California holidays: Why Monterey, Paso Robles and Santa Barbara make the perfect road trip July 17, 2023 There’s more to California than Los Angeles and San Francisco – try Monterey, Paso Robles and Santa Barbara, says Richard Franks America is the land of the road trip, and its Pacific Highway is up there with its most iconic. Hugging some 656 miles of rugged Californian coast between San Francisco and San Diego, the [...]
Bushmills Causeway Distillery: Worship at the cathedral of whiskey July 12, 2023 Today is the Twelfth of July, when Northern Ireland’s unionist community celebrates William of Orange defeating the Catholic King James II, at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. This victory secured a prolonged period of Protestant dominance, and the associated commemorations have been an ongoing source of sectarian tensions. Even now, parades organised by [...]
Bequia in the Grenadines: Tall tales and windswept shores July 10, 2023 Lawson Sargeant is bent over a scrubbed bench, fixing a tiny sail on a carved, wooden boat. It’s a fiddly and intricate business. In his workshop in Port Elizabeth, on the Caribbean island of Bequia, wooden replicas of yachts and sailing boats are lined up on turquoise-painted shelves all around the room. You might first [...]
Andaz Mayakoba is a near-perfect beach resort on the Mexican coast July 3, 2023 Playa del Carmen lies halfway between Cancun and Tulum, both geographically and spiritually. It’s not quite the tourist hellscape of the former, a haven for spring breakers and the kind of traveller who wears sports socks with sandals, but neither does it have the bohemian charm of the latter, which has positioned itself as the [...]
Italy holidays: Why Bergamo and Brescia are the Italian places we love this summer July 3, 2023 Italy holidays: Italy’s dual City of Cultures make a great break, says Sophie Ibbotson THE WEEKEND: In recent years, the UK has chosen Hull, Derry, and Coventry as its annual City of Culture. Bradford’s turn is next. The Italians seem to take things a little more seriously, and have awarded this year’s cultural crown to [...]
How to visit actual James Bond locations with actual Bond girls June 19, 2023 WHAT IS IT: Your mission, 007, is for your next holiday to be to one of the iconic James Bond filming locations in Europe. Black Tomato has launched the ultimate trips of a lifetime for James Bond fans, a new range of excursions to destinations famous from the films, and depending on the trip, a [...]
Tuscany: Stunning Villa Lena is where you hang out with artists poolside June 11, 2023 PICTURE THE SCENE… In Tuscany, my bathroom window looks out onto what appears to be a cartoon approximation of a magical kingdom. Hillsides fold towards a horizon seemingly so far away it cannot be properly seen. The light splashes differently onto each copse of trees, tightly gathered like fistfuls of hair. The culmination of the [...]
Exclusive: Tao Group to open its first UK venture at new Marylebone hotel June 6, 2023 Hakkasan owner Tao Group Hospitality will launch its first new UK restaurant at the new The BoTree hotel in Marylebone, which is set to open its doors this summer. The hospitality offering will include flagship restaurant Lavo, which will serve “coastal Italian fare” as well as a more casual dining option and bars. New York-based [...]
Legends Tour offering amateur golfers chance to live the life of a jet-setting pro June 6, 2023 If you have ever day-dreamed at your desk of living the life of a professional golfer, then the Legends Tour has just the package for you. Travel to the Jersey Legends tournament by private jet, rub shoulders in the locker room with greats such as Ian Woosnam, and tee it up against them in a [...]
Nobu Shoreditch is back, now with ultra-chic new rooftop rooms June 5, 2023 The weekend: Like most London hotels, Nobu Hotel London Shoreditch was forced close in March 2020, due to the pandemic. It reopened some two years later, having taken advantage of its time out of the spotlight to upgrade its offering. Found in a quiet street in what is London’s most creative corner, just off Great [...]