Summer holidays: 10 of the best trips for couples
You may only have eyes for each other, but stupendous views and fantastic food and wine will only make things better. Here are our experts' tips for romantic breaks à deux
Keep it simple, Umbria, ItalyTuscany and Umbria have a reputation for being stuffed to the salami-hung rafters with braying, posh types in raspberry chinos, but it's easy to steer clear of the Chianti-quaffing crowds. The solar-powered Locanda della Quercia Calante on the Umbria/Tuscany border is a peaceful, eco-friendly agriturismo. The emphasis is on the simple things in life: good food (home cooked and mainly organic); wellbeing (Iyengar yoga in the onsite studio), and chilling. Even the wine is biodynamic, which must be good for you, surely? Owner Fausto makes much of the fact that the property is built on leylines and the rooms are free of magnetic fields, which he claims makes for a better night's rest. We were sceptical until my insomniac partner slept longer and deeper than he had in years. By day you can mooch around nearby towns – historic Orvieto is 18km away – and spookily quiet medieval villages. Evenings are for wining and dining in the cosy restaurant. We made the mistake on the first day of accepting second helpings of the fantastic meat-free lasagne, only to realise it was just a starter. Perhaps it's not the leylines that ensure a good night's kip.
• Doubles from €60B&B; +39 0763 627199, querciacalante.com
Isabel Choat, Guardian online travel editor
Unless you're the kind of person who precision-plans their leisure time, you probably won't book a holiday in Copenhagen sufficiently far in advance to get a table at Noma, named Best Restaurant in the World for the second year running. But at Relæ (restaurant-relae.dk), former Noma head chef Christian Puglisi cooks in a way that's just as surprising and inventive, and a good deal cheaper. And Geranium (geranium.dk; this year singled out by Michelin as a rising star) is equally brilliant, in more of a polished, big-night-out way. Aamaan's Etablissement (aamanns.dk) was our favourite lunch spot, mainly for its steak tartare and citrus-and-spice marinated salmon. And for mornings after, the great coffee and the brunch menu (plus the cosy sheepskin-covered chairs) at café/deli Gourmandiet (gourmandiet.dk) made our hangovers almost pleasurable.
• Doubles at 71 Nyhavn, a converted, canal-side spice warehouse, cost from £110 (+45 3343 6200, 71nyhavnhotel.com)
Jenny McIvor, food writer
Arrive in daylight and wear sensible shoes, the instructions from Carswell Farm advised. We pulled up after midnight after the long drive to south Devon. The directions from the farmhouse to the impossibly secluded Beach Hut were clear, but scrambling across cliff tops with bags and very unsensible footwear, we had only an inadequate torch and the alarming sound of crashing waves to make sure our romantic holiday didn't start with the wrong sort of splash. Once there we just climbed the little ladder to our bed in the eaves, so the next morning, we were unprepared for the picture-book adorableness of our surroundings. The Beach Hut is fairly basic, but no less lovely for that: there's no electricity, but a woodburner and gas hob – and a wood-burning hot tub outside (everything is eco, including the loo)! And then there's the view – this beach hut gives new meaning to the idea of a private beach. Nestled in a cove, unreachable except by that rocky footpath, this is as hidden-away a hideaway as you could dream of. It isn't cheap, but you could travel the world and not find such a romantic retreat. If the sun shines it is bliss, and if it rains it is bliss too.
• Two nights at the Beach Hut costs £450 (optional organic dinner hamper £45); +44 (0)1752 830020, carswellcottages.com/thebeachhut
Lisa Allardice, editor of Guardian Review
"Why've we stopped?" whined our eldest, then 14. "There's nothing here!" "Here" was a quaint Italian riverside village with a bar with Prosecco on tap, but this was when we realised we'd have to put more effort into holidays with teens. So for a few years it was activities (rafting, canyoning) and cities (they loved Amsterdam). But teenagers grow up, go to university, and suddenly mooching around Europe is possible again. And cheap. Term time in Sicily and not only were hotel rooms almost half the summer price, half-board was sometimes thrown in. We stayed at friendly Pensione Tranchina in Scopello, an hour from Palermo, and ticked off all the things our offspring would have moaned about. No pool, tiny rocky beach, no shops, nothing to do after dinner except sit chatting with the owner over a digestivo. Worst of all, the rugged Zingaro natural park stretches for 7km up the coast, with footpaths for long bracing walks. There were even – horror! – wild flowers. Some things the youngsters would have liked: the fantastic food, and especially our cute black hired Fiat Cinquecento. But that's the sort of iconic vehicle only the child-free can bomb around Italy in. No room in the back for long teenage legs. Shucks, kids.
• Pensione Tranchina (+39 0924 541099, pensionetranchina.com) offers half-board from €55pp per night
Liz Boulter, travel writer
Forget the sun, sand and sex-on-the-beach stereotype; there's another side to Lanzarote. Away from the big resorts, the easternmost of the Canaries is a heady mix of wild volcanic landscapes, surfer-friendly beaches, theatrical modernist architecture and vineyards made up of volcanic stone circles that could have been designed by Andy Goldsworthy. You can reach them all easily enough from the coastal resorts with a hire car, but a much better idea is to base yourself at Caserío de Mozaga, an 18th-century country house in the centre of the island that's been turned into a very stylish boutique B&B with restaurant. Or you could book into a luxury yurt and cosy up under canvas at Finca de Arrieta on the north-east coast.
• Doubles at Caserío de Mozaga cost from €63 (+34 92 852 0060, caseriodemozaga.com). Yurts at Finca de Arrieta cost from £385 a week (lanzaroteretreats.com)
Rhiannon Batten, travel writer
Along a rambling road near Fiscardo in the north of Kefalonia lay our cottage, Villa Trizoni. It had all the ingredients for a romantic break – the bare minimum, but done in style. We had three gorgeous bedrooms at our disposal, an airy open plan living space of white sofas, and an infinity pool surrounded by funky day beds. There was almost nothing to do, but that was fine by us – all we wanted was to loll around in the sunshine and spend time together. Then it poured with rain all week. Instead of languorous afternoons in the pool our memories are of drinking Mythos beer behind a rain-splashed plastic awning, paddling in the drizzle at beautiful Daf Noudi beach, and getting caught in a dramatic storm while half-way across to the neighbouring island of Ithaca in our rented motorboat. There, we were revived at the magical Polyphemus restaurant by an inebriated communist chef who fed us Che Guevara rum and sun-dried octopus for hours, then insisted he drive us back to the harbour. We even made up a silly song about Polyphemus which make us feel like teenagers recalling their first kiss when we sing it now.
