HolidayGOISSN 2051-0101SUMMER 2013 £2.95

VILLAS AND COTTAGES WORLDWIDE

INSIDE: Canaries | Costa Blanca | Cairngorms | Krakow | Accessible Holidays

Here comesthe sun . . .

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WEBSITEwww.govillasandcottages.co.uk

PUBLISHERH Watson-Graypublisher@gomediapublishing.com

EDITORDavid Kernek 01225 425711editor@gomediapublishing.com

ADVERTISING SALESHayley DowdingAdvertising Manager01935 315077hayley@gomediapublishing.com

COTTAGE SPECIALISTDiane Hobbs, 01935 315044diane@gomediapublishing.com

VILLAS SPECIALISTKeith Burnell, 01458 888023keith@gomediapublishing.com

PUBLICATION DESIGNAidan Goldstraw

ADVERTISEMENT DESIGNSimone Meyer

PRINTERAdvent Colour

DISTRIBUTIONComag Specialists, MJD Distributors, MJD Export

© Go Holiday Publishing Limited

All advertisements are published in good faith. We are unable to inspect properties to confirm the accuracy of the descriptions and claims. The wording and photographic content of all advertisements are the responsibility of advertisers, and no warranty is given by the publisher of Go Holiday as to their accuracy. The publisher can accept no responsibility or liability for any errors in or omissions from advertisements. Details of prices, facilities and equipment might be liable to change and should be confirmed with the advertiser at the time of booking. Readers intending to buy property advertised for sale are advised to obtain appropriate legal advice before entering into a commitment.

ISSN 2051-0101

Welcome . . .… to the second issue of Go Holiday, Britain’s only magazine dedicated solely to helping you find cottage, villa and apartment vacations that suit as many tastes and budgets as possible. There’s an ever-so-slight hint of a literary theme (no, don’t let that put you off!) in this issue.

Gillian Thornton enjoyed a break in Shakespeare Country, also known as Warwickshire. As Gillian explains, there’s more to the county, of course, than Will, but his is inevita-bly the name that takes centre stage. She also extols the delights of Hampshire, in which county Jane Austen wrote the first draft of Pride & Prejudice. The novel was pub-lished exactly 200 years ago, an anniversary that will not go unmarked this year. Another old lady being brushed down and celebrated in Hampshire is the Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s warship now in the final stages of restoration in a new museum in Portsmouth’s historic dockyard.

The weather wasn’t kind to Diana Cambridge during her holiday in North Cornwall, and Padstow wasn’t looking at its best … but what British seaside resort does in March? She got out enough to see that in the spring and summer, the town could be delightful … and her cosy Helpful Hol-idays cottage was just so nice to go home to after a fish supper at one of Rick Stein’s many outlets in the town.

Still down in the South West, Alison Thomas explores the landscapes of Exmoor, while way up north, Robin McKelvie introduces us to the mountains and forests (and whisky distilleries) of Britain’s largest national park – the Cairngorms. Judy Boyd and Kathryn Liston venture out into the sunbelt, and send in dispatches from their favourite destinations – the Canaries and the Costa Blanca.

Most of us are lucky enough to be able to get on and off planes, boats and trains without even thinking about it. Kathryn Liston looks at what’s being done in the UK and abroad to ensure that people with physical disabilities can get accessible tourist facilities and accom-modation.

David KernekEditor

© David Kernek

A Go Holiday Publishing Ltd publication

COVER PHOTOS

Main photo: A tranquil beach sunset in the Caribbean. Small pictures, from left: Langford Down Cottage, Slapton, Devon (Helpful Holidays, see p9, property reference L231); Aphrodite’s Palace – a new 11,000 sq ft gated residence set on its own island in Bonita Springs, Florida (Universal Vacations, see p89); Polruan Cottages, Cornwall (see p25).

GUIDE TO SYMBOLS

NO PETS PETS ALLOWED

CHILDREN WELCOME

NO SMOKING

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS

HHH Star ratings shown in advertisements are those awarded by local, regional or national tourist boards and notified to Go Holiday magazine by advertisers.

