Something for the weekends

Time-poor? You have more than a hundred days free this year if you count up all your Saturdays and Sundays. Poor-poor? Go camping, or hiking, or see the English seaside. Time Out’s been doing weekend breaks for years and we’ve seen fashions come and go – budget flights, long walks in the Home Counties, glamping and wild swimming, spa breaks and flight-free odysseys. Now, we’ve put them all together in a new guide. This year’s fashion is, of course, the recession, so we’ve borne that in mind too. The new book contains hundreds of ideas and listings, but here’s a sampler to whet your appetite.

Easy weekends

Relax in a New Forest spa

Deep inside the New Forest, the Herb House Spa at Lime Wood Hotel (023 8028 6998; rooms from £245) applies a natural, holistic approach to its beauty treatments. There’s a gym, steam room, sauna, hot tub, meditation area, an indoor pool and a rooftop herb garden, as well as the treatment rooms. The hotel has mountain bikes available to explore the woodland, while foodies can take part in foraging trips. Back at the hotel, the head chef will help you to cook up a feast with your findings.
 

Take a river break in Berkshire

Yards from the river and dating back to 1135, the Olde Bell (01628 703510; B&B from £109) in Hurley, Berkshire, is both inn and restaurant. It’s been reinvented as a luxurious rural retreat, and the bedrooms have been stylishly furnished. The bar has low beams, an open fire and local ales while the restaurant serves locally sourced food. The clear waters and willow-draped banks meandering past Hurley, Marlowe and Cookham Dean offer riverside rambling that will nudge you back to a simpler time. These stretches of river provided inspiration for authors Kenneth Grahame (‘The Wind in the Willows’) and Enid Blyton, whose home at Bourne End is open to the public in summer.

Glamping in East Sussex

Woodside B&B’s Moroccan-style yurts (01580 830903; yurts from £130, smaller tepees from £75) are set in secluded ancient woodland. They’re super-cosy inside, with wooden furniture, rugs, plush fabrics, a big round bed and a wood-burning stove. If you need a reminder that you’re sleeping in a tent, you can open up the yurt’s skylight and gaze up at the night sky. Explore locally with a trip to Bodiam Castle (01580 830196), a couple of miles north. Michelin-starred restaurant The Curlew (01580 861394) is within an archer’s shot of the castle and offers Modern British bistro food in an informal setting.

Riverside rambling in Oxford

While many of this city’s attractions are ancillary to the colleges – including the revamped Ashmolean Museum, the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building and Oxford’s Cathedral, housed in Christ Church College – there are pockets that can feel miles away from the quadrangles. Oxford’s location at a point where the Thames splits into several streams means there are plenty of riverside walks, with proper pubs to stop off in along with the way. For sustenance with more substance, head to the Ashmolean’s rooftop Dining Room (01865 553823) which has a menu featuring British and European dishes. For a quirky place to rest your head, book in to the Malmaison (01865 268400; rooms from £180) that’s located in the old prison.

The wild West Sussex coast

West Sussex offers seaside fun, glorious countryside and charming towns and villages. If you’re staying by the sea, there’s the choice of wild West Wittering or resorts such as Littlehampton, Bognor Regis and Worthing. Visit South Downs villages with timber-framed, rose-clad cottages and pretty churches, as well as history-packed towns such as Arundel and Chichester; the former is the place for standout accommodation, in the shape of The Ship (01243 778000; rooms from £125), and the latter is home to the lovely Pallant House Gallery, known for its fine collection of twentieth-century UK art as well as its Modern British restaurant, Field & Fork (01243 770827). Other don’t-misses in the area include magnificient Goodwood House and the fascinating Weald & Downland Open Air Museum.

Best of Britain

Liverpool: looking good

The maritime grandee and political miscreant of the north-west celebrated its 800th birthday in 2007 and was European Capital of Culture in 2008, and the resulting huge investment has transformed the look of the city. Headline openings have been the £1 billion Liverpool One retail space and the futuristic Museum of Liverpool on the Mersey, while other notable events have included the revamping of the Bluecoat arts centre, high-profile shows at Tate Liverpool and the new Echo Arena concert/ conference venue. A walk along the cobbled prom behind the Albert Dock is a must, yet Liverpool finds a lot of its energy away from the civic schemes. Head to Hope Street for a good selection of restaurants and bars; after dark, the city buzzes like few others. At the end of a long night, hole up in the Hard Days Night Hotel (0151 236 1964; rooms from £90), which is cooler than its name suggests.

Brecon Beacons: take a hike

The Brecon Beacons National Park is about the size of London, yet home to just 33,000 people. In place of towns and cities it packs in an amazing diversity of scenery, from waterfalls and sandstone escarpments to sculpted cliffs and fertile valleys, dense forests, glacial lakes, springy moorland and miles of caves. With more than half of the area 1,000 feet or more above sea level, it’s easy to get up high and enjoy the wildlife, adventure activities and, of course, walking. For a weekend visit, base yourself in the east, in the attractive gateway town of Abergavenny, to explore the small peaks of the Black Mountains range; the Angel Hotel (01873 857121; rooms from £80) is by far the smartest place in town. Drive to the west to explore the central Brecon Beacons and perhaps climb Pen-y-Fan, the highest peak in southern Britain.

South Devon: Totnes and around

Totnes is a thriving town teeming with liberal-leaning exiles from the capital. It was the first place in England to sign up to the Transition Town initiative, which aims to reduce our reliance on oil, boasts a wealth of independent retailers and has smarter restaurants than you get in the nearby seaside resorts. There are fêtes, markets and arts events running all year round, and generally quite a buzz around the place. For weekenders, the town is a useful hub, with some pleasant places to stay, such as the contemporary-styled Great Grubb B&B (01803 839071; rooms from £40). Or try Pound Court cottage (B&B from £65), three miles away in Harbertonford, if you want a quieter break. The delights of the South Hams countryside lie a short bike, taxi or bus ride away.

