National Geographic Traveller

I TH E U K’ S #1 TR AV E L M AGA ZI N E UK EDITION • APRIL 2023 • £5.25 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .CO.UK/TR AVEL 25 U LT I M A T E GREEK ISLANDS FROM IONIAN IDYLLS TO AEGEAN ESCAPES, PLAN YOUR NEXT GREEK ODYSSEY ALONISSOS • CRETE • HYDRA • IKARIA • KOS • MYKONOS • SKYROS • & MORE + WINNERS REVEALED N E PA L PHOTOGRAPHY N O R M A N DY COMPETITION CHARLESTON 2023 JAMAICA WESTERN AUSTRALIA EXPLORE BACKCOUNTRY CAMP WITH THE KEEPERS BARS & RASTAFARI CULTURE  OF ABORIGINAL STORIES ALSO: ACCRA • DUNDEE • DÜSSELDORF • LEEDS • MADEIRA • PALM SPRINGS • OVER-50S GAP YEARS

EXPERIENCE The Future of Tourism @VisitRedSea visitredsea visitredsea.com

Discover a year-round luxury destination on the Red Sea for those inspired by nature. Enjoy an array of unrivalled experiences and dining options set in breathtaking resorts. Explore the cultural crossroad of land and sea where an intriguing history is lived as much as it is learned. All while celebrating and protecting the natural environment of one of the last hidden gems on the planet.





There’s more to CHESTER ZOO than you think... WE ARE AT THE FOREFRONT OF GLOBAL CONSERVATION. WITH 27,000 ANIMALS AND 1 MISSION. TO CREATE A FUTURE WHERE NATURE CAN SURVIVE AND THRIVE.

CONTENTS ISSUE 111, APRIL 2023 66 GREEK ISLANDS From clifftop villages to film locations, discover a new side to a Mediterranean classic 98 JAMAICA All across the Caribbean country, locals are leading a cultural renaissance 110 AU STR A LI A A new generation of Aboriginal custodians are reclaiming their heritage 124 N E PA L Meet the daring wild honey hunters of the Himalayan foothills 136 AC C R A A city-wide art bloom is flourishing in Ghana’s beachside capital 146 LEEDS In the lead-up to its Year of Culture, the Yorkshire city has grown into a hive of creativity IMAGE: DIKPAL THAPA 124 NEPAL APRIL 2023 7

CONTENTS Smart traveller 15 | SNAPSHOT A Sicilian farmer 30 | INSIDE GUIDE Art spaces and 38 reaps the fruits of his labour cool bars in Palm Springs 16 | BIG PICTURE Chad’s beauty 33 | STAY AT HOME A Welsh pageant with a twist getaway to Monmouthshire 19 | COPENHAGEN Discover the 35 | BOOKS The Edward Stanford 2023 World Capital of Architecture Travel Book of the Year shortlist 21 | PICASSO The exhibitions 36 | KIT LIST Portable products for marking 50 years since his passing campsite kitchens 23 | FOOD A taste of the Indonesian 39 | COMPETITION Win a two-night province of North Sulawesi luxury stay in London 25 | ON THE TRAIL Raise a glass to 41 | NOTES FROM AN AUTHOR Funchal’s wine scene Paul Theroux on rail travel 27 | WHERE TO STAY Düsseldorf’s 42 | MEET THE ADVENTURER stylish hotels Explorer Leon McCarron 28 | FAMILY How to keep teens 52 | ONLINE Highlights from entertained in Bristol nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel 156 52 160 On the cover Insider Travel talk Get involved Swimmers in Anthony Quinn 46 | WEEKENDER: NORMANDY 156 | ASK THE EXPERTS A trip to 183 | SUBSCRIPTIONS Get an 80% IMAGES: ALAMY; THE MILLS HOUSE HOTEL; GETTY Bay, Rhodes, Greece. Explore the bucolic heart of this Morocco, volunteering and more discount on the cover price Image: AWL Images northern French region 158 | THE INFO 70 years of stylish 188 | EVENTS Don’t miss our 8 52 | EAT: DUNDEE The Scottish city’s travels with James Bond Masterclasses and Food Festival cultural renaissance is breathing 159 | HOT TOPIC Should access to 193 | INBOX Write in to let us know fresh air into its restaurant scene wild camping in England and Wales what you think of the magazine 58 | SLEEP: CHARLESTON Small by be restored — even expanded? 194 | HOW I GOT THE SHOT US standards, this Southern city 160 | OVER-50S GAP YEARS On assignment in South Africa, punches above its weight with a A growing cohort of travellers aged photographer Ben Pipe comes face bevy of boutique hotels 50-plus is taking to the road to face with the king of the savanna I NATIONAL GEOGR APHIC TR AVELLER I S THE UK’S #1 TR AVEL M AGA ZINE BY SUB SC RIPTION S

WORLD SWEET WORLD

CONTRIBUTORS Editorial Director: Maria Pieri Production Manager: Editor: Pat Riddell Daniel Gregory Nicola Williams Managing Editor: Amelia Duggan Production Controller: Senior Editor: Sarah Barrell Joe Mendonca Having spent over half my life in France, Commissioning Editors: I’ve eaten more camembert than I care to Lorna Parkes, Georgia Stephens Commercial Director: mention, which is why my trip through this Assistant Editor: Angela Locatelli Matthew Midworth cheese’s homeland, Normandy, around green Executive Editor: Glen Mutel Head of Sales: Phil Castle pastures, half-timbered villages and fruit Associate Editor: Nicola Trup Head of Campaigns: William Allen orchards, was such a treat. N O R M A N DY P. 4 6 Content Strategist: Berkok Yüksel Campaigns Team: Jamie Barnish, Deputy Digital Editor: James Bendien, Bob Jalaf, Jessica Vincent Karlina Valeiko Kevin Killen, Mark Salmon, Oscar Williams Behind its tough industrial exterior, creativity Art Director: Becky Redman Head of National Geographic — be it 19th-century mills repurposed as Art Editors: Lauren Atkinson-Smith Traveller — The Collection: breweries, or bakers mixing up age-old pie (maternity leave), Lauren Gamp Danny Pegg recipes — thrives in Dundee. It was great to Senior Designers: Kelly McKenna, meet the chefs and producers putting the Dean Reynolds Chief Executive: city on the culinary map. D U N D E E P. 5 2 Designers: Jo Dovey, Rosie Klein Anthony Leyens Picture Editor: Olly Puglisi Managing Director: Emma Thomson Matthew Jackson Branded Content Manager: Sales Director: Alex Vignali Aboriginal Australia is a place where stories Flora Neighbour are dynamic creations stored in memory. But it Project Editors: Jo Fletcher-Cross, Head of Commercial Strategy: also has a culture we tend to romanticise, and Zane Henry, Megan Hughes, Chris Debbinney-Wright I wanted to record the nuances of reality. I sat Farida Zeynalova APL Business Development Team: around campfires, met with elders — and did Project Assistant: Sacha Scoging Adam Fox, Cynthia Lawrence a lot of mud crabbing, too. AU S T R A L I A P.1 1 0 Editorial Assistant: Matthew Figg Intern: Oliver Jakes Office Manager: Hayley Rabin Ellen Himelfarb Head of Sub Editors: Olivia McLearon Head of Finance: Ryan McShaw An unstoppable force of young creative Senior Sub Editor: Hannah Doherty Credit Manager: Craig Chappell talent is transforming the cultural scene in Sub Editors: Chris Horton, Accounts Manager: Siobhan Grover Accra. Between sweaty nights in clubs, gallery Ben Murray, Simone Noakes Billings Manager: tours and sunny mornings amid the organised Operations Manager: Ramona McShaw chaos of Makola Market, I barely slept. Seamus McDermott Digital Marketing Assistant: ACCR A P.136 Mélissa Otshudy Head of Events: Sabera Sattar Daniel Neilson Events Manager: Angela Calvieri Marketing Manager — Events: Leeds is my favourite city in the UK. Why? Angelique Mannan Well, alongside the fantastic bars, restaurants and cultural offerings, it’s a place that never National Geographic Traveller (UK) is published by APL Media Limited, rests. It’s growing, changing, forever in flux Unit 310, Highgate Studios, 53-79 Highgate Road, London NW5 1TL and forever fun. If you’re looking for a UK city nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel break, this is your destination. LE E D S P.1 4 6 Editorial T: 020 7253 9906. [email protected] Photography T: 020 7253 9906. [email protected] 10 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC . Sales/Admin T: 020 7253 9909. F: 020 7253 9907. [email protected] Subscriptions T: 01858 438787. [email protected] National Geographic Traveller (UK) is published by APL Media Ltd under license from National Geographic Partners, LLC. For more information contact natgeo.com/info. Their entire contents are protected by copyright 2023 and all rights are reserved. Reproduction without prior permission is forbidden. Every care is taken in compiling the contents of the magazine, but the publishers assume no responsibility in the effect arising therefrom. Readers are advised to seek professional advice before acting on any information which is contained in the magazine. Neither APL Media Ltd or National Geographic Traveller magazine accept any liability for views expressed, pictures used or claims made by advertisers. National Geographic Partners International Publishing Editor-in-Chief, NG Media: Senior Vice President: Yulia P. Boyle Nathan Lump Senior Director: Ariel Deiaco-Lohr General Manager, NG Media: Senior Manager: Rossana Stella David Miller Headquarters International Editions 1145 17th St. NW, Washington, DC Editorial Director: 20036-4688, USA Amy Kolczak Deputy Editorial Director: National Geographic Partners Darren Smith returns 27% of its proceeds to the Editor: Leigh Mitnick nonprofit National Geographic Translation Manager: Society to fund work in the areas of Beata Nas science, exploration, conservation and education. Editors: CHINA Sophie Huang; GERMANY Werner Siefer; GREECE Kyriakos Emmanouilidis; INDIA Lakshmi Sankaran; ITALY Marco Cattaneo; LATIN AMERICA Roberto Moran; NETHERLANDS Robbert Vermue; POLAND Agnieszka Franus; RUSSIA Ivan Vasin; SOUTH KOREA Bo-yeon Lim; SPAIN Josan Ruiz; TURKEY Zeynep Sipahi Copyright © 2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. All Rights Reserved. National Geographic Traveller and the Yellow Border Design are registered trademarks of National Geographic Society and used under license. Printed in the UK.

