Looking for a short break with the wow factor this year? If you’re tired of spending long weekends trudging round the same well-trodden galleries in the same well-worn capitals, help is at hand. We’ve put together the definitive guide to the year’s most happening destinations – all guaranteed to inspire awe and envy from colleagues on your return to the office.
Edd.ie Jameson International Film Festival
How are your 2014 travel plans shaping up? If you’re agonising over a city break or a ski trip, but despair of your dwindling annual leave allowance, why not enjoy the best of both worlds on an action-packed mini break to Andalucía. Basking in the glow of the Sierra Nevada mountains, Granada offers a high-altitude city break where you can feast on tapas, tour the Alhambra and speed down a black run all in the space of a 48 hours.
Nic\'s events Granada
Having successfully hosted the Commonwealth Games last year, Glasgow has finally shaken of its dubious reputation for deep-fried confectionery and has shown the world what’s its really made of. Gritty, feisty and a bit of a rough diamond, Glasgow also has a warmth, charm and cultural depth that few other UK cities can touch. If you’re looking for a reviving city break guaranteed to blast off the corporate cobwebs, Glasgow’s your man.
Ramsay2 Buchannan Street
With only thirteen weeks to go until Christmas, we’re now back into the bedlam of the working routine as balmy nights lolling around beer gardens become all but a distant memory. As the workload ramps up and evenings are increasingly spent in the company of the cleaning staff, it’s no surprise that many of us find the back-to-work blues worse in September than in January. If you’re still craving the beach but can’t face being buffeted in Brighton, head to France’s Atlantic Coast where an amazing range of sea therapies can all be enjoyed indoors.
As the alleged birth-place of thalassotherapy, Brittany boasts no less than thirteen coastal sea therapy centres. Desperate to put the rosy glow back into my haggard corporate chops, I head to the Eastbourne-esque town of La Baule to sample what’s on offer.
Arlenz La Baule Escoublac
Thalassotherapy uses sea products to treat a myriad of conditions from stress and fatigue through to bronchitis and back ache. Before embarking on any treatments, a medical consultation is required. Trotting down the austere, clinical corridors, I realise why as I brace myself for my first “douche a jets” experience. Not for the faint-hearted, a high-velocity jet of sea water is propelled at the parts other treatments leave behind. Blasting off the office grime and hopefully some cellulite, I howl in horror as the jet veers from tepid to spine-tingling Siberian for the last few gruelling seconds.
With the blood now thundering through my veins, it’s time for a reviving dip in the indoor sea water pool. Immersed in the luxurious warmth of the heated Atlantic, work concerns slowly ebb away as my shoulders drop a few inches. All too soon, it’s time for the next treatment – a detoxifying marine mud wrap. Smeared in glutinous, pungent clay before being mummified in hot towels, the next five minutes feels like being immersed in a deep-fried Mars Bar.
John D McDonald Ingredients for a marine mud wrap
A quick hose down moments later though and I’m starting to feel like a new woman. My skin feels tighter and muscles more relaxed than after the most frantic Zumba class. The grand finale is the olive oil wrap – yes you’ve guessed it, five minutes sizzling in olive oil while trussed up in cling film. Feeling like one of Jamie Oliver’s lemon chickens, the heady scents of the aromatic olive oil, (like nothing from Tesco), provide an aromatic moment of bliss. Reluctantly peeling off the plastic moments later, my scaly skin looks smoother and feels noticeably softer.
Returning to work polished and preened a few days later, it’s not long before the stress levels start to soar and my shoulders tense into gridlock once more. Fortunately there’s only another three months to go until January and the next back-to-work excuse for another reviving office break.
For more information on the range of Thalassotherapy facilities available visit: Wellness Brittany.
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Just returned to your desk from your summer hols? Yearning for one more break to see you through the dreaded dark days before the festive season? If so, Riga could be just the tonic. Nestled between the Baltic heavy weights of Estonia and Lithuania, there is a lot more to the Latvian capital than its raunchy stag-break reputation would have us believe. Packed with culture, quirky traditions and awe-inspiring architecture, a weekend break to Riga could provide a few surprises.
