TRAVEL PIECES
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SEOUL |
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IF you’re looking for a fresh take on an Asian adventure, then it’s time to jump on the Seoul train – and head for the streamlined sensation that is South Korea’s capital.
Flying into the modern Incheon International Airport, the views wow as the breathtaking green of rugged island landscapes pepper the turquoise blue sea, all leading to the industrial outskirts and high-rise central hub of Seoul. |
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It’s home to roughly a quarter of the country’s ever-growing 50 million population, making it one of Asia’s most populated cities and Korea’s economic powerhouse.
And in the country that brought Samsung electronics to the world, Seoul is the 21st Century Korea’s capital of cool.
Hip cafes and restaurants line its clean streets, while slick city skyscrapers silhouette each sunset
However, the city still offers a respectful bow to its proud history, with its 200-year-old entry gates two exquisite examples of how Seoul maintains its intoxicating traditional taste.
Five ancient Royal palaces – dating back to the 1300s – continue to impress.
Gyeongbokgung, Seoul’s oldest, stands guard in front of the snow-capped peaks of Mount Bugaksan. Entry is free and its grounds house both Korea’s Folk Museum and National Palace.
Travelling within Seoul is a breeze, with ultra-modern, fast, clean and efficient subways.
Signposts are rare, so your best bet if you want to stay over-ground is a taxi – swathes of which seem to outnumber potential clients.
Peel off from most streets and you’ll find a goldmine of flavour and culture.
And in the country that brought Samsung electronics to the world, Seoul is the 21st Century Korea’s capital of cool.
Hip cafes and restaurants line its clean streets, while slick city skyscrapers silhouette each sunset
However, the city still offers a respectful bow to its proud history, with its 200-year-old entry gates two exquisite examples of how Seoul maintains its intoxicating traditional taste.
Five ancient Royal palaces – dating back to the 1300s – continue to impress.
Gyeongbokgung, Seoul’s oldest, stands guard in front of the snow-capped peaks of Mount Bugaksan. Entry is free and its grounds house both Korea’s Folk Museum and National Palace.
Travelling within Seoul is a breeze, with ultra-modern, fast, clean and efficient subways.
Signposts are rare, so your best bet if you want to stay over-ground is a taxi – swathes of which seem to outnumber potential clients.
Peel off from most streets and you’ll find a goldmine of flavour and culture.
The Myeong-Dong market has hundreds of stalls every night, selling everything from skewer-fried octopus to chocolate hand-spun in more than 120,000 strings of caramel.
However, if it’s a true flavour of Korea that you seek, then – in stark contrast to Thailand, Vietnam or Japan – shying away from Seoul’s effervescent street food scene will greatly reward your palette.
In line with most Asian meals, chilli, garlic, soy sauce and sesame lie at the heart of Korean cuisine.
Yet, through the pickling of side dishes – a traditional Korean food craft known as Kimchi – the country has found its own foodie niche.
Almost every vegetable can be fermented in this historic way and is best devoured over the ever-sociable method of table barbecuing (bulgogi).
Cooking over an open flame is the way to eat and share meals, with prime cuts of meat buried in Kimchi, garlic and tangy sauce, folded in an aromatic leaf, eaten whole, and washed down with soju – whisky’s Asian pen-pal. Your taste buds will do cartwheels!
Indulge in the treat that’s taking Seoul’s nightlife by storm – a crunchy pile of fried chicken, washed down with locally brewed beer.
To sleep it all off, check in to the spell-binding five-star Grand Hyatt Hotel. The lobby offers the best view over the city’s south side. Its rooms, with ceiling-high windows, ensure you never miss out. Although the Thursday night barbecue doesn’t come cheap, after one plateful you’ll be willing to pay double.
Kia and Hyundai dominate the roads here. Snake out of the city and Korea’s modern highways will thrill you behind the wheel. Both brands are globally renowned for their dedication to innovation. A drive in either and you’ll know why Koreans worship them.
North Korea remains a no-go and is still one of the world’s greatest enigmas.
However, if it’s a true flavour of Korea that you seek, then – in stark contrast to Thailand, Vietnam or Japan – shying away from Seoul’s effervescent street food scene will greatly reward your palette.
In line with most Asian meals, chilli, garlic, soy sauce and sesame lie at the heart of Korean cuisine.
Yet, through the pickling of side dishes – a traditional Korean food craft known as Kimchi – the country has found its own foodie niche.
Almost every vegetable can be fermented in this historic way and is best devoured over the ever-sociable method of table barbecuing (bulgogi).
