I learned the hard way that it is never wise to base your travel plans on a unique event, no matter how spectacular and “unmissable” that event may be.   It happened some years ago when I travelled with a TV crew to Siena in Italy, for the specific purpose of filming the Palio -  the horse race around the Piazza del Camp

Palazzo Vecchio Florenceo.

It was to be the highlight of our film with its action, colour, noise and excitement.   Unfortunately torrential rain caused the whole thing to be postponed and our grand plan – not to mention what would have been the best sequence in the entire film – disappeared down the city’s storm drains.

That memory of everything going disastrously awry was triggered when I spotted a super holiday to Siena and Florence which is featured in the latest collection of holidays from Ramblers Worldwide.    Sensibly, the organisers have avoided the high summer, when the city is extremely crowded, with or without the horse race, and provide their clients with the opportunity to see it at the turn of the year when its medieval attractions are on show for the Celebration of Christmas and the New Year.

Combining Siena with Florence and its peerless Renaissance art and architecture is something of a master stroke.   And to do so in an 11 day holiday from £1,029 holiday is even better.   This means that, for a shade over £93.50 a day, you get your return flights, transfers, and the services of an experienced group leader as well as breakfast and accommodation in your hotels, and dinners taken in those hotels or in local restaurants.   If you’ve not already made plans for Christmas, think about the holiday scheduled for December 23rd.   Or, looking farther ahead, the departure on March 6th, 2014.

I’ve just returned from a short trip to Italy, about which I hope to write on a later date, and was pleased to see that my favourite destination in that country is also featured in the new programme.

Venice is incomparable, and no words of mine could do it justice, for those words inevitably slide into cliches about its canals and bridges, its g

Siena skyline

rand houses and churches with their forlorn air of neglect and past glories.   Though it may seem an unlikely destination for a rambling holiday, its true delights can only be appreciated by those who have the time and inclination to walk around it – all the more so from late afternoon when the day-trippers have departed.

As with many of their arrangements, RWH offer bed and breakfast accommodation with evening meals (which are also included in the price of the holiday) either taken in the hotel or in nearby restaurants, of which Venice has a huge selection.   The cost, which also includes return flights and the services of a group leader. is £969 for a week, departing on November 23rd or December 20th.

Yet, despite my ‘Homage to Europe’, I’m sorely tempted to stretch a leg futurely to participate in some tantalising guided walking holidays including, Burma and The High Andes spanning Argentina and Chile.

Particularly appealing is a 16 day holiday in Burma which is only just opening up to tourists after years of isolation.  What I would love to savour  is the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon; the temples and pagodas of Bagan; a boat trip on the Elephant River to the Arakan Golden Buddha (Burma’s oldest); Mandalay Hill with its stunning views and Inle Lake.  The cost is £3,450 per person including return flights, transfers, full board accommodation and services of a dedicated tour leader, which ain’t half bad !  Departing 8 March 2014.

Inle Lake

Also in my sights for 2014 is a 17 day holiday exploring the fascinating microcosm of South America – embracing everything from the Andean peaks at Paso de Jama to the abundant wine valleys around Cafayate.   Particularly looking forward to seeing volcanoes, salt flats and geysers at San Pedro de Atacama; ‘Altiplano’ – the high plains at the top of the world; the old colonial city of Salta; Cafayate – home to some of Argentina’s finest wines and Purmamarca and the perfect place to relax after a punishing but enjoyable schedule !  The price for this adventure is from £3,700 per person includes return flights, transfers, half board accommodation, some lunches and the services of a dedicated tour leader.  Departures 17 May and 16 August 2014.

Other new offerings within the operator’s portfolio are a mouth-watering selection – Switzerland, Austria and the Balearic Islands also feature in the European list.   And, farther afield, an 11 day holiday combines Moscow and St. Petersburg from £1,895.

