Destinations

Stay The Night: The Old Chapel, Stoke Fleming, Devon

~ Sarah Barrell

A derelict chapel has been transformed into a luxurious holiday let, and now it offers every possible comfort, says Sarah Barrell

It takes quite an event to bring our family to church. A wedding or funeral, perhaps. Or, in this case, the conversion of a 19th-century chapel just outside Dartmouth into a high-end holiday rental. It began and continued its life as a United Reformed Church 140 years ago, subsequently serving as a shop, storeroom and boathouse. The chapel was bought in 2009 by the Imlah family, who restored the near-derelict structure to its original elegant form, adding a level of comfort not always associated with places of worship.

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/hotels/stay-the-night-the-old-chapel-stoke-fleming-devon-6375910.html

Into the Canadian wilderness

~ Sarah Barrell

National Geographic Traveller: Life on Canada’s Arctic frontier, the Yukon, is deeply entwined with its timeless landscape of glaciers, mighty rivers and dominating mountains. Once the target of a gold-rush stampede, this little-known region of myth and legend will inspire and mesmerise.

Nature rules in the heart of the outback

~ Sarah Barrell

Independent on Sunday, 20 November 2011

Australia’s Eyre Peninsula is a harsh, empty place. Yet it’s soul stilling in its beauty

There is water everywhere. It runs off the tin roofs of farm buildings in a clattering rush, making great red rivers in the sand. Our Land Rover aquaplanes, chased by bolts of lightning, as cracks of thunder fall like boulders around us.

Through curtains of rain, I can see vast, water-filled clay pans that look like permanent lakes, yet given just two weeks of hot dry weather they will burn off to dust.

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/ausandpacific/nature-rules-in-the-heart-of-the-outback-6264774.html

You’re never too old to party. Ask Durham

~ Sarah Barrell

Independent on Sunday 13 November

City Slicker: Durham – The city is celebrating 25 years on the Unesco World Heritage list. Sarah Barrell offers ideas for new and returning visitors

Enclosed by a tight loop in the River Wear, medieval Durham, crowned by its colossal hilltop cathedral, is one of the UK’s most magical, picture-perfect cities.

A place of Christian pilgrimage since the 11th century, Durham has more lately seen the worshipful attentions of a burgeoning number of city-breakers plus Harry Potter fans seeking some of the early films’ locations. This year, the city celebrates 25 years since its walled old town became one of the first places in the UK to be inscribed on the Unesco World Heritage list.

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/youre-never-too-old-to-party-ask-durham-6261296.html?origin=internalSearch

Stay The Night: Trout Point Lodge

~ Sarah Barrell

Independent on Sunday 30 October 2011

With its Acadian history and rather Scottish setting, this luxury lodge could only be found in Nova Scotia, says Sarah Barrell

Trout Point Lodge sits pretty on the edge of a wilderness preserve that goes by a characteristically unpronounceable First Nations name: “Kejimkujik” – or “keji” as it’s locally known.

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/hotels/stay-the-night-trout-point-lodge-2377661.html?origin=internalSearch

Sarah Barrell: Line up at the lido for an Italian cultural lesson

~ Sarah Barrell

Travel notes: Independent on Sunday, 14 August 2011

If you’re packing for the Italian beach this summer, there is a list of essential kit to consider. Swimming togs in this season’s colours are clearly essential – coral pink and orange since you ask, and that includes you, chaps. As an accessory you will likely need the hide of a rhino or the patience of a saint.

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/sarah-barrell-line-up-at-the-lido-for-an-italian-cultural-lesson-2337195.html?origin=internalSearch

Stay The Night: Treehotel, Swedish Lapland

~ Sarah Barrell

Independent on Sunday, 21 June 2011

Sweden is home to a fantastical hotel experiment that will wow architecture fans but not comfort seekers, says Sarah Barrell

Like many good stories, this one began around a campfire.

In 2008, travel guide Kent Lindvall hosted one of his far-flung fishing trips to a remote part of Russia’s Kamchatka region. Here he got talking to his guests, Swedish architects, about the inspirational film Tradelskaren (The Tree Lover), where three urbanites rediscover their rural roots by building a house together in the woods.

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/hotels/stay-the-night-treehotel-swedish-lapland-2296336.html