Great to be back after a week cycling and kayaking through the wild centre of Holland – thanks to Adrian Mills and John Warrington for expertly piloting last Sunday's Travel Clinic.
Well, where to begin? Perhaps the Baltic, which is evidently the answer to the question “Where can I get a late escape in August?”. Top travel guru Neil Taylor gave us the inside track on the accessible alternative to the Med.
Talking of access, lots of people were keen on easy-to-manage holidays. Top options: Jersey, where the airport to beach time is about seven minutes, and Nice, where the airport is at the Promenade des Anglais.
Even easier, why not head for the Isle of Wight, my destination of the week? Forty years ago this month, Afton Down was the location for the greatest music event of all time: the 1970 Isle of Wight pop festival, featuring Hendrix, the Doors and Leonard Cohen (though headlined, bizarrely, by folkie Joan Baez. I went to the island to track down the documentary photographer, Chris Weston, whose latest exhibition runs 2-28 August at Freshwater Library in the west of the island. Here are the details.
http://events.onthewight.com/freshwater-library/the-last-great-event-chris-weston
If you’re going there: the fastest approach to the island is from Waterloo via Portsmouth Harbour and the ferry or hovercraft to Ryde, but for the western end of the island you’re better off aiming for Brockenhurst, changing for Lymington and taking the slow and stately ferry to Yarmouth.
Off to Athens later this week, to bring you the latest from the country that looks more troubled than any other European holiday destination this summer.
Simon