The ultimate long weekend break, according to our experts
What exactly is a weekend? In terms of basic maths, it is a simple pairing of two days – or 48 hours, if you prefer. In certain wonderful corners of the calendar, it drags its heels into three, or even four, days.
But a weekend is much more than time and numbers. Whether you are enjoying it in its standard duration, or hopping onto a plane over a Bank Holiday, a weekend is a chance to escape routine. Depending on your sense of adventure, it can be an opportunity for far-flung travels, to less heralded places and relatively distant horizons, or for closer-to-home exploration with the kids, or grandkids, in tow.
Here, 10 of Telegraph Travel's contributors remember their most amazing long weekends away; from a mini-break on the Europe-Asia divide to a night with wolverines in Finland and reconnecting with the family in the south of France.
Of course, such there-and-back-in-a-blink wanderlust is not restricted to travel writers. Share your favourite short trips in the comments section below.
Tromsø, Norway
An expedition beyond the Arctic Circle
I think, perhaps, I had underestimated the distance involved. Tromsø is located so high on the Norwegian landmass that it sits a full 1,100 miles above its own national capital Oslo – never mind the 1,450 miles that separate it from London. To provide a further statistic, it also sits a good 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle. 'Distance' is absolutely the word.
But a European city-break is a European city-break, and the 'Paris of the North' is as pretty a place as anywhere found in a more fabled corner of the continent. Admittedly, it has little in common with the Marais or Montmartre. In look and feel, Tromsø is very much a sentinel of the cold world, its centre huddled for warmth on an island in the middle of the Tromsøsundet strait. Its vibe is encapsulated by the pale beauty of its 'Arctic Cathedral', which resembles an iceberg, and by the daring stories of frozen exploration told at its Polar Museum. Flying there and back over a weekend was an expedition in itself – yet one worth the air miles.
A three-night stay at the Scandic Ishavshotel costs from £698 per person, including flights and transfers, via Kirker Holidays (020 7593 2288).
Chris Leadbeater
Bangkok, Thailand
A pampered girls weekend
Hongkongers enjoy a whopping 17 public holidays annually (more than double that of England and Wales), and we have one of the world's best-connected airports, making long weekends away a breeze. Over the recent Ching Ming Festival, I travelled with a friend to Bangkok (a 2 hour 55 minute flight from my home in Hong Kong), my favourite place for a girls's weekend.
It's got everything you need: sunshine, five-star hotels at three-star prices, bargain shopping, cut-price spas on every corner, as well as top-quality food. Our first stop was MBK, a monster shopping mall selling everything from underpants to power banks, where we made an impromptu stop at a dentist for a check-up and Airflow clean, costing half the price of Hong Kong or London.
We also visited Dr. Zen, our favourite aesthetics clinic for the latest anti-aging tweakments – again at a fraction of the price of other major cities – in between hour long Thai massages, that clocked in at around £5 a pop, massaman curry lunches at trendy family-run diner Taling Pling and dinners and drinks at rooftop restaurants. Take an overnight flight from London and you could enjoy this ultimate long weekend for yourself.
Lightfoot Travel (020 3950 5105) has four nights at the Banyan Tree Bangkok from £1,250, B&B, including return flights from Heathrow.
Lee Cobaj
Pembrokeshire, Wales
Stretching your legs
Was someone laughing at me? Throaty guffaws echoed around Strumble Head, bouncing off crags and stacks. But no: the yawps and grunts of Atlantic grey seals hauled out on kelp-strewn rocks below the Pembrokeshire Coast Path provided a suitably wild welcome to this most magical stretch of trail.
These vocal, blubbery marine mammals join puffins, porpoises, red kites and kestrels among the route's many natural wonders. And all so easy to encounter: arrive by road or rail at your base in Fishguard, then use excellent public transport, notably bookable fflecsi buses, to stitch together a three-day hiking micro-adventure.
Start at Britain's smallest cathedral city, St Davids. Wind past dolphin-breached straits and seabird city Ramsey Island, accurately named Whitesands Bay and winsome fishing hamlets. Day two departs Trefin, passing 5,000-year-old dolmen Carreg Samson, Iron Age hill forts and those garrulous seals, arriving back in Fishguard. Finish with the amble to toothsome Newport, sparing time to explore its appealing eateries and independent shops before the reluctant return home.
Manor Townhouse (01348 873260) is a coolly stylish, yet warmly welcoming, boutique guesthouse in Fishguard; doubles from £150, including breakfast.
