To some people, an active holiday means leaping off cliffs and trekking across
desolate wastes: all very macho and laudable, no doubt, but we’re talking
about Europe, culturally the most fascinating and diverse continent on
earth. So, here’s how to give your mind and soul a workout, as well as your
body.
FLAMENCO ON THE COSTA DE LA LUZ
The search for the perfect little flamenco bar is a feature of many Spanish
holidays. But this year, why not become more than a spectator? Club Dance
Holidays (0870 286 6000, www.danceholidays.com) offers courses from
belly-dancing in Morocco to salsa in Cuba, and one of its most intriguing
outings of the summer will teach you the rudiments of flamenco during the
annual feria in Sanlucar de Barrameda, on the Costa de la Luz (June 4-11).
No experience is necessary — although a sense of rhythm will help — and the
one-week trip mixes 10 hours of tuition with lots of time to soak up the
atmosphere of the festival.
Prices start at £425pp, B&B, including transfers and tuition, but not
flights. The nearest airport is Jerez: fly there with Ryanair (0871 246
0000, www.ryanair.com).
WINE-TASTING IN THE DOLOMITES
Anybody who’s ever had a duff bottle of Swiss wine in the Alps will know that
viticulture in mountains can be a hit-and-miss affair. But not, it seems, in
the Alto Adige. Here, the eye-popping scenery of the Dolomites is matched by
some sensational wines — and, what’s more, the average British oenophile
knows almost nothing about them. This is a place of tiny vineyards, unusual
grape varieties and subtle flavours.
Currently, the local favourite is the lagrein variety. It was once used merely
to add colour to other wines, but producers are now coaxing big, rich reds
from the grape. The pinot noirs here are also superb, and there are many
others to try, from merlot through to müller-thurgau.
Sounds intriguing? Then you should sign up for the Trentino and Alto Adige
wine tour from Arblaster & Clarke (01730 263111,
www.arblasterandclarke.com), which runs from July 2 to 7. Guided by Jane
Hunt, a Master of Wine, it takes in several of the most successful vineyards
of the region and gives participants the opportunity to meet some of its
most influential winemakers.
The trip costs £1,350pp, B&B, including flights, five meals with wine
and tastings. As luck would have it, the Verona opera festival kicks off at
about this time, and you can take in performances of Nabucco and Aida on
July 7 and 8, at the end of the trip — top-end opera seats add £110pp, with
a night in a four-star hotel costing £100pp.
SCHUBERT IN THE BREGENZERWALD
The notion of high culture takes on extra meaning each summer when the
Schubertiade comes to northwest Austria. This much-loved festival of
classical music, focusing on Schubert’s lieder, has chosen one of Europe’s
prettiest landscapes as its home. The Bregenzerwald is in the foothills of
the Alps, and it’s Austria just as you imagine it: lush pastures, wooden
farmhouses, distant mountains. The concerts are held in the region’s pin-up
village, Schwarzenberg.
The festival comes in two halves — June 13-20 and August 24-31 — and the
cultural travel specialist Martin Randall (020 8742 3355,
www.martinrandall.co.uk) still has places for the second. Guests stay in the
neighbouring village of Bezau and, as well as attending 10 concerts, have
the chance to go walking in the hills and visit the museum and art gallery
in Bregenz, on Lake Constance. Prices start at £2,140pp, B&B,
including all concerts, flights, transfers and several meals.
DJING IN IBIZA
Does Schubert sound a bit, er, highbrow? Then how about a spot of DJing in
Ibiza instead? This summer, the London music college Point Blank (020 7729
4884, www.pointblanklondon.com) is running half-day classes on the island
from noon to 4pm, for £50pp, with the local DJ and radio producer Andy
Wilson. He supplies the decks and discs — and even if it turns out you’re
not the next Judge Jules, at least you’ll understand the playlist better
when you’re out clubbing in Space or Pacha. EasyJet (www.easyjet.com) lies
to the island from eight UK airports this summer. The Hotel Es Vive (00 34
971 30 19 02, www.hotelesvive.com), in Figueretas — whose bar is home to a
great post-clubbing scene — has doubles for £132 per night, B&B,
in July.
COOKING IN GASCONY
Kate Hill is an American chef who lives on a houseboat on the Canal du Deux
Mers, near Agen. She writes beautifully about the produce and cuisine of
Gascony (read her blog at http://katehill.blogspot.com), and for several
years she has been teaching amateurs and professionals alike in her big
country kitchen at Camont — it was used as a set during the making of the
television cookery programme Rick Stein’s French Odyssey.
