Entertainment For Lively Minds
ATM: Weekend breaks
Posted by Tom on 13 October 2011 - 12:02am.
My brother and his fiancee have been particularly good to me this year and I want to get them something good for Christmas to show my gratitude. The main idea I have is to send them off somewhere nice and romantic for a weekend for a mini-break. However, I don't know where to send them. This is where you come in. I want recommendations for places to go, and places to stay (ideally in England, please).
Thanks
- More from Tom.
- Login or register to post comments
-
The north coast of Norfolk...
...is gorgeous. Try to avoid the centre of Cromer or Hunstanton, 'cos they're a bit seaside-tat, but the whole stretch of coast up there is stunning.
Ditto Dorset. We stayed in Bere Regis relatively recently. Beautiful, and easy to get to Lulworth etc. from there.
Scotland? Loch Lomond has to be visited at least once. Islay too.
And just to big up my endz, the Cotswolds. Cheltenham is a great base to explore from, the hills are as beautiful and as English as anywhere you'll ever find, and Cheltenham itself boasts an AMAZING two-Michelin-star restaurant in Le Champignon Sauvage on Suffolk Road. Close to the best dinner in Britain, and very reasonably priced, considering. Nowhere near Fat Duck or Ramsay prices. Not even the same ballpark.
You're a very nice brother, Tom.
Agree with Bob
North Norfolk coast is beautiful. A weekend in a little hotel or rented cottage in Blakeney or Wells is a wonderful thing with lots of bracing walks along the beach seal spotting and cosy quayside pubs in the evening.
Or for something a little livelier head a little further south to Suffolk and book a chic b&b in southwold for more of the same with a little shopping thrown in, plus the chance to eat gastro fish and chips at lunchtime.
Southwold
Ideal for a short break. For the same price as a B+B in the town you could stay at The Randolph in Reydon, about 15 minutes walk from the edge of town or half and hour from the seafront. Your brother and his wife could vist Aldeburgh, Thorpeness and so on too.
We liked it very much when we stayed last year; the rooms are comfy, the staff friendly, the Adnams well kept and the restaurant good value - http://www.therandolph.co.uk/index_visited.html
If they come to Aldeburgh or Thorpe
they'd be very welcome to pop round to ours for a cuppa!
Another for Dorset
Stayed at Corfe Castle for a week over Summer, lovely little place - quite a bit to do, good walking area, and the abandoned village of Tyneham is just heartwrenching.
Good stuff all round.
Where do they live?
Not much point recommending a weekend away in Durham, say, and then finding out that they live in Newcastle.
Good point
They live in Cambridgeshire.
How about Lyme Regis
on the Dorset Coast. Had a week there recently and it's magnificent. There is plenty to see and do, and lots of great places for a romantic dinner and so forth. Book em in for Dinner at Hix and they can tuck into a meal and watch the Moon rise over Lyme Bay..ahhh!
Or how about St Davids in Wales..wonderful place tucked away in South West Wales..the smallest city in the UK by virtue of having a Cathedral even though it's basically a large village, or how about Southwold on the Sussex coast...I could go on..
Bishop's Castle/Robin Hood's Bay/Dent
Bishop's Castle, Shropshire - Two lovely pubs at either end of the town that brew their own beers. Charming shops in between.
Robin Hood's Bay, E Yorks - windy cobbled streets in between lovely little houses.
Dent, Cumbria - more cobbles, more home brew pubs, more loveliness. Sedbergh nearby if you want some old books. Settle and Carlisle railway if you want some stunning countryside - although Dent station is four miles from Dent village and it's always raining.
I would recommend Robin Hood's Bay too
You can get an idea of what its like and the accommodation on offer from this website:
http://www.robinhoodsbaycottages.co.uk/
If they like walking, there is a coastal path to Whitby - about 6-7 miles away. Whitby is worth the day trip. The ruined Abbey and church yard next to it attracts loads of goths due to the Dracula association. And of course there is the Magpie Cafe, which according to Rick Stein (and many others) serves the best fish and chips in the UK.
Robin Hood's Bay...
Martin Carthy territory.
FX: HARP GLISSANDO
Ah, memories. Maybe it was because I had a girlfriend there, but Coniston in the Lake District still makes me go rheumy-eyed with nostalgia even now. I don't have a clue if the Lakes are pretty much as they were forty years ago (I'm guessing not so much), but that would be my choice, especially if they're fit enough to haul themselves up an incline or so.
York is beautiful.
TBH and I visited in May 2010 and stayed at The Cedar Court Grand hotel which was absolutely superb. It had just opened when we stayed and has been beautifully and expensively restored and has a Molton Brown spa in the basement.
http://www.cedarcourtgrand.co.uk/
2 yrs ago we stayed at The Lion Quays in Oswestry which was also fabulous. They too have an amazing spa which has a snow cave! It's also situated right on the banks of the Llangollen canal, so a relaxing walk along the banks of the canal after lunch or even a trip on a barge is recommended.
http://www.lionquays.co.uk/home.html
Both venues have excellent restaurants, but York does have more to recommend it.
Another thumbs up
for the Cedar Court in York, although it is likely to be at the top end of your budget range.
Stayed there for a couple of nights last summer and watched with interest out of my bedroom window as a nightclub across the road burnt down.
York itself is excellent - plenty to do for a weekend.
York again
I just opened this thread to say York as well. Been there with the FPO a couple of times, including last month for a weekend. Lovely place, one of my favourite cities.
Harrogate
The GLW and myself had a couple of nights there in the summer. It's a cracking place. Some lovely places to eat and drink. Nice shops. It's also a good base for travelling - we had trips to York and Knaresborough(pubs galore!)
I cannot recommend this B&B highly enough -
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g187046-d1411409-Reviews-Shelb...
My neck of the woods...
Skenfrith in Monmouthshire on the Welsh border. Stay at The Bell and spend the day exploring the line of castles that defended the English border from the ravening Welsh hordes. It's a totally undiscovered corner of the UK; quiet, peaceful and full of history.
http://www.skenfrith.co.uk/
Cheers guys
These are all excellent suggestions; I'll end up sending them on a tour of the UK at this rate.
Northumberland
only just in England but wonderful - almost anywhere on the coast between Berwick and Alnmouth. But particularly Lindisfarne/Bamburgh.
Or be brave and head north to Edinburgh, one of the great cities of the world.
(I am a Yorkshireman so not got a dog in this fight).
Salcombe for me
Years ago after a particularly hairy health thing had been fixed, Mrs Mate took me there for a few days' r&r (rest and relaxation, this one) and we stayed at the Soar Mill Cove. Fantastic, lovely, scenic.
have a Bath
trip. Given, it's near Christmas that they'll be going, Bath is a picture box Crimbo city. Given it will be a bit cold probably, they may not want to be spending huge amounts of time outdoors so Bath with its historical sights, good shops, great pubs and restaurants and a wide range of hotels at various prices may be just the ticket. If it's mild, there's some great countryside nearby to explore too.
North Yorkshire
And stay at The Star Inn in Harome. Delightful accommodation and Michelin starred cooking in a proper old village pub. My GLW and I had our wedding lunch there a few years back and they couldn't have treated us better. And then you've got the whole of North Yorkshire on your doorstop.