Getting the flavour of…
An Austen anniversary The 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death falls on 18 July this year, and over the summer her native Hampshire is hosting a “glut” of commemorative events and exhibitions, says Nigel Richardson in The Daily Telegraph. First port of call for fans is the Jane Austen’s House Museum in Chawton, which was recently redecorated with reproduction wallpapers based on Regency-era fragments found in the house. Next, visit her brother’s former mansion, the beautiful Chawton House, a possible model for Pemberley – Mr Darcy’s estate. At a fine exhibition at the Winchester Discovery Centre, six important portraits of the novelist can be seen together for the first time. And nearby, at 8 College Street, is the “rather shabby” house where she died – a key way station on any Austen pilgrimage. Visit www.janeausten200.co.uk.
Colombia’s sleepy coffee country It is only 100 miles west of teeming Bogotá, but Colombia’s coffee region is like “another country” in “another century”, says Stanley Stewart in The Sunday Times. Slung between two spurs of the Andes, the region’s rolling hills are a “sylvan green world” dotted with villages, in whose sleepy squares “vintage cowboys in big hats” stand around “chewing tobacco and saying little”. Visitors are welcome to explore its independent coffee plantations, which grow only arabica (the most delicate kind of coffee plant, producing the finest-tasting beans), and whose owners discuss their produce as if it were fine wine – “all flavours and notes and finishes”. There are wonderful haciendas to stay at – with sprawling verandahs, lush gardens and dazzling birdlife – and horse trekking and peaceful river-rafting to enjoy. Plan South America (020-7993 6930, www. plansouthamerica.com) has a five-night trip from £1,485, excl. international flights.
Bear spotting in Macedonia From the old lakeside city of Ohrid to the dramatic ruins of Heraclea Lyncestis, the small Balkan republic of Macedonia is home to a wealth of cultural treasures. But equally glorious are its national parks, says Sara Wheeler in The Times – which offer visitors a rare chance to spot European brown bears in the wild. There’s a sizeable population amid the majestic mountains and glittering glacial lakes of Pelister. But Mavrovo, in the west, has more. Guided among its “spiky” peaks by a local ranger by day, you may well spot adult bears and cubs. And to improve your odds, spend a night with an infrared camera in a hide near Brajcino, from which you’re also likely to see a “procession” of hares, roe deer and wild boar. Regent Holidays (0207666 1244, www.regent-holidays.co.uk) has a week-long trip from £1,765, incl. flights.