Spectator Life

Benedict Cumberbatch’s turn as Greville Wynne - the British engineer who helped MI6 smuggle secret intel out of Soviet Russia - in The Courier has shone a light on London's Cold War past. While the USSR and KGB might be gone, our capital still has a few souvenirs from the era - not to mention plenty of modern Russian culture and cuisine to boot. If you’re feeling inspired by The Courier, here's the guide to throwing the ultimate Russian-themed weekend in London: Where to eat and drinkMari Vana, Kensington While the old Soviet bloc wasn't exactly famed for its cuisine, London's eastern Europe and Slavic food has come on leaps and bounds since the days of Perestroika (as you might hope).

Among the glorious shores of these islands, there is one of the best-kept secrets of sailing. It’s a ragged and rocky coastline that is blessed with the sort of idyllic, empty sandy beaches stretching on for miles that would make Tom Hanks's castaway shake from method acting-induced PTSD. Here the blue waters are scattered with islands rising from the depths with the kind of muscular topography that would have your average geography teacher reaching for their colouring-in pencils. This, my friends, is the west coast of Scotland. Forget the Caribbean, wonderful though the punch, the people and the terribly reliable temperature all are. The untouched beaches of the Western Isles are every bit as beautiful, just permanently 15 degrees Celsius colder.

August 28 hails the great British getaway as people look to make the most of the looser restrictions and three day weekend. But you’ll have to travel far to escape the crowds this Bank Holiday. Follow our guide to the best, most far flung places. North NorfolkHolkham beach The white-gold beaches of North Norfolk feature regularly on lists of the UK’s most beautiful. Given the county’s relatively low road infrastructure, with no motorway to speak of, they are also blissfully crowd-free. Holkham Beach - which provided the backdrop for the closing scene of Shakespeare in Love - is a particularly lovely spot. On the shore there is a semi-circular basin which fills up at high tide to form a bluey emerald lagoon.

After a fraught summer of changing restrictions, it seems likely that staycaytioning is here to, er, stay. The good news for food-lovers is that Britain is now home to a growing number of boutique breaks that are centred around eating. Our weather may be unpredictable but the top-notch dishes at these destinations will more than compensate for even the wettest of weekends. So here is a guide to the best all in-house foodie staycations – from Michelin-starred manors to wholesome working farms – all with fabulous food and drink on offer within a postprandial stagger to the bedroom.

Europe is opening up again, and it feels great to be back in Switzerland, my favourite holiday destination. Most Britons think of it purely as a place for winter sports, but midsummer here is glorious. I’ve come here virtually every year for the last 20 years, and although it’s gorgeous in winter I like it even more in summertime. The wooded hills and lush green valleys are full of hikers and mountain bikers, but it’s easy to escape the crowds. Even in the busiest places, solitude is only a short walk away. Switzerland has some of the most spectacular landscapes in the world, and the summers here are hot and sunny. The lakes are warm enough to swim in, yet the air remains fresh and cool. So why don’t more Brits come here in summer?

With so many of us forced to holiday at home this year, that most English of institutions, the country house hotel, has been experiencing something of a renaissance. The number of guests desperate for a slice of upper crust hospitality after months of slumming it at home has rocketed so you may struggle to book even the humblest of maid's quarters this summer. That said, my advice is to steer well clear. For all their bucolic grandeur, these odes to outdated class structures have a tendency to trigger a toxic combination of unwarranted snobbery and 'what-can-we-get-away-with' mediocrity. The hushed, awkward reverence that insists we remain on our best behaviour makes me want to lob loaded cake-stands at the fake family portraits.

If you’re still feeling sceptical about traffic light holiday chaos, or – along with the estimated five million other UK citizens – are stuck with a Covishield jab and concerned a European escape might end at the border, never fear – Blighty has your back. Only a car (or train) journey away are sun-dazzled shores offering balmy sea breezes, ocean vistas, and golden-sand beaches to rival the continent. UK hotels have reopened with a celebratory atmosphere, and while they’re stuffed to the rafters, last-minute isolation orders mean cancellations are providing ad-hoc availability at the eleventh hour. Here’s our picks of the isles’ best places to stay for a seaside jaunt.

If you've tried to buy a second-hand van any time in the last 12 months, you might have noticed that the popularity of these humble commercial vehicles has travelled from the tradesman's entrance right around to the front door.The word on the street is that 'pre-loved' vans have become highly sought-after for two principal reasons: firstly, that the Covid-induced spike in on-line shopping has created a thriving jobs market for delivery drivers, and secondly that the 'staycation' trend has led to a surge in DIY camper conversions. I experienced the population's growing affection for the previously much-mocked 'white van' when I set-out in search of one of Ford Transit-sized proportions last August.

