Places to return to - those that pull on our heart-strings 

It has been a hard few years - travelwise - so why don't we get a little nostalgic?

(Riga, Latvia)

Many people have a 'bucket list', a grab-bag of hopes and half-plans which they aim to achieve and carry out, given half a chance (and enough cash, if they're talking travel!). Having been in the fortunate business of travelling and photographing and writing about our discoveries for over thirty years, we have a unique set of longings.

For us, it's the desire to re-visit loved places, a few where we have spent some time - but not enough - and others where we have shot through with only enough moments to collect the facts and press-packs and a bunch of images.

Too short. Too fast.

So here is our 'Re-bucket list.' Our selection of places we would like to revisit, and some wishes for the 'next time' we visit. If you're wondering why there are some notable omissions, it may be because we have a few more categories coming up later and your favourite could  be included there. For now, these are the places we want to see again. But feel free to comment on the Facebook page, or at the end of this page.

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Cornwall, UK

We loved it for its smuggler-coves and 'Doc Martin' scenery, as well as the local accents (Ooorgh!) and the tastes - apple cider, Cornish cream and ice cream, and pasties - once made as miners' lunches, sweet at one end and savoury at the other, a complete meal in one hand. 

Next Time: we'd like to stay a week in a clifftop cottage.

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Denmark

What's not to love about this cute little country where the locals repeatedly tell you 'We are a country of only four milllion people, so why would anyone else learn Danish?' before  speaking flawlessly in any number of other languages? Plus the Crown Prince had the great good sense to choose an Australian-born 'princess'! 

Next Time: come in summer when the red poppies are out in the fields.

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Guernsey, Channel Islands

This remote island, nearer to France than the UK, was where William the Conqueror of Normandy chose to exile his uncle, a bishop who disapproved of his (Wm the C's) marriage. That same 11th-century cleric, Bishop Mauger, is believed to have made the best of it and started a dynasty of his own, and today Mauger is a common surname on the island. My great-grandmother came from here and, you guessed it, her maiden name was Mauger! 

Next Time: research my genealogy.

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Ile de Ré, France

On France's Atlantic coast, this tiny island was once much better known for its salt (still gathered here) than its surf and sailboats. The dazzling whitewashed cottages have quirky painted murals and the pajama-wearing donkeys that once were used to work the salt pans are still here - minus their PJs.

Next Time: walk around the island.

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India

Only one visit to this huge and diverse country is just not enough, but the colours, the movement, the energy  of this place has stayed with us. Now it's time to explore further, and deeper, and touch the pulse of this land. 

Next Time: stay in a palace.

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Lake Geneva, Switzerland

Until visiting here, our concept of Switzerland was of cheese and chocolate, cuckoo clocks and mountains. Here the beauty of the mountain trimmed lake won our hearts - especially the giant fork at Vevey - as did the wines from vineyards cascading down the steepest slopes. 

Next Time: dawdle through some of the upland villages.

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Mauritius

A visit in February, the southern hemisphere summer, left us limp and exhausted on our first and only visit to this tropical Indian Ocean island. Despite this the beaches and coastline, lush sugarcane fields (producing top rate rum) and the exuberant mix of ethnic groups made it a must for this list. 

Next Time: Visit in June or July!

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Northumberland, UK

Even before I realised my northern-UK heritage, I was smitten by this region. Those enormous views where from Hadrian's Wall (which my ancestors might have climbed) you can see almost clear across England or into the lowlands of Scotland win me every time. 

Next Time: visit the family home and dig up some more ancestral info!

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Pangkor, Malaysia

Sometimes a place doesn't have to do anything except be itself. This kilometre-long beach is home to hundreds of tiny scuttling crabs and at the far end, monkeys cavort over the rocks. The water is clear as vodka and those sea-almond trees shade the lounges where you could relax and read, and snooze, all day. 

Next Time: Stay TWO weeks!

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Penang, Malaysia

Well, it's a toss-up to explain the lure of this island. It's been called the 'pearl of the orient' because of its beauty, and we love that, but there's more. The Tropical Fruit Farm high in the hinterland always begs a visit, as do roadside durian stalls, the streets of bustling hawker stalls and restaurants serving fragrant nyona far. 

Next Time: eat every meal at a different place.

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Riga, Latvia

Our first and only visit was shortly after the Russians  withdrew from the city, yet even then its beauty and elegance was quite apparent. We fell in love with it, met some people who are still close friends (long story!) and are delighted at its growth and prosperity. 