As schools break up for summer, the annual exodus of fractious parents is now in full swing. For those left behind to sweat or freeze amongst the office tumbleweed, July and August can sometimes feel like the longest months of the year. If you’re desperate for escape but despair of your already-stretched salary, depart a few weeks later and you’ll find a short break to Corsica could be within reach.
dantegiorgioguazzo Corsica
In what seems like only a few weeks since the dreaded days of the long dark commutes, it’s horrifying to note that the longest day of the year is already upon us. With time passing in the blink of an eye, London working life offers little opportunity to slow down and appreciate the here and now. Determined to savour what’s left of summer, I brace myself for the seasonal celebrations at Stonehenge.
ndl642m Glastonbury High Street
Departing the deserted capital at 8.00am on a glorious Sunday morning, we whoosh down empty motorways to arrive in Glastonbury in time for a late lunch. Experiencing a Mr Benn moment, we enter a parallel universe of crystals, Wiccan ephemera and funky vegetarian cafes. No trace of a Tesco Metro or fried chicken shop on what must be one of Britain’s healthiest and most prosperous high streets. Food for thought, Mary Portas.
Having made the fatal mistake of booking accommodation late, we embark on our 26-mile round-Britain trip to Swindon to grab forty winks before setting off for the Stones. (Book well in advance to avoid this hassle.) Armed with coffee and glucose tablets, we experience our first stirrings of excitement as we become part of the clandestine convoy creeping through the Wiltshire countryside. (Allow plenty of time for traffic gridlock in all directions.)
Tom Goskar Stonehenge Gridlock
Once finally parked, predatory burger vans shine like beacons in the dark and at this time in the morning, never has a Double Cheese looked so good. With the pre-dawn chill seeping into our bones, we join the eclectic mix of can-clanking hoodies and flowered-powered warriors on our pilgrimage to the dark shapes ahead.
vintagedept Summer Solstice Action
As we near the sacred Stone Circle, tribal drums thrum through the earth as hoops twirl and a Pagan marriage ceremony gets into full swing. The drumming suddenly steps up a gear as the first wisps of light slowly appear and a kind of mid-summer madness descends. Caught up in the frenzied excitement, we eagerly await the sky to ignite before suddenly remembering we’re in England. The watery rays that do finally appear are greeted with thunderous applause all the same.
vintage dept Stonehenge
In a burst of New Year’s Eve revelery, Solsticers cheer, hug, swig and dance as the Stones magically absorb the light and warmth of a new dawn. The cosy feeling of community and connection suddenly makes the 3.00am start feel not so bad. Once the initial euphoria subsides and day-light returns, the morning-after debris leaves a dull hangover. Feeling the familiar end-of-the-party awkwardness, we linger for a further half an hour before making our way back to the car park.
vintagedept Stonehenge
Immersed in the Monday morning commuter gridlock back into London, we reflect on the magic of watching dawn break over Britain’s most mystical icon. Having stopped to experience the beauty of the longest day, somehow the steady descent back into the long dark nights does not seem so depressing after all.
If Marrakesh has whetted your appetite for more Moorish delights, Tunis could be your next port-of-call. Offering abundant culture, surprising street food and the most stunning village on the far side of the Med, the capital is a far cry from Tunisia’s bargain beach holiday stereotype. With a two-and-a-half hour flight time, you can be there and back again before your boss has even noticed you’re gone.
michaeluyttersp Tunis
With the tantalising prospect of two bank holidays this month, offices across the capital are infused with the holiday spirit as the countdown to the summer holiday season begins. If you can resist the lure of B&Q’s reduced price emulsion, why not take your new-found joie-de-vivre for a spin in the sunny playground of the French Riviera. For those who’ve already done the glitzy casinos and palm-tree lined promenades, an all-together different city break experience awaits you just a few miles along the coast.
Xavier de Jauréguiberry Ombriere, Fosters & Partners
Tired of city breaks to the same well-worn European destinations? If you fancy a long weekend with a twist, why not swap Budapest for Bucharest. Associated with Dracula, Nicolae Ceausescu and packs of roaming dogs, it may not top everyone’s wish list but is guaranteed to raise a few eyebrows in the office. However change is in the air with the canines moving up to dogtown and dilapidated buildings being rapidly re-vamped to make way for a new wave of up-market restaurants and trendy night-spots sweeping into the city.
St Nicholas Church