AUTHENTICATED BY EXPERTS CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED TWO-YEAR GUARANTEE

Editor’s letter DON’T MISS ISSUE 111, APRIL 2023 There are many ways to experience the Greek islands. As a wide-eyed Photography Competition twentysomething, I boarded one of the ships that slowly ferry travellers around the Aegean Sea. Having departed the Athens port of Piraeus on the cheapest Having whittled down thousands of ticket I could buy, the five-hour journey to Santorini offered views of endless sea entries across six categories, we reveal and sky before eventually revealing what I’d been waiting for. The moment the the 2023 winners and runners-up of our crescent-shaped caldera came into sight from the top deck of the ferry is one that annual Photography Competition, with has stayed with me to this day. submissions covering the globe. P.16 8 Yet Greece remains something of an enigma. From bustling beach resorts to The Alps: Summer Guide 2023 remote mountain idylls, it’s impossible to sum up the charms of its thousands of islands in a neat sentence. They remain distinct and unique, their individual Free with National Geographic Traveller histories and myths merging seamlessly into modern day life. (UK), the 100-page Alpine guide celebrates the near-endless choice of summer This issue, we cast a light on 25 of these outposts, where rocky escarpments, experiences in the mountains, from the scent of fragrant herbs and those exquisite soft, sandy beaches coexist with outdoor activities to the best city breaks. Byzantine monasteries, artist hangouts and world-class wineries. S U B SC RIB E TODAY Most importantly, it’s easy to get off the beaten track on these captivating islands, whatever the season — whether it’s high up in the hinterland or in a tranquil bay where the sea laps at your feet. And with our guide to the best Greek island escapes, now it’s even easier to find your own corner to enjoy. Pat Riddell, editor EDITOR OF THE YEAR – TR AVEL (BSME AWARDS 202 2) NATGEOTR AVELUK AWARD -WINNING NATIONAL GEOGR APHIC TR AVELLER Get three issues for just £5! IMAGES: RENATO GRANIERI; GETTY subscriptions.natgeotraveller.co.uk AITO Travel Writer of the Year 2022 • Best US Travel Destination Article — 2022 IPW Travel Writer Awards • Travel Content Award (Gold): VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2022 • AITO Young Travel Writer of the or call 01858 438787 Year 2021 • LATA Media Awards 2020: Online Consumer Feature of the Year Award • Travel Media Awards and quote ‘NGT5’ 2020: Consumer Writer of the Year • British Travel Awards 2019: Best Consumer Holiday Magazine • BGTW Awards 2019: Best Travel Writer • Travel Media Awards 2019: Young Writer of the Year • Travel Media Awards 2019: Specialist Travel Writer of the Year • AITO Travel Writer of the Year 2019 • AITO Young Travel Writer of the Year 2019 • BGTW Awards 2018: Best Travel Writer • Travel Media Awards 2018: Consumer Writer of the Year • British Travel Awards 2017: Best Consumer Holiday Magazine • BGTW Awards 2017: Best Travel Writer • BGTW Awards 2016: Best Travel Writer • British Travel Awards 2015: Best Consumer Holiday Magazine G O O N LI N E VI S IT N ATI O N A LG E O G R A PH I C .C O.U K / TR AV E L FO R N E W TR AVEL FE AT U RE S DAI LY 12 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .



BIG TRIP. NO BIGGIE. Dreaming of a far-flung adventure but not sure where to start? No problem, at Travelbag we make holidays simple. Whether you want to trek through the jungle or explore the outback by train, we’ll make your next trip a doddle. Scan the QR code, visit your local shop or call 0203 9934 241 to book your next adventure.

SM ART TR AVELLER WHAT ’ S N E W • FO O D • O N TH E TR AI L • WH ERE TO S TAY • FA MI LY • I N S I D E G U I D E • S TAY AT H OME • B O O K S SNAPSHOT Francesco Biancorosso, Castronovo di Sicilia, Sicily When I met Francesco, he was harvesting prickly pears in his backyard. These cactuses are omnipresent around the island, their red fruits a fixture of typical Sicilian meals. It took me a while to understand what Francesco meant when, speaking in dialect, he complained about not having had time to scuzzulare. While these plants naturally fruit during summer, they can also grow rich, autumnal fruits locally known as scuzzulati. An ancient practice, sculazzare involves cutting off a plant’s first flowering and younger growths in late spring, forcing it into a more abundant second flowering in the autumn — often resulting in higher-quality fruits. FRANCESCO LASTRUCCI • PHOTOGRAPHER francescolastrucci.com @francescolastrucci APRIL 2023 15

BIG PICTURE Gerewol festival, Chad The Gerewol festival can be summed up as an all-male beauty pageant. It sees the Wodaabe people, who lead a semi-nomadic life in North Africa’s Sahel region, gather for a week of courtship, most famously in Niger, but also in Chad and Nigeria, too. The men dress up and dance for hours in front of women, who each make their choice between them. I was amazed at the effort that went into the men’s outfits, which take months to make. This shot was taken in the morning, after a whole night of festivities, right before this woman decided. Who would she pick — and why? MAUDE BARDET • PHOTOGRAPHER maudebardet.com @puuuuuuuuce 16 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .

SM ART TR AVELLER APRIL 2023 17

DANCE BENEATH THE Northern Lights © Abby Matheson LOCK EYES WITH WILD Polar Bears SING WITH THE Beluga Whales ©Zhang Yongpeng ComeToChurchill.com

SM ART TR AVELLER COPENHAGEN Grundtvig’s Church, an example of expressionist architecture DESIGN Below: Sheep grazing on the FOR LIFE pastures of Kalvebod Fælled near the 8 House development Taking the title of World Capital of Architecture for 2023, the Danish city is a model of sustainable urban living Highly strollable, reassuringly low-rise and reliably efficient: Copenhagen is built with people at its heart. And this architectural experience is being celebrated this year, with the city designated the UNESCO/UIA World Capital of Architecture for 2023. The initiative, launched in 2020 by UNESCO and the International Union of Architects (UIA), aims to highlight the role of architecture, city planning and culture in shaping urban identity and sustainable development. In other words, it’s about reminding us how good, thoughtful design makes for a better life. The city has been a crucible for ambitious urban planning and architecture since the 1930s, when Danish architect and designer Arne Jacobsen changed the landscape with buildings and furniture that merged functionality with aesthetic simplicity. This was followed a few decades later by the disruptive brilliance of Jan Gehl, who spearheaded the move from car-choked streets to pedestrianisation, sparking a period of urban development that prioritised residents’ wellbeing. Today, you can see the legacy of that innovative gear change all around the city, from the energy plant and urban ski slope CopenHill to the striking 8 House development and the sweeping, pedestrianised Israel Plads plaza. Copenhagen’s tenure as World Capital of Architecture will focus on the ability of considerate design to help us respond to modern challenges, particularly those of meeting net-zero targets. A series of events, hosted with the Danish Association of Architects, will examine how urban design can contribute to meeting the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. There will also be a programme of tours to initiatives such as the city’s first rooftop farm, the cooperative housing association of AB Skydebanen, and Sankt Kjelds, Copenhagen’s first climate-change-adapted neighbourhood. Other talks and tours will focus on the city’s architectural history, and Open House Copenhagen (25-26 March) will offer access to buildings, including the historic Brønnums Hus, usually closed to the public. arkitekturhovedstad.kk.dk A N N A M E LV I LLE -JA M E S IMAGES: SOPHIA BERGHOLM; ASTRID MARIA RASMUSSEN FOUR TO TRY GUIDED ARCHITECTURE GUIDED WALK IN TREASURE HUNT S TA R C H I T E C T: BIKE TOURS N O R D H AV E N Follow the clues on a free treasure ARNE JACOBSON hunt, taking in 12 historic locations. Take in the best of Copenhagen’s Explore quirky takes on sustainable Denmark’s most famous designer architecture on two wheels. Three- living, including the man-made A padlock at each spot provides left his mark on the seaside suburb site details, plus a riddle to lead hour, four-hour, half-day and Kronløbsøen island and Konditaget you onwards. Take a photo at each of Klampenborg with an array of full-day guided bike tours from Lüders, an exercise space atop a destination and submit them, along now-iconic buildings, including £66 per person, departing from multi-storey carpark. Private tours with your answers, for the chance to homes and lifeguard towers. Private beCopenhagen at Fortunstræde 1. cost £219 (minimum party of 10). tours cost £215 (minimum party of slowtourscopenhagen.dk win a prize. urbexplorer.dk 10). slowtourscopenhagen.dk becopenhagen.dk APRIL 2023 19

Anniversary BE ROAD LOVER Book now BE YOUR WAY your next adventure SPAIN, PORTUGAL, ITALY AND GREECE centauro.net

