With annual leave disappearing like snow off a dyke, it’s important to cram as much as we can into the our precious holiday entitlement. If like me, you love the buzz of the city and the solitude of the great outdoors – why not enjoy both by seeking city breaks that offer mountain escapes. I’ve hand-picked five radically different destinations where you can spend the day clambering up mountains and be back in time for evening cocktails.
Alhambra Palace
With the summer holidays already a distant memory, dark winter days
are casting a menacing shadow over our lives. But what if you had the means
to nip off for a luxury weekend in Dubai or a short break to the sunny south of France? With these nifty, thrifty tips you could be swapping sarnies at Pret for a Croque
Madame on the Cote D’Azur.
Grey squirrel perching on a bench while feeding
With less than four weeks until my first ever trek, its now or never. Since signing up for the challenge in April this year, I’ve already climbed quite a few mountains. Dragged kicking and screaming into strict training regimes and eye-watering outdoors shops, I now no longer flinch at paying £20.00 for a pair of socks or walking a marathon in a day. Transformed from Sunday afternoon ambler, I’m now ready to take on North Africa’s highest peak and you can too, (if you’re mad enough), by following these tips.
Atlas Mountains
Driven by never-ending goals in our nine-to-five lives, all too often the things we dream of achieving in our free time get relegated to bucket lists of wishful thinking. Five years ago, I visited Marrakesh on a mini break and was entranced by the distant white peaks of the Atlas Mountains. From the roof terrace of my riad, I vowed to explore them one day. But once back home, doubts crept in and the dream became as distant as the snowy mountain peaks. But this year something changed.
Atlas Mountains