Holidays in the 'Hidden
Corners' of the Real Spain.
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These Holidays are designed to include some of Spain's
most beautiful and lesser known landscapes. This is the 'Real Spain' at
its best. |
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Welcome
to Lorna Roberts Holidays
and
Keytel International Ireland
Representing
the Spanish Paradores and Over
1500 Other Hotels all over Europe
Make any
reservation with Keytel International (Ireland)
and you
will be entered in our prize draw to win a double room for
two nights B&B in a Parador in Spain
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also organise escorted tours for small groups, staying
in Paradores and visiting hidden corners of "Real
Spain"
 NEWS
GALICIA
IN MAY 2008
With a few
glasses of Cava in the Parador at Santiago de Compostela my
latest group helped me to celebrate the end of our 25th
tour. On this holiday we stayed at the Paradores at Baiona
on the Atlantic coast and at Santiago alongside the
Cathedral.
We enjoyed the local seafood and Albarino wine,
visited the Celtic village at Santa Tecla, attended the
Pilgrims' Mass in the Cathedral at Santiago and
the more energetic played golf at the Ria de Vigo course.
The rest of us thoroughly enjoyed meeting them in the 19th
hole with spectacular views of the Bay of Vigo!
We also walked a few miles on the Camino de Santiago,
only to be humbled by meeting Dominic who arrived at the
Parador with his Irish flag having walked 800 kilometers from the Pyrenees in 29 days. Congratulations to him. It was a pleasure
and an honour to meet him.
Con and Dominic outside the
Parador Hotel
Special
thanks to all who have helped to make our 25 holidays so
successful - to John, Eliseo and Yvonne, and to Con for
organising the golf competitions (see golf section of this
website), not forgetting Map Travel for their
continued support, and all the friends that we have made
since our first holiday in the Pyrenees in 2002. Here's to
the next 25!
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Comment
Lorna,
John and I cannot
thank you enough for another amazing experience.
Everything was
perfect. The company was wonderful, the places we
visited memorable and you yourself as always made
it so easy for us all. I can imagine how much hard
work goes into all the planning required to achieve this
level of relaxation for your travellers!
You do it all with
such grace. John really enjoyed the day's golf even
though he was exhausted afterwards! It was such a
pleasure to meet Con. He is a real sweetheart.
By the way your
website looks terrific,a credit to you both. We are
looking forward to taking our next trip with you at the
earliest possible opportunity.
In the meantime
Happy Travels.
Keep us posted
about your trips for Spring 2009.
Lots of love and
heartfelt thanks.
Jane |
DISCOVER
"REAL SPAIN" & THE PARADORES - a personal collection
of routes in Spain, visiting Paradores. The new
60 page edition in
full colour is now available. See "Lorna's books"
Visit CONNEMARA in
the Summer and join one of our Parador evenings with wine from
Marques de Caceres and smoked salmon from the Connemara Smokehouse.
8 - 10 p.m. on
Thursday 24th July and Thursday 7th August
at Barr an Bhaile
Barn, Aillebrack, Ballyconneely (1 mile from the Connemara Golf
Club)
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On
my recent visit to the CANARY ISLANDS I visited 5
Paradores on 5 islands, including Cruz de Tejeda, the new one
in the centre of Gran Canaria.
On our ITALIAN
HOLIDAY IN APRIL while the whole of Europe was experiencing terrible
weather our group were lucky as we had glorious days for our
excursions to Portofino, the Cinqueterra villages, the Borromeo
Islands on Lake Maggiore and Macanagua beside Monte Rosa the second
highest mountain in the Alps.
OUR AUTUMN HOLIDAYS -
we have 3 tours planned for the Autumn:
Andalucia in
September
The Pyrenees from
West to East in October
The Circle around
Madrid at the end of October
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Who is Lorna
Roberts?
LORNA ROBERTS is
the Irish representative of Keytel International who are the
official agents in the UK and Ireland for the SPANISH PARADORES and
the PORTUGUESE POUSADAS. Keytel International is also the
reservation agency for many hotels in Europe and also in the
USA.
Lorna has travelled
extensively all over Europe, has written books about her travels and
plans routes for her clients, as well as taking small
escorted groups around the Paradores.
There are 91 Paradores in Spain, and
44 Pousadas in Portugal, many of which are located in castles, palaces,
monasteries etc in the most scenic and interesting areas, while the
coastal ones are generally in modern buildings in the unspoilt coastal
areas.
If you are a resident in the REPUBLIC of IRELAND,
please contact our representative in Ireland for bookings at the
Portuguese Pousadas:
Lorna can tell you virtually everything
there is to know about the Paradores of Spain, and she will be very happy
to arrange all your booking requirements (payable in Euros of course).
Throughout the year Lorna escorts small
groups on 7 & 8 night holidays in Spain's "hidden corners"
staying in Paradores.
For further details please contact Lorna
Roberts direct..
Ms Lorna Roberts
Barr an Bhaile
Aillebrack
Ballyconneely
Co. Galway
Telephone................+353 (0) 95
23511
Fax...........................+353
(0) 95 23539
Email................ lorna@lornarobertsholidays.com
U.K.
Telephone........................01590 610698 |
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I have just returned from a week's touring
around the less well known regions of the Canary Islands. We started
by driving to the newly built Parador in a spectacular setting at Cruz
de Tejeda in the centre of the island of Gran Canaria. This
has been beautifully designed so that bedrooms and public rooms have
views across the mountains. Like most of the recently opened Paradores
it has a spa, gym and heated pool.