Cooking over an open flame is the way to eat and share meals, with prime cuts of meat buried in Kimchi, garlic and tangy sauce, folded in an aromatic leaf, eaten whole, and washed down with soju – whisky’s Asian pen-pal. Your taste buds will do cartwheels!
Indulge in the treat that’s taking Seoul’s nightlife by storm – a crunchy pile of fried chicken, washed down with locally brewed beer.
To sleep it all off, check in to the spell-binding five-star Grand Hyatt Hotel. The lobby offers the best view over the city’s south side. Its rooms, with ceiling-high windows, ensure you never miss out. Although the Thursday night barbecue doesn’t come cheap, after one plateful you’ll be willing to pay double.
Kia and Hyundai dominate the roads here. Snake out of the city and Korea’s modern highways will thrill you behind the wheel. Both brands are globally renowned for their dedication to innovation. A drive in either and you’ll know why Koreans worship them.
North Korea remains a no-go and is still one of the world’s greatest enigmas.
However, head an hour out of Seoul and take in the de-militarised zone between the North and South.
Its exhibits lay bare the horror of the great Korean wars and the viewing dock’s binoculars allow you to peer in on the state’s ‘propaganda villages’ – stage props which try to portray comfortable living.
Turn back around, though, and you experience the real thing: South Korea - a beautiful, culturally rich wonderland where old meets new, new meets newer, and where you should try everything... even octopus on a skewer!
Info pane
Direct flights from London Heathrow to Incheon International Airport, Seoul, take around 11 hours and are available from
Korean Air: koreanair.com
Economy flights from £722.
The Grand Hyatt Hotel in Seoul has rooms starting at £115: www.seoul.grand.hyatt.com
Its exhibits lay bare the horror of the great Korean wars and the viewing dock’s binoculars allow you to peer in on the state’s ‘propaganda villages’ – stage props which try to portray comfortable living.
Turn back around, though, and you experience the real thing: South Korea - a beautiful, culturally rich wonderland where old meets new, new meets newer, and where you should try everything... even octopus on a skewer!
Info pane
Direct flights from London Heathrow to Incheon International Airport, Seoul, take around 11 hours and are available from
Korean Air: koreanair.com
Economy flights from £722.
The Grand Hyatt Hotel in Seoul has rooms starting at £115: www.seoul.grand.hyatt.com
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VAL THORENS |
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“IN Val Thorens, we don’t want all the ‘bling-bling’. We’re all about the fun and the simplistic – an atmosphere which people love.”
Sipping €14 cocktails in the bar of the five-star Altapura Hotel, where a top-spec Apple computer has been left on the handbag page of the Gucci website and the glossy Russian magazines on its sleek wooden table-tops advertise yachts and supercars – it would be hard to believe Gregory Guzzo, Val Thorens head of tourism, in his surmising of the French retreat. |
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But as crazy as it sounds, the reigning best ski resort on the planet – which is currently slap-bang in the middle of ski season – is exactly that: easy, unassuming and chilled in every way.
Okay, sure – the snow-covered town boasts incredible (expensive!) hotels, Michelin-starred restaurants and is a winter-sports playground for the rich and famous.
But the mind-blowing mountain terrain 2,300m above sea-level offers a truly breath-taking vacation to holiday-makers on any budget, with as much value and adventure for novice skiers and low-cost travellers as it has zass and panache for the big-spenders.
Isolated in the Tarentaise Valley of the French Alps, Val Thorens is two-and-a-half hours from Switzerland’s Geneva Airport.
Buses run regularly – as they do from Chambéry, Lyon and Grenoble – but your best bet is a luxury VW minivan, provided by Val Thorens’ own First Exclusive Transfer.
Val Thorens has 25,000 beds, but only a thousand of those are dedicated to four and five star residencies.
I checked-in to the four-star Le Val Thorens hotel – just yards from its five-star sister, the Fitz Roy – where comfortable beds are surrounded by cosy wooden alcoves.
Okay, sure – the snow-covered town boasts incredible (expensive!) hotels, Michelin-starred restaurants and is a winter-sports playground for the rich and famous.
But the mind-blowing mountain terrain 2,300m above sea-level offers a truly breath-taking vacation to holiday-makers on any budget, with as much value and adventure for novice skiers and low-cost travellers as it has zass and panache for the big-spenders.
Isolated in the Tarentaise Valley of the French Alps, Val Thorens is two-and-a-half hours from Switzerland’s Geneva Airport.
Buses run regularly – as they do from Chambéry, Lyon and Grenoble – but your best bet is a luxury VW minivan, provided by Val Thorens’ own First Exclusive Transfer.
Val Thorens has 25,000 beds, but only a thousand of those are dedicated to four and five star residencies.
