DESTINATIONS RURAL HOLIDAYS SPAIN & PORTUGAL LEFT:
Casa Verde, Portugal
RIGHT: Royal
Hideaway
La Bobadilla, Spain
BELOW: The Algarve
Marmoris Hotel & Spa, and L’And Vineyards Resort, where the sky view suites have retractable glass ceilings so clients can sleep beneath the stars. A 10-night package on a B&B basis with flights and car hire in September starts from £2,159. Sunvil introduced fly-drives
in Portugal’s Alentejo last year, with stays in historic pousadas, and it proved so popular the operator has added Spain, with four itineraries in rural Andalusia taking clients beyond the bustling coast. A seven-night tour of the region’s famous Pueblos Blancos visits these white-washed, flower-filled villages, staying at small, historic, four-star properties and winding through the mountain scenery. Flights, seven nights’ B&B and car hire starts from £749.
Many activities focus on viticulture, with the chance to be a winemaker for a day and stomp the grapes
w THE FOODIE HOLIDAY Fine food isn’t only available in city restaurants – getting back to where it is grown and reared can give clients an even more authentic taste of the destination. Intrepid Travel combines the
flavours of northern Spain and Portugal in one delicious 17-day Real Food Adventure from Barcelona to Lisbon. Highlights include exploring the wine caves
underground at Laguardia, a trek through the Picos de Europa National Park followed by a cooking class and tastings of local cheeses and ciders, and a stay in an agriturismo in the Alentejo. The trip starts from £3,250 with lots of dining and activities included. The medieval village of Ujue,
with just 300 inhabitants, sits on a hill high above the riverside plains of Navarre, with beautiful views of the Pyrenees. Typically Holidays uses the quaint location as the base for a cooking workshop teaching travellers to make specialities from this Basque region of northern Spain. Food is cooked over an open wood fire and the speciality of the house is migas de pastor, or shepherd’s breadcrumbs – fried breadcrumbs with herbs and chorizo.
High-end gastronomes will love
Royal Hideaway La Bobadilla, a 70-room hotel set in 1,000 acres of grounds in the countryside between Malaga, Seville, Cordoba and Granada. The hotel, built in the style of an Andalusian village, is home to the only ‘five-fork’ restaurant in the region, and offers paella cooking classes and wine-tasting experiences. In Portugal, suggest the Six Senses Douro Valley, a beautifully renovated manor house overlooking hills, vineyards and rivers. Much of the produce in the hotel is sourced locally or from its organic garden, and one of the restaurants specialises in local dishes. Many activities focus on the area’s viticulture, with the chance to be a winemaker for a day, and – in season – to have a go at stomping the grapes.
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travelweekly.co.uk 15 June 2017
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