National Geographic

With its myriad health benefits and thrilling sense of freedom, cycling is a great way to get out and explore, be it on a slow-paced ride through a city or a challenging climb through hilly terrain. Fortunately, Europe is crisscrossed with scenic routes to explore, from cycling through olive groves in Italy to pedalling past Portugal’s golden beaches and taking on Spain’s legendary Camino de Santiago. Here, five experts reveal where to go and why.

Set between the Vanoise National Park and the Italian border, Bessans is a small resort with a big reputation. Its large, flat, high-altitude plateau has become something of a hub for Nordic skiers, the terrain perfectly primed for cross-country. Not only does the resort offer over 83 miles of dedicated cross-country routes, Bessans is also home to the Haute Maurienne Vanoise International Biathlon Centre (MHVIBC), a modern stadium dedicated to one of today’s fastest-growing winter sports. Combining cross-country skiing and rifle shooting, modern biathlon has developed from a Norwegian military training exercise to one of the most popular winter sports, with 11 dedicated Winter Olympic events ranging from sprints to group relays.

The pandemic has a lot to answer for, not least creating an insatiable appetite among travellers to see more of the world — alone or accompanied. As travelling without a companion becomes increasingly easy, one of the fastest growing markets for solo travel is cruising — and with the industry embracing this demographic, it’s easy to understand why.

With its immense buttress roots and leathery green leaves, the northern rātā tree isn’t to be underestimated. Carried on the wind, its seeds land in the canopies of neighbouring trees and begin to germinate. Then, over hundreds of years, each individual seedling’s spidery roots wrap around its host, eventually entombing it and consuming the rotting trunk. 

Tucked into the northwestern tip of Italy and surrounded by towering peaks such as Mont Blanc, Matterhorn and Monte Rosa, the autonomous Aosta Valley region packs a serious Alpine punch. Despite being the smallest and least populous of Italy’s regions, the area is a haven for lovers of winter sports. The regional capital, Aosta, is a well-connected hub that’s the perfect base from which to explore a total of 19 ski resorts in the surrounding area. 

When it comes to putting together the perfect pub tap line-up, parallels can be drawn from football management. As with an ideal first 11, there needs to be balance at the pumps — a required blend of promising youth and gnarled veterans, an equilibrium struck between the scampering pomp of the new world craft brewing scene and a solid spine of enduring, ageless classics, the odd eccentric from overseas and, at the fear of stretching the analogy a little too far, a couple of unashamed crowd-pleasers who go down far too easily.

Scott Cooper’s memories fade all too quickly, yet the 66-year-old Australian still travels the world in defiance of his dementia. He and his wife Jill visit their daughter in Canada twice a year, and regularly explore Australia. His home country is one of the few destinations starting to cater to tourists with dementia, which affects recall, thinking, and behavior.

Whatever trends come and go, there should always be a place for proper pubs — those iconic institutions that have been the cornerstone of British culture for centuries. A purist’s pub is their safe place — a calming quarantine of quiet contemplation, a serene antidote to modern-day madness, a cosy asylum where one can clutch a pint to one’s chest.

To say the Luc Alphand slope in Chantemerle ends abruptly is an understatement. The piste, graded as a black run, is more like a sheer-drop slide at a giant’s play park, coming to a dramatic halt on the pavement in the middle of town. As I sit in the breakfast room of the Grand Hôtel with a ringside view of skiers barrelling their way down the mountain, wondering whether I’ll be brave enough to join the Luc at some point, I’m all too aware that this dilemma may soon be a thing of the past. Warming temperatures and a lack of snow in the valley mean that the slope, like many around the Alps, needs a lot of artificial snow, using up precious resources. 

With intriguing historical landmarks, charming coastal villages and some of the best seafood in the country, Hokkaido — Japan’s second-largest, northernmost island — has earned its reputation as one of the most desirable destinations in the country. A rugged rise of rock, peppered with pine forests, smoldering volcanoes and jagged coastline, Hokkaido has been the native homeland of the Indigenous Ainu people for centuries. On the other hand, 150-plus years of fast-tracked development have added a contemporary character to the island and motorways have sprung up across the expansive prefecture, facilitating convenient travel between formerly far-flung towns and cities. From the buzzing neon lights of Sapporo to the sacred settlement on the shores of Lake Akan, here’s four of the best destinations to visit across Japan’s second-largest island. 

Predicting the future hasn’t always been synonymous with tarot cards and crystal balls. Centuries before astrology apps and dial-in psychics existed, people who wanted a glimpse into the future worked with what they had—food. 