• Villa Trizoni has weeks available in May, July and August, from £1,239 a week, with holidaylettings.co.uk. Villa Zouzouni, next door, sleeps two from £885 a week, and has weeks left in August
Gemma Bowes, Guardian Travel editor
We'd seen photos of the Soca Valley, and read reviews about the chic mountain retreat called Nebesa. But nothing prepared us for the staggering Alpine beauty of the region – flower-filled meadows, crystal-clear rivers and lakes – nor the views from Nebesa's chalets; snow-capped mountains to the east, endless valleys to the west, trailing down to the Adriatic. Four glass-fronted chalets are the base from which to soak up these views. From our terrace, we watched a storm come in, then get chased away by glorious sunshine. We hiked up the mountain one day and white-water rafted down the turquoise Soca the next. In the evening we took at taxi to Hisa Franko, Slovenia's answer to The Fat Duck, for a sublime gourmet feast. The X factor at Nebesa isn't the luxuriousness of the hotel – it's actually fairly simple. What makes it so special is the setting and the isolation: it's a perfect place to hole up with a partner.
• Two-night stays from €255 for two including breakfast and use of bikes (i-escape.com/nebesa.php)
Liz Simpson, deputy editor, i-escape
I thought a trip to Biarritz would be ironically glam: pink cocktails and discotheques, that kind of thing. But at some point since the 1980s, it had morphed into a quietly hip surfing mecca. My then-boyfriend suddenly looked interested. We camped under the pines in the main surfie site at Anglet and walked down to the beach every morning. Compensating for the lack of kitsch, the boyfriend even serenaded me with Elvis Presley on the sand. Surf by day, cosmopolitan comforts by night: we ate outside at pretty old clifftop restaurants, drank wine from Gérard Dépardieu's nearby vineyards, and wandered along the pier that juts from the spectacular coastline out through the breakers. A little black dress and a surfboard are all you need in this town where la bonne vie meets Endless Summer.
• Biarritz Camping (+33 5 5923 0012, biarritz-camping.fr) charges from €23 for a pitch in summer. Hotel Alcyon (+33 5 5922 6460, hotel-alcyon-biarritz.com) has doubles from €105 in summer
Sophie Cooke, novelist
We took the Eurostar to Paris and the sleeper train to Hendaye. When we woke, it was a short hop over the border to San Sebastián – or Donostia, as it is known by its Basque inhabitants. We chose from one of scores of affordable pensions in the beguiling parte vieja (old town). We spent lazy days on the city's beautiful beaches, and late nights bar-hopping. The city specialises in pintxos, simple Basque tapas: we wandered from tavern to tavern, greedily sampling as many as we could. For a once-in-lifetime meal, try to get a table at legendary restaurant Arzak (arzak.info), ranked eighth in the world. We relaxed at La Perla (la-perla.net), a beachside spa; visited Eduardo Chillida's wave-lashed sculptures in La Concha Bay; and climbed Mount Urgull for the castle, enormous Jesus Christ statue and panoramic views. We bought a couple of beers just as the basic hilltop bar was closing and sat alone by the fig trees, watching the sun set over the bay.
• For travel details see seat61.com/Spain.htm
Rachel Dixon, travel writer
I'd been obsessed by San Francisco since reading Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City series – the rolling hills, the smell of marijuana, the glamorous casualties of a life lived as though every day was 1969 – but it wasn't until my 27th birthday that I finally visited, a surprise present from my boyfriend, who'd been choking on the secret for months. It was San Francisco I'd had in mind when I chose to move to Brighton for university, where the lovely gayness and scattered vintage shops charmed me, briefly. But it took a week in a budget downtown hotel – queuing for breakfasts at Dottie's True Blue cafe, taking shy photos outside the house Maupin was inspired by – an afternoon in Alcatraz, and various second-hand clothing purchases along Haight Street, for me to convince my boyfriend that this, one day, should be our home. Plans are in motion ...
• Hotel Majestic (+1 415 441 1100, thehotelmajestic.com) has period styling and doubles from $115; at the other end of the aesthetic spectrum Hotel Tomo (+1 415 921 4000, jdvhotels.com/tomo) offers brightly coloured Japanese pop art and doubles from $129
Eva Wiseman, columnist, Observer magazine
Ask Tom – your travel dilemmas
Lonely Planet's Tom Hall has tips on how to see the world by yacht to where to find a small, family-friendly campsite in France
I am looking into working on boats/yachts as a deckhand as a way of seeing the world. Can you or any of the readers recommend any websites/forums. I was looking to take the STCW 95 course as this seems like it may lead to paid employment rather than just volunteering in exchange for travel.
Peepeeheenaz
The idea of working on a yacht as a way to travel is, happily, still possible. As you might imagine it is highly competitive and you need a few breaks to get started and a strong work ethic to keep getting jobs.
Getting started is still, in time-honoured fashion, a case of "dockwalking" – going boat to boat – in resorts such as Cannes, Nice and Monaco, but the best spots, according to Bethany Silcox, writer of the Fun Sized Adventures blog (funsizedadventures.wordpress.com) who has several years of crewing on superyachts under her belt, are Antibes and Palma de Mallorca. These are, she says, "the two Mediterranean superyacht hubs. You will find plenty of crew agents who help you to tweak your CV, perfect your 'yachtie look' and help you to find a position. Both superyacht hubs are equipped with crew houses (hostels for yachties) and plenty of bars for 'networking'." Should you be daunted by the cost of taking a course to get started, consider also Bethany's advice: "Monetary investment in your career is recuperated relatively quickly with competitive salaries and expenses covered by the boat."
The STCW 95 you mention (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping certificate (stcw.org), the qualification that is legally required to work on board a sail or motor yacht over 24 metres in length, and is increasingly being asked for by owners of smaller vessels) may be enough to get you started, but you may also find that your rivals for crewing jobs also have diving, powerboat or waterspouts qualifications that can give them an edge.
You can take the basic STCW 95 seafaring course at centres around Britain. It costs around £800 and takes five days.
Once you get a job, you can expect to work hard and sleep little when guests are on board, but enjoy normal working hours and the perks of working on a very fancy boat and calling at plenty of different, interesting places at quieter times.
That should be enough to get you started. The RYA (rya.org.uk) has plenty of information about training. Have a look also at The Crew Report (thecrewreport.com/superyacht_crew_homepage.asp) and crew agency sites such as Luxury Yacht Group (luxyachts.com/default.aspx). Should you find yourself crewing in Bora Bora of somewhere equally idyllic then be sure to drop me a line and let me know.
