Arlberg becomes Austria’s largest ski area thanks to a newly opened £37.5m cable-car system. We take it for a test drive. December 1, 2017 As I pulled up outside my hotel in Lech, a very overweight fox ambled across the road in front of our coach. I took it as a sign of good things to come. I were in Lech to enjoy some early season skiing and although the Alps had experienced one of the lowest December snowfalls [...]
On the trail of world-renowned gorilla conservationist Dian Fossey, Damien Gabet meets with silverbacks in the Rwandan forest November 24, 2017 There he was, the man we’d trekked hours to meet. Frank was square-jaw handsome, but with a perma-frown and scar that made him look dangerous. Once a poacher, he now uses his tracking talents to locate mountain gorillas for tourists. As we approached, I could see he was casually shaving earth from his boots with [...]
Annecy may lack the glamour and reputation of the bigger Euro ski resorts, but for a trip with kids in tow, it’s near perfect November 17, 2017 One of the biggest issues facing us cosseted west Londoners at this time of year is where to go for our family skiing holiday. Given the lack of parliamentary time to cover this imperative issue I’d like to throw an option into the debate – Lake Annecy. The marketing department in France clearly thinks that [...]
The Long Weekend: There’s more to Geneva than conference centres, including the La Réserve November 13, 2017 Geneva may be a business capital from Monday to Friday, but there's something for the weekend here too. The weekend: Witness the scrum for hand-luggage space on Friday night flights from Geneva to London City Airport and you’d be forgiven for thinking the city simply kicked its residents out when the international organisations and private [...]
Swim with the pigs in the Bahamas: How domestic swine became big business for the paradise islands November 13, 2017 On 9 September the ocean around the Bahamas’ Long Island and the Exumas vanished. Where there should have been endless stretches of aquamarine, there was mile upon mile of muddy grey sand, flecked with seams of stringy kelp, all set against a foreboding backdrop of slate-grey cloud. Sandwiched between hurricanes Irma to the west and [...]
Rome Cavalieri review: A sprawling, grand hotel on the outskirts of Europe’s most ruin-littered capital October 27, 2017 With its ancient ruins, buzzy aperitivo scene (check out Il Mercato Centrale Roma as a tasty starting point) and balmy climate – what’s not to like about a sojourn to one of Europe’s most inspiring capitals? After all, this is the place from where Caesar controlled his empire, where Michelangelo was inspired and where Fellini [...]
The Mark Hotel review: Checking in to the New York hotel with a $75,000 per night, five-bedroom luxury suite October 6, 2017 There are myriad ways of seeing NYC – but if you want to do it in style, there is only one. The Mark Hotel on the Upper East Side is so beautifully put together that stepping into its lobby is like stepping into a piece of pop art. Designer Jacques Grange has been given carte [...]
The world’s most exclusive nightclub? It’s hidden in a jungle in Thailand September 22, 2017 Clinging to the Cape Panwa peninsula on the very tip of south eastern Phuket, Sri Panwa is buried deep within tropical jungle, up a steep, winding track that appears just as it seems there is nowhere else to go but off the cliff and into the sea below. Secluded, hard to find and difficult to [...]
I went up a mountain in Sri Lanka to meet a reclusive mystic and here is what I learned September 14, 2017 Somewhere high up in the hills surrounding the town of Kandy in Sri Lanka, there lives a man called Rahju. An artist, spiritualist and musician, Rahju practices meditation while riding along coastal roads on his motorcycle. His paintings are inspired by the writing of Buddhist philosophers and the intergalactic observations of the Hubble Space Telescope [...]
Want some of the best Chinese food in the world? Go to Taiwan September 8, 2017 Seeking the best in Chinese food and culture, but feeling pressed for time? Skip the mainland and get it all in one place. Go to Taipei. In 1949, after years of civil war, the nationalist forces of the Kuomintang withdrew to an island in the South China Sea, leaving the communists in control of the [...]