First trip to the Emerald Isle

Back in 2010 I took a trip to Ireland with my Mum.
It was the first time either of us had travelled to the Emerald Isle, and our destination of choice was the stunning Ring of Kerry. Here's a review I wrote freelance for travelbite.co.uk at the time...

Fifteen minutes from Kerry airport my Mum and I pulled over the car and clambered up a ridge. When we got through the trees and saw the view we looked at each other and grinned, it was safe to say we both fell in love with Ireland instantly.

Despite being in awe of the spectacular view we were witnessing, I felt a pang of shame, and possibly guilt, that it had taken me so long to make the short trip to the emerald isle.

The desire to explore and visit far flung countries, immersing oneself in 'culture shock' has become so much the norm these days that many of us, myself included, forget we can experience something just as wonderful on our doorstep.

As we wound our way down through the Ring of Kerry towards Kenmare my Mum and I realised just what we'd been missing out on all these years by never visiting Ireland, and together made a promise to come back again very soon; and we were still only a half hour from the airport.

We pulled the car over at Ladies View which was named after the pleasure expressed by the Ladies in Waiting of Queen Victoria on a visit to the site. Unfortunately we arrived very early in the day and the pub at Ladies View was not open, so we carried on south through the Killarney National Park towards our destination: Kenmare.

Our hotel in Kenmare, the Sheen Falls Lodge, was just a few minutes from the quaint town. Reception greeted us warmly, sitting us down next to a huge log fire with coffee and croissants while we checked in. The staff immediately set a precedent for our visit, being helpful, informative, and going out of their way to answer our endless list of questions about the surrounding area.

We were shown to an immaculate room with spectacular views of the Sheen River falls which run through the grounds of the hotel. The little touches such as homemade chocolates and recipe books from the Relais and Chateaux hotel restaurants made the room feel comforting and warm, and we were reluctant to leave it to head down to the spa.

As my Mum sat relaxing in the jacuzzi I was treated to a full body massage by the hotel's in-house beauty therapist Isobel, who was a fantastic ambassador for the hotel's 'spa weekend' appeal. The spa is a real draw for visitors to Sheen Falls Lodge, which was perfectly exemplified by the chilled out looking women who sat lounging around the indoor pool dressed in thick white robes. An ideal start to the trip, I left the massage room considerably more relaxed and with my sore shoulder feeling miraculously better.

Feeling like we were walking on air we decided to take a short ramble around the grounds and were met by babbling brooks, immaculately kept gardens and the most breathtaking countryside. And what made our walk all the more lovely were the smiley greetings we received from all the locals we happened upon.

Sheen Falls Lodge is set in truly spectacular countryside, and many of the activities for guests use the landscape as a backdrop. There is an 18-hole golf course, stables for horse trekking, salmon fishing and walking. As well as the hotel there are a number of exclusive villas available for rent, and with their gingerbread house style and open fires they looked particularly tempting for anyone considering a Christmas break.

When we got back to the hotel we treated ourselves to afternoon tea with homemade scones. Some of those guests sat near to us had gone for the 'full works' (which would have easily competed alongside Tea at the Ritz) and on a personal recommendation, even if you are unable to stay at Sheen Falls, if you're lucky enough to be in the area then drop in for afternoon tea in the lounge overlooking the falls - real bliss.

About to head back upstairs to our room, we took a detour and decided to take up the hotel's daily offer of a tour around their wine cellar - which they claim is the largest privately owned collection in the country.

French sommelier Mathieu talked us through the various vintages, as well as the exclusive bottles, which included one from 1949 and another costing £3,000. We told him we were dining in the hotel's restaurant that evening and he recommended wines suited to our tastes.

Later, as we sat at a table overlooking the Sheen Falls, Mathieu came over with a bottle he had chosen for us, taking into account our likes and dislikes and what we had chosen from the menu.