Next Time: explore the countryside around the city.

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Beara Peninsula, Ireland

Everyone, it seems, does the verdant Ring of Kerry. We travelled the adjoining Beara peninsula and discovered grey, weathered crags, woolly sheep, and vertiginously steep cliffs plunging into the Atlantic. The hardy locals, though, know how to cheer up their streetscapes. 

Next Time: spend some evenings in the pubs with the musician and some Guinness.

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Sark, Channel Islands

One of the few places in the world where cars are not allowed and feudal rule remains. You can travel by cart or tractor, or walk around this tiny island's laneways. A ferry-ride from Guernsey, Sark, is an island cut-and-pasted from another age. 

Next Time: stay overnight in a bed and breakfast.

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Savannah, Georgia, USA

Visited only once on a trip many years ago, yet we'd return 'in a heartbeat'. Why? Gracious ante-bellum houses, genuine southern courtesy (my host called me M's Sally, the whole time) and boiled peanuts in their shells for sale on the roadsides. Spanish moss drips from every tree, and kudzu (an imported pest-plant) threatens to engulf anything that stands still long enough. 

Next Time: take it slower, it's the pace of this place.

Shetland, UK

After 36 hours of flying and transiting, it was on a cliffside like this that we stood still at last and watched hosts of seabirds at their rookery, nesting, wheeling off over the grey-green waters, then circling back, screeching. These farflung islands are so bleak and windblown that trees cannot take root, yet people have somehow clung to existance since prehistoric times. There are the standing stones to prove it. 

Next Time: visit the B&B in which we stayed that first night and eat again the best mushroom soup ever!

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Sicily, Italy

The symbol of Sicily is three legs (one for each cape) and that sums this place up. There is no one thing to return for - although another ramble through Palermo's market, or a visit to the cathedral sping to mind - as the island is so rich, so diverse, so layered with history and supertition and myth, you could spend a lifetime here. 

Next Time: revisit Erice, improbably poised like a fairy kingdom on a mountaintop.

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Southern Burgundy, France

Southern Burgundy is quintessential France, with the added advantage of being far enough away from the traditional wine routes of the north of this region, and not yet overtaken by settlements of British or Dutch or other nationalities who are realising what a wonderful country this is. The scenery is magical, and there are good restaurants. It should be on everyones bucket list, we reckon. 

Next Time: Azé (of course) - no secret, one of our favourite French villages.

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Stockholm, Sweden

Many years ago, we had a day here, staying in Gamla Stan, the old city in a hotel with 17th-century pictures stenciled on the beams in our room. The age, the grandeur, the Venice-like islands and waterways, made us long to return, and this city a fitting finale to our lengthy re-bucket list! 

Next Time: visit in summer, for endless daylight and travel out again past the archipelago which stretches many, many kilometres.

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Stay again

So, once you've achieved your dream of finally revisiting that places you have not been able to forget, there's the small matter of where you will sleep when you get there.

In fact some hotels are so amazing that you might just be tempted to visit a destination simply to have the excuse to book in to a favourite one you might have stayed in years ago. Like this place, below.

(Banyan Tree Phuket pool villa)

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Aldrovandi Palace, Rome, Italy

The Aldrovandi is not a royal palace although it has noble connections. Last century its prime location in Rome's most prestigious area made it ideal as a girl's boarding school attended by young ladies of Italy's aristocratic society, including some from their own palace: King Victor Emanuel III's daughters, the Savoy princesses slept here. 

The understated elegance, polished marble, immense flower arrangements and discreet service puts this at the tops of any list like this that we make. Its location adjacent to the Villa Borghese gardens gives it breathing space, but still its only a brisk walk to the centre of Roma.

Please, let there be a next time: for another chance to wander in the gardens.

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Alvear Palace, Buenos Aires, Argentina

The opulent Alvear Palace Hotel attracts wealthy guests and no wonder. Located in a part of town flanked by parks and with boutiques and fine restaurants within walking distance, its palatial grandeur is everyone's fairytale dream. If you dine in its restaurant, La Bourgogne, headed up by chef Jean Paul Bondoux - the only Relais Gourmand chef in South America - then be very glad. There is not better food in France.

After hitting hard times, financially, a couple of decades ago, Buenos Aires is once again on the up and up. It has always been a gracious city and it is regainingits glory days.

In BA again? Spend a couple of hours enjoying one of the world's best hotel breakfasts in L'Orangerie. Read more.....

