Explore some of summer’s hottest travel destinations, new hotels and foodie experiences worldwide …
ST TROP, OFF-SEASON
Travel in shoulder season to the stylish Arev St Tropez, which offers interesting culinary, fashion and activity programmes including a perfume masterclass with Laure Beretti, the founder of Maison ST, whose products are found in the spa. The hotel is a natty mix of navy and white stripes and red accents with a retro Spritz Bar housed in a vintage Citroen H Van.
A great time to visit St Tropez is during Les Voiles sailing regatta (September 27 to October 5), when local boutiques have fantastic sales. Hire a car and tootle out to the village of Ramatuelle for market day (Thursday or Sunday) and have coffee at the Café de l’Ormeau. Book lunch at Bello Visto in Gassin, one of the prettiest villages in France. It’s close to the lush Lily of the Valley, a year-round wellness destination hotel designed by Philippe Starck who was inspired by the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Worth checking out is its “Shape Club” which combines weight loss programmes and (low-calorie) fine dining. www.lilyofthevalley.com
Don’t miss lunch at Louis Vuitton’s Michelin-star restaurant at the White 1921 Hotel, where chefs Arnaud Donckele and Maxime Frédéric have collaborated on a creative summer menu – served on LV tableware, naturally.
SEE MORE: An Insider’s Guide to St Tropez
From: Inside Ibiza by Emma Roig Askari, with photography by Ricardo Labougle, Vendome Press.
IBIZA BLISS
Ibiza is back (did it ever go out of style?) as new international hotel groups open on the White Isle – Mondrian, The Standard, Hyde, and Soho Farmhouse. Soho Farmhouse is set in a working olive grove in Santa Gertrudis, and will be open all year, with holistic wellness treatments a specialty.
Other recommended hotspots: farm-to-fork restaurant Juntos House and the beautifully restored Sa Capella (where Rosie Huntington-Whiteley has been spotted). The island’s oldest hotel, Montesol Experimental, has had a glow-up too, as has Hotel Petunia on the southwest coast. For fashion inspo check out Loewe’s Paula Ibiza collection in Brown Thomas.
VISIT VALLETTA
Posh and picturesque, Valletta in Malta is brimming with baroque architecture. It’s also one of the sunniest capitals in Europe. Don’t miss the Upper Barrakka Gardens where stone archways frame a view of the sea. Make a beeline for St John’s Co-Cathedral to see Caravaggio’s The Beheading of St John The Baptist. Take a trip to the “silent city” of Mdina, a maze of bougainvillea-strewn streets and home to St Paul’s impressive hilltop cathedral.
Refuel at Scala where seafood and rabbit are mainstays of the menus, while crispy pastizzi are street food favourites. Try Legligin, with its charming rustic interior, for Maltese cooking. For an alfresco lunch, Gracy’s Arts & Supper Club was a highlight of my recent visit. For a special occasion, book one of the city’s Michelin-starred restaurants: Under Grain, Noni and Simon Rogan’s two-star ION Harbour, in the smart Iniala Harbour Hotel.
Visit The Phoenicia Malta for its gorgeous gardens and great views across the city, best enjoyed at one of its poolside bars. Stay at Casa Ellul, a boutique bolthole tucked away on a quiet street, where each room has a balcony. Breakfast is served in its darkly seductive Risette restaurant where Steve Scicluna is chef. Scicluna worked with Mickael Viljanen at Chapter One in Dublin; his creative menus focus on contemporary Maltese dishes with French and international influences.
STARGAZING IN FINLAND & TUSCANY
As astrotourism continues to rise, check out The Aurora Zone, specialists in Northern Lights holidays, during which travellers can sleep under the glow of the Aurora Borealis or stay up to spot the stars in the new kota huts of Nivunki Village, Finland.
In Tuscany, Hotel La Posta in the Val d’Orcia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has introduced a “bathing under the stars” experience at weekends when guests can immerse themselves in the thermal waters of Bagno Vignoni’s pools (28°C and 38°C), under a dazzling star-filled sky.
SEE MORE: Best Spots To Stargaze In Ireland
ISLAND HOPPING IN THE INNER HEBRIDES
The remote Hebridean islands, an archipelago comprising hundreds of islands off the northwest coast of Scotland, are split into the Inner and Outer Hebrides. Mull, Islay and Skye are among the largest of the Inner Hebrides, and they are known for rugged landscapes and their wildlife, from orcas to red deer to golden eagles. (Watch BBC’s Monty Halls’ Great Hebridean Escape before you travel.)
On Mull, visit the ancient oaks and Atlantic rainforest of the Ardura Community Forest. Drop into Croft 3, a chic restaurant-cum-working croft. Try the Pier Café, overlooking the harbour in Tobermory for delicious breakfasts and seafood. Stay on The White House Estate in stunning self-catering cottages.
On Islay, enjoy dolphins leaping in Kilnaughton Bay, take in the famous peaty air while biking along the windswept beaches and nab a fish and chip supper from SeaSalt bistro. Stay at The Pierhouse, Port Appin, recommended by Irish hotelier John Brennan. For golfers, The Machrie is a Michelin-approved hotel and restaurant beside an award-winning links 18-hole golf course.
On Skye, stay at The Three Chimneys which combines stunning rooms with Michelin-star dining. Don’t leave without seeing The Quiraing – jaw-dropping landscapes that feel otherworldly – and Neist Point, one of the most spectacular sunset spots in Scotland, where the cliffs drop off dramatically into the Atlantic.
SEE MORE: A Dior Inspired Tour Of Scotland
CULTURE IN NY
So many cultural must-sees in New York: the reopening of the Frick Collection, the new “Sargent & Paris” exhibition at The Met, not forgetting it’s the centenary of The Great Gatsby. Book tickets to the musical adaptation on Broadway.
Pop into the Waldorf Astoria which has reopened after an acclaimed renovation by interior designer Pierre-Yves Rochon. Printemps New York – the French department store’s first US flagship – has opened on Wall Street. For a classic bagel brunch, try Barney Greengrass on the Upper West Side. For dinner, make haste to Le Veau d’Or, the city’s oldest surviving French restaurant on the Upper East Side, which is enjoying a renaissance. For cocktails, or an elegant overnight stay, Nine Orchard Hotel is the perfect setting for the quintessential Cosmopolitan.
