Looking for inspiration of where to travel this autumn, then look no further than a selection of hand-picked destinations just perfect for an autumnal escape
Country Pursuits on a 300-acre Estate at Schloss Roxburghe, Scottish Borders
Located within the striking natural landscape of the Scottish Borders, an hour from Edinburgh and Newcastle, the recently transformed and re-opened historic manor house of SCHLOSS Roxburghe, formerly owned by The Duke of Roxburghe, comprises 20 rooms with Scottish inspired interiors, a welcoming bar and a restaurant serving Scottish cuisine with a French twist. A championship golf course and a comprehensive range of sporting pursuits from clay pigeon shooting to tomahawk throwing and fly fishing completes the offering.
With the start of the shooting season, autumn is an excellent time to visit the 300-acre estate which is home to SCHLOSS Country Sports and SCHLOSS Roxburghe Shooting School. SCHLOSS Roxburghe offers the following autumnal country pursuit activities:
- Simulated shooting in our in-house shooting school
- Guided single hunt with own pointing dog
- Shooting days for driven pheasants and partridge
- Hunting with falconer and pointing dog
- Clay pigeon shooting
- Flyfishing for salmon, trout and grayling
- Tomahwak throwing
- Archery
For game shooting, the partridge and duck season opened on the 1st Sept, followed by the pheasant season opening on 1st Oct. All shooting seasons end on the 1st February, when the salmon fishing season begins.
The results of SCHLOSS Roxburghe’s shooting season will be reflected in their Estate to Place culinary offering, with venison, pigeon, partridge, duck and pheasant all re-emerging on Sunlaws restaurant’s market menu which uses seasonal, local produce available that week.
From £235 based on two people sharing a Superior Room on a bed and breakfast basis. www.schlosshotel-roxburghe.com
Harvest and Red Wine Season at Les Sources de Caudalie, Bordeaux
Wine and gastronomy lovers can experience the ‘French paradox’ while extending their summer in Bordeaux this autumn.
Autumn casts a particularly magical golden glow over Les Sources de Caudalie and the surrounding vineyards of family winery Château Smith Haute Lafitte. A time of year where the vineyard is adorned with its most beautiful colours together with the weather’s soft warmth, Les Sources de Caudalie’s mellow tranquillity and delicious produce from the local terroir, September onwards is a superb time to visit.
Les Sources de Caudalie is a luxurious yet laid-back haven of tranquillity amongst the vineyards of Bordeaux with 61 rooms, three restaurants (one with 2 Michelin stars) and the world’s flagship Vinothérapie® Caudalie Spa.
Experiences include:
- Borrow one of the hotel’s bikes and adorning a picnic basket, discover the surrounding vineyards with their beautifully bright autumnal colours
- Follow in the winegrower’s footsteps at Château Smith Haut Lafitte and go behind the scenes of the wine making
- Enjoy a private tour of the château and its cellars and a tasting of the estate’s wines, unveiling the techniques and particular practices that make these bottles so prestigious
- Relax and unwind during a Sources Ritual at the CaudalieVinothérapie® spa
- Enjoy a wonderful 2-Michelin star dinner inspired by nature and seasonal produce at La Grand’Vigne looking out onto the autumnal vineyards
· Go back to the very beginnings of winemaking, the harvest. Using the simple yet essential tools of secateurs and a bucket, experience the age-old tradition of grape picking in the vineyards of a local estate. Along with your wine connoisseur learn of the techniques involved in the harvest and the steps that follow to create world-class wines. Reward yourself with a lunch on the estate and sample local delicacies.
Late Autumn/ Winter offer at Les Sources de Caudalie: Stay 3 nights for the price of 2 between 31st October and 20th December 2019. Blackout dates include every Saturday, 1st November and 11th November 2019. Stay at Les Sources de Caudalie from £240 per night. www.sources-caudalie.com/en
Winter Sun at Riad Fes and Hotel Sahrai, Fez
Top up your vitamin-D intake with a weekend away in Morocco’s stunning and lesser visited northern city of Fez. Just a three-hour flight from London, Fez is one of the UK’s most easily accessible travel destinations for a spot of short-haul exoticism and winter sun with temperatures averaging 27 degrees in October.
Spend a day exploring the unspoilt local medina and tanneries while staying at the luxurious RiadFès before heading up into the cooler hilltop at Hotel Sahrai for some R&R.
Riad Fes, a Relais& Chateaux property, is one of Fes’ most remarkable and elegant riads representing the pinnacle of Moroccan hospitality through an appreciation of local design, beautiful food, fine wines and exceptional knowledge of their exotic surrounds.
Hotel Sahrai, a luxurious oasis set on a hillside overlooking the lively city, is home to a rooftop infinity pool with views of the medina and is home to the only Givenchy spa in Africa. Hotel Sahrai is part of Small Luxury Hotels of the World.
Rooms at RiadFès start from £190 (www.riadfes.com) and rooms at Hotel Sahrai start from £160.www.hotelsahrai.com
Art Season at The Peninsula Paris
The Peninsula Hotels’ three-year Art in Resonance programme, the roaming and evolving exhibition that will travel between the ten Peninsula Hotels, is making its way to Paris this autumn.
On 26th September, Art in Resonance is launching at The Peninsula Paris with the exhibition combining art and technology in large-scale experiential installations that will be on public display until the end of November.
Two immersive new pieces have been specially commissioned from fascinating women artists: Japanese-born, US-based artist Saya Woolfalk and the French scupltor Elise Morin will join Chilean artist Iván Navarro’s ‘HOME’ which was originally displayed at The Peninsula Hong Kong to celebrate the launch of the Art in Resonance programme in March 2019.
All Art in Resonance pieces are original and are commissioned for specific hotels so that they interact with the individual spaces and guests in a very unique way.
Stay at The Peninsula Paris in a Deluxe Room from 845 EUR per night. www.peninsula.com/en/5-star-luxury-hotel-16th-arrondissement
