Where to go in the UK
1 Archaeology in the Scillies
The spectacular Isles of Scilly are littered with ancient sites, from Bronze and Iron Age settlements to medieval castles. Explore them on a four-night break based on Bryher, led by Katharine Sawyer, resident expert. The itinerary includes visits to uninhabited islands, returning to the Hell Bay Hotel in the evenings.
Details From £750pp for four nights including dinner, B&B, helicopter transfers from Penzance and guided visits to all sites through Hell Bay Hotel (01720 422947, hellbay.co.uk).
2 Walk the Wye Valley
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Pack your walking boots for a weekend at Symonds Yat on the banks of the Wye, on the English-Welsh border. Mainoaks is a 15th-century farmstead with six newly refurbished cottages. There are walks from the front door, through bluebell woods and on to the castle at Goodrich.
Details A week at Mainoaks (01600 891448, mainoaks.co.uk) costs from £368 for a cottage sleeping two.
3 Mushroom foraging in Poole
Don’t know your ceps from your chanterelles? Spend a weekend at the Hotel du Vin in Poole and you’ll learn to recognise different fungi – and eat a good many, too, with a full-day foraging trip in the New Forest and a mushroom-themed dinner in the evening.
Details From £299.50pp for a two-night B&B break with one dinner in the bistro, one mushroom dinner and a day’s foraging. Hotel du Vin (01202 785570, hotelduvin.com).
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4 Daffodils in the Lake District
It might be a cliché, but that doesn’t mean that the Lake District isn’t perfect for a stroll through daffodil-laden hillsides, and locations don’t come more beautiful than the banks of Ullswater. The small cottage of Tan makes a great base and has wonderful views across the water. Sleekly furnished with polished wood floors and four bedrooms, it is three miles from the pretty village of Pooley Bridge.
Details A three-night break for eight costs from £430 through Cumbrian Cottages (01228 599960, cumbrian-cottages.co.uk).
5 Birding in Devon
The spring passage — when migrating birds move across the British Isles — is a real spectacle, best seen with some expert guidance from a birdwatching specialist. Book a birding break at Cranberries Hideaway — a clutch of luxuriously converted barns on the Devon-Dorset border — and you get exactly that; days spent in the company of a professional twitcher, who will guide you around the countryside and the Seaton wetlands.
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Details A four-day all-inclusive midweek birdwatching break (Mon to Fri) costs from £495pp (01297 33193, cranberrieshideaway.com).
6 Catch & Cook Weekend in Portloe
Follow your dinner from sea to supper table on a fab foodie break at the Lugger hotel in picturesque Portloe. Guests can join James, a local fisherman, on his morning seafood trawl along the Roseland pensinsula before helping to prepare lobster in the hotel’s kitchen under the watchful eye of the head chef. The catch of the day is then served on the terrace, washed down with a bottle of muscadet.
Details From £220pp for a two-night B&B break, which includes fishing, one dinner and a lobster lunch through the Lugger Hotel (01872 501322, www.luggerhotel.com).
7 Kitchen garden weekend in Wales
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Spring is the time to get planting, and for new ideas on growing organic produce, book a weekend at the Felin Fach Griffin,near Brecon, which is running new Spring Kitchen Garden tours. Guests join the Griffin’s head gardener for a day of hands-on planting, with a seasonal barbecue at the end of the day.
Details The Garden Day costs £15pp including the barbecue; double rooms from £170 a night half-board. Book at eatdrinksleep.ltd.uk.
8 Blossom walks in Kent
There’s no better time to visit the Garden of England than now, when the orchards of Kent are dusted with soft pink and white blossom. The National Fruit Collection at Brogdale (brogdalecollections.co.uk) has 150 acres of apple, almond, pear, peach and cherry trees, and there are guided tours and self-guided walks from March 27.
Details Double rooms at Brenley Farm (01227 751203, brenley-farm.co.uk), a working farm just outside Faversham, cost from £80 B&B.
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9 Wildflowers on the Isle of Wight
Gotten Manor is a restored 14th-century manor house hidden away in rural farmland close to the village of Chale. There’s nothing rustic about the accommodation; roll-top baths, fluffy dressing gowns and platters of local cheeses and Italian meats to nibble by the fire. Outside, meanwhile, the countryside is a riot of spring colour.
Details A three-night break at Gotten Manor costs from £162pp, including car ferry crossings from Lymington or Portsmouth and B&B accommodation through Wightlink (0871 3760013; wightlink.co.uk/greengetaways).
10 Festival of Spring on Colonsay
The Hebridean island of Colonsay celebrates the rites of spring with a festival that combines guided walks, historical and archaeological talks, art workshops, whisky tastings and poetry and film evenings. Running from April 28 to May 18, it has several highlights, one of which is on May 1, when torches are lit on hilltops across the island — an ancient Celtic tradition to herald the return of summer.
