, Languedoc and the Gironde, but with a glass in hand the experience can be just as persuasive closer to home.

Do it Tillingham (01797 208226; tillingham.com), an independent wine producer near Peasmarsh in East Sussex, offers 11 rooms in a barn conversion. A week’s stay, arriving on August 19, costs £1,425, with breakfast. Winchelsea, and the sea, is eight miles away

THE ITALIAN LAKES Sincerest apologies to: Lake Como

Splendid substitute: Ullswater

There is certainly something remarkable about Lake Como – the way it has featured in movies from Greta Garbo’s Grand Hotel (1932) to Daniel Craig’s Casino Royale (2006); its idiosyncratic shape, a stick-man running west, his legs flying. But equally, it is not irreplaceable. If what you want of a summer holiday is a calm week at the water’s edge, combining indolence

and luxury but also no great air of hurry, then Ullswater will certainly also work. Do it The Premier Cottages (0117 325 8810; premiercottages.co.uk) portfolio includes Waternook – an exclusive retreat which sleeps 12 on the east bank of the second largest sliver of the Lake District. It is still available for the week starting July 15 – from £9,400

THE NORWEGIAN FJORDS

Sincerest apologies to: the Geirangerfjord

Splendid substitute: Loch Ness

A geologist would say that there is a clear difference between the sea-filled chasms that eat into Norway’s west coast and the Great Glen Fault which cuts across the Scottish Highlands – the former resulted from glacial movement, the latter from tectonic action. A cartographer might point out that only 500 miles separate the likes of the Geirangerford from Loch Ness. A poet would write that the combination of steep hillsides and still water – one offering the other its reflection, in gorgeous fashion – is much the same in mid-July.

Do it A seven-night rental of a four

berth Kingfisher WHS, picking up at Laggan near Loch Oich on July 16, costs from £1,001 through Le Boat (023 9222 2177; leboat.co.uk)

THE WILDS OF ICELAND Sincerest apologies to: the Eyjafjordur

Splendid substitute: the Inner Hebrides

Scotland might also double as an even further-flung segment of the Nordic world. True, the Inner Hebrides do not have an Eyjafjordur – the 40-mile miracle which burrows into Iceland’s north coast above Akureyri. But the sea cliffs that frame Fingal’s Cave on the remote islet of Staffa are as dramatic as the coastline of the North Atlantic’s great outpost – while if you wander on Mull and Iona, there is a fair likelihood of spotting whales, eagles, puffins and other hardy animals which haunt the country of volcanoes and geysers.

Do it Macs Adventure (0141 530 5452; macsadventure.com) offers an eight-day self-guided “Walking and Wildlife on Mull and Iona” getaway, from £1,045 per person

Drink it in: when conditions are right in Isles of Scilly you could be in the Aegean It says much about how far English wine-making has come in the past 20

i Shore thing: Belvoir Beach on Herm is a match for anything in Croatia; and, top, who needs Lake Como when you have Ullswater?