Travel – Page 2 – The Extra Mile

Posted on 06/06/202307/06/2023 by The Extra Mile

WHERE TO EAT NEAR ME IN SCOTLAND

You’re enjoying a road-trip around glorious Scotland when the hunger kicks in. You ask yourself, “Where to eat near me?”, “Is there a great farm shop near me?” Perhaps you want a cosy local café for some tasty specialities, or a dog-friendly café near you. The Extra Mile guide is full of fab places to stop for food whether you’re eating in, taking-out or compiling the picnic to end all picnics from fresh local produce.

With The Extra Mile guide (buy yours here), you can find dog-friendly cafés, farm shops with EV chargers, and family-friendly places to stop near you. Take a look at some Scottish highlights, below, from our bestselling guidebook. We’ve teamed up with the award-winning Loch Leven’s Larder, to offer a fantastic picnic hamper for two to one lucky winner, in celebration of National Picnic Week 2023 (see below).

No#1: Loch Leven's Larder in Kinross

Pictured above, Loch Leven’s Larder is very near to Junction 8 of the M90. It’s an award-winning farm shop, café, food hall, bakery, deli, gift shop and more, with high-quality local food, whatever-the-weather walks, quirky corners, a wonderful canopy café and more.

To help The Extra Mile celebrate National Picnic Week in 2023 (June 17- June 25), they are offering our readers and followers the chance to win a Scottish Picnic Hamper in our June competition – visit The Extra Mile on Facebook for more details and to enter (runs until end June).

#2 Charleton Fruit Farm and Farm Shop in Montrose

If you’re looking for some fruity PYO fields or a family-run farm shop near you in Montrose, enter: Charleton Fruit Farm. The happy folk in The Stables serve tasty meals all day long, from soups and salads to ever-popular panini and an arsenal of cakes. There’s even the occasional BBQ and the proper burgers alone are worth the detour.

The Pod in the Park offers hot dogs, ice-cream and teas and coffees to go, with PYO pumpkins, raspberries, apples and pears in season. The farm shop stocks home-sewn crops and local gifts and delicacies galore. The fortress and treasure hunts create excellent journey breaks for those travelling with children. A great farm shop in Montrose.

#3 Cairn Lodge Services and Farm Shop in Douglas

Picnic seekers will love Cairn Lodge, a first-rate farm shop and kitchen that champions exceptional Scottish food, drink, craft and design. Its as-good-as-homemade cakes, savouries and colourful seasonal salads come from over 50 local producers. If you’re travelling through Douglas, Cairn Lodge has a fab café near you that isn’t to be missed.

There’s no mass defrosting here. There are snacks and artisanal gifts galore, while the coffee bar has charging points to help humans and devices top up together. This dressed-to-impress destination is a sister company to the famed family-run Gloucester and Tebay services and farm shops. A top-notch local-food focused café in Douglas.

#4 The Bothy Bistro in Burghead

If exploring the coast between Inverness and Aberdeen, there are some great foodie stops and cafés near you like The Bothy Bistro (and its sister eaterie, Bootleggers on the Hopeman coast). ‘It’s fresh and exciting because it’s not posh’ said Masterchef judge William Sitwell, naming this bistro among his top 15 favourite UK restaurants.

Owner Ruth likes to know where things are caught or picked, and loves promoting her local flavours. Driftwood décor suits this coastal address, which is a failsafe stop-off if seeking artisan coffee and still-warm goodies from the in-house bakery to take on your coastal cruise or picnic. A first-rate independent café near the coast in Burghead.

#5 Gloagburn Farm Shop in Perth

Gloagburn Farm Shop. What a find! If you’re adventuring around the Perth area seeking picnic goods, this is just four minutes from the A9. Want a great farm shop near you? This is it. Set in the gently rolling hills of Perthshire, its view is maximised for those inside by the stunning floor-to-ceiling windows. Food with a view at its best.

