NationalGeographicTravellerUKApril2021

EAT

Carolina neighbourhood, Somos is another down to a kaleidoscopic array of dishes thirds of her staff go due to the economic
of the fancier food addresses in town. It’s the from her newly evolved menu. The titular downturn. “This was an idea we wanted to do
sort of place that would surely catch the eye guaguasa, a flatbread named after the in the future, so we moved it forward. It’s less
of Michelin, if the guide ever deigned to cast Quechua word for ‘small child’, is stuffed with elaborate, so we can operate with fewer staff.”
an eye in this direction (an oversight that Alejandra’s favourite Ecuadorian dish, seco
includes Ecuador’s continued omission from de pollo— chicken cooked with orange and They aim to bring back the high-end
The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list; the beer. A celebrated staple of the Day of the restaurant in 2021, but La Guaguasería
country only recently made its Latin America Dead festivities, in some early iteration of the has proven so popular it’s already earned
list, with a single inclusion for chef Alejandro restaurant, guaguasa was supposed to be one a future in some guise — perhaps in the
Chamorro’s Quito restaurant, Nuema). Then of the only dishes offered, but now in front basement of the current property. The big
the pandemic hit and Somos’ entire business of me there’s also a colourful poke-like salad draw at the moment is a sprawling brunch
model seemed dangerously irrelevant. Rather bowl of camote (sweet potato), a rainbow of on weekends — that and a striking indoor
than sit back and wait for things to get better, empanadas and a way-better-than-it-sounds mural that hangs over the bar where some of
chef Alejandra Espinoza and husband Signo dish of guinea pig dumplings. Quito’s most inventive cocktails are created;
Uddenberg simply created something new. most notable is the miske margarita (made
“By June, we knew the pandemic wasn’t from Ecuador’s much-overlooked answer
“With Covid-19, we never know how many going to be over any time soon and we didn’t to tequila). “We’ll see what happens,” says
people would come in, so we launched want to lose our flow of clients, or for them to Alejandra. “For now, I just keep trying new
La Guaguasería,” says the chef as we sit forget us,” says the chef, who had to let two- things. If I don’t do something, I’ll go nuts!”

IMAGES: ALAMY; AWL IMAGES; JAMIE LAFFERTY A TASTE OF QUITO

SALNÉS GASTRO-PICANTERÍA CHEZ TIFF AGAVE SPIRIT ECUADOR

Chef-owner Mauricio Acuña seeks out ‘lost’ Ecuador’s pedigree native chocolate — by Just north of the city, almost on the Equator,
local produce: ferns that double as asparagus, the likes of Pacari, To’ak and Mindo — have this complex champions miske, Ecuador’s
overlooked Amazonian fish and black pork been storming the international stage of version of tequila, as the would-be national
that serves as buttery ibérico. The small, late. In the historic city centre, chocolate drink. Tour the excellent agave museum, sip
regularly changing menu of simple-yet-refined master Bertrand Indemini, originally from the Andean agave cactus spirit and nibble
dishes is centred on local produce largely Switzerland, has set up shop running demos pickled agave flowers. You can even take part
drawn from a growing network of indigenous and tastings explaining the entire process of in a naming ritual for your very own baby
farmers. facebook.com/elsalnesec chocolate production. cheztiff.net cactus. agavespiritecuador.com

April 2021 49

SLEEP IMAGES: GETTY; HEY!CHEESE

TAIPEI

The Taiwanese capital runs the full gamut of hotel options, from stylish digs
in the heart of the city to sleek spa retreats tucked away in the mountains
Words: Clarissa Wei

In many ways, Taipei is a quintessential East Asian metropolis — a bombastic
mix of old and new, raucous night markets, excellent public transport and a
personality big enough to match its towering, sparkling skyscrapers. Compared
to some of its neighbours, Taipei — and Taiwan itself — is one of the region’s
more affordable destinations, with a wide range of impressive, great-value hotels,
many with central locations and skyline views. If you’re keen on staying in the
city, the buzzing Da’an District charms with quaint tea shops and restaurants,
Xinyi District is the nightlife hotspot and historic Dadaocheng offers a slice of
traditional, 19th-century Taipei. There’s no shortage of places to splurge on,
either: the chic mountain getaways of Beitou, for example, tempt deep-pocketed
travellers with fine views and luxurious baths fed by hot springs. But wherever
you while away your days in this city, you can be sure of a good night’s sleep.

50 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel

Best for creatives

PLAY DESIGN HOTEL

At this boutique design hotel with only five
rooms, there’s plenty of emphasis on local
talent, with furniture and decor created
by Taiwanese craftspeople. Each of the
rooms is themed — one is dedicated to
tea, another inspired by a laboratory. The
whole hotel experience is interactive: a
design-your-own-room option lets guests
pick out their favourite layout and furniture
online beforehand. The location, in lovely
Dadaocheng, is also excellent — this is one
of the oldest neighbourhoods in Taipei, with
lots of street food, tea shops and atmospheric
streets a short walk away.
ROOMS: From NT$3,600 (£94), room only.
stay.playdesignhotel.com

April 2021 51

SLEEP

Best for art aficionados
FOLIO HOTEL DAAN TAIPEI

Want an intro to the Taiwanese art scene?
These comfy digs — once accommodation for
local bank employees — offer just that, with a
rotating exhibition programme featuring the
work of local artists and photographers. The
rooms are decked out with plush beds and
minimalist decor, although the main draw
is arguably the location. It’s in the heart of
the bustling Da’an district, just a stroll away
from Da’an Forest Park, a lush, 64-acre oasis
teeming with wildlife. It’s also near a night
market and the towering Taipei 101 — the
tallest building on the island.
ROOMS: From NT$1,731 (£45), room only.
www.folio-hotels.com

Best for bibliophiles

ESLITE HOTEL

Eslite is a Taiwanese bookshop chain, so,
naturally, its namesake hotel is full of tomes.
Bookworms can lose themselves in the lounge,
complete with floor-to-ceiling bookcases,
where 5,000 volumes — in English and
Chinese — are available to buy. All bedrooms
have high ceilings and plenty of natural light,
and if you want to splurge, consider the aptly
named Library Suite, with hundreds of books
at your disposal. The hotel is located next to
Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, home to
art exhibitions and boutique stores.
ROOMS: From NT$4,446 (£117), B&B.
eslitehotel.com

52 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel

Best for escapists SLEEP

GRAND VIEW April 2021 53
RESORT BEITOU

Its location near a fault line means Taiwan
sits above a bevy of hot springs. The Grand
View Resort Beitou takes full advantage
of this by pumping water into the baths of
all 80 guest rooms. There’s also a standout
afternoon tea, with Taiwanese street food
and confectionery flavoured with sweet
osmanthus flowers. The resort sits on a quiet
hillside outside the city; for those after some
hustle and bustle, there’s a complimentary
shuttle to the nearest metro station.
ROOMS: From NT$14,000 (£373), B&B.
gvrb.com.tw

Best for fun & frolics

HOTELPOISPOIS

There’s no bursting this hotel’s bubble
— with bright pink oval windows and
bubble-like chandeliers in the lobby, it’s built
firmly into the design. Similarly colourful is
the lift, which zooms guests up to the rooftop
terrace for a stylish bar that’s furnished
with fun, red, spinning top-like chairs. The
rooms are varied: some are whitewashed
and minimalistic and others are decked out
with lavish wallpaper. As for the in-house
restaurant, there’s an excellent Western-style
brunch menu and the food is as colourful as
the decor.
ROOMS: From NT£1,500 (£39), B&B.
hotelpoispois.com

An all-season escape!

Chatzigaki Manor offers 5-star hospitality and is an ideal choice all year round for families,
groups of friends and nature lovers.
Hidden on the green slopes of the Pindos mountain range, at an altitude of 1,200 meters, with
stunning views of the forest, the village and the meadows of Pertouli, the hotel is a unique
destination for relaxation or escape in nature.
Not far away from the village of Pertouli are the holy rocks of Meteora, an area which offers
great hiking experiences and famous monasteries. You may also want to visit the Plastira Lake
one of the largest artificial lakes in Greece.

Chatzigaki Manor, Pertouli, Trikala, Greece
T: +30 243 409 1146-9 E: [email protected] www.chatzigaki.gr

SLEEP

Best for night owls

W TAIPEI

In the heart of Xinyi District, close to
some of Taipei’s best bars and clubs, W
Taipei is the place to kick-start a night on
the town. In characteristic W style, rooms
are bright and bold, and each features an
animal sculpture inspired by the Chinese
zodiac. There’s music playing in the
lobby all day long and colourful lighting
throughout. For drinks, look no further
than Woobar, the rooftop bar, with its
mouth-watering menu of cocktails, not to
mention a pool and tantalising views of
the city below.
ROOMS: From NT$6,791 (£178), room only.
marriott.com/hotels

Best for families Best for history buffs Best for spa-seekers

HUA SHAN DIN BY COSMOS CREATION GRAND HOTEL TAIPEI VILLA 32

Once home to a bank vault, this industrial-style hotel Since it first opened in 1952, the Grand Hotel Taipei A Japanese Zen aesthetic is offset by elegant European-
stays true to its history, with thick columns, marble has earned itself a reputation as a magnet for visiting style decor at this former private residence on the edge
accents and vault-style door handles. It’s a quirky, fun
place to bed down, with pop art flourishes in many of dignitaries and the elite. With towering vermilion of Yangminshan National Park. Not only does every
the rooms, and plenty of in-room board games to keep columns, elegant wall panels and a golden roof, it’s guest room contain a bath fed by a local hot spring,
children entertained. The Huashan 1914 Creative Park one of the city’s architectural gems. Rooms overlook but the spa is also one of the best in town. Standout
is nearby — a former sake winery converted into a the Keelung River and are adorned with traditional treatments are a Chinese-style meridian massage and
Chinese furnishings. The hotel is also home to two collagen-stimulating facial. Rooms are often booked
series of restaurants and boutiques. underground tunnels; only occasionally open to public months in advance and, at nearly £800 a night, you’ll
ROOMS: From NT£1,909 (£50), room only.
tours, they were initially built in case of air raids. need to splash out to secure yours. Adults only.
huashandin.com.tw/en ROOMS: From NT$4,400 (£115), B&B. grand-hotel.org ROOMS: From NT$29,665 (£790), B&B. villa32.com

April 2021 55

SLEEP

Best for urban explorers IMAGES: HEY!CHEESE

KIMPTON DA AN HOTEL

Located in the heart of one of Taipei’s busiest
shopping districts, Kimpton Da An Hotel
is a glamorous inner-city retreat with an
award-winning eye for design. It’s pulled off
the remarkable feat of being a quiet space
in a busy city: the lobby is all pared-back
concrete and graced with the sounds of
trickling water from a design installation,
and the 129 rooms are similarly sharp and
minimalist, with calming wood elements
and an ash-grey palette accented by pops
of teal. Wellness is also a focus in this
urban oasis, with in-room yoga mats and a
bike rental service for guests. After a day’s
exploring, wind down with a glass of fizz on
the hotel’s chic rooftop terrace.
ROOMS: From NT$4,224 (£111), room only.
ihg.com/kimptonhotels

56 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel



INTO THE IMAGE: BEN ROBERTS

Hellenic
heartland

Stretching from the lakes and wine country of
Macedonia down to the fortified castles and scenic

peninsulas of the Peloponnese, we explore the
stories, sights and experiences of the Greek mainland.

