Architecture tips

There are many legends of Isola Bella: The tiny island in Lake Maggiore belonged to Italy's storied Borromeo clan for 500 years. But more recently, it played host to Louis Vuitton's resort show, a fantastical reimagining of one tale involving mermaids who transformed into flowers upon its shores—a notion translated by artistic director Nicolas Ghesquière into dreamy pastel gowns with blooms of organza and sweeping architectural hems, presented alongside custom-made headwear by a Roman opera atelier. After the show, the first ever hosted by the maison in Italy, other French houses followed, with Dior presenting a jewelry collection and Jacquemus opening a store. Here, tips for experiencing the region's legendary dolce vita.

You might be tempted to plan your next train adventure around the many new train routes popping up across Europe.

Zagreb is Croatia’s historic northwestern capital, boasting many impressive 18th- and 19th-century Austro-Hungarian architectural buildings and landmarks. Travelers should check out attractions like the main square, the Zagreb Cathedral, and the city’s pedestrian district, Tkalčićeva Street — which is a great place for shopping and dining. It’s a historic city featuring many educational and cultural exploration opportunities, including museums, art galleries, and diverse entertainment.

Before there was Massimo Bottura, another man ran Modena and his name was Enzo Ferrari. The racing driver-turned-entrepreneur has a name that's instantly recognizable thanks to the automobile company he founded to what we now know to be a great success. But prosperity was neither immediate nor constant for Enzo, and it is with such a period of turbulence in the man's life that the new film Ferrari is concerned. Set in Modena in 1957, Ferrari was filmed almost entirely in the Northern Italian city and its surroundings.

Flaine is a French purpose-built resort whose creator didn’t feel the need to reflect the grandeur of the mountains in jagged shapes or classic chalets. It was born in the Swinging Sixties, designed by Hungarian architect Marcel Breuer who called the US home. He was a master of the geometric Bauhaus style and had created UNESCO’s grand Paris HQ. An entire ski town was a new challenge, which he met by producing a resort like no other.

Portugal is an ideal destination for a scenic road trip. The roads are generally in good shape, and the nation’s relatively small size allows you to see a diverse array of attractions, even if you have only a few days to spare. Throw together an Iberian soundtrack, and you're all set to hit the open road in Portugal.

Named the National Association of Realtors’ No. 1 market to watch in 2023 and beyond, Atlanta is one of the South’s most iconic and thriving cities. It has experienced an increase of almost 70,000 residents since 2010 thanks in part to its low taxes, robust business sector and rise of attractive condominium enclaves.

Bruges is one of the most picturesque cities in Northern Europe, with photo opportunities awaiting you around every corner.

Prepare to be wowed: Djemaa El Fna is the dazzling heart of Marrakesh, with hordes of people all day long and into the night. It’s an exciting place to be, with shops, restaurants, herbalists, cats, kids going to school, drummers, fruit-juice carts, motorbikes, groups of tourists, bugle-players, women going shopping, and the odd snake.

An Aboriginal healer, dressed as a Jedi and wielding a glowing blue boomerang like a lightsaber, beckons to me. Inching my way along the shadowy corridor of Flinders Street Station’s third floor, I find twisted tree roots carved into haunting sculptures, ancient spirits cast in red neon lights, and an ochre termite mound rising from the centre of a cavernous ballroom. A woman’s mournful singing floats in the darkness. 

Outside the tiny town of Simon in Romania’s Carpathian Mountains, an NGO called Foundation Conservation Carpathia is creating a 66,000-acre national park. It’s against that backdrop that the hotelier Bogdan Calulanu opened Matca, a 16-room hotel with 10 private villas. is the Romanian word for “queen bee,” the name a reference to the beekeeping practiced in this honey-producing corner of Transylvania and also to the pastoral serenity of a region that’s barely changed since the Middle Ages.

“Bella want look at world,” says Bella Baxter early on in Poor Things. Bella, played by Emma Stone, has the physical appearance of a fully-grown woman but the brain and insolence of, it seems, a small child. She’s spent her life up to this point safe within the grand London townhouse of her creator, mad scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter, whom she calls “God" (played by William Dafoe). She has long played a game on the floor of his study with a stack of atlases, wherein she closes her eyes and drops an index finger down like a rocketon a random point—her playmate must then tell her about wherever it is she’s ‘landed.’ Eventually her curiosity must be quenched by experience.

Home to 23 million people, magical and maddening Cairo is the largest urban area in Africa and the Middle East.

For travellers planning a culture-focused adventure, as hubs of human creativity, cities are the best place to start. From Milan to Riyadh, Budapest to Shanghai, the world abounds with buzzing metropolises, each offering something unique in the cultural sphere. Some cities function as living galleries in themselves through city-wide street art or award-winning architecture. Others offer artistic ways to explore history and culture, from immersive exhibitions to forward-thinking initiatives. But whichever you choose, you'll find inspiration on every corner. Here are five of the best.

Cosmopolitan Melbourne is arguably Australia's most exciting urban adventure. Famed for its food, sport and obsession with artisanal coffee, it's a city that never stands still. The Central Business District (CBD) mixes Victorian architecture with the steely glint of a skyscraper skyline, carved up by tram lines and the Yarra River, making it a handsome place to wander and easy to travel around. You could try to catch an Aussie Rules match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, or pay your respects to Australia's top artists at the National Gallery of Victoria — but many of the city's greatest delights are hidden down its skinny laneways and ornate arcades, where locals nurse flat whites at hole-in-the-wall cafes splashed with street art, or while away hours dipping in and out of small independent shops.  

What do some of the most iconic pieces of architecture in the world—say, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Dancing House in Prague, and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao—all have in common? Two words: Frank Gehry.

Japan has a proclivity for showing visitors that it’s a nation of forward thinkers. Hi-tech gadgets and convenience innovations bolster an enduring cultural phenomenon of visual storytelling, be it hand-drawn, animated or filmed. But peer beyond that technological sheen and you’ll find this is a society that is also unafraid to look back, respecting traditional values, somehow seamlessly blending them into modern life. Nowhere is this duality better demonstrated than across the region of Greater Tokyo, where it infused the country’s hosting of the post-pandemic Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games with much needed optimism and a future-facing attitude. As you move through Greater Tokyo, you’ll find that the legacy of Tokyo 2020 connects you to these regions, beautifully embodying the spirit of Japan, both then and now.

New Year, new national park to check off your must-visit list? Mark your calendars: The park system just announced a half dozen “free days” for 2024 that are spread throughout the year, beginning with Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 15, 2024.

Norway will soon get a ground-breaking new museum. On May 11, 2024, Kunstsilo, located in Kristiansand, Southern Norway, opens its doors. Set inside a meticulously restored grain silo, Kunstsilo boasts three floors of immersive art and is a fusion of the Southern Norway Art Museum and the prestigious Tangen Collection.

Gazing at the exterior of Boston Logan Airport’s new Terminal E building is like taking a trip back in time to an era when going to the airport held the promise of glamor and whimsy. The building, which fully opened to the public earlier this fall, has the type of bold curve-and-swoop design that’s reminiscent of the Jet Age’s swankiest terminal: the old TWA building at New York-JFK.

Travelers often overlook Belgium in favor of neighbors like France and the Netherlands, but it’s one of Europe’s best kept secrets. Because of its history, Belgium is linguistically and culturally diverse; it’s also small and compact, so visitors can travel to multiple destinations with ease.