I checked-in to the four-star Le Val Thorens hotel – just yards from its five-star sister, the Fitz Roy – where comfortable beds are surrounded by cosy wooden alcoves.
Like the majority of the resort’s residencies, its location means it’s ski-in ski-out, allowing guests to leave the hotel directly onto the piste. Lockers are provided in the speciality ski room in which equipment can be stored overnight.
I could go on about Val Thorens’ hotels, their quality, their views, Club Med and the climbing wall in its foyer – but let’s cut to the chase...whether you’re in an igloo or the sensational Koh-I-Noor, you’re heading to Val Thorens for one thing: it’s stupendous slopes.
All 78 different runs, to be precise – and that’s just en piste.
Let your ears pop as you’re carried to heights of 3,230m by some of the resort’s 32 ski lifts – and leave with all of your senses tingling after racing down the mountains in the most eye-watering environment anywhere in the world.
The resort challenges skiers and snowboarders of any level, with classes for beginners and world championship quality ski-cross routes for pros.
But that’s not all to do in the winter cold of Val Thorens.
The resort, for one, is home to Europe’s longest zip-wire. Strap yourself in and sail from mountain-to-mountain at 100kmh. Definitely not for those who get a fright from height but a must for adrenaline junkies: the views, rush and speed – truly unmissable.
The World Snow Awards announced Val Thorens as its ‘Most Improved European Resort’ in 2013. Three years earlier the resort had chosen to make big changes, shifting to the more exclusive clientele that it now caters so superbly well for.
However, instead of turning away the younger guests that flooded to its party scene, they remain welcome.
The revamp heralded new days for Val Thorens, capped with the winning of the World’s Best Ski Resort tag in 2013 and 2014.
I could go on about Val Thorens’ hotels, their quality, their views, Club Med and the climbing wall in its foyer – but let’s cut to the chase...whether you’re in an igloo or the sensational Koh-I-Noor, you’re heading to Val Thorens for one thing: it’s stupendous slopes.
All 78 different runs, to be precise – and that’s just en piste.
Let your ears pop as you’re carried to heights of 3,230m by some of the resort’s 32 ski lifts – and leave with all of your senses tingling after racing down the mountains in the most eye-watering environment anywhere in the world.
The resort challenges skiers and snowboarders of any level, with classes for beginners and world championship quality ski-cross routes for pros.
But that’s not all to do in the winter cold of Val Thorens.
The resort, for one, is home to Europe’s longest zip-wire. Strap yourself in and sail from mountain-to-mountain at 100kmh. Definitely not for those who get a fright from height but a must for adrenaline junkies: the views, rush and speed – truly unmissable.
The World Snow Awards announced Val Thorens as its ‘Most Improved European Resort’ in 2013. Three years earlier the resort had chosen to make big changes, shifting to the more exclusive clientele that it now caters so superbly well for.
However, instead of turning away the younger guests that flooded to its party scene, they remain welcome.
The revamp heralded new days for Val Thorens, capped with the winning of the World’s Best Ski Resort tag in 2013 and 2014.
It’s central street of bars can still attract a fairly rowdy crowd of young skiers, but the exclusivity of its finer premises allow for both worlds to exist with ease.
A day on the slopes has to be punctuated by eating in some of Val Thorens’ best restaurants.
Chez Pépé Nicolas is an active farm on the other side of the mountains from Val Thorens. Only accessible by car or bus, the restaurant has a lot to answer for if you’ve taken the only alternative route to its front door, off piste skiing. But wow does it live up to it.
The view is simply perfect and best enjoyed with a beer. Opt for a bottle of locally brewed Biere des 3 Vallées or Brassarie du Mont Blanc, a delicious blonde beer - as you catch your breath and toast to the jewel in the crown of global snow-sports.
Info pane:
Flights: Easyjet from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Newcastle and London directly to Geneva, starting at £32.
Accommodation: www.hotelfitzroy.com and www.levalthorens.com. Rooms start at €125 a night.
Ski Passes: €48 and €38.40 for adults and kids per day, €228/€182.40 for six days.
Private minivan with driver: www.first-exclusivetransfer.fr, €480 from Geneva.
For more information: www.valthorens.com
A day on the slopes has to be punctuated by eating in some of Val Thorens’ best restaurants.
Chez Pépé Nicolas is an active farm on the other side of the mountains from Val Thorens. Only accessible by car or bus, the restaurant has a lot to answer for if you’ve taken the only alternative route to its front door, off piste skiing. But wow does it live up to it.
The view is simply perfect and best enjoyed with a beer. Opt for a bottle of locally brewed Biere des 3 Vallées or Brassarie du Mont Blanc, a delicious blonde beer - as you catch your breath and toast to the jewel in the crown of global snow-sports.
