TRAVEL Beautiful Begur
With labyrinthine lanes, glistening cliff-backed coves and sunshine well into October, this Catalan hilltop town is an end-of-summer hit
STAY
With a laid-back mood and a soulful playlist spanning Masego to Gil Scott-Heron, La Bionda (2) is close to perfect. The sun-splashed lounge is dotted with statementmaking pieces you’ll want to take home with you – a jaunty beaded floor lamp here, an auberginehued velvet Chesterfield there. A handful of the bedrooms lead out onto pretty terraces that look over terracotta-tiled rooftops. And there’s a well-stocked honesty bar should the mood for a latenight tipple strike.
TASTE
Mornings at La Bionda (1) begin with frothy cappuccinos and bowls of just-picked berries beneath the fringed parasols out on the patio. Shaded by sails of stretched canvas, a stone’s throw from Sa Riera’s shores, Recer de la Mar turns out absurdly good crab ravioli alongside a list of Asian-accented plates. Meanwhile, in the beating heart of Begur, Turandot’s tasting menu is not to be missed. Savour a pasture-toplate supper beneath the fairy lights at Mooma – a cider press and dining spot in the grounds of a restored finca – or snag a table on Far Nomo’s Mediterraneangazing terrace to tuck into nasu miso and tuna futomaki.
INDULGE
Wednesday mornings see Begur’s sun-dappled streets strung with colourful little stalls selling local produce, from mountains of peaches, melons and figs to bottles of Catalan olive oil.
EXPLORE
Crowned by an 11th-century castle and home to a clutch of paradisical coves, this town flies under the radar. Illa Roja ( 3) is a dream for serenity-seekers, bustling Sa Tuna is the spot to see and be seen, but most wonderful of all is Cala d’Aigua Xelida – a bay of crystalline shallows, terracotta-roofed houses and pine-studded crags for jumping off. Spend cloudier days meandering along the Camí de Ronda coastal trail or getting lost in the town’s quaint cobbled lanes.