2022-03-01 National Geographic Traveller UK

ALSO: ALICANTE // AZORES // BELGIUM // BRITTANY // COPENHAGEN // HAVANA // NEPAL
March
2022
Contents
64 Costa Rica 98 Ireland 120 Havana

Discover natural wonders, meet Legends of saints and an ancient Whether through salsa beats or
cultural custodians and explore mining heritage loom large on the purr of an engine, the Cuban
national parks teeming with life the sea-thrashed Copper Coast capital is best explored by ear
86 Sicily 110 Vietnam 130 Bristol

A revived inland pilgrimage Rising like a lost world from Great food, a buzzing arts scene
route offers an intimate portrait Lan Ha Bay, Cát Bà is a haven for and eclectic neighbourhoods in
of Italy’s largest island wildlife and adventure travellers one of the UK’s hippest cities Issue 100
I N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C T R AV E L L E R I S T H E U K ’ S # 1 T R AV E L M A G A Z I N E B Y S U B S C R I P T I O N S
March 2022 5
March
2022
Contents
17 28 44
SMART TRAVELLER 33 The word TRAVEL GEEKS

How to volunteer responsibly on your travels
13 Snapshot 140 Travel Geeks
Out on the waters of the Isle of Skye 34 Kit list The experts’ travel manual
Wildlife photography gear for spring
14 Big picture 100 issues of National
152
Meerkats in South Africa 37 Competition Geographic Traveller (UK)
Win a three-night luxury break in Cyprus A look back at the past 11 years of award-
17 A year to remember winning travel content
Birmingham steps into the spotlight in 2022 39 Author series
Lizzie Pook on Western Australia GET IN TOUCH
19 Go the distance
All aboard the world’s longest rail journey 40 Meet the adventurer 146 Subscriptions
Wingsuit pilot Géraldine Fasnacht Make the most of our latest offer
21 Food
A taste of Nepalese cuisine 42 Online 177 Inbox
Highlights from the website Your letters, emails and tweets
23 On the trail
A tour of Belgium’s brilliant beer scene INSIDER 178 Your pictures
This month’s best travel photos
25 Rooms 44 Weekender: Brittany
The best new hotels in Belgrade Bracing clifftop walks, fresh oysters and
seafaring heritage on France’s Emerald Coast
26 Family DON’T MISS
Tried-and-tested activities in New York 50 Eat: Azores
Discover curious flavours and a burgeoning 148National Geographic
28 Inside guide wine scene in the Atlantic archipelago Traveller Food Festival
Eclectic art and local cuisine in Alicante Experience the world through food and
56 Sleep: Copenhagen travel this summer
31 Stay at home The ultimate hotel guide to the Danish
What to do in riverside Richmond capital, from palatial pads to eco hangouts
G O O N L I N E V I S I T N AT I O N A LG EO G R A P H I C .C O . U K / T R AV E L F O R N E W T R AV E L F E AT U R E S DA I LY
6 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel
Contributors
National Geographic Traveller (UK) Production Manager: Daniel Gregory
Production Controller:
Editorial Director: Maria Pieri Joe Mendonca
Editor: Pat Riddell
Deputy Editor: Amelia Duggan Commercial Director:
Commissioning Editor: Matthew Midworth
Connor McGovern Head of Campaigns: William Allen
Géraldine Fasnacht Senior Editor: Sarah Barrell Campaigns Team:
Executive Editor: Glen Mutel James Bendien, Jonathan
It took my team two years to prepare for Associate Editor: Nicola Trup Carrillo Saez, Bob Jalaf,
a wingsuit flight in Antarctica. Then, we Digital Editor: Josephine Price Kevin Killen, Gabriela Milkova
Deputy Digital Editor: Nora Wallaya (maternity leave), Mark Salmon,
spent two months camped at the bottom of Content Editor: Oscar Williams
the Holtanna Peak on a glacier, just four of Charlotte Wigram-Evans Head of National Geographic
Assistant Content Editor: Traveller — The Collection:
us. Finally, we got lucky with the weather. Angela Locatelli Danny Pegg
Project Editors: Jo Fletcher-Cross,
MEET THE ADVENTURER P.40 Zane Henry, Farida Zeynalova
Project Assistant: Sacha Scoging
Editorial Admin Assistant:
Tabitha Grainge
Head of Sub Editors:
Hannah Doherty (maternity leave) APL Media
Sub Editors: Chris Horton,
Ben Murray, Nick Mee, Karen Yates Chief Executive: Anthony Leyens
Managing Director:
Operations Manager: Matthew Jackson
Seamus McDermott Sales Director: Alex Vignali
Sarah Barrell Digital Marketing Manager:
Prabbie Kaur Head of Commercial Strategy:
A Sicily trek delivered mud, sweat and Head of Events: Sabera Sattar Chris Debbinney-Wright
tears, but just rewards for pilgrims; the Marketing Manager — Events: APL Business Development Team:
Angelique Mannan Adam Fox, Cynthia Lawrence
Magna Via Francigena, a revived ancient
coast-to-coast route, gets to the heart of Art Director: Becky Redman Office Manager: Hayley Rabin
Art Editors: Lauren Atkinson-Smith,
the island, its unique inland culture and Lauren Gamp Head of Finance: Ryan McShaw
Senior Designers: Liz Owens, Credit Manager: Craig Chappell
disarmingly hospitable people. SICILY P.86 Dean Reynolds, Kelly McKenna Accounts Manager: Siobhan Grover
(maternity leave) Accounts Assistants:
Designer: Rosie Klein Isabelle Gaze, Ramona McShaw
Picture Editor: Olly Puglisi
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Ireland’s Copper Coast is far less feted than
the Wild Atlantic Way, but offers the same National Geographic Traveller (UK) is published by APL Media Ltd under license from
National Geographic Partners, LLC. For more information contact natgeo.com/info.
wave-hammered coastlines and prehistoric Their entire contents are protected by copyright 2022 and all rights are reserved.
Reproduction without prior permission is forbidden. Every care is taken in compiling
treasures. Meanwhile, the wider region is the contents of the magazine, but the publishers assume no responsibility in the
busy carving out a reputation as one of the effect arising therefrom. Readers are advised to seek professional advice before
acting on any information which is contained in the magazine. Neither APL Media Ltd
country’s food hotspots. IRELAND P.98 or National Geographic Traveller magazine accept any liability for views expressed,
pictures used or claims made by advertisers.
National Geographic Partners International Publishing
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I found myself in Havana just after Cuba 1145 17th St. NW, Washington, DC
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reopened after almost two years of Amy Kolczak
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Darren Smith ÓÇ¯vÌÃ«ÀVii`ÃÌÌi«ÀwÌ
been hushed by the pandemic, yet the Editor: Leigh Mitnick National Geographic Society to fund
sounds of Havana were starting to return Translation Manager: work in the areas of science, exploration,
Beata Nas conservation and education.
to something like normal. HAVANA P.120
Editors: CHINA Sophie Huang;
FRANCE Gabriel Joseph-Dezaize;
GERMANY Werner Siefer; INDIA
Lakshmi Sankaran; ITALY Marco
Cattaneo; LATIN AMERICA Claudia
Muzzi; NETHERLANDS Robbert
Vermue; POLAND Agnieszka Franus;
ROMANIA Catalin Gruia; RUSSIA Ivan
Vasin; SOUTH KOREA Bo-yeon Lim;
SPAIN Josan Ruiz; TURKEY Nesibe Bat
Jack Palfrey
It was a joy to reacquaint myself with Copyright © 2022 National Geographic Partners, LLC. All Rights Reserved. National
Geographic Traveller and the Yellow Border Design are registered trademarks of
Bristol. From fine dining restaurants National Geographic Society and used under license. Printed in the UK.
in shipping containers to campsites in
warehouses, it’s hard to find somewhere in
the UK that offers a more exciting city break
— or a better pint of cider. BRISTOL P.130
100% BEER
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B R E W E D F O R T H O S E W H O WA N T T O D O M O R E
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o r scan t he Q R c od e
DON’T MISS
Editor’s
letter
W
elcome to our 100th issue! After 11 years,
countless words, pages and photographs
— and everything that’s happened in the past 100 issues of National
Geographic Traveller (UK)
two years — this truly feels like a landmark. It’s testament Join us on a trip down memory lane as we
to you, our readers, that we’re still going — stronger than look back at 11 years of the magazine. From
ever — so first and foremost we’d like to thank you for event launches to award-winning features, we
share some of our editorial highlights (p.152)
being with us, whether this is your first issue or your 100th.
When we were plotting the launch of the magazine in
2010, it seemed a good idea to create something we’d love
to read ourselves: a magazine as much about inspiration as
aspiration. Ever since, our aim has been to urge people to Covid-19
explore, whether that’s vicariously through the pages of
The ongoing pandemic continues
the magazine at home or in far-flung corners on the other to affect travel. Please note,
side of the world. prices and travel advice are
As we look ahead, there’s more need than ever to think subject to change. Contact your
travel provider for the most up-
about how we travel. National Geographic Traveller has
to-date information. For the latest
always been about sustainable, responsible travel, and we news on safe travel and border
hope you’ll join as we continue to champion this area over restrictions, visit gov.uk/fcdo
the next century of issues.
With that in mind, our cover story this month celebrates
the poster child of ecotourism: Costa Rica. The Central
American country established its credentials decades ago
on a very simple premise: protecting its exceptional SUBSCRIBE TODAY
biodiversity. A fitting cover story for a landmark issue.
PAT RIDDELL, EDITOR
@patriddell
@patriddell
AWARD-WINNING NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER
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SMART TRAVELLER
©ĂÁőΎŉĢäūͭͭ;ĩĩàͭͭgĢőĂäőŅÁĆěͭͭĩĩġŉͭͭ;ÁġĆěűͭͭHĢŉĆàäúŖĆàäͭͭőÁűÁőĂĩġäͭͭƋ
äūĩŅà
SNAPSHOT
Bally Philp,
Isle of Skye,Scotland
For the best part of three decades, Bally Philp
has skippered a boat around the Isle of Skye.
Fishing is in Bally’s blood — he comes from a
family of anglers that includes his grandfather,
father, brothers and uncles. “These days, I
just fish locally and only target langoustine,”
he says. A more responsible approach is
important to Bally, so he exclusively uses creels
to fish now, which involves dropping baited
baskets onto the seabed and retrieving them
later. “I find the low impact creel fishing has
on the environment and the high selectivity
it offers help make it the best type of in-shore
fishing.” JEREMY FLINT // PHOTOGRAPHER
iÀiÞyÌ«Ì}À>«Þ°V
JiÀiÞyÌ«Ì}À>«Þ
March 2022 13
SMART TRAVELLER
BIG PICTURE
Tswalu Kalahari
Reserve, South Africa
This group of meerkats has grown used to
the presence of humans in their reserve over
the past decade. In fact, they were far too
preoccupied with lounging around, hunting
for insects, grooming and fighting among
themselves to notice my presence. I was
therefore able to use a wide angle lens to
include, in the background, the arid savannah
and mountains of northern South Africa they
call home. To capture the meerkats’ features,
I applied some techniques normally used when
photographing people to create a portrait-like
shot. THOMAS PESCHAK// PHOTOGRAPHER
thomaspeschak.com
@thomaspeschak
Shortlisted in the People’s Choice Award at

the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2022
nhm.ac.uk/wpy
SMART TRAVELLER
March 2022 15
Wet and wild thrills meet laid-back relaxation at Fodele Beach
They may be the polar opposite of holidays, body massage or spa treatment, or simply chill
but if you want to be able to choose between with a cocktail in hand on the Balinese beach
a pampering or enjoying an activity-packed beds. More energetic guests can take advantage
itinerary, check yourself into Crete’s Fodele of the slides, rides and 950m2 of dazzling pools,
Beach & Water Park Resort. Just 25km west or strut their stuff on the basketball and tennis
of Heraklion Airport, the site is carved into the courts. Add in a collection of restaurants that
cliffside overlooking the Sea of Crete. Those who take inspiration from the world’s culinary capitals
prefer a horizontal holiday can relax with a full- and you’ve got a resort to write home about.
fodelebeach.gr
SMART TRAVELLER
Performance at Birmingham
Mela, which celebrates
its 10th year in 2022
LEFT: Library of Birmingham,
Centenary Square
BIRMINGHAM DATES FOR THE DIARY
A YEAR TO
REOPENING OF THE BIRMINGHAM
MUSEUM & ART GALLERY
The cultural hub will partially
reopen on 28 April; don’t miss In
REMEMBER The Que, an exhibition of artefacts

and paraphernalia from the city’s
legendary Que Club music venue.
birminghammuseums.org.uk
Expect aerial displays, top athletes and Britpop stalwarts as

BIRMINGHAM COCKTAIL
the West Midlands city celebrates 2022 in the spotlight WEEKEND
With over 30 venues involved, this event
raises a glass to the very best tipples,
Birmingham will step into the spotlight in spanning the worlds of art, dance, theatre, mixologists and bars in the city. 8-10
a major way in 2022, when it hosts not just photography and much more, and runs until July. birminghamcocktailweekend.co.uk
one but two large-scale events, both of which August 2022.

BIRMINGHAM MELA
will put the UK’s second city — and the wider Wondrous Stories won’t be the city’s
The UK’s biggest South Asian music
West Midlands region — firmly on the map. only opening ceremony of the year.
festival is back for a 10th-birthday
The first draw in its big year is the Around 30,000 spectators are expected extravaganza, with live music and
BIRMINGHAM 2022 FESTIVAL , which gets off when the COMMONWEALTH GAMES kicks dance, world cuisine and shopping
IMAGES: AWL IMAGES; HANNAH METCALFE
to a flying start with opening extravaganza off in grand style on 28 July. Peaky Blinders bazaars, for just £2 entry each day.
Wondrous Stories. The aerial spectacle creator Steven Knight is part of the team 27-28 August. birminghammela.com
involves bicycles, a colossal globe and even producing the show at the redeveloped
a flying book, plus jaw-dropping digital Alexander Stadium in the city’s Perry Barr MOSELEY FOLK & ARTS FESTIVAL
projections. Taking place from 17 to 20 March area. International athletes will compete Headliners of this eclectic event
— held in an 11-acre woodland glade
in Centenary Square, next to the Library of in 19 different sports at a host of venues
— include Britpop stalwarts Supergrass
Birmingham, the show is free to watch and across the region. The 12 days of top-class
and US blues legend Seasick Steve,
features a cast of more than 300 performers. sport — including an integrated para sport with Philadelphia psych-folkers Kurt
A celebration of the West Midlands region programme — will culminate in a closing Vile & The Violators also taking to the
and its people and cultures, the festival ceremony on 8 August. birmingham2022.com stage in Moseley Park. 2-4 September.
itself features hundreds of local performers, RICHARD FRANKS moseleyfolk.co.uk
March 2022 17
Slow down into the island pace of life at The Syntopia
A top hotel offers a whole lot more than just a TOBDLT JO UIF SFTUBVSBOU "GUFS HFUUJOH ZPVS mMM
place to rest your head at night, which is why ZPVDBOmOEZPVS[FOJOUIFXFMMOFTTDFOUSFXJUI
The Syntopia has turned so many heads since indulgent spa treatments. Come the evenings,
it opened earlier this year. Located on the north there’s an array of events to enjoy, from live
coast of Crete close to the city of Rethymno, the concerts and wine-tasting sessions, to an open-
adult-only property channels bohemian vibes in BJSDJOFNBTIPXJOHDMBTTJDmMNTVOEFSOFBUIUIF
its decor and as such, relaxation is the order of Cretan sky. However you decide to spend your
the day. There are two pools ready for a leisurely stay here, you won’t fail to be won over by The
dip, as well as fresh buffets and street food-style Syntopia’s luxurious and contemporary charm.
thesyntopiahotel.gr
SMART TRAVELLER
R A I L T R AV E L
GO THE DISTANCE
At almost 12,000 miles, what’s thought to be the world’s longest continuous
train journey has opened up. But how feasible is it for travellers?
There’s slow travel — and then there’s really tip of the Malay Peninsula. At almost 12,000
slow travel. miles, this would be the ultimate in slow
In December, a new railway opened travel, with train carriage windows offering
between Kunming, southwest China, and the a slideshow of scenery with every passing
Laotian capital of Vientiane. It’s hoped the time zone — the dramatic Pyrenees; Siberia’s
high-speed link will boost trade between the vast birch forests; the Mongolian steppe; the
two countries, but for some travellers, this tropical forests of Thailand. You can expect
was the missing piece of a cross-continent to set aside around £1,000 for one-way tickets
jigsaw, meaning what might just be the and three weeks’ annual leave, stopovers
world’s longest possible rail journey has included. By contrast, a fl ight between
fi nally come together. Portugal and Singapore takes the best part
Mark Smith, the man behind rail guide of 24 hours and involves at least one change
seat61.com, along with Reddit contributor (and some serious jet lag).
htGoSEVe, pored over data to figure out the But don’t be fooled — this isn’t one
logistics of this epic adventure. Starting in smooth, continuous journey; in fact, it’s
Lagos, in the Algarve, the journey would anything but for now. There are visas and
take travellers across the border into Spain cross-city transfers to consider, and several
and into France, before a change in Paris. sections of the route — including Paris to
From there, it would speed through Eastern Moscow, the mammoth Moscow to Beijing
Europe before a stopover in Moscow, where leg, and the connection between China and
passengers would then embark on a near- Laos — are currently suspended due to the
5,000-mile leg across Russia and Mongolia pandemic, meaning travellers will have to
to Beijing. After exploring the Chinese wait a little longer before they can piece
capital, it’s then a number of trains snaking together their own odyssey on the rails.
through Southeast Asia, fi nishing up at the CONNOR MCGOVERN
IN NUMBERS
THE ROUTE: PORTUGAL TO SINGAPORE

13 21 €1,200 4,735 1,653
IMAGE: GETTY
the total number of countries the approximate number (£1,022) the estimated cost the length in miles of the the length in miles of
the route passes through, of days the journey is of one-way train tickets. Moscow-Beijing stretch, by the route in total, as
spanning two continents and expected to take, including A comparative airfare would far the longest section of measured from Lagos in
eight time zones various stopovers cost around £768 the route Portugal to Singapore
March 2022 19
SMART TRAVELLER
LEFT: Kukhura ko momo (steamed

chicken momos with ginger and chilli),
served with a tomato sesame chutney
THE INGREDIENT
Jimbu, part of the

allium family, has a
flavour that combines
garlic, chives and
shallot. Harvested from
June to September, it’s
dried for use in winter.
A TA S T E O F
NEPAL SANTOSH
SHAH is a chef,
Chef Santosh Shah discusses the flavours, author and former
ingredients and dishes of his homeland finalist on MasterChef:
The Professionals
For a country that only extends about 550 Our most famous preserve, gundruk, is MUST-TRY DISHES
miles from west to east and roughly 125 made with green leaves, often from radish or
miles from north to south, Nepal has a mustard plants, fermented and dried. It keeps MOMOS
unique geographical structure. In the high for many months and is used throughout These steamed dumplings are
Himalayas, small farming communities the winter in soups, stews and pickles. filled with meat (buffalo was
grow crops and raise livestock using the Knowledge of what’s good for you, and the common when I was a child) or
inherited knowledge of their ancestors. In use of herbs and spices to nurture the body, vegetables and are an all-day dish.
the temperate climate of the high hills, we is integrated into Nepali cooking and follows When accompanied by a broth,
grow cabbages, root vegetables and greens, ayurvedic and Chinese medicinal traditions. they’re called jhol momos.
while the subtropical middle hills have the My joy as a chef comes from playing with
perfect climate for citrus, peaches, apples, flavours and reinventing traditional recipes SUKUTI
tomatoes and aubergines. without losing their essence. Take, for Sun-dried meat, either buffalo
Further south, in the tropical Terai, you’ll example, jimbu, a wild garlic leaf that grows or goat, is a speciality of the
find mangoes, papayas, bananas, passion on the pastures of the Himalayan plateaus. mountains, eaten either as a
fruit, avocados, sugar cane and rice paddies. It’s mainly used as tempering, heated in hot snack or as a main meal with rice
The tropical and subtropical areas rely on oil, to drizzle over lentil stews, but it can be flakes and puffed rice.
the summer monsoon to grow crops, but used in other ways: dehydrated and reduced
IMAGES: MATT RUSSELL
the start, length and amount of rainfall to powder, it brings the flavour of a marinade WILD BOAR CURRY
during the monsoon is different every year. to a whole new level. This traditional dish is difficult to
This is one of the reasons why we rely on This is an edited extract from Ayla: A Feast source these days as it’s become
fermentation, in order to save the crops of Nepali Dishes from Terai, Hills and the harder to hunt wild boar, but it’s
and extend our supplies throughout the Himalayas, by Santosh Shah, published by delicious, made with onion, garlic,
long winters. DK, £20. ginger and slow-cooked boar.
March 2022 21
‘Cycling through Water’ is a unique cycling experience in which you cycle more than
200 meters through a pond, all the way from one bank to the other. In the middle,
the water is at eye level on both sides. You feel, see and smell the water. A beautiful
and unique view over the landscape.
The path is located at node 91 of the cycle node network in Limburg (Bokrijk) and is
accessible to walkers and joggers as well.
SMART TRAVELLER
ON THE TR AIL
BELGIUM
Set off through the region of
Wallonia by bike to discover fairytale
scenery and world-class Belgian
beer. Words: Connor McGovern
1 NAMUR 4 ROCHEFORT
Start off in the regional capital, Rest your legs in riverside
sitting astride the River Meuse Rochefort, known for its
in the shadow of rocky bluffs. It Trappist brewery, part of the
has a picturesque old town that’s 13th-century Rochefort Abbey.
a joy to explore on foot, home to The abbey (and its brewery) has
red-brick houses, cobbled lanes had a long, turbulent history,
4
and a smattering of museums. but the monks perfected its dark
Call into Le Ratin-Tot, which has beers in the 1960s and now brew
been feeding and watering the excellent beers using the house
city’s residents since 1616, and yeast. Expect dark drinks with
go for a bottle of malty Hercule almost herbal notes of chocolate
stout, named for fictional and coffee, topped with creamy
Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot. froth. Local bars and restaurants
namurtourisme.be serve Trappistes Rochefort.
2 BRASSERIE DU BOCQ 5 BOUILLON CASTLE

A leisurely cycle south east takes Pedal south through the
you to the village of Purnode, foothills of the Ardennes to this
home to the family-run Brasserie forbidding castle located above
du Bocq. Tours of the brewery a bend in the Semois River.
are on hold for now, but you can Dating to the eighth century,
still pick up some bottles of its Bouillon was sold by the knight
Blanche de Namur, a mellow Godefroid of Bouillon in the 11th
white beer. There are other century to fund his expedition
varieties to try, too, including the to the Holy Land during the First
rich Gauloise Brune brown beer Crusade. The castle still retains
and the fruity, blood-red Tête de much of its medieval atmosphere
Mort Red, which translates as and offers plenty of attractions,
‘head of death’ — an appropriate including a falconry centre.
name, given its 8.2% ABV. bocq.be bouilloninitiative.be
3 DINANT 6 ORVAL ABBEY

5
It’s hard not to be bowled over by Finish with a visit to another of
this city’s setting, squeezed in Belgium’s Trappist monasteries,
between the Meuse and a soaring which holds open days each
cliff, crowned with an impressive year. Orval takes its name from
citadel. Head to La Capsule for the French for ‘valley of gold’,
a drink on the riverside terrace. relating to a myth about the
ILLUSTRATION: MARTIN HAAKE
Take your pick from the menu widowed Matilda of Tuscany

of Belgian beers, including the being presented with a gold ring
fruity Ardennes Triple or the by a trout in a spring. The same
hoppy Moinette Blonde, and spring’s water has been used in
tuck into local cheeses and Orval’s eponymous beer since
charcuterie. Spend the night in the 1930s, a brew beloved for its
6
the town before setting off the rich, maple colour and earthy,
next morning. lacapsule.be fruity profile. orval.be
March 2022 23
MOST PERSONALIZED LUXURY SERVICE IN BELGRADE
6DLQW7HQKRWHO6YHWRJ6DYH9UDÄDU%HRJUDG6UELMD
info@saintten.com / +381 11 4116633 / saintten.com
SMART TRAVELLER
HOTEL BOTANICA
This arty hotel takes inspiration from the
natural world. With names like Lavender,
Amaryllis and Iris, rooms have paintings
of flowers on the walls and plants on the
bedside tables. Meanwhile, you’ll fi nd mini
living artworks of moss in the corridors,
foliage by the lift and the lush public areas
swaddled in green. From £54, room only.
botanicaarthotel.rs
THE BABE
Just four rooms and one apartment make
up this elegantly modern hotel in Senjak,
near the Belgrade Waterfront. It might be
small, but it’s gem of a place, with palm trees
flanking a Chesterfield sofa in the lobby-
cum-lounge, and you can even book out the
whole property. From £127. thebabehotel.com
SAINT TEN
W H E R E TO S TAY Set in the elegant Vračar neighbourhood, this
hotel is as sumptuous as its Small Luxury
BELGRADE
Hotels of the World membership suggests.
Rooms are boutique-luxe, with plush
headboards hitting the ceiling, a palette
of taupes and neutrals, and glass-walled
bathrooms. There’s a mini sauna and spa
Bold and brilliant hotels are channelling area, as well as a glam restaurant, L’Adresse.
the lively spirit of the Serbian capital From £144. saintten.com JULIA BUCKLEY
MAMA SHELTER
Belgrade is buzzing. The Serbian capital is going from
strength to strength as a city break, helped in no small
part by its legendary nightlife, which means hoteliers
know their beds — when you fi nally collapse into them
— need to be seriously comfortable.
Step forward a string of new, modern properties that
have revolutionised the city’s hotel scene. There’s been a
glut of openings in Belgrade pre-pandemic, and they’re
ALL RATES QUOTED ARE FOR DOUBLE ROOMS, B&B, UNLESS OTHERWISE
still going strong — November 2021 saw the opening of

a Hotel Indigo from IHG — but hotels like Mama Shelter
have led the charge. Amor Jalil, a protege of acclaimed
designer Philippe Starck, devised the 125 rooms, while
SPECIFIED. IMAGES: FRANCIS AMIAND, THE BABE HOTEL
Paris-based designers Dion & Arles have gone for a

typically zany Mama style with the decor. Read between
the lines, though, and this bold aesthetic also manages
to tell the story of Belgrade: beyond the cartoonish
lampshades are kilim-style rugs recalling the Balkans’
Ottoman history, while the brutalist buildings that went
up during the communist era fi nd resonance in subtle
details, such as stark, blocky, neon-framed mirrors.
As with all Mama Shelter properties, there’s a focus on
the food and drink, with Ottoman-style wicker thrones
in the restaurant, live DJs in the bar and a sprawling
ABOVE: Bedside
roof terrace where you’ll fi nd piazza-style seating round accessories at
a fi repit, as well as tables offering views of the city’s Mama Shelter
skyline. Who needs to party all night when you have this RIGHT: Deluxe double
waiting for you? From £106. mamashelter.com room at The Babe
March 2022 25
SMART TRAVELLER
FA M I LY
A TEENAGER
IN NEW YORK
Check out these tried-and-tested successes
for entertaining teens in the Big Apple
Sure enough, New York has plenty of reliable ways to keep the kids
entertained, but what do the children really want to do? With two
teens to amuse, we (mum and dad) hunted down the must-do family
experiences that wouldn’t break the bank — with some surprise hits.
Case in point: we all preferred the slick new EDGE OBSERVATION DECK
at Hudson Yards to the classic Empire State Building experience.
For one, tickets are cheaper (from $31 [£23] per person, compared
to $36 [£27]) and kids love the glass floor 100 storeys above ground.
Plus, the 360-degree views are superlative and feature the Empire
State Building itself. Book in half an hour before sunset to catch the
changing light across the city. edgenyc.com
NEW YORK FERRIES are just as scenic as the expensive cruises
around Liberty Island, yet they cost the same as the subway ($2.75
[£2]), and passengers under 1.1m go free. We hopped on one at the
East 34th Street pier and got off in Dumbo. Zigzagging boardwalks
link together beaches, bandstands and antique JANE’S CAROUSEL ,
with cinematic Manhattan views. After a whirl on the wooden horses,
we sat outside the TIME OUT MARKET with tacos and watched locals
sashay past with their designer dogs. ferry.nyc janescarousel.com
timeout.com/newyork
The CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY runs 90-minute family tours
around the area they call Turtle Pond from $5 (£3.75) per family (two
adults, up to four children), where staff share their knowledge of all
Mum and
things reptilian, including the resident red-eared terrapins. When the
Dad travelled
with two
girls got weary, we settled down on a bench in STRAWBERRY FIELDS to
daughters, aged watch buskers play The Beatles’ songs. centralparknyc.org
13 and 11 We also strolled the HIGH LINE to LITTLE ISLAND, the floating
pleasure park at Pier 54 that opened in 2021. The response? Meh. But
we then hit the vintage stores of CHELSEA and design market ARTISTS
& FLEAS , and an hour flew by as we sifted through costume jewellery,
novelty tees, sports memorabilia and licence plates, rounded off with
huge slices at STELLA’S PIZZA . stellaspizza110.com
Of all the sporting events in the US, one of the most hallowed is
baseball at YANKEE STADIUM, with tickets from $10 (£7.50). Don’t know
the rules? No matter: a Yankees game is as much about the vibe as the
sport. Feel the buzz of the fans, tuck into some hotdogs and watch the
IMAGES: JULIAN MACKLER; GETTY; ALAMY
sun sink behind the bleachers. mlb.com/yankees ELLEN HIMELFARB
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ba.com washingtonsquarehotel.com
Rooms at the M Social Hotel Times Square New York start at $112 (£84), room
Þ°millenniumhotels.com
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SMART TRAVELLER
INSIDE GUIDE
ALICANTE
Head to the colourful coastal city for art galleries full of Spanish
masterpieces, quirky cocktail bars and revered local rice dishes
In recent years, Alicante has been busy recasting itself as Save room for dessert at nearby ice cream shop
a food and drink hotspot. Pioneering chefs are breathing BORGONESSE , which sells an exquisite turrón ice cream
new life into age-old ingredients, while a fascinating made with origin-protected nougat from nearby Jijona.
wine route and chic inner-city bars are helping to Afterwards, sip mint-stuffed mojitos from a teapot at
promote the award-winning local wine industry. Add EL COSCORRÓN, a jazz bar on Calle Tarifa, wall to wall with
to this a medieval old town, beautiful waterfront and graffiti. grupocesaranca.com borgonesse.com
sweeping beach, and Alicante is rightfully taking its One of Alicante’s newest boutique hotels, the adults-
place as one of Spain’s most exciting coastal cities. only CASA ALBEROLA is housed inside a beautifully
Any trip should start in SANTA CRUZ , Alicante’s oldest restored neoclassical building. Its minimalist suites
and most beautiful neighbourhood. It’s a labyrinth of include deep freestanding bathtubs and magnificent
steep steps and intricately tiled homes hidden in the views of the marina. Here, you can roll out of bed onto
cliffs of Mount Benacantil. Scale the narrow, flower- the city’s EXPLANADA DE ESPAÑA , a 600-metre-long
scented streets until you reach the MIRADOR DE SANTA waterfront promenade lined with artisan stalls and
CRUZ , a viewpoint that takes in the 16th-century fortress al fresco cocktail bars such as SOHO MAR . Be sure to
CASTILLO DE SANTA BÁRBARA and the blue-domed swing by PERET, a kiosk that’s been serving horchata (a
CONCATEDRAL DE SAN NICOLÁS . The neighbourhood is sweet drink made with tiger nuts) for almost a century.
also home to MACA (Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de casaalberolahotel.com sohoalicante.com
Alicante), fi lled with 20th-century Spanish masterpieces The marina is also where you’ll fi nd family-owned
by the likes of Dalí and Picasso. Nearby is the MUSEO DE DÁRSENA . All the rice dishes here are excellent, but the
HOGUERAS , where exhibits celebrate the Bonfi res of San arroz con gambeta y calamar, served with a prawn head
Juan, Alicante’s biggest street fiesta, which takes place emulsion and fresh-off-the-boat squid, steals the show.
each summer. concatedralalicante.com maca-alicante.es From there, sample some of Alicante’s most exciting
A 10-minute walk north takes you to the MERCADO wines at URBAN WINE SHOP & BAR , a relaxed cafe-style
CENTRAL , where more than 300 stalls sell everything from hangout where you can try before you buy, over platters
enormous olives and cured legs of ham to giant wheels of locally sourced cheese and meats. If you’re keen to
of manchego cheese. EL PALÉ , located on the lower floor, discover more of the local vineyards and bodegas, follow
serves the best home-smoked fish and cold meat platters the RUTA DEL VINO on a self-guided tour through the
in the city, including rosemary-smoked sardines and oak- Alicante province, or join an organised wine-tasting trip.
smoked duck. On Saturday afternoons, locals flock to the darsena.com urbanwine.es rutadelvinodealicante.com
market’s surrounding streets (make a beeline for PLAZA But it would be remiss to visit Alicante and not enjoy its
25 DE MAYO and CALLE POETA QUINTANA) for a tapas crawl most prized asset: the coast. Hop on the hour-long ferry
that, if you pace yourself, can see you through to the early from the city centre to TABARCA , a mile-long island that
hours. mercado-central-alicante.negocio.site once served as a refuge for Berber pirates. Alicantinos
If you’d rather settle in for dinner, make a reservation flock here in the summer to snorkel or paddleboard the
at CÉSAR ANCA , a gastro bar focusing on creative sharing pristine coves before heading to MAR AZUL for its legendary
plates such as squid filled with mushroom ragout, and caldero — a dish of garlicky rockfish stew and rice.
grilled liver, served with peach and dark chocolate. marazultabarca.com alicanteturismo.com JESSICA VINCENT
LIKE A LOCAL OLLETA DE TRIGO COCA AMB TONYINA ARROZ CON PATA
César Anca’s favourite This is a meat stew
originating from the
I love this dish because it
reminds me of the city’s
Y MORRO
This is my favourite
local dishes interior villages of the Hogueras festival, where local rice dish. The
Alicante province. It it’s a popular snack. It’s a moist pig’s trotter and
The chef moved from contains pork ribs, pulses, type of empanada made snout combined with
Madrid to Alicante
vegetables and wheat. with tuna, onions, pine ÌiwÀ}À>ÃvÀVi
in 1997 to open
Bar Guillermo, a family- nuts and dried anise. My give it a great texture
his award-winning
restaurant, La Barra owned restaurant behind favourite is from Horno >`y>ÛÕÀ°,>Vì
de César Anca. He the central market, serves Rafelet, a bakery that uses Pla has mastered it.
shares his favourite the city’s best version. a recipe dating back to restaurante
local plates barguillermo.es 1932. horno-rafelet.es racodelpla.com
IMAGES: STOCKFOOD; ALAMY
SMART TRAVELLER
Shoppers browse the stalls along