His choice was perfect, and we enjoyed his well-chosen drop of the grape alongside a sumptuous and very locally-sourced menu. Being so close to the sea there was some beautifully prepared fresh fish on the menu, which both my Mum and I took full advantage of for our mains, but I couldn't resist the pigeon with black pudding for my starter; which was the single most delicious thing I have ever tasted.

Dessert was just as delectable, and my Mum's choice of a baby pineapple filled with homemade pineapple ice cream made me green with envy.

After a very comfortable night's rest we made our way downstairs for a full Irish breakfast (complete with local smoked salmon and black and white puddings), which again was delicious.

Over breakfast we noticed many of the guests were American, and when we got talking to them discovered some had come across the Atlantic to rediscover their family heritage. It was at this point I remembered my grandmother was originally from nearby Cork, and again the guilt of having never visited Ireland before this trip came over me.

Sad to leave the luxury of Sheen Falls we headed into nearby Kenmare with its beautiful display of painted buildings and independent shops and restaurants. We struggled to find anywhere that wasn't local, with the dreaded chain store seeming to have completely by-passed this sleepy part of Ireland.

It wasn't hard to see just how popular the town is, as coaches brimming with tourists from all corners of the world came in their droves to marvel at Kenmare.again I heard very few accents from the British Isles, and wondered why the 'staycation' trend hasn't made it to Kenmare yet.

One shop in Kenmare I must advocate a visit to is handmade jewellers PFK - their collection is really unique and very tempting. My Mum and I gave our credit cards a desperate look before deciding we'd been treated enough, but I'm not sure my will power to resist a little jewellery purchase will be as strong on my return visit (and yes, I've already pencilled one into my diary).

After cappuccinos and some compulsory Irish present buying we headed back up through the national park to Killarney. A much bigger town, Killarney has a lot of shops, and most importantly a lot of Jaunting Cars. While we unfortunately didn't have time for a ride in one, these traditional horsedrawn carriages are a real tourist attraction, and for good reason.

We made a quick pit-stop in a local cafe for lunch and then reluctantly got back on the road to Kerry airport, dodging the odd pony and trap on our way.

For anyone who hasn't been to Kerry airport it really is tiny. You gain the distinct impression it is the same member of staff fulfilling numerous airport tasks (but just wearing a different hat), and I have to say it was a pleasant change to have a stress-free airport experience, without having to wait hours in security queues or being bombarded by duty free outlets.

As we flew back to London I asked my Mum to sum up our little break to Ireland. I scribbled down "outstandingly beautiful" and "positively breathtaking" . and have to say, I completely agreed.

To plan your trip to Ireland visit Discover Ireland or call them on 0800 039 7000.

Harlech holiday

On a recent trip to north Wales I discovered a holiday gem in the land of my fathers.

Published by travelbite.co.uk

Staycations were a late discovery for me and followed years of stubbornly believing the best holiday was only experienced furthest away from home.

But last year a trip to Ireland opened my eyes to just how spectacular a holiday close to home could be, and with that in mind Wales was set as my next port of call.

Having been born in this beautiful country I have a certain bias in favour of it – but on my most recent trip was willing to keep an open mind as to how well it could serve as a holiday destination. What I discovered during seven days on Cymru’s north-west coast was that as well as world-class rugby, cakes and heritage, Wales also produces world-class holidays.

Our base was Harlech, known for its World Heritage site listed castle overlooking the Llŷn Peninsula and Tremadog Bay and within the bounds of the Snowdonia National Park. The village itself is a tourist haven, boasting a number of tea rooms, restaurants, antique shops and the compulsory seaside chippy!

Our home for the week was Sarn Badrig - a 1932 cottage built by the Cadbury family as a seaside retreat.

Owners of this picturesque and perfectly situated home Gwilym and Pat Hughes have endeavoured to keep up the chocolatey theme, and guests are greeted with Cadbury’s Dairy Milk on their pillows and relics of the British institution dotted around the rooms.