This is the country’s cultural lodestar — the sun
around which the nation’s 6,000 islands gravitate
— home to exquisite classical ruins, world-class
hiking, rich wildlife, sun-drenched coastlines and the

vibrant cities of Athens and Thessaloniki

WORDS MARIA ATMATZIDOU, HELEN IATROU,
JAMIE L AFFERT Y, CHRIS LE ADBE ATER & KERRY WALKER

58 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel

April 2021 59

GREECE

60 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel

GREECE

The conservationist

The duelling dragons of Zagori Wildlife biologist
Alexandros Karamanlidis
In Epirus, the country’s wild northwestern state, a snaking five-mile trail rises above the speaks about his work
stone-built villages of Zagori to reach the fabled Drakolimni, twin alpine lakes dating to at environmental NGO
the last ice age. Words: Helen Iatrou Arcturos, whose bear
and wolf sanctuary can
IMAGE: PANOS XAXIRIS Departing in heavy mist, our hiking party the indigenous Debina grape) or mountain be visited in Nymphaio,
zigzags its way up the mountain track from tea made with wild ironwort. Western Macedonia
the still-sleeping village of Mikro Papigo,
stopping to fill flasks at a spring-fed fountain With no such facilities open at present, our TELL US ABOUT
half-concealed by the morning haze. Local weary companions are choosing to retreat to GREEK FAUNA
lore claims our destination, the twin alpine Megalo Papigo, among the most scenic of 46 Greece is home to about
pools of Drakolimni — ‘Dragon Lake’ in traditional villages that make up the forested 500 brown bears, mostly
Greek — take their name from ancient Zagori area. It’s a setting plucked from a split between the Pindos
duelling dragons once poised atop the fairytale: fertile gorges and flowing rivers and Rodopi Mountains.
opposing mountains of Tymfi and Smolikas. encircle stone-built, slate-roofed homes Wolves number around 700
The boulders they cast at one another are with heavy wooden doors and cobblestone and are the key regulators of
said to stud the hillsides. pathways. It’s the sort of place where dragons the food pyramid.
wouldn’t be entirely amiss.
Deflating the tale with a smile, guide WHAT IS ARCTUROS?
Achilles Papaefthymiou explains that the Our party lighter and our stomachs fuller, It was created in 1992 to
age-old moniker may instead originate Achilles leads us onwards, fleshing out our address the issue of dancing
from the newts inhabiting the lakes. “They understanding of the land. “In summer, we bears. Arcturos is focused
probably reminded the local villagers of see wild horses and mules and the occasional on rescuing wild animals
miniatures of the fire-breathing creatures,” brown bear,” he tells us. This is one of caught in traps or involved in
he says, with a note of apology. Greece’s most biodiverse areas, with more accidents, and dealing with
than 2,000 species of flora and fauna, home wild animals that get too
This more mundane telling doesn’t to wolves, chamois, roe deer, otters and such close to human settlements.
diminish the magic of Northern Pindos endangered birds as the Egyptian vulture.
National Park. Resting at our first waypoint, WHEN CAN VISITORS COME
the shuttered Astraka Mountain Hut, The winter is quieter, both in terms of TO THE SANCTUARY?
perched at 6,398ft, Achilles, founder of hikers and wildlife; its silence is palpable, Bears and wolves reside
adventure tour company Alpine Zone, hands even as we crunch through knee-deep snow in protected areas within
out homemade cake to nibble as we take in in the dried-out lake of Xerolimni. their natural habitats. At the
humbling views of the Towers of Astraka. information centre, visitors
One of Greece’s great natural wonders, the The forest has long given way to a naked, can hear the stories behind
undulating wall of this impregnable massif open landscape dotted with juniper shrubs. each creature. The brown
looks like the turret from a giant’s castle, Climbing higher, the final ascent squeezes us bear sanctuary is closed
their buttresses and jagged crenelations into single file, following a slim path scooped in January and February,
carved by mighty hands. from a scree slope that plunges away into whereas the wolf sanctuary
nothingness on one side. is open year-round.
With the hardest part of the ascent still arcturos.gr HI
to come, some members of our party decide Five hours into the trek, we summit the
to turn back. The 10-hour round trip isn’t for plateau at the foot of Mount Tymfi and LEFT: Hikers above the alpine lake of
amateurs, and we’re hiking in winter Drakolimni reveals itself: frozen solid and Drakolimni, near Mount Tymfi, Epirus
— out of season. Between May and October, enveloped in a snowy embrace. Some of the PREVIOUS PAGE: The view towards
the peak months for walking in the Epirus group skate across the ice; I squint up at the Parthenon from Monastiraki
region, this hut is open and acts as a Mount Smolikas, trying to spot the second Square, with Tzistarakis Mosque in the
refuge, hosting up to 51 hikers. Here, they pool and — just maybe — a dragon. foreground, Athens
can restore energy levels with the hearty
cuisine of northwest Greece — lentil soup HOW TO DO IT: Alpine Zone offers guided adventure April 2021 61
and blatsaropita (a pie thrown together with
whatever’s in the pantry), washed down with trips in northern Greece. alpinezone.gr • Double
the local firewater tsipouro (produced with
rooms at Mikro Papigo 1700 Hotel and Spa start from

€120 (£109), B&B. mikropapigo.gr • Wild Frontiers’

Northern Greece: Along The Via Egnatia is available

from £2,425 for nine days wildfrontierstravel.com

GREECE

At Halkidiki’s fingertips The forager

Jutting southwards into the Aegean like Poseidon’s trident are the three peninsulas of Nikos Tsilis, raised on the
Halkidiki, a popular weekend escape from Thessaloniki. Each stretch of land has a unique fertile shores of Western
character, together forming a microcosm of the mainland’s charms. Words: Chris Leadbeater Macedonia’s Prespes Lakes,
spends his days hunting
It’s just after lunch on an late autumn Dunes on its west edge; Afitis Boutique Hotel truffles and mushrooms IMAGES: YADID LEVY
afternoon, and Halkidiki is giving me on its east). with his dogs. “Around
the middle finger. Please pardon the 4,000 species of fungi have
expression. And the misdirection. There’s But Sithonia, pinned between its two been found In Greece but
no uncouth confrontation here; no fiery siblings, is different again. A simpler matter it’s estimated there are
argument that concludes with rude — lost neither in prayer nor five-star finesse. around 10,000,” says Nikos.
gesticulations and expletives. But there Together with bodies like the
is an abruptness in the way that Sithonia Evening is drifting in when I reach Porto Greek Mushroom Society,
— the second of the three ‘digits’ that Koufo, which adorns the middle fingertip. he leads foraging excursions
point out from Central Macedonia into Tourism feels mildly more in focus here than and seminars throughout
the Aegean — has dispensed with any in laid-back towns like Sarti, yet this is still western and central Greece,
suggestion of urban life. a location for unfussy seaside escapes. Small including in Prespes. Learn to
studios and hotels are laid out at the top of a identify species such as the
One moment it’s there, in the towns long inlet, next to a marina where a clutch of imperilled March mushroom,
of Arnaia and Polygyros. The next, it’s smart yachts at rest seem like intruders from found in pine forests in
vanished, the road struggling southeast another world. early spring, whose delicate
towards Ormos Panagias and Fteroti. Here aroma Nikos likens to a rose.
the landscape is all flinty coves on rocky At Taverna Nikos, the menu is starting to Contact him via Instagram to
shores and pine-covered slopes, rearing up to think of winter, offering the slow-cooked book. @nick_tsilis HI
the central peak of Mount Dragoudelis. stew of pork and local louvidia (string)
beans that’s a staple of the ‘cold’ months in
The three ‘fingers’ of Halkidiki are a Halkidiki (when the mercury barely dips to
distillation of almost everything that’s coat-wearing weather by British standards). I
evocative about Greece. Mount Athos, eat it with one eye on the water. Porto Koufo
the easternmost of the trio, is its soul and is one of Greece’s largest natural harbours,
sense of tradition. Even in 2021, visitors but so secluded that German U-boats used it
are only allowed to enter this enclave of for unseen lurking during the Second World
20 monasteries via special permits and War. Mirroring its surprises and quirks, this
observance of the rules — one being that fact makes Sithonia a literal case of a place
women are excluded entirely. with hidden depths.

