Try something new on your next holiday - from circus skills to tea tasting

March 5 2013 , Written by thediversetraveller Published on #Activity holidays, #Betty's, #Britain, #Circus training, #creative holidays, #Eden project, #food and drink, #Recommendations & Rants (tips, links and reviews), #Staycation, #Staycation - UK, #travel, #traveling, #travelling, #UK day trips, #UK holidays, #UK travel, #VisitBritain, #Yorkshire

10 Great Cookery Experiences - School of Artisan Food

These days when planning a trip home or abroad, I spend a lot of time online searching for travel experiences beyond the guidebook. Basically I search for an activity or experience that will add colour to my travel stories, making them stand out, and most importantly make others jealous. Yes, I'm that kind of traveller.

At the moment I'm thinking about adding a learning dimension to my travels, and since money is tight I am looking closer to home. Thankfully, Britain offers a rich variety of learning experiences. Everything from circus training to chocolate making.

So, whether you’re sporty or cerebral, adventurous or creative, it seems you can create a staycation or daycation that gives you the opportunity to embrace something new, deepen existing knowledge and most of all wow your friends and family when you get home.

Here are a few I found while trawling through the VisitBriatin website.

Active travellers

Circus Space in Hackney trains people in circus skills, including the flying trapeze. You can drop in for an Experience Day on a Saturday

You’re never far away from the coast in Britain and, where there’s coastline, there’s watersports. Surfing is particularly popular off both England’s south-west coast of Cornwall and the south coast of Wales. Qualified surfing schools offer full and half-day courses that will take you to some of the most stunning natural areas of Britain. Gower Activity Centres, for example – about a 90-minute drive from Wales’ capital Cardiff – base lessons on Rhossili Beach, voted by Tripadvisor users as thrird best beach in Europe.

Britain’s diverse natural scenery is also the perfect backdrop to learn horseback riding. The Stonetrail Trekking and Riding Centre offers an exceptional riding holiday – a week-long, 100-mile ride to the sea crossing the whole of Cumbria in the north of England, home to the awe-inspiring Lake District. You can reach the Lake District’s town of Windermere in just over three hours by train from London Euston.

Creative travellers

Get your 'Strictly' on at the Pineapple Dance Studios

Train where British acting stars Joan Collins, Sohie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda), and Imelda Stauton (Harry Potter), among others, began their craft, at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA). The London-based drama school runs acting workshops designed for people of all ages, abilities and experiences, offering full-day and half-day taught by RADA or RADA-affiliated teachers.

Thrill-seekers may be interested in turning their hand to studying circus skills. Bristol (in the west of England, a two-hour train journey from London) is home to Circomedia, where you can learn to juggle, walk the tight-wire or fly through the air on a trapeze. The school is just a leap away from some of the city’s main attractions too, including the world-famous, iconic Clifton Suspension Bridge. London’s Circus Space is another good choice for those wanting to try something different; the school runs Experience Days that will unlock your inner trapeze-artist.

Packed your dancing shoes? Whether it’s ballroom or Latin American, jazz to Bollywood, the world-famous Pineapple Dance Studios in London offers a class to meet every taste and, as all of the classes are open, you can just drop in and take a class, whatever your experience.

Or for something a little more traditional the English Folk Dance and Song Society runs London-based classes in Morris dancing – an English folk dance where performers wear bells and may wield sticks or handkerchiefs.

For something more cerebral, check out events marking the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, one of the most widely read authors in English literature. For example, Farncombe Estate in the charming Cotswolds (the south west of England) is running a course designed to shed light on how the novels Austen herself read had an impact on her on writing. The beautiful rural setting of the Cotswolds is a joy to explore with its unique chocolate-box villages and historic towns.

Renowned British artist David Hockney is the inspiration behind art courses run by TV artist and tutor Tony Hogan. The area of Hockney’s more recent paintings – northern England’s scenic Yorkshire Wolds and the north of England’s east coast – will be your muse and all abilities from beginners and upwards are catered for. As well as the breath-taking views of the Pennines and the Yorkshire Dales – a national park – Yorkshire is home to the ancient city of York, the buzzing city of Leeds and the elegant spa town of Harrogate.

And of course we musn't forgot , there’s always something new to discover at Britain’s huge variety of museums and art galleries, whether it’s from regular exhibitions or special showcases. The seaside town of Margate, on Britain’s south coast – is home to stunning new art gallery the Turner Contemporary.

Foody travellers

10 Great Cookery experiences Cake Making at Betty's cookery school

Master bread-baking or chocolate-making, four-course lavish meals or one-pot wonders at the cookery courses run by Betty’s famous Yorkshire tea rooms. Courses such as “Baking with Chocolate”, “Effortless Entertaining”, or the “Chocolate Box” are on offer.

While wine and cheese are often happy culinary partners, the School of Artisan Food in Nottinghamshire (in the East Midlands) has launched a course on the more unusual collaboration of beer and cheese. Participants learn about British artisan cheeses paired with traditional ales from the Welbeck Abbey Brewery. And if you feel like working up your appetite first, the cooking school is situated in the heart of Sherwood Forest, famed for its association with Robin Hood and a great place to explore.

If tea is more your tipple, the United Kingdom Tea Council has partnered with two of Britain’s tea experts to provide one-day seminars revealing the secrets behind Britain’s favourite drink. Held at the Chesterfield Hotel in London’s exclusive Mayfair, you’ll learn a cornucopia of tea facts, from the history of tea to its health benefits and the art of perfect brewing.

Nature loving travellers

View of Lake District from the sky

Known for its green and pleasant land, rugged landscapes and beautiful parks, Britain is the perfect place to discover more on gardening. Situated in the south-west county of Cornwall – a haven of spectacular beaches, diminutive villages, dramatic coastlines and mouth-watering cream teas – is the Eden Project. This unique attraction contains the world’s largest greenhouse and its horticulturalists and scientists offer half-day and full-day courses teaching a wide variety of horticultural topics from garden sculpture, foraging and beekeeping to hands-on practical experience.

Or take to the sky to experience a magnificent birdseye view of Britain to learn how to fly a gyrocopter. Similar to a helicopter but self-propelling, they have dual controls so you can either take control of the gyrocopter yourself or enjoy the view while your instructor flies. Roger Savage Gyroplanes, based near the Cumbrian town of Penrith in the Lake District takes students up over the magnificent Lakes – an unforgettable experience.

If you have any other recommendatioins for activity holidays or day-trips in Britain or elsewhere, please share them with us. And if you have tried any of the above, please tell how it went, I am dying to know.

Advertising

Share this post

Repost0

Back to London for few days.

Passing my exercise to music practical exam. Now can add group fitness instructor to cv.

Back to home page

Comment on this post