Sarn Badrig comprises a double and twin rooms, and a children’s room – complete with toys and bunkbeds – with two bathrooms, a well-equipped kitchen and lounge/diner overlooking the bay. If you’re lucky enough like we were in late June to have great weather, the cottage’s outdoor patio with sun loungers and BBQ are ideal – and whatever the weather the ‘gin and tonic’ seat will get well used during your stay.

The cottage is ideal for families, as it has a huge garden and its own (virtually private) path down to the beach. Take the winding trail through the honeysuckle to the sea and after crossing the railway track (only two trains a day so perfectly safe to cross) you’ll find rock pools, sand dunes and calm waters; perfect for kids and grown-ups alike.

What makes Sarn Badrig so special – other than the chocolate and designated gin a tonic seat – is the fabulous views, which are unrivalled. After a week we were still not bored of the vista, and I would be genuinely surprised to find a better sunset spot in Wales, or even Europe.

As a real foodie I have to admit one of my favourite indulgences while on holiday is eating out, and I thought a holiday in north Wales would be quite limited in terms of choice of restaurants – how wrong I was.

Harlech itself – despite being a tiny and predominantly Welsh-speaking village – boasts a Caribbean and Indian restaurant. The former (Castle Restaurant & Armoury Bar) overlooks the famous heritage site and has its own cocktail bar upstairs. The menu is limited, but completely delicious, and I’ve not had better Caribbean food in London. My coconut curry was fairly spicy, while my companions opted for jerk pork and fishcakes; all of which were very tasty.

We ordered take-away one evening from the village Indian so we could eat it at Sarn Badrig while enjoying the view, and found a good choice on the menu. Be warned though, the restaurant (alike many shops and food outlets in Harlech) only accepts cash.

Surely the best meal we had during the week was at Yr Sqwr in Trethmadog. Fantastic service, locally-sourced specials and a comprehensive wine list make this restaurant one of the best in the area. My Welsh lamb shank was delicious, as was the goat’s cheese starter, and the staff were very helpful in providing alternatives to the celiac in our group.

As we were blessed with fantastic weather during our week in Harlech much of our holiday was spent either on the beach or taking long walks interspersed with stops for tea and cake.

A day spent at nearby Portmeirion is well worth the trip, with its stunning gardens and grounds. We stopped at Porthmadog afterwards to walk around the harbour and look for a family of resident otters from the Cob bridge.

If you’re peckish in Porthmadog the Yr Hen Fecws is a great place for coffee and cake, and has reasonably priced rooms if you’re looking for a base in the area.

For a day away from the beach we headed to Nantcol waterfalls in between Harlech and Barmouth. The area has some really beautiful walks and a special nature trail for children. The camp site is quite possibly the most picturesque I have ever seen, running alongside babbling brooks and with well-equipped facilities for families.

Perched on the edge of the Snowdonia National Park Harlech is also a superb base for walkers. As recommended by the owners of Sarn Badrig we did the Dinas Oleu and panoramic walk – close to Barmouth. The walk is not too strenuous but takes you along some fantastic photo opportunity look-outs. Given the areas proximity to a large RAF base you’ll often hear (and if it’s clear enough) see fighters practising in the valley. We were lucky enough to witness this spectacle on our walk, which really is a sight to behold.

The walk brings you back into Barmouth and right past The Last pub – a maritime themed setting with plenty of outside seating and perfect for a well-earned pint.

If the weather takes a turn for the worse a visit to Harlech’s World Heritage Site listed castle should definitely be on the cards. We first stopped for tea at the Cemlyn Tea Shop which overlooks the castle and has a wealth of afternoon treats to suit, including gluten free options.

The castle itself will take around an hour and a half to walk around, depending upon how many of the spiral staircases you are willing to traverse. I remember being brought to the castle as a child and playing knights and princesses with my brother and it was lovely to see children playing the same games among the ruins. Dressing up is definitely encouraged for the kids, and you can find pretend swords et al in the castle shop.

