There is an island far to the south west which has been supplying British tipplers with the good stuff for more centuries than most of the imported booze that we love. Shakespeare was waxing lyrical about the pleasures of the malmsey of Madeira and the delicious fortified wine was giving much pleasure long before that, given its early Greek origins. Throughout those long years the British have enjoyed a direct relationship with the Portuguese island which was a regular stopping-off point for British sailors, and there are old English families who still have a big influence in making and selling Madeira wine. But things are changing on this most beautiful of all the Atlantic islands. Tourism is holding a great deal more sway than it did even a dozen years ago, partly thanks to the fact that the ever popular destination now has regular cheap flights from local UK airports. I flew down for a few days to attend the beginning of a new wine festival - and therein lies a story… Because tourism is a double edged sword if ever there was one. It can have as many detrimental effects as benefits - but Madeira’s new wine festival reflects a positive side to the equation. Where to Stay for the Madeira Wine Festival Luxury & Wine Heritage: Belmond Reid’s Palace (Funchal) – The quintessential historic stay with cliffside ocean views, close to central festival tastings. Historic Quinta: Quinta da Casa Branca – Set amidst botanical gardens, perfect for a peaceful boutique stay. Vineyard & North Coast Base: Solar da Bica (São Vicente) – Ideal if you're exploring the northern wineries like Quinta do Barbusano. Madeira's long love affair with wine As everyone knows, traditional Madeira wine was - and is - fortified. The delicious and powerful stuff Shakespeare was drinking - and the Duke of Clarence was being drowned in - contains a strong rum-like spirit which effectively preserves the wine. Back in the days when fermented grape juice was a hit and miss affair created without the help of preservative agents such as sulphites, a long sea journey could spell the death of an ordinary wine - unless it was preserved with a whack of strong alcohol. It’s said the discovery of preserving wine happened by accident during long voyages to and from Portuguese colonies in the south of India. Whatever the story, English merchants working out of Madeira realised they’d found a way of creating a delicious and extremely stable product - and they stuck to their winning and profitable ways for centuries. And so for 100s of years the farmers of this mountainous isle produced grape juice for the big Madeira houses, keeping back just a little for their own personal consumption. I’m told the homemade table wines of yore were unpalatable without a touch of citrus and cane sugar. But, in recent times of cheap air travel, the burgeoning number of visitors to the island began demanding ordinary non-fortified, but drinkable, table wines with their meals. No problem - good wines could be shipped from mainland Portugal - but some local grape growers began to see a window of opportunity. It is still the case that most grapes grown on the island are sold into the big fortified wine operations, but a new brand of wine-makers like - Antonio Oliveira with his Barbusano label - have begun making delicious and interesting reds, whites and roses for the past dozen years. Hence, the new annual wine festival… The Madeira Wine Festival The Madeira Wine Festival The Madeira Wine Festival is one of the island's great annual celebrations, taking place during the grape harvest at the end of summer. It isn't simply a wine-tasting event: the festival combines Madeira's centuries-old wine tradition with music, food, folklore, exhibitions, parades and events in Funchal and among the vineyards and wine cellars of the countryside. The festival is particularly interesting because it allows visitors to see Madeira wine in its natural setting, rather than simply encountering it in a hotel bar or restaurant. The programme includes opportunities to experience the grape harvest, while Funchal's Madeira Wine Lounge at Praça do Povo provides wine and food tastings accompanied by live regional music. There are also concerts in vineyards, where visitors can combine live music with tastings of locally produced wines. One of the most colourful associated events is the Estreito Wine Harvest Festival, held in the first half of September. It recreates the traditional grape harvest, celebrating the hard work involved in bringing in the grapes and turning them into Madeira's famous wine. The festival has a history stretching back more than 400 years and remains an important part of Madeira's cultural identity. It is also an excellent reason to visit the island at a time when the vineyards are particularly lively. The dates change each year. The official calendar currently gives 22 August to 12 September 2027 for the Madeira Wine Festival. The associated Madeira Wine Lounge runs from 26 August to 12 September, while vineyard concerts are scheduled for 4, 5, 11 and 12 September. For anyone interested in Madeira wine, food and the island's traditions, September is therefore a particularly rewarding time to visit. Where to stay in Madeira - perfect hotels for wine-lovers These hotels cater directly to wine lovers, heritage seekers, and festival-goers: The Vine Hotel (Funchal): A stylish 5-star design hotel in central Funchal built around the theme of winemaking, complete with a rooftop infinity pool and grape-seed spa treatments. Ideal for central festival events. Reid’s Palace, A Belmond Hotel (Funchal): The legendary cliffside hotel steeped in British history (where Winston Churchill stayed). Perfect for readers seeking historic luxury. Quinta da Casa Branca (Funchal): A boutique 5-star hotel set inside a tranquil, historic botanical estate close to the city centre - appealing to food and garden enthusiasts. Hotel Quinta do Furão (São Jorge): Perched on the dramatic north coast cliffs amidst its own standing vineyard. Mentioning this bridges your section on Quinta do Barbusano and northern island drives. Antonio Oliveira of the Barbusano label I’d never been to Madeira before and what I discovered was one of the most beautiful and friendliest tourists destinations I’ve called at in years. As these are the food and drink pages I won’t dwell upon the stunning scenery or the dizzying and incredible walks, but will concentrate on the Madeira wines and cuisine. It might seem odd, but the very first dish I was offered was a starter of limpets - a shellfish much scorned by us, but highly prized by the islanders. I could see why. They were a toothsome revelation. Fried in olive oil for just three or four minutes (with plenty of garlic) these little suckers were among the best shellfish I’ve tasted. I do wonder, though, if they might be a separate species from our own. Darker and flatter, they didn’t have the intense chewiness of our limpets. Lunch at a Madeira vineyard But perhaps best meal I had was cooked by winemaker Antonio Oliveira. We’d taken a jeep tour with a company called True Spirit and this included a visit to his amazing winery on the wild, damp north side of the island. After walking around the steep terraces perched 400 or 500 feet above the beach we enjoyed a wine-tasting - then sat down to a lunch of skewered beef cooked over vine wood. The skewers were bay tree branches as fat as your thumb - giant bays being common in the cloud forests above the vineyards. The beef was proper grass-fed stuff brought across from the Azores where they specialise in producing top notch meat. Take a look at our feature of the delicious cider in Madeira here Maybe it was the wine, or the excellent company - but that beef was the best carnivorous morsel I’ve eaten in a while. The experience was only matched by lunch the following day when, after a morning walking along one of Madeira’s famous high altitude leats (called lavadas), we descended to one of the most dramatically located beaches I have ever set foot on. To reach it we took a thousand foot cable car down the side of an immense cliff to a kind of heavenly organic garden where we were met by the enigmatic owner who showed us around his magical demesne. The ancient Malvazia Candida vines Mário Fernandes climbed some boulders to point out a rather straggly looking vine which he discovered in 1975. He called the Madeira Wine Institute in for a look and they identified it as an original Malvazia Candida planting from the Greek Island of Crete. They cloned it and Mário started replanting this historical one-off in the 1980s. Mário Fernandes a wine maker in Madeira Fajã dos Padres: wine beneath the cliffs He now uses the grapes from these ancient vines to make the nearest thing to the original malmsey that you can taste. We were lucky enough to be taken into the dark depths of a big old wine cellar by the rocky shore where Mario matures his malmseys and other early forms of tipple in old wooden barrels. And there in the fragrant gloom we tasted the liquid ambrosia, with classical music booming among the barrels and beams and the salty scents and sounds of the sea coming through an unglazed window. If you are exploring more of the archipelago, see our feature on Porto Santo by clicking here It was a magical experience. I could have stayed chatting with the charming Mario and his wife Isabel all day. Instead we eventually went to enjoy a first class lunch in his Restaurante Fajã dos Padres at the end of the beach under the 1000 foot sea cliffs, before ascending heavenwards in the scary cable car which climbs almost vertically into Madeira’s azure skies. We’re made to feel guilty about flying through such skies nowadays, but if I was limiting my airliner journeys I’d try to make Madeira and its food and wine an exception to the rule. Fine out more at www.madeirapromotionbeaureau.com Frequently Asked Questions About Visiting Madeira & The Wine Festival When is the Madeira Wine Festival held? The annual Madeira Wine Festival (Festa do Vinho) traditionally takes place in late summer, running from late August through mid-September to coincide with the grape harvest. Celebrations take place across Funchal's city centre, as well as in local vineyards across the island. What is the difference between traditional Madeira wine and new table wines? Traditional Madeira wine is a fortified wine, meaning it is blended with a neutral grape spirit to preserve it (a practice dating back centuries to survive long sea voyages). However, in recent years, local winemakers like Quinta do Barbusano have pioneered high-quality non-fortified table wines—producing crisp whites, dry rosés, and reds directly tailored for contemporary dining. Where is Quinta do Barbusano located, and can you visit? Quinta do Barbusano is located in São Vicente on the rugged northern coast of Madeira. Situated high on steep, terraced hillsides overlooking the valley, the estate offers guided vineyard tours, wine tastings, and traditional Madeiran lunches (such as beef espetada cooked over vine branches). Booking a tour or taking a 4x4 jeep excursion is the easiest way to visit. Do I need a car to explore Madeira's wineries and countryside? While central Funchal and its historic wine lodges are easily walkable, reaching rural wineries on the north coast, like those in São Vicente, requires transport. Taking an organized 4x4 jeep tour (such as True Spirit) allows you to enjoy the wine tastings safely, or you can hire a car to explore the high-altitude levadas and mountain passes at your own pace. What are the best places to stay in Madeira for wine and foodie trips? For city-centre access to the festival stalls, staying in Funchal at places like The Vine Hotel or the historic Reid’s Palace is ideal. If you prefer a tranquil base closer to the countryside and gardens, consider a traditional boutique estate such as Quinta da Casa Branca in Funchal or Hotel Quinta do Furão on the north coast.

A Madeira jeep tour is a great way to get away from the island's main tourist roads and see some of its spectacular scenery from a different perspective. I joined a four-wheel-drive sightseeing tour with Lazermar, which included a morning pick-up from my hotel followed by lunch at Ponta da Calheta. Madeira is an island that rewards getting off the beaten track. The spectacular mountains, deep valleys and winding roads are one of its great attractions, and a jeep tour provides a different way of experiencing the landscape from the conventional sightseeing trip. A lonely valley heading down to the north coast of Madeira I joined a sightseeing jeep tour with Lazermar, with the day beginning with a hotel pick-up at 9.30am. The four-wheel-drive vehicle took us away from the more familiar tourist routes and into the Madeira landscape. A different way to see Madeira One of the attractions of exploring Madeira by jeep is that you get a very different perspective on the island. Madeira is famously mountainous, with roads climbing and twisting through a landscape that can change dramatically within a relatively short distance. There are steep slopes, deep valleys, agricultural terraces and spectacular views towards the Atlantic. A jeep tour gives visitors the opportunity to explore some of the less conventional routes without having to worry about driving themselves. For someone visiting Madeira for the first time, it can be a useful way of getting an introduction to the island's varied scenery. Lunch at Ponta da Calheta The morning sightseeing tour was followed by lunch at Ponta da Calheta, with the itinerary scheduled to arrive there at around 12.30pm. Ponta da Calheta is on Madeira's south-west coast, close to the village of Calheta. It is an area particularly noted for its dramatic coastal scenery and views across the Atlantic. And after a morning exploring the island by jeep, it made a very pleasant place to stop for lunch. Check out our special pst about the food of Madeira here Is a Madeira jeep tour worth doing? If you want to see more of Madeira than the obvious tourist attractions, a jeep tour is an interesting option. The island's mountainous terrain means that there is plenty to discover away from the main roads, while travelling with an experienced local driver means you can concentrate on the scenery rather than navigating unfamiliar mountain roads. It also provides a good complement to Madeira's famous levada walks. I've written elsewhere about walking the island's levadas, but the jeep tour offered a completely different way of seeing Madeira. My Madeira jeep tour My trip with Lazermar was part of a wider visit to Madeira, when I was exploring the island's scenery, food and attractions. The day's itinerary was straightforward: 09:30 – Pick-up from hotel for sightseeing jeep tour with Lazermar 12:30 – Lunch at Ponta da Calheta I took a number of photographs during the experience, which give a better impression of the scenery and the character of the trip than words alone. More about Madeira Madeira is one of those places where it pays to explore beyond the obvious attractions. I've written about the island's spectacular Atlantic Festival, its famous fireworks and its levada walks elsewhere on this website, as well as Madeira's food and drink. If you're planning a visit, have a look at those articles too. Frequently asked questions about Madeira jeep tours What is a Madeira jeep tour? A Madeira jeep tour is a sightseeing excursion using a four-wheel-drive vehicle to explore parts of the island beyond the main tourist routes. How long does a Madeira jeep tour take? Tour itineraries vary considerably. The sightseeing tour I joined began with a 9.30am hotel pick-up and was followed by lunch at Ponta da Calheta at approximately 12.30pm. Where is Ponta da Calheta? Ponta da Calheta is on Madeira's south-west coast, close to Calheta, and is known for its coastal scenery and Atlantic views. Are jeep tours a good way to see Madeira? They can be particularly useful for visitors who want to experience Madeira's mountainous interior without having to drive the island's more challenging roads themselves. This article is based on my own Madeira visit and the itinerary information I retained from the trip.