Paul Bloomfield
La Cavalérie, France
A multi-generational break
A long weekend is absolutely the recommended way to meet up en famille – time to develop themes usually confined to fleeting meetings, but not time enough for them to get out of hand. You're reminded why you like them, not why you don't.
Certain rules apply: book a gite a decent distance from all participants's homes, so no one feels they're hosting and grandparents should cough up for the best and biggest they can afford (you'll need space, and to convince the rest that the seniors are not invariably cheapskates). We had a big old farmhouse on the edge of La Cavalérie, a village with ramparts, bars and a Knights Templar past, itself isolated on the upland causse.
Near La Cavalérie is Roquefort, where they make the cheese and take you inside the mountain, where the blueness develops. A great way to keep us entertained. So was the local horse-riding. So was the mass pétanque game on the village boules pitch, in which all but the one-year-old played and I won (which made it better).
Other time was taken with cooking, eating, drinking, playing daft games, sitting in the garden to chat to daughter, son or son-in-law or any combination of the entire tribe. This can be accomplished almost anywhere. It's great for the grandparents, apparently OK for rest – and that's as ultimate of a weekend as most of us need.
La Cavalérie is an hour from Rodez airport, 1h30 from Montpellier airport. Find La Cavalérie, and Larzac, gîtes on abritel.fr or gites-de-france.com, from £600 (three nights, four bedrooms).
Anthony Peregrine
Istanbul, Turkey
Exploring the continental divide
An ambitious birthday weekender in Istanbul started with a flight from London that squeezed in at just under four hours. Not bad for a skip to Asia's doorstep and an endless sprawl of mosques, bazaars, teahouses and friendly cats. Mercifully for the first-timer, a great chunk of the city's big-hitters are clustered in Sultanhamet. By staying nearby, we managed four uninterrupted days pottering around, mouths either agape at Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman wonders or stuffed with lamb dürüm and baklava.
Arguably, the city's more exciting half spills out over the Bosphorous into Asia. Making the crossing – alongside the two million Istanbulites who do so daily – is non-negotiable, for the views but also for the thrill of traversing the continental divide. Laid-back Kadikoy and achingly cool Moda lie on the other side.
Elsewhere, forgo the £35 fee for Galata Tower and instead appreciate its Genoese beauty from the rooftop terrace up the hill at Mikla, martini in hand. Snap pictures of the colourful bohemian houses of Balat or catch some live jazz in buzzy Beyoğlu.
Turkey's turbulent economy has seen admission for top attractions reach obscene highs. You'll pay more to poke your head around the Hagia Sophia for 20 minutes than to see the Louvre, Uffizi or Prado, so plan with this in mind.
WizzAir offers return flights from London from £56. Neorion Hotel, Sultanhamaet (0090 212 5279090), has doubles from £133 per night.
Jordan Young
Finland
A night in the wild
I'd thought wolverines were pure movie fiction, a mutant superhero played by a muscly Hugh Jackman – until a very real, very toothy wolverine started circling my cabin. I watched as it stalked silently, furry snout to the dirt, following the scent of an invisible prey. I was alone, on an all-night vigil in Finland's taiga forest – and short of Hugh himself emerging from the woodland, I'd just hit the weekend jackpot.
During summer, northern Finland basks in 24-hour daylight: the ideal conditions for observing its brown bears and wolverines in the wild. These forest creatures are nocturnal, and for one weekend so was I, eager for an outdoor adventure.
On the first night, we spotted gigantic brown bears from our discreet woodland 'hide': a juvenile pair gambolled through the forest, while the adults sloped on paws the size of dinner plates. We held our breath as each group approached: 'They look menacing, but even the slightest noise will spook them,' our guide Sabrina warned.
The second night, I had a hide all to myself, kept awake by adrenaline as bears and Arctic foxes snuck through the forest. I was safe in my cabin, but when the wolverine looked my way I could swear he heard my heart thudding. Exhilarating, life-affirming – and doable in just one long weekend.
Naturetrek (01962 733051) offers four-day Finland bear-watching trips from £1,645pp including flights via Helsinki.
Hazel Plush
Mawgan Porth, Cornwall
Family-friendly perfection
Rumour has it that Cate Blanchett has just bought a home in this beautiful Cornish town that is quickly becoming known as Hollywood-on-Sea. It's less than a five-minute drive from Cornwall Airport Newquay and sits on what I would argue is one of Britain's most spectacular sections of coast.
