Sommaire pour January/February 2026 de Conde Nast Traveller UK

WHEN I WAS A LITTLE GIRL GROWING up in Mumbai, the most magical event every December wasn’t Christmas morning: it was the fanciest kids’ Christmas party in town, held on the rooftop of The Oberoi, Mumbai. My father would drive me to the hotel, where the lobby would be transformed, housing the biggest Christmas tree I had ever seen, wrapped in gold bows and silver baubles. Beside it sat a gingerbread house strung with tiny lights and the marble floor was blanketed in soft cotton dusted with silver flecks, because the idea of snow in Mumbai needed a bit of help. We took the lift to the top to be transported to a scene straight out of a storybook: live carolling, a towering Santa Claus bearing personalised gifts, and a…

TE IHU O MATAOHO TOURS “Our papakāinga – place where a kinship group lives – runs guided tours around our ancestral mountain in Manukau Harbour. We talk about Mataoho, the deity that lives underneath Auckland and ignites all of the volcanoes here. Participants can plant trees, create medicinal balm from the kawakawa plant, make Māori poi (balls on strings that are swung as performance art) and eat hāngī – food that’s cooked traditionally in the ground.” CURIONOIR “Tiffany Witehira is a Māori perfumer who trained in France and creates unisex candles and scents rooted in the natural environment. When she was younger, her grandmother would take her to the bush – its sounds and smells inform her fragrances. Everything in her perfumery is poetic, such as her Kihikihi, or cicada,…

THERE ARE SOME RESTAURANTS in France that people make pilgrimages to. L’Auberge du Pont de Collonges, better known simply as Paul Bocuse, in Lyon, for example, or Mirazur on the French Riviera (though some would say the views surpass the food). Then there’s Les Grands Buffets outside Narbonne – it’s not in the Michelin Guide or the World’s 50 Best, but it’s worth booking ahead for a special occasion and taking some friends. Past a sign for a family waterpark, a door opens onto an homage to fin-de-siècle Paris. Chandeliers are reflected in gilt-edged mirrors; there is a chorus line of lobsters and yards of fromage. Every so often, a waiter in a dinner suit flambées a crepe Suzette with a shock of flames, like a big top fire-eater. This…

MIND MATTERS Brain retreats are firing synapses everywhere, as sophisticated mapping and modulation allow cognitive health to be measured more precisely and calibrated more effectively than ever. Clinique La Prairie’s Brain Potential retreat in Switzerland includes a cerebral MRI and genetic, DNA and microbiota screening, alongside nutrition advice for brain health, and plans for brain-body movement and cranio-targeted supplementation. Spain’s Sha has a “cognitive boost pack” on its menu (folding in a neurocognitive assessment, mindfulness, a neuro training app, supplements and other boons); and Thailand’s Kamalaya Koh Samui has a dedicated facility, Cognitive House, which provides neuro-lymphatic therapy to stimulate lymphatic flow and support the nervous system, as well as vagus nerve neuromodulation to deliver electrical impulses to that kingpin connector. In Mexico Rancho La Puerta runs biannual Brain Health…

HEAVEN SCENT Botanists and perfumers Nicolas Malleville and Francesca Bonato founded their Yucatán-based fragrance line, Coqui Coqui Perfumes, in 2003, creating high-end scents that range from tobacco-infused colognes to neroli bath oils and covetable extra-large room diffusers, all in minimalist packaging that reflects their understated, artisanal aesthetic. Their perfumery sits in a grand 16th-century mansion on Calzada de los Frailes complete with an interior courtyard. Once a private residence, it is now an apothecary-inspired shop with antique cabinets and walls lined with vintage illustrations of flowers. There’s also a collection of home textiles – some with prints inspired by the original tile flooring of the mansion – as well as fringed hammocks, cotton blankets and travel items including luggage tags, all of which are handmade in Valladolid and the surrounding…

With expedition travel on the rise and the world’s furthest extremities increasingly within reach, watch brands are tapping into the thirst for adventure with timepieces that can withstand the most challenging conditions. Titanium casing – which is about 45 per cent lighter than stainless steel – makes the Breitling Endurance Pro Ironman World Championship 2025 a whisper on the wrist, despite its 44mm size. With thermo-compensated movement, a solar compass and water resistance up to 100 metres, it’s a watch for those who like to push their limits. The Panerai Submersible Chrono Navy Seals Titanio, made from titanium DLC, which is 60 per cent harder than steel, can accommodate a jumbo 47mm case without the added weight. Functions include a calculation of immersion time and a flyback chronograph. In Bremont’s…

