Ultratravel Winter 2014

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TH

ANNIVERSARY

special issue

A decade of dream trips

MARLON BRANDO’S SECRET ISLAND THE ULTIMATE WINTER THRILLS

&

ANGELA MISSONI HESTON BLUMENTHAL JOHN SIMPSON FIONA BRUCE ALAIN DUCASSE AMANDA WAKELEY ANTHONY HOROWITZ ALICE TEMPERLEY

ultratravel The Daily Telegraph

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SUPPLEMENT OF THE YEAR

WINTER 2014

The inspiraTion for your Jumeirah experience everywhere Creating the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most luxurious hotel made us think differently.

Find your Jumeirah experience at jumeirah.com/experiences

The BlueprinT

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special

A N N I V E R SA RY

I

TEN YEARS OF WOW

can scarcely believe that almost 10 years have passed since the first issue of Ultratravel landed on

doorsteps across Britain. Unashamedly aspirational, this glossy publication was dedicated to the finer things in life: a guide to finding heaven on earth. That much has not changed. But a lot else has. In 2004 a phone was still used for calls and the phrase “social media” was one more likely to be used to describe journalists’ penchant for a post-work drink than the nation’s greatest pastime; Twitter, Instagram and YouTube did not even exist.

The Telegraph has always been at the forefront of adapting to people’s changing media habits, from launching

Britain’s first newspaper website in 1994 to creating one of the UK’s leading digital platforms for luxury travel.

Those who were quick to predict the decline of a magazine like ours in this new digital world got it wrong.

For this year has seen Ultratravel scale new heights – our autumn issue was a record size and we were delighted to be awarded Colour Supplement of the Year in the 2014 Newspaper Awards.

As we celebrate our 10-year anniversary in this winter issue, I believe there are three things that set Ultratravel apart. Firstly, in a world full of white noise, where everyone professes to be an expert, people are looking for an arbiter of taste, quality and value. We understand that travel is not only about creature comforts, but also about access to the greatest experiences on earth, and recognise that whatever the price of the trip, it has to be one worth paying.

Secondly, we recognise that travel is both an emotional and a lifestyle choice. People need escapism, hence our emphasis on inspirational writing and engaging photography that can take us there. Travel is also inseparable from fashion, style and beauty – where you go and what you take on holiday all say something about you.

Finally, it is about trust. Unlike some publications, we do not cut corners. Everything you read in these pages we have tried, tested and found worthy. If we recommend it, it is worth doing. Here’s a welcome dose of winter escapism and here’s to another great 10 years.

EDITOR

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CONTENTS Features 30 The high life Our ski specialists review the most thrilling luxury experiences on the slopes this winter, from snow safaris in Sweden and gourmet dining in the wilderness to learning how to make your own bespoke snowboard 40 Island of Bounty Marlon Brando’s private atoll in French Polynesia is now home to an exclusive resort. Nigel Tisdall checks in to The Brando, then sets off round the South Pacific to review the best of the rest 50 Ten years of Ultratravel What makes a journey unforgettable? Our finest contributors recall their favourite moments over the past decade, from learning to be a cowboy, and being transported by helicopter for a mountain-top picnic, to visiting Captain Scott’s hut in Antarctica 60 Creatures in comfort A self-drive Land Rover safari through Tanzania’s northern Serengeti puts Charles Starmer-Smith at the heart of the greatest migration on earth

Regulars

13 The next big thing Geometric hotels; how to see the 2015 solar eclipse in Scandinavia; famous restaurants on the move; Barcelona‘s new superyacht marina; and hotel openings in Paris, New York, China, India and Mozambique 17 Accessories The best in fashion, jewellery, beauty, watches and gadgets 26 Aficionado Olivier Krug, the winemaker, on taking selfies, being seduced by distinctive scents around the globe, and how best to enjoy champagne 29 Upfront with John Simpson Buenos Aires is vibrant, bookish, delightfully old fashioned – and incredibly misunderstood, says the BBC’s world affairs editor 69 Intelligence The best times to see Europe’s hotspots in 2015; why Skibo Castle in Scotland is the ultimate member’s club; a masterclass in how to make the perfect cup of tea; and the Ferragamo’s new penthouse suite in Florence Hot spots Le Taha’a Private Island in French Polynesia (page 47)

74 Travelling life Angela Missoni, the Italian fashion designer, on the French spa she returns to every year, the most practical brand of luggage, and her favourite places to eat in Venice

CONTRIBUTORS

Photographer Tim McKenna A Fitzroy Salperton yacht sails by Bora Bora, French Polynesia

FOR THE LATEST IN LUXURY TRAVEL telegraph.co.uk/ luxurytravel

Simon John Owen The London-based photographer says he never quite knows where he’ll be the next week. “Within 24 hours of photographing lion in the Serengeti,” he says, “I was capturing Paddington Bear enjoying afternoon tea at the Mandarin Oriental.”

Sara Wheeler The Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature has written several books on the polar regions, including the acclaimed Terra Incognita: Travels in Antarctica. This winter she plans to travel to Lake Baikal, in Siberia, to finish her book on Russia.

Nigel Tisdall A regular contributor to Ultratravel, Nigel has sailed a £30m yacht around the Caribbean and trekked the jungles of Guyana. In this issue, he island-hops through French Polynesia and hopes next to drive a 1957 Chevrolet around Cuba.

Gabriella Le Breton A snow-fiend who has skied since she was two, Gabriella still takes childlike pleasure in discovering a new resort or mountain restaurant. This year she will be heli-skiing in Iceland – “from virgin peaks down to the ocean, before retiring to a luxury lodge”.

Angela Missoni Although she has houses in Venice and Lake Como, the Italian fashion designer says there is nothing she likes more than “walking around in a foreign place, shopping for unusual or weird souvenirs, fabrics and clothes, objects and jewels”. One of her most recent finds?

“A beautiful orange nightgown for my daughter, Teresa, from GoodEarth in New Dehli”.

ultratravel

Editor Charles Starmer-Smith Creative director Johnny Morris Deputy editor Lisa Grainger Sub-editor Kate Quill Photography editor Joe Plimmer Contributing editor John O’Ceallaigh Executive publisher for Ultratravel Limited Nick Perry Publisher Toby Moore Advertising inquiries 07768 106322 (Nick Perry) 020 7931 3039 (Chelsea Bradbury) Ultratravel, 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0DT Twitter @TeleLuxTravel

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Bossa Nova – Coming Soon

THE ORIGINAL – THE LUGGAGE WITH THE GROOVES BOSSA NOVA – travel in style and do good Out of solidarity with Brazil, this extraordinary range is only being manufactured in the Brazilian factory. And there is another special feature: RIMOWA is donating a proportion of the sales proceeds to the organization Saúde e Alegria, in order to support projects in the Amazon region. www.rimowa.com

www.saudeealegria.org.br

9:13 PM Te moment you kept moving, while time stood still.

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something about the big city that can bring you closer together. A long walk along a cobblestoned street. An overdue date night at an Art Deco cinema. With the romantic Savoy connecting you to London in a genuinely new way, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no telling where your trip will take you.

Call 00 800 0441 1414 or visit Fairmont.com to connect to the right experience in over 20 countries.

U N F O R G E T T A B L E . S I N C E 1 9 0 7.

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coming up in the world of luxury travel, from geometric hotels and globetrotting chefs to superyacht marinas

the NEXT BIG THING

BY JOHN Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;CEALLAIGH

SHAPING THE FUTURE

C

ould a buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s form, in future, be the deciding reason for booking it? The Czech architects Atelier 8000 certainly think so. If their plans for the Kezmarske Hut lodge (above) come to pass, it will be easy to imagine design buffs trekking up Slovakiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Tatra Mountains to see it for themselves.

The proposed lodge resembles a gigantic Rubikâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

Cube that has been wedged precariously into the earth, and has been

Geometry set (clockwise from above) The planned Kezmarske Hut in Slovakia; the Sunrise Kempinski near Beijing; the unfinished Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea; Sheraton Huzhou Hot Spring Resort; Leaprus 3912

conceived as a retreat for mountaineers.

Similarly geometric structures have already been built in several

places around the world. In the past year, Leaprus 3912 (visitcaucasus. ru) has opened 12,834ft up Mount Elbrus: a 49-bed refuge composed of four elongated tubes. Opening this month beside a lake an hour outside Beijing, the Sunrise Kempinski Hotel (kempinski.com) is equally incongruous. Designed to resemble the rising sun â&#x20AC;&#x201C; symbolic in modern China â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it has among its five-star facilities nine restaurants and a spa.

Further south in China, the recently opened Sheraton Huzhou Hot Spring Resort (starwoodhotels.com) is a horseshoe-shaped structure by Lake Taihu, and near the regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s extraordinary limestone formations.

Of course, an unconventional exterior might not be enough to attract guests. The 105-floor, pyramid-shaped Ryugyong Hotel (ryugyonghotel.com) in Pyongyang was due to open in the Eighties but it remains incomplete and unoccupied to this day.

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the NEXT BIG THING z DARK SIDE OF THE SUN

A

lthough total eclipses â&#x20AC;&#x201C; during which the Moon totally blocks the light of the sun â&#x20AC;&#x201C; can be seen somewhere on Earth every year or two, they are very rarely seen in Europe. Which is why there is

mounting excitement about the next total solar eclipse, on March 20 2015, which will be visible in northern Scandinavia.

Normally at this time of year above the Arctic Circle, the sun is only just beginning to show after six months of winter darkness. On March 20, though, no sooner will it have come up than its light will be blocked by the Moon passing in front of it, casting an eerie glow on to the snow and ice around.

Fire and ice A total solar eclipse will be visible next year in northern Scandinavia. Places to stay include Noorderlicht (below left) and Isfjord Radio (below) in Svalbard, Norway

Good viewing is predicted around Svalbard (svalbard2015. no) in northern Norway, which has several extremely comfortable places in which to stay. Real explorers might enjoy Basecamp Explorerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (basecampexplorer.com) 100year-old ice-bound schooner, Noorderlicht, accessible only by dog-sled or snowmobiles, while those who like creature comforts might prefer the converted radio station, Isfjord Radio, or the warm Trapperâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hotel, whose wooden interiors are decorated with the odd polar-bear skin.

Tour operators offering trips to see the eclipse â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and perhaps the Northern Lights â&#x20AC;&#x201C; include Nordic Experience (01206 708888; nordicexperience.co.uk), whose four-day trip to the Faroe Islands costs from ÂŁ2,495, and Wexas Travel (020 7590 0618; wexas.com), whose seven-day Spitsbergen trip costs from ÂŁ4,995. This isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a journey that can be put off â&#x20AC;&#x201C; while there will be a total eclipse in America in 2017, and several in the next decade in the southern hemisphere, the next total eclipse anywhere near us will be in 2081 in

REUTERS

central Europe, and in Britain in 2090. More information from visitnorway.co.uk. Lisa Grainger

z HOT HOTEL OPENINGS

ONtrend:

z BARCELONAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S SUPERCLUB In January in Australia, Pumphouse Point (pumphousepoint.com.au) opens as an 18-bedroom boutique hotel seemingly aďŹ&#x201A;oat on the southern hemisphereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s deepest lake, Tasmaniaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lake St Clair.

A Unesco World Heritage site and one of the birthplaces of Taoism, Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Qing Cheng Mountains will be more accessible in February, when Six Senses Qing Cheng (sixsenses.com)

Could the superyachting community spurn Monacoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gilded charms for Barcelona? Yes, if OneOcean Ventures has its way. Having acquired the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Marina Port Vell, the company has opened OneOcean Club (oneoceanclub.es). The superyacht club has a 400-cover restaurant, overseen by Llorenç Valls, former head chef of Arzak in San SebastiĂĄn, and is twinned with the Rybovich Superyacht Marina in Florida.

z JET-SET CHEFS Unable to make it to a well-regarded but distant restaurant? Wait long enough and the chefs might come to you. In January and February RenĂŠ Redzepi will relocate Cophenhagenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Noma (noma.dk), named the best restaurant in the world, to the Mandarin Oriental in Tokyo (mandarin

Yet more reasons to visit

feature a Charlie Palmer

opens nearby. For a more

those quintessential city-

restaurant and rooftop bar

cosmopolitan break, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

break destinations, Paris

(above) with views of

the The Penthouse hotel

Heston Blumenthal will relocate The Fat

and New York, in the next

Times Square.

in Calcutta, due to have

Duck to Melbourne for six months, to the

a soft opening in spring.

Crown Tower Resorts (thefatduck

few months. Over the

Less conventional

oriental.com), giving the hotelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Asian cuisine a Scandi slant. More ambitiously,

destinations are also luring

Operated by the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

melbourne.com). Closer to home, Harrods

40-bedroom La RĂŠserve

travellers with the promise

Prakash family, the nine-

(harrods.com) has taken on chefs from

Hotel, Spa and

of a new place to stay.

bedroom property stands

some of Italyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best restaurants. With seven

Apartments Paris

On a private island in

atop an all-glass block. It is

Michelin stars between them, the teams

(lareserve-paris.com),

Mozambique, adults-only

set to be the chicest place

from Torre del Saracino on the AmalďŹ coast

designed by Jacques-Garcia,

Anantara Medjumbe

to stay for travellers â&#x20AC;&#x201C; many

will open just off Palais de

Island (medjumbe.

of whom will also have

lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ElysĂŠe. Meanwhile, in New

anantara.com) resort will

visited the familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Glenburn

York, The Knickerbocker

be a place to rejuvenate;

Tea Estate (glenburntea

(theknickerbocker.com) will

it opens in December.

estate.com) in Darjeeling.

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ROBERT SHADBOLT; GETTY

Channel, the new intimate

(torredelsaracino.it), Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence (enotecapinchiorri.it) and Piazza Duomo in Alba (piazzaduomoalba.it) will take it in turns to run pop-up restaurants on the premises until January.

SAIL INTO A NEW PERSPECTIVE

For more information or to book please call 0844 251 0835, visit silversea.com or contact your travel agent.

ULTRA fashion Grey oversized wool coat £2,750, Hermès (020 7499 8856; hermes.com).

White silk cady dress ÂŁ1,575, ChloĂŠ (020 7730 1234; harrods.com).

Buffalo-calf and python-skin hexagonal chain bag ÂŁ2,995, Victoria Beckham (020 7042 0700; victoriabeckham.com).

Grey suede thigh-high Annie boots ÂŁ1,600, Gianvito Rossi (0207 499 9133; gianvitorossi.com).

Four-wheel Topas Titanium cabin suitcase ÂŁ790, Rimowa (001 519 653 1445; rimowa.com).

Photographed at the new Mondrian London hotel (0808 234 9523; morganshotelgroup.com).

PHOTOGRAPHY JOE PLIMMER

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

This winter, wrap yourself in a sculptural coat that is both luxurious and as light as air. Choose pampering cloud-soft cashmere in pale sugaredalmond shades for chilly evenings, and ďŹ ne, tightly woven wool for rainy days. Complement this seasonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s feminine shift dresses with thigh-high boots and a supersized clutch to create an urban look thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cool but comfortable, no matter what the weather

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

HAIR AND MAKE-UP: KRYSTLE G USING BOBBI BROWN; MODEL: ALEXANDRA @ PROFILE. STYLISTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ASSISTANT: FREDERICA LOVELL-PANK

Northern lights

Arabella Boyce

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ULTRA jewels

1

Mascote snake ring by De Grisogono

Fawaz Gruosi, the Geneva jewellerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s creative director, has been visiting Africa for years to find rare stones. This snake ring is made from mammoth tooth and 18ct rose gold, set with 67 brown diamonds and two white diamonds. ÂŁ16,200, by

CORBIS

De Grisogono (020 7499 2225; degrisogono.com)

Continental shift

â&#x20AC;&#x161;â&#x20AC;&#x161;

2

Zebra ring by Boucheron A monkey, lion cub and gazelle are just some of the menagerie in Boucheronâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s glittering collection.

