Innehållsförteckning för December 2025 från National Geographic Traveller (UK)

When it comes to chasing winter sun, the Canary Islands have long been considered a dependable choice, with daytime temperatures rarely below 22C from December to March. This winter, B-Corp rail tour company Byway has launched a flight-free package to take travellers from London to Lanzarote — an overland journey that can be done in four to five days but Byway recommends as an 18-day tour. The itinerary passes through France and Spain by train, before heading to Lanzarote via overnight ferry. It’s estimated the trip has 78% lower carbon emissions than the equivalent tour by plane. The number of nights is customisable, but the idea is to take it slowly. A typical trip will involve the Eurostar to Paris then changing trains and riding the rails past the rolling…

South Lodge, Horsham All signs point to this being Scandinavia. Wooden, stilted lodges dot the shore of a lily-pad covered pond. The ultra-modern spa, with a wave-like grass roof and huge glass walls, has a distinctly Nordic feel, as does the outdoor wild swimming pool — naturally cold, its temperature hovers around an invigorating 14C mark. It’s only the pale-stone Victorian manor house that places South Lodge firmly in England. Everything here draws inspiration from nature, whether it’s the menus spotlighting local Sussex produce or spa treatments focusing on natural methods, such as a tension-melting bamboo massage. From £308 per person, B&B, with full spa access. Culloden Estate & Spa, Belfast This five-star hotel lies just 20 minutes north of Belfast, on the wooded slopes of Holywood. Its 19th-century honey-stone…

Fiji Why go: Sustainable tourism, South Pacific style No place encapsulates the South Pacific like Fiji. Its 300-plus islands are surrounded by some of the world’s most incredible coral reefs, its lush peaks and waterfalls make it a day hiker’s paradise, and Fijians are famous for their warm hospitality. Fiji has also become a destination for those looking to give back while they kick back. In 2025, the country launched its Loloma Hour initiative — in Fijian, loloma means ‘to act with generosity, driven by love’, and this alternative happy-hour invites travellers to swap cocktails for positive-impact activities at various hotels. An increasing number of resorts have been developing programmes to incentivise guests to spend time pitching in on conservation and community projects. Guests at the family-friendly Plantation Island Resort…

Winter is the season that most defines Hokkaido. The island’s snowfall — up to 50 feet a year in places — has brought it fame with winter sports enthusiasts. But long before that, its Indigenous Ainu people had learnt to survive in this land where ice hides fire — as in the volcanic cone of Mount Eniwa on the shores of Lake Shikotsu. Their deeply rich culture — long silenced by official assimilation policies after Hokkaido was formally incorporated into Japan after 1869 — breathes again in its songs and rituals. The oral myths, politics, arts and unique language that form Ainu identity were shaped by Hokkaido’s harsh winters, geological forces and ever-present natural riches. Today, visitors can admire the mirrored steps of red-crowned cranes dancing in Kushiro’s wetlands and…

I’d like to experience the flavours of Southern India first-hand. Can you suggest an itinerary? There’s so much to see, do and taste in this part of India. Start off in the city of Mysuru, where Devaraja Market overflows with colourful produce and fragrant spices from across the state of Karnataka. Be sure to seek out the stalls selling ghee-fried Mysore dosa, a crepe-like street food served with spiced lentil stew and a variety of chutneys. A three-hour drive west brings you to Kodagu. Located in the Western Ghats mountains, the hill station is home to the Kodavas, an Indigenous group from Karnataka. The cuisine here is unlike anything else in Southern India, and the best way to experience it is with a visit to a traditional ainmane, an ancestral home…

You’d think compiling our annual Best of the World list would get easier every year, having put it together in some form or another for well over a decade. But despite some people saying the world is getting smaller, I can categorically confirm it’s not — there’s never a shortage of destinations, events, anniversaries and new openings for us to choose from. National Geographic’s global community of explorers, photographers and editors has handpicked this list of 25 destinations for 2026 after months of exhaustive research and rigorous debate. And I can tell you that it’s probably our best yet. From cultural projects, seminal road trips and Indigenous experiences to sustainable initiatives, destinations emerging from disaster and the rise of sports tourism, we’ve left no stone unturned to bring you this…

