Star tips

Stargazing is a time-honored tradition that has been an integral part of history in Saudi Arabia for millennia. The night sky was a crucial navigational tool in the vast and often featureless stretches of Saudi’s desert. Just as sailors use stars for navigation at sea, Bedouins relied on them to find their way across the sand. Those traditions are still honored today, and if you’re interested in learning more about the culture while enjoying the outdoors and vast star-studded sky, there are few locations in the country that can rival the natural beauty and vastness of AlUla.

Deepanker “DK” Khosla, the chef of Thailand’s pioneering Haoma restaurant, won me over with breakfast at his regenerative farm in Bangkok. The eggs were still warm when we collected them from his chickens’ nesting places, and even when his colleagues dropped them into the water to soft-boil them. The freshness of the egg, the vibrant orange gooeyness of the yolk and the bucolic countryside setting were divinely unexpected.

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Sleeping under the stars is a romantic notion but getting a really good look at them in today’s artificial-light-filled world can be challenging.

Chef Michel Roux Jr. has announced that his two-Michelin star London restaurant Le Gavroche will be closing its doors permanently in January.

New York City is home to 73 Michelin Star restaurants, with a new batch of awards due this fall. Before the official ceremony on November 7, the world renowned guide has announced a batch of 15 new restaurants that can be up for stars or Bib Gourmand recognition this coming year.

“People feed on good ideas in Zurich,” announces Ity Tiwari, an Indian-born, Zurich-based vegetarian food blogger and chef. “As a vegetarian, I’m continually delighted by the creativity and quality of dishes here. But I’m just as obsessed with Zurich’s humanity and the determination to do things the right way, with many restaurants pioneering zero-waste and community-driven initiatives.” 

Seen from Paris’s Pont de la Tournelle, the eight-story facade of the landmark restaurant La Tour d’Argent looks about the same as it did when its third-generation owner André Terrail grew up there in the 1980s, deploying toy parachutists into quayside traffic. But the interior is no longer indifferent to the 21st century: Late last month, La Tour d’Argent reopened its doors after a yearlong renovation led by the Paris-based architect Franklin Azzi. “It’s my Tour,” says Terrail, who took over following his father’s death in 2006. “The same, but more exacting, more thoughtful.” The new look draws on the outsize history of the classically French fine-dining institution, which has been serving diners since 1582, taking particular inspiration from the streamlined motifs of its Art Deco era. On the seventh floor, the redesigned restaurant — overseen since 2020 by executive chef Yannick Franques — functions more than ever as a theater. The airy dining room, in shades of indigo and silver, looks onto an open-plan kitchen and an elevated platform where the restaurant’s signature pressed-duck dish is prepared nightly. Upstairs and downstairs are new bars suited to less formal occasions: Le Bar des Maillets d’Argent, an all-day lounge with a fireplace, andLe Toit de la Tour, a rooftop terrace. Given that it has the welcoming air of a boutique hotel, it’s no wonder that the building can now host overnight visitors in a private apartment on the fifth floor, complete with a touch of Scandinavian-style minimalism attributable, in part, to Terrail’s Finnish mother.

Colorado’s culinary scene is officially on the Michelin map: Five restaurants have earned Michelin stars and dozens more garnered recommendations from the esteemed guide.

United has doubled down on its commitment to The Mile High City. While travelers have had to duke it out for space in airport lounges nationwide, the airline is offering its loyal fliers some breathing room in the form of a new lounge at its Denver International Airport hub—and it’s the largest in the brand’s history.

Astrophotography is the art of capturing photos of the nighttime sky. It’s like landscape photography, except it happens in the dark hours after sunset. This type of photography requires camera gear, know-how, and determination. You can start with the equipment you already have, but grit and patience are things that can’t be bought or taught — you must want it. By the end of this guide, you’ll be armed with a few simple rules and helpful apps, so you too can venture out and capture photos of the stars.

Packing your bathroom essentials can be a hassle. It's tempting to take all those tiny toiletries, throw them into a plastic bag, and call it a day. But with the right toiletry bag, you can avoid spills, simplify your packing routine, and stay organized—no more digging around to find what you need. Even better, Dopp kits make it less likely that you'll forget any of the essentials at home.

The key to seeing any celestial phenomenon is pretty obvious: You must be in the right place at the right time. While the exact location and time changes with every astronomical event, the right place is undeniably somewhere far away from any light pollution. These days, unless you make your way to a dark sky park, finding a spot on land that’s far away enough from civilization isn’t easy, so why not take to the seas? In the middle of the ocean, chances of street lights ruining your stargazing experience are very thin, that’s why cruise lines are ramping up their astronomy at sea offerings, including northern lights cruises, solar eclipse cruises, and more.

Whispers of lunar vacations are causing a stir while down-to-earth astrotourism continues to bloom as a carousel of eclipses and supermoons light up the sky. You may not necessarily need to stray too far from home on your hunt for celestial spectacles. Rental cabins with moonroofs put sleeping under the stars on the table for those who prefer an alternative other than a traditional camping setup. These divine Airbnbs with a glass roof in the United States are made for lazy stargazing from bed.

The vast expanse of the cosmos has long captivated human imagination and curiosity. And thanks to advancements in technology, astronomical observation has evolved from being a practice limited to only a few members of a society with access to expensive tools to something accessible to anyone with a smartphone. In the era of mobile apps, when people spend more time looking at their phones than ever before, it’s nice to use your phone for something that actually helps you better connect to nature.

If conditions are favourable, you don’t need much for a simple astronomy exploration. However, it can be a lot more comfortable and rewarding with a little planning and some key items of stargazing equipment. There’s a few essential pieces that will dramatically change your experience in a dark sky area.

When you think about visiting Morocco, you’re probably thinking about staying in riad. Although riads are undeniably pretty cool, it’s worth going outside the box and checking out this ecodome in Essaouira. Les Jardins de Villa Maroc, surrounded by Argan and Tuya trees, is a county guesthouse with 11 stylish and eco-friendly “ecodomes.”

On a central downtown corner, a vast shop in a bright red historic building reflects the heart of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Of course, a cowboy hat is de rigueur here in the boundless West, and you could get lost for hours in The Wrangler. Ultimately, you’ll leave happy after your fitting for the cowboy chapeau of your dreams, and having watched a skilled hat shaper mold it into just the style you prefer. Their boot selection is endless and so too is the supply of sartorial gear that you hadn’t known you needed for the city’s annual Cheyenne Frontier Days.

Ever since SY23 bagged its first Michelin star and the guide’s much-coveted ‘Opening of the Year award’ in 2022, all eyes have been on the Georgian seaside town of Aberystwyth. Out on a limb on Wales’s storm-smashed west coast, the town nurtures one of the UK’s hottest food scenes, with chefs elevating produce-led Welsh cooking to the extraordinary, using locally farmed, fished, foraged and fermented ingredients.

If I had to recommend one place to eat tapas in Spain, it’s Bar Poë in Granada, not only for the food, but for the atmosphere. It’s always bustling (come early to guarantee a seat) with a local and international crowd. Run by a friendly husband-and-wife duo, every drink comes with a free dish, and, unusually, you can choose your tapa. International and big on flavour, the menu includes Portuguese piri piri dishes, salt cod, curries and more. Jason Rich

A lavish dining experience is hardly a new concept. However, “lavish” all depends on one’s interpretation of the word. The ancient Romans' diet was mainly based on cereals, vegetables, legumes and cheese, while meat and fish were mainly consumed by rich people. The wealthy Romans commonly ate their puls with eggs, cheese and honey, and it was also occasionally served with meat or fish.