Details Double rooms at the Colonsay Inn (01951 200316, colonsayestate.co.uk) start at £85 a night B&B.
11 Gardens in Northumberland
The pretty market town of Alnwick makes a great base for a weekend exploring two of the UK’s most beautiful gardens; Howick Hall (howickhallgardens.org) — one of the few places left in England where you can see red squirrels — and Alnwick Garden (www.alnwickgarden.com), which is launching its very own daffodil, Alnwick Magic, this spring.
Details Double rooms at Blackmores of Alnwick ( 01665 602395, blackmoresofalnwick.com), an elegant restaurant with rooms, start at £120 B&B.
12 Lambing Live at Lake Vrynwy
Don’t just watch wobbly legged lambs ambling around in the sunshine — at the Lake Vrynwy Hotel in Powys, Mid Wales, guests can get involved with all aspects of lambing and see a live birth. The Lambing Live break includes an afternoon in the lambing sheds and the hotel is surrounded by a 24,000-acre estate that offers fishing and clay pigeon shooting.
Details A two-night Lambing Live break costs from £192pp half-board through Lake Vrynwy Hotel (01691 870692, lakevyrnwy.com).
13 Horseriding on Dartmoor
The wooded hills and lush valleys of Dartmoor are seen at their best from horseback, and Lustleigh Farm Cottages offer stabling and grazing facilities so that riders can bring their horses along for the weekend. There’s plenty for children to enjoy, too, on this working farm, with eggs to collect, lambs frolicking in the fields and an indoor pool and games room to keep them happy if the weather’s wet.
Details A week’s stay in a cottage sleeping up to five (ref A135/6/7 or 9) costs from £376 through Helpful Holidays (01647 434063, www.helpfulholidays.com). Stabling costs extra. The farm doesn’t have its own horses, but the Finlake Riding Centre (finlake ridingcentre.co.uk) is a short drive away.
14 Fishing on the Tay, Perthshire
Pack up your rods and head to the River Tay in the Scottish Highlands, one of the best places in the UK to fish spring-run salmon. Base yourself at the Dunalastair Hotel, just outside Pitlochry, which is perfectly placed for Loch Rannoch, Loch Laidon and Loch Eigheach. The hotel has a fishing shop as part of its activity centre, which sells access permits, tackle and rods.
Details A two-night Fishing Break costs from £160pp, including one dinner, B&B and two permits, through Tayfishing Perthshire (01882 632323, tayfishingperthshire.co.uk).
15 Family walking in the Fells
Get the kids away from their consoles and laptops and into the fresh air with a walking break from HF Holidays, which is offering free places to under-11s on a four-night break in the southern Lake District. For 11-18 year olds it is 50 per cent of the adult price (when sharing a room with parents). Small children will enjoy nearby Yew Tree Farm, once the home of Beatrix Potter, and there is a daily choice of walks for all abilities.
Details A four-night break costs from £389 per adult including full-board accommodation and services of an HF tour leader, through HF Holidays (0845 4707558, hfholidays.co.uk).
16 Gastro weekend at Bodnant
This spring food lovers will see the opening of Bodnant Welsh Food (bodnant-welshfood.co.uk), a clutch of 18th-century buildings on the Bodnant Estate in Conwy, which will comprise a restaurant, café and shop selling the best local Welsh produce and where ice cream, butter and cheese are all made on site. Visitors can combine a foodie visit with a stroll through the daffodils at the beautiful Bodnant Garden, a short walk away.
Details Double rooms at Tir y Coed (01492 650219, tirycoed.com), a stylish country house hotel two miles from Bodnant, cost from £125 B&B.
17 Bluebells at Bonython, Cornwall
Round up a group of friends or extended family and hole up at the beautiful Bonython Farmhouse, which has five elegant bedrooms decorated in muted pastels, an elegant dining space for ten and a spacious lounge. The added bonus in spring is that guests are free to roam the 20-acre Bonython Estate Gardens, where the woodland is covered in a carpet of bluebells. The beach at Poldhu Cove is a one-mile walk.
Details Three-night breaks for ten cost from £1,036 through Rural Retreats (01386 701177, ruralretreats.co.uk).
18 Photography in Norfolk
With its spectacular skies and flocks of migrating birds, Norfolk is a photographer’s dream, particularly in spring, when blossom-covered trees add splashes of pink and white to the rural landscapes. Titchwell Manor, an elegant country hotel near the North Norfolk coast is running photography weekends on March 30-31, April 4-5 and April 10-11, which include time spent in the local area taking practice shots, workshops and a one-to-one tutorial.
