It’s hard, and maybe impossible, to find a bad bakery in Paris. Expert bakers using plenty of butter produce goods that rarely disappoint. But some are especially good. Every year the city honours one of them for making the city’s best baguette or rod-shaped loaf, and the winner gets to supply bread to the President of the Republic for a year. Past winners constitute a roll of honour, and a good indication that they’re worth a visit. Here are a few:

LE GRENIER A PAIN (Abbesses, 38)

Michel Galloyer has 30 branches in Paris and the provinces, but the original in Montmartre is the one awarded the 2010 Best Baguette prize. There’s no room to sample the fare in the shop, but the nearby stairway to the gleaming white Sacré Coeur Basilica is a good alternative, thanks to the incomparable view of the city. The bakery boasts a large variety of breads that are baked in sight of the customer, as well as sandwiches starting at 3€ pizza or a bit more than 2€, and wonderful fougasses (flat bread roll stuffed with savoury ingredients). The goat cheese and tomato version costs only 2.20€. The croissants are out of this world, as are the chausson aux pommes, or apple turnovers.

PAIN DE SUCRE (Rambuteau, 14)

The success of the boulangerie-patisserie that opened a decade ago in Le Marais necessitated the opening of additional premises almost next door, with two tables indoors and five outdoors for sampling the sweet pastries. The main shop sells bread, sweet and savoury pastries, quiches, pain roulé (bread stuffed with spinach, bacon and cheese, spicy sausage and plums, etc.), focaccias (special flat bred topped with herbs and other ingredients), homemade creamy soups (try the pumpkin and chestnut!), and other treats. The décor is avant-garde, the food itself is colourful (check out the marshmallows), and you can order coffee. It’s a bit pricy –like almost everything in Paris—but worth everysou. You should consider the roule au pistaches (breakfast snail with pistachios) and the pain au chocolat.

LEGAY CHOC (Ste. Croix de la Bretonnerie, 45)

Le Marais is one of the city’s most gay-friendly district and the owner of this little bakery is not only gay and proud, but his surname is Legay. And indeed, his shop is famed for its penis-shaped loaves and brioches (2.30€), but everything in the shop is of the highest quality, including the hot dogs, wraps, and pizza, as well as the bread, pastry, quiches, and small pies. There are no tables, so it’s a take-away, but not at all expensive.

MURCIANO (Rosiers, 14)

This is a charming traditional Jewish bakery in Le Marais, featuring a menorah (Hebrew candelabra) in the window. The speciality is apple and cinnamon strudel (2.80€ per portion), as good as it gets. There are also traditional Jewish bread like the braided challah eaten on the Sabbath and other holy days, or rogallah, a sort of croissant with chocolate edges.

ERIC KAYSER

This boulangerie now has about a hundred branches all over the world, thanks master baker Eric Kayser, whose latest honours are for “Best Croissant” and “Best Bread” in Tokyo. His first bakery stands on rue Monge, 6, near Notre Dame cathedral, and features a bar and outdoor table –all branches have some seating facilities. A 100% ecological branch now operates at number 14 of the same street. Aside from bread and pastries, there are sandwiches, salads, tarts,quiches, and various combination for the lunch menu.

POILÂNE (Cherche-Midi, 8)

There are often long queues outside this little bakery in Saint-Germain des Près, one of the most celebrated in all Paris. The bread is believed to taste exactly the same is it did when the shop was opened in 1932 by Pierre Poilâne. The recipe calls for sea salt from Guérande, stone-ground organic flour, and fresh yeast, and baking is done in a wood-fired oven. There are two more branches in Paris and two in London. Don’t fail to try the delicious nut and raisin bread!

DES PAIN ET DES IDEES (Yves Toudic, 34)

Paris’ most “hipster” bakery, near the Canal Saint Martin, has a one large wooden table for all in front of the shop. With a lovely interior and show windows filled with charming knick-knacks, the shop features baked goods made with top-quality organic ingredients, and the bread is called “des amis” (for friends), Though his background is in fashion, proprietor Christophe Vasseur was named Paris’ best boulanger by the prestigious guide Gault&Millau. He offers traditional product, but also likes to experiment, and he also sell croissants made with matcha tea, Mouna (brioche with orange blossom), and even escargot made with lemon and almond nougat.

