1. FOOD & TRAVEL
TRAVEL
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newsTravel
PhotosbySergioVillalba;OlavurFrederiksen;KimberleyCoole;
PeterStuckings;WilsonPereira;Emigigus;GermanTouristBoard
RÜGEN ISLAND CYCLING TRIP
VISAS FOR VIETNAM
Arrivals
It may lack the battered suitcase panache of Jules Verne’s epic Around the World in 80
Days, but a new circumnavigation of the globe still promises high adventure. While
£6,000 isn’t cheap, the 30-day trip costs a fraction of similar adventures and embraces
a blizzard of show-stopping sights. Visiting multiple wonders, you’ll see Rome’s
Colosseum, Jordan’s Petra and India’s Taj Mahal, along with Peru’s Machu Picchu
and Rio’s Cristo Redentor. By the time you’ve gazed at China’s Great Wall and Egypt’s
pyramids, you’ll have crossed five continents, which is a lot of culture, architecture and
selfies. The price includes accommodation, transfers and flights. onthegotours.com
AROUND THE WORLD… IN 30 DAYS
BELIZE THE SIZE
It’s June, it’s Belize and that
means one thing: lobsters. The
Central American locals enjoy
a dose of huge crustacea
to celebrate the start of the
season. The biggest of several
parties is on Ambergris Caye
with its dazzling white sand
and emerald shallows. San
Pedro’s streets will be packed
with stalls serving all kinds of
lobster. travelbelize.org
The latest news from Vietnam might
put a pep in your step if you’re looking
at a visit to South-east Asia. The
long curling country with its French
colonial architecture, mesmerising
karst landscapes and South China
Sea coastline, is introducing visas for
UK passport holders from 1 July. Visit
before 30 June and stay for fewer
than 15 days and you won’t need one.
It makes World Expeditions’ 11-day
Classic Vietnam trip a nifty choice.
£990pp. worldexpeditions.co.uk
SO FAROE, SO GOOD
Tunnels under the sea bed, waterfalls
plunging into the north Atlantic and
blood curdling accounts of local
history are some of the highlights
of a new trip to the Faroe Islands.
Launching this month, and taking
advantage of long northern summer
days, the escorted walking tour
visits five of the 18 islands in the
archipelago. Expect glorious views
with fjords, towering cliffs and brightly
coloured villages, magnificent bird
life and a capital, Tórshavn where
restaurants like Áarstova serve new
Nordic dishes including raest mutton
paired with sherry. For walking,
an Alpine tour launches in July
with gentle hikes around Gstaad
combined with concerts in the town’s
festival hall celebrating the violinist,
Yehudi Menuhin and a five-star hotel.
Faroes from £2,490pp. Alpine tour
from £2,890pp. kudutravel.com
2. FOOD & TRAVEL
FREEDOM PASS
Three cheers for a new website that promises to be a source of vital
information – and tried and tested reviews – for travellers with
mobility issues. Limitless Travel, which allows hotel and visitor
attractions to list their access and facilities and users to rate them,
was launched by Angus Drummond as a response to frustrations
he faced while he was on the road with muscular dystrophy. After
starting with London, the site will provide similar information for
Barcelona, Paris and Berlin, alongside details of accessible holidays
to far-flung destinations run by specialist operators. It aims to allow
anyone with mobility issues from the disabled to the elderly, to search
for destinations based on their requirements. limitlesstravel.org
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4You can gorge on history in Bamberg’s
Unesco-listed Old Town, one of Europe’s best
with medieval cathedrals, baroque palaces
and timber-framed houses. If you only ‘do’ one site,
make it the 13th-century Cathedral of St Peter and
St George, home to the tomb of Clemence II
– Germany’s only papal grave.
It’s a Bavarian beer hot spot where Ian
Belcher devours history while drinking,
eating and even sleeping in a brewery
3Eat in the breweries for traditional
food including Bamberger Zwiebel in
Rauchbiersosse (pork braised in ale inside a
huge onion). For finer dining try the Messerschmitt
Restaurant, inside a hotel whose 15th-century
building was home to aircraft design guru, Professor
‘Willy’ Messerschmitt. hotel-messerschmitt.de
5This year is the 500th anniversary of
Germany’s beer purity laws, stipulating only
water, barley and hops be used for brewing.
Many of Bamberg’s ales still pass the test including
its smoked Rauchbier, with Schlenkerla Brewery’s
super strong variety dubbed ‘liquid bacon’.
6You could stay in the beautiful Old Town
guesthouse, Alten Häusla but why not keep
the boozy theme going with a night in Fässla
Brewery, founded in 1649, where basic but fresh
doubles are just £55 and you’re perfectly placed for a
breakfast stein. gaestehaus-bamberg.de faessla.de
1As elsewhere in Bavaria, June means alfresco
tippling with the opening of Bamberg’s beer
gardens. They occupy two hills around the town,
with views of spires and red roofs. By law you can
bring your own picnic (if you’re drinking the beer).
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Bamberg floats on a river of beer. Roughly half
the size of Guildford it has 11 breweries, over
150 pubs and around 50 types of ale. Several
of the most atmospheric bars are gaststübes,
attached to the breweries, including Mahrs Bräu,
Klosterbräu and Fässla.
in six stops
Bamberg
If you’re planning to stage a major outdoor art show then it
helps to have a blinder of a backdrop. Portugal’s new
Point of View exhibition is an exquisite case in point with the
works of ten renowned artists drizzled through the dramatic
Park of Pena in the Sintra Hills north-west of Lisbon. Celebrating
the 200th anniversary of the Unesco-listed site’s creation by
Ferdinand II – aka The Artist King – its installations are laced
through the luxuriant gardens swaddling Pena’s Moorish-
influenced palace: the country’s most spectacular example
of 19th-century romanticism. The exhibition examines the
relationship between man and nature. Whether you reach a
deeper understanding of romantic philosophy is immaterial,
Point of View is a glorious excursion into one of the Iberian
peninsula’s prettiest landscapes. penapointofview.com
PORTUGAL PARK ART