For golfers there is the St Davids course in Harlech which has stunning views over the beach and up towards the castle.

A detour to Tenerife

There's more to Tenerife than a Brits Abroad paradise I found after an unintentional visit to the sunny Canary Islands.

"Sorry folks, doesn't look like we're going to be able to land on Madeira today", the captain informed us as our plane buffeted in turbulence in the storm-ridden skies above Funchal.

As the sick-bags were brought out and medical assistance was given to one poor woman who had reacted badly to the plane's tentative situation, I asked an air stewardess just where it was we were going?

"Tenerife I should think," was the reply, and less than an hour later we landed on the Brits abroad paradise.

For context, I had been planning our trip to Madeira for months. It was a birthday surprise for my other half, and I had arranged for his closest friends to be on the island the same week. We were looking forward to our seven days of big wave surfing (me holding the towels on the beach), visiting a friend in the gorgeous coastal village of Jardim do Mar and generally relaxing in the sunshine.

But the night before we were due to leave we had a call from our friends on the island to say there was a storm brewing, so to expect a rough journey, and perhaps a detour to the nearby island of Porto Santo, where we would have to get a boat the rest of the way. As a nervous flier the thought of this hardly thrilled me, but as long as we got there in one piece that was all that mattered.

Unfortunately our flight was, apparently, the only plane to attempt to fly into Madeira during the Portuguese island's worst storms and flooding for decades. Little did we know as we sat on the runway in Tenerife that friends and relatives at home were desperately trying to get through to us as images of flood-hit streets, giant boulders crushing buildings and reports of 30 people killed in Madeira made their way onto the news back home.

We were informed by the airline, Easyjet, they would be putting us up for the night in a nearby hotel - including meals - and they would be flying our plane back to Funchal the next morning. Overnight the situation became worse on Madeira, and when we were finally able to get through to friends on the island they recommended we didn't go, as their village was completely cut off and at the time almost all of the roads leaving the airport were impassable.

Faced with three options - return to Gatwick, fly to flood-hit Madeira or stay in Tenerife - we opted for the latter, thinking that at least that way we could salvage some sort of a holiday.

I'd been to Tenerife before (my partner hadn't), and I'm ashamed to say the thought of another holiday on the island hardly filled me with joy. My previous trip had been whilst studying at university, when myself and 19 other rowdy members of our college's girl's football team flew to the island for a week-long post-exams all-you-can-drink as-much-sun-as-you-can-get 'footie tour' (I use football tour in the loosest sense of the term as I think we in fact only played football once, and it was on a beach, with a beach ball, for about five minutes).

I distinctly recall sitting sunburnt and hungover and looking out of the plane window as we left Tenerife and thinking 'that's the last time I visit there'. How wrong I was.

With memories of all-day breakfasts, alcopops and clubbing I stood somewhat dazed in the airport wondering what we should do to recover our holiday on this party island. My partner had the brainwave of asking someone local - which we duly did in our best Spanglish - and were told to head as far north as we possibly could - which we duly did.

What we found over the next week was that Tenerife was not at all what we had expected. Away from the brash south - which unashamedly targets the British tourism industry - we discovered Tenerife has some spectacularly beautiful scenery, exquisite local cuisine and wonderfully welcoming people. Here are just a few of the surprises we found during our six days on the island:

Drive through Tenerife to take in the spectacular scenery at the top of the live, snow-topped volcano

Teide national park was covered in a thick cloud as we ventured to its summit. As such we were unable to continue to the top because of poor visibility but the winding drive through the pines and black volcanic rocks were certainly worth the somewhat hair-raising journey (which saw boulders blocking the road at points).

Having just left snow-covered England, we were not as impressed at the sight of the white stuff as the dozens of Spaniards who had made their way to the Teide summit for their first glimpses of snow. Young children wearing their winter warms for the very first time looked on with wide eyes as mums and dads made snowmen with the mere scattering of snow that had befallen Tenerife's volcano.

