Getting the flavour of…
Cherry blossom season in Japan
The arrival of cherry blossom is a major event in Japan, says Kate Crockett in The Mail on Sunday. And for the first time in three years, foreign visitors can now travel to the country to witness it. The best place to see Somei Yoshino cherry trees bloom is in Kyoto, but the display doesn’t last long: according to Japan’s Meteorological Corporation, “cherry blossom fever” will start on about 27 or 28 March, and peak on 5 April. For a luxurious trip, you could travel with the company Scott Dunn, which has a 12-night “Japan in Spring” itinerary (costing from £13,800 per person). If you can’t get that organised in time, consider visiting in autumn. “Leaf-peeping” season, or “koyo season”, as it’s known, is celebrated “just as reverently” in Japan, “but more sedately, with fewer crowds”. And in their own way, the autumn colours are really just as beautiful.
The charms of “champing”
It may not have the “glitz” of glamping or the comfort of a b&b, but “champing” – camping in a church – is becoming increasingly popular, says Gabriella Swerling in The Daily Telegraph. Thanks to a scheme launched in 2015 by the Churches Conservation Trust (CCT), travellers looking for something a bit different can now bed down “under belfries, stained-glass windows and ancient steeples”. According to Reverend Canon Timothy Goode, “champing comes absolutely out of that very Anglican understanding of serving the needs of the whole community and being there for all people”. Eighteen churches have signed up so far, including St Leonard’s in Old Langho, Lancashire, which was built in the reign of Queen Mary I, and the 14th century church of St Peter’s in Wolfhampcote, an abandoned village in Warwickshire. It’s fairly basic (the church is not likely to be heated), but you can hire bed linen and so on, dogs are welcome, and you get the whole building to yourself.
Off-season magic in Bavaria
In the summer, hordes of tourists head to the Allgäu region in southern Bavaria to take in its “old-world towns and castles”, says Ben Lerwill in The Guardian. But it’s well worth visiting in colder months too, “when the area’s lakes and pinewoods are hushed, and the historic sights are at their most imposing”, and you can still sample the “clichés of rural Bavaria... frothing beers, unironic dirndls, log stacks outside the windows”. Be sure to visit Neuschwanstein, a castle commissioned in the 19th century by Ludwig II, who became king as a teenager, then “retreated into a world of lavish fantasy”. The scenery is divided starkly into lush and low-lying meadows, and the “roller-coaster mountains” of the Alps. It all makes for a “dazzling” walking holiday.