Inspiration: Weekends Away

Inspired by Mizhenka, I picked up the current issue of Lonely Planet as the 52 Best Weekends Away feature sounded quite interesting and like Mizhenka I’ve chosen 5 of my own to do (if I had the money!)

Excerpts from the February 2012 issue of Lonely Planet

Glimpsing Gaudi in Barcelona

Few architects have left their stamp on a city quite like Antoni Gaudi, who transformed Barcelona with swirling patterns, giddy spires and twisting rooftops. This year marks the 160th anniversary of the great man’s birth - and the 130th year since construction started on the Sagrada Familia cathedral - so head for the Catalan capital to discover the genius of this maverick architect. Park Güell and the Sagrada Familia are perennially busy sights, but be sure to visit the Palau Güell - one of Gaudi’s earliest works with an ornate arched entrance, the palace repoened last year. Guided Gaudi tours of his greatest hits are also available. (barcelonaguidebureau.com)

Drive an old banger through East Berlin

Despite having an engine like a sewing machine and an exhaust that can single-handedly burn a hole in the ozone layer, Trabant cars count as perhaps the most cherished relics of Communist East Germany. Hire a Trabi for the day and take a spin round Berlin, zipping through Checkpoint Charlie and towards the Stalinist facades and monumental towers of Karl-Marx-Allee. Drive carefully however - comrades were famously careful with their cars, knowing that the slightest bump could mean waiting years for a replacement. (trabantberlin.de)

Cycle through Quebec

In a continent where the car is king, Quebec's Route Verte is a firm riposte to the gas guzzlers. The biggest cycle network in the Americas, the ‘Green Route’ has more then 2,500 miles of trails weaving their way among the meadows, lakes and mountains of the eastern Canadian province. Some chunks of the route are manageable in just a few days - Quebec City and Montreal have extensive cycle networks - or alternatively take the route north from the outskirts of Montreal though the forested slopes of the Laurentians. Following the bed of an old railway line, the trail leads to the ski resort city of Mont-Tremblant, 50 miles away. (routeverte.com)

Take a direct train to France’s Vatican

How far can you travel by train from Britain without once having to move your suitcase from the rack. In the summer at least, as far as the medieval walled city of Avignon - one of the cultural highlights of Provence. Every Saturday morning during July and August, a direct train runs from London St Pancras to the city’s TGV station in less than six hours. In Avignon take in the Gothic bulk of the Palais des Papes, built for the pope in 1309 as an escape from the political intrigue of Rome (eurostar.com)

Go kayaking around Venice

Venice made its name as a proud nation of seafarers, so get in the spirit of Marco Polo and his ilk but exploring the Italian city by kayak. Venice Kayak offers guided tours, negotiating traffic jams of gondolas and vaporettos (waterbuses) clogging up the Grand Canal, and gliding along quieter waterways beneath handsome stone bridges and laundry lines. There’s also a chance to explore islands elsewhere in the Venetian Lagoon - including Torcello with its ancient churches. (venicekayak.com)

What would you want in a weekend away?

xoxo