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Banyan Tree Phuket, Thailand

First impressions count for a lot, and arriving in this hotel many years ago, late at night, we were unprepared for the luxury of our pool villa. Banyan Tree Phuket has several of these and it is an absolute luxury to literally step from your room into the waters in the total privacy of the walled garden.

One night we dined in the gazebo at the other end of the pool, served delicious Thai food by our personal waiter.

If we go again: take an elephant trek in  the nearby jungle.

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Best Western Hotel Paradiso, Naples, Italy

The Best Western Hotel Paradiso clings to the cliff, high above the Bay of Naples with one of the loveliest grandstand positions you could find anywhere in the world. It was here we witnessed the most amazing coincidence as the moon rose dramatically right over the centre of Mount Vesuvius and threw a silver path across the water right to our feet as we dined on the outdoor terrace.

Next time: (You guessed it) try to coincide with the full moon at the same time of year.

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Cape Kidnappers, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

On the gusty exposed clifftop on the north island of New Zealand, who could expect a luxury guesthouse and top golf course? Sure there are snowy white sheep and in nesting boobies (a seabird), but this is a place people come to relax and play golf and eat and... whatever they feel like.

This is the wine-rich, food-loving Hawkes Bay region and Cape Kidnappers named for Captain Cook's manservant who, in 1769, apparently sick of sailing, jumped ship and Cook feared he had been kidnapped.

The Maori people and early settlers knew the rich volcanic soil was ideal for all sorts of crops and gardens. A vineyard was established in 1851 making this the country's oldest winemaking region, but it wasn't until the 1920s that the wine industry really took off. Now its wineries produce some of New Zealand's best reds.

Just one more time: Take the 4WD tour of the property and linger at the 250-metre high cliffs. Read more.....

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Grand Hotel Cocumella, Sorrento, Italy

Sorrento, has assumed almost mythic status over the last hundred or so years. Keats came here. So did Goethe, Dickens, Ibsen, and a jet-set of recent stars.

Last time we stayed at Cocumella our large suite had a mound of cream brocade pillows on the enormous bed,  two bathrooms, and an outdoor terrace with ocean glimpses. La Cocumella began life as a Jesuit College, and downstairs we found remnants of architecture from that time. It has been many things in its long life, beginning as a school and convalescent house in 1637, then later an orphan's boarding school and today, a fine hotel.

Its location on a hundred-metre cliff facing back towards Naples and Vesuvius gives it an unparalleled position however its name is thought to be derived from the name of the nymph Colomeide, which translates as 'honey bottom'. 

Next time must-do: Visit nearby Herculaneaum as well as Pompeii.

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Gravetye Manor, East Grinstead, Sussex, England

You have to realize that Gravetye Manor was built in 1598, set on 1000 acres of woods and gardens, with quite a history. Smuggler's Lane hints at the odd bit of contraband at one time and who knows what other secrets lie here.

It's also the quintessential gracious British bolt-hole. Think jugs of the purest sweetest water from a spring on the property that has been supplying water to the residents there for half a millennium, in each room. Think milk-in-first tea in bone china cups. Think port by the fire after dinner.

Nearby in the woods is Pooh Corner and you can amuse yourself playing Pooh sticks. Ask the staff what that is.

Next time: Wander the gardens laid out by uber-gardener William Morrison. Read more.....

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Hotel de Crillon, Paris, France

Paris offers an endless number of places ideally suited to the tastes and expectations of the rich and famous. Hotel de Crillon, overlooking the Place de la Concorde, was once a palace, a real one, and it still feels as if you could bump into a duchess in the corridor. As indeed you might.  F&T was lucky enough to stay there once and the staff really do treat all their guests like royalty. There is also one of the finest views in Paris from here, looking across the Place and towards the Champs Elysees.  

Next time:  I just hope there is a next time!  Read more...

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San Domenico Palace Hotel, Taormina, Sicily, Italy

The San Domenico Palace Hotel is a former 14th-century monastery. It has made the transition exceptionally well if the wall-full of plaques and framed certificates in the foyer mean anything. When we visited, we wandered the hotel admiring its restrained placement  of (possibly) priceless statues and ceramics. Tables and chairs stood invitingly in the cloistered gravelled courtyard with its palms and potted shrubs, while downstairs the monastery feel was more apparent. We strolled through the gardens, then at the wall overlooked the cobalt curve of the bay below. To the right Etna was modestly wrapped in cloud.

If we ever stay here again: stay longer end see Etna's tip and shop in the fashionable shopping street.