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By Isabel Loscertales / Gastronomistas.com

To start, let’s recall that Edinburgh is both a World Heritage Site and also the first place to be designated by UNESCO as a “City of Literature”, because of its numerous well-preserved buildings and monuments and its age-old literary traditions.

The city is best seen at a walking pace, and as a pedestrian you’ll find its hidden nooks and crannies and perchance the spirits of the city’s famed authors and even more famous creations, such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his shrewd detective Sherlock Holmes, Robert Louis Stevenson and the two-faced Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, or Sir Walter Scott and his heroic Ivanhoe and Rob Roy characters. And there’s even a chance you’ll see some of the city’s literary figures in the flesh, for we shall start our tour in the café with the red façade where the contemporary author J. K. Rowling penned many of her early stories and planned her books about the boy wizard Harry Potter.

1. Few people noticed the young Rowling scribbling in her notebooks at a table in the unprepossessing Elephant House café. The establishment, which opened in 1995, remains a favourite of literary types, thanks to its selection of the city’s best coffees and teas, which continue to stain many pages of manuscript. Huge breakfasts are also served, as well as hot midday and evening meals, plus the usual sandwiches and cakes, etc. And there’s an excellent wine list, too. No excuse for not sitting down and writing your book!

2. Or you might prefer to take a stroll down Edinburgh’s legendary Royal Mile, linking the city’s two most popular monumental sites, Edinburgh Castle, standing above the city atop the towering volcanic basalt plug known as Castle Rock, and, at the other extreme, Holyrood Palace, the official Scottish residence of the British monarch. A slow and attentive walk down the four stretches of the Royal Mile, called Castlehill, Lawn Market, High Street, and Canongate, will infuse you with the unique, friendly atmosphere and stony charm of this historical city.

3. If you appreciate the macabre, on your walk down the Royal Mile you must stop at Mary King’s Close, a warren of gloomy underground streets and enclosures widely believed to be haunted by the ghosts of the past. Once a thriving market, the close was named for a woman who lived there and traded in cloth in the early 1600s. According to urban legend, when the plague struck the area in 1645, the authorities walled it off, leaving scores of people inside to die. Since, then reports of strange lights and noises have fuelled beliefs that the zone remains haunted. Visitors often brings dolls to calm the ghost of the legendary Annie, a child plague victim thought to have been left by her parents to die in the Close, and whose heart-rending cries can still be heard. Perhaps.

4. For a Facebook-worthy selfie showing Edinburgh Castle in the background, the place to go is Princess Street, Edinburgh’s main shopping street, which featured in the 1996 film Trainspotting. Apart from the shopping opportunities there, the street happens to be the best place from which to capture a panoramic view of the castle, since there are no buildings on the castle side of the street, but only gardens and monuments.

5. If you’re looking for quirkier and more out-of-the-way shops, head for the wildly picturesque Victoria Street, a curving slope just off the Royal Mile that is a favourite of photographers because of its colourful specialised shops selling liquors, cheeses, handicrafts, and all sorts of treasures. You’re sure to find bargains in the several charity shops selling used clothing and other items, the proceeds from which are donated to worthy causes. Harry Potter’s creator J.K. Rowling acknowledged that this street was her inspiration for Diagon Alley, where her wizards bought their magical gear.

6. Edinburgh is not made entirely of stone, despite initial impressions. It also features expansive green zones, such as the parks of Calton Hill and Arthur’s Seat, where the city’s joggers, cyclists, and dog-walkers go. Both offer fantastic views of the city from on high. The 251-metre Arthur’s Seat is the peak to which, according to legend, King Arthur used to repair when he needed time alone to think. Atop Calton Hill are two monuments to British victories over the French, Nelson’s Tower, commemorating the battle of Trafalgar, and Scotland’s National Monument, an unfinished construction modelled on the Parthenon in Athens, built in the 1820s to honour Scotland’s dead in the Napoleonic wars.

7. At Ocean Terminalin the Port of Leith, Edinburgh’s harbour, stands the Royal Yacht Britannia, used by the British royal family from 1954 until 1997 when it was converted into a floating museum that is well worth a visit –don’t miss the little bedroom where Queen Elizabeth II slept during her nearly 1,000 state voyages.