I'm planning to go to Namibia in May/June and then on to Victoria Falls and I have a couple of questions. 1.) How safe is the Zimbabwe side of the Falls these days? 2.) Would you recommend Lüderitz in southern Namibia or going somewhere in the Zambia area after the falls? We have a spare two days in our schedule and are not sure where to use them.
Dasaidanglo
The Zimbabwe side of Victoria Falls is safe to visit and tourists are starting to return to what was originally the main visitor area for the natural wonder. If you're going over the next few months you should certainly book ahead, though you will find the Zambian side substantially busier. Visas for Zimbabwe can be obtained at the border (£35/US$55, bring cash) and it is certainly worth seeing the Falls from both sides. This must be one of the world's most astonishing border crossings. I did it by bicycle two years ago and it was the noisiest, most spectacular bridge crossing I have ever made. The Falls should be very full of water at this time of year, at the start of winter after the end of the rainy season.
I spent a few days around Chobe national park in Botswana on my visit, which is close to the Falls and offers a fun border crossing over the Zambezi on a rusty ferry. Lüderitz would be a much longer journey and as super as this part of Namibia is, you'll have seen much of the country already so may wish to pause in somewhere green and pleasant, which this part of Botswana certainly is.
My partner and I are hoping to do a fly-drive in Portugal in September. We're hoping to spend a week or so travelling the Douro area and hope that it will be round about the time of the grape harvest. How advanced is vino-tourism in Portugal? Are we likely to be able to explore and enjoy any of the vineyards – and is there anywhere we can go for more information?
Silverandroid
As you might expect from one of the world's oldest wine regions the answer to your second question is an emphatic yes. You'll find no shortage of vintners offering you a tasting, often with a fine meal to go with it. The back roads which hug the steep contours of the Alto Douro wine country are pretty wonderful too.
Driving up the river from Porto you'll find plenty of quintas (wineries) to pause at along the way. The best place to look is at Rota do Vinho do Porto (rvp.pt), which lists dozens of vineyards which accept visitors. There's more than just fine port and wine here. The hilltop town of Vila Nova de Foz Côa – one end of the superb drive from Pinhão is close to a superb collection of Palaeolithic cave art. Do deviate along the road, too, even unpromising spots like São João da Pesqueira have beautiful historic centres and leave the package tours behind.
Here's a thought: as you explore such a beautiful place and enjoy great wines and excellent food you're also helping the Portuguese economy. It's almost your duty to go. Visit Portugal (visitportugal.com) can help with planning too.
I am going to France camping with my family (two girls, six and three, myself and hubby) for three weeks (looking around Nantes area). We can go any time from July to August. Any recommendations in terms of price?
We would love a simple, "French" campsite in easy reach of the area's beaches but seem to only find huge complexes on Google or very "English" sites.
KassieB
This is a common question – where in France can you find the kind of fun, informal, smaller campsites that have become much more commonplace in the UK over recent years. While France is still the world's best camping destination, with a very canvas-friendly culture, proximity to the UK and friendly atmospheres at sites across the country it can be tricky to find sites that offer a little intimacy. Cool Camping France (Punk Publishing) has just published a second edition and is a good place to start, with 100 campsites on a variety of budgets. The sites ran by Camping Indigo (camping-indigo.com) should also fit the bill for what you're looking for. Of course, camping buffs will be way ahead of me, offering suggestions at Rural Camping in France (rural-camping.com) and the Dutch site Kleine Campings Frankrijk (kleinecampingsinfrankrijk.nl; in English). Readers suggestions are most welcome.
Boating holidaysWorking holidaysNamibiaZimbabweZambiaCampingFranceguardian.co.ukBuenas noches: hip budget hotels
From hip city boltholes to seaside hideaways and fincas among the olive groves, these 20 stylish hotels costs less than £100 per room per night
CITY
El Cocherón 1919, Aranjuéz, MadridNear the Príncipe and Isla gardens and the Royal Palace, this 18-room hotel in the world heritage-listed city of Aranjuéz, 47km south of Madrid, is calm and relaxed. The overall feel is of grown-up but unshowy chic (the odd zebra-print lampshade aside) with cream, toffee and aubergine colours, and wooden floors and doors. A bar and lounge provide plenty of chill-out space, but grab a seat or cushion in the vast interior courtyard (discreetly overlooked by some of the bedrooms) for the ultimate in summer escapism.
• +34 918 754 350, elcocheron1919.com. Doubles from €78
Pitched somewhere between a designer hostel and a boutique hotel, this Barcelona bolthole plugs an obvious gap in the market, catering to travellers with champagne tastes and beer budgets. Its rooms are simple, modern and smart, with shiny white paintwork set off by glass screens, beech shelving and flatscreen TVs. If you want more space, supersize your booking by opting for an "economy plus" or "business" room rather than a standard double. Though, of course, what you save on sleeping you can spend on tapas; the hotel is in the Gothic quarter, ideal for grazing.
• +34 935 454 000, denit.com. Doubles from €89
Farnals, Valencia
Can't decide between city and coast? You can have your holiday cake and eat it at this Valencia hotel. The closest you'll get to Miami this side of Seville, Hotel de la Playa is a sparkling box of a building, painted the colour of Mr Whippy and set right by the beach. Its dozen neatly stacked rooms are sleek and white, with big windows and balconies looking out over palm trees, sand and surf.
• +34 961 468 464, hoteldelaplaya.com. Doubles from €85 if you stay three nights
This is the latest property to join the welcomebeyond.com fold, a "hand-picked" holiday property portal run by two Berlin hipsters, but you'll have to move quickly if you want to bag some dates at these two flats in Girona's old town. It's a successful marriage between ancient and modern – Alemanys 5's architect owner has taken stone, concrete and wood, and spun them into a thing of wonder, set apart by soft lighting, natural textures and such show-stopping features as an open fire, balcony and minimalist pool. And the dining table is on wheels, so it can be moved from the kitchen to the veranda on sunny evenings.
• +34 649 885 136, alemanys5.com. Alemanys 5 can be rented as a whole (up to 11) or as two flats (from two to six); flat for four from €180 per night or from €360 for the whole house; discounts for smaller parties and long-term rentals
COUNTRY
Caserío de Mozaga, San Bartolomé, LanzaroteWhen independent tourists began exploring another side of the Canaries – one that veered away from the happy-hour hell of the big resorts and out to its wild beaches, black soil vineyards and historic villages – this hotel in the centre of Lanzarote was one of the first places they started checking into, and it's still going strong. Caserío de Mozaga has real wow factor, from its chic candlelit restaurant to bedrooms that blend family heirlooms with contemporary finca style and a general Ibiza-ish vibe.