© David Kernek

IN THE AUTUMN ISSUE OF GO HOLIDAY . . .

n Go west to Wales

n What’s on in Orlando?

n London budget breaks

n Crete treats

n Northern Ireland … and South Suffolk

n Costa del Sol top spots

QR code ad_Layout 1 13/06/2013 22:16 Page 1

Go Holiday Self-Catering Villas and Cottages Magazine

Departures

THE ATTRACTIONS of Tudor and Georgian country cottages with their beams, open fires and roses around the front doors are undis-puted, but if you yearn for something entirely different – and entirely 21st century – try this.

The Long House near Wells in North Norfolk is a minimalist holiday home designed by the architects who were responsible for the Olympic Velodrome.

It has five bedrooms, large communal living spaces and morning and evening courtyards for al fresco breakfasts and dinners at sunrise and sunset.

Views across salt marshes, the sea and grazing livestock give guests a sense of tranquillity and

submersion in open space. A modern take on a Norfolk barn, the house juxtaposes a traditional double-height entrance gallery with a staircase worthy of a spot in the Tate Modern.

Four-night holidays start from £825, three-night weekends start from £965 and week-long breaks start from £1,665.

Get more information from Living Architec-ture, an organisation dedicated to using world-class architects to build houses for rent around the UK.

Its other properties include two in Suffolk – The Dune House in Thorpeness, and The Balancing Barn in Thorington.

www.livingarchitecture.co.uk

SILENCING a noisy cockerel and providing contact details for Paul McCartney’s wife were among the most absurd requests to British consulates abroad in 2012/13, says the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

The FCO handled more than a million consular en-quiries and supported some 52,135 British nationals in difficulty abroad – but consular staff continue to get requests from Brits who clearly had no idea what their country’s embassies are for.

SELF-CATERING company Natural Retreats has been given planning permission for a hydro-electric scheme on a site in the Snowdo-nia National Park. It will generate renewable electricity for the National Grid by utilising water in the River Mawddach.

Matt Spence, the founder of Natural Retreats, had a vision when he launched the company in 2006 to create luxury self-catering accom-modation in areas of outstanding natural beauty that harmonised with its surroundings and didn’t impact negatively on the environment.

The company currently operates self-catering properties in ten loca-tions in the UK and Ireland, plus sites in the Canary Islands and USA.

www.naturalretreats.co.uk

n TEACHERS AND their assistants are being offered a five per cent dis-count on every holiday taken during 2013 with West Country self-catering specialists Helpful Holidays, which has approximately around 600 properties in Devon, Cornwall, Som-

erset and Dorset. To qualify for the discount, holidays must be booked by June 30, and cannot be combined with any other offer.

www.helpfulholidays.com/teach

n MEANWHILE, Helpful Holi-days has taken top place in Which? magazine’s holiday cottage customer satisfaction survey, for the second year in succession. The family-owned agency was awarded top marks by a panel of more than 2,300 people in all but one category; this included a top rating for its properties matching their descriptions – the only compa-ny to achieve this.

n THE Isle of Wight has announced plans to partner with BBC Earth Films and Twentieth Century Fox to bring Walking with Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie to the island this summer. Crowned Britain’s dinosaur capital in January, the island will support the summer film campaign with activities celebrating its prehistoric history.

DOG-FRIENDLY breaks could save pet-owners almost £500 a year – enough to fund an entire additional trip away.

According to research by Welcome Cottages, with an av-erage kennel cost of almost £14 a night, dog-owners spending 33 days away from home every year on holidays and long weekends can rack up bills of more than £450 over the course of a year, with those choosing luxury pet hotels often spend-ing double that amount.

With pet-friendly holiday cottages starting from £230 for a week away, this means Brits could get away on more breaks if they took their four-legged family member with them.

