Europe and Middle East

Exclusive guide to the best holiday destinations in Europe and Middle East. independent reviews from award-winning travel writers

Mostar view from the bridge

Mostar

Never has a city been so defined by a bridge. Paris may have its Pont Neuf, Venice the Rialto, but only Mostar has the 16th century stone bridge commissioned by Suleyman the Magnificent which, with its swooping contours and picturesque banks, is among the most photographed in the world.

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Sarajevo bridge view

Sarajevo

it’s a sleepy green city surrounded by mountains, with a beautiful river traversed by picturesque bridges running through it. New colourful glass towers, some of them university buildings, are punctuated with cafes full of young people sipping beer, smoking shisha pipes and revelling in the first sunshine of the Sarajevo spring.

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Pachamama interior

Pachamama London. Peru comes to trendy Marylebone.

If a preponderance of Peruvian restaurants is a peculiarity of the London dining scene, an even greater peculiarity is that some of the best have non-Peruvian chefs at the helm. At the top end, Coya in Mayfair makes this spicy, colourful cuisine sizzle in the hands of Indian culinary genius Sanjay Dwivedi, while Pachamama London brings a highly affordable, slightly Anglicised version of the genre to an attractively decked-out basement in Marylebone.

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Anthea Gerrie reviews Mottram Hall Hotel in deepest Cheshire, where footballers and WAGS are commonplace. RS4052 028 AIK IMG 0036 HIGH RES EXT NEW

Mottram Hall Hotel. A Brilliant Cheshire Stately Wonder.

You may not get to bend the ear of Beckham, but Mottram Hall offers Britain’s best chance of rubbing shoulders with A-list footballers. The stars of Manchester United and Manchester City play golf while their WAG’s enjoy the spa in this hotel and golf club in Cheshire’s “golden triangle”.

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A first look at the Langham London Regent Wing

Preview of Langham London new luxurious Regent Wing

To mark its 150th anniversary, The Langham London Hotel has unveiled to TripReporter the first phase of its renovations. The Langham London new Regent Wing precedes the new Langham Club Lounge and The Sterling Suite projects which are due to open later this spring and offers guests a new experience in what was formerly their club floor rooms.

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Madinat Jumeirah Dar Al Masyaf Waterways

Madinat Jumeirah

Well this was a first; a whiskey cocktail with real smoke pouring out of it. You can call it theatre, but I called it genius. It was a little number entitled “as good as it gets” the signature cocktail at Pier Chic, the celebrated seafood restaurant at Madinat Jumeirah set at the end of a pier jutting out into the warm waters of the Persian Gulf. Just us, the moonlight and The Burj for company. It was romantic for sure, but wait a minute, this was Dubai.

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