Chic Destinations

The Great Outdoors

‘Europe is so well gardened that it resembles a work of art’.

Whether Aldous Huxley was referring to the continent’s countless private gardens or its expansive national ones – the lush National Parks, the ragged and jagged mountain ranges, e or busy coastlines – he’d be right on the money on both counts.

However, the varied landscapes of Europe are much more beautiful than the artwork they inspire, and the summer sun – even towards the end of the season – brings these places to colourful life. All of the Villages, from Kildare to Fidenza, are within a short distance of some fabulous natural wonders and to hop into an open top car, or to pull on a pair of walking boots to explore these wild spaces, or to strip down and dive into a cooling sea are surely essential European experiences.

Spain is home to some of the continent’s most gorgeous natural spaces. The dusty-dry and hazy lands of the northeast fall from towering peaks to the curving bowl of the Mediterranean. The Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range, just north of Madrid and Las Rozas Village, is coated in pine forests inhabited by intriguing beasts including wild boar, ibex, and Eurasian black vultures floating around the towering peaks. In contrast, the beaches, by Barcelona in particular, are largely inhabited by Spain’s trendy team, and enjoy some scorching sunshine, good onshore entertainment and a cooling offshore breeze.

At the western edge of Europe, both Ireland and the UK offer plenty to explore, with wide and open green parks perfect for walking and cycling trips. Breaks here and there for a cream tea or a pint of Guinness or two are highly recommended. In the UK, the Cotswolds, just west of Bicester Village, are often referred to as the ‘Heart of England’. They are home to typically English rolling hills, green pastures and old market towns, castles and abbeys, protected by the National Trust. Across the Irish Sea, the Wicklow Mountains just east of Kildare Village are stunning, and their granite landscape is the perfect place to take a few gentle steps.

Giant steps are required in parts of mainland Europe, however, where nature is generally bigger and mostly wilder than it is in England and Ireland. The sweeping Ardennes region, which is vast enough to cross borders and which dominates much of the southeast of Belgium, is a quick journey from Maasmechelen Village. Thick forest clings to thousands of hillside miles, broken here and there by meandering rivers, providing a world of escape. 

Further south, the Bavarian Alps rise sharply into clear blue skies in dramatic fashion. The Alps are, of course, Europe’s most famous mountain range, mostly thought of as a snowy playground for innumerable winter sports enthusiasts searching for perfect powder and a lively fix of après-ski. Those who know the mountains year-round however, know that they are just, if not more, attractive during the snow-less months. What were Christmas-card-perfect slopes blossom into colour as the newly replenished greenery of the slopes breathes a sigh of relief with the melting of the snow. Skis are replaced with walking boots, snowboards with bicycles as adventurers welcome the chance to explore the now exposed mountaintop playgrounds more intimately.

Another of the continent’s most splendid attractions, the Italian Lakes, are just a quick hopscotch south across the Alps, near Milan and Fidenza Village. And really, there are few better places to get a taste for European life. The lakes themselves, from Lake Maggiore to Iseo, Garda to Como, are grand expanses of that most desirable summertime necessity – cool freshwater –sparkling in the sun, perfect for a swim or a scenic boat trip. With perfect Italian cafés, Michelin-starred restaurants and luxurious resorts dotted around their edges, these charming lakes are also bordered by hills, as if they would rather be hidden from the outside world. 

Europe is famous, and rightly so, for its fantastic cities bursting with culture and art. But for those who look a little further, the continent’s natural world is just as full of treasures to discover, arguably a work of art itself.

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