Explanada de España
CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Horchata,
a drink made from tiger nuts; view of
Santa Bárbara Castle from the Santa
Cruz neighbourhood; ornate tiling
around a doorway in Santa Cruz
March 2022 29

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SMART TRAVELLER
Cyclists and runners

in Richmond Park
BELOW: Herd of red and
fallow deer in Richmond Park
S TAY AT H O M E
RICHMOND
Historic parks, lavish houses and epic Thames views
abound in one of London’s most eclectic corners
Why go Where to eat DON’T MISS

Just 20 minutes by train from bustling In Richmond town centre, Richmond
central London, the elegant borough of Thai Kitchen serves up delicious
Richmond upon Thames feels a world home-cooked Thai food. Dishes
A stroll along the 21-mile
away with its boutique shops, age- include garlic salt squid, Thai ‘train stretch of the Thames Path
old pubs and grand, historic houses fried rice’ with chicken and egg (a from Barnes to Hampton
tucked away in sprawling grounds. The dish traditionally cooked and served
headline attraction is Kew Gardens, on trains) and khua kling stir fry with Court, which passes through
but there are plenty more experiences Auntie’s homemade spicy chilli paste. Richmond. Expect a slide show
on offer: spot stags in Richmond Park, richmondthaikitchen.uk
browse the jewellers and gelaterias
of life by the river: cyclists,
around pretty Richmond Green or We like swans, ramblers, rowers and
hike up to Richmond Hill for sweeping The Roebuck, a friendly pub on houseboats moored along the
views of the river. If you prefer to Richmond Hill. It sits just above the
admire the Thames up close, strike out Terrace Gardens, which drop down banks. Make time for pit stops
on the Thames Path — an easy, scenic to Petersham Meadows and offer for ice cream, coffee or a drink
ramble along the water’s edge that spectacular views across the river
passes weeping willows and pastures. — the only view in England protected
at a pub overlooking the water.
visitrichmond.co.uk by an Act of Parliament. Book ahead nationaltrail.co.uk
for a traditional Sunday roast (the nut
What to do roast wellington is an excellent meat-
One of London’s eight Royal Parks, free option). greeneking-pubs.co.uk
Richmond Park covers an area of
2,500 acres and is best known for its Where to stay
population of around 600 red and Revamped in June 2021, the Richmond
fallow deer. The park is also home Harbour Hotel & Spa sits just a stick’s
to thousands of ancient trees, which throw from the park. It’s the perfect
support a range of rare fungi, birds, escape for those looking to recharge:
beetles and bats. Elsewhere, don’t miss the renovations mean there’s now a
17th-century Ham House and Gardens. new HarSPA & Club, kitted out with
Created by the Duke and Duchess of a state-of-the-art gym, spin studio
IMAGES: ALAMY; GETTY
Lauderdale, it’s one of the grandest and a 20-metre pool. It also offers
Stuart properties in the UK and can a new Sleep Retreat Experience,
be explored on a tour that takes in created in collaboration with The
its superb collection of paintings, White Company. From £140, B&B.
furniture and textiles. harbourhotels.co.uk
royalparks.org.uk nationaltrust.org.uk MARIA PIERI
March 2022 31
SMART TRAVELLER
Floating guava
market in Bangladesh
T H E WO R D
A HELPING HAND
Susan E. Gibson has been involved in the non-profit sector for more
than 35 years. She offers her tips for responsible voluntourism
WHERE DID YOU FIRST VOLUNTEER AND emergencies and disaster situations, the best
WHAT WAS IT LIKE? way to help is often just to donate to those
Haiti was the first destination I travelled who are best equipped to do so.
to with the sole intent to volunteer. I was
interested to learn how wealthier countries WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO CONTINUE TRAVELLING
were supporting those with fewer resources. THE WORLD AS A VOLUNTEER?
But getting reliable information about When I heard about the success of Grameen
programmes operating internationally Bank in Bangladesh, I immediately set my
30 years ago was a challenge, and it turned sights on going there to learn about how
out that the organisation was an evangelical small loans were making positive change to
mission. I was uncomfortable that the millions of poor women. I was fortunate that
missionaries were carrying out activities the experience I had as a volunteer evolved
that didn’t involve the local residents in the into a career in microfinance consulting.
planning process and moved on after a month.
WHERE ARE SOME OF THE MOST MEMORABLE PLACES
WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS YOU’VE TRAVELLED AS A VOLUNTEER?
ABOUT VOLUNTOURISM? Travelling to Sheikhupura in the Punjab, Pakistan,
People thinking the desire to help is enough, and that watching Nasira Habib, a grassroots educator at Khoj,
‘popping in’ to volunteer for a few hours is helpful. There teaching girls who had never had the opportunity to read
might be a feel-good factor for the volunteer, but it does was uplifting. Seeing Kennedy Odede at Shining Hope
little to help. For example, there are extensive studies For Communities (SHOFCO) in action in Kibera, Nairobi,
that indicate volunteering in orphanages in Cambodia Kenya, working with local residents to provide potable
exacerbates the problem, since well-intentioned water and access to education for girls was inspiring.
volunteers can be viewed as cash cows and the children Susan E. Gibson is author of How to be an Amazing
don’t benefit from a brief visit. Additionally, in Volunteer Overseas. Barlow Books, £15.99.
SUSAN’S TOP TIPS FOR VOLUNTEERING
START LOCALLY DO YOUR RESEARCH BE RESPECTFUL

IMAGE: GETTY
First get experience of issues closer to home. There Devote time to learning about some of thousands of Whether overseas or in a local community,
are many opportunities at local soup kitchens, drop-in grassroots leaders working around the world. Go with it’s important to remember that you’re a guest
centres serving indigenous people and refugees, and the intent of learning, not helping. Learning from and at a non-governmental organisation (NGO), so be
after-school programmes supporting young people. partnering with local leaders will have the most impact. inquisitive, adaptable and courteous.
March 2022 33
SMART TRAVELLER
K IT L I S T
WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY
Take your photography to the next level this year with the best
gear for capturing animals in the wild. Words: Nori Jemil
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5
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just what’s required when a fi lters add contrast to
cheetah’s flying past. The 4K skies and remove water
full-frame video is ideal for reflections. By attaching the
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March 2022 37
SMART TRAVELLER
NOTES FROM AN AUTHOR // LIZZIE POOK
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Home to milky, turquoise seas and wild, red landscapes, the Kimberley Coast
is shaped by hair-raising tales of the hunt for treasured pearl shells
I
t didn’t take long for the red dirt to find unearth their quarry. Just like with America’s
its way under my fingernails. As we drove Gold Rush, the lure of the valuable pearl shell
the unsealed bush track — dodging wild — for it was the ‘mother of pearl’ shell and
donkeys, bath-sized potholes and scavenging not the pearl itself that was initially prized
eagles — I picked it out carefully and crushed — drew all strata of society to Broome.
it like confetti into my palm. Glancing out Colonists, convicts, whalers, merchant
of the window at spindly gums and bristling seamen and immigrant workers all gave this
swathes of speargrass, the high sun cast remote township a rich, swaggering texture.
bold, black shadows onto the road. Little did I Crews would push their wooden luggers
know, this red-dust land would have me in its through mangrove swamps and out to sea,
thrall for the next 10 years. the jagged reefs scraping the bottom of
The Dampier Peninsula — a pyramid- their hulls. They’d spend weeks out on their
shaped landmass that pierces the ocean off boats among rip tides and swirling currents,
Australia’s northwest Kimberley coast — is descending to the seabed in claustrophobic
simply crawling with stories. From dinosaur hardhat diving suits and lead boots. With
footprints and Aboriginal creation myths netted bags strung around their necks they’d
to fabled shipwrecks and tales of adventure, bring up piles of weed-encrusted pearl shells,
hubris and peril, there’s history woven into which would be cleaned and shipped off to
this landscape. America and Europe to be turned into buttons
When I think of that first journey now, the and pretty pistol handles. ‘Diver’s paralysis’
memories come in technicolour, shifting like (now known as ‘the bends’) meant men were
mirrors in a kaleidoscope: cliffs as red as old, often pulled up injured, their eyes popping
dried blood sheering into milky, turquoise out. And they faced other dangers of the deep,
seas; sharks, snubfin dolphins and crocs too — stalking saltwater crocodiles, deadly sea
patrolling the mangroves while jabiru storks snakes and whales, whose clumsy flukes could
leave fork-like prints on the beaches. become entangled in their air lines.
But while the peninsula’s natural beauty A poignant monument now overlooks the
is sublime, it’s a hidden human history water near Broome: a statue of a pregnant
that lured me back to this part of Western Aboriginal pearl diver bursting from the sea
Australia. Because this is a land of pearls; a with a shell in her palms. It’s a stark reminder
place where, centuries ago, men walked the that early pearling was an exploitative
seabed and prised from the sands shells the industry, one that relied on the forced labour
size of soup plates. In the late 19th century, of indentured and indigenous workers
the township of Broome — due south of (even pregnant women, favoured for their
Dampier along that red-dirt bush track — supposedly increased lung capacity).
became the nucleus of a dangerous and often If you ever do find your way to Broome, hire
brutal industry. Ever since I first held a freshly a car and take the trip up the long bush road
harvested pearl — shimmering like an eyeball between Dampier and Broome. Pay a visit to
between my fingertips — I had to learn more
`űġäġĩŅĆäŉĩùőĂÁőƇŅŉő the Beagle Bay community (it’s respectful
about these treasures. Over time, this interest journey shift like mirrors in to call ahead before visiting) and knock on
became an obsession — one that’s had me the door to the Sacred Heart Church. Step
ploughing through dusty museum archives, ÁėÁěäĆàĩŉÚĩłä͢ÚěĆƄŉÁŉŅäàÁŉ inside, and you’ll find the most exquisite altar.
walking the landscape with guides and,
ultimately, writing a novel inspired by the
old, dried blood sheering into Built by hand by local Aboriginal women, it’s
inlaid with thousands of shimmering mother
ILLUSTRATION: JACQUI OAKLEY
stories I uncovered. milky, turquoise seas; sharks, of pearl shells — a dazzling glimpse of the
Historically, humans have put their lives treasures found on these shores, but most
on the line for pearls — just as they have for ŉĢŖÙƇĢàĩěłĂĆĢŉÁĢàÚŅĩÚŉ importantly, a reminder of the buried stories
gold, diamonds and other treasures snatched
from the earth. But in Broome and along the
patrolling the mangroves they hold within them.
Dampier Peninsula, pearl-diving crews took while storks leave fork-like Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter, by Lizzie Pook,
their pursuit to the extreme, battling storms, is published by Mantle, £14.99
sharks and decompression sickness to prints on the beaches @lizziepook
March 2022 39
SMART TRAVELLER
MEET THE ADVENTURER
GÉRALDINE FASNACHT
Nicknamed the ‘bird woman’ for her pioneering wingsuit flights, the Swiss
adventurer has blazed a trail of world firsts, from the Alps to Antarctica
Where’s the best place to wingsuit?

I love a beautiful mountain — to jump and draw a line of
flight over a ridge or glacier, to fly over forests of different
colours or seracs [columns of glacial ice]. I think my
home, Verbier, is the best playground on Earth. I can
do everything I love in nearly every season, be it base
jumping, with or without a wingsuit, freeriding with my
snowboard down steep lines or flying my ultralight plane
to glaciers. But I’ve had been lucky enough to go on some
incredible trips, too: an expedition on Canada’s remote
Baffin Island with a film crew, and the first ever wingsuit
flights in places like Iran and Antarctica.
Are the thrills worth the risks?

If you’re a good wingsuit pilot, it can be less risky than
driving on a motorway. The more experience you get, the
better you’re going to be — that’s my advice to anyone
looking to start. But don’t attempt challenging jumps
too soon — you’ll burn your wings. The most important
thing in this sport is to know your limits.
What are you most proud of?

Opening my wingsuit on the first base jump in
Antarctica in 2009. It took my team two years to prepare
What inspired you to get into extreme sports? and get the permits. Then, to get the best conditions, we
By the time I was 15, my idols were Steve Klassen and spent two months completely isolated at the bottom of
Gilles Voirol; I had posters on my bedroom wall. They the Holtanna Peak on a glacier in Queen Maud Land, just
were strong and fast snowboarding champions, always four of us. Finally, we got lucky with the weather.
finding aesthetic lines on the mountain. I knew then I
wanted to ride like them on the Bec des Rosses, the Swiss What’s it like jumping off the Matterhorn wearing
peak home to the most extreme skiing and boarding just a wingsuit?
competition in the world, Verbier Xtreme. [Géraldine won I’d dreamed about flying off this iconic summit since
the competition in 2002, 2003 and 2009.] 2009, when I first rode the east face with my snowboard.
But at that time, wingsuit technology wasn’t advanced
When did your passion for wingsuit flying begin? enough for the complexities of the exit point. I never
I did my first wingsuit flight in 2001, in Voss, Norway. I thought my generation would be the one to see this
was completely focused on my exit from the plane — how through. I flew new prototypes and collected data about
to navigate the door at the back, how to hold my body my jumps with a GPS tracker, helping develop the glide
in the air. There was a lot to think about. But when I of the suits, training hard to get perfect starts with
jumped, I just had the feeling of flying like a bird. It was my wingsuit until, finally, I was ready to summit the
so intense that I just flew and flew, enjoying the view, and Matterhorn in 2014.
forgot to turn to land back at the airport!
What’s next?
How did you prepare for this? I’m trying to be the best mum I can to my son, Odin.
I started skydiving in 1998 when I was 18 years old with I want to help him find his own passion, but I’m also
a tandem jump. As soon as I landed, I wanted to jump sharing my love for the mountains with him. This year is
again. I started the process for getting my own skydiving all about just enjoying flying and riding in my mountains
licence straight away. In 2001, I did my first base jump [a [around Verbier]. There’s still so much to do.
IMAGE: LIONEL FAVE
parachute jump from a fixed object] — I really loved the INTERVIEW: FARIDA ZEYNALOVA RE AD THE FULL
INTERVIEW
feeling of starting from a solid place and then simply
ONLINE AT
feeling the air accelerating in my ears. When I switched Géraldine Fasnacht is a freeride snowboarder, base jumper and NATIONAL
from highway bridges to mountains, I realised I was in wingsuit pilot based in Switzerland. GEOGR APHIC.
my element, surrounded by nature. geraldinefasnacht.com @geraldinefasnacht CO.UK/ TR AVEL
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ONLINE
W H AT ’ S O N L I N E
EXPERT TIPS FOR WINTER

CAMPERVANNING IN THE UK
Hit the road in a campervan this season to embrace the elements and beat the crowds
at some of the country’s most beautiful destinations. Words: Sarah Barrell
“There’s something very special about setting I’m cold and wet, muddy or snow blind is the “There are great campsites at Coniston
out from a warm van in the depths of winter reassurance I need to set off,” he says. and in Keswick [in the Lake District] that are
to explore beautiful, empty places,” says One of the obvious attractions of off- open all year. For evening entertainment, I
Martin Dorey. “When I’m suited and booted season camper exploration is that you can recommend the climbing wall in Kendal.”
and ready for a bike ride through the forest hit the tourist hotspots, minus the hordes. Meanwhile in Cornwall, the winter swells
or a walk along snowy ridges, I’m truly in love Out of season, destinations such as Cornwall, attract a few hardcore surfers but none of the
with winter camping.” Having written seven the Cotswolds and the Lake District are crowds of recent summers. “Ayr Holiday Park
books on campervan travel, Martin has spent free from bumper-to-bumper traffic and in St Ives is a fantastic campsite that’s open all
the past few years travelling the backroads campsites don’t need to be booked months year. You can check the waves at Porthmeor
of the UK and France in his camper for his in advance. And what’s more, all those with just a peek out of the van window,”
Take The Slow Road series. “Knowing that my postcard-perfect beaches, lakes and rolling says Martin. READ MORE ONLINE NOW AT
little cocoon on wheels will be waiting when hills are practically deserted. NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.CO.UK/TRAVEL
TOP
STORIE S
Here’s what you’ve
been enjoying on the CYCLING FOOD CELEBRATIONS
website this month What makes the Isle of Man 10 of the best hot cocktails New year celebrations from
one of Britain’s best spots? inspired by travel around the world
Combining challenging climbs From Polish mulled beer to festive How other cultures and countries
with unforgettable scenery alcoholic Mexican punch mark the beginning of a new year
ONLINE
E U R O P E ’ S B E S T D E S T I N AT I O N S B E YO N D T H E
T R AV EL S EC T I O N
F O R RO L L E R S K AT I N G
A rollerskating renaissance is well underway across Europe, fuelled by people
spending more time outdoors, taking up new sports and avoiding public transport
during the pandemic. Words: Sarah Richie
Pre-pandemic, one of London’s oldest skate explains, “Social media definitely sparked
shops, Skate Attack, converted five pairs of the trend. Instagram and TikTok are full
ice skates into rollerskates every day. Now, of skating content.” The trend is booming
that’s jumped to 50. Roller Nation, a rink in across Europe, too. Marja Zilcher, founder
north London, reports a similar explosion of of Rebel Rollers Helsinki, says, “We’ve seen
interest. In 2020, 10% of visitors owned their a huge increase in skaters — and it’s an
own skates — that’s since rocketed to 70%. international trend according to the online
The rink now opens on Mondays and Sunday skating groups I’m in.” From skating along
afternoons to keep up with the influx of new a disused railway in Helsinki to pirouetting
participants. around Berlin’s old airport, we take a tour
Instructor Nele Van Bogaert, who of the best European cities for rollerskating. | S P A C E |
founded London’s Isle of Skating school, READ THE TOP FIVE DESTINATIONS ONLINE
Eight must-see stargazing
events in 2022
The year ahead offers many
delights for sky-watchers,
including two blood moons, a pair
of partial solar eclipses and
multiple planetary meetings
| E N V I R O N M E N T |
IMAGES: GETTY; ALAMY; PETROS GIANNAKOURIS, AP; ISRAEL PETERS;
Tackling the climate crisis: five

essential books to read
Post COP26, this mix of visionary
ROLLER NATION; CHRIS BRINLEE JR, VISIT GREENLAND
thinking and practical manifestos

make up a reading list that takes
you beyond the greenwash
| S C I E N C E |
How cutting-edge UK
engineering is revolutionising
underwater exploration
The National Oceanography
Centre’s fleet of autonomous
submarines is a step forward
on the road to net-zero
S E A RC H F O R
N ATG E OT R AV E LU K
FAC E B O O K
I N S TAG R A M
T WITTER
GREENLAND INTERVIEW EUROPE PINTEREST

Is this the world’s latest My life in food: Reggie Yates The seven best cities for flea
extreme sports mecca? The writer-director and Londoner market shopping
The island is a natural playground discusses his Ghanaian heritage Find everything from mid-
to get the adrenaline going and love of fish and chips century furniture to vintage lights
March 2022 43
WEEKENDER
BRITTANY
The French region’s Emerald Coast is a treasure
trove of stylish resort towns, seafaring history and
rugged headland walks with spectacular views
Words: Carolyn Boyd
E
merald by name, emerald by nature. beaches are overlooked by handsome villas,
It’s not hard to see how Brittany’s Côte and even today these towns make for a chic
d’Émeraude got its name: one glance getaway, full of smart boutiques and top-
at the startlingly green sea from Cancale to notch restaurants.
Cap Fréhel and all becomes clear. Peel away from the area’s genteel
In fact, the coast dominates much of life charms, and its wilder side reveals itself.
in this corner of northwest France, with its Easily accessed by ferry from the UK, the
hub, Saint-Malo, boasting a long history coastline is frayed with headlands that jut
of seafaring and exploration. It’s a place to into the Channel, offering heart-soaring
learn about corsairs and other pirates of the views from high above the sea. Travel
18th century. Meanwhile, across the Rance west — leaving the busier resorts behind
river, the towns of Dinard and Saint-Lunaire — and the Emerald Coast becomes wilder
hint at what came next: a period when the still, its beaches quieter, its headlands
area became popular for its elegant beach more windswept, home to little more than
resorts. Their superb golden-crescent lighthouses and colonies of seabirds.
TOP 5
Best beaches
PLAGE DE BON-SECOURS
Accessed via the ramparts
of Saint-Malo’s old town, this
popular beach has a tidal
swimming pool so you can
have a dip even when the tide
is way out. If it is, walk out
to the island of Grand-Bé to
admire its fort.
PLAGE DU PRIEURÉ
With its striped beach tents,
Dinard’s main beach can get
Historic quayside in Saint-Malo
crowded. Its second beach is
FROM LEFT: View from Pointe du
Grouin, near Cancale; looking a quieter as it’s a little further
across the beach at Saint-Malo vÀÌÜ°iÀi]ÞÕ½w`>
to the Fort National tidal pool and a brilliant view
of Saint-Malo across the bay.
PLAGE DE LONGCHAMP
DAY ONE COBBLES & CREPES This broad, golden-sand
beach outside Saint-Lunaire
MORNING AFTERNOON EVENING has medium-sized waves,
Start in Saint-Malo, rolling off Order of the day here is the Take a sunset stroll out along making it a great spot for
the ferry in time for breakfast galette bretonne, a buckwheat Saint-Malo’s seafront and past novice surfers. Book lessons
in the walled old town, a few crepe filled with a variety of local the seafront belle époque villas. with Emeraude Surf School.
minutes’ drive from the ferry port. produce. Café Breizh is the place When the tide is out, Plage de emeraudesurfschool.bzh
Park on the Quai Saint-Vincent, to sample it, washed down with a la Hoguette beach is a favourite
before wandering through the glass of traditional Breton cider. spot to try ‘sand yachting’ GRANDE PLAGE
18th-century gateway to Place Head off afterwards to browse across the shore. At high tide, The sleepy seaside town of
Chateaubriand for coffee and the other gourmet food shops however, the sea laps up against Saint-Cast-le-Guildo’s calling
croissants. Explore the ramparts in the Rue de l’Orme, including the sea wall concealing the card is this vast swathe of
of the old town; the views from La Maison du Beurre, with its beach entirely. Settle in for the sand, offering ample space to
IMAGES: TEDDY VERNEUIL-LEZBROZ; ALAMY; GETTY
atop these historic walls take in top-quality butters, cheeses evening at Hotel Les Charmettes, spread out on and enjoy the
the surrounding islets that appear and charcuterie. There’s also La set within two villas and with a peaceful setting. Make sure
at low tide then get swallowed by Maison du Sarrasin, home to a restaurant that looks out over to bring your own picnic.
the waves when the tide turns. At range of buckwheat products, the beach. Grab a window seat
the ramparts’ widest point, there and Le Bar à Babas, which stocks if you can — or, if it’s warm, sit ANSE DU CROC
are statues of the town’s seafaring various kinds of rum baba in jars. out on the front deck — and tuck Seek out this quiet little
heroes: characters who wrote From there, wander over to the into dishes from a varied menu beach on the north coast of
Saint-Malo’s history of exploration. incredible Épices Roellinger, that embraces Indian, Italian Cap Fréhel. It’s a favourite for
Among them is Jacques Cartier, a spice emporium created by and Thai cuisines. Consider paddling and pêche à pied
the first European to map Canada’s former chef Olivier Roellinger. staying the night, too, and bed ¼wÃ}vÌ½®]ÃÞÕ½
Saint Lawrence River. After you’ve Stock up here on a cornucopia of down in rooms with bold feature see locals cutting mussels
worked up an appetite, head back peppers, spices and condiments wallpapers and views of the sea or and razor clams from the
into the old town for lunch. from around the world. courtyard garden. rocks at low tide.
March 2022 45
MODELS - LEFT: TREELINE , RIGHT: NUMBER 2
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WEEKENDER
TOP 3
DAY TWO SEAFOOD & SUNSETS
Aquatic
adventures MORNING AFTERNOON EVENING
Head east to Cancale, 30 minutes Cut across the Rance River estuary For an early-evening aperitif, try
SAILING BY TALL SHIP along the coast, for a coffee on to Dinard, which hosts the annual Le Sunset Bar, a low-key affair set
Follow in the footsteps its bustling seafront. The town Dinard Festival of British Film. It’s in a cabin overlooking the tidal
of Saint-Malo’s illustrious is famous for its oysters — the not the town’s only connection to pool. Go for a kir breton: crème de
mariners and head out on farmers’ tractors trundle through the silver screen: Alfred Hitchcock cassis, calvados and cider. From
those emerald waves on a town before and after each used stately Villa Les Roche Brunes here, follow the path that runs
tall ship. There are a few to harvest. A great place to see the — perched above the beach here around the rocks of the Pointe du
choose from, but a trip on operation is from the Pointe du — as the model for the creepy Moulinet, with the sea thrashing
Le Renard, a 30-metre-long Hock viewpoint, perched above Bates Motel in his 1960 film Psycho. below you. It circles back into
replica of the 1812 ship the port. If the tide is out, you’ll be The villa is now a far-from-sinister the town centre, where you’ll
owned by corsair Robert able to see the frames on which art gallery that can be reached by find Ombelle. Chef Alexandre
Surcouf, is an thrilling the oysters grow stretching for a a pleasant stroll taking in views of Frin is at the helm of this superb
experience, especially mile out to sea. Head down to the elegant houses and the stunning restaurant and his dishes bring
when its great white sails Cancale Oyster Market to buy a coastline. The town’s connections together produce from the best
are billowing in the wind. plate of fresh bivalves from one of with the Master of Suspense are local farms and fishermen. Stay at
etoile-marine.com the stalls. Eat them with a squeeze further celebrated on Plage de the historic Castelbrac, a five-star
of lemon, then toss the shells on l’Écluse, where there’s a statue of hotel and spa that was originally
STANDUP the beach as you pick out the Hitchcock communing with some a natural history museum. There
PADDLEBOARDING silhouette of Mont Saint-Michel on birds — a nod to another of his are photos on the walls here of
Try your hand at standup the horizon. To learn more about iconic films, The Birds. Stay for a dip scientist Jean-Baptiste Charcot,
paddleboarding on the this fascinating industry, book a in the sea, but if the tide’s far out, who did research here before
gentle River Rance, which tour of the oyster beds with local head to the other end of the beach leading a French Antarctic
yÜÃ`ÜvÀ>À`Ì outfit Ostreika. to the tidal swimming pool. expedition in the early 1900s.
ÌiiìÛ>ÌÜv>]
as well as in the many pretty
coves near Saint-Malo,
whose calm, shallow waters
are great for beginners.
supequilibre.com.
SEA KAYAKING
To get up close to the islets
and islands in Mont Saint-
Michel Bay, take a sea kayak
out on the water with Balade
Kayak 35. Stop at the many
beaches for a dip, and admire
the elegant belle époque
facades from the water.
baladekayak35.com
IMAGE: GETTY
RIGHT: Enjoying freshly

harvested oysters, a
speciality of Cancale
March 2022 47
WEEKENDER
ENTENTE CORDIALE
It’s not only Dinard’s

film festival that
demonstrates a love
of Britain. There’s a
red telephone box
near the town’s casino,
as well as an English-
speaking church, St
Bartholomew’s, and the
Route du Rock festival
each August, devoted
to British and US bands
Surfers ride the waves

at Plage de Longchamp,
outside Saint-Lunaire
THREE TO TRY COASTAL WALKS
Part of the GR34 walking trail, which runs along all 1,700 miles of Brittany’s
shoreline, the Emerald Coast takes in numerous scenic headlands. Try these
rambles for some exceptional views
MORE INFO:
Café Breizh. breizhcafe.fr
CAP FRÉHEL TO FORT LA LATTE the way to the headland brim with gorse and
La Maison du Sarrasin.
Strike out along the wilder stretch of the bluebells and, once you get over the headland,
lamaisondusarrasin.fr
Emerald Coast to its westernmost headland, the drama of the coastline unfurls. Enjoy a Épices Roellinger. epices-roellinger.fr
Cap Fréhel. Start at the car park in the north picnic while admiring the views west over Plage Hotel Les Charmettes.
and walk over heather-speckled moorland to de la Garde and Plage du Port Hue. As the tide hotel-les-charmettes.com
the Phare de Cap Fréhel lighthouse, dating from comes in, the golden beaches, strewn with Ostreika. ostreika.com
1950, and then on to the original, 17th-century seaweed, are engulfed by green sea. The walk Dinard Festival of British Film.
lighthouse, which has a more precipitous takes around 45 minutes. `>À`viÃÌÛ>`Õw°vÀ
Ombelle. restaurant-ombelle.fr
setting, overlooking a raucous seabird colony.
Castelbrac. castlebrac.fr
From here, take the path south through the SAINT-BRIAC-SUR-MER TO PLAGE DU PORT HUE
Brittany Tourism. brittanytourism.com
bracken towards Fort la Latte, a medieval Taking roughly an hour, this walk leads you
castle that clings to the cliffs, complete with a through the former fishing village of Saint- HOW TO DO IT
drawbridge, turreted tower and portcullis. The Briac-sur-Mer, with its white-shuttered stone Brittany Ferries sails overnight to
circular walk takes around two hours, but allow cottages and floral gardens. Eventually you’ll Saint-Malo from Portsmouth most
IMAGE: TEDDY VERNEUIL-LEZBROZ
extra time to explore the fort. lefortlalatte.com reach the Plage du Port Hue, a tight crescent of evenings, with an average crossing time
sand sheltered by rocks. From there, follow the of 11 hours. brittany-ferries.co.uk
SAINT-LUNAIRE TO POINTE DE LA path out to the Pointe de la Haye and over to Castelbrac, in Dinard, has doubles from
€271 (£230).
GARDE-GUÉRIN the pretty Plage du Perron. If it’s low tide, you
La Métairie du Vauhariot, in Cancale,
The beach at Saint-Lunaire is popular with can walk around the sand and rocks back to
has doubles from €140 (£119), B&B.
families and surfers, but hikers will love the Plage de la Salinette, backed by striking white Hotel le Manoir Saint Michel, on Cap
sinuous route out to Pointe de la Garde-Guérin, beach huts. From there, it’s on past the stately Fréhel, has doubles from €85 (£72).
which shelters the pretty Plage de la Garde Hôtel Le Nessay and on to the Plage du Bechet, castelbrac.com manoirstmichel.com
beach to the west. In spring, the pastures along where the bay is filled with small boats. metairie-du-vauhariot.com
Nantes,
the ideal destination for your holiday,
all year long!
Explore the city freely for 1, 2, 3 – or even 7 days.