Madeira knows how to celebrate the arrival of summer. Every June, the Atlantic Festival brings fireworks, music, culture and spectacular outdoor entertainment to Funchal and other parts of the island. But the real star of the show is the extraordinary Madeira International Fireworks Competition. One of the great things about getting out and about is that you can see how other people do things and perhaps borrow some of their ideas for use at home. It was an experience I had when I was invited down to Madeira to witness an event which they call the Atlantic Festival. It takes place each June to celebrate the coming of summer, and the various events are staged with considerable style and panache. Fireworks at Madeira's Atlantic Festival So much so, in fact, that I spent the three-hour flight back to Bristol thinking what a thoroughly good idea it would be for the South West of England to replicate such a festival. We are, after all, fellow ocean-dwellers. We share the Atlantic with a special group of nations and regions which cling to Europe's western edges – and celebrating our vast, benign, life-giving, temperature-controlling ocean during the season when it is at its most calm and peaceful seems like a great idea to me. If you enjoy this post check out our article on Madeira's famous levadas Crowds in Funchal waiting the Atlantic Festival fireworks displays What is the Madeira Atlantic Festival? The Atlantic Festival is much more than a fireworks display. It is a month-long celebration of the beginning of summer, with music, performances, cultural events, outdoor entertainment and other activities taking place around Madeira. But there is no getting away from the fact that the fireworks are the great attraction. If you want to see how such a celebration can be done, book yourself a trip to Madeira in June. The islanders put on an array of events throughout the month, including concerts, performances and cultural activities, but the highlight is the series of spectacular Saturday-night fireworks shows staged over Funchal Bay. The Madeira International Fireworks Competition The Madeirans love fireworks, and the International Fireworks Competition has become one of the island's signature events. The competing pyrotechnic companies don't simply let off a few rockets and watch them explode. These are pyromusical shows, with the fireworks carefully synchronised to music. The displays take place out in Funchal Bay, with the city rising dramatically behind them. When I was there, thousands of people gathered around the harbour and waterfront to watch. There were food and drink stalls, entertainment and a lively atmosphere before the main event. And one of the things that particularly struck me was that much of the entertainment was completely free. One evening featured an extraordinary 45-minute Circus Art Show – an avant-garde performance combining contemporary dance, acrobatics, percussion and circus acts. I'm not really one for contemporary dance, but even I was entranced by it. It must have cost a fortune to stage. And then came the fireworks. They are no ordinary firework displays. They are bigger, more dramatic and, to my eyes, considerably grander than anything I have witnessed in Britain. The fireworks illuminate the whole bay and throw light across the mountains behind Funchal. Because the displays are synchronised with music, they become something closer to an outdoor performance than a conventional firework show. The official Madeira tourism authority describes the competition displays as lasting around 20 minutes. It is an extraordinary spectacle. See our special post all about the food of Madeira here When is the Madeira Atlantic Festival? The Atlantic Festival takes place throughout June. The exact programme changes from year to year, so it is worth checking the official Madeira tourism website before booking. For example, the 2027 Atlantic Festival runs from 4 to 27 June, with the Madeira International Fireworks Competition scheduled for 5, 12, 19 and 26 June. The festival also includes other entertainment and cultural events around Funchal and elsewhere on the island. So if you're considering a June trip to Madeira, don't think of the Atlantic Festival as simply a single evening of fireworks. It is a month-long celebration. Where can you see the Madeira fireworks? The fireworks are staged in Funchal Bay, which means there are numerous places around the city from which you can watch them. The waterfront is naturally one of the obvious places to head for, but the steep hills around Funchal also provide elevated viewpoints. One of the great advantages of seeing the fireworks in Funchal is the setting. You have the Atlantic Ocean in front of you, the lights of the city around the bay and the dramatic mountains rising behind it. It makes the whole thing feel much bigger than a conventional firework display. We also have an article on Madeira's annual wine festival Madeira is much more than the Atlantic Festival If you're going to Madeira for the fireworks, don't make the mistake of spending the whole holiday in Funchal. What's not to like about an island rich in British connections 1,500 miles to the south? Not much. I absolutely love the place and would happily live there if I wasn't addicted to my Exmoor homeland. Why? For many reasons, but you have to begin with the island's sheer physical beauty. It might be relatively small, but Madeira is hugely grand – with mountains climbing more than 6,000 feet straight out of the ocean. There are remarkably few flat areas, apart from the large, strange and rather mystical high-altitude plain of Paul da Serra. And then there are the famous levadas. Walking Madeira's famous levadas Madeira is famous for its levadas – the small irrigation channels built to carry water from the wetter highlands to the agricultural land below. To my mind these gravity-defying waterways are one of the wonders of the Western World. Exactly how they engineered these little canals along impossible contours and across open cliff faces defies the imagination. They ensure that farmers have water, but they also provide walkers with some of the most extraordinary opportunities for scenic hikes anywhere in Europe. Choose your levada – either high above the busy southern half of the island or towards the much emptier, steeper and wetter north – and you can stroll for miles along the paths which accompany the tiny canals. My advice, though, would be to join one of the many guided walks. Not all levadas are the same, and some take you to extremely exposed and vertiginous places. Check out our article about Madeira's neighbouring island, Porto Santo Choose your ‘levada’ - either high above the busy southern half of the island or towards the much emptier, steeper and rainier north - and you can stroll for miles along the paths which accompany each tiny canal. Madeira’s vast levada network spans a staggering 2,000 miles on an island that measures just 35 long by 14 miles wide, so you are spoilt for choice. My advice, though, would be to join one of the many guided walks - not all levadas are the same and some will take you to some vertiginous and perilous places. Madeira's old Royal Roads Other guided hikes take you along one of the old Royal Roads – an extraordinary network of cobbled trails which once provided important routes between communities. These paths represent incredible feats of engineering. And many demand a good head for heights. I discovered this for myself on the Caminho Real do Paúl do Mar, a route which descends from a village perched almost vertically above a small harbour. The cobbled pathway zig-zags down an extremely steep gorge and, like I say, you really do need a good head for heights. But the one-and-a-half-hour hike gives you some idea of how the people of this island must have lived before the invention of the internal combustion engine. The cobbled trail not only bears witness to the extraordinary amount of hard work it must have required, it also shows you how incredibly strong and fit the folk of yore must have been. I have a theory that over many generations Madeirans must have evolved stronger leg muscles and bigger lung capacities by carrying heavy loads up and down these vertiginous paths. It was enough for me to go down that 1,800-foot route. I'd have struggled climbing back up carrying nothing more than a mobile phone, let alone a heavy load. Why Madeira celebrates summer so enthusiastically It is when you get out and about in Madeira that you begin to see why the islanders might love to celebrate the coming of summer. Celebrate anything, in fact. I am told that Madeirans are great ones for any kind of party or festival. And why not? For centuries, life must have been very tough indeed for a people who knew only the world of the steep, lung-bursting mountain slope and the wild and dangerous ocean. The fact that we, as modern-day tourists, can go to this beautiful island and join their celebrations is a privilege. And a highly enjoyable one at that. And why not? For centuries, life must have been very tough indeed for a people who knew only the world of the steep lung-bursting mountain slope and of the wild and dangerous ocean. The fact that we, as modern day tourists, can go to the beautiful island and join their celebrations is a privilege. And a highly enjoyable one, at that. Is the Madeira Atlantic Festival worth visiting? If you love fireworks, the anser is pretty simple. The fireworks alone make the Atlantic Festival worth considering. But what makes the experience particularly enjoyable is that you can combine the festival with everything else Madeira has to offer – spectacular mountain scenery, levada walks, historic villages, good food, wine and the wonderfully dramatic coastline. And there's something rather special about standing in Funchal watching fireworks explode above the Atlantic while the mountains rise behind the city. Perhaps that's why, as I flew home to Bristol, I kept thinking about how the South West might create its own version. We have the Atlantic. We have the scenery. We have the food, the music and the people. Perhaps all we need is the fireworks. Frequently asked questions about Madeira's Atlantic Festival When is the Madeira Atlantic Festival? The Atlantic Festival takes place every June. The exact dates vary from year to year. In 2027, it runs from 4 to 27 June. When are the Madeira Atlantic Festival fireworks? The Madeira International Fireworks Competition takes place on four Saturdays during the festival. In 2027, the dates are 5, 12, 19 and 26 June. Where are the Madeira Atlantic Festival fireworks held? The fireworks are staged over Funchal Bay, making them visible from many parts of the city and surrounding hills. How long do the Madeira fireworks last? The International Fireworks Competition displays last for around 20 minutes and are synchronised with music as part of the pyromusical shows. Is the Atlantic Festival only about fireworks? No. The festival includes music, performances, cultural activities, outdoor entertainment and other events around Madeira. The fireworks are simply its most spectacular attraction. What else can I do in Madeira during the festival? June is an excellent time to explore the island beyond Funchal. Madeira's levada walks, mountain scenery, historic paths, villages and food and drink are all part of the attraction. FACT FILE I visited Madeira as a guest of Madeira Tourism to experience the Atlantic Festival and explore the island. For current festival dates, events and travel information, check the official Madeira tourism website before travelling. This article was originally written following my visit to Madeira in 2024 and has been updated with current festival information.

An aerial view of Funchal from the cable car One of the best towers or cities I visited in 2019 was Funcahl, capital of Madeira. It is a truly magical city and one of the best ways of exploring it is to go on a food tour, like the half-day adventures around the old town of Funchal led by the enigmatic Sophia Maul of Wine Tours Madeira (www.winetoursmadeira.com). We ate and drank our way around the island capital one very long lunchtime, enjoying a snifter of old fashioned Madeira wine in the historic HQ of an English family’s wine house one minute, tasting a sensational handmade chocolate or two (flavoured with tropical island fruit) the next, then pushing our way through the crowded central market filled with the most dazzling fruit and vegetables stalls to be found anywhere in Europe. After that it was down a cobbled side-street to a restaurant where we consumed the local version of tapas known locally as “petiscos”. Next was the main course in yet another cobbled street - this one narrow and dark but full of history and character. Here we shared a couple of plates - one of which I intend making soon. It was a pork dish in which the meat had been marinated in a mix of wine, vinegar and herbs for at least 24 hours. You’d expect such a dish could be overly vinegary but the additional orange juice and peel gave the ultra-tender meat a balanced richness. Making poncha in Funchal, Madeira Next we stopped at a small old fashioned grocery shop where the proprietors sold me some of their home mixed spices before serving us a glass of poncha - which is the island’s preferred poison. Strong and rejuvenating, this mix of aguardente de cana (local rum), honey and lemon juice is a great pick-me-up as long as you keep it to a single glass or two. We ended the tour in what looked like an old fashioned English tearoom next to the port, where we drank a tisane made of the herb which gives Funchal its name (fennel) and slice of excellent Madeira cheesecake. Each night our hosts took us out to some of the best restaurants on the island like the Hostel Santa Maria in the old town, Estalagem da Ponta do Sol dramatically perched on the top of a high cliff and the amazing Nini Design Centre at the top of a converted warehouse in the modern port. In these pleasant watering holes we enjoyed treats like the season’s local tuna catch in all its fresh glory and the delicious scabbard fish, which is a speciality. This black and ugly creature lives thousands of metres down in the deeps, so that no one has ever seen a live scabbard fish - but they take the trouble to catch it by hook and line because it has a tasty firm texture that reminded me of monkfish, another dweller of the deep.

