All posts by jennifer

Experts' Choice 2021: Maldives wins Best Destination in Asia

Sublime white sand beaches, astonishing marine life, beautiful hotels, and dreamy spa experiences. These are some of the reasons why we’ve chosen the Maldives as our Best Destination in Asia for 2021. This fragile archipelago also has a growing number of sustainable resorts and pioneering green initiatives, so you can minimise your impact on the earth during your stay.

The Maldives is top of many travelers’ wish lists.

Last year, the Maldives was named World’s Leading Travel Destination at the World Travel Awards — testament to just how popular this island destination is with travelers everywhere. There are 26 atolls, fringed by lagoons, reefs and farus (tiny atolls). Many resorts, along with capital city Malé are located in North Malé Atoll. Baa Atoll is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, with seas full of manta rays and whale sharks. Altogether, the islands are home to more than 100 resorts, many of them ultra-luxurious — and expensive.

The Whale Bar at St Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort.

Wherever you stay, you can expect to dive and snorkel in warm water teeming with tropical fish, rejuvenate in beautiful spas, and gaze at the stars in the clearest night skies in the world. Many once in-a-lifetime experiences can be had, from dining under the sea, to swimming while bioluminescent organisms glow all along the shoreline.
Something else special about the Maldives is the imaginatively designed resorts. With winding boardwalks leading to leafy hideaways built from wood, stone, thatch, there’s no ugly architecture here. At Soneva Jani in Noonu Atoll, villas have enchanting features; retractable roofs so you can see the stars, water slides, and lookout towers.
At the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi you can dine in private treetop pods. At Conrad Maldives Rangali Island you can sleep under the sea with fish swimming all around. Perched out in the ocean, the whale-shaped bar at St Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort is another cool piece of resort design.

The Baani Spa at Kagi Maldives

This year sees the opening of the Ritz Carlton on North Malé Atoll, with six restaurants, two bars and secluded villas with private beaches. Also new is Patina Maldives which has a sustainable ethos and biophilic design full of renewable materials and natural light. Kagi Maldives a 50-villa wellness resort offering retreats and spa breaks, opened at the end of last year.

Reef restoration at Anantara Dhigu

The Maldives faces many challenges to its unique environment because of climate change. 80 percent of land is less than one metre above sea level, meaning there are real risks from rising sea levels. Between 2014 and 2017, a large number of the island’s reefs were damaged during a disastrous worldwide bleaching event.
In 2020, the country was ranked a dismal 127 (out of 180) in the Environmental Performance Index, which uses data to rate countries on their environmental health. There are record levels of microplastics, and continued resort expansion — with 11 opening this year alone — threatens marine life and the stability of reefs.
Some Maldivian resorts have always worried about these problems. Anantara was one of the first brands to protect coral reefs in the Maldives, creating coral nurseries as far back as 2010. As a result of reef restoration projects, coral at Anantara Dhigu is now growing back, and is up to 1000 times larger than when projects there began.
Soneva has been pioneering sustainability in the Maldives for 25 years, leading the way in banning plastic, using glass-bottled drinking water and reusing waste. Their chic eco resort Soneva Fushi has zero carbon emissions, recycles 90 percent of waste and makes and sells tonnes of charcoal and coconut oil each year.
Gili Lankanfushi in North Malé Atoll is a luxury resort with a laid-back, eco philosophy. Their organic garden grows more than 20 different crops used in their restaurants. Food waste is recycled using mechanical composters. There’s also new Kudadoo, an ultra-luxurious all inclusive resort in Lhaviyani Atoll, which opened in 2019 and is fully solar powered and plastic free.
Many eco programs at resorts allow guests to get involved. At Anantara Kihavah you can snorkel to the reef and tie on pieces of broken coral with the in-house scientists. At Vakkaru (and many other resorts) you can join in reef cleanups, ridding them of debris, plastic and other rubbish. In 2018, the world’s largest 3D printed reef was created at Summer Island. Guests can plant coral on this new home for marine life, and be sent updates on its growth throughout the year.

Plant-based dining in Soneva Jani’s organic garden.

If you’re vegan or vegetarian and heading to the Maldives then you’re in luck; plant-based dining is a growing trend. The new Patina Maldives has a plant-based restaurant, Roots. Gili Lankunfushi offers vegan cookery classes and has plant-based menus and room amenities. Soneva Jani’s new food concept, So Wild, takes 90 percent of ingredients from the resort’s organic garden.
Away from the high-end resorts, it’s totally possible to explore the islands on a budget. Smaller hotels have air conditioned  rooms for a little as $150 per night. Cocogiri in Vaavu Atoll has beach villas from $178 per person per night. Kuramathi on Rasdhoo Atoll has water villas from $248 per night.
Another way to see the Maldives on a budget is to avoid resorts altogether. Most are built on privately-owned islands but many local islands can be reached by speedboat or ferry, where you’ll find guest houses and homestays in small towns and fishing villages. Connecting with local people and putting money back into the economy are also ways to reduce your impact in the Maldives.