This zebra ring is set in 18ct white gold with diamonds, sapphires and a ruby or an emerald.

POA, by Boucheron (020 7514 9170; boucheron.com)

Once, Africa was mined only for its gems, from egg-sized diamonds to emeralds, rubies and amethysts. Today jewellery designers are turning to the continent for inspiration, too. As Cartierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jacqueline Karachi-Langane says: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Africa not only has brilliant colours and stones, but incredible warmth, patterns and rhythms.â&#x20AC;?

This precious African odyssey, it seems, has only just begun Caragh McKay

3

â&#x20AC;&#x161;â&#x20AC;&#x161;

6

Horn necklace

by Penny Winter

â&#x20AC;&#x153;This was conceived to be the antithesis of a couture piece,â&#x20AC;? says the Kenyan-based Irish designer Penny Winter. The necklace is made with 2,500 carats of Zambian

Earrings by Hemmerle

amethyst beads and

Ancient Egyptian influences are often glimpsed in

18ct gold-plated Nigerian

the designs of Hemmerle, whose co-owner hails from

beads on a simple horn

North Africa. These disc earrings studded with rocks

collar. POA, by Penny

of Mozambique garnet look native, but are crafted

Winter (020 7851 7140;

in the Munich atelier in white gold and copper, and

pennywinter.com)

set with Mozambique and spessartite garnets. POA,

by Hemmerle (0049 89 242 2600; hemmerle.com)

4

Sabre earrings by Shaun Leane Tusk shapes and tribal motifs are a favourite of the London jeweller.

These fine â&#x20AC;&#x153;tuskâ&#x20AC;? earrings of 18ct white gold are set with Gemfieldsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Zambian emeralds, and are designed to swing as the wearer moves.

POA, by Shaun Leane (020 7493 9601; shaunleane.com)

5

Zebra bangle by Cartier A complicated puzzle, the Lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;OdyssĂŠe de Cartier Parcours dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;un Style bracelet is made of white gold with onyx, garnets and diamonds. POA, by Cartier (020 3147 4850; cartier.co.uk)

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YOUR MOST EXCLUSIVE HOLIDAY IS NOW ALL-INCLUSIVE TOO Welcome to modern luxury. A unique holiday experience where you’ll savour exquisite cuisine, unwind in sumptuous accommodation and be treated to exemplary service morning, noon and night. Where you’ll wake up in a beautiful new destination, every day. And for a limited time only – when you book a Concierge Class stateroom or above on any sailing before 28 February you’ll enjoy three enticing ofers.

Hurry, when a holiday this exclusive is now all-inclusive – don’t miss out, book yours today.

FREE DRINKS

FREE GRATUITIES

ONBOARD SPEND

VISIT CELEBRITYCRUISES.CO.UK/ULTRA | CALL 0800 441 4056 | CONTACT YOUR TRAVEL AGENT

@CELEBRITYCRUISE

CELEBRITYCRUISES

CELEBRITYCRUISES

123Go! promotion is applicable to new bookings made in Ocean View stateroom categories and above between 15 November 2014 and 28 February 2015 on selected sailings departing between March 2015 and April 2017. Interior staterooms are not applicable to the promotion. Guests can choose ONE of either: Complimentary Classic Alcoholic drinks package, up to $300 Onboard Spend or Free Gratuities. Guests can choose TWO of these benefts for European sailings. Book Concierge Class or above to recieve all THREE benefts on any applicable sailings. The 123Go! promotion is applicable to eligible guests aged 18 and over on the date of any European, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand departing sailing and 21 on any departing North American sailing will receive a Complimentary Classic Alcoholic drinks package for the 1st & 2nd guest in the stateroom only. Passenger date of birth information must be provided at the time of booking before the drinks package can be applied. This is a legal requirement. Please drink responsibly. Eligible guests under the specifed age limits specifed can request a Non Alcoholic Classic drinks package instead and free 40 minutes internet usage. Internet usage is per cruise, has no cash value and is not redeemable for cash. The onboard spend amounts are per stateroom and vary by ship & sailing date. The 123Go! promotion is combinable with Captains Club loyalty savings vouchers & 1 Category Stateroom Upgrade, Shareholders benefts, Back to Back Sailings Ofer, Reduced Third & Fourth rates, Future Cruise Certifcates only and the benefts ofered by booking onboard via our Future Cruise Consultants (Cruise Now or Cruise Later Bookings only). 123Go Evergreen benefts ofered onboard for Cruise Now bookings are not combinable with this 123Go promotion. Interior staterooms and Z, Y, X, XC, XA and W guarantee staterooms are not eligible to beneft from this promotion. 7. For full ofer terms & conditions including a list of applicable sailings, visit www.celebritycruises.co.uk or contact your travel agent. 8. This publicity is issued by RCL Cruises Ltd (company no. 07366612), t/a Celebrity Cruises 3 The Heights, Brooklands, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 0NY

ULTRAbeauty 1 Antioxidants, which neutralise free radicals, the molecules that age skin, are integral to anti-ageing creams. Acure Organics Chlorella + Edelweiss Stem Cell Eye Cream uses edelweiss, the small, white, antioxidant-rich Swiss flower, to treat the wrinkle-prone area around the eyes.

1 Antioxidants, which neutralise free radicals, the molecules that age skin, are integral to anti-ageing creams. Acure Organics Chlorella 2 Gentian is an anti-inflammatory and

+ Edelweiss Stem Cell Eye Cream uses

antiseptic herb that soothes the skin â&#x20AC;&#x201C; so it is

edelweiss, the small, white, antioxidant-rich

ideal for use in a cleansing formula. Clarins

Swiss flower, to treat the wrinkle-prone area

Cleansing Milk with Alpine Herbs is a gentle,

around the eyes.

softening milk cleanser that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feel harsh or astringent.

3 Seven Alpine herbs are the magic ingredients in the S5 skincare line. The herbs are thought to inhibit tyrosinase, the enzyme responsible for triggering skin pigmentation.

SF Illuminate Serum will keep skin looking bright and dewy.

4 The antioxidant herb echinacea became fashionable in the Thirties when it was discovered that Native American tribes used it to treat colds. It has since found its way into beauty treatments â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the herbalist A Vogel grows it organically in Roggwil for use in its Echinacea Crème.

5 The science behind the best Swiss spas means their products have credibility.

La Prairie Cellular Swiss Ice Crystal Cream, developed at Clinique La Prairie spa in Montreux, uses stem-cell technology and Alpine botanicals to hydrate and firm the

MARTIN RUSCH/FOLIO-ID.COM

skin, and help it combat stress.

Flower power

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

Swiss beauty treatments are enjoying a renaissance as lovers of the outdoors increasingly turn to products that combine healing herbs and high-tech science. Alpine plants such as gentian, edelweiss and alpenrose have evolved over millennia to resist wind, snow, rocky soil and intense UV exposure. If their botanical make-up can protect plants in those conditions, imagine what it can do for the skin

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

Kate Shapland

1 Acure Organics Chlorella + Edelweiss Stem Cell Eye Cream £9.35 (mynaturalmarket.com) 2 Clarins Cleansing Milk with Alpine Herbs £19 (clarins.co.uk) 3 S5 Illuminate Serum £44 (myshowcase.com) 4 A Vogel Echinacea Crème £5.99 (avogel.co.uk) 5 La Prairie Cellular Swiss Ice Crystal Cream £210 (laprairie.co.uk)

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ULTRAwatches 1 The Escaleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mechanical

3 The blazons that decorate the

movement drives three discs which

dial â&#x20AC;&#x201C; handpainted in 38 colours â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

form the dial: the large, static outer

are based on old designs by

disc shows the initials of the cities;

Gaston-Louis Vuitton, the grandson

the central disc shows the hours,

of the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s founder,

and is divided in to black and white

who created patterns based on

halves to show whether it is day

the sound of a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name.

or night; the small, inner disc

For example, the symbol of

shows the minutes.

a family called Poiret comprises

2 To determine the time in any of

series of vertical lines (rayes).

a green pea (for pois) and a the 24 time zones on the dial, the wearer looks for the relevant city initials and reads the number on the adjacent section of the hour disc. The minutes are displayed beneath the vertical yellow arrow.

TIME &PLACE Few luxury brands are so inextricably linked with travel as the luggage-maker Louis Vuitton, so itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no surprise the firm has designed a globetrotterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s watch.

The Escale Worldtime covers all 24 time zones, and has a colourful face (which takes 50 hours to handpaint) featuring the names of major world cities. The round case with riveted lugs was inspired by a design for motoring luggage found in the Simon de Burton Vuitton archive

5 Although it houses 218 components, the whitegold case of the Escale Worldtime is just 1.6in in diameter and just over half an inch thick. It is also waterproof down to 98ft, so it will survive a dip in the swimming pool or ocean.

4 Unlike most world-time watches that are adjusted using push pieces, the Escale is set using the winding crown which operates in clockwise and anti-clockwise directions â&#x20AC;&#x201C; meaning that a mistake can easily be corrected without having to scroll through each of the destination cities to get back to the one required.

THREE MORE WORLD-TIME WATCHES Patek Philippe

Vacheron Constantin

Rolex GMT Master

World Time 5130

Patrimony Traditionnelle

ÂŁ5,950, with black and blue bezel

ÂŁ44,060 (platinum), ÂŁ30,520 (gold)

World Time

(020 7024 7300; rolex.com).

(020 7493 8866; patek.com).

ÂŁ39,350 (020 7578 9500;

The Rolex GMT Master dates back

The mechanism that powers

vacheron-constantin.com).

to 1955 when it was developed for

Patek Philippeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s world timepieces

This is possibly the ultimate world

Pan American Airways, which

was invented in 1937 by Louis

timepiece. While most world-time

wanted to equip its transatlantic

Cottier to show â&#x20AC;&#x153;home timeâ&#x20AC;? on

watches show the time

pilots with a watch that showed

a conventional pair of hands while

simultaneously in 24 cities, the

the times of the departing and

also showing the hour in 24 capitals

Patrimony Traditionnelle does so

destination cities. The basic design

on a numbered, rotating disc.

in a remarkable 37, including those

remains the same today, with

Pressing the push button on the

that are offset by 15 minutes

a rotating bezel calibrated into

top left enables the local city time

or half an hour. The watch includes

24 hours and divided in to halves,

to be aligned with 12 oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;clock

many ingenious features, among

one representing night and the

on the inner dial. The hands

them the central sapphire

other day. The 24-hour hand can

correct, leaving the remaining 23

dial, half of which is tinted and

be set to show the destination time

cities aligned with the appropriate

half clear to indicate night

on the bezel, leaving the main

number on the outer ring.

and day in different locations.

hour hand on â&#x20AC;&#x153;home timeâ&#x20AC;?.

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ULTRAtech

Mark Wilson, Ultratravelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gear and gadgets guru, selects innovative cold-weather kit for winter travellers

22

1

ICE breakers

1 Sphelar Solar Flashlight $150/ÂŁ93 (001 212 708 9888; momastore.org). Using spherical solar cells that can capture light from all directions, this Japanese torch comes with a wooden base to hold it in place while it soaks up the sun.

It gives four hours of LED light from a single charge.

2 Poc Receptor Bug Communication â&#x201A;Ź220/ÂŁ171 (0046 8717 4050; pocsports.com). This snow-sports helmet comes with built-in Beats headphones and a remote control, which let skiers listen to music and take calls on the slopes.

3 33 3 Kolon Sport Life Tech ÂŁ1,527 (020 7381 6433; seymourpowell.com).

Designed to help explorers survive in extreme conditions, this jacket features a first-aid kit, a heating system that gives seven hours of warmth, and a wind turbine to power GPS devices.

4 Jones Ultracraft Splitboard ÂŁ786 (001 360 393 4741; jonessnowboards. com). Splitboards are snowboards that divide into skis to allow riders to tackle different terrain. This light board

5

has been designed from scratch as two skis that join together, rather than as a single piece cut in two.

4

5 Voyager Expedition Flask ÂŁ74 (01349 884111; dalvey.com).

Stainless-steel 95ml hip flask with an inbuilt military-standard compass: a practical combination tool that helps adventurers to keep warm while finding their way.

6 Arctic Cat Bearcat 2000 XT $9,100/ÂŁ5,680 (001 218 681 3162; arcticcat.com).

A powerful all-rounder in cold conditions, this snowmobile has a high windshield, passenger wind-deflectors, adjustable suspension and an electric start button to keep journeys fast and comfortable. Ice-fishing equipment can be stowed under the seat.

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AFICIONADO

OLIVIER KRUG CHAMPAGNE CONNOISSEUR A remote French island, Japanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s volcanoes and glass-blowing in Venice are favourite subjects for the vintnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Instagram account

O

livier Krug is the sixth generation to make champagne in his familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cellars in Reims. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s true that one of the very first things any

Krug child tastes is champagne,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in our blood.â&#x20AC;? Today, the champagne house owns hundreds of plots in the Champagne region, and creates a Grande CuvĂŠe every year by blending up to 120 new and reserve vintage wines, and laying them down for 20 years. Having spent 47 years honing his tastes, the vintner knows what improves bubbly wine â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and destroys it. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t drink champagne too cold; you lose the flavour. Avoid champagne flutes; the glass should be slightly wider, to allow the liquid room to express itself. And donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think that putting a silver spoon upside down in a bottle will keep the bubbles.

It wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t.â&#x20AC;? Krug says his four children call him â&#x20AC;&#x153;the oldest man on Instagram. I take selfies and snaps Here, he muses on a lifetime of travel.

â&#x20AC;&#x161;â&#x20AC;&#x161;

wherever I go, like this view from my office [above]â&#x20AC;?.

â&#x20AC;&#x161;â&#x20AC;&#x161;

Heaven to me is the Ile dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Yeu, right, the farthest French island from the mainland, where I have a house. On holiday, I go out most days in my boat on my own and fish for seabass, which I like to barbecue or roast in salt. With a bit of olive oil, it is so delicious.

O

ne of the tastiest things on earth is the Eastern matsutake, left, which is a bit

like a truffle or a cep. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pure and rich and

Most countries have a

crisp and soft all at the same time. The most

memorable smell. In Japan itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

delicious way to eat it is on a grill, with a half-drop of yuzu citrus oil to give it a kick.

of clean air. In Corsica itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s herbs.

In Greece itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ripe tomatoes and figs. In Reims, where I live, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cut grass, because even though itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a city, people have gardens.

Seeing the Lipizzaner horses in Austria is always an extraordinary experience. They are

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white, incredibly beautiful and so well trained. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been to the stud farm where theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re bred: itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hundreds of years old and run like a fine hotel.

The southern Amakusa islands of Japan, above, are incredible: really rural and volcanic. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a triangle of them: Kumamoto on the far west, with lots of active volcanoes, Kyushu on the other side, with hot sand baths, and in the south Kagoshima, where a volcano erupted a couple of years ago. It feels very raw and ancient.

ALAMY; AP; GETTY; REX

Watching artisans in Venice is always inspiring. Seeing them blow glass, they way they have for centuries, or weaving velvet on 12th-century looms, makes you realise that even in this high-tech world, old traditions havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t died; theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve become more ingrained.

Travelling together certainly has its rewards

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ILLUSTRATION JASON FORD ; GETTY

Banish negative images of Buenos Aires youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen on the news, says our globetrotter. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a supremely cultured city

JOHN SIMPSON UP FRONT

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

entina has h Argentina the highest number of book-buyers in South America, the cinemas show excellent movies and the galleries contain things you actually want to buy

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

J

ournalists like me have a lot to answer for, force-feeding images into peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s minds that are almost impossible to get rid of.