Classic view looking down on the River Rhine near Rüdesheim One of the most regular travel adverts appearing on television features luxurious cruises drifting along the historic waters of the Rhine. They look undeniably jolly as holidaymakers sit back in absolute comfort, awed by some of the most spectacular, castle-crowned riverine scenery in all of Europe. Almost all of that iconic footage is shot along the legendary 50-mile stretch of water that flows from the historic wine village of Rüdesheim down to Koblenz. Officially designated as the Upper Central Rhine Valley, this magnificent landscape is a protected UNESCO World Heritage site. It is a fairy-tale realm of long, heavily laden barges battling powerful river currents underneath sheer crags, impossibly steep vineyards, and dense forests hiding ancient stone strongholds that look straight out of the pages of the Brothers Grimm. The Upper Rhine Valley is one of Europe's great walking destinations. Based in Rüdesheim, I spent a week exploring the vineyards, forests and villages on foot and by bicycle, including sections of the famous Rheinsteig trail. There were also ferries, trains, chairlifts and plenty of opportunities to stop for a glass of local wine. Think long, heavily laden, barges battling against the current underneath high crags crowned by fairytale castles… Think impossibly steep vineyards topped by forests, sloping down to riverside villages that Hansel and Gretel would have felt at home in. The first thing to say about the Rhine Gorge area is that few visitors could ever be disappointed. Just about all expectations will duly be delivered. What you thought it would be like, it is like – which might be a glib thing to say – but I make the point because, as a seasoned traveller, I know this is not always the case. The times I’ve travelled somewhere and said out loud: “This is exactly what I thought it would be like!” I could count on one hand. If I were to single out something which did surprise me in the Rhineland, it would be this: I expected the local Germans would be okay, in an accommodating kind of way – I didn’t expect them to be among the most warm, friendly and welcoming folk it’s been my pleasure to meet in years of travel writing. They were, but more about them later. First let’s get away from the image of those floating Rhine holidays. Our trip to the area was land-based – and I would say we saw infinitely more, and enjoyed the region to a deeper and more profound degree, than those who were permanently afloat. A lazy Rhine cruise looks appealing enough, but we were on a more hard-working - and rewarding - walking and cycling vacation with Ramble Worldwide. During our week based in historic and attractive Rudesheim we did catch plenty of boats, which was a great pleasure in its own right. We also let amazing chair-lifts take the strain on occasions, jumped on efficient German trains and caught local buses. It was occasionally hard work, but never exhausting. The main point of this particular holiday is to introduce you to the very best the unique area has to offer – not to route-march you relentlessly over hill or dale, or set you off on some Germanic version of the Tour de France. See our post about the fascinating Hanover area of Northern Germany here So it was all fairly genteel - but highly scenic, and thoroughly enjoyable – and I fell in love with the big broad Rheingau Hills, with their huge forests, cute villages - and even with the elegant city of Wiesbaden which we visited on the one day it was raining. Walking the Rheinsteig above Rüdesheim Taking to the Rheinsteig Trail The spectacular day-hike back across the forested spur from Assmannshausen to Rüdesheim actually follows a premier, heavily celebrated section of the Rheinsteig, Germany’s world-renowned 320-kilometre long-distance trail. Walking along this historic right of way means navigating winding vineyard tracks, sun-dappled beech woods, and rocky crags that look directly across the water to the steep ruins of Burg Ehrenfels on the opposite bank.The Niederwald LandmarksAs the high-altitude path approaches the crest of the hill, it enters the historic grounds of the Niederwald Landscape Park, a parkland rich in 18th-century romantic monuments like the artificial "Magic Cave" and the Niederwald Temple. But the undisputed climax of the ridge is the monumental Niederwald Monument (Niederwalddenkmal). This colossal, 38-metre-tall statue of Germania, built to commemorate the unification of Germany, commands the entire valley. Standing at its base gives you a panoramic, sweeping view of the Rhine sweeping around Bingen—a view you can easily enjoy by hopping on the open-air cable cars that glide silently over the vine terraces straight down into Rüdesheim. The holiday in question flies you in to Frankfurt and from there you are whisked westwards aboard one of those efficient local trains. We were met at Rudesheim station by Ralph Nagler, owner of the excellent 3 star Hotel Zumgrünen Kranz in the heart of the bustling little town. Historic Lodgings and World-Class Whites The old establishment has been in Ralph’s family for generations, and he and his cousins are also involved in the all important local wine trade – a subject upon which he is an expert. If you thought German wine was all about overly saccharine products that get sold cheaply over here, think again. The white wines of the Upper Central Rhine Valley area are truly delicious. Crisp, for most part with plenty of fruit, and altogether much more grown up that anything which might have a holy woman dressed in a certain colour on the label. I took to tasting them with aplomb, which is an easy thing to do because just about every village in the wine area as a booth in one of its central squares where local winemakers take it in turns to show off their wares. Two different winemakers were on duty in Rudesheim during my stay and their diverse offerings were all superb - my favourite was an exquisite dry bubbly that would have given any champagne a run for its money. But I wasn’t there to quaff wine and wade through the first-class food (first-class, that is, if you are a meat-eater – I do not envy vegetarians who visit any part of Germany). Our job was to explore as much as we could – and on the first full day we took the train on our side of the river (the east bank) downstream to the next village. Trekking the Assmannshausen Spur It’s called Assmannshausen and is tucked on the far side of a big corner which the Rhine veers around in its steep gorge. The bend creates a massive shoulder of hill which is crowned by a large forest – and, basically, our day’s outing consisted of a walk back over this spur so that we could enjoy the immense views offered by its uplands. Which you might think would mean a big climb up to reach the crest of the ridge, but it didn’t. Instead, a chair-lift of the most scenic kind (by which I mean one that wends its way over crags and through forests) took us slowly and thrillingly to the top. The lofty ridge is a special place for the Germans – because out on the southern edge, overlooking Rudesheim’s bit of Rhine, there is a huge 135-year-old monument that was designed to symbolise the re-establishment of the German Empire. It features a massive 120 foot high sculpture of Germania, bearing the imperial sword and the German Emperor's crown. She is apparently coated in 32 tons of bronze – and you can see its newly polished sheen for many miles around. You could catch yet another cable car down to Rudesheim at the foot of the hill, but we strolled through endless vineyards, taking a detour over to the east of town in order to see a local monastery, where, of course, they were selling yet more wine. The next day we took a ferry over to Bingen, which is Rudesheim’s larger more workaday neighbour and from there we pedalled (on bikes which belong to the hotel) along a superb dedicated cycle trail which hugs the riverside to Bacharach… See our post on the famous German curry wurst by clicking here This is, arguably, the best known and prettiest of all the villages in the UNESCO heritage site. It’s got more history in one of its timbered houses than many old villages have got in all their cobbled acres. Apart from anything else, Bacharach was – for centuries - an important transfer point for the wine trade, as barrels were offloaded here from the smaller ships that were needed to get by the Binger Loch (a reef in the Rhine upstream near Bingen) and loaded onto bigger ones. Bacharach has all the usual castles, narrow streets, impossibly steep vineyards and ruined churches that you’d expect in a classic Rhine setting - and even the briefest outline of its long history would require pages. Basically, though, you could sum up the entire story of the Upper Central Rhine Valley like this… Over many centuries the big river evolved to be one of the most important trade routes in Europe – but in these parts geography decided to have some fun by shoving the watery thoroughfare through big hills. The steep corridor formed a pinch-point – and that caught the attention of power-brokers large and small. For he who holds the pinch-point holds great sway in the matter of either controlling the transport of goods, or in collecting taxes for those goods. Hence all the castles that dominate this 40-mile stretch of the Rhine. Hardly a knoll or a hillside spur fails to have one, though many are now in ruins. On another day we cycled east along the riverside (and believe me, riverside cycling is a treat, partly for the views and partly for the lack hills to climb) to the ancient and attractive town of Eltville where I lunched on the ubiquitous bratwurst sausage, washed down with yet more lightly bubbly wine while admiring the house where Johannes Gutenburg mused over the revolutionary idea that led to printing. From there we climbed first through vineyards, then through wooded hills, until we came to the vast and impressive Eberbach Abbey where the movie The Name of the Rose was so memorably filmed. It’s a Cistercian monastery that was established in 1136 - the monks have long gone but the famous wines are still there, along with a couple of excellent restaurants. For some reason I cycled alone in the late afternoon sunlight, back through the vineyard lined hills from the abbey to Rudesheim – and it was a delightful 12-mile journey that I shall remember for a long time. Other great days out included a boat ride downstream to Sankt Goar, which is the central town in the Rhine Gorge area. High above the streets stand the ruins of the massive Burg Rheinfels castle, which is one of the best known in the region and well worth the entry fee for visit. In fact, I’d pay the fee for the views from the ramparts alone... Then it was a long riverside cycle ride back past the famous Lorelei – a vast chunk of rock on the north side of the river. Because of this cliff, the river is squeezed into an even narrower confine than usual and the currents belting around the bend which the rock causes are fierce to say the least. Many a ship has gone down under the Lorelei and there are legends about the female spirits, or river mermaids, that haunt the place. We were able to stop and admire the Burg Pfalzgrafenstein - a toll castle built on an island in the middle of the river. Further along on our return journey we were able to stop and admire the Burg Pfalzgrafenstein - a toll castle built on an island in the middle of the river. Just about all those TV adverts I was talking about feature a shot or two of this extraordinary place – the 700 year old pentagonal tower points upstream and acts as a reminder of the days when local warlords would relieve skippers of hefty fees. They had no choice in the matter – the island fortress worked in concert with Gutenfels Castle and the fortified town of Kaub on the north side of the river. A chain across the river forced ships to halt – any brave trader who tried running the gauntlet was slammed in the dungeon until a ransom was paid. On the final day of our holiday we walked high above the river from Rudesheim to Kaub, following 12 miles of ancient forest trails in the hills. At midday we stopped for a special lunch put on for us buy a local forester (various sausages, pickles and cheeses, washed down by local beer) – and very now and again we found ourselves at spurs of rock some 500 feet above the river where were treated to classic views of the Rhine. Classic views of a classic river. In fact, even that lunch was just as I expected it would be – a classic forester’s meal in archetypal mid-German woodlands. If you like that sort of thing, this holiday will guarantee you get it – and I liked it a lot. Frequently Asked Questions 1. Where is the best base for a land-based walking holiday in the Rhine Gorge? Rüdesheim am Rhein is the ultimate base. Located at the gateway to the UNESCO Upper Central Rhine Valley, it offers excellent rail and ferry connections, direct access to the famous Rheinsteig trail, and a vibrant local wine culture right on your doorstep. 2. What makes a land-based trip better than a traditional Rhine river cruise? Sticking to solid ground allows you to experience the dramatic landscape from both above and below. Instead of looking up at the cliffs from water level, you can hike high-altitude forest spurs, ride historic chairlifts over the steep vine terraces, and immerse yourself in the authentic daily life of regional wine-growing villages. 3. What should I expect from the local wines in this part of Germany? Forget the overly sweet, mass-produced German white wines of the past. The Upper Central Rhine Valley produces exceptional, sophisticated, and incredibly crisp white wines—predominantly featuring the noble Riesling grape. Be sure to look out for Sekt, a dry, exquisite local sparkling wine that easily rivals top champagne. 4. Is the walking in the Rheingau hills highly strenuous? While the vineyard paths and forest tracks feature some steep ascents and descents out of the river valley, a land-based itinerary is designed to be thoroughly scenic and genteel rather than exhausting. By making use of the region's highly efficient network of local trains, buses, and open-air chairlifts, you can easily tailor the daily distances to your own pace.