If you haven’t yet made any plans for holidays later this year, or, indeed, in 2014, this new selection is a good place to start.

www.ramblersholidays.co.uk

tel. 01707 386802

Simon Yearsley is Director of the leading Scottish Campervan rental company, Big Tree Campervans, and he gives us some practical no-nonsense advice on how to support sustainable and sensible use of campervans in Scotland:

A Big Tree Campervan enjoying the view on a recognised campsite at Arisaig

“At this time of year, we get loads of enquiries from folk who are not sure where they can ‘camp wild’ with a Big Tree Campervan. A campervan trip is a great way to explore the vast, rich and varied natural beauty of Scotland, and whilst there are loads of great campsites across Scotland,, there are also lots of fantastic opportunities to “camp wild” with your Big Tree Campervan – you’ll never find an approved list of all these places, as that would direct too many folk to the same spot and ruin it very quickly.

So, as the season starts to ramp up, it’s timely to remind folk about the great advice we give our Big Tree Campervan customers when they ask the question: “Where can I wild camp?”

A couple of years ago we teamed up with a few other campervan rental companies, and also folk such as Scottish Natural Heritage and Visit Scotland to produce these simple, commonsense guidelines about camping wild with campervans in Scotland.

If you follow these guidelines, you’ll hopefully enjoy “camping wild” on your Big Tree Campervan trip, and help support a sustainable way of experiencing Scotland. That way, we’ll all be able enjoy the freedom of camping wild for many years to come.

Access Rights Scotland is rightly proud of its access rights; however when you’re looking for places to ‘camp wild’ in a campervan or motorhome, it is important to bear in mind the following key points:

• Scottish access rights and the Scottish Outdoor Access Code don’t apply to motor vehicles.
• The Road Traffic Act 1988 states that you can drive a vehicle up to 15 yards off a public road for the purposes of parking, but this does not confer any right to park the vehicle. Most un-metalled roads, unfenced land and beaches are private property, and you don’t have the right to park unless it’s authorised by the landowner by verbal agreement or signage.
• In practice, informal off-road parking takes place in many parts of rural Scotland, often in well-established places, without causing undue concern.
• Some communities (eg Calgary Bay on Mull, and the whole island of Tiree) have established their own guidance for campervans and the use of designated overnight parking spaces… if you’re in such a place, follow the guidance!

Common Sense Guidance – Do:

• Use common sense and think whether the spot you have found is suitable for a vehicle.
• Think about the cumulative effect of camping in the ‘fantastic secret place which I’m sure no-one else has ever been’… it is very likely that others will use the same spot, not just you!
• Take great care to avoid the fragile ground/sensitive habitats, (eg wild flowers rich machair on the Western Isles) – never drive down to beaches or onto grass verges as it destroys the habitat.
• Avoid over-crowding. If another vehicle is parked in a secluded spot, try not to park right next to them and find your own spot elsewhere.
• Use only biodegradable detergents and drain kitchen waste water tanks in campsites at designated areas. If it has to be emptied in the wild, keep away from watercourses and be aware that animals will be attracted to the scent.
• Carry a trowel to bury any human waste and urinate well away from open water, rivers and burns. Toilet paper should be bagged and taken away with you – not buried (animals dig it up).
• Do a full ‘litter-pick’ before you leave, taking all your rubbish, and any you found there already, and disposing of it properly when you’re back in ‘civilisation.’
• Support a sustainable tourism industry – buy groceries in local shops.

Common Sense Guidance – Don’t:

• Park in areas where signs state ‘No overnight parking’
• Park overnight within sight of people’s houses, even in car park bays.
• Block access tracks to estates and fields.
• Light BBQs or fires unless it is safe to do so, and you can supervise it properly. They should be fully extinguished when finished and no evidence left behind.
• Empty any chemical toilet waste anywhere other than at a designated chemical waste area. The majority of campsites have facilities for emptying a cassette toilet. Most public toilets are not suitable places to empty chemical toilet, as it upsets the sewage treatment process.

At Big Tree Campervans we’re really proud of the fact that supporting a sustainable and fun way of experiencing Scotland is at the heart of what we do”

More details one of Scotland’s leading campervan rental companies are available from www.bigtreecampervans.com, or by phoning Simon on 01738 788056

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By monitoring insulin and lipid (fat) levels in young adults, researchers found that those who walked for four hours and stood for two had significantly lower levels of cholesterol and lipids than those who did short bursts of intensive exercise.

Gareth Williams, founder of the national outdoor and walking club, Large Outdoors said, “Walking is an excellent way of keeping fit and healthy and is accessible for people of all ages and abilities. To help our members to get fit and stay active we run social walks and walking weekends across the country, making walking easy, accessible and safe and helping people to get out and enjoy the British countryside.”

