Getting the flavour of…
Saltburn’s Goldilocks moment
Saltburn-by-the-sea, east of Middlesbrough, has everything you could want from a British coastal resort, says Rod Liddle in The Spectator. There’s a pier with a tiny amusement arcade, and no end of “elegant Victoriana”, including a model railway that takes you half a mile through a wooded dell to the resort’s Italian Gardens and a tea house. The town itself is “exquisite”, and sits beside ten miles of pristine sandy beaches and some of the tallest sea cliffs in England. The Yorkshire Moors lie five minutes away by car. Just be warned: there’s a new wave of gentrification, including “micropubs”, organic delis, “shabby chic” cocktail bars and a food festival. It hasn’t yet been taken too far, though, so go now and enjoy this “Goldilocks moment” while it lasts. See www.yorkshire.com for more information.
A volcanic wonderland The Indian Ocean island of La Réunion is a French overseas department, and everything here is French, “from the butter to the policemen”. “Les Metros”, who regard Réunion as a home from home, come for the beaches – but for Brits, the walking is the real draw, says John Gimlette in The Daily Telegraph. The island’s volcanic landscape is “heart-stopping” in its grandeur. The paths that spiral down into its three vast calderas thread through lush forests and beneath towering cliffs and waterfalls. And then there is the Piton de la Fournaise – one of the world’s most active volcanoes, where you can walk for hours across a desert of lava that has dried into coils, grottoes and cones. Contact hiking guide Alexis Vincent on 00 262 06 93 02 26 68 or via the website www.ayapana-reunion.com.
The rugged coast of Iceland Most visitors to Iceland stay in the south, but for a really wild and rugged landscape, you need to head to the north coast. There, you’ll find an “impossibly beautiful” ribbon of fjords, sea cliffs and bleak hillsides. Stay at the port of Siglufjörður, whose “Scandiclassic pastel-shaded cityscape” featured in the recent TV drama series Trapped, says Hugh Morris in The Sunday Telegraph. Once the capital of the herring industry, the town went into steep decline when fish stocks collapsed in the 1960s, but thanks to a recent surge in tourism, it is bouncing back. It has a stylish hotel, the Sigló, and an “effortlessly cool” craft brewery, Segull 67, housed in an abandoned herring warehouse. There is good skiing around here too. You can also bathe in natural hot springs, and ride across the region’s “raw, unforgiving” landscape on Icelandic horses. Discover the World (01737-214250, www.discoverthe-world.co.uk) has a three-night self-drive trip from £947pp.