São Miguel, the main island of the Azores chain is also the largest one. It is often called “the green island” because of the flora that covers it.
Browsing: Experience
A really early sunrise on the beach at Belle Mare
Mauritius is a coveted global luxury destination: the island swarms with 5-star hotels, meals are expensive, the golf courses exclusive. But, this Indian Ocean island ringed by paradisiacal beaches also offers some surprising contrasts. Edelweiss Air operates direct flights to Mauritius from Zurich. It takes just (!) an 11-hour flight to your landing in paradise. Here, the beach sand is of an incredible whiteness, the palm trees are a lush green, the ocean is the color of turquoise and the sunsets are almost gaudy. But, leave one of the island’s many luxury resorts and you see a different side of Mauritius. Here…
Hvar
Dream destination Hvar in Croatia: Many years ago, I was responsible for some of Switzerland’s most renowned travel websites. That was when the elegant Hotel Riva on Hvar Island time and again caught my eye. I imagined the wealthy and the beautiful having an outrageous amount of fun in the hotel, which is fashionably located on Hvar’s seaside promenade. Though I am neither, I finally did make it to Hvar. But, I did not check into the Riva!
Plitvice Lakes
Although as a kid I watched movies featuring the heroics of fictional Apache chief Winnetou, I am embarrassed to say that until recently(!) I did not know that most of them were shot in 1960s Croatia, by the Plitvice Lakes and waterfalls among other locations. This fangirl wanted to see for herself…
Justine Tyerman travelled to Laos, famous for its many beautiful Buddhist temples.
In what was a first for us, we took in an ATP world tour tennis final in beautiful Saanenland. Thin air at this altitude supposedly lets balls fly farther and bounce higher. That can make for stunners now and then…
Take two luxury hotels, add two unique restaurants and mix in two modern farms, combine the six establishments into one and, voilà, a new Swiss hospitality brand is born: “The Living Circle.” Different though the six may be, together they share the same purpose: to create an experience that sophisticated visitors won’t soon forget…
Bond’s bungee jump from the 220-meter high Verzasca Dam – who doesn’t remember it? However, we would just as soon not book this ultimate adrenaline rush by Lago di Vogorno — because a helicopter ride to “Rustico del Sole,” a restaurant located a scant 5 km as the crow flies from the dam, is no less spectacular!
Travel blogging is hard work. This is common knowledge. And sometimes it’s even enough to make you “go ballistic.” Like when Switzerland’s Zermatt Tourism wants us to try heli skiing…
Having stayed in Sweden’s ice hotel, Walter is a clever rabbit when it comes to spending the night in ice. Also an Alpine hare, as it turns out. I, being Italian, like my ice in the form of gelato melting in the sun. Nevertheless, good sport that I also am, I let myself be inveigled to spend a night in Zermatt’s Igloo Village…
“Dining with the Stars” is one of the special experiences in Zermatt. But if at this point you imagine an exclusive dinner with celebs and starlets — sorry to disappoint, that’s not what this is about. But it is still divine…
Arabian Nights complete with camels
Yep, you read that right! Every Thursday, the Cuddle Hotel Gams celebrates an evening right out of “A Thousand and One Nights” in Austria’s Bregenz Forest of all places, wafting its guests away on a genuine flying carpet into an Arabian Nights fairy tale!