8. To finish up, you might visit Greyfriars Cemetery and have your picture taken next to the statue of one of Edinburgh’s heroes, Bobby, a Skye terrier traditionally believed to have stood watch by his master’s grave for no less than14 years, until his own death in 1873, after which he was buried next to his master.

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Text and Photos: Nani Arenas

You may know Lisbon, but perhaps you’re not yet acquainted with Portugal’s lovely and lively second-largest city, near the northern border. Warning: it will steal your heart. Not to mention your nose, tongue, and palate. The city is replete with bars, cafés, restaurants and wine cellars featuring, well, Port --what else? That’s what the city is named for, or it may be the other way round!

Café Majestic

Don’t be put off by the breath-taking belle époquecharm that envelopes and transports you as soon as you come through the door, for the perfectly conserved splendour and luxury of bygone days does not signify inflated prices on the menu. At Café Majestic, which opened in 1921, you can have a wonderful cup of coffee accompanied by pasteis de Belém (buttery cream tarts), as you imagine the spirited discussions amongst politicians, artists and intellectuals that have animated the café for nearly a century.
Average price: 6 euros.

Concept store: A Vida Portuguesa

This is an excellent place to pick out some gifts and souvenirs of your visit to Oporto, and you should look at the local chocolate and even the salt. But for serious foodies, we recommend stuffing your suitcase with tins of the fruits of the sea: octopus, sardines, clams, and much more. The quality will surprise you, as will the very cool packaging. At under five euros per tin, they’ll help you can earn the gratitude of a lot of friends and relatives!

Café Santiago

If you’re the type who must try the paella in Spain and the lamb in New Zealand, then you can’t leave Oporto without sitting down to that copious calorie bomb known as a francesinha, a sort of hot Dagwood sandwich from heaven eaten with knife and fork, made with four slices of bread and containing roast veal, fresh sausages, chorizo, bologna, etc., and topped with melted choose slices, and with or without a fried egg. Oh, and the whole concoction is bathed in a semi-spicy sauce. In case that’s not enough, it’s served with a sizable portion of fries. A beer or two to wash it all down, and you’re away! You can get a francesinha in many of Oporto’s bars and restaurants, but we recommend the version served at the popular Café Santiago, in business since 1959, and though you may have to queue to get in, it’s worth the wait. The kitchen is open for all to witness the assembly of the francesinhas, and it’s a fascinating spectacle indeed!
Average price: 12 euros.

Restaurant O Gaveto

If seafood is your passion, and especially if cod is your god, here’s where you’ll have one of the best meals of your life! Elegant, classic, this is not for scruffy tourists but for serious worshippers of fine food, deftly served by an attentive wait staff. A favourite with local aristocrats for their Sunday lunches, O Gaveto is located in the Matosinhos district, a short tram ride, from the city centre, and near the harbour. You should start with the clams and goose barnacles (percebes), and then address the main dish, preferably the roast cod, or the rice with shellfish, keeping in mind that one dish will feed two people generously. The “special” house wine is excellent. You can walk it all off by returning to the centre on foot along the esplanade with its views of the roaring Atlantic.
Average price: 30 euros.

Wine-tasting at the Cellars ofVila Nova de Gaia

Gaia, the city across the wide Douro river from Oporto, is famed for its wineries. All are worth a visit, and the programme is different at each. The Sandman tour offers some history of Oporto as well as wine talk and tasting. Serious wine buffs can sample a variety of exquisite wines at Graham’s. The tours of the Cálem, Fonseca and Kopke establishments are also enjoyable and edifying. (You do like port, don’t you?)

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Text and photos by Laia Zieger / Gastronomistas

The city’s versatility enables you to embark on the most varied scavenger hunts. If you’ve already been there and have tried out the rooms with twenty guests in one of the hundreds of Bed and Breakfasts, or you’ve burnt out your Oyster Card visiting London’s various cultural and culinary offerings at affordable prices, now is the time to discover a trendier, more upscale London.

Why not start with breakfast? While it is said to be the most important meal of the day, we could add that it is also the best. Sharing your breakfast cereal with your B&B companions might be great, but one day you’re going to get tired of always being left with the last dregs of milk in the brick. Here’s a tip for navigators: London is not only in the top flight of afternoon teas – it fares very well with all meals up to that hour of the day. It stands to reason – who would turn up their nose at the best sashimi or the choicest Scottish salmon? In addition to some desserts as formidable as Big Ben. At the Cookbook Café - InterContinental London Park Lane buffet, you should invest more time than money, as they offer endless combinations, each more delicious than the next! It’s very central, just behind Green Park, should you need to nod off after so much indulging in flavours.