Discovering Nantes is easy and economical with the PASS Nantes
www.levoyageanantes.fr — T. +33 272 640 479
LE VOYAGE À NANTES IS A LOCAL PUBLICLY FUNDED COMPANY WHOSE MISSION IS TO PROMOTE THE CULTURAL
ORGANISATION PUT IN PLACE BY THE TOWN OF NANTES AND MORE GENERALLY THE GREATER NANTES AREA.
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E AT
AZORES
A lush chain of volcanic islands in the Atlantic, the Portuguese archipelago is
shaped by the elements. So too is its cuisine, from rich, matured cheese to
wines made from grapes grown on ancient lava flows. Words: Audrey Gillan
IMAGES: MAURÍCIO ABREU; KYZER; AUDREY GILLAN; JORGE BLAYER GÓIS
T
he taste buds on the side of my mainland Portugal. There’s boiled corn with
tongue are tingling after eating São salt, tremoços (lupin beans), pickled sea
Jorge cheese. I wince; an apron- clad fennel, fiery chilli paste, vinegary fava beans
Gilberto Vieira laughs at my visceral reaction and wheat and corn bread, plus glasses of red
to the slice he cut for me in his grocery store. wine mixed with orange soda.
The room is packed with antique finds, Upstairs, in a time warp of a dining room,
chosen by Gilberto to give a flavour of what we tuck into alcatra, a spiced beef stew
life was like in the Azores in the years after slow-cooked in a clay pot. It’s the totemic
the Portuguese first discovered the islands dish of Terceira Island, one of nine volcanic
in 1427. A meal at Quinta do Martelo — an islands that make up the Azores archipelago,
ethnographical centre, restaurant and hotel, and reflects the evolution of ingredients
created over 32 years by Gilberto — begins and tastes here, as well as the history of
here at the counter, with petiscos (small the Portuguese who moved here from the
plates), which would’ve been eaten by the country’s mountainous north east.
settlers who crossed the 1,000 or so miles The early settlers on this archipelago
of Atlantic ocean, travelling west from — with its often-unforgiving landscape
Harvesting grapes at Vinhas dos Biscoitos
FROM LEFT: The city of Angra do Heroísmo,
Terceira; grilled lapas (limpets) with garlic, a
speciality of the Azores; Sabores Sopranos, a
restaurant serving Azorean cuisine on São Jorge
March 2022 51
EAT
6iÃÌÀÛiÌiÃ«iÃ
of Pico Island, thanks to a
moist, mild climate
— survived on bland, simple food. But when It’s not just the sea breeze that shapes A TASTE OF THE
Portugal embarked on the Age of Discovery Azorean produce; across the water, on São Azores
in the 15th century, they encountered new Jorge — the verdant isle with its eponymous
spices and foods, and docked their caravels cheese — it seems music plays a role too. TASCO ‘O PETISCA’, PICO ISLAND
(small sailing ships) at Azorean ports to Third-generation cheesemaker Manuel Go for the seafood here, whether it’s
replenish. Dishes here changed dramatically. Silveira tells me he plays music by Azorean cracas (barnacles) or tuna belly fried in
Suddenly, the local larder included sweet composer Francisco de Lacerda to his cows olive oil and garlic. There’s also caldo
potatoes, tomatoes, cinnamon, nutmeg, while milking them, insisting this improves de peixewÃÃÕ«®>àrroz de lapas
allspice and pepper. Winemaking, too, began the flavour of his Canada, a semi-hard variety «iÌÀVi®°ÀìÃÃiÀÌ]ÌÀÞÌičâÀi>
to flourish. aged for 60 days. “I treat them gently and «i>««iÜÌ>ÃÌv>`µÕiÕÀ
“When those early people arrived here, don’t use cattle dogs,” he says. “If the cows ÜiÛiÀÌiÌ«°/ÀiiVÕÀÃiÕV
it was like landing on the Moon,” says are stressed, the milk isn’t as good.” without wine, from €20 (£17). Avenida
Francisco Maduro-Dias, the grand master Dairy produce is a key feature on every Padre Nunes da Rosa 9950, Madalena
of the Confraria do Vinho Verdelho dos island in the Azores (Azorean butter — such
Biscoitos (a ‘brotherhood’ formed to promote as sweet, creamy Rainha do Pico — is the CANETA, TERCEIRA
the local wine). “They came from the Iberian best I’ve ever tasted). Cheese, too, has been a č}i`LiivV>À«>VV]Li>ÀÀÜÜÌ
Peninsula and were used to working with speciality of the islands for centuries, with toast and grilled lapas are among the
soil. But here it was mostly rocks with each island producing its own unique type. starters at Caneta, but it’s the locally
little topsoil. They brought with them a “I’ve been making cheese since I was a small reared Aberdeen Angus beef mains that
Mediterranean wine culture and they had to boy,” says Manuel. “I grew up with this.” are the highlight. They include alcatra,
adapt when they arrived, planting their vines While much of the Azores’ produce is tongue stew, liver with onion sauce, and
in cracks in rocks and lava.” deeply rooted in the land, it’s hard not to LiivVi`V>}ii°/ÀiiVÕÀÃi
Francisco, along with his some of his fellow overstate the importance of the sea. Over lunch without wine, from €19 (£16).
brothers, is guiding me through the vineyards lunch at Sabores Sopranos restaurant, co- restaurantecaneta.com
of Terceira, clustered near the sea beside the owner Carlos Ferreira exalts the islands’
town of Biscoitos. It’s here we meet winemaker tuna, as well as its other fish and seafood, PICO RESTAURANT, AZORES WINE
José Machado Sousa at his little adega (winery) including blackbelly rosefish, snapper, COMPANY, PICO ISLAND
where, on the edge of a lava flow overlooking forkbeard, cavaca dos Açores (a lobster Chefs José Diogo Costa and Angelina
the Atlantic, he nurtures his red wine, Pedro species) and locally revered limpets, known Pedra serve tasting menus with wine
do Lobo. as lapas. “We have two types of limpet,” «>À}Ã>ÀiÃÌ>ÕÀ>ÌÜÌÛiÜÃÛiÀ
IMAGE: MARTIN KAUFMANN
“My wine has two winemakers: me and the says Carlos. “Lapa brava is more orange, the Pico vineyards. These might feature
sea,” he says. This year, a series of storms and lapa mansa is more black. The secret when sliced lapas]y>i`ÜÌ>ÌÌiLÕÌÌiÀ]
high winds meant he had very little to bottle. cooking is to do it fast, and don’t let them with sea cabbage and sea beans; or
Other years — when the breeze is gentle, get too hard. Then we dress them with butter Ã>««iÀÃ>Ã]ÜÌVÀÃ«ÞwÃÃ
meaning the vines are brushed with sea salt, and garlic. Of course, my wife’s cooking [she’s >`VÀ>ìÀ°/iÃÝVÕÀÃi,V>`
not battered with it — he produces wine that’s the chef] makes all this excellent produce Raw menu with wine by the glass, costs
almost elemental in its flavour profile. really wonderful.” around €96 (£80). antoniomacanita.com
March 2022 53
EAT
FROM LEFT: Plate of bolos Dona Amélia

at Pastelaria O Forno; Azores Wine
Company, home to a striking modern
restaurant, winery and tasting room
Five food finds
FISH
Azorean seafood is fabulous when
eaten fresh. Species here include
tuna, blue jack mackerel, chub
mackerel, forkbeard After lunch, Carlos drives me past “The mountain plays an important role
and swordfish waterfalls, hydrangeas and ocean views to because it attracts the clouds, and it rains
Café da Fajã dos Vimes, a small coffee farm more,” says Felipe Rocha, manager and
and cafe. The business gets its name from co-founder of the Azores Wine Company.
WINE a geological hallmark of the Azores, fajãs: Felipe began to re-establish Pico’s vineyards
Azorean wine is fast being slopes formed from ancient lava flows that in 2014, long after they’d been decimated by
recognised for its quality. The once ran down to the sea. Exceptionally disease in the 19th century. Now he produces
vines here thrive in seemingly fertile, they were used by settlers to grow some of the best wine in Portugal, including
inhospitable terrain: cracks in yams, maize and vegetables. Three miles to Vinha dos Utras, at a cool €240 (£200) a
rocks and hardened lava, buffeted the north is volcanic lagoon Lagoa Fajã da bottle. Housed in a stunning building, the
by winds and storms Caldeira de Santo Cristo, the only place in the new winery, tasting room, restaurant and six
archipelago where palourde clams — a local chic studio apartments — moments from
delicacy — can be found. the sea, overlooking the vines — is part of
BOLO DONA AMÉLIA When we arrive at Café da Fajã dos Vimes, a network of vineyards on the island that’s
Made from sugar, malkana Dinah Nunes shows me around her family’s been protected as a UNESCO World Heritage
(similar to molasses), eggs, little coffee plantation in the back garden Site since 2004.
cornflour, cinnamon and butter, of their house. Coffee originally came to the “The ancient people say you should plant
these dense, spiced cakes are island from Brazil in the late 18th century vines where you can hear the crabs singing,”
a speciality from Pastelaria and thrived in the islands’ microclimate. says Felipe, as he opens a bottle of minerally
O Forno, on Terceira Island “Our coffee has a very fruity taste,” says Terrantez do Pico. “And this is where we have
Dinah. “It’s arabica, and it’s already very our adega. In Pico, an adega is much more
aromatic.” She picks up a rock and begins than just a winery — it’s where people produce
IMAGES: FRANCISCO NOGUEIRA; AUDREY GILLIAN
SHELLFISH to smash the reddish coffee beans that have wine by the sea, a place to get together. You
Look out for cracas, been laid out to dry in the sun. “Because don’t invite friends to your house, you invite
which contain sweet morsels temperatures are mild here, the taste is less them to the adega. And there’s always a place
of meat, and lapas, most often bitter. It’s soft, and there are fruity and floral for the old drunks to sleep.”
served grilled notes. It’s imperfect perfect coffee.” After making my through the delicious
Leaving São Jorge behind, I cross the sea tasting menu — with a wine to match every
to Pico Island, where I’m hoping for a clear course — I, too, bed down, at Felipe’s adega. In
DAIRY view of its eponymous, volcanic mountain the morning, I’m greeted by the sweet smell of
The wet Azorean climate (‘pico’ means ‘peak’). The Atlantic weather grapes mingling with the dry, stony scent of
means nutrient-rich grass, which has prevailed, however, and its summit is ancient lava warming in the sun. I walk down
results in wonderfully creamy ringed with mist. It’s bad news for me, but to the sea, watching it spray dramatically
cheese, butter, ghee, yoghurt for the island’s winemakers, an abundance of above the black rock, and, just for a minute, I
and ice cream cloud is a good thing. imagine the crabs singing.
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SLEEP
COPENHAGEN
When it comes to hotels, the design-focused Danish capital has it
all, from glamorous five-stars to futuristic pod hotels and eco-conscious
urban hangouts in the heart of the action. Words: Sarah Marshall
ALL RATES QUOTED ARE FOR STANDARD DOUBLES, ROOM ONLY,

UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED. IMAGES: LINE KLEIN; AWL IMAGES
It could be a trick of the soft Scandi light, but everything in Copenhagen seems
blessed with good looks. Immaculate royal palaces have dodged the ravages of
time, while modern pieces of architecture are daring to the extreme. The
accommodation is no exception either, with many of the city’s best hotels much
more than just somewhere to sleep. Bringing the past bang up to date, recent
openings include a converted Carlsberg malt house and a century-old post
office. Newer builds are equally head-turning — if only because of the
remarkably affordable rates. Defying Copenhagen’s pricey reputation, a new raft
of fun, quirky hostels has popped up in the past few years, too, from stackable
cabins to indoor tents. There’s also been a shift towards more sustainable stays,
with efficient, water-saving shower systems, vegan menus and eco materials all
part of the city’s drive to become carbon-neutral by 2025.
Best for nostalgics
NIMB
Bright, brash and irresistibly different, one
of the city’s most iconic properties has kept
visitors spellbound for more than a century.
A Moorish-style palace illuminated by
thousands of bulbs, Nimb blends perfectly
into the fantasy fairground of Tivoli Gardens.
Originally opened as a restaurant in 1909,
it’s always been a family business and the
focus on fine food remains strong. Thirty-
eight suites are divided between the original
building and a modern wing; older rooms
have fireplaces, bathtubs and quirky artefacts,
while later additions benefit from a vast
terrace. Indulge in afternoon teas served
beneath glittering chandeliers, or spring
forward several decades in the high-tech
wellness centre, kitted out with a wave-
simulator in the pool and a hypoxic
chamber for cross-fit training sessions.
ROOMS: DKK 2,902 (£332). nimb.dk
March 2022 57
SLEEP
Best for style-seekers

HOTEL SANDERS
Embrace the Danish obsession of hygge at this
boutique hotel, where flames flicker in open
fireplaces and shelves are stocked with good
books. Owned by a former ballet dancer, the
venue attracts a local crowd of creatives, who
you’ll find chatting away in the low-lit bar. The
54 rooms range from spacious apartments to
compact singles inspired by the train cabins
of golden-era travel. Book the property’s
private wooden boat for sightseeing tours
along Nyhavn canal, with its famous row of
coloured houses. Alternatively, borrow a bike
to explore the neighbourhood, home to the
Royal Theatre and the Royal Danish Opera.
ROOMS: DKK 2,107 (£241). hotelsanders.com
Best for theatregoers

SCANDIC FALKONER
Copenhagen’s answer to the West End,
fashionable Frederiksberg has a colourful,
theatrical past. Since 1958, the Falkoner
Center has hosted a roll call of stage greats;
look out for posters of Ella Fitzgerald and
Judy Garland hanging from the walls of
this 334-room hotel attached to the original
venue. Inspired by retro music halls, the
bar-lounge is decorated with vanity lamps
and lightbox readographs. Rooms are modern
and comfortable, and the top floors command
exceptional views. Pretty Frederiksberg
Gardens is only a 10-minute walk away.
ROOMS: DKK 787 (£90). scandichotels.com
SLEEP
Best for fashionistas

VILLA COPENHAGEN
A much-loved landmark given a new lease
of life, the Danish capital’s former Central
Post and Telegraph Head Office is one of the
glitziest new additions to a sparkling luxury
hotel scene. Built in 1912, a few footsteps
from Central Station, nostalgia radiates from
Villa Copenhagen’s wooden staircases and
grand doorways, and the 390 rooms cut an
equally fine figure. Dress sharp for dinner at
contemporary brasserie Kontrast and pack
a few designer two-pieces to pose beside the
rooftop pool. Breakfast features pastries and
breads baked on site by a former Noma chef.
ROOMS: DKK 1,993 (£228). villacopenhagen.com
IMAGES: JESPER RAIS RAISFOTO WWW.RAISFOTO.DK; STINE CHRISTIANSEN
March 2022 59
SLEEP
Best for romantics

HOTEL D’ANGLETERRE
Hosting travellers for more than 200 years, this
five-star icon is the city’s finest address, with
crystal chandeliers and marble-floored halls. It’s
primed for a period drama, although modern
touches — such as a glamorous Michelin-star
restaurant, superb spa and indoor pool — mean
the 92-room property never feels old fashioned.
Book a balcony suite overlooking cobbled
Kongens Nytorv square and pack your finest
wardrobe to sip cocktails at the high-end bar,
Balthazar, which has 160 varieties of Champagne.
ROOMS: DKK 4,974 (£569). dangleterre.com
äŉőùĩŅÙääŅÙŖƄŉ Best for eco-warriors Best for bargain hunters

HOTEL OTTILIA BRYGGEN GULDSMEDEN STEEL HOUSE
Carlsberg has been quenching Danish thirsts since The latest opening from the Danish eco chain is one of This slick, streamlined hostel strikes a healthy balance
1847, and southwest of the centre, its original red-brick Copenhagen’s most sustainable hotels. Beds are laid between style and substance. Once home to the
brewery is undergoing a transformation to become a with linen made from non-toxic materials and showers Danish Union of Metalworkers, the building clings to
new neighbourhood of shops and restaurants. Spread use a system based on NASA technology to reduce its industrial past: bare concrete walls, steel panels
>VÀÃÃÌÜ`ÕÃÌÀ>LÕ`}Ã]ÌÃÃÌiwÀÃÌÌi water consumption by 50 to 90%. But shrinking waste and exposed pipework dominate the design. Despite
to open on site, themed around its beer-brewing doesn’t mean compromising on comfort. Styled with the steely aesthetic, the place is far from austere and
bloodline. Inside, wooden wall panels have been bamboo and draped in plush fabrics, rooms have service is anything but mechanical. Dorms (including
reconstructed as benches and old malt hoppers a dreamy, boho feel, while breakfast is an organic >ÜiÞ«Ì®>ÀiwÌÌi`ÜÌÃ«>Vi>}i«`Ã]
decorate the bar. Check-ins are done in the bar while extravaganza, with highlights including blueberry salad while a selection of small doubles and singles suit
a mixologist prepares welcome cocktails. Stick around and homemade yoghurt. The Sole Factory bar and those seeking privacy. The hostel’s communal spaces
between 5pm and 6pm, when free wine is served. restaurant draws in a local hipster crowd. include a games room, cinema and buzzy bar.
ROOMS: DKK 787 (£90). brochner-hotels.com ROOMS: DKK 1,495 (£171), B&B. guldsmedenhotels.com ROOMS: DKK 122 (£14). steelhousecopenhagen.com
March 2022 61
SLEEP
Best for backpackers

CITYHUB COPENHAGEN
Made of a series of stacked metal boxes,
there’s something a little unnerving about
this space- and money-saving hotel aimed at
Generation Y. But thanks to clever lighting,
the hotel’s functional two-person hubs are
inviting, and there’s also an option to book
larger rooms for four. Shared bathrooms are
gleaming and immaculately clean, and the
art-filled, self-service bar is equipped with
workstations and cosy seating. A free app
connects guests to local hosts, who can share
tips on places to visit in cool Vesterbro. That
said, it shouldn’t be too hard to find your
own haunts in this former red-light district
electrified by a thriving nightlife scene.
ROOMS: DKK 402 (£46). cityhub.com
Best for urban

adventurers
URBAN CAMPER HOSTEL
Enjoy the feeling of sleeping in a tent without
the risk of bad weather at this quirky hostel
pitched up in vibrant Nørrebro. Rows of
wooden frames have been draped with
canvas, each with bunk beds and lockers
inside. Choose between four-person dorms,
IMAGES: WILLEMSTEIN FOTOGRAFIE
private twins or the option of ‘normal’ rooms

with concrete walls. Digital nomads can also
book in for longer stays. Although there’s no
campfire, a games room with shuffleboard
provides a lively communal space. Don’t
miss out on the neighbourhood buzz, either:
discover late-night kebab shops, arty cafes
and cool bars tucked away down side streets.
ROOMS: DKK 149 (£17), B&B. urbancamper.dk
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Pura
V IDA
N ow h e r e e l s e in t h e wo r l d h a s qu i t e t h e s a m e
r e p u t a t io n f o r c o n s e r va t i o n a s C o s t a R ic a . W i t h
i t s d i z z y in g a r r ay o f n a t i o n a l p a r k s a n d d e d i c a t i o n
t o r e n e wa b l e e n e r g y, t r ave l t o t hi s n a t i o n o f j u s t
f i ve m i l l i o n p e o p l e h a s b e c o m e s y n o n o m o u s w i t h
sustainable lodgings, communit y- enhancing tours
a n d ex t r ava g a n t b i o di ve s i t y. E c o s y s t e m s r a n g i n g
f r o m c l o u d f o r e s t t o C ar ib b e a n c o a s t m e a n t h e r e ’s
m u c h h e r e t o p r o t e c t — a n d m u c h t o ex p e r i e n c e .
Yo u ’l l h e a r l o c a l s t a l k a b o u t p u r a v i d a — a s h o r t
ye t n u a n c e d p h r a s e m e a n i n g ‘ p u r e l i f e ’ t h a t
s p e a k s o f h u m a n s ’ t r u e p ur p o s e . V i s i t in g C o s t a
R ic a , yo u ’l l s t a r t t o u n d e r s t a n d i t s m e a n i n g
WORDS JAMIE LAFFERTY

IMAGE: AWL IMAGES
March 2022 65
IMAGE: JAMIE LAFFERTY
A misty morning at the

Selva Bananito Ecolodge
PREVIOUS PAGES: Scarlet
>V>Üy}Ì
COSTA RICA
L I M Ó N P R OV I N C E
ON T H E
ecotour ism
F RON T I E R
At the edge of La Amistad International Park, which spills over Costa Rica’s southern border into Panama, one
man has transformed a logging operation into one of the nation’s most authentic ecotourism getaways
“It’s been so long since we had any rain,” complains Jurgen turn, helping to keep the water supply to the city of Limón
Stein, standing in what I’m quite certain is precipitation. I clean. Plastic bottles have been banned for decades
turn my palm skywards and let droplets hit my hand. — welcome drinks are served in coconuts, the fresh
“Oh, this?” the owner of Selva Bananito Ecolodge machete strikes still visible near the top. With these
— on the Caribbean coast in southern Costa Rica — asks, measures and more, Jurgen believes his lodge’s carbon
with what sounds like faint derision. “This isn’t real rain. output is less per year than that of the average US citizen.
When it rains here, you can’t hear each other talk.” There’s an important caveat to this remarkable statistic:
Jurgen should know. Born in Colombia to German Jurgen also personally flies guests over the region
parents, he’s lived in Costa Rica for decades. Although in a petrol-fuelled gyrocopter. While this offering is
he doesn’t use the phrase himself, it’s also clear he’s technically distinct from Selva Bananito and registered
something of an eco warrior, entrenched on the front line as a separate company, it would certainly skew the figures
of a battle for the future of the region. if counted as one of the lodge’s vehicles. Nonetheless, the
The country is often marketed as a green utopia, perhaps garrulous owner insists it’s for the greater good.
the one nation in Latin America — if not the entire world “I took the former environment minister up and we
— that’s taking serious action on the climate crisis. As spotted some illegal logging,” Jurgen tells me in the
Jurgen leads me around his property in the foothills of the lodge’s rudimentary bar. “When we got back down,
Talamanca Mountains, he explains that things aren’t as arrests were being made within hours.”
simple as that. “We often travel to events like COP26 and The following morning, I join him for a flight: half an
say that we’re 50% forested,” he says. “But not all of that is hour in the sky that is, by turns, thrilling and educational.
protected as national parks or conservancies. Half of it is Not that I could miss them, but Jurgen points out vast
in private hands, so the picture isn’t so clear.” banana plantations: regimented squares of monoculture
For its part, Selva Bananito’s approach is regenerative farming sitting next to the eclectic wilderness.
tourism, and rustic in the extreme. There’s no Jurgen’s land, and that stretching south to La Amistad,
meaningful power in the cabins and certainly no air- is chaotic by comparison, but it could easily have been very
conditioning. For the duration of my three-day stay, the different. “My father had a logging concession covering
fragile internet connection doesn’t work. Untethered 1,730 acres,” he says. “In 1985, my sisters and I asked him to
from the rest of the world and growing attuned to the think about what he was doing, to stop logging. To protect
sounds and smells of the jungle, I start to dread the this land.”
moment reception kicks back in. Ever since, Jurgen has worked at the lodge. He claims
The lodge offers plenty of activities, from horse rides that during that time, its dedication to ecotourism has
around the property to lengthy jungle treks and simply come at a cost. He’s had threats from those who want to
listening to the rhythms of the forest. In the evenings, exploit his land. Yet, in his own way, Jurgen takes this
Jurgen offers lectures on environmentalism. “Recycling as a sort of endorsement. “The people doing the logging
is good, but it’s like when I hear about the environmental and poaching don’t like what we’re doing here, so I think
ministry confiscating illegally cut wood,” he says one we’re on the right track.”
evening. “Wouldn’t it be better if the trees were never
removed from the forest in the first place?” HOW TO DO IT: Adventure Life offers its seven-night Turtles &
The lodge’s water is filtered with activated carbon and, Rainforest itinerary, with three nights at Selva Bananito Lodge, from
by banning any industry on its local rivers, the lodge is, in f£]ÈË£]{Ç{®«iÀ«iÀÃ]iÝVÕ`}y}ÌÃ°adventure-life.com
March 2022 67
COSTA RICA
OSA PENINSUL A
T H E really
wild SHOW
The jewel in the crown of Costa Rica’s lesser-explored south is Corcovado National Park, a wilderness of
rainforest and rare species. From capuchins to northern caracaras, peccaries to poison arrow frogs, there’s
plenty to spot when walking on the country’s wild side
My guide hears something. For a heartbeat, he panics. In a bid to get a clearer view of the trees, we break out
In that electric moment, Jeffrey’s all mammal, engaging onto Corcovado’s vast, grey-sand beach, which stretches
none of his rational brain. But then he realises there’s into a mid-morning mist as far as the eye can see. From
nothing to worry about; he hasn’t been attacked by the here, we spot turkey vultures, black hawks and northern
pack of coatis surrounding us — his anorak has just caracaras. The primates remain unseen, but compensation
fallen from his backpack. comes in the boisterous form of red macaws, which we
Animal attacks are exceptionally rare in Costa Rica and often glimpse traversing the sky in pairs, their ghastly calls
never likely to happen with coatis — racoon-like animals perhaps some kind of curse for being blessed with such
that shamble through the forest and sometimes out onto extraordinarily beautiful plumage.
the wild beaches of the Corcovado National Park. There “It’s a shame they don’t sound as pretty as they look,” I
are creatures to cause much more concern in these forests. say to Jeffrey. “In nature, I think you have to choose one
Of all Costa Rica’s wild places, the national park and or the other,” he replies, sounding a little more profound
the wider Osa Peninsula are perhaps the most untamed. than he perhaps intended.
Before arriving, each person I spoke to about them used The beach rolls on, and before long we find its flawless
words like ‘magical’ and ‘paradise’ when describing sand interrupted by the tracks of what’s obviously a
this sliver of largely inaccessible land on the country’s huge animal. “Baird’s tapir,” says my guide, as though
southwest coast. inspecting a crime scene.
I’m staying at Lapa Rios Lodge, one of Costa Rica’s The tapir is at the centre of an evolutionary Venn
pioneering eco-lodges, just outside of the park boundary. diagram — where the circles represent an elephant, a cow
It’s a hotel with a luxury price tag, but one that animals and horse — drawn by a child who’s no great artist. They
frequently visit for free. At various times, while walking may look fundamentally ridiculous, but they can weigh as
from the restaurant to my room, I have encounters much as 880lbs and are occasionally violent when angry or
with pig-like peccaries, yellow-throated toucans, and disturbed during the day, when they’re often asleep.
Golfoducean poison-arrow frogs. There are many birds “Let’s follow it,” says Jeffrey.
of prey, too; this is a place where the eagles can leave any The tapir’s tracks carry on for hundreds of yards,
time they like, but never check in. looping around the beach before finally disappearing
Walking in the park proper — a bumpy, hour-long ride back into the jungle. We continue tracking, looking for
from the lodge — the number and variety of animals has signs of broken twigs and footprints in the mud. The
thrillingly increased. When we reach the rangers’ station, air seems to hold its breath for us. We move through
IMAGES: JAMIE LAFFERTY; LAPA RIOS
a troop of white-faced capuchins is going through the the undergrowth and then hear a rustling. We turn, our
meticulous business of selecting ripe coconuts from a senses as heightened now as they were with the coatis.
tree, then opening them on sharp rocks. A short time And there, confused and in no mood to talk to us, is a
later, we watch spider monkeys with fur the colour of northern tamandua. This tree-climbing anteater takes
ground cinnamon selecting seeds as though shopping one look at us and lollops off into the green of Corcovado,
at a delicatessen. The orkish calls of howler monkeys unwilling to give any clues on the whereabouts of the tapir.
frequently swirl around the jungle.
“We’ve got squirrel monkeys here, too,” says Jeffrey, HOW TO DO IT: Journey Latin America has nine nights in Costa Rica
much calmer now. “But they’re the smallest of the four ÜÌvÕÀ>Ì>«>,Ã`}ivÀË{]ÓÓÓ«iÀ«iÀÃ°VÕìÃy}ÌÃ]
species we have in Costa Rica and difficult to spot.” transfers, excursions and accommodation. journeylatinamerica.co.uk
COSTA RICA
Four more
NATIONA L
PA R KS
̩ SAN LUCAS ISLAND