The farm shop has its own beef, eggs and home-baking, plus artisan products such as pottery, art prints and homewares. Everything stocked here must pass the family’s ‘tried and tasted’ test before reaching the shelves, so it’s a great place to stock up on supplies for your picnic or holiday destination.

#6 Unorthodox Roasters and Café in Kinross

If you seek coffee grounds for your picnic or self-catering holiday cafetière or moka pot, visit this independent coffee roaster which is near you if you’re passing Kinross. Unorthodox Roasters have some great names for their locally roasted coffee beans: Mindblown is our favourite brew by a country mile.

There are some great sightseeing spots around, from Lochleven Castle and Lochleven Nature Reserve to the Lomond Hills Regional Hills. Get your coffee and cake to go for an impromptu picnic and take a few pouches of their moreish coffee beans to enjoy once home. A memorable café near the M90 and A81.

#7 Craigie's Farm Shop and Café in South Queensferry

Looking for somewhere to eat near you in South Queensferry? Look no further than Craigie’s Farm Shop and Café. Found near the M90, Craigie’s is perfect for those seeking a sit-down meal, or who want to browse the impressive local foods on offer in the café and farm shop.

The shop has a butchery, the Buffalo Farm, and the café crams local ingredients into a menu of salads, sandwiches, specials and home-baked cakes and coffee to have in or take away. Dog-friendly and handy for picnics on Craigie Hill.

#8 Kilnford Farm Shop and Café in Dumfries

If you’re travelling on the A75 and seek a café or farm shop near you, set a quick course for the Kilnford Farm Shop and Café, just one minute from the A75. The farming family puts animal welfare first and rears world-class Galloway beef and Blackface lamb: there are superb BBQ cuts and picnic treats to be found.

In a hurry to get to your picnic? Order a veggie or fruit boxes in advance to collect – though you might want to stay awhile anyway to browse the cheeses, meats and olives at the deli. At their new Kilnford Bothy, try the ‘Steak, Cattle and Roll’ burger (a hit with gourmands and punsters alike). A great farm shop and café in Dumfries.

#9 Drift Café on the coast in North Berwick

A superb ‘container’ café in a spectacular location on the North Berwick coast is Drift, off the A1 near West Barns. You can eat in at the café for food with a view, or buy wraps, rolls, coffees and cakes to go.

Drift works hard with Scotland’s agritourism sector and its small, cooked-from-fresh menu has earned it a Visit Scotland ‘Taste Our Best’ award. Buy to go and picnic on the beach below.

#10 The Mainstreet Trading Company, St Boswells

If you’re looking for a unique café in The Borders or St Boswell’s, The Mainstreet Trading Company really is something else. You can pick up all kinds of things there, from picnic materials and coffee, cake and savouries to eat in or take away, to deli items, books and gifts.

A previous winner of Britain’s Best Small Shop, The Mainstreet Trading Company (books, café, deli and home) should feature in every journey via the Borders. Browse the fabulous bookshop before refuelling on dishes inspired by the boss’s ‘Cookbook of the Moment’, perhaps.

Win a picnic hamper from Loch Leven's Larder

Thank you once again to the multi-faceted Loch Leven’s Larder for providing us with a Scottish goodie-packed hamper for our National Picnic Week (17-25 June 2023) competition this year. Simply pop to our Facebook page to enter, no purchase necessary.

We’ll pull the winner at the end of June and will be in touch to send out your hamper. With such incredible farm shops and scenic spots all across Scotland, we think it should be National Picnic Year…every year!

Buy our bestselling food guidebook today

The Extra Mile is the perfect gift for people who like to eat well when on the move. It’s packed with farm shops, independent cafés, tearooms, pubs, delis and ice-cream parlours. Maps help you find cafés and restaurants near you, and filters help you find dog-friendly places to eat, family-friendly restaurants, EV chargers and more.

Head to our Shop to buy your copy for just £14.99 (+ postage). Buying direct helps support another small independent company: us! Thanks for reading and good luck in the June 2023 National Picnic Week competition: visit us on Facebook for more. If you’re a venue keen to feature in our next book, email us today.