Where have you just been and why? “Coming off my latest Tension tour – taking in 54 cities over more than six months – was quite emotional. By the time I began the European leg in Finland I was thankful for my room at Hotel St George in Helsinki. Even though it’s in the heart of the city it was the perfect calming tonic. It has a spa and there are covers over the TVs, so I wasn’t hit with a media wall unless I actively wanted it.” What was the most unexpected moment during your tour? “We toured through Europe in a heatwave last summer, which was more than we bargained for. I almost fainted in Paris and Antwerp. During sound check at the Plaza de España in Seville…

The ancient redwoods of Big Sur survive on coastal air. These towering trees pull moisture directly from the atmosphere through their needle-like leaves, drawing sustenance from the unseen. At Alila Ventana Big Sur the same thing happens – care arrives so softly that it’s barely noticeable. Binoculars for spotting California condors rest on balconies. Wine glasses refill before they empty. As dusk falls, dimly lit paths emerge through the forest. Even the daily programming feels like a suggestion rather than a schedule: guided foraging, meadow meditation, cold-water plunges in a nearby stream, stargazing. This five-star sanctuary began as Ventana Inn, where film producer Lawrence Spector created a Hollywood hideaway in which to “do nothing and love it”. Now it’s an adults-only all-inclusive resort where a spirit of unhurried glamour endures,…

QIANE MATATA-SIPU Auckland, p48 “Our stay at Kai Iwi Lakes Campground, four hours north of Auckland, was a summer dream. In our orange 1953 caravan, beside the glass-blue lakes, our small whānau – family – found magic in the stillness between land and sky.” Qiane is a Māori writer and entrepreneur HORATIO CLARE Wales, p186 “The legendary Villa Igiea hotel is backed by Monte Pellegrino and overlooks the Tyrrhenian Sea. To sit in its sumptuous rooms and art nouveau ballrooms is to relive the belle époque and become part of a Sicilian treasure.” Writer and broadcaster Horatio lives in Hebden Bridge FREYA BROMLEY Big Sur, p232 “Wild Coast Tented Lodge is the perfect place to explore Sri Lanka’s mix of jungle and ocean: spotting sloth bears and beautiful birds on…

I USED TO FREQUENT A MARYLEBONE pub where the Handlebar Moustache Club gathered, their table covered in brass name plaques devoted to individuals with bristling parentheses framing their mouths. All impressively hirsute, but none came within a whisker of Franz Josef, whose walrus coiffure was one of the most effusive in history. The Austrian emperor looks down from plinths all over Vienna – a casual visitor might leave with the impression that the Habsburg monarchy was alive and well – so his absence from the new Mandarin Oriental is noticeable. The city’s latest five-star is clean-shaven; in his place is a marble face of Lady Justice, peeking blindfolded from the stairwell. Set amid the neoclassical and baroque bling of Vienna’s central 1st district, on a tucked-away side street, the Mandarin…

DUSK SETTLES OVER HILO BAY, turning the sky a deep violet and the lingering wisps of clouds the same soft pink as the frangipani that scent the air. In the distance canoes glide across the calm waters, muddling the sky’s iridescent reflection.A man hops across lava rocks, then deftly tosses his fishing net. Local kids perform flips and cannon-balls off old stone diving towers. This is the magic of Hilo. The slow-paced city on the Big Island of Hawaii’s less-trodden east side has been spared the slick development of the Kona District on the sun-drenched west coast. The payoffs of heading east are waterfalls plunging into verdant gulches, wild rain-forests and an old-school aloha vibe, the Hawaii of an earlier era. In Hilo, the oldest city in the Hawaiian archipelago,…

BAGS PACKED The fashion world sparks off the kind of aspirational dreaming that travel engenders, and the resort collections – go-tos for yachting attire and beachwear – lock onto that. Brands from Chanel to Moschino, which have sent models pulling wheelie cases down the runway, know that holiday style starts at the check-in desk, with luggage. Louis Vuitton’s monogram carry-on with faux travel stickers takes inspiration from the brand’s trunk-making heritage; Rimowa’s cultish cabin bag has vertical embossed lines that reference aircraft from the golden age of aviation; and Loro Piana’s butter-soft overnight bag is the last word in stealth wealth when cruising down the plane aisle.…

