Only a couple hours outside of London, the Cotswolds is a great weekend getaway from the city. Known for its honey-coloured cottages and country pubs, each town is more photogenic than the last. We strolled through the villages of Bourton-on-the-Water, Stow-on-the-Wold, Lower and Upper Slaughter, Broadway, Chipping Campden and Bibury. Our hotel, The Wild Rabbit, is located in another small village called Kingham. A modern British inn, each of their rooms is named after a woodland creature. We sat by the fire in the pub one night and the next we had dinner at the restaurant, which is also where they serve breakfast in the morning. It is owned by the Daylesford Estate, whose farm is a short drive away and is home to the original Daylesford farmshop. We stopped by to pick up some organic goods and before we knew it, the weekend was over and it was time to head back to the city.
South Tyrol
We wanted to go somewhere in the mountains where we could just relax over the winter holidays. We found the perfect spot in South Tyrol. Although a part of Italy today, this region is in many ways more Austrian than Italian. Most speak German as their first language and food is a mix of schnitzels and knödel alongside pasta.
San Luis Retreat Hotel & lodges
San Luis is hidden in a forest above the town of Meran (or Merano), which has a great Christmas market. Chalets and treehouses surround a lake that is frozen over the winter. We stayed in one of the Loft Chalets, which has its own sauna and a hot tub on the terrace. Every morning we woke up to find breakfast set up in the kitchen of our chalet. Lunch was a more casual buffet while dinner consisted of several courses that changed each night. There was even afternoon tea with cakes and ice cream available. When we weren’t sitting inside by the fire, we were in the pool that opened to the outdoors, or the whirlpool in the middle of the lake.
The entire retreat is amazing and they made Christmas there very special. It was exactly the holiday we were looking for to end the year with.
