Travel

WHERE IS YOUR IDEAL HOLIDAY DESTINATION

I have just got to hear the word Argentina and the passion of the tango stirs my hormones. But a pilgrimage across the Pyrenees and meeting at the Monastery of Roncesvalles in the far north of  Spain would also do it for me. So whether it is the grand tour, the hippie trail, discovering the last frontiers or bundu bashing, there is a whole world out there.

The grand tour could take you to all the places visited by the hero in his novel “The Da Vinci Code”. The Knights Templar in Fleet Street, the Saint-Sulpice Church in Paris a 17th century church which contains the largest organ in the world, Westminister Abbey, The Rosslyn Chapel near Edinburgh Scotland the focus of esoteric religious groups, the Louvre Inverted Pyramid Museum in Paris, Chateau Villette – the home of eccentric art historian Sir Leigh Teabing in Paris, The
Ritz Hotel Paris, and the National Gallery.

As for the last frontiers, North Korea including Paekdu Secret Camps from where the army was based. Although only recently founded, South Sudan falls into this category of politically and economically troubled parts of Africa.

Bundu bashing has always been a favourite pastime in South Africa but you can get a whole lot of this excitement abroad as well. For instance Northern Columbia where it melts into the Darian jungle of Panama. Attempts at crossing the Darien Gap on foot have had life-changing effects; but with the recent calming in Columbia – 2012 should be the year for visiting this corer of the world.

Learning new skills like a painting trip to Kathmandu, Havana or Icatha and pitching your easel amid pueblos blancos for a week; or warrior training in Mongolia where you can learn how to make a bow and arrow and other interesting battle tactics as used by Ghengis Khan.

So who said you have to do the usual down-to-the-coast thing when so much else is at your disposal in the way of interesting holidays.

There are some great Cape Town hotels to stay at along the coastline, but if you want to be right at the beach with no other building between you and the surf, then you might have to look a lot longer and harder than you might have anticipated. Many a time pictures and hotel agencies can be deceiving in giving you a beachfront hotel.

If you enjoy self-catering, or if you like to get out and about when it’s time for breakfast, lunch or dinner, then renting a beachhouse is one route to go – and there are also some great self-catering apartments to choose from, such as those alongside the On the Rocks restaurant, Bloubergstrand.

Actually, it’s at Bloubergstrand north of Cape Town’s harbour that you’ll find one of the few Cape Town hotels on the beachfront. The Dolphin Beach Hotel is a matter of steps away from the sea sand – a few dunes are all that separate the hotel and the Cabanas from the surf. The restaurant (Blowfish) is pretty good too, and the view of Table Mountain from across Table Bay is spectacular.

A bit closer to the mountain is the Lagoon Beach Hotel & Apartments, 2km from the Milnerton Golf Course and 5km from the huge Canal Walk shopping complex.

The Bay Hotel in Camps Bay is casually sophisticated, well-appointed and being no more than 100 metres from the beach, it spills onto one of the city’s most popular strips of restaurants, street cafés and bars. Just up the road, The Place on the Bay is just as trendy.

And for somewhere luxurious and intimate to stay just a stone’s throw from the sea and sand, is The Last Word, an upmarket hotel overlooking Long Beach in Kommetjie.One of the most decadent, glorious Cape Town hotels for sure!