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Why travellers are heading north to Norway’s Lofoten Islands – a hidden gem of the wild and windswept north

If you’re on holiday in Nusfjord, you’ll likely have come far. You’ll probably have changed planes in Oslo, boarded another in Bodø and ended up careening over the crags of Norway’s northwestern coast in your little Dash 8 turboprop, where the dark islands look like whales breaching in the brine. Then you’ll have dipped a wing toward the Lofoten archipelago, where the bays are turquoise and the summer grass is green. You’re in the cock’s comb, al...

The Concierge’s design-focused guide to Milan

Click here to enjoy Monocle’s complete city guide to Milan

How high-end technology misses the point in hospitality

Think back to the last time that you checked in to your favourite hotel. Were you welcomed by an affable, familiar smile or proffered a QR code to scan? Were you excited about the unveiling of a proprietary messaging system? At first glance, better technology in the hotel bedroom can be a good thing for streamlined and more efficient communication. For some guests, it’s a way to cut to the chase and avoid pesky interpersonal interactions.&nb...

Four of our favourite French Riviera hotels that offer a peaceful break from the crowds

It’s hard not to be seduced by the French Riviera – a sun-drenched coastline where cerulean waters meet terracotta towns. Sure, it’s also known for flashy Ferraris but a more considered visit takes in its timeless elegance, hilltop views and quiet coves. Here, you’ll find our selection of hotels offering tranquility away from the summer crowds of the Côte d’Azur. And to help you find your feet, the head concierge at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, An...

Dive into history: The art deco charm of Paris’s Piscine Pontoise

Few places provide a better swimming experience than Paris’s Piscine Pontoise. With its yellow walls, blue decorative motifs and glass roof, this art deco pool in the 5th arrondissement is a jewel of the city’s architectural heritage. Designed by architect Lucien Pollet, whose works include the Piscine Molitor (now an M Gallery hotel) and Piscine Pailleron (in the 19th), the Pontoise has been open to the public since 1934 and has earned a place o...

Craft and nature come together in Tomales Bay as as a new generation finds inspiration and space

Mariah Nielson is leaning on a heavy wooden door to a cabin in Tomales Bay, California. The house – from the Japanese garden out front to the wide deck that overlooks a valley of mossy forest – was built by her father, modernist sculptor JB Blunk. We step into a serene, shadowy living room, where squares of golden light fall on oak floors and recessed tokonoma shelves arranged with carvings, flowers and trinkets. “I’ve been calling my return here...

A guide to Zagorohoria, Greece’s undiscovered mountainous hideaway

The journey from Athens to Zagorohoria is a scenic five-hour drive. The Mediterranean landscape of scrubland and low-slung trees gives way to expanses of cotton fields, while hills carpeted with rich, green pine forests rise in the distance. At roadside stalls, fruit sellers court the business of passing drivers. “How do you know about Zagorohoria?” asks one stallholder as we choose a bunch of sweet grapes from his display.Most travellers head to...

A sleep expert’s top three tips for beating jet lag

For all those caught up in the excitement of booking a long-haul flight and jetting off to an exciting new destination, there is one main downside: jet lag. It’s a challenge that neuropsychiatrist Irshaad Ebrahim advises on. After founding the London Sleep Centre in 2002, he set up several other such institutions across the world, including The Constantia Sleep Centre in South Africa. Here, he gets us up to speed on beating jet lag.Pre-flight“Bef...

How to explore Australia’s Great Southern

The 50-minute flight from Perth to Albany, Western Australia, sets a fitting tone for the rural adventure that lies ahead. We head south in a Saab 340, a 34-seater, twin- engine turboprop. Passengers lean across the narrow aisle to chat and the sole flight attendant joins in on the small talk as she hands out tea and biscuits. Later she whips out a pen to tally how many aboard need taxis upon landing.With a population just shy of 40,000, Albany i...

Six spots the Milanese keep quiet about

Milan-based couple Chiara Pino and Riccardo Ganelli left their jobs in fashion to open Bar Nico in 2023 (they were later joined by their friend Nicolò Terraneo). It has since become a hot spot in their home city’s Acquabella neighbourhood, drawing a loyal crowd with its natural wines and Mediterranean small plates. “We’re not doing anything particularly special here,” says Pino when Monocle joins her and her two business partners for lunch. “Mila...

