Signature Luxury Travel & Style

This year has seen an explosion in new and innovative offerings on our high seas and rivers, from a plethora of ships being launched to an avalanche of forward bookings, with some itineraries selling out as soon as lines announce them. Antipodean tra

In the harbourside neighbourhood of Kruununhaka, just a 10-minute walk from the Presidential Palace, Senate Square and the city centre, you’ll find Helsinki’s Hotel Maria. Spread across four buildings dating between 1885 and 1930, the hotel has paid

Tucked into the lush hillside in China’s Shuangyue Bay, this striking circular library is topped with a shallow, crystal-clear pool. Aptly named ‘Water Drop Library’, the architecturally designed space has floor-to-ceiling windows, and a sleek, almos

There are many ways to lose yourself in luxury at the new Bulgari Hotel Roma. This might explain the gold-embossed folder of personalised business cards by the bedside: clearly, it’s expected you will forget who – if not where – you are. Blissful obl

Master goldsmiths are behind this stunning necklace, where each ‘leaf’ was created one by one, then set in 18-carat white gold with white diamonds. You’ll be turning heads wherever you go. POA jfarrenprice.com.au Paying homage to the fleeting moment

Tucked away in Indonesia’s remote Anambas Islands is Bawah Reserve, the first island in Indonesia to be powered by a renewable microgrid, certified as a five-star resort under the Singing Blue WWF program, and now applying for B Corp certification. B

Those who are prepared to brave the cold will be rewarded with unbelievable sights, sounds and animal encounters. A dive beneath an ice-topped sea is an eerie, yet colourful marine excursion attended by urchins, starfish and glittering jellyfish. Ice

Located in the tropics of central Southeast Asia, the country that was once known as Siam is a place where culture, tradition and creativity thrive, and where nature abounds. With a capital city that caters to every whim, craving and desire, few visi

My clothes are awash with the fragrance of burning oud, musk and rose. Not just my clothes – my hair, my hands and the entire alley are filled with fragrance as I trail my guide Fatma through the narrow laneways of an Arabian souq. We’re on our way t

Even before my arrival on Miavana by Time + Tide’s beachfront helipad, I know I am in for something special. Nosy Ankao, the resort’s coral-fringed island base that it shares with a small village of thatch-roofed huts and a dozen or so lemurs, is not

Plunging into the blue just before dawn, I descend and swim madly to the reef below me. The current is strong – so strong I can barely turn my head. I find a handhold to steady myself and look out beyond the reef. Ahead of me is the largest group of

I’m in a 1939 Packard Six vintage car in New Zealand’s Hawke’s Bay region with my cheery chauffeur, Tony Mairs, dapper in his 1920s costume. The region’s centre, Napier, is the ‘Art Deco Capital of the World’; Cape Kidnappers has the world’s largest

The highly anticipated Signature Luxury Travel & Style’s Luxury Cruise Awards is back, and better than ever. It’s a compendium of the world’s finest ocean, river, expedition, family and tall-ship cruising. Our fifth annual awards celebrate the top cr

Sri Lanka’s newest boutique hideaway on the south coast, Kayaam House, has just launched a program of bespoke Ayurvedic immersions for guests. Ranging from three- to 14-day wellness retreats, the experience includes a consultation with Kayaam’s maste

Wind-powered and towered by oversized sails, feluccas glide along the Nile like yachts on a harbour. The traditional wooden boats share this fabled river with Egypt’s newest cruise ships, passing palm trees, farms and sandy mountains in the distance.