The emphasis is on simplicity and seasonality. Whatever looks good in her
garden, or at one of the local markets, is what you’ll be cooking — although
Hill always sets aside the time and ingredients to work on some of the
region’s most famous dishes, including cassoulet and confit de canard. This
is a land of plenty, with good wine and armagnac on offer, too. If that lot
doesn’t inspire you, nothing will.
Courses cost £1,650pp for a week, full-board, including tuition and local
transportation, and there are four scheduled for the summer, in June and
August. Fly to Toulouse with Flybe (0871 522 6100, www.flybe.com), EasyJet
(www.easyjet.com) or British Airways (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com), then pick
up a hire car: Carrentals.co.uk (0845 225 0845, www.carrentals.co.uk) has
one-week rentals of a Group B car for £181 in July.
SCULPTING IN TUSCANY
These days, art holidays are on offer in France, Italy, Spain and Greece: the
best listings can be found in the Painting Holiday Directory (01830 540215,
www.paintingholidaydirectory.com). Most are aimed at watercolourists, but if
you’re after something a bit more, well, muscular, how about one of Nigel
Konstam’s sculpture courses at the Verrocchio Art Centre (020 8869 1035,
www.verrocchio.co.uk)? Set in the pretty hilltop town of Casole d’Elsa, the
centre has a vast vaulted studio and an outdoor sculpture terrace. It is the
scene of eight courses this summer, run from May to September. Tuition is on
an individual basis, and you can work from the inside out, with clay and
wax, or from the outside in, chiselling away at alabaster and harder stone.
Two weeks’ half-board accommodation and tuition will cost £335pp, plus a
local payment depending on your room: single rooms cost £550. Most pupils
fly to Pisa with Ryanair (0871 246 0000, www.ryanair.com), EasyJet
(www.easyjet.com) or British Airways (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com).
Verrocchio’s minibus does transfers at £22 each way.
DIGGING ON THE DANUBE
You’re either wildly excited by little bits of brown pottery covered in mud,
or you’re not. If you are, then why not take your enthusiasm beyond the
repeats of Time Team on More4? This summer, you can take part in the
excavation of an important Roman fort and supply depot at Halmyris, in
Romania (now known as Murighiol), led by Dr Mihail Zahariade of the
Institute of Archeology in Bucharest.
Halmyris wasn’t just any old fort: it occupied territory won in the Emperor
Trajan’s brutal wars against the Dacians, depicted in graphic detail on his
famous column in Rome. The fort helped to control both the Danube delta and
the trade routes to Asia, and was occupied for 600 years. Halmyris
eventually grew into an important port and bishopric. There is, as a result,
an awful lot of history lying buried in the ground.
This summer’s programme will focus on the military barracks and the later
bishop’s palace. As well as digging, members of the team can make measured
drawings, process the finds and use electronic equipment to survey for new
sites. They will also be able to visit other important Roman and Greek sites
nearby.
Each team of helpers joins Zahariade for two weeks, and there are five
expeditions planned, between June 9 and August 27, starting and finishing in
Bucharest. Accommodation is in local Romanian homes, and the trip costs
£1,095pp, full-board, excluding flights, through Responsible Travel (01273
600030, www.responsibletravel.com). BA (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com), Tarom
(020 7224 3693, www.tarom.ro) and Wizzair (www.wizzair.com) all fly to
Bucharest.
MUSIC ON THE BALTIC
For maximum musical pleasure with minimum effort, you could try Kirker
Holidays’ 13-night summer cruise on the Baltic (0870 112 3333,
www.kirkerholidays.com). Jump on board the recently refurbished Black Watch
in Dover and, for the next fortnight, the musicians travel with you.
There are 11 concerts in all, including a Vivaldi guitar concerto, songs by
Britten and quartets by Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart and Schubert. On the way,
you’ll be able to talk to the musicians, listen to interviews and attend
lectures given by Radio 3’s Susan Sharpe.
The ship’s itinerary adds an extra layer of interest, too. It calls at Oslo,
Copenhagen and St Petersburg, among others, and many of the onshore
excursions have a musical theme.
The cruise runs from August 28 to September 10, with prices starting at
£1,580pp, full-board, including the full concert programme.
SNAPPING IN THE SIERRA NEVADA
Ever thought your holiday pictures were awful? Well, now’s the chance to find
out why — and to do something about it. Andalucian Adventures (01453 834137,
www.andalucian-adventures.co.uk) is running three travel-photography courses
in Spain this summer, with departures in June and September, based at
Mecina, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. The tutor is Peter Netley,
whose eye for strong colour and bold composition is well suited to the
area’s craggy landscapes and brilliant light.