While our plans for a photo opportunity and picnic at the top were somewhat scuppered by the cloud, a trip to Spain's highest point was still spectacular.

Descending the mountain, and heading north, we gave other motorists a wide birth - as many had taken to building snowmen on the bonnet of their cars!

Head to the north-eastern city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife to the golden sands of its Playa de Las Teresitas

Unlike the south of the island, most of the beaches on the northern coast of Tenerife are natural; and as a consequence have the black sands of volcanic rock.

But near to the island's capital Santa Cruz de Tenerife a man-made beach has been developed with golden sands, and cornered off by a breakwater, making the water perfect for swimming.

Playa de Las Teresitas was recommended to us by the receptionist at our hotel in Puerto de la Cruz. Nestled at the foot of mountains, the beach is perfectly sheltered, and complete with all the necessary amenities for a relaxing day in the sunshine (bars, showers, toilets etc). There's plenty of nearby parking and the clean shallow waters are perfect for families with young children.

If you're a surf hound then you'll find the coast on the north and north-west of the island has some good waves, though be warned that many have hidden rocks close to the surface so check with a local before donning your wetsuit.

Sample some of the fantastic local foods, including seafood and local Spanish dishes

Tenerife is fishing crazy, and wherever we ate there was plenty of delicious fresh fish and seafood on the menu.

The 'Canary Island' potatoes - roast new potatoes covered in salt - are served with a lot of dishes, as is mojo sauce which is great for chilli lovers.

As we stayed in Puerto de la Cruz we sampled a number of the restaurants in the town, and I can personally recommend La Clave. This tiny eatery is situated down a cobbled street, with most of the dining outside. The staff were extremely welcoming, and the Madridlenos chef presented us with a tapas selection which would have rivalled any you could find in the mainland city. A well chosen Rioja and chocolate fondant puddings rounded off our meal nicely, and at 18 Euros for the taster platter La Clave is very reasonable.

On the front at Puerto de la Cruz is a wealth of restaurants catering for all tastes and palates. But if it's real atmosphere you're looking for the Restaurant Rustico is something very special. Built into the side of the coastline, the restaurant has lovely views down to the crashing waves below, a particularly exciting scene to watch over dinner if you're lucky enough to go on a night when the sea is a little rough!

We ate fresh sardines with Canary potatoes, and the starter of goat's cheese, griddled and topped with red and green mojo sauces and honey was delicious.

Swim in the clear waters of the Lago Martianez on the front at Puerto de la Cruz

If swimming and lazing on the beach is your idea of holiday bliss then you may well be disappointed by the northern shores of Tenerife which, when we went in late February, were often cut off due to landslides or lacked any sands to laze on.

But Puerto de la Cruz has come up with the ideal solution in the form of Lago Martianez, a manmade lido on the front of the city, filled with salt water and with plenty of room for sun loungers, bars, restaurants and children's play areas. You have to pay to enter (3 Euros each when we visited), and despite being a beach lover I found this was very reasonable for the service offered. The waters were cool and clean, all the pools were manned by lifeguards - so perfect for families - and the facilities were well kept and tidy. What's more, as the lido has been made right next to the coast, it gives the illusion you could actually be on a real beach.

Take a drive to the most north-western tip of Tenerife - just make sure you go at sunset

A visit to Faro de Teno is a must on any trip to the north of Tenerife. The most north-western tip of the island is home to some spectacular views at the lighthouse lookout - though be warned that the drive to it travels along some roads prone to landslides, so if you plan you're trip during bad weather you may be unable to reach it.

We visited during early evening to make the most of the sunset, and found the El Burgado restaurant near to Buenavista del Norte was the perfect lookout point. The restaurant - complete with stream running through the centre of it - serves a range of local foods, and has a comprehensive wine list. Even if you have dinner plans, this is the perfect place to stop in for an early evening drink, as the vista is incomparable.

For more information about Tenerife, visit the tourist office.

(Article published on Travelbite.co.uk in 2010)