By contrast, Kassandra, the westernmost HOW TO DO IT: Double rooms at Hotel Porto Koufo in
finger, is as welcoming an environment as
you can find in the Mediterranean: a seek- Sithonia from €74 (£65) per night. portokoufohotel.gr
and-hide destination where luxury resorts
decorate the sands (Porto Sani and Sani • A week at the newly renovated Porto Sani resort
costs from £967 per person, including transfers.

elegantresorts.co.uk • visit-halkidiki.gr

62 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel

GREECE

April 2021 63

www.domesresorts.com

IMAGES: GETTY ON THE GRAPEVINE GREECE

Naoussa’s April 2021 65
winelands

Home to the Xinomavo grape, this region
has been producing some of Greece’s
finest vintages for centuries

There’s a general belief among the
uninitiated that Greek wine is for serving
unceremoniously at taverna tables rather
than swilling and sipping in admiration, the
way one might a Cabernet Sauvignon.

One of the most potent ripostes to this
misconception is offered by the Central
Macedonia region. On the flanks of the
Vermio Mountains, grapes — especially the
Xinomavro variety — thrive in the wind-
break provided by the ridgeline above them.

The quality of wine is such that the
Naoussa region has been able to revel in
Protected Designation of Origin status since
1971. You can find more than 20 estates on
these slopes, many open to the public, linked
by the region’s established Naoussa Wine
Trail. visitnaoussa.gr/naoussa-wine-trail

KIR-YIANNI
Discover the landscape and Boutaris family’s
legacy at the most feted estate in Naoussa.
Visits by appointment. kiryianni.gr

THYMIOPOULOS
Generations of agricultural knowledge have
gone into producing distinctive Xinomavro
red wines at this estate near Trilofos village.
thymiopoulosvineyards.gr

CHRISOHOOU
A welcoming family-run estate offering
tours of the viticultural museum as well as
tastings. chrisohoou.com CL

FROM TOP: The vineyards of Naoussa on the
southeastern slopes of Mount Vermio; a toast with
local white wine
PREVIOUS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Panagia
Faneromeni Church, Nea Skioni, Kassandra, Halkidiki;
the fortified tower at Ouranoupoli in Athos; Halkidiki;
prawns with bulgur at Boukadoura restaurant in Akti
Elia, Sithonia, Halkidiki; Karidi Beach in Sithonia,
Halkidiki; statue of Aristotle at Stagira, Halkikidi

GREECE

The navel of ancient Greece

Delphi, once a sanctuary dedicated to the god Apollo, is more than the sum of its
showstopping ruins. Perched high above the Gulf of Corinth, it’s dotted with
extraordinary details — a holy cave, political inscriptions and legendary ‘navel’ stone
— that mark it as the true heart of the ancient cosmos. Words: Kerry Walker

It’s a hot day, the kind where the Greek and the Athenian Treasury are so perfectly,
gods might have gleefully stripped off their anciently etched, they look like a stage set.
chitons, frolicked on the slopes of Mount
Parnassus and leaped into the nearest spring- The crowds thicken as I take the Sacred
fed stream. Or perhaps they’d have sought Way through the ruins to the spectacular,
shade in a cave such as the one I’m about to fourth-century BC temple. Here, the heat
enter, where the cool comes as sweet relief. becomes more intense, which seems fitting
for the home of the Greek god of sun and light.
I blink in the half-light of the Corycian Cave This is where Pythia, the Oracle of Delphi and
as its lofty interior and stalactites slide into Apollo’s mouthpiece, gave her prophecies: lore
focus. It’s impressive — even more so when has it that she went into a trance-like state as
you know the cave was sacred to Pan and the she predicted the fates of lovers and leaders,
nymphs, and the surrounding slopes were warmongers and wayfarers.
the site of orgies celebrating Dionysus. This
morning, however, it’s just me, a pocket torch The startlingly well-preserved 5,000-
and my overactive imagination, trying to seat amphitheatre, which once hosted the
decipher ancient mysteries in the gloom. quadrennial Pythian Games, holds me in
its thrall. So too does the Serpent Column,
Hidden on craggy, forested slopes at 4,300ft commemorating Greek victory over the
above sea level, the cave is an evocative Persian Empire at the 479 BC Battle of Plataea,
prelude to ancient Delphi. And the trail that and the polygonal wall, which features 800
leads from here to the archaeological site inscriptions concerning the emancipation
further heightens the anticipation. of slaves. One rock in particular grabs my
attention: the beehive-shaped omphalos, or
I walk for hours in silent wonder along ‘navel’ stone, that, according to legend, Zeus
zigzagging paths, listening to cicadas strum placed here. Finally, I’ve reached the centre of
and breathing in the scent of unfamiliar the ancient universe.
herbs. The view is divine, reaching across
plains embroidered with olive groves to HOW TO DO IT: Ancient civilisations travel specialist
a shimmer of sea. Suddenly, and without
warning, the ruins appear like a mirage in the ArchaeoMuse offers a six-night tour of central Greece,
heat haze. Ancient Delphi sits throne-like on
the mountainside, as if cupped in celestial including guided tours of Delphi, Athens and the
hands and held up as an offering to the gods.
The Doric columns of the Temple of Apollo Argolid, from £1,750 per person, including

accommodation, transfers and some meals.

archaeomuse.com

Unmissable ancient sites

METEORA ANCIENT OLYMPIA MYCENAE IMAGES: YADID LEVY; GETTY

Perched atop rocky In the ruins of Olympia’s Homer speaks of ‘well-
pinnacles, Meteora’s six temples and sprint track, built Mycenae, rich in
Byzantine monasteries were you can almost hear the gold’ in his epic poems
built by 14th-century monks fanfare of the Olympic Odyssey and Iliad — and
seeking refuge from invading Games. They were held here the UNESCO-listed
Turks. Moni Agias Triados is for over 1,000 years before archaeological site still
particularly worth visiting. being abolished in AD 394. astonishes with riches. KW

66 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel

GREECE

THE INSIDE GUIDE TO

Thessaloniki

Greece’s second city sat at the heart of great empires for
two millennia. Today, it offers up historic sites alongside
some of the country’s best nightlife and food

Any introduction to Thessaloniki should start with
ARISTOTELOUS SQUARE, designed by French architect Ernest
Hébrard after a fire flattened the city’s labyrinthine lanes in
1917. Note the sophisticated ELECTRA PALACE HOTEL, with its
rooftop restaurant, and the grand OLYMPION cinema, before
promenading along the three-mile waterfront — a favourite
local pastime. electrahotels.gr

Here, views of MOUNT OLYMPUS compete with manmade
wonders like the 20ft-tall STATUE OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT,
unveiled in 1974, and sculptor George Zongolopoulos’s
steel UMBRELLAS, installed in 1997 to celebrate the city’s
designation as European Capital of Culture.

Another icon of the city lies on this waterside stretch:
the WHITE TOWER (originally called the Lion Tower by the
conquering 15th-century Ottomans, who built it to bolster
their defences), which houses a permanent exhibition
celebrating the city’s multicultural past and present. lpth.gr

Continue the history lesson at the JEWISH MUSEUM OF
THESSALONIKI. It tells the story of the city’s once-thriving
Jewish population (dating back to the city’s founding
in 315 BC), which was all but wiped out during the
Holocaust. jmth.gr

A short walk brings you to the well-preserved ANCIENT
AGORA, the Roman-era heart of public life. Today, young
creatives flock to art shows held at the nearby NITRA
GALLERY and BEY HAMAM, the city’s oldest Ottoman
bathhouse. Meanwhile, down at the port, abandoned
warehouses have been repurposed into equally dynamic
venues: don’t miss MOMUS – THESSALONIKI MUSEUM OF
PHOTOGRAPHY or MOMUS - EXPERIMENTAL CENTER FOR
THE ARTS. nitragallery.com momus.gr

If exploring has worked up your appetite, you’re in
the right place: considered Greece’s culinary capital,
Thessaloniki takes pride in its amalgam of flavours
borrowed from Anatolia and the Middle East. Check out
comforting meze at FULL TOU MEZE and faultless seafood at
MAREA SEA SPIRIT. fullmeze.gr mareaseaspirit.gr

When night falls, students bar-hop in the alleyways of
LADADIKA, the former oil and spice merchants’ district, and
along VALAORITOU. Visit VOGATSIKOU 3 for an extensive gin
list, then head to THE BLUE CUP for cutting-edge cocktails.
Finish off in true Thessalonian style at AIGLI GENI HAMAM,
an Ottoman bathhouse converted into a club-restaurant.
vogatsikou3.gr facebook.com/thebluecup.gr aigligenihamam.gr

HOW TO DO IT: Book a walking tour with Thessaloniki Urban Adventures.
thessalonikiurbanadventures.com HI

FROM TOP: Wickerwork stalls in Athonos Square,
Thessaloniki; the ruins of the Tholos of Delphi, now
part of the Delphi UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The circular temple, made from marble and limestone,
was constructed between 380 and 360 BC

April 2021 67

Wet and wild thrills meet laid-back relaxation at Fodele Beach

They may be the polar opposite of holidays, but if you want to be able to
choose between a pampering or enjoying an activity-packed itinerary, check
yourself into Crete’s Fodele Beach & Water Park Resort. Just 25km west of
Heraklion Airport, the site is carved into the cliffside overlooking the Sea of
Crete. Those who prefer a horizontal holiday can relax with a full-body mas-
sage or spa treatment, or simply chill with a cocktail in hand on the Balinese
beach beds. More energetic guests can take advantage of the slides, rides
and 950m2 of dazzling pools, or strut their stuff on the basketball and tennis
courts. Add in a collection of restaurants that take inspiration from the world’s

culinary capitals and you’ve got a resort to write home about.

fodelebeach.gr

GREECE

LEFT: A freshly prepared salad
of radishes, samphire, tomatoes,
walnuts and anchovies