At low tide, the stretching yellow-cream sands expand to reveal rockpools and caves that my children loved to explore, while a stream runs down the centre of the beach, offering no end of entertainment. If you're partial to catching a wave, the direction of the bay mirrors its more famous neighbour, Fistral beach, meaning that you can expect the same conditions, but with fewer crowds.
Beyond the beautiful sand and the coast path that runs up to the clifftops on either side, you'll find a great range of amenities; a beach shop selling great local produce, a newsagents, fish and chip bar, pub, car park and restaurant. There's even a crazy golf course with a pitch & putt. It has everything in such a small radius that it's the weekend break of dreams – especially for parents with young children.
All Decked Out sits on the cliff and has been designed so that the three bedrooms (sleeping seven) are downstairs, meaning that the living space and small terrace look out across the sand to the sea. From £863 per week (01736 754242). If you prefer a hotel, Bedruthan Hotel & Spa (from £195 per night) is great for families, while The Scarlet is an elegant adults-only hotel with hot tubs that overlook the beach (from £390 per night).
Penny Walker
Pater Noster, Hamneskär, Sweden
Remote rewards
It doesn't get much more exciting than arriving at an 1860s lighthouse hotel by speedboat, while wearing thick boots and a drysuit. But there it was – Pater Noster – a beacon of steel and iron, built by Swedish engineer Gustav von Heidenstam, looming 100 feet above me.
I spent the first day on Hamneskär, a tiny island off the Swedish coast, jumping between a hot tub and sauna, while watching the mid-summer sun flirt with the eddying horizon. Completely free of light pollution, the sky gave way to a billion fizzing stars as a handful of fellow guests tucked into platters of crab, shrimp, lobster and crayfish. When dusk finally descended, I slept in a cosy cottage with a fat leather armchair and pine floorboards.
The next day, I climbed to the summit of the lighthouse and watched the chef snorkel around Hamneskär's coastline, looking for sugar kelp, Nori and sea lettuce. Then ended the weekend with a spot of fishing myself, if you could call it that. Not a single bite, but more epic views of the ocean and a few cold beers.
A two-night stay at Pater Noster (0046 304 303 10) costs SEK 15,300 (£1,199) per person, full board. Boat transfers from the mainland cost SEK 950 (£77) per person.
Simon Parker
The Dolomites, Italy
Escape to nature
At weekends, however long or short, whatever the season, I yearn for lofty peaks, crisp mountain air and the type of peace that's void of email alerts and messaging apps. Enter the Dolomites. Seeking the ultimate weekend away, my hiking boots and I took a direct flight from London to Bolzano – the getaway to Italy's Unesco-listed mountains – before travelling 30 minutes onwards to the small village of Seis am Schlern and the serenity of the five-star adults-only retreat, Sensoria Dolomites.
I had hoped for crowd-free trails and clear skies to backdrop the world-famous limestone peaks, and had planned to spend two days exploring the Schlern-Rosengarten Nature Park.
Then came the snow. After seeing out the worst of the storm in the calm of the spa – with floor-to-ceiling views of the tower mountains through the mist, from the heated pool and outdoor sauna – my waterproofs were put to the test on a 20km six-hour circular loop of the Seiser Alm plateau – the largest high Alpine pasture in Europe. All made uniquely more magical by the unseasonal blanket of white. After two nights of mountain rejuvenation, my calves ached with delight on my journey home – a telling sign, in my opinion, of a weekend well spent.
Sensoria Dolomite s (0039 0471 706522) offers doubles from €198 (£170) per person per night, all-inclusive, excluding flights. You can fly twice weekly from London Gatwick to Bolzano with SkyAlps from £165 each way.
Lucy Aspden-Kean
New York, United States
Yes, it's eight hours from the UK, and yes, there are easier city breaks – but once upon a time, the London-to-New-York weekend flit was all the rage; and for good reason. Back in the days when I could still leap off a red-eye flight and feel entirely human, I could race off to Heathrow from the office on a Thursday evening and, by 10pm that same day, alight at JFK.
The marvellous thing about a short trip to NYC is, of course, its compactness. Base yourself centrally in Manhattan, and you can zip about – on foot or by subway – with ease, from MoMA to the Met, via Russ & Daughters for bagels and a stroll in Central Park; nipping over to a little gallery in Brooklyn, then a nose round the shops in the Village, and back in Alphabet City in time for a craft beer, a bowl of ramen and a night on the tiles. For three full days, sleep and repeat – then, as I did, hop on the Sunday night red-eye, and you'll be back at your desk in time for the 9 o'clock meeting Monday morning. Ideal.
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