World Traveller November 2019
3CITY SWIMS THERMAE BATH SPA, BATH You can’t swim in the ancient Roman baths here, but you can idle in the mineral-rich waters at this multilevel spa. Paddle through pools up to a heated open-air pool surrounded by spires and Regency rooftops. BADESCHIFF, BERLIN Urban beaches pop up in summer from Paris to London, but Berlin’s is the coolest, a full-on neon-blue pool immersed in the Spree river. Go for mingling, beats and bars on its wooden deck. PISCINE MOLITOR, PARIS The grande-dame Art Deco pool is a photographer’s dream (and filmmaker’s: it had a cameo in the film Life of Pi) with its crisp balconies and doorways. To use it, you’ll need a key to the Hotel Molitor Paris. Thermae Bath Spa SECRET SPLASH Angle Tarn, Lake District, England It’s nippy all right, but after a sweaty slog up from the valley below, nippy is precisely what you’ll be wanting. Dive in, surrendering to its icy embrace (a swimming cap will help), as your exhilarated whoops echo around the amphitheatre of lonely crags towering above. For swimmers, the Lake District is an all-you-can-eat buffet of lakes and meres, river pools and tarns, but if anywhere up here puts the ‘wild’ into ‘wild swimming’, it’s this mountain pool, marooned halfway up England’s highest summit, Scafell Pike. Distance swimmers need not apply—it’s only 200m from shore to shore. But lazybones should take their Speedos elsewhere: it’s dizzyingly remote, reached only after a two-hour ascent from Seathwaite, Wasdale Head or the Langdale Valley. Wild paddlers should budget for longer: all routes up (on excellent, waymarked paths) follow stunning mountain streams that twinkle and tease at every turn. Wild camping is the way to do it, if you can — a flat, grassy shelf on its northern shore is crying out for a tent and stove. 32 worldtravellermagazine.com
BEST SWIMS © Palais Namaskar, Marrakech HOTEL-POOL HEAVEN Palais Namaskar, Marrakech Atlas Mountains beyond, the pool is so serene it seems a shame to disturb it. Despite its vast proportions (long enough for lengths, but with shallow steps for kids, too), it is heated, so go in February/March when it’s 26°C by lunchtime, but the peaks are still snow-capped. Most guests use their private villa pools, leaving this one perpetually peaceful. SECRET SPLASH Paxos, Greece Paxos has dreamy swims by the dozen, but the beach you want is Lakkos, a cliff-hugged splodge of white pebbles in the Ionian island’s northeast. Swim laps around the curl of the bay, or float over fish-silvered seaweed and spiny black urchins (mind your feet). Go in May, when the sea is warming up and you get the beach to yourself. Steps back up lead to a steep path best tackled barefoot — you’ll slide out of your flip-flops. BUCKET LIST The Blue Lagoon, Iceland Waste products from power stations don’t usually look this ethereally beautiful. But this is Iceland — so this man-made ‘lagoon’ is geothermal, the water luminously blue (it’s the silicates, since you asked), and sociable soaks in it are part of the culture. Travel snobs will tell you that real Icelanders are more likely to go to smaller, local pools (which is true), but none of those municipal baths offers the same dramatic black crags or haunting mistscape. Credit: The Sunday Times Travel Magazine / News Licensing POSTER-PERFECT PLUNGE Koh Hong, Thailand Everyone should take a boat trip in southern Thailand. Nowhere else in the world will you experience a more VIP-feeling voyage for so little cash (five hours’ gliding about costs from just $15). On your elegant longtail boat (speedboats are faster, but less romantic), strike a supermodel pose as you crane your neck to marvel at the mossy outcrops of the islands in the emerald waters off Krabi. Everyone does the Phi Phi islands, so head instead for the Hongs — Koh Hong National Park is the wild James Bond seduction fantasy you’ve always pictured. Book the right boat and its skipper will take you for a swim in the secret lagoon encircled by rock face at the island’s centre, before depositing you on fine, gold sand, under imposing, vine-tangled cliffs. The beach should be quiet, but up your chances by going in the shoulder season (late November or May). worldtravellermagazine.com 33
- Page 1: INSPIRED BY ISSUE 139 | NOVEMBER 20
- Page 7: Welcome note Holidays are a coveted
- Page 10 and 11: CONTENTS features 24 36 THE WORLD'S
- Page 12 and 13: TRENDING DESTINATIONS Emily William
- Page 14 and 15: Ras Al Khaimah As the temperature d
- Page 16 and 17: JOURNEY INTO THE SPIRIT OF ARABIA.