A notorious prison until
1991, San Lucas Island was
declared Costa Rica’s 30th
national park in 2020. Learn
about the jail and the stories
of some of its most infamous
inmates, and peer inside their
ÜL>Ìwi`vÀiÀViÃ°
Entry $12 (£9).
̪ TORTUGUERO
The Caribbean coast’s
most spectacular park lies
near the Nicaraguan border.
There’s no shortage of turtles
nesting on the beaches — and
an equally plentiful number of
predators looking to snatch
their eggs. Follow the estuary
>`Ìw`VÀVìÃ>`
caimans, plus almost half
of Costa Rica’s known bird
species. Entry $15 (£11.35).
̫ LOS QUETZ ALES

Set in Costa Rica’s misty
highlands, this park gets
its name from the outrageously
gorgeous — and rare — quetzal
birds that call it home. Entry
$10 (£7.50).
̬ MANUEL ANTONIO
Located just outside
the town of Quepos, this
is the smallest Costa Rican
national park but is remarkably
A red-tailed squirrel biodiverse. Within its borders
takes a seat in Corcovado ÛÃÌÀÃV>w`ÀiìÞi`ÌÀii
National Park frogs, two types of sloth, all four
CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: of Costa Rica’s monkey species
Deluxe Bungalow, Lapa
and much more besides. Plus,
Rios Lodge; a white-
ÃivÌi*>VwVV>ÃÌ½ÃLiÃÌ
faced capuchin appears
astonished by what it’s
hotels are walking distance
found inside a coconut; a away. Entry $16 (£12).
sloth in Manuel Antonio
National Park
March 2022 69
COSTA RICA
A turkey vulture swoops

in front of Arenal Volcano
BELOW: A rufous-tailed
hummingbird takes a rare break
on a branch in the Arenal region
TO P F I V E
A R E N A L adventures
Located three hours’ drive north west of the capital, San José, the
town of La Fortuna offers a springboard to explore the landscape
around the inactive Arenal Volcano. The smoke may have stopped a
decade ago, but the volcanic energy still inspires adventure here
HIKING IN ARENAL W H I T E WAT E R

̩ N AT I O N A L PA R K ̪ R AFTING
There are dozens of trails in As well as its volcanic
the region but hiking Arenal centrepiece, the remarkable
National Park on the lake side of topography of the Arenal region
the volcano offers the chance to offers optimal conditions for
lose oneself in nature. There are whitewater rafting. A number
newly improved steps leading to of tours are bookable in La
viewing platforms of the volcano Fortuna, the most adventurous
— you’re in the right place when of which takes you to nine-mile
you find other people taking sections of the Balsa River, where
photos of the peak and resting on you’ll battle Class IV rapids. It’s
the black lava from the massive theoretically possible to spot
and deadly 1968 eruption, the sloths from the water, but good
volcano’s first in over 400 years. luck having the Zen to pick out
Out on the trail there are scores those docile tree-dwellers while
IMAGES: JAMIE LAFFERTY
of bird species to spot. The path the river thunders around you. If
is uneven in places, but with this sounds a little intimidating,
trekking up the volcano an the Sarapiquí River is a much
impossibility, this makes for a gentler option often used to train
fine alternative. Guided tour and first-time rafters, or to give kids
hot-spring visit with Anywhere an introductory experience. Tours
from $131 (£97). anywhere.com from $68 (£50). arenalrafting.com
March 2022 71
Imagine a place where you can reconnect with the essentials,
where you wake up with the sounds of the jungle and the ocean.
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COSTA RICA
L A FORTUNA
̫ WAT E R FA L L
The steep hike down to the base
of La Fortuna Waterfall will
inspire a sense of foreboding
in some travellers. There are
about 500 newly refurbished
steps, each reinforcing the grim
knowledge that they will be
much harder on the way back up.
The good news is that the sweaty
trip offers a 230ft waterfall — one
of the most beautiful in the
country — as a reward. It’s so
picture-perfect that locals are
often spotted in or around the
plunge pool posing for wedding
photos. Expect to see toucans
and howler monkeys during the
hike, too. Entry $18 (£13).
cataratalafortuna.com
WAT E R S P O R T S
̬ ON LAKE ARENAL
Costa Rica’s largest lake is also
a vast reservoir, but for most
visitors the focus will be on
watersports. Paddleboarding
is popular in the calmer waters
close to the dammed bank, but
the altitude and funnelling
of wind by the surrounding
mountains has made the
lake especially popular with
windsurfers and kitesurfers.
There are much more sedate
cruises around the lake, too,
with several specialising in
birdwatching or simply enjoying
the sunset. Private kitesurfing
lessons from $245 (£181).
ticowind.com
HANGING BRIDGES OF
̭ M I S T I C O PA R K
This cleverly designed forest
walk uses a combination of six
suspension bridges and hairpin
bends to offer continuous
surprises and great access to
jungle wildlife, including toucans
and hummingbirds. Crossing the
vertiginous bridges may be a little
traumatic for anyone lacking a
head for heights (some are nearly
150ft above the forest floor). But
looking out rather than down
is rarely more rewarding — the
park has great views of waterfalls,

canyons and the Arenal Volcano.
Head out to explore solo or
book onto a natural history or
nighttime tour. Entry from
$26 (£19). misticopark.com The 230ft-high La Fortuna Waterfall
March 2022 73
COSTA RICA
MEE T THE MAKERS
T H E ar tisans
OF G UA N AC A S T E
Famous for its cowboy culture and blissful Pacific beaches, the Guanacaste region is home to one of the world’s
five identified ‘blue zones’, where residents live longer than average. Meeting the area’s artisans reveals age-old
traditions — and a philosophy that might hold the key to longevity
By Costa Rican standards, Santa Cruz is a dry town. Not species for the component parts of the marimba on
in an alcoholic sense — the city’s annual bull-riding unused land. “It won’t be ready for 20 years,” explains the
bacchanal is notorious — but dry in that it gets little 60-year-old musician with a crooked smile, while a small
rain compared with so much of the rest of the country. troop of howler monkeys watches on from the trees. “I
Here you’ll find desiccated forests and pastures, dusty hope I’ll get to make one with local wood in my life.”
cowboys and ears of corn growing high in the sun. You’ll Being from Santa Cruz at least gives Randy a better
also find a lot of locals with specific trades and skills. chance of making it to extreme old age. The city and
Willy Villafuerte is part of this set, a potter with a wider Guanacaste region are listed as one of the world’s
lifetime of experience. His grandmother taught his official ‘blue zones’, where people live to ages far beyond
father; his father taught him. Like a dozen or so other global norms. Randy and others I speak to attribute
potters, he lives and works in the village of Guaitil, just this to a lack of processed food, as well as good weather,
east of Santa Cruz. The only time he’s taken a break from honest work and a general contentment with their lot.
his trade was during the pandemic when he instead went Canano Díaz-Zuñiga attributes it to something else, too:
to pick corn at a local farm. “It was no good,” he says in vino de coyol, a specific type of natural, lightly fermented
his rudimentary workshop. “It was bad for my hands.” booze which he harvests from coyol palm trees on his
And the worst part of this job? “The oven. You’ll see,” farm just after the full moon. During the dry season he
he says, peeling his T-shirt up and over his belly in runs a bar at his property and sells bottles to take away.
preparation for the inferno. He offers three versions of increasing potency, though
Willy tells me his technique is pre-Columbian. Locally only the strongest has any real alcohol in it. “I have no
gathered clay is mixed with water and soil, the bowls and idea just how much,” he says with a straight face. “But
cups turned on a hand-spun wheel. The settled shape is three bottles is the right amount, no more.”
then left to dry in the sun for four days before being fired Back in the city, there are local creators who take their
in a savagely hot wood-fuelled kiln. When I watch him weights and measures a good deal more seriously. The
finally transfer the finished pieces — glowing with heat women of the socially conscious Coopetortilla bake
— out onto a piece of corrugated iron to cool, I realise I’m savoury doughnuts called rosquillas, as well as provide
holding my breath. affordable breakfasts and lunches to the community. CLOCKWISE FROM TOP
It’s altogether more relaxing to spend time with Randy Like all the artisans I meet in Santa Cruz, their humble LEFT: Marianela Jiménez
Juárez, the marimba man. Another lifelong aficionado, business has been blighted by the pandemic, but the Rojas prepares coffee
he makes, plays and teaches marimba, the irresistibly co-op has been going since 1975 and has a feeling of at the Coopetortilla
jolly percussion instrument that sounds like rhythmic permanence. The founder, Margarita, worked until she co-op in Santa Cruz;
7Þ6>vÕiÀÌiwÀ}Ã
rain. He refurbishes instruments, too. was 100. The current coordinator, Marianela Jiménez
handmade pottery on the
But there’s one significant hurdle to his business at Rojas, is a comparative youngster at 65, but she hopes to
outskirts of Santa Cruz;
present: the making of the traditional instrument is put in a similarly long shift. “Why not? I’m content,” she
Randy Juárez takes a
banned in Guanacaste because it depends on cedar, says, sending another tray of rosquillas to the oven. break from the marimba
which can’t be harvested from the wild; currently, no ÌÃ}>`«>Þ}ÕÌ>ÀÆ
commercial cedar farms exist locally. But to get around HOW TO DO IT: Artisan tours with Diria Expirience start from $30 a tray of rosqiullas, fresh
this, Randy recently planted all the necessary tree (£22). facebook.com/diriaexpirience from the oven
COSTA RICA
March 2022 75
COSTA RICA
FO O D I N FO C U S
H A N DL I NG
T H E heat
Talkative San José chef José González closed a much-loved restaurant to run an urban
farm where he hosts tours for food enthusiasts, shining a light on the country’s rich
produce and underserved culinary traditions
Part chef, part farmer, wholly dedicated country and there’s all kinds of stuff that we
food-lover, José González makes an can take advantage of. Obviously, we have
interviewer’s life pretty easy. Meeting at his a greenhouse, too, but there’s so much just
urban farm on the outskirts of San José, I growing around the place. I grew up taking
have a list of prepared questions, but the things from trees, enjoying nature and that’s
38-year-old is so enthusiastic, so intensely what I’ve wanted to do with my cooking for
IMAGES: JAMIE LAFFERTY; TOMAS ESQUIVEL
loquacious, that I barely get through three the past nine years.”
before an hour has passed. The former José used the pandemic to take a step back FROM LEFT: Chef José
head chef and owner of the celebrated Al from the frontline of the restaurant business, González at home on
Mercat restaurant machine-guns words at closing Al Mercat in the Costa Rican capital the Al Mercat estate;
a dizzying rate — more a tsunami than a and retreating to his farm. Now, as the an ear of purple corn,
freshly picked at José’s
stream of consciousness. tourism industry begins to rebound, he’s
farm on the outskirts of
“I call Costa Rica an edible country. offering culinary tours of his land along with
San José; José presents
Here, try this, bro,” he says, picking up a opinions on anything food-related. some cacao beans
piece of cas — Costa Rican guava — from He doesn’t lack confidence. He knows first- grown on his farm; a
the ground. “You don’t mind? That’s how hand what the standard of produce is like in «>Ìi>Ìwi`}
we do it here. We’re a green and beautiful the average San José restaurant and assesses restaurant Silvestre
COSTA RICA
that much of it is “mediocre, average at best”. — but nobody wants to show off the cuisine,”
He aims for much higher standards. says José, seemingly without breathing.
“My restaurant had a lot of success “Honestly, most of the time tourists just end
because I was going directly to farmers’ up eating eat a lot rice and beans. You can’t
markets and choosing the best,” he says. just represent this country with that stuff. We
“Going there, and using my family farm and have 200 types of fruit! I want to say: ‘Dude,
other trusted farms around the country, was you should be eating this stuff.’”
how I did my homework.” Surely only boring pragmatists would
The farm sits on the edge of the city, on a disagree with José’s gleefully nationalistic
hillside that was once a coffee plantation. approach to Costa Rica’s larder, and though
José uses the space to make money and I spend most of my time nodding along with
conduct his tours, but there’s also an him, I find it a little hard to believe his claim
element of experimentation, too. He seems that he doesn’t miss the restaurant business.
to value quirk as much as quality. I follow It seems obvious that a man with this much
the chef around his property, occasionally energy would be best employed in command
stopping to have fruit and vegetables shoved of a kitchen. “Maybe there will be an offer
José’s top three
SA N JOSÉ
into my hands or mouth. With Costa Rica’s that interests me in a few years, but right
optimal growing conditions, something now, bro, I’m happy here.”
is sprouting all year round. As we walk, I want to ask something else, but he’s off R ESTAUR A NTS
I’m handed cacao, turmeric, impossibly again, now onto the subject of Costa Rica’s
purple corn, citruses I’ve never heard reputation for food. Instead of interrupting,
of, flowers, kaleidoscopic chillies, herbs
— José champions them all. He just doesn’t
I chew on a bit of cacao and just listen to my
host. “We’re not like Peru — people don’t
̩ S I K WA
“Pablo Bonilla is a good
friend of mine and is the chef at
understand why more of his countrymen come here to eat,” he says. “And they should. this Indigenous food restaurant.
don’t take the same approach. Like I said, this is an edible country.” Like me, he goes straight to the
“Nobody showcases this. Too many people source for his produce, such as
just want to go to the volcanoes and the HOW TO DO IT: A farm-to-table tour at the Al Mercat the Indigenous farmers in the
beaches — and they’re amazing, obviously estate starts from $110 (£81). wetravel.com/trips Talamanca region. He treats the
people and produce with real
respect and comes back with all
sorts of cool stuff, like purple
corn.” sikwacostarica.com
̪ CEDRELA
“I work with this
restaurant, which is just over
an hour away from here, so you
know it’s good food. It’s based
on an avocado and coffee farm
in a really amazing setting.
Over there they have trout and
apples and apricots — and
lots of things we can’t grow so
easily here because we don’t
have the altitude. The food is
really simple, honest and tasty.
It all comes from up there so
you can’t go wrong.” cedrela.cr
̫ S I LV E S T R E
“Santiago Fernández
Benedetto is one of this
country’s most-recognised
VivÃ°i½Ã`}>`vwi
dining take on Costa Rican
cuisine. At the beginning I
wasn’t convinced because I’m
not really super into that style
of dining, but they’ve done it in
a really cool way. They’ve got a
good budget and what they’re
doing is really interesting.
Santiago is a really talented
chef.” restaurantesilvestre.com
March 2022 77
COSTA RICA
Q& A
Indigenous
I NSIGH T S
Bribri leader, Bernanda Morales, explains how, in her village of Yorkin, just upriver from
the Caribbean coast, she’s brought back the Bribri language from the brink of extinction,
creating a sustainable tourism destination in the process
H OW L O N G H AV E YO U B E E N Now, with tourists coming here, we have other

W E L C O M I N G T R AV E L L E R S forms of employment — we need people to
T O YO R K I N ? drive the boats, work in the kitchens and to be
It’s been 30 years since we started the Yorkin guides in the forest. We still harvest cacao, of
Bribri Cultural Programme, but it’s only in course, but it’s no longer the only thing here.
the last 20 that we’ve welcomed visitors. Our
three main goals are to protect the forest, to W H AT I N S P I R E D T H E S H I F T
improve the economy of the community and T OWA R D S T O U R I S M ?
to preserve Bribri culture. It’s very satisfying In the 1990s, a group of women and I in
that it’s lasted three decades. the village started thinking about what we
needed to do. We decided that bringing
W H Y WA S T H E B R I B R I L A N G UAG E outsiders in might stop people going away
T H R E AT E N E D A N D H OW I S I T in such big numbers. It would create income
B E I N G S AV E D ? within our community. I was only 19 at the
For a long time, the central government time and some of the elders in the village
was only sending white, Spanish-speaking thought I was crazy. They were suspicious
teachers here. We weren’t allowed to speak of outsiders. It took 10 years to convince
Bribri. When I started the project, I couldn’t them. Machismo was a big problem — the
even speak it myself. Now it’s very different men didn’t understand why we wouldn’t just
— there are 48 communities in this region all stay at the home with the children. Now they
working together. Every Indigenous school understand that we can do any of the jobs
in this territory is teaching and speaking the here that they can, and that working with
Bribri language. foreigners isn’t so bad.
W H AT C H A L L E N G E S H AV E YO U H OW H A S C OV I D - 1 9 I M PAC T E D
CLOCKWISE FROM FAC E D A S A C O M M U N I T Y ? T H E V I L L AG E ?
ABOVE: Bernanda It’s still a very important crop locally but in We haven’t actually had any here, thank
Morales; seeds from an the past our economy was based 100% on goodness, but we have some natural
achiote or lipstick tree, cacao. But then in 1970 there was a fungus medicines to treat it if we do. Thankfully,
which are often used to outbreak in the plants and we couldn’t export our community is 100% vaccinated, too.
paint the skin; a Bribri
any more. People started leaving to go and We believe our god Sibu left all of his
man boating along the
find work, many on banana plantations. knowledge about health with doctors.
unseasonally low waters
When they left, we lost even more of our We trust him, so we trust them.
of the Yorkin River;
chicken stew and greens
culture. The ones who came back returned
being prepared in Yorkin with processed foods and a different way of HOW TO DO IT: A full day tour of Yorkin village costs
village; preparing a living. We started to have health problems $135 (£100) with transfers and local lunch included.
traditional Bribri lunch like diabetes here. lifeculturetravelcostarica.com
COSTA RICA
March 2022 79
A LOVE-CRAFTED
Destination
Escape to a rainforest dreamland at the foothills of Costa Rica’s magnificent Arenal

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search of adventure and natural wellness.
For reservations contact us at: www.amorarenal.com | reservations@amorarenal.com | +506 2479-7070

COSTA RICA
LO D G E S
A RO OM
W I T H A view
Tucked amid hot springs, rainforest and soul-quietening stretches of coastline, these
luxury eco-lodges offer memorable interactions with the country’s flora and fauna
ORIGENS
B e s t fo r : R E M O T E L U X U R Y
Due to its location in the far north west of
the country, close to the Nicaraguan border,
it wouldn’t be unreasonable to question
whether the remoteness of Origens makes
visiting worthwhile. For anyone willing to
make the journey, however, this remarkable
lodge offers fabulous views of volcanoes, the
jungle and even distant Lake Nicaragua. The
raw nature experience has been tamed with
more than a little luxury, too: those views can
be enjoyed from fire-heated hot tubs, while
the food is prepared by French-trained chefs
using fresh local ingredients.
From $952 (£720), B&B. originslodge.com
H AC I E N DA A LTAG R AC I A
B e s t fo r : M O U N T A I N A I R
Reopened in 2021 after a major overhaul,
Hacienda AltaGracia is a sprawling estate set
amid 180 acres. With sensational views across
the surrounding valleys, its two restaurants
use almost exclusively Costa Rican produce.
While their coffee is currently gathered from
IMAGES: AVABLU/RYAN FORBES
nearby fincas, 7,000 coffee trees have also

been planted around the property with the
aim of harvesting by 2025. Each of the 50
Dining area, Origens
villas offers plenty of space and privacy, while ABOVE: Architectural
vehicle transport is organised by texting the villa, Origens
compás (a sort of personal butler). NEXT PAGE: Rafting to
From $1,458 (£1,102), full board. Pacuare Lodge
aubergeresorts.com/altagracia
March 2022 81
COSTA RICA
PAC UA R E L O D G E
B e s t fo r : J U N G L E E X P E D I T I O N S
There are many high-end lodges in central ESSENTIALS
Costa Rica, but none deal with arrivals and
departures as spectacularly as Pacuare. NI CA R AGUA
C ar i bbe a n
Reached by a whitewater rafting experience,
ARENAL VOLCANO S e a
this 20-suite lodge announces its intention Guanacaste
La Fortuna
to marry adventure and luxury from the Santa Cruz Limón

SAN JOSÉ
moment guests arrive. More rafting, as well C O S TA R I C A
P
as canyoning and canopy walks, are among A
C
Yorkin
the adventure options, but there’s also a hike I

F
I
PA NAM A
to visit Indigenous communities. Guests can C
O OSA PENINSULA
also unwind in the Jawa Juü Spa or lay back C
E
in a hammock and relax. A
COSTA RICA
From $1,114 (£843), full board.
N
50 miles
pacuarelodge.com
Getting there & around

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in the country’s south, Cielo Lodge opened defined by the mighty Arenal Volcano, an
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L A N D A PA R T
Ta ke a p i l g r i m a g e t h r o u g h t h e h e a r t o f S i c i l y a l o n g t h e M a g n a
V i a Fr a n c i g e n a , a n a n c i e n t c o a s t - t o - c o a s t r o u t e r e c e n t l y r ev i ve d
by l o c a l s . Tr ave r s i n g h e r b - s c e n t e d va l l eys a n d f o r go t t e n t ow n s ,
e n c o u n t e r t r a d i t i o n a l S i c i l i a n h o s p i t a l i t y, a n c i e n t l e g e n d s
a n d a u n i q u e l y p r e s e r ve d m e l t i n g p o t h e r i t a g e f o u n d n ow h e r e
e l s e o n I t a l y ’s l a r g e s t i s l a n d
WORDS SARAH BARRELL PHOTOGRAPHS FRANCESCO LASTRUCCI
March 2022 87
SICILY
“I
t’s here that you can see the real Sicily,” the neighbourhood’s name (Rabato comes from ‘rabad’,
says Miri Salamone, staring into the Arabic for ‘village’). Sandwiched between Europe and
abyss. Clouds swamp the valley below Africa, for centuries Sicily marked a strategic point
and fog floods mountain gullies, on the world map. Once a colonists’ prize, today the
dissolving even Sutera’s hilly peaks island is infamous, moans Miri, for its regions ravaged
from view. Visibility, as it has been for by organised crime, and for abandoned rural houses
days in the veiled heartland of Sicily, that sell for €1 as part of a drive to reinvigorate Italy’s
is about as far as you can kick a stone; something I’ve underpopulated reaches.
done regularly in recent days, stumble-walking along Two teens kick a football around a modest piazza that
mountain ridges in near whiteout, halfway across the juts over Rabato’s largely abandoned dwellings, which
interior of the island. “From there,” says Miri, squinting are carved into the gypsum of a breakneck cliffside. Miri
up to the fast-vanishing bell tower crowning the town’s stops to point out the boys. “When children are born here
highest point, Monte San Paolino, “you can often see as — just one or two each year — they’re celebrities,” she
far as Mount Etna one way and Palermo the other.” She says. Teenagers more so, as few resist the bright lights
smiles apologetically for the unhelpful weather. “This is of the coast or the pull of the wealthy mainland. Local
the ‘balcony of Sicily’.” legend has it there’s treasure in these hills: a chest of gold
Even with crystal-clear views, you need to look hidden in cave-studded cliffs, only to be discovered if
hard to see the ‘real Sicily’ that Miri speaks of. As the three men dream simultaneously of its location. But in
Sutera native notes on a soggy tour around her town, this part of Sicily, they can’t wait for a dream. In Sutera CLOCKWISE FROM TOP
this shapeshifting island of many identities is far more and a dozen other villages lining the ancient sea-to-sea LEFT: Old streets in
removed from the Italian mainland than the few miles of Agrigento, the terminus
roads that slice through the island’s north, they’ve taken
of the Magna Via
Tyrrhenian Sea would suggest. But here, in the sparsely fortune into their own hands with an ambitious project
Francigena; the scenic
populated inland, a place few Sicilians — let alone to boost tourism: reopening a new walking route along village of Castronovo;
Italians — bother to visit, you’ve the best chance. For millennia-old pilgrims’ trails. fresh cannoli at Caffè
along ancient routes cutting a path from the Tyrrhenian Ten years ago, a group of Italian friends — historians, del Corso Biscari, Santa
to the Mediterranean is a region that tells Sicily’s story. archaeologists, naturalists among them — began Cristina Gela; a woman
Along the old trade roads and pilgrims’ ways that forge mapping Sicily’s inland routes as described in the picks a rose in Sutera
a path through this forgotten land, Byzantine pottery Norman texts of crusading knights. Dating back over PREVIOUS PAGES FROM
litters the earth; shepherds’ huts sit cheek-by-jowl with 1,000 years, these forgotten trails once formed part of the LEFT: A hiker outside
the family chapel at
churches where religious celebrations owe as much to oldest and most popular pilgrim itineraries in Europe:
Masseria Imbriaca farm;
Moorish Spain as St Peter’s; and local ‘Christian’ names the Via Francigena (‘the Frankish route’) from Canterbury
country views near Cozzo
are likely to recall ancient Greek origins. Here in Sutera, to Rome and southeast to the Holy Lands. The Sicilian Spoletino pass. Both
about as far from either coast as you can get, the town’s section, a 600-mile network of trans-island roads, paths, are found on the stretch
patron saint has Persian heritage and the domed houses trading routes and trazzere (grazing tracks), was used for of the route between
of the old town, Rabato, reveal an Arabic legacy, as does centuries by everyone from the Greeks to the Romans, Corleone and Prizzi
SICILY
March 2022 89
SICILY
Totò Greco in his cellar in Prizzi, sharing

the wine he produces with hikers
CLOCKWISE FROM RIGHT: Marking the
Magna Via Francigena trail between
Corleone and Prizzi; view of Sutera‘s
ancient Rabato quarter
SICILY
Normans, Arabs, Aragonese and more, each leaving walking together. A clattering storm scuppered our
treasures and traces that can still be found today. previous night’s sleep, and we set out under a still-
A monumental project to revive the route, involving bruised sky, bags under our eyes heavier than daypacks,
80 local authorities and six dioceses, came to fruition but bolstered by bullet-strong espresso.
in 2017. Along the main artery, the 112-mile Magna Via The sky threatens again as we climb above Sicily’s
Francigena, walkers can collect stamps to fill their breadbasket country, where canyons of palm, aloe and
pilgrim’s passport at participating venues along a route prickly pear cactus look incongruously subtropical
that runs through the island’s north between the coastal among brown wheat fields and muddy livestock. A
cities of Palermo and Agrigento. In the latter’s cathedral, detachment of semi-feral dogs defends the few shuttered
a testimonium certificate awaits triumphant trekkers; hamlets we pass, their warning barks undermined by
hopefully, weather permitting, this will include my wagging tails. The Via’s red-and-white striped waymarks,
friend and me. painted onto posts at frequent intervals, encourage us
onwards along dirt tracks becoming indistinct in the
BLIND FAITH mist. A sudden, tree-whipping wind signals a storm
My passport gets its first stamp high over the Plain of seconds before it hits. Clouds roll across the ground like
the Albanians, outside Palermo. The ricotta that stars a pyroclastic flow, followed by the kind of rain that has
in Sicily’s most priapic export — cannoli — comes from powerful contempt for waterproof clothing. Mud becomes
sheep grazed in these arable lands. Sadly, the sole cafe clay, knee-deep and with a quicksand ferocity that claims
open in the tiny town of Santa Cristina Gela is out of the one of our shoes. Digging it out, it’s barely laced before it
sweet pastry treats. By way of substitute, we pack panini must be removed again for us to wade through rising bogs
for a picnic en route and get our passport stamped by the and ford rivers where streams had recently been.
barista, one of numerous pilgrim-welcoming locals at Hours on, the muddy trudge becomes about as fun
participating venues the length of the Via, in bars, chapels, as poking a stick in your eye (which I know to be true,
shops and B&Bs. On the road skirting hills covered in the as this happened while bending to tie a mud-drowned
wild herbs that give ricotta its earthy-sweet flavour, my bootlace). Onwards, more blindly than before, we’re
luggage has travelled ahead by car to tonight’s hotel, part saved by a miracle just outside the shrine of Tagliavia.
of a service offered by select operators serving the Via. It’s not the face of the Virgin Mary, as seen on a rock
It’s late autumn, Sicily’s storm season, and four here by two shepherds in 1800, but the offer of help via
Belgians are the only other walkers today. “We WhatsApp. Finally finding reception, my phone pings
meet annually to go hiking, mostly around the with messages from ‘friends’ of the Francigena. Along
Mediterranean,” says Mark, an anglophone and the self- with trip notes, maps and an offline GPS-enabled app, my
appointed spokesperson for the group, with whom we tour operator, UTracks, has plugged me into a network
cross paths in coming days. They forge ahead, all utility of local volunteers, offering assistance to pilgrims with
shorts and well-worn boots, leaving my companion everything from a hot meal to an affordable bed for the
and me to the steady pace we’ve established over years night or, when needed, an unofficial SOS service.
March 2022 91
SICILY
SICILY
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Marialicia Pollara (right) and Silvana Marsalisi

