Dream destinations
As travel restrictions start to ease, Bernadette Fallon offers her wish list of great places to visit between now and the beginning of 2021
A wish list of places to visit around the world
It’s not a great time to be a travel writer. I find myself caught up in a sort of a travel Christmas Carol, reflecting on what might have been (great trips), what has been (no trips) and what is yet to come (hopefully, trips). Here’s what I fantasise about doing when we can travel freely again.
Devon
First, I’m going to South Devon to stay in the Cary Arms. The hotel is right on the beach with accommodation in sea-view rooms, beach huts, suites or sea-facing cottages. It’s big on sustainability and offers lots of coastal activities including sea kayaking, paddle boarding, mackerel fishing and sailing. There’s a beach hut there with my name on it. (Caryarms.co.uk, from £269 per room per night B&B)
West Coast of Ireland
After my staycation appetite has been satisfied, I’m heading to the West Coast of Ireland. The worldfamous Galway Arts Festival may have been cancelled in July, but the organisers plan to run a scaled down version in autumn. Next I’ll be up the scenic coast to Sligo, stopping off in Strandhill for a restorative Voya seaweed bath. Then I’m going to indulge my inner Lady of the Manor in Coopershill, Riverstown, a beautiful country house in the woods that has been in the O’hara family for seven generations (overnight B&B from €234 per room, Coopershill. com). Still a family home, there’s deer and dogs and cups of tea and scones in front of drawing room fires. I can’t wait.
Chilling
I’ll need a few spa trips to calm me down – all that sitting at home during lockdown isn’t as easy as it sounds. I’ve got my eye on three destinations. The Douro41 spa in north Portugal, at the foot of the Douro River, has riverbank terraces and a hydrotherapy spa (Duro41. com). The Original FX Mayr in southern Austria, on the shores of Lake Wörthersee offers customised treatment programmes around medicine, nutrition, exercise and awareness and has some of the most stunning views ever (Original-mayr. com). The Lough Erne Resort and Spa on a 600-acre peninsula has spectacular views of the Fermanagh Lakelands in Northern Ireland. It also has a golf course, but I won’t be concerning myself with that (Lougherneresort.com).
Getting on a train
I love the idea of train travel at any time – the slow pace of it, the scenic views – and slower, more sustainable travel is on everybody’s minds right now. One of the best holidays I’ve taken in recent years was a week interrailing around the south of France and when restrictions lift, I’ll be jumping on a train again. There are great interrailing options available across Europe, from a single country pass for 31 different countries to global passes for multiple destinations, including a new four-day global pass for shorter itineraries and a Greek Islands pass (Eurail.com).
Loire Valley
On my train trip through France, I plan to stop off in Paris and head for the Loire Valley, just an hour outside the city with 22 chateaux to visit along the river. Some are still owner occupied, but some I can stay in. There’s a 5,000km cycling route to follow if I’m feeling like stretching my legs after lockdown which also means I can eat as much of the local goat’s cheese as I like without feeling guilty. The region is also the home of Sancerre wine. Oh happy days.
Canada
Speaking of trains, I’ve also got my eye on VIA Rail Canada, the passenger rail network that stretches 12,500km coast to coast and north to Hudson Bay – most specifically, the Toronto/ Vancouver leg of the journey. Four
The Loire Valley, an hour outside Paris has 22 chateaux to visit along the river
nights in total, through lakes and forests in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west and prairies in between, passing bear, moose and elk if I’m lucky. (Viarail.ca, from $1,971 CAD per person for a cabin for two, including all meals onboard and access to all lounges and observation domes)
Massachusetts
One of the best films I saw this year was Little Women, based on the much-loved book by Louisa May Alcott and once lockdown lifts, I plan to visit her former home in Concord, Massachusetts. Orchard House is where she both wrote and set Little Women in 1868 and today it’s a museum and event space. In Massachusetts I’ll also visit Salem, famous for its 17th century witch trials, and brush up on my Mayflower history in Plymouth and Provincetown. Norwegian Air, one of the greenest airlines in the world, fly direct.
Denver
Voted one of the top US cities to visit without a car, Lonely Planet listed Denver as one of the top eight cities in the world for 2020 and Rough
Guides made it number one. It’s the street art capital of the US and also has the second largest performing arts complex in the country. Where the plains meet the Rockies, Denver is within reach of four national parks and the Rocky Mountain Nature Park is just a two hours’ drive (Colorado. com).
Western Australia
Staying with long haul travel, Western Australia has long been on my wish list – the same size as Western Europe, it takes up one third of all of Australia. Popular with foodies, it’s known for its food and wine trails – its wine region produces half of all Australian wines – as well as beaches – capital city Perth has 18 great beaches all within 15 minutes of the city. I can swim with dolphins or mountain bike into the countryside.
Buenos Aires
Every November, the city’s Noche de las Librerías (Night of the Bookstores), is the ultimate destination for book lovers. At sundown, the bookstores spill out into the streets until the early hours of the morning (and there’s lots of them, Buenos Aires has 25 for every 100,000 inhabitants, the city with the with most bookshops per capita). As well as books, there’s live music, talks, presentations, workshops, recitals and kids’ activities. And when that’s over, well, you’re still in Buenos Aires.
Christmas in France
It will be Christmas by then and this year I want to buy santons in Provence. Santons, ‘little saints’, are the hand-painted nativity figurines the region is famous for, dating back to the French Revolution when churches were closed. Essentially a family craft, with the skills passed down from generation to generation, today Provençal families add a new figure to their crib every year. Don’t just think shepherds and wise men though, these nativity figures include fish wives, chestnut sellers and scissors grinders, and go on sale in Christmas fairs throughout December.
New Smyrna Beach
Then we’ll be into the new year – and I wonder what 2021 will bring? Sun is the answer for me, in January at least. I want to head to Florida, to the slightly-off-the-beaten track New Smyrna Beach, a chilled out, laid back beach town with a big arts scene. It has great wildlife and sealife, top beaches, independent culture and shopping, and the vast Atlantic Ocean to the east. Then I’ll be ready to plan next year’s travel list. Because, as Mark Twain said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrowmindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. “Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” And ain’t that the truth. ■