Sicily’s ‘scattered hotels’ offer new hope to the island’s hospitality industry

“There’s this building, the one behind it and the one with the balcony over there,” says Michele Bitetti, standing on aterrazzain the Sicilian town of Ragusa. He’s pointing out various parts of his hotel, the Giardino sul Duomo, to monocle – which might not sound like a particularly challenging task, except that this is analbergo diffuso(“scattered hotel”). That means the hotel’s 16 rooms are dotted around this beautiful neighbourhood. Ten years ...

The Milan bistros, Melbourne cocktails and cosy Dutch hotels to have on our radar

Melbourne PlaceMelbourne“There’s a sameness about many Australian hotels that we wanted to get away from,” says Patrick Kennedy, co-principal of architecture firm Kennedy Nolan. When the practice was commissioned to design a 16-storey hotel in Melbourne’s CBD, it took inspiration from “family-owned properties in Europe”. Melbourne Place has a brick and tinted-concrete exterior that reflects the spirit of the area’s older buildings. “Melbourne has...

The Monocle Concierge’s guide to Bangkok’s hidden treasures

Click here to enjoy Monocle’s complete city guide to Bangkok

Off the beaten track: Switzerland’s Furka Steam Railway

The Swiss are rightly proud of the efficiency and speed of their SBB railway system – but journeys along the nation’s breathtaking Alpine routes are best enjoyed at a slower pace. Constructed in 1925, the Furka Steam Railway is a living relic of European train travel’s golden age. Sometimes, rushing it would be to miss the point.The 18km mountain pass is about 2,000 metres above sea level and begins in the village of Realp in the canton of Uri. I...

Editor’s letter: Andrew Tuck on why we travel

After The Monocle Quality of Life Conference concluded in Istanbul in October, we took a crack team of readers on an adventure south. Everyone was a little depleted from a series of too-fun dinners, some dancefloor exuberance and taking in the joys of being in the boisterous city.The delayed departure of the Istanbul to Bodrum flight wasn’t exactly what we had hoped for. But, secluded in the lounge, people started introducing themselves to one an...

Behind the scenes at Salone del Mobile’s unofficial watering hole: Bar Basso

In its decades-long reign as the Salone del Mobile’s unofficial watering hole, Bar Basso has been where the design world gets drunk. Opened in 1933, it has been managed since 1967 by the Stocchetto family, who introduced Milan to cocktail hour. Its owner, Maurizio Stocchetto, can often be found at the bar, cheerfully recounting the area’s history. Bar Basso is a neighbourhood institution but, for a week in April, it also becomes the go-to social ...

Meet the people cooking up a contemporary twist on Taipei’s traditional breakfast shops

In Taiwan, breakfast can be a rushed affair. On the curb in front of a street-food vendor, you’ll see scooters hastily parked as their riders, helmets still fastened, queue beside smart office workers and uniformed students, waiting for their turn to order. Now and then, a retiree or an idle auntie claims a low plastic stool, savouring their choice with unhurried ease. But for many, breakfast is eaten on the go as they sweep through the city.Cent...

Worth the wait: Six new global restaurant openings to save on your map

1.OobatzParisDan Pearson moved to Paris to study international relations but found that there were other ways to win hearts and minds. The chef first made mouths water with a pizza pop-up at the Michelin-starred La Rigmarole. Now he’s back with Oobatz in the 11th arrondissement. The line-up features six pizzas, each made with market-fresh ingredients before its 90 seconds in the Swedish pizza oven at 480C. Monocle’s favourite has a marinara base,...

Street food is still a defining force in the culinary scene of Istanbul

When Cenk Debensason is hungry, he rarely reaches for a Michelin guide for tips. “Whenever I think of food in Istanbul, I think of this,” the chef behind the celebrated Arkestra restaurant tells Monocle as he stands beside a vendor while a fish sizzles on the grill atop a simple cart. Debensason is here by the edge of the Bosphorus forbalik ekmek: mackerel with onions, parsley, sumac and cumin, served in a hunk of fluffy white bread. Alongside th...

The concierge: Our comic-book hero saves the day while gift shopping in Paris

Click here to enjoy Monocle’s complete city guide to Paris

Interview: Le Bristol’s managing director on the secrets to keeping a luxury hotel relevant (and booked) for 100 years

Tucked behind a red velvet rope in an inky side room off the main lobby, Le Bristol After Dark is delightfully unexpected – as if stumbling into a secret speakeasy in a palace. The nightclub stands in stark contrast to the famed 100-year-old hotel entrance – a grand space with ornate chandeliers, plush fringed couches and a painting of Marie Antoinette. In comparison, the club is lit with pink-and-purple neon lights, disco balls shining overhead....