What mental pictures, for instance, do you have of Argentina? Angry demos denouncing Britain, ludicrously be-medalled generals on balconies, lines of gloomy prisoners being shepherded

by British soldiers, Jeremy Clarkson (a particularly enjoyable one, this) hiding under his hotel bed? So youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll probably ďŹ nd it hard to believe that Argentina is one of the ďŹ nest countries on earth to visit â&#x20AC;&#x201C; especially for a Brit.

I even enjoyed it during the Falklands War, when everyone, except for secret policemen and the occasional gang of farright thugs, was unfailingly welcoming.

I ďŹ rst arrived at my grand hotel in Buenos Aires assuming I might be handed over to the military death squads. Warily, I gave my name to the assistant manager. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ah, yes, Mr Simpson, the BBC has left a message asking you to call.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;An extraordinary misunderstanding,â&#x20AC;?

I blathered. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think how it can have arisen.â&#x20AC;? He looked at me quizzically for a moment, like a character in a Thirties black-and-white comedy, then said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I understand completely, sir. But may I just say if you had been from the BBC, what a pleasure it would have been to welcome you.â&#x20AC;? It was the start of a lifelong affection.

Sure, the economy staggers from one crisis to the next, politics is a century-long disaster, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a long time since there was a sensible president. Yet the cultural life of Buenos Aires thrives regardless.

The bookshops are full of new novels,

new poetry, new books of essays.

Argentina has the highest number of book-buyers in Latin America: 74 per cent. (Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ask what Britainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ gure is.)

Magazines and newspapers pump out provocative, challenging stuff. The cinemas show excellent movies which rarely make it to Britain, with the notable exception of The Secret in Their Eyes in 2009, a police thriller which managed to be genuinely life-enhancing. The little art galleries in places like the old port district of La Boca contain things you actually want to buy. The restaurants and cafĂŠs are renowned, even in Latin America. And bookshops, cinemas, art galleries, restaurants and cafĂŠs are full at midnight, and many stay open till dawn.

So letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s suppose youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re staying at the Alvear Palace Hotel in Recoleta: expensive, though not as pricey as London, Paris or New York, and stunning: a Thirties vision of a belle epoque hotel which always reminds me of the Rita Hayworth ďŹ lm Gilda. At 9pm, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s too early to eat, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a good time to take in a few shops and have an aperitif or three: a Hesperidina, perhaps, with its bitter orange taste, with a few slices of chorizo.

Wander on to the Plaza San MartĂ­n, past the side-street Calle MaipĂş, where the anglophile polymath Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) lived, and where, in his blind old age, he used to test visiting Anglo-Saxons by quoting Beowulf in the original, and asking them what it was.

(Fortunately someone had tipped me off.)

After the magniďŹ cent cool beauty of the darkened Plaza San MartĂ­n, with its ghostly statues and its vast ombĂş trees,

you turn into Florida, the ever-delightful pedestrian-only street, which at night is buzzing with people looking for a good night out. The last time I walked down it, a sensationally beautiful guitarist was playing an introspective piece of porteĂąo music: by Victor Villadangos, maybe.

I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to give you a false impression; BA has as many drunks, beggars and bores as anywhere else. But they wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t target you because youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re from Britain. At a time of economic crisis the government may make a fuss about the Falklands, but few ordinary people could care less. And in Argentina, as in so many parts of the world, people feel they have a special relationship with the British.

Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s round off the evening in a restaurant â&#x20AC;&#x201C; not somewhere fancy, but a good old place famous for its steaks and fried potatoes. Since Buenos Aires is one of the most class-conscious places on earth, my grander friends turn up their noses at the Palacio de la Papa Frita in Corrientes Avenue. But with its hardworking waiters, who bustle round carrying unimaginably large silver trays laden with vast steaks and delicate discs of sautĂŠed potatoes, it is part of the soul of Buenos Aires.

The place doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get really full till eleven, and by midnight thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be a general roar of enjoyment. If the waiter lets it be known that you are from Britain, someone will probably send you over a carafe of good, rough Argentine red.

Buenos Aires can be infuriating, but it is also one of the civilised worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s great jewels. Ignore the headlines and sample it for yourself.

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It’s not just to ski that we head for the hills, but to seek experiences as rarefied as the high-altitude air. Ultratravel’s snow specialists select the ultimate winter thrills, from heli-skiing in Canada to Michelin-starred dining on the slopes PHOTOGRAPHS BY SIMON JOHN OWEN

THE BEST GOURMET WEEKEND

Courmeyeur, Italy

H

aving just spent three days with a trio of Britain’s leading chefs in Italy’s Val d’Aosta, I think I can say with some certainty that I will never eat like this again while skiing.

There is always good food in Courmeyeur, and so many restaurants that in a week one could eat lunch and dinner in a different place every day. But this year, the area became the ultimate gourmet ski destination, thanks to the passion of chef Heston Blumenthal and co-owner of Momentum Ski, Amin Momen, who brought together their twin loves – of food and skiing – to create the area’s first Mountain Gourmet Ski Experience.

The Italian ski area has long been known for its food. Bordered

by France and Switzerland, its menus feature hearty Aostan dishes such as carbonada (beef and red-wine stew) and mocetta (goatham prosciutto), as well as local specialities such as fontina cheese, Arnad lard and Jambon de Bosses. But with Blumenthal whipping up such creations as a dry-ice-infused mid-morning “Black Forest gâteau hot-chocolate drink” (which involved adding flavoured dryice vapour, a black cherry and a posh version of a Mr Kipling slice), and his two Michelin-starred British compatriots Marcus Wareing and Sat Bains competing to create ever-more inventive menus, the area’s ingredients were taken to whole new heights.

Creating the dishes, apparently, was almost as challenging for the chefs as the skiing. As Blumenthal put it: “Cooking in a mountain restaurant where we’ve never cooked before is quite a test. But f

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Top grub British chef Marcus Wareing (far left) serves tiramisu at a Mountain Gourmet Ski Experience dinner. Heston Blumenthal (left), who served up Black Forest-infused hot chocolate (below); Sat Bainsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; roast scallops with charred leeks (below left); wooden mountain refuge (bottom)

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Rush The Team Members of LUX* help people to celebrate life with the most simple, fresh and sensory hospitality in the world.

M AU R I T I U S R E U N I O N M A L D I V E S C H I N A U . A . E ( 2 0 1 6 ) | L U X R E S O R T S. C O M

e it is a great way to bring people together to celebrate this

beautiful region. And some of the food around here is so good that sometimes it almost makes me want to cry.”

There was certainly an extraordinary collection of international foodies coming together in two rooms: more than 40 guests from all

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over the globe, from Holland and the United States to Brunei and Oman. And the chefs didn’t disappoint: each cooking a distinctive menu for two nights running, with guests trying one chef’s offering on the first night, and then the other chef’s the next night, while sampling local restaurants at lunch in between.

While both chefs made use of the local ingredients, their menus were very different. Wareing’s began with Alpine rainbow trout with egg and chowder, and moved on to Herdwick lamb, broccoli and almonds, with potatoes, fontina cheese, onion and smoked bacon.

Bains’, meanwhile, started with generous-sized roast scallops with truffle emulsion and charred leek, and followed with ox-cheek, parsnip and meat tartare on toast. After an Aosta Valley cheese course, both chefs presented their own take on a traditional Italian dessert: tiramisu. For vegetarians, such as former racing driver Damon Hill, there were non-meat options, too. “Getting good vegetarian food in this part of the world is always quite a challenge,” he said. “But Sat came up with a risotto using spelt ground at a mill in Northumberland, along with almost an entire truffle, and Marcus produced artichokes with a quail egg. Delicious.”

Thanks to his motor-racing father, Graham, and mother, Bette, Hill started skiing at the age of six, in Kitzbühel. “Then we used wooden skis and leather boots, but I’ve always loved skiing,” he said. “After all, James Bond went skiing. And my hero is Franz Klammer. So this event – mixing food, people and skiing – is wonderful.”

The transport to the restaurants earned his approval, too.

While guests to La Chaumière had to walk through the snow to sample Wareing’s food, those heading for Bains’s dinner at La Maison Vieille, a good mile or so away, were treated to snowmobile transport to the front door. With headlights picking out the falling snow, we all felt like extras in a James Bond movie as we hurtled up the mountain – Heston Blumenthal sitting sidesaddle to ease his painful hip.

While the British chefs were the stars of the weekend, chefs from the area’s restaurants got their moment in the spotlight, too. On the first night, guests were treated to a dinner at the Auberge de la Maison in neighbouring Entrèves, cooked by Massimiliano Villani, featuring dishes from caramelised pig’s trotter and an onion cooked in hay to a dessert of chestnut chocolate purée with whipped cream, as well as, of course, Aosta Valley grappa. In spite of the prospect of a good morning’s skiing ahead, few people – if any – were in their beds before midnight.

Normally when I go skiing, I eat and ski with similar abandon, the net result being that I never lose weight, no matter how many vertical feet I consume. But this time it was different. I lost a few pounds and never once had to reach for the packet of Rennies I keep by my bedside – something that speaks volumes about the quality of the food. ARNIE WILSON The next Mountain Gourmet Ski Experience is from January 9 to 12 2015, and costs £3,500 per person, based on two sharing (020 7371 9111; momentumski.com).

THE BEST CHALET

Chalet N, Oberlech, Austria

W

ith their cinemas, helipads and spas as standard, today’s luxury Alpine chalets are a far cry from their rustic forebears. Gone are the days when a lone outdoor hot tub was a selling point. Now it takes three tubs, with the indoor one handily located a bikini’s throw from a

1,400sq ft private nightclub, to raise an eyebrow.

So what does it take to create the world’s most incredible ski chalet? Ask 37-year-old Austrian tycoon René Benko, whose £30-million Chalet N knocked the mink spots off the competition when it opened in Lech last year. At a whopping 54,000sq ft, Chalet N sleeps up to 24 guests in 10 en-suite doubles and a fairy-tale children’s bunk room. There are two dining rooms, a sitting room with roaring fires and a full-sized bar, cinema, wine cellar, plush ski room with an elevator to whisk guests straight on to the piste, and two outdoor hot tubs and an ice bar for après-ski parties. And let’s not forget the gym and largest chalet spa in the Alps, with multiple treatment rooms, a beauty and hair salon, large swimming pool, hay sauna, ice fountain and salt-cave steam bath.

However, it takes more than bricks, mortar and reclaimed wood panelling to be incredible. Chalet N really does push the toboggan out when it comes to detail: the floor-to-ceiling windows are bulletproof, the cutlery is handcrafted from titanium, the bathrooms are stocked with full-size Hermès treats (Terre de Hermès for him, Kelly Calèche for her) and there are 26 professional staff on hand at all times, including a pair of chefs and butlers. Oh, and guests’ initials are embroidered on the 1,000threadcount Egyptian cotton pillowcases, too. It’s the little touches… GABRIELLA LE BRETON

Fast foodies Heston Blumenthal, Sat Bains and Marcus Wareing swap chef’s aprons for ski gear on the Italian slopes of Courmeyeur

Chalet N (chalet-n.com) costs from £163,500 a week through Oxford Ski (oxfordski.com).

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THE BEST HELI-SKIING

Revelstoke, British Columbia

J

ust occasionally on the snakes-and-ladders board of life you may be lucky enough to experience a sensation that somehow transcends the normal boundaries of our

humdrum daily existence. If you’re a skier, one way to do this is to go to Revelstoke and book yourself on an A-Star helicopter.

You’ll also need a modicum of technical skill (although a pair of ultra-wide skis will help significantly), and an expert mountain guide from the unlikely named Selkirk Tangiers Heli Skiing.

For 36 years, sleepy Revelstoke, sandwiched between the Monashee and Selkirk mountain ranges, has been the world capital of heli skiing. In an average winter, some 40ft of snow tumbles out of the sky. Usually, heli-skiing outfits operate from remote lodges, and if the weather closes in and flying is impossible, the money meter is still ticking. Not so in Revelstoke. In 2007, the resort built a giant two-mile-long gondola up Mount Mackenzie (whose 5,620ft vertical drop is the longest in any North American ski resort) and bought Selkirk Tangiers, along with a local snowcat-skiing operation, whose vehicles can take you to places that cannot be accessed by lift. With all this, you can ski almost anywhere.

The heli-skiing starts from designated drop zones scattered across half a million acres of rugged, unpopulated terrain.

Depending on the weather and the skills of the group, the guide can choose to explore wide open bowls and chutes way above the treeline or lead his party through abandoned logging trails.

For somewhere to stay, Revelstoke has the best hyperchalet outside the Alps. British-owned Big Horn is built on a grandiose scale, its four storeys housing eight large bedrooms, a pool spa and an outdoor tub big enough for 16. It also has a chef worthy of a Michelin star, and its own heli-pad from which to collect guests.

With these extras, skiing couldn’t get better. PETER HARDY Selkirk Tangiers Heli Skiing (selkirk-tangiers.com) costs £960pp a day, and Big Horn (bighornrevelstoke.com) from £29,220 a week.

Every four years we marvel at the

Innsbruck, Austria

Sound like the kind of winter

gate, nor the adrenalin that courses

skill, balance and sheer bottle of

thrill you were looking for? Well,

through your veins when you face

our Winter Olympians as they slide,

you now have the chance to try it

the same centrifugal forces as a

glide and soar through the different

yourself in the exclusive company

fighter pilot as you shake, rattle

death-defying disciplines. Of all the

of one of Britain’s greatest

and roll down the course at warp

events, it is the bob skeleton that

Olympians, Amy Williams (right),

speed. And it’s especially hard to

seems to captivate our attention

the 2010 Olympic gold medallist,

convey the endorphins that flow

more than any other – not simply

on one of the greatest tracks of

after you reach the finish – alive.

because we Britons are quite good

them all, at Innsbruck.

More alive. It’s the ride of your life.

at it, but because it confounds all conventional logic.

I think back to my first skeleton

CHARLES STARMER-SMITH

ride and the beads of sweat that

Momentum Ski (020 7371 9111;

formed on my brow, despite the

momentumski.com) offers two

more bends, no brakes and no

cold, when I first caught a glimpse

nights’ b&b at the five-star Grand

restrictions on women taking part.

of this giant track – the walls so

Hotel Europa in Innsbruck, return

Riders lie face down on a glorified

much steeper, the turns so much

transfers, skeleton and bobsleigh

tea tray, with their hands clamped

sharper than I had ever expected.

rides, tuition and two dinners with

by their sides and their noses 3in

“Next on the track: Starmer-Smith.”

Amy Williams from £1,250. Return

from the ice as they hurtle down

There is no way to describe how

Club Europe tickets with British

the track at speeds of up to 90mph.

helpless you feel at the starting

Airways (ba.com) cost from £250.

Think the Cresta Run but with

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STEVE SHANNON; REUTERS

THE BEST ADRENALIN WEEKEND

THE BEST SPA

Pure Altitude, Megève, Switzerland

When it opened 24 years ago in the Fermes

scrubs with malachite and rhodochrosite

houses a sauna in the snow-dusted garden,

de Marie boutique hotel in Megève, Pure

“snow crystals”, and swaddling wraps in

while a wooden hot tub steams in the crisp

Altitude was France’s first mountain spa.

mineral-infused “velvet snow” body lotion.

mountain air. The treatments are a glorious

The hotel’s original name, La Ferme de

Following an extensive rebuild this summer,

mix of practical and luxurious, with hot and

Beauté (The Beauty Farm), was a reflection

the spa is now a whopping 10,000sq ft and

cold stone massages to refresh legs,

of the centuries-old mountain-shepherds’

updated to include high-tech equipment

moisturising “oxygen-bubble” facials to perk

huts and stables that were dismantled and

within its ancient frame. A granite-clad pool

up altitude-affected skin and warming pools

rebuilt in meadows to house the rustic-look

is flanked on one side by 200-year-old

and saunas to heat up cold bones. It may

hotel. The spa’s old and current names also

timber beams and on the other by full-

be a quarter of a century old, but it has

reflect owner Jocelyne Sibuet’s dedication

length windows overlooking the Alps.

aged well. If only we looked as good.

to the development of beauty products and

Fragrant red cedar wood envelops a sauna,

GABRIELLA LA BRETON

treatments using locally-sourced Alpine

hammam, and hot and cold traditional

Doubles at Les Fermes de Marie

flowers, herbs, minerals and glacial water.

