Getting the flavour of…
The Penzance renaissance
It is scruffier than “chichi” Cornwall resorts such as St Ives, but Penzance has a “bohemian” charm of its own, says Carl Wilkinson in the FT, with a busy, steeply sloping high street, a good proportion of independent shops, and some fine restaurants, including The Shore and the Tolcarne Inn. If you want to stay in the town, try Chapel House, a boutique hotel overlooking the sea which opened last year; the Landmark Trust’s self-catering The Egyptian House; or the historic Abbey (now a luxurious holiday let, but once a hotel owned by Jean Shrimpton). To cap it all is the Jubilee Pool – the UK’S largest seawater lido, which has just reopened after a £3m restoration. Opened in 1935, it is a fantastic sight, its “glacial” art deco curves jutting out dramatically into Mount’s Bay. Chapel House (01736-362024, www.chapelhousepz.co.uk) has doubles from £150. A French outpost in Canada Lying just 15 miles off the “iceberg-dotted” coast of Newfoundland, the little archipelago of Saint Pierre and Miquelon is the last French territory in North America – and this year it celebrates its 200th year of official Frenchness, says Nigel Tisdall in The Sunday Telegraph. Though the islands’ barren landscape and harsh winters are distinctly Canadian, and its brightly painted wooden houses have a Caribbean air, in all other respects the islands are “resolutely” and charmingly Gallic. “Well-dressed madames” tuck into roulés à la cassonade (sugared rolls) in pretty salons de thé on Saint Pierre, where most of the 6,000 inhabitants live. But Miquelon, the larger and wilder island, is more “alluring”, with a seven-mile beach, good walks, and a farm producing confits, magrets and foie gras. For bicentenary events, see www.celebrations2016.com.
A beehive tour in wild Portugal The Algarve is known for its beach resorts and golf courses – but Portugal’s southernmost region also has vast tracts of wilderness, says Sophie Cooke in The Guardian. For glorious coastal walks (and donkey trekking – great for kids), try the Cape St Vincent Natural Park. For easy coastal cycling, the Ria Formosa wetlands are ideal (stay at Casa Modesta, a “chic” new guest house). And head for the Serra do Caldeirão, a mountain range in the region’s north that rises to 589 metres, for hillwalking, or try a “honey tour” with beekeeper Don Chumbhino. He shows guests around his hive-making workshop, offers samples of honey (carob, lavender, orange blossom and thyme), and drives them to visit hives in idyllic mountain settings, sharing his knowledge of local plants along the way. See www.visitalgarve.pt and www.portugal4u.pt.