Cruise on the Hebridean Princess - the UK's most luxurious small ship which has been chartered by the British Royal Family.

1. 6 July 30, 2017 The Sunday Times
Travel
Themed trips on Hebridean Princess, top and above, include castles such as Eilean Donan, above right
ALLABOARD
ONATRIPFIT
FORAQUEEN
Katie Wood discovers the scenery
and service that attract even royal
visitors to the Hebridean Princess
I
t’s the poshest CalMac ferry you’ll
ever sail on. The Hebridean
Princess has even played host to
the Queen, who chartered it twice
after the Royal Yacht Britannia was
decommissioned and made it the venue
for her 80th birthday celebrations — the
only time the vessel relaxed its no-pets
policy, to allow the corgis on board.
The ship began life as a car ferry, but
was transformed into a cruise ship in
1989. This floating country house hotel
offers luxurious trips in UK, Irish and
Norwegian waters. It has an elderly, 95%
British, clientele and it’s not just the
Queen who returns to the ship — 65% of
passengers come back for more.
The 30 boutique hotel-style cabins are
named after west coast Scottish islands,
castles, sounds, lochs and bays, and are
comfortable, spacious and well furnished.
From the moment you’re piped aboard,
you are treated like royalty. When the
attentive crew aren’t stocking up your
bathroom with Molton Brown goodies,
they’re filling your cabin’s whisky
decanter with their own-label malt.
This sort of luxury doesn’t come cheap
— prices start at £2,260 for four nights in
November on the Highlights of the Firth of
Clyde trip — but everything is included. If
you want to drink champagne all day, you
can fill your boots. All excursions are also
part of the package, and tips are not
expected at the end of the cruise.
The food is excellent, too, as I found
when I joined the Hidden Gardens of the
Highlands and Islands cruise, for which
our guest lecturer was the horticulturalist
and broadcaster Stefan Buczacki.
It offered the chance to see some of the
finest gardens in Scotland, ranging from
small, privately owned ones, such as the
enchanting five-acre An Cala, on the
Isle of Seil, to the 20,000-acre Armadale
Castle estate on Skye, with its 40 acres of
gardens and woodland.
My favourite was the lovely Attadale, in
Wester Ross, where there are 20 acres of
stunning conifers, rhododendrons and
sculptures in gardens designed to show off
the outstanding views of Skye.
Gardeners are a sociable lot, and the
on-board events encourage guests to
mingle, so by the end of the week several
friendships had been made. A week’s
cruise includes two formal evenings on
which the kilt or DJ get an airing, and you
can choose to sit with others at dinner or
have a table à deux.
Cruises of between four and nine nights
depart from Oban and Greenock. They
concentrate on destinations that are
inaccessible to larger vessels, and most of
the Hebridean islands are covered. Some
cruises have themes such as castles,
gardens, walking or cycling, but the
common denominator is spectacular
scenery, abundant wildlife and remote
locations. Most nights, the ship anchors in
sea lochs or bays far from habitation and
well protected from bad weather.
On the Hebridean Princess you’ll meet
peers of the realm, retired company
directors, doctors and lawyers. Famous
past passengers include the retired racing
driver Jackie Stewart, who hired the ship
for his 75th birthday party in 2014 — an
event that included a performance by
Chris de Burgh. Other famous voyagers
include Princess Anne and Sean Connery,
who, legend has it, disembarked after two
days because “James Bond got seasick”.
As a Scot — there were only three
of us on board — there were times when,
during the daily briefings, the staff’s
mispronunciation of such words as “loch”
grated, and they could make more play of
Scottish culture and history but, overall,
the attention to detail and quality of the
service, accommodation and excursions
were all impressive.
Meanwhile, as a backdrop, the
Hebrides — even in the rain — are still as
breathtaking as ever.
Costs from £4,150 per person (sharing a
double) on the Secret Gardens of the
Western Seaboard, starting May 15, 2018,
for seven nights; hebridean.co.uk
SCOTTISH
NEWS
lStep back in time and travel by
steam on the Borders Railway, Fife
coast and Forth Bridge. The Black
Five locomotive will, for the first
time, take to the rails on the
route. Every Sunday in August,
passengers can board at Linlithgow,
Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, Dalgety Bay
or Edinburgh Waverley to Galashiels
and Tweedbank. From Tweedbank
there are optional tours to
attractions including Abbotsford
House, Sir Walter Scott’s ancestral
home. Prices start at £59 for adults,
and £39 for children. srps.org.uk
lScottish travellers can book
flights to long-haul destinations
including Los Angeles, Boston,
Seattle and Dubai, from Edinburgh
and Aberdeen, thanks to a deal
between Virgin Atlantic and
Flybe. The airlines have extended
their codeshare agreement to
include Heathrow. Flybe will
connect customers to Virgin
Atlantic flights to America, Asia,
Africa and the Middle East.
virginatlantic.com
lVisitors to Edinburgh Festival
seeking accommodation outside
the city can stay at the Dundas
Castle’s Glamphotel, near South
Queensferry, about half-an-hour’s
drive away. Its August glamping
options of luxurious canvas
cottages set around a loch all
have beds, en suite bathrooms and
wood floors, as well as barbecues
and patio heaters for alfresco
dining. From £169 a night.
