LEISURE 4124 August 2019 THE WEEKTravelIn far-north Norway, 200 miles inside
the Arctic Circle, the sun doesn’t set for
the whole of June and July. Of course,
there’s “nothing supernatural” about
this, yet knowing it and experiencing
it are “two different things”, says
Paul Bloomfield in The Times. Being
in 24-hour daylight alters your “psyche
in unexpectedly uplifting ways”. The
island of Sommarøy (“Summer Isle”)
made headlines recently with a
campaign to become the world’s first
time-free zone. On this “gorgeous speck
35 miles west of Tromsø”, residents
want to be free to “paint their house”
at 2am if they please. Witha“solar-
charged spring in my step”,Iset out to
hike Sommarøy and neighbouring Senja.
With glittering fjords and “winsome fishing villages”, the
region has all the appeal of Norway’s more southerly Lofoten
Islands, but without the Instagrammers and cruise ships. This is
“terra incognita”;Ibarely see another soul.Arocky scramble gets
me to the summit of Hillesøya,a300ft-high headland, where
“gleaming” beaches are “fringed by
the clearest of jade-green waters”. I
can see why this is known as the
“Arctic Caribbean”, although dipping
atoe in the water reminds me how far
northIam. Later,Iclimb Ørnfløya, a
“mini-mountain” from whichIcan see
colourful clapboard houses clinging
to the coves of nearby isles, and all is
“silent save for the swoosh of waves
below”. I’m entirely alone. With a
“wistful sigh”Iwish this day will
“never end”. And it doesn’t.
Ashort ferry ride will take me to
Senja, where “the roads are quieter,
the paths wilder”. The island’s “most
photographed landmark (which isn’t
saying much)” is Segla,a“dramatic”
monolith ofamountain. On my final evening–“at least, so my
watch told me”–Isat on my veranda in Senja, “gazing west at
the honeyed sun hanging low” aboveanearby archipelago.
Inntravel.co.uk provides walking holidays to northern Norway.
Early booking for next summer is recommended.This week’s dream: Norway’s midnight sunGetting the flavour of...Madrid’s arts district
Stay 3nights at the TRYP
Madrid Atocha Hotel, a
converted palace dating back
to 1913, from £388pp b&b,
including Edinburgh flights.
0871-277 1070, lastminute.
com. Depart3October.
Short Iceland break
Spend3nights at Hotel
Reykjavík Centrum, enviably
situated in the downtown area,
from £349pp (room only)
including London flights. 020-
3993 4700, fleetwaytravel.
com. Depart 11 November.5-star Zante beach stay
Be pampered ona3-night stay
at The Lesante Luxury Hotel
&Spa, from £710pp (half-
board, two sharing), including
Birmingham flights. 020-8492
6868, olympicholidays.com.
Depart 26 September.All-inclusive retreat
Seven nights at the idyllic
beachside TUI Sensatori Resort
Punta Cana in the Dominican
Republic, cost from £933pp
including Manchester flights.
020-3636 1931, tui.co.uk.
Depart4November.Vineyards in the Aeolian isles
One of Sicily’s oldest winemaking dynasties,
the Tasca family have recently opened two
of their estates to paying guests, offering
vineyard tours, wine tastings, great food and
“pretty” accommodation, says Mia Aimaro
Ogden in The Sunday Times. There’sasense
of “splendid isolation” at Regaleali,abumpy
two-hour drive south of Palermo, but
Capofaro is even harder to reach. Still, this
remote hideaway on Salina–the greenest of
the Aeolian islands, 25 miles off the Sicilian
coast–iswell worth the “pain” of the
six-hour journey there via hydrofoil and
taxi. Comprised of white buildings clustered
around an old lighthouse, rooms are
decorated in the traditional Aeolian style,
and there’sa“sexy” outdoor restaurant
overlooking Stromboli and overseen by
Ludovico De Vivo,achef who has worked
at both Noma and The Fat Duck.Doubles at
Capofaro cost from £240 b&b (capofaro.it).Walks and smokies in Arbroath
Many of the yachts in Arbroath’s marina
never leave the harbour–the “tides and
swells of the North Sea” are too treacherous
most of the year, says Rob Crossan in The
Daily Telegraph. But the lobster and crab
fishermen still head out each day into these
“relentlessly unforgiving” waters. Arbroath’s
“status asaworking fishing harbour (just
about)” still seems to define it. This is a“time warp” town with amusement arcades
on the seafront and squat buildings huddled
“against the brutality of the sea”. You’d
never mistake it for Whitstable, yet Arbroath
has its own charm. There are the “immense
ruins” of the Abbey, where the declaration of
Scottish Independence was drafted in 1320,
and “blissful” coastal walks along Seaton
Cliffs: perfect for walking off an Arbroath
smokie, the smoked haddock that is the
town’s most famous export.ANorman family beach break
Stretching from Cherbourg in the north
to touristy Mont Saint-Michel in the south,
Normandy’s Cotentin peninsula is easy to
reach by ferry from the UK. Its west coast
feels like “a well-kept secret”, and there are
so many beautiful beaches along its 75-mile
length that it’s ideal forafamily summer
holiday, says Carolyn Boyd in The Times.
Stay at Le Castel,a“genial and family
friendly” guesthouse withaswimming pool
and “huge” play tent, which is within easy
reach of the fabulous Plage de Montmartin-
sur-Mer. Nearby, too, are the lovely sands of
Gouville, the “jaw-dropping” Plage de la
Vieille Église at Barneville-Carteret, and the
“enchanting” old town of Granville, whose
Musée Christian Dior occupies the designer’s
childhood home.Suites at Le Castel cost
from £1,500 forafamily of four for seven
nights in August (le-castel-normandy.com).Cabins at Walnut Tree
FarmMellis, Suffolk
Environmentalist Roger Deakin’s
1999 bookWaterlog“frog-kicked
wild swimming and nature writing
into the mainstream”. Since his
death, the friends who own his
beloved Suffolk farmhouse, Walnut
Tree Farm, have often let fans look
around, and now they have put the
cabins where he liked to sleep on
Airbnb, says Patrick Barkham in
The Guardian.Arailway wagon
and awood-clad cabin, they are
private and beautifully decorated,
and offer “profound peace”
among 12 acres of woods and wild
meadows. Guests can also swim,
as he used to, in the moat.
Search Airbnb forarailway wagon
andawood cabin in Mellis, email
[email protected] or call
07813-025176.Holiday let of the weekSegla: Senja’s “dramatic” monolithLast-minute offers from top travel companies