• +34 928 520 060, caseriodemozaga.com. Doubles from €63
Run by the fifth generation of the Echaurren dynasty, this foodie outpost in wine-producing Rioja was the first restaurant in the region to win a Michelin star, and continues to draw in gastronauts with its recipe of well-priced accommodation and fine food (there are two main restaurants plus a bistro and a tapas-centred gastrobar). Be warned, though, that with people coming here to eat rather than sleep, the bedrooms themselves are not as luxe – or as stylish – as the eating areas.
• +34 941 354 047, echaurren.com. Doubles from €70
This place might breach our £100-a-night limit, but it's worth the extra for such an acutely hip hotel. Set among olive and almond groves outside Teruel, this design-savvy escape is steeped in relaxation and respite. Guests can choose from two rooms in the main building – a Nordic room featuring Alvar Aalto lamps and Danish furniture or a baroque room dressed with velvet armchairs and gilded paintings – or 10 individual "Kubes" that come with black slate baths, private terraces, floor-to-ceiling windows and toiletries made with local herbs. There's also a sleek outdoor pool, a library, a restaurant and a "playground" complete with TV and Wi-Fi, and at night you can DJ your own tunes.
• +34 978 856 755, consolacion.com.es. Doubles from €135
It was love that brought Simon Beckmann and his wife Donna to this off-the-beaten-track corner near Almería. Having passed through on their honeymoon, the couple (they're both artists) decided to return and the result is this seriously stylish guesthouse. Genuine eco credentials are another draw: solar panels, wind turbines, wood from the surrounding almond, pine and poplar trees, and a grey-water recycling system help make the retreat carbon neutral. And while many guests come for the creative courses the couple run – the latest is a food illustration course that combines trips to local markets with artistic instruction – if you want to unwind it's possible to book in just for B&B.
• +34 020 31 372 096, losgazquez.com. Doubles from €85 (minimum two nights)
From the outside, this six-room hotel, in the countryside east of Bilbao is like any other. Inside, though, things are not what they seem; it's a real surprise just how contemporary the interior is. Expect slate floors, Tom Dixon lights, a pared-down aesthetic and an overall monochrome colour scheme interspersed with jelly baby colours.
• +34 650 402 775, aldori.es. Doubles from €70
You might not expect a former foundry to feel cosy, but that's exactly the deal at Hotel Ansotegi in the hills between Bilbao and San Sebastián. The buildings include a manor house, foundry and mill, and they've been renovated and reimagined as a contemporary country escape. With its exposed stone walls, wooden beams, red velvet sofas and wood fires, this is the perfect place to retreat to after a day spent swimming in the local river or exploring ancient monasteries.
• +34 94 616 9100, hotelansotegi.com. Doubles from €100
Opened just last year in a former convent, this hotel boasts stylish (if fittingly low-key) rooms and fairytale 17th-century architecture, but its main claim to fame is its setting, on one of the largest estates in Europe. The surrounding 16,000 hectares are mainly used for producing cork and pork (Iberian mountain pigs), and it is reached via a forest track. Hiking, biking and horse riding are on tap.
• +34 956 693 002, laalmoraimahotel.com. Doubles from €60
Tired of lookalike boutique hotels? There is no chance of pleather and wenge fatigue at this genuinely one‑off
Planning a bank holiday day trip?
Been there readers recommend the best places of historical interest to visit around the UK, from Ilfracombe's hand-carved 19th-century tunnels to Rye's fairytale castle
WINNING TIP: Tunnels Beaches, IlfracombeTunnels dug by Welsh miners in the 1820s lead from the town to rockpools and blue flag beaches. Go when the tide is low, giving you a better chance to see a huge variety of sea life, such as some rare corals. Close by is Watermouth Castle, with a dungeon, theme park, gardens and a maze.
Tunnels Beaches: adults £2.25, children £1.75, 01271 879123, tunnelsbeaches.co.uk; Watermouth Castle: adults £13, children £11, 01271 867474, watermouthcastle.com
Traveller4550
Walking down into the steep-sided valley that houses Robert Owen's Utopian mill town is like walking into Brigadoon. The town has been painstakingly restored to its 19th-century appearance. Don't miss the Annie McLeod Experience, which gives an overview of village life and manages to be both informative and pretty darn creepy. Part museum, part living history attraction and part beauty spot, New Lanark tells a rare uplifting history of industrial Britain.
Adults £8.50, children £6, family of four £24.50; 01555 661345, newlanark.org
TheQs
This is the most evocative ruin in England – an almost complete shell, with shadowed corridors and an exquisite, intact white chamber. This was the prison of the She-Wolf of France, Isabella, confined by her son for conspiring to murder her husband, Edward II. Let your children belt up and down the vast surrounding earthwork, and dart past the grooves where the old portcullis fell.
Adults £4, children £2.50; 01553 631330, castlerising.co.uk
Intheshed
Tucked away in the most unexpected location is the former Archbishops's Palace, now a school. The building dates from the 12th century and on appointed days in the school holidays or in September you can take a tour of the 15th-century Great Hall and Chapel and see Queen Elizabeth I's bedroom. This beautiful building, which is in Old Palace Road, is a relatively unknown treasure, except for those of us fortunate enough to have spent our schooldays there.
020-8680 0467, oldpalaceofjohnwhitgift.org
BuntyB
Set amid sprawling greenery and a flower-splashed moat, Bodiam Castle could be straight out of a fairy tale. The ruins have spiralling steps and picturesque archways that lead between the ramparts. Built in 1385, the castle was both a defence against French invaders and a family home. During the peak season there are costumed actors on hand to provide further insight.
Adults £6.80, children £3.40, near Robertsbridge; 01580 830196, nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-bodiamcastle
Clareharwood
Forming part of the Llangollen canal, the aqueduct spans 307 metres. It is used by canal boats year round, and the workmanship of Thomas Telford and William Jessop's early 19th-century engineering feat can also be enjoyed by pedestrians on the adjacent towpath, towering above the river Dee – traversing this canal is likened to being suspended in mid-air.