LÞÌiVÀÕVwÝÛiÀ}
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“We usually rescue people who’ve overheated,” says We follow the San Nicolò river as it tumbles from
Marialicia Pollara, whose four-wheel-drive meets us at Corleone in a chain of waterfalls that once powered the
the head of a washed-out track. “There’s not a stick of region’s mills. As small-scale wheat production declined,
shade en route.” Francigena, quite the Goldilocks walk, locals couldn’t turn to the tourism that bolstered the
is just right in spring, when it’s not too hot, not too cold. coast. “People don’t arrive here just passing by,” says Totò
“That’s when it’s full of wildflowers,” says Marialicia. Greco, another friend of Francigena, whom I meet in the
“But you’re especially unlucky now.” Instead of autumn’s nearby teetering hilltop town of Prizzi, far from any main
short-lived storms, we’ve apparently walked into the road. “But now, people can cater to pilgrims.” Prizzi had no
tail-end of a cyclone, where “a flash flood took a car out hotels previously, so, like Marialicia and many Via locals,
last week”. Thanks to winter floodplain detours, the Via Totò transformed a family house into a hip, hostel-style
is accessible year-round. “But this is crazy weather,” B&B. He’s also set up an association — Sikanamente,
says Marialicia, motoring us out of the downpour, named after the surrounding Sicani hills — to incentivise
as the priest at Tagliavia’s chapel takes in a Czech resident youngsters to stay in the area.
pilgrim whose tent stands no chance tonight. At her At Prizzi’s sizeable archaeology museum, Totò
guesthouse in Corleone, La Bicicletta Rossa, we’re joined shows off Roman coins and jewellery, as well as other
by Marialicia’s husband, Carmelo, for a family dinner. artifacts dating back as far as 5,000 BC, which were
Homemade lentil soup and farm-fresh ricotta, drizzled mostly found on Sicani’s slopes. I’m particularly taken
with jade-green olive oil just in from the harvest, is a with a third-century clay-sculpted foot, which bears
supper worthy of a waterlogged pilgrimage. a remarkable resemblance to my walking boots. Then
it’s off to Totò’s cantina to sample this season’s wine.
STORIES OF STOICISM Like a growing number of enterprising young locals,
“The Mafia wasn’t born in Corleone — it’s all over Italy,” Totò is transforming an old masseria (country farm)
says Federico Blanda. We’re standing beside a photo of into a vineyard, learning how to make wine, reviving
a young man shot dead on a nearby cobbled street. It’s native grape varieties and employing local artists to
one of numerous blood-splattered images of organised design labels. “You have to create your own path as no
crime in 1970s and ’80s Italy lining the walls at Cidma, one is teaching you how to do things here,” says his
the anti-Mafia museum set in a former Corleone colleague, Gabriella Lo Bue. Like many entrepreneurs I
orphanage. “I used to hate seeing people here on the trail meet, Gabriella has recently returned to Sicily after years
of Don Corleone — a fictional film character,” says guide working abroad, partly due to pandemic constraints,
Federico. “But I’ve realised we must use the opportunity but also because of the prospects the pilgrimage brings.
to tell the real story.” And the real story isn’t one of “We all bring skills with us and new ways to promote the
romanticised Godfather feuds, but one of resistance. region,” she says. “It’s exhausting but exciting.”
Beyond a gut-punching gallery of photojournalism by These bright new horizons do not extend to the
Letizia Battaglia, a vast archive of court documents weather. A storm explodes again over Casale Margherita,
details the 474 Mafiosi tried in Palermo’s Maxi Trial our next overnight stop, where the owner, Carmelo,
— which lasted almost six years — by such steel-nerved refuses to let us continue on foot. “The river’s burst
judges as Paolo Borsellino and Giovanni Falcone. its banks,” he says, chasing us in his pickup truck the
“Judges, journalists, campaigners: they paid with their following morning. “It’s just not safe — I’ll drive you to
lives for their bravery,” says Federico. Cidma celebrates the next hill.” Carmelo’s organic farm and gourmet hotel
these fallen heroes, murdered by the Mafia in retaliation. is a new investment. “Tell everyone about us,” he yells, as
“Back then, we were a population of 10,000; just a he waves us off on the hair-raising climb to Sutera. With
handful were Mafia. Yet Corleone’s people still live with roads once again running like rivers, we meet the stoic
the stigma.” He smiles: “So, I love it when visitors come Belgians who jumped a railway track to avoid the river
looking for a myth and leave talking about Falcone.” crossing. Raincoats defeated by the endless deluge, they
As the Via brings more visitors, Corleone’s story has now carry village-bought brollies, one in powder blue
more chance of being heard. Stacked spectacularly across with a white lace-effect trim. They trudge away uphill
tabletop mountains and plunging canyons, the town is a resembling a huddle of old ladies off to the shops.
stellar stage on which the Magna Via Francigena zig-zags
mercilessly, passing churches and monasteries where CLEAR AS A BELL
pointy-hatted brotherhoods gather in spring for Easter When morning dawns in Sutera, it’s as if the storm never
celebrations. “It’s another story little known beyond happened. Yesterday’s gloom is replaced by laser sun
our island,” says Federico of the region’s Semana Santa illuminating every rock, crack and crevice. Shafts of light
processions that challenge Spain’s for pomp and scale, sheer through the huge fissure dividing Monte Xacca,
but draw none of the international crowds. where the rock split, so it’s said, the moment Jesus died.
March 2022 93

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SICILY
“Even now, religion is at the centre of our town,” says

Miri, when we meet again. “Church bells still shape our
day.” Three special bells placed at intervals mark the
pilgrims’ climb up Monte San Paolino, over an ascent
of 157 steps carpeted with fallen pinecones from which
nuts are gathered to make a local pasta with raisins. On
reaching the bell at the summit — a one-ton gift from
the Vatican — I haul a huge rope pulley, thus sounding a
bass chime that makes my teeth shake and sends lizards
scuttling through the undergrowth.
Our path is blessed, it seems, from here onwards.
Sunlit trails of chalk and shale line rolling hills towards
the sea, now looming on the horizon and making my
Luis Gomes de Teran’s Boy with a
coast-to-coast pilgrimage finally seem like a visible
Stone Earring, one of the artworks
reality. “All of Sicily is a dimension of the imagination,” enlivening the town of Grotte
wrote Leonardo Sciascia, the region’s great novelist, BELOW: Ciardonelli, a local sweet
who was born in Racalmuto. I make a pilgrimage within ÌÀi>Ì>ìÜÌ>`Ã]w}Ã>`
a pilgrimage to his 1930s museum-piece apartment: a ricotta, Caffè Marconi, Grotte
highlight of this town, which offers shiny boutiques,
palm-shaded piazzas and a grand, 19th-century theatre.
Sciascia’s novel Sicilian Uncles has been worth the extra
weight in my backpack, painting the island’s complex
mid-century portrait, caught between US and German
occupation, Italian and Sicilian identities.
“In Sicily, we have many stories of identity and
transformation,” says Alessandro Marsala, whom I
meet at Caffè Marconi in the little hillside town of
Grotte. “Perhaps it’s the influence of Greek legends,” she
continues. “Or because so many nations have left their
mark here,” adds her dad Carmelo, the cafe’s owner. The
old town’s cave dwellings that once housed shepherds
gave Grotte its name, but its murals now make the
place renowned. Over the past five years, a community
project to engage local and international artists has
transformed the once-abandoned old town into a vast
outdoor gallery. One house has a facade depicting, over
two storeys, a snake-woman, recalling the Sicilian legend
of La Biddina, a heartbroken girl whose sorrow turned
her into a serpent. Many other images are illusions that
only appear depending on their angle of view. The energy
these murals have brought to this tiny town is palpable.
Also in the air is the scent of mpignolata — pastries
filled with fried onion and pancetta that line stomachs
on St Martin’s Day (11 November), when the year’s new
wines are celebrated. We are, of course, quickly invited
to a festive lunch, where handmade arancini and fresh
cannoli with local ricotta play starring roles. My English
reserve marvels that wherever the Via has taken us, rain
or shine, it truly feels as if we’re meeting family. Carmelo
drops us at the trail head, first jumping a fence to scrump
some corbezzolo for us. Gathering a handful of the gem-
like fruit of the strawberry tree, he waves heartily at the
distant farmer who looks on, mouth agape. “We’re all
family here,” he laughs.
March 2022 95
SICILY
ESSENTIALS
20 miles
Ty r r h e n i a n S e a
Palermo
Santa Cristina di Gela
Corleone Prizzi Mt Etna

MAGNA VIA Cammarata
FRANCIGENA
Sutera
Aragona Racalmuto
Agrigento
ITALY
M E D I T E R R A N E A N
S EA
SICILY

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comune.prizzi.pa.it/turismo/il-museo
decorated ex-votos, Venetian religious robes and even

`>°cidmacorleone.it
a bejewelled scrap of the Turin shroud. Yet, away from
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the coast and its stellar archaeological site, Valley of the
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the region’s legendary pistachio nuts. It’s best sampled at ÀÌÌiÕÀ>«ÀiVÌ°
Lo Sperdicchio, a family-run restaurant where pilgrims labiddina.wixsite.com/website
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museoetnoantropologicosutera
In Agrigento, where the Med shines blue and the Via’s
medieval villages feel like a dream, my journey’s end
More info
is announced with a locked door. Agrigento’s towering
-VÞ/ÕÀÃ° visitsicily.info
cathedral, where views stretch back to Sutera’s peaks
The Magna Via Francigena Trail: Sicily
and across to Africa, is shut for renovation. I stand on Foot, From Coast to Coast,LÞ
outside foolishly as Agrigento goes about its smartly >Ûì
Õ>i/iÀÀi®°å£ÈË£Î®
dressed Sunday business. But as ever, the friends of the Sicilian Uncles,LÞi>À`-V>ÃV>
Francigena step in. A WhatsApp message pops up, telling À>Ì>®°Ën°
me that the cathedral’s pastor, Don Giuseppe Pontillo,
1-/,č/" \" *1 ,
will sign my testimonium once he’s finished mass in How to do it

a neighbouring church. The padre does as promised, UTRACKSvviÀÃÃiv}Õì`ÌÕÀÃvÌi
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ironically warning of the dehumanising dangers
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of mobile phone communication. I ask him if he’s
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completed the pilgrimage. He gives me a stern look as if >}ÀÌÕÀÃ°Ì>ÃVÕìÃ>À>`L]
to say: you think I have time for that? “But it is what we >«Ã]>Û}>Ì>>««]Õ}}>}i
all desperately need,” he says. “To make real connections ÌÀ>ÃviÀÃ]iiÀ}iVÞÌi>`--
with our world and with each other.” >iÀÌ>`«}ÀÃ«>ÃÃ«ÀÌ° utracks.com
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CICLOTURISMO IN SICILIA
WHERE
COPPER
MEETS
EMERALD
Squaring up to the Celtic Sea in the
country’s south east, Ireland’s Copper
Coast offers a romp through geological
and human history, taking in wild coves,
rocks that predate the dinosaurs,
saintly sites and ghostly mining ruins.
Turning back to nature, local foragers,
chefs and artists are putting this lesser-
visited area in the spotlight
WO R D S K E R RY WA L K E R
PHOTOGRAPHS DANIEL ALFORD
March 2022 99
IRELAND
T
he October sun, pale as “I’d eat seaweed as a child: dried dillisk,
moonlight, is struggling boiled sleabchan [laver] and carrageen
to break through a wall pudding. But then it fell out of fashion as
of cloud that’s heralding a tastes became more sophisticated. People
storm. Waves whip bad- associated it with poverty. Fed it to their
temperedly off the Celtic horses. Now I eat it all the time. It’s packed
Sea, crashing against dark with vitamins and minerals, iron and
fangs of rock and bringing a strong hit iodine,” she enthuses, as we watch the waves,
of brine to wild Garrarus Beach on picnicking on rolls with dulse and sweet kelp
Ireland’s Copper Coast. Exposed by the crisps. The lunch of centenarians.
ebbing tide, the foreshore is webbed with Running 16 miles east to west between
seaweeds, which, to the untrained eye, Kilfarrasy and Stradbally, the Copper
all appear identical. Coast UNESCO Global Geopark, in County
“Look,” my foraging guide, Marie Power, Waterford, sounds small on paper, but feels
whispers, “it’s like a miniature world; a far bigger in reality. Outside of summer
sea garden.” A narrow beam of torchlight weekends, the narrow roads dashing down to
illuminates the frills and fronds of emerald the sea are almost empty. Coves make deep
sea lettuce, gold-green wrack, purple-red thumbprints along the coast, forcing me to
dillisk [dulse] and thick, amber ribbons of stop every mile or two to look out at surf-
kelp. Crouching by the rock pools, Marie is a hammered Bunmahon; at Stage Cove, where
water-shoed queen peering gracefully into a copper was once loaded onto mighty ships;
chest of brilliant jewels. and at Dunabrattin Head, where a path whips
“We used to drive the length of the Copper along cliffs to a remote Iron Age promontory
Coast — before people started calling it that fort. On the tide-smoothed sands of
— every weekend when I was a child,” Marie Stradbally, birdsong floats from ancient
says. “My mum would say: ‘This is the most sessile oak woods and a rust-coloured
beautiful place on earth, we don’t need fancy stream sneaks down to the fizzing Atlantic.
foreign holidays.’ I didn’t believe her, but she Mine are the only footsteps I hear.
was right.” “This coast has fascinating geology and
Everyone raves about western Ireland’s industrial heritage,” says geologist Robbie
Wild Atlantic Way, yet this coast is just as Galvin when we meet at the Geopark’s
raw and fiercely lovely — and there’s barely a visitor centre, set in a former church. “At
soul in sight. The result of volcanic activity Ballydowane Bay, you can see the remnants
that started on the ocean floor 460 million of an 18th-century silver mine in a sea stack.
years ago, this spectacularly buckled and At Knockmahon, you’ll find the Pipes of
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: The picturesque
IMAGES: ALAMY; DANIEL ALFORD
contorted coastline looks like a window onto Baidhb.” The latter are polygonal columns
the dawn of creation. Every rock, sea stack of rhyolite — the coast’s very own Giant’s harbour of Dungarvan, a coastal town to
the west of the Copper Coast; picking
and pleat in the strata exposes another layer Causeway, minus the crowds. “Prehistory is
sea beet with local forager Andrew
of geological history. everywhere: in passage tombs, dolmens and
Malcolm; Andrew’s foraging supplies
Marie has been a seaweed evangelist in one of the world’s highest concentrations of Michelin-starred The House Restaurant,
these parts for the past two decades, reviving promontory forts.” in Ardmore, among other restaurants
the age-old Irish tradition of gathering, We stop at the Geological Garden, in PREVIOUS PAGES: Tankardstown Copper
cooking and eating the slimy stuff, which she Bunmahon, where a pair of ogham stones Mine, on the road between Bunmahon
swears is the secret to living to 100. stand, their runic inscriptions redolent and Kilmurrin Beach
IRELAND
March 2022 101

IRELAND
of the early Christian language used by

Celtic saints. “That’s the cursing stone,”
says Robbie, nodding towards a modest-
looking lump of basalt. “Legend has it your
curses come true if you walk around it
anticlockwise.” Nearby, the ruined engine
house and chimney of Tankardstown, a
19th-century copper-mining town, appear
spectrally lit in the gathering mist.
Today, those carving out a living on this
coast work in tandem with nature and the
tides. One such man is environmental artist
Sean Corcoran, who creates huge, intricate,
sand art drawings on the beach using
nothing but a garden rake. His work has
taken him worldwide, but his happy place
is Kilmurrin Cove, with its vast scoop of
golden sand.
“This is my sketch pad,” says Sean, as
we begin raking, intuitively echoing the
contours of the coast; the sinuous shapes
of fossils and seaweeds. “It started when I
moved here 10 years ago. I was sitting on top
of these cliffs, wondering what I could do,
when I saw a horse being led in circles on
the beach, leaving a trail of footprints and
hoofprints. I rushed home, got my garden
rake and started doodling on the beach. I
love the transience of it: But the drawing
doesn’t go away instantly, it leaves an imprint
— like invisible ink.”
Out at sea, a few brave wild swimmers are
diving into gaspingly cold waters. But on
this damp autumn day, I prefer my seawater
warm, and poured into a tub.
In the southern crook of Dungarvan Bay,
Helvick Head looms silent and mystical in
the pearl-grey gloom. A few trawlers clank
in the harbour, where I find Sólás Na Mara
(‘solace of the sea’), a former fish auction
house reborn as an intimate, family-run spa
upholding the centuries-old Irish tradition
of seaweed baths. Serrated wrack and other
wrack seaweeds are harvested locally,
then tossed into great cast-iron tubs filled
with warm seawater pumped directly in at
high tide.
“Seaweed has come a long way since
it was used as animal fodder and potato
fertiliser,” explains owner Éimhín Ní
Chonchúir, as we look out across a foggy sky
IMAGES: DANIEL ALFORD
dissolving into a quicksilver sea. “It can work

wonders on many conditions, from arthritis
to eczema. People arrive unsure and leave
surprised and energised.”
In my private, candlelit chamber, following
a deep-cleansing steam in a hand-built,
IRELAND
cedar-wood cabin, I sink into the seaweed

bath. I tentatively drape tendrils across me
at first, then I go full-on mermaid, wrapping
myself entirely in the silky, sensuous ribbons,
embracing the womb-like warmth and the
tang of sea and watching the vapour rise in
wisps like dancing spirits from the deep.
SEA & SAINTS

At Ferrypoint, where the River Blackwater
empties into the Celtic Sea, the day dawns as
bright as a new penny. Rain has rinsed the
land clean, bringing piercing blue October
skies and sunshine so dazzling it makes me
squint. Seabirds trilling overhead, a lane
curls gently away to whitewashed cottages
and low-browed hills: a tableau ripped from
the popular imagining of the Emerald Isle.
“Here, taste this,” says local forager
Andrew Malcolm, ushering me over to the
boot of his car. I dip my finger into a wooden
box. “Dried hogweed seeds,” he grins. “It
can be used as a cardamom substitute. And
this feisty one here: water pepper.” A man
walking a dog wanders past, eyeing us with
curiosity. “God, he must think I’m a drug
dealer or something,” chuckles Andrew.
Buoyed by my trip along the Copper Coast,
I’m keen to see more of what this overlooked
stretch of southern Ireland has to offer and
have linked up with Andrew, who’s combed
these shores — and scoured its waters for
marine-life sightings — for the past 30 years.
“This is my supermarket. Everything I
need is right here, just metres apart,” he says,
handing me sandwort, a tiny perennial that
tastes of broadbean and cucumber. “Try some
sea radish pods,” he urges. “They’re nice and
peppery.” “Like wasabi,” I venture. “We’ll do
wasabi in a minute,” he adds, rushing over to
a rock. “There’s your wasabi! Scurvy-grass.
It’s packed with vitamin C and comes in all
different heats, like chilli.”
Andrew’s accent betrays him as Northern
Irish. What brought him here all those years
ago, I ask. “Whales,” he shrugs, as if this were
the most natural thing in the world. “I joined
the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group. The
cliffs at Helvick Head are brilliant for whale-
watching up close. We even get fin whales,
the second-largest creatures on earth.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Sean Corcoran’s sand art

drawings, viewed from high above Kilmurrin Cove;
Sean at work on the sands of Kilmurrin; painted buoys
dot the waterfront at Dungarvan
March 2022 103

IRELAND
You can see their six-metre blow 20 miles off. the crane barge Samson, which ran aground
The old whalers wouldn’t touch them because in 1987. Far below, seals haul themselves onto
they’re too fast: the greyhounds of the sea.” rocks lapped by a pewter sea.
Back at the car, Andrew flings open the The trail ends at Ardmore Cathedral, where
boot and the smell of apricots wafts up as St Declan’s monastery once stood. Fallen
he reveals a basket brim-full of chanterelles into ruin, the cathedral harbours the oratory
he’s delivering to the Cliff House Hotel’s where St Declan supposedly lies buried.
Michelin-starred The House Restaurant in Above it stands a distinctive round tower,
Ardmore, five miles east. where monks sought refuge and hid their
Ardmore is my next destination, too. As well treasures from raiders in the Middle Ages.
as its food credentials, the village is the Raiders also targeted the River Blackwater,
endpoint of a new hiking route, launched snaking north. My guide, Eugene Burke,
last summer. St Declan’s Way — stretching from Blackwater Eco Tours in Villierstown,
around 70 miles inland to Cashel, in County rattles off quick-witted tales of Viking and
Tipperary — follows in the saint’s footsteps, Norman invaders as we boat along a forest-
treading the now legend-steeped path he took fringed sweep of tidal river as broad as a lake.
to meet St Patrick, and subsequently establish The waterway has a quiet, secretive beauty,
a monastery, in the fifth century. preserved over the ages by the aristocratic
On a golden autumn day, the coastline families whose grand houses line the banks:
near Ardmore seems touched by a godly Italianate Tourin House, owned by the
hand. Picking up the trail on its final leg, Jameson family of whiskey distillers; and
I wind my way past gorse and bramble to flamboyant Dromana House, the abode of the
St Declan’s Stone — miraculously carried Villiers-Stuarts. Around them are limestone
across on the waves from Wales, or so the cliffs and forests are so impenetrable,
legend goes — and St Declan’s Well, where ancient and ivy-bedraggled, they seem part
a couple from Cork are frantically filling Amazon, part fairytale.
bottles of the allegedly miracle-working holy “This is our jungle,” beams Eugene.
water. To my right are fields where skylarks “We see egrets and reed warblers, otters,
sing; to my left is the craggy, wave-battered white-tailed eagles and ospreys plunging
coast, where I sight the rusting remains of down to catch trout. You’ll never get closer
IRELAND
to peregrine falcons than here — it’s TO THE LIGHTHOUSE

breathtaking,” he sighs, as we putter along A short drive the following morning takes me
a stretch of river where schooners once to Dungarvan, a coastal town and harbour
transported coal and timber. Now, time to the west of the Copper Coast, where sea
has wiped the slate clean and nature has mirrors sky and the smell of wood smoke fills
thoroughly reclaimed it. back alleys. A fortress guards the harbour and
As twilight deepens, I head to the Cliff shop facades look freeze-framed in the 1950s.
House Hotel for dinner. At the helm of its But its appeal comes mostly from its people
lauded The House Restaurant is Ian Doyle, — people who still pass the time of day.
previously head chef at two-Michelin- Because of this, it takes me an hour to
starred Oaxen Krog in Stockholm, where the explore just half-a-dozen stalls on market
focus was on foraging, sustainability and day. I buy Knockalara sheep’s cheese, made
minimising waste. Now he’s brought that with milk from the cheesemaker’s own flock,
smart Scandi ethos back home. and soft, floury, white Waterford blaa rolls, a
“Food should tell a story,” says Ian, who throwback to the bread introduced by 17th-
tells me his first forays into cooking involved century Huguenots (‘blaa’ being a corruption
making jam tarts with his mum’s pastry of the French ‘petit blanc’). Everyone wants
offcuts. “I work with local farmers and to chat, but then hospitality has always been
foragers. I use a lot of seaweed, too. It’s been Dungarvan’s forte: legend has it that Oliver
cool in Nordic countries and Japan for years, Cromwell spared the town in 1649 because a
but is now reappearing in Irish food. It’s part lady offered him a goblet of wine.
of our history. Who we are.” This isn’t the only local legend. Paul Flynn,
If the tasting menu is anything to go chef-owner at Tannery restaurant, has long
by, Ian has come a long way since jam been the driving force behind the region’s
tarts. Mussel puree with marigolds and exciting food scene. The lure of his homeland
FROM LEFT: A sheep spotted near the sea beet; hen of the woods mushroom drew him away from the cut and thrust of
IMAGES: DANIEL ALFORD
Magic Road, near the Mahon Falls in

with fermented turnip and potato tea; London kitchens and back to Dungarvan in
the Comeragh Mountains; Marie Power,
just-caught Ardmore lobster; and 1997. In a daring move, he overhauled a former
>ÃÜ>ÃÌi-i>>ÀìiÀ]w`Ã
some pepper dulse while foraging on
blackberries with woodruff and lavender leather factory, once notorious for its stink, and
Garrarus Beach; The view west along ice cream — each dish is harmoniously began cooking dishes that sang of the region,
the Copper Coast from the headland and meticulously composed and full of opening a cookery school and spearheading a
above Bunmahon Stage Cove unexpected nuances. food festival that attracted top chefs.
March 2022 105

IRELAND
“There was no food culture in Ireland when sheep skittish. When I finally find the Magic
I was young,” Paul explains. “Food was plain. Road marker, I switch off the engine and
But I was determined to put a positive spin wait. Nothing happens. I curse, reverse, pray,
on it. The humbler the ingredient, the more try again. The car jerks back a bit, but it’s so
it appeals; burly root vegetables cooked in rapid I can’t swear I didn’t imagine it.
brown butter, beef cheeks so soft you can eat Leaving the fairies to their tricks, I follow
them with a spoon. I make silk purses out of the track that zigzags to the trailhead for the
sows’ ears.” Mahon Falls, a short stomp away over bog and
Dinner is unforgettable: crab crème brûlée, bracken. The plateau is rugged, whittled into
roast monkfish with cep puree and pickled form by glacial erosion. When the fog draws
mushrooms, and slow-braised beef cheek back like a theatre curtain, I fleetingly see
with onion puree are profoundly flavoured peaks rising ragged above moraine-streaked
and brilliantly executed. This is food to come slopes and the wildest of waterfalls. Columns
back time and again for; food that touches and spires of rock punch above boulders that
upon southern Ireland’s soul. lie scattered across the land like a giant’s
On clear days, the Comeragh Mountains marbles. This, perhaps, is the real magic.
are visible north of Dungarvan, but today Ireland’s oldest city, founded by Vikings
I’m left pencilling them in as I drive across in 914, Waterford stands 11 miles to the east
tawny, featureless moorland. I’m bound of the Copper Coast. Its dashing Georgian
for the Magic Road, near the Mahon Falls, heart — built on the sparkle of its crystalware
where, it’s claimed, drivers find their cars industry — is located within its revamped
mysteriously rolling uphill when they take Viking Triangle cultural quarter. This is one
their handbrake off. Fairies and magnetic reason the Irish Times voted the city Best
fields are the two explanations that have Place to Live in Ireland in 2021; the Waterford
IMAGE: ALAMY
most captured the popular imagination; Greenway is the other. A 29-mile ramble along
the real reason (an optical illusion) is rather a former railway line, this off-road cycling
ABOVE: Colourful boats moored at more prosaic. In the misty drizzle, the and walking trail swings — via viaduct, castle
Helvick Head Pier mountains are hidden, the signs scant, the and tunnel — through the foothills of the
March 2022 107

IRELAND
ESSENTIALS
COMERAGH MOUNTAINS
Rive
r Bla
ckwatTHE MAGIC ROAD Waterford
er
Visitor Centre
Dungarvan
COPPER COAST GARRARUS
SÓLÁS NA MARA UNESCO GEOPARK BEACH
Ferrypoint
Ardmore
C e l t i c IRELAND
S e a
Co. WATERFORD
5 miles

Stena Line offers 14 weekly ferry
crossings between Fishguard and
Rosslare, with an average sailing time of
2h15m. Cork is the closest airport to the
Copper Coast. Ryanair and Aer Lingus
«iÀ>Ìiy}ÌÃvÀ>ÕLiÀv1
cities, including London and Edinburgh.
stenaline.co.uk ryanair.com
aerlingus.com
čÛiÀ>}iy}ÌÌi\££x°
Travellers will need their own set of
wheels to explore. Car hire is available
with Europcar in Waterford and with
Budget at the ferry port in Rosslare.
europcar.co.uk budget.ie
When to go
Southern Ireland’s weather can be
erratic, but conditions tend to be driest
and warmest from June to September,
with temperatures of up to 20C.
Winters can be wet and foggy,
averaging between 5C and 8C but
often feeling colder.
Comeragh Mountains, emerging gleefully at
the seaside town of Dungarvan.
Places mentioned
Guarding the southern entrance to Sólás Na Mara. solasnamara.ie
Waterford, the Hook Lighthouse has borne Cliff House Hotel. cliffhousehotel.ie
witness to ferocious storms and waves of Blackwater Eco Tours.
invaders and fortune-seekers over the past blackwaterecotours.ie
800 years, among them Oliver Cromwell, who Tannery. tannery.ie
is thought to have coined the phrase ‘by hook Hook Lighthouse. hookheritage.ie
or by crook’ to describe how he intended to The Art Hand. thearthand.com
The Sea Gardener. theseagardener.com
take Waterford during the 1649 siege. They
call these boiling seas the ‘graveyard of a
Where to stay
thousand ships’, as it seems you can’t dip your
Crew’s, Dungarvan. From €90 (£76).
finger into them without pulling up a wreck. crews.ie
I climb all 115 steps to the top of the
IMAGE: ALAMY. ILLUSTRATION: JOHN PLUMER
lighthouse for a view out to sea, but fog rolls More info
in, draping itself across the coast. After Copper Coast Global Geopark.
descending, I walk along the foreshore, its copper-coast.com
black shale thumped by the Atlantic and Visit Waterford. visitwaterford.com
veined with fossils 300 million years in the Tourism Ireland. ireland.com
making. I watch as vapour rolls around the

How to do it
shadowy outline of the lighthouse, as if in
SHEARINGS offers a Waterford and
the drowsiness of a dream. It’s like an image
Wexford for Solo Travellers tour, with
of a faded world. The Copper Coast that lies ABOVE: Hook Lighthouse was founded wÛi}ÌÃÀi>`½ÃÃÕÌi>ÃÌV>ÃÌ]
beyond, to the west, remains something of at Hook Head 800 years ago, making including coach transport,
a secret, but for how much longer now the it one of the oldest still-operational accommodation and dinner, from £669
spotlight is swinging this way? lighthouses in the world per person. shearings.com
VIETNAM WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS S C O T T S A LT
In the country’s north, Cát Bà emerges from the jade waters of Lan Ha Bay like a lost
world. This is a rugged jewel of an isle, dominated by prehistoric limestone and swathes
of thick jungle. Much of the island is protected as a national park, created in part to
preserve its incredible biodiversity. Yet beyond Cát Bà’s good looks and pristine natural
treasures, this is a living, working island, where fishermen ply the waters and travellers
come in search of adventurous pursuits and spectacular, golden sunsets
March 2022 111

VIETNAM
VIETNAM
Cát Bà is often a stop for

travellers exploring the famous
Halong Bay nearby, and while the
island is developing a tourism
scene of its own, fishing remains
an important local industry.
The majority of the local
fishermen don’t actually live on
Cát Bà itself, but reside on Cai
Beo, a purpose-built floating
village of 300 or so homes.
Almost all the residents depend
on the sea for their livelihood, be
it fishing or tending to the upkeep
of larger boats that ply the
surrounding waters.
March 2022 113

VIETNAM
A number of companies run boat trips in the area,

offering an inspiring way to discover this ancient
landscape, shaped over tens of millions of years by
the region’s tropical climate. While meandering
between islets, passengers pass tiny fishing villages
and secluded coves tucked between soaring
limestone cliffs that plunge into the sea.
VIETNAM
March 2022 115

VIETNAM
Paradise beaches aside, Cát Bà is

far from being a sleepy coastal
idyll. The island is a true
adventure playground, where
travellers can throw themselves
into land- and water-based
activities, from climbing and
hiking in the national park to
kayaking and standup
paddleboarding. Exploring the
island beneath the waves,
however, is a must: the crystal
clear waters are home to a
colourful array of marine life,
including dazzling corals.
VIETNAM
March 2022 117

VIETNAM
Cát Bà is home to the critically endangered golden-headed langur, also known as the Cát Bà langur. This
is one of the world’s rarest primates, with fewer than 70 individuals restricted to a rocky area of less than
eight square miles. Years of hunting depleted their numbers, but conservation efforts and the increased
protection of Cát Bà National Park have been important steps in ensuring the monkeys’ survival.
| PA I D C O N T E N T F O R T B I L I S I C I T Y H A L L
ALTERNATIVE TBILISI
Four top attractions

From Golden Age doorways to merchant-built mansions,
the Georgian capital is home to a plethora of little-explored
cultural and architectural gems
1 BEAUTIFUL MEDIEVAL BUILDINGS

Tbilisi’s landscape is an expression of
the city’s diversity: a tapestry of art nouveau
3 COURTYARDS & MERCHANT HOUSES
Old Tbilisi is dotted with gardens,
wells, covered walkways and courtyards.
and neo-Moorish elements that reveals Elsewhere, mansions in the Sololaki and
centuries of Silk Road heritage. The Old Chugureti districts are treasure troves
Town, known as the Kala district, is home of twisting iron staircases and ceramic
to the breathtaking fourth-century Narikala floor tiles, while the restored former home
Fortress. Head towards the Ateshgah of famous Georgian industrialist Erasti
Zoroastrian Fire Temple and sixth-century Chavchanidze sports frescoes inspired by
Anchiskhati Basilica, then walk the winding the Georgian epic poem The Knight in the
alleys behind the ancient city wall. Panther’s Skin.
2 BALCONIES & ART NOUVEAU DOORS