One of the most striking features of the second Covid summer has been the soaring prices of holiday cottages. How dare the owners of static homes in the vicinity of the coast be charging quite so much for the uneven pleasures of a week in a caravan park? Well, get used to it because as Britain’s population continues to soar – we’re on track to hit 75 million in the next two decades –pressure on property and prices is only going to increase. As Mark Twain remarked: ‘Buy land, they’re not making it anymore.’ All right, you say, we’ll go abroad instead, plus the weather’s better over there. Well good luck with that, too.

The long-delayed 2020 Olympic Games finally kicked off on July 23 in Tokyo. Events are being held without spectators after a spike in coronavirus cases locally. Even so, the breathtaking feats of athletic prowess will be enough to inspire many people to get off their sofas and into the great outdoors. Here are the best UK holiday spots to try out Olympic sports, from mountain biking to sailing. EquestrianCoworth Park, Ascot With dressage, eventing and jumping, equestrian disciplines require both skill and style. One of the best places in Britain to learn the basics of horsemanship is Coworth Park: a country estate and five-star hotel on the edge of Ascot. Explore the estate’s 240 acres acres on horseback including wildflower meadows and a polo pitch.

I’m standing in a farmyard in Somerset, drinking in the clear country air, soaking up the summer sunshine and marvelling at the lovely view. However this view is rather different from the sort of thing you tend to see on most farms. I’m here to see some modern art, stuff my face and enjoy a stroll round the stunning gardens. Welcome to Durslade Farm, the grooviest art gallery in the West Country, and one of my favourite days out. Durslade is the brainchild of Swiss couple Iwan and Manuela Wirth. Together with Manuela’s mother, leading art collector Ursula Hauser, they run one of the world’s hippest galleries, Hauser & Wirth. Hauser & Wirth have premises all around the world, in swanky locations like Monaco, St Moritz, Zurich, Hong Kong, New York and LA.

If the prospect of keeping an eye on transport secretary Grant Shapps’s Twitter feed doesn’t fill you with much joy, there’s only one option for a holiday this year: a staycation. So where is the best place in Britain to find good weather? Of course, no holiday in the UK can be guaranteed to be rain free, but there is one part of the country where you are more likely than elsewhere to find sunshine. Devon? Cornwall? The answer may surprise you. Sussex is, in fact, the sunniest county in the United Kingdom, according to Met Office records. Over the last 29 years, the western part of the county has averaged 1902 hours of sunshine a year. Not to be outdone, Eastbourne and Hastings, in the east of the county, hold the record for the sunniest month ever recorded: 383.

Croatia is officially on the green list! With speedy, direct flights to Dubrovnik (running under three hours from many UK destinations), plus plenty of sought-after sunshine, this jewel of the Adriatic just became the hottest destination to visit this summer. Here's our guide to the top places to stay… Lopud 1483 The little-known island of Lopud may seem off-the-beaten track, but it’s actually easily within reach of Dubrovnik. With only around 200 residents, you won’t have crowds to worry about on this sandy isle, but if it’s ultimate privacy you’re after, there’s Lopud 1483, a centuries-old Franciscan monastery that’s now an art-filled, high-design hideaway.

We are in the midst of a camping boom. Faced with travel restrictions and uncertainties around jetting off into the sun, taking your family out for a few nights under canvas is an increasingly attractive prospect, and the wealth and depth of the British landscape lends itself well to a stay under the stars.  Of course, there are traditional camping setups aplenty in this country, many of which are established businesses that keep people coming back time and time again. But a new brand of campsite is emerging across the UK - pop-up sites opening to make the most of the summer break have established themselves up and down the land, and many offer access to the grounds of stately homes normally closed off to the public.

We may be a small nation geographically, but what we lack in size we more than make up for in diversity and range of landscape to explore. With restrictions on travel meaning the UK is our best bet now when it comes to getting away, why not try some of Britain’s most stunning accessible walks? It’s great to see so many people donning their walking boots and getting out through the pandemic, and I hope that some of the list below might give you some inspiration to head to the hills this summer. The Lizard, Cornwall Jutting out to the south of the famous coastal peninsula is The Lizard, a wild and windy mix of rugged coastal seascapes and unspoilt moorland.