The designers

14 HOURS Stella Panagopoulou and
Valisia Gotsi, the designers
Eat your way through Athens behind ethical fashion brand
2WO+1NE=2, reveal their
Carolina Doriti, a chef, recipe developer and culinary tour guide from Athens, describes top haunts in the capital
her perfect gastronomic day in the capital
WHERE DO YOU DRAW
10AM 6PM INSPIRATION FROM?
The Museum of Cycladic
COFFEE AND PASTRIES APERITIFS IN KOUKAKI Art, the Benaki Museum and
the Basil & Elise Goulandris
I start my day with coffee at Dope Roasting Specialising in ice-cold spritzers starting Foundation are all worth a
Co, just off Athinas Street. It roasts its own at just €2.50 (£2.20), Drupes Spritzeria, in visit. The new cultural venue
beans, and sells delights like chocolate Koukaki, is a fantastic spot to kick off the Onassis Stegi has also made
banana babka (a sweet braided cake). It’s evening. With limited seating at the tiny an important contribution to
worth browsing Varvakios Agora market bar, guests often prefer to stand outside and the city’s arts scene.
while in the area. shop.doperoasting.co socialise. facebook.com/drupes.spritzeria cycladic.gr benaki.org
goulandris.gr onassis.org
IMAGES: YADID LEVY; STUDIO PANOULIS 11AM 8PM
WHERE CAN YOU FIND
MINIMALIST SOUVLAKI SLOW FOOD AT FITA INDEPENDENT DESIGNERS?
Lefteris o Politis is an old-school souvlaki For dinner, I like to frequent Fita, in Neos At Aumorfia, you’ll find high-
joint founded in 1951, tucked away on a street Kosmos. Co-owners and chefs Thodoris quality handmade leather
off Omonia Square. There’s just one thing on Kassavetis and Fotis Fotinoglou serve tasty accessories. We also adore
offer, but it’s mighty good: a spicy minced Greek fare with a twist at reasonable prices. Liberta’s inventive jewellery
beef patty with tomatoes, onions and parsley, The menu is seasonal and mostly seafood- and Iride de Portu’s exquisite
wrapped in a warm pita. 20 Satovriandou centred, but there are excellent alternatives. handmade shoes and bags.
I adore their salads, taramasalata, crispy aumorfia.com ioannaliberta.
1PM chips and grilled beef liver. 1 Ntourm com iridedeportu.com

GEORGIAN-STYLE BREAD 11PM WHAT ABOUT VINTAGE?
If it’s sunny, I stroll to Victoria Square, a Our go-to for treasure
multicultural area that’s home to many TIME TO BAR-HOP is Yesterday’s Bread.
refugees. A tiny, nameless Georgian bakery We Athenians love to party — and luckily For hip memorabilia, we
sells great puri (fried bread) and khachapuri we’re spoiled for choice. If the weather recommend Forget Me Not
(cheese-filled bread). 79 Aristotelous permits, I head to the garden at Six d.o.g.s for and Greece is for Lovers.
cocktails. Indoors, there’s a mix of concerts, yesterdaysbread.company.
2:30PM DJ sets and exhibitions. Bar-hopping lasts site forgetmenotathens.gr
until the early hours and there are dozens of greeceisforlovers.com
MEZE HOUR drinking dens in the vicinity. sixdogs.gr 2plus1equals2.com HI
Ouzeri tou Laki is where I go for seafood meze
paired with ouzo, sitting outside and soaking HOW TO DO IT: Culinary Backstreets offer Athens food April 2021 69
up the sun as I dine. Work your way through tours from £97 per person and online Greek cooking
dishes like steamed ray with green pepper experiences from £25. culinarybackstreets.com HI
and pink peppercorns. ouzeritoulaki.info

GREECE

A road trip through time

Maniot life has remained largely unchanged for centuries — so claimed author Patrick Leigh
Fermor, who made the Peloponnese peninsula his home. Its wild vistas, mythical sites and
quiet villages make for an epic road trip following in his footsteps. Words: Jamie Lafferty

The ancient Greeks believed the Mani — the towers were empty and silent as though the Overlanding IMAGES: GETTY
central of the three Peloponnese peninsulas inhabitants had fled an aeon ago.’
— was the southernmost point in the world. The mainland lends itself
They were, of course, wrong — although The author chose not to make this his to long, languid road trips
it can lay claim to one geographical home, instead building a house an hour to with stops at sleepy villages.
superlative: Cape Matapan, the tip of the the north, just outside the scenic seaside Rolling Turtles rents out
Mani, is the southernmost point of mainland town of Kardamyli, where he lived until his campervans, motorhomes
Greece. Being an extreme tip of land, it’s death, aged 96, in 2011. By then, his fame had and 4WD vehicles, some
perhaps understandable that its inhabitants rendered one of his book’s assertions untrue. with solar-generated power.
imbued it with legend. Take, for example, Of Kardamyli, he wrote: ‘It is too inaccessible All the essential amenities
the yawning, sapphire mouth of the Caves of and there is too little to do there, fortunately, are on board, while tents,
Diros; the ancient Greeks believed it to be the for it ever to be seriously endangered by foldable bikes, standup
entrance to Hades, the underworld guarded tourism.’ Ironically, many foreign visitors now paddleboards, canoes
by Cerberus, the three-headed hellhound. arrive specifically to pay homage to Fermor. and snorkelling gear are
available for hire. Best of
The Mani has inspired many storytellers But even for those with no interest in the all, the team is on hand to
since, among them the great British travel writer, the Mani is a remarkable place to visit. help you plan out every
writer Patrick Leigh Fermor, who picked the The peninsula is sculpted by the Taygetus detail of your itinerary.
Mani to be his home from home for almost Mountains, which unfurl like a dragon spine rolling-turtles.com HI
half a century. In a short, dense account, all the way to its southern extremity. It’s their
Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese, presence that keeps the roads from being
published in 1958, Fermor insisted Maniot life too wide or too straight. Again and again, I
had changed little since the days of Byzantine found myself thinking how fun it was to drive
rule. I wanted to see if his account held water. along them and how little it mattered which
of the odd, time-capsule towns and villages I
As I headed down the peninsula, the roads stopped at along the serpentine route.
narrowed from three lanes to two, then
from two to one. By the time I reached the Fringing the roads, rheumatic olive trees
partially abandoned hamlet of Kitta, the path thrive despite the lack of soil in which to take
was edging between stone buildings like a root. The dryness of the Mani creates small
spring through a newly formed fissure. olives whose petiteness belies their superior
flavour — Maniots will quickly tell you they
There isn’t an obvious reason to come to make the best olive oil in all of Greece. Perhaps
Kitta rather than any of the other similarly this is another of the region’s legends, but
pretty villages. Fermor found himself here chasing it around plate after plate with fresh
by accident, having got lost while swimming bread, I never found myself in a mood to argue.
down the coast. He ambled into the
settlement, tired and more than a little fed up, HOW TO DO IT: Citta dei Nicliani has rooms from €120
but his florid description of the place could
easily be describing my own experience here: (£105). cittadeinicliani.com • Responsible Travel has
‘The canyons of lane that twisted through the
eight days exploring Laconia and the Mani Peninsula

from €1,490 (£1,300) per person. responsibletravel.com

70 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel

GREECE

April 2021 71



IMAGES: GETTY WILD IN THE COUNTRY GREECE

Hands-on April 2021 73
farm stays

Whether it’s checking beehives or feeding
sheep, guests are encouraged to get their
hands dirty at these farms with rooms

EUMELIA
Gather olives and grapes from the groves and
vines of Eumelia, an agritourism and wellness
retreat in the Laconia region. These are then
processed into oils, soaps and biodynamic
wines. From €160 (£143), B&B. eumelia.com

OPORA COUNTRY LIVING
This 30-acre estate in Argolis offers cooking
classes using ingredients from the grounds.
From €90 (£80), B&B. oporacountryliving.com

KTIMA BELLOU
Learn about beekeeping in the shadow of
Mount Olympus at this hotel near Pieria in
the Cental Macedonia region. The Beehive
Workshop runs from May to September. From
€133 (£119), B&B. ktimabellou.gr

ROKKA GUESTHOUSE
Join in with family life on this sheep farm in
Epirus’s Pindus Mountains, from helping to
feed the flock to cooking and wool-dyeing.
From €50 (£44), B&B. rokkazagori.gr

THE MARGI
Collect eggs and pick vegetables as part of
the Farm to Fork tour at The Margi, 25 miles
outside Athens. From €170 (£149), B&B.
themargi.gr HI

FROM TOP: Path leading to the top of Mount Olympus;
freshly picked olives. The harvest starts in November
when the fruit begins to turn from green to black
PREVIOUS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: The
traditional Mani port village of Mezapos, home to
around 30 people; Flomochori, a fortified settlement;
alleyway in Areopoli, the unofficial capital of Mani,
named for the Greek god of war, Ares

GREECE

GRE AT E SCAPE ABOVE: Church of
Elkomenos Christos in
A brief guide to Platia Dsami Square
exploring Monemvasia
HOW TO DO IT
Tethered to the mainland by a dramatic causeway, the monolithic rock of Monemvasia, with its
ochre-stoned fortress and tumbledown, Venetian-style mansions, has a fascinating maritime For more information on
history and offers one of the most picturesque getaways in the southeast Peloponnese planing a trip to Greece,
visit the Greek tourism
It was the Byzantines who first recognised the WHERE TO EAT website. visitgreece.gr IMAGE: AWL IMAGES
strategic military value of Monemvasia, an
outcrop rising sharply from the water just off Popular for its comfort food and friendly
the mainland. Since those first fortifications atmosphere, Matoula, the oldest taverna in
were carved into the rock in the sixth Monemvasia, can get crowded during the
century, conquering Venetians and Ottomans peak summer months, but its traditional
added to its castle and steep, amphitheatre- dishes and terrace garden are well worth
shaped town, resulting in a distinctive mix queueing for. Enjoy soutzoukakia (stewed
of architectural styles. Today, the main meatballs) with chilopites (noodles) or stuffed
thoroughfare bustles with bistros, tavernas cabbage leaves and order a bottle or two of
and artisans’ workshops. But the true magic the local wine, Malvazia.
of the place — and the best views —are tucked
away in the uninhabited upper town, among WHERE TO STAY
crumbling mansions adorned with historic
crests. As you climb the narrow, cobbled Formerly a monks’ residence, Kelia
streets, stop at the Archaeological Museum guesthouse has been restored in keeping
and the Church of Elkomenos Christos. Hike with tradition and sits in a beautiful
on to the 11th-century, octagonal Church of courtyard beside the whitewashed Church
Aghia Sophia and the fortress’s summit for a of Panagia Chryssafitissa. Interestingly,
bewitching sunset. the famous Greek poet Yiannis Ritsos was
born here. Rooms from €88 (£77), B&B.
keliamonemvasia.com MA