Editor’s letter: Andrew Tuck on the best cities to call home

In the summer of 2007, Monocle launched its inaugural Quality of Life Survey as we searched for the best cities in the world to call home. Though other city-ranking indexes existed, we felt that they came to some poor conclusions. Had their compilers, we wondered, ever looked up from their spreadsheets of metrics to ask a few simple questions: is this city, which sounds good on paper, a fun place to live? Is it accepting of outsiders? Can you go ...

Summer travel briefings: New hotels to visit this year

OshomBali, IndonesiaBali is the jewel in Indonesian tourism’s crown but the island’s popularity has come at the cost of the serenity that it’s known for. Look hard, though, and you’ll still find pockets of the blissful solitude that made it a global destination. Oshom is a new hotel that overlooks Nyanyi beach. This waterfront property is in the recently launched Nuanu Creative City, about 90 minutes’ drive from Denpasar Airport. You’ll find all ...

A roadtrip through the Peloponnese: Greece’s rugged, scenic heartland

With its four “fingers” stretching out into the Aegean, the Peloponnese is a defining part of Greece’s geography: its hand-like shape helps to make the country’s outline immediately recognisable on a map. Yet its shores have long been under-explored by those international visitors who, after landing in Athens, hop straight onto a ferry bound for one of the country’s islands. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this largely unspoilt area has instead served as...

Five chic fashion and hospitality collaborations to add to your travel list

High-pressure design studios in Milan and Paris are at the heart of the fashion industry. But when temperatures rise, even the busiest designers choose to slow down, don swimwear and decamp to the Mediterranean – a pause very much encouraged by luxury Italian manufacturers’ religious commitment to the extended August break.Brands have also been discovering that there are new ways to meet clients while lounging by the beach and have been embarking...

Three new must-visit luxury openings in São Paulo, Kurashiki and Paris

1.Pulso HotelSão PauloBar at PulsoSão Paulo, Brazil’s most sprawling metropolis, is the heartbeat of the nation – which is why Otávio Suriani decided to name his latest hotel in the city Pulso. “It’s a word that’s linked to music and movement, both things that we want to bring to the hotel,” he says. Designed by architect Arthur Casas, Pulso sits on the border between the Faria Lima financial district and the buzzy Pinheiros district. It offers 5...

The six restaurants that you should be booking this month, from Copenhagen to Sydney

1.RivieraCopenhagenChiara Barla, the Italian chef at Apotek 57, the café by design store Frama, has recently opened a new spot, Riviera, in Nansensgade. Inside the former 1960s bakery, a Frama-designed central trestle table invites customers to sit side by side, Copenhagen-style.On the menu are Danishfastelavnsbollerbuns, figs and Parma ham on homemade sourdough andspandauerpastries. “Most of our dishes are prepared in the same oven in which we b...

The 15 things on Monocle’s 2025 travel wishlist

1.BC05BraunTo keep us on time for our flights and checkouts, we’re turning to theBC05 by Braun, a quartz precision travel clock created by German designer Dietrich Lubs in 1995. This battery-powered, analogue alarm clock provides the essentials while you’re on the road and its protective lid is equipped with a world time chart to help you navigate across time zones. Paired with an otherwise monochrome palette, the red “off” and green “snooze...

Porvoo’s growing culinary scene

Just a short drive to the east of Helsinki, Porvoo is popular among day-trippers who come for its 18th-century Old Town, with its riverside warehouses and pastel-painted wooden architecture. Today the city of about 50,000 is often compared to San Sebastián, thanks to its diminutive size and the growing pull of its drinking-and-dining scene.Monocle follows a winding country road through fields of rye and oats to Ylike Farm on the outskirts of Porv...

The Monocle Concierge’s illustrated guide to Tokyo during cherry blossom season

Click here to enjoy Monocle’s complete city guide to Tokyo

Yoji Tokuyoshi is the Japanese chef teaching the Italians about eating well

Originally from Japan, chef and entrepreneur Yoji Tokuyoshi has taken Milan’s culinary scene by storm since moving here almost 20 years ago. His epiphany? Turning his Italian restaurant that used Japanese techniques into a Japanese one obsessed with Italian ingredients. As the founder of Alter Ego Italian restaurant in Tokyo, Tokuyoshi also has an appetite for side projects, many of which he runs with French-Japanese partner Alice Yamada. Quick t...

Close quarters: What are the defining factors of a liveable urban area?