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Summer Lodge, Dorset, UK

Summer Lodge is a Red Carnation property, affiliated with Relais & Chateaux. It's a country house with plumped cushions in the parlour, cream teas in the drawing room, local produce for the restaurant, and the sort of deferential discreet service you dream of. It would fit well in Champagne or Burgundy. It's elegant, but not too grand. Exactly right for its location.

A Georgian listed house, built in 1798, it is set upon four acres adjoining a vast deer park. The nearby village of Evershot is quintessential England: weathered stones, thatched roofs, window-boxes and tilted headstones in the graveyard.

Just once again: Dawdle through nearby Evershot and along the country lanes. read more....

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The Langham, Shanghai, China & London, UK

As  hotel chains go, The Langham brand is one of the finest, in my opinion. Everything from the ubiquitous pale pink on every piece of hotel information and stationery, to the breakfasts (ah, yes, the one in Shanghai is a standout) to the views (our room in London gazed out across the rooftops to the London Eye) and faultless, never-too-much-trouble service.

The Langham Hotel (above) is a stalwart of London's hotel scene.  It has been welcoming visitors (many of them celebs and royalty) for 140 years. When F&T visited, from our suite high up in the building we could glimpse Big Ben and the London Eye across a sea of grey slate and even greyer tiled roofs and chimney-pots. It has, however, won its place on the record books for another reason. It is believed to be here where the tradition of afternoon tea was born.

Next time: Indulge in a high tea in London. Read more...

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The Lugger Hotel, Cornwall, UK

There's a sense of mystery about Cornwall, and never more so when you head towards the tiny coves that notch the coastline. On the south coast at Portloe, the whitewashed Lugger Hotel, a 17th-century smuggler's inn, is a sparkling gem on the tiny ring of a bay, scarcely large enough for the few fishing boats that still use it.

Lunch on the balcony, or dinner in the superb restaurant - especially on fish from those same boats or local Falmouth Oysters and fresh crab and lobster - has to be a high point of any visit. Guests work up appetites scrambling along the coastal pathways admiring some of Britain's best views.

Next time: Watch the sunrise across the water. read more....

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The Milestone Hotel & Apartments, London, UK

The Red Carnation group has several properties in London that are deluxe enough for a duchess, but so personal and gracious you don't feel out of place. The watchword of the group is ' no request too large, no detail too small', and we certainly found this to be the case.

We had been booked into one of the Milestone Hotel 'apartments', a richly decorated and furnished two level space crammed with books, rugs, paintings, ornaments and goodies. It was so welcoming and comfortable - and, well,  personal - that I almost bolted after opening my door there, as for a moment I thought I must have broken into somebody's private apartment. Instead I sneaked peeks in the various drawers and cupboards just to make quite sure they hadn't allocated us the owner's suite by mistake.

Just one more time: cross the road and explore Kensington Gardens, read more......

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Trulli, Alberobello, Puglia, Italy

These quaint little houses, found only in this part of Italy, are all almost identical: conical stone roofs, often with occult-looking signs painted in white on them, and round whitewashed walls. A major surprise is that mostly a trullo is not separate and round as a yurt is, for instance. Usually several diminutive towers are linked to a single base so it is no wonder they are generally described in the plural, trulli. Perhaps this came about over time as families grew, it was easier simply to build on another trullo.

The one I want to return to is Il Vignale in Fasano. Up close a trullo is every bit as fairytale-ish as they all appear from a distance. Inside, whitewashed rooms have arched openings between them, and they are full of little ledges and corners, and niches to put things in. It's truly trulli  heaven. 

Just one more time: Wander the cobbled streets of nearby Alberobello, the trulli-epicentre. read more...

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Vila Bled, Bled, Slovenia

The neatly framed postcard view of Lake Bled and its island church through both the bedroom and lounge room windows of our room at Vila Bled would have alone been enough to make me want to return. They surely would have been just as happy to relax over a meal on the shaded terrace too, again with that magic view across the lake to the thousand-year-old fortress of Bled Castle on the opposite cliffs.

But here it comes with a side-serve of history. This was Tito's guest house, the dorm where he put up his friends high and low. Haile Selassie, King Hussein, Kruschev, Nehru , Indira Gandhi and Nasser all stayed here at one time or another.

And we have been there again recently. It was every bit as beautiful as before. Maybe again?? who knows!

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Want to find out more about any of these?

Just click on the  pictures...

Tell us, what would you put on your re-bucket list?

Photography: ©Gordon Hammond

Words: ©Sally Hammond