Sardinia may be Italy's second-largest island, but much of it still feels wonderfully undiscovered. Away from the crowds you'll find white-sand beaches, turquoise seas, dramatic cliffs, flamingo-filled lagoons and some of the finest seafood in the Mediterranean. During my visit to the beautiful Chia coastline in southern Sardinia, I discovered an island that combines luxury, natural beauty and authentic Italian hospitality in equal measure. Why Visit Southern Sardinia? It is the second biggest island in the Mediterranean and has a lengthy 1,150 miles of beautiful coastline. It’s land mass covers a scenic and mountainous 9,301 square miles. And yet it is by no means the tourist trap it could be. I spent a long night out in the capital, Cagliari, recently and not an English, German or American voice did I hear. Check out are post on the food of Sardinia here Having said that, I was on my way to a very special cluster of coastal hotels located in the south west corner of the island and was later told by the owners, the Italian Hospitality Collection, that their British visitor numbers had increased by ten per cent last year. Which isn’t surprising because the group is in the process of spending more than 50 million euros upgrading the four hotels located right next to a shoreline that has recently been voted Best Beach in Italy. The collection of hotels owned and run by the Italian Hospitality Collection is situated just 50 minutes from Cagliari International Airport which, in itself, is an easy 2.5 hour flight from the UK. I stayed in the five-star Chia Laguna, a lovely hotel which is set on a hillside above a blue lagoon dotted with flamingos, beyond which lies an endless expanse of golden dunes. One hot autumn day recently I took a wonderful four-mile stroll around this little lot - and hugely enjoyed climbing the old watchtower hill so that I could see the lagoon and the dunes from another angle. I then walked up the coast along sandy shores, around rocky sea-cliffs and between the dunes full of green Mediterranean shrubs to the beautiful Dune di Campana beach, to which guests staying at the Chia Laguna have exclusive access. It was all very lovely and relaxing indeed. Hotel staff sorted me out with a big comfy recliner and umbrella and brought me ice-cold beers while I contemplated a crystal-clear sea. A wonderfully warm sea, I have to add. In late September the water was so warm I could have snorkelled and generally splashed about for hours. On another afternoon, the Chia Laguna’s beach staff took us by speedboat, west along the dramatic coastline so that we could moor in a secluded cove above which herds of semi-wild goats were nibbling herbs on the mountainsides, and where vast shoals of fish were nibbling our toes as we dangled them into the unbelievably clear sea. The water was so clear, you could see a full 40 feet down into the pink granite lined depths of the bay. Diving in from the deck of the speedboat almost took nerve because the sea was so clear it looked as though your were plummeting head first into a 40 foot abyss. Then it was back at high speed past the dramatic looking Capo Spartivento lighthouse and past the great white dunes of the Chia beaches so that we could take a rest and dress for dinner at the classy La Terrazza fine-dining restaurant exclusive to guests of Hotel Laguna. The à la carte menu features delicious Italian specialties that take more than just a bow to the culinary traditions of Sardinia. The outdoor terrace offers a fabulous view of the lagoon and the bay - quite unlike the nearby Whiteluna Restaurant which is also part of the complex and where we also enjoyed dinner one night. And what a memorable meal that was - one of the best I’ve had in any resort hotel in the Mediterranean. I picked a mix of a Japanese starter and traditional Sardinian suckling pig as a main - and went back up to my luxurious suit across the road a happy and contented man. Location: Chia, Southern Sardinia Nearest airport: Cagliari Transfer time: Around 50 minutes Best for: Beaches, couples, families, food lovers Best months: May to October Sea temperature: Excellent for swimming during summer and early autumn If the speedboat trip was one of the most pleasant things I’ve done in 2018, then its white-knuckle ride and all the diving and snorkelling did leave me feeling a little weary the next morning - so what better than to experience a pampering spa treatment at the Chia Natural Spa? I had a basic massage - which was excellent - but there were a choice of treatments to be enjoyed before a lengthy relaxation session at the spa where I zoned out in the sauna, Turkish bath and hammam before luxuriating in the outdoor whirlpools. After that, the now chilled out Hesp body had built up quite an appetite - one which was well catered for at the resort’s Le Dune Restaurant down by the beach. My seafood pasta was superb - the open air restaurant specialises in grilled fish, together with pasta and rice dishes with fresh-made sauces, as well as wood-fired pizza. As you may gather, the whole Chia experience is very much a resort-led experience. You don’t need to go anywhere or plan anything - everything you need for an enjoyable holiday is right there on the doorstep, with multiple large swimming pools located across the four hotels along with spas, shops, restaurants, bars… Everything you need, indeed, for a wonderful rejuvenating vacation. Which, I noted, seems to be an especially good offer for families with children. I saw a lot of mums and dads at the resort and also grannies and granddads - there are certainly a great many things for the kids to do. My own take on such a holiday (as a person whose kids have grown up and who hasn’t yet stepped in to grandparenthood) is that I’d definitely book in for a few days total relaxation either before, or after, exploring more of what the remarkable island of Sardinia has to offer. If relaxation in a beautifully located and tastefully designed seaside resort is what you’re after (and who isn’t?) - I’d certainly recommend the Italian Hospitality Collection’s Chia Laguna. FACT FILE Nightly rates at Hotel Laguna start from €308 (£274 at the time of going to print) per person based on two adults sharing on a half-board basis. Nightly rates at Hotel Baia start from €149 (£133*) per person based on two adults sharing on a half-board basis. Nightly rates at Chia Laguna start from €166 (£148*) per person based on two adults sharing on a half-board basis. In all the above children under 12 stay free. Rates also include wi-fi, access to fitness facilities and beach service. For further information email info@chialagunaresort.com, call +39 070 932393431. Or take a look at the website on https://en.chialagunaresort.com/en/resort-sardinia/1-0.html FAQ section Where is Chia in Sardinia? Chia is located on the south-west coast of Sardinia, around 50 minutes by road from Cagliari Airport. Is southern Sardinia worth visiting? Yes. Southern Sardinia combines beautiful beaches, excellent food, crystal-clear water, wildlife and a more relaxed atmosphere than many Mediterranean destinations. Which beaches are best around Chia? The beaches around Chia are famous for their white sand, rolling dunes and exceptionally clear turquoise sea, making them some of Italy's finest. Can you see flamingos in Sardinia? Yes. The lagoons around Chia and Cagliari are well known for their resident flamingo populations. When is the best time to visit Sardinia? Late spring and early autumn offer warm weather, pleasant sea temperatures and fewer visitors than the peak summer season. How far is Chia from Cagliari Airport? The drive normally takes around 50 minutes. Is Chia suitable for families? Yes. The calm beaches, family-friendly resorts and wide range of activities make it an excellent destination for children as well as couples.

There is something almost magical about entering a forest. The noise of modern life fades, the air becomes cooler and scented with leaves and earth, and every bend in the path promises another discovery. Whether you're searching for wildlife, ancient trees, colourful autumn leaves or simply a place to escape for a few hours, Britain's forests offer some of the country's most rewarding walking experiences. This walk reminded me just how restorative a day beneath the trees can be. “If we sing of the woods, let them be woods of consular dignity,” wrote the poet Virgil in ancient times. I’ll you what I think has very little dignity at present - and that is the Government’s latest round of advice for the lockdown. Much of it is confusing and doesn’t make sense. I can foresee a mass migration to the countryside if the weather holds and the sun gets warmer - and we do not have the logistics in place for all manner of things. Pubs and restaurants are closed, village shops have limited supplies… Even all the public toilets across the national park here are shut for the duration. Visitors need facilities, and the countryside is very short of them at the moment. Anyway, to get back to Virgil and his woods… Being in forests is good for you - good for the soul and for mental health - so I thought I’d repeat an article I wrote on the subject last year…. I’ve never really understood what Virgil meant, but this region’s woodlands retain wondrous amounts dignity, consular or otherwise. Which is one reason I like walking in them so much. Trees are good friends to mankind in all manner of ways. We can make things out of their wood and they provide a fabulous habitat for all manner of plants and creatures. They also act as a valuable carbon sink in these times when humankind seems so hell bent on wrecking the planet with our love of cars, consumerism, convenience and easy indoor living. But these things come at a price - and I’m not just talking about the planet’s atmosphere. Humans were not really designed to live in the modern rat race or in vast cities made of concrete - and trees, or forests, offer a kind of gentle salve or cure. If you enjoy this post click here to find some of our Forest Walks in the South West Bellever Tor above Dartmoor's forests Forests surround Dartmoor's Fernworthy Reservoir Woodlands descend almost to the sea on Exmoor Why Forest Walks Are Good for Mind and Body Research studies carried out in many countries over the past decade have show that when people walk or spend time in forests, they relax, calm down and generally chill out - all of which can conjure better health. Some countries like South Korea are now planting large forests in and around large cities to afford their hard working populations a natural way to tune their ravaged souls and feel better about life. See our special Dartmoor page by clicking here Discovering Ancient Woodland Here in the West Country we have a great many forests, copses and woodlands. And we have the excellent Forestry England which owns and manages large tracts of land across the peninsula. And the good news about the FC is that it has changed the way it plants trees down the years - no longer do they cover massive acreages with big black forests of endless, lifeless, conifers. Carefully selected mixed planting which incorporates many indigenous species is more the order of the day - which makes such forests far more pleasant to walk in. Also the Forestry England welcomes walkers to stroll its many tracks and rides unless, of course, large scale clearance operations are underway - which they happen to be in several of my favourite forests at the moment. The other things about forests and woodlands is that they can offer wonderful shelter belts for walkers to enjoy at this time of year when midwinter storms are raging through. I can remember one day in particular a few years ago when I was intending to do a walk on Dartmoor and the wind and rain were so savage my car was swaying from side to side as I drove past lonely Warren Inn. A few miles later I pulled into Bellever Forest and enjoyed an hour-long hike in the most gentle of conditions. I could hear the gale booming in the distant outer trees, but where I was in the heart of the forest you could have dropped a feather and it would have landed at your feet. See our special Exmoor page here Walking is an important form of exercise for those of us who do not play regular sport or go to the gym - which is why its a good idea to keep putting one foot in front of another even in winter. A recent Natural England survey found that a massive 57 per cent of people said a walk or a ramble was the main activity enjoyed on any kind of outdoor leisure visit they made. “It’s been shown that the great outdoors is the best motivator to keep people walking and active,” said a Natural England spokesman. “It’s also the easiest form of exercise to make part of your daily routine and the significant effect it can have on reducing or coping with stress really can make a difference to peoples’ lives.” Exercising outside can improve concentration for several hours afterwards and makes you more resilient to stress or helps cope with stress. Walking protects our joints from wear and tear thanks to muscle build-up - and it improves your immune system for up to 24 hours after a walk which can help prevent you from catching a cold. If you walk for 30 minutes a day you can burn off 2,000 calories a week (the equivalent of six Mars bars) or 150 calories per mile. That may not seem like a lot but walking and keeping fit also increases your metabolism, so it’s good for you even when you’re not doing it. Forests climb away from Gallox Bridge, Dunster, Somerset Woodlands at Lustleigh Cleave in Devon As I’ve mentioned above, research shows that our stress levels fall within minutes of contact with nature – good for body and mind And walking crosses all generations so everyone can get involved. Research has shown that if children haven’t had the opportunity to be in the natural environmental on their own before the age of 11, they’re unlikely to use the great outdoors in later life and therefore benefit from the stress relieving qualities the outdoors can bring. So - taking this dual theme of walking and forests - I put together a list of some of the best woodland hikes in the South West. If there is an interest, I will put the full list on another Lockdown day. I’m not claiming that every step of every walk will be surrounded by trees - some are but others will include copses, woods or forests along the way. FAQ Section Why are forest walks so relaxing? Woodland environments reduce noise, provide shade and immerse walkers in nature. Many people find that walking among trees helps reduce stress while improving wellbeing. What should I take on a forest walk? Wear sturdy footwear, carry waterproof clothing, water, a map or GPS, and binoculars if you enjoy wildlife watching. When is the best time to visit a forest? Every season offers something different. Spring brings wildflowers, summer offers cool shade, autumn is famous for colourful foliage and winter reveals woodland structure and far-reaching views. Are forest walks suitable for families? Many forests have waymarked trails suitable for all ages, with shorter routes, picnic areas and opportunities to spot birds, butterflies and other wildlife. What wildlife might I see on a forest walk? Depending on the location, you may see deer, foxes, squirrels, woodpeckers, owls, butterflies and a wide variety of woodland plants and fungi.