74 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel



WHEN

GOLDEN

PLAINS TURN

BLACK

76 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel

IMAGE: AWL IMAGES The Serengeti’s golden plains may be home to the Big
Five, but the unsung heroes of these grasslands are its
white-bearded wildebeests. Each year, over a million
complete a staggering 1,250-mile circuit across Kenya and
Tanzania, one of the las t intact wildlife migrations on
Earth. By creating and maintaining the ecosystem, they
are the seams holding it together, performing an ancient

dance that still sweeps across the savannah

WORDS SARAH MARSHALL

April 2021 77

TANZANIA T he sound of 8,000 hooves is Serengeti’s southern plains. The migration is
electrifying. Funnelling down often synonymous with river crossings like
78 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel a sheer, dusty drop on the this, but for most people who witness the
riverbank, the herd roars into herbivores’ annual grazing cycle, the primary
spectacle to behold is that of vast golden
the water, tearing at the soil and plains painted black.

rupturing trees from their very Spiral back in history, and there were
periods when nomadic tribes moved
roots. Locked densely together, this tangle of according to the weather. Ancient
civilisations would plot their routes based
curled horns elegantly sinks and swirls like a around patterns of stars, their lives revolving
around the universe in the same way our
group of debutantes performing a Viennese Earth obediently orbits the Sun. Most of us
have lost that connection, yet many species
waltz. But once the first splash is made, still survive in harmony with the seasons,
and there’s no greater peripatetic existence
any decorum is lost as a survival instinct than that of the white-bearded wildebeest.

kicks in. A low, thundering rumble drowns Come rain or shine, the 1.3 million-strong
East African wildebeest population performs
individual cries as the animals focus on one an epic journey across Kenya and Tanzania
accompanied by a host of optimistic
unanimous goal: to reach the other side. Thomson’s gazelles and plains zebras
who also know the grass is always greener
We’d rushed to this point along the Mara elsewhere. The 1,250-mile circuit they
undertake is one of the last intact mammal
River, in the northern Serengeti’s Kogatende migrations on Earth.

area, here in Tanzania. Looking through While fences, roads and all the signs of
human habitation have caused many great
his binoculars to judge the size of the herd migratory movements to collapse, the
wildebeests have been completing their epic
amassing, my ambitious and endlessly tour of the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem for
over 100,000 years. A keystone species, the
energetic Maasai guide, Moinga, had glanced wildebeest represents a giant cog in a wheel IMAGES: AWL IMAGES; KEN KOCHEY
that would otherwise fail to turn.
at his watch and declared: “We can make it.”
Hordes of vehicles — occasionally
Crashing across granite gullies and swerving outnumbering the wildebeests — have
turned river crossings into a circus. But
through quagmires of sticky black cotton not today. At the height of the coronavirus
pandemic, most mobile camps remain closed
mud, we’d arrived right on cue. and only a handful of tourists are travelling.
“Usually there might be 100 cars here,”
Every summer, in relentless pursuit of new explains Moinga, as we drive back through
an area where drivers are now required to
grass, wildebeests cross the watery border wait until the crossings start so the animals’
natural migratory pattern isn’t disrupted.
to Kenya, before being lured back by rains
Although I’ve arrived in early November
between October and November and heading at the tail end of the wildebeests’ exodus (it
can shift by several weeks every year), erratic
hundreds of miles south to calve on the rainfall has caused some back-and-forth,
meaning thousands of wildebeests have yet
to cross.

Ears still ringing from my first experience,
I’m barely prepared for a second stampede.
Having driven for 10 minutes along the river,
a dark patch is forming on verdant grassland,
as swollen storm clouds gather momentum
overhead. A few thick droplets have already
released a rich petrichor — a blend of sweet,
warm air and rich, earthy African soil. Like
an aphrodisiac perfume, it’s enough to drive a
wildebeest mad.

Science is yet to explain why these animals
choose a particular path to traverse. But as
the animals stumble down crumbling cliffs,
veiled by cinnamon plumes of dust, a whir of
calculations is probably taking place.

TANZANIA

Sayari Camp’s hot air balloon rises
above the northern savannahs of
Serengeti National Park
LEFT: During the annual migration,
up to 1.5 million wildebeests
ford the Mara Rive as they cross
from Tanzania’s Serengeti to the
Kenya’s Maasai Mara and back
PREVIOUS PAGE: Wildebeests
crossing the Mara River as they
travel north towards Kenya

April 2021 79

TANZANIA

80 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel

TANZANIA

IMAGES: AWL IMAGES; GETTY; SAYARI PR On this occasion, however, Moinga and I Tanzania’s controversial president, claims CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Maasai
both agree their judgement is poor as they the country has successfully prayed it away), guide Moinga, from Asilia Africa’s
rush toward the river. A zigzag of granite before moving on to family life (Moinga Sayari Camp; zebra grazing at Serengeti
boulders breaks the roaring froth of the credits his forward-thinking mum for National Park; spotting a leopard on
Mara — a treacherous obstacle course putting him through school), then David a game drive, Namiri Plains; lion cubs
that also has the potential to snap several Attenborough (he stayed at one of the Asilia from the Naona pride in Moru Kopjes, in
vulnerable limbs. I flinch as inexperienced camps and everyone wanted a selfie). the centre of Serengeti National Park
juveniles lodge their spindly legs in crevices
and are ultimately drowned by a tsunami Two hours later: still no action. April 2021 81
of sweat, fear and determination as the Discussions shift to the wildebeests’
herd surges forward in an unstoppable strategy. One sign of imminent movement
flow. In this moment, life and death hang is ‘cycling’ — when the animals whorl
in a delicate balance. Survivors heave a at such a pace, they almost lift off, like a
sigh of relief as they exit the water, leaving tornado. These sudden storms can quickly
wounded stragglers to bow their long abate, with troops trundling in single file to
faces in inevitable acceptance. There’s no another location. But how do they choose the
turning back. best place to cross? Is it a simple matter of
memory or has an inherited compass been
Witnessing these types of river crossings implanted in their DNA? “I think it’s down
and the moving herds of the Great Migration to smell,” ponders Moinga, halfheartedly
have only really become a draw for travellers swishing a cow tail to whisk away tsetse
in the past 15 years. In 2009, Asilia Africa’s flies. “They must have a scent gland in their
Sayari Camp became the first permanent hooves, leaving a trail for others to follow.”
setup in this northern section of the national Three hours later: nothing.
park, reopening in September 2020 following Digging deeper, we start to philosophise
a year-long revamp. Interiors inspired about their behaviour. Wildebeests are
by the local Kuria clan and a ‘listening often accused of being stupid, but Moinga
station’ playing traditional songs recorded and I agree the opposite is true. There’s an
by musicians in surrounding villages are admirable egalitarianism to their social
the closest I can get to any community structure: in the absence of any single
interaction, due to precautions demanded leader, everyone agrees to follow whoever
by Covid-19. takes charge at a particular moment.

But the greatest recent addition to the
camp is the first solar-powered microbrewery
in the bush, created in partnership with
Swedish startup Wayout. As well as four craft
beers, it produces soft drinks and purified
water, saving around 200,000 plastic bottles
a week. “It’s all computer controlled from
Sweden,” says the barman as he pours a pint
of IPA for me to toast my day’s game-viewing
success. Looking more like a Starbucks
Frappuccino, it’s a clear indicator that most
Maasai don’t drink.

The waiting game
Unfortunately, not every crossing is as
easy to anticipate as my first encounter.
Sightings require patience — and a lot of it.
“The longest I’ve waited is 12 hours,” warns
Moinga, when we drive a short distance
from camp the following morning. As he
prepares a makeshift breakfast table behind
the driver’s seat, I find myself counting the
acacia in the riverine woodland. Sensing my
boredom, Moinga adds: “But this year, I’d
say 80% have happened after less than two
hours.” The absence of the usual convoys of
tourist vehicles has clearly had a positive
impact, disturbing the beasts’ migratory
routes less than normal.

As we settle in for the morning, groups
of indecisive wildebeests dither and dally
on the riverbank close to a popular crossing
point, allowing conversation to meander as
lazily as this subdued section of the Mara
River. First, we tackle Covid (John Magufuli,

TANZANIA

In contrast to the Obedience is immediate; there’s no sense of liberation in surrendering to IMAGES: NAMIRI PR; SARAH MARSHALL
cool-hued north, hesitation. Of course, not every decision is the rain.
where emerald the right one. Traversing a rocky section
woodlands of the river, for example, usually results in More importantly, the showers are a
glisten against bones snapping like matchsticks. signal for the wildebeests to search for fresh
aubergine skies, pastures — a reminder to keep pushing
the landscape The wildebeests aren’t the only ones south. Passing through the Loliondo area,
here is simple taking a gamble. Choosing to focus on many will head to the Namiri Plains, 67 miles
and sepia-toned. crossings means sacrificing other safari from Sayari. While their journey is on foot,
Open and vast, sightings: leopards mating under the cover I take a short bush flight from Sayari. In this
it’s the true of croton bushes; lions perched on granite remote eastern corner of the Serengeti, the
definition of thrones; or giraffes performing a strange beasts are nowhere to be seen.
‘Serengeti’ form of topiary by nibbling shrubs into
abstract shapes. I suggest we take a break to In contrast to the cool-hued north,
FROM LEFT: A walking safari from Namiri search for something else. Big mistake. where emerald woodlands glisten against
Plains, in the remote eastern corner of aubergine skies, the landscape here is simple
the Serengeti; a leopard descends from Four hours later: several hundred hoof and sepia-toned. Open and vast, it’s the true
a tree, Serengeti National Park prints in the mud and one gaping, empty definition of ‘Serengeti’ (the Maasai word
space. The wildebeests have crossed. for ‘endless plains’), where clouds cruise
82 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel deceptively close and horizons vanish in a
Empty plains flicker of heat haze. Volcanic activity has
That afternoon, a bruised, indignant sky left its mark with a scattering of kopjes,
sums up my mood, although everyone else rising like islands in a sea of bleached-yellow
is elated by the deluge. A grey heron hops grass and forming refuges for scurrying
happily on one foot and Egyptian geese hyraxes and resilient rock figs, whose
merrily plod through puddles. Water is exposed roots are so determined they can
life in Africa; I can feel the energy in cleave a boulder in two.
every drop soaking through my socks.
Swallowed up by our ponchos, Moinga and From the early 1990s until 2014, this area
I laugh at the idiocy of game driving in a was closed off for cheetah research (there
torrential downpour, but there’s a rewarding are estimated to be around 40 of the feline
Ferraris using it as their home range).
Asilia has commandeered the area with
its Namiri Plains Camp (10 stone-walled
structures covered by canvas roofs) and it’s
already proving popular with professional
photographers such as David Yarrow.

