Caves

This picturesque island off of the coast of Northern Ireland stands out for its unique charm and natural beauty, as it sits completely isolated from the rest of the UK

Tucked away and untouched by mass tourism, this remote island provides the perfect retreat for anyone wanting to reconnect with nature and breathe in the crisp coastal air.

Rathlin Island boasts an incredible array of wildlife, making it an idyllic destination in Northern Ireland for birdwatching and walking, with a tranquillity that only a community of just 150 residents could provide. And yet, they share their home with tens of thousands of seabirds.

The Rathlin Seabird Centre provides a magnificent vantage point to watch the delightful antics of puffins, razorbills and kittiwakes in their natural surroundings. Additionally, seals are frequently spotted basking on the rocks, whilst Irish hares and mink can be seen wandering across the terrain.

One visitor shared their experience on TripAdvisor, saying: “The beautiful and peaceful place. Very little tourism, but it’s not needed; everything is basic, normal everyday life. It’s so simple just to walk the island.

“We have done this on several occasions and walk to each lighthouse. I recommend getting the bus to the bird sanctuary, as it’s quite a walk and very hilly. The scenery is like you will never have seen before.”, reports Belfast Live.

Thanks to the distinctive shape of this small island, it features three stunning lighthouses, each with its own character. Next to the seabird centre stands the West Lighthouse, renowned for being Ireland’s only upside-down lighthouse and an essential stop on any visit.

The East Lighthouse, Rathlin’s oldest, stands tall on the edge of a cave that is steeped in history. It’s said that this very cave was the refuge of Robert the Bruce in 1306 after his defeat in Scotland.

Legend tells us that while hiding away, he found inspiration from a spider to continue his fight for Scottish independence. This tale has forever linked him with the island, and many visitors come to pay their respects at the cave, gazing out towards Scotland from Rathlin.

One satisfied visitor said: “The scenery is mind-blowing, and taking the bus up to the lighthouse and bird sanctuary was fantastic. So much to see, and not just puffins. Lots of other nesting birds, plus the old upside-down lighthouse. Just very cool.”

Another tourist wrote: “A perfect day on an idyllic and unspoilt island. From start to finish… from the scenic crossing to the cold drink at McCuaig’s bar overlooking the swimmers and paddle boarders in Church Bay (at the end of a long walk on a sunny day), Rathlin has everything you could desire.”

However, the only way to reach Rathlin Island is by ferry from Ballycastle Harbour. You have two options: a passenger-only ferry that takes about 25-30 minutes, or a larger ferry that accommodates both people and cars, which takes up to 45 minutes.

‘We can talk about culture, churches, monasteries, whatever, but the main thing here is eating and drinking.” My guide, Loreto Esteban Guijarro, is keen to ensure I have my priorities straight. I’m with Loreto to discover the food and wine culture of Spain’s Burgos province, a high-altitude area ringed by distant mountains. In summer the days are hot, and at night temperatures plummet. To thrive in these extremes, the food, the wine, and even perhaps the people, are robust and straight-talking.

I’m staying deep in wine country at the rural Posada de Pradoray, built as a hunting lodge for the Duke of Lerma in 1601. The thick stone walls, dark polished wood and heavy doors leading to simple rooms with vineyard views suggest little has changed in this landscape for centuries. Burgos is part of the Ribera del Duero wine region which stretches for 71 miles following the Duero River through the provinces of Burgos, Segovia, Soria and Valladolid.

Since the appellation was recognised in 1982 the region has seen huge changes, with the number of wineries increasing from nine to more than 300. Now, there’s a wine route to help explore villages, wineries, restaurants and visitor experiences across the region, with plenty of sampling. My hotel is just outside Aranda de Duero, the main town in the region (population 33,000), 62 miles east of Valladolid and 102 miles north of Madrid. From here I’m following the river on day trips to get a taste of what’s on offer.

Bodegas Portia is built on the edge of the tiny town of Gumiel de Izán, eight miles (13km) north of Aranda. Designed by Norman Foster, it’s one of the new wave of wineries in the region, with a futuristic trefoil shape, like a spaceship that’s landed in these sun-scorched fields. It’s built partly underground to meld into the landscape but also in recognition of the area’s unique winemaking traditions.

Later, I meet the mayor of Gumiel de Izán, Jesús Briones, at his home – a tour with Loreto opens many doors, she knows everyone. “You’ve seen the wine cathedral [as local people refer to Portia], now see the caves,” he says. Jesús invites us into his garage from which, between tins of paint and boxes of faded Christmas decorations, stone steps twist underground. A single bulb illuminates a rough hewn cave full of barrels, dating back hundreds of years. Traditionally, wine in this region was made and stored in deep, hand-dug caves where the temperatures are stable.

