Rock tips

There are only two peaks in the Alps higher than Mount Erciyes — Mont Blanc and the Dufourspitze — but I hadn’t heard of this mighty Anatolian mountain until I was presented with the opportunity to ski its slopes. At 3,917 metres, it only ranks as Turkey’s fifth-highest mountain, but the dormant volcano lends its name to the country’s largest ski resort and it offers a very different experience to skiing in the Alps.

When humans first soared in the air, it was not aboard an airplane. It was in a hot air balloon, in 1783 — 120 years before the Wright brothers’ maiden flight. Since then, biplanes have evolved into jumbo jets, but the basic technology behind ballooning has hardly changed: cloth, basket, burner, ballast and ground crew.

I’m not sure what I expected, but it wasn’t this. Pictures barely do it justice. I was passing through West Texas, having already visited the nearby White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns, and Guadalupe Mountains National Parks, and figured this would be the easiest time to visit Big Bend National Park. I’d heard from a fellow traveler that it was his favorite park, and he’d been to all of them. With that in mind, I purposely limited how much I’d see of the park before I arrived. I wanted to be surprised, and boy was I.

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.

The line for croissants forms early outside Lannan Bakery in the Edinburgh neighborhood of Stockbridge, where the self-taught baker Darcie Maher has been whipping up intricate pastries since the end of July. The name Lannan comes from a Gaelic word meaning “house,” and Maher’s choice of baked goods is intentionally nostalgic. Staples include an apple-and-custard-filled croissant and a custard slice with pink sour cherry icing. “Growing up, we made a chocolate sponge with little crunchy flaked almonds for birthdays,” Maher says. “We’d pour ganache over the top and I thought it was the most amazing thing to see it drip down the side.” (The chocolate cake at Lannan is now made with buttermilk and rye.) Maher, who grew up in the Scottish Borders with an artist mother and a scientist father, appreciates the way baking fuses creativity and precision. It takes three days to produce all the laminated dough pastries in preparation for the bakery’s Thursday through Sunday open hours. After the pain Suisse or crème brûlée Danishes disappear, inevitably by around 9 a.m., out come the cakes (from fig leaf sponge to quince Bundt), jambon beurres and finally a few sliced-up Roman pizzas and oatmeal raisin cookies.

One of the best ways to get to know a country is through its food and beverage offerings. For the holiday season, check out these excellent wines from under-the-radar wine regions in different parts of the world (which we should be drinking more from!) for your wanderlust wine-loving friends who are eager to try something new. Note: All wines mentioned are available in the United States.

Heading into the holiday season/beginning of the new year, it’s a natural inclination to do a wellness check, system/mind reset. Sedona, Arizona with its rugged red rock canyons containing what are generally regarded as swirling energy/healing vortexes is an obvious place to seek that renewal. And there are two retreats, one newly opened, the other extensively redone to settle into for that result.

A highly anticipated Scottish outpost for W Hotels is officially open in Edinburgh.

French writer Julien Marsault recently enjoyed an off-season adventure on the Brittany coast in northwestern France. Here he shows you what you can see and do on a gentle road trip filled with wildlife spotting, excellent seafood and rejuvenating coastal walks.

Until recently, most travelers to the French island of Martinique in the West Indies zeroed in on its capital, Fort-de-France, the volcanic rock of Le Diamant on the east coast and the soft, sandy beaches of the south. But the recent announcement by UNESCO that the Mount Pelée volcano, its rain forests and the dense area that surrounds the lava pitons in the north have been added to the World Heritage List may shine new light on the northern region.

Sponsored by

If you’re a Pink Floyd fan, you know Mono Lake. Perhaps not by name, but certainly by sight. It’s the location for the legendary Aubrey Powell “The Diver” photo (also called “Monosee”) from the inner sleeve of Wish You Were Here. Even if you’re not a Pink Floyd fan, you might have come across this photo, where a pair of legs are sticking out of perfectly still water near alien-looking rock formations. The whole thing is surreal in that way that Powell and the company he co-founded, Hipgnosis, was so skilled at creating.

You don’t need to put on a tuxedo to try Fraser & Thompson whiskey but it wouldn’t be out of place either. Grammy-award winning singer Michael Bublé teamed up with Master Distiller and Blender Paul Cirka to create this ‘North America’ whiskey named in tribute to two rivers in Canada where Bublé spent time with his beloved grandfather growing up. I spoke with Bublé about this special relationship, the challenge of selling whiskey after selling 75 millions albums and how he almost became a snack for some polar bears.

…

This incredibly beautiful resort treats its guests with hospitality, warmth, and friendliness. You can feel this in everything you see, hear or encounter.

The Cafe-Bar area features a beautiful internal atrium area with a sliding roof top. Guests can enjoy fresh, high-quality food from our food menu which includes a selection of our starters and salads, as well as our delicious Legendary burgers, steaks, fajitas and many more. 

An innovative and creative society, offering a space with the latest educational techniques in the fields of knowledge, arts, science, literature, creativity, design and innovation to all society segments.

Design Hotels is headquartered in Berlin, with branches in London, Los Angeles, New York, and Singapore. In 2019, the company partnered with Marriott Bonvoy, expanding the reach of its member hotels and offering its community access to the industry’s leading loyalty program.

Black Friday is here and there's no better time to shop — or plan for your next trip. Take advantage of the deals below to score a discounted hotel, flight, cruise, and more to make 2024 your best year yet.

As far away from everywhere else as it gets, New Zealand is a dream destination for anyone with a case of wanderlust.

You don't need sunshine to visit the beach. These cold weather stretches of sand are just as majestic.  Although they are usually packaged as sun, sea and sand, beaches do just fine without the sun part.