The Independent - FINCA LAS ENCINAS

16 INDEPENDENT TRAVELLER
SATURDAY 27 MARCH 2010 THE INDEPENDENT
Traveller’s guide
INDEPENDENT TRAVELLER 17
THE INDEPENDENT SATURDAY 27 MARCH 2010
The big six
Andalucian
boltholes
BY LUCY GILLMORE
Casa Olea
Priego de Cordoba
This recently opened farmhouse
B&B, half way between Granada
and Córdoba, is proof that you
can go green without sacrificing
luxury. The traditional “cortijo”
has under-floor heating and kingsize beds topped with Egyptian
cotton sheets in the six bedrooms
– plus a log fire in the lounge and
swimming pool and hammocks in
the grounds. However, the
Biomas boiler runs on recycled
olive pellets and solar panels
heat the hot water.
Casa Olea, near Zamoranos, Priego
de Córdoba (00 34 696 74 82 09;
casaolea.com). Doubles start at €85,
including breakfast.
And... action: a family at Lake Kreuzboden,
and from left, rock climbing in Engelberg,
a girl meets some goats, hiking in the
Riederalp region
SWITZERLAND TOURISM; CHRISTIAN PERRET; CHRISTOF SONDEREGGER; WALLIS TOURISMUS
CAny other ways to
burn off energy?
town of Meiringen, it bends over
backwards to accommodate
Mountain-biking is hugely popufamilies. From 26 pushchairlar, with routes outlined in detail
accessible walking paths to a
at mountainbikeland.ch. Bike
mini-golf course in a meadow,
shops in major resorts offer rental. teepee adventures and picnic
Engelberg, a buzzing Alpine re- areas with pre-equipped
sort at the end of a narrow-gauge barbecues, they seem to have
train line above Lake Lucerne,
thought of everything. Adding to
has several family-friendly trails, the allure are the vintage steam
including Route 6, an easy ride to locomotives of the Brienzer
the Untertrübsee lake, with clas- Rothorn railway, demonstrations
of rural crafts at the Ballenberg
sic vistas (280m ascent; 16km).
There’s a host of other possibili- Open-Air Museum, waterfalls
and Alpine gorges to explore
ties, from canoeing at Interlaken
to blading beside Lake Constance. – and Meiringen itself, once a
Parc Aventure at Aigle near Mon- haunt of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,
now with its own Sherlock
treux (00 41 24 466 3030; parcaventure.ch) is one of 28 Swiss ad- Holmes Museum (00 41 33 972
1880; sherlockholmes.ch; 1.30venture parks – perfect for chil6pm daily except Monday;
dren to go monkeying around on
Sfr4/£2.50, under 12s Sfr3/£2).
rope bridges in the forest.
The Haslital tourist office has
The park operates May to Octopackages starting at Sfr1,125
ber, with opening hours increas(£695), covering five nights at a
ing to 9am-6pm daily in July and
hotel in Meiringen for two adults
August. Admission is Sfr33 (£20)
and two children up to age 12, inadult, children age 12-15 Sfr23
(£14), age 10-11 Sfr19 (£12), age 8-9 cluding breakfast and perks.
Sfr14 (£8.50), age 4-7 Sfr10 (£6).
How do we get around?
A hidden gem?
Head off the main tourist trails in
the Bernese Oberland to the
Haslital region (haslital.ch).
Centred on the modest holiday
With the greatest of ease. Swiss
trains are fast, frequent and
punctual, connecting seamlessly
to buses, boats and cable cars
thanks to integrated timetabling.
The Swiss Pass gives unlimited
travel on the entire network,
including urban trams and
buses, as well as free admission
to 450 of the best museums in
Switzerland. Sample adult
prices are £153 for four days,
or £278 for 15 days. If two adults
travel together, both get a 15 per
cent discount. A Family Card
– issued free with any Swiss
travel pass – grants free travel
to children aged 6-15 when accompanied by a parent. Young
people aged 16-25 qualify for a discounted Youth Pass. Children
under 6 go free.
Other validity periods, and
more flexible passes, are available: check swisstravelsystem.co.uk for details. Many holiday
packages include a Swiss Pass.
Cycling is a good way to see
the countryside, with hundreds
of routes outlined at veloland.ch.
Swiss travel passes discount
the cost of a day’s cycle hire
from any of 94 railway stations
to Sfr28/£17, reduced again
by half for children under 16.
Helmets and child seats are
free, with toddler-trailers
(Sfr14/£8.50) and slipstream
bikes for the under-6s (Sfr14/£8.50) available at certain locations. Rentabike.ch has details.
Where will we stay?
Most Swiss hotels are familyfriendly. But, 31 properties have
been awarded the KidsHotels
mark, meaning they meet a set of
child-friendly criteria. A leading
player is the Kinderhotel Muchetta, in Wiesen village beside Davos
(00 41 81 410 4100; kinderhotel.ch):
as well as a nursery and soft play
centre, it offers playgrounds and
adventure parks for older
children. Double rooms in summer
from Sfr115 (£71) adult, Sfr30–60
(£18–37) child depending on age,
including half board and childcare.
Another option is to self-cater.
