Some places stay with you long after summer has ended, not because of their spectacular nature, but because of the way they make time feel slower, lighter and more considered. These are the places, moments and landscapes that continue to shape our idea of summer long after the suitcases have been unpacked.
SUMMER HOUSE TO RENT:
Casa Na Terra, Monsaraz, Portugal
Casa Na Terra is a place where architecture recedes into the landscape and daily life unfolds at an unhurried, almost meditative pace. Rooted in simplicity and material honesty, the Silent Living house offers a rare kind of luxury, defined less by distraction than by space, light, and the privilege of stillness.
GARDEN SIDE
Soufi Zarib, Interior Studio, Marrakesh
Blending sculptural restraint with the city’s rich decorative heritage to create interiors and exteriors that feel both grounded and forward-looking. His work favours texture over excess, especially in scale, where raw materials and artisanal detail come together with an unmistakably modern calm.
STUDIO AWAY FROM HOME
Grand Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, A Four Seasons Hotel, South of France
My favourite workspace away from home is the Four Seasons Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat on the Riviera. This hotel is a masterclass in old-world glamour, where manicured gardens, salt-scented breezes and impossibly blue views set the tone. Days drift by with languid lunches by the cliffside pool, golden-hour aperitifs and sketching on the terrace of my hotel room.
PRIVATE ROOFTOP
Immobilia, Cairo, Egypt
Immobilia is Cairo’s most intriguing address: a modernist landmark where grand staircases and light-filled apartments tell stories of the city’s cosmopolitan past. Staying here feels less like visiting a hotel and more like being let in on one of Cairo’s best-kept secrets: timeless, cinematic and quietly enchanting.
LUNCH IN THE SUN
La Môme Riviera, Cap Martin
Enjoy a swim in the sea, where striped parasols, sun-warmed skin and leisurely lunches set the scene for days that drift happily into evening. A place to linger, equal parts nostalgia and now, with rosé in hand and Riviera confidence fully intact, taking in the golden light at sunset.
FAMILY TIME
Amanjena
A mother-daughter escape to Amanjena is a magical experience. Rose-hued palaces, camel rides at dusk and long conversations under endless skies create shared moments that linger. It’s the kind of journey that feels both grounding and indulgent: sun, silence and togetherness, all wrapped up in the unmistakable calm of Aman.
NATURE LOVER
Hyde Park Riders
At first light, the Hyde Park Horse Riding experience offers a quiet counterpoint to the city, exchanging traffic noise for the sound of hooves. It’s a brisk, purposeful way to see London — disciplined, green and unexpectedly calm — before the day properly begins.
FIELD TRIP
Royal Mansour Tamuda Bay, Tétouan
A tour guide in Tétouan is all about storytelling, moving seamlessly from the whitewashed lanes of the medina to workshops scented with cedar and dye. With the right guide, the city slowly reveals itself in all its style and beauty, and you learn about the people and places that created the good energy of the Moroccan Riviera.
THE WEDDING DESTINATION
Hotel Belles Rives, Juan les Pins
This hotel is often associated with F. Scott Fitzgerald, who lived here in the 1920s. Returning to the hotel where we were married in 1999 feels less like an act of nostalgia and more like a quiet affirmation that certain places, like certain loves, only improve with age.
DINE & WINE
Lisbon
Lisbon in 2025 feels ready for a culinary renaissance, where sun-ripened produce, Atlantic flavours, and a new generation of globally inspired chefs come together with effortless confidence. This can be seen in everything from experimental neighbourhood kitchens to design-led dining rooms rewriting Portuguese classics.