VIP LIFESTYLE
City &
Sho
Bazaar’s guide to the best European shopping breaks in the capitals of style and the cheap, chic buys to pick up along the way By Alexandra Shakespeare s far as I’m concerned, the secret to a fabulous European city break fits a formula from which there must be no deviation. One must stay in a luxe design hotel, enjoy several fine restaurants, partake in a little leisurely sightseeing and a cultural dousing, before completing the weekend of sophistication with a spot of five-star shopping. After this a little spa recovery will naturally be in order. It is tried and tested 100
holiday winner. Think of some of the most popular European cities: Rome, Paris, London, Barcelona, Milan... Not only do they each boast some of the world’s most interesting historical monuments, buildings and public gardens, but you’ll also find in them some of the best design hotels and shopping hotspots in the world. And let’s not kid ourselves: it’s the shops we’re really interested in. Just think: Dior, Chanel, Celine and YSL et al are all to be found along Paris’s Avenue Montaigne, while Lacroix even has a hotel, the Hotel de
Petit, near the Pompidou area. In London, meanwhile, you can shop your way from Ladbroke Grove for unique vintage bargains right through to Bond Street for the best of the big brands, while staying at Anouska Hempel’s exclusive Blakes in Kensington. In Rome wander from the Ferragamo Boutique hotel to the designer stores on Via Condotti and the Spanish Steps. In cool Dublin, from John Rocha-designed hotel The Morrison, it’s easy to idle away the day wandering the shops and galleries from the cultural quarter Temple Bar to Grafton