Acropolis Museum and Parthenon

Our recent trip to Greece was my first time in eight years, so a visit to the new Acropolis Museum was a priority. It opened in 2009, taking over from the original museum on the Acropolis near the Parthenon. It's an impressive building. As you enter the museum at the foot of the Acropolis on the southern side, you pass over part of the Roman city, a large archeological site in its own right, and parts of this can be seen in great detail through transparent floors.

The museum is spacious, cool and airy and flooded with natural light. At every turn you have stunning views of Athens, especially the Parthenon looming above. Don't overlook the beautifully situated café/restaurant with its imaginative menu and comprehensive selection of Greek wines (and delicious teas).

We then climbed up the Acropolis to explore the Parthenon and take in even bigger views across Athens towards the coast. While most people stick to the obvious areas, I love being able to glimpse behind the scenes at such a major archeological site and imagine what it must be like handling these extraordinary items. And, as you'd expect in Greece, you'll always find a cat lurking – just as things were getting a bit boring for a 7 year old!

Poros and the Aspros Gatos (White Cat) taverna

While we were in Greece during half term we had the good fortune of spending a few days on Poros. Poros, one of the Saronic Gulf Islands, is conveniently located about an hour from Piraeus on the hydrofoil, but you can drive there via Corinth and Epidavros (where you can stop for lunch and a swim – first pic below). A narrow channel separates it from the Peloponnese mainland where you can park on the seafront in Galatas and take a shuttle across the water. If you're travelling from Piraeus on the hydrofoil (Sea Cat), it's on the same route as Hydra and Spetses. All wonderful destinations. As well as being important during ancient times, these islands played a crucial strategic role during the Greek Revolution of the 1820s and were previously occupied by the Venetians during their lengthy battles with the Ottomans. This is all evident today strolling around the picturesque, steep narrow streets of these islands.

I have long been a fan of Hydra and Spetses, but this was my first visit to Poros (other than admiring it from the hydrofoil). It turns out that Poros ticks many boxes. As well as its interesting history and beautiful location, it is divided into two distinct parts linked by an isthmus. Small steep Sferia is dominated by the bustling, well serviced town and busy marina, whereas the larger green, forested Kalavria has child friendly, sandy beaches ideal for safe swimming, snorkelling and water sports. I was travelling with my daughter, so all these features suited us perfectly. We were also lucky in that the little village house we rented had a small garden with a pool where we were tempted to laze around all day, gazing at our stunning view.

Furthermore, Poros boasts allegedly one of the best tavernas in the Greek islands. The Aspros Gatos (White Cat) is elegantly located just across the tiny isthmus offering stunning views back to Poros Town and across the water to Galatas, increasingly twinkly as the light fades. The taverna dates back to 1909 and is still run by the same family and their charming, enthusiastic staff. Our two meals there included delicious seasonal stuffed vegetables (especially big juicy lemon scented tomatoes) and cheese and herb pies made with delicately crunchy home made filo pastry. A particular highlight was super tender, slow cooked veal in lemon sauce. More local citrus fruit appeared in their orange pie – a sort of baked batter pudding comprising oranges, eggs, vanilla, crushed filo pastry and then soaked with an orange syrup. I drank small carafes of local wine and the prices were incredibly reasonable.

Le Touquet: retro charm just across the Channel

I've got the softest spot for Le Touquet. How could you not? It's full name is Le Touquet Paris-Plage and this retro resort is a short drive down the coast from Calais, almost within sight of the south coast of England. So, when I was planning our summer holiday last year, it was an obvious overnight stop after our lunchtime ferry from Dover.

As its name implies, Le Touquet is one of France's oldest seaside resorts. With its pine woods, long, wide beach, golf courses, elegant avenues and quirky timbered buildings in the centre, it's easy to see why a century ago it became popular with Parisians looking for some refreshing, healthy r & r. Until F Scott Fitzgerald and his pals made the Riviera a fashionable summer destination in the 1920s and 30s, the beau monde decamped here and to other resorts along the Channel like Deauville, Trouville, Cabourg, Dinard and Dieppe.

Given that we were travelling on a Sunday – and how in France so many restaurants close Sundays and Mondays (amazingly even during high summer) – it made sense to spend the night somewhere reliably lively.