Japanese ofuro soaking tubs. Treatment

(0033 4 5774 7474; fermesdemarie.com)

Treatments include nourishing facials with

rooms are clad with slender floor-to-ceiling

cost from €300/£235 a night; a signature

edelweiss-rich creams, skin-softening

birch trees. And an ancient shepherd’s hut

Seve de Vie anti-ageing facial costs €145.

THE BEST SNOWBOARD

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One you have built yourself in Innsbruck, Austria

Y

ou’ve booked your luxury chalet in Courchevel and bought

camber, it was time to cover it in epoxy resin, to give it strength

this season’s Moncler jacket. Now all you need is a bespoke

and stiffness, and then choose a wood veneer for the top. I opted

snowboard. There is only one catch: you have to build it.

for a dark oak on the edges and a light beech in the centre, a bit like

Spurart, in Innsbruck, offers a weekend course at which, last

a Sixties surfboard. Once that was done, the final step was to put it

winter, I did just that. For someone who struggles to wire a plug

into a plastic bag and bake it in a high-pressure oven overnight.

without following a YouTube video, the prospect of creating a piece

I returned the next morning feeling excited but nervous, and

of high-performance sports equipment felt daunting, to say the

gingerly unwrapped the bag. It revealed a beautiful and, to my eyes,

least. Fortunately, there was a team of experts to oversee my

perfect snowboard. I was thrilled. Following an hour of sanding,

handiwork – including Michi Freymann, the former ski racer and

I gave it a light oiling that brought out the beauty of the wood grain.

Spurart founder, who has tested more than 15,000 pairs of skis.

By then, there was one thing on my mind: hitting the nine

The weekend course began with a telephone consultation where

ski-slopes of Innsbruck to show off my baby. “We always

I gave details about my weight, height, experience and how

recommend that you leave a new board to settle for three days,”

I wanted the board to handle. By the time I had arrived at Spurart

said Christian, “so the layers are properly bonded together.”

on a Friday evening, the team had already drawn up the

This was like being given the best toy ever, only to be told you

measurements for my equipment. Under the expert eyes of the

can’t play with it. Although disappointed, at least I was able to test

tutor, Christian Geisler, I started to make the template, which I cut,

Spurart’s previous creations. Now, all I want is for winter to arrive,

sanded and shaped: messy work, but surprisingly easy. At the end of

so I can try out my own. Bring on the snow.

SIMON KHALIL

the first evening, covered in sawdust and with pieces of wood in my hair, I admired my creation with a large smile on my face.

fixing them in place. For my base shape I had chosen a “twin”

Spurart (spurart.at) offers a weekend snowboard-building course

(meaning that the nose and tail are identical), making it easier for

from €790 (£545). The Grand Hotel Europa Innsbruck (0043 512 5931;

template, my first task was to cut out my board’s base from a strip

switch riding, with a short nose and tail for better agility in a snow

grandhoteleuropa.at) offers doubles from €126 a night; a day

of vinyl, before trimming the metal edges with an angle grinder and

park. Having shaped the core with a planer, to ensure the right

ski-pass at Axamer Lizum (axamer-lizum.at) costs €35.50.

The next morning, it was down to making the real thing. Using the

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Cool comforts (clockwise from left) Tent at Aurora; driving huskies through the forest; inside a Lavvu tent; exploring

mountain

the Swedish wilderness on foot

FREDERIK BROMAN

HIGHS

THE BEST WILDERNESS EXPERIENCE

Aurora Safari Camp, Sweden

G

azing up at the swirling, neon majesty of the Northern Lights is usually as chilblain-inducing as it is jaw-dropping. Which is why the opportunity to survey one of the world’s most magnificent natural wonders with a warming glass of wine in hand, roaring fire mere feet away from the comfort of your own snuggly

blanket, is really rather appealing.

Equal parts glamping trip, safari adventure and Northern Lights tour, the Aurora Safari Camp experience offers all the serenity and bucket list-ticking awe of the Arctic but with a spectacularly stylish, culturally informed and personable twist. Hidden on the outskirts of Lulea, a remote Swedish township situated on the edge of the Arctic Circle, the camp consists of five Sami-inspired, perma-glowing Lavvu tents (comfy mattress, wood-burning stove, and the ability to withstand temperatures of up to -37C mercifully come as standard). Outside there are gloriously uninterrupted views of the Aurora-filled night sky, and a permanently toasty lounge area in which to unwind with the finest of local organic dining (particularly good was the smoked and dried moose meat, complemented by a glass of delicious lingonberry juice).

The camp also has a charming and welcoming host, the founder, Fredrik Broman, who came up with the brilliant idea of creating a Scandinavian safari after working as a guide in African parks. Whether he is kitting you out in the cosiest of reindeer pelts, drilling holes in the frozen lake for a spot of ice fishing, snowmobiling you into the heart of the wilderness on a stargazing tour or introducing you to the town’s local reindeer herder and his pack of purebred Siberian huskies for a spot of sledding, he makes Arctic adventures as bespoke, polished and surprisingly comfortable as anything can be in these eyeball-freezing temperatures. MATT RISLEY Double rooms at Aurora Safari Camp (aurorasafaricamp.wordpress.com) costs from £350. originaltravel.co.uk.

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BRANDOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S

The Hollywood legend was so seduced by French Polynesia that he bo

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WATERFRONT

ught his own island, Tetiaroa. Now it is open as an ultra-exclusive resort. Nigel Tisdall jets in

Wild one Thatched villas line the beaches of the remote island that was home to Marlon Brando (top left, with his French Polynesian wife, Tarita Teriipaia)

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R

elax, and let us show you the magic and majesty of Africa

Captain’s Choice is the acknowledged leader in luxury touring around the world. Travel with us in unparalleled style on one of our three amazing African itineraries, and you will discover some of the most inspiring, iconic and remote places in this fascinating continent. You will stay in the finest available accommodation, dine on superb locally-inspired cuisine, and be taken care of throughout by a dedicated, experienced team which even includes a doctor. To find out more and to see our full range of tours, please call us for a brochure.

CAPE TOWN TO PETRA Watch Africa unfold before your eyes on Rovos Rail between Cape Town and Pretoria • Visit the impressive Victoria Falls • Go on Safari amidst the teeming wildlife of the Masai Mara • Visit the ultra-modern city of Doha • Explore the ancient site of the rose-red city of Petra

ETHIOPIA Discover Ethiopia’s intriguing capital Addis Ababa • See the mighty Blue Nile Falls • Explore the islands scattered on Lake Tana • Tour the medieval castles of Gondar • Visit the astonishing rock-hewn churches of Lalibela • Discover the historic town of Aksum

PRIDE OF SOUTHERN AFRICA Visit the diamond town of Kimberley • Marvel at the incredible Sossuslvei dunes and Fish River Canyon • Go on safari in Etosha National Park and the Lion Sands Private Game Reserve • Explore the waterways of the Okavango Delta • See the Victoria Falls in full flow

Prices from £16,095pp twin share

Prices from £6,700pp twin share

Prices from £15,845pp twin share

CALL 0800 046 3362

C A P TA I N S C H O I C E . C O. U K

SIMPLY THE FINEST WAY TO SEE THE WORLD

AMY MGM/TISDALL/GETTY/AL

‘IT’S VERY ELEMENTAL HERE,’ SAID BRANDO. ‘YOU HAVE SKY, SEA, TREES, SUN’

T Ring of bright water Tetiaroa, top, the atoll of 12 islets once owned by Brando, pictured there in 1972. A villa bathroom, above

urquoise, deep blue, light blue, indigo blue, cobalt blue, royal blue, robin’s egg blue, aquamarine.” I’m not surprised that when Marlon Brando wrote his memoirs he struggled to find words to describe the bewitching colours of the lagoon at the heart of his private atoll.

After discovering the myriad charms of French Polynesia while filming Mutiny on the Bounty (which co-starred the 19-year-old Tarita Teriipaia, who duly became his third wife), the actor bought Tetiaroa, 30 miles north of Tahiti, in 1966.

It cost the star $200,000, and it was his intention that this ring of 12 deserted motus (islets) remain unspoilt. Tetiaroa was where Marlon escaped the battlefield of Hollywood, chatting with the world on his ham radio using the pseudonym “Jim Ferguson”, kicking back with friends and family in a castaway landscape of white sands, coconut palms and green turtles waving a friendly flipper from clear waters.

Now, following lengthy negotiations between his heirs and Richard Bailey, a friend of Brando and President of Pacific Beachcomber, we can get a taste of his desert island dream.

The Brando has opened its doors – or rather its airstrip. The only way into this hyper-exclusive pancake of sand is by helicopter or aboard the resort’s plane, which departs from a dedicated terminal at Faa’a International Airport in Tahiti.

Only one idyllic motu has been used in the making of this 21st-century paradise, which comes with an eco-station and ingeniously sourced energy: 4,000 solar panels line the airstrip, while a 3,000ft pipe drops deep into the ocean to draw up cold water to cool the air conditioning. Thirty-five monumental villas march along its pristine beaches, built with the massive trunks of ironwood trees and embellished with an outdoor bath, infinity pool and a rocking chair for two. Every guest gets a bicycle in a chic café-au-lait livery.

The sands are raked with the precision of a Zen garden.

Hidden in the coconut palms, and fringed with lily ponds, the Varua Polynesian Spa includes a dreamy double suite suspended in the trees like a large brown ball of knitting

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wool. The massages, using sensual monoi oils and long, flowing movements like the ocean waves, are exceptionally good. Dinner is served by the beach, in your villa, or at the calm, cream Les Mutinés restaurant, which is overseen by Guy Martin, chef at the two-Michelin-star Le Grand Véfour in Paris. Everything is included: champagne, meals, a daily spa treatment per villa, excursions – even coral-friendly sunblock.

The Brando is not a party place, but providing the sun shines (May to October is driest) it is easy to love and ideal for some South Pacific lotus-eating. It also marks a step-up for the traditional Tahitian holiday. For once, there are no over-water bungalows. No predictable breakfast buffet served in a pandanus-thatched hangar, no rip-roaring jet-skis, no still-in-the-Stone Age charge for Wi-Fi. Here the French and Polynesian staff are neither jaded nor brainwashed, while the guests are, frankly, a better class of honeymooner. The resort will work best at the start or end of a tour – chill out here after that long flight, or cap off your island-hopping with some deliciously deluxe downtime.

All this is good news for French Polynesia, which deserves a higher prominence in our holiday plans. Tahiti and her 117 islands lie sprinkled across a blanket of blue ocean the size of Europe, and include mountainous Moorea (pineapple central), loved-up Bora Bora (honeymoon central), the vast constellation of the Tuamotus (diving central) and the far-flung Marquesas (not at all central), where Paul Gauguin ended his days.

In my experience, these are all worth your time, and it’s a bonus that the indisputable joys of the tropical holiday – balmy warmth, incredible stars, gorgeous waters – also come with a French dressing. Baguettes, pétanque, yellow postes boxes – and, of course, good grub.

TETIAROA ESSENTIALS Air Tahiti Nui (0844 482 1675, airtahitinui.co.uk) flies to Papeete from Paris, Los Angeles, Tokyo and Auckland. A return flight from London costs from £4,450 business class, £1,551 economy, flying the LA sectors with Virgin Atlantic. Flights from Papeete to Tetiaroa with Air Tetiaroa cost from £235 return.

A one-bedroom villa at The Brando (00 689 4086 6366; the brando.com) costs €3,421/ £2,687 per night (minimum stay three nights), including all meals and drinks, one daily spa treatment per villa and a daily excursion.

Turquoise Holidays (01494 678 400; turquoiseholidays.co.uk) offers seven nights at The Brando from £11,525 per person, including flights from London, domestic flights and transfers, travelling from April 1 2015.

PICTURE CREDIT

More information: tahiti-tourisme.co.uk

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Big blue Clockwise, from top: Swimming in the clear waters of Tetiaroa; the resort’s private plane; Marlon Brando with his wife Tarita and son Teihotu; the double suite in the spa

W

hile there are rewarding inland hikes and excursions on many of these islands – up to the viewpoint, round the vanilla plantation, down to the pearl farm – it’s worth remembering that at least half your sightseeing will be done on or under the water. You don’t need to be a diver (although this is a fine place to learn), because the snorkelling is equally sensational, with richly coloured corals and fashionista fish galore. Since 2002, the whole of French Polynesia has been a marine mammal sanctuary – a fact brought home to me in spectacular style as I sample The Brando’s impeccable breakfast croissants. For three days in a row I spy humpback whales from the shore. And they’re not just blips on the horizon. A humpback is the size of six elephants, and they regularly pass by Tahiti from August to October. When one breaches, it’s like watching a zeppelin do a belly-flop, with an ensuing thunder-splash that makes you wonder if the French have started nuclear testing again.

The natural wonders don’t stop there. Out on “The Ultimate Tour of Tetiaroa” we see stingrays, three-monthold lemon sharks and perky flocks of brown and redfooted boobys. But, of course, it’s the hypnotic blues and greens of the lagoon that seduce most. Looking down into the honeycombs of sunlight that dance in its crystal waters is like getting a sneak preview of heaven, and while Tetiaroa doesn’t have a monopoly on such mesmerising sights, it’s certainly a treat to have a whole atoll to yourself. “The Billionaire’s Pool” is how Leonardo DiCaprio described these enchanting waters when he checked in a few weeks ahead of me. That’s a name that will surely stick, as another great actor falls for the peace and beauty of Tetiaroa. Marlon once explained: “It’s very elemental here. You have the sky, the sea, the trees, the crabs, the fish, the sun… the basics.”

And if we can now also get unlimited champagne, sublime Polynesian massages and filet mignon de veau aux truffes – well, that’s civilisation, n’est-ce pas?

ULTRATRAVEL GUIDE

THE BEST OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC Where to go after Tetiaroa? Nigel Tisdall picks the region’s highlights, from romantic escapes to cultural cruises SUBLIME STOPOVER

Rarotonga, Cook Islands The Cook Islands are the smart choice if you fancy a quick taste of the South Pacific en route to a longer holiday in New Zealand or Australia. Air New Zealand has a weekly direct flight from Los Angeles to Rarotonga, and passengers can stop over at no extra charge if continuing to Auckland, just four hours away. It takes 45 minutes to drive around this joyful island, which has a rainforest, a volcanic core and a coastline of relaxed palmshaded beaches. Try to time a visit with the fêtelike Punanga Nui Saturday market held in the capital, Avarua, and then go on to a rugby match.

A 45-minute flight north, Aitutaki is famous for its lagoon and popular with romancing Kiwis: here it’s all about lazing in that hammock.

Discover The World (01737 214 291; discover-the-world.co.uk) offers a twin-centre holiday to Rarotonga and Aitutaki from £3,265 per person, including international and domestic flights, transfers and three nights each at the Crown Beach Resort and Aitutaki Lagoon Resort, travelling in low season (December 2014 to March 2015).

