"The view was heavenly": 22 of the best travel discoveries of 2022

"Irish Lake District", County Fermanagh
We had come for a family wedding in County Cavan and spent a few days exploring the "Irish Lake District" in neighboring County Fermanagh .
It was July but the wood stove was getting dusty, crackling and hissing throwing heat into the kitchen of the cottage we had rented. The window framed a view that was more gray than green, and the horizon was just a streak of low cloud. While much of the UK was battered by heat exhaustion, County Fermanagh had yet to catch the sun.
I sent a picture of the wood burning stove to a friend in Fermanagh. His response was quick: “Ha! Locals say that for six months of the year Lough Erne is in Fermanagh, but for the other six months Fermanagh is in Lough Erne. The road to the cottage in Belleek literally took us across Lower Lough Erne, across Boa Island, before bringing us back to shore.
This may all sound a bit "Belleek", but time was no obstacle. We took trips between showers at Florence Court, an 18th-century mansion with grounds large enough to warrant a bike rental station. We climbed Cuilcagh Mountain via a boardwalk nicknamed Stairway to Heaven. The summit, between receding clouds, offered truly heavenly views - a verdant, labyrinthine waterlogged landscape.
Our best find, however, was the forest from the Lough Navar drive, which winds through pine forests to the top of the Magho cliffs. One day I stopped to fish in Lough Achork, one of the three lakes on the reserve, and spent a few blissful hours walking on forest paths between unsuccessful fly casts for brown trout .
At night, our rose-creeping cottage became a sanctuary in an aquatic world. There were stacks of Irish novels and board games, a selection of cheeses from nearby Fivemiletown Creamery on the table, a splash of whiskey in our tea. And the wood stove got dusty all night. Andy Pietrasik
Perfect train journey in Lugano, Switzerland showcase" data-spacefinder-type="model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement" class="dcr-5h0uf4">

Lifestyle Dec 17, 2022 0 94 Add to Reading List

"The view was heavenly": 22 of the best travel discoveries of 2022

"Irish Lake District", County Fermanagh

We had come for a family wedding in County Cavan and spent a few days exploring the "Irish Lake District" in neighboring County Fermanagh .

It was July but the wood stove was getting dusty, crackling and hissing throwing heat into the kitchen of the cottage we had rented. The window framed a view that was more gray than green, and the horizon was just a streak of low cloud. While much of the UK was battered by heat exhaustion, County Fermanagh had yet to catch the sun.

I sent a picture of the wood burning stove to a friend in Fermanagh. His response was quick: “Ha! Locals say that for six months of the year Lough Erne is in Fermanagh, but for the other six months Fermanagh is in Lough Erne. The road to the cottage in Belleek literally took us across Lower Lough Erne, across Boa Island, before bringing us back to shore.

This may all sound a bit "Belleek", but time was no obstacle. We took trips between showers at Florence Court, an 18th-century mansion with grounds large enough to warrant a bike rental station. We climbed Cuilcagh Mountain via a boardwalk nicknamed Stairway to Heaven. The summit, between receding clouds, offered truly heavenly views - a verdant, labyrinthine waterlogged landscape.

Our best find, however, was the forest from the Lough Navar drive, which winds through pine forests to the top of the Magho cliffs. One day I stopped to fish in Lough Achork, one of the three lakes on the reserve, and spent a few blissful hours walking on forest paths between unsuccessful fly casts for brown trout .

At night, our rose-creeping cottage became a sanctuary in an aquatic world. There were stacks of Irish novels and board games, a selection of cheeses from nearby Fivemiletown Creamery on the table, a splash of whiskey in our tea. And the wood stove got dusty all night. Andy Pietrasik

Perfect train journey in Lugano, Switzerland showcase" data-spacefinder-type="model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement" class="dcr-5h0uf4">