1.Fremantle, AustraliaWestern Australia’s Fremantle – or Freo (“Free-O”) as it’s known – may technically be a suburb of Perth and its port, but the area’s distinct history and tight-knit creative community make it a place unto itself. While the 30,000 or so people who live here affectionately describe Fremantle as a “bubble”, downtown Perth (30 minutes away by car or train) is a place to venture only if strictly necessary. “It’s like a small town...

Fertile ground: Lanzarote’s business boom

Lanzarote is known as the “island of 1,000 volcanoes” and its dramatic landscapes are vivid reminders of nature’s power. “Don’t worry – only one of the volcanoes is considered active,” says longtime resident Adrián Nicolás von Boettinger, as he leads Monocle through Lagomar, an architectural marvel built into an old rock quarry. At first glance, Lagomar’s façade barely registers as part of a building. The semi-subterranean structure features room...

The best new restaurants this April, from Greece to South Asia

Tiffany’s X 1905ThessalonikiA classicmageirio, Tiffany’s served homely dishes to Thessaloniki’s diners for some 40 years before closing in 2013. Now, Tiffany’s X 1905 (pictured above) is bringing it back – with a twist. “We didn’t want to copy the original but to invent a modern version,” says restaurateur Nikos Nyfoudis, who draws inspiration from Crete, Kefalonia, London (where he lived for 13 years) and his native Thessaloniki. Oenologist Anes...

Everything you need to know about visiting the Albanian Riviera

It began as a whisper, an intriguing proposition. As interest surged, it grew to a chorus chanted from London to Los Angeles: “Visit Albania!” “It’s like the Cayman Islands but in Europe!” “It’s like Greece but half the price!” “The waters are as blue and warm as the Caribbean Sea itself!” The Balkan nation is now, according to the chatter, the place to go to enjoy a sun-drenched, beachside European getaway with an aura of post-communist exoticis...

Four new openings for an outstanding summer on the Mediterranean

Food&DrinkLa BouillabaisseSaint-TropezWhen you think of Saint-Tropez, the glitzy party hot spots along Pampelonne beach are what probably come to mind – Nikki Beach, say, with its lively pool area, bustling bar and pumping DJ sets. But to the west of southern France’s quintessential summer destination lies what many of the area’s residents consider to be the town’s real soul: the Plage de la Bouillabaisse. Once known as Saint-Tropez’splage de...

How Bodrum’s chic Macakizi Hotel became the epitome of Turkish cool

Macakizi is almost hidden by Golturkbuku bay’s olive groves, fuchsia-hued bougainvillea and pine trees. The restaurant, hotel and beach club is nestled in one of the most picturesque inlets on Turkey’s Bodrum peninsula. The venture’s owner, Sahir Erozan, believes that its charm lies in the surrounding nature, as well as in its family roots. In 1977 his glamorous and bohemian mother, Ayla Emiroglu, opened the original Macakizi hotel at another sit...

Passing through Nairobi? Make this retreat your new base camp

As well as a thriving capital, Nairobi is a layover city for those on the way to Lamu Island or the plains of Masai Mara. Travellers zipping in and out often find themselves with lengthy layovers: domestic and international flights aren’t always well timed and the two airports – Jomo Kenyatta and Wilson – are a 30-minute drive from each other, making for tense stopovers.To buy time, some travellers book into generic airport hotels. But those in t...

Visiting Jakarta? Here’s where to stay, eat and shop

STAY25Hours Hotel The Oddbird, Senayan, Kebayoran BaruA new addition to Jakarta, 25Hours is conveniently housed on top of the Ashta shopping mall. Indonesia’s take on the expanding Hamburg hotel chain is called The Oddbird and embraces every opportunity to be bold and a bit whimsical. Rooms are equipped with Freitag bags and Schindlehauers bikes.25hours-hotels.comFOOD&DRINKModernhaus, Senopati, Kebayoran BaruModernhaus feels more like an arch...

Suite life: Four hotels that will leave you wanting for nothing

Quinta do PinheiroAlgarveIt’s increasingly hard to find somewhere off the beaten track in the Algarve but Quinta do Pinheiro, a converted 19th-century farmstead, is one of them. Bordering the sandy dunes of Ria Formosa Park, this property is made up of five terracota-tiled cottages.Lisbon-based architect Frederico Valsassina preserved key features of the buildings, such as their prominent chimneys, and used traditional materials including cane st...

Havana’s neighbourhood hotel revival is transforming its hospitality scene

On Sunday mornings, the tinkle of piano keys can be heard on the streets of Havana’s artsy Cayo Hueso district, between the 16th-century Old Havana and Vedado. After the hospitality sector opened up to private and international operators in 2016 (when Cuba’s socialist government relaxed its regulations), a new crop of hotels has been helping to revitalise once-forgotten neighbourhoods for locals and visitors alike.The source of these particular n...