Pupils will have five full days of tuition and can visit a wide range of
locations. If your other half would rather paint than take pictures, that’s
no problem — there’s a painting course running concurrently in the same
location.
The photography course costs £949pp, half-board, which includes hotel
accommodation, transport in Spain and tuition, but not flights. You need to
get to Malaga airport, which is served by several airlines, including
EasyJet (www.easyjet.com), BMI Baby (0871 224 0224, www.bmibaby.com) and
Flybe (0871 522 6100, www.flybe.com).
RICH PICKINGS IN PORTUGAL
It’s no surprise, given the warm, humid climate, that Portuguese gardens are
so fecund. Add to that the influence of the 15thand 16th-century navigators,
who returned from their epic voyages of discovery bearing plants from West
Africa and Brazil, and you have a rich horticultural heritage.
This summer, Brightwater Holidays (01334 657155,
www.brightwaterholidays.co.uk) is running a trip to Lisbon and Coimbra,
taking in both botanic and ornamental gardens. It runs from June 5 to 12 and
costs £775pp, B&B, including flights, transport and the services of
a guide. Highlights include the gorgeous decorative parterres of the Palacio
do Fronteira, the Ajuda Botanical Gardens — planted in 1768, in the wake of
the Lisbon earthquake, and recently restored — and the terraced botanic
garden of the University of Coimbra, said to be one of the finest in Europe.
PLAYING SCIENTIST IN THE HEBRIDES
As a recipe for a really satisfying break, it’s hard to beat: the sight of
whales, dolphins and porpoises cresting the waves, the soul-stirring scenery
of the Scottish Isles and the knowledge that, at the end of it all, you’ll
have contributed to some really worthwhile scientific research.
The Silurian, a sleek, 60ft Bermudan-rigged ketch, is the research platform
for the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust’s annual survey of cetaceans in
the waters off Argyll.
You can join the team for 9 or 12 days and take part in a range of
activities, including monitoring the calls of harbour porpoises with a
hydrophone and assessing the impact of fish-farming on the local ecology.
There’s also a lot of sailing, cooking and cleaning to be done, and all team
members will be expected to lend a hand.
The expeditions run from Tobermory, on the Isle of Mull, and there are eight
departures this summer. Nine days will cost £695pp, full-board, with
Earthwatch (01865 318831, www.earthwatch.org).
LEGENDS IN TURKEY
It’s the perfect union of history, myth and literature: a tour of the site of
Troy. This summer, Andante Travels (01722 713800, www.andantetravels.co.uk)
is running a one-week trip to the ancient city, from June 3, as part of its
Bare Bones series of tours to the most famous sites of the ancient world —
including Carthage, Byzantium and Pompeii. The guest lecturer on this trip
is Dr Denise Allen.
As well as spending a day at Troy (modern Hisarlik), you’ll see Ephesus (home
of the beautifully preserved library of Celsius), and the vast unfinished
temple of Apollo at Didyma. The trip costs £1,050pp, including breakfast,
two dinners, flights and transport in Turkey.
One essential extra is a copy of War Music by Christopher Logue (Faber and
Faber £12.99), which includes his extraordinary — and thrilling —
freewheeling translation of books 16-19 of the Iliad. Reading it beneath
Troy’s walls is an experience you won’t easily forget.
PLOTTING IN SHROPSHIRE
Got a book in you? Then the one thing you need is time away from the
distractions of normal life, to let the story out. Writing courses are
mainly UK-based, and for the most part they’re short: five or six days is
normal. You won’t get more than a chapter written in that time, but you will
be in a supportive and confidence-boosting environment, and the tutorials,
discussions and readings that are a feature of the genre all help to get the
creative juices flowing. No surprise, then, that as well as beginners and
wannabe novelists, lots of professional writers attend them.
The Arvon Foundation (01588 640658, www.arvonfoundation.org) has one of the
largest programmes of writing courses in the UK, based in four centres:
Totleigh Barton, in Devon; the Hurst, in Shropshire; Lumb Bank, in West
Yorkshire; and Moniack Mhor, in Inverness-shire. It’s not just novel-writing
that’s on offer, either: you can also work on poetry, drama, songs, food
writing, crime and science fiction.
Prices are kept low in order to encourage the widest possible participation:
a five-night Taking the Plunge course, for first-time writers of fiction, at
the Hurst from July 23 to 28 will cost £475pp, full-board, including
tuition.