The Llangollen Wharf centre runs boat trips across the aqueduct, adults from £12, children from £10; 01978 860702, horsedrawnboats.co.uk
Arros
The Orkneys are one big historic site – a treasure trove spanning the centuries from the stone age to the second world war. Visit magical stone circles, atmospheric tombs, quaint fishing villages and one of the oldest surviving dwellings in Europe. My favourite is Noltland Castle on the small island of Westray. No tickets or stewards – simply knock on the door of the nearby farmhouse for the key. You'll most likely be the king or queen of your castle and have it all to yourself.
01856 872856, visitorkney.com
OurVin
I'm not a great one for the whole "spa experience" thing. And I baulked at the £12 admission. But my fiancée wanted to have a look round and we'd got a discount ticket as part of the city bus tour. I would have gladly handed over double the admission for the enormous privilege of viewing what the curators of this marvellous exhibit have done. We spent an absorbing three hours looking around the fabulously presented ancient Roman baths. Technical wizardry allows you to see the ruins as they really were, projected right on to the remains as they are now; complete with spectral, be-toga'd Romans wandering about the place, taking the waters. Various recorded tour guides are available pitched at brainy, history-fanatical adults, less demanding but keen-to-know adults, and children. Go there now, and don't forget to taste the sulphurous waters on the way out through the Pump House!
Adults £12 (£12.50 July/August), children £7.80, Stall Street, Bath, 01225 477785, romanbaths.co.uk
BrianStoat
This atmospheric graveyard in north London is full of architectural gems, and it paints a fascinating portrait of Victorian times. If you take the tour of the West Cemetery (book in advance), your guide will reveal intriguing stories behind the lives and deaths of the eminent and ordinary Victorians who are buried here. Enchanting paths wind through woodland, amid ivy-clad angels and jumbled headstones, leading to the Lebanon Circle Vaults, where you'll find a 300-year-old Cedar of Lebanon tree. Other highlights are the Egyptian Avenue, the Terrace Catacombs, and the enormous Julius Beer Mausoleum. In the East Cemetery you can wander at will, and here you will find the tomb of the most famous Highgate inhabitant, Karl Marx.
West Cemetery tours: Adults £7, children (8-16 years, no under-eights) £3; East Cemetery: adults £3, children £1. Swain's Lane, 020-8340 1834, highgate-cemetery.org
Troutiemcfish
Even the kids will be awestruck by these atmospheric ruins, still standing after more than 1,400 years of worship, and possibly more. The legendary burial place of Arthur and Guinevere, it's the perfect place to play kings and queens and summon up the mysteries of the past. With plenty of space for picnics in 36 acres of tranquil parkland, this is an oasis of calm for stressed-out parents seeking spiritual sanctuary. Did Joseph of Arimathea, by some accounts the Virgin Mary's uncle, come to the abbey? Did he plant the Holy Thorn Tree, which has a flourishing sapling in the abbey's grounds? Lively costumed guides and intriguing relics help you make up your own mind. Modern marvels include cafe, museum, shop.
Adults, £6, children £4, family of 4 £16, 01458 832267, glastonburyabbey.com
Emilyfromweymouth
It is so easy to imagine this 2,500-year-old hill site as a fort – it's an energetic climb to the top, then the children can storm the gates. It's an easy walk round the perimeter ring among the trees, and you can see for miles around and picture the people inside.
01962 860948, tinyurl.com/693gnqv
Hypnodendron
This is a half-ruined castle with civil war and Jacobite history in an epic coastal setting. Unlike some castles, it isn't a show home.
Adults £5, children £2, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, 01569 762173, dunnottarcastle.co.uk
JonA1966
This moated castle set in luscious north Oxfordshire parkland was the site of civil war sieges and battles, and the setting for the film Shakespeare in Love. Broughton Castle is still occupied by the Saye-Sele family and lowers its drawbridge on selected days from Easter onwards. June and July always promise events, from corricle racing on the moat to Shakespeare productions in the parkland, and this is also the time when the walled garden is in full rose-scented bloom.
Adults £7, children £3, 01295 276070, broughtoncastle.com
Welshlyn
The site of Tre'r Ceiri is a sprawling settlement on the peak of Yr Eifl, with significant stone ramparts, one of the most dramatic and impressive iron age hill forts in Britain. Around 150 iron age huts can be explored. This site is ideal for those who enjoy combining a walk with an interesting goal: there's a not-too-strenuous hill walk along fairly easy terrain, through hills covered with heather and gorse. The summit offers views of Snowdonia to the north, the Irish sea to the west and at your feet a bird's eye view of the beautiful Llyn peninsula.
museumwales.ac.uk/en/2373/
Buddug
Culture Kalash in Pakistan
The Kalash tribe is said to descend from Alexander the Great's army, but now it is fighting to preserve its traditions in a Taliban stronghold
I am standing on a roof in the mountains of the Kalash valleys. Below me hundreds of men are screaming and shouting as two small wooden balls are hit up the slopes by opposing teams of players. Women in intricately designed, brightly coloured dresses are looking on, talking and laughing. One player draws back his long wooden club and hammers the ball onward. Cries of joy fill the air.
"What just happened?" I ask the player. "We cheated," he laughs. "The ball was lost in the snow so I took a
Sticks and stones: outdoor art on the Channel Islands
Andy Goldsworthy and Antony Gormley are transforming the open spaces of Alderney and Helm in an
My travels: Judith Schalansky on remote islands
The author found the idea of islands impossibly romantic – until she discovered that they can also be hell
Opening an atlas at a random page or spinning the globe and picking out a destination with eyes closed – who hasn't done that? I grew up in East Germany – on the wrong side of the Berlin Wall. Before the wall fell, living here meant most of the world was out of reach. I was desperate to travel when I was a girl, but the only way I could escape was through the pages of my atlas. The first time I did this was after watching a television documentary on the Galapagos Islands. I looked for them in the atlas. Then I tried to find my home – the German Democratic Republic. I realised for the first time how small my country was when compared with the rest of the world. My domain ended at the shores of the Baltic Sea, with seemingly insurmountable barriers separating me from the outside world.
I spent my childhood holidays on the shores of the Baltic with my grandparents, who lived on the island of Usedom. Two bridges chained it to the mainland – and to my romantic, girlish mind, it didn't feel like a proper island. After all, I reasoned, surely an island should be a place that can only be reached by ship? Like the island's lighthouse on a tiny rocky outcrop near the coast. But I couldn't get to it because it was frontier territory for my country and as forbidden as the Berlin Wall. I just had to imagine what it might be like.