Jesús’s basement isn’t unusual: underneath these streets is a warren of caves, some used, some forgotten. Down here glasses are eschewed in favour of a porrón, a glass jug with a long, narrow spout designed for sharing wine. To drink from it is a leap of faith, pouring wine above your mouth, avoiding speckling your face and clothes with crimson Tempranillo and without the porrón touching your lips. I manage it (mostly).

Gumiel de Izán has seen a recent uptick in visitors thanks to a National Geographic article that noted visual similarities between the baroque facade of the town’s Iglesia de Santa Maria, and “the treasury” rock-cut tomb in Petra, Jordan. Gazing up at the intricate sandstone carvings from the village square, I’d say here’s definitely a resemblance, and it’s helped to put the town on the map. “Anything that brings visitors,” says Jesús. “We need reasons for young people to stay.”

At Nabal winery a few miles along the road I meet one young person who’s done just that: Luz Briones studied translation but became fascinated by wine in her early 20s. She leads us through vineyards ranging from 30 years old to more than a century. “We believe in the power of time,” Luz says. “Time in vineyards, time in barrels, time in bottles.” Grapes have to work hard here, developing thick skins to cope with temperature fluctuations and creating rich, tannic wines. In the storeroom, Benedictine chanting is played to the maturing barrels, an acknowledgment of centuries of wine-making by monks. Luz says security guards report lights and music turning on when the building is empty and shows us a large stain that has appeared on the wall resembling, if you squint, a monk drinking wine. The angels’ share perhaps?

We travel downstream, the Duero snaking just out of sight, its presence marked by rippling valleys covered in vines, all benefiting from the river’s proximity. Early in the year the land looks barren, with spiky bare vines and cracked red earth, but in summer fields of lavender and sunflowers create a colourful patchwork with the green of the grapes. In the village of Moradillo de Roa, south of Aranda, we meet Paola González Ortiz carrying a porrón. She’s part of a young team offering tours of a tiny winery museum, demonstrating the heavy labour and huge weights once needed to crush grapes. The village is famed for its grassy hillocks full of wine cellar entrances, often compared to Tolkien’s The Shire. Ducking low, I follow Paola down winding steps into the hillside (being Hobbit height would help). As we share wine from the porrón, a little light filtering through the air vents, Paola says she hopes increased tourism, whether for food and wine or scenic lookalikes, will help create more year-round jobs here. Moradillo de Roa has 157 wine cellars, and a population of 162. To attract young people, the village has started hosting porrón singles nights in the town square.

I end my tour back in Aranda, with a final wine cellar, this one beneath Don Carlos wine shop. Through a dynamic tasting, Cristina López Nuñez tells stories of wine and winemakers, and why the region needs both traditions and youthful innovation. “It’s like wine. Younger grapes have more energy but fewer stories like children,” she says. “The older grapes have less energy but much better stories, like older people. The old vines with deep roots give complexity, the younger vines with shallow roots are juicy. We need both.”

When I emerge back above ground, the sleepy town has transformed. Before I saw only old men sipping coffee and smoking at wine-barrel tables, and a gaggle of children chasing a football past the imposing gothic churches. At dusk, everything changes as the bars switch from coffee to wine. “We never entertain at home,” says Loreto. “Why would we?”

At El Lagar de Isilla, the bar fills with people of all ages in office attire, hi-vis jackets, or dressed for a night out. We feast on bechamel-topped salt cod, gildas with fat olives and anchovies, and octopus cooked with potatoes and sweet paprika. The wine is cheap and delicious, straight from the restaurant’s own vineyard, and the atmosphere is lively. Loreto is satisfied: “I told you, it’s about eating and drinking – and who you share it with.” I can drink to that.

The trip was provided by the Ribera del Duero Wine Route. Double rooms at La Posada de Pradoray from €80 B&B, including wine on arrival

Outside the train window, there’s a flickering reel of flowering fruit trees, lambs and swans nesting on the marshy levels. Following the Exe estuary towards Dawlish, where the railway runs along the beach, flocks of waders are gathering on the sandbanks, backed by boats and glinting water.

