Scottish mini-breaks
I love a couple of days away in a picturesque destination, with good food and wine and a little light activity – sightseeing, country walks, golf and a spa treatment, perhaps.
The western Highlands of Scotland is a particularly lovely place to go, with a number of wonderful hotels surrounded by glorious gardens with great hospitality and luxurious rooms. Pick a property that’s a member of the Relais & Châteaux group of independent hotels and you can’t go far wrong.
Stay at one, enjoy afternoon tea at another and head for dinner at a third, all within a picturesque drive of each other.
The hotel’s fine lounge is the place to have a splendid afternoon tea – sandwiches with tasty fillings (including Inverlochy smoked salmon), plain and fruit scones with homemade jam, mascarpone and butter, Dundee cake, more cakes, and tea or co ee, of course.
There’s a very good, multi-award-winning restaurant, too, famed for its menu of fresh and local produce, extensive wine list and farmhouse cheese trolley with a huge selection of fabulous fromages. Don’t miss the delicious Eriska smoked salmon, either.
Activities on site range from tennis to kayaking, croquet, cycling and shing and it has its own nine-hole golf course, a large heated indoor pool and a very nice ESPA spa – indulge in a 60-minute deep tissue massage (£67) and feel your body relaxing.
Above: Isle of Eriska. Below: views of Loch Linnhe from the Airds Hotel
You can have an awayfrom- it-all break and not leave the hotel grounds – long strolls along the unspoilt beach are a must and the two gorgeous resident dogs are very happy to go with you.
Go out and about and watch out for wonderful wildlife – otters, badgers, deer, many sea birds and even fantastic golden eagles.
Coastal Connection o ers boat tours around the Isle of Eriska, or wherever you’d like to go, and its boatmen’s local knowledge of the best beauty spots is unparalleled – they can pick you up from the hotel’s jetty, too.
For dinner we tucked into the seven-course tasting menu, with roasted quail, seared scallops, duck, local cod, juicy lamb, strawberry and vanilla mousseline and caramel soufflé and salted peanut ice cream. Delicious. From the hotel, you can take one of the nearby lochside walks, visit one of several stunning gardens open to the public in Argyll, such as Kinlochlaich House’s walled garden. Finally, don’t miss the fantastic Scottish Sealife Sanctuary on the shores of Loch Creran, near Oban, for a close-up glimpse of rescued baby seals – delightful.
Loch Linnhe. Inset: the spa in the five-star Isle of Eriska Hotel
Airds Hotel: from £145 per person per night including breakfast and dinner; sevencourse tasting menu, £72 per person: www.airds-hotel.com
Inverlochy Castle: from £160 per person per night bed and breakfast; afternoon tea from £25 per person: www.inverlochycastlehotel.com
Isle of Eriska: from £170 per person, minimum two nights, including breakfast, morning co ee and afternoon tea; dinner from £50 per person: www.eriska-hotel.co.uk
Prices are based on two sharing. All prices are correct at time of going to press. To book, call Relais & Châteaux: 00 800 2000 00 02, www.relaischateaux.com
Coastal Connection: 01631-565833, www.coastalconnection.co.uk
For more destination info: www.visitscotland.com
Contact Wendy at wendy.gomersall@lady.co.uk
BROADS OUTLINE
A Guide For Green Travellers, by Martin Dunford, features more than 100 recommendations around The Broads region: from pubs and places to stay, to historic towns, beautiful coastline and boat-hire companies. Look out locally for free copies. 01603-610734, www.broads-authority.gov.uk
RHINO EVENT
Learn about the desperate plight of Africa’s rhinos at a special event at London’s Royal Geographical Society on 18 September. Speakers include Dr William Fowlds, Bear Grylls, Will Travers OBE and Virginia McKenna OBE. The Changing Face Of The Rhino is in aid of Born Free and Tusk. Tickets cost £20. http://rhinolecture.eventbrite.co.uk
STAR SPA
Ellenborough Park in the Cotswolds (above) is offering a Relax And Revitalise Spa Break in August (three nights for the price of two). From £580 per person (two sharing), it includes three nights’ accommodation, full English breakfast and use of spa and leisure facilities.
www.mantiscollection.com/ellenborough-parkhotel-spa
The western Highlands of Scotland is a particularly lovely place to go, with a number of wonderful hotels surrounded by glorious gardens with great hospitality and luxurious rooms. Pick a property that’s a member of the Relais & Châteaux group of independent hotels and you can’t go far wrong.
Stay at one, enjoy afternoon tea at another and head for dinner at a third, all within a picturesque drive of each other.
