CITIES of romance BARCELONA
Whether you’re seduced by the food, architecture or heady vibe, these dreamy places will make your heart skip a beat
ISTANBUL
In the romantic weekend stakes, Turkey’s former capital tends to lose out to Paris, Amsterdam, Rome and the rest, but this atmospheric city is unmissable: European and Asian, built either side of the broad Bosphorus strait. Centuries before Christ, it was Greek, later Roman, and ultimately Islamic. No wonder it’s such a thrill-trip.
Sultanahmet – the postcard district of mosques and sunsets – is ideal for first-timers. Splurge on the luxury Four Season Hotel Sultanahmet (fourseasons. com; doubles from £255), folded around a peaceful garden. Its open-air bar has so-close-you-can-touch-it views of the mighty 6th-century Hagia Sophia, anciently a church, today a mosque.
Put it top of your sightseeing list: the vast interior has the dark, twinkly, infinite majesty of a galaxy.
Priceless treasures
Close by, the Blue Mosque, unveiled 300 years ago for Sultan Ahmet, is so-called for its vivid tiles within – more than 20,000, no two identical. Visit, too, Topkapi Palace, the rambling old residence of the Ottoman dynasty, with its endless chambers of priceless ceramics and relics. The cedar-shaded lawns are serene, as are the hazy aquamarine views of the European and Asian shores.
For shopping, the serpentine ways of the touristy Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar are fun – and it’s an easy saunter to the ferry jetty at Eminonu for a romantic two-hour Bosphorus cruise (sehirhatlari. istanbul/en). Rumbling north, past timber mansions and coves of yachts, it ends at Anadolu Kavagi, a cute village beside the Black Sea, lined with seafood restaurants.
For after-dark fun, target the wineand-cocktail-laced Beyoglu district, but first dine high above the city at
Mikla (miklarestaurant.com). It’s a funky bar/restaurant serving martinis, grilled fish and steaks, and the glittery city panorama far below is magical.
Thank goodness for Gaudi, the architect who bestowed captivating architecture upon the Catalan capital. Fairy-tale apparitions include the Sagrada Familia cathedral, with its cigar-like spires. Along the elegant Passeig de Gracia, wander past curiosities such as Casa Mila, built in 1905, like a wild, wind-carved cliff with its undulating facade. A giddy ambience pervades the chattery pavement cafes and, with pleasure-loving people in every plaza, the incentive is to take it slow, with plates of succulent tapas and another bottle of velvety red wine. Our romantic favourite is the time-worn nook La Cova Fumada (lacovafumada.com), for garlicky squid and cold beers.
Catalan passion
Whether you want a beachfront B&B or grand Gothic hotel, the diverse neighbourhoods deliver. Barceloneta is dominated by the soaring W Barcelona (marriott.com; doubles from £220): toast your arrival with drinks at Eclipse, the city-and-sea-view bar on the 26th floor. Or settle in among the age-old winding ways of the Barri Gotic quarter, at historic Hotel Neri (neri.com; doubles from £320).
Barcelona is made for aimless ambling. Start at the Christopher Columbus column and head up the Ramblas, past crazy street performers. Go right for the medieval Born district, where by night the bars are limitless. Or left for the Raval. Its bijou dining joints stay up very late.
Passion has always been the life force of Catalan artists, so don’t leave town without a good gallery gawp. The Fundació Joan Miró is filled with the surrealist genius’s brilliantly coloured early 20th-century canvases and more. Art to make the heart beat faster – what could be more romantic than that? >>
It Started in Naples. Naples is Always Naples. Naples in Veils… If your idea of romance is a city out of the movies, let Italy’s southern siren put you in the picture. The setting is seductive, beside the Mediterranean-blue Golfo di Napoli and backdropped by the dormant volcano Vesuvius. The town is a passionate contradiction: equal parts shabby and chic, airy by day and sultry after dark. Couples walk the seafront, where grand balustraded apartments as flamboyant as iced patisserie gaze out to sea. The poet Virgil came to Naples, fell in love and stayed. You will find it hard to leave.
Food of love
Just arrived? Taste the signature dish: pizza, that culinary creation of date-night perfection born in the city. Follow Julia Roberts in the film Eat Pray Love to L’antica Pizzeria da Michele, founded in 1870. Be early – tables are like gold dust. Of the two varieties served – marinara (tomato, oregano and garlic) and margherita (tomato and mozzarella) – have the gooey, gorgeous latter to share. Then – what else? – order the other.
Naples was made for idle strolling, gelato in hand. Follow Spaccanapoli, the main street, through the historic core of the city, stopping to browse tiny delis and perfumed gift shops. For heart-stopping art, explore the Museo di Capodimonte, which houses works by the greats, from Caravaggio to Warhol. Elsewhere there are churches of soaring interiors – make for landmark San Gennaro, famed for its vial of supposedly saintly blood. After dark? A pasta dinner high on the roof of Hotel Excelsior (eurostarshotels.co.uk, doubles from £275), looking at the floodlit Castel Nuovo and the midnight-black Bay of Naples beyond.