LOVE IN A LAGOON

Taha’a, French Polynesia Bora Bora is a byword for romance if you’re a fan of luxury beach resorts. A 50-minute flight west of Tahiti, the island rises out of the ocean in a graphlike run of green and toothy peaks, the crags of a venerable volcano ringed by an emerald and sapphire lagoon. Almost everyone here is on honeymoon, or celebrating something special. But rather than feeling like a love factory there is a touching and happy energy to the place. For the full works, check into a mountain-view over-water bungalow at the Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora, which has the best location and seamless service.

But for something less stage-managed, the nearby island of Taha’a is far more low-key, with better excursions and two well-appointed escapes, Le Taha’a Private Island & Spa (a good choice if you prefer a beach bungalow) and the tiny, 12-bungalow Vahine Island Private Resort.

Turquoise Holidays (01494 678 400; turquoiseholidays.co.uk) offers four nights each at Le Taha’a Island Resort & Spa and Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora from £4,775 per person, including international and domestic flights, transfers and breakfast, travelling in high season

Beautiful south The beach at Le Taha’a Private Island & Spa, Bora Bora. Inset: a vintage Pam Am poster

(from April 1).

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DIVINE DIVES

ISLAND-HOPPING BLISS

Rangiroa, Tuamotus, French Polynesia

Yasawa Islands, Fiji

Sprinkled to the northwest of Viti Levu, Fiji’s main

An hour’s flight north east of Tahiti, Rangiroa is

island, the Yasawas are a 55-mile chain of rugged

the world’s second largest atoll and the gateway

volcanic peaks that can be cruised in comfort

to the 76 low-lying islands and atolls of the

aboard the 34-cabin Fiji Princess. Primarily adult

Tuamotus. Up on land, life is exceedingly relaxed,

only, with some family departures, voyages last

a place to unwind amid glossy palms, plink-

three, four or seven nights, with the longest

plonking ukeleles and invigorating poisson cru

venturing as far as Tamasua. Hiking, snorkelling

(raw fish marinaded in coconut milk). Put your

and cultural activities are mixed, with on-board

head underwater, though, and it’s aquatic

spa treatments and a beach barbecue on a private

Armageddon. Tiputa Pass is the big draw, where

island. The archipelago is also home to the five-

experienced divers can drift with the current

star Yasawa Island Resort, with 18 luxury

alongside hundreds of grey reef sharks, plus

bungalows, unspoilt beaches and a private airstrip.

manta rays, stingrays and show-off fish galore.

Audley Travel (01993 838 800; audleytravel.com)

Original Diving (0207 978 0505; originaldiving.com)

offers a 10-day trip to Fiji, combining three nights’

offers a seven-night trip to Rangiroa from £3,100

b&b on Viti Levu with a seven-night Yasawa

per person, including international and domestic

Islands cruise (full board) from £4,320 per person, Water world Clockwise from above: diving in Tiputa Pass, Rangiroa; a canoeist off Moorea, near the island of Tahiti; and a beach sign in the Cook Islands

flights, transfers, six nights at the luxury Hotel Kia Ora in a beach bungalow with breakfast,

including flights and transfers, travelling in July.

SOUTH PACIFIC ODYSSEY

plus a package of six dives per person, travelling

Easter Island to Tahiti

year-round.

Always wanted to sail the South Seas? You can

TREASURE ISLAND

fulfil this dream on a 22-night “In the Wake of the

Upolu, Samoa

Bounty” voyage aboard the 57-suite MS

There are many things to admire about the author

Caledonian Sky. After flying into Easter Island,

Robert Louis Stevenson, but perhaps the greatest

with its colossal and enigmatic moais, the ship

is that when he went travelling in the South Seas

sails west to the remote Pitcairn Islands, where

he took his widowed mother, Maggie, with him.

Bounty mutineers set up home in 1790. Later

Villa Vailima, the splendid home he built in 1890

ports of call include the rarely visited Gambier

on the north coast of Upolu for his extended

Islands in French Polynesia, and the Marquesas,

family, is one of the chief attractions in this green

which is the island group farthest from any

and welcoming two-island nation. A former

continental land mass.

German colony, Samoa is one of the best places

Noble Caledonia (020 7752 0000; noble-caledonia.

to tune into modern Polynesian culture – it hasn’t

co.uk) offers a trip departing on November 14

sold out to tourism, but there are decent beach

2015, from £10,495 per person including flights,

resorts and you can have great fun exploring by

full board, excursions, transfers and hotel

hire car. The flower-filled country lanes are clean

accommodation with breakfast.

and the heavily tattooed Samoans manifest a deep love for family values, rugby and corned beef, with 95 per cent of islanders going to church every Sunday dressed in blazing white.

Transpacific Holidays (01342 840 555; transpacificholidays.co.uk) offers 10 nights at the Sinalei Reef Resort from £2,929 per person including flights via Auckland, transfers and breakfast, travelling from May 1.

ROUND THE WORLD WITH THE FAMILY

Vanua Levu, Fiji

The South Pacific is so far away it provides a perfect excuse to circle the globe – and why not take the kids along? Try an adventure for the summer holidays that begins with three nights in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, and concludes with another three in Hong Kong, staying at the InterContinental Hong Kong. In-between is a week at the Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Islands Resort (above) in Vanua Levu, Fiji, a former coconut plantation with a spa, diving, a marine biologist and a free kids club. Rooms are thatched bures.

The trip costs from £5,490 per adult and £4,998 per child from Exsus (0207 337 9010; exsus.com), and includes full board and transfers in Fiji, and flights with British Airways and Fiji Airways, travelling between June 1 and August 31.

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SOUTH PACIFIC HOW TO DO IT GETTING THERE

flies from Santiago to Tahiti via

that the Cook Islands are on the

back local currency when

Los Angeles is the principal

Easter Island. Routes via Asia to

other side of the International

leaving. Take euros (for French

gateway to the South Pacific.

Fiji include departures from

Date Line to New Zealand.

Polynesia), New Zealand dollars

From here, there are onward

Seoul with Korean Air (00800

WHEN TO GO

(for the Cook Islands) and

flights to Tahiti with Air Tahiti Nui

0656 2001; koreanair.com) and

The weather is generally

US dollars.

(0844 482 1675; airtahitinui.co.

Hong Kong with Fiji Airways.

best from May to September.

MORE INFORMATION

uk), to the Cook Islands with Air

Samoa can be reached from

June to August is high season,

South Pacific (£19.99, Lonely

New Zealand (0800 028 4149;

Auckland with Air New Zealand,

when flights and hotels need

Planet) covers the region in

airnewzealand.co.uk), and to Fiji

from Fiji with Fiji Airways, and

to be booked well in advance.

depth. Useful websites

with Fiji Airways (001 800 227

from Australia with Virgin Samoa

MONEY

are tahiti-tourisme.co.uk,

4446; fijiairways.com). Lan Chile

(0800 051 1281; virginsamoa.

Sterling is not easily exchanged,

samoa.travel, cookislands.travel,

(0845 098 0140; lanchile.com)

com). When booking flights, note

and it can be hard to change

fiji.travel and spto.org.

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A N N I V E R SA RY

Plane sailing Traversing a sea of dunes in Namibia, where there is nothing but sand, whale skeletons and shipwrecks

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YEARS OF ULTRATRAVEL

Over the past decade, our contributors have traversed the globe in search of extraordinary experiences. Here they select their most thrilling, from soaring above the Namib and hearing a lone Arctic bird sing to driving a classic car from Peking to Paris

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I HAD LAST SEEN THESE TEMPLES 30 YEARS AGO; THEY HAD LOST NONE OF THEIR MAGIC Burmese days: The magnificent Buddhist temple complex in Bagan, Mandalay, in Burma, which dates from the 9th century. Globetrotter Chris Caldicott found the site even more astonishing on his second visit

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special

Hearing a songbird sing in the Arctic

Namibia’s Skeleton Coast, nose pressed to the

Burma itself was experiencing an optimistic

SARA WHEELER

window, and far below a deadly frill of surf and

new dawn: the monks had defied the generals

It was one of those perfect Arctic days when

the rib cages of wrecked ships rammed nose-first

and Aung San Suu Kyi had just been released.

ocean and sky compete to achieve the most

into the beach. Every so often, through big fat

It was a moment of pure joy.

vulgar blue. My Russian ice-breaker had anchored

headphones, crackled the German accent of the

theultimatetravelcompany.co.uk

off the western extremity of Franz Josef Land, a

one of the Schoeman brothers piloting the plane,

chain of uninhabited islands crouched along the

pointing out fat seals and dashing ostriches,

rim of the Barents Sea. A Zodiac ferried me to

a 19th-century diamond concession, an oxcart,

DOUGLAS ROGERS

land and, as my boot crunched on to the tundra,

a line of wheelbarrows. It was romantic and

In the summer of 2012, as Baz Luhrmann’s

I heard a snow bunting sing. I had spent many

exciting and our Centurion II was a proper bush

version of The Great Gatsby was about to be

years writing about the Antarctic, and thought

plane. We skittered down to see things and slept

released, I visited New York, Newport and

it was a love affair that its northern counterpart

in camps with bucket showers, outdoor loos and

Nantucket in search of the playgrounds of

could never break. But the trill of a small

skies full of stars. There’s luxury for you.

21st-century Gatsbys. On Nantucket on my last

black-and-white bird changed everything. The

cazenoveandloyd.com

evening I found myself in the crowded bar of The

Antarctic is too cold for a single songbird to breed. The Arctic, I realised, is about life – and I

Living like Gatsby in Nantucket

Summer House, a rose-splashed, Twenties-style,

Revisiting the pagodas in Bagan

cedar-shingle hotel in the quaint village of

CHRIS CALDICOTT

Siasconset. Regulars sipped gin gimlets at

Standing alone at dawn in 2010 on the highest

the bar, a musician played Cole Porter tunes on

platform of one of the mighty ancient pagodas

a white piano, and at midnight a group of preppy

JOHN SIMPSON

in Bagan (above), watching the tropical sun do

girls in sequined dresses, with feathers in their

After a lifetime’s travel, one journey stands out

battle with the morning mists to reveal another

hair, arrived from a party, sipping champagne

with particular prominence: taking a luxuriously

hundred pagodas scattered over the Irrawaddy

from the bottle. I walked outside to the cliffs

fitted-out Russian train (right) from Yekaterinburg

floodplain, I was moved to tears. The last time

overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. A vintage car

to Ulan Batur. Merely setting down the names

I had seen this unforgettable sight had been

hooted as it drove past me, the couple inside

brings back the memories: the calm, determined

30 years previously and it had lost none of its

laughing and waving, lit by moonlight. It was

movement of the train through the Siberian night,

magic. In fact, this time it was even better, as

a dreamlike experience, a scene straight out

was a faithless lover. quarkexpeditions.com

Taking the train to Ulan Batur

the brilliant food, the amusing fellow travellers,

of Fitzgerald. I had found the playground.

the trips to extraordinary places, the blue ice of

scottdunn.com

the world’s most beautiful lake, Baikal. My wife and little boy and I still reminisce about it

Visiting Captain Scott’s hut

endlessly. One day we’ll do the full journey, from

PETER HUGHES

St Petersburg to Vladivostok. That’s a lot of

Two thick, blue-bound volumes dominated my

zakuski, quite a lot of Russian novel-reading, some

childhood bookshelves. Scott’s Last Expedition

excellent conversation, and a certain amount of

embodied the values of my parents’ generation.

vodka. I can’t wait. goldeneagleluxurytrains.com

So to travel by Russian ice-breaker to Antarctica from those rough-cut pages was for me a

Flying above Namibia

pilgrimage. At Cape Evans, half buried in snow,

SOPHIE CAMPBELL

squatted the wooden hut from which in 1911

I wouldn’t call myself a private plane sort of gal,

Captain Scott set out for the South Pole, never

but I won’t forget buzzing along in the blue above

to return. Inside were the long mess table and

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wooden bunks – “tenements” Scott called

detour. The adventurer Tore Albrigtsen leads

them – that illustrate his journals. Fry’s Cocoa,

dog-sledding treks through the valleys

and Colmans Mustard stocked the shelves. There

surrounding his cabin and we would be his last

was a faint smell of habitation, leather and soot.

customers of the day. We glided through

In his final diary entry Scott wrote: “Had we lived,

unblemished mountain paths, transported from

I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood,

our daily lives – no noise, no traffic and, then, no

endurance and courage of my companions

light. Albrigtsen quenched our head lamps so the

which would have stirred the heart of every

full moon and blaze of stars could illuminate our

Englishman.” It stirred mine.

path. And then another unsettlement: a milky hue

theultimatetravelcompany.co.uk

swirled into life behind a snow-capped peak. The

The Peking to Paris classic-car rally MICHELLE JANA CHAN

Driving a 1940 Ford Coupe, my co-driver Mike

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A N N I V E R SA RY

Touring the Deep South GRAHAM BOYNTON

Anyone who has grown up with the sounds of the Everly Brothers, Muddy Waters, Elvis and Otis Redding ringing in their ears will understand why a driving trip through the America’s beautiful South was my perfect road trip of the past decade.

This drive took in Alabama’s Muscle Shoals and Tupelo (where Elvis was born), Clarksdale where Robert Johnson did a deal with the devil and thus

Northern Lights had switched on to guide us

created the blues, and Memphis and Nashville,

home. activetromso.no

those hothouses of 20th-century popular music.

The music is still there today in concert halls,

Hiking in North Devon

honky tonks and gospel churches, and these great

Reeves and I crossed the start line at the Great

FIONA BRUCE

centres are connected by wonderful rolling

Wall of China. Ahead were 33 days across the Gobi

As we set off up the very steep hill leading

countryside and populated by the friendliest

Desert, the Mongolian grasslands, the Russian

skywards from the centre of Lynmouth on the

people on earth. clevelandcollection.co.uk

Steppes and the Alps – to Paris. This was a simple,

Devon coast, I began to regret that I’d agreed to

uncluttered life dominated by the measurements

come on a detox with nine girlfriends. Four days of

of time and distance, and finding the strength and

no carbs, no dairy, no meat, no sugar and no

CHRIS MOSS

stamina to fix a broken car every night. Driving

caffeine plus lots of exercise was taking its toll.

I’d always longed to drive the Ruta 40. When I lived

down the Avenue des Champs-Elysées, placed

With much grumbling I trudged up and up and up,

in Buenos Aires in the Nineties this long, lonely

third, I remember already missing the rally and the

and at the top emerged on to the South West

highway – which skirts the Andes mountains and

rhythm of life on the road. endurorally.com

Coastal Path with a view all the way to Wales. The

runs the length of Argentina – was the source of

sun blazed on to a sea so blue it could have been

many fables: there were no petrol stations,

the south of France. For the next four hours we

a breakdown was fatal, the road just disappeared

ALAIN DUCASSE

trekked through the Valley of the Rocks, past wild

in places. In 2012, I flew to Bariloche and drove the

Although the Château de Versailles is a

goats grazing on gem-green pasture, through

southern section. My 1,000-mile road trip took in

mainstream tourist destination, just off the

waist-high ferns, brushing past heather studding

the Welsh settlement, the town where Butch and

beaten path is the Hameau de la Reine, built

the hillside with bursts of colour. It was

Sundance ranched, the Perito Moreno glacier, the

for Marie Antoinette: a hamlet of about a dozen

breathtakingly beautiful. As I perched on Castle

country-style cottages, built at the request of

Rock, 1,200ft above sea level, and tucked into my

Louis XVI’s spouse. Each is surrounded by a small,

meagre detox snack of three dried apricots and

delightful garden. I never thought this place would

five walnuts, I decided the self denial had been

be interested in growing local organic vegetables.

worth it, just to experience this moment.

