Flirting is in Mr & Mrs Smith’s DNA, so planning a dalliance within tantalising reach of some of Europe’s finest cities is an MO we’re on board with. Choosing a hotel outside of a city centre allows easy access to a metropolis’s highlights, but also provides the option to capitalise on a just-out-of-the-fray location and a more authentic experience of coastal or rural life. Here’s our pick of covetable luxury hotels just outside the city limits.
OUTSIDE LONDON
Oakley Court, Windsor
Follow where Royalty lead and base yourself outside London in Windsor. Turreted, stately and riverside, Oakley Court could well be your very own royal seat if it weren’t so homey and laidback: Eagle & Hodges-designed rooms come with bath tubs and river views; a tented River House brings Thames-side revels to the grounds; and all-day casual dining is bolstered by pop-up restaurants, such as Akira Shimizu’s current omakase collab.
Neighbourhood guide
This leafy Berkshire town on the river Thames has plenty of attractions of its own, aside from its proximity to London. Not only is it home to Windsor Castle and Windsor Great Park, but also has a clutch of aptly upscale shops, chi-chi cafés and dining spots.
Fringe benefits
Spy Eton College from a boat trip; enjoy a flutter at Windsor Racecourse, or head to Runnymede for rural romps. Rail links to the capital allow you to circle the sights of London as stamina allows.
OUTSIDE PARIS
Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay, Yvelines
On a country estate in Yvelines, on the site of a Cistercian monastery, which in turn became the bucolic playground of Charlotte de Rothschild, Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay is now a finessed historic hotel with plenty to offer gourmands and outdoorsy types. Take a rowing boat out on the lake, cycle through the forest or roam its 185 acres. Then retire for fine dining in the Rothschilds’ former hunting lodge or casual Italian plates at the resident trattoria.
Neighbourhood guide
Yvelines is one of the outlying départements that circle the capital and along with Paris make up Île de France. Its surprisingly arcadian locale comes with easy links to the City of Light and other attractions nearby.
Fringe benefits
The Palace of Versailles is 40 minutes away by road, and rail shuttles into Gare Montparnasse make trips into Paris highly feasible for moseys around museums and galleries, and shopping and café-hopping au Rive Droite. For a countryside counterpoint, head to the wooded Yvelines’ Chevreuse valley.
OUTSIDE BARCELONA
Little Beach House Barcelona, Garraf
South of Barcelona in Garraf, what was once a 1950s seaside hotel is now Little Beach House Barcelona — a shoreside basecamp from the Soho House team. Its polished interiors, furnished from a pick ’n’ mix of time periods, invite lounging; many rooms overlook the sands, and the House Kitchen serves Spanish seafood alongside comfort classics.
Neighbourhood guide
In this rural pocket of Catalonia, where the Ordal Mountains taper to a sand-edged bay, you’ll find Garraf: this tranquil coastal village is just 35 minutes from the city and nearer still to the storied resort town of Sitges.
Fringe benefits
This base outside Barcelona comes into its own as the mercury climbs and the Mediterranean warms. Snag a quintessential summer break on the costa, leaning into lazy spells at the beach, leisurely café stops and harbour strolls. A natural park inland is your playground for hiking and biking. And day trips into Barcelona are easily worked into your timetable, too.
OUTSIDE AMSTERDAM
Inn on the Lake, Broek in Waterland
Inn on the Lake is a bijou guesthouse, outside Amsterdam in Broek in Waterland. It consists of just three individually dressed suites and comes with a spa you can book for exclusive use or a hot-stone therapy. Dinner is on request if you want to sample host Pamela’s accomplished home cooking, and each morning there’s an impressive breakfast spread, plus warm, personal service.
Neighbourhood guide
North of Amsterdam, yet still only 10 minutes from the city centre, Broek in Waterland is a lakeside idyll of heritage architecture and rural farmland that lends itself to scenic cycling and water-based hijinks.
Fringe benefits
Rent or borrow bikes and explore the countryside on two wheels; in summer try stand-up paddleboarding, hire a rowing boat or kayak; or ice skate on the surrounding frozen lakes in winter. From Broek in Waterland, you’re between two cities — Amsterdam and postcard-pretty Monnickendam — with the option (if weather allows) for beach days at Strandvier in Hemmeland at the latter.
OUTSIDE FLORENCE
Il Salviatino, Fiesole
A worthy classic, Il Salviatino in Fiesole is a storied villa hotel, where balustraded terraces overlooking the city of Florence give way to formal gardens, storied interiors and capacious rooms and suites. The city’s perfumiers and cosmetologists make a fragrant appearance, courtesy of aromatherapy and anti-ageing treatments available at the hotel’s garden-set spa.
