Heating Up: A New Wave of Lidos
The best outdoor swimming pools across Europe
It's all in the pronunciation. A 'lee-do' is what they
have in Venice, the finger-shaped island with its long stretch of
beach facing away from the famed skyline and out across the
Adriatic. We are talking about the other sort, the 'ly-do', an
open-air swimming pool that acts as the most terrific oasis on a
sunny day in the city. England has long nailed this kind of watery
retreat: Brockwell and Tooting Bec lidos have attracted London
front-crawlers for more than 70 years, while in Bristol the once
derelict VictorianClifton Lido has been completely transformed into a
groovy swim-sunbathe-spa set-up. In Porto Montenegro, everyone's
cooling off at the just-opened LidoMar, a members-only club where the Olympic-size pool is
lined by day beds and cabanas, with a three-metre-high sculpture of
a figure by Catalan artist Jaume Plensa. Guests at the new, crisply
nautical Regent Hotel are fast-tracked here, and day passes are
available but only by booking in advance. Also fresh on the scene
is 1920s Parisian piscine Molitor, spankingly renovated by hotel
group MGallery. The 50-metre-long outdoor pool - which, in its
heyday, was transformed into an ice-skating rink each winter - fell
into disrepair 25 years ago and began hosting ravers rather than
swimmers. Now, it's so smart as to be bordering on the
ridiculous. The water is surrounded by three tiers of hotel rooms
designed in the style of Art Deco ocean-liner cabins, and
there's a rooftop restaurant that's so close to Roland Garros you
can follow the French Open commentary. If you're looking for
somewhere a little less chlorinated for a splash, keep an eye out
for the public bathing pond being built in an unlikely setting
behind London's King's Cross station - you'll be able to spot it as
you return on the Eurostar.
This feature first appeared in Condé Nast
Traveller September 2014 
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