Ahead of its New York route launch, Japan Airlines has shared its new international Airbus A350-1000 cabin interiors set to take flight before the end of 2023. First class is now just six enclosed suites with individual privacy doors and wardrobe spa

As our Zodiac skims across the Indian Ocean, Ngalangie – Montgomery Reef peeks above the surface in the distance. As we draw closer, the majestic 400-square-kilometre reef rises before me, taking my breath away. Water cascades down well-gouged groove

Cruising in Australia is back with a vengeance, with Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) expecting the 2023/24 season to be the country’s largest yet, with the number of visiting ships set to exceed pre-pandemic levels. Approximately 70 ves

It all started back in January 1966, when Lars-Eric Lindblad took 57 intrepid adventurers on what was the first ‘citizen explorers’ cruise to Antarctica. Up until that time, the great southern continent had been the domain of pioneering explorers and

I stroll in the inky pre-dawn light, nodding a silent greeting to another early riser, before watching in awe as the sky changes from a wisp of pink to a blazing band of orange strapped around the horizon like ribbon around a birthday gift. The sun m

The steam rising from Captain Kai Albrigtsen’s coffee mug is so close to his face that I’m surprised it hasn’t fogged his rectangle glasses. Gathered at the bridge of Hurtigruten Expeditions MS Roald Amundsen, Captain Albrigtsen and his team are inte

Who wouldn’t want to follow a river in Europe? Imagine meandering through Germany, where turreted castles sit above charming old towns straight out of a fairy tale. Or floating through Normandy, whose swan-paddled landscapes were painted by Monet, an

Where does a new cruise operator begin the process of redefining the luxury travel category? Listening to the people. Twenty thousand of them. That’s the strategy taken by Swiss company Explora Journeys – ultra-luxury cruising’s newest player, establ

Wake to the sound of screeching macaws shaking monkeys from the canopy of the Peruvian Amazon jungle who bound among trees under the glow of a golden sunrise. This is life on board the all-suite Delfin III with Avalon Waterways, the first ship in the

While cruise lines of eras past may have left passengers out of range and disconnected, Regent Seven Seas Cruises has evolved to ensure worldwide coverage at every coordinate just in time for January’s 2024 ‘World Cruise’. Luxury travellers will be a

Will I choose the classic foie gras parfait or the Jacques Pépin signature lobster bisque? “Have both,” says the waiter who knows my name on the first night aboard Oceania Vista. Having treasured Pépin’s ‘La Technique’ bible since I was young, I coul

Whiskies don’t get much better than this. Dubbed ‘a masterpiece of malt’, the Dalmore 21-year-old is the pinnacle of Dalmore’s Principle Collection. This exceptional whisky is matured in American white oak ex-Bourbon barrels and first-fill sherry cas

In his notes for the Spring-Summer 2024 collection shown in Milan in September, Bottega Veneta creative director Matthieu Blazy noted the inspiration of his offering as an odyssey, both physical and emotional. “[It is] free and hopeful. A connection

Few stamps of gourmet and luxury approval beat that of Relais & Châteaux. The coveted label is akin to the Oscars of the hospitality and travel industry, and it’s not lost on Ponant, whose ship Le Ponant is the first sailing vessel in the world to be

“Giardini Segreti is the study of a lifetime,” says Pasquale Bruni’s creative director Eugenia Bruni. “When I was young, I used to spend my days on the trees studying leaves. I wanted to create an intimate collection where jewels dress the woman like

Forget about ChatGPT, SpinBot, Bing or ChatSonic… venerable Swiss watchmaker Vacheron Constantin is the real pioneer in AI – Artistic Integrity, that is. In business for a staggering 270 years, Vacheron Constantin has always followed the mantra of it

Quiet and Ferrari are perhaps words not regularly used in one sentence; yet I leave my residential street under the cover of darkness in the Ferrari 296 GTB in total silence. There’s not even the tiniest clatter of hooves on the tarmac to rouse my sl

High up on Cape Town’s craggy Cape mountainside and overlooking the Atlantic Ocean is a home akin to a Bond villain’s lair, or Tony Stark’s Malibu mansion from the Iron Man franchise. House Pengilly, belonging to mining banker Lloyd Pengilly, has its

Olivia and Co produce premium, personalised bags and accessories using crafted smooth calf skin, saffiano and full grain pebbled leather. This prize includes the Brooklyn Duffel Bag, Mon Purse Rucksack, Cosmetics Case, Family Travel Wallet, four lugg