48 hours in… Munich July 18, 2014 Where to Stay One of the newest hotels in the Rocco Forte collection, The Charles is the place to stay if you want to do Munich in style. Recover from a night in the beer-halls with a morning lounging in your luxuriously furnished, high-ceilinged room. roccofortehotels.com/Charles-Hotel Where to go The Jewish and Medieval City [...]
Cochin, Kerala: The Indian town with all the beauty of Goa without the tourists July 18, 2014 The road from the Cochin airport is lined with enormous signs advertising wedding silk and jewellery shops. Is this India’s biggest wedding depot? “Saris!” was all I could get out of the driver for an explanation. But soon enough, bright pink and turquoise beach shacks began to line the road, Zen-looking men in nappy-like skirts [...]
Panama: Latin America’s new number one holiday destination July 11, 2014 In Britain, Panama is famous for two things: the canal and canoe man. Back in 2002, John Darwin faked his own death and fled to Panama City with his wife, who, following his “canoeing accident”, claimed £1m in insurance and pension pay outs. Had a newspaper not got hold of a picture of him looking [...]
John O’Groats: Scotland’s tip top scenic spot June 27, 2014 If ever there was a place where the buildings should huddle together for warmth it was here, but the roughly strewn archipelago of bungalows stand apart from each other, slightly standoffish in their brown pebbledash. John O’Groats is a strange place, twinned in everybody’s imagination with another strange place, Land’s End. I asked drinkers in [...]
Review: Shangri-La at The Shard June 27, 2014 Every major city from Toronto to Tokyo has its share of castles in the sky, towering hotels offering panoramic views. But waking up to the sun rising over the Square Mile – the Gherkin and the Cheese Grater rising out of the morning fog – must be among the most impressive. My room was on [...]
Florence’s four best boutique hotels June 13, 2014 Frequent flyers, particularly those travelling on business, see a lot of forgettable hotel rooms. Even if the corporate purse stretches to a five star offering, it’s normally a last-minute, practical booking in the centre of town. The global hotel franchises that cater to the busy and perpetually tired are experts at creating welcoming yet efficient [...]
Seven reasons you need to visit Montenegro’s Bay of Kotor June 6, 2014 1. The Bay of Kotor is stunning Take a Norwegian fjord, plonk it on the edge of a balmy Adriatic coast and you’ve got the Bay of Kotor. It’s a little hidden community, accessed through a narrow passage from the sea with steep wooded hills descending to small villages perched on the tiny bit of [...]
Blazing a trail on the beautiful Mauritian coast June 1, 2014 I had always fancied the idea of trail running, but my experience was, until recently, limited to lethal, icy attempts across Dartmoor. The rugged coast of Mauritius was more appealing, so I jetted across the Indian Ocean to visit the island hosting the fourth Dodo Trail in July, an event dubbed “From Hell to Paradise”. [...]
Learn to cook with a legend in the world of haute-cuisine May 18, 2014 French chef Michel Guérard has opened his very own school. Laura Ivill investigates. SUNDAY lunch in south west France: carpaccio of langoustines, followed by roasted milk-fed lamb and peach melba. It is as delicious as you would expect from the hands of venerated French chef Michel Guérard. But the clincher: three courses under 630 calories. [...]
48 hours in… New Orleans May 18, 2014 WHERE TO STAY Located in a quiet part of the French Quarter, Soniat House is a 30-room boutique hotel full of 18th century antiques and leafy courtyards with rocking chairs. Rooms from $295 a night for two people. Visit soniathouse.com. WHERE TO EAT Established in 1840, Antoine’s is the oldest French-Creole restaurant in the city. [...]