A while ago I was in Madeira. I loved the place. Really loved it. It is one of those islands where you can spend the morning looking out over the Atlantic and, within a surprisingly short time, find yourself high in the mountains, surrounded by forests, steep valleys and rushing water. But the thing I particularly wanted to do was walk. And not just any walk. I wanted to walk beside Madeira's famous levadas – the remarkable water channels which have carried water around the island's mountains for centuries. What are Madeira's levadas? If you have been to Madeira you will probably have seen them without necessarily knowing what they are. A levada is essentially an irrigation channel, built to carry water from the wetter mountains to the agricultural areas where it was needed. Madeira has hundreds of kilometres of them, running across some extraordinarily steep terrain. They were built over many generations and some date back centuries. Today, many of the paths beside them have become walking routes. And that is what makes levada walking rather different from an ordinary mountain walk. You are often not climbing a mountain at all. Instead, you are following the water as it makes its way around the contours of the hills. The paths can be narrow, and there can be steep drops beside them, but the actual walking is sometimes surprisingly gentle. That is not to say all levada walks are easy. Madeira is a mountainous island and some routes involve tunnels, steps, exposed sections and long distances. But there are walks to suit quite different levels of fitness and experience. Walking Madeira's levadas I discovered the pleasures of levada walking on a Sunday morning when I went out with a lovely local lady called Lilly. It was one of those experiences that stays in the memory partly because of the surroundings and partly because of the person you are with. Lilly knew the countryside and, as we walked, she was able to explain things about the landscape that I would probably have missed if I had simply followed a route on my own. There is something very simple about walking beside a levada. You hear the water. You walk through the trees. Every now and then the vegetation opens up and you get a view across the mountains or down into one of the deep valleys. Then the path disappears back into the forest. And so it goes on. It is not difficult to understand why walking has become such a major part of Madeira's appeal. The landscape changes as you walk One of the things I remember most clearly is how quickly the scenery changes. One minute you can be walking through dense vegetation with the levada running quietly alongside you. Then you round a corner and the landscape suddenly opens out. Madeira is a remarkably green island, helped by the amount of water that falls on its northern and mountainous interior. The levadas are part of the reason you can see so much cultivation on what otherwise looks like impossibly steep ground. Terraces climb the hillsides. Banana plantations occupy lower ground. Vines and other crops appear wherever farmers have managed to find a suitable piece of land. And above all this are the mountains. It is a landscape which is very different from the Madeira of the hotels, restaurants and busy streets around Funchal. You don't have to go particularly far to get away from all that. Some of Madeira's best-known levada walks There are dozens of levada and mountain walking routes on the island, so this isn't intended as a definitive list. These are simply some of the walks you are likely to come across when researching Madeira. Levada das 25 Fontes The 25 Fontes is probably the name most visitors will encounter when they start looking at Madeira's levada walks. It is in the Rabaçal area and leads through the mountains to a collection of waterfalls and springs. The official route is currently classified as a moderate walk. It is popular, so don't expect to have the place entirely to yourself. See our post about the food of Madeira here Levada do Caldeirão Verde This is a considerably more substantial walk. The official PR9 route starts at Queimadas and runs for 8.7km each way, making 17.4km there and back. The official walking time is around six and a half hours and it is classified as moderate. There are also four tunnels along the route. That tells you something important about levada walking in Madeira: this isn't always a gentle stroll through a park. You need proper footwear, enough water and a realistic idea of what you are taking on. Levada do Rei Another well-known route is the Levada do Rei, in the north of the island. The official route is 5.3km each way and takes around three and a half hours. It is also classified as moderate. The walk leads towards Ribeiro Bonito, through areas of Madeira's Laurissilva forest. The Laurissilva is one of the island's great natural treasures – an ancient type of laurel forest which survives particularly well in Madeira. For anyone interested in seeing a greener, wilder side of the island, this sort of walk gives a very different impression of Madeira from the one you get around Funchal. Check out our pst on Madeira's extraordinary wine festival here You don't have to be a serious walker This is worth saying because the word "mountain" can make Madeira's walking sound rather more intimidating than it sometimes is. Some levada walks are demanding. Others are perfectly manageable for reasonably fit holidaymakers who are accustomed to walking. But you should never assume that a walk is easy simply because it follows a levada. Some paths are narrow. There may be sheer drops. Others contain tunnels where a torch is useful, and weather conditions can change quickly in the mountains. The Madeira tourism authorities themselves advise walkers to choose routes appropriate to their fitness and experience, carry food and water, wear suitable footwear and turn back in heavy rain or strong winds. In other words, treat a Madeira mountain walk as a proper walk. Don't turn up in flip-flops because you are only going for a stroll beside a stream. Things have changed since I made this walk There is an important update to this old article. If you are planning to walk Madeira's official classified PR routes now, you need to check the regulations before setting off. From January 2026, visitors have to make a reservation in advance for classified walking trails through the Madeira Government's SIMplifica system. For most non-resident visitors over the age of 12, the standard charge is currently €4.50 per person. Reservations are made for specific entry times, generally in 30-minute slots. This includes well-known routes such as the 25 Fontes and Caldeirão Verde. It is also worth checking the current status of your chosen route before setting off. Madeira's official walking information identifies trails as open, restricted or closed, and mountain conditions can change. So don't rely on an old guidebook – or even an old article like this one – for the final word on conditions. Check the official information shortly before you walk. Why I want to go back The trouble with writing about places afterwards is that you often find yourself remembering the things you didn't have time to do. Madeira was like that for me. I saw enough to know that I wanted to see more. And particularly, I wanted to do more walking. There is something very appealing about the levadas because they take you into parts of Madeira that you simply don't see from a hire car or the window of a hotel. You hear the water running beside you. You walk through the trees. You look down into valleys. You come across small waterfalls and channels cut into the mountainside. And occasionally you meet somebody who knows the island far better than you do. That Sunday morning with Lilly was one of those occasions. I took a lot of photographs – which is why this old article originally consisted of rather more pictures than words. But perhaps that is appropriate. Some places are difficult to describe without sounding overblown. Madeira's levadas are one of them. So I'll leave you with the photographs. And the thought that, given the chance, I'd quite like to be back there walking beside one of those little channels of mountain water again. See our exclusive article on Madeira's up and coming cider scene Planning a levada walk in Madeira If you are going to Madeira specifically to walk, check the official trail information before travelling. The Madeira tourism authority provides current information on classified routes, including their opening status, access conditions, distances and difficulty. For 2026, remember that reservations are required for the classified PR routes and that the standard visitor charge is generally €4.50. Take proper walking shoes, water, something to eat and a waterproof layer. And check the weather. The mountains of Madeira can be a very different proposition from the sunshine you may have left beside the swimming pool. But if the conditions are right, walking beside a levada is one of the best ways of seeing the island. And it is one of the things that has stayed with me longest from my time in Madeira.

During the Covid lockdown I managed to write a 100,000 word novel called The Lemon Tree Forest. I’d dearly like to see it published, of course - but that is difficult for an old country hick like me. But earlier I came across some camera footage which i shot the winter before last when I was in Lucerne with the Swiss Tourism people on a press trip. Here are a couple of paragraphs from the novel… “The village of Weggis is the fourth port of call for the ferries that leave Lucerne, and the first stop after the boat crosses the entrance of a fjord-like bay that extends the lake north to the town of Kussnacht. After the gulf, Lake Lucerne’s northern shore is dominated by six thousand foot Mount Rigi and Weggis is located in a wide bay just beyond the junction of the fjord. The south-facing village extends up across the alpine slopes, which at this point are not as steep as they are further east. After Weggis the ferry goes on along this vertiginous shore to Vitznau, where passengers alight to take the cog-wheel train that climbs almost vertically out of the village up the slopes of Mount Rigi. It must be one of the most scenic boat rides in Europe. Great mountains come down to the lakeside and they seem to get bigger as the boat cruises east toward Weggis. It’s all stunning, especially in evening light. So scenic, that my sense of surrealism had been joined by a vague feeling of romanticism as I stepped down the gang-plank. Mark Twain visited twice and on the second occasion lived here with his family for ten weeks. Who could blame him? I remembered the words he wrote after he climbed Mount Rigi and looked out at the view… "We could not speak. We could hardly breathe. We could only gaze in drunken ecstasy and drink it in.”

Driving through Chablis, the Morvan and Vézelay in search of the quieter side of France As roving feature writer for this newspaper I cover a lot of miles, so you’d think driving would be the last thing I’d want to do on holiday. However, motoring in France is different. So empty and excellent are the roads, driving is a pleasure. Man walks through a park in the town of Avallon, Of course, there’s the lunchtime highlight of finding those wonderful roadside Les Routiers diners where you will see the inevitable mustering of trucks. French lorry drivers know a thing or two about eating and the general rule of thumb seems to be: the greater the number of trucks outside, the better the food inside. But it’s more than the obvious gastronomic pleasures offered by the open road in France – a good deal of the enjoyment is derived from the roads themselves. If you buy the yellow-jacketed Michelin Tourist and Motoring Atlas and are prepared to meander wherever the mood takes you, you’re in for a treat. The marvellous tome will guide you anywhere in that vast and scenic country – from the tiniest hamlet to the mightiest city, from the salt marshes of the Camargue to the heights of the Alps. A lake somewhere in the Morvan, France The atlas depicts every single byway and lane and here we come to the very best thing about motoring in France – these smaller roads tend to be excellent. When we see tiny yellow or white roads marked on a map in England we quite rightly envisage tortuous narrow lanes squeezed between high hedgerows. Such byways are a delight in their own way, but they do not make for easy motoring. In France many roads marked as minor routes are actually fine highways capable of allowing large vehicles to pass each other unhindered – and they are often wonderfully quiet. So for years it has been my great pleasure to duck and dive down these myriad routes in deepest France whenever the chance comes my way. And such a chance occurred the day when Brittany Ferries invited me to try their then-new go-fast catamaran that plied between Poole and Cherbourg. Poole is a convenient port of departure for West Country motorists, and Cherbourg is as handy a springboard as anywhere on the north French coast. Today the service is rather different, with Brittany Ferries operating conventional car-ferry sailings between Poole and Cherbourg. The crossing currently takes around 4 hours 45 minutes, with daily daytime sailings, although timetables vary seasonally. A lock-keeper in Burgundy But the principle remains exactly the same: get across the Channel with your car and you can soon be heading into the wonderfully open countryside of France. Immense forests, open prairies, meandering rivers, working canals, exquisite chateaux, medieval villages and quaint market towns are all part of a morning or afternoon’s motoring in the rural vastness of the Land of Gaul. Driving through the Chablis wine region Recently I was staying with friends on the edge of the Chablis region which is situated east of the city of Auxerre, in the Yonne department of Burgundy. The region is named after the small town of Chablis. It’s a pretty little place utterly dominated by the production of its famous white wine. It has always struck me as odd that somewhere so landlocked could produce a wine that goes so perfectly with anything marine. Shellfish and Chablis is one of the best food-drink combinations there is. And Chablis is rather more substantial as a wine region than you might imagine. Today the Chablis vineyards cover about 5,866 hectares, with hundreds of wine estates producing the four recognised appellations of Petit Chablis, Chablis, Chablis Premier Cru and Chablis Grand Cru. The Premier Cru vineyards account for roughly 770 hectares, while the Grand Cru vineyards occupy only about 100 hectares. A wine cellar in Chablis So perhaps it’s not surprising that the very best bottles can command serious prices. The remarkable thing is how concentrated the Grand Cru vineyards are on a small group of slopes overlooking the town and River Serein. Chablis is made from Chardonnay and its distinctive character is closely linked to the area's ancient Kimmeridgian limestone soils, laid down when this part of France was covered by a shallow sea roughly 150 million years ago. There are even tiny fossilised oyster remains in the rocks. This helps explain why Chablis has acquired such a natural affinity with oysters and other shellfish. It also explains why modern visitors can spend considerably more time thinking about geology than they might have expected when they set out for a wine holiday. A chateau somewhere in the Morvan Chablis to Tonnerre: take the scenic route You pay the best part of a tenner for a reasonable bottle, even in Chablis. In fact my local pal whispered the following advice as I walked towards a wine cave in town: “Don’t go mad, you can buy the same stuff cheaper at the Auchan supermarket in Tonnerre.” He was right, though I felt guilty putting bottles into a shopping trolley rather than paying the producer – and couldn’t quite understand how this upside-down commercial state of affairs could have come about. Anyway, we took the scenic route to Tonnerre which led us around the southerly edge of the wine-growing region. We followed the River Serein upstream through the village of Chichée and onto Poilly, where we took an even smaller road up over picturesque hills to Viviers and on to Tonnerre. This afforded us sweeping views of this most French of regions – in one place we could see more than 50 miles. This is exactly the sort of driving I love in France. There is no particular need to rush from one famous attraction to another. You can simply look at the map, pick a road that looks interesting and see where it takes you. And if the road leads through a village with a café, a market or a little restaurant, so much the better. A day trip from Chablis into the Morvan But it was the day-long circular drive south of Chablis to the Parc Naturel Régional du Morvan that I’d heartily recommend to any Francophile. Long before I took to sojourning in France I read a remarkable book called Le Grand Meaulnes by a writer called Alain-Fournier – it is the haunting account of a young man who finds himself at a party somewhere deep in the countryside. He is smitten by a beautiful girl and the memory of her, and the place, preoccupies him for years to come. Though he searches and searches, he is never able to find the lost demesne again. Somehow, the Morvan is like that. Check out our Dordogne travel guide here It is a forested region, full of lakes, and it is riddled with lanes and ancient trackways. It’s easy to get lost – and there’s nothing I love more than losing my way in beautiful places. The Morvan is still one of those parts of France where the landscape is a major part of the attraction. The Regional Natural Park is a land of forests, lakes, rivers and quiet country roads, with a particularly strong reputation for walking and outdoor activities. The modern park promotes more than 80 marked walking circuits, as well as longer-distance routes including the GR13 and the Tour du Morvan by the great lakes. For walkers, cyclists and motorists who like getting away from the obvious tourist trail, it is a remarkably rewarding corner of Burgundy. Bibracte and Mont Beuvray Morvan means “black mountain” in the language of the Gauls, who ruled France before the Romans invaded. Evidence of this ancient world can still be found in the region. One of the most fascinating places is Bibracte, the archaeological site on Mont Beuvray, where the remains of a major Gallic settlement lie beneath the forest. When I visited, the fortifications had all but disappeared