What the press say
The Guardian:
The Observer September 2024
Daily Telegraph, 2017
BA Highlife Magazine
Michael Kerr in the Sunday Telegraph
Carole Cadwalladr in the Financial Times
"Hiking for softies in the mountains of southern Spain"
The Times Best Places to Stay
"The best hotels in Europe for a summer holiday in the mountains"
Best European foodie holidays for 2015
Reprinted from Olive Magazine
Why go? At Las Chimeneas, a mountain retreat in the stunning Alpujarras, you can learn to cook some of the region’s finest food (plus Spanish and Moorish specialities) under the tutelage of ex-Moro chef Tom Ryalls. Wander the finca belonging to owners David and Emma Illsley, picking organic almonds or pomegranates, or foraging for herbs before returning to the kitchen to learn how to put them together. Savour a glass of wine and watch Tom build a fire in a hole in the ground before making an authentic shellfish paella (fresh fish and seafood is brought up the winding roads in a little van).
Food highs: Apart from Tom’s four cookery demonstrations, Alpujarran cuisine is cooked in Las Chimeneas’ kitchen by two local women, with hearty soups in winter and chilled gazpacho or ajo blanco in summer. Take a day trip to village markets to learn about the region’s produce or head out on a short hike to a nearby bar and pair every drink with a free tapa.
Spiritual high: In spring, wander amongst almond blossom, in other seasons stride up into the mountains. Or just sit on a balcony, watching the light fall on white villages.
HOW TO DO IT Inntravel’s Moorish Flavours of the Alpujarras week costs from £980 per person, including seven nights’ accommodation, most meals, all activities and return transfers to Malaga airport
The Observer Magazine, February 2019
A week with the e5 Bakehouse
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/feb/10/bread-making-break-spain-sierra-nevada-mountains-art-of-baking
