To get to the Faro del Caballo lighthouse (near Santoña in Cantabria) you have to descend about 700 steps, and to get back up you have to climb them again! The exact number of the steps seems to be in some doubt, because, we suspect, no-one has ever managed the complete descent or ascent without losing count on the way.
If you like to go a little off the beaten track, discover new places and have fun in a way that that you will surely remember, here are four activities to get you started. These are all available in the Andalucian hills and mountains just inland from Málaga. Although you'll be just a short distance from the hedonistic pleasures of the Costa del Sol, this is a world apart where life moves at a more leisurely pace.
With all the bad press flying about at the moment, you might be a bit worried about car hire. We understand that. That's why we are partnered with Zest Car Rental, because they are the best. It would be a shame if the publicity surrounding a few dodgy operators were to put people off. With a bit of care and pre-planning you can make a worry-free booking and allow yourself the same flexibility and ease of getting around that you enjoy at home.
We've just seen that Ryanair (the airline everyone loves to hate) are thinking of tightening up their rules on cabin baggage because they think some customers are taking advantage of their generous nature. Is that really true? How could it be so? This is how we see it: Ryanair is probably the most determined airline when it comes to keeping their headline ticket prices low.
Sometimes I think we set ourselves a very high bar when we dedicated our website to the best small hotels. What is best? Well, it's different things to different people and as far as we can, we have to show hotels that people will universally agree to be amongst the best. Of course, you can't please all of the people all of the time, but we try to get as close as possible to that ideal. Until recently I had never visited Durham.
We are pleased to announce our new website, Best Small Hotels, dedicated to (you guessed it!) hotels that are small, but only the very best of them. That doesn't necessarily mean the most expensive, or the most swanky, nor even those with the most facilities. It does mean a dedication to pleasing their guests
The Sea Club, if you are not already familiar, is like staying in an English house party in a large rambling private Mediterranean villa. From the last week of June to the first week of September The Sea Club becomes a very social and lively place with many return families and friends enjoying the vibrant atmosphere in the sun.The laid back ambience is what The Sea Club is all about, once you have been you may never want to leave.
We are so accustomed to the chlorine in a swimming pool that most times we barely notice it. It's only when we experience a non-chlorine pool that we realise just how much nicer it can be. The main alternative to traditional chlorine is salt-water electrolysis. Although people usually describe this as a salt-water swimming pool, it's a bit of a misnomer as it's really nothing like swimming in sea water.
Spain and the Spanish islands have some of the most stunning beaches in the world. Move away from a few over-crowded resorts and you will find places that are a match for anything you could see in the Caribbean or the Indian Ocean.White sand and turquoise water. Rugged, rocky shorelines. Long, long stretches of firm sand. And the occasional surprise.
The Antequera valley has been a trade route and a place of settlement ever since stone-age man set foot on the Iberian peninsula. Indeed the area has some of the most important bronze-age dolmens to be seen anywhere in the country, and the bronze-age relics are then followed by Roman, Moorish, Christian and the various political and architectural epoques that have followed.