After a night at the camp, I head out for
a morning game drive. At 6am, the moon
is still setting, swapping shifts with the
sun and gathering his silvery belongings
from the tips of trees. A parade of elephants
slips through a pillar box of tangerine
light cast through clouds, and a sprawl of
spotted hyenas temporarily blocks our path;
bleary-eyed and dishevelled, the late-night
stragglers are stumbling home.

For some carnivores, however, there’s no
time to rest. When the migration passes
through this area from early December
(only a few weeks after my visit), “the plains
are rigid black”, insists my seasoned guide,
Levard, as we both stare into empty space.
Until they arrive, the predators must endure
a fallow period; it’ll be a few more weeks
before the larder is restocked. Worst hit
are the lions, which, lacking the speed and
agility of cheetahs, are unable to chase
impalas, instead relying on wildebeests for
food. Slim pickings have split prides, forcing
them — uncharacteristically — to hunt
alone and during the day. But in this harsh
environment, even predators are predated.
“Last week, we saw a male eat a cub,” says
Levard, shuddering at the recollection.

Tracking lions isn’t difficult but watching
them hunt is a waiting game, making a
wildebeest crossing potentially feel like a
McDonald’s drive-through.

TANZANIA

April 2021 83



TANZANIA

IMAGES: SINGITA FARU FARU PR Poised over the As we watch a lioness stalking a warthog here in the Serengeti. When we return
hole, every hair in the long grass, her sense of desperation the following morning, the lioness is
on the lioness’s is palpable. Gaze narrowed and shoulders sleeping; her paws clenched around the
pelt is frozen and raised, she powers into action and prepares hole like a vagrant clinging hopelessly to
her shoulders to chase. But the game is up, and when a dust diminishing possessions. After 21 hours,
hunch taught like cloud eventually settles, the empty-clawed it’s a sad and poignantly tragic sight.
valley ridges. It’s cat is leaning over a burrow — her prey’s Without the wildebeests, these cats
psychological temporary escape route. simply wouldn’t survive.
torture of the
highest degree What follows next is a war of attrition; A formidable force
a test of patience so great it can only be
ABOVE: A roaring fire in the communal driven by the demands of life and a fear of It’s a three-hour drive to the southern
area of Faru Faru Lodge, a former death. “I’ve seen this before. She’ll drag him plains — possible as part of a day trip from
hunting concession in the Grumeti out,” insists Levard. But the warthog can Namiri, although most visitors stay in mobile
Game Reserve clearly still smell the lioness, so lies low. A camps. Attracted by safe, open spaces and
short while later, she switches to another phosphorous-rich soils, herds of wildebeests
tactic: remaining still. Poised over the hole, arrive here in January and synchronise
every hair on her pelt is frozen and her births, producing several thousand calves
shoulders hunch taught like valley ridges. It’s a day over the course of several weeks in
psychological torture of the highest degree. February (a strategy to reduce predation).

And so, too, we wait. Almost an entire The Great Migration begins again as
day. Choreographed by the wind, blades of animals move north west, passing through
grass provide the only animation, but as the Grumeti Game Reserve — an integral
the gusts become ever more maddening, piece in the ecosystem’s jigsaw puzzle.
the movements begin to resemble a Once a hunting concession, the 350,000-
battle rather than a dance. Fatigued by acre block was overrun by poachers in the
relentless gales and inertia, we eventually 1980s and ’90s. Identified as an important
leave, stopping to look at a 5,000-year- link in the migration route, it received
old fossilised giraffe ossicone (horn) greater protection in 1994, and in 2002 a
found by a walking guide — evidence management agreement was signed between
of how long animals have being living TAWA (Tanzania Wildlife Management

April 2021 85

ESSENTIALS

Lake Mara River K E N YA
Victoria Kogatende
ASILIA SAYARI
CAMP

SINGITA FARU FARU

GRUMETI PRIVATE RESERVE

Grumeti River Loliondo

SERENGETI Asilia Namiri Plains
N AT I O N A L

PA R K

Lake SERENGETI
Victoria NATIONAL
PARK

TA N Z A N I A

TA N Z A N I A

30 Miles

Guests at Namiri Plains Camp, in Getting there & around
the eastern Serengeti, watch an
elephant while on a walking safari Currently, there are no direct flights to
Tanzania from the UK. Ethiopian Airlines
Authority) and the nonprofit Grumeti Fund, One of Grumeti’s highlights is an flies to the capital, Dar es Salaam, from IMAGE: NAMIRI PR. ILLUSTRATION: JOHN PLUMER
granting a 30-year lease to restore the area’s opportunity to see the male wildebeests Manchester and London via Addis
wild populations. Conservation-focused rutting: locking horns, sprinting maniacally Ababa. ethiopianairlines.com
safari group Singita partnered to exclusively and grunting loudly to attract potential Emirates flies via Dubai, while KLM
manage tourism, with five high-end lodges partners. For now, they have other objectives. operates via Amsterdam to both Dar es
now operating on the site. Later in the a ernoon, we find a long line Salaam and Kilimanjaro, a more useful
marching purposefully, ready to cover at entry point for the northern Serengeti.
“I remember wildebeests once ran through least 30 miles in one day. Dusky threads emirates.com klm.com
my classroom,” recalls safari guide Braya, embroidering the landscape, they’re the Average flight time: 15h.
who grew up in one of the villages bordering seams holding the Serengeti together,
the reserve. “They disappeared for a while providing food for predators and clearing When to go
but now they are back.” Similarly, other long grass areas in savannahs, allowing
animal populations have boomed: since smaller gazelles to graze. The Great Migration is a year-round
2003, there’s been a four-fold increase in spectacle. Crossings along the Mara
elephant numbers; buffalos have ballooned “That sloping body gives them more and Sand Rivers occur from July until
from 600 to 9,000; and a successful endurance; they’re a good piece of early November. The herds then move
translocation of nine eastern black rhino machinery,” muses Braya. He’s right: south to the eastern Serengeti and the
(with a calf born last summer) has grown they’re handsome creatures. Backlit southern plains, where females calve in
Tanzania’s ailing population by 10%. beards glow so er than angel hair in dewy February. Moving north again, the mass
morning light, polished pelts cling tightly arrives in the Grumeti area from May.
When I arrive at Grumeti’s private to muscular torsos, and curved horns loop
airstrip — complete with a reception bar decadently as if inked by flourishes of a Where to stay
fashioned from a hot air balloon basket calligrapher’s pen.
— dozens of pioneering wildebeests are Sayari Camp, northern Serengeti.
already on their way south. “We usually see In isolation they can so easily be asiliaafrica.com
them coming up in May and June, although discounted, but en masse these gregarious Namiri Plains Camp, eastern Serengeti.
some also use this route to go down,” explains creatures are a formidable force. Tracking asiliaafrica.com
Braya, as we drive towards Faru Faru Lodge. A their migration routes taps into a language Ubuntu Migration Camp (mobile).
collection of timber, glass and canvas rooms, of nature we no longer speak, but is easily asiliaafrica.com
the property sits alongside the seasonal understood by watching those crossings, Faru Faru Lodge, Grumeti Private
Grumeti River, where smaller crossings can be calvings and obedient cavalcades. Moving Reserve. singita.com
witnessed at full flow. Offering 100 different with Stygian storm clouds and feeding from
wines by the glass, it’s a high-end safari volcanic minerals fired by the Earth’s core, More info
experience — although none of the fancy they’re part of a cycle much bigger than their
trimmings upstage the wildlife in any way. never-ending circuit. Tanzania Tourism.
tanzaniatourism.go.tz/en
Northern Tanzania: The Bradt Safari
Guide. RRP: £16.99.
Mara Serengeti: A Photographer’s
Paradise, by Jonathan and Angela
Scott. RRP: £18.99.

How to do it

ABERCROMBIE & KENT offers the
seven-night East Africa Safari trip from
£4,150 per person, based on two
sharing. Includes flights, transfers and
full-board accommodation and a £50
per person contribution towards a
Covid test. Covered by A&K’s flexible
booking policy. abercrombiekent.co.uk

86 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel

IMAGES: AKAGI SHIZENJUKU PARTNER CONTENT FOR AKAGI SHIZENJUKU

MOUNT AKAGI

FROM TOP TO BOTTOM

An adventure playground of epic proportions, Mount Akagi’s size means there
are many ways to tackle it. Whether you scale its crater or stick to the southern
base, here’s what to expect from one of Japan’s biggest, wildest volcanoes

The Summit

Head to the summit of Akagi and
you’ll experience its trio of vast, glassy
crater lakes: Onuma, Konuma and
Kakumanbuchi. Onuma is the largest and
in summer walkers relax on its shores, or
putter around it in hired boats, refuelling
on bowls of ramen at restaurants dotted
around its southern edge. Travellers after
a challenge can aim for the area’s highest
point, the peak of Mount Kurobi at 5,997ft,
and a trek that begins from the Onoko Car
Park. Follow the Mount Kurobi-Mount
Komagatake Loop Trail, a path that winds
through forests of maples, pines and cherry
trees, before opening to astounding views of
Onuma backed by sprawling greenery.