Islands, especially those that seem the most remote, are perfect places. After all, most island societies were originally set up by people desperate for a new beginning, for a chance to do everything differently. The idea for my Atlas of Remote Islands grew out of my childhood belief that there must be somewhere in the world that is truly beautiful. Three years ago I stood in front of the huge globe in the Berlin State Library, and wrote down the names of all the tiny little spots of land that looked most forgotten in the vast spread of the seas. I was well aware, of course, that any such arbitrary list could only be a question of perception or position: the inhabitants of Easter Island call their home Te Pito O Te Henua – or "the navel of the world". My work on the Atlas of Remote Islands took me on an adventure, an expedition through dusty tomes, travellers' journals and obscure scientific reports on tiny islands. I drew 50 maps all to the same scale, and I researched and wrote 50 stories.
What I did not expect was that so many of the island stories I would dig up would be so horrendous: shipwrecks, failed expeditions, prison colonies, megalomaniac conquerors, cannibalism, murder and mayhem. Most of these islands are barren, without drinking water. In fact, many islands are unsuitable settings for finding paradise: hell is an island too. Sooner or later, man's will to survive turns him into a beast, and his dream into failure. Men go mad, start rebellions or choose to drown themselves in the sea.
And I realised that all our perceptions of freedom are to do with living on the mainland. If a ship calls only three times a year, there can be no freedom. Freedom means choice. I will never visit any of the 50 islands I wrote about. Mine is a book for the armchair explorer, describing places that exist in reality, but only come to life in the imagination.
A couple of years ago, I finally visited the small lighthouse island I had so longed for as a child. The lighthouse was made of red brick; the vegetation was lush, overgrown and wild. Wherever you stood, you could hear the sounds of the sea. It was a lovely place. But I wouldn't have wanted to stay there any longer than I had to.
Germanyguardian.co.ukFamily outings for spring
If a pink cartoon pig doesn't do it for your kids, there is lots more that's new at Britain's family attractions and theme parks this year
Madame Tussauds, BlackpoolThe world's 12th Madame Tussauds (0871 282 9200, madametussauds.com) opens in Blackpool on 21 April. Take the kids to see heroes including David Beckham, Cheryl Cole and Ant and Dec. Adults may have to explain who "Blackpool Originals" Barbara Windsor, Benny Hill and Ken Dodd are.
• Book online and go before 8 May for £7.20pp, or before 1 July for £9.60pp
Several characters are making the leap from screens to screams at Nickelodeon Land (0871 222 1234, nick.co.uk/nickelodeonland) opening on 4 May at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Try SpongeBob's Splash Bash, the Avatar Airbender, or the Rugrats Lost River.
• Wristbands for a family of four £86 online at blackpoolpleasurebeach.com
The new King Arthur's Birds of Prey Centre at this park near Chorley (01257 453044, camelotthemepark.co.uk) will wow young ornithologists. Eagles, owls, vultures and hawks take to the skies in two displays a day. As well as rides, there are daily jousting displays, and magic shows with Merlin himself.
• Tickets for a family of four £64 online, £70 at the gate
Explore this wetland centre (01704 895181, wwt.org.uk/martin-mere), by boat this year. Three people take to a Canadian-style canoe on a self-guided journey around reed beds, woodland and swamp, spotting wildlife.
• Tickets for family of four £26.50. £5 per canoe; groups can pre-book
Little wizards and witches will love a new ride, Merlin's Apprentice, at the Legoland Discovery Centre (0871 222 2662, legolanddiscoverycentre.co.uk/manchester) in the Trafford Centre. Each pod goes faster and higher the harder the kids pedal.
• Minimum ride height 90cm. Tickets for a family of four from £30 online
Painted Dogs is a new African-themed area at Chester Zoo (01244 380280, chesterzoo.org), with porcupines and a pack of seven African hunting dogs. Later they will be joined by sociable guinea pig-like rock hyraxes.
• Tickets for a family of four are £55, including an optional £5 donation to conservation programmes.
Ben 10: Ultimate Mission is a new roller coaster based on the cartoon show, from 23 April at this park near Tamworth (0844 472 1950, draytonmanor.co.uk). And the fun starts while you're in the queue.
• Ride opens on 23 April. Tickets for a family of four £98
As well as all the rides, Alton Towers (0871 222 3330, altontowers.com) has arts and science offerings for children over Easter. The Go!Go!Go! show in the Cloud Cuckoo Land Theatre is a live pop musical, and Mad Science is an interactive range of explosions and experiments – don't miss the water rocket launches on the front lawns.
• Tickets for a family of four from £102
Children with a scientific bent will like All About Us, a new permanent exhibition about the human body at At-Bristol (0845 345 1235, at-bristol.org.uk). More than 50 exhibits bring biology to life, and there is even a real human brain to examine. Activities in the Live Lab over the holidays include dissection and DNA extraction.
• Tickets for a family of four, £35.50, including voluntary Gift Aid donation
The snappy new attraction at Blue Reef (01637 878134, bluereefaquarium.co.uk) is Mini-Crocs, a South American habitat home to two dwarf caimans. Over the holidays, there is a series of predator-themed talks and workshops.
• Tickets for a family of four £31.60
The two Crealy Great Adventure Parks (01395 233200/01841 540276, crealy.co.uk) boast indoor and outdoor rides, and friendly animals. New at the Devon site are meerkats, marmosets and alpacas, plus the Crealy Show Dome, a big top with daily shows. The Cornish site has a new Dizzy Dina ride, and a pony area where everyone wins a rosette.
• Tickets £14.45pp for four or more
Longleat Safari and Adventure Park, Wiltshire
Jungle Kingdom, a new attraction at Longleat (01985 844400, longleat.co.uk) this year, boasts a walk-through meerkat enclosure and miniature monkeys. Visitors can now hand-feed rainbow lorikeets, giraffes and fallow deer. New arrivals include wildebeest, white rhinos, giant anteaters and cape crested porcupines. • Online tickets £23.40 adults, £16.65 children; 10% more at the gate
The London DungeonOn 28 May, the London Dungeon (0871 423 2240, thedungeons.com) launches Vengeance, a "5D" laser ghost ride. Riders are taken back to a séance in what was said to be the most haunted house in London. And new for Easter is an enhanced version of the Jack the Ripper experience.
• Minimum ride height 1.1m. Tickets from £17.33pp online
Pre-schoolers will be excited about Peppa Pig World (02380 814442, peppapigworld.co.uk) new at Paultons Family Theme Park in the New Forest. As well as rides and various buildings from the show, there is Daddy Pig's Big Tummy Café and Miss Rabbit's Ice-cream Parlour. The Guardian's three- and five-year-old reviewers gave a big thumbs-up to George's Dinosaur Adventure ride and the Muddy Puddles mini-water park. Dad's advice: bring lots of towels.
