Birch in Cheshunt is digital detoxing a half-hour train ride from the City October 17, 2022 THE WEEKEND: Perched a handy half an hour from Liverpool Street, boutique hotel Birch in Cheshunt is well-placed for a last minute escape from the City. The Grade-II listed mansion has been stripped back and revamped by a former Ace Hotel boss, offering creative workspaces, farm to-fork fine dining and hipster décor for city workers [...]
Inside AlUla, Saudi Arabia, where monuments are older than the pyramids October 17, 2022 Just when you think you’ve grasped how ancient the city of AlUla, Saudi Arabia is, you stumble upon an even older part, and then another, each earlier still. By the time someone mentions palaeolithic axe-heads from 200,000 years ago, a 12th century Islamic town is beginning to sound contemporary. What’s made all this Indiana Jones [...]
Spike in package holidays and foreign travel may be ‘rare positive legacy of pandemic’ October 11, 2022 Foreign holidays are back with a bang with 45 per cent of people going abroad in the last year. The latest study from travel agent association ABTA found the level of foreign travel in the last 12 months was equivalent to 70 per cent of that in 2019, pre pandemic. With coronavirus restrictions lifted, a [...]
Sipping martinis at DUKES hotel, St James, on the 60th anniversary of James Bond October 10, 2022 Dr. No was released in cinemas in October 1962, and to celebrate James Bond’s 60th anniversary our Travel Editor visited the film franchise’s most iconic worldwide locations. We also checked into DUKES Hotel, where Ian Fleming drank martinis in the 1950s… THE WEEKEND: A two minute walk from Green Park and the throws of Piccadilly, [...]
James Bond locations: become Bond by sinking martinis at these worldwide filming destinations October 10, 2022 Your mission, 007… Visit these James Bond locations around the world. From St James to Jamaica, so much of Bond is about escaping to the planet’s most gorgeous corners The view from the private balcony of The Duke of Clarence Suite at DUKES Hotel offers Green Park so close up that you could throw a [...]
Very lively in Venice: Having a ball in the city of water September 13, 2022 Every Italian has their favourite region of their home country they believe to be aesthetically and culturally superior. Part of the reason is the dizzying variety of culture, cuisine and architecture, which differs dramatically from region to region, the result of foreign invasions that chopped up the boot-shaped country a dozen centuries ago. But even [...]
Visit Corfu in the glorious autumn to get closer to the island’s enchanting history September 5, 2022 The flight from Heathrow to Corfu soars above central Europe, then tracks the Adriatic coastline along the Balkans. Waiting to land at the airport beside Corfu Town, the plane circles the island, and looking out the window you’re well aware that you’re closer to Albania than to mainland Greece. The surrounding sea — a brilliant [...]
Tree hugging isn’t optional on this full moon retreat in countryside near the capital September 5, 2022 THE WEEKEND: The historic market town of Cuckfield in West Sussex has changed little over the centuries – and residents plan to keep it that way. In a passionate effort to retain the area’s bucolic setting, they even clubbed together to buy (!) the New England Forest to stop developers building a holiday camp. In [...]
Moscato d’Asti: Why this sparkling wine is pure joy in a glass August 25, 2022 In my last column’s wine recommendations, I referred to Moscato d’Asti as the happiest wine. For me, it is as joyful a glass as you could hope to have, so it surprises me that more people do not indulge in it more often. Though from the same region, around the town of Asti, it should [...]
The Gardener’s Cottage and The Lookout are the perfect restaurants for the last weekend of the Fringe August 24, 2022 The Edinburgh Festival is coming to an end but thousands of Londoners are set to descend upon the city for its final weekend. And while you come for the comedy, cabaret, magic, theatre and various other barely definable acts, it’s always worth booking a decent restaurant or two before you arrive. Let me introduce you [...]