Autumn is the ideal time to plan a weekend away, so I've been visiting Scotland – specifically the beautiful and endlessly fascinating city of Edinburgh. September is the perfect time to visit the Scottish capital. It's a period of calm down after the excesses of the festival, and although the city is still thronged with tourists, the crisp sunny days of autumn make a perfect backdrop to the city's numerous attractions and verdant vistas before the dark days of winter descend...
Where to Stay in Edinburgh
Edinburgh isn't a cheap city so you need to choose your accommodation carefully. One of the most unusual place you could stay is the Four Sisters Boatel, moored alongside its sister The Camellia, in the city centre's resurgent and very contemporary Fountainbridge district – both of which offer quirky yet luxurious self-catering accommodation in a central location. For a regular hotel, look no further than the comfortable and contemporary Resident, which sits in a brilliant location on the edge of the New Town, a short walk from Dean Village and the Water of Leith (see below), or the elegant apartments of The Rutland, within a stone's throw of Princes Street and just about everything else that you might want to see.
Where to Eat in Edinburgh
Scotland – and in particular Edinburgh – is known for its long-standing Italian population, and the city is full of good and authentic Italian restaurants, pizzerias, delis and gelaterias, but there are a couple in the Old Town that stand out: tiny La Locanda, just off the Royal Mile, where they serve inch-perfect pasta on one of the city's most picturesque streets, and the more theatrical Ciao Roma, a terrific family run trattoria, part of which is decked out as The Hispaniola from RL Stevenson's Treasure Island. For a quick lunch in the Old Town, head for the thoroughly Scottish Bread Meets Bread on North Bridge, while in Leith you you can eat sublime fish and seafood, including terrific fish and chips, at Teuchter's Landing.
What to Do in Edinburgh
Forget New York's High Line or The Peak in Hong Kong, the world's greatest urban walk is surely Edinburgh's Water of Leith, a riverside path which follows the city's diminutive through the city for 12 miles as it transforms from a bucolic stream to the wide waterway that opens out into the sea at Leith. Edinburgh is a city of views and vistas and walking the Water of Leith is like seeing the city from within, and in Leith you can get on board the Royal Yacht Britannia for a glimpse of how royalty used to live. For more conventional views, clamber up to Arthur's Seat just beyond the Scottish parlaiment, or get similar 360-degree panoramas from Edinburgh Castle at the other, busier end of the Royal Mile – or from nearby Calton Hill, whose dummy temples and monuments give meaning to the city's nickname of the 'Athens of the North'.
Cool Place of the Month: Beckford Inn and Dundas Inn
Two pubs, relatively new to Cool Places and both recently very stylishly refurbished, spring to mind: the Beckford Inn, an 18th-century coaching inn on the edge of The Cotswolds, and the riverside Dundas Arms in Berkshire, which is just an hour from London but feels like a million miles. Part of the West Country Butcombe Brewery group, both offer very comfy, well priced rooms and terrific seasonal gastropub food.
Hot Deals of the Month: Cornwall, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire ... and Sussex
A few this month, perhaps best of which is the 7 nights for the price of 4 that the fabulous Olde House complex is offering on its cottages in November. They have great facilities, including a magnificent heated indoor pool, sauna and hot tub and they're super environmentally friendly too. Among regular hotel deals, consider the amazing autumn offers at Oxfordshire's Greyhound Inn, where you'll pay just £170 a night for two, including breakfast and dinner in their 2-A-Rosette restaurant, and the 3 for 2 deals at Whatley Manor in Wiltshire, where the spa and restaurant might just help to make up for the nights closing in.
Finally perhaps the most perfect Autumn escape is the Bailiffscourt's 'Starry Starry Night Retreat', which offers immersive stargazing with an expert, meditation and yoga, and of course great food and comfortable accommodation in this beautiful West Sussex country house hotel.
