DESTINATIONS LEARNING TRIPS | FAMILY HOLIDAYS 3


OF THE BEST


LITERARY BREAKS


For parents hoping to inspire a bit of bookishness in the brood, try one of these for size


Stratford-upon-Avon: From visiting Shakespeare’s birthplace


to watching a performance at the Royal Shakespeare Company, any student of the Bard should put this enchanting town on their list. Recommend Hotel Indigo for an atmospheric base, with rooms inspired by the playwright. Rates from £109 for B&B.


ABOVE: Boxing academy at Forte Village, Sardinia FACING PAGE: Music Lab, Hard Rock Hotel; Strokkur Geysir, Iceland; Swandown Lodges, Somerset; former Premier League striker Bobby Zamora (waving) PICTURES: David Massey/DMP Productions; Daryl Gabin/Daracle Photography; Dario Sequi/Immaginando Comunicazione; Hoseasons; Shutterstock


witnessing the lava landscapes, luminescent glaciers and bubbling mud pools that abound in Iceland. G Adventures has a National


Geographic Iceland Family Journey trip taking in the best of it – from the isle of Heimaey, buried in lava from an eruption in 1973, to Thingvellir National Park, set on a fault line between two tectonic plates. Other highlights include visits to an Icelandic farm, a bakery that uses geothermal energy to bake bread in the hot black sand below and a tour of one of the country’s longest lava tunnels formed by an eruption long ago. The eight-day tour costs from £2,999 including accommodation, guide, transport and some meals. gadventures.com Make the coast your classroom: Geography meets palaeontology on Dorset’s Unesco-listed Jurassic Coast, showcasing 185 million years of geological history and serving as a near-perfect example of the cliffs, arches, stacks and stumps formula taught at schools. Standout spots include the Lyme Regis Museum, a shrine to the


travelweekly.co.uk


region’s geological, historical and literary heritage; and the Dinosaurland Fossil Museum, home to 2,000 fossils. For an ideal base from which to explore the highlights, suggest Hoseasons’ Swandown Lodges, a collection of luxury lodges located a 25-minute drive from Lyme Regis. Three nights costs from £772 for a family of four. hoseasons.co.uk


BEST FOR . . . PE Learn a new sport: For a PE lesson beyond the bounds of the school football pitch – and way beyond a Joe Wicks home workout – families aren’t short on options, but Sardinia’s Forte Village stands out for its range of activities. Summer academies span tennis, swimming, netball, football, rowing, cycling, dancing, boxing and beyond, alongside a brand-new chess academy led by former Russian world champion Anatoly Karpov, running from July 1 to August 30. A family room at the Bougainville hotel starts at €1,395 per night, based on four sharing


half-board. A five-day swimming academy costs from €285 per child, with 90-minute lessons each day from Monday to Friday. fortevillageresort.com Train with famous footballers: If sprinkling in a celeb name or two sways clients to book, look to Ikos Andalusia, a luxury all-inclusive set to open on April 1 near Marbella. This year, the resort is offering two football coaching courses led by former Premier League stars: one by ex-Tottenham player Robbie Keane (April 12-16), the other by former West Ham and Fulham striker Bobby Zamora (July 26-30). The courses are open to youngsters aged five to 15, with 10 hours of coaching across five days, and a personalised kit and medal to take home at the end. Seven nights’ all-inclusive in April costs from £2,930, based on two adults and one child sharing a Superior Double Room Pool View, including the five-day football course and British Airways flights. footballescapes.com


TW


stratford.hotelindigo.com Lake District: The Lakes


have long inspired writers, and


families will find plenty of literary attractions. HF Holidays has a


three-night Southern Lake District Discovery Tour taking guests in the footsteps of its most famous creatives, with visits to Beatrix


Potter’s home at Hill Top, William Wordsworth’s home at Grasmere and plenty beyond. hfholidays.co.uk


Aylesbury: Direct Roald Dahl fans to this Buckinghamshire town


to explore its interactive Children’s Gallery, where kids can immerse themselves in the legendary


books, whether riding Charlie’s Great Glass Elevator or seeing The Twits’ upside-down room.


Ffestiniog Travel combines it with the Roald Dahl Museum in Great Missenden, and Beaconsfield, where Enid Blyton wrote the Noddy


books. The three-day self-drive costs from £370 for a family of four.


ffestiniog travel.com


11 FEBRUARY 2021 23


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32