Tarn good fun!
IT’S hard not to gush about my family’s walking holiday in the little-discovered Tarn region of southern France. Our hikes took us along the pine-scented Tarn Gorge, by its shingle and sandy beaches, and sparkling, jade-coloured river.
We zigzagged up paths on near-sheer cliffs and past improbably shaped pinnacles of rock from where we spotted giant griffon vultures.
We came across a troglodyte village, and explored hidden meadows and forests in The Causses – the rugged, high limestone plateaux.
Our base, the Hotel de la Muse et du Rozier, was brilliant, too. The food was fabulous, and the location – right alongside the River Tarn, with sunloungers on the long, grassy riverbank – was even better. There was a kayak centre a short stroll from the hotel. With just the right level of rapids for a thrilling but safe family adventure, our outing on the water was another highlight.
As much as I’d like to boast about how clever I was researching and fixing all this, I’d be telling fibs. I booked everything through Headwater, a company that has been selling walking and cycling holidays for more than 30 years, so really knows its stuff.
Staff made sure that the holiday was right for us – that the walks were suitably challenging for our fit teenage boys, but that we’d all still manage in the summer heat. The ten walks Headwater supplied us with were really varied and meticulously detailed, with faultless directions, specially drawn maps, suggested picnic spots, precise guidance on timings, ascents and descents, the amount of shade we would encounter and so forth.
The company also produced a lengthy background document on the Tarn that proved to be more informative than anything in our guidebooks. And it was not by chance that the hotel was so good. A key USP of Headwater is how it selects quality, family- run hotels offering tasty regional food.
There is a general lesson to take on board here. We are in the age of DIY holidays: of wading through websites, poring over reviews posted by strangers, and booking online. That can be the best approach for a straightforward city or beach break, but with something more complicated, such as an activity holiday, there is a strong argument for turning to a specialist.
This is especially true of walking and cycling breaks, where you follow a route and your luggage is transported for you between hotels.
And on cultural holidays, they may lay on an expert guide, enable you to avoid queues at major museums, and get access to places usually off-limits.