Info pane:
Flights: Easyjet from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Newcastle and London directly to Geneva, starting at £32.
Accommodation: www.hotelfitzroy.com and www.levalthorens.com. Rooms start at €125 a night.
Ski Passes: €48 and €38.40 for adults and kids per day, €228/€182.40 for six days.
Private minivan with driver: www.first-exclusivetransfer.fr, €480 from Geneva.
For more information: www.valthorens.com
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FLORIDA |
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Legoland Florida has officially put itself on the map in the Sunshine State.
The park, in Winter Haven - roughly 40 minutes from Disney World - opened in 2011, and already boasts a wealth of roller-coasters, shows and rides spread across an impressive 11 different lands and areas. But it is its latest expansion, the ‘World of Chima’ - and its game-changing centre-piece, the interactive water ride ‘Quest for Chi’ - that are allowing the park to make real waves with holiday-makers of all ages. |
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In the congested market of Florida - the theme park capital of the world - you’d be forgiven for believing this was one Lego build too far for Merlon’s ambitions. Legoland’s appeal is aimed directly at young families, which restricts the park to attractions that suit kids between the ages of two and 12.
But the World of Chima’s showcase ride ‘Quest for Chi’ is so revolutionary, so innovative, and - most importantly - so downright fun, that it not only puts the park on the map for guests of all ages, but really boosts the park’s influence within Florida.
Welcome to the World of Chima, where life revolves around the mysterious energy source of chi.
It is the mystical substance that provides the animals which roam the planet special powers, but so sought after that it brings conflict to the land. The theme is already popular in a new line of Lego toys, and a hit animated series on Cartoon Network.
And now you’re involved, tasked with fending off the evil crocodiles, claiming back the stolen chi and safely returning it to Chima’s hero prince, Laval the Lion, as you set off on the Quest for Chi.
It’s from the get-go an enticing and absorbing adventure experience, the 4D experience in the queue alone ensuring you’re ready for this most almighty journey.
Then it’s onto the boats, all of which are armed with hand-cranked water jets to help defend you on this great mission. There’s eight per ship, four each side.
Jumping aboard we’re informed that sitting on one side allows you more of an opportunity to soak passers-by and go into battle with the scamps who’ll man the arsenal of water guns lining our route.
The opposite side? Well, we’re told the following: “Sitting there you’ll get caught underneath the waterfall.”
Cue mayhem!
But the World of Chima’s showcase ride ‘Quest for Chi’ is so revolutionary, so innovative, and - most importantly - so downright fun, that it not only puts the park on the map for guests of all ages, but really boosts the park’s influence within Florida.
Welcome to the World of Chima, where life revolves around the mysterious energy source of chi.
It is the mystical substance that provides the animals which roam the planet special powers, but so sought after that it brings conflict to the land. The theme is already popular in a new line of Lego toys, and a hit animated series on Cartoon Network.
And now you’re involved, tasked with fending off the evil crocodiles, claiming back the stolen chi and safely returning it to Chima’s hero prince, Laval the Lion, as you set off on the Quest for Chi.
It’s from the get-go an enticing and absorbing adventure experience, the 4D experience in the queue alone ensuring you’re ready for this most almighty journey.
Then it’s onto the boats, all of which are armed with hand-cranked water jets to help defend you on this great mission. There’s eight per ship, four each side.
Jumping aboard we’re informed that sitting on one side allows you more of an opportunity to soak passers-by and go into battle with the scamps who’ll man the arsenal of water guns lining our route.
The opposite side? Well, we’re told the following: “Sitting there you’ll get caught underneath the waterfall.”
Cue mayhem!
As us guys leap for the front line, the girls dart anxious glances, almost waving pre-sail white flags as they seek a refugee camp for the make-up clad. The boat almost tips in the furore of excitement and trepidation.
It might as well have – once the ride got underway, we could not have gotten more drenched!
Quest for Chi is an absolute blast - I defy anyone who fails to be consumed by that inner-child with water gun in hand as it gets underway.
Your boat sets sail round the snaking waterways of Chima, on the magical waters flowing from Mount Cavora, where our aquatic arsenal is our defence against Cragger the Crocodile King.
In theory, anyway.
In practice, it’s all about drenching those brave enough to take on your crew from the relative unsafety of the dry land lining the side of the ride. Or - and quite frequently more accurately - those in the boat before you unlucky enough to be angled into no-man’s land by the track of the ride.
It might as well have – once the ride got underway, we could not have gotten more drenched!