I’m heading for the Dart valley and the English Riviera, AKA Torbay, to explore by foot and ferry, river boat, bus and steam railway. The area promises wine, walking, seafood and an eclectic history from prehistoric cave-dwellers to Agatha Christie. It’s easy to assume a Devon holiday must involve driving, but it can be even better without. On previous trips, I’ve stayed in Exeter and toured by train, or based myself in Torquay to walk the coast path and take the boat to Brixham. This time, I’m testing the limits of what can comfortably be done without a car by staying in an old farmhouse in the countryside, half a mile from the nearest bus stop.

Bus 125 runs every couple of hours from Paignton, and the road from Four Cross Lanes bus stop to Sandridge Barton winery is laced with stitchwort and pink campion, growing under hedges wreathed in honeysuckle. Robins are singing in the apple trees and skylarks over the fields. Hard to believe I was in rainy Essex this morning and am now in a sunny Devon vineyard, ready for the midday tour. A whiff of wood smoke from the fire in the tasting cabin mixes with soft bubbles from the Sharpham sparkling wine, made on site and tasting of oak and tart apple crumble. The last taster, a young, fruity red, comes with Sharpham cheeses and local chilli jam.

Afterwards, I stroll for a mile down to Stoke Gabriel for provisions. The route is almost impossibly idyllic: a narrow track under banks of ferns and wildflowers. The only sounds are birdsong and a waterfall near the old mill. It’s a path I might never have found if I’d come by car. Along the stony beach of the big Millpool, I reach the River Shack and sit right by the water with bowls of sesame-seaweed salad and honeyed anchovies. Dozens of green and orange crabs are marching sideways over the dam nearby, caught and released by children fishing there with sacks of bacon. A heron is fishing too, far out in the pool.

Back at Sandridge Barton, the new restaurant has closed for the day, and there are only sheep in the orchard and swallows spiralling overhead. My brother joins me from Somerset on the last bus and we have a whole floor each in the pale pink, wisteria-decked Lower Well Farmhouse next to the winery. It would comfortably sleep eight in three doubles and a twin, all en suite, and downstairs there’s a slate-floored farmhouse kitchen, beamed, log-fire-warmed sitting room and a walled courtyard strung with lights (from £278 a night, three nights minimum).

Agatha Christie’s house at Greenway is roughly three miles south, beside the River Dart, so we decide to walk there the next morning. After a mile or so along a lane, paths lead down to the quay at Galmpton Creek and we pick up the well-signed Greenway trail, along a stony beach, through woods and over hills, to the gate. There are lockers to store bags and free hot drinks for visitors who reach Greenway without a car. We have simnel scones with pots of tea before wandering through the gardens. Woodpeckers yaffle above banks of primroses and strawberry flowers, lipstick-bright camellias and cascading rhododendrons. We sit in Christie’s old sitting room, where 1930s songs are playing, and stroll into woods, past mossy fountains, river views and hillsides white with wild garlic. This year, the National Trust has introduced a new half-price admission for non-members after 2.30pm (full price £17 adults, £8.50 under-18s).

The Dartmouth Steam Railway and River Boat Company runs different routes across the River Dart and sells combi and Round Robin tickets. From the little quay below Greenway, we catch the boat to Dartmouth (£12) along the wide, tree-lined river to explore palm-studded gardens and half-timbered houses. A quick ferry trip (£1) to Kingswear brings us to one end of the steam railway (£23.50) and, from the glass-walled observation carriage (£3 extra), the views are unbeatable.

The train passes wooded riverside cliffs and crosses viaducts, then climbs through oaks and neon-yellow broom flowers to reach the sandy beaches of Torbay. We end the day eating River Teign mussels on a sunny, pub-style terrace at The Boathouse in Paignton, with the foaming sea just feet away. The only problem is, once we’ve finished, the last bus has left and our options are a four-mile sunset walk or a £12 taxi. We take the taxi.

Heading to the bus stop in Stoke Gabriel the next morning, paths lead us up from the water, through a blossoming community orchard and the village churchyard, where a 1,000-year-old yew tree rests its sagging branches on wooden posts. A PlusBus ticket for the whole Torbay area costs £3.70 for a day or £13 for a week and gives you unlimited bus travel as an add-on to a train ticket.

From Paignton, we catch bus 22 to Torquay harbour. Red-legged turnstones are scampering under oyster-crusted pillars, and a new statue of Christie with her favourite dog, Peter, was unveiled in April. She was born in Torquay in 1890 and several novels feature local settings. She would have been more familiar with yesterday’s boat and steam train trips than today’s Rib ride (£37). A breezy, hour-long coastal tour takes in caves, coves and rocky arches, cormorants and harbourside seals, before flying us back across the bay with the salt spray spattering our laughing faces.