Old Tbilisi is home to a plethora of
florid balconies and lavish doorways.
4 ECLECTIC ARCHITECTURE
Tbilisi has worn many hats over the
centuries: Arab emirate, Iranian vassal,
Art nouveau elements appeared in the Russian gubernia. The city’s architecture
city as early as the beginning of the 20th — low, stone buildings with fluted balconies,
century, and were augmented with local passages and internal courtyards — reflects
flourishes, including wooden balconies. A this mix. Charming, tumbledown houses
trip down Agmashenebeli Avenue in Neu- can be found on the winding alleys behind
ABOVE FROM TOP:
Tiflis, a German colony that was absorbed the old city wall. Sulphur baths and historic
into the city in the 1820s, reveals a cast of buildings in Abanotubani
characterful portals. Follow on Instagram @travel.tbilisi district; an ornate staircase
R E A D M O R E O N L I N E AT N AT I O N A LG EO G R A P H I C .C O.U K / T R AV EL
IMAGE: SUSANNE KREMER
CIT Y LIFE
HAVANA
Famous for its live music, performed in tattered theatres
and spilling from once-grand rum bars onto cobbled
streets, the Cuban capital is striking up the band again
after two years of restrictions. WORDS: UÁġĆäZÁƄäŅőű
March 2022 121

HAVANA
“I
t’s not so easy to find music right disappointment — too. Between sanctions
now, but we might get lucky,” says arbitrarily reimposed by President Trump
my guide, Mirvel Bravo, explaining in his final days of office and the dreadful
that tight Covid-19 restrictions have hushed winds of the pandemic, Cuba has suffered
Havana, a city with a long and rich musical as much as any country over the past two
tradition. I’d come chasing its sounds — the years. I’d worried that the timing of my
Cuban capital is famous for the pedigree of visit was ill-judged, but to hear Havana’s
its singers, institutions like the Buena Vista raucousness returning instead feels like a
Social Club and a feeling that someone with strange kind of privilege.
a guitar or trumpet might appear at any Back out on the street, the sounds of
moment. The pandemic had halted all of hawkers mingle with the voices of guides
that, but while most venues are still closed leading group tours. Mirvel leads me around
when I visit, the situation seems to improve the city centre’s historic heart, first to the
and grow noisier by the hour. From day to armoury museum, then down towards the
day, more bars and restaurants are reopening, 250-year-old baroque cathedral. He explains
and others, seeing their neighbours take Cuba’s singular history and curious standing
a risk, are following suit. Bands are then in the world today with a humour that
hastily assembled and installed inside. disguises deeper anxieties. “Now we don’t
Sitting on the edge of the busy Plaza Vieja, say you are unemployed, but that you are
La Vitrola — meaning ‘The Jukebox’ — was available,” he says at one point. I can sense
one of the first to reopen its doors and strike the grin under his mask. I’ve been in the city
up the band. Mirvel and I take a seat at the for fewer than 24 hours, but I find myself
back, but we can hardly hear each other talk already nodding understandingly when he
as the noise of the bongo ricochets off the adds: “Cuba is a complicated country.”
walls and the high trill of a cornet competes The sunny days roll past, the temperature
with a whirring ceiling fan. For the players, oscillating microscopically between
some performing with their eyes shut in an comfortable and optimal. Drivers stand
energetic rapture, the music looks as much next to their resplendent classic American
an exorcism as it does a concert. cars, vividly painted behemoths as polished
La Vitrola, like many places around and handsome as at any point in the
Havana, is a tribute to another, more affluent past 60 years. The revolution made the
time, one of starched collars and bow ties, of import and sale of new cars impossible,
lavish neon signs and real Coca-Cola. Just so this remarkable fleet has been frozen
when was it, this golden era? Mirvel suggests in time. Most of their owners offer private
CLOCKWISE FROM
the 1950s, hesitantly. It strikes me that the tours around the city, with prices wildly TOP: Locals sitting on
bar’s aesthetic might be reaching back to negotiable, but rather than play that game, a street corner, Old
IMAGES: KAV DADFAR; SUSANNE KREMER
an artful reconstruction of the past — part I sign up with an organised tour called Havana; a cigar smoker
saturated holiday postcard, part heavily Havana Nights. on the streets of Old
edited nostalgia — largely for the benefit of The city hums in the daytime, but it really Havana; a narrow street
travellers like me. But this much is clear: comes alive after dark. I meet my guide, with brightly painted
Havana’s good old days belong to a period Ivan Franko, at my hotel and we walk out buildings in Old Havana
PREVIOUS PAGES:
that may or may not have ever truly existed, into the cool air to meet our driver and
Catedral de San
but in any case exist no more. his convertible 1958 Ford Fairlane. Of all
Cristóbal, an 18th-
“The country is emptying,” says Mirvel the noises in Havana, I’m not sure there’s century baroque house
of Cuba’s latest exodus. I hear laughter anything more satisfying than hearing that of worship that once
and music and joy in Havana, but it’s V8 engine start — and not just hearing it, housed Christopher
hard to ignore this sound — the sound of but feeling it reverberate through the car’s Columbus’s remains
HAVANA
March 2022 123

HAVANA
Q&A with
Rolando
Fernández
González, barman
at El Floridita
HOW MUCH RUM DO YOU GET
THROUGH IN A DAY?
Normally about 40 bottles of
three-year-old Havana Club.
white leather seats, which are like saddles restrictions were recently eased. “Before the
Our most popular drinks are, of
course, daiquiris, so we need to on a great gurgling monster below. pandemic, it was all foreigners here,” says
use quite a lot of rum. We drive the chaotic streets to Plaza Ivan. “But now, look, it’s mostly Cubans. It
de la Revolución. Above, colossal visages makes me feel a little emotional.”
DO PEOPLE ORDER ANYTHING of the movement peer down on us — the When it fi nally comes, the sound — violent
OTHER THAN DAIQUIRIS? globally recognised face of Che Guevara and overwhelming — makes some children
Well, thanks to Hemingway, looking grimly towards a future he couldn’t cry, the shock of the blast quivering in their
there’s a big focus on the daiquiri,
possibly have predicted, and other, lesser- little chests. Yet the main reaction is nervous
but really our mojitos are pretty
known figures, too. There is an undeniable laughter, both at the awesome noise and
good, too. Some people just
order beers, though.
weirdness in trying to meet their gaze from the knowledge that things are gradually
the back of such an ostentatiously American becoming more normal in Havana.
WHERE ARE MOST OF YOUR car, but by now I’m starting to understand a
GUESTS FROM? little of Havana’s endemic strangeness. OLD HAVANA
It depends. At the moment, we On we drive, north through the Havana Back in the old town, I take to the streets.
don’t get so many Americans, but Tunnel, that delicious V8 ripping, roaring, Mewing cats cast long shadows in the amber
there are quite a lot of Canadians
reverberating up its walls. On the north streetlight, while the curiously mournful
and some Europeans. We get
shore we emerge next to Fortaleza de San sounds of a wandering tamale seller swirl
many Russians, too — it’s easy for
them to visit Cuba and they like
Carlos de la Cabaña, a vast 18th-century around tattered, Spanish-era buildings.
it in winter when it’s cold in their fort complex that was built as a paranoid There are hustlers selling impossible
home country. response by Spanish colonialists who’d bargains, the almost imperceptible sounds
temporarily lost the island to a sneak attack of fist bumps signifying an agreement
IMAGES: KAV DADFAR; SUSANNE KREMER
ARE MANY OF THEM EXPERTS by invading British forces. Six months after reached. On the bustling Obispo Street, as
ON HEMINGWAY? the Spanish were ousted from the island, well as offers for cigars and rum, it feels as if
I’m not sure. I think a lot of them they traded Florida to get it back. I get 100 invitations to different restaurants
just want to try to drink like him
Today the fort is still occupied by the — all of which I ignore to instead watch a
and people don’t talk so much
Cuban army. Young recruits, many of them couple dancing on their balcony to a radio
about the books.
doing their national service, perform a playing Bob Marley’s Is This Love.
El Floridita is located at the corner bombastic ritual while dressed in 18th- I push on and reach El Floridita, the
of Obispo and Monserrate streets century uniform at 9pm every night. Ivan self-titled ‘cradle of the daiquiri’, where
in Old Havana and I are joined by about 100 others on the the overwhelming sound is the industrial
ramparts, a crowd gathered to hear the grind of blenders crushing ice. Many writers
cannon fi re for only the second time since drank here over the years, but none more
HAVANA
Rum revolution //
Bacardi was originally
headquartered in
Havana, but left after
the revolution when the
company’s properties
ūäŅäŉäĆŹäà͠ƋäƇŅġΎŉ
beautiful art deco
building still stands, but
àĩĢΎőäŰłäÚőőĩƇĢàÁĢű
of its rum in local bars
Hats and souvenirs for

sale in Old Havana
LEFT: El Floridita bar, a
famous haunt of writer
Ernest Hemingway that
serves daiquiri cocktails
March 2022 125

HAVANA
infamously than Ernest Hemingway. madly popular Cerveceria lifts the shutters Wheels of time //
‘Papa’ not only downed daiquiris in this and is instantly busy. Dozens of tables spill
200-year-old bar, but loudly endorsed the out onto the old square, a three-piece band ƋäŅäÁŅäőĂĩŖúĂőőĩ
place — marketing that its management still performing for tips in between them. While
uses today. Ordinarily packed with tourists this ragtag group work the tables, I order ÙäÁŉġÁĢűÁŉ̤̞̞̞̞͡
looking to have a cocktail in the manner a cab to head out to one of Havana’s iconic
of one of the 20th century’s most famous venues, the undying Tropicana Club.
ŪĆĢőÁúäÚÁŅŉĩĢőĂä
drinkers, I find only a handful of people The Second World War had just begun in ŉőŅääőŉĩùDÁŪÁĢÁ͠
inside, although this includes Hemingway Europe as this venue was opening its grand
himself, cast in bronze, propping up the bar. doors in a private estate in the Marianao ŉέūäěěÁŉőĂäùÁġĩŖŉ
With Havana only just reopening, its neighbourhood. Then, as now, its al fresco
ordinarily booming music scene is working stage hosted an unabashedly glamorous
ÙŅÁĢàŉ͡äŰłäÚő
on word-of-mouth recommendations. I feel cabaret night under palm trees. It’s őĩέŉääέĩŪĆäőÁĢà
very lucky, then, to hear about a Haydée particularly satisfying that in Tropicana
Milanés concert at the Eclectico restaurant the drinks really are free — a half bottle ĂĆĢäŉäġÁŅńŖäŉ
to the west of the city centre. The daughter of complimentary rum, depending on the
of the celebrated Cuban singer-songwriter ticket you’ve booked — and, for the time
Pablo Milanés, Haydée is an established you’re inside at least, it feels as if there’s
artist in her own right who’d be capable of enough for everyone.
pulling in a good crowd on any night. But, I’m seated right next to the stage in
under the circumstances — almost two years intimidating proximity to the dancers.
with no live music — her intimate, open-air Everyone in the place is transfixed by the
set seems to take on extra meaning. She performers. Their legs kick high, their hips
seems to sing as if it’s significant, too. The turn to liquid. Sequins shimmer in the night
wonderful sound of her voice is captured and sky like an aurora. Smiles are tacked taut
amplified by a decorative parasol, while her like guy ropes. The drums are infectious, the FROM LEFT: A street scene from the so-
neck strains towards the most sublime notes. clapping relentless. The problems beyond called ‘Art District’ of Old Havana; two
By the time Saturday comes, Havana is the club’s walls haven’t gone away, but for freshly made mojitos sit on the old bar
almost back in full swing. On Plaza Vieja, the now, they’re just noise. inside La Bodeguita del Medio
IMAGES: SUSANNE KREMER; JAMIE LAFFERTY
HAVANA
INSIDER TIPS
To get the best exchange rates,

take US dollars or euros in cash.
Many ATMs don’t work and very
few restaurants or bars accept
payment by card.
Agree all taxi prices before

starting your journey.
It’s necessary to obtain a tourist

card before arriving in Cuba. Your
tour agency will help organise this
for you.
Internet access requires buying

scratch cards, which are available
in some shops and most hotels.
Some individual bars may also
offer complimentary access for
their patrons.
14 hours in
HAVANA
10AM 1PM
PAY HOMAGE TO HEMINGWAY SIP A MOJITO
As with almost everywhere the pugnacious If you want to keep following Hemingway, it’s
writer lived, Havana has preserved as much time for a drink. When it comes to cocktails
evidence of Ernest Hemingway’s life as — and especially mojitos — all roads lead
possible. On the outskirts of the city, his old to La Bodeguita del Medio. Hemingway
home at Finca La Vigía is now a museum, allegedly loved the mojitos here and the
large parts of which have been kept as they bar displays a supposedly handwritten
were when he left to return to the US for the sign claiming as much. In recent years the
final time in 1960. As well as the house, there owners have conceded that his statement is a
are lush grounds with an outdoor swimming forgery, but the mojitos are very real. There’s
pool, Hemingway’s old boat, the Pilar, and a a restaurant out back serving dishes like
gift shop, of course. en.hemingwayhavana.com Creole-style fish if you want to grab lunch.
labodeguitarestaurant.restaurantwebx.com
11.30AM
VISIT THE THEATRE 3PM
There are many grand buildings here, but CHECK OUT THE ART
perhaps none quite so resplendent as the By now it’ll have been impossible to ignore
gleaming white Gran Teatro de la Habana how creative Havana is, whether that’s music
Alicia Alonso, designed in a neo-baroque or street art. To see the artistic process up
style by Belgian architect Paul Belau. Check close, visit the Taller Experimental de Gráfica,
local listings for performances or simply take just off the 18th-century Plaza de la Catedral.
a tour. A home for ballet, opera and classical In here, local painters and sculptors will
music concerts, it was originally built in the be hard at work near a gallery where their
19th century, then significantly expanded and pieces are available to buy. If you can’t find
improved in 1914. If you’re looking for classic a souvenir you like, there’s an authentic rum
cars, there are always some parked outside. and cigar shop just outside. cubarte.cult.cu
March 2022 127

HAVANA
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musicians limbering up for a night of base in traditional uniforms and loudly
entertainment, there’s a feeling of electricity boasting of the greatness of their nation. Where to stay
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Mojito, just off the main square, has a range dark, head down to its lively promenade,
of traditional Cuban dishes and Habanero the Malecón. Every night — and especially How to do it
specialities, as well as the titular drink, of at weekends — you’ll find gatherings of JOURNEY LATIN AMERICA offers
course. mojito-mojito.com Habaneros here watching the sunset, Ì>À>ìÌÀ«Ã>`}ÀÕ«ÌÕÀÃÌ
listening to the cannon being fired from
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9pm. Competition for the best vantage points San Salvador de la Punta, an original 16th- `À>}iÌiÃ> E L>ÃÃ>`
can be fierce, but even if you miss out, the century Spanish fort. iÝVÕÀÃÃ°journeylatinamerica.co.uk
CIT Y LIFE
BRISTOL
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f you take a stroll along Bristol’s central Corn Street,
keeping your gaze far above the vintage clothing stalls
and wooden tables stacked with second-hand books,
you’ll catch sight of the striking red-and-white clockface
that adorns the Grade I-listed Corn Exchange building,
once used by merchants to trade their wares.
Take a second to study the 19th-century clock, and
you’ll notice it has two minute hands. The faster is set
to Greenwich Mean Time, Britain’s legal standardised
time since 1880, while the slower maintains traditional
Bristol Mean Time, which — based on the point when
the sun is at its highest in the sky — historically runs
10 minutes behind London. An apt metaphor, some
might say, for how Bristol has always taken pride in
setting itself apart from the crowd.
Growing up in nearby Cardiff, Bristol’s cross-border
cousin just 25 miles away, my teenage years were spent
listening to animated tales of burgeoning Bristol music
festivals (such as the now-annual Love Saves the Day)
and all-night skatepark raves (the humble beginnings of
iconic Bristol nightclub Motion). Bristol, clearly, was the
most exciting place on the planet.
And even now, seeing it with an adult eye, the city
maintains an undeniable aura of cool. Permanently
on the cusp of the latest trends, or actually setting
them, this is a place where street-art-smattered lanes
and former-warehouse-turned-tap rooms turn out an
impressively diverse food scene where visitors can have
lunch in an authentic Italian deli and enjoy dinner in a
shipping container styled like a Tokyo izakaya bar.
But Bristol’s identity permeates far deeper than its
proclivity for hipster food dens or its love of a good
party. Fuelled by a large and vocal student population,
the former industrial port city has become a stronghold
for counterculture and activism in the UK, particularly
around environmentalism, which has fostered a city-
wide eco-conscious ethos that led to Bristol becoming
the first European Green Capital in Britain back in 2015.
And, of course, civil rights: a protest drew the world’s
gaze in 2020, when a prominent statue of merchant
and slave trader Edward Colston was pulled down and
thrown into the city’s harbour.
Whether you find yourself at home in the stylish
tearooms of Clifton Village or the low-key boozers of
Stokes Croft, there’s a sense that Bristol is happy doing
things its own way, forging its own path and, dare I say
it, ticking along at its own pace.
March 2022 131

BRISTOL
SEE AND DO BANKSY STREET ART: The identity of satirical

M SHED: The large, free-to-enter graffiti artist Banksy may be shrouded in
museum provides the perfect introduction mystery but what’s certain is that Bristol
to Bristol, with intriguing artefacts including has claimed the father of modern street art
wartime posters and Tudor-era treasure as its prodigal son. The celebrated stencilist
hoards bringing to life the city’s history, and has left his mark all over the walls of what’s
insights from local people shedding light on believed to be his hometown. Easy-to-see
the Bristol of today. Don’t miss the brilliant works include Mild, Mild West, an early
21st Century Kids exhibit, where young mural that depicts a teddy bear attacking riot
Bristolians answer probing questions, from police on Stokes Croft road, and Well Hung
‘What’s your passion?’ to ‘Do you dance?’ Lover, showing a naked man dangling from
bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed a window above a former sexual health clinic
CLIFTON OBSERVATORY: A number of spots on Frogmore Street. visitbristol.co.uk
vie for the title of Bristol’s best view, but the LOCAL THEATRE: London may have the
panorama from Clifton Observatory, looking West End, but Bristol is home to the
down on Clifton Suspension Bridge, is hard oldest continually running theatre in the
to top. The 18th-century stone structure English-speaking world. Bristol Old Vic
is home to a functioning, 200-year-old hosts everything from Shakespeare to
camera obscura, which provides a magnified experimental shorts in its beautiful Grade
perspective of the surrounding Avon Gorge. I-listed auditorium. For more avant-garde
However, many visitors find the views from works, try the Loco Klub, housed in the
the observatory’s well-stocked rooftop bar tunnels beneath Temple Meads station, or,
equally appealing. cliftonobservatory.com for something a little lighter, head to the
ST NICHOLAS MARKET: Even those not Improv Theatre in Clifton. bristololdvic.org.uk
planning on loosening their purse strings locoklub.com improvtheatre.co.uk
will feel the tug of vibrant St Nicks. Dating BRISTOL LIDO: First welcoming swimmers
back to 1743, this huge indoor-outdoor in 1850, visitors can still bathe in Victorian
market in the city centre is home to Bristol’s splendour with a refreshing dip at this
largest collection of independent retailers, gorgeous courtyard-enclosed, open-
with street food vendors, record stores, air pool (pre-booking essential). Those
indie T-shirt makers and even a ‘hot sauce who don’t fancy diving in can lap up the
emporium’ lining the tangle of narrow serene surrounds from the lido’s excellent
indoor laneways, which spill out into the Mediterranean-themed restaurant.
surrounding streets. bristol.gov.uk lidobristol.com
Nine lives //
A stray tabby named
Tom became such a
beloved member of the
congregation of Bristol’s
ő`ÁŅűäàÚěĆƄä
Church that he was
given a full funeral
service on his death
in 1927. A small plaque
to Tom can still be
found in the church’s
grounds today
FROM LEFT: Cafe at Bristol Old Vic Theatre,

famous for its Grade I-listed auditorium;
Bristol’s Victorian-era lido, opened in 1850
PREVIOUS PAGES: Clifton Suspension Bridge
spanning the Avon Gorge and River Avon,
designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel
BRISTOL
LIKE A LOCAL BUY

20TH CENTURY FLICKS: Located BRISTOL BLUE GLASS: Glassblowing
beneath the zigzagging fairy lights of has been prevalent in Bristol since the 18th
Christmas Steps laneway, the endearingly century (when the city was home to 60
ramshackle 20th Century Flicks is one of the glassworks), and today The Original Bristol
UK’s last surviving video rental stores, with Blue Glass Company continues to create
more than 18,000 titles in stock. More useful beautiful, teal-tinged glass ornaments
for tourists, however, is the shop’s teeny- and jewellery using the same antiquated
tiny in-house cinema, which can be booked technique. Lessons in this traditional craft
for private use by groups of up to 10 people. are also offered at the company’s studio.
20thcenturyflicks.co.uk bristol-glass.co.uk
BRISTOL CATHEDRAL CHORAL EVENSONG: STOKES CROFT CHINA: Perhaps the perfect
If you need some respite from the buzz of Bristol souvenir, Stokes Croft China’s
Bristol’s busy streets, pop inside the city’s humorous mugs are designed by local artists
mighty, gothic-style cathedral during and emblazoned with alt-political messaging
the Choral Evensong (sung prayers), that like ‘f**k austerity’ and ‘boycott Tesco’. Sales
happens most days at 5.15pm. Even those from the shop, which also stocks posters and
with no religious faith will find the sounds — less conventional — decorated toilets, go
of the organ reverberating around the grand towards funding local community projects.
hall incredibly soothing. Intriguingly, the prscshop.co.uk
cathedral also sells its own gin. GUILBERTS CHOCOLATES: The world’s first
bristol-cathedral.co.uk solid chocolate bar was created in Bristol
REDCLIFFE CAVES: Hidden beneath the back in 1847, but today only one independent
surface of the city, the man-made Redcliffe chocolate-maker remains in the city.
Caves were originally dug to mine sandstone Delighting customers for more than 100
in the Middle Ages. Today, the atmospheric years, Guilberts Chocolates still crafts its
tunnels are opened to the public for special sweet treats using age-old methods, with
events, including a series of spooky film every chocolate hand-dipped before being
screenings put on by the Bristol Film Festival sold out of its Victorian shopfront on Small
during Halloween. bristolfilmfestival.com Street. guilbertschocolates.co.uk
March 2022 133

BRISTOL
BRISTOL
Daredevils // EAT
BABA GANOUSH KITCHEN: It may
AFTER HOURS
THE CORONATION TAP: England’s
ƋäƇŅŉőŅäÚĩŅàäà serve what it terms ‘Jerusalem falafel’, but West Country is famed for its cider
this beloved cafe could hardly feel more production, and the wood-walled, wood-
ġĩàäŅĢÙŖĢúääĔŖġł Bristolian. Wonderfully low-key (it’s set in floored Cori Tap, as it’s affectionately
the shadow of the A4032) and plastered known, is purportedly the oldest cider
ūÁŉŖĢàäŅőÁėäĢùŅĩġ in street art, this neighbourhood spot in St house in Bristol. It’s one of those pubs
őĂäěĆùőĩĢŖŉłäĢŉĆĩĢ Pauls is encircled by a handful of wooden where everyone seems to have a story
tables, where everyone from students to about, usually featuring the venue’s very
ŅĆàúäĆĢ̧̧̟̥Ùű pensioners grapple with the hefty, heavenly own (very strong) Exhibition cider which,
wraps. facebook.com/babaganoushbristol rather sensibly, is served only in half pints.
ġäġÙäŅŉĩùgŰùĩŅà SONNY STORES: Having previously thecoronationtap.com
ĢĆŪäŅŉĆőűΎŉ#ÁĢúäŅĩŖŉ worked as sous chef at one of Bristol’s best- THEKLA: Bristol offers live music in pubs,
loved Italians (Pasta Ripiena, also highly clubs and parks, but for sheer quirkiness,
łĩŅőŉěŖÙ recommended), Pegs Quinn opened Sonny nothing can compete with Thekla, a
Stores with his wife Mary Glynn following gig venue on an old German cargo ship
the lockdown in 2020. Sitting on a pretty permanently docked in Bristol’s harbour.
residential street in Southville, the welcome Everyone from blues guitarists to up-
here is generous and the seasonal Italian and-coming indie bands take to the ship’s
cuisine — the homemade stuffed pasta in small stage to rock the boat most evenings.
particular — is gorgeous. sonnystores.com theklabristol.co.uk
BOX-E: Like many top chefs in Bristol, THE MILK THISTLE: The Bristol speakeasy
ABOVE: Seasonal roast leek, Sinodun Elliot cut his teeth in the high-pressure everyone can’t stop talking about, The Milk
ViiÃi]ÌÀÕvyi>ìÀÕÃ>i kitchens of London, before leaving the Thistle hides behind a big black door right
artichoke crisps at Box-E restaurant Big Smoke to open BOX-E: a fine dining in the city centre. Spread across four floors,
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: View of
restaurant housed in a renovated shipping the aesthetic is meticulously sculpted (all red
,i`VvvivÀ ÀÃÌ½ÃÀiìÛi«i`
container in the trendy, new Wapping Wharf leather sofas and twinkling chandeliers) and
>ÀLÕÀÃì]iÌ}>iÀiÃ>`
µÕ>ÞÃìi>ÌiÀiÃÆ >ÃÞ½Ã/iÀ
development. The pint-sized venue plates up the custom-made cocktails expertly crafted.
ÜÌÌi*iÀVi` >À`ÀÕ]}À>wÌÌi` pan-European dishes, from Brixham scallops With regular events, including themed
Albion Dockyard in 2014; Sonny Stores, to hangar steak, best sampled via the seven- parties and gin tastings, it’s an unmissable
ÃiÀÛ}Ì>>v>Ài-ÕÌÛi course tasting menu. boxebristol.com night out. milkthistlebristol.com
March 2022 135

BRISTOL
ESSENTIALS
1/4 mile
UNITED
KINGDOM
LONDON
Bristol
Stokes Croft
Bristol Lido
Clifton Observatory B R I S T O L
Corn Street
Clifton Suspension Bridge
St Nicholas Market
Bristol Cathedral
Temple Meads station
THE DOCKS Thekla
o M Shed
River Av n

Bristol’s Temple Meads railway station,
connected to the Great Western Railway
network, is accessible from most of the UK
including direct services to London
Paddington (journey time: 1h35m), and
Cardiff Central (50m).
Bristol Airport has both domestic
and international services. It’s accessed
by the A1 bus and the journey time into
central Bristol is 35m.
Central Bristol is fairly compact and easy to
navigate on foot, albeit hilly in places.
Alternatively, visitors can hire bikes from
numerous places including Bristol Electric
iÀi°ÀÕÀiÞÃvÕÀÌiÀ>wi`]Ìi
bus is your best bet. Number 8 connects
ABOVE: Artist Residence
Z SLEEP
ZZ
Temple Meads and Clifton. Consider a day
TOWED TOWN CAMPING: Set in a opened in 2021 in pass (£6) if making multiple journeys across
warehouse just a short walk from Temple a former boot factory a 24-hour period. bristolbikehire.co.uk
on Portland Square wÀÃÌLÕÃ°V°Õ
Meads station, Towed Town Camping offers
the joys of a British caravan holiday in the
When to go
great outdoors, indoors. Guests bed down in
With its westerly Atlantic-facing location,
one of six kitschy-cool caravans, with fairy any time of year can be rainy, but spring and
lights dangling overhead and artificial grass autumn are likely to offer good weather.
underfoot. towedtowncamping.com Several festivals, including the Bristol
ARTIST RESIDENCE: The long-awaited International Balloon Fiesta, can make a
Bristol outpost of the trendy Artist summer visit appealing. In November and
Residence hotel brand finally opened in December, the Broadmead section of the
a Grade-I listed former boot factory in city is taken over by a huge Christmas
market. Be sure to wrap up warmly as
Stokes Croft. Its 10 different room categories
temperatures can drop to freezing.
range from Broom Cupboard doubles to
the Artist Suite. Breakfast is taken in the More info
Library bar, with a downstairs hangout Visit Bristol. visitbristol.co.uk.
space and kitchen due to open later this year. Pocket Guide to Bath, Bristol & The
artistresidence.co.uk Southwest, Lonely Planet, £7.99
HOTEL DU VIN BRISTOL AVON GORGE: Banksy’s Bristol: Home Sweet Home by
As a spa and hydropathic centre in the Richard Jones, Tangent Books, £15
ILLUSTRATION: JOHN PLUMER
Victorian era, the Avon Gorge attracted

aristocrats from around the country, and, How to do it
GRAFTvviÀ}À>vwÌÌii`Ü>}ÌÕÀÃ
in its current iteration as a Du Vin-branded
and art workshops, focusing on Banksy’s
hotel, this Clifton mainstay has a similar
legacy. graftworkshop.co.uk
allure. Its plush rooms all provide premier Rooms at ARTIST RESIDENCE range
views over the gorge and suspension bridge, from Broom Cupboard doubles from
which non-guests can enjoy from the £95 to the Artist Suite from £275.
adjoining White Lion pub. hotelduvin.com artistresidence.co.uk
| P A I D C O N T E N T F O R F O O D A N D D R I N K WA L E S
ST DAVID’S DAY
A recipe for change

