(Photo: Jorg Greuel/Getty/Stone RF)
In the Baltic Sea, just off the north-east corner of Germany, Rügen is the country’s biggest island.
Within its 926 sq km visitors will find everything from strudel-coloured beaches and pier-fronted seaside towns, such as Binz and Sellin, to lagoon-laced nature reserves, beech forests with treetop walkways, and the 100m-high white coastal cliffs of Unesco-protected Jasmund National Park.
For rail enthusiasts, there’s even a vintage steam-powered railway called the Rushing Roland. Deutsche Bahn runs train services that spirit passengers from Berlin to Stralsund (a bridge away from Rügen) in three hours, and double hotel rooms can easily be found for between £90 and £120 on the island.
For a round-island experience, Inntravel offers the seven-night “Rügen, an Island Revealed” self-guided cycling holiday, which includes seven nights’ B&B accommodation, five dinners, cycle hire and luggage transfers from £1,715pp.
Læsø, DenmarkLæsø in Denmark as beautiful beaches
(Photo: Kjetil Løite)
Bobbing in the Kattegat Strait between Danish Frederikshaven and Swedish Gothenburg, Læsø has some of the highest number of sunshine hours in Denmark.
While it’s easy to while away the sunny days on the island’s 25km of sandy beaches, visitors should also make time to check out the salt works, where salt is produced using medieval methods, and do the rounds of Læsø’s traditional seaweed roofed houses.
Summer in Læsø also means locally caught lobsters – and restaurants around the island serve them up in all kinds of dishes, including soups and pizzas.
Daily ferries connect Læsø with mainland Frederikshavn (a two-hour drive north of Aarhus, which is served by direct Ryanair flights from the UK).
Seaview rooms at the Havnebakken Badehotel can be booked from £138 a night, and doubles at the converted farmhouse hotel, Hotel Strandgaarden, start at £149 a night.
Ven, SwedenA harbour in Ven, Denmark (Photo: Oskar Faldt)
Visitors to Ven, in the Öresund Strait between Sweden and Denmark, are encouraged to leave their cars behind on the mainland and explore the island using its 1,600-strong fleet of yellow bikes.
Cycle routes take in the sights for riders, including the Tycho Brache Museum, where they can learn about the 16th-century astronomer of the same name, and the Spirit of Ven Distillery, which hosts tours and whisky tastings. Rides can also be broken up with fika (which, loosely, means lengthy coffee and cake stops) at the island’s cafés or picnics atop Ven’s 40m-high sea view slopes, known locally as backafallen.
Ferries from Landskrona (a 30-minute train ride north of Malmö) run daily, and in summer ferries also operate directly from Malmö itself.
A night’s stay for two people at the House of Hven guesthouse costs from £220 including breakfast and dinner, while glamping at Camp Ven starts at £168 a night for two.
Åland, FinlandCamping on the Aland Islands
As temperatures nudge up to highs of 19°C, summer is the best time to go island hopping in Finland’s Åland archipelago.
There are more than 6,700 inhabited and uninhabited isles and skerries to discover, each one offering a different sight from Bronze Age settlements to sunbathing seals. The main island – also called Åland – is a great springboard to the wider archipelago, but its capital, Mariehamn, is also worthy of a visit.
The “Town of a Thousand Lime Trees” is home to a generous helping of shops and restaurants – be sure to try the spongy Åland pancakes – and a clutch of museums that offer an insight into topics such as the archipelago’s maritime history and how Åland became an autonomous region of Finland in
the 1920s. Both ferries and planes (Amapola and Finnair) connect Åland with Stockholm in Sweden and Turku and Helsinki in Finland.
Double rooms at hotels such as Hotel Pommern, Park Alandia Hotel and Hotel Arkipelag are available for between £136 and £206 a night. Alternatively, Best Served Scandinavia offers a five-night trip that combines a stay in Åland with time in Stockholm and Helsinki from £1,510pp, including flights from the UK, ferry travel, transfers and some meals.