But I was wrong. When I opened my restaurant at

yeotown.com

Back to nature in Versailles

the Plaza Athénée, I asked Versailles’ chief

A road trip along Ruta 40, Argentina

THE GARDENS ARE, TO ME, AS PLEASURABLE AS THE CHATEAU

gardener, Alain Baraton, whether he would

Strait of Magellan, and a string of lakes and towering mountains – including the pinnacles of the beautiful Fitz Roy Massif. It was my greatest Patagonian experience to date; now all that remains is to go back and drive the northern bit – 1,900 miles all the way to Bolivia. audleytravel.com

Hiking to Machu Picchu

consider turning these ornamental gardens back into working vegetable gardens to supply my

ANTHONY HOROWITZ

kitchen and, to my surprise, he said yes. So today,

Nothing has quite beaten the excitement, the

when you visit these charming kitchen gardens,

magnificence and the sheer exhaustion of

they are again carefully cultivated with tomatoes,

my journey to Machu Picchu with my (then)

potatoes, carrots, peas, turnips… the nicest and

teenage son, Nicholas. The spectacular scenery

most delicious vegetables. Seeing them, to me, is

of the Andes, the sheer impossibility of the city

equally as pleasurable as the château (right) itself.

itself, reached on foot after three days’ walking –

chateauversailles.fr/jardins-parc

these were the climax of a wonderful trip to Peru.

The journey was part bonding experience, part

A heli-picnic in New Zealand

research for a novel, but every part of it was an

LISA GRAINGER

adventure. Some of the highlights? A tree in our

I had already been won over by the generosity of

camp in the jungle coming alive at night with

the South Island’s people by the time I got to

giant tarantulas; the Inca city of Huinay Huayna

Queenstown. Stopping for petrol on the winding

with its narrow staircase at the end of which

road from Christchurch, I’d been offered still-warm

prisoners were forced to throw themselves to

cake by the garage-owner. At lunch, picnickers

their deaths; flying over the Nazca Lines: one of

had offered me a mug of steaming clam chowder

the greatest mysteries in the world. And staying

when I stopped for a roadside break by a beach,

French elegance: the gardens at Versailles, above, and a heli-picnic in New Zealand, below

at the gorgeous Belmond Hotel Monasterio in

which I happily sipped while watching dolphins

Cusco. We both loved every minute.

out at sea. When that afternoon I met my partner

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beside Lake Wanaka, and the cheerful Louisa “Choppy” Patterson offered us a ride in her

Canoeing the Mississippi

helicopter (right), dropping us off on a mountain-

MAX DAVIDSON

top with a blanket, picnic basket, iced bottle of

Very few canoeists venture on the southern

wine and gramophone player, with a stack of jazz

Mississippi, one of the last great wildernesses

records, my day had been made. She left us there,

in America. But in 2007 I was lucky enough to be

alone, for 40 minutes, with only eagles swirling

one of them, paddling south from Clarksdale,

above us, crackling music echoing in the air and

home of the blues, with John Ruskey, founder of

an occasional cloud passing by as we grinned,

the Quapaw Canoe Company, and his brother. Like

then giggled, then raised our glasses to the

Huckleberry Finn before us, we spent an idyllic

kindness of strangers. flynz.co.nz

few days meandering through the Mississippi

Dog-sledding in Norway

Delta, camping on sandbanks, cooking over open fires, skinny-dipping and admiring the pristine

JOHN O’CEALLAIGH

landscape. Eagles, beavers, white-tailed deer,

That winter morning, sailing in the Arctic Sea, we

exotically-coloured butterflies – all were drawn

had seen humpback and killer whales, but by

to the vast, mysterious river, gliding past

midday darkness was falling. It was time to return

in ghostly silence. I have never felt farther from

to Tromso, Norway’s northernmost city. But first a

home or closer to nature. island63.com

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I STUMBLED INTO MOONLIGHT AND DARKNESS, FOOTSTEPS ECHOING

City of lights Matera, in Italy’s Basilicata. Below: Sextantio Le Grotte della Civetta, a luxury hotel within the city’s sassi, or cave dwellings. Below right: Palazzo Margherita, a nearby hotel owned by director Francis Ford Coppola

Walking Matera by moonlight TIM JEPSON

I lived in Italy for years before visiting Matera, a town in Basilicata, in the country’s deep south. How I wish I’d found it earlier. It’s known for its sassi, ancient caves inhabited until a generation ago, and part of a townscape as extraordinary, in its way, as Venice. A balmy night spent exploring its labyrinth was one of the most enchanting of my travelling life. All was silence and shadows, full of dead ends, courtyards and sudden vistas. Wonderfully lost, I stumbled into moonlight and darkness, footsteps echoing, not a soul in sight. One minute all was golden stone and timeworn cobbles, the next, sinister facades and the black of abandoned caves. I could have walked until dawn. baileyrobinson.com

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1O

TH

special

A N N I V E R SA RY

through the swirling fury of gases, enjoy a peek into hell. The volcanic day continued as I sailed over warm water fumaroles in the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Aeolian Islands. On Stromboli I joined an evening climb to the mouth of the fire mountain.

At the top, Stromboli boomed and hurled huge fireballs into the inky sky. Later, safely back on the boat with fellow summiteers, we watched Europe’s best fireworks display and toasted the volcano with sweet Malvasia wine as ash fell like

Exploring Papua New Guinea NIGEL TISDALL

WE ATE A LAVISH MEAL ON THE SANDBAR, AND THEN MADE A DASH FOR IT

perfect beach, the odd thump of a coconut,

one day. thinksicily.com

and little scuttling hermit crabs. We strung up

Watching penguins in South Georgia

hammocks, slung our food in the branches (to

MARK CARWARDINE

keep it away from the crabs) and settled in. Days

The highlight of any visit to the remote and

were spent snorkelling in a kaleidoscope of tropical

staggeringly beautiful island of South Georgia – a

fish and hacking open coconuts. And staring at

mere cartographic speck in the immensity of the

the hypnotic wash of the waves, the shimmering

Southern Ocean – is St Andrews Bay. Against a

mountainous interior, no one knew it was home to

sand, the waxy leaves overhead. It was the most

phenomenal mountainous backdrop, 150,000

a million people with a near-Stone Age lifestyle.

magical week. andamans.gov.in

breeding pairs of king penguins crowd the beach

“Does England have the sea?” ask the Huli Wigmen. Adorned with feathers, shells, bones and tin-can lids, the tribes of Papua New Guinea’s Southern Highlands guarantee an entertaining, if anarchic, encounter. Until the Thirties, when an Australian gold prospector ventured into this

Now the digital age has arrived, but this wild, hot,

in a spectacle that takes your breath away. The

damp and exuberant country still feels

Camping at Lake Baringo in Kenya

exceedingly raw and untamed. Search for birds of

ALICE TEMPERLEY

I knew immediately that South Georgia was going

paradise in the Tari Valley, trek the Kokoda Track,

For me, the ultimate luxury is to be remote and

to become one of my favourite places on earth.

with its gruesome memories of the Second World

unconnected: at one with nature. My favourite

With 50 million seabirds and more than five million

War, disappear into the remote backwaters of the

memory is waking up as a child in an open hut

seals crammed on to an island the size of Essex,

Sepik River, climb the active volcanoes of New

with a thatched roof, in a huge bed on a little

it bombards you with sensory overload at

Britain – wherever you go, it will undoubtedly be

island on Lake Baringo, Kenya. It was the middle

every turn. wildlifeworldwide.com

an adventure. originaltravel.co.uk

of the night and hippopotamuses were grazing

first time I set eyes on this avian Glastonbury

on the grass a few metres from our bed. My father

Sailing in Greece

whispered that we were not to move. In the

AMANDA WAKELEY

CHARLES STARMER-SMITH

morning we woke to tiny hummingbirds eating

Recently we fell under the spell of the island of

Brochures often paint a romantic picture of the

from a sugar bowl and later that day swam in the

Delos – the mythical birthplace of Apollo and

Wild West, of days spent in the saddle as you drive

lake with freshwater crocodiles that we were

Artemis and an island of incredible magnetism to

cattle over mountain, pasture and plain, and

(wrongly) told were friendly. Memories and

ocean voyagers for five millennia. Over the

spend evenings huddled around camp fires. But

magical experiences like this I will treasure for

summer we sailed there on our 98ft Savannah, but

few can deliver anything more than a sugar-

ever and always try to create for my son, Fox.

stayed too long, and when we decided to leave,

coated pastiche of the real thing. The Hideout in

elephantwatchsafaris.com

had the full force of a 60-knot Meltemi gale to

Learning to be a cowboy in Wyoming

Wyoming (below right), was one of the rare

contend with. Boy, did we sail! At times we were

exceptions. The ranch may offer salubrious

Viewing Etna by helicopter

surroundings, but here under the big skies of the

JOHNNY MORRIS

spite of our boat weighing 60 tons. As we drew

Big Horn mountains, wranglers are still born into

Fire and water, the rough with the smooth – it is

closer to Sounion, 42 miles from Delos, the wind

the saddle-and-spurs life of the Old West. Cattle

the contrasts that make the best trips. In western

dropped and we coasted into the beautiful and

are branded and castrated, and the herding work

Sicily I left the comforts of the Don Arcangelo

deserted bay in time to climb up to the 400BC

every guest takes part in is very real and very

all’Olmo villa for a helicopter ride over the craters

Temple of Poseidon to admire a perfect sunset.

of Mount Etna. Flying above the molasses-black

Although our boat is kept in St-Tropez, it’s to

lava I could stare under the skin of our planet and,

Greece we keep returning. It’s always incredible.

necessary. It is also very likely the most magical experience of my travelling life. thehideout.com

Dinner on a sandbar LEE DANIZ; 4 CORNERS; LAIF/CAMERA PRESS; JOE PLIMMER; SIMON JOHN OWEN

snow into the sea. Visions of heaven and hell all in the Andamans, and we were alone. Just us, the

Cocktail hour Top: Baros island in the Maldives.

Above: Mount Etna in Sicily erupting. Below: a cowboy herding on a ranch in Wyoming

going 15 knots and were occasionally airborne, in

visitgreece.gr

PIERS MORGAN

Climbing a volcano in Venezuela

My wife, Celia, and I had dinner on a sandbar in the

RICHARD MADDEN

middle of the ocean in the Maldives on the night

Reality rarely lives up to the imagination. But in the

Obama got elected. The sandbar (top) appears only

case of the Venezuelan tepuis, those magnificent

once every six weeks and the staff of Baros resort

flat-topped table mountains towering 2,000ft

drove us out in speedboats, then prepared

above the rolling pampas below, it most certainly

a lavish meal right there. At 11pm, the water started

does. The Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s tale

lapping in and we had to make a dash for it. Within

of a pterodactyl-infested wilderness where

15 minutes, it was gone. baros.com

evolution came to a full stop in the Jurassic age,

Camping in the Andamans

was a noir flight of fancy based on the reports of the first European explorers. Canaima National

FRANCISCA KELLETT

Park, as it’s now known, still feels like a parallel

It was like that scene in The Beach, where

universe, but you no longer have to fear being

Leonardo DiCaprio first sets eyes on the white

eaten alive. The walking is easy, but the six-day trek

sand and turquoise water and realises he’s found

to the summit of Mount Roraima and back is

paradise. The only things missing were the granite

a more authentic wilderness experience than

cliffs and the hippies. We were on Long Island in

many crowded Himalayan trails. exodus.co.uk

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Hoofing it across the plains Wildebeest charge by a Land Rover, main image. From right: The Sanctuary Ngorongoro Crater Camp; Maasai shepherds; elephants stop to feed

A new self-drive, off-road adventure through the northern Serengeti is a thrilling way

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THOUSANDS OF WILDEBEEST WERE FILLING EVERY INCH OF THE LANDSCAPE

T

he storm clouds had been gathering for some time but we were just a few hundred metres from our camp when the first droplets of rain finally spattered against the windscreen. When you hail from Blighty you rarely welcom welcome a downpour on your travels, but this was one of the few exceptions. exc The rains had come early to the plains of northe northern Serengeti and they had attracted quite a crowd.

As w we bounced through the scrubland the clipped Zimbab Zimbabwean voice of our guide, Glen Dennis, came over the radio. “OK, “ guys, just stop there,” he said, as we duly slowed to a halt halt. “Switch off your engines and stay still.”

Dusk was approaching, but ahead the dark silhouettes of thousands of wildebeest were unmistakable, filling every inch of the dusty landscape. The migration had made an early return from the Masaai Mara in search of the fresh grass shoots of the Serengeti – and we had front-row seats to witness it.

Everywhere we turned wildebeest snorted, bleated and scraped at the earth, staring quizzically at our fleet of sparkling white Land Rovers.

The distant clap of thunder was enough to spook one of the herd. He bucked and charged, prompting a chain reaction.

Within seconds the Serengeti soil was shaking with the sound of pounding hooves as the herd thundered south, following their inner compass, dust clouds rising in their wake. I let the camera, which until now had been engaged in a flurry of furious clicks, zooms and whirrs, fall in to my lap. Some of life’s great spectacles are better etched into the memory than on to the memory card.

The tell-tale signs of the migration had been there when we spotted large numbers of zebra and impala the previous day, but you never know in the Serengeti – a few thousand wildebeest can disappear in an area bigger than Northern Ireland and four times that of the mighty Masaai Mara. Within

Mass movement More than a million wildebeest migrate from the Maasai Mara to the Serengeti in rainy season. Above: Arriving at camp

LCKI8KI8M<C

a few weeks the siringet (endless plain) would be teeming with a million and a half wildebeest and 200,000 zebra and gazelle (each feeds on different section of the grass in this complicated ecosystem). Here they stay to mate and calve in the early months of the year before starting their migration again.

The rain was also welcome because it gave us a chance to put our vehicles through their paces. A new partnership between Land Rover and Abercrombie & Kent had seen the purveyors of the quintessential off-road vehicle link up with the travel company which made its name in Africa when Geoffrey Kent first headed in to the bush with a Bedford truck and his mother’s sterling-silver ice bucket.

Fifty years on and the formula has not changed – real safaris in real style.

So this was glamping – think electricity, hot water, real beds and butlers – but it still felt authentic. You may be able to find more luxurious camps, but you will not find better locations. Each of the Sanctuary camps was set up in the heart of the bush – you dine by candle light and drift off to sleep to the cackle, growl and bleat of hyena, lion and wildebeest. Our vehicles, a fleet of the latest Land Rover Discoverys, combined high-tech, leather-lined comfort with high performance.

So can anyone do it? Yes, if you have a licence and a thirst for adventure. With constant instruction and encouragement over the radio, the basics of off-road driving quickly become second nature. What is more, the

LCKI8KI8M<C

Natural high From top: a hot-air balloon trip gives a bird’s-eye view of the Serengeti at dawn; a lion cub seeks shade by the car; Charles Starmer-Smith, centre, enjoys sundowners around the campfire

HOW TO DO IT An eight-day, seven-night Land Rover Adventure Travel safari by Abercrombie & Kent (01242 858 279; abercrombiekent.co.uk/landrover) in Tanzania costs from £7,995 per person, plus park fees (from £475 per person). The self-drive route takes in the Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire National Park. The price includes Land Rover vehicle hire (based on two sharing), accommodation on a full-board basis (including two nights at the exclusive Sanctuary luxury mobile camp at Ngorongoro Crater), guiding and all technical support. International flights with KLM, flying to Kilimanjaro via Amsterdam, cost from £650 per person.

GETTY

W

A LIONESS STROLLED PAST, WHILE HER CUB TOOK SHADE BY THE WHEEL OF OUR CAR cars are incredibly forgiving. Whether it was careering over unseen rocks or heading through deep mud that followed the rains, the car would correct itself, making the driver feel as if a rally career might be on the cards.