Quest for Chi is an absolute blast - I defy anyone who fails to be consumed by that inner-child with water gun in hand as it gets underway.
Your boat sets sail round the snaking waterways of Chima, on the magical waters flowing from Mount Cavora, where our aquatic arsenal is our defence against Cragger the Crocodile King.
In theory, anyway.
In practice, it’s all about drenching those brave enough to take on your crew from the relative unsafety of the dry land lining the side of the ride. Or - and quite frequently more accurately - those in the boat before you unlucky enough to be angled into no-man’s land by the track of the ride.
There’s no (dry) bones about it: take any approach to the ride – the all-guns-a-blazing, the semi-cautious, the entire-body-underneath-a-poncho-cautious – you get soaked on Chima, and you drench everyone else. Whether it’s the water guns themselves or it’s the waterfall pounding down on the boat from the incredible looking Mount Cavora, this ride is designed to get you wet. It does, but it is such great fun and so exciting that you barely have time to even notice.
For kids and fun-loving adults alike, the Quest for Chi is a ride that you could go on again and again and still find a different thrill to before. There’s always someone difficult to soak, and that prankster who drenched you from the side platform the last time round will still be there for you to seek your revenge.
Legoland Florida is specifically targeted at the market of younger children, kids aged 12 and under, and in turn it lacks the white-knuckle thrills and spills its Orlando rivals may have. Rather than hide away from this though, the park rightly embraces it, and bills itself as pink-knuckle – a title which, amongst coasters that are designed to take the youngest of adrenaline junkies to their pre-teen limits, ensures that boys and girls leave Legoland feeling they’ve conquered something truly awesome.
With this new ride, the Quest for Chi, Legoland Florida really have proven that it does not purely require loops, corkscrews, hairpin bends and 4G drops to offer a thrilling day out at a theme park. The ride, the first of its kind in Florida - and which could easily fit in as comfortably within Legoland’s attached Water Park – offers the most simple type of fun, but it is great, almighty fun at that, where even the most reluctant will take a drenching with a laughing smile.
Elsewhere in the park, the steel ‘Project X’ roller-coaster offers big drops and quick turns, while the wooden ‘Coastersaurus’ offers a high-speed dash over the humps of a spinosaurus. Visit the ‘Lost Kingdom Adventure’ if you want to test your aim once more – but this time without getting wet! – in a laser battle through an ancient Egyptian tomb, or swing by Legoland’s attached water park for a small additional cost and wind down floating peacefully on its lazy river, or bob away in the powerful wave pool.
Info pane:
British Airways (0844 493 0758/ba.com) offers both flights and accommodation packages for families and groups of all sizes.
If booking your accommodation separately, the Holiday Inn, Winter Haven, is the perfect place for taking in Legoland, with huge rooms, air conditioning, breakfast buffet and outdoor swimming pool.
For kids and fun-loving adults alike, the Quest for Chi is a ride that you could go on again and again and still find a different thrill to before. There’s always someone difficult to soak, and that prankster who drenched you from the side platform the last time round will still be there for you to seek your revenge.
Legoland Florida is specifically targeted at the market of younger children, kids aged 12 and under, and in turn it lacks the white-knuckle thrills and spills its Orlando rivals may have. Rather than hide away from this though, the park rightly embraces it, and bills itself as pink-knuckle – a title which, amongst coasters that are designed to take the youngest of adrenaline junkies to their pre-teen limits, ensures that boys and girls leave Legoland feeling they’ve conquered something truly awesome.
With this new ride, the Quest for Chi, Legoland Florida really have proven that it does not purely require loops, corkscrews, hairpin bends and 4G drops to offer a thrilling day out at a theme park. The ride, the first of its kind in Florida - and which could easily fit in as comfortably within Legoland’s attached Water Park – offers the most simple type of fun, but it is great, almighty fun at that, where even the most reluctant will take a drenching with a laughing smile.
Elsewhere in the park, the steel ‘Project X’ roller-coaster offers big drops and quick turns, while the wooden ‘Coastersaurus’ offers a high-speed dash over the humps of a spinosaurus. Visit the ‘Lost Kingdom Adventure’ if you want to test your aim once more – but this time without getting wet! – in a laser battle through an ancient Egyptian tomb, or swing by Legoland’s attached water park for a small additional cost and wind down floating peacefully on its lazy river, or bob away in the powerful wave pool.
Info pane:
British Airways (0844 493 0758/ba.com) offers both flights and accommodation packages for families and groups of all sizes.
If booking your accommodation separately, the Holiday Inn, Winter Haven, is the perfect place for taking in Legoland, with huge rooms, air conditioning, breakfast buffet and outdoor swimming pool.