WHEN DID YOU FIRST VISIT ROME? “Rome has always held a magnetic pull for me, even before I’d visited. The first trip was with my family when I was 12 years old. I remember being struck by how deeply history and beauty are embedded in every corner of the city, from the ancient ruins to the colour of the stones. It felt like walking through an open-air museum. That sense of harmony, symmetry and storytelling, where the past speaks to the present, is something I instinctively connected with growing up in Greece. It’s why Bvlgari’s Roman roots feel so personal to me: they echo my creative and cultural heritage.” WHERE DO YOU STAY? “At the Bvlgari Hotel Roma. It’s truly one of the most exquisite places in Rome. From the…

Talismanic symbols such as serpents and scarabs have appeared throughout the history of jewellery design, and now the hare is having a moment. In Chloe Dalton’s bestselling book Raising Hare, she tells the story of finding and nurturing a newborn leveret – a baby hare – and reignites the animal’s historical association with the divine across numerous cultures. “In Julius Caesar’s account of the Gallic Wars, he wrote that native Britons refused to eat the hare because it was sacred to them. Images of hare-headed deities adorn the walls of ancient Egyptian burial chambers. In Buddhism there is a story about a hare sacrificing itself into fire for others,” writes Dalton. In British folklore the hare signifies strength and femininity. Hargreaves Stockholm founder Jemima Hargreaves – whose surname in Old…

My friend megumi, a classical musician from Tokyo who really likes to eat, takes trips to Sapporo “just for the food”. She is not alone: the route between Tokyo’s Haneda and Sapporo’s New Chitose airports is one of the busiest domestic flight paths in Japan. Before I visited Sapporo, I called her. “Make sure to bring two stomachs,” she advised. The city is the capital of Hokkaido, the most northerly of Japan’s main islands, which contains more than 20 per cent of the country’s land-mass, but only about four per cent of its population. The island’s cold waters are home to some of the world’s most prized sea urchins and crabs, as well as much of the fish used by top sushi chefs. Fed by mountain springs, its unspoilt valleys…

THE YEAR IN LIGHTS 26 REASONS TO TRAVEL IN 2026 ON THE ROAD Neon lights are burning a little brighter along Route 66, which celebrates its centenary this year. Vintage motel and diner signs have been restored to their mid-century brilliance at the new Route 66 Neon Park in St Robert, Missouri. Celebrations planned along the 2,448-mile road include those in Springfield, Missouri, host of the Route 66 Centennial National Kick-Off in April; the Capital Cruise in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in May, a world record attempt for the largest ever classic car parade; and Amarillo’s Texas Route 66 Festival in June. Recently spruced up roadside motels include Americana Motor Hotel in Flagstaff, Arizona, where Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper slept while filming Easy Rider in 1968. Inspiration for life on the…

LUX CHONGZUO, GUANGXI Set between the camel-hump karst formations of Chongzuo in southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the latest resort in the Lux group’s rapidly expanding Chinese collection might just be its most spectacular yet. From the tropi-modernist lobby, all bare concrete and sunken seating booths seemingly floating in mirror-flat pools, the landscape unfurls like a living shan shui canvas: jungle-tufted mountains, streaks of rice paddy green and the Mingshi River meandering out front. With walls made from rough-hewn limestone and heavy helpings of reclaimed ironwood, the 53 suites and villas blend right in; all come with floor-to-ceiling windows for maximum views and slate-covered tubs from which to soak it all in. Across the resort’s seven straight-lined buildings, strung along the river’s edge and dripping in tropical vines, food…

Sleep SCP Hilo Hotel, Hilo When I arrive at SCP Hilo Hotel, Breeani Kobayashi-Kūali’i welcomes me with a ti leaf lei studded with fragrant Tahitian gardenia. Her grandfather Richard Wassman Kimi was a pioneer in island tourism. He founded this hotel – formerly known as Hukilau Hotel and then Hilo Seaside – in the 1950s and ran it for 65 years. After the pandemic the family sold it, but the new owner, SCP, a boutique chain whose name stands for Soul, Community, Planet, has preserved the original spirit and asked Kobayashi-Kūali’i to stay on as general manager. This community-minded property provides free bikes and paddleboards. The staff plant a tree for every guest and the provisions market showcases products from 100 local artisans. Hāmākua Hotel, Honomu North of Hilo along…