View from the Parador at Cruz de Tejeda
In complete contrast we stayed at a simple
Parador on the smallest and most westerly island of El Hierro. Almost
sitting on a beach of black volcanic sand this is a hotel for peace
and quiet, as the only activities in the area are trekking and
diving, and the closest shops are fifteen kilometres away in the
island's capital Valverde. For anyone wanting to "get away from
it all" this would be paradise, but not to be recommended
to those looking for a lively resort!
Parador on El Hierro
We continued to the island of La Palma
(not to be confused with Las Palmas the capital of Gran Canaria, and
seventh largest Spanish city). The Parador is high above Santa Cruz,
the island's capital, mid-way between the port and the airport so easy
to reach by air or sea. The landscaped gardens, swimming pool and sea
views make this a most relaxing place to stay and the restaurant
is to be highly recommended. The island is intensely cultivated
with every corner being covered with terraces growing bananas,
pineapples, avocados and tomatoes and the varied scenery offers plenty
of scope for those who like to rent a car and explore, the highlight
being the international observatories surrounded by volcanic rocks at
the Roque de los Muchachos at 2462 metres (over 8000').
Gardens at the Parador on La Palma
The island of La Gomera is the most
accessible of the lesser known islands as it is only a forty minute
ferry journey from Los Cristianos on Tenerife. The Parador can be seen
standing on a cliff above the port in San Sebastian, the island's
capital. It is, perhaps the one that would have the
most general appeal, as it would be a perfect base for a relaxing
holiday, but for the more active the spectacular coastal
scenery, small fishing villages, lush vegetation, and the many
walking routes in the central National Park are all within easy reach
of San Sebastian. Car hire is inexpensive and roads are uncrowded, and
there is an efficient local bus service reaching all corners of the
island.
Parador on La Gomera - above the harbour at San Sebastian
Last, but by no means least, on the island
of Tenerife is the unpretentious 2* Parador at Canadas del Teide,
surrounded by volcanic rocks at the foot of Mt Teide, which
at 3713 metres (over 12000') is Spain's highest mountain. The
Parador is the only building in the Park so consequently is unspoilt
by pollution and we were fortunate to be staying there on a
Friday night when a local astronomer comes to explain the wonders
of the night sky.
Parador at Canadas del Teide on
Tenerife
We had stayed at five very different
Paradores on five islands. We found that the people were
especially friendly, the food good and accompanied by excellent local
wines, the roads uncrowded and the landscapes amazingly varied.
This was such a different world from the resorts of the Canaries seen
in travel brochures.
On the North Coast
of La Gomera
Mt Teide,
Tenerife
A more detailed version of this journey
through the five islands can be found in the revised edition of
"Discover Real Spain & The Paradores" - a personal
collection of routes in Spain. Details in "Lorna's books"
section on this website.
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ESCORTED
HOLIDAYS IN SPAIN'S HIDDEN CORNERS
These holidays are designed
to include some of Spain's most beautiful and lesser known landscapes. This
is "Real Spain" at its best. There will be no pressure, no early
morning starts, and no compulsory sightseeing. Most Paradores are less than
one hundred miles apart, but on the occasional day when a longer journey is
necessary we will follow the advice of the AA which is to have a break every
2 hours or every hundred miles, so there will be no exhausting long
journeys. We aim to make the travelling a pleasure and organise lunch breaks
in interesting places. The coach will be there to transport you from Parador
to Parador, and will be on hand for optional excursions to places of
interest.
For the energetic there are
spectacular walking routes, for the culturally inclined there will be visits
to archeological sites and museums, and for nature lovers we include Nature
Reserves and National Parks.
These are value-for-money
holidays which include accommodation, breakfast and dinner (most nights)
including wine, coffee etc, in Spain's Parador hotels, or hotels of similar
quality where there is no Parador. By following a route via Paradores the
most remote and scenic regions of Spain are discovered.
DEPOSIT and INSURANCE
A non refundable deposit of 250.00 Euro per
person, together with a completed booking form, should be sent to MAP Travel.
When completing the booking form please advise if you have your own travel
insurance. Otherwise it will be automatically added to your invoice.
Should we have to cancel a tour the deposit will be refunded.
EXTRAS
There are no 'hidden' extras as all travel in
the bus, drinks with dinner, porterage, restaurant tips and excursions are
included. Entrance fees to Museums etc. visited on optional excursions,
bar and personal bills in hotels and snacks during the day will be charged for
at the time. On occasional nights we have not included dinner, to enable
people to have a choice of restaurant.
PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION
Each year we hold a competition and ask people
who have been on our tours to send in their 3 favourite photographs from the
holiday. The winner receives a voucher for a 2-night break in a Parador,
or a discount of 250 Euro on a future tour, so be sure to bring your camera.
EXCURSIONS
and journeys between hotels have been planned
to see as much as possible en-route. These are dependent on weather
conditions and will be changed if necessary.
GOLF HOLIDAYS
These are Parador holidays with golf, combining
the relaxation and interest of our tours with golf competitions at some of
Spain's finest courses. Green fees and buggies, or trolleys, are
included in the price. For non golfers there are optional excursions
every day.
For further information, or to receive a
booking form contact:
Lorna Roberts Tel:: 095 23511
Fax: 095 23539
Lorna Roberts - UK Tel and
fax: 01590 610698
LORNA
ROBERTS: IRISH REPRESENTATIVE OF
Barr an
Bhaile, Aillebrack, Ballyconneely, Co Galway
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