Atka Bay, Antarctica Once left to fend for themselves, emperor penguin chicks must venture into the icy waters of the Antarctic to find food. During my two-month stint observing the same colony, I witnessed most of the newborns using ice ramps to descend to sea level, but one particular group lost its way after the sea ice melted early. I was flying a drone along the coast when I spotted a single chick disappearing over the horizon. Pivoting in that direction, I soon found hundreds of others marching along the edge of the Ekström ice shelf. In the end, they had no other choice but to jump 50 feet into the water below. bertiegregory.com @bertiegregory This image was highly commended in the 2025 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, now…

Vintage motels Step into the candy-coloured world of America’s mid-century motels with these 40 drive-in design marvels. The roadside attractions were all built in the 1950s and ’60s and have lately undergone restoration to appeal to a new era of boutique hotel hunters. Places like The Pearl Hotel in San Diego, with its classic oyster-shaped pool, and Nashville’s kitsch queen, The Dive Motel, are vividly brought to life through back stories and photo galleries running across four to six pages. Luster Publishing, £35 Mustique Icon With a foreword by Mick Jagger and text by magazine guru Dylan Jones, this is a love letter to the Caribbean’s most venerable jet-set address. The tiny isle has long been a regular stop for royalty — both rock’n’ roll and actual — and sometime…

THE DESTINATION The largest of the Azores, the island of São Miguel is alive with volcanic wonders and emerald crater lakes. It’s also home to Europe’s oldest and westernmost tea estate: the Chá Gorreana plantation, where visitors can watch leaves being picked by hand. The winner and their guest will spend the week in the island’s vibrant capital, Ponta Delgada, with Sunvil offering readers the chance to win a seven-night stay at the Hotel Marina Atlântico. The property overlooks the city’s bustling harbour, the heart of island life and a gateway to superb whale- and dolphin-spotting opportunities. There’s more to be discovered inland, from hiking trails and natural hot pools to delicious local cheeses ripe for tasting. Sunvil knows the islands inside out, having spent over 30 years crafting tailor-made…

FOOTBALL A guide to the FIFA World Cup The biggest sporting event on the planet will take place across North America in the summer of 2026 CULTURE See the new Frida Kahlo museum Housed in Mexico City, Museo Casa Kahlo displays the artist’s never-before-seen letters RAIL TRAVEL Switzerland’s most scenic trains Author Everett Potter on the country’s most charming rides, with views you won’t find anywhere else ARCHITECTURE Art deco in Paris Explore landmarks and new museum exhibits celebrating 100 years of the movement COFFEE CULTURE The world’s most remote cafes From a treehouse in Thailand to a riverside trail in the UK, these spots are only accessible by foot or bike DESTINATION GUIDES Visit Denmark’s second city With its food scene, youthful energy and nearby lakes, Aarhus could be…

I’m standing on a quiet country path in Hovingham, North Yorkshire, sniffing a pungent handful of wild mustard. Josh Overington, chef-proprietor of the village’s fine-dining restaurant Mýse, which also runs foraging courses, tugs me another treasure from the foliage — a tuft of citrussy fireweed. The young chef, born in the nearby market town of Pocklington, explains that elderflower can be used to infuse a fermented kombucha drink. Pineapple weed — its taste akin to its namesake fruit — adds sweetness to a dessert. The shoots of an Alexander plant, “a forgotten vegetable” brought to Britain by the Romans, is nice stir-fried with seafood, says Josh, as he peels back its succulent layers. Using foraged — and pickled or preserved — herbs to flavour British, and often Yorkshire, produce is…