Details Two-night photography breaks cost from £290pp half-board, including ten hours of photography tuition. Book at titchwellmanor.com.
19 Tulip Fever in Lincoln
The Keukenhof Gardens in The Netherlands may be famous for its spring tulips, but the countryside around Lincoln is pretty good, too. Thousands of acres are used to cultivate tulips and daffodils, and the market town of Spalding celebrates each year with its Flower Parade, held this year on May 5. The Springfields Festival Gardens (springfieldsgardens.co.uk) are ablaze with tulips in late spring, with a number of plots by celebrity gardeners.
Details Double rooms at the Charlotte House Hotel (01522 541000, charlottehouselincoln.com), opposite Lincoln Cathedral, cost from £99 B&B.
20 Farm glamping in East Lothian
Only a short walk from a beautiful white sand beach, Harvest Moon Holidays has a clutch of luxury safari tents dotted around the grounds of Lochhouses Farm. Children can help out with the hens and ducks, collect eggs, bottle-feed newborn lambs or play with other animals in the Cock-a-Doodle Kids’ Corner. The tents sleep from 6-8 in considerable comfort.
Details Three-night weekend breaks from £515. Book on 07785 394026, harvestmoonholidays.com.
By Annabelle Thorpe, Editor of www.101holidays.co.uk/short-breaks/ and author of 52 Great British Weekends (New Holland, £14.99).
Where’s hot right now
21 Tennis in Cyprus (24C)
Hone your tennis skills at a new academy, headed by Annabel Croft, which opens in April at the swish Aphrodite Hills hotel near Paphos. The hotel also has an award-winning spa and a beautiful infinity pool.
Details Bailey Robinson (01488 689700, baileyrobinson.com) has seven nights’ B&B leaving April 7. The tennis academy is an extra £435pp.
22 Beaches and culture in Djerba, Tunisia (24C)
In the south of Tunisia, where the temperatures are warmest, the island of Djerba has long sandy beaches, interesting Roman sites and vibrant cafés and markets in Houmt Souk, its capital. Since the Arab Spring, visitor numbers have been well down, as have prices at some of the classiest hotels, including the Radisson Blu, with its posh spa and huge pools.
Details Thomas Cook (0871 8950095, www.thomascookstyle.com) has a week’s half-board at the Radisson Blu from £755pp, flights included.
23 See the temples in Egypt (34C)
April is the perfect time to go to Egypt as it’s not scorching and it’s particularly quiet this year. One way to see the country is to combine visiting the cultural sights with a trip to a Red Sea resort for snorkelling and relaxing by the beach.
Details Encounters Travel (0800 0886002, encounterstravel.com), has an 11-day trip taking in Cairo, Luxor and Dahab on the Red Sea from £535pp, with eight nights in four-star hotels and two on a sleeper train; international flights excluded.
24 Crocodile spotting in The Gambia (34C)
You get sunshine ten hours a day in The Gambia in April. The West African country has a sleepy feel and some excellent wildlife reserves, with antelopes, hyenas, chimpanzees and crocodiles. There are also sandy beaches, day cruises along the River Gambia, and reasonable prices in the spring.
Details Airtours (0844 8716636, airtours.co.uk) has a week’s B&B at the four-star Dunes Resort from £510pp, including flights.
25 Hip culture in Tel Aviv, Israel (24C)
Tel Aviv’s beachfront is known for its trendy bars and hedonism, and the city has a clutch of modern art museums, galleries and boutique fashion shops. Temperatures are warm in April and there are cheap easyJet flights to get you there. Try the Cinema Hotel, which has had its 1930s Bauhaus design modernised.
Details Longwood Holidays (0844 7704877, longwoodholidays.co.uk) has a four-night B&B break staying at the Cinema Hotel (atlas.co.il) from £695pp, including flights.
26 Desert adventures in Morocco (21C)
For something totally different, camp out under the stars in the Sahara Desert in April. The weather’s hot during the day, but the temperature can drop sharply out in the open at night (so take warm clothes). It’s a great family adventure and you get to take a camel ride as well as visit Marrakesh and Ait-Ben-Haddou, the mud-brick fortified city.
Details The Adventure Company (0845 2871198, adventurecompany.co.uk) has eight-day family trips, from £799pp B&B with flights and some meals included.
27 Grown-ups only in Fuerteventura (23C)
The Hotel Elba Palace Golf on the Canary Island of Fuerteventura is a ritzy affair with a big pool, saunas, hot-tubs and beautiful grounds dotted with palm trees. In April prices are low but temperatures can be piping hot. The hotel is adults-only and has a well-regarded 18-hole golf course. Sandy beaches overlooking the Atlantic Ocean are close by.