beneath the trees, but the strategic importance of the site was obvious. Today Bibracte is one of the Morvan's major attractions and the archaeological and natural site can be explored on foot. Mont Beuvray rises to 821 metres and provides magnificent views across the surrounding countryside. It is another reminder that the Morvan isn't simply somewhere to drive through. You could quite easily spend several days here walking, cycling, exploring archaeological sites and visiting the villages scattered among the forests. Avallon: gateway to the Morvan Avallon is the northern gateway to the national park and worth a quick stopover if only to walk out along the massive ramparts that jut above the deep gorge of the River Cousin. There are all sorts of ancient buildings up on the rocky outcrop, such as the 11th-century collegiate church of Saint-Lazare. The venerable law courts were part of a ducal castle, as was the clock tower built in 1456. We didn’t dally too long because it was a hot day and from the ramparts we could see the forested Morvan stretching south like a cool green sea. The thought of picnicking by one of the area’s many lakes whisked us out of town with all the zeal of the ancient crusaders who used to populate these parts. See a post about a trip to Provence here Fortifications around Avallon Swimming and picnicking in the Morvan Within 20 minutes we were bathing in a lake near the picturesque village of Marigny-l’Eglise. A sign announced swimming was forbidden but, in the French way, several families were enjoying the water regardless of the law. Later a man hung his towel over the sign to dry, and we tucked into the largest picnic it’s been my pleasure to consume in years. Local cheeses and pâtés were the main highlight, but I ate far too many of the crisp, pungent radishes which are a feature of any French country market at this time of the year. It is difficult to imagine a more satisfying way of spending a hot summer afternoon. Picnicking in the Morvan Walking in the forests of the Morvan We walked off the excesses of lunch – the Morvan is great hiking and cycling country and we found a path that seemed to go nowhere through the forest. The innumerable footpaths were once main thoroughfares linking the many villages and moorland farms and some have taken on that sunken profile caused by a million feet and hooves down the centuries. This remains one of the great pleasures of the Morvan. You don't necessarily need a grand itinerary. Indeed, I think the Morvan is best appreciated when you allow yourself to wander. The modern visitor will find everything from short marked walks to much longer hiking routes, but the atmosphere remains much as I remembered it: wooded, quiet and slightly mysterious. Vézelay: one of the great sights of Burgundy To exit the park we took the westerly route north so we could visit the famous hilltop village of Vézelay. Situated a few miles east of the River Yonne, it is one of those places that, once visited, are never forgotten. Gargoyles in Vezeley You climb its cobbled main street amid buildings that make Dunster or Clovelly look modern, and eventually arrive at the great church. This is one of the most important sites of pilgrimage in France since it was believed to have once housed the relics of Mary Magdalene. Today the Basilica of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine and the hill of Vézelay are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The basilica is regarded by UNESCO as a masterpiece of Burgundian Romanesque architecture, and Vézelay's importance as a pilgrimage centre stretches back to the Middle Ages. When we were there exquisite organ music floated about the place and white-hooded priests wafted incense and chanted a series of never-ending prayers in Latin. It was all very ethereal. And some places simply have that effect. The Basilica of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine is a UNESCO World Heritage Site Back to Chablis – and a glass of Burgundy And so back to Chablis and to a well-deserved glass of the very same. Tootling through rural France might not be everyone’s idea of a holiday, but for nostalgic folk like me it’s like being in the England of the 1950s. It’s big, empty, pastoral and unspoilt – which is how I like my countryside. And fairly dry, which is how I like my wine. Planning a Chablis and Morvan road trip The beauty of this part of France is that you don't need to organise every minute of the journey. Chablis makes a useful base for exploring the vineyards and surrounding villages, while the Morvan lies to the south and offers a completely different landscape of forests, lakes and hills. Vézelay provides another excellent stop on a circular journey. For British motorists, the Poole-Cherbourg ferry remains a useful route into northern France. Brittany Ferries currently operates the crossing on its Barfleur service, with the journey taking about 4 hours 45 minutes. From Cherbourg it is a long drive towards Burgundy, but that is rather the point. The journey is part of the holiday. And if you are prepared to leave the motorways and take the smaller roads, you may discover that the best bits of France are the bits you weren't actually looking for. Frequently Asked Questions Where is Chablis? Chablis is a small town in the Yonne department of Burgundy in central-eastern France, close to Auxerre. It is surrounded by the vineyards that produce the famous dry white Chablis wines. Is Chablis worth visiting? Yes, particularly if you enjoy wine, food, scenic driving and small French towns. The surrounding countryside is also ideal for exploring by car, with vineyards, villages and quiet roads leading towards Tonnerre and the Morvan. What is Chablis wine made from? Chablis is made from Chardonnay grapes. The vineyards are particularly associated with Kimmeridgian limestone and marl, geological formations dating back roughly 150 million years. How far is the Morvan from Chablis? The northern edge of the Morvan is within easy driving distance of Chablis, making the region suitable for a day trip. For a more leisurely experience, however, it would be worth allowing several days to explore the forests, lakes, villages and walking routes. What is there to do in the Morvan? Walking, cycling, scenic driving, swimming, fishing, exploring lakes and visiting historic sites are among the main attractions. Bibracte and Mont Beuvray are particularly interesting for anyone fascinated by France's pre-Roman history. Is Vézelay worth visiting? Absolutely. Vézelay is famous for its beautiful hilltop setting and Basilica of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, which forms part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also an important historic pilgrimage destination. How long should you spend in Chablis and the Morvan? I'd allow at least three or four days if you want to combine Chablis, the surrounding vineyards, the Morvan and Vézelay without rushing. A week would allow much more time for walking and exploring the smaller roads. Is Chablis good with seafood? Very much so. Dry Chablis is traditionally regarded as an excellent match for oysters, shellfish and other seafood. Its fresh acidity makes it particularly good with lighter dishes. Is the Poole to Cherbourg ferry still running? Yes. Brittany Ferries currently operates the Poole-Cherbourg route, with daily daytime sailings and a crossing time of around 4 hours 45 minutes. Timetables vary seasonally. Fact File Destination: Chablis, Yonne, Burgundy, France Best for: Scenic driving, wine, food, walking, villages and rural France Nearby highlights: Tonnerre, Avallon, Morvan Regional Natural Park, Bibracte, Mont Beuvray and Vézelay Ferry access: Poole to Cherbourg with Brittany Ferries Original trip: Martin Hesp and his family travelled to France as guests of Brittany Ferries and used the Poole-Cherbourg route. Important: Ferry prices and sailing times quoted in the original newspaper article are historic and should not be used for current travel planning.

Highly scenic, beautiful, rich in history and folklore, verdant and fertile, sparsely populated and filled with impressive villages and farms… I could be talking about the West Country peninsula, but on this occasion I’m pointing north to large and thoroughly lovely Herefordshire. A Beautiful Farming County What a wonderful county it is. There are of course differences, the main one being that the West Country “proper”, as I call it, has a fabulous coastline. But what Herefordshire lacks in beaches, it makes up for in the grandeur of its countryside and the sheer scale of its agricultural output. Does the latter make it a good place to visit? Well, yes, I think it does. I spent a couple of days up there last week and was hugely impressed by what I saw. I’d say the county has even more orchards than Devon or Somerset and it also produces impressive crops of things like blackcurrants and hops. And I know for a fact there are some really impressive vineyards sheltering in the lee of the Welsh mountains, because I was taken on a tour of three of them. Moreover, it pays to venture across the Bristol Channel every now and then to see what the neighbours are up to. What immediately strikes you about Herefordshire is the scale of the crop-growing rather than livestock-rearing. You trade our sea views for the brooding mass of the Black Mountains to the west and the ridge of the Malverns to the east, with wide and fertile valleys tucked in between. Exploring Herefordshire's Black and White Villages Our base was the White Heron Estate, located in the north-west of the county between Lyonshall and Kington. This is what could be called “back and white country” - north-west Herefordshire is famed for what must be the finest concentration of timber-framed architecture anywhere in Britain. The “black and white villages” are now joined by the Black and White Trail - a 40-mile circular loop linking places that look less like modern communities and more like medieval film sets. Take Weobley (pronounced Web-lee) - its broad main street is lined with 15th- and 16th-century cruck houses leaning at impossible angles, built when local oak was plentiful and English wool paid the bills. A few miles north sits Pembridge, complete with an open-sided 16th-century market hall and a peculiar, detached church belfry that looks like a timber fortress. Then there’s Eardisland, where blackened oak-and-plaster cottages sit mirrored in the millpond waters of the River Arrow. Kington I was impressed by their postcard good-looks, but also by the fact that they’d survived at all. In many other regions these timber-framed buildings were demolished or clad in brick when architectural fashions changed. Here, tucked away along the Welsh Marches, agricultural isolation kept them intact. The stark black-and-white frontages are actually a Victorian modification - they believed tarring the beams helped preserve the wood and highlight the craftsmanship against lime-wash. But what’s really impressive is that the underlying skeleton of unseasoned green oak has stood firm for five centuries. They remain working, lived-in places with good pubs, yet with that sense of ancient permanence. Staying at White Heron Estate Our base, however, was out in the countryside - in one of the comfortable holiday cottages on the handsome and highly productive White Heron Estate. A lovely little cottage situated right beside a large and immaculate vineyard. View from our White Heron Estate holiday cottage over the vineyard Indeed, the main reason for our visit was to join a newly devised day-tour linking three distinct producers across the county. And a highly enjoyable, interesting and sensible setup it is too. Rather than tackling narrow country lanes and arguing over who’s going to be driver for the day, a minibus is laid on to collect small groups directly from the estate. Sensible… because there is quite a lot of wine sampling to be done over the next six hours. Frome Valley Vineyard Our first port of call was Frome Valley Vineyard, located towards Paunton and Bishops Frome. Viticulture might seem like a recent British success story, but the vines were first planted here back in 1990 by a UK pioneer. Today it is run by the Falconer family, who believe in doing things properly and sustainably - the rows of vines are pruned entirely by hand and, unusually, thick fleeces of sheep’s wool are laid around the base of each plant to suppress the weeds and help with moisture retention. It seems to work remarkably well - so too, apparently, does the special carbonised worm-cast liquor which is used to build up root health. Jeanie Falconer of the From Valley Vineyard Walking the rows with the people who actually tend the vines brings home the sheer manual graft involved. Afterwards, we sat down to a tasting flight of classic cool-climate varieties - Bacchus, Madeleine Angevine, Huxelrebe, and Reichensteiner - all of which were superb. Because this is prime orchard country, the family also poured us a glass of their own superb perry, served alongside some mid-morning charcuterie and local snacks. It was an impressive start to the day. 1276 Wines Near Ledbury From there, we were taken south towards Ledbury to 1276 Wines - based on a hillside site with a remarkable backstory. The name comes from the year vines were first recorded on that exact slope, nearly 750 years ago. The modern commercial vineyard was established in 2007 and has since picked up international awards for its still, sparkling, and even ice wines. We were taken behind the scenes into the large winery, tasting wine directly from the tanks while discussing the mechanics of cool-climate fermentation. Lunch followed, in the form of a delightful ploughman’s that contained an array of really good local Herefordshire ingredients, matched of course, with tastings of their own award-winning wines. As anyone who has done it will know, it is hard to beat drinking wine made 50 yards from the table you are sitting at. Local lunch at 1276 Wines Back to White Heron Estate By mid-afternoon, the minibus had returned us to our base at White Heron for the third stop. The estate covers some 700 acres and has been farmed by four generations of the same family, marking its 150th anniversary in 2026. While they make an excellent English sparkling wine from Seyval Blanc, Madeleine Angevine, and Reichensteiner, their signature crop is blackcurrants, which have grown here since 1876. Most of the crop goes to make Ribena, but they also creator British Cassis, a rich blackcurrant liqueur that has won awards worldwide. We were given e-bikes for a guided ride across the farm. Electric assistance makes short work of the gradients, and riding between the blackcurrant fields, woods, and vineyard rows gives you a far better sense of the scale of the operation than peering out of a car window. The day ended with what they call ‘vine dining’ - an open-air, seasonal supper served at a truly enormous table made from a single sheet of estate oak, located in a canvas pavilion just above the vineyard. The cooking (brought in for the occasion from a local delicatessen) relies entirely on seasonal, local ingredients, paired with their own sparkling wine and cassis. It was relaxed, well run, delicious and hugely enjoyable. Farm manager on the White Heron Estate introduces us to the way the land is managed One thing that impressed me about the whole setup was the lack of commercial pushiness or sales talk. You spend the day with the growers and winemakers who know their green agrarian worlds inside out. For anyone fancying a short break, White Heron Estate packages the tour with a two-night midweek cottage stay and a late checkout, leaving plenty of time to use the on-site pool, hot tub, sauna, or padel and squash courts, or simply explore the surrounding border villages. Herefordshire for Wine, Farming and Food The West Country will always be home to this particular bit of newspaper real-estate, but if you appreciate working landscapes, good farming, and well-made English wines, ciders and perrys, then I am happy to report that Herefordshire is well worth a look. Fact File The Tour: The vineyard tour runs for groups of up to 15, with travel by private minibus from White Heron Estate. Midweek packages include a two-night cottage stay, late check-out, and access to leisure facilities including pool, hot tub, sauna, padel, and e-bikes. Weekend stays are also available. Food & Drink: All meals, tastings, and the evening vineyard dinner are locally sourced. Dietary requirements are catered for if noted at booking. Bookings: Reservations for both the vineyard tour and accommodation are handled via whiteheronestate.com. E-bikes and blackcurrant bushed on the White Heron Estate The Vineyards White Heron Estate: Lyonshall, Herefordshire HR5 3JA. Web: www.whiteheronestate.com Frome Valley Vineyard: Paunton, Bishops Frome, Herefordshire. Web: www.fromevalleyvineyard.co.uk 1276 Wines: Near Ledbury, Herefordshire. Web: www.1276.wine Sidebar - Good Pubs And another thing when discussing the difference between rural Herefordshire and the country areas of the South West… I visited a couple of excellent pubs during my stay. So what? There are good pubs everywhere. And of course there are, but I am talking about the kind of pubs I used to visit when I first started working for newspapers over 50 years ago. By which I mean: wonderful community places which are not restaurants resting under a pub sign, but institutions where - above and beyond anything else - people can enjoy a pint and a chat. Ye Olde Tavern at Kington, Places where you can get food, but not at the cost of everything else. How many times recently have I been into West Country pubs of an early evening only to be confronted with wall-to-wall reserved signs on every single table? Fair enough - these places have to make a living… But… Now, the name Ye Olde Tavern might not do much instil confidence, I grant you - but the wonderful pub of that name in Kington, in north-west Herefordshire, deserves a mention precisely because it is one of those very warm and human places. I loved this tiny pub which I found at the end of a long suburban street - it felt like I’d jumped into a time machine and gone back half a century. Slate floors, snug little bars, men playing chess in a back-room, really good real ales, the hum of chatter and laughter… What’s not to like? The super-friendly lady behind the bar was proud to show me around and she rattled off the names of half a dozen similar ale houses in the vicinity.

