Europe's scorching hot summer is showing no signs of cooling down, with Italy facing its warmest weekend of the year so far and heatwave warnings issued in southern France.
13.08.2024 - 18:22 / cntraveler.com / Charles
Ah, the Fife Arms. A sort of royal Highland fantasy meets a stay at a faintly bonkers art museum, which has transformed the pretty little town of Braemar, not far from the royal Balmoral Estate. There are more than 16,000 works of art in the hotel, with every Picasso, King Charles watercolor, and taxidermied haggis playfully but beautifully curated by the art-dealer owners Ivan and Manuela Wirth.
In fact, everything here is done with total conviction, from the wild swimming and sauna experience led by local Annie Armstrong to the freeform whisky tastings led by Angus Upton at Bertie’s Bar, who’s fond of linking drams to Brian Eno or Swedish schlager music, French armoires, or late-stage capitalism. If nothing else, come for black pudding bonbons with spiced plum ketchup at The Flying Stag, where the staff have a sense of humor drier than the hotel’s single cask whisky. The Fife Arms is, above all, good fun. There’s not another hotel like this—definitely not in Scotland, and probably not anywhere else.
Packing-wise, there are competing instincts at play here. One is that I’m at the normcore/gorpcore end of the fashion spectrum, as defeatist as that is to admit—and part of what I love about the Fife is that it really isn’t snooty. Arriving in your hiking gear and ruffling one of the staff pooches is fine here—everyone gets the same welcome. At the same time, the village does have a certain royal-warrant style, ideally accented with Barbours, Land Rovers, and Labradors—a style that’s slyly played with at the Fife Arms shop, one of the great hotel stores, where you might pick up a Giles Deacon tartan cape or find yourself yearning for a waxed cotton Glens kit bag in collaboration with Aberdeen-based deadstock brand Fernweh. Below is a mash-up of what I actually packed, and what I realized I probably should have.
A few things I loved about this hotel: the over 16,000 pieces of art, including a few Picassos, none of which takes itself too seriously; the warm, brilliant, funny staff; and the fact that it's dog-friendly.
With irregular-shaped feet, I’m a convert to barefoot shoes, and I love these hiking versions, which strike just the right balance between hard-wearing and comfy. They saw me through an educational 10-mile trek across the Balmoral Estate with Walk Braemar’s Alex Smith, which covered everything from royal etiquette to ant politics and the complexities of rewilding. They just about work for a fish pie or pork and haggis sausage roll at The Flying Stag, too.
I was actually wearing the now-sold out Gleneagles x Barbour jacket, which was veering into faux pas territory (it’s okay to be polygamous with hotels, right?). But this is Barbour territory, and you’ll be comfortable bumping into Ivan and
Europe's scorching hot summer is showing no signs of cooling down, with Italy facing its warmest weekend of the year so far and heatwave warnings issued in southern France.
Dubai is a welcoming city. It has, after all, gladly received upwards of 85% of its population from overseas with open arms. The metropolis that has risen from the sands of the desert spans just 13.5 square miles (for now), but within its gilded confines, you’ll find a city with many sides, created by people from many places, who each bring a piece of culture from their homeland. But for all its hospitality, many visitors to the city still arrive with some common misconceptions. Below, the editors of Condé Nast Traveller Middle East round up the top advice they want everyone to know before visiting Dubai.
Bermuda-based carrier BermudAir is making it easier to plan an epic vacation for two by offering complimentary companion tickets for fall getaways.
On Saturday evening at the Disney Experiences Showcase during D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D'Amaro revealed dozens of new lands, attractions and experiences coming to Disney parks across the globe.
Brazilian investigators on Saturday began analyzing the black boxes from a São Paulo-bound flight to try to understand why the passenger plane fell from 17,000 feet on Friday, in a crash that killed all 62 on board.
Tom Hatfield, 74, spent the first 60 years of his life living in Louisiana. However, after traveling extensively over the last few years, the retiree has visited all 50 states and is set to visit his last few national parks this year.
I've traveled to Cabo — both San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas — more times than I can count to attend weddings, bachelorette parties, birthdays, and personal trips.
In 2010, my wife and I met in Las Vegas at The Little White Wedding Chapel parking lot. Fourteen years later, we returned for five days to renew our vows and enjoy all the things the city has to offer.
Western Air, The Bahamas based commercial airline announces the launch of daily, direct flights between Freeport, Grand Bahama and Fort Lauderdale Florida. The highly anticipated route begins Thursday, August 22, 2024 and will mark the airline’s second route connecting South Florida with the islands of The Bahamas. With a brief flight time of approximately 25 minutes, Western Air’s direct flights will offer both frequency and easy accessibility for Grand Bahama and South Florida residents seeking to enjoy a close, affordable getaway. Free checked bags are included up to 40 lbs.
Tropical Storm Debby made landfall in Florida as a Category 1 hurricane early Monday morning—causing wide-scale power outages, catastrophic flooding, and dangerous storm surges throughout the Big Bend region on the Gulf Coast. It has since been downgraded to a tropical storm.
On a particularly relaxed Friday in August, I spent the morning with my two best friends in the Tulum jungle, splashing around what I'm quite sure is the world's most entertaining pool. We were at the Conrad Tulum Riviera Maya Resort's spa pool, which comes tricked out with mystery buttons around the perimeter, each setting off a variety of jets, waterfalls, and even a surge of bubbles bursting out from a lounger submerged a foot below the water's surface.
At the urging of labor activists in the late 19th century, Congress declared a national holiday on the first Monday in September to celebrate the hard workers of the United States. Now, 130 years later, Labor Day has become more widely known as a three-day weekend celebration that officially ends summer. And it's often seen as travelers' last chance to hit the open road, hop on a plane or book a staycation at a nearby hotel to grab one last dose of sunny R&R before the kids go back to school, the days grow shorter and pumpkin spice season begins.