Posted on 11/11/202202/01/2023 by The Extra Mile

WHERE TO HIRE A CAMPERVAN

Looking to make a proper road-trip of it? You’re going to need a campervan. Like Airbnb, a number of companies now offer campervan hire direct from owners, so you can rent a home-on-wheels no matter where you are in the country.

Camplify

A platform for renting recreational vehicles, with a range of sizes and styles. Van owners are all personally verified by the team and RAC cover means you don’t need to worry about breaking down. Some owners will even deliver the van to your holiday destination.

Paul Camper

Home to more than 1,000 private campers, you can take your pick on Paul Camper. Although the sharing website was born in Berlin, it’s spread to the UK and has a range of vans across the country. Handovers are in person so you can visit it and take it for a test drive before finalising the booking.

Quirky Campers

Specialists in hiring out bespoke campervans, Quirky Campers rents out a range of beautifully designed motors so you can live out your #vanlife dreams, if only for a little while. The company prides itself on sustainable credentials so expect vans fitted out with masterfully reclaimed materials (see picture below from Quirky Campers), as well as carbon offsetting for your driving miles.

Go Boony

Boonies are a New Zealand term for beautiful, untouched places, so Go Boony is a nod to where the founders of Go Boony met – on a campervan trip, naturally. They claim to have the largest fleet in the UK, with pet and bike friendly options easy to find.

Suitably inspired to hit the road? Find perfect pitstops and idyllic farm shops at which to shop and stock up, in The Extra Mile guidebook – friend of campervan gloveboxes everywhere – or by using the online Venue Finder.

Posted on 11/11/202214/11/2022 by The Extra Mile

6 UNIQUE FERRY TRIPS TO TAKE IN THE UK

Did you know that around 4,400 islands make up the British Isles, although only around 210 are inhabited. UK ferry journeys can offer a fresh perspective on the coastline. To add a voyage to your overland journey, find inspiration with this collection of six of the country’s most unique crossings.

Scrabster to Stromness, Orkney

The wonderfully named Scrabster, on Scotland’s North coast, is a jumping off point for a short-ish (90 minute) hop to the Orkney archipelago. It takes passengers past the Old Man of Hoy, a famed 137m high sea stack off the coast. The archaeological wonders on Stromness (below) are something else.

Glenelg to Kylerhea, Skye

The original crossing point between Skye (pictured below) and the mainland, a small ferry crosses this narrow channel in season. It’s an unusual turntable design, so the ferry pulls up alongside the slipway and the crew turn the deck to embark cars and passengers. Sure, you can drive over the bridge to get to Skye these days, but if you do you’ll miss the sea eagles, otters and seals that frequent the waters. Grab a coffee at the Shore Station café to stop and enjoy the view.

Kingswear to Dartmouth

Crossing the water saves drivers a lengthy detour round the river Dart and gives a lovely view of the picturesque harbour town, including the castle and Royal Naval College; keep eyes peeled for helicopters as well as wildlife. Two boats make the crossing, straightforwardly named Lower Ferry or Higher Ferry.

Lymington to Yarmouth, Isle of Wight

The shortest route across the Solent, this 40-minute journey spirits you from the New Forest to the tranquil Isle of Wight, passing Hurst Castle on the way. On the other side of the water you’ll see its counterpart, Yarmouth Castle, which was built by Henry VIII as a gun platform to defend the waterway.

Feock to Philleigh, Cornwall

Another time and mile saver, this crossing saves drivers the 27-mile alternative route round the Truro River. The King Harry Ferry (pictured below) has been transporting passengers to the Roseland peninsula since 1888, and today’s incarnation offers calming views through the glass side, and a view onto the chains guiding the boat across the water. Find out more about the route at Fal River Ferries.

