Globetrotter
words by Johanna Derry
biarritz
#1. catch a wave with the beach girls
Let’s hear it for the girls! Celebrating female surfing for the third year running, the Roxy Jam Biarritz hosts the Women’s Longboard World Championship. Contenders from all over the world will descend on the Côte des Basques, south west France, to compete for a $30,000 (€19,250) prize. Add to the mix an annual ‘Girls by Girls’ exhibition of works by women artists exploring the theme of femininity, and free music in the Port Vieux beach amphitheatre on the first two nights, and it’s girl power at full volume.
» Fly Sterling to Biarritz
11–16 July. Entry is free to all events. www.roxy.com
maratea, italy
#2. find inner peace in a convent
If you’re aching for tranquility, we’ve found a place where only the sounds of church bells, birdsong and water lapping against the poolside can interfere with the saintly hush. La Locanda delle Donne Monache, set in an 18th-century nunnery, is the kind of hotel where three days’ rest can feel like a month’s holiday. Perched on a hillside above the coast of Basilicata, southern Italy, the hotel overlooks the terracotta rooftops of Maratea, a small traditional town that sprawls down the hillside to a tiny, horseshoe-shaped port.
Lie lizard-like beside their rooftop pool or lounge on soft white sofas in a walled garden, cocktail in hand. Rooms are pleasingly simple with white linens, quirky furniture, a few colourful artworks and Moroccan style cushions. Some rooms have stunning en-suite bathrooms and balconies. Romantics should ask for the ‘Vicaria’ room with its sexy cave of a bathroom built into the rockside. Light the candles, take a bottle of prosecco with you to the deep reclining tub and be sure to say seven Hail Marys afterwards.
If you can muster the energy to leave the pool, a day exploring Basilicata’s dramatic, mountainous 35km-long coastline by boat is a revelation (hire from the port, around €80 for a day’s charter). With its inviting coves, black shingle beaches and wonderfully clear waters, this coast is relatively undiscovered compared to Amalfito the north and the flat beaches of Calabria to the south. GEMMA ELWIN HARRIS
» Fly Sterling to Naples
Maratea is a 2-hour express train ride south of Naples or a 2.5 hour car journey direct from Naples airport. Doubles around €235 depending on season. Via Carlo Mazzei 4, Maratea, +39 0973 876139, www.locandamonache.com
scotland
#3. a summer swim in the lochs
If you’re in Edinburgh for the festival this August, it’s only a short hop to the wild Scottish highlands where the water’s just warm enough to brave a swim. In his new book Wild Swimming, expert Daniel Start wrote of Loch Ness: “The ruins of Urquhart Castle seemed the most impressive place to dip but, determined to avoid the crowds and coaches, I walked up the road a way and dropped down through a steep field of yellow mullein and butterflies to reach a more peaceful section of the shoreline.
“A lochside ruin can never fail to impress in Scotland. More than once during its troubled 700-year history Urquhart was able to hold out because it could be re-supplied by ship. As I swam a little way out into the castle’s hidden bay I had a fish-eye view up to the battlements and could see at first hand the great rocky bluff on which it had been built.
“If you really want to swim with Nessie, though, she’ll undoubtedly prefer the many more peaceful bays on the far south side of the Loch. I decided to leave her alone and head on to explore the Findhorn, one of the longest rivers in Scotland and one that rises in the Monadhliath Mountains above Loch Ness.”
» Fly Sterling to Edinburgh
Extract from Wild Swimming by Daniel Start, a guide to 150 hidden dips in the rivers, lakes and waterfalls of Britain, with maps. £14.95 (approx. €18.80). Available from amazon.com or www.wildswimming.co.uk
lucca, tuscany
#4. puccini’s 150th birthday
This summer the Tuscan countryside will be filled with music when a series of concerts is held to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of one of the region’s greatest sons, operatic composer Giacomo Puccini. Catch a performance of Turandot, Tosca or, perhaps the most famous of his operas, Madame Butterfly in the brand new Gran Teatro at Torre del Lago, near Lucca. This open-air theatre stands in the restful surroundings of a memorial sculpture and music park with a lake on one side, making it the perfect backdrop to a balmy evening’s music.
» Fly Sterling to Florence
Turandot: 11, 19 & 25 July; 3, 10 & 23 August. Tosca: 12,18 & 27 July; 8 & 22 August. Madame Butterfly: 20 & 26 July; 2 & 17 August. www.puccinifestival.it
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