Welcome Cottages, which has more than 1,200 pet-wel-come properties in the UK, has worked with pet psychologist Sarah Whitehead to suggest ideal properties based on either a dog’s breed or its pref-erences and personality.

www.welcomecottages.co.uk

Thoroughly modern place in the country

A doggone easier way to holiday

Natural power for retreat

A fowl time for diplomats

ContentsDepartures .............................................................................................5Access all areas ....................................................................................8Twist in the tail ................................................................................... 12Head for the moors ......................................................................... 16UK/South West .................................................................................. 19Heritage Hampshire ......................................................................... 26UK/South ............................................................................................. 30Cottages with a conscience .......................................................... 31UK/East ................................................................................................ 33Where there’s a Will ......................................................................... 35UK/Heart of England ....................................................................... 38UK/North ............................................................................................. 40UK/Wales ............................................................................................. 42Highland highlights ........................................................................... 44UK/Scotland ....................................................................................... 46Ireland/Northern Ireland ................................................................ 48Portugal ................................................................................................ 49Spain/Balearics .................................................................................. 56Spain/Costas ...................................................................................... 61My Costa Blanca ............................................................................... 62Islands in the sun ............................................................................. 67Spain/Canaries .................................................................................. 69France ................................................................................................... 73Greece & Greek Islands .................................................................. 74Italy ......................................................................................................... 78Krakow’s list ........................................................................................ 79Poland & Croatia ............................................................................... 81Turkey/Malta/Gozo .......................................................................... 82Far & Away ........................................................................................... 83USA ........................................................................................................ 84

Going where?The Scilly Isles

Where are they? 28 miles out in the Atlantic from Land’s End, Cornwall.

Are they English? Yes, of course – that’s a very silly question. The Duchy of Cornwall owns most of the freehold land on the islands.

What are they? Five inhabited islands, and approxi-mately 195 islets and rocks on which mankind rarely treads.

How many people live there? 2,000, give or take a few.

What do they all do? Tourism accounts for 85 per cent of the islands’ economy. They major on self-catering holiday accommodation.

What’s the weather like? Its climate is one of the mildest in Britain.

Why do holidaymakers go there?

Peace and quiet, white sand beaches, sub-tropical plants, walking, sailing, bird watching, diving, cycling, horse riding, boat trips … and its exceptionally low crime rate. The Queen’s peace is kept by a police force of five officers.

Special attractions? The conspicuous absence of theme parks, massive hotel complexes, and traffic. It’s been an official Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty since 1975. Oh, and it has a coastal gun tower built by order of Oliver Cromwell in 1651.

What are they famous for? Honey, flowers and fish … and the former Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson had a holiday home there.

Great, I wanna go. How do I get there? If you haven’t got your own boat or plane, there are scheduled flights from Southampton, Bristol, Exeter, Newquay and Land’s End, and plane and helicop-ter services from Penzance.

Anything I should know before I get there? Islanders prefer Isles of Scilly to Scilly Isles – you have been warned!

www.simplyscilly.co.uk

� Torbay Royal Regatta: Say hello to the sailors at the 200th regatta, the highlight of Torbay Week. August 24-28.

� Feria de Malaga: The city that gave the world Picasso, celebrates its libera-tion by Isabella and Ferdinand in 1487. Ten days of eating, drinking, dancing – flamenco, of course - partying, and fireworks. August.

� Chocolate frenzy in Kissimmee: The sweetest attraction has opened in Kissimmee, Florida. The Chocolate Kingdom Factory Adventure Tour demonstrates how chocolate is made from bean to bar. www.chocolatekingdom.com

� Spring Flower Walks: From short woodland walks through a sea of wild garlic and bluebells to cliff-top ambles past rosettes of primroses, the top five spring flower walks, as chosen by the South West Coast Path team. www.southwestcoastpath.com/springwalks

� Pembrokeshire Fish Week: A cele-bration of fresh local fish, a breathtak-ing Welsh coastline and a captivating fishing heritage. This year’s fish-fest runs from June 22 to June 30. www.pembrokeshirefishweek.co.uk

� An Evening on the Home Front: To celebrate its 40th Anniversary, Blists Hill Victorian Town, one of Shropshire’s ten Ironbridge Gorge Museums, is planning for just one night only to trav-el back to World War II. From 6pm on Saturday, June 22, families are invited to arrive in period civilian costume and join in with the town’s 1940s Blitz evening, when residents will be raising morale on the Home Front with enter-tainment and activities. There will be ration cards and spam fritters! www.ironbridge.org.uk

�Med Festival: The centre of Loulé in the Algarve is transformed into a giant Mediterranean bazaar with music, food and family activities. Handicraft exhibitions, dance performances and street theatre. June. www.cm-loule.pt

� Rose Week at Hever Castle: Inhale the scent of more than 4,000 roses in the castle’s walled garden. June 17– 23.