Interhome (020 8780 6629; interhome.co.uk) specialises in holiday
rentals. The three-star Villa Le
Grèbe at St Gingolph on Lake
Geneva sleeps six, has a garden
and costs £1,573 for seven nights
from 23 August. Nearby is a
sandy beach, miniature steam
railway (swissvapeur.ch) and
flume complex (aquaparc.ch).
More information
Cheaper options?
Hostelling is a great way to
see the country, with 57 internationally affiliated hostels
(youthhostel.ch) and 33 independent backpacker hostels (swissbackpackers.ch). Many are in
Liechtenstein Perfectly formed
Sandwiched between
Switzerland and the
Austrian Alps, the principality of Liechtenstein – less
than half the size of the Isle
of Wight – has an unusually
good mountain hideaway, in
the shape of Malbun.
Accessible from Zurich
airport in less than three
hours by train and bus,
idyllic Alpine surroundings and
offer extras such as bike hire.
From 11 April to 30 June, two
adults and their children can stay
five nights for the price of four at
hostels in Geneva, Vevey, Interlaken, Grindelwald and Lucerne,
from Sfr31 (£19) per person per
night, less for children. Book at
myswitzerland.com/families.
SwissTrails (swisstrails.ch) offers several “bike-and-camp”
packages, including a three-day
ride by Lake Geneva from Sfr351/£217 including accommodation,
bike hire, map and luggage transport (half-price for under 12s).
“Sleeping in Straw” sees
farmers spread their barns
with fresh summer hay to host
rural family getaways. The
Swiss scheme includes 200
farms, listed at schlaf-imstroh.ch. Nightly prices are
Sfr20–30 (£12–18) per adult (less
for children), including breakfast.
Malbun is a straggle of
chalets that has made a
speciality of its familyfriendliness: the spacious,
modern Gorfion hotel, for
example, has play areas, organised activities and childcare as well as an
“imagination workshop”
walking children through
the nearby forest.
Double rooms start at
Sfr121 (£75) adult plus
Sfr22–92 (£13–57) per child,
full board (00 423 265
9000; gorfion.li). Malbun
has regular falconry shows
(galina.li), or you could take
the scenic Sareis chair-lift
up to 2,000m for walks and
exploration. More information at tourismus.li.
Switzerland Tourism (00 800
1002 0030; MySwitzerland.com/families).
Matthew Teller is author of The
Rough Guide to Switzerland: the
updated 4th edition out in May
Hoopoe Yurt Hotel
Cortes de la
Frontera
La Alcantarilla
Ronda
The camp is surrounded by olive
groves and cork oak forest with
views over the rugged Grazelema
mountains. Swing in a hammock
listening to the dreamy sound of
goats bells and cicadas or cool off
in the chlorine-free pool. There
are five styles of yurt, each with
an acre of private meadow:
Afghani, Jaipur, Safari, Maimani
and Mongolian. The camp is run
on solar power and there are private bathrooms complete with locally made olive-oil soap.
Hoopoe Yurt Hotel, 23 Apartado de
Correos, Cortes de la Frontera,
Málaga (00 34 696 66 83 88;
yurthotel.com). Yurts start at €136, This luxurious hotel dripping in
including breakfast.
wisteria was once an 18th-century olive mill. The terrace restaurant serves gourmet organic food
while the 11 rooms feature open
fireplaces, 19th-century artworks
and private terraces.
La Fuente de la Higuera, Partido de
los Frontones, Ronda, Málaga (00 34
952 11 43 55; hotellafuente.com).
B&B starts at €158.
If you fancy having your portrait
painted while you lounge in the
garden, Gabriella, the owner of
this lovely old farmhouse, is an
artist and lives next door. The
villa is in a sleepy valley near
Ronda, surrounded by gardens,
terraced fields and orchards.
La Alcantarilla, Apt 504, Ronda,
Málaga (00 34 665 787 191; alcantarilla.co.uk). Weekly rental starts
at €500 self-catered; sleeps six.
La Fuente de la
Higuera Ronda
Casa Cinco Vejer de
la Frontera
A whitewashed Arabic-style
house in a hilltop village, Casa
Cinco has a higgledy-piggledy
charm, roof terrace with sea
views and five rooms – which
come with CD players but no televisions. Named after the five
senses, rooms are all individually
designed. “See” has French windows and a wrought iron balcony,
while “Aroma”, accessed from
the roof terrace, has exposed
beams and a canopied bed. The
décor throughout is retro and
eclectic with one-off flea market
finds and 1970s pieces.
Casa Cinco, 5 Calle Sancho IV el
Bravo, Vejer de la Frontera, Cadiz
(00 34 956 45 50 29;
hotelcasacinco.com). Doubles start
at €81, including breakfast
Finca Las Encinas
Los Juncares
Clive Ridout, a Welsh chef and his
Japanese wife, Maki, converted
this finca into a charming fourbedroom guesthouse. Outside,
there’s a vine and jasminedraped arbor and pool, while
Clive runs contemporary
Andalucian cookery lessons.
Finca Las Encinas, Los Juncares,
Iznajar, Córdoba (00 34 629 61 07
83; finca-las-encinas.com). Doubles
start at €55, including breakfast.