Travel Field Notes 05
Where to stay in Menorca, exploring the Var coast in the south of France, and a recent visit to one of my favorite hotels on the French Riviera...
Hello from Greece! I’ve spent the past month here, starting with a few islands I didn’t know particularly well (Kea, Syros, and Tinos) and exploring them properly for the first time. You’ll be hearing the highlights from those trips very soon. (Teaser: Tinos might be my new favorite!?) But the most exciting leg has been the past two weeks on the Mani peninsula in the southern Peloponnese. This place absolutely rocks. It’s so unique, so wild, so unlike anywhere I’ve ever been. You’ll be getting my full report later this month both on Prior and right here :)
A quick housekeeping note: I always post in Instagram stories while I’m on the go and I get a lot of messages. If you’re a paid subscriber with specific questions about any trips I’m posting about in real time, use our Substack chat and ask me anything! Since it takes me some time to get stories up (usually because I’m at the mercy of magazine publication schedules that I unfortunately have no control over), I want to get you answers and help with trip planning as quickly as possible, especially if you’re looking to travel soon!
Before Greece, I’d been traveling nonstop this spring. Still catching my breath, honestly. And still on the move, ha. But here I am. This week, I’m sharing the latest dispatch from my recent trips to Menorca, the Var coast as a low-key alternative to the glossier French Riviera, and one of my favorite French Riviera hotels if you can’t resist venturing east…
Exploring the Var Coast, the western edge of French Riviera
If you’ve been here for a while, it probably won’t surprise you that I don’t love the French Riviera in high season. The crowds, the €2,000-a-night hotel rooms (actually, WTF?), the coastline optimized for spectacle. And yet, I can’t deny how damn beautiful it is.
And if you follow me on Instagram or have been reading my recent work, you may have noticed I’ve been spending time in a part of southern France that usually doesn’t make the short list. The quieter Var coast sits on the western edge of the French Riviera, technically part of the Côte d’Azur, yet eclipsed by its more famous neighbors to the east, like Nice, Cannes, and Antibes.
You already know the Var coast, even if you didn’t know it had a name… helloooo, St. Tropez! And if you’ve ever been to St. Tropez, you probably realized that it feels different from the eastern Riviera towns, at least geographically. The peninsula is lower, more agricultural, the Massif des Maures rolling down toward the shore rather than the dramatic cliff-and-corniche geography of Nice or Antibes. The land gives way to vineyards and pine forest, and the sea, unframed by calanques or corniche cliffs, feels more open, more accessible. In the off-season, it’s one of the prettiest ports in France. But in July and August, St. Tropez starts to feel indistinguishable from the rest of the Riviera, with the crowds, the prices, an international scene thick enough to make you forget you’re in France at all…
As I traveled further west along the Var coast, past St. Tropez, I discovered villages that hadn’t yet recalibrated around tourism. Restaurants where you can get a table. Pine-backed coves where the water is pristine and the crowd is local. The whole thing had a looseness to it, like an actual summer feeling that’s gotten harder to find on the eastern part of this same coastline.
There’s so much more to love about this part of southern France, which you can read about in my guide to the Var coast for Vogue. It serves as a pretty good starting point for navigating this part of the south of France and hopefully answers any questions you have about it (but of course chat is always open to paid subscribers!) Worth mentioning since it comes up in the story: the new Zannier Île de Bendor is nicely done. I visited early May and think it’s a cool project on a genuinely interesting little island owned by the Ricard family. Good food, nice spaces for lazy days of sun lounging, a spa, fitness center with daily programming, tiny artisan village with 2-3 shops. I wouldn’t build a trip around it, but if you’re in the area, a night or two, or even a day visit is worth it.
I also wrote a guide to Hyères for Prior, based around my stay at Hotel Le Provençal last summer. Hyères is definitely the anchor town of the western Var right now. Then, of course, you can read about my trip to the island of Porquerolles, which I can’t recommend enough if you’re looking for an easygoing Mediterranean beach destination with affordable, low-key bed-and-breakfasts, bike-friendly exploring, impossibly turquoise water, wine tastings, and that effortless summer feeling where you never quite manage to get all the sand from between your toes, and you never really have to! Pro tip: pair Hyères and Porquerolles together and that’s a great trip. I’d probably even spend more time in Porquerolles (I guess depending on what you’re looking for??)
