5 of the best places to travel in September

Il Pellicano is La Dolce Vita incarnate, the quintessential fantasy of a glamorous Mediterranean summer that stretches well into October. The terraced beach club is the heart of the hotel, with sun loungers ranked in lines on rocky ledges over the deep blue. By September, the jet-set fashion crowd, Hollywood regulars and passing European aristocrats on their private yachts have left like flocks of migratory birds and the place is blissfully peaceful; a few guests take to the stand-up paddleboards or snorkel around the neighboring coves. At this time of year the weather is perfect for a game of tennis on the top-notch courts, and you can still dine al fresco on a terrace overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea in a garden setting. The hotel’s relaxed Pelligrill serves Italian classics and possibly the best seafood risotto and panzanella in Tuscany. hotelilpellicano.com

The Newt is the latest, most talked-about happening in this corner of the West Country since international gallerists Hauser & Wirth created their nearby flagship guest house, Durslade Farm. While Durslade is all about art and culture, the Newt – situated in the elegant surroundings of the 17th-century Hadspen country estate – is all about the landscaping. The time, resources and manpower that has been lavished on the project signposts a rare sense of perfectionism that extends to the fabrics and finishes across the gracefully proportioned bedrooms and the 30-plus cultivated acres of gardens that opened earlier this year. The latter are already maturing and mellowing nicely, with formal planting, apple orchards, woodlands and a kitchen garden offering a café, horticulture college and workshops for a fully immersive, bucolic experience. thenewtinsomerset.com

In remote eastern Nepal, following in footsteps made centuries ago by nomadic Sherpas on the ancient Trans-Himalayan salt route to and from Tibet, sits a slate-roofed, crimson-painted stone house near the town of Phaplu. This is where legendary mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary spent his halcyon days, christening it his ‘happy house’, and the name has stuck. Inside, there are huge leather chesterfield sofas and local woven carpets, a wine cellar, card tables and finest cashmere throws strewn around the muralled interiors, providing an atmospheric base from which to enjoy amazing feasts and yoga sessions. You can also adventure through the sacred Solukhumbu valley and stay in remote monasteries, have dinner at village homestays, take picnic-punctuated treks and adrenaline-fueled mountain-biking trails. Book through daunttravel.com

Athenians traditionally escape the heat of the city at weekends and make for the cypress and cactus-studded coast, south of the capital. This, the so-called Athenian Riviera, is the most expensive stretch of real estate in Greece. At the very end of a long necklace of marinas and small shoreline fish tavernas on the way to the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, the hard-to-find Villa Smaragda sits on a rugged promontory. Landscaped gardens studded with olive trees cascade down to a little private beach. This low-slung villa, built in the 1970s, is minimalist in style; sliding glass doors erase the divisions between outside and inside to expose the colliding blues of sea and sky. Located only an hour from the cultural hotspots of Athens and a 45-minute drive from the airport, it is also a short drive from the bustling port and ouzeries of Lavrio, where you can sit on rickety tables and wolf down fried whitebait and fresh shrimp. whitekeyvillas.com