No risk of Le Touquet feeling quiet, the town marching band had been weaving through the streets and along the seafront and the town was buzzing. In one of Le Touquet's busy pedestrianised streets we had some bargain moules frîtes before carrying on strolling, finishing the evening with salted caramel crèpes.

We spent a comfortable night at the Hotel Bristol – just the kind of place regular Le Touquet visitor Noël Coward might have approved of – before continuing our predictably 21st century journey towards the hot sunny Mediterranean.

(Painting of Hotel Bristol copyright Alain Godon, 2010)

Ramsgate: Regency elegance on the Kent coast

Until recently, to me, Ramsgate was just a lesser known Channel port, but a fleeting visit early last year radically changed this. We'd failed to get to France for Easter, so spent a couple of days exploring this corner of Kent and really liked what we saw. What's more, as it's so close to London, we've returned a couple of times since.

The big surprise with Ramsgate is the quality of the architecture, big sandy beaches and its bustling, scenic harbour – Britain's only royal harbour, a status granted to the town by George IV. Street names such as Nelson Crescent, Wellington Crescent and The Plains of Waterloo all obviously date from this period and elegant Georgian terraces shape the townscape. A century later local resident Pugin put his stamp on the town with his distinctive Grange and several other buildings. Blue plaques noting the town's many illustrious visitors punctuate the buildings and reveal just what a fashionable resort Ramsgate used to be. Over the years, fortunes have fluctuated for neighbouring Margate and Broadstairs, too, but things are definitely picking up and being only 75 minutes away from St Pancras on High Speed 1 means the so-called 'DFLs' (Down From London) will only get more numerous.

It's a great area for food and drink and I've already mentioned Canterbury's amazing Goods Shed in an earlier post. I'll be covering recommended local restaurants separately, but here are some pictures of Ramsgate basking in glorious sunshine at Whitsun.

Bournville and Cadbury World

I've grown up with Cadbury's and, although they don't produce my favourite chocolate, the brand does have quite an emotional effect on me. I recently read Deborah Cadbury's revealing book The Chocolate Wars about the history of the chocolate industry and the key families involved who were in many cases Quakers (eg Rowntree, Fry, Hershey, as well as Cadbury) and committed to social welfare. The harsh irony of Kraft's takeover of Cadbury in 2010 is not lost in the book which is a fascinating read. The Cadburys, like several other powerful Victorian industrialists built model villages for their workers with the aim of improving their living conditions (think of William Lever's Port Sunlight and Titus Salt's Saltaire near Bradford) and they're attractive places to visit, particularly, if like me, you're interested in social history.

During the February half term 6 year old daughter Alice and I headed to Bournville and Cadbury World by train with an old friend and her son. We had to change at Birmingham New Street for a local train to Bournville – a bit chaotic, but once on the second train we were at our destination in a few minutes. In contrast to central Birmingham, Bournville has a sedate tranquility, and the walk from the station to Cadbury World took us past the company's offices and recreation ground (with cute half timbered pavilion). It was like strolling through a university campus.

On reaching the Cadbury World visitor centre our children were able to let off steam outside in the large play area while we waited for our admission slot. The staff could not have been more friendly or helpful, explaining what to expect from your visit. Once inside, the tour explains where chocolate comes from, how chocolate and the individual products are made, as well as outlining the history of Cadbury's. It's a multi-media experience, using some high-tec devises, as well as actors physically bringing things to life. As well as it being a visitor facility, you do often see some real action as a large area within the factory is covered in the tour, although on our visit, things were a bit quiet as they were between packaging runs (but we did see some great quirky special orders awaiting collection – see the chocolate teapot below). However, there is something to appeal to children of all ages and the crowds are effectively managed throughout the tour, reducing queuing times. They hand out a lot of chocolate, too, as well as give you the chance to stock up in the shop at the end of the tour. Thankfully my daughter doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, so we've still got some complimentary Crunchy Bars and Curly Wurlies squirrelled away.

It's quite a full visit and, after three hours or so, our friends dashed off to catch the return train to London. However, Alice and I were staying overnight in Birmingham so had time to take a look at Bournville village as the sun was going down. It's a distinctively pretty place with the kind of utopian 'garden city' feel that you might expect (and quite photogenic) and offers a timely reminder of the Quaker approach to business. Cadbury might not make the best chocolate, but it's a great story.

Family ticket: £45.80 (two adults and two children)
http://www.cadbury.co.uk/