My Menorca guide…
I got so many messages asking about the Menorca trip I took late April, specifically people wanting to know about this beach I posted on Instagram, which is arguably the island’s most famous. It’s Macarelleta, reached via a short hike around Macarella beach. You can read about all of my favorite places in a guide I wrote for Who What Wear that goes live this month (I’ll link it here when it’s up, so check back here in a couple of weeks!) There are some logistical things you should know about Menorca ahead of planning your trip though, which I’ll explain here.
If you don’t want to rent a car, choose another destination. You need a car to get around in Menorca (as I’d suggest with all the Balearic islands… but definitely in Menorca!) There’s only one main highway that connects the entire island (the rest are country roads), so even if distances look close, nearly everything will require a 20-40 minute drive.
The southern coast is known for its white sandy beaches and scenic turquoise coves. The most dramatic are in the southwest corner, along the road that connects to the old city of Ciutadella. These beaches are mostly unserviced and many require short hikes to reach from their respective parking areas. I stayed at Vestige Son Vell in the southwest, which I loved. I then moved to the southeast part of the island, well-connected to the capital city of Mahón (Maó). It has more accessible white sandy beaches and is where I’d recommend families stay, as well as anyone else who wants to be more in the thick of things, as the southwest is quieter, more isolated. There are so many great hotels over here.
Here are a few hotels I love in southeast Menorca:
Menorca Experimental - best all-around vibe for everyone… friends, families, couples. Can’t go wrong with this one no matter who you are.
Son Blanc Farmhouse - perfect for nature lovers with good taste. very boho, like very. Also a nice spot if you’re into communal dinners (they host one every Wednesday with locals and hotel guests).
Torralbenc (wine estate) & Amagatay - best for couples. Very similar feeling, just with different design aesthetics.
Fontenille Torre Vella (wine estate) - Haven’t stayed, but visited. Great spot. I love Domaine de Fontenille properties, so I imagine this is a reliable one to book.
I’ve never stayed in the north, which has more rugged, wild landscapes, darker rock formations, and reddish-sand beaches (a completely different character from the south, and significantly less developed). But I love visiting the small fishing village of Fornells for a late afternoon dip, followed by dinner. The village is famous for caldereta de langosta, the local lobster stew, and there are few better places to eat it. Try my favorite: Es Cranc. Vestige Son Ermità opened in the north last June on a large estate with coastal trail access, and I’d be curious to stay there next time. Its sister property, Vestige Binidufà, also recently opened on the same estate this spring.
You can find more details and specific spots in the guide I’ll be linking ASAP, but if you have more questions about logistics and planning to Menorca in the meantime (or have your trip quickly approaching and no time to wait for my full guide), chat me!
A favorite hotel: Hotel du Couvent, Nice
The last time I stayed at Hotel du Couvent in Nice was ahead of opening week two years ago. I was impressed then by the attention to detail and great care that went into preserving the history of this former convent in the heart of the old city by Valéry Grégo of the Perseus Group (the owner and developer behind the decade-long restoration), who partnered with Festen Architecture, the Paris-based design firm for interior design. As I stated in my note, my recent stay confirmed what I suspected then: Hotel du Couvent has earned its place in my personal hall of fame. It is truly a 10/10 hotel.
What earns it that ranking is a combination of things that are harder to pull off together than they sound. The setting does its work immediately: the ethereal courtyard restaurant that serves as a meeting place for locals and guests alike, the tucked-away garden restaurant, the hilltop pool with its views over Nice and the sea…. but it’s not a hotel coasting on its bones.
The food is simply good: both restaurants, no Michelin ambitions, just cooking well, highlighting the seasonal ingredients, and not trying to be anything other than what they are. Then there are the details that accumulate quietly: the branded products that you’ll want to collect as souvenirs, the in-house boulangerie, the herbalist, the weekly market open to locals, the sense that the hotel exists in conversation with the city rather than sealed off from it.
And then the hospitality, which is where it really distinguishes itself. Everything runs fluidly. The seamlessness that only looks effortless because someone has thought through every moment, including the ones that could easily become complicated, like the fact that the street closes off at night, prohibiting taxis and Ubers from accessing the road that leads to the hotel. You text the concierge and a hotel buggy appears to scoop you up from the barrier and bring you back. Simple solution, but someone had to think of it.
The staff is warm, eager, genuinely friendly. It’s boutique in feeling but with the attentiveness of an old-school five-star. A real lesson in what hospitality can be when it’s done with care. Highly recommend it as a base for those of you traveling to the Riviera this summer. (Also, I should add… kid friendly!)
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