Later you’ll want to work it off, so a bit of exercise would be in order. In London you need to apply some elbow grease – as your bags are going to get heavy – and become involved in the noble art of trying on clothes. The perfect block bounded by New Bond Street, Old Bond Street and Piccadilly Street will enable you to feel like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.There is no spot in the world with a higher concentration of irresistible shop windows! Apart from the top designer brands such as Gucci, Prada, DKNY and Vitorio & Luccino, you can find stores like Abercombrie, which is in Burlington Gardens – a veritable fortress with a spectacular facade on Regent Street – or, if your eyes have become bloodshot from so many labels, the commercial TopShop in Oxford Circus, a ready-to-wear brand far removed from haute couture and much more affordable, famous for being the stellar spot for such models as Kate Moss. It was the first consumer brand with its own parade at the London Fashion Week.

And, after your spree, a pause to refuel would come in handy. A quick tea and a snack at The Wolseley? Spacious, stately and with a palatial ambience, this establishment in Piccadilly is a safe bet for enjoying the classical side of London.

Time to change district. Impeccable streets, formidable facades and luxury finishes – London has some of the most prohibitive districts in Europe. Among these, Kensington which, apart from featuring houses capable of curing hiccups, boasts some stunning (visitable) Roof Gardens on the top of the Derry and Toms building. Then there is the district of Chelsea, a favourite among the royal family. Aside from the opulence exuded by both districts, they also have some small locales where you can steep yourself in stage performances. Jazz comes to the fore mainly at night and music lovers are advised to head for Piano Kensington on the Kensington High Street, as well as to the 606 Club, a long-standing jazz bar in Chelsea.

A review of London’s most exquisite districts would not be complete without mention of the Portobello Road area and its air of a romantic comedy stage. Once considered a “dump” in late-19th-century London, the local potters’ workshops gradually gave way to cafés and shops selling antiques, until the area acquired its present-day character. It is famous for hosting the Notting Hill Carnival, and the locals regard the area as a lively, colourful mini Rio de Janeiro.

After strolling along Portobello Road, the next thing is to wet your whistle at one of the cocktail bars in the area. A good choice would be the Portobello Star, which offers as many types of gin as there are red phone boxes in London. Before midnight, with a nice cool cocktail in your hand, you could then check out the Royal Albert Hall programme.

Next up, if you want to continue carousing – and later end up breakfasting again at Cookbook Café’s buffet – you would need to drop in on one of London’s eternal fashion spots, Annabel’s (Mayfair). Be sure to wear your best apparel – you never know, Lady Gaga might have had the same idea that night. However, you need to first pay their annual membership fee. Behind the walls of this locale lie the most intimate conversations of bohemian London from the 60s, and of the royals, too. And, that carries a price of its own. If that doesn’t work out, you could always try your luck with the demanding bouncers at The Beauchamp, a club vying for the competitive top spot of night time sophistication.

For accommodation, nothing more sophisticated than the Hilton London Bankside. Recently opened, this hotel is a franchise of the legendary hotel chain. Housed in a building with a futuristic, post-industrial air, this marvel will make you feel as if you’re taking part in the action from the film, Her. Located in the heart of Bankside and a stone’s throw from the Tate Modern, one of the most prestigious art galleries in the world, the hotel features a beautiful penthouse with a private terrace, a 100m² leisure area and spectacular views of London. It also boasts a new restaurant, the OXBO Bankside, under the direction of the executive chef, Paul Bates, in addition to The Distillery. This is a destination bar, where you will want to be seen, and it offers over 50 brands of gin, as well as its own beer label. Their buffet breakfasts are memorable – long live buffets! You will be stunned by the interior design, the work of Dexter Moren Associates and Twenty2Degrees, particularly the extraordinary lighting, which adapts to the different times of day!

Seduced already? I’m sure you are. Be bold and prepare your getaway now. Check out our flights here.

Text by Yeray S. Iborra for ISABELYLUIS Comunicación

Images by Michael D. Beckwith, Cristina Bejarano, Klovovi