glampoteldundascastle.com
lAir Transat is increasing its winter
flights (December-April) from
Glasgow to Toronto from once a
week to twice weekly. There will be
departures every Monday and
Thursday. Return fares start from
£383 per person. airtransat.com
lThe first air service between
Edinburgh and the Isle of Man
since 2013 has taken off. Operated
by Loganair, there are up to four
flights a week throughout the
summer, and weekday services
during the winter. Until August 31
bookings can be made via franchise
partner Flybe, after which
Loganair flies solo. 0344 800 2855,
loganair.co.uk

2. The Sunday Times July 30, 2017 7
W
hen I told my twenty-
something friends I was
going on a barge
holiday with my
mother, I was asked
whether I had finally gone mad. It wasn’t
being cooped up with my mother that
worried my pals, but rather the idea of
eating, sleeping and relaxing on a barge
for six days when my experiences of
barging — and swimming — were limited. I
knew only of the narrow boat type that
chugged down the Grand Union canal and
looked as though it involved hobbit-like
living space and buckets for bogs.
I needn’t have worried. My stay aboard
Enchanté, a former cargo vessel that is
now a double-decker floating hotel, could
not have been more luxurious. Equally
beautiful was our route along the Canal du
Midi, a 330-year-old Unesco waterway in
southern France’s Languedoc-Roussillon
wine region.
The barge has room for up to
eight guests, plus a crew of five, including
a captain, chef, and tour guide. Our
two hosts, Barbara and Sheryl,
looked after our every need, from
providing artful table decorations to
expert knowledge at meal times.
A spacious wood-panelled saloon is set
up for meal times, with an open-plan
kitchen that allows you to sneak a peek at
the day’s menu. The decking area, which
comes complete with a hot tub if you’re
feeling brave, is a sun-lover’s paradise in
summer, but don’t expect heat until
mid-May to early June. At other times, be
prepared with a fleece and a hot drink
if it gets windy.
Of the four twin cabins, I stayed in
Orion, which had a homely feel,
a modern bathroom, conventional
lavatory — hooray — and enough storage
space to hold the armfuls of cheese and
postcards I ended up buying. The cabins’
location, close to the waterline, means
night-time temperatures can be chilly. If
Mary O’Connor immerses herself
in luxurious living and a slow
pace of life on a French barge
A MEANDER ON THE MIDI
you’re cold, simply ask one of the crew
members to keep the generators on at
night to heat the room.
The barge cruises at a gentle 3kph, so
it’s ideal for a stroll alongside, or a cycle
along the towpath, using one of the eight
bikes provided.
As the vessel shuffles through the
Midi’s locks, you watch the scenery
slowly change from mountain ranges
fringed by cloudless blue skies to
lusciously green towpaths overhung by
the dappled canopies of those plane trees
that have survived the disease that has
destroyed so many.
Enchanté meanders through low,
narrow bridges, with just a hair’s breadth
of manoeuvring room, so make sure
excursions. One took us to Lagrasse, part
of “the most beautiful villages of France”
association, where we toured its abbey.
On another we gawped at Minerve, a 12th-
century Cathar fort perched on a rocky
outcrop in the middle of two limestone
gorges. A visit to L’Oulibo, an olive-oil
co-operative in Bize-Minervois, offered a
tour and tasting of lucques green olives.
Most appealing was the wine tour at
Château Massamier La Mignarde in
Minervois, one of a few wine regions
to earn the Appellation d’Origine
Côntrolée seal of approval. The vineyard’s
cuvée Domus Maximus 2000 was
internationally recognised as the best
French red wine in 2005. Mind you, all the
wines I tasted were delicious, as the
weight of my baggage at the airport
check-in attested to at the end of the trip.
Another tour not to be missed is of the
formidable walled fortress city of
Carcassonne. While you soak up the
castle’s fascinating history, stroll along the
ramparts for superb views of the less well-
known lower town and the Aude river.
Our daily gallivanting certainly worked
us up an appetite, and the gourmands
among us were spoilt for choice with the
eclectic menu designed by Sylvain, the
chef. Breakfast was a continental spread
with cold meats, croissants and the option
of cooked eggs. From digestive
experience, I would strongly advise
starting off small, as the three-course
lunches and four-course dinners that
followed, which were expertly paired with
local wines — and cheese with supper —
are worth leaving room for.
From the typically French dishes of
escargot and French onion soup to
oysters, delicately seared tuna and a
positively epicurean last supper, featuring
profiterole swans, you are likely to leave at
least a stone heavier.
Ryanair flies from Edinburgh to Beziers,
from £19.99 one way; ryanair.com.
A six-night cruise aboard Enchanté are
from £3,750pp in a twin/double cabin,
including meals, wines, open bar,
excursions and local transfers. Charters are
also available for families and groups;
01753 598555, europeanwaterways.com
you’re not standing up while on deck.
Grab a camera for the picturesque,
pastel-painted villages en route, including
Le Somail with its hidden gem, Le Trouve
Tout du Livre, a wonderfully antiquated
bookshop. Housing 50,000 books, its
collection ranges from crime thrillers to
far rarer tomes, all at reasonable prices.
And just outside the small village of
Puichéric, between Carcasonne and
Narbonne, is Joël Barthes’s surrealist
sculpture garden made from old exercise
bikes and gas canisters.
I’m a sucker for a hands-on city break,
going exploring on foot, but the ethos
of this trip could not have been more
hands-off for its passengers. We were
chauffeured by private minibus on daily
You’ll need a
camera aboard
the luxurious
Enchanté
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