BRITAIN
From forests to islands, bike rides to scoring goals … there is plenty to enjoy closer to home
SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS
There was a time when it looked like a break in Britain would be the limit of our travels this summer. While this is no longer so, there is much to be said for holing up on home soil this year. Perhaps in one of the treescapes offered by Forest Holidays (0333 0110495; forestholidays.co. uk). The break-in-thewoods specialist has 11 UK sites – including Strathyre, on Loch Lubnaig in the Highlands. A week in a two-bedroom Silver Birch cabin (with hot tub), arriving on Aug 28, is available for £1,455.
HERTFORDSHIRE
With the football season – losing the spring to Covid-19, this summer may be a fine time for young fans to reacquaint themselves with the sport. They can do this via the inaugural residential course run by Football Escapes (020 3907 6855; footballescapes.com), the company co-founded by former England captain
Rio Ferdinand (above). It will take place in the grounds of five-star spa hotel The Grove (thegrove. co.uk), at Chandler’s Cross, from Aug 23 to 25. Sessions (for children aged five to 15) will be led by ex-West Ham defender Anton Ferdinand (Rio’s brother). Two-night breaks for a family of three cost from £1,140 in total, including three days’ coaching (and breakfast).
ISLE OF WIGHT
The isle’s moment as a test case for the aborted NHS tracing app is over, and normality has returned to what is an uncomplicated option for a seaside getaway. Not that this sentinel of the Solent cannot do unusual. See
The Mission (below), a converted chapel that sleeps eight on the south coast at Chale. A week’s stay from Aug 28 costs £1,054 via Sykes Holiday Cottages (property 982949; 01244 356666; sykes cottages.co.uk). Wightlink (0333 99 97333; wightlink. co.uk) offers with-car returns from Portsmouth to Fishbourne from £68.
THE LAKE DISTRICT
If “short and sweet” sounds like the definition of a sensible holiday in these sour times, the group family cycling tour that Saddle Skedaddle (0191 265 1110; skedaddle.com) has planned in the Lake District, beginning on Aug 10, could prove alluring. The brevity is inherent in a three-day itinerary tied to cosy accommodation in Penrith, and 33 miles of gentle riding; the sweetness in the scenery of the Eden Valley. Places are still available from £315 per person, with bicycle hire costing £55 per adult and £30 per child.