Getting the flavour of…
A Macedonian lakeside gem
Set beside the “limpid” waters of the great lake with which it shares its name, the town of Ohrid in North Macedonia is as beautiful as any in the Balkans – and getting there is now easy, says Paul Bloomfield in The Sunday Telegraph, thanks to the recent launch of direct Wizz Air flights from Luton. Known as Lychnidos (“City of Light”) by the Ancient Greeks, its historic heart is rich in Ottoman mansions and grand Byzantine churches, and it has a “hulking” medieval fortress and a Hellinistic-era amphitheatre that is home to an annual festival. Stay long enough to visit one of the pretty shingle beaches nearby, and to explore the mountainous surroundings, including the “bear-prowled” forests of the Pelister and Galicica national parks and the spectacular ancient city of Heraclea Lyncestis. The Aleksandar Villa & Spa (aleksandarvilla.com.mk) has rooms from £83 per night.
An idyllic island in the Baltic
With 38 miles of sandy beaches and a surprisingly sunny climate, the Baltic island of Rügen is one of Germany’s most appealing seaside holiday destinations, says Paul Sullivan in The Sunday Telegraph. On its east coast are the “upscale” resorts of Binz and Sellin, known for their “elegant” old hotels, piers and promenades. Quieter are Schaabe and the Wittow Peninsula in the north, and family-friendly Baabe and Göhren in the south, which can be reached via steam train and have impressive dunes and a breezy selection of restaurants, cafés and shops. There’s wonderful walking in the Jasmund National Park, whose white chalk cliffs figure in the work of the Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich; for more peaceful beaches visitors can head to the car-free island of Hiddensee, nearby. Travel Charme Kurhaus Binz (travelcharme.com) has rooms from £240 per night.
A lonely cottage in the Highlands
Perched by the sea at the far end of the roadless Ardnish Peninsula, Peanmeanach Bothy provides a “blissful” respite from the modern world, says Tom Robbins in the Financial Times. Abandoned as a house in 1942, it was converted in the 1970s into a walker’s bothy – free accommodation for lovers of Scotland’s wild places. Sadly, information about bothies circulating online later attracted a “different type of user”, and after the cottage was vandalised and used for illicit parties, it was closed. Now it has been relaunched as a not-for-profit holiday let. A five-mile hike from Lochailort station, it is spartan (with no electricity or running water) but “cosy”, and it lies in stunning scenery, and in easy reach of the breathtaking Singing Sands beach. Sleeps six from £42 per night (ardnish.org).