Up and coming Large Outdoors events include walks through the Derwent Valley, Castleton, the Chilterns and a Snowdon Climb Challenge. For further information or to book your place on a Large Outdoor event, see www.largeoutdoors.com.

“I love the Azores” he says exuberantly “It’s their isolation in the middle of the Atlantic and their diversity too – the fact you can go to one island, think you have seen everything but then head to the next and have a completely different experience.”

In fact, despite that almost long-haul feeling, the nine islands are remarkably close to Britain. From Easter to October there is a nonstop flight from Gatwick to São Miguel every Saturday lunchtime with SATA International, which is under four hours, and at other times of year the journey is not much longer with a quick switch of planes in Lisbon.

Ben is certainly animated when talking about the archipelago that lies some 1,500km west of the Portuguese mainland. “Some people find islands imprisoning but I find them liberating. For me the Azores have this mid-Atlantic island flavour, so the vegetation is pretty unique. It’s very green for a volcanic island chain – a lot of people have a stereotype of just a black, volcanic landscape and you can certainly find that in places but there’s a lot of thick, lush vegetation too.”

The Azores are not going to attract your traditional sun and beach brigade, it’s just not that kind of destination. “It has this feel only very remote places have,” adds Ben. “It’s difficult to define, but it adds to its uniqueness and you feel as if you are off the beaten track. It’s not spilling out with tourists. Instead of going to a beach you’re more likely to go to a lava park where the lava has “frozen” into all these fantastic shapes so now you have these amazing rock pools where the islanders have built platforms so you can dive into the wonderfully clear water.

For someone not accustomed to sitting still for long, there has been plenty to keep Ben occupied in the Azores when he’s not sea training. Kayaking on the gr

een and blue waters of the Sete Cidades lake – said to be the tears of a shepherd and a princess whose love was forbidden by their families – for example. And soaking in hot springs at Terra Nostra Park, or the geothermally heated rock pools by the shoreline at Ponta da Ferraria. (“You have to be careful there,” he advises. “At low tide the water can be very hot”.)

Coasteering has been a favourite activity as well. “You’ve just got this endless sea.  That’s what’s so extraordinary, you just have deep, deep ocean all around and you’ve got every chance of a mighty sperm whale swimming past you too. And I’d love to go diving – it’s supposed to be amazing.” (The Azores is well known for being one of the best whale watching spots on the planet, even if you don’t fancy jumping off a 6m cliff to get closer).

“But I think my favourite activity so far has been hiking on Pico. Just standing on top of the spectacular volcano that dominates that island, the highest point in Portugal, looking out over hundreds of square miles of Atlantic Ocean, cloud below you, takes your breath away. It’s a truly magical site. The fact you climb down and you’re back at sea level, literally you feel like you’ve been on top of the world. You can do it round trip in about ten hours and although you don’t need a guide I would say you’ll get more out of it if you do hire one.”

In terms of wildlife, the islands offer something for everyone.  April to October is the main season for whale, dolphin and porpoise watching and over 25 spec

ies have been spotted in Azorean waters, including sperm and blue whales. It’s easy to take a trip lasting around three hours, especially from Pico, São Miguel and Faial for around €50 per person. “It’s a hotspot if you’re a birder too” Ben reminds me. 35 species breed here of which ten are endemic subspecies, and the mid Atlantic weather sometimes means rarer examples are blown off course when migrating between Central and North America so always keep a look out for the unusual!

If all this exercise builds up a good appetite, you’re in the right place. “There’s lots of hearty fare” Ben reminisces “especially great seafood. I remember on Faial there’s a restaurant called Canto da Doca where you cook your own raw meat and seafood on a sizzling hot piece of volcanic rock. And in São Miguel there’s a spot near Furnas where food is lo

wered into the ground and cooked by the geothermal heat over several hours. All in all, it’s generally cheaper than mainland Portugal and there are some decent local wines”

If there’s been one thing missing so far that Ben intends to add on future trips, it’s his family. “Instead of beaches you have these rock pools, which are well protected so they’re fine for children. You can go coasteering too – higher jumps for the older ones, smaller heights for the youngsters – and gorge walking.  And whale watching is very much a family activity of course. Plus I’d definitely like to take my children swimming with wild dolphins”

So how would he sum it all up? He pauses and ponders the question. “It’s Europe with a twist. It’s a pretty extraordinary place. I can’t wait to go back.”

