Travel in France

Ask any Barcelona local where they would prefer to own a second home and one of the most frequent answers will no doubt be l’Empordà. If you have never heard of this under-the-radar part of Catalonia, you are not alone.

Each morning for the past month, Brian has been waking to the deep peace of the Italian countryside and a view through the olive trees of a hilltop village in the distance.

Peru has announced plans to introduce a digital nomad visa. It will enable remote workers to stay in the country for 365 days, with the possibility to extend.

The year was 2005 and Antonio Catalán created the first AC Hotel in his home region of Navarra, Spain. His goal was to create something simple and modern that offered the essence of Spanish hospitality without the frills that guests didn’t always demand. This meant no bell staff, no minibars and fewer ensuite frills. The affordable price point made it a success, and it grew to dozens of hotels across Spain and Italy before catching the eye of Marriott.

Each year in the Alps, as the first snows of the season start to fall, mountain towns welcome winter visitors with a slew of smart new hotels. And this year is no different, with upscale brands including COMO Hotels and Resorts moving its beach-beautiful ethos to the Italian Alps in COMO Alpina Dolomites, and Grace Hotels giving St Moritz its first luxury opening in half a century in the Grace La Margna. With its boutique modern addition, the sleek Swiss hotel breathes new life into the former art nouveau hotel La Margna, following a trend for high-profile revamps seen across the Alps this season. Here’s a look at the six best new openings, many of which revitalise former hotel landmarks.

“He’s in here, in the kitchen every night and he’s smiling. He’s so happy to be doing this,” explains one of the managers of Café Carmellini. He is chef Andrew Carmellini, well known around New York the past 15 years for his respected but more casual restaurants Locanda Verde, Lafayette, The Dutch, Carne Mare and Bar Primi. This restaurant, which opened November 1st in the new Fifth Avenue Hotel, marks his return to fine dining with reinterpretations of French and Italian classics and as his most personal restaurant is the first one that bears his name. It’s been packed since opening night and looking around the Gilded Age style dining room with its oversized bronze and seeded glass chandeliers suspended from double height ceilings, plush blue banquettes and sculpted trees in the middle of the floor, the chef isn’t the only one smiling.

A long line of empires have ruled and fled northern Tunisia’s shores, leaving behind a trove of treasures in a country where Arabic, African and European cultures coexist in unexpected ways. Nowhere is this more evident than in the capital, Tunis, home to one of the best-preserved medinas in the Islamic world: a 730-acre maze of grand mosques and busy souks, where getting lost along its alleyways is both a joy and an inevitability. Here, palaces once inhabited by wealthy Ottoman families are open for travellers to marvel at the painted ceilings and geometric patterns that adorn their shaded courtyards. 

Airbnb has a fake listings and verification problem — and the company knows it.

Montreal’s newest hotel, the Hyatt Centric, was built on the site of Place Viger, a grand hotel and railway station constructed in 1898 and named after Jacques Viger, the first Mayor of the city. This slick new four star hotel overlooks the St. Lawrence River and is a ten minute stroll from the charming Parisian-style quarter of Le Vieux‑Montréal, with its cobbled streets, 17th-century buildings, shops and cafes. Because Old Montreal is low-rise, the views from the hotel’s higher floors across the river and city are unrivalled.

In Britain, the Sunday roast is sacrosanct. Gathering together around a beautifully cooked joint of meat, with lashings of gravy, vegetables and billowing Yorkshire puddings, is, for many, the weekend’s social highlight. And where better to do to this than the pub? Not only do you avoid the washing-up but, centuries after the French dubbed Brits les rosbifs, you get to enjoy the roast at its most modern. In recent decades, Britain’s best pub chefs have, by focusing on seasonal ingredients, rare-breed meats and painstaking preparations of roast potatoes or root vegetables, brought a fresh glamour to this Sunday afternoon ritual.

Looking for destinations that promote cultural diversity and sustainable travel? The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) recently released its annual list of the Best Tourism Villages, a compilation of authentic, lesser-known places to travel. Consider it your new travel bucket list.

While the big boys are continuing to expand their portfolios—with some spectacular announcements for 2024—the coming year is also shaping up to be a good one for people who prefer a bit of whimsy, a dollop of homegrown style and the one-of-a-kind feeling of an independent hotel (or at least one that’s part of a small regional group). From Aspen to Athens, Bhutan to Botswana, here are 15 new hotels that share a close attention to detail, a distinctive character and a genuine interest in sustainability.

When it comes to journey time from the UK to Portugal, the choice between hopping on a plane or taking the train is a no-brainer.

Of the key Alpine ski destinations, Italy offers the best value for money. Here, an espresso can cost €1.50 (£1.30) a shot, and a piste-side plate of pasta €10-15 (£9-13), items that are often 70-100% dearer in the A-list ski areas of France. And a peak-week, February half-term holiday in a three-star hotel can come in less than €1,745 (£1,500) per person half board, including flights and transfers. And that’s not taking some back-of-beyond resort as a point of comparison, either: all these prices are available in or around Canazei in Val di Fassa, part of the vast Dolomiti Superski area. On its doorstep, more than 300 miles of perfectly groomed pistes spin off the central Sella Ronda circuit; explore the area’s outer limits and that total hits 745 miles.

Whether you’re a dedicated bargain hunter, passionate about interiors, a spa-o-holic, an obsessive foodie, love exploring places brimming with history and atmosphere, or adore contemporary art, then you’ve come to the right place. Few places on Earth do any of these things quite like Marrakesh.

What are the world’s most expensive cities to live? Singapore and Zurich, Switzerland have tied to secure the top spot, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Worldwide Cost of Living survey.

The carefree lifestyles of the French Riviera and the Las Vegas Strip have come together by way of the LPM Restaurant & Bar. The brand new eatery has officially opened its doors at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas this week. The restaurant and bar aims to transport guests to Côte d'Azur by way of a modern French-inspired menu and has already been celebrated by World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

Virgin Atlantic CEO Shai Weiss looks forward to a good winter. Bookings are strong and leisure travelers, especially those paying top dollar for the seats in the pointy end of the plane, are eager to travel to the airline’s many warm-weather destinations.

With nearly 10 million people expected to throng the streets of Paris during the Olympics this summer, visitors already knew getting around the city would be a challenge. But now it will probably be a lot more expensive, too.

The city of Tokyo has a lot to offer for visitors, with its exciting attractions, traditional monuments, natural sites, and of course its delicious food. As tourists can enter Japan again, it is a great time to discover all that its capital has to offer.

Train travel has seen a surge in popularity with the growing emphasis on slow travel and making a holiday more sustainable. The latest government data on train travel shows that there was a 155% increase in passenger rail journeys last year. Furthermore, research shows that 64% of UK travellers are searching for green travel options, including choosing more environmentally friendly transport options and sustainable accommodation. VisitScotland’s new campaign encourages people to enjoy train travel by promoting a route that connects all of Scotland’s historic cities by train.

The Canary Islands welcomes approximately 450,000 LGBTQ+ tourists annually, representing 2.7% of the total tourists to the islands. This accounts for over 5.4% of the tourism revenue and generated a turnover of €960 million in 2022.