Saaremaa, EstoniaCycling in Saarema (Photo: Chloe Mackay)
As you might expect from the largest of Estonia’s 2,000 islands, Saaremaa presents visitors with a lengthy to-do list. The 7,500-year-old Kaali meteorite crater, the tipsily tilting Kiipsaare Lighthouse and Kuressaare Castle – one of the best-preserved Medieval fortresses in Estonia – are just a few of the sights to tick off in between activities such as beach combing and farm-to-fork dining.
A day trip to neighbouring Kihnu is another must. This pint-sized island has a matriarchal society, which visitors can delve into at the Kihnu Museum, on guided home visits and during round-island truck tours. The ferry to Saaremaa from mainland Virtsu takes 27 minutes, while the drive from Tallinn to Virtsu is just under two hours.
Rooms at Pilguse Residency on Saaremaa cost from £130 a night while a night’s stay at the eye-catching ÖÖD Mirror Cabins starts at £170. Alternatively, Regent Holidays offers an 11-day Estonia on the Road roadtrip package that starts in Tallinn and includes island hopping to Saaremaa and Kihnu from £1,295pp.
São Miguel, AzoresThe stunnign Azores (Photo: Cavan Images/Cavan Images RF)
With Azores Airlines laying on a new service between London Gatwick and Ponta Delgada between June and September, São Miguel will be even more accessible this summer.
The island’s long list of lures includes the twin crater lakes at Sete Cidades, the geothermal pools at Furnas, and the 30m Salto do Rosal waterfall.
Summer is also peak whale-watching season in The Azores and tours on everything from RIBs to catamarans can easily be picked up from Ponta Delgada marina.
Flights to Ponta Delgada with Azores Airlines are available for less than £200 return this summer. Regent Holidays, meanwhile, offers the eight-day “Family Adventures in the Azores” package, which includes direct flights from the UK, seven-nights at the Azoris Royal Garden Hotel and excursions such as whale watching and lake canoeing from £1,650 per adult and £1,575 per child.
St Martin’s, Isle of ScillyThe weather is mild, even in winter (Photo: Getty)
The third-largest of the Scilly Isles, St Martin’s pairs clotted cream-coloured beaches with attractions such as the SC Dogs Distillery and St Martin’s Vineyard, which both offer tours and tastings. Also available are kayaking trips to the nearby uninhabited island of Tean and snorkelling tours for the opportunity to go swimming with seals.
The climate is mild, even in winter, and skies above St Martin’s are especially dark – the island’s observatory is open for public stargazing nights once a week throughout summer.
The Scillonian III passenger ferry travels from Penzance to neighbouring St Mary’s at least eight times a week in summer, and onward travel to St Martin’s is available via the “tripper” boats that operate out of St Mary’s Quay.
Double rooms at the waterfront Karma St Martin’s start at £240 B&B.
Gran Canaria,SpainThe village of Tejeda, in Gran Canaria (Photo: F.J. Jimenez/Moment RF)
Thanks to cooling winds that breeze in from the Azores, Gran Canaria is balmy rather than boiling in summer, with temperatures reaching highs of around 20°C to 23°C between June and August.
Known as “the miniature continent” for the variety in its landscapes, the third-largest Canary Island promises billowing sand dunes, whitewashed fishing villages, palm-pronged valleys, mountains, and more than 80 beaches with sand the same colour as the island’s bienmesabe marzipan treats.
Direct flights to Las Palmas operate regularly from airports across the UK. Tui offers a seven-night package holiday to the 5T+ Hotel Riu Palace Oasis in dune-clad Maspalomas on a B&B basis from £792pp including flights from London Gatwick departing 11 July.
Jet2holidays, meanwhile, has a seven-night B&B stay at the five-star Radisson Blu Resort and Spa in Puerto de Mogan, with its yacht-dotted marina, starting from £1,019pp including flights from Manchester on 2 July.
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Publish date : 2024-06-01 05:00:00
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