Worcester: with rod and reel

Resolved to learn something new this year? How about having a go at coarse fishing? It might lack the glamour of fly, but it is peaceful, inexpensive (a one-day pass costs from just £3.75 from the Enivronment Agency) and a great way to open up new areas of the countryside. Pitlands Farm (01886 812220; two-bedroom bungalows, two-night minimum from £160) in a lush green valley in Clifton-upon-Teme, Worcestershire, has lovely bungalows and two coarse fishing pools.
 

European hops

Liechtenstein: quirky and quaint

Liechtenstein, just 25km long and 6km wide, is a little larger than Manhattan, and you could feasibly walk the whole country in a long weekend – which, in fact, wouldn’t be a bad idea, as the principality is deep in the Alps, and ideally suited to hiking, skiing and cycling. It was the last vestige of the Holy Roman Empire, becoming a sovereign state only in 1806 – its friendly monarch resides in a gothic castle on a hilltop. If you want quirky, Liechtenstein does the trick: its national anthem has the same music as the UK’s, and there is a vineyard run by an international footballer. The capital, Vaduz, is a good place to start sightseeing, and the elegant Parkhotel Sonnenhof (+423 239 0202; B&B from £206) has rooms with views of the Rhine Valley and a romantic restaurant serving smoked salmon tartare and veal ravioli.

Porto: brooding and moody

Climbing up from the River Douro, Portugal’s second city, with its vertiginous bridges and narrow streets, is certainly dramatic. It’s also a city in transition: the long-neglected downtown area has seen an influx of new openings in the past few years, and looks set to regain some of the elegance of its heyday. Away from the tourist magnet of the riverside – and the inevitable visit to a port wine lodge (warehouse) – Porto’s brooding quality and mercantile reserve become apparent, while its parks, squares and stunning architecture (a particular joy is the city’s shopfronts) make for an urban experience that repays on-the-ground exploration. Don’t miss the Romanesque Cathedral, the modernist Cinema Batalha and the Serralves contemporary art museum. A good alternative to hoofing it, though, is the historic tram system – a must for all ‘retrophiles’. Continuing the retro theme, check in at the modest Hotel Aliados (+ 351 22 200 4853; rooms from £37), which has 1950s charm and one of Porto’s best-preserved café-restaurants.

Palma: metro Mallorca

Although many visitors to Mallorca still never set foot in its cosmopolitan capital – heading straight from airport to resort – those who do are normally pleasantly surprised by its assured character and sophistication. As well as interesting eating opportunities – don’t miss tapas bar La Bóveda, an old favourite – there’s an impressive number of boutique hotels for such a small city; we recommend Hotel Portixol (+34 971 27 18 00; rooms from £124). You’ll also find a good variety of shops, some fine modernista architecture, cool seafront bars and a lively contemporary art scene; think of it as a sort of mini-Barcelona, but without the tourist droves. Add in the ease of getting out into Mallorca’s spectacular mountains or to the sea, and it’s easy to see why Palma is so popular as a weekend break for those in the know.

Big weekends

Istanbul: Eurasia’s great city

The only city in the world to straddle two continents, Istanbul is bursting with history and culture. From the harem inside the Topkapi Palace to the buzzing bars of Beyoglu and the food markets of Kadikoy, to the deep pleasures of a hammam experience, the city has everything you’d want for a weekend of sights and sensations. Istanbul has grown up around the Bosphorus and, once you’ve got over the thrill of being able to take a taxi over a bridge to another continent, you can take a short cruise on the water to see how the city might have looked to travellers in earlier centuries. Scrumptious eateries can be found all over Istanbul, but it is the meze bars that offer the definitive Turkish dining experience; Krependeki Imroz (Nevizade Sokak 16, + 90 212 249 9073) is one of the oldest. For a space to properly relax in after all that sightseeing, stay at the quietly luxurious Witt Istanbul (+ 90 212 293 1500; rooms from £131).

Abu Dhabi: bling it on

In the 40 years since being named the capital city of the United Arab Emirates, this onetime pearl-diving outpost has been transformed beyond recognition. For all that, the tourism industry remains relatively small in Abu Dhabi and there’s still a sense that this is a city yet to sell out – beyond the urban bling there are still authentic experiences of old Arabia, like shopping for spices in Souk Qaryat Al Beri, bashing dunes and smoking grape shisha. If you are looking for pure luxury, book yourself into the Emirates Palace (+971 2 690 9000; rooms from £290), the flashiest hotel in town – jaw-slackening ostentation abounds, including a vending machine for gold; and it houses a branch of Hakkasan restaurant.

Insane low-carbon, ultra-budget holiday

Abandon all forms of motorised transport, shun all baggage and security men, avoid exchange-rate commissions and holiday queues. Walk or bike to the Travelodge (rooms from £19) in Kingston-upon-Thames and go for a row or a ramble along the river. Or do a Will Self and head instead for Heathrow, bedding down at Terminal 4’s Yotel (7100 1100). The compact, pod-like ‘cabins’ are comfortable and excitingly unfamiliar; the premium version comes with a TV and wi-fi-equipped ‘technowall’, and you can book by the hour (the minimum four hours costs £26). It’s perfect for transfer naps or early flight stayovers too. What’s more, it’s just steps away from Heathrow’s oldest pub, the historic Windsor Castle (built by a JD Wetherspoon in 1993).

Time Out’s brand new ‘Weekend Breaks from London’ guide covers hundreds of destinations, from Berlin to New York to Essex, with sections on camping, spas, walks near London and thousands of hotel suggestions. It’s available from bookshops, priced £9.99, and at www.timeout.com/shop.