- Page 18 and 19: GLOBETROTTER WILD TIMES Be at one w
- Page 20 and 21: GLOBETROTTER SUN VS. SNOW Whether y
- Page 22 and 23: KNOW-HOW The Knowledge HOW TO... Sl
- Page 24 and 25: Nature's bounty The island of Sir B
- Page 26 and 27: The world’s 33 best swims Whether
- Page 28 and 29: BEST SWIMS POSTER-PERFECT PLUNGE Th
- Page 30 and 31: 3WILDLIFE SWIMS SWIM WITH DOLPHINS
- Page 32 and 33: BEST SWIMS ©Marina Bay Sands, Sing
- Page 36 and 37: worldtravellermagazine.com Your pas
- Page 38 and 39: CALIFORNIA Soaking up the sun and s
- Page 40 and 41: GEORGIA the clock on the wall reads
- Page 42 and 43: GEORGIA Activities on the lake asid
- Page 44 and 45: INDONESIA This image: A bowl of Moq
- Page 46 and 47: entle bays where turtles swim in tu
- Page 48 and 49: The Old Town in Salvador 46 worldtr
- Page 50 and 51: long the weekend Venice A labyrinth
- Page 53 and 54: THE LONG WEEKEND Get crafty Take a
- Page 55 and 56: HAVE YOU PICKED UP YOUR EDITION OF
- Page 58 and 59: Island Lore Mysterious coconuts, vo
- Page 60 and 61: Lemuria, earns the right to brand i
- Page 62 and 63: WORLD TRAVELLER X RENAISSANCE DOWNT
- Page 64 and 65: WORLD TRAVELLER X ADDRESS SKY VIEW
- Page 66 and 67: WORLD TRAVELLER X THE ST. REGIS ABU
- Page 68: WORLD TRAVELLER X DUKES THE PALM, A
- Page 71 and 72: RARE IS REAL Nestled among the roll
- Page 74 and 75: WORLD TRAVELLER X DUBAI MARRIOTT HA
- Page 76 and 77: 1 INSPIRED BY Reader offers Great d
- Page 78: DNATA TRAVEL OFFERS WEEKEND ESCAPES
- Page 81 and 82: Now win! DIGITAL BE OUR TRAVEL COMP
3CITY<br />
SWIMS<br />
THERMAE BATH<br />
SPA, BATH<br />
You can’t swim in<br />
the ancient Roman<br />
baths here, but<br />
you can idle in<br />
the mineral-rich<br />
waters at this multilevel<br />
spa. Paddle<br />
through pools up to<br />
a heated open-air<br />
pool surrounded by<br />
spires and Regency<br />
rooftops.<br />
BADESCHIFF,<br />
BERLIN<br />
Urban beaches<br />
pop up in summer<br />
from Paris to<br />
London, but<br />
Berlin’s is the<br />
coolest, a full-on<br />
neon-blue pool<br />
immersed in the<br />
Spree river. Go for<br />
mingling, beats<br />
and bars on its<br />
wooden deck.<br />
PISCINE MOLITOR,<br />
PARIS<br />
The grande-dame<br />
Art Deco pool is<br />
a photographer’s<br />
dream (and<br />
filmmaker’s: it had<br />
a cameo in the film<br />
Life of Pi) with its<br />
crisp balconies<br />
and doorways. To<br />
use it, you’ll need<br />
a key to the Hotel<br />
Molitor Paris.<br />
Thermae Bath Spa<br />
SECRET SPLASH<br />
Angle Tarn,<br />
Lake District, England<br />
It’s nippy all right, but after a sweaty<br />
slog up from the valley below, nippy is<br />
precisely what you’ll be wanting. Dive<br />
in, surrendering to its icy embrace<br />
(a swimming cap will help), as your<br />
exhilarated whoops echo around<br />
the amphitheatre of lonely crags<br />
towering above. For swimmers, the<br />
Lake District is an all-you-can-eat<br />
buffet of lakes and meres, river pools<br />
and tarns, but if anywhere up here<br />
puts the ‘wild’ into ‘wild swimming’,<br />
it’s this mountain pool, marooned<br />
halfway up England’s highest summit,<br />
Scafell Pike. Distance swimmers need<br />
not apply—it’s only 200m from shore<br />
to shore. But lazybones should take<br />
their Speedos elsewhere: it’s dizzyingly<br />
remote, reached only after a two-hour<br />
ascent from Seathwaite, Wasdale Head<br />
or the Langdale Valley. Wild paddlers<br />
should budget for longer: all routes up<br />
(on excellent, waymarked paths) follow<br />
stunning mountain streams that twinkle<br />
and tease at every turn. Wild camping<br />
is the way to do it, if you can — a flat,<br />
grassy shelf on its northern shore is<br />
crying out for a tent and stove.<br />
32 worldtravellermagazine.com
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