The Southern Base

One of the best ways to explore the southern
foothills is by e-bike, cruising along gently
sloping paths and pausing at temples hidden
under blossom-heavy boughs. Pit stops
include popular local restaurant, Tonton
Hiroba, ideal for a lunch of Japanese pork
and seasonal vegatables. Afterwards, loop
around the foot of the mountain along a
waterside road and head towards downtown
Maebashi, the leafy, literary capital of the
Gunma Prefecture. Time your trip right and
your e-bike tour can include local festivals,
such as the Akagi Nanmen Senbonzakura
(Akagi Cherry Blossom Festival) in April.

Essentials

Getting There: Flights from London to Tokyo
with Japan Airlines start at £596 return. Then hop
on the Hokuriku shinkansen or Joetsu shinkansen
to Takasaki (50 mins), before taking the JR line to
Maebashi Station. From Maebashi Station, local
buses go to the summit area (60mins). Once there,
e-bike tours or hiking are the best way to explore.

To find out more, visit www.akagi-trip.com/en

88 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel

CITY LIFE

VENICE

Discover the city’s long-held culinary and artisan
traditions, doggedly preserved by a cast of characters, from

vineyard-owners to glassblowers, even as overtourism
threatens to eclipse ancient ways of life on the lagoon
WORDS: Julia Buckley PHOTOGRAPHS: Francesco Lastrucci

April 2021 89

VENICE

F rom the top of the bell tower at San of Murano, Burano and Torcello, all assailed CLOCKWISE FROM
Giorgio Maggiore, Venice looks by Venice’s 21st-century plague: overtourism.
different. Hidden are the bridges And yet, a trip to this part of the lagoon TOP: A street scene in
straddling cutesy canals. Instead, all I see is — where locals seem intent on preserving Dorsoduro, one of the six
a single, man-made mass, squeezed by the tradition amid the souvenir shops — can still main districts of central
water all around. Terracotta roofs play Tetris transport you back to the city’s roots. Venice; catch of the day,
with the skyline; hangar-sized churches erupt fished in the northern
upward; bell towers thrust towards the sky. “People have been fishing here for 2,500 lagoon, near Torcello;
years,” says restaurateur Matteo Bisol, on fisherman Andrea Rossi
Hidden, also, are the outré waterside Mazzorbo island. Famed for its agriculture, at work with his nets
mansions whose pastel-marbled, hand- the sleepy island is severed from bustling PREVIOUS PAGES: View
sculpted facades were once signifiers of Burano by a thin canal and connected by a across the Grand Canal
wealth and status — the Porsches of the past. bridge. “The Romans knew the lagoon, even to the domes of the
Hidden is the elegant squiggle of the Grand before the Venetians. They fished, made wine Basilica di Santa Maria
Canal. Hidden, even, is St Mark’s Square, its and developed techniques that are still in use. della Salute
Byzantine basilica obscured by the candy- But this culture risks being lost.”
pink Doge’s Palace. Also gone are the 30
million tourists who flood this city of 50,000 It’s just steps away from Mazzorbo but,
every year. Up here, humankind is negligible. like Venice’s city centre, Burano’s economy
caters to tourists; its multicoloured cottages
From on high, Venice is all about the reflected in the glassy canals make it an
shimmering, shape-shifting lagoon: flashing Instagram dream. For centuries, the island
silver in the sun near the Lido; a deep blue was a popular spot for fishing, but today it
along the Giudecca Canal as a vaporetto makes its money from souvenirs, and its
(water bus) chugs silently along; a petrol- fading traditions need stewards.
sheened pink near Murano as the sun sinks.
That’s why the Bisol family — who
Life for Venetians has always revolved first made their name inland, producing
around the water — ever since the fifth Prosecco — built Venissa, a Michelin-starred
century, when inhabitants of nearby Altino, restaurant with rooms. There’s a vineyard
fleeing enemy invaders, took to their boats here where they grow the Dorona grape:
and settled on the mudflats offshore. Today, native to the lagoon and popular with the
although that water can feel designed for doges (the rulers of the Venetian Republic
tourists — gondolas sliding up and down from the eighth to the 18th century). It was
canals, the photogenic fish market at Rialto on the brink of extinction when Matteo’s
— the lagoon is still the city’s pulse. father revived a withered local plant.

To the east lie islands — some abandoned, At Venissa — which has an osteria (a laid-
others now home to high-end hotels; one was back wine bar serving simple meals) as well
even used as a renaissance quarantine facility. as a main restaurant — the focus is on lagoon
(The idea of isolating the infectious? That was food. In a high-beamed dining room, I feast
first implemented here to tackle 15th-century on soft octopus in a sweet-sour saor marinade,
plagues.) To the north are some of the city’s velvety baccàla (creamed salt cod) on polenta,
most popular day-trip destinations — the isles and juicy, almost jellified anchovies.

The floating city // Settled in the fifth century, Venice is
made up of 118 islands linked by over 400 bridges

90 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel

VENICE

April 2021 91

VENICE

A gondola passes through a quiet
canal near St Mark’s Square
ABOVE, FROM LEFT: At Trattoria al
Gatto Nero, on the island of Burano,
Massimiliano Bovo opens a bottle of
Prosecco for diners; a freshly caught
lagoon fish served at Gatto Nero
92 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel

VENICE

“A realist, in Venice, would
become a romantic by mere
faithfulness to what he saw
before him” // Arthur Symons

Many of the vegetables are grown on Meanwhile, son Massimiliano runs the show, and to the islands for birding. Later, on a tiny
allotments bordering Venissa’s vineyard. buying supplies from local fishermen. boat, where the lagoon starts melting into the
Open to the public, this walled, mid- Adriatic, I’ll watch him and boatmate Michele
lagoon mini farm-cum-park is tended by As visitor numbers continue to climb, Vitturi meticulously unfurl their nets and
Burano’s pensioners. One of them, Patrizia Massimiliano tells me, Venice risks losing catch grey mullet, one by one.
Rossi, shows me Mazzorbo’s famous violet some of its soul. While the headlines are full
artichokes. Patrizia and her husband, of Airbnbs displacing locals (it’s thought that But right now, we’re in his hide on sparsely
Moreno d’Este, and a friend, Giorgio dei 70% of Venetians have vacated their homes in populated Torcello. We’re here for the
Rossi, grow them on their shared allotment. the past 70 years to make space for visitors) squawking partridges landing in next door’s
It’s a misty, grey morning, but in summer and the council postponing its tax on day- artichoke plot; wood pigeons settling in the
they’re out with their trowels at 6am. “You trippers until 2022, nobody, he says, talks fruit trees; ducks flying towards Burano,
breathe better, feel better,” Patrizia says. This about the city’s endangered culinary heritage. and, finally, a dun-coloured hawk swooping
is the city’s countryside. across the barene. So far, so mundane, but it’s
So, like their neighbours at Venissa, the that mundanity that feels so outlandish in
It doesn’t feel like Venice, I remark. That, Bovos are taking a stand: the canals outside this city of visual and cultural excess.
they swiftly tell me, is because it isn’t. “We’re may be heaving with travellers, but in this
not Venetian,” they chorus. Mazzorbo may be chandelier-hung, terrazzo-floored room, the CULTURAL CAPITAL
just 33 minutes by ferry from the city, but “if walls are plastered in local art. Everything,
you row, it’s four hours — that’s like Venice to right down to the pasta, is homemade, and the Of course, that excess is everywhere — even
Milan today”. Venice was built by merchants fish is lagoon-netted. Not only do they feed out here. To the left of the hide, swirling out
and nobles, but the islands were born from their ritzy clientele local food, but they also of the mist, is the 11th-century tower of the
agriculture, they explain. “We’ve always lived introduce them to the people who made it. Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, its insides
in symbiosis with nature here,” say Giorgio covered in glittering gold mosaics, whose
and Moreno. Matteo agrees. “This part of “When Tom Cruise was in, they called me almond-eyed figures are older than those
the lagoon is totally different,” he adds. In over,” says Andrea Rossi, one of Burano’s that adorn St Mark’s Basilica.
contrast to neighbouring tourist honeypots, fishermen. “Massimiliano likes celebrities to
where vaporetto queues can be hundreds- meet the people who caught their fish.” And on the way back to central Venice,
deep, on Mazzorbo, the island’s heritage is I stop at Murano — not for its famous
tangible, still woven into the present. Venice’s top restaurants often call on glassmakers, but for the church of San
Andrea, a fourth-generation fisherman, when Pietro Martire. Back in town, at the Doge’s
On Burano is another restaurant striving they’re seeking sea bass worthy of an A-lister. Palace, people queue for hours to see works
to maintain tradition: Trattoria al Gatto But his main goal in life is keeping the lagoon’s by Tintoretto, Venice’s 16th-century painter
Nero, founded 56 years ago by Ruggero and traditions afloat — whether that’s collating extraordinaire; here, one hangs, frame-
Lucia Bovo. Today, they still toil away in the lists of edible herbs from the barene (mudflats) less, on the wall. There’s no placard, but its
kitchen (“I create, she judges,” grins Ruggero). or fishing with centuries-old techniques. In slightly doughy Jesus bends towards me,
the summer, he dabbles in tour guiding, taking getting baptised. Beside it is the whopping
inquisitive visitors out into the barene to fish