Penzance to St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly

Affectionately known as the Vomit Comet, thanks to the rough ride it can offer in high seas, the Scillonian III takes passengers on a nearly three-hour journey to the UK’s southernmost islands. Hope that the weather is fine so that you can enjoy the beautiful views of Cornwall’s coast as it glides past. Explore timetables for your next adventure with Isles of Scilly Travel.

Inspired to take a road trip, boat trip or best-of-both-worlds trip? When travelling across the UK to actual ports or simply metaphorical ports of call, don’t forget to check that The Extra Mile is in your glovebox (with the Venue Finder on home-screen speed-dial) to ensure your journey eats are as memorable as the trip itself. Get your copy here.

Posted on 04/11/202211/11/2022 by The Extra Mile

FAVOURITE UK WATERFALLS

As a rainy, lumpy country, there is no shortage of waterfalls in the UK. After a hot, dry summer where most dwindled to trickles, one benefit of the seasonal turn to drizzle is that the waterfalls are back in full display. Waterfalls also emit negative ions which are said to be good for your health, helping with mood, sleep, metabolism and our immune systems. For a truly restorative stop, work one of these into your journey.

Waterfall Country: The Brecon Beacons National Park

Though famous and increasingly popular, it would be churlish not to mention the Brecon Beacon’s famous waterfalls at the southwestern corner of the national park. The Four Falls Trail is a well-trodden route taking in several of the area’s finest. Wales’s answer to the rain forest, the area is as magical as it is fragile, so do make sure you stick to the paths and take litter home (which we hope would be a no brainer). Visit Waterfalls Country on the National Park website – the lovely falls pictured below are in Neath.

Grey Mare’s Tail, Dumfries

Watch the water tumble 60m from Loch Skeen into the Moffat Valley. Consider a ranger-guided walk to learn more about the fossils, rare upland plants, ring ouzels and vendace found here. The drive from the M74 to the reserve along the A708 is said to be one of Scotland’s most scenic as well. Find out more with the National Trust for Scotland.

Thornton Force, Yorkshire

A popular cascade on Yorkshire’s waterfall circuit, the water here falls over the edge of a limestone cliff to dramatic effect. It’s one of several falls on the Ingleton Waterfalls walk (so named for the nearest town) and is the most popular. If you want it to yourself, try timing your visit for a weekday. The Dales are home to more than 50 waterfalls, so if you’d rather find a lesser known one, try one on this list. Uncover the area courtesy of the My Yorkshire Dales website.

Aber Falls, Snowdonia

Just a short distance from the A55, Aber Falls (pictured above) is an impressive introduction to the Snowdonia National Park. It’s at the foothills of the Carneddau where the Afon Goch (Red River) descends into the Menai Straits. The 4.5km path is accessible to all and has picnic areas and open spaces for running off some steam. Explore Aber Falls online before planning your trip. Image (c) Snowdonia.gov.wales.

Hellgill Force, Cumbria

Although Aira Force is arguably Cumbria’s most famous (and there ought to be a lot of waterfalls in England’s watery lake district), Hellgill Force is an impressive slot-canyon fall at the start of the River Eden under the Crinkle Crags fell. It’s easy to reach from the B6259 and there’s a small parking area available at Aisgill Moor Cottages. Find out more about Aira and its neighbouring falls here at Visit Cumbria.

North Glen Sannox, Arran

Beautifully clear waters slip over the granite stone here in a pretty series of waterfalls (pictured below). If your trip is taking you out to the islands of Scotland’s west coast, make this one of your stops. And if the islands aren’t on your itinerary, consider adding Arran, which at a 55-minute ferry ride from Ardrossan, is one of Scotland’s most accessible. Explore North Glen Sannox’s pools and falls.

Water-break-its-neck, Powys

So memorably named we had to include this one in mid-Wales! At Water-break-its-neck, hills and rivers combine to create a selection of tall falls. It’s easy to reach through a forested path and is suitable for little legs as it’s only a kilometre there and back from the car park. Explore Water-break-its-neck (pictured below) and surrounds on this Country File recommended walk.