Three beautiful new hotels to unwind in: From a homage to Palm Springs on Ibiza to a striking hotel in Amsterdam

1.Rosewood AmsterdamAmsterdamWhat took 10 years to build but 10 minutes to become the most talked-about opening of 2025 (so far)? The Rosewood Amsterdam, of course. Extending across a city-block-sized building on Prinsengracht, the striking hotel, which was once an orphanage and then a courthouse, was reworked by Studio Piet Boon for its spring opening. Current city regulations suggest that this will be the last new hotel to be developed within t...

Becoming tolerant of food intolerances is knowing that it’s none of your business

It’s pretty rare, as a restaurant critic, that I become immersed in the niceties of theological debate – but that’s the rabbit hole in which I found myself recently. At an Anglican Eucharist service in Cambridge, I heard the priest issue a warning from the pulpit that anyone intolerant to gluten should not step forward to receive the host.Some of the greatest schisms in the church have developed around the complexities of transubstantiation – whe...

Late-night tables: Seven after-hours dining hotspots

When the city quiets and the shutters come down, the bestlate night restaurants are just getting into their stride. Far from greasy spoons or after-hours diners, these are refined addresses where you can still find a crisp tablecloth, an elegant glass of wine and service that never rushes you out the door. Whether it’s a brasserie in Paris serving scallops at midnight, or a Manhattan dining room that hums into the small hours, these spots prove t...

How Balneário Camboriú became Brazil’s mini-Dubai

Not so long ago, the Brazilian town of Balneário Camboriú was best known as a quiet coastal outpost where holidaymakers from neighbouring states would come to enjoy the beach. In recent years, however, it has undergone an abrupt change and has the skyline to prove it. It’s here that you’ll find the country’s 10 tallest buildings under construction – remarkable for a city with a population of about 139,000 (though that rises to almost a million in...

Fiddly New Nordic cuisine is falling out of favour on its home turf

A few years ago I had dinner at a trendy, much-hyped Helsinki restaurant and was served a solitary carrot. It was a steamed carrot, cooked to perfection, but with nothing on the side and no sauce. “This ispeakNew Nordic,” I thought, referring to the food movement that belaboured hyperlocal ingredients and elevated long-forgotten and highly esoteric Nordic staples, from wild herbs and foraged berries to obscure mushrooms. At its best, it was brill...

Four weekend escapes within reach of Paris

1.Le DoyennéSaint-Vrain, Île-de-FranceDistance from Paris:47kmMode of transport:CarTime spent travelling:About an hourDirection:SouthLe DoyennéGreenhouse effectAussie chefs James Henry and Shaun Kelly made a name for themselves in the restaurants of Paris. But after years in the kitchen, they turned to growing organic vegetables on their farm in Saint-Vrain. Housed in a lovingly restored barn, Le Doyenné opened as a restaurant and guesthouse in 2...

All puffed out: Milan’s new smoking laws cause a stir

Sometimes over a drink with friends in Milan, both Italian and expat, conversation will turn to the “elasticity” of rules in theBel Paese, a stretchiness comprising two distinct layers. The top one involves the definition of what the rule is in the first place: in Italy, it turns out that almost everything operates in a grey area, rather than being a clearly defined, hard-and-fast ordinance. A rule can be interpreted diversely according to whoeve...

Sensei Porcupine Creek: A mid-century marvel that embodies the spirit of Palm Springs

If the brochures are to be believed, Frank Sinatra crooned and caroused his way around much of Palm Springs. It’s a claim to fame that hotels and bars in this Californian desert city still trade on – especially at the Purple Room, a cabaret lounge built in 1960 at which Ol’ Blue Eyes would sometimes get up on stage.“Palm Springs was the playground of the stars,” says Michael Holmes, who revived the Purple Room almost a decade ago and caters to he...

A guide to Thailand’s Sukhumvit Road, from Bangkok to Koh Chang

Anyone who has visited Bangkok will know Sukhumvit Road. It’s the Thai capital’s answer to Oxford Street, Orchard Road or Fifth Avenue, all rolled into one. Visitors of every stripe are drawn to this traffic-clogged, six-lane stretch of central Bangkok. But there’s far more than the shopping malls, five-star hotels and hostess bars with questionable names (Spanky’s, we’re looking at you).In total, Sukhumvit Road rolls east for almost 500km. Highw...

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