SM ART TR AVELLER PICASSO The making of an icon 50 YEARS SINCE PICASSO’S PASSING, EXHIBITIONS ARO U ND SPAIN DELVE INTO THE ARTI ST’ S LIFE The Ages of Pablo Miró-Picasso Julio González, Pablo Picasso and the Dematerialisation of Sculpture From 21 June to 1 October, follow a Barcelona’s Museu Picasso and Fundació Joan chronological and stylistic journey through Miró will join forces to mark both the 50th Picasso’s ironwork is less well-known than his Picasso’s work at Málaga’s Museo Casa Natal anniversary of Picasso’s death and 40 years paintings, but every bit as creative. He sought Picasso, the house where he was born in 1881. since the artist Miró’s passing. Between 19 help from artist Julio González to create The exhibition will showcase everything from October and 25 February 2024, a collaborative a funerary monument for poet Guillaume paintings and drawings to sculptures and exhibition — held simultaneously at both Apollinaire; this kick-started a collaboration ceramics — all organised into key stages museums — will explore their relationship that explored iron as a sculpting material. of Picasso’s life. Before leaving, be sure to with Barcelona and celebrate the friendship Hosted at Madrid’s Fundación MAPFRE explore the whole building for an intimate they maintained throughout their lives, from 23 September to 8 January 2024, this insight into the artist’s childhood. documented in letters and collaborations. exhibition documents one of Picasso’s lesser- museocasanatalpicasso.malaga.eu museupicasso.bcn.cat fmirobcn.org known artistic ventures. fundacionmapfre.org IMAGE: ALAMY Picasso and El Greco Matter and Body The Last Picasso Madrid’s Museo Nacional del Prado, the This exhibition will move to the Guggenheim On at Madrid’s La Casa Encendida from 19 May country’s main cultural hub, is where Picasso Bilbao Museum from 29 September to 14 to 17 September, this exhibition will focus on would look for inspiration during his time January 2024 after a four-month stint at the last decade of Picasso’s life through some at the capital’s Fine Arts Academy, which the Museo Picasso in Málaga. It focuses of his final pieces. These works received much he briefly attended in the 1890s. Inspiration on Picasso’s interpretation of the body, criticism at the time; only after the artist’s is also the theme of a new exhibition that, specifically in sculptures, which allowed him death were they recognised as a shift into from 13 June to 17 September, will explore the to challenge perceptions of form and shape. neo-expressionism. Presented through the influence of 16th-century Greek artist El Greco The selection of artwork on display covers eyes of contemporary artists, the exhibition on Picasso’s work, as well as the impact this a range of styles and materials, from wood explores the legacy of Picasso and the influence had on the development of the 20th-century to iron and plaster. guggenheim-bilbao.eus his art continues to have on modern painters. avant-garde movement. museodelprado.es picassomalaga.org museopicassomalaga.org lacasaencendida.es K A R L I N A VA L E I KO APRIL 2023 21

Unwind your senses! This newly built property offers sophisticated luxury and modern facilities. Located in Santorini on the high cliffs of Akrotiri village, the suites are surrounded by stunning scenery over- looking the Caldera, the volcano and the most romantic sunset around the world. Melidonia suites is the perfect place to unwind and enjoy the elegance and charm of Santorini. Its unique location, close to the famous red beach and Akrotiri archaelogical site, but away from the crowds, defines Melidonia suites as a quiet, relaxing oasis. All the luxury suites come with private terraces and private pools with breathtaking views. The comfort, the scenery and high-quality services equal an experience that will make your stay unforgettable. T: +30 2286083886 M: +30 6970081883 [email protected] Akrotiri, 87400 Santorini, Greece www.melidoniasuites.com

SM ART TR AVELLER A TASTE OF MUST-TRY DISHES North Sulawesi BUBUR MANADO A classic comfort food, this rice porridge features pumpkin, fresh sweetcorn and local green leaf vegetables, infused with crushed lemongrass and kemangi (a local basil). Smoked fish sambal, known as sambal roa, can add umami and fiery spice. IKAN BAKAR From street stalls to restaurants, you’ll find barbecued fish such as ocean tuna, snapper and, in the Tondano area, freshwater carp. It’s served with two different sambals: dabu-dabu (fresh tomato, chilli and lime juice) and rica-rica (chilli and ginger). Enjoy it with rice and stir-fried morning glory. PISANG GORENG With a delightful sweet flavour, the indigenous, short and heavy saba banana is perfect for fritters in crispy batter. Enjoy the fritters as they are or add a savoury taste with a touch of sambal roa. Left: Pork satay skewers with spicy rica-rica dipping sauce THIS NORTHEASTERN INDONESIAN PROVINCE IS HOME The ingredient TO FL AVOURSOME FISH AND WAR MING SPICES Bird’s-eye chilli, known as rica in Manadonese or cabe An archipelago of 17,000 islands, For instance, we have ikan woku rawit in Indonesian, Indonesia is a maritime crossroads blanga, a delightful fish stew with ranges in colour from between Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific. In centuries fresh root spices and herbs, and yellow to orange to past, it was known as the Spice ayam tuturuga, a braised chicken red. It adds a fiery kick Islands — the home of nutmeg, dish with turmeric and coconut. mace and cloves. Today, it offers a diverse cuisine with many flavours, Historic Dutch influences are to sambals, stir-fried, ingredients and surprises. also present in Manado. There’s stews and more klapertart, a pudding of coconut, I spent my childhood in Manado, in North Sulawesi — the centre of trade in vanilla custard, rum, raisins and vanilla, cloves, nutmeg, coconut products and seafood. I can still see it all now: my almonds, or brenebon soup, grandfather’s coconut plantations set against volcanic mountains, pristine beaches skirting with kidney beans, nutmeg, cloves, PETTY coral reefs. It’s a view that triggers memories of manisan pala (candied nutmeg), banana spring onions and pork. PA N D E A N - E L L I OT T fritters and fish stews and sweetcorn fritters. Just as local spices have become a is a chef and author Tropical seas surround Manado. We love to barbecue fish and serve it with dabu-dabu, feature in world cookery, Indonesians of several cookbooks, a relish of fresh tomatoes, shallots, chillies, have adopted dishes and ingredients. including The citrussy calamansi fruit and mint. This and Portuguese and Spanish explorers many other Manadonese recipes are a world Indonesian Table away from Indonesian dishes such as chicken satay (grilled and skewered), nasi goreng (fried brought chillies, while the Minahasan rice) and beef rendang (stew). people of North Sulawesi love fiery cuisine, blending chillies and ginger with lemon basil, lemongrass and lime leaves. We also have IMAGES: YUKI SUGIURA the cuisine of the Peranakan, descendants of Chinese migrants; pandan pancakes and pineapple biscuits are national favourites. This is an edited extract from The Indonesian Table, by Petty Pandean-Elliott, published by Phaidon (£24.95). APRIL 2023 23

Th sea, a land t discover AMERICAS · CARIBBEAN · BAHAMAS · MEDITERRANEAN · PACIFIC OCEAN · INDIAN Close your eyes. Feel the warmth of the sun and the gentle breeze. OCEAN · ASIA Listen to the waves. You’re sailing on a boat, discovering paradise. But it’s not a dream. It’s Dream Yacht. · SCANDINAVIA Whether you want to sail with friends and family on your own private yacht with skipper, meet fellow adventurers on a cabin cruise, or celebrate in style on a fully crewed, all-inclusive charter, we’ve got the perfect sailing holiday waiting for you, regardless of experience. Paddleboard and kayak in the deep blue waters of the Med, explore rich, colourful sea life in Tahiti and watch stunning sunsets in Thailand and the Caribbean from the deck of a large catamaran in one of our 50+ stunning worldwide locations. Bareboat | Skippered | By the Cabin | Crewed BOOK WITH CONFIDENCE WITH OUR FLEXIBLE TERMS More information 02380 455527 [email protected] DreamYacht.com

SM ART TR AVELLER ON THE TRAIL FUNCHAL Take in some of the Madeiran capital’s top wine spots on this one-day walking tour 1 H.M. BORGES Toast the start of your tour with a visit to this boutique winery, which was founded in 1877 and makes fortified wines in a former cereal mill. It’s one of only two companies in Funchal to actually produce the wine on site, so it’s well worth doing a tour of the backrooms — expect cellars filled with age-old barrels of wine, plus a selection of honey-sweet tipples to try afterwards beneath a wood- beamed ceiling. hmborges.com 2 PEREIRA D’OLIVEIRA A three-minute stroll away, this family-run winery houses the oldest Madeira wines available for sale, with vintages dating as far back as 1850, the year of its founding. Pull up a chair at a barrel-shaped table and you’ll be presented with five-year-old varieties ranging from medium- dry to sweet, then browse the menu to take in the full spectrum of ages alongside several rare grape varieties. doliveiras.pt ILLUSTRATION: MARTIN HAAKE 3 THE VINE HOTEL 4 PÉROLA DOS VINHOS 5 BLANDY’S WINE LODGE 6 KAMPO Head to this design-led hotel just If you’re looking to pick up a Blandy’s, established in 1824, is End the day at this trendy around the corner and you’ll find bottle or two, amble over to this the island’s second biggest wine restaurant for creative plates spa treatments themed around shop and browse colourful bottles producer and something of a accompanied by an extensive the beverage — from a ‘Madeira lining the wooden shelves. You’ll household name. Today, you’ll list of wines from mainland wine massage’ incorporating local find table wines from boutique find both fortified and table labels Portugal. Owner chef Júlio Pereira wine in the oil to a ‘red wine bath’ vineyards across the island, as sold at the shop, with a museum to worked with the Alentejo’s Rocim using grape seed extracts. If that well as fortified varieties dating talk you through the history of the vineyard to produce a selection works up a thirst, head to Uva bar back to the 1930s from Madeira’s company. Opt for the Premium of exclusive red, white and rosé on the rooftop for an extensive list leading winemaker, Justino’s. Tour to learn about winemaking labels. Pair them with the likes of labels from across Madeira and It also houses plenty of labels on the island, then settle in for of tuna cornets, oxtail ravioli, mainland Portugal, plus sweeping from mainland Portugal, if you a tasting to sip glistening amber fresh sardines and black rice with views over the surrounding fancy mixing up the repertoire. shots at a long, wooden bar. octopus, prepared in the open mountains. hotelthevine.com peroladosvinhos.com blandyswinelodge.com kitchen. kampo.pt L AU R A F R E N C H APRIL 2023 25