Padstow from across the Camel Estuary Padstow is one of the best places in North Cornwall for walking, with some superb walks around Padstow taking you from the Camel Estuary to dramatic Atlantic cliffs, sandy beaches and great headlands. It has a beautiful harbour, a remarkable estuary, a splendid stretch of north Cornwall coast and some of the finest walking country in the West Country. Yet mention Padstow to many people and their thoughts immediately turn to restaurants, pasties and summer crowds. I have always rather liked Padstow, despite the crowds. But what I like more than the town itself is the scenery surrounding it – the cliffs, beaches, headlands, creeks and the great sweep of the Camel Estuary. Over the years I have walked extensively around Padstow and the nearby coast, and below are six of my favourite walks. They range from an easy stroll around the estuary to dramatic cliff-top hikes at Stepper Point, Pentire and Trevose Head. They also take in some of the less obvious corners of this extraordinarily varied part of Cornwall. See our special article on the Camel Trail Padstow harbour in winter 1. Padstow to Stepper Point Circular Some friends from up-country were complaining about Padstow to me one day, saying it was far too crowded for their liking, even on a late autumn day. I found myself disagreeing about Padstow. I have always liked the place despite the crowds. But, thinking about it, what I like more than the town itself is the scenery of the surrounding coast and estuary. The section of Coast Path that stretches between Roundhole Point, north of Trevone, and Stepper Point – the great bastion that protects the Camel Estuary's western approaches – offers as good a hike as you'll get anywhere along Cornwall's north coast. No fences, no rails, no warnings; no Nanny State whatsoever out here. Just a plain, dangerous abyss waiting to swallow the unwary hiker who steps a stride or two off the beaten track. Distant Stepper Point from Pentire Point The hike itself starts on safe terra-firma at Prideaux Place, the great Elizabethan house that rules the roost above Padstow. A local historian in Padstow's museum once suggested that I try the "seven field walk" towards the coast. It is surprising how few people do it, and yet it makes an excellent circular hike from Padstow. A track leads north past the grounds of Prideaux Place towards Tregirls and the estuary mouth. We will use this on the return journey, but first, after walking for about a third of a mile, take the footpath that strikes left towards the hamlet of Crugmeer. The local historian was right. The path crosses seven fields before eventually terminating in the attractive, windswept community where we catch our first glimpse of the ocean proper. And it is to the ocean that we go, via the track that leaves the hamlet to the left of the triangular junction at the edge of town. When I was there the place seemed to be haunted by rooks. Great clouds of them flew about the place. It was like some scene from Hitchcock's The Birds. The track passes Portmissen Farm before descending towards the vertical world of Porthmissen Bridge. Here we are at the cliff edge: step one step too far and you're a goner. There is, however, a good reason for getting close to the edge – the view of Porthmissen Bridge, which is the huge hole that passes through the opposite wall of an immense gully that has bent the cliffs dramatically inland. See our post on Great Places to Stay in North Cornwall Stepper Point Once past this chasm we turn right along the Coast Path and within a few yards we are back on the safe, soft, springy downs as we leave the cliffs for a while and reach the cliffs above Longcarrow Cove. Just past the cove there is an ideal spot for a sit-down, where the hiker is treated to a superb perpendicular view of the geological feature known as Tregudda Gorge. Rocks the size of a church have been torn away from the Cornish motherland, revealing a great gash in their ancient, primeval bosom. One of these rocks is called Little Merope Island and the one at the far end, looking rather like the West Country's answer to Nelson's Column, is at Gunver Head. The path then traverses north until the top of this column is just a few vertigo-inducing feet away across yet another abyss. It must be about 200 feet high and yet the top is about as big and as flat as a kitchen table. This is a place for gulls – as is the rest of the walk past Fox Hole, Butter Hole, Pepper Hole and Crams, until you reach the turning point under the Daymark at Stepper Point. This is another location in which to sit and stare. Between you and Trebetherick Point the Camel Estuary sweeps dramatically and expansively south towards Padstow – which is just about hidden from view – before veering its blue waters and pale sandbanks east on its tidal journey to Wadebridge. Now walk south along the estuary edge, past the old coastguard cottages at Hawker's Cove and along to the big bay where you can paddle and have a snooze in the dunes. Then strike out south again, away from the water, up across the fields to Tregirls and back to Prideaux Place. Fact file Basic hike: Circular route from Prideaux Place above Padstow to the Atlantic coast via Crugmeer, north along the clifftops to Stepper Point and back along the estuary. Distance: About 6 miles. Going: Generally easy, although the cliff sections demand care. Map: Ordnance Survey Explorer 106 – Newquay & Padstow. 2. Padstow and Little Petherick Creek Here's a near-perfect Cornish hike that is snookered by a little lane. I respect the rights of ownership as much as the next man, but when a short length of private track leading along the side of a field is allowed to spoil an otherwise superb circular route, the somewhat threatening words "right to roam" come ominously to mind. The Camel Trail is part of this walk The circular route out of Padstow along the estuary side and then inland around Little Petherick Creek would make as fine an edge-of-town meander as any I know. As I discovered when I originally walked it, however, the precise rights of way matter. Having started your walk on Padstow's quayside, continue along the Camel Trail until you reach Oldtown Cove and the hamlet of Little Halwyn. This is no bad thing in itself because you can enjoy fine views of the estuary every step of the way. At Little Halwyn, turn inland and climb the road to Higher Halwyn before turning right and following the lane down towards Tregonce. The old railway bridge over the Camel is a mighty affair, and the whole area provides a reminder that this is country shaped as much by transport and trade as by tourism. From Tregonce, the footpath heads south-west towards the banks of Little Petherick Creek Little Petherick Cree . The creek is an oddity. It has all the appearance of a classic Cornish creek, but is in fact the only one of its kind on the county's north coast. The other great creek systems are associated with the rias of south Cornwall. Once on the creek-side paths you can enjoy an increasingly picturesque stroll around this secret waterway. The path passes a place called Sea Mills, where you can see the old causeway stretching out into the creek. I was never able to discover exactly what went on here in days of yore, although it is the sort of place that immediately gets the imagination working. And I got myself into a right old pickle here. By which I mean I collected some of the fabulously delicious samphire that grows in patches around the creek and later pickled it at home. Little Petherick itself has an attractive creek-head setting and the church is particularly interesting. J.R.A. Hockin, writing in Walking in Cornwall, described Little Petherick as "one of the loveliest of tree-embowered creek-head villages". Today, inevitably, the motor car has rather more influence than it did in Hockin's day, and the narrow road bridge can make life interesting for pedestrians. Fortunately, the moment you are back beside the creek the sound of the combustion engine is soon just a memory. The western path is actually the Saints' Way, the ancient long-distance route that crosses Cornwall from Fowey to Padstow, and it is well laid and way-marked. Eventually the path brings you towards St Dennis Hill, which hides Padstow from much of the surrounding countryside. Perched on the summit is an obelisk commemorating a Victorian jubilee. You can make a short detour to visit it, or simply enjoy the view of the sweeping Camel Estuary. Hockin described the Camel in wonderfully extravagant terms, saying it came sweeping proudly around Pencarrow to a "prolonged golden wedding with the sea". Obelisk commemorating a Victorian jubilee Good stuff. So are the names of some of the hamlets on the opposite bank of the Camel: Stoptide, Splatt, Gentle Jane and Pityme. From here it is a pleasant stomp back into Padstow. Important: the original route description included a section affected by a private track and rights-of-way dispute. Access arrangements can change, so check current signs and rights of way before attempting any variation of the route. Fact file Basic hike: Out of Padstow along the Camel Trail, inland via Lower Halwyn and around Little Petherick Creek before returning on the Saints' Way. Distance: About 5 miles. Going: Easy, although there are roads and some narrow sections. Map: Ordnance Survey Explorer 106 – Newquay & Padstow. 3. Pentire Point and The Rumps Sometimes all it takes is the merest mention. I'm talking about the all-important question of where to walk. Pentire Point on the side of Polzaeth beach I first became intrigued by Pentire Point after the Cornish geologist and walks writer John Macadam mentioned that he had enjoyed a Christmas lunch picnic at the end of the celebrated point – and had even picked fresh field mushrooms there on December 25th. This struck me as so strange that I couldn't stop thinking about Pentire. Pentire Point, with its running mate known as The Rumps, is a two-pronged affair and makes an ideal walking country. For a start, you get wonderful elevated views of the Camel Estuary and Padstow Bay. Between Pentire and Stepper Point to the south-west there is nothing but current, turbulence and waves, and these three merry maidens seem to enjoy creating merry hell on the Doom Bar. Much of this beautiful corner of North Cornwall is National Trust land. That is significant because in 1936 the headland was divided into building plots and put up for sale. People who could not bear the idea of one of Cornwall's handsome headlands being covered in bungalows organised themselves at local and national level. They raised enough money to buy the estate and present it to the National Trust. Check out our post on a walk from the St Moritz Hotel near Rock The Rumps from Pentire Point I cannot even begin to imagine the nightmare that could have been. Instead of private signs on the garden fences of ugly villas, we are free to walk the airy heaths that crown the cliff tops. The walk starts at the National Trust car park at Pentireglaze, just north-east of New Polzeath. Turn right out of the car park and walk along the track until you reach Pentire Farm, a hunched, weather-beaten old place where some of the buildings have slate hung around their walls to help ward off the wet and permeating winds. Opposite the farm a footpath descends through a shallow valley towards the little bay called Pentireglaze Haven. The path passes old gardens and follows the stream down towards the beach. Down on the beach the cliffs are initially low eminences of slate. They grow as we begin our climb north-west towards Pentire Point. Soon you can understand why the National Trust describes the views from here as among the most extensive in North Cornwall. The most distant headland is Trevose Head, while the daymark on nearer Stepper Point marks the entrance to the Camel. The elevated end of Pentire Point is the sort of place where you can sit all day if you've a mind and the weather is good enough. We didn't. It was freezing. And there wasn't a field mushroom in sight. Sensible fungi, I say. We pressed on towards The Rumps, a sort of twin headland situated about a mile north-east. The landscape out here is of the tortured variety. It is as if the whole peninsula was once rocked savagely by some enormous earthquake. And we have yet another great hike in this amazing area Pentire Point The people of the Iron Age recognised the peninsula's defensive potential and built a great fort here, complete with ramparts and ditches. And what a civilised lot they were in their remote seaside resort. Archaeological evidence shows that they traded with people from much further afield, including the Mediterranean. Having explored the ramparts and admired the rocky, conical island called The Mouls, we rejoined the Coast Path to head west along the cliff edge, past Com Head, to the junction of tracks above Pengirt Cove. A turn to the right takes us across a field and back towards the car park. An excellent walk. You certainly get a lot of everything – a lot of sea, a lot of views and more lungfuls of clean, fresh air than you might think possible in one short Cornish outing. More of everything except mushrooms. The Binyon plaque at Pentire Point Fact file Basic hike: Around Pentire Point and The Rumps, starting and ending at the National Trust car park at Pentireglaze. Distance: About 3½ miles. Going: Easy, but watch out for vertical drops along the cliff edge. Map: Ordnance Survey Explorer 106 – Newquay & Padstow. 