Bahrainis know exactly how to handle summer, and the answer, more often than not, involves a boarding pass to Europe.
Two of the continent’s most fabulous destinations are back on Gulf Air’s seasonal schedule this year: the sun-drenched promenades of Nice, Côte d’Azur, and the quietly sophisticated shores of Geneva, Switzerland.
Nice, France
Popote Bistro sits tucked in the labyrinthine streets of Old Nice near the port. Head in for a late-afternoon meal; the croque monsieur is rich and properly done. You’ll quickly understand why the locals keep coming back.
Cycle the Promenade des Anglais at your own pace
Rent a bike and go. Wide, luminous, and far better on two wheels than from behind glass: sea on one side, the city unfolding on the other.
Head out in the morning before the crowds arrive or in the late afternoon when the light softens. You’ll cover more ground than you planned. Bike rentals are available along the promenade. Various operators check on arrival.
Let the evening unfold at Place Masséna
By evening, Place Masséna becomes the communal living room of the entire city, with illuminated terracotta-red façades, passing crowds and buskers who earn their audience. Grab a café terrace seat and watch Nice shift from afternoon to night. You won’t want to leave.
A café table on Grand-Rue, a secondhand book at Plainpalais, the sea rushing past on a borrowed bicycle, music rising through Masséna at dusk. The world kept moving and so did you. And that, simply, is what travel does best.
Geneva, Switzerland
Pages & Sips, Grand-Rue
A brilliant café-bookshop in Geneva’s old town where the espresso is excellent and nobody is in any hurry. Head in, find a corner, and settle in: the exact antidote to everything you left behind. The cobbled streets are right outside when you’re ready.
Hunt for hidden finds at Plainpalais Flea Market
On Wednesdays and Saturdays, Plaine de Plainpalais becomes one of Geneva’s most rewarding open-air experiences: long rows of secondhand books, vintage postcards, and old maps. Head down early and find something with no logical reason to come home with you.
Get lost in the stacks at Bibliothèque de Genève
Founded in 1559, one of Europe’s oldest libraries, cool corridors, vast collections and the particular hush that only very old rooms full of very old books produce. Head here on an afternoon when the lake feels too bright and leave feeling sharper for it.
