EASY EURO BREAKS YOU’LL LOVE
If you’re happy to venture abroad but don’t want to travel too far, where do you go? Well, for your first post-lockdown getaway, travel editor David Wickers has handpicked some fabulous trips that are closer than you think…
Hassle-free holiday inspiration
Channel hopping
Guernsey’s most famous resident Victor Hugo described the Channel Islands as ‘pieces of France that fell into the sea and were gathered up by England’. This summer, visitors can enjoy walking five of the islands in the Gulf of Saint-malo on the one trip, thanks to a new initiative that links 50 miles of footpaths on Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Herm and Lihou, supported by maps, a guide book and an app. You can find full details at visitguernsey.com.
THE DETAILS: Prestige Holidays has a week based at The Old Government House on Guernsey, which has two restaurants, a spa and an outdoor heated pool, from £869pp B&B, including ferry crossing from Poole and transfers (prestigeholidays.co.uk). You can also take the ferry from Portsmouth, or fly with Guernsey’s own airline, Aurigny, from several UK airports (aurigny.com).
Tulip time
‘When it’s spring again, I’ll bring again, tulips from Amsterdam’ – so sang crooner Max Bygraves in the 1950s. Too young to remember? No matter. The tulips will still be there in all their glory; not so abundant in the capital, but much more famously on show in Holland’s Keukenhof Gardens. The 80 acres of parkland, with lakes, sculptures, greenhouses and a wooden windmill, nurture some 7m bulbs and should be top of your to-do list.
THE DETAILS: Avalon’s seven-night cruise takes in Amsterdam, including the gardens, plus Ghent and Antwerp, from £1,791pp including all meals, excursions and gratuities but not flights, with a choice of departures (avalonwaterways.co.uk).
Flanders fling
Although Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam are already well-known Eurostar destinations, one often overlooked is Lille. In just 90 minutes from London St Pancras, you’ll find a pearl of elegant, 17th-century Flemish architecture, cobbled streets lined with boutiques and restaurants (try the local carbonnade flamande – beef and beer stew), the Palais des Beaux Arts (the second most important museum in France after the Louvre in Paris), and a jewel box of an opera house. If antiques are your thing, wait until the first weekend in September when the city hosts La Braderie, the biggest flea market in Europe.
THE DETAILS: Kirker has three nights’ B&B, including Eurostar from London St Pancras, from £398pp (kirkerholidays.com). GOOD HOUSEKEEPING MARCH 2021
Scandi crush
All the Scandinavian capitals can be accessed easily from the UK, but the one with the lowest number of Covid cases is Helsinki. And with water on three flanks, it is an ideal summer escape. Top sights include the wooden Kamppi Chapel, so silent inside you can almost hear your heartbeat, and the Temppeliaukio church, carved out of a granite hill. You should also include the Kiasma contemporary art gallery, as much for the striking steel and glass exterior as for what’s within; and a boat trip to the Unesco-listed Suomenlinna island with its 18th-century fortress, built by Swedes, occupied by Russians and now restored to the Finns. There’s good shopping, too, including Iittala glass and Marimekko fabrics, in the Design District.
THE DETAILS: Regent has three nights’ B&B in the luxurious St George Hotel, including flights, transfers, a city pass and a half-day guided excursion to Nuuksio National Park, from £845pp (regent-holidays.co.uk).