Travel

From The Sunday Times April 25, 2010

No planes. No airports. No hassle... it's flight-free travel
Who needs to fly? Not us. Let the others take a chance with moody volcanoes and strike-happy unions
(Dylan Ellis/Corbis)
Follow our guide and you'll find romance, culture, adventure, idyllic villas and cruises straight to the sun
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Rob Ryan Recommend? Cantabria, Spain

Comillas, west of Santander, has not only a brace of fine beaches, but a surprising collection of modernist buildings, including El Capricho, an Arab-themed palace by Gaudi (also an elegant restaurant; elcaprichodegaudi.com), and an appealing main square lined with places to eat and drink. The closest stretch of sand is just below the centre of town, but there is also the longer Playa de Oyambre, a 20-minute stroll away, which attracts a satisfying mixture of surfing beach bums and holidaying Castilians and Catalans.

Details: Brittany Ferries (0871 244 0744, brittany-ferries.co.uk) has crossings from Portsmouth or Plymouth to Santander (24 hours); from £736 in May or £1,118 in August for a car and four passengers. Comillas is a 45-minute drive away. Esmeralda (00 34-942 720097, hostalesmeralda.com; doubles £43/£70) is a two-star hostal with simple rooms. Playa de Oyambre (942 711461, oyambre.com) is a camp site; four-person wooden bungalows start at £65/£86 per night.

Benedot, Brittany, France

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South of Quimper, at the mouth of the lovely River Odet, Bénodet is an attractive, family-friendly resort, with the main beach (Plage du Trez) patrolled in season by lifeguards; and nearby Plage St Gilles has excellent rockpooling. Or catch a boat out to the Glénan islands, popular with divers and sailors — there are well-respected schools for both — but also offering dozens of empty, shell-strewn beaches. Gorgeous.

Details: Brittany Ferries (0871 244 0744, brittany-ferries.co.uk) has crossings from Plymouth to Roscoff (six hours); from £380 in May or £444 in August for a car and four passengers. Bénodet is a two-hour drive from the port. Sunêlia Pointe St Gilles (00 33-2 98 57 05 37, stgilles.fr) is great for young children —there’s an on-site waterpark — and has mobile homes sleeping 4-6 from £60/£125 per night (booking fee £26). The 32-room Les Bains de Mer (02 98 57 03 41, lesbainsdemer.com; doubles from £116/£148, room-only) is a reliable bet.

Rosslare, Ireland

Kelly’s, an Irish institution on its fourth generation of the Kelly family, sits on a lovely stretch of sand, Rosslare Strand. The hotel has outstanding children’s facilities (supervised entertainment, early teas), indoor sports, excellent swimming pools and a highly rated spa, but when I took my kids there — admittedly in glorious sunshine — it was the old-fashioned allure of the bucket and spade on the beach that won hands down.

Details: Irish Ferries (00 353 818 300400, irishferries.com) has crossings from Pembroke to Rosslare (four hours); from £230 for a car and four passengers. Stena Line (0844 770 7070, stenaline.co.uk) operates from Fishguard to Rosslare. The resort is less than 10 minutes’ drive from the port. Kelly’s (00 353 53 913 2114, kellys.ie) has five nights in May from £570pp, all-inclusive; in high season, seven nights cost £875pp. Child reductions are available.

St Jean de Luz, southwest France

St Jean sits on a stunning bay on the Basque coast, near the Spanish border, and is famed for the play of light on its golden sand and whitewashed buildings, with the Pyrenees gleaming in the background. Popular with Basque families, it’s also a working port, with a large fishing fleet landing tuna and anchovies, hence the slew of excellent restaurants. The main beach is to the north of town, in front of the casino; it’s safe for swimming, has children’s play areas and is supervised during the summer.

Details: P&O (0871 664 5645, poferries.com) has crossings from Portsmouth to Bilbao (24 hours); £608/£908 for a car and four passengers. From there, it’s a 1½-hour drive across the border. Or take Eurostar to Paris, then a TGV from Gare du Montparnasse; the 8½-hour journey costs £111/£290 return with Rail Europe (0844 848 4064, raileurope.co.uk). Hôtel de la Plage (00 33-5 59 51 03 44, hoteldelaplage.com) is in a brilliant location, facing the sea. Doubles start at £96/£104, room-only. Tamaris Plage (05 59 26 55 90, tamaris-plage.com) is a camp site with a surf school attached; four-bedroom mobile homes cost £239/£510 per week.