Before its elevation to the undeniably slim Green List, the isolated windswept, wave-lashed archipelago of volcanic rock in the North Atlantic Ocean known as the Faroe Islands was not on many people’s radars. With direct flights from the UK recommencing on July 1, no doubt its popularity will surge in the coming months. Even before Covid, tourism had doubled within five years and it was increasingly being dubbed ‘the new Iceland’. Centred between Scotland, Norway and Iceland, this dramatic and windswept territory is not to all tastes. It rains here for 300 days a year and winds are so fierce and common that virtually no trees grow.

While weddings have been given the green light to go ahead with (some) degree of normality, overseas holidays have not. This means that soon-to-be newlyweds dreaming of jetting away somewhere exotic after the ceremony will have to make alternative plans. Fortunately there are plenty of very romantic honeymoon spots dotted around the UK. Here's our pick of the best. Isle of Eriska, West Argyll A private 350-acre island, Eriska was for centuries only accessible at low tide, via ford, or by boat. Thankfully there is now a bridge so that visitors to the five-star Eriska Hotel can schlep over with their bags and golf clubs.

When my wife suggested a holiday in Ibiza, I thought she must be bonkers. I’d always hated clubbing, and now we had a baby and a toddler in tow. Shows how much I know. We went, we had a great time and the only clubbers we encountered were in the kids’ club at our hotel. That was 17 years ago, I’ve been back several times since then, and now the Balearics are on the green list we can’t wait to return. Our children are almost grown up now, far too cool to tag along, but it’ll be an ideal break for the two of us. I bet you’d love it too.

Following the recent announcement of Britain's extended green list, many UK travellers will be jetting off for the only part of Spain to make the cut: the Balearic Islands. A number of laidback luxury hotels and locally inspired resorts are making their debut across the Balearics just as travellers return. These are the brand-new properties providing beachfront, mountain-backed and garden-enclosed retreats across Ibiza, Mallorca, Formentera and Menorca. Six Senses Ibiza Six Senses is making its entry to the Balearics this summer with the debut of Six Senses Ibiza. Set over 20 acres on the northern tip of the island, the village-like retreat combines uninterrupted sea views and direct access to Cala Xarraca bay with sustainable luxury that takes cues from authentic island life.

The Queen has never been one for a beach holiday, but as a young woman she loved spending time on the sun-dappled island of Malta. The then-Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip stayed on the island regularly just after the Second World War, the newly weds residing at the Villa Guardamangia from 1949 to 1951. They enjoyed being near the sea, visiting the racetrack and being out of the public eye. The Queen is even said to have visited a hairdresser for the first time there. Viewers of The Crown will be familiar with this period, which the Queen and Prince Philip reportedly described as one of the happiest times in their lives.

As a sommelier who has worked for Copenhagen’s Noma and Per Se in New York and set up the two Michelin-starred restaurant Kitchen Table in 2012, I'm more than a little discerning when it comes to wine. Britain may be a relative newcomer  to wine making but its offerings are gaining more attention from oenophiles as time goes on, especially in the field of sparkling wine. And the good news is you can now stay at many of Britain's vineyards and try out the wines for yourself. Here are five to try: The Bathing House at Sharpham Wine Estate A romantic self-catering cottage straight out of the scenery in movies is surrounded by rows of vines that lead down to the waters of the River Dart in Devon.

Ah Italia! Land of gelato, Vespas and frescoes – I’ve pined for the place so many times over the last year that it’s difficult to know which I love more: Italy itself or the idea of Italy.  The joy of travel is always sparked in part by imagination: the anticipation of a place before you arrive; the memory of it once you leave. And it's not without reason that we love to recreate the places we admire back home. The Chinese have even gone so far as to enshrine their nostalgia for England through Shanghai’s mock English suburb Thames Town. It’s a riot of British stereotypes – from phone boxes to village greens.

The fickle British weather has turned back in our favour – which means it is the season for the spontaneous mini break. However countryside hotels and campsites have been booking up fast. Make hay while the sun shines and book one of these boutique options for a countryside getaway, while spaces are still available. Ellenborough Park Hotel, Gloucestershire This country castle, which dates back to the Tudor era, has the honeyed yellow stone and crenellated turrets you’d expect of a Cotswold estate. Now a five-star hotel and spa, once you tire of exploring the 90-acre grounds, you can relax in the jacuzzi, sauna or heated outdoor pool. A half spa day costs £80.