{"id":1005,"date":"2021-06-04T08:41:23","date_gmt":"2021-06-04T08:41:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/disabledfamilybreaks.com\/?p=1005"},"modified":"2021-06-04T08:41:23","modified_gmt":"2021-06-04T08:41:23","slug":"best-of-british-5-quiet-alternative-mini-break-destinations-in-the-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disabledfamilybreaks.com\/best-of-british-5-quiet-alternative-mini-break-destinations-in-the-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"Best of British: 5 quiet alternative mini-break destinations in the UK"},"content":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s going to be another stay-local, explore-your-own-backyard type of summer, but the prospect of overcrowded beaches and booked hotels in the most popular UK towns and resorts seems less than appealing.<\/p>\n
Here are five of the best alternative destinations \u2014 where sublime scenery, superb food and gorgeous slumbers abound, but a weekend visit won\u2019t require booking four months ahead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Like Brighton? You\u2019ll love: Incredibly, the Parisian-looking sweep of Lord Street in Southport was an inspiration for a young Louis-Napol\u00e9on Bonaparte. Staying here as a young man, the future Napol\u00e9on III (nephew of the great man himself) based his designs for the boulevards of the French capital on this beguiling North-West seaside town. You\u2019ll never struggle for room on the beach, one of the biggest in the country with the Irish Sea disappearing beyond the horizon at low tide. The pier is a beauty, the second longest in the UK after Southend. There\u2019s a retro amusement arcade where you swap your currency for Fifties pennies to play pinball and one-armed bandits dating back to Edwardian times. Superior slumbers await in the Art Deco era cinema, now the Vincent Hotel (thevincenthotel.com, doubles from \u00a397 B&B) which has an excellent brasserie and is five minutes from the beach.<\/p>\n If you like Devon you\u2019ll love: Push on past Snowdonia for an extra hour and you\u2019ll reach the most quintessentially Welsh part of Wales. Patched and quilted fields, dog-tooth mountains, white sand beaches and adherence to the native tongue (Welsh is very much the first language). The walking is terrific: there\u2019s none better than the five-hour stretch of the Wales Coast Path that takes you along the cliffs to the summit of Mynydd Mawr. Along the way you might spot seals and peregrine falcons. Afterwards, drive to Plas Bodegroes; a Georgian manor house with one of the finest restaurants in Wales serving sublimely spruced-up local comfort food such as chargrilled Welsh black beef with wild garlic mayo. Rooms boast antique furniture, Egyptian linen and fine views of the meadows beyond.<\/p>\n If you like the Cotswolds you\u2019ll love: The countryside is every bit the equal of the Cotswolds, but this pretty Shropshire town is, quite simply, one of the UK\u2019s greatest foodie destinations. The choices are immense but on no account should you miss tasting the piscine pleasures on offer at The Fish House (thefishhouseludlow.co.uk) such as oysters, smoked mackerel and dressed crab, and the modern British delights at Mortimers (mortimersludlow.co.uk) like pressed duck with pastrami and celeriac. Work off the calories with a climb up to the tower of St Laurence\u2019s church with vistas across the Clee Hills, and pay your respects to the region\u2019s most famous son, poet A E Housman (author of A Shropshire Lad) who rests in the graveyard. Stay the night at Dinham Hall (dinhamhall.co.uk, doubles from \u00a3115 B&B), a Georgian mansion with 13 rooms bedecked with chandeliers and ornate mirrors.<\/p>\n If you like Bath you\u2019ll love: Time to put to bed put the greatest urban myth of this city on the Welsh border: contrary to popular belief, it\u2019s no longer legal to shoot a Welshman with a bow and arrow from Chester\u2019s walls. Anyhow, the chances are you\u2019ll be too busy soaking up one of the prettiest historic cities in Europe. The Rows are unique Tudor-era covered arcades which stretch around Chester\u2019s main streets \u2014 one of the earliest examples of multi-level shopping. The Roman amphitheatre is one of the largest in the UK, formerly the location for cock fighting and bull baiting, while Chester Zoo houses Asiatic lions and black rhinos. Dine at Da Noi (danoichester.co.uk) where Valentina Aviotti creates delicate Italian dishes such as pecorino flan with red onion jam, rosemary and pancetta. Bed in for the night at the Grosvenor Hotel (chestergrosvenor.com, doubles from \u00a3162 B&B), a Victorian wedding cake of a hotel by the Eastgate Clock, with paintings from the late Duke of Westminster\u2019s personal collection and seriously glitzy dining courtesy of Simon Radley\u2019s eponymous restaurant \u2014 which has held a Michelin star for over 30 years.<\/p>\n If you like Stratford you\u2019ll love: Charles Dickens wrote that this bucolic Suffolk market town was \u201ca handsome town of thriving and cleanly appearance\u201d. Over a century on and the compliments still apply. Slap bang in the centre of town are the huge Abbey Gardens which contain the remains of the 11th-century Abbey of St Edmund, once one of the biggest monasteries in Europe. More diminutive is The Nutshell. At a mere 15ft by 7ft, it claims to be the smallest pub in Britain. Take dinner at Pea Porridge (peaporridge.co.uk), a rustic space for chef Justin Sharp\u2019s creations including Berber black pudding with stuffed squid, samphire and romesco. Dickens himself and, some time later, Angelina Jolie, have both stayed at The Angel hotel (theangel.co.uk, doubles from \u00a3170 B&B); a handsome coaching inn with free-standing baths in the rooms and killer cocktails in the Wingspan Bar downstairs.<\/p>\n
\nSOUTHPORT<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nTHE LLYN PENINSULA<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nLUDLOW<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nCHESTER<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nBURY ST EDMUNDS<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n