April 2021 93

VENICE

great Madonna and Child with Saints, by museums in Venice, she says, cataloguing its INSIDER TIPS
Bellini, another Venetian superstar. Mary’s history and art, and dozens of churches that
modelesque face and lagoon-blue cloak, double as galleries, too, but it’s Venice’s living How to spot an authentic find
cascading around her, are up there with his history that’s so special and underexplored. from a factory fake? Artisans
works in Florence’s esteemed Accademia usually sell only one kind of
Gallery, which pulls in the big crowds. Back on the tourist trail in San Polo, near product, done a myriad ways, will
But here, it’s just me and the hand-blown the much-photographed Rialto Bridge, I visit be able to tell you all about the
chandeliers slung from the arches. Paolo Pelosin, a paper marbler. He’s not sure making of it, and may even show
where this tradition for creating flowing you their workshop out the back.
Venice has been known for its artisans for patterns came from — perhaps from the
centuries, and while the city’s great painters medieval Japanese technique of suminagashi Seating supplements can be
have died out, these creators held on. But (‘floating ink’), or from the Turkish and expensive; drink and eat standing
today, rising rents combined with modern Persian art of ebru. Either way, marbling had at the bar for locals’ prices.
tourists’ penchant for cheap souvenirs is made its way to multicultural Venice by the
putting their craft in jeopardy. 15th century. A vaporetto ride down the
Grand Canal is an essential
Leaving Murano, I head to Giudecca, the In his workshop, Il Pavone, Paolo keeps the Venice activity, but this is
croissant-shaped island just south of Venice tradition going: flicking splodges of colour a compact city and in most
proper, heading to the Artisti Artigiani del in a pan of glue, then using metal combs circumstances it’s quicker
Chiostro, a 15th-century cloister converted to swirl them into fan- or cloud-shaped — and less hassle — to walk.
into artisan studios. One of them belongs patterns, before setting the paper down.
to Murano-born maestro Stefano Morasso Drying on racks are sheets and sheets of Speaking of walking, get off
and his wife, Nicoletta Viola. He blows the the stuff: yellow, red, even black, but mostly the main drags and cut down
glass into beakers, shot glasses and bowls jades, cobalts, lapis lazulis and eau de nil the alleyways for prettier
the colour of sunsets, rainbows and the — the colours of the water. “I just experiment surroundings, fewer tourists and
greens and blues of the lagoon. “I was born with colours,” he says. “Artisan work is tiny bars and boutiques.
with glass in my veins,” Stefano likes to say. about spontaneity, and I use colours that
Nicoletta, meanwhile, turns his offcuts and spring to mind.”
smaller pieces into sinuous jewellery.
Coming out, I’m drawn into the current of
“Glass-working on Murano goes back tourists, heading en masse for the Rialto. But
a thousand years — it’s our history,” says Venice, the real one, is always just beneath
Nicoletta. “We have to keep these traditions the surface — and from the top of the bridge,
going because they mark the story of instead of the mass of gliding gondolas, I’m
mankind.” There are plenty of well-trodden looking down into the colours of the lagoon.

94 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel

VENICE

FROM LEFT: The historic Rialto Bridge,
crossing the Grand Canal; marbled
paper sheets for sale at Paolo Pelosin’s
workshop, Il Pavone; Paolo marbles
paper, a tradition that arrived in Venice
in the 15th century

14 hours in Q&A with Valeria
Duflot, CEO and
VENICE co-founder of
Venezia Autentica
8.30AM 10.30AM
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO VISIT
BREAKFAST AT PASTICCERIA RIZZARDINI WALK THE ZATTERE LOCAL BUSINESSES?
It’s not only a quality experience,
Step into one of the city’s oldest bars Venetians love their daily passeggiata along you’re building a more
and start the day in style with a cappuccino, the Zattere — the ever-sunny stretch of sustainable system.
plus a fiamma — choux pastry filled with ‘coastline’ that forms the bottom of the
booze-laced custard, one of Venice’s best centre’s Dorsoduro district, overlooking the HOW CAN YOU ESCAPE THE
treats. Chatty owner Paolo Garlato is a Giudecca Canal. Stop at Gelateria Nico for CROWDS IN VENICE?
fi h-generation Venetian who keeps the a gianduiotto: a slab of chocolate-hazelnut Try to visit the Rialto area and
retro, wood-clad bar authentic, despite gelato dunked in a beaker of whipped cream. St Mark’s Square in the morning
it being on the main tourist drag. If it’s Follow the water down to the Punta della and evening. Plus, residential
Carnevale time, try the frittelle — yeasty Dogana art museum, at the mouth of the districts like Cannaregio and
doughnuts stuffed with currants and pine Grand Canal, for dreamy views, then head Castello are worth checking out.
nuts. San Polo 1415 around the corner to the Basilica di Santa
Maria della Salute (home to a Titian). WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE
9.30AM SECRET PLACE?
12PM You’ll discover your own! It could
VISIT THE SCUOLA GRANDE DI SAN ROCCO be a beautiful view, like the one
SHOP AT PAOLO OLBI from the Punta della Dogana,
Be there when the doors open and you or a basilica on an island in the
might have Tintoretto’s masterworks to A short walk away is the workshop of Paolo lagoon. There are many worlds in
yourself. In the grandest of Venice’s six Olbi, who’s been bookbinding for over 60 Venice — you’ll find yours if you
confraternity buildings, two sprawling years. Pick from his beautiful diaries and stay long enough.
floors are swathed in over 60 of his notebooks, covered in Venetian motifs
paintings. Don’t miss the carved figures (gondolas, lions and Byzantine designs), or go Venezia Autentica is a social
propping up the seats along the walls. big with a hand-stamped leather photo album enterprise supporting local
scuolagrandesanrocco.org or a marbled jewel box. olbi.atspace.com artisans and businesses.
veneziaautentica.com

April 2021 95

VENICE

ESSENTIALS

Venice Santa Maria Assunta
ITALY Torcello

Mazzorbo Venissa

Trattoria al Gatto Nero
Burano

Laguna Veneta

Murano

VENICE 1 Mile
Il Pavone Rialto Bridge

Venezia
San Giorgio Maggiore

Artisti Artigiani del Chiostro
Giudecca

Locals enjoying a Getting there & around
passeggiata (stroll)
Venice is easy to reach by train from
along the Zattere the UK, with changes at Paris and
Turin (spending one night in either).
1PM most of the 20th century in a semi-derelict eurostar.com raileurope.com ILLUSTRATION: JOHN PLUMER
state (it’s the spooky murder scene in the Direct regional flights with EasyJet
LUNCH AT AE BRICOE 1973 film Don’t Look Now). A museum since depart from Manchester, Glasgow
This bar, run by three siblings on the buzzy 2008, the stuccoed, frescoed, marble-clad and Bristol, and with Ryanair from
Fondamenta della Misericordia waterfront rooms have been left atmospherically empty Edinburgh, Stansted and East
in the Cannaregio district, is one of the city’s apart from the odd piece of art, including Midlands, while British Airways flies
best. Fill up on cicchetti (bitesize portions three Tintorettos depicting the Grimani from Gatwick and Heathrow.
of cheese-loaded crostini or boiled egg with family. Nearby, is the Fondazione Querini easyjet.com ryanair.com ba.com
anchovy) and tramezzini (crustless sandwiches Stampalia, a low-key art gallery in another Average flight time: 2h15m.
stuffed with things like radicchio and grand palazzo. Bellini’s Presentation at the From the airport, the Alilaguna boat
porchetta, or spicy ham and mayo), washed Temple is its most famous work, but don’t (€15/£13.50) is the most atmospheric
down with local wine. ae-bricoe.business.site miss the 30 scenes of 18th-century Venetian way to arrive into town. Vaporetto
life by Pietro Longhi. querinistampalia.org tickets cost €7.50 (£6.80) for 75
2PM polomusealeveneto.beniculturali.it minutes; a pass (two days €30/£27,
three days €40/£36) is better value,
ADMIRE CHURCH ART 7PM although the centre is walkable.
Two of Venice’s loveliest churches are nearby. alilaguna.it actv.avmspa.it
The hulking Madonna dell’Orto is where ENJOY A TIPPLE IN PIAZZA SAN MARCO
Tintoretto is buried, and his paintings are No trip to Venice is complete without a When to go
all around, along with work by his son, drink in what Napoleon called ‘Europe’s
Domenico. A short walk along some of the drawing room’. Follow the locals’ lead Tourist season runs from March to
city’s quietest waterways is Sant’Alvise, with and drink standing at Quadri, one of the October, and summers can be humid
its astonishing trompe-l’oeil ceiling, featuring most historic cafes on the square. Or and crowded. Visit off-season in the
swirled Grecian columns and chubby putti channel Lord Byron and Brangelina by spring or autumn. Temperatures can
(winged infants) hovering in a bright blue sky. sitting outside, where prices are much higher hit the mid-30Cs in summer and just
but you’ll be serenaded by an orchestra as above freezing in winter.
3.30PM you soak up the views. Alternatively, head
to Gran Caffè Chioggia, opposite the Doge’s Where to stay
VISIT THE FONDAZIONE QUERINI STAMPALIA Palace — less iconic, but sans seating
AND PALAZZO GRIMANI supplements. alajmo.it Hotel San Cassiano. From £229,
See how the other half lived at Palazzo B&B. sancassiano.it
Grimani, a 16th-century mansion that spent Casa Burano. From £162, B&B.
casaburano.it

Places mentioned

Venissa. venissa.it
Trattoria al Gatto Nero.
gattonero.com
Venice Bird Watching.
venicebirdwatching.com
Murano Glass Fine Art by Stefano
Morasso. stefanomorasso.it

More info

Venice Tourism. veneziaunica.it

How to do it

CITALIA offers three nights at Hotel
San Cassiano, B&B, including flights
and transfers in Venice from £675
per person. citalia.com

96 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel

©2020 Marriott International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All names, marks and logos are the trademarks of Marriott International, Inc., or its affiliates. Discover the rich heritage of The Gritti Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Venice.
A palatial retreat where history and culture are met with renewed Venetian elegance.
This year the heritage , nature and peaceful spirituality of the city’s lagoon waterscape awaits

to be explored Riva-style aboard “Il Doge”, the hotel’s private Aquariva yacht.

EXPLORE THE DESTINATION AT THEGRITTIPALACE.COM

PARTNER CONTENT FOR SHIKOKU TOURISM

THE

SHIKOKU
WAY

Japan’s oft-overlooked island is a wonderland of culture
and history, home to temples dating back a millennia,
wild landscapes and traditional festivals