As I sit here, sweltering in close to 30-degree weather (in May, for goodness’ sake!) and look back on the past few weeks, I feel very lucky to reflect on this month’s travels.
May has been very busy: I started off the month in South Africa, fulfilling a lifelong dream of experiencing South African safari, alongside visiting Cape Town and the Winelands. From there, I whizzed over to Copenhagen for a weekend in my favourite European city, and then, midway through the month, headed off to Mallorca for a weekend jaunt: my first taste of Mediterranean summer this year.
There’s also been plenty of time in London in between trips, where I’ve been making the most of the good weather, and tasted a slew of new restaurant openings.
Read on below for my pick of the best spots I’ve visited this month: from bucket-list hotels to must-visit restaurants that you need to bookmark.
HOTELS I’ve loved:
This Winelands farm stay is something of a South African legend, and rightfully so. It’s the sister property of, and blueprint for, The Newt in Somerset (my all-time favourite hotel in the UK), so I knew I was going to love it before I’d even arrived. Sprawling across 500 acres near Franschhoek and wrapped by mountains on every side, there’s an almost dizzying number of things to do, from feeding water buffalo and wandering the perfectly pruned fruit and vegetable gardens to tastings at the onsite winery and olive oil mill, plus bread baking, and soap making. And that’s before you even get to the serene spa (where you’ll most definitely want to carve out an afternoon) and the stripped-back, Scandi-chic lodgings. It’s the kind of place where you could simply never get bored: you could easily spend a week here and still not exhaust everything the estate has to offer.
There’s no greater feeling than being on an African safari; I truly don’t think there’s a travel experience that tops seeing so many different kinds of wildlife up close in their natural habitat. And when it comes to safari brands, Singita really sets the gold standard and sits in a league of its own, with lodges in unrivalled locations that offer some of the most up-close-and-personal game viewing imaginable. We stayed at two of their lodges in the Sabi Sands game reserve: Boulders and Ebony, both of which were special in their own way. They both offer the same game drives and seamless, hyper-personalised service, but differ quite markedly in design. I loved them both, but if I had to choose between the two, I’d probably return to Boulders again, thanks to its spacious, secreted-away villas and contemporary, Afro-chic interiors (Ebony favours a lighter palette and more classic design). What struck me most about both of our Singita stays was the intense level of personalisation: think minibars stocked with oat milk and chocolate chip cookies (I filled out a preferences form before my arrival), and personal butlers and safari guides that followed us from one property to the next.
Beyond the wall: a magical Mallorcan stay, and three restaurants in London you need to try
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