• Tickets for a family of four £74 online at paultonspark.co.uk or £80 on the gate; children under a metre tall free
Chessington (0871 663 4477, chessington.com) is celebrating the 21st birthday of its Vampire rollercoaster until 1 May. The new Twilight Zone is an interactive dark walkthrough with screams around every corner. The first 21 children to arrive in vampire dress each day get in free. Over in the Sea Life centre, Azteca is a new display featuring sharks, rays and parrotfish.
• Tickets for a family of four £88.80 online, £102 at the gate
This is Enchantment weekend in Southend's amusement park (01702 443400, adventureisland.co.uk) with Shaolin monks, stilt walkers and more. New rides include a Kiddi Koasta at the end of April, and the terrifying Time Machine roller coaster in summer.
• Wristbands from £7.75 to £23
New at Thorpe Park (0871 663 1673, thorpepark.com) is Storm Surge, a sky-high spinning ride involving a life raft, a 64ft spiral descent and a line of water cannons. Last one down's a sissy ...
• Minimum ride height 1.1m. Tickets for a family of four £96 online or £105.60 on the gate
This Easter at Northern Ireland's award-winning discovery centre (028-9046 7700, w5online.co.uk), kids can try out a new Race the Rainbow egg race. At the Sense exhibition they can see if they've got what it takes to be the next Alex Rider – dodging detectors, cracking a safe – and they can learn about slime or make edible explosions in regular interteractive floorshows.
• Tickets for a family of four £23
Folly Farm (01834 812731, folly-farm.co.uk) is also a zoo, a funfair, an adventure playground and a classroom. Its new ride, the gentle Big Wheel, is suitable for all, from baby to grandma. Folly Interactive is a new sensory exhibit where visitors can get up close and personal with snakes and birds. But most memorable will probably be the "Whose Poo?" challenge.
• Adults £9, children £8
Every child loves a good story, and there's no better place to hear one than the Scottish Storytelling Centre (0131-556 9579, scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk). Over the holidays, it is hosting events as part of the Science Festival and Puppet Animation Festival. Among other delights, kids can learn why snot is green and meet the Big Bad Wolf.
• Entrance free, book for storytelling sessions, £4; performances from £4.50
Taking liberties: a jailbreak to San Diego
Every year, rag week students compete to get as far across the world as they can. Here's how the Guardian helped two of them to go to the west coast of the US, 5,500 miles away
It was around midday when I picked up the phone to an eager, breathless voice. "Hello! Is that the Guardian travel desk? I'm Sarah Malik and I am a student at Cambridge University and I'm taking part in a competition for charity. I'm in reception and I wondered if you could help – we have until 9pm tomorrow to get as far around the world as possible!"
Something about the excitement in her voice spurred me down the stairs to hear them out. Sarah and Alice were taking part in a rag week "jailbreak" stunt. Teams had 36 hours to get as far from their start point as possible. Last year's winners had made it to Washington DC, about 3,600 miles. The clock was ticking.
Using industry contacts I tried to get them last-minute flights to the world's furthest-flung destinations – New Zealand or South Africa. To no avail – but then Hotels.com came to my rescue. "How about San Diego? The flight goes from Heathrow in two and a half hours – can they make it?"
Course they could … and here's their story …
Gemma Bowes, Guardian travel editor
At 9am, 122 teams were gathered in a mock "jail" in Cambridge. We would all have 36 hours to blag, beg and busk our way around the globe. Each year the imagination of the teams reaches new heights. One year a team got to the Med without taking off their banana costumes; others were cautioned at the Parthenon in Athens for photographing each other dressed as cows.
In 2010 the prize was taken by a pair of amateur magicians who spent the weekend frantically busking to buy two tickets to Washington DC. When the go signal was fired, we joined in a mass stampede heading directly to the train station. We gamely rattled our purple collecting bucket until we'd collected enough coins to buy two £15 tickets to London. Once at King's Cross we felt braver – we had escaped Cambridge and a world of possibilities lay before us. We spent two hours trying to get sponsorship from firms before landing at the Guardian offices, where travel editor Gemma Bowes was our "Guardian angel". She eventually told us she had found us a flight to San Diego. We got to check-in with minutes to spare and boarded our United Airlines plane euphoric. San Diego is 5,500 miles from Cambridge, and as it was still just a few hours after the start, we were sure we were in first place.
Changing at Washington DC, we finally landed in San Diego, to sunshine and palm trees. A text told us that Hotels.com had found us a room, at the Hard Rock Hotel. The much-needed drink was illegal (the hotel cleared the mini-bar in our room), as we are under 21, so we explored. On 5th Avenue we found a Mexican restaurant – Tequila 100 (+1 619 233 2838, tequila100.net) – and ravenously consumed our American-sized portions.
The aim of the jailbreak is to do as much as possible without using your own money. We had £50 in dollars for security. We decided to spend the day checking out the area and were delighted to find that most of San Diego's interesting shops were on 4th and 5th Avenues, right by our hotel. We were smitten with the Bettie Page store (bettiepageclothing.com), which sells 1950s-style dresses. The shop owner found us perfect dresses to try on (with matching shoes and belts) and we posed in the window like pin-ups.
But there was plenty to see without spending a dime. The Exclusive Collection Gallery on 5th (ecgallery.com) was showing fine art from artists such as Michael Flohr, and at the Horton Plaza Mall (westfield.com/hortonplaza) we browsed in American classics such as Abercrombie & Fitch.
Our age and lack of funds (or smart clothes) meant the city's reputedly brilliant nightlife was off-limits, so we made do with a mountain of frozen yoghurt, piled high with fruit and sugary toppings, for just $5 at the
Are hotel comparison sites a good deal?
As the OFT examines allegations that the hotel booking industry is breaching competition law, we investigate whether comparison sites still offer value for money
Laterooms.com promises hotel rooms at "unutterably low prices". Lastminute.com guarantees the lowest prices, while Booking.com offers a "best price promise". Yet when Guardian Money tested prices for a two-day getaway to Edinburgh over the royal wedding weekend they were nearly identical – and significantly more expensive than on rival comparison websites.
To test the hotel sites we selected three different hotels: a Sheraton in New York, a Hilton in Berlin, and a Malmaison in Edinburgh. We sought prices for two nights for two people, on the weekend of 29 April to 1 May.
The good news is that shopping around works. In Edinburgh, while the major booking sites all wanted £260 to £280 for two nights at the Malmaison, the surprise winner was Asda, whose hotel booking site found us the same hotel for £229.57 – a saving of more than £50. The price also included breakfast, which is unusual when most websites sell at "room only" prices.