WHERE TO STAY SM ART TR AVELLER Düsseldorf Muze Hotel ST YLISH AND SUAVE HOTEL OPENINGS ARE Opened in February 2021 close to Hofgarten M AKING GER M ANY ’S FUN FA SHION CAPITAL park, the Muze is seriously chic, with a modern AN UNE XPEC TED CIT Y BRE AK STAR take on 1950s style: polished wood walls, travertine flooring, and soft-silhouetted IMAGES: GETTY; ANDREAS WELLANDER; ANDREAS REHKOPP. ALL RATES QUOTED Ruby Luna Clockwise from furniture with accents of chrome in the ARE FOR STANDARD DOUBLES, ROOM ONLY, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED. left: Düsseldorf’s rooms. Contemporary art is dotted around the Picture the scene: it’s a balmy summer evening and Media Harbour; Me property — there’s even an inhouse curator. you’re drinking cocktails on a rooftop terrace, watching and All Hotel; Voco From £85. muzehotel.de the sun set over one of Europe’s most famous rivers. Düsseldorf Seestern Paris? Rome? No — this is Düsseldorf. Germany’s Me and All Hotel Düsseldorf seventh-biggest city may not be top of everyone’s city break list, but the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia This bijou German chain’s first Düsseldorf will surprise you. The little sibling of Cologne, which hotel is as hipster as the name suggests — the sits half an hour south, Düsseldorf is a thrumming lobby doubles as a co-working area, the cafe has modern city and Germany’s fashion capital. Even the a coffee ‘brewbar’ and there’s even an onsite pandemic couldn’t stunt its banging hotel scene barber. Rooms take inspiration from their Little — several hotels have opened here since 2020, including Tokyo surroundings, with calming wood-clad the Luna in April 2021. panels and arty cherry blossom images behind the bed. From £100. meandallhotels.com Germany does a great line in small(ish) hotel chains that still manage to make each property individual, and Voco Düsseldorf Seestern this Ruby branch — the third to open in Düsseldorf — is no different. Set in the 1962 Commerzbank, a Düsseldorf On the opposite side of the Rhine from the modernist icon, whose distinctive aluminium-clad old town is IHG’s first Voco hotel in Germany, skyscraper dwarfs the surrounding cityscape, it amps up which opened in January 2022. Enjoy your the 1960s feel with a moon landings flavour. Spinning check-in heidesand — traditional German planets dot the space-black carpets in the rooms and shortbread — in one of the modern rooms, with corridors; windows have a curved, almost porthole look, bright flashes of yellow and orange on the walls, and winch open to overlook the city and the Rhine. then head to the terrace bar for a signature G&T. The famous metal shell of the building starts on the first From £65. ihg.com J U L I A B U C K L E Y floor, meaning the rooms appear to float above the glass- walled lobby, which is filled with stylish mismatched APRIL 2023 27 vintage furniture. On top of it all is the rooftop bar that opens in summer. This is the highest building in downtown Düsseldorf, which means you get unimpaired views of the Rhine. From £82. ruby-hotels.com

SM ART TR AVELLER FA MI LY IMAGES: GETTY; ALAMY; CHRISTOPHER BAKER; ANDRE PATTENDEN Immersive art at TEENAGE KICKS Wake The Tiger From top: Bristol’s Clifton Satisfy your teens’ appetite for the unusual in Suspension Bridge; Bristol with retro shopping and immersive art graffiti on The Three Tuns pub MAKING THEIR MARK 28 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .CO.UK/ TR AVEL While it can be tricky to persuade some teens to embrace art, you’ll find it easier in Bristol. You won’t have to look too hard to encounter the handiwork of the city’s prodigal son, Banksy — who was born here — on a walking tour, and there are some 200-odd other street artists in the city. Where The Wall offers a two-hour tour of the must-see works and Bristol’s 30 years of graffiti history. There are spray-painting workshops too, if your teens want to give stencil art a whirl themselves. wherethewall.com A WHOLE NEW WORLD If all that graffiti leads to a new-found interest in art, then the next step is Wake The Tiger, a new immersive art experience. Through a maze of creative works, installations, hidden forests and secret passageways, you and your family will enter the fictional realm of Meridia and follow a mermerising storyline involving the secrets of the world’s four great guilds. It’s perfect for teen fantasy fans. wakethetiger.com ON LOCATION Remember Skins? The 00s drama was a hit with teens for its down-to-earth storylines, and now a new generation is discovering it on Netflix. Much of the show was filmed in Bristol and the Bristol Film Office has put together a map of all of the key locations, including Cabot Circus and College Green. Visit Bristol and the Bristol Film Office have also mapped other hit shows, including Sherlock and Doctor Who. visitbristol.co.uk filmbristol.co.uk VINTAGE FINDS If your teen is keen to develop their grunge, emo or fairycore style, take them to Park Street to discover the thrift and vintage shops, including Uncle Sam’s Vintage, perfect for everything from American varsity jackets to Levi’s jeans, as well as The Vintage Thrift Store, Loot Vintage and Sobeys. Cabot Circus is where you’ll find the more mainstream shopping centre. MARKET FINDS With gyoza to Caribbean-inspired wraps, St Nicholas Market, or St Nick’s to the locals, has delicious lunch options. It’s Bristol’s oldest market, trading since 1743. When you’re finished, don’t miss the shopping: it’s also home to Bristol’s largest collection of independent retailers. Highlights include Japonicat, a treasure trove of Japanese quirk, and Lunartique, full of Indian textiles. bristol.gov.uk/st-nicholas-markets M A RIA PI E RI Where to stay MOXY HOTEL The new 214-room Moxy Bristol, a short walk from Temple Meads, will appeal to the younger crowd thanks to installations from local street artists. The rooms, Scandi-cool with warm woods, come with ChromeCast TVs, and there’s a cafe and pool table. Doubles from £87, B&B. marriott.co.uk

Discover Costa Rica with style Our unique concierge service team offers curated luxury experiences to travel to Costa Rica going beyond the borders of your imagination. Whether you prefer to immerse yourself in local nature or to lounge with a cocktail in hand, we will offer a full suite of travel services to match any style LUXURY TRAVEL CONCIERGE

INSIDE GUIDE PALM SPRINGS COOL BARS, VINTAGE EMPORIUM S AND OFFBE AT ARTS SPACES M AKE THE C IN E M ATI C D E S ERT C IT Y THE PERFEC T C ALIFO RN IAN G E TAWAY A two-hour jaunt from the heart of LA, Palm Springs once Cahuilla peoples, Western American landscape paintings served as a desert retreat for a showbiz elite, from Elvis to and a huge store of contemporary works. psmuseum.org Sinatra. Decades on, sleek, mid-century modern homes are precious relics of this glamorous era — but the city Worked up an appetite? Workshop Kitchen + Bar has is anything but a time warp. O eat art spaces and cool earned plaudits for its artfully plated New American dishes boutiques line the palm-studded streets, and a sprawling and craft cocktails. Or dog-friendly Boozehounds gets new Cultural Plaza, dedicated to the Agua Caliente Band points for its stylish fern-filled dining room and of Cahuilla Indians, a local Native American Tribe with plant-based options — the ‘veganwürst’ dog wins the around 500 members, will feature a giant spa and museum menu. workshopkitchenbar.com boozehoundsps.com when it opens this year. All this is set against the San Jacinto Mountains, a cinematic backdrop and It’s well worth venturing beyond Palm Springs proper, a springboard for adventures. too — a patchwork of free-wheeling cities is stitched into the Coachella Valley. Strike southeast to Coachella, where Begin downtown, on North Palm Canyon Drive, where the Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians run the organic the Modernism Museum is the new kid on the block. A Temalpakh Farm. Contact them in advance for a full temple to mid-century design, it unfolds in a series of tour, or swing by the market to pick up a freshly blended elaborately decorated rooms, from a 1970s-style lounge smoothie. temalpakhfarm.com hung with macramé to a roller rink with a disco ball. Nearby, you’ll find Gré Records & Coffee, a music-poster-papered Tours also explore Rancho Mirage’s Sunnylands Center café-vinyl store that hosts gigs and open-mic nights. and Gardens, an art-filled mid-century modern estate tracyturco.com/modernism-museum gremagazine.com that’s long been a meeting place for world dignitaries. Or you can delve into the pioneering world of renewable Palm Springs’ main drag is a shopper’s delight too. energy with a fascinating golf-cart tour of a wind turbine Flapper headdresses, embroidered tunics and bright farm nearby. sunnylands.org windmilltours.com beaded necklaces fill vintage emporium Iconic Atomic, while ultra-chic collective The Shops at Thirteen After you’ve exercised the grey matter, the mountains Forty-Five hawks avant-garde furniture and objets d’art. should be calling. Take the 20-mile Earthquake Canyon iconicatomic.com theshopsat1345.com Express Bicycle Tour with Big Wheel Tours. The mellow route through the San Andreas Fault zone is mostly flat Just across the road is Superbloom, the storefront for a or downhill, perfect for drinking in the views. The best are quirky brand known for vivid paint-splashed clothing and of Box Canyon, whose mighty bluffs crack into cloudless accessories. Come here for one of their unique colour- blue skies. bwbtours.com therapy yoga sessions, or head to Superbloom Studios, where you can upcycle your old clothes with a session in You can rest up at the tiny Limón Palm Springs boutique their painting rooms. superbloom.world hotel, which offers a colour-splashed lesson in desert modernism. Floor-to-ceiling glass in every room grants Don’t leave Downtown without a visit to the Palm dreamy views of the swish pool deck. At the other end Springs Art Museum, whose hulking brutalist building of the size scale, the giant JW Marriott Desert Springs is a departure from the city’s signature mid-mod design. Resort & Spa doubles as a bird sanctuary, with its own The collection includes baskets and textiles by the Native desert gardens and pleasure boats leaving from the lobby. limonpalmsprings.com marriott.com JAC Q U I AGATE LIKE A LOCAL M O M E N T, THE ELEMENTAL THE FLEUR NOIRE M OV E M E N T, Unfolding within a Alexis Palomino’s CHANGE mammoth industrial HOTEL favourite arty hot spots A bold piece of public building, this off-piste This boutique hotel is sculpture just behind contemporary arts covered in big, bright Co-founder and the Desert Art Center, space focuses on the florals by artist Louise creative director this is the work of intersection between Jones (née Chen) aka of Superbloom, artist MIDABI. Stop creativity, science and Ouizi, and well worth Alexis shares her by to snap a photo, ecology. Plenty of a visit. Call or email top spots to see art or stay to picnic on up-and-coming artists. ahead for an inside around the city the lawn. midabi.art theelemental.org look, or book a stay. fleurnoirehotel.com 30 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .

SM ART TR AVELLER The Jacinto Mountains tower over a palm-studded swimming pool Clockwise from above: Palm Springs Art Museum; bougainvillea and palm trees frame the city sign; an antique truck parked in downtown Palm Springs IMAGES: GETTY; GUILLAUME GOUREAU APRIL 2023 31

FORCE MULTIPLIERS IN PERFORMANCE INNOVATION USE CODE THRUDARK10 FOR 10% OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER www.thrudark.com

SM ART TR AVELLER STAY AT HOME MONMOUTHSHIRE Hiking trails, electric boats and vineyard tours are just some of the reasons to visit the Welsh county famous for Tintern Abbey IMAGES: ALAMY; GETTY Why go Where to eat DON’T MISS This county in southeast Wales encompasses In the Llanddewi Skirrid hills, Michelin-starred Monmouthshire is hiking some of Britain’s best scenery, spanning restaurant The Walnut Tree serves up dishes heaven. Take the five-mile the dramatic Black Mountains in the north such as twice-baked cheese soufflé with Welsh Wye Valley Greenway, which to the Eden-esque Wye Valley, an Area of black truffle, and doubles as a contemporary opened in 2021 linking Outstanding Natural Beauty that sprawls art gallery. The Kitchen at The Chapel in Chepstow and Tintern via over the border into England. It’s stitched Abergavenny is more casual, with an eclectic, a disused railway line. For with walking trails and home to the monastic veggie-friendly menu and a larder shop something more challenging, ruins of Tintern Abbey on the River Wye’s with surprises such as pink grapefruit jam; tackle the 177-mile Offa’s banks. Laid-back towns here include drawing workshops are also hosted upstairs. Dyke Path, one of Britain’s Usk, nicknamed the ‘Town of Flowers’, thewalnuttreeinn.com artshopandgallery.co.uk National Trails, or climb local medieval Monmouth and the creative hub of peaks such as The Skirrid, Abergavenny. The latter is home to a clutch Where to stay Blorenge and Sugar Loaf. of celebrated restaurants and the renowned wyevalleygreenway.org Abergavenny Food Festival in September. Caradog Cottages’ collection of sweet nationaltrail.co.uk abergavennyfoodfestival.com boltholes are clustered around Abergavenny. The top pick is Ivy Cottage, which has views From top: The ruins of Tintern Abbey; a What to do that crawl up the Skirrid’s peak, two king- hiker on Hatterrall Ridge, Offa’s Dyke Path size bedrooms and ensuite bathrooms with Tintern Abbey, a 13th-century gothic clawfoot tubs. On arrival, the kitchen is APRIL 2023 33 masterpiece, was Wales’s first Cistercian abbey stuffed with a sumptuous breakfast spread and later a muse for the Romantics. Wander of smoked salmon, sourdough and more. Ivy the grounds, then hike up to the rocky Devil’s Cottage from £422 per night, self-catering. Pulpit for aerial views. For something different, caradogcottages.com visit Wales Perfumery to create a personalised fragrance in one of its weekly workshops We like overlooking a leafy Tudor walled garden in Monmouth. Oenophiles can explore Wales’ Cruise the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal wine scene on a tour of the award-winning aboard an electric boat, tracing the mountain White Castle Vineyard near Abergavenny, above the Usk valley. Boats are run by which includes tastings. cadw.gov.wales volunteers, and trips depart from Goytre Wharf, walesperfumery.com whitecastlevineyard.com March to October. mbact.org.uk/our-boats STEPHANIE CAVAGNARO

The world’s fastest battery charger*. Recharge your batteries again and again in just 10 minutes*! Fastest speed Eco-friendly World’s fastest charging solution, Recyko rechargeable batteries save recharging your batteries in the environment from thousands of 10 minutes*. batteries and harmful waste. *Visit our website for more details. gpbatteries.world/ultra-fast-charger

SM ART TR AVELLER BOOKS Awards season THI S YE AR’S SHORTLI ST FOR THE STANFORD TR AVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR INCLUDES IMPASSIONED MEMOIRS AND EXPEDITION ROMPS The Last Overland: High: A Journey Across The Po: An Elegy for The Slow Road to Tehran: Singapore to London: the Himalayas through Italy’s Longest River A Revelatory Bike Ride The Return Journey Pakistan, India, Bhutan, through Europe and the of the Iconic Land Nepal and China Italy-based British author and Middle East Rover Expedition journalist Tobias Jones travels This high-altitude odyssey along the 405-mile length A journey of discovery for This travelogue is inspired by takes in the peaks and people of the Po — Virgil’s ‘king of one woman and her bike took Tim Slessor’s 1955 expedition who live and work in the world’s rivers’. Along the waterway, Rebecca Lowe through Iran from London to Singapore. Alex tallest mountain range. Erika he gathers stories of battles, in 2015 as the Syrian war and Bescoby recreated that journey Fatland takes a journey that cuisines, religions and music refugee crisis raged. The book in reverse, travelling some enables the region’s landscapes, lost to time and paints a picture aims to shift perceptions of an 19,000 miles in the same Oxford histories and hidden of the quirks and oddities of often misunderstood part of Land Rover. Michael O’Mara communities to step into the contemporary Italy. Head of the world. September Books, £20. spotlight. Quercus, £30. Zeus, £10.99. Publishing, £18.99. Crossed Off the Map: Walking with Nomads My Family and Other In the Shadow of Travels in Bolivia Enemies: Life and Travels the Mountain Adventurer and TV presenter in Croatia’s Hinterland Combining travel writing, Alice Morrison carries readers Peruvian Silvia Vasquez- history and reportage, on three epic journeys across Journalist Mary Novakovich Lavado returns home to face Shafik Meghji explores how Morocco, taking in the journeys into the hinterland her demons, and discovers a a country often overlooked Sahara and Atlas Mountains of Croatia to explore both her passion for climbing that takes by the world has impacted accompanied by three Amazigh ongoing relationship with the her across the Seven Summits. cultures worldwide, noting Muslim men and their region of Lika in central Croatia, Taking on Everest with a group its unexpected influence, say, camels. Alice’s tale reveals where her parents were born and of troubled young women, this on the Industrial Revolution the transformative nature of she summered as a child, and is a travelogue that’s about more in Europe and the dynastic travel in some of the world’s the complex history and rich than conquering tough terrain. collapse in China. Latin harshest terrains. Simon & culture of this little-explored Octopus Publishing Group, American Bureau, £14.95. Schuster, £9.99 Balkan region. Bradt, £9.99. £9.99. S A R A H B A R R E L L IMAGE: GETTY This year’s Edward Stanford Travel Book of the Year will be judged by authors Colin Thubron, Sunny Singh, Julia Wheeler, Lois Pryce, Caroline Eden and journalists Ash Bhardwaj and Jeremy Bassetti. The winner will be announced on 16 March. Go to stanfords.co.uk to find out more. APRIL 2023 35

SM ART TR AVELLER KIT LIST CAMPSITE COOKING Make the most of your campsite meals with portable products that ensure kitchen convenience in the great outdoors 1 KE LLY KE T TLE BA S E 1 5 STANLEY ADVENTURE CAMP KETTLE FULL KITCHEN BASE CAMP Designed to be used anywhere 2 COOKSET and everywhere, the Kelly Kettle’s 3 This 21-piece cookset contains fire base allows you to boil 1.6 everything a campsite kitchen litres of water with whatever 4 7 could need, including a high- fuel is to hand, from twigs and 5 8 quality stainless-steel pot, three- dried grass to tree bark or pine ply frying pan and wide range of cones. Kelly Kettles are available 6 utensils, dishes and cutlery. It’s in various sizes, in either all dishwasher safe and packs stainless steel and aluminium, down into just one pan, making it none weighing more than 1.16kg. easy to carry and store. £159.99. £59.95. kellykettle.com uk.stanley1913.com 2 TEFAL MANUAL 5 SECOND 6 QUECHUA-WOOD BURNING FOOD CHOPPER AND MIXER CAMPING STOVE Make campsite meal prep This easy-to-use stove makes a breeze with this handheld campfire cooking easy. Simply chopping system. Simply load your wood into the middle add your ingredients, attach the component of the stove, light blade and locking lid and pull using either kindling or a fire the handle to begin chopping. lighter, then pop your pot or kettle Features stainless-steel blades on top of the flame. A great-value and non-breakable cord. and more sustainable alternative Available in 500ml and 900ml to cooking with gas. £59.99. sizes. £16.99. tefal.co.uk decathlon.co.uk 3 OONI FYRA 12 WOOD 7 YETI WINE TUMBLER PELLET PIZZA OVEN This 10oz tumbler was designed Fuelled by hardwood pellets to for campers to enjoy a tipple in the ensure a deliciously smoky flavour, great outdoors without worrying this oven can reach temperatures about broken glassware. Made of up to 500C in just 15 minutes with kitchen-grade stainless and cook a stone-baked pizza in steel with double-wall vacuum as little as a minute. Weighing just insulation, it keeps chilled wine at 10kg, it’s easy to transport and the optimal temperature. It also set up (particularly if you buy the comes with a handy magnetic lid accompanying £39.99 carry cover). to protect your drink from thirsty £299. uk.ooni.com flies. £25. uk.yeti.com 4 THE JAMES BRAND 8 RED ORIGINAL THE REDSTONE KNIFE WATERPROOF COOL BAG This pocketknife features a B AC K PAC K partially serrated, lightweight This backpack will keep your food Sandvik 12C27 stainless steel and drink cold and your hands blade that’s just as happy free as you travel. It has 15 litres preparing a meal as it is of storage and two external bottle accompanying you on hikes pockets, plus a waterproof and or climbs. The slide-lock leakproof construction (part-made design ensures secure locking from recycled plastic bottles). and easy, one-handed use. £99. £134.95. red-equipment.co.uk thejamesbrand.eu MEGAN HUGHES 36 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .CO.UK/ TR AVEL

Click here to save 10% on your next stay Discover Australia with YHA SYDNEY | MELBOURNE | BYRON BAY | CAIRNS | BRISBANE | ADEL AIDE | HOBART | ALICE SPRINGS | FREMANTLE | & MORE YHA Australia doesn’t believe in one size fits all – for adventure or accommodation. Unique, sustainable and affordable, YHA Australia’s properties give you the freedom to explore Down Under your way. Imagine enjoying Opera House views on the Sydney Harbour YHA rooftop or sleeping right next door to Byron Bay’s best beaches or hiking back to eco-friendly lodging in the heart of a National Park. Enjoy private rooms or co-living accommodation with amenities like co-working spaces, unique experiences and open-air rooftops.