Torquay is peppered with Christie-related landmarks, including Beacon Cove, where she nearly drowned; the Grand Hotel, where she honeymooned; and Kents Cavern, which inspired her mystery novel The Man in the Brown Suit. The tour of Kents Cavern leads through a wooden door into dripping tunnels and dens of ancient cave bears, past stalactites, calcite bands and pickaxe marks. The guide lights moss-and-beeswax-filled scallop shells and holds up neolithic skulls like a cheery, enthusiastic Hamlet (£16.95 adults, £14.25 under-16s, if booked in advance).

Torquay Museum, in an elegant gothic building five minutes by bus from Kents Cavern, displays the fossilised jawbone of a 41,000-year-old human, one of Britain’s earliest Homo sapiens. You can also find stuffed birds and farmhouse kitchens, delicate Egyptian sarcophagi and pictures crafted in Torquay marble. In the UK’s only gallery dedicated to Christie, there’s also one of her fur coats and the walking stick David Suchet used to play Poirot (£10 adults, £5 under-18s for an annual pass).

There’s time before our train for a meal at No Seven, a seafood bistro with a sea-view wine bar upstairs. From the Tickled Pink Torquay gin, flavoured with raspberry and rose petals from Torre Abbey garden, through the gurnard with basil and tomato, the tempura plaice and skate wing, to the coffee with local fudge, it’s pretty much perfect.

Accommodation was provided by Sandridge Barton and travel by GWR (advance tickets from London Paddington to Torquay or Paignton from around £50 each way, or from Taunton from £6 each way), with additional help from English Riviera

Nestled on the east coast of Kent, this beach is often deemed one of the UK’s most photogenic coastal spots

If you’re looking for a perfect beach day out this summer, look no further. A travel influencer has now flagged an idyllic, lesser-known gem – and it’s only two hours from London.

Step on the fine golden sands of this east coast beach and you’d be forgiven for thinking you’re in Italy or Greece. The scenic spot is framed by white cliffs, chalk stacks and caves accessible when tides are low.

TikTok creator ‘Lotteboo‘ recently expressed her admiration for the bay in a quick video. She named it a ‘fairytale’ spot in the UK while adding: “Tucked between Broadstairs and Margate on the east coast of Kent, Botany Bay is one of the UK’s most photogenic beaches — known for its dramatic chalk stacks, golden sands, and hidden sea caves that are only accessible at low tide.

“There’s a small car park right next to the beach (Botany Bay Hotel car park – CT10 3LG), but it fills up fast on sunny days. Alternatively, you can park at Kingsgate Bay or Joss Bay and walk along the coast (about 15–20 minutes with sea views all the way).”

As the influencer mentioned, the beach in question is none other than Botany Bay in Kent. For Londoners near Waterloo, it can take just over two hours to drive there, though this depends on traffic.

While many visitors simply enjoy lounging on its golden sands, others may safely enjoy a dip in the sea. According to Visit Kent, Botany Bay is among many of the county’s beaches to have received a Blue Flag award for water quality and top-tier cleanliness.

Fossil-finding and rock pool exploring are two other popular pastimes at the bay as well. Although it’s not part of the UK’s Jurassic Coast, Kent is often believed to be one of the best sites for fossil discoveries in the UK.

As of now, Botany Bay has an impressive 4.2-star rating on Tripadvisor, with some visitors even claiming to have spotted starfish and crabs while there. Among the overwhelming comments, one read: “Lovely spot for a small and secluded beach at low tide you can explore the rock pools and find crabs, shrimp, starfish, walk around in to the second small beach (until tide is in).

“…Water is sometimes seaweed mixed, but a sandy beach to at least get you to shoulder height for a swim, although there is seaweed in the deep parts, nice beach cafe with food and drinks and ice cream, didn’t use the toilets but I also took my rubbish home.”

Meanwhile, another person wrote: “Great bay, secluded, very pretty and very well maintained, surprisingly little rubbish in the beaches and coastal area.” Someone else added: “The beach was clean with wide open spaces for our dog to run free.”

It’s also worth noting that Margate, a quaint seaside town, is only a short drive from Botany Bay. Visitors here can enjoy a variety of unique shops and restaurants, visit another beach, or head to Dreamland, a free vintage-style amusement park.

Although it might not boast quite the same scorching temperatures as other seaside spots abroad, it’s still worth a day trip while Britain’s still sunny this summer.

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