We had flown in to Kilimanjaro and spent the first night at Arusha Coffee Lodge, from where we set off the next morning. It was a fairly inauspicious start: traffic clogged the tarmac road into Arusha as we dodged swarms of piki pikis, the local name for the ubiquitous motorbikes that buzzed around us like pesky mosquitoes. The loquacious Glen, who was leading our seven-strong convoy, called it a town of “misfits, mercenaries and missionaries”, and it certainly had that frontier feel.

Glen has criss-crossed Africa as a guide and ranger, but maintains that nowhere compares with the Serengeti.

Unfailingly enthusiastic and informative about its flora and fauna, he was complemented by Phillip Koimere, a Masaai, and A&K’s representative, who explained the cultural and social challenges that his people face. This is the point of these trips – combining the thrill and spills of a self-drive adventure with the insights of expert guides.

The urban concrete sprawl of Arusha was soon replaced by traditional wooden bomas and the cherub-like faces of impossibly young Masaai boys shepherding their goats.

We skirted Lake Manyara before crossing the floor of the Great Rift Valley. Phillip explained that urbanisation and access to education had put the squeeze on the Masaai’s pastoral way of life, with young men seeking new lives in the city, leaving boys as young as five to tend to the herds.

But it was only when we climbed up on to the escarpment of the Ngorongoro Crater that we felt the adventure had begun. Beneath us lay an amphitheatre of African life. This, the world’s largest caldera, is rich in wildlife: lion, elephant, hippo and rhino and myriad species of birds roam its plains, savannah, lakes and forests.

No sooner had we descended on to the caldera’s verdant floor than we’d spotted a lioness and her cubs basking in the sun. The female strolled right by us, while one of the youngest cubs took shade against the wheel of our vehicle.

It set the tone for the coming days as we covered some 500 miles in the cars, enjoying our fair share of off-road high jinks as we climbed over kopjes (little hills), churned through mud pools and bounced across riverbeds. We witnessed nature at its most beautiful – herds of elephants trundling through woodlands at sunset, packs of hyenas stalking their prey at dawn and waterholes teeming with hippo. We witnessed the ever-changing landscapes from Kilimanjaro in the east to the uplands near the Masaai Mara border in the north, from lush rainforest and pungent soda lakes to arid plains and towering cliffs. We passed Simba kopje, which inspired Pride Rock in The Lion King, and spotted several prides of lion. (Such was the success of the film that the Masaai have felt the need to create a new word for lion. It still remains a secret, unless Disney hijacks that one, too.)

Heart rates rose as we nearly got charged by one of the most dangerous animals in the bush – the Cape buffalo.

“They remind me of my bank manager,” quipped Glenn, “aggressive, angry and never pleased to see me.” e also witnessed nature at its most raw. A lone baby elephant wandered lost on the roadside.

Our hearts sank when we saw a flock of vultures circling above a large carcass a short distance away. There was only one conclusion: the baby elephant had been orphaned and rejected by the rest of the herd – a scene that is all too familiar in the poaching-ravaged world of Africa. But we did not see everything – leopard and rhino remained unmarked on the card. And rightly so. For me, it is the thrill of the unknown that makes a safari special – the small private reserves where the Big Five are available on tap hold little appeal.

Back in Sanctuary Serengeti Migration Camp we were greeted by butlers carrying platters of cold towels, and even colder gin and tonics, as we settled around the campfire to recall the day’s events.

If being behind the wheel gives you a better feel for the changing landscape and terrain of the Serengeti, it is only from the air that you can understand its scale.

We awoke long before first light to a welcome flask of fresh coffee that had been slipped in to each tent, before clambering into our vehicles for the short journey to the take-off zone where our balloon’s giant canopy was already stretched out on the grass. Our madcap pilot strolled over – Captain Kim from South Korea.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I have been doing this for 27 years and am still alive. Hah!” We smiled nervously. He later told us that he learnt his craft entirely from a manual – the first time he soared 10,000ft before crash-landing into a tree. The second time he took the roof off a house.

But we needn’t have worried. We barely noticed the take-off, silently gliding upwards, except for the occasional roar of the gas-powered flames.

We had risen early for a very good reason. Slowly, the sun inched over the horizon, its warm fingers bringing the bushveld to life. Below, a family of warthogs scurried across open scrubland, a kori bustard enjoyed an early morning stroll, two young impala played tag while their skittish parents looked on, seeming to instinctively know that dawn means dinner-time for predators. Nearby, a giraffe bent to drink from a stream, eyes scanning left and right as a pair of elephants lumbered through the undergrowth. A pair of hyenas trotted across a dry riverbed, and a pride of cats sat licking their chops at the sight of a black river of wildebeest flowing across the plains ahead.

An hour and a half slipped by in a heartbeat, but as we came in to land at Seronera we were treated to a glorious finale. A cheetah tore out from the undergrowth chasing a wild hare, arching its body as it cornered sharply, its tail acting as a rudder to help it balance. It came within a whisker of its prey.

With broad smiles, we climbed down from the balloon to be whisked off for a champagne bush breakfast and to toast what was one of life’s real bucket-list experiences.

In fact, the same could be said of this whole Serengeti adventure. Just one word of warning: a game drive might never be the same again.

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LUXURY UNDER SAIL WITH NOBLE CALEDONIA – BOOK EARLY AND SAVE £500 PER PERSON

Island Hopping in the West Indies A voyage under sail from Barbados to Antigua aboard the magnifcent Sea Cloud II - 18th February to 3rd March 2016 BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS

Just when winter seems to be endless, it is the perfect time to escape to the warmth and beauty of the West Indies.

There is a reason why people continue to visit the Caribbean, it is because, quite simply nothing else compares.

From the stunning Pitons of St Lucia, rising majestically from the sea, to the captivating charm of IIes des Saintes, each island we visit will offer the opportunity to experience something new and unique, and by and large we will head for the smaller less visited places. Occasionally our paths will cross with the mega-factory like cruise ships and it is at such times we will appreciate even more how fortunate we are to be enjoying our classic ship that embodies all the best sailing traditions. Having operated voyages in the region for many years aboard Sea Cloud II we know the waters between the Grenadines in the south and the British Virgin Islands in the north provide the perfect sailing conditions for such a vessel and we have therefore planned the itinerary to ensure ample sailing time allowing you to relax on deck in the warmth and enjoy the majesty of the vessel.

Tortola

Jost Van Dyke

Prickly Pear Cays Anguilla

St Barts

St Kitts

Antigua

Iles des Saintes Dominica

Martinique St Lucia

Barbados Bequia

Tobago Cays Union Island Grenada

The Itinerary Day 1 - London to Barbados. Fly by scheduled fight.

Upon arrival transfer to Sea Cloud II and embark. Set sail after dinner.

Day 2 - Grenada, Lesser Antilles. Spend the morning at sea and this afternoon moor in the picturesque capital of St George’s to explore this wonderful windward Island which many regard as the most beautiful in the Caribbean. It is a lush and verdant island with spice plantations, tropical forests, secluded coves, nature trails and select hotels which cling to the hillsides overlooking the ocean.

Sea Cloud II

Day 3 - Tobago Cays & Union Island, Grenadines.

Whilst there are many large sailing ships offering passages around the world there are few if any that can compare in terms of luxury to Sea Cloud II. Watching the 29,600 square feet of sails being set by hand is a truly magical sight. Standing on the dock and looking up at the vessel you cannot help but be impressed by the sheer majesty of the vessel. Walk up the gangway and on to the deck and it is even more impressive.

And, the splendour does not end here; below deck is a sumptuous world of traditional maritime infuences with 21st century luxuries. Well appointed cabins and public areas create a restful atmosphere totally in keeping with the overall grandeur of the vessel.

Built to accommodate 96 passengers in fve star luxury, she offers a range of beautifully appointed suites and cabins which are furnished with great style. All accommodations have outside views and the bathrooms are unusually spacious and extremely comfortable. No expense has been spared to create a sympathetic ambience in both the accommodations and public areas and this is refected throughout the vessel. Public areas include an elegant lounge, library, ftness centre, boutique, lido bar and hospital. The single sitting dining room is airy and modern and the quality of the cuisine and service will be to the highest of standards, as one would expect on a Sea Cloud II cruise. Relax on the Lido deck and experience the natural grandeur of travelling under sail, rekindling memories of a bygone age.

Right in the south of the Grenadines are Union Island and the Tobago Cays. Four small uninhabited islands, surrounded by a protective horseshoe-shaped coral reef, form the Tobago Cays which has been designated a National Marine Park. Union Island is nicknamed the ‘Tahiti of the West Indies’ due to its volcanic silhouette. This morning enjoy a catamaran tour of the Tobago Cays which will include time for snorkelling and swimming and then before lunch our Zodiacs will take us ashore to the beautiful and deserted beach at Chatham Bay for a beach BBQ.

Day 4 - Bequia, Grenadines. This delightful Grenadine island is totally unspoilt, a place of pure escapism in a charming old world atmosphere. This morning we will tender ashore and visit the Hegg Turtle Sanctuary followed by time to relax on one of the stunning beaches or for some swimming or snorkelling.

Day 5 - St Lucia. Morning visit to St Lucia, a splendidly rugged island of towering Mountains, lush green valleys and acres of banana plantations. Because of its strategic position, it was fought over repeatedly by the French and British and changed hands fourteen times.

We shall anchor off the island insight of its best known feature, the twin peaks of the Pitons, which rise dramatically from the sea to more than 2400 feet.

Tender ashore and explore the island independently or on a guided tour including the volcano.

Day 6 - Martinique. Today call into the lovely island of Martinique, birthplace of Napoleon’s beloved Josephine. From our berth in Fort de France explore

the island including the Botanical Gardens and see Diamond Rock, captured by the British in 1804 and held against repeated French attacks. The afternoon is will be at leisure to explore the island independently or relax onboard.

Day 7 - Dominica. Dominica, nicknamed the “Nature Isle” of the Caribbean, is one of the most untouched of the Windward Islands. It boasts some of the highest mountains in the Lesser Antilles, as well as many beautiful national parks. This afternoon we hope to berth in Cabrits and visit the beautifully restored Fort Shirley which successfully repelled a French attack during the Trafalgar campaign in 1805.

Day 8 - Iles des Saintes. The eight island Iles des Saintes archipelago dots the waters off the southwest coast of Guadeloupe. This morning tender ashore and explore the charming town of Tere-de-Haut at leisure or walk up to Fort Napoleon and visit the museum focusing on the Battle of the Saintes.

Day 9 - St Kitts. Untouched by large tourist developments, the island of St Kitts boasts some of the loveliest scenery in the West Indies and an old world charm. This morning we will tender ashore and on our tour of the island, including the Romney Gardens and Fairview Great House, we will receive the friendliest of welcomes.

Day 10 - Tortola, British Virgin Islands. This morning sail through the beautiful island dotted waters of the British Virgin Islands. Anchor off Tortola and Zodiac into the beautiful harbour of Road Town, the busy centre of island life and marine activity. Our afternoon tour will include a scenic drive of the island including a stop at Cane Garden Bay one of the island’s spectacular white sandy beaches.

Day 11 - Jost Van Dyke, British Virgin Islands. Jost van Dyke, the smallest of the main islands in the British Virgin Islands, is a mountainous volcanic object of beauty with fewer than 300 inhabitants. One of them, Foxy, has been mixing his cocktails since 1968 and the bar of the same name enjoys a legendary reputation as perhaps the most famous beach bar in the Lesser Antilles. This morning enjoy relaxing on the beach, snorkelling or perhaps visit Foxy’s Bar.

Day 12 - Anguilla & Prickly Pear Cays. The most northerly of the British Leeward Islands, Anguilla is where you will fnd some of the most stunning beaches in all the Caribbean. This afternoon we will clear the ship in Anguilla before making our way to Prickly Pear Cays where we will go ashore by Zodiac. Prickly Pear is completely deserted apart from two small restaurants and no one lives on the island so it makes for a perfect location to relax or to enjoy some swimming or snorkelling.

Day 13 - St Barts. This tiny French West Indian island is proud of its reputation as a stylish and exclusive tropical resort. It is a very top drawer place and the island’s capital of Gustavia offers gourmet restaurants and smart shops which would not be out of place on the French Riviera.

Day 14 - Antigua to London. Disembark after breakfast and transfer to the airport for your return scheduled fight to London.

Day 15 - London. Morning arrival.

New Brochure Now Available For details pertaining to this voyage and all our voyages aboard Sea Cloud II, please ask for a copy of our new brochure or view online.

Prices and Inclusions Special offer prices per person based on double occupancy range from £6895 for a deluxe double cabin to £8995 for a luxury owner’s suite. Staterooms for sole use from £6895.

Price Includes: Economy class scheduled air travel, 13 nights aboard Sea Cloud II on a full board basis with house wine, beer and soft drinks with lunch and dinner, Noble Caledonia tour manager, guest speaker, shore excursions, gratuities to crew and whilst on excursions, transfers and port taxes.

NB. Ports subject to change and weather conditions. All special offers are subject to availability. Travel insurance and visas are not included in the price. Our current booking conditions apply to all reservations.

Call us today on 020 7752 0000 for your copy of our brochure.

Alternatively view or request online at www.noble-caledonia.co.uk

intelligence ULTRA

EDITED BY LISA GRAINGER

2015

THE SMARTEST TIME TO VISIT EUROPE’S HOTSPOTS? THE OFF-SEASON

J A N UA RY

FEB R UARY

VENICE

ROME

PARIS

Before Carnevale, Italy’s waterside city (right),

The tourist bottlenecks have cleared, so it’s a

The city is just coming into bloom in early

has fewer crowds on its streets and bridges. It

great time to see exhibitions. Catch the final

spring, and you have space to enjoy the

also has a melancholy beauty in this misty

month of the Chiostro del Bramante’s

galleries. See an exhibition by painter Pierre

month and, on January 5, hosts the traditional

(chiostrodelbramante.it) superb retrospective of

Bonnard at the Musée d’Orsay from March 17,

Regata delle Befane, a boat race for over-fifties,

Dutch artist MC Escher, and fill up on pizza

followed by lunch in the pretty dining room, and

who dress up as La Befana, a folkloric witch.

ebraica (fruit and nut cake) at Roman-Jewish

macaroons at the nearby Boulangerie Gosselin

Stay at Aman Canal Grande Venice

bakery Il Boccione (Via del Portico d’Ottavia).

(boulangeriegosselin.com).

(amanresorts.com), where the Clooneys spent

Stay at The calm, elegant Hotel de Russie

Stay at Peninsula Paris (paris.peninsula.com),

their wedding night in September.

(roccofortehotels.com).

close to the Arc de Triomphe.

A PRI L APRIL

JUNE

MAY

PRAGUE

BARCELONA

ST TROPEZ

Browse the Czech capital’s cobbled streets

Barcelona is best after Easter and before

Come before the superyachts and crocodile

and take in the views from the Charles Bridge

June. Even the Museu Picasso, which is packed

tans arrive. Just ahead of the summer season,

without having to share them with dozens

in summer, is bearable in May. Take advantage

the weather is warm and there’s a frisson in the

of hen parties. Visit the serene museum of

of the quieter vibe for a leisurely browse around

air, but the town still feels authentically French

medieval art, the Convent of St Agnes

the city’s slick fashion boutiques, such as

and pleasantly relaxed. Watch boules in the

(ngprague.cz). Avoid the city at Easter.

Coquette (coquettebcn.com) and La Comercial

Place des Lices and savour a lobster lunch at

Stay at Mandarin Oriental (mandarinoriental.

Hombre (lacomercial.info).

Senequier café (senequier.com).

com), housed in a beautiful 14th-century

Stay at Hotel Arts Barcelona (ritzcarlton.com),

Stay at The chic boutique bolthole

monastery in the heart of the capital.

right, filled with hip Spanish artworks.