FORT WILLIAM
Torlundy Fort William’s Inverlochy Castle has a totally unforgettable setting in the foothills of Ben Nevis, overlooking its own loch. Built as a private residence in 1863, it is now a splendid, w 17-bedroom hotel with a Michelin-star restaurant.The hotel’s fine lounge is the place to have a splendid afternoon tea – sandwiches with tasty fillings (including Inverlochy smoked salmon), plain and fruit scones with homemade jam, mascarpone and butter, Dundee cake, more cakes, and tea or co ee, of course.
ISLE OF ERISKA
My place to stay was the five-star Isle of Eriska Hotel, Spa & Island, near Benderloch. The 25-room, family-run hotel has wonderfully comfortable accommodation – think warm, homely furnishings and log fires.There’s a very good, multi-award-winning restaurant, too, famed for its menu of fresh and local produce, extensive wine list and farmhouse cheese trolley with a huge selection of fabulous fromages. Don’t miss the delicious Eriska smoked salmon, either.
Activities on site range from tennis to kayaking, croquet, cycling and shing and it has its own nine-hole golf course, a large heated indoor pool and a very nice ESPA spa – indulge in a 60-minute deep tissue massage (£67) and feel your body relaxing.
Above: Isle of Eriska. Below: views of Loch Linnhe from the Airds HotelYou can have an awayfrom- it-all break and not leave the hotel grounds – long strolls along the unspoilt beach are a must and the two gorgeous resident dogs are very happy to go with you.
Go out and about and watch out for wonderful wildlife – otters, badgers, deer, many sea birds and even fantastic golden eagles.
Coastal Connection o ers boat tours around the Isle of Eriska, or wherever you’d like to go, and its boatmen’s local knowledge of the best beauty spots is unparalleled – they can pick you up from the hotel’s jetty, too.
PORT APPING
Airds Hotel & Restaurant offers another lovely setting at Port Apping with views of Loch Linnhe and the mountains beyond. Originally an 18th-century ferry inn, it has 11 rooms and one of the best restaurants in Scotland, so it’s the perfect place to feast on fresh, seasonal ingredients.For dinner we tucked into the seven-course tasting menu, with roasted quail, seared scallops, duck, local cod, juicy lamb, strawberry and vanilla mousseline and caramel soufflé and salted peanut ice cream. Delicious. From the hotel, you can take one of the nearby lochside walks, visit one of several stunning gardens open to the public in Argyll, such as Kinlochlaich House’s walled garden. Finally, don’t miss the fantastic Scottish Sealife Sanctuary on the shores of Loch Creran, near Oban, for a close-up glimpse of rescued baby seals – delightful.
Loch Linnhe. Inset: the spa in the five-star Isle of Eriska HotelAirds Hotel: from £145 per person per night including breakfast and dinner; sevencourse tasting menu, £72 per person: www.airds-hotel.com
Inverlochy Castle: from £160 per person per night bed and breakfast; afternoon tea from £25 per person: www.inverlochycastlehotel.com
Isle of Eriska: from £170 per person, minimum two nights, including breakfast, morning co ee and afternoon tea; dinner from £50 per person: www.eriska-hotel.co.uk
Prices are based on two sharing. All prices are correct at time of going to press. To book, call Relais & Châteaux: 00 800 2000 00 02, www.relaischateaux.com
Coastal Connection: 01631-565833, www.coastalconnection.co.uk
For more destination info: www.visitscotland.com
Contact Wendy at wendy.gomersall@lady.co.uk
BROADS OUTLINE
A Guide For Green Travellers, by Martin Dunford, features more than 100 recommendations around The Broads region: from pubs and places to stay, to historic towns, beautiful coastline and boat-hire companies. Look out locally for free copies. 01603-610734, www.broads-authority.gov.uk
RHINO EVENT
Learn about the desperate plight of Africa’s rhinos at a special event at London’s Royal Geographical Society on 18 September. Speakers include Dr William Fowlds, Bear Grylls, Will Travers OBE and Virginia McKenna OBE. The Changing Face Of The Rhino is in aid of Born Free and Tusk. Tickets cost £20. http://rhinolecture.eventbrite.co.uk
STAR SPA
Ellenborough Park in the Cotswolds (above) is offering a Relax And Revitalise Spa Break in August (three nights for the price of two). From £580 per person (two sharing), it includes three nights’ accommodation, full English breakfast and use of spa and leisure facilities.
www.mantiscollection.com/ellenborough-parkhotel-spa