Details Great Hotels of the World (020-7380 3658, ghotw.com) has doubles from £86 a night; return Ryanair flights via Cheapflights.co.uk cost from £83.
28 Walking in La Palma (21C)
Considered by many to be the prettiest of the Canary Islands, La Palma is renowned for its many interesting and dramatic walks through volcanic scenery in the south and lush rainforest in the north. Stay for a week in pretty self-catering cottages amid vineyards and orchards and set off on some of the ten suggested walking routes close by.
Details From £842 per property, including car hire but not flights, with Inntravel (01653 617000, inntravel.co.uk).
29 Beaches in Cape Verde (27C)
The Cape Verde islands are in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, to the west of Africa, level with Senegal. They are about a six-hour flight away and have wonderful sandy beaches, many of which are almost totally empty. There are plenty of hikes through the hilly interiors and local fishermen arrange boat trips so that you can try your hand at deep-sea fishing.
Details Thomson Holidays (thomson.co.uk) has a week’s all-inclusive at the ClubHotel Riu Karamboa on the island of Boa Vista from £817pp.
30 Hidden cities of Jordan (25C)
Petra in Jordan, often listed as the eighth wonder of the word, is a beautiful ancient Nabataean city carved out of a rose-stone landscape and tucked away in a ravine. It’s the 200th anniversary of the city’s discovery this year, which makes it an apt time to visit. You can also visit the Dead Sea, Amman and Wadi Rum — where Lawrence of Arabia once camped out.
Details Abercrombie & Kent (0845 6182123, abercrombiekent.co.uk) is offering a week staying at four and five-star hotels, with some meals included, from £2,494pp.
Maximum daily temperatures for April taken from weather2travel.com and worldweatheronline.com
Go lambing to unwind this spring
I arrived at Phepson Farm, Worcestershire, in a foul mood. Like some sort of cartoon uptight townie, I had a laptop open on my lap, an iPhone with no reception in my fist, two children asking if we were nearly there yet and a wife in the driving seat quietly fuming that my map-reading had got us lost yet again, while our friends settled into our shared cottage.
The mood lasted as long as it took to get out of the car, feel the fresh night air and discover the fantastic cake baked to welcome us all. By the next morning, having dispatched a spectacular farmhouse breakfast and watched Mollie, 5, and Rosie, 3, cuddle a four-day-old lamb and bottle-feed others, the notion of stress felt faintly laughable.
If you need an instant, cheapish cure for city life, it is hard to beat lambing with small children on a proper farm. It is not only that it gets you into the countryside. It is not just that jumping in muddy puddles is good for the soul. It is at least partly that watching fluffy baby animals take their first steps while planning how you are going to cook an enormous leg of lamb from the farm shop puts life’s little triumphs and disasters into perspective.
Phepson is one of 1,100 farms that offer accommodation through the Farm Stay UK network, from cottages with roses around the door to log cabins in secret woodland, a converted pigsty or a cluster of yurts. It is low season for farm breaks and the onset of lambing season makes those cheaper rates a bargain.
We were aware, of course, of the Schmallenberg virus, which causes birth defects in livestock but is thought to pose no risk to human beings — there were no problems at Phepson, run by one family for four generations. David and Tricia Havard run the visitor operation from the farmhouse. We stayed with our friends in the Mealhouse, a three-bedroom converted barn with exposed oak beams, a well-appointed kitchen and a large living area with a view of a duck pond and gambolling lambs. In the very best sense, there wasn’t much to do beyond eat, potter around the farm and doze off. So we ate, we pottered and I dozed.
Tricia’s breakfasts were magnificent affairs: I remember with particular fondness plums from a nearby orchard, honey from bees in the next village, pear juice from the Havards’ friend Clive, eggs laid on the farm and a national champion sausage from the local butcher.
But the lambs were the clincher. Rob and David delivered about 20 while we were there and — once they had satisfied themselves that the children (and their parents) weren’t idiots — we were encouraged to drop in on the newborns.
Our girls loved climbing the bales in the barn, but they also learnt something about the cycle of life and how we get the food we eat. Back in London Rosie dug out a lamb from her toy box, which, touchingly, she put in a milking position under a cuddly ewe. But I was even prouder when I found my children taking pretend chickens to a pretend slaughterhouse. “We like our chicken fresh,” they said, and smiled.
Ben Hoyle
Need to know
Ben Hoyle was a guest of Phepson Farm in Worcestershire (phepsonfarm.co.uk, 01905 391205) and stayed in the Mealhouse, which costs from £385 a week self-catering for six people. Phepson Farm is a member of Farm Stay UK (farmstay.co.uk).