4. Porthcothan to Bedruthan There was a jangling of keys and in an instant I spotted the beast I'd driven miles to see. Corn buntings are not immediately obvious in the great ornithological pantheon of birds. They look like fat sparrows. Moreover, they were – in West Country terms – an endangered species when I made this walk. I had gone to meet farmers who were being encouraged to farm in a way that helped the birds, one of them being the owner of one of my favourite campsites. And while I was there, Ordnance Survey Explorer 106 persuaded me there was a decent chance of a circular stroll in the area that would enable me to breathe fresh air and spot small brown birds at the same time. See our special post on some of the best beaches in Devon and Cornwall The beach at Porthcothan, low tide The big golden sand beach at Porthcothan stretches inland with all the wide self-importance of a great river in its final lap of estuarine glory. Except there is no river, just the trickles and runlets of an extremely modest stream. At the top of the beach the stream makes a bit of a fuss with a puddle or two, but across the road its true riverine identity is revealed. The great sandy gut that promised a river of force was made by a minnow so small that the Ordnance Survey doesn't even bother to give it a name on the map. What it does show is a footpath following the stream's northern bank. To find it, climb a short way up the hill leading towards Padstow and look for the track on the right. Once past Porthcothan Mill the path resumes its stream-side course all the way to the hamlet of Penrose. I have never been to Ireland, but I'm blowed if Penrose doesn't have an Irish feel to it. I somehow expected a local sage to issue from one of the squat cottages and lilt lyrically as a jig. But not a soul stirred in the lonely corner that somehow ended up in Cornwall instead of Connemara. From Penrose take the road south back down into the valley and then up the other side towards Trethewell. After crossing the stream, the lane turns left and then right. At the latter corner a footpath heads across the field towards the coast, cutting a dog-leg before rejoining the road at Trevorgey. From here you have a choice. The former route takes you towards the spectacular cliffs above Bedruthan Steps. The beach itself is currently inaccessible from the cliff top because the old steps were closed following a rockfall, but the views of the beach and its extraordinary rock stacks remain magnificent. The National Trust owns much of the cliff-top land here and the scenery is magnificent. On my visit, however, the August crowds were very much at large, so I chose the shorter route past Efflins to Pentire Farm. The Trescore 'islands' are part of the walk From here the walk enters another beautiful section of National Trust country before continuing towards the coast. I had originally come to this area partly because of the wildlife. The cliff-top hedgerows around here have a curious feathery shrub growing along their dry-stone walls. I asked the local Countryside Manager what it was. "Tamarisk," he told me. It is tremendously salt-resistant and makes an excellent windbreak near the sea. The valley behind Porth Mear is one of my favourite places in Cornwall. It is peaceful and silent, and I have often seen peregrines quartering its secret crooks and crannies. There is something almost Spanish about the valley's northern flanks – the dry-stone walls and ancient tracks accompanied by the soughing of gently bending tamarisk. And this is where I spotted my corn bunting. It is easy to identify once you know that its call sounds exactly like the jangling of keys. Back at the campsite Chateau Hesp was flapping splendidly in the wind and pinned to it was a note from my wife and kids which said: " Gone to the beach..." Which, apart from walking, is what you go to Cornwall for. Porth Mear, which is part of the Porthothan hike Fact file Basic hike: From Porthcothan Cove inland to Penrose and back via the Bedruthan area and the coast. Distance: About 7 miles. Going: Easy going. Map: Ordnance Survey Explorer 106 – Newquay & Padstow. 5. St Enedoc and the St Minver Lowlands For someone who walks in deep countryside a great deal and who chooses to live out in the middle of nowhere, I am a bit of a sucker for modernism – especially when it comes in the form of hi-tech gadgets. But sometimes the old-fashioned way of getting somewhere is much more satisfying. For this walk around the St Minver Lowlands I took the ferry from Padstow to Rock and pondered the Lowland appendage and the curious name Rock. The churchyard at St Enedoc Why Rock? What an odd name for a village built upon sand. The walk begins at the ferry landing and heads towards the golf links. And here we encounter one of the hazards of walking around Rock. Golfers and walkers do not always mix well. The public footpath crosses the golf course and, although golfers do not deliberately hurl missiles at walkers, golf balls can arrive at remarkable speed. The ball that just missed me came hissing out of the sky like a Sidewinder missile. "Fore!" yelled a fellow adorned in vibrantly chequered trousers. What on earth did he mean? Of course I do know – but can imagine there may be some golf virgins who don't. The path eventually brings us to Brea Hill and then, mercifully, to the refuge of St Enedoc Church. No wonder John Betjeman loved this place. His ornately carved headstone can be seen just inside the lych gate, but the best view is from the wall at the top of the graveyard where you are treated to a vista of church, hill, dune, wood and sea. St Enedoc from the top of Brea Hill Betjeman wrote: "Blessed be St Enodoc, blessed be the wave, Blessed be the springy turf, we pray, pray to thee..." So wrote the poet in Trebetherick, which is where we go next. It is a village on the slight hill to the north of the old church and there are various public footpaths through the area. One of them leads down into the leafy valley near Shilla Mill. There is something slightly creepy about the valley, although perhaps that was simply because I had been reading Betjeman. The path eventually brings us to the sea at Polzeath, a surfing sort of place full of wet-suited folk romping to and fro from the icy waves. Turn left and join the South West Coast Path, which takes you south past Broadagogue Cove and around Trebetherick Point to Daymer Bay. If the tide is out, you can cut across the sands. As you walk, you might think about the bell that rings from St Enedoc's small tower. It came from the Italian vessel Immacolata, wrecked here in 1875, although strangely it is inscribed "Sahel". The route continues around the coastal slopes of Brea Hill and along the low dunes towards the ferry landing. I promise you, the acres you walk through on this walk might belong to a place called Lowlands – but they're not remotely mundane. Brea Hill looms above Daymer Bay Fact file Basic hike: From the ferry landing at Rock across the golf links to St Enedoc Church, then to Polzeath via Shilla Mill, returning along the Coast Path. Distance: About 5 miles. Going: Easy going – but watch out for golf balls. Map: Ordnance Survey Explorer 106 – Newquay & Padstow. 6. Treyarnon Bay, Constantine Bay and Trevose Head Constantine Bay is arguably the least Cornish place to be found anywhere along that county's wild northern seaboard. It is more reminiscent of the Home Counties beloved by John Betjeman than anything to do with the rugged coast where that merry poet is buried. The kind of place where you can imagine someone suburban, blue-rinse and golf-loving enjoying a holiday. The lighthouse at Trevose Head Which is strange because, having written that, I discovered that a former prime minister really did holiday here. You won't be surprised if you've seen the posh villas and watched the silent golfing buggies plying hither and thither on the immaculate links course that dips elegantly towards the ocean. All of which might put some people off walking here. They might imagine gated entry and security guards dotted about the place. But there aren't any of those things. Instead, Constantine Bay and its little neighbour to the south at Treyarnon are jewels in the Cornish crown. A crown topped by one of the biggest glinting things of the lot – Trevose Head and its ever-flashing lighthouse. This walk begins at Treyarnon, where there is a sizeable car park beside the diminutive bay. From there take the Coast Path north. Treyarnon Bay It takes only a few minutes to round the low mini-headland dividing Treyarnon from its larger neighbour, and soon you are marching across the sands of Constantine Bay. The bay is named after a sixth-century Cornish saint called Constantine. For now, however, our job is to walk north towards mighty Trevose Head. There are steps at the northern corner of the bay and these lead up to the grassy downs that take us towards the headland itself. It is a gentle slope, but it is amazing how much altitude you can gain quickly while walking on the South West Coast Path. Towards an indentation called Mackerel Cove the going becomes tougher as the long-distance trail makes its way around a massive crater. It is only when you dare peer into the gloomy depths of Round Hole that you realise this vast chasm has been created by the sea smashing its way in and out through a cave in the soft rock. You can, if you wish, take a little detour around the appendage known as Dinas Head on the other side of Mackerel Cove. Otherwise continue past the old quarries towards Trevose Head, where the lighthouse stands white and proud behind its curtain of tamarisk. Past the elegant hedge the Coast Path takes us back inland along the northern side of the headland, passing Barras Bay and eventually the Padstow Lifeboat Station. Padstow Lighthouse Station Now we are looking down into the sandy confines of Mother Ivey's Bay. Before you ask, I know little about this mystical woman save to say that she was some kind of white witch who plied her trade hereabouts. The Coast Path is confined to a narrow corridor as it descends behind fences around a garden and down the side of fields, eventually crossing the lifeboat station road. There is then a slightly tricky section where we leave the Coast Path and turn inland past Trevose Farm. In summer the narrow road can be busy, but after a few metres a pathway runs behind the low trees beside the lane. Eventually a footpath leads across Trevose Head golf course. This takes us across the greens towards the clubhouse and then into Constantine. There are various ways of making your way back towards the coast. I found a small suburban road beside the community shop which took me, past the kind of villas millionaires holiday in, down towards the seaside. Turn left and it is only a few minutes' walk back to Treyarnon. Cellars Cove, near Padstow And so I completed a truly magnificent lasso-shaped hike which was, despite my initial reservations about Constantine Bay, one of the best coastal walks I'd had all summer. Trevose Head is also an extraordinary viewpoint. In clear weather the view stretches virtually the whole length of the north Cornwall coast, with the prospect extending north beyond the county towards Hartland Point in Devon and south towards St Ives and Pendeen Watch. The headland and Constantine Bay are also designated for their geological and biological interest, with important cliff habitats and breeding seabirds. Fact file Basic hike: Circular route from Treyarnon Bay via Constantine Bay, Trevose Head, Mother Ivey's Bay and Constantine. Distance: About 5 miles. Going: Generally easy, although there are some steeper sections and exposed cliff edges. Map: Ordnance Survey Explorer 106 – Newquay & Padstow. Padstow Harbour at high tide Padstow: there's rather more to it than restaurants Padstow is, of course, a harbour town, and that remains one of its great attractions. Long before it became one of Cornwall's most fashionable tourist destinations, it was a working port with fishing, shipping and boatbuilding at its heart. The harbour itself has an unusual characteristic. Its inner basin is protected by lock gates, meaning that boats can remain afloat when the tide has gone out – a particularly striking sight on a Cornish coast where so many smaller harbours dry to mud. The harbour also gives you a wonderful starting point for exploring the surrounding countryside. From the quayside you can look across the Camel Estuary towards Rock and the St Minver Lowlands, while the great headlands of Stepper Point and Pentire guard the mouth of the river. See our post on Great Places to Stay In North Cornwall With Walks Street in Padstow There are also reminders everywhere of the town's long maritime history. Padstow was once a significant centre for fishing and shipping, and local historians have told me of the enormous quantities of fish once landed here. The town also had an important role in emigration, with ships carrying timber back from North America looking for cargoes for the outward journey. And then there are the streets themselves, which have changed enormously over the decades. I remember wandering through the Market Place and noticing three shops in a row specialising in Cornish pasties and wondering whether that wasn't really taking the pie a bit too far. Fabulous pizza served in a Padstow waterside restaurant But that, perhaps, is part of Padstow's enduring appeal. It has its touristy bits, its busy bits and its fashionable bits. Yet walk for half an hour beyond the town and you can be among cliffs, seabirds, ancient fields, quiet creeks and enormous views across the Atlantic. That is the Padstow I keep coming back to. And if you want to escape the crowds, the best way I know is to put on your walking boots and head for one of these six routes. Constantine Bay