ADVERTISEMENT Are you looking at the future of our planet and asking who is investing responsibly? We believe the companies that will achieve attractive and sustainable growth over the long term are those that treat their clients, employees, the wider community and the natural environment with respect. We take a common-sense approach, investing in companies that promote the positive development of our world, in areas such as clean energy, improved nutrition, sustainable agriculture and inclusive and equitable education. However, no company is perfect and we take our role as stewards of capital seriously, encouraging companies to move in the right direction. If you share our views on sustainability, visit our website to find out how we can help you invest for a more equitable world with our Responsible Equity Fund. Each holding within the fund is meaningfully aligned to fulfil at least one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. With investing your capital is at risk. Investing in change for all our futures www.mattioliwoods.com/responsible-investing Mattioli Woods is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority

COMPETITION WIN A LUXURY STAY FOR TWO IN LONDON National Geographic Traveller (UK) has teamed up with 100 Queen’s Gate Hotel to offer a two-night stay in the capital IMAGES: ALAMY; MATTHEW SHAW THE DESTINATION From top: The Italian Gardens in Kensington Gardens, London; Located in the heart of London’s Kensington the entrance of 100 Queen’s neighbourhood, 100 Queen’s Gate Hotel, Curio Gate Hotel Collection by Hilton is a five-star property with an illustrious past, having formerly served as the TO ENTER home of Victorian explorer William Alexander. The boutique hotel is elegant in style across its Answer the following question 228 guest rooms and suites, and this attention online at nationalgeographic.co.uk/ to design is complemented by an extensive art competitions collection. Its enviable location places guests HOW MANY GUEST ROOMS DOES right in the heart of west London, offering 10 0 QUEEN ’S GATE HOTEL HAVE? immediate access to some of the capital’s best Competition closes 30 April 2023. museums and galleries. The winner must be a resident of the UK and aged 18 or over. Full THE PRIZE T&Cs at nationalgeographic.co.uk/ competitions Courtesy of 100 Queen’s Gate Hotel, the winner and a guest will enjoy a two-night stay in a APRIL 2023 39 Superior Room or above on a B&B basis. During their stay, they will also enjoy a complimentary dinner at ESQ, one of three on-site dining options. This discreet, lower ground floor drinking den was inspired by the parlour bar of former resident William Alexander and is the perfect place for diners to disconnect from the outside world. Guests can choose from a selection of small plates, including crisp prawn tempura, green gyoza dumplings and pillowy vegan shiitake mushroom bao buns. 100queensgate.com



SM ART TR AVELLER NOTES FROM AN AUTHOR PAUL THEROUX Almost half a century since taking his first long-distance train journeys, the author reflects on the inspiring, fast-evolving nature of rail travel ILLUSTRATION: JACQUI OAKLEY Just about 50 years ago, needing money Most of all I was homesick, of the sleeping car. Writing on board the to support my family — my novels weren’t not the right mood for a Khyber Mail to Lahore in Pakistan, ‘The bestsellers — I had the idea of taking the traveller or a fit subject for romance associated with the sleeping car longest train trip imaginable and writing a a travel book; so I never derives from its extreme privacy, combining travel book about it. I was then an alien in the best features of a cupboard with forward England, living in Catford, a seedy district mentioned it. On the contrary, movement. Whatever drama is being enacted in southeast London. But Catford was on I wrote about my trip as a in this moving bedroom is heightened by a railway line. That meant I could walk to the landscape passing the window: a swell of Catford Bridge Station, board a train to spirited jaunt, and converted hilltops, the surprise of mountains, the loud Charing Cross and thence to Victoria for the its loneliness into something metal bridge or the melancholy sight of people boat-train to Paris, and onward to — well, standing under yellow lamps… A train is a it seemed I could make it continuously all self-mocking and jolly conveyance that allows residence: dinner in the way by train to the holy city of Mashhad the diner, nothing could be finer.’ in the distant northeast of Iran. After that, buses through Afghanistan, and then trains I wrote The Great Railway Bazaar on my again, down the Khyber Pass into Pakistan return in 1974, and it appeared the following and India and more trains eastward until the year to good reviews and brisk sales — and it’s railways of Japan, and my return to Catford still in print, in many languages. A few years via the Trans-Siberian Express. later, stuck for an idea, I took a similar trip, mostly by train, from my home in Boston, The trip would be improvisational — I’d be Massachusetts to Patagonia in the southern winging it. I didn’t have a credit card, I had tip of South America, and wrote about it in The no idea where I’d be staying, nor any notion Old Patagonian Express. of how long this trip would take. I’d never written a travel book, though I’d read many That’s the past. Nothing is the same. All of them. My favourites were those recounting travel is time-related. All such trips are an ordeal, with drama and dialogue. I hoped singular and unrepeatable. my trip wouldn’t be an ordeal, though it was obviously a leap in the dark. It’s not just that the steam trains of Asia are gone, much of the peace and order is gone. I set off with one small bag containing Who’d risk an Iranian train now or take a bus clothes, a map of Asia, a copy of Thomas through Afghanistan? Mexico has virtually no Cook’s International Railway Guide and some passenger trains anymore, and they’ve been travellers’ cheques. I made it to Mashhad, eliminated in Colombia and Ecuador. Buses travelled by bus through Afghanistan have replaced them — ‘luxury’ long-distance and resumed riding the rails. I was often coaches, but buses nonetheless, where you’re inconvenienced, sometimes threatened, now confined to a narrow seat. and then harassed for bribes, occasionally laid up with food poisoning — all of this vivid detail But I’ve been surprised by some of the for my narrative. Most of all I was homesick, more recent developments in travel. I rode not the right mood for a traveller or a fit subject on Chinese trains for a year and wrote Riding for a travel book; so I never mentioned it. the Iron Rooster, but now China is connected On the contrary, I wrote about my trip as a by much cleaner and swifter trains and spirited jaunt, and converted its loneliness into modernised destinations, and a traveller today something self-mocking and jolly. could take the same trip I took in 1986-87 and produce a completely different book. I got to I met an Indian in Afghanistan who said Tibet by a snowy road. These days there’s a I should look him up in Kanpur, and he gave train to Lhasa. me his address: “I live in Railway Bazaar.” So I had my title early on. Burmese trains were All travel books are by their very nature slow and dirty, Thai trains were clean and dated. That’s their fault, that they’re old- efficient, many of the rail lines in Vietnam fangled; and it’s their virtue, that they had been blown up, Japanese trains were swift preserve something of the past that would and several of the legs of the eight-day Trans- otherwise be lost. Siberian were pulled by steam locomotives. The Folio Society edition of Paul Theroux’s The Old What I remarked on again and again in the Patagonian Express, with a new foreword from the more than four-month trip was the pleasure author, is exclusively available from foliosociety.com paultheroux.com APRIL 202 3 41

SM ART TR AVELLER MEET THE ADVENTURER Leon McCarron THE IRI S H E XPLO RER AN D WRITER I S HELPIN G PAVE THE WAY FO R INTREPID TR AVELLERS TO DI SCOVER THE BE AUT Y OF IR AQ I KURDI STAN wider region. I went to the front line of the ongoing civil war to try my hand at a different type of journalism, but it wasn’t for me. I came back to Erbil after that, where I met a Syrian-Kurdish guy called Laween. He said, “Before you leave, you should make another memory — not just a war zone memory.” He told me I should visit the mountains, because they’re as much a part of this region’s story as what’s happening in Mosul. So we went to the mountains, and they were beautiful, big, ancient, complex and layered. It was a wonderful experience. Every time I had a week or two free, I’d head into the mountains with Laween to explore new areas. Slowly, it became an idea. This idea evolved into a new hiking trail through the Zagros Mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan. Tell us more about the project? Fast-forward a few years and we’ve now defined a route — the Zagros Mountain Trail — that’s 136 miles long with 14 stages and a network of homestays and local guides. It runs from west to east, from a village called Shush through the mountains to the base of Halgurd, the highest peak in Iraq. What sparked your interest in travel and adventure? How do communities along the route feel about the new IMAGE: EMILY GARTHWAITE I grew up on a farm in Northern Ireland. I was lucky to trail? We try to do a lot of listening. We spend a lot of time spend a lot of time outdoors, but it wasn’t until I went off visiting people in the towns and villages along the trail to university that I suddenly got this sense of what a big, and learning what they might want from it. We’re keen exciting world there is out there. That’s when I started to make sure local communities have really bought planning a trip. I bought a bicycle and set off on a long into the idea, and that nothing is left unsaid. There’s a journey that changed the course of my life. responsibility for us, as the trail organisers, to protect those communities. I began in New York City, and my plan was to ride across the country until my savings ran out. I learned all the Your new book is about an expedition down the Tigris things you learn when you travel — that I’m more capable river. Could you tell us more about this adventure? When I than I thought, and that people are kind. I also realised that moved to Iraq, I wanted to commit to learning as much as I by travelling slowly, I was able to hear stories that I wouldn’t could about the place. One aspect of this was the trails and have heard otherwise. By the time I reached the West Coast, the other part was this idea to follow the Tigris from source I was sold on a life of exploration and telling stories. to sea. The Tigris is at the forefront of climate change and geopolitics, and there’s a good chance that at some point It sounds like that trip was something of a catalyst for it will no longer reach the Gulf as it used to. My new book, your next adventures? Each trip led naturally to the next Wounded Tigris, is a journey along the river, exploring its — it was all very organic. It was 2010 when I started off rich history, but also looking at what happens next. on my bike trip, and afterwards I went on to walk across China, cross the Empty Quarter desert in the Arabian What do you think the future of exploration looks like? Peninsula on foot and embark on river expeditions in Iran I think there are ways we can all be explorers. For me, and South America. it’s about telling stories that bring people together and highlight challenges we’re facing. There will always be new tales to tell. Exploration is always going to be needed. INTERVIEW: MATTHEW FIGG You’re currently based in Kurdistan — what drew you Award-winning writer, broadcaster and explorer Leon McCarron READ THE FULL to live there? I’ve lived in Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan, since co-founded the Zagros Mountain Trail, which will open to the public INTERVIEW autumn 2019. I’ve recently been thinking a lot about why this year in Iraqi Kurdistan. Leon’s latest book, Wounded Tigris, will ONLINE AT I’ve settled there. Back in 2016, I’d already been in the be released on 6 April by Little, Brown Book Group, £20. N AT I O N A L Middle East a bit and had developed an interest in the GEOGRAPHIC. @leonmccarron leonmccarron.com CO.UK/TR AVEL 42 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .CO.UK/ TR AVEL