Humans have always traveled and settled, but we have learned to reconcile our urge to explore “what lies beyond” with our desire for the comfort that comes from building a space to call “home.” And these powerful human impulses have been driven to new heights by our passion to perfect, taking both transport and architecture on fascinating evolutionary journeys.

One of the joys of travelling around the UK is the thrill of discovering a truly memorable pub. While often, it’s the simple yet unbeatable combination of well-kept beer and a convivial atmosphere that makes it stick firmly in the mind, at other times it’s the sheer singularity of the pub that does the trick. From pubs that pop up in the most unlikely locations to those with strange histories or curious traditions, the UK is blessed with some truly distinct watering holes. We meet the people at the helm of four of the country’s most striking boozers.

There’s something powerfully compelling about Balinese food. Whenever I arrive back home on the island, my taste buds immediately cry out for local cuisine. I head straight to the eastern outskirts of the capital, Denpasar, to my favourite warung (a simple roadside stall or shop), Nasi Tekor. This rustic spot recalls Bali in the 1970s and offers a fix of nasi campur, the Indonesian staple of plain rice usually served with vegetables, egg, meat or fish to make up a composite meal. I eat my fill and despite my familiarity with Indonesian and Balinese food, I’m no closer to understanding why I find it so addictive. Certainly, though, it’s in part due to its rich and diverse origins.“

British Columbia’s inland temperate rainforest is one of the snowiest places on earth. Its premier ski town, Revelstoke, holds the North American record for most snow dropped in a single winter—a whopping 80 feet in 1971-1972. And Revelstoke Mountain Resort sees 400-500 inches of snow every season.

Filipino cuisine is dominated by the bold balance of three elements of taste: salty, sour and sweet. These flavours stem from a medley of cultural, historical and environmental influences that have shaped Filipino culinary traditions for centuries.

Prince Edward Island (PEI) may be Canada’s smallest province, but its sprawling coastline and rolling farmland have influenced a succession of innovative local chefs. The seafood dishes on the island are second to none, while its rich soil provides a bounty of flavoursome potatoes and vegetables. Visitors will discover a huge choice of restaurants in Charlottetown, PEI’s captivating capital, but make sure to also explore the many culinary hotspots found in lesser-known locations throughout the island. Wherever you head, you’ll discover unique dining experiences delivered by passionate people championing local produce.

With winters in the mountains getting less predictable in terms of snow fall, ski resorts are pioneering sustainable practices that aim to phase out fossil fuels, lower carbon emissions and reduce waste. Galvanised into action after experiencing first-hand some of the earliest effects of climate change, alpine villages and towns have a long-term interest in safeguarding their delicate ecosystems. We selected six mountain towns that are pushing ahead with eco-initiatives that are setting the green standard for ski destinations worldwide, from solar-powered, on-demand ski lifts and fleets of electric vehicles as public transport to biofuel-fed piste-grooming machines and resorts that produce their own renewable energy.

An ‘Alpine start’ is a wonderful thing. Not that it feels that way when the alarm commands my companion and me to tear ourselves from our hotel beds at 2.30am, shoulder our packs and exit into the silent streets of Santa Caterina di Valfurva, a village in northern Italy’s Ortler Alps. It’s only many hours later, after a ride in a ramshackle 4WD and a long uphill trudge behind our guide — moonlit snow shining beneath our feet — that we’re greeted by a mountain sunrise so spectacular that it makes it all worthwhile.

JugCoffee is a stargazing essential, as much about keeping you warm as it is about keeping you awake. This stainless steel jug from Yeti can be counted on to keep yours hot for hours, with double-wall insulation and a thick lid for heat retention. It’s available in two sizes — 1.9L and 3.8L — and comes in almost all the colours of the rainbow. £100. uk.

I grew up with African food, but in a Lebanese way.Let’s take my mum’s okra stew — the African version is filled with fried fish, cow foot, sheep tail, oxtail and beef all in one stew — while Lebanese cooking is quite simplistic and based around fresh salads and grills, that sort of stuff. So, the stew she’d make would have none of that, just beef, and it wouldn’t be made with palm oil. It was African food but in a tame way, because of my Lebanese dad. Whenever my mum makes it, I go absolutely mental — it warms up your belly, is full of good nutrients and is a different flavour to anything you’ve ever had before. My grandma once made it in Freetown, Sierra Leone, with fufu (pounded cassava root and green plantains, rolled into small balls) — proper authentic. I choked on a fish bone but it was the best meal I’ve ever had.