Condé Nast Traveller India February - March - April 2022

cntraveller.in WHERE TO SUMMER THIS YEAR A secret homestay in the Himachal, a little-known island in Greece, a new camp in Tanzania—our picks for your much-needed summer break IMMERSIVES Watch the world’s best travel experiences come alive on your phone cntraveller.in/immersives CLEAN BREAK Vacations without emissions? These Indian hotels have charging points for your EV THE STORY BEHIND A mahal that is not the Taj. A bagh that is not Shalimar. A CNT special series that highlights India’s most spectacular but lesser-known monuments FOLLOW US FOR MORE cntravellerindia cntravellerindia CNTIndia IndiaCNTraveller PHOTOGRAPHS: CONSTANTINOS ILIOPOULOS/ALAMY; MICHAEL TUREK…

REBECCA MISNER Writer; Below the Surface; p110 One of my most memorable day breaks was in Tahiti. After a long and painful journey, when I finally made it to the hotel at around 5am and went out on my balcony, the past 24 hours vanished. The mountains, sky and the water were the most ethereal pinky-gold. beccabeq PRACHI JOSHI Writer; The Insider’s Guide to Alibaug; p38 At Rome’s hilltop Campidoglio square (designed by Michelangelo) watching the setting sun bathe the Forum and the Colosseum in a golden glow—as it has for over 2,000 years. delishdirection JEROME GALLAND Photographer; Below the Surface; p110 I was on the Lake Nasser in Egypt. There was golden light, clear skies and the water was like a mirror separated by a thin strip of land. Suddenly, a fisherman arrived on his boat, cutting out silhouettes…

“The truth is, some hotels—like the ones on our Gold List—deserve to be savoured. These are exceptional places infused with the spirit, history and energy of their locales” In much the same way that I wanted, as a little girl, to grow up and wear Chanel, I wanted to grow up and holiday at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc. It seemed impossibly glamorous, almost a members-only club, where you had to be beautiful, but also rich and famous and cerebral, to be allowed to frolic by its swimming pool, the jewel in the crown of the French Riviera. So the first time I went, I felt very much like an outsider, a voyeur, pretending as if it was no big deal that I was (finally) here too, sipping lemonade in my flip-flops…

I always feel comfortable everywhere,” says Ai Weiwei from the rural cottage he recently bought in central Alentejo in Portugal. The revered Chinese conceptual artist and dissident has spent much of his life in transit: as a boy, he moved with his exiled father, the influential poet Ai Qing, to desolate northwest China. As a young artist, he relocated to New York City and lived there from 1981 through 1993. He returned to China, and after a period of government-ordered detention, moved to Berlin in 2015 and to Cambridge, England, in 2019. At the start of the pandemic, he arrived in the southern region of Alentejo, where he shares his property with foxes, moles, and porcupines. Since the move, he has launched two major shows, “Rapture,” in Lisbon, and “Ai…

For more than a quarter of a century, the name Dubai has conjured images of big money, fast cars, and sleek towers rising from the sands symbolising the Emirate’s international ambitions. During that time, nearly every major player in fashion, restaurants, and hotels has wanted a piece of the action there. Consequently, the City of Gold has emerged as a global hub of travel and thought leadership-both of which are currently represented in the pavilions of the pandemic-delayed Expo 2020 Dubai, on view through the end of March, which explores the future of life on Earth. Later this year, the Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences (atlantistheroyalresidences.com), the new sibling to Atlantis, The Palm, will open, seeking to establish a more sustainable model for ultra-luxury resorts. There’s also fresh thinking in…

For years, titans like Bottura, Robuchon, and Ramsay defined the dining scene here. Though big-name outposts are still opening, a more homegrown approach is also emerging. On the peaceful shores of Umm Suqeim’s Fishing Harbour 2 lies the tiny Dibba Bay Oysters (dibbabay.com), where in-the-know locals share platters of Fujairah oysters while gazing at bobbing fishing boats and blood-orange sunsets. In the Greens neighbourhood is Kinoya (kinoya.ae): Born out of chef Neha Mishra’s soldout supper club, it is now a low-key Japanese izakaya-and-ramen room where slurping is encouraged. Local restaurateur Mahmood Al Khamis went big on something small with his trendy warehouse-style pizzeria Moon Slice ( moonslicepizza), which opened early last year. Even with all these casual newcomers, there are still plenty of openings where you’ll feel underdressed without a jacket.…