Like an old flame you can’t quite forget, Lisbon is a city that gets under your skin. Its setting is heart-stirring, rising from the sweeping Tagus river and blanketing seven hills with pastel-hued houses and alabaster churches. It is multicultural and multi-layered, with Roman ruins, Moorish castles (Sao Jorge dominates) and a wealth of lavish-interiored Catholic churches. Then there is elegant, modern Lisbon, which rose, phoenix-like, after the 1755 earthquake and tsunami reduced the city to rubble. This area (Baixa) is full of classy shops, restaurants and hotels – like boutiquey Alma Lusa, a former merchant’s house on the corner of a grand plaza (doubles from £155; almalusahotels.com).
Vintage pleasures
Lisbon’s streets invite unhurried meandering. Tangled alleyways lead to hidden squares, obscure shops and old-school cafes. Soak up the romantic charm of a ride on a vintage Remodelado tram. Head uphill to find a miradouro (terrace) with panoramic views, like Miradouro de Santa Catarina in the Bairro Alto. Here you’ll find young Lisboans sipping iced Sagres beer and watching the sun dip behind the 25 de Abril suspension bridge.
After dusk, get loved-up with cocktails at the Bairro Alto hotel rooftop bar (bairroaltohotel.com). Then hop on a tram to Campo de Ourique to sample elevated Portuguese cuisine at Tasca da Esquina (tascadaesquina.com), created by celebrity chef Vitor Sobral. Round off the evening at a fado bar, like Povo (povolisboa.com). Soulful, passionate and steeped in longing, fado (fate) is Lisbon’s take on the blues, laced with traditional folk.
It’s guaranteed to fan the flames of love.
A PERILOUS JOURNEY
River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer (£18.99, HB, Headline)
It’s Barbados 1834 and slavery has been abolished, but former slaves must work for another six years – for free! In an act of resistance, Rachel heads off through the Caribbean and South America in search of the five children taken from her. Powerful, moving and lyrical, it’s a compelling novel from a debut author who’s one to watch.
✢ Read our chat with Eleanor Shearer on page 169.
SEEKING JUSTICE
The Simple Truth by James Buckler (£14.99, HB, Transworld)
When research scientist Maria Brennan is found dead, suicide is suspected. But newly qualified lawyer Lewis Miller, who is tasked with persuading her grieving mother to accept a sizeable cheque and sign a non-disclosure agreement, becomes suspicious. He is soon sucked into a nightmare scenario of organised crime and a dramatic murder investigation. This is a fast-paced and suspenseful legal thriller.
LIFE-AFFIRMING
We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman (£14.99, HB, Transworld) This shouldn’t be funny but is full of humour, warmth and eye-popping honesty. When her best friend Edi is transferred to a hospice, Ash is by her side. Friends for 40 years, they know one another inside out. Through the prism of Edi’s dying days, their lives unfold. With a cast of quirky hospice characters and wit in abundance, this is a beautiful, candid and uplifting testament to female friendship that will make you laugh and cry.
INDIAN THRILLER
Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor (£20, HB,
Little, Brown)
This vivid read set in early-2000s Delhi follows life in an Indian mafia family. Told from multiple perspectives – a servant, the mob boss’s wealthy son and his journalist girlfriend – it highlights the gulfs in society. Kapoor’s prose is electric and her characterisation sublime; you’ll find yourself sympathising with each of the damaged protagonists right until the end. Complex, thought-provoking and cinematic in pace and scope.
A TANGLED MAZE
The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett (£14.99, HB,
Profile Books) Fancy yourself as an armchair detective? Two decades after a police investigation failed to find two teenagers and a baby who’d been sucked into a religious cult, ending in murder and alleged suicides, true crime writer Amanda Bailey is reassessing the case of the ‘Alperton Angels’. A fiendishly clever and complex crime novel in Hallett’s trademark style.
SEDUCTIVE AND SINISTER
The Things
We Do to Our Friends by Heather Darwent (£14.99, HB, Penguin)
Clare arrives at university wanting to reinvent herself, and her wish is met when she meets wealthy, charismatic Tabitha. But when the Queen Bee asks for Clare’s help, it becomes clear she can’t say no. Tabitha, it seems, knows what Clare did all those years ago. She now faces the ultimate test of who she is and how far she’ll go in this tale of toxic friendships and feminist revenge.
POLICE PROCEDURAL
Stay Buried by Kate Webb (£16.99, HB, Quercus) Detective Inspector Matt Lockyer is given the chance to put right a wrong – a decision that led to the life imprisonment of Hedy Lambert. With the emergence of new evidence, Hedy begs Matt to reopen the case. But if she is innocent of murder, then who did it and why? As Lockyer begins to investigate, he wonders if he is being played and whether some cases should stay buried. An accomplished, twisty, character-led novel.