With over 200km of cycle paths and 300 days of balmy sunshine, Valencia is an ideal biking city that’s entirely flat, spanning a grid system with access to coastal boardwalks, expansive boulevards and cinematic nature parks.
27.03.2024 - 20:55 / forbes.com / Art
Spring and summer are set to top temperature charts in 2024, so choosing your city break based on the amount of cooling natural spaces would be a shrewd move. Based on air quality, number of green spaces and pollution, Essential Living’s Green City Index recently rounded up Europe’s greenest cities and gave them a ‘Green Space Score’. Here is a selection of the cities that top the list, with a recommendation of some stylish accommodation, too.
Perhaps surprising to some, Paris comes out on top of Essential Living’s Green City list. With 20 parks and 10 bodies of water to its name, Paris is an unexpected green refuge for its residents and visitors. In addition to the firm favourites - Tuileries Gardens, Palais Royal Gardens - are some of the lesser-known parks, from Luxembourg Gardens to Parc Monceau. Jardin des Plantes is a spot to marvel at rare plants across its 12 themed gardens.
Ideal for travellers with an eye for beauty, the glamorous Hotel de Berri Champs-Élysées, a Luxury Collection Hotel celebrates the 20th Century's greatest names in decorative art by exhibiting its own esteemed private art collection within the hotel. The property is tucked within one of the leafy areas that have earned Paris its green stripes, on the fashionable 8th Arrondissement. A sophisticated ambience and arboreal surroundings offer guests a hub of tranquility amidst the freneticism of urban Paris.
Amsterdam is synonymous with healthy living, endless cycling paths and canals, so it comes as no surprise that this city secured second place on the chart. Vondelpark, Amsterdam’s green lung, is a 120-acre oasis and the oldest and largest city park. Westerpark and Oosterpark also offer expansive green spaces. The former has its own brewery, nightclub and cinema, as well as numerous restaurants.
Set in a prime location near Dam Square, W Amsterdam is the perfect base to explore the city. Split across two historic buildings, a former telephone exchange and a bank, W Amsterdam brings its iconic quirky and contemporary style to the hotel’s interiors, while the hotel’s structure and facade preserve the building’s heritage. Guests can sip signature cocktails at the rooftop W Lounge, overlooking the Royal Palace and city lights, with an iconic rooftop pool. Visitors are in the perfect spot to access Amsterdam's renowned nightlife, dining, shopping and fashion scene from this hub. On top of the usual attractions like the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, The Anne Frank House and Heineken Experience, visitors to Amsterdam in March will be able to see the eye-popping display of tulips in Keukenhof Gardens during Tulip Season, which typically occurs between 21st March and 12th May.
Villa Doria Pamphilj is the largest historical green area
With over 200km of cycle paths and 300 days of balmy sunshine, Valencia is an ideal biking city that’s entirely flat, spanning a grid system with access to coastal boardwalks, expansive boulevards and cinematic nature parks.
The totality of an eclipse is never long enough. My first total solar eclipse experience in 2017 made for the shortest two minutes of my life: the sun transforming into a blazing diamond ring, the beautiful delirium of darkness, that perfect circle in the sky. Before I knew it, the eclipse was over—and my friends and I were plotting how we could catch our next.
In 2022, the flower-bedecked, lakeside town of Gérardmer in the Vosges mountains was rattled by a spate of vandalism attacks.
No place in the world enchants the collective imagination quite like Paris. In the City of Light, you’re encouraged to savor every moment, from beginning the day with a warm, crusty baguette to toasting the evening with glasses of wine on a terrace under the twilight sky. Some of the best places to indulge in these simple pleasures (and those more elaborate) are Paris’ storied hotels, which have a reputation for impeccable service, opulent accommodations and exquisite fine dining.
Easily reached by ferry from its famous island neighbors and a quick 40-minute flight from Athens, the Greek island of Paros has been a relatively secret retreat for those in the know. But in the last few years, fashionistas and the rich and famous started visiting its lovely beaches and bougainvillea-covered fishing villages, and the island quickly became the chilled-out alternative to Mykonos and Santorini.
With additional reporting by Sarah Allard
When Galataport, Istanbul's new waterfront shopping complex and cruise terminal, opened along the Bosphorus in late 2021, a major highlight was the revamped Ottoman-era post office, a grand open-plan space dedicated to homegrown Turkish brands. Now the site of some 250 stores, the bustling retail hub reflects a tradition dating back to the early days of Istanbul's 500-year-old Grand Bazaar, when artisans, or “usta,” composed such a lauded echelon of Turkish society that streets were named after them. Visit today and you'll still see signage decorated with odes to the Halıcılar (carpet makers), Kuyumcular (goldsmiths), Aynacılar (mirror makers), and many other craftspeople whose wares line the arcades. But contemporary Turkish creatives are also attracting global attention far beyond the walls of the world's most famous bazaar, thanks to modern twists on jewelry, fashion, furniture, and textile techniques rooted in the rich history of the Ottoman era. And in doing so, they're shaping the futures of the Istanbul neighborhoods they call home.
Ericeira may be famous as Portugal’s capital of waves—it was the second place to be named a World Surfing Reserve and is still the only one in Europe—but it’s plenty appealing beyond the ocean too. Less than an hour from Lisbon, it has beautiful beaches, windswept cliffs and a charming historic center, plus a vibrant international community. Yes, there are surf-town staples like acai bars and hostels flaunting their board storage, but there’s also plenty of destination dining and some five-star hotels that are worth an overnight or more.
The English village where Harry Styles grew up is calling for superfans to work there as tour guides.
These oft-bypassed towns have all been, at some period in history, influential if not necessarily powerful; wealth-creating though hardly opulent; and vital to the nation’s wealth and security while never fully rewarded for it. Communications and trade once gave some urban centres the edge over others. Churches and marketplaces were social magnets. Today a brand-name art gallery, celebrity residents, or media chatter are most likely to generate appeal, however specious. What if estate agents sold houses using poetry, memories, polyglotism, ruins and rust?
Booking platforms including Airbnb, Expedia, Tripadvisor and Booking sold about 678 million nights in short-term rentals in Europe last year. That was up 14% over 2022.
If you amble down Legare (pronounced Luh-gree) Street, one of the prettiest streets in Charleston’s South of Broad, you pass filigree ironwork gates and secret gardens, antebellum mansions and live oaks. Then suddenly, in front of one of the mansions, there’s a large stone half circle on the street.