CHANEL AT LAKE COMO Despite Chanel being the quintessential French fashion house, for this season’s cruise show the brand referenced a different chapter of its history, at Villa d’Este on Lake Como. Coco Chanel adored the lake, having first visited in the 1930s accompanied by her filmmaker friend Luchino Visconti, whose family once owned the neighbouring Villa Erba. Earlier this year Villa d’Este’s grand halls, gravel paths, marble staircases and sun terraces became the runway for a collection reminiscent of the elegance that actor Romy Schneider brought to Visconti’s films. Tweeds with sequins, backless jumpsuits in pink and lamé, and lace and floral motifs on flowing dresses were paired with opera gloves and minaudiere handbags. The final look – a sleeveless white satin crepe gown with stand-up collar and layers…

Good news for those who can’t stomach a coffee enema: detoxes are getting a softer, less punishing makeover. “True detox isn’t about deprivation or extreme cleanses; it’s about supporting the body’s natural rhythms and particularly the liver,” says Jess Shand, naturopathic nutritionist, hormone health specialist and author of The Hormone Balance Handbook. She believes detoxes that demand eliminating whole food groups or cutting calories can push the body into “survival mode”, resulting in unhelpful cortisol surges, anxiety spikes, disrupted cycles and vanishing libido. Instead small, cumulative shifts – such as consuming foods thought to support liver function (including beetroot, parsley and green tea) or body brushing – could prove a gentler and more sustainable route to clearer skin, reduced brain fog and more energy. New for this year, these supplements…

AL MOUDIRA LUXOR, EGYPT The word “oasis” gets bandied about a lot, but in the case of Luxor’s legendary Al Moudira hotel, it’s merited. Rising behind a thick belt of sugar cane and date palms on a quiet stretch of the Nile’s west bank, this jumble of cupola-roofed, plaster-walled courtyard suites couldn’t feel further away from the cruise ship crush of central Luxor. Since Italian Lebanese designer Zeina Aboukheir opened its doors 25 years ago, the hotel has become a hideaway for in-the-know aesthetes such as Christian Louboutin and Rick Owens. More recently, under new ownership, the place has had a subtle facelift. The new villas, with triple-height ceilings and a stargazing room, already feel lived-in thanks to the traditional craftsmanship and building materials – tiles, marble and hand-carved woodwork…

“IT’S NOT JUST WHAT you find in a place, but the curiosity you bring to it,” a veteran travel writer once told me. I remember this as I wend my way from Brazil’s colossus, São Paulo, to the coastal enclave of Paraty on the Costa Verde, driving through tunnels of Atlantic Forest that filter blinking bars of light. Floral scents surf on warm air through the open window. On my headphones plays the music of Gilberto Gil, upbeat and carefree. The legendary Afro-Brazilian singer-songwriter of the 1960s Tropicalismo genre, who went on to become Brazil’s first culture minister to advocate for national diversity, has performed at festivals in Paraty. His melodies rise, fall and rise again, layered and complex, like the history of the town. The single-note story of Paraty…

THERE IS A PARTICULAR sunset moment that I replay often in my mind. The heavens are a violet pink, an incomplete oil painting across which the sun burnishes and then falters down. I have climbed a hill, using my hands to steady myself, and there are shrubs of green sprouting between the uneven rocks. I can see cows in the nearby rice fields, a patchwork quilt of green, and I feel an immense sense of pride. I’m small, perhaps nine years old, and this is the first time I can recall seeing my grandfather’s tillah, his pockets of earth. I visit this hill every time I am in Sylhet. It is my homecoming. My grandparents Dhadha and Dhadhi lived here. Their eldest, my father, left in his early 20s, but…

plus NEW SAFARI OPENINGS, AN EPIC TRIP THROUGH GHANA AND ICONIC AMERICAN SKI DESTINATION TAHOE ORDER THIS ISSUE NOW AT MAGAZINEBOUTIQUE.CO.UK OR CALL 01858 438819 313 November 2025 The Readers’ Choice Awards • Black Forest • Fuerteventura • Gabon • Puerto Rico • Sri Lanka 314 December 2025 Val d’Isère • Buenos Aires • Seychelles • Hokuriku • Milan • Peru • Athens • Cruise Special HAVE YOU MISSED A RECENT COPY? To order past editions call 01858 438819 or write to Condé Nast Traveller, Back Issues, Tower House, Lathkill Street, Market Harborough, Leicestershire LE16 9EF, enclosing a cheque (no debit cards or cash accepted) payable to The Condé Nast Publications Ltd. Back issues cost £9.50 per copy within the UK and £15 overseas (please note that not all issues…