Cheap walkies in Cornwall
THE DETAILS: Wilderness, Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire, 4-day ticket £189.25, August 3-6, wildernessfestival.com. THE CROWD: Music is just one of the many ingredients of this huge hedonistic happening beside ornamental lakes in the Oxfordshire countryside. Alongside main-stagers Grace Jones and Two Door Cinema Club, there are foodie banquets, talks s and debates, ballet from Sadler’s Wells, lls, latenight cabaret, bonfires, jazz, folk and d even brass.brass You name it, Wilderness does it. THE PLACE TO STAY: A quintessentially British country house hotel, Eynshall Hall, eynshamhall. com, set in 3,000 acres of rolling parkland near Witney. Doubles from £58, including breakfast. BOOK this month to get a week in a Cornish holiday cottage for £100 each – and bring Fido too. A self-catering break in o one of Green Acres C Cottages’ ten dog-friendly t two-bed propertiesoperties costs f from £615 for up to six THE DDETAILS: Green Man, Brecon BeaconsBea near Crickhowell, four-day tickettic £180, August 17-20, greenman.net.gr THETH CROWD: A mix of indie and mainstream bands including Ryan AdamsAd and P J Harvey will be visitingvis this beautiful location in the rollingrolli hills. There is a strong alternativealtern comedy bill, a heavyweight literature programme, a sprinkling of scientific debatedebat plus a certain amount of shamanic spiritual stuff for the hippy-trippy. THE PLACE TO STAY: Go to ground in the bunkhouse attached to the buzzing, busy White Hart Inn, whitehartinntalybont.co.uk, in Talybont-on-Usk. Bunks for £20 per night. sharing. You are within two acres of the Eden Project and there is an indoor heated pool and children’s play area. They are ideal for coastal walks and trips to Fowey, Par beach, Polperro and Looe. See greenacrescottages.co.uk. THE DETAILS: Festival No6, Portmeirion, North Wales, September 7-10, four-day ticket £205, festivalnumber6.com. THE CROWD: The surreal Mediterranean seaside village of Portmeirion, the life’s work of eccentric architect Clough Williams-Ellis, is the setting for one of the most quirky, individual, boutique summer festivals on this list. The line-up of performers, writers and musicians includes Jarvis Cocker and Charlotte Church, but just as intoxicating is the mix of late-night cabaret and torchlit processions. There will be a tribute to David Bowie, so expect glitter and fairy wings. THE PLACE TO STAY: Portmeirion, portmeirionvillage.com, has 13 self-catering cottages. The Gate House, which sleeps four, costs from £495 for four nights. WE’RE always seeing great deals on flights but are left frustrated by all the add-ons. Are any cheap trips worth doing? YES. But you have to shop around. Some of the best deals are for day trips. Airline search engine Skyscanner has come up with a dozen destinations where you can go for the day for less than £90. A Saturday shopping trip to Paris will set you back £66, get you into the city by 8.20am, with a return flight just before 10pm. So you have got plenty of time for sight-seeing, shopping and a dinner. Stockholm will cost £72, while clothes capital Milan is a snip at £53. And you can get to Madrid or Nice for the day for £83. For details see skyscanner.net.