Make a difference and celebrate Wales this year by visiting the shops, farms
and cafes of the country’s most resourceful and passionate producers
T 1 2
he Welsh food and drink scene has WELSH HOMESTEAD SMOKERY, CRWST, CARDIGAN
never been more exciting — and CEREDIGION In castle-topped Cardigan in west
that’s real cause for celebration Where the gentle, rolling hills of Ceredigion Wales, Osian and Catrin Jones hand-bake
on St David’s Day. One look at meet the higher peaks of the Cambrian and shape artisan breads using traditional
the country’s fertile pastures, forests and Mountains, Claire and Chris Jesse deliver methods and pure ingredients: organic
vast coastline reveals why: exceptional ‘smoky food magic’ at their small-batch, Shipton Mill flour, water, salt and organic
produce, ingredients sourced with care and sustainably minded artisan smokery in yeast. Inspired by extensive travels in
an eye for provenance, natural flavours and the Welsh sticks. Their cold-smoked bacon, France, they ditched their day jobs a few
IMAGES: GETTY; PETERSTON TEA; PEMBROKESHIRE LAMB
sustainability. Now producers are putting beef and lamb, as well as UK-grown smoked years ago to follow their dreams by setting
Wales firmly on the gastro map by foraging chillies, smoked chilli jams and flavoured up this micro-bakery and cafe. Brunches
and fermenting, farming and fishing, and smoked salts, are full of intense, natural make the most of terrific local produce in
mixing back-to-the-roots tradition with flavours. Book a workshop on their farmstead the likes of creamy truffle mushrooms on
creative flair. Excelling in everything from or visit to learn how to use smoke and fire to sourdough toast with poached egg, Welsh
single-estate tea to meadow-fed hogget, cook and preserve. bacon and smashed avocado. But you’ll also
each of these rising stars has a unique and DON’T MISS: The signature smoked lamb want to save room for the cakes and pastries
surprising story to tell. You can order their bacon: a miniature rasher of cured lamb, that flake just so.
goods online, but for a true taste of Wales, flavoured with Pembrokeshire honey and DON’T MISS: Christmassy cinnamon swirls
nothing beats visiting in person. Here are smoked gently over wood. and zingy lemon-curd doughnuts that taste
four businesses to watch. TRY IT: The smoked meats feature like summer.
regularly on the menu at Michelin-starred TRY IT: Visit the cafe, bistro and deli in
restaurant Sosban & The Old Butchers on Cardigan to taste the signature breads and
CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Wild flowers on the
Anglesey. You can also buy the products warming, flavourful dishes, or order a bake-
Pembrokeshire coast; a soothing cup of Peterston’s green online and at local delis and food fairs. at-home kit.
tea; farm-to-plate fare; Pembrokeshire lamb welshsmokery.co.uk crwst.cymru/crwst-cardigan
| P A I D C O N T E N T F O R F O O D A N D D R I N K WA L E S
3 PETERSTON TEA ESTATE, VALE OF GLAMORGAN

It takes guts and foresight to look at the Vale of
Glamorgan’s drizzly hills and think ‘tea plantation’. But
Lucy George did just that in 2013, when she pinned her
aspirations on growing from seed the first handcrafted,
single-estate tea in Wales. Using an ethical agroforestry
approach, Lucy helped those tiny seeds to bloom into richly
aromatic teas. Mellow and smooth, the estate’s single-batch
black, green and oolong teas have done phenomenally well
at the Great Taste Awards.
DON’T MISS: Pale amber Lloer Moon Oolong tea, with notes
of milk chocolate and jammy tropical fruits.
TRY IT: Fortnum & Mason stocks Peterston teas. This year
there are plans to open the farm for visits and host courses
covering growing, picking and processing.
peterstontea.com
4 PEMBROKESHIRE LAMB
Steve and Kara Lewis hit the ground
running when they set up a 100-acre
farm in north Pembrokeshire in 2019.
Following a slow, conservation-focused
‘fresh is best’ mantra, their meltingly
tender Pembrokeshire lamb tastes of the
surrounding hills and spring meadows lush
with grass, clover and herbs. Sheep are free
to graze naturally on their farm, and meat is
hung for longer — up to two weeks for hogget
and mutton — to develop its full-bodied
flavour and texture, then cut by a local
award-winning butcher.
DON’T MISS: Well-aged, deep-flavoured
hogget shoulder, awarded the Golden Fork at
the 2021 Great Taste Awards.
TRY IT: At cafes and restaurants such as
the Runwayskiln in coast-hugging Marloes,
which regularly features hogget on the menu.
The farm’s meats can be bought online or at
food fairs like the BBC Good Food Show in
Birmingham. pembrokeshirelamb.co.uk
For more details on great Welsh producers, see

gov.wales/foodanddrinkwales. For recipes, see
gov.wales/foodanddrink/about-us/recipes.
#CaruCymruCaruBlas #LoveWalesLoveTaste
campaign
R E A D MO R E O N L I N E AT
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D R I N K WA L E S
T R AV E L G E E K S
ASK THE EXPERTS

NEED ADVICE FOR YOUR NEXT TRIP? ARE YOU
AFTER RECOMMENDATIONS, TIPS AND GUIDANCE?
THE TRAVEL GEEKS HAVE THE ANSWERS…
Q // I’m planning a South Africa’s famous safari Grootbos Private Nature Reserve flora. Inverdoorn is also a strong
heartlands lie in the north east, is a superb choice. Two hours option: all the Big Five can be
trip to South Africa but there are precious pockets of southeast of Cape Town, this found in the 25,000-acre reserve.
and want to combine wilderness within easy striking glorious swathe of rare Cape Rhinos are a particular draw here,
a city break in Cape distance of Cape Town, too. fynbos vegetation flows down to and the cheetah conservation
Aquila Private Game Reserve, Walker Bay, a shallow stretch of project has been making
Town with a nearby for example, is just two hours out coast home to migratory southern interesting gains in recent years.
safari. Where do of town via the scenic N1 highway right whales between June and sanbona.com inverdoorn.com
you recommend? through the Cape Winelands. November. Offering a mixture of The Eastern Cape province
This family-friendly reserve is an activities such as guided hikes is another celebrated wildlife
ideal taster of safari, featuring and whale-watching, Grootbos is area, which can be reached
outings by safari vehicle, quad well-suited to outdoorsy types. from Cape Town via a road trip
bike or on horseback. It doesn’t But its luxurious and eco-friendly to and then along the coastal
have quite the same wild feel accommodation makes it a great Garden Route. It’s a long drive
of the large reserves, but its choice for a lazy escape, too, (360 miles from Cape Town to
compact size means you’re almost relaxing on your balcony with the route’s official end point
guaranteed to see antelopes, binoculars, ready for birds to fly in Storms River) but takes in
giraffes and hippos. There are past or whales to breach off-shore. many hiking spots, viewpoints
lions and leopards, too, fenced grootbos.com EMMA GREGG and nature experiences. For
off from the herbivores. Behind wildlife, book into the lodges
ABOVE FROM LEFT:
the scenes, there are active tree- I’d suggest a visit to five-star-rated at Shamwari or Pumba, or — if
The Twelve Apostles
planting projects in full swing, too. Sanbona Wildlife Reserve, around you have a good vehicle — go
mountains overlooking
Camps Bay, near Cape
aquilasafari.com a three-hour drive from the city. for a self-drive at Addo Elephant
Town, South Africa; If you’re interested in botany, A minimum of three nights is Park. pumbagamereserve.co.za
bread-making course at coastal landscapes and marine recommended to experience not shamwari.com sanparks.org
Riot Rye, Ireland wildlife, the multi-award-winning just the wildlife but also the varied KGOMOSTO RAMOTHEA
Q // I’d like to Respected cookery school Riot Rye Bakehouse & Q // I’m considering
Ashburton, on the edge of Bread School, in Cloughjordan
sign up for a Dartmoor National Park in Devon Ecovillage, County Tipperary,
pairing a hiking
two- or (just a short drive from nearby Ireland, has one-day courses holiday in Greece with
three-day Newton Abbot), runs regular for beginners right through to some beach time this
Artisan Bread Weekends. experienced chefs. Think you’ve
bread-making It’s an excellent place to learn stretched your sourdough to its
spring. Where’s a
course in the how to cultivate poolish, a limits? The advanced (Level 3) good option?
UK or Ireland. yeast-cultured starter used course might prove you wrong,
for sourdough, baguettes and and you’ll get to take a fresh Hiking and beaches go hand-in-
Where would ciabatta. Other recipes include starter and selection of breads hand in Greece. Bearing in mind
you suggest? beetroot and walnut bread, home with you. Courses start at that most things don’t open until
overnight brioche, olive burger €135 (£115), with various dates Greek Easter (dates change, but
buns, and raspberry and white throughout the year. riotrye.ie are usually after Catholic Easter),
chocolate brioche muffins. If you want to stay over, try spring is still a lovely time to walk.
Best of all, you get to take home Django’s in the Ecovillage, where One of the prettiest areas for
everything you baked. Courses residents cultivate their own walking is the Pelion Peninsula, in
start at £350 per person, with crops. Private en suite rooms start the centre of the country. Here,
accommodation at the attached at €35 (£30) per night, including you can wander for miles along
Ashburton Court at a special breakfast made with ingredients former kalderimi (donkey trails),
rate of £74 per night, B&B. grown on-site. djangoshostel.com passing through mountain villages
ashburtoncookeryschool.co.uk ELLA BUCHAN and along parts of the beautiful
coastline. The website walking-
pelion.blogspot.com provides
excellent advice on the area.
The remote Mani region of
the southern Peloponnese,
meanwhile, has solid trails for
serious hikers. Walking tracks
aren’t always well maintained or
marked and the area is large, so
you’ll need good maps, such as
those by Anavasi. Tracks head
over limestone-covered hills and
past ruins of remarkable Maniot
towers. One easily accessible
beach with a couple of excellent
tavernas is at Cape Matapan (also
known as Cape Tainaron), the
southernmost tip of mainland
Q // What Networks EE, Three and roaming. Which? has been calling Greece, at the end of the Taygetos
Vodafone will be reintroducing for provisions to be included in range. KATE ARMSTRONG
changes to roaming fees on most of their these negotiations to put an end
mobile tariff s this year, charging £2 a to mobile operators chipping
roaming day for those travelling in the EU, away at the roaming benefits
charges are with cheaper multi-day passes customers have become used to, THE EXPERTS
available. In August 2020, O2 and to prevent people from facing
planned introduced a different policy excessive charges when travelling. EMMA GREGG //
in 2022? whereby customers are charged In the meantime, there are TRAVEL WRITER
& AUTHOR
£3.50 per gigabyte when they go things you can do to avoid a nasty
over a 25GB limit. surprise when you get home.
But British holidaymakers can Turning off mobile data before KGOMOSTO RAMOTEA //
already face exorbitant charges you arrive is always a good idea. SOUTH AFRICAN TOURISM
FOR THE UK & IRELAND
or see their phone blocked when Putting your phone on Airplane
roaming with some network Mode also turns off all wireless
providers in countries outside connections, including your ELLA BUCHAN //
of the EU. Customers who have mobile data. You can then switch FOOD & TRAVEL
WRITER
adjusted their phone’s settings it off again before connecting
IMAGES: GETTY; MARK NIXON
to automatically back-up photos to wi-fi. Download documents

onto the cloud, for instance, and media to your phone before SUE DAVIES // HEAD OF
could be hit unwittingly with you travel, and be mindful of any CONSUMER PROTECTION
POLICY, WHICH?
costly charges. apps that sync automatically, as
As the UK continues to this could end up using data in
negotiate post-Brexit trade deals, the background. Which? has free KATE ARMSTRONG //
there’s hope that there will be information on this at which.co.uk/ TRAVEL WRITER
& AUTHOR
opportunities to lower the cost of mobileroaming SUE DAVIES
March 2022 141

TRAVEL GEEKS
THE INFO
YELLOWSTONE TURNS 150

THE WORLD’S FIRST NATIONAL PARK WAS FOUNDED ON 1 MARCH 1872 IN THE UNITED STATES, KICKSTARTING
A GLOBAL MOVEMENT TO PRESERVE THE PLANET’S NATURAL TREASURES. WORDS: AMELIA DUGGAN
IN NUMBERS Native Americans have

THE PARK lived in the area for
11,000 years, with ancient
2.2 million
the size of the park in acres, arrowhead finds dating
which equates to roughly to the Paleo-Indians
1,247,000 football pitches
of the Clovis culture.
96% Today, 27 tribes have
the portion of the park in
Wyoming, with 3% in Montana connections to the
and 1% in Idaho land and resources, THE YELLOWSTONE
CALDERA IS
4.26 million including the THE LARGEST
the number of visitors Assiniboine SUPERVOLCANO
recorded in 2016, dropping IN NORTH AMERICA.
to 3.81 million in 2020 and the Sioux CURRENTLY
DORMANT, IT WAS
FORMED BY A SERIES
OF ERUPTIONS, THE
MOST RECENT
The Heart Mountain WWII AN ICON OF THE PARK, OF WHICH
Interpretive Center, set up in BISON ONCE NUMBERED WAS 70,000
2011, recalls through artifacts YEARS AGO
UP TO 60 MILLION
and oral histories the tragic
confinement of 14,000 Japanese IN NORTH AMERICA. THE
Americans in a camp following PARK IS ONE OF THEIR
the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor
LAST STRONGHOLDS,
WITH A TOTAL OF
AROUND 5,000
Of Yellowstone’s 1,283
recorded geysers,
More than 6,500
Old Faithful is arguably The park is known for its megafauna. national parks have
the best known. The grizzly bear population was estimated been created
For estimated eruption around the world
at around 728 in 2019, up from 136 in 1975. in the 150 years
times, check the Twitter Meanwhile, as many as 20,000 elk use the since Yellowstone
feed @GeyserNPS park’s high-elevation grasslands in summer was established
Timeline: from creation to conservation
1805 1871 1872 1978 1995

The Lewis and Clark Ferdinand Hayden creates President Ulysses S Grant Yellowstone is named Wolves are reintroduced
expedition encounters a geological survey with signs the Yellowstone a UNESCO World Heritage from Canada, and in 2008
Nez Perce, Crow and paintings by Thomas Moran National Park Protection Site, along with Mesa Northern Rocky Mountain
Shoshone tribes when and photography by William čVÌ¼vÀÌiLiiwÌ>` Verde National Park wolves are removed from
travelling through Montana Henry Jackson enjoyment of the people’ in Colorado the endangered species list
SOURCES: FORBES.COM; NPR.ORG; NPS.GOV
TRAVEL GEEKS
HOT TOPIC I READ MORE ON THIS TOPIC AT NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.CO.UK/TRAVEL
WILL COP26 TRANSFORM TOURISM?

WHAT DOES THE GLASGOW DECLARATION ON CLIMATE ACTION IN TOURISM DEMAND OF ITS 300 SIGNATORIES,
WHO’S YET TO SIGN AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR TRAVELLERS? WORDS: SIMON USBORNE
It shouldn’t come as a surprise

to anyone that moving millions
of people around the planet is
a carbon-intensive business.
Tourism accounts for an
estimated 8-11% of global
greenhouse gas emissions,
according to the World Travel
& Tourism Council (WTTC).
Currently, aviation makes up
nearly a fifth of this figure.
And all the signs are that
this will get worse as the world
becomes increasingly mobile:
annual tourist arrivals (both
domestic and international) are
forecast to rise from 20 billion in
2016 to 37 billion by 2030.
What happened at COP26?

More than 300 companies and key tourism destinations How will we know if the
involved in global tourism signed (many keenly affected by climate signatories are delivering
the Glasgow Declaration on change). But notable absentees so on their pledges? your travel
Climate Action in Tourism at the far include the major airlines and As well as presenting a climate carbon footprint
annual COP summit, which was cruise lines. “Despite their huge action plan within a year of in numbers
held in November in Scotland’s contributions to emissions, they signing, participants must also
second city. Galvanised by the lack the technology needed to report their progress annually. 1,754 kg C02
č -\ //9°-"1,
-\7",/,č6 E/"1,-
"1
]1 / č/" - 6," /*,",č
Estimated emmisions per

challenges of the pandemic and reduce them significantly,” Girma There will be support for
passenger for a long-haul
the opportunity it offered to the says. Work to improve efficiencies signatories who face difficulties in y}Ì]vÀiÝ>«i`
industry to ‘reset’ its ways, the and find cleaner fuels is ongoing doing so, but signatory status will to Bangkok (12h)
firms all pledged to halve their and gathering pace. “But it’s be revoked after a 90-day period
emissions by 2030 and reach net unlikely it will happen by 2030 or if reports aren’t forthcoming. 1,600 kg C02
zero by 2050. even 2050,” Girma adds. /iV>ÀLVÃÌv>ÃÝ
The WTTC also used Glasgow Will travellers care? `>ÞVÀÕÃi]«iÀ«>ÃÃi}iÀ
Who’s behind it? to launch a ‘decarbonisation The tourism industry has
The declaration was created roadmap’, outlining various ways been accused of burnishing 342 kg C02
Average emissions racked
as a collaboration between the in which different travel industry its environmental credentials
Õ«`ÕÀ}>ÃÝ`>Þ
World Tourism Organisation, sectors — including aviation and as a way to market itself to hotel stay
the United Nations Environment cruise — can cut emissions. increasingly climate-conscious
Programme, VisitScotland, the travellers. And signatories to this 288 kg C02
Travel Foundation and Tourism So how will signatories new declaration will certainly Carbon cost of a short-
Declares a Climate Emergency. make these cuts? shout about it. But there’s also >ÕÀìÃÌVy}Ì]
“These influential organisations One of the signatories, Intrepid a sense that there’s finally some vÀiÝ>«i iÜ9ÀÌ
Chicago (2h)
lacked a unified approach during Travel, which became carbon- real momentum. Speaking to
much of the pandemic on the key neutral back in 2010, provides US media company Forbes after
issues affecting travel’s restart, so a possible blueprint. It offers COP26, Intrepid co-founder
it’s great to see that they are more free advice to other companies Darrell Wade commented on his
willing to work together,” says on the same journey, including commitment to going carbon-
Lebawit Lily Girma, sustainability ways to properly measure neutral over a decade ago. “Today,
specialist at travel industry news emissions, reduce them by we’re about 10 times as big and
company Skift. minimising aviation and cutting 15 times more profitable than we
waste. Intrepid also then offsets were back then. And now almost
Who hasn’t signed? remaining emissions by investing everyone cares about climate
The 300 initial signatories include in renewable energy projects change and emissions,” he said.
some giants of the industry, that meet the highest ABOVE:>Ã}Ü Ì>V
including global hotel chains certifications available. MORE INFO: ukcop26.org wttc.org >ÀìÃ]-VÌ>`
March 2022 143

IN THE NEXT ISSUE
Morocco
From surfing on the Atlantic coast to trekking with mules in the

Atlas mountains, Morocco offers truly unforgettable experiences.
In our next issue, we get under the skin of this beguiling country,
with a guide to its landscapes, cities, cultures and cuisine
Plus // Australia, Dubai, Genoa, Georgia, Ibiza, Islay,

Lake District, Newcastle, Paris, Warsaw, Zurich & more
april 2022 issue

On sale 3 march 2022
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| PA I D C O N T E N T F O R S T H E L E N A T O U R I S M
What I love about

St Helena
Drone photographer Craig Williams’ perspective on his home island
of St Helena changed when he started snapping it from the air.
He shares his passion for photography and the island he calls home
I
used to take what I had in my backyard island, but if I had to choose one, it would
for granted. St Helena — a volcanic have to be the seaside on the outskirts
island in the middle of the Atlantic of Jamestown, the capital of the island.
— is where I’ve lived my whole life. Sunsets there are never the same, from the
Perhaps because of this, I never thought that warming colours of the sky to the beautiful
much about all the island has to offer; I failed Georgian buildings with history spilling
to see its unique beauty, with its volcanic from their walls.
valleys and lush, tropical centre. No visitor to St Helena will ever be
Growing up in the island’s St Paul’s disappointed — from history enthusiasts
district, I’ve always been surrounded by and nature-lovers to photographers and
trees and vegetation. When I started taking younger people looking for a fun night
photos, I began to appreciate the beauty out. Take it from me, this beautiful island
of my surroundings and wanted to give deserves to be on your bucket list. For keen
something back. I bought a drone; first a hikers, there are endless routes to places FROM TOP: A drone shot of
DJI Phantom 2, and then a Mavic 2, and was like our famous Heart-Shaped Waterfall, St Helena; photographer Craig
Williams, who grew up on the
able to see the island from a totally different and the challenging Sharks Valley.
Atlantic island
perspective. It was breathtaking. Above all, no matter where you go on
What I love the most is capturing top- St Helena, there’s always a photographic
down images of the steep, striking coastline opportunity. Since I started using my drone,
— constantly smashed by ocean swells I go out every day to fly, and to find new
IMAGES: CRAIG WILLIAMS
— plus historic fortifications such as High locations. St Helena, I’ll forever be grateful
Knoll Fort, which towers over homes from for the views, the perspectives and the beauty
its perch on the crest of a hill. Then you have you offer — and the fact I have all this in
Diana’s Peak, where the path to its summit my backyard. I’m very lucky indeed.
is often shrouded in low fog — a pathway to
the sky, if you will. My favourite locations For more information on organising a trip to St
to photograph are dotted around the Helena, go to sthelenatourism.com
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| PA I D C O N T E N T F O R V I L L E D E D I E K I R C H
HOW TO SPEND EIGHT HOURS IN
Diekirch
Situated in northeast Luxembourg, on the banks of
the Sûre River, the quaint, picturesque commune of
Diekirch is perfect for a day trip — here’s how to do it Diners sit outside in
Diekirch’s Old Town
B
egin with a visit to St for a break in one of the commune’s
Laurentius Church in the 30 pubs. While here it’s highly
medieval centre of the town. recommended to treat yourself
Built on the remains of a to a good Diekirch beer from the
Roman villa, this historic monument Brasserie de Luxembourg, still
is particularly enchanting, with its brewed according to the same
beautiful frescoes from the 16th monastery recipe as back in 1871. If HOW TO DO IT
and 17th centuries. Entrance to you prefer something more formal,
the crypt below is available in the we recommend a light lunch and a Several airlines fly direct to Luxembourg
Musée d’Histoire(s) Diekirch glass or two at the Italian restaurant from London. From there, a 45-minute train
next to the church, where you’ll 20nove, where you can taste the whisks travellers up to Diekirch. diekirch.lu
be transported back through wide selection of wines from the
IMAGE: VILLE DE DIEKIRCH
hundreds of years of fascinating wine shop and deli, Art DiVin,

history. The best of the museums in attached to it. Opened in 2003, the
Diekirch is undoubtedly the Musée shop has become a must-visit for
National d’Histoire Militaire, anyone passing through Diekirch.
with its impressive collection of Walk off the pâté, pasta and Picpoul
militaria — unique in Europe. de Pinet with a gentle stroll along the
After the museum visits, it’s time green banks of the Sûre River.
EVENTS
FOOD FESTIVAL
16-17 JULY 2022
B U S I N E S S D E S I G N C E NTRE , LON D O N
Experience the world

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50% OFF!
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Traveller Food Festival is The Main Stage will Get the lowdown on Catch top food writers
back in 2022 — bigger and host interviews with some of the world’s at Speakers’ Corner,
better. Be inspired by top food big names in the world most exciting dishes including Mandalay
personalities and incredible of food such as Grace in one of the live- author MiMi Aye; the
culinary destinations. Here’s a Dent, Jay Rayner and cooking Masterclasses McAnuff brothers,
sample of what you can expect to Fuchsia Dunlop, and in the Tarragon and who’ll be discussing
see, hear and taste at the festival demonstrations from Cinnamon Theatres, the Caribbean and
top chefs including and broaden your Natural Flava; and
Jack Stein, Olia palate stall by stall on a Romy Gill sharing
Hercules, Aldo Zilli tour of the world in our culinary tales from On
and Judy Joo. culinary marketplace. the Himalayan Trail.
BOOK NOW: FOODFESTIVAL.NATGEOTRAVELLER.CO.UK
| PA I D C O N T E N T F O R Z A DA R R E G I O N T O U R I S T B OA R D
What to see & do in

Zadar
On the Dalmation coast of Croatia, Zadar is a quirky seaside
city with a beautiful, historical centre, an enviable restaurant
scene and sprawling national parks on its doorstep
ANCIENT & MODERN INTERTWINED

If the Adriatic seafront, with its bobbing
yachts, is the face of modern Zadar, then
the Old Town is its heart, abounding with
jaw-dropping ancient sights. Start with a
stroll around the ruins of the Roman Forum,
built by Emperor Augustus, then gawp at
the vaulted interiors of the ninth-century
Church of St Donatus and the monumental
Cathedral of St Anastasia. For something
more modern, but equally thought-
provoking, head back to the waterfront
promenade to admire architect Nikola
Bašić’s tubular Sea Organ and multisensory
Sun Salutation. Both art installations are
embedded into the esplanade and bring the
sunset to life in whole new ways.
SEAFOOD, ISLANDS & BEACHES

Beyond the historical centre, Zadar has
a wealth of islands and pebble-strewn
beaches free from the sardines-in-a-tin
crush of Dubrovnik or Split. Blissful islands
such as Molat, Silba or Dugi Otok are all
easily reached by speedboat for a day trip.
They’re also where you’ll find some of the
region’s most delicious seafood dishes and
tucked-away taverns. Make the most of
them all by hiring a sailboat (and a skipper)
and jumping from island to island.
PROTECTED NATURE AREAS

Harbouring Indiana Jones or Lara Croft
fantasies? For off-grid thrills, join a four-
wheel-drive vehicle tour of Paklenica
National Park, which feels tailored for a
rollicking adventure. It’s a labyrinth-like
limestone range 30 minutes from Zadar’s
Old Town, and home to a mini Grand Canyon
as well as hundreds of miles of hiking paths
and rock climbing opportunities for both
novices and professionals alike.
For more information, visit zadar.hr

IMAGE: GETTY
The Church of St Donatus dates

back to the 9th century
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| PA I D C O N T E N T F O R E C O H O T E L S & R E S O R T S
Eco Hotels
How to book
responsibly
María Olazábal Corral is CEO and founder of Eco Hotels
& Resorts. She talks about her eco mission,
and making responsible travel easier
Eco Hotels & Resorts is a platform where travellers can book

hotels in destinations all over the world, safe in the knowledge
that they’re not only eco-conscious, but also meet the very
highest standards of luxury and comfort. Founder and CEO
María Olazábal Corral’s goal is to encourage travellers to make
greener choices, boosting responsible travel and ensuring green
hotels become the norm rather than the exception.
DO PEOPLE HAVE PRECONCEPTIONS ABOUT ECO HOTELS?

Here in Mexico, people often tell me, ‘Oh, it’s nice what you’re doing, but I’ve
never stayed at one of your hotels because I like hot showers and running water.’
It’s frustrating but changing perceptions is kind of the point — by choosing
our hotels, people find out that they can travel to a very comfortable or even
luxurious destination and have an amazing experience, while also being kind
to the planet at the same time.
HOW DO YOUR HOTELS SUPPORT LOCAL COMMUNITIES?

Each hotel is different because each community is different and has its own
needs. Some of our hotels are focused on helping with local education, making
sure the communities have proper sustainability training including the ways
in which they can improve their surroundings.
Some of our hotels have helped out local schools by providing solar panels,
while others focus on ensuring everything in the hotel — from the food to the
furniture — is sourced from local artisans. All our properties endeavour to hire
employees from local communities, too.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF STAYING AT AN ECO HOTEL?

Every time you go to one of our hotels, you can ask for a sustainability tour,
which will show you firsthand the measures the hotel is taking to remain truly
sustainable, and the impact that has. These hotels offer incredible experiences
and the feeling you get when you arrive is amazing. We’re also working on
involving different charities that operate in the same region as the hotels,
so travellers know that by visiting these places, they’ll be helping out local
charities and having a positive impact on local communities.
For more information on enjoying a responsible stay, visit ecohotelsandresorts.com
R E A D M O R E O N L I N E AT N AT I O N A LG EO G R A P H I C .CO.U K / T R AV EL
| PA I D C O N T E N T F O R E C O H O T E L S & R E S O R T S
1 0 0 TH I S S U E S P E C I A L E D I T I O N
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̨̪̩̩
Launched as a bi-monthly title in January 2011,
National Geographic Traveller (UK) became the
15th international edition of Traveller, adhering to
the brand’s core principles, which celebrate culture,
authenticity and sustainability
NAMIBIA
BGTW AWARDS
Emma Gregg won us our first major award
— the British Guild of Travel Writers’ Best
Long-Haul Travel Feature — for her piece on
Pat Riddell, editor // Traveller was new Namibia, published in the May/June issue
to the UK, and I spent a lot of the first
Despite being one of southern Africa’s most stable and accessible
year explaining to people that it was countries, much tipped by travel pundits as the next big thing,
different to National Geographic and Namibia is still considered a destination for adventurers. Compared
‘not all polar bears and volcanoes’. Of to long-established safari hubs such as South Africa and Kenya, it’s
been reticent about courting visitors.
course, we’ve featured both of those at
For now, travelling in Namibia feels like a rare privilege. Its
times, and the ethos of sustainable, rivetingly beautiful dunescapes and hills, dotted with hardy
responsible travel has been there from euphorbia plants, are so thinly populated that you rarely have to
the start, but essentially we created a share the wraparound views with another soul, let alone a crowd.
Driving through the remoter regions, other vehicles are so few that
magazine for people like us — curious
travellers keen on seeing the world.
ISSUE SPECIAL
Maria Pieri, editorial

director // Launching Traveller
in the UK was an achievement
— a travel magazine for people
who want to travel with a
purpose and who are
passionate about how travel
impacts the world. The
foundation of the magazine
you see today was built in
these early stories with
powerful narratives and
spectacular photography.
every encounter is an event, an opportunity to stop and exchange

news. While it may not attract tourists by the busload, Namibia does
have an identifiable tourist circuit. The first time I flew in, several
years ago, I made my way around the highlights — galumphing up
the mighty sand dunes of Sossusvlei, attempting arty photos of
skeleton trees at Deadvlei and puzzling over fairy rings: mysterious HIGHLIGHTS
circles of tuft y grass that are as yet unexplained by science.
I admired the multistorey nests of sociable weaver birds, wrinkled FAMILY MAGAZINE
my nose at malodorous fur seals, watched lions slink through the December saw the launch of a standalone,
shimmering haze at Etosha National Park and felt my heart miss a 180-page Family magazine, aimed at travellers
beat while tracking cheetahs at AfriCat, one of the country’s many who have children but still love to explore
impressive conservation projects. I stayed in lodges overlooking the world and see no reason why their kids
crumpled, arid mountains, perched among giant boulders or shouldn’t share in their experience.
ensconced in wildlife sanctuaries. All were so beautiful that I
made them my benchmark against which to measure safari lodges WEBSITE
elsewhere in Africa. And I fell head over heels in love with the desert. The first iteration of the National Geographic
READ THE FULL FEATURE ONLINE Traveller (UK) website launched in early
2011, featuring a weekly blog, as well as
competitions and offers.
March 2022 155

̨̪̩̪
The growing popularity of the magazine
saw it increase from six to eight issues a year
— reaching 25,000 subscriptions — while
2012 also saw the first winner crowned in its
photography competition
HIGHLIGHTS
HOT LIST LAUNCHED BRITISH TRAVEL PRESS AWARDS PSA CRUISE JOURNALISM AWARDS
Our annual list of destinations to watch for Helen Warwick, our deputy editor at Ben Lerwill won the Best Off the Beaten
the year ahead launched in 2012 — later to the time, was named Young Travel Writer of Track Cruise Feature at the PSA (Passenger
become the Cool List and, more recently, part the Year at the British Travel Press Awards for Shipping Association) Cruise Journalism
of National Geographic’s global Best of the her feature on the Trinidad Carnival: Greatest Awards for his piece on Antarctica: The
World list. Show on Earth. Beautiful South.
ISSUE SPECIAL
PHOTO COMPETITION WINNER
Joanna Harper // Cape Town

Joanna Harper’s The Boy
who likes to Swim pipped
all the other contenders to
become the grand-prize
winner. The judges said:
‘The decision was based not
only on the fact it captures
a beautifully intimate
moment, but also because it’s
technically fantastic.’ EASTER ISLAND
LATA MEDIA AWARDS

