Hits abroad

12th August 2008

The report today that 'most Britons have no interest in local culture and cuisine' is hardly anything new. Nor is the lastminute.com survey that ours are the 'least attractive, rudest, worst dressed and heaviest drinkers in Europe'. The statistic that three quarters of British Tourists agree with this is rather damning though.

The critical word here is 'most'. Exodus European adventurers frequently fly into these same charter airports, such as Malaga, Palma and Dalaman, but the delightful irony is that whilst a 'chavalanche' of Brits then immediately turn for the coast, fully paid up members of the human race flee for the hills. Only a couple of hours away from these hideous hubs there are stunning walks and treks to rival any on the continent.

Spain and Turkey are consistently in Exodus' top five destination league and when you realise this is from a list of 90 countries it is no mean feat. It is gratifying that people are prepared to look beyond these predictable, rabid headlines. With the beautiful Spanish cultural cities of Seville, Cordoba, Ronda and Granada (all in Andalucia)within easy reach on a day off from hiking in the mountains, there is little shortage of the local culture sadly lacking on the sangria-soaked shorelines.

One of the greatest attractions of walking in the Sierra Nevada, among the olive groves in Andalucia or discovering the cave cities of Cappadocia in Turkey, is the lazy evening meals in local hotels and restaurants who welcome back these walkers year after year with tables groaning under the weight of sumptuous local cuisine. This contravenes one of the more spurious claims from today's report saying 'one in five stuff their suitcases with beans, instant soups and cornflakes as they have a terrified obsession about Delhi belly'; with a diet like that they should perhaps be more fearful of scurvy!