WHAT’S ONLINE CABIN ESCAPES TO HELP YOU RECONNECT WITH NATURE Britain’s cabin scene is going from strength to strength, with innovative architects letting their creativity flow. Going wild has never looked so good. Words: Josephine Price Scandinavian countries and mountain UNYOKED, NORTH NORFOLK THE BLACK SHED, ISLE OF SKYE communities worldwide have long adopted Whether you’re after a creative retreat, a total Sitting at the foot of the Macleods Tables the humble cabin as a way of providing an escape or an energising dose of the great hill on the Isle of Skye, the Black Shed is antidote to busy lives in urban environments. outdoors, this nature-focused start-up is here an architectural award-winning single The concept is simple: a wooden cabin, to make sure you get what you need. Marley, cabin based on a working croft cottage, set with sleek, yet stripped-back interiors often in north Norfolk, is a highlight. Set on the in a dramatic location overlooking Loch featuring big windows, which allow the outskirts of Houghton Hall, this cabin sits Dunvegan. The all-pine interiors frame a natural surroundings to take centre stage. pretty in a glade surrounded by an ancient smartly equipped stainless-steel kitchen, a And their popularity has boomed in recent woodland full of wildlife. As with all Unyoked luxurious rain shower and a king-sized bed years. Britain’s cabin scene has become a properties, the setting is secluded to allow with cosy throws from local weavers to keep place for architects to run wild with their guests to feel as immersed in nature as possible. you warm. But the local landscapes will beg creative visions and for travellers to get lost in The cabins are also all designed in a similar you to get outside to explore. Hill hikes and some of the UK’s wildest natural landscapes, style, with minimalist interiors in plywood, wildlife await, as well as The Dunvegan with numerous cottage rental companies comfortable beds and huge windows to make — a nearby deli, cafe and restaurant. now dedicating significant sections of their sure you’re as close to nature as possible. Sleeps two. From £810 per week. inventories to these rustic rural escapes. Sleeps two. From £154 per night. unyoked.co blackshed.co.uk R E A D M O R E O N L I N E TOP PERU INTERVIEW EXPERT TIPS STORIES Parrots, piranhas and pink river My life in food: Idris Elba The best places to travel in April Here’s what you’ve dolphins in the Amazon The actor discusses African cuisine, From music festivals and Holy been enjoying on the A front row seat for the rainforest’s private chefs and learning to Week traditions to spectacular website this month wildlife on an intrepid river cruise cook with his mum cherry blossom displays 4 4 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .

FIVE LONDON SPAS OFFERING BEYOND THE FOREIGN WELLNESS RITUALS TR AVEL SECTION EXPLORE SPA TRADITIONS FROM AROUND THE WORLD IN THE HEART | ANIMALS | OF THE CAPITAL. WORDS: A MELIA DUGGAN Covid is more widespread in animals than we thought From a luxurious update of the Roman THE BATH HOU SE — BANYA LONDON From lions to armadillos, a growing thermae tradition and an authentic Russian BEST FOR: INVIGOR ATION & SOCIALISING number of animals have been banya to the city’s best hammam-style spas, infected with the coronavirus. here’s where to book treatments in London. At this former bank just a short walk from Victoria Here’s what we’ve learned. station, guests can immerse themselves in the AIRE ANCIENT BATHS classic Russian sauna experience. It all starts with | SCIENCE | BEST FOR: ROMANCE & REL A X ATION the vigorous parenie ritual, whereby guests are Could a parasitic fungus Just moments from the busy Strand and Covent ushered into a private room, low-lit and designed evolve to control humans? Garden, a subterranean world of candle-lit to resemble a Siberian timber sweat lodge, in The zombie-creating fungus in the bathing awaits. Unveiled in summer 2021, this which a bare-chested male banshchik beats global hit The Last of Us might not is the AIRE brand’s first opening in the UK, the skin with a bundle of soaked oak branches, be real, but there are other fungi set within the vaults beneath an unassuming known as a venik. The hot massage ends with to fear. Of the 5.1 million fungal townhouse. Its sizeable complex of atmospheric an icy bucket sloshed over the head and a dunk species in the world, a few hundred pools are inspired by the ancient Roman in the chilly plunge pool. A parenie is said to are dangerous to people. thermae tradition, lit almost exclusively remove toxins and improve metabolism, and by flickering tealights, tucked in alcoves or it’s just one of many pillars of an authentic | ENVIRONMENT | suspended from chandeliers. beaire.com banya (Russian steam bath). Madagascar’s sacred trees banyalondon.co.uk R E A D M O R E O N L I N E face existential threat Photos reveal the beauty of and IMAGES: UNYOKED; THE BATH HOUSE - BANYA LONDON; JOE RIIS/NAT GEO IMAGE challenges facing the island COLLECTION; GETTY; ALEX PIPER; THE GEORGIAN; ALAMY; SARAH MARSHALL country’s famous landscapes. Baobabs are in trouble, potential victims of global warming. G O O N LI N E VI S IT N ATI O N A LG E O G R A PH I C .C O.U K / TR AV E L FO R N E W TR AVEL FE AT U RE S DAI LY USA FOOD B H U TA N SEARCH FOR Eight of the best new hotels The culinary trends for 2023 The new Trans-Bhutan Trail NATGEOTR AVELUK From a reborn Gilded Age mansion Including hot honey, a new wave Hiking misty peaks and in Manhattan to a retro, celeb of Thai restaurants, yuzu kosho, monasteries on the newly FAC E B O O K hideaway in sunny San Diego caviar and Korean corn dogs restored Himalayan route INSTAGR A M TWITTER APRIL 2023 45

WEEKENDER N O R M A N DY Beyond the beach huts and battlefields, Normandy is a quintessential slice of rural France at its most picture-perfect. Roll off the ferry to find green fields, beautiful villages and graceful chateaux. Words: Nicola Williams Normandy’s bucolic heart shows off the best fruits in pretty village auberges (inns) is an of la belle France. Staunchly agricultural, no epicurean highlight. Eco-minded chefs here other region devotes so much of its land to were cooking up a gastronomic storm with pastoral farming. And this plays out across its local, organic farm produce long before the culinary experiences, from baking cider bread trend for ‘zero mile cuisine’ was coined. in the centurion-stone oven of a apple orchard to sampling the heavenly taste of buttery History buffs won’t be disappointed, either. camembert, handcrafted with passion and William the Conqueror grew up in the rolling ancestral know-how on a family farm. hills of Suisse Normande, later shipping creamy Caen limestone across the Channel as Cruising empty country lanes in the Pays Norman king of England to build the White d’Auge is a blissful invitation to slow right Tower at the Tower of London. The region down. The chequerboard sweep of fertile is also packed with beautifully preserved green, hedge-trimmed fields, peppered chateaux, displays of Renaissance splendour with patchy white-and-chestnut Normande with witch-hat turrets and moat-filled gardens. cows and half-timbered farmsteads, is Tour, taste and, at the end of each day, finish magnificently scenic by car or bicycle. Apple your meal the way locals do in this tradition- and pear orchards blaze pink in spring and fuelled, down-to-earth part of Normandy fire-red in autumn, while feasting on seasonal — with a heart-warming calvados digestif. 4 6 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .

Half-timbered houses on the TOP FIVE main street of Pont-l’Évêque Chateaux Left: Sunset over Suisse Normande from the Rochers CHATEAU DE des Parcs in Clécy BOUTEMONT With its conical turrets, 16th- DAY O N E VILL AGES & CIDER century timber frame and red-brick ornamentation, IMAGES: NICOLAWILLIAMS; GETTY Morning Afternoon Evening this is a quintessential Norman chateau. A feudal Exploring the rainbow of open- Follow hedgerow-cut lanes It’s a 15-minute country lane wiggle mound, drawbridge and dry air stalls at the market in Pont- to Beaumont-en-Auge. This is past stud farms and cideries to moat evoke its medieval l’Évêque, famed for its eponymous where Europe’s last remaining Beuvron-en-Auge. Above the origins, while the AOP cheese, is a rendezvous with kaleidoscope maker, visiting village, admire the 12th-century gardens date to 1920. the epicurean soul of this small from Paris in 1976, bought a Chapelle de Clermont then chateau-de-boutemont.fr riverside town. Follow your nose to half-timbered cottage in which drop down to the square. You Fromagerie René’s stand and buy to set up shop. In Dominic Stora’s might recognise the horseshoe CHATEAU DE a square of washed-rind cheese whimsical shop, Après la Pluie, of timbered houses huddled VENDEUVRE packed in a poplar-wood box. marvel at the handcrafted optical around the old market hall from There’s plenty of family Tastings of thick ambrosial cream toys. Then, browse neighbouring David Hockney’s Beuvron-en- appeal at this manor thanks made from unpasteurised milk and fashion boutiques and antiques Auge Panorama painting; he lives to the eclectic museum of slow-cooked teurgoule normande, galleries, and grab a bite on nearby. Linger over an aperitif furniture miniatures, and a cinnamon-rice pudding, from the aptly named rue du Paradis. at Coiffeur — a bar that was the its landscaped park with La Ferme de la Bourgeoterie are Afterwards, drive 20 minutes village hairdresser until 1972. Or a labyrinth and a grotto equally fragrant. Drive 10 minutes south to the village of Cambremer, head directly to the traditional bejewelled with 200,000 north in Pays d’Auge to Christian springboard for the Route du dining room of Le Pavé d’Auge shells. It was built as a Drouin, a 17th-century farm where Cidre driving itinerary, with a for dinner. Chef Jerome Bansard summer residence between the Drouin family have double- Romanesque church and art champions the region’s earthy 1750-52. vendeuvre.com distilled cider to make calvados exhibitions in a medieval grange. riches, but his refined Norman since 1960. Guided tours take in the Visit the Jardins des Pays d’Auge cuisine is soufflé-light. Don’t skip CHATEAU DE BREUIL apple orchards, artisan distillery to see flower gardens evoking the Normandy’s famous four-cheese The tantalising scent and the ageing half-timbered barn angels, the devil and more. course: camembert, neufchâtel, of cider sets the scene where the apple brandy turns routeducidre.com pont-l’évêque and livarot — eaten for guided tours of this mahogany-gold over time in oak kaleidoscopesfrance.com in that order, with a dollop of thick chateau estate and calvados casks. calvados-drouin.com lesjardinsdupaysdauge.com crème d’Isigny. pavedauge.com distillery. The 16th-century chateau can’t actually be visited, so admire it from a rowing boat on the lake, calvados cocktail in hand. spiriterie.com CHATEAU DE CREVECOEUR Summer raises the curtain on jousting tournaments, traditional fairs, falconry and other medieval high jinx at this chateau. Packed cultural diary aside, the 15th-century estate is a delightful day out with its farm, exhibition on rural life in the Middle Ages and walking trails. chateaudecrevecoeur.com CHÂTEAU DE SAINT- GERMAIN-DE-LIVET It’s hard not to ogle at this bewitching castle, encircled by a moat of glittering water, just south of Lisieux. A 16th-century facelift blessed the fortress and manor with an ornate mix of red brick, stone and green ceramic tiles, complemented by Italianate sculpted arches and beautiful peacock gardens. Rambling around them is free — and encouraged. APRIL 2023 47

Hotel Las Majadas is in the Maipo Valley, which has one of the longest wine-growing traditions in Chile and is only 50 minutes from Santiago. With an early 2oth-century manor house, the Las Majadas experience combines the best Chilean wines, the local cuisine at Sequoia restaurant and contact with nature in the foothills of the Andes Mountains. Its centennial park has over a thousand trees that change colour with the seasons, making it a magical and inspiring landscape. The Hotel, with 50 double rooms - all with views of the Park - invites guests to unwind and disconnect in welcoming and comfortable spaces. Hotel Las Majadas, a place to restore your senses. II Ill II I A MEMBER OF II Ill II I www.lasmajadas.cl LAS MAJADAS +562 2330 4910 I [email protected] Hotel

WEEKENDER TOP THREE DAY T WO HISTORY & CA MEMBERT Restaurants for Morning Afternoon Evening Norman home cooking Begin your foray through Norman Wind 20 minutes southwest Close your camembert journey feudal history in Falaise in Suisse through pea-green pastures to Les with an early-evening aperitif in the FOR STEAK Normande, the birthplace of Roches d’Oëtre, a rocky precipice village where France’s best-known Café Forges William the Conqueror. Pay homage with views of gorges carved by the cheese was born in 1791. Arrive by Dining at this no-frills bistro to the warrior king at his statue on River Rouvre. From the car park, 5pm to romp through the village of in Beuvron-en-Auge’s old Place Guillaume le Conquérant. follow the Sentier des Corniches Camembert’s history and popular smithy, complete with half- The stone-paved square also has a footpath to the viewpoint. Or pick culture at the museum. You’ll timbered walls and a huge retired Sherman M4A1 fighter tank, up a map in the visitor centre for discover that camembert only brick-and-stone fireplace, is stencilled in 2019 by French street details of longer trails that drop became a national icon from 1918, akin to eating in someone’s artist Jef Aérosol, celebrating peace down to the river. Round off the when local farmers sent weekly kitchen. The feisty rump since the Battle of Normandy. Walk afternoon at Ferme du Champs cheese parcels to French soldiers. and sirloin steaks and up the ramp and across the rampart Secret. Patrick Mercier’s family The same museum ticket gives andouillette (tripe sausage), to plunge into 11th-century drama farm produce AOP camembert you access to the neighbouring all cooked on the open and gore at Chateau de Falaise. The fermier-certified farmhouse Fromagerie du Clos de Beaumoncel, wood fire, are legendary. stone fortress (where William was camembert, crafted in situ from where you can peek through cafe-forges.com born, the illegitimate son of a duke) the unpasteurised milk of its herd glass at the humid ripening room, offers digital tablets that guide of 110 Normande cows. Everything, and try pasteurised and raw FOR APPLES & CALVADOS visitors around the impenetrable from ladling the curds into moulds milk camemberts at Maison du Au Pítit Normand keeps and menacing Talbot Tower, to turning 700 cheeses a day, is Camembert, uphill past the church. Women rule this old- once home to birds destined for the done by hand. Before leaving, Linger over an aperitif of oven- world address next to banquet table and tamed weasels grab a round from the fridge baked camembert and pommeau (a Cambremer’s village church. tasked with keeping rats at bay. and pop £4 in the honesty box. sweet blend of cider and calvados). Chef Huguette Besnard has chateau-guillaume-leconquerant.fr fermeduchampsecret.com maisonducamembert.com cooked her signature veal in a creamy calvados and cider sauce since 1998, and the scramble to snag a table (it’s essential to reserve ahead if you want to dine here) is worth it. End on a fiery high with a lighter- than-air apple omelette flambéed in calvados. auptitnormand.com FOR A BUCOLIC GARDEN LUNCH Auberge des Deux Tonneaux A Norman rendition of a country pub, this 17th- century auberge celebrates produits du terroir (local produce) with ancestral recipes handed down from Hervé Amiard’s grandma. The former culinary photographer from Paris runs the cosy inn with son Pierre, and dining in their flowery garden overlooking the surrounding cottages and fields is French heaven on earth. IMAGE: GETTY Right: Bottles of Normandy cider and calvados in baskets at a local market APRIL 2023 49

WEEKENDER The high life You can enjoy stupendous bird’s-eye views over Normandy’s patchwork quilt of fields and apple orchards from the Souleuvre Viaduct — where you can brave a heart- thumping 200ft bungee jump over the river below Bungee jumping at the Souleuvre Viaduct near Sourdeval THRE E MORE ADVENTURES AROUND THE VALLÈE D’ORNE MORE INFO Normandy Tourism. The River Orne flows through the Vallée d’Orne on its 94-mile journey north from Lower Normandy into the en.normandie-tourisme.fr English Channel at Ouistreham, and you can bathe, paddle and splash at multiple points along its banks HOW TO DO IT Canoeing & kayaking Taking the waters Bungee jumping Brittany Ferries sails from IMAGE: ALAMY Portsmouth to Caen- West of Falaise, pretty little Clécy In 2022, the belle époque spa To ramp up the pace, join Ouistreham and Cherbourg, is the area’s primary outdoor- town of Bagnoles-de-l’Orne adrenaline junkies at the Souleuvre and from Poole to activity hub and viewpoint to catch became the first destination in Viaduct, a 40-minute drive west Cherbourg; DFDS operates a bird’s-eye sweep of the valley. France to receive a gold-certified of Clécy, a little west of Vallée de Newhaven to Dieppe ferries. Fuel up on coffee and picnic fare at Green Destinations award for l’Orne. French engineer Gustave brittany-ferries.co.uk the boulangerie on main square, sustainability from the Global Eiffel masterminded the viaduct dfds.com Place du Tripot, before heading Tourism Sustainable Council. above the River Souleuvre in 1893 Bring your car aboard; down to the river. Capa Venture French ‘curists’ have travelled here and trains to Caen trundled across driving is the best way to rents canoes, kayaks and standup to take the thermal waters here it until 1960 when the railway line explore rural Normandy. paddleboards. Paddle serene since the Middle Ages. Combine closed. From the highest of the five Stay at Domaine Le Coq waters beneath the soaring arches a soak in the pool, fed by an remaining granite-stone pillars, Enchanté in Cambremer, of Clécy’s huge viaduct, built in underground spring, at B’O Spa bungee jumpers at Skypark now which has doubles from 1866. Or join a more challenging Thermal with leisurely forest walks make death-defying leaps of faith £290, B&B, or self-catering half- or full-day kayaking through a labyrinth of 300-year- while enjoying stupendous aerial cottages sleeping five expedition. Minibuses shuttle old oaks in the protected Forêt views of Normandy’s patchwork from £240. Ebikes can be river explorers upstream to Pont d’Andaine. If you have a hankering quilt of fields on the heart- rented in July and August. d’Ouilly, from where it’s an eight- for the old-school glamour of thumping, 200ft fall down to the le-coq-enchante.com mile paddle with occasional rapids Honfleur on the coast, Bagnoles’ river below. You can ask to be In Beuvron-en-Auge, back to Clécy. Guingettes, pop-up historic quarter of opulent art plunged waist-deep into the water Le Pave d’Hotes offers summer cafes, on riverbanks along deco villas — east of the town’s if you dare. A zip-line and giant doubles from £110, B&B. the way provide a dash of vintage centrepiece lake — is its inland soul swing cater to the less intrepid. pavedauge.com cool a la Renoir. capaclecy.fr sister. bo-resort.com viaducdelasouleuvre.com 50 NATIONALGEOGR APHIC .CO.UK/ TR AVEL