Glen Mutel, currently our executive
editor, won Consumer Travel Writer of
the Year for his piece on Easter Island
They may technically be citizens of Chile these days, but there

can be no doubt the people of this land — the Rapanui — have
a distinctly Polynesian culture. And when the first settlers
arrived here in canoes from the west, between the fifth and
eighth centuries, they would have found the island suitably
tropical, covered as it was with huge, endemic palm trees.
The rich, volcanic soil enabled the settlers to thrive and
their numbers grew considerably. Then, at some point in
the 13th century, they began to sculpt the statues for which
they’re now famous; each one, it’s believed, representing a
deified ancestor, brought back to stand guard over its clan.
However, as time passed, more and more trees were
cut down, and when the final palm was felled, the Rapanui
deprived themselves of the timber they needed to build
canoes, dramatically reducing their ability to fish. With
deforestation came environmental disaster, as crop yields
dwindled due to soil erosion and streams and creeks dried
up. At its height, the island’s population stood at 12,000-
Sarah Barrell, senior editor // 15,000, but with a greatly reduced ability to feed themselves
and no means of escape, the Rapanui turned on each other.
The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, At some point around the year 1500, the statue-building
the 2012 Olympics: all eyes are abruptly stopped, and over the ensuing centuries, warring
clans toppled each other’s moai in gestures of aggression. By
on London and the UK this year
the mid-19th century, every single complete statue had been
but Traveller, as ever, looks upturned or destroyed.
outwards with destinations such All of the standing moai on the ahu in Rapa Nui today
as Burma and Ecuador, as well as have been restored at some point during the previous century
— something that surprised me, as I’d always imagined those
no-fly European rail trips flagged famous lines of statues were just as their creators had left them.
as hot tickets for the year ahead. READ THE FULL FEATURE ONLINE
March 2022 157

| PA I D C O N T E N T F O R C E L E B R I T Y C R U I S E S
Home to culture, opulence and immaculate

ancient cities, Russia and Scandinavia are
Cruise Northern Europe’s two vast areas as glittering in grandeur as

they are flush with adventure. But it can be
difficult to plan a trip that incorporates it
Cultural all. Celebrity Apex, a luxury 12-night cruise,

weaves through seven cultural capitals in
Northern Europe, making it possible to
explore frozen lakes in Stockholm one day
Capitals and indulge in Helsinki’s delectable Finnish

cuisine the next. Here are three highlights.
STOCKHOLM , SWEDEN
From neoclassical architecture in Helsinki to lavish The Swedish capital of Stockholm is the
first stop on your Northern European tour.
palaces in Saint Petersburg — discover a luxury new Coming to life across 14 islands, connected
cruise offering the ultimate Nordic adventure by 50 bridges, this city is a maze of water and
technicolour land. Spend the day exploring
the city’s many green spaces, such as the
green island of Djurgården famed for being
a tranquil oasis in the middle of the city,
before venturing into the picturesque Old
Town on the compact island of Gamla Stan.
HELSINKI, FINLAND
Next up, the Finnish capital of Helsinki,
which is home to the largest concentration
of art nouveau buildings in Northern Europe
making it an architecture lover’s dream. Bask
in the beauty of its neoclassical buildings
and vibrant neighbourhoods, including the
Design District, before sampling some of
the city’s locally sourced, seasonal cuisine
such as roasted reindeer smoked with pine.
TALLINN, ESTONIA
Estonia’s capital of Tallinn is destination
number three. Spend the day strolling
through the remarkably preserved streets of
Tallinn’s UNESCO-listed, labyrinthine Old
Town before heading up to Toompea Hill
to admire the palatial Alexander Nevsky
Cathedral and sensational city views. If
there’s time before boarding the cruise, head
to the new Iglupark to try their black-wood
saunas and round it off with a plunge into
the icy Baltic Sea.
Celebrity Apex cruise PLAN IT

ABOVE: St. Nicholas’ Church
and the St. Alexander Nevsky Starting from £2,268 per person, the 12-night
Cathedral in Tallinn, Estonia
Scandinavia and Russia cruise with Celebrity
Apex offers two-story villas and 29 restaurants
onboard. Celebrity Cruises expeditions are
sailing at a reduced capacity and all guests
must present a negative Covid-19 test prior to
departure. For more information and to book,
visit celebritycruises.com
R E A D MO R E O N L I N E AT
N AT I O N A LG EO G R A P H I C .CO.U K / T R AV EL
̨̪̩̫
A redesign, supplements
ranging from the Indian
Ocean to South America,
and standalone Family and
ISSUE SPECIAL
Luxury magazines
Mike Byford // Corfe

Castle, Dorset
The judges said: ‘Not
only does it capture
such an amazing sight,
but Mike also had the
technical knowledge
to shoot it in such a
beautiful way.’
ST VINCENT & THE GRENADINES
CARIBBEAN TRAVEL radio, straining to hear Geoffrey Boycott’s

JOURNALISM commentary on England getting thrashed by
AWARDS Pakistan; in another, two children scaled a
Alex Dalzell, a former precariously stacked pile of crates, until they
editorial assistant, won Best caught the eye of Lloyd and quickly got down.
Consumer Feature for this piece Apparently, I was the first tourist they’d
seen in here for quite some time. Certainly
Right in the heart of St Vincent’s capital, the first they could remember sitting down
Kingstown, this cluster of huts is known as and having a game with them, and at the
China Town. By day, it’s a prosperous market, rate I was losing money, I’m sure they’d HIGHLIGHTS
but once the vendors have loaded their carts welcome more.
and cleared their stalls, it transforms into In general, tourist numbers on the island BRITISH GUILD OF TRAVEL
a makeshift casino. Now, under the glow of — a 45-minute flight from Barbados, and WRITERS AWARDS
fluorescent bulbs, gamblers tossed cards scattered with only a few small resorts — are Adrian Phillips collected the
into the centre of the plywood tables and refreshingly low. Most of the crowds from the Best Overseas Feature for Park
reluctantly threw dollars to the grinning US and Europe bypass teardrop-shaped St Life, about Canada’s Algonquin
croupiers. Hatches dropped down and bars Vincent for the Caribbean’s more developed Provincial Park.
opened for the night, drawing in punters countries or skip through to the Grenadines.
with booming reggae and an endless supply This means those who stay are rewarded with TRAVEL WRITING COMPETITION
of cheap rum and local Hairoun beer, piled an insight into authentic Caribbean life, a After launching a competition for
among ice in grubby polystyrene boxes. curious but charming welcome and stretches young writers the previous year,
In one corner, a cobbler finished repairing of sandall to themselves. 2013 saw Ben Taub win the overall
the sole of a sandal, hunched over a portable READ THE FULL FEATURE ONLINE prize for his article, Set in Stone,
which depicted an encounter with
Mexican Huichol people.
March 2022 159

| PA I D C O N T E N T F O R F Z E E N H O T E L
A WELLNESS DAY IN
Kefalonia
From a sunrise mountain hike to snorkelling in the Ionian Sea and relaxing at
a holistic spa, here’s how to switch off on this Greek island
MORNING
From your base at F Zeen retreat, take a
private guided hike through pine woods
up Mount Ainos, the Ionian Islands’
highest peak, to see the sun rise over the
Peloponnese. At the top, enjoy a picnic
breakfast and views over Zakynthos island.
AFTERNOON
Follow the steps down to Lourdas beach to
snorkel in pristine waters or explore the coast
with a sea kayak. Look out for loggerhead
turtles; the Ionian Sea is their natural
habitat. Later, relax with a bladder wrack
scrub and massage, rich in antioxidants.
EVENING
At sunset, try yin yoga on a deck surrounded
by leafy planting before dining on a terrace
above the sea. Feast on Mediterranean fare
based on local seafood and vegetables grown
onsite. Make sure to try Robola, Kefalonia’s
white wine, with hints of lemon and flint.
PLAN IT
All activities listed above are available at

adults-only F Zeen retreat in Lourdas. Room
options range from doubles with a garden
terrace to a villa with pool and panoramic
sea views. Facilities include two restaurants,
three pools and two spas. fzeenretreat.com
̨̪̩̬
A further increase in
frequency saw the magazine
reach 10 issues a year, while
a redesigned website brought
ISSUE SPECIAL
a big growth in online traffic
Jonathan Carvajal
// The Colour Run,
Colombia
The judges said: ‘To
capture this split
second, at such a close
range, resulting in a
clear and sharp shot
... it really sums up the
crazy atmosphere.’
VANCOUVER ISLAND HIGHLIGHTS
CANADA’S WILD WEST LATA MEDIA AWARDS

Our senior editor, Sarah Barrell, returned to one of her favourite Emma Gregg picked up
countries to explore the wilds of Canada’s west coast Consumer Magazine Feature of
the Year at the Latin American
The goats that reside on the old country market’s roof have retreated for the winter. Travel Association’s Media
The grassy pitch that provides their summer home has turned to scrub, and the shop’s Awards for her piece on Peru’s
sign — featuring an antlered creature gazing over the guttering — rattles about in the Manu UNESCO Biosphere
wind. I’ve no idea where they’ve gone. Still, there’s something so joyously Vancouver Reserve: Welcome to the Jungle.
Island about Coombs village’s goaty gimmick that I can’t resist calling in.
‘Goats! On a roof! How charming’, you can almost hear shoppers think as they amble BRITISH TRAVEL
about the aisles, popping organic produce in their ‘goat tote’ (a shopping basket, to the AWARDS
less poetically inclined). Of course, it’s not a gimmick — or, rather, not entirely. Like Our first win at the British
many things on this island outpost of Vancouver, the animals’ loft y corral has a green- Travel Awards (voted for by
living ethic at its core — grass roofs give great insulation and goats act as sustainable the public) saw us pick up Best
mowers — plus a good measure of anarchic hippy spirit. Consumer Travel Magazine at this
Vancouver Island — or Victoria Island, prestigious event.
if you want to annoy locals by using the
misnomer often applied by Americans — is THE FIRST TRAVEL WRITING
separated from mainland British Columbia MASTERCLASS
by just 14 miles of water at the narrowest Held at the National Geographic
crossing. Yet it feels a place of retreat. store in Knightsbridge, London,
There’s no bridge and many of Vancouver our first travel writing masterclass
Island’s more remote points are only saw nearly 50 people attend
accessible by floatplane. the two-hour session led by our
READ THE FULL FEATURE ONLINE senior editors.
March 2022 161

̨̪̩̭
Our first Reader Awards took place this year,
with Louis Theroux collecting an award on behalf
of his father, Paul. Meanwhile, the magazine won
a second British Travel Award and continued to
establish itself as a force to be reckoned with
HIGHLIGHTS
BRITISH TRAVEL AWARDS READER AWARDS LAUNCH

A second consecutive prize for Best Our awards were established to celebrate travel
Consumer Travel Magazine at the British Travel in all its forms and allow our readers to vote for
Awards, held in London. their favourite destinations and operators.
ISSUE SPECIAL
Alecsandra Raluca
Dragoi // New
Year traditions in
Comanesti, Romania
Alecsandra, who went
on to shoot for the
likes of The Guardian, FINLAND
Reuters and BAFTA,

LONG WEEKEND:
said: “Participants dress ÅLAND ISLANDS
in furs that have been The beguiling Åland Islands were the
focus for Gavin Haines in this piece
preserved for hundreds
of years — they’re not Olof Salmi has a dream, the kind of dream only
a bona fide eccentric could possibly have. “I
from bears killed as part
want to sail away on the southern wind in my
of the ‘ritual’, nor were sauna,” he says, staring out to sea. “And I’m
they killed especially for going to make a film about it.”
There’s something in the water on the
it. The bear is a symbol Åland Islands, I’m sure of it. Or perhaps it’s the
of Romania, and when I vodka they’re drinking. Either way, this Finnish
archipelago has a quirk in its character, which,
discovered this tradition, like the cool Nordic breeze, is wholly refreshing.
I was fascinated.” Scattered across the Baltic Sea, Åland itself
is something of an anomaly. An autonomous
region within the Republic of Finland, the
6,700-island archipelago enjoys a kind of
quasi-independence from the mainland. It
has its own flag, uses its own postage stamps
and can pass its own laws. To confuse matters
further, it’s Swedish-speaking.
Suffice to say, then, the archipelago is a
tad eccentric, which brings us back to Olof.
A serious looking man with a weathered face
and short grey hair, he says: “I was the first
person to build a floating sauna on Åland,”
hopping proudly aboard one of his buoyant
baths. “I needed a sauna that was close to
water, so I created this.”
The concept is simple: when it becomes
Amelia Duggan, deputy editor // too hot inside the sauna, you jump into the
sea, and when it’s too cold in the sea, you
I joined the title as an intern and discovered
jump back into the sauna. This is repeated
a palpable sense of pushing frontiers, via until you get tired or your genitals go numb,
stories on the growing ‘green travel’ whichever comes first. It’s also done stark
movement and New Orleans post-Katrina. naked, which is customary in Finland, a
country with more saunas per capita than
A culture of experimentation and curiosity anywhere else in the world.
underpins Traveller’s continued success. READ THE FULL FEATURE ONLINE
March 2022 163

̨̪̩̮
Our Travel Geeks events debuted this year,
while a rousing speech from Michael Palin at the
Reader Awards — after collecting the Outstanding
Contribution to Travel Award — reflected his
admiration for the National Geographic brand
MALDIVES
BGTW AWARDS
Pól Ó Conghaile was named
Travel Writer of the Year,
based on three features he
wrote for the magazine
Finding manta rays isn’t easy, of course. Every

day, Guy and his team spend hours weighing up
sighting reports, crunching climatic data and
scouting feeding and cleaning stations before
our ribs even hit the water. When we strike out
from the Explorer towards a lagoon or reef, little
is left to chance. But we’re still dealing with wild
animals. Not to mention Mother Nature.
Time and again, however, they crack it. On a
dive off Ari Atoll, we spot shadows ghosting about.
Piling into the water, we swim with several mantas
— one doubling back so close I can see the look
in its eyes, the scars in its black, rubbery skin. I
PHOTO COMPETITION WINNER follow it. Guy is one step ahead, and after several
minutes we end up hovering over a coral outcrop,
Jeremy Flint // Myanmar about 40ft below the surface. “It’s a cleaning
station,” he says, spitting water from his snorkel.
The grand-prize winner was Over the next half-hour or so we float on the
Jeremy Flint, with his image surface, waiting for mantas to circle around and
return to the site, where they pause for a few
of a leg-rowing fisherman seconds to allow little cleaner wrasse to pick
on Inle Lake in Myanmar. “I dirt and parasites from their mouths and gills.
When they do, we breathe deeply, free-diving
wanted to capture a unique for as long as our lungs will allow. It’s silent. I
view of the fisherman at hang there, staring at a manta as it glides by. It’s
work, seen through a cone- the longest freedive I’ve ever done — and an
absolutely magical experience.
shaped fishing net, ” said READ THE FULL FEATURE ONLINE
Jeremy. “The image shows
the incredible paddling
skill and amazing sense
of balance the fishermen
develop at a very young
age. The conical nets are
submerged in the water and
the fish that are caught are
speared through the hole at
the top.”
ISSUE SPECIAL
Becky Redman, art

director // This cover
shot, taken by Richard
James Taylor, one of our
regular photographers,
really focuses on the
people who define New
York. The scene says so
much about the city, and
the simple yet striking
coverline looks great
across the skyline.
HIGHLIGHTS
TRAVEL GEEKS LAUNCH

Our regular chats with panels of
experts began, with about 100 people
attending each topical discussion.
PHOTOGRAPHY MASTERCLASS
This popular event was held at
London’s theprintspace Gallery.
READER AWARDS
At our annual awards ceremony,
Michael Palin gave an impassioned
speech on travel and its merits.
March 2022 165

̨̪̩̯
In a busy year, we launched our hotel
awards, won another British Travel Award,
picked up best writer and photographer
at the BGTW Awards, and held a one-off
National Geographic Traveller Festival
TEXAS
BGTW AWARDS in the far southwestern corner of the state.

Aaron Millar picked In the centre are the Chisos Mountains, the HIGHLIGHTS
up Travel Writer of the only range in the US contained completely
Year. His Texas feature, within the borders of a national park. From HOTEL AWARDS
America’s Last Frontier, was one of two a distance they appear like a giant’s fist, Our inaugural awards celebrated
National Geographic Traveller entries knuckles of jagged rock punching up from 20 of the world’s best hotels.
beneath the earth. I can see them rise, peak
The far west of Texas is America’s last and fall at once, like a wave — an island NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
frontier. As I stand on the edge of the Rio surrounded by desert on all sides. And indeed TRAVELLER FESTIVAL
Grande — a thin line of rushing muddy water they are. Reaching nearly 8,000ft high, the Our biggest event yet featured
that divides Mexico from the US — I hold Chisos — a name that means ‘enchantment’ a host of speakers, writers,
both countries in a single view. To the north, — command their own ecosystem, a cooler, photographers and workshops at
there are oil rigs and shopping malls; to the lusher habitat prowled by black bears and The Brewery in east London.
south, horseback vaqueros (cowboys) and a mountain lions. A streak of green and red,
crumbling, waterless town. But here there’s the mountains pull heat into swirling clouds BRITISH TRAVEL AWARDS
nothing. These are the borderlands, an in- of thunder that spark the sky with shards of Our third award for Best
between place where wranglers and artists, light and flashes of luminescent rainbow. Consumer Travel Magazine.
misfits and ranchers, shelter in the vastness I’ve come here because almost no one
of the desert. Life here, on the periphery, is does. In a year, Big Bend receives less than a BGTW AWARDS
wilderness and silence, the boundless spirit third of the visitor numbers Yellowstone or Nori Jemil was named
of independence that built this country, and the Grand Canyon attract in a single summer Travel Photographer of the Year.
the eyes of another looking in. month. Those iconic landscapes are beautiful,
The heart of it is Big Bend National Park, but crowded; Big Bend is a private show. TRAVEL MEDIA AWARDS
800,000 acres of sparse and dusty grasslands READ THE FULL FEATURE ONLINE Julia Buckley won National
Consumer Feature of the Year for
her piece on Puglia, Italy.
̨̪̩̰
In 2018, we covered overtourism,
dark tourism and the future of
travel, while our supplements
focused on destinations from
ISSUE SPECIAL
South America to South Korea
ECUADOR
BGTW AWARDS & by a dove that repeats its single note, as HIGHLIGHTS
TRAVEL MEDIA AWARDS regular as a metronome. On top of this comes
Adrian Phillips’s piece on the melody — piping whistles and echoing THE MASTERCLASSES
the Ecuadorian rainforest chimes, a huffy burst like someone working a More than 500 people attended
earned him both Travel Writer and bicycle pump, the ratcheting noise of a clock travel writing and photography
Consumer Writer of the Year being wound, the bubbling of a cuckoo, its sessions at the University of
call like boiling water, and the sound of an Westminster, London.
It’s 5.45am, no longer night but not quite oropendola bird, like a pebble dropped in a
morning either. The air is washed with a pool of liquid gold. BSME TALENT AWARDS
sunless light, and mist rests like a sagging With a sort of guttural drum roll, the first Art editor Lauren Atkinson-
net on the crown of the forest. Julio and members of the cast enter stage left. “Howler Smith was named Best Designer
Fredy paddle stealthily, loose-limbed, each monkeys!” Fredy says, pointing to four red- at the British Society of Magazine
taking a few gentle strokes on one side before furred figures emerging from the dry-ice haze Editors Talent Awards.
flicking the oar up in an elegant arc to take at the top of a fig tree. “The males growl like
a few strokes on the other. The river oozes, that to mark their territory.” We drift on, and FOOD LAUNCHED
flat and dense and silent. Alongside us, the birds start coming thick and fast. A pair of Our quarterly title made its debut.
rainforest is immense and stock-still, not a leaf blue-headed parrots make a dash overhead,
trembling, the trees silhouetted flat against protesting loudly about some outrage or other.
the grey. I’m struck by a sense of the theatrical, We look in on an animated debate between
of a stage set ready for the play of life. cobalt-winged parakeets, who squawk among
And as we wait, the orchestra builds the the acacia branches. An aloof, Guinness-
atmosphere. Cicadas lay down the bassline beaked toucan stares into the distance,
with their enduring electric hum. Next, a pretending not to hear.
woodpecker taps out a tempo, supported READ THE FULL FEATURE ONLINE
Renato Granieri //
South Georgia
“I was walking through a vast
colony of king penguins on the
tiny island of South Georgia,
in the southern Atlantic. After
sitting patiently in the snow
for a while, two penguins came
within a few metres of me, and I
soon got the shot I was after.”
March 2022 167

̨̪̩̱
A wealth of awards and a debut Food
Festival marked a triumphant year
for National Geographic Traveller
as the brand goes from strength
to strength
Josephine Price, digital editor //

Transitioning to our new website was a
fascinating project, bringing us even
closer into the National Geographic RIDING THE
family. This digital hub is where our
print features are re-imagined to reach
new audiences; digital-only stories aim
REUNIFICATION
to pique your curiosity; and, along with
our social channels, we aim to keep you
E XPRE SS
Vietnam’s North-South railway snakes 1,072 miles, almost the
in the loop with the most interesting entire length of the country, from the capital of Hanoi to Ho Chi
tales from around the world. Minh City. It’s a route that transports travellers along a timeline
of the nation’s history, across its religious and cultural divides,
nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel and is lauded as a symbol of Vietnamese unity
WORDS EMMA THOMSON
Daniel Burton // Democratic

Republic of Congo
Shot in Virunga National Park, this
image of a mountain gorilla won 94 natgeotraveller.co.uk
the grand prize for what the judges

VIETNAM
described as its ‘sense of an intimate
and personal experience’. BGTW AWARDS
Winning Best Travel Writer and Best Transport
Feature, Emma Thomson told the story of the
North-South railway, the Reunification Express
We’re no longer a country of war — we’ve moved on,” says my guide,

Mr Tien, and I believe him. Hanoi is a city on the move; all around us,
hundreds of commuters are hunched over their scooter handlebars,
raring to go. Following the throng into the heart of the capital, we
pass elderly couples waltzing in the park, a lady and her poodle with
matching multicoloured hairdos, and high-school girls sporting
slogan T-shirts and flashes of red lipstick.
The bus halts and I step into a fog of frying chillies and fuel.
Passengers tug suitcases behind them like unruly dogs as they
approach Hanoi railway station, Vietnam’s oldest, dating back to
ISSUE SPECIAL
HIGHLIGHTS
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER

FOOD FESTIVAL
In excess of 5,500 people attended over the
two days at London’s Business Design Centre,
making it our biggest event to date, with the likes
of Raymond Blanc, John Torode and Andi Oliver
sharing their culinary expertise.
IMAGE: GETTY
BRITISH TRAVEL AWARDS

March 2019 95
Another win here with our fourth Best
Consumer Travel Magazine title.
BGTW AWARDS
1902. This canary-yellow pile of bricks and mortar has witnessed In addition to Emma Thomson winning Best
several conflicts, but a B-52 carpet-bombing during the Vietnam Travel Writer and Best Transport Feature, Adrian
War hit it hardest, obliterating the central hall. It was rebuilt in 1976 Phillips bagged Best European Travel Feature for
— the same year the formerly communist north and democratic his piece on Hungary: All along the watchtowers.
south were reunified following the north’s victory and 20 years of
civil war. A historic moment consolidated by parallel metal lines. TRAVEL MEDIA AWARDS
Some structures come to define a nation. For Vietnam, that’s the And our deputy editor, Amelia Duggan,
North-South railway, also known as the Reunification Express: a won both Young Travel Writer of the Year and
1,072-mile steel spinal cord that curves the length of the country Specialist Travel Writer of the Year for features
from Hanoi in the far north to the southern metropolis of Ho Chi on Colombia, Malawi and Santiago.
Minh City (still called Saigon by locals). Its formation and history
mirror the fluctuating fortunes of the country, and to ride these rails AITO (ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT TOUR
is to traverse not only timelines of major events but also religious OPERATORS) AWARDS
and cultural divides between the Catholic north, with its French A second award for Adrian Phillips as he picked
history, and the Buddhist south, which bears American influences. up Travel Writer of the Year for a feature on
READ THE FULL FEATURE ONLINE Nepal, while our then section editor Tamsin
Wressell won Young Travel Writer of the Year for
her piece on saving Australia’s coral reefs.
March 2022 169

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A difficult year for everyone,
with a shift to staying
closer to home as the global
pandemic put a stop to
ISSUE SPECIAL
international travel
Hadriel Torres //
Marquesas Islands
The judges said: ‘This
shot captured the
energy and the power
of the dance against
the backdrop of the
stunning location. The
immediacy and sense
of place is captivating;
you can almost feel
the stamping of feet
and hear the pulsing,
rhythmic chanting.’
IRELAND HIGHLIGHTS
THE EMERALD EDGE OF EUROPE

With travel closer to home the hot ticket, our deputy editor
Amelia Duggan crossed the Irish Sea to explore...
Down in Ireland’s south west, the land frays to tattered peninsulas that
splay into the Atlantic like five mighty, crooked fingers. Around them,
little islands — some inhabited, many not — stand sentinel among the
thrashing waters, fragments of the mainland half-lured to sea by the
mercurial wiles of the horizon. This stark coastline, stretching from
County Kerry into rural West Cork, has the unmistakable feel of a frontier.
“This is where Europe squares up to the rest of the world,” my guide,
Ciarán Thornton, confirms. “Just off this coast, the ocean shelf drops away
as the Eurasian Plate goes out to meet tectonic North America. There’s #STAYINSPIRED
something almost magical about liminal places like this.” During the first lockdown, our
It’s still early when Ciarán and I climb out of the car in online campaign aimed to keep
Derrynane Harbour, at the tip of Kerry’s readers connected with the world
Iveragh Peninsula. We’re met by a briny slap
of ocean air, an excitable sheepdog and a TENTH BIRTHDAY
small flotilla of fishing boats in the hazy bay. We celebrate, albeit socially
Somewhere out of sight is our destination: distanced, turning the ripe old
Skellig Michael, an island settled by a dozen age of 10.
Christian monks in the sixth century
and, today, abandoned to seasonal bird TRAVEL MEDIA AWARDS
colonies — and tourists. Jamie Lafferty picked up
READ THE FULL FEATURE ONLINE the Consumer Writer of the Year
March 2022 171

̨̪̪̩
While travel remained a little
stop-start, vaccines helped
the world look forward to
a ‘new normal’ and a more
ISSUE SPECIAL
stable future…
Warrior queens, loch monsters, fairies and PHOTO COMPETITION WINNER

feuding clans — legends abound on the
Hebridean island of Skye. For centuries, colourful
tales have shaped the lives of those who call
Scotland’s ‘Misty Isle’ home, and are still deeply
intertwined with its soul-stirring landscapes Andro Loria // Iceland
OF MIST The portfolio category

winner and overall
grand-prize winner took
& MYTH
these spectacular shots
from a small plane.
WORDS CONNOR MCGOVERN
PHOTOGRAPHS DANIEL ALFORD
76 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel March 2021 77
SKYE
OF MIST & MYTH

Continuing our UK focus, commissioning editor Connor McGovern visited Skye
I’m standing at the drawbridge to the greatest warrior the Celtic realms have ever
‘Fortress of Shadows’. The forbidding, 12th- known. At least, that’s how her legend goes.
century castle clings to the hillside for dear “It’s difficult to separate mythology
life, its crumbling walls tracing a broken line and history on Skye,” says guide Ciaran
against the sky. Stormonth, as we squelch our way back
Across Loch Eishort, the dark peaks of the inland across the boggy ground. “I’m sure
Cuillin mountains run across the horizon like there probably was a woman called Scáthach,
a row of crumpled witches’ hats, snagging but how much is true? We just don’t know.”
clouds as they pass. There’s barely another Ciaran, from tour operator McKinlay Kidd,
soul in sight, the land haunted by little more tells me about Cú Chulainn, another hero
than the wind ruffling the long, golden grass. of local lore, who travelled across the water
Tucked away from the world, it’s clear to from Ireland to Skye to learn from Scáthach.
me why Scáthach chose this spot to found Historical accounts are scarce; it’s only
her impenetrable college of martial combat. through centuries of spoken stories that we
Promising warriors would come from far and can muse on what might have happened
wide to train in warfare and sorcery here, I’m behind the ramparts.
told, and to learn in secret from perhaps the READ THE FULL FEATURE ONLINE
Connor McGovern, commissioning editor // Be it HIGHLIGHT

through pandemics or climate change, travel is at
an interesting juncture. We’ve always seen it as a AITO AWARDS
way of broadening horizons, and hope the recent, Our content editor,
Charlotte Wigram-Evans
renewed appreciation of the world will steer both collected the Young Travel Writer
travellers and Traveller through the next 100 issues. of the Year award.
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Isle of wonder
My wife and I have just fi nished reading your
Planning ahead
I sat down on a rainy afternoon in early
January and started to look through a copy
A Capacitor December 2021 edition and we loved Jamie of National Geographic Traveller (UK) I had on
backpack from Helly Lafferty’s Cyprus article, which provided the coffee table. For the fi rst time in nearly
Hansen worth £240! a great insight into a lesser-known part of two years, I found myself excited about
the island, a far cry from the crowds of Ayia travel and began planning our adventures
Napa at the other end of Cyprus. We’re well for the year. Norway has always been on
acquainted with the Akamas region and the the ‘to visit’ list and this year we’ll fly to
writer did the right thing by listening to local Oslo before hopping on the train to Bergen.
advice about the best mode of transport for We’re also planning on exploring some of
exploring this fantastically wild and rugged the Greek islands as well as the Wye Valley
area. The locals have long campaigned to in late spring. Never again will I take for
keep this part of the island unspoilt and to granted the simple pleasure of fl icking
avoid the developers’ bulldozers, so it was through a magazine or guidebook and being
wonderful to read an article that brought able to plan trips away. Thank you National
this to the readers’ attention and promoted Geographic Traveller for helping reignite my
maintaining this natural landscape. Lastly, it passion for travel. LINDSAY LARGE
was good to read that skiing is well and truly
alive in Cyprus — it’s probably one of the
only places in the world where you can ski
and sunbathe on a sandy beach all within
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/iÀi½Ã>y>Ì}Ì«` Liverpool. I don’t get there often now as I
to allow extra volume for have no family there, but when I do go, I feel
>À}iÀ«iViÃv}i>À]>Ã at home again, having been away for 50 years.
well as plenty of pockets for The people are still as friendly as ever, and
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i}ÌÌwÌ°hellyhansen.com soon. JOY GOWER
March 2022 177

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ALSO: ALICANTE // AZORES // BELGIUM // BRITTANY // COPENHAGEN // HAVANA // NEPAL

64 Costa Rica 98 Ireland 120 Havana

86 Sicily 110 Vietnam 130 Bristol

SMART TRAVELLER 33 The word TRAVEL GEEKS

National Geographic Traveller (UK) is published by APL Media Limited,

National Geographic Partners International Publishing

Editorial Director: Senior Vice President: Yulia P. Boyle

PAT RIDDELL, EDITOR

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