David Wickers, editor of www.101holidays.co.uk and www.101shortbreaks.co.uk, was for 17 years the Chief Travel Correspondent for the Sunday Times. He's also Travel Editor for Good Housekeeping, was three times voted Travel Writer of the Year and last month received an award for 'Outstanding Contribution' to travel writing in the new Travel Press Awards. He is married with three children, lives in north London and is at his all time happiest when sailing a yacht on the Med. Although he is always willing to settle for a good walk, game of tennis, boozy meal with friends or a gripping movie.
Cornish Cream.
The Star Castle, a 16th century fort built to keep boarders out, now
welcomes them within - and it's definitely one of my top ten British hotels. You’ll find it on the Isles of Scilly, Britain’s most spectacular hybrids of land and seascape. It sits above St Mary’s, which is just where you want to be if you like to explore since an armada of ferries offering regular hops to all the other islands leaves from just below the hotel. As soon as there's a hint of spring in the air, this is where I dream of being.
Hidden Italy.
I love Italy and know most parts but my favourite pocket is the relatively little known Marche. In between Umbria and the Adriatic, it's got everything we go to Italy to find - Renaissance art and architecture, historically intact hill towns, soft and velvety dumpling hills rising to the snow-capped peaks of the Sibillini national park, a seemingly endless stock of palaces, classical gardens, nights at the opera and feasts of seafood and fine wine. And, like everywhere else on the Med, you can spend hours simply slobbing on beaches, including those waving EU Blue Flags of cleanliness.
Bow Wow.
With its towering masts, billowing sails and brass and mahogany trimmings, the three tall ships belonging to Star Clippers (Star Flyer, Star Clipper and the Royal Clipper) offer cruises for those who hate the idea of cruising. They are traditional, romantic sailing ships yet with all mod cons and a choice of itineraries on the Med, in the Far East, the Caribbean islands and Costa Rica.
Down Under.
I could live in Australia. But as a compromise, two weeks will do. If time is limited I would urge you to focus on one corner, confident in knowing that you'll love it so much you're bound to want to go back. For a perfect family fortnight do what we did two Christmases ago and stick to Sydney, the most handsome city in the world, the brilliant white beaches of Jervis Bay, the scenery of the Blue Mountains and the food and wine of the Hunter Valley. It’s the perfect quartet for a family holiday without having to travel for hours in between places.
The Cool Costa.
Two words least likely to conjure up the idea of an unspoilt Europe are
Costa and Brava. But although this stretch of Spanish coast was the first in the Mediterranean to embrace mass tourism, the rugged shoreline in the north of the region, where the coast road takes a turn inland, presents a very different story. Like a lorry that¹s taken the bend too fast and shed its load, unsightly development is tossed aside, high rise hotels sink to their knees and fishing villages, craggy coves and fragrant bushy headlands dipping into the sparkling azure sea take over. My number one resort is Llafranc, where the broad sandy beach is backed by a pine-shaded boulevard lined with sidewalk restaurants and cafes. The countryside is also delightful, a mix of woodland, orchards, olive groves and farmland dotted with golden-stoned medieval hill towns and villages.