Neighbourhood guide
Fiesole lies in the Arno Valley — a halcyon hideaway of forested hillsides rising into the Tuscan countryside. Yet, for all its bucolic beauty, this leafy locale is still only a 10-minute drive from central Florence.
Fringe benefits
The Tuscan city is something of a polymath, so let this be your cue to fine-tune your own skillset: capture the scene with a painting class; get the measure of the region’s cookery with a hands-on lesson; or dip into Tuscany’s celebrated cellar with a guided wine tasting.
OUTSIDE PORTO
Vinha Boutique Hotel, Vila Nova de Gaia
A lavishly overhauled mansion stay, Vinha Boutique Hotel is in Vila Nova de Gaia — just across the Douro from Porto — and has Lake Como levels of glamour, thanks to its riverside perch, manicured gardens and showstopper pool. Its opulence is only enhanced by fashion-house-inspired signature rooms and a swish Sisley spa.
Neighbourhood guide
South of Porto proper, Vila Nova de Gaia is the heart of the city’s port production. Studded with port caves and waterfront restaurants, it’s set against a backdrop of sweeping city vistas, edged by centuries-old bridges and traditional rabelo boats bobbing on their moorings.
Fringe benefits
Get on board with a river trip; sample wines, fresh and fortified; or take inspiration from your azulejo-tiled surroundings and sign up for a pottery class at resident Ó! Galeria. Porto is only a walk away, where you can wander the galleries of the Serralves Museum, or steal into Livraria Lello for wall-to-wall books set in a stained-glass-tinted store.
OUTSIDE ATHENS
91 Athens Riviera, Glyfada
Outside Athens, near Glyfada, 91 Athens Riviera is a retreat of canvas-domed cabanas made for outdoor living. It tempts you not to venture far at all with watersports from the beach, tennis courts in the grounds and gastronomic Greek plates at Barbarossa.
Neighbourhood guide
If your sights are set on both Athens and sun-kissed Aegean beaches, the Athens Riviera is the answer. This stretch of coastline, south of the city, had a Sixties heyday, enjoyed by hip holidaymakers such as Jackie Onassis, Brigitte Bardot and Frank Sinatra. Now, the arrival of upscale hotels around Glyfada and Voula has rekindled the location’s in-crowd allure, drawing discerning sunseekers to its bounty of beaches.
Fringe benefits
Follow Jackie O’s lead and slow the pace with lo-fi beach days — the perfect antidote to epic adventures around the capital, visiting the Acropolis, Hadrian’s Arch and the Theatre of Dionysus.
OUTSIDE MARRAKECH
Dar Zemora, Palmeraie
Palmeraie, north of Marrakech, is home to Dar Zemora, which puts you just 15 minutes away from the Medina by road. Impressive, pond-dotted gardens teamed with high-ceilinged, opulent interiors offer a step back in time — and tempo — that’s a welcome contrast to the bustle of Marrakech.
Neighbourhood guide
To Medina or not to Medina, is the usual question. But you can take it out of the equation entirely by opting for Palmeraie: this vast palm grove brings not only desert-set tranquillity but also luxury retreats that tend to have more expansive surroundings.
Fringe benefits
When you’re not marvelling at the Medina’s sights and smells, embracing the buzz around Jemaa el-Fna or retreating to Jardin Majorelle, there’s golf and horse riding nearer your out-of-town crashpad, or take a hot-air-balloon ride on the desert thermals for bird’s-eye views of the Atlas Mountains.
OUTSIDE BILBAO
Palacio Arriluce Hotel, Getxo
Palacio Arriluce Hotel is a contemporarily dressed luxury hotel housed in a renovated mansion in Getxo, just downstream from Bilbão. Its spa, fine dining and chapel-set bar are elevated by a crack-shot concierge team, able to arrange guided Guggenheim tours and outings to the opera with backstage access and bubbly.
Neighbourhood guide
Colourful Getxo is an estuary-set town, where the River Nervión opens into the Bay of Biscay. Technically, you’re still in Greater Biscay, but there are fewer tourists in this Basque Country belle, teamed with a neighbourhood feel and better co-ordinates for days at the coast.
Fringe benefits
Explore beaches east and west of Getxo, such as surfer-favoured La Arena, or the barley-hued sweeps of sand at Ereaga and Arrigunaga. The city itself exploded onto the cultural scene in the Nineties when the Guggenheim Museum opened — and its futuristic galleries and sculpture-studded grounds warrant top billing on your to-see list.
If you’re thirsty for more urban adventures, explore our full collection of city break hotels