A teenage boy strides across the courtyard, casually scooping a chicken from the ground and tucking it under his arm like a plumed designer clutch bag. Shortly after, the same bird makes a surprise reappearance on my plate — charred feathers and all. It’s part of an elaborate feast prepared by Kamala Rai, my host for the next few days in Sipting, a village in the mist-shrouded hills of eastern Nepal’s Dhankuta region. Kamala, her hair wrapped in a vibrant flash of fuchsia-coloured silk, deftly tends to steaming pots and pans as we chat in her kitchen, lit by stubs of candles following a temporary electricity cut. She’s quick to explain that roasting the household chicken over an open flame isn’t a daily affair. No, this one was sacrificed in…

“ACCORDING TO THE HUNGARIAN SYSTEM, TOKAJ IS A CITY.” So says local guide Márti Szegedi. We’re standing at the end of Tokaj’s modest, meandering main street, flanked by a charming mix of buildings, some painted in gentle pastels with wooden doors and shutters. I spot a tiny chocolate shop, a vending machine selling milk and several storefronts stacked with plastic bottles of local wine. It’s a sunny Monday afternoon, and there’s barely a soul to be seen. With a twinkle in her eye, Tokaj-born Márti adds, “But everyone knows it’s a village.” Occupying a historically strategic spot where the Tisza and Bodrog rivers meet, the ‘city’ gives its name to the surrounding Tokaj-Hegyalja region. This UNESCO World Heritage-listed Historic Cultural Landscape — confusingly also referred to simply as Tokaj —…

WHY HAVE SO MANY WRITERS FOUND INSPIRATION IN EDINBURGH? Edinburgh is a city that nourishes writers. It’s like a Tardis — it’s small enough to walk in a day, but it’s vast on the inside, and layered with multitudes. It’s why every author here has a different but distinctive version of Edinburgh they write about. HOW HAS THE CITY SHAPED YOUR WRITING? My novels aren’t so much about the detective, but about the milieu that he’s investigating, the corruption of society, and the darkness in all of us. Edinburgh has always fired the gothic imagination in that way — it’s a Jekyll and Hyde city, with a lot of history. WHAT ARE YOUR TOP TIPS FOR A VISITOR? If it’s raining, go to the museums. They’re [mostly] free and they’re…

Winter Sports special Included with the December issue, this guide includes 26 inspirational ideas for winter adventures, from the best rail-accessible resorts in Europe to heli-skiing in Albania’s dramatic Accursed Mountains. Competition Be in with a chance of winning a week-long trip to the Azores. The winner will enjoy seven nights at the Hotel Marina Atlântico. It overlooks the harbour of Ponta Delgada in São Miguel, known as the ‘green island.’ P.42 SUBSCRIBE TODAY Get three issues for just £5! subscriptions.natgeotraveller.co.uk or call 01858 438787 and quote ‘NGT5’…

LONDON, UK For the first time in its history, Buckingham Palace is inviting visitors to browse a festive pop-up. Set within the stables on Royal Mews — mainly used to house carriages and livery — the Christmas Shop will stock gifts from the Royal Collection Trust, including crystal wine glasses, bottles of gin and tree decorations handmade in India using traditional embroidery techniques. 14 November to 5 January. royalcollectionshop.co.uk Copenhagen, Denmark The annual Hans Christian Andersen Christmas Market in central Nytorv Square sells souvenirs that nod to the Danish writer’s festive tales, including The Fir Tree, plus seasonal drinks like gløgg (mulled wine). The market will feature a Santa’s grotto, vintage carousel ride and more beneath thousands of Christmas lights. This year marks the 150th anniversary of Andersen’s death. 14…