Our survey suggests it is best to bypass sites such as lastminute.com, Travelocity or Expedia and instead go to websites that scan every travel website for the best deal. We found Asda's cheap price on the Malmaison by going through travelsupermarket.com. It also found the cheapest deal at the Hilton in Berlin – the underlying provider was travelrepublic.co.uk – and at the Sheraton in New York, where the underlying provider was lowcostusa.co.uk
Hotelsearchengines.net and kayak.co.uk use a similar model, and also found us better value deals than Expedia and Travelocity. But it pays to spend time looking at two or more websites – although Kayak turned up decent deals in the Hilton and the Sheraton, for instance, it found us the most expensive room at the Malmaison. Examine carefully the prices quoted; some headline deals did not include tax or were for the wrong dates.
Generally, we found that going direct to the hotel's own website failed to pay off – prices were the same as those charged by the big operators and higher than on the comparison sites.
The similar pricing by the Hilton and Sheraton hotels was striking. In part, this is because websites have common owners: lastminute.com is in the same group as travelocity.com; Expedia controls hotels.com, hotwire.com, tripadvisor.com and venere.com. Booking.com is owned by priceline.com.
The gap in pricing between the major players was just £1-£3 which, arguably, could represent price competition as they chase prices down. But the Office of Fair Trading is examining allegations of price fixing at hotel websites. The investigation began last September but, in a statement last week, the OFT said it is now an "administrative priority" and that it is "pursuing the investigation further".
If the hotel booking industry is found guilty of breaching competition law the fines could be substantial. The OFT can fine companies up to 10% of their global turnover for breaches of competition rules. Last year it fined cigarette makers and retailers £225m for price fixing.
The OFT investigation follows allegations by a small Brighton-based hotel booking website, Skoosh.co.uk. Dorian Harris, founder of the site, said his business started to be squeezed by big US hotel chains insisting they were removed from his site as his prices were below that of competitors.
"It became more of a worry when it moved to Europe, and by March last year I was getting as many as 10 complaints a day from hotels, from major chains through to small independent hotels. The hotels told me they were being put under huge pressure by the big hotel booking websites to ensure what's called 'rate parity'." Unless he raised his prices, he would be prevented from offering the rooms.
As an example, Harris showed Money an email from a hotel in Prague. Booking.com had warned the hotel that it wasn't at parity with Skoosh.com, saying: "You can only succeed in online sales if you have ongoing parity." The hotel owner, who copied Booking.com's warning to Skoosh, said this was a "very big problem" and asked him to change the rate quoted.
Harris has consulted competition lawyers who told him that enforcing rate parity could be illegal. The sites argue rate parity does not constitute anti competitive behaviour or infringe any law.
Harris does not claim that in each and every case his site could offer lower prices than the major players. He acknowledges that as much as 70% of his quotes could be beaten. But in the 30% where he was cheaper, he came under pressure to charge the same as competitors. "It could be that we were selling the room at £100, but elsewhere it was at £130. But I had hotels telling me they wanted to come off the site if we were even £1 cheaper than the majors. It's been cripplingly difficult to run a business."
Hotel booking websites hire individuals to act as rate monitors to check that no one is undercutting them. A current job advert for Booking.com, shows that the company wants to hire a "rate parity associate" in which "you are part of a team that is responsible for finding and solving any rate inconsistencies between Booking.com and their competitors". The person will be expected to "solve rate parity issues" if they arise.
Harris has passed a dossier to the OFT of the emails and letters, and says he has been in touch with the watchdog regularly. "The price comparison sites have been a great thing for consumers, but now as people are not seeing different prices there's almost no point in going to them," he says. Harris adds that, typically, booking websites don't buy rooms direct from the hotel chains or even the independents.
"Distribution of hotel rooms is handled by wholesalers as no hotel group wants to deal with thousands of agents all over the world. The wholesalers give us a net rate and we add a margin, usually around 25%. The wholesaler itself takes around 10%-15%. We don't make huge profits on these margins. Sometimes we sell below 25%, sometimes above."
Money asked Booking.com and Expedia for comment on the OFT investigation and the allegations by Skoosh.com. Neither had responded by the time we went to press.
The guessing gameAre "top secret" hotels the best way for budget-conscious travellers to save money? Lastminute.com pioneered the concept in the UK, and in recent weeks Hotwire.com, a large US operator of secret hotel deals, has launched in Britain. It promises savings of up to 50% by selling off, at bargain prices, the four out of 10 bedrooms that are left vacant in hotels every night.
The drawback is you don't know precisely what you're getting until after you buy. All you're told is the general location and star rating. This has provoked consumers to try and guess the hotel before committing. Martin Lewis of moneysavingexpert.com says: "Copy and paste all or part of the hotel description into Google. Often, it just uses the hotels standard description text that also appears on its website." If that doesn't work, try secrethotelsrevealed.co.uk, although it's a bit hit and miss. The biggest discounts come from the four- and five-star hotels – you're unlikely to find 50% off a hotel that only charges £60 a night.
Unfortunately, you can end up paying more than booking in the conventional way, as one London couple discovered. Planning to spend a few days in Paris, Jon Law and Helena Bonett, who live in Highgate, north London tried Expedia's Secret Saver Hotel option. They were, attracted by the promise of savings of "up to 50%".
"The hotel we chose was advertised as a four-star in the Latin Quarter and we paid £555 for a room for four nights. However, once we'd made our booking we found the 'secret' hotel was in Montparnasse – over a mile from its advertised location – and wasn't four star. The hotel's website didn't appear to show any stars at all."
Worse: rather than saving 40%, they had paid 53% more than if booking the room in the normal way.
"A direct booking via the hotel's website was substantially cheaper than our 'saver' rate, and double rooms were also being sold on Expedia at almost £200 less than what we paid for the so-called 'saver' deal," says Jon.
They printed screenshots to show over-payment, but despite emails to Expedia, no one responded.
A spokeswoman for Expedia apologised for the problems the couple experienced.
"We have investigated Mr Law's issue and a fix has been implemented to resolve the rate issue he experienced. Mr Law has been refunded in line with our best-price guarantee and has been issued him with a gesture of goodwill. With regards to location, the postcode of this hotel is exactly on the border of two 'arrondissements', so is categorised under both areas on our site." Miles Brignall and Patrick Collinson
Consumer affairsConsumer rightsSaving moneyHotelsPatrick Collinsonguardian.co.uk