White 1921 (white1921.com).

JULY

OC TO BE R

ALAMY; FOUR CORNERS; GETTY

MARCH

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

VAL D’ISERE

VERBIER

TUSCANY

Although this is, for many, the ultimate winter

The lift queues can be horrific in winter, but

The children are back at school, the tour buses

playground, this French resort is sensational in

after the snows melt this village slows down

have gone and the fields have taken on an

summer, too. Go canoeing (left), canyoning and

and attracts hikers and bikers. And no wonder –

autumnal hue. September, when the grape and

climbing, white-water rafting and hydro-

Verbier has 28 marked cross-country itineraries

olive harvests begin, is a beautiful month.

speeding (body-boarding down rapids).

(verbinet.com), and more than 300 miles of

Watch a thrilling palio (horse race) in Castel del

Europe’s highest race – the Ice Trail Tarentaise,

mountain-bike routes (en.verbier.ch). Enjoy

Piano on September 8 – an alternative to

a gruelling high-altitude marathon – takes

Valais home-cooking at Le Namaste

the famous, but packed, one in Siena.

place from July 11-12.

(namaste-verbier.ch) in Savoleyres.

Stay at Monteverdi (monteverdituscany.com),

Stay at The sumptuous Marco Polo chalet,

Stay at The funky W (wverbier.com),

a restored 12th-century village hotel in

which sleeps up to 14 (akvillas.com).

which is open throughout the year.

Castiglioncello del Trinoro.

NOV EMB ER

DECEMBER

IBIZA

CYPRUS

FLORENCE

After the superclubs shut their doors, a quiet,

The sea is still warm enough to swim in –

Stroll beside the Arno at the only time of year when locals outnumber tourists. The city offers

laidback, natural vibe reigns on this Balearic

Cyprus is blessed with one of the longest

isle. Explore Ibiza Town, with its 13th-century

summers in Europe. Explore the hiking trails in

fine winter gastronomy: try risotto with

castle and boho galleries, in peace, and go

the Troodos Mountains, which have dozens of

cauliflower and quail at Il Santo Bevitore

bird-watching in Salinas National Park, where

Byzantine churches, such as Asinou with its

(santobevitore.com) and savour fine wines at

you can see flamingos, black-winged stilts,

magnificent 12th-century frescoes (right),

Cantinetta Antinori (cantinetta-antinori.com).

marsh harriers and snowy plovers.

which you can enjoy in solitude.

Stay at Four Seasons (fourseasons.com)

Stay at Atzaró (atzaro.com), a country hotel

Stay at Anassa (anassa.com.cy),

with its Renaissance bas-reliefs.

and spa surrounded by orange groves.

overlooking the sea on the Akamas peninsula.

MICHELLE JANA CHAN

LCKI8KI8M<C

A LITTLE PLACE I KNOW

SKIBO CASTLE DORNOCH, SUTHERLAND, SCOTLAND

C

astles are not an obvious

words, a genial host-cum-storyteller.

gift to give a little girl. But

Guests are encouraged to live in

then Margaret Carnegie

Skibo Castle as they would in a private

wasn’t any little girl. She

home – reading in the library, playing

was the daughter of one of the world’s

pool in the games room, or joining in

wealthiest industrialists, Andrew

the house party, which might involve

Carnegie, who was determined to give

singing songs round the Bechstein

his daughter the gift of a Scottish

piano, dancing at Saturday night

childhood. No sooner had she been

cèilidhs, or chatting over cocktails with

born in 1897, than her parents set

fellow guests (businessmen, oligarchs,

about creating a fairy-tale castle:

heiresses and wealthy expats who use

panelling walls with oak, lining

it as their British base).

bathrooms with marble, commissioning

It’s unlike any home we’ve been to

stained-glass windows, installing an

(which is presumably why Madonna

organ and filling a library with precious

chose it as a wedding location). Where

first editions. In the first few years of

else are guests roused for breakfast by

Margaret’s life, Rudyard Kipling, the

an organist and then introduced to an

Rockefellers, King Edward VII and David

owl-handler by a man wearing green

Lloyd George were all house guests.

glitter-strewn shoes? It’s gloriously

After the heiress died, the castle

eccentric, utterly decadent – and, sadly,

was bought by a series of millionaires,

it costs £24,000 to become a member.

most recently Ellis Short, the owner of

Skibo Castle, Dornoch, Sutherland

Sunderland FC, who runs it as a private

(01862 894600, carnegieclub.co.uk;

club for a maximum of 400 members.

doubles from £2,600 a night,

Normally private members’ clubs are

all-inclusive, plus £8,000 annual dues)

that – private. However, when a few membership spaces arise (as just have) the manse doors are opened for prospective members to trial it as their new weekend home.

oak-panelled walls and lion-claw bath.

clay-pigeon or grouse shooting, riding

And what a home. Within the 7,500

Another week they might choose a

over the estate, fishing, listening to the

acres are the handsome turreted castle

wooden lodge, which comes with its

resident organist, or just chatting to the

with its 22 panelled bedrooms, and 11

own Land Rover, overlooking Dornoch

staff. They include Peter Crome, the

lodges and cottages from which guests

Firth. Days can be spent golfing on the

tweed-clad managing director (ex

can take their pick. On one stay they

Donald Steel-designed course,

Chewton Glen and Savoy) and the

might take up residence in the castle’s

swimming in the glass-roofed pool

tousle-haired Alan Grant, the

main suite, with its four-poster bed,

house overlooking the loch, mastering

“Ambassador” at Skibo – in other

MASTERCLASS

LESSONS FROM GLOBAL EXPERTS

TRAVEL BY NUMBERS

59,000,000

TIME FOR TEA Malik Fernando, who was born and raised in

of just the tea bud and is extremely limited in

Sri Lanka, is a director of Dilmah, the tea

production. Just a few hundred kilos are

company. He is also managing director of Ceylon

produced per year, all by hand, and sold to

Tea Trails, Sri Lanka’s only Relais & Châteaux

merchants from £50 for a pound.

property, and a new hotel in Cape Welligama

Are all loose teas better than tea bags?

(resplendentceylon.com)

Yes. The larger leaf is more flavoursome and

How do you make the perfect cup of tea?

brewing in a teapot allows the leaves to “dance”,

Bring fresh cold water to a boil. In a clean, dry

unconstrained by a tea bag, which results in a

pre-warmed teapot, add 220ml of water per

better brew.

teaspoon of tea. Brew for a minimum of two

Is there research proving that tea is

minutes, and, if desired, add warm milk and

good for you?

honey. Don’t use reboiled water. Carbon dioxide

Modern clinical studies have proven what

is gradually released during the boiling process

Chinese Emperor Shennong believed 5,000

and reboiling will further reduce it, resulting in a

years ago when he first documented tea as

decrease in acidity, which will alter the ionisation

medicine: that tea is beneficial in countering

of the polyphenols, and the flavour of the tea.

cardiovascular illnesses, dementia, viruses,

What’s the difference between green and

stress, cholesterol and protecting against

black tea?

cancers and diabetes.

They are both made from the same bush,

Your favourite places to have tea?

Camellia sinensis, but green tea is unfermented,

I love Bettys in York (bettys.co.uk), Brown’s

steamed immediately after plucking and retains

Hotel in London (roccofortehotels.com) and the

a lighter colour and flavour. Black tea is allowed

Does the temperature of the water matter?

Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town (belmond.

to ferment, then dry, darkening the leaves and

Yes. Black teas and herbal infusions can be

com) – and, of course, our own century-old

resulting in a stronger flavour and aroma.

made with water that is at 100°C, whereas more

colonial tea planters’ bungalows in Sri Lanka

How are jasmine and Earl Grey teas made?

delicately flavoured green, white and oolong

(teatrails.com).

Earl Grey is a black tea flavoured with bergamot,

teas should be made with water at 70C to 80C.

Favourite places to buy tea?

whereas jasmine tea is green tea scented with

Which are the most precious teas?

Harney & Sons in New York (harney.com) and

jasmine petals.

White tea – also known as silver tips – is made

Mariage Frères in Paris (mariagefreres.com).

LCKI8KI8M<C

King of the clubs The magnificent library at Skibo Castle, above.

Left: A falconer demonstrates his craft

Value in dollars of champagne consumed in Nigeria in 2012

12,000,000

Croissants, per year, used by Emirates airline

12

Number of minutes to empty the Bugatti Veyron’s 26-gallon fuel tank at full speed (253mph)

90

Percentage of world’s blue whale population killed in the past 100 years

Winter / 2014

LUXURY

NEW ISSUE OUT DECEMBER 6

Positively palatial View from the private terrace of the Ponte Vecchio Suite, whose rooms can be joined with three others to create a riverside penthouse

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table flanking one wall, most of the furniture is

In between are an airy living room and a cleverly

USP Florenceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s luxury hotel scene is as crowded

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custom-made, designed by Bonan and inspired by

designed kitchen. Bathrooms are bedecked in

as the Uffizi Gallery, but Portrait Firenze has both

Tornabuoni with a personal shopper. That is, if

the Fifties and Sixties. Walls are sprinkled with

Carrara marble, with Salvatore Ferragamo

location and pedigree â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it is owned by one of

they can drag themselves away from the view.

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toiletries beside the roll-top bath, and views

Italyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first families of fashion, the Ferragamos.

Details The Ferragamos wisely turned to the

shoemaker-to-the-stars Salvatore Ferragamo, and

through huge windows over the rooftops. But the

Set on the sixth floor, the Ponte Vecchio suite is

Florentine architect and designer Michele Bonan.

scenes of Florence featuring celebrities such as

real showstopper is the suiteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s private terrace, on

the ultimate Florentine room with a view, with an

Taking his design cues from Fifties Florence, the

Audrey Hepburn. There are two double bedrooms

which guests can breakfast in the morning or sit,

unimpeded sweep of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s famed crossing

look is a sophisticated mingling of mid-century

at each end of the suite, with beds decked out in

glass of Chianti in hand, and watch the sun slip

over the River Arno. The suite can also connect

modern and La Dolce Vita: more stylish home

snow-white Italian linen and houndstooth throws.

behind the Tuscan hills.

When it comes to service, nothing is too much

than hotel. The suite is a gorgeous, bright space of dove-grey wood-

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needing a signal or draining too

T

he 56-year-old creative director

of the Italian fashion and homeware brand has travelled extensively since she was a child. Her parents, Ottavio and Rosita, were always, she says, “incredibly curious and imaginative”.

Although she spends a considerable part of her year in hotels, her favourite places are simple, quiet houses “always with a view – everyone in my family needs to look out from high up”.

She lives in a Modernist house near the fashion factory her parents opened in the Fifties in Lombardy, but the family also has holiday homes in Venice and Lake Como.

How many holidays do you take a year?

Two or three, ideally at Christmas, Easter and summer, often to somewhere I have never been.

To what sort of place?

‘I love the idea of cave hotels: thinking about the people who have lived there before you’

Somewhere by the sea where I can explore a city, enjoy natural beauty and sightsee. It’s usually a place that’s warm: Morocco, India, Oman, Mexico, or, in Europe, Spain, France, Portugal…

Do you ever go away just to relax?

Last Christmas was a tough year for our family.

[Her brother, Vittorio, was killed in a plane crash in the Caribbean and her father, Ottavio, died before the plane was found.] So my boyfriend, Bruno, and I went to Jamaica to get away. We stayed in Jamaica Inn (jamaicainn.com), which was very

TRAVELLING LIFE Angela Missoni

The Italian designer on her favourite seaside spa, secret Venice trattoria, and where to buy Armenian burning paper

English and relaxed, and surrounded by real

I love Globe-Trotter (globetrotter1897.com) but

Your favourite place?

It’s wonderful thinking about the people who have

Jamaican life, which I liked, and Goldeneye

they get ruined if you check them in. So now I use

Home, in Sumirago. We are so lucky: I have views

lived there before you.

(goldeneye.com), which was probably more

light polyester Rimowa (rimowa.com) suitcases.

of the country from my house and my office. We

What do you always travel with?

charming before they renovated it.

Your favourite city for a weekend away?

can drive to our house on Lake Como in 40

A Missoni cashmere blanket to use on the plane

Do you enjoy spas?

Venice, where we have a house. Not only can you

minutes. We can go skiing in the Alps in an hour

if it gets cold. Basics, so I can survive for 48 hours

Bruno and I try and go to Bretagne, in France,

eat very well there, but it has wonderful galleries

and a half, or Portofino, or be by the sea in Venice

if they lose my baggage. A comfortable sweater.

every year to a thalassotherapy spa called

and restaurants. Favourites include Antiche

in just over two, and have an airport 15 minutes

Plus Carta d’Armenia – or Armenian burning

Quiberon (sofitel-quiberon-thalassa.com). It is in

Carampane (antichecarampane.com), where the

down the road, so I can go to Dubrovnik, where

paper – which you burn to purify the air. I bought

an incredible position, out on a peninsula, and

fish is incredible, and Trattoria Da Fiore (dafiore.it),

I went many times with my father: a wonderful city.

my first ones when I was about nine on a trip to

surrounded by Stonehenge-age monoliths. There’s

which does special Venetian dishes such as soft-

What’s a perfect holiday to you?

Florence with my mother, from the Santa Maria

a powerful energy there and really strong

shelled crabs, little grey canocchie shrimps and

Time to do nothing but read, ideally on the beach

Novella pharmacy (smnovella.it).

therapists, which is why it’s a spa that men like,

vegetables like bruscandoli [hop shoots] in risotto.

or on a boat. Last weekend I went with Bruno to

Where next?

too, and fantastic seafood, from oysters to

Favourite restaurants in other cities?

Sardinia and we read in the day and admired the

I’d love to stay in a treehouse. It’s a fantasy I’ve

lobsters. It also gets more than 300 days of sun

Caviar Kaspia (caviarkaspia.com) in Paris because

views in the evening. It was amazing.

had since I was a child. There is a treehouse hotel

a year, so you can sunbathe even in November.

it’s always the same: it looks the same, you eat

Any particular places you love to shop?

in Sweden (treehotel.se), so perhaps there.

Where would you like to go next?

the same things, and it’s exactly what you expect.

Markets. Seeing what food people eat is very

The most remote place you’ve travelled to?

India, because last year I organised a trip for my

What next?

important. Once you know the food, you

From the ages of five to 19 I spent all my holidays

daughter, Teresa, and her friends to go with my

I would love to go on a six-month trip through

understand the culture. They are also great places

on a tiny island in Dalmatia, just opposite Hvar, in

mother to Agra, Jaipur, Jodhpur and the rest of

Italy. Where else can you find totally different

to see craftsmanship – whether that’s woodwork

a little house with no lights and water from a well.

Rajasthan, but I never got to go myself.

kinds of food every half an hour? So many

in the souks of Fez or antiques in Porte de

Do you like adventure holidays?

Do you travel light?

beautiful things? So much history? And such

Clignancourt and Porte de Vanves in Paris.

Adventure is part of my life: I like exploring.

On the way out, yes. On the way back, never.

variety? When visitors say they’re going to Venice,

The most romantic hotel?

But I also like comfort, which to me is a beautiful

I always come back with tons of luggage. I used to

Florence, Rome, I say what about Bologna?

I love the idea of cave hotels, like they have in

view and a good bed.

take Tumi (tumi.com) but they are too heavy. And

Parma? Piemonte? Puglia?

Cappadocia or in Matera (sextantio.it) in Italy.

Interview by Lisa Grainger

© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2013. Published by TELEGRAPH MEDIA GROUP, 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0DT, and printed by Polestar UK Limited.

Colour reproduction by groupfmg.com. Not to be sold separately from The Daily Telegraph. Ultratravel is a registered trademark licensed to The Daily Telegraph by PGP Media Limited

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