A new addition for the 2013 season, the men’s Piero Light Shell Jacket (SRP £75) is a freshly styled two-tone waterproof which features Craghoppers waterproof and breathable AquaDry membrane. The sleek profile is complemented by contrast side panels and a reflective print, while the grown on hood and waterproof zip provide reliable protection against showers. Available in sizes S-XXL in Red Pepper/Black, Strong Blue/Black and Bright Lime/Larch Green.

With sleek sporty styling and bold seasonal colours, the ladies Arlisa Lightweight Waterproof Jacket (SRP £75) is ideal for fendingoff summer showers. With a waterproof and breathable AquaDry membrane for comfort and protection, the Arlisa features fused waterproof zips and a roll-away hood for added protection. The jacket has outer and inner pockets – including waterproof zipped pockets and one to fit an O/S sized map, plus plenty of other practical features such as adjustable cuffs, inner draw cord hem, inner storm flap and brushed chin guard to keep outdoor lovers comfortable this season. Available in sizes 8-20 in Canary, Deep Indigo and Bright Turquoise.

For stockists log on to www.craghoppers.com or tel. 0161 749 1300.

It could be hard to find anything more unusual that Nature Travels’ Timber Rafting on Klarälven, a 5-day or 8-day self-guided Huckleberry Finn adventure down the river Klarälven in Sweden, camping wild on the riverbank along the way. The tour is ideal for active families, couples or groups of friends.

The Klarälven is one of just a handful of rivers in the world suitable for timber rafting, and until 1991 was still used as an active logging route. Today, commercial log transport no longer take places on the river, but the tradition is still kept very much alive!

Before pushing off, your first task is to construct your own raft using nothing but ropes and logs. You will be given detailed instruction before you begin and then build your raft under careful supervision. Local guides are on hand to offer advice (though the hard work is all done by you!) and to ensure your raft is riverworthy before beginning your voyage downstream.

The time taken to build your raft depends on how energetic you’re feeling and how many hands there are to help! But when completed, your raft will normally consist of two 3m x 3m sections with three layers of logs, making each raft suitable for up to 6 persons and with room for a lean-to shelter to protect you from the sun (or rain!) along the way. If you’re a couple or three persons, you can also take the easier option to cheat a little and just build one 3m x 3m section!

The Klarälven flows at a gentle average speed of around 2kph (which varies a little up or down depend on water levels). But while many people describe timber rafting as the most relaxing holiday they have ever had, and there is no doubt that drifting downstream is a uniquely meditative experience, it’s by no means just a matter of putting your feet up and watching the world slide by! Your raft will weigh over two tonnes when completed, and one of the skills you will learn in your first few hours on the river is to plan well ahead. Seeing a lovely-looking camping spot on the riverbank a few hundred metres downstream is one thing – landing at it successfully may be quite another!

Control freaks will need to cultivate the lost art of letting go and literally get used to “going with the flow”! To navigate your way down river, you will need to be on the lookout for obstacles such as overhanging branches and sandbars and use a combination of pole and paddle to manoeuvre your raft to avoid them. But don’t worry, if you do get stuck, all is not lost – a little work and patience will get you moving again, and getting stuck once in a while is indeed part of the adventure!

You are free to plan your days as you wish, provided you complete the route in the time allocated (50km for the 5-day tour or 100km for the 8-day tour). The surrounding forests are wonderful for hiking and you may wish to spend longer on the river some days then plan in time for a rest or a walk in the woods on others. The Right of Public Access provides great freedom for wild camping in Sweden (subject to certain responsibilities and guidelines) and you will decide yourself where to camp each night. A fire beneath the stars with your timber raft moored in the water next to you and the Klarälven slipping quietly by in the darkness is a magical experience!

When your voyage comes to an end, you will dismantle your raft and set the logs free once more into the river, where they will be collected in a log trap and return upstream to begin a new adventure!

Timber Rafting on Klarälven is offered on start days between early June and late August. Price from £285 per adult, £137 per child.

For details, see www.naturetravels.co.uk or call 01929 503080.