�Windsurfers World Championships, Tenerife: The planet’s top windsurfers compete on El Médano beach, plus concerts and parties. August 1. www.pwaworldtour.com

� Somerset Carnivals: Massive illuminated carts light up the streets in seven Somerset towns – Bridgwater, Burnham, Weston-super-Mare, North Petherton, Shepton Mallet, Wells and Glastonbury – from November 2 to November 16. The Bridgwater show at-tracts 150,000 people – get there early! www.somersetcarnivals.co.uk

Departures

CAN YOU MISS...?

Departures

MARRIAGE, said Woody Allen, is a fine insti-tution but, he asked, who wants to live in an institution?

Fewer people are marrying, but many of those who do are choosing to tie the knot not in English country churches but on sunny foreign beaches, according to research by Liverpool Victoria travel insurance.

One in six married couples – 280,000 in total – had their wedding ceremonies overseas in the past five years, an increase of almost 20 per cent compared with a decade ago.

While travel and accommodation can be costly, the venue, entertainment, catering, photography, decorations and the honeymoon are all typically cheaper.

Overseas weddings cost £10,000 less than the average ceremony in the UK.

While it’s often cheaper for the couples to

get married abroad, it’s far more costly for their guests.

Brits have forked out almost £7.3 billion to attend weddings abroad in the past five years, including the cost of new outfits, travel, accom-modation and a wedding gift. On average, guests pay almost £2,000 each to go to an overseas wedding – almost four times as much as they would spend to attend a UK wedding.

Almost a quarter of those who attended a wedding overseas say they had to cut back on their own holiday in order to do so, while a similar number had to sacrifice their vacation altogether.

One in ten Brits say they have had to turn down invitations for overseas weddings as it was too expensive to attend.

The US is the most popular country for over-seas weddings, followed by Spain and Italy.

Tough on your guests!

AS airlines tighten their pol-icies on baggage allowances, perfecting the art of packing could save you money as well as reduce stress. Follow www.latedeals.co.uk’s guide to suc-cessful holiday packing:

� Roll don’t fold – you will fit in more clothes if you roll them up very tightly.

�Make a list – before you even contemplate reaching for suitcase, plan what you will wear by day and what can go with what and stick to it.

�Don’t be last-minute – get it done at least two days before you set off.

� Plan to wash – it’s easy to wash some of your items mid-holiday;

�Heavy items at the bottom – and keep lighter items that tend to crease at the top.

�Make use of shoes – stuff footwear with rolled up under-wear, socks, jewellery, and even toiletries.

� Buy when you get there – you can buy basic toiletries when you get there, saving you even more space.

�Wear your bulkiest items – if you’re really struggling to pack everything, wear it. Layer up!

� Fragile items – Pack electri-cals in the centre of your case, cocooned by soft clothes and towels.

The fine art of holiday packing

Book into the right networkTHE inexorable rise in online bookings is causing a headache for holiday rental owners. With the drive of the main corporate advertising websites to secure custom and force all bookings through their closed systems, it is no wonder owners are left worrying about what to do.

Google has reported that 60 percent of web visitors booked their travel online in 2012. There is a way of owners ensuring they do not get tied to a single predatory corporate website, and that is to join a network that allows them to benefit from the booking system and from a range of advertising options. The better

systems also allow owners to automate their own bookings for free.

Netamatix enables a book-ing system that is essentially open. It allows owners to place bookings into it free of charge. It also distributes the owner’s property across a range of websites to source bookings.

An owner’s system is inte-grated across the Netamatix network ensuring that double bookings are a thing of the past.

It also maintains the owner’s complete control of their cal-endar by ensuring they get to approve or reject all bookings before they are confirmed.