Which museums are worth it? Two that stand out are the American Museum of Natural History — which the Night at the Museum film franchise was based on — and Intrepid Museum. At the former, kids can go in search of the giant Moai ‘dumb dumb’ statue and chase stars in the high-tech planetarium. The latter is a maritime and military museum inhabiting the USS Intrepid, a Second World War aircraft carrier on the Hudson River. Top Gun-worthy fighter jets sit on the upper deck, while aircraft hangars house VR experiences and space shuttles. amnh.org intrepidmuseum.org Which viewing deck should we try? Rockefeller Center has revamped its Top of the Rock experience, making it arguably the best observation deck in Manhattan. The rotating Skylift elevates you above the main rooftop…

The Daintree Rainforest in Australia’s north east has been home to the Kuku Yalanji people for more than 50,000 years, yet until recently it wasn’t known for Indigenous experiences. Aboriginal guide Juan Walker set out to change that when he founded Walkabout Cultural Adventures in 2008, an operator offering Kuku Yalanji-led day tours in nature. In 2020, he became one of the leads on the First Nations Tourism Action Plan, which promotes Indigenous-owned and -led companies in the wider Far North Queensland region. Five years on, he takes stock. Tell us about your childhood. I grew up with the best of both worlds: my mother was a teacher, and in the mornings she’d take me to school; my grandparents were culturally active, and in the afternoons they’d teach me about…

What’s a wadi? Oman attracts visitors keen to experience its rugged and comparatively untouched landscapes. Something that makes the sultanate unique is its high concentration of wadis, translating to ‘valleys’ and relating to rocky river gorges, ideal for swimming, hiking, rock-climbing, abseiling and more. So extensive is the country’s network that there isn’t a definitive list: some are hardly on the map at all, while others attract hundreds of visitors every year. What’s the best way to see them? An increasingly common — and the most convenient — option is to embark on a wadi-hopping road trip. Public transport in Oman will connect you to the major cities, but it isn’t as reliable or as advanced as in other countries in the Middle East. Renting a car is easiest and…

Best for ocean-front refinement JUMEIRAH MARA AL ARAB Dubai’s biggest opening of 2025 feels like an old-money counterpoint to the chunky-gold ostentation of neighbouring sister hotel Burj Al Arab. The sotto voce colour scheme is big on cream and pale wood, and the fabled seven-star service of the Burj has, if anything, been nudged upwards. Guests in the yachtcontoured sanctuary are treated like emirs by an army of staff who outnumber the 386 rooms by a factor of three. The chameleonic Fore communal area on the ground floor morphs into a quartet of fine-dining restaurants by night via sliding partitions and chandeliers that emerge from ceilings. Umi Kei, serving delectable Japanese dishes in tapas-style portions, is among Dubai’s best. Opt for a room on the port side for sunset Burj…

‘Keep Austin weird’. You’re bound to see the city’s slogan within a day of touching down in the Texan capital. Whether on a sticker, a mural or someone’s T-shirt, it appears as if summoned to bring visitors on board. After all, Austinites are proud of their home just the way it is — a little bit wacky but with a whole lotta heart. While the skyscrapered Downtown area has been transformed in the past decade — this was, until 2024, the fastest-growing US city for 12 consecutive years — Austin’s managed the near-impossible feat of preserving its free-spirited, rebellious vibe. Here, tech entrepreneurs wear cowboy boots, maverick diners with neon signs offer playful takes on classic barbecue, and the Texas State Capitol stands just blocks from psychedelic murals and food…

It may sound like an oxymoron, but the biggest capsule hotel in the world has just opened in central London. The Zedwell, in Piccadilly Circus, offers 1,000 sound-proofed, windowless ‘cocoons’, with prices from as little as £30 a night. A raft of other hotels drawing on the same low-space, low-cost concept is set to arrive in the capital in the coming years, serving as the catalyst — insiders believe — for a global proliferation. Novel, affordable, convenient and fun, the appeal of the capsule hotel is surprisingly broad — except for the claustrophobic. What’s a capsule hotel? Under the strictest definition, it’s a hotel in which all areas and facilities are communal, with the exception of sealable pods that are little bigger than the individual mattresses they contain. These capsules tend…