Experts' Choice 2021: Uzbekistan wins Best Emerging Destination

We’ve named Uzbekistan Best Emerging Destination in our Experts’ Choice destination awards.
A crossroads of civilizations for thousands of years, Uzbekistan is home to ancient cities of the Silk Road, where cultures clashed and religious, political and scientific ideas developed over thousands of years. A republic of the USSR for most of the twentieth century, Uzbekistan was locked away, but in the last decade, especially since the death of repressive leader Islam Karimov in 2016, it has opened up to travelers and the media, revealing breathtaking architecture, riveting traditions and epic landscapes.
In 2018 Uzbekistan changed entry rules to allow visa-free entry for visitors from 65 countries, prompting travel companies to launch a raft of new trips including small group tours, culinary adventures, trekking, and journeys along the Silk Route by train.
Lonely Planet named it one of the top regions to visit in 2020, and many writers began to enthuse about its secrets — from Sebastian Modak, New York Times 52 Places traveler, to journalist and author Sophy Roberts.

Uzbekistan has opened up to international travel

During the past 12 months, Uzbekistan’s tourism board has been on a drive to promote its cultural heritage. Not that it needs promoting. The famous cities of Bukhara, Samarkand and Khiva, through which the silk routes passed, are enchanting jewels frozen in time. And, there are vast lonely deserts, mountain ranges, fertile valleys, towns and villages which few tourists have ever seen.
Travelers to Uzbekistan can have a huge variety of experiences, from visiting Tashkent, the modern face of the country, with its looming Soviet-style buildings, to exploring the Silk Route cities which have thousands of years of history perfectly preserved within their walls.

The Hyatt Regency Tashkent

Capital city Tashket is an intriguing collision of national institutions and monuments, hulking Brutalist buildings, Islamic mosques and leafy parks and squares. Visit the Muyi Mubarak Library Museum which houses one of the world’s oldest qurans along with thousands of rare books and manuscripts.
The city’s Communist-era metro stations, celebrating Uzbek life and national figures like poet Alisher Navoi and writer Gafur Gulom are filled with mosaic art, marble pillars and even Islamic-style domes, making them an attraction in their own right.
Uzbeks are traders and nowhere is this more evident than in Tashkent’s raucous Chorsu Bazaar which sells everything from horse meat sausages to hand painted plates. When it’s time to eat, the Central Asian Plov Centre cooks up a mountain of Plov — the dish that was said to sustain attacking armies during the time of Alexander the Great — in giant dishes.
Hyatt Regency Tashkent is one of the best accommodation choices and has a restaurant serving Uzbek cuisine and an outdoor terrace. Lonely Planet likes the Sharq, “a well-located upmarket but affordable hotel that has style, security and good service.” Hotel Uzbekistan a classic piece of Soviet modernist architecture recently changed hands and a refurbishment has been hinted at.

Bukhara, Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan’s Silk Route cities are the most captivating places to visit in the country, and contain some of the best preserved Islamic architecture in the world. In Bukhara, “city of a thousand merchants” the 46-meter-high Kalon minaret is a masterpiece built out of brick and covered in Kufic calligraphy.
In Samarkan, the Registan has dazzlingly beautiful Islamic tiling. The Gur-e-Amir tomb of ruthless conqueror of Persia Amir Timur has a jaw-dropping gold interior. Khiva is a magical walled city teeming with minarets, palaces and domed mosques that create a dusty, wonderfully cinematic cityscape against the hazy setting sun.

Hilltop fort in the Kyzylkum Desert

Away from the tourist trail Uzbekistan’s remote deserts have their own treasures, like Kampyr Tepe, an ancient city founded by Alexander the Great. Traversed by silk road traders through the ages, the Kyzylkum Desert, the “Red Desert” and Aydarkul Lake, which covers an astonishing 1200 square miles, offer opportunities for camel trekking, mountain hikes, birdwatching  and staying in yurt camps underneath star-filled skies.
In the western part of the desert are the Khorezm fortresses, more than 50 lonely fortresses dating back to the 7th century BC. They can be reached on trips from Khiva and Burkhara.

Uzbek girls sell local bread in Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan.

Community and eco-based tourism in Uzbekistan is still evolving. One way to really understand the culture is to spend the night in a homestay in a rural village and participate in local life. You can learn about traditional crafts like silk carpet weaving and ceramics, Uzbek music, traditional medicine, horse breeding and farming. With some villages literally in the middle of nowhere, there’s the real possibility of getting completely off the beaten track and discovering somewhere untouched by tourism.

Charvak Lake, Tashkent Region, Uzbekistan

For adventurous travelers, remote Uzbekistan is a wild landscape of mountains, kilometers-long canyons, and caves which present magnificent hiking opportunities. Rafting on the fast flowing Chatkal River is another great experience for thrill-seekers.
Amirsoy, a new ski resort in the Tian Shan mountains, is the brainchild of Uzbek entrepreneur Rashvan Abdullaevr who plans to turn it into a world-class winter sports destination. The Telegraph newspaper gave it a glowing review in February, commenting that “it should be all eyes east for the new ski frontier once international travel is back on the cards.”

Experts’ Choice 2021: Bolivia wins Best of Central and South America

Tripexpert’s Experts’ Choice Awards are given to the best of the best hotels, restaurants and attractions in 126 countries, and are based on professional travel reviews. We also give awards to the destinations we think should be top of your travel bucket lists. This year, our award for Best of Central and South America goes to Bolivia.

Vast salt flats, 6000-meter-high peaks, empty, windswept deserts — Bolivia’s remote landscapes fit perfectly with the post-pandemic travel vibe. But this isn’t the only reason why we’ve chosen this country as one of our top destinations for 2021.

Although Bolivia was a Spanish colony for three centuries, today, the country is alive with the colorful traditions and customs of its indigenous peoples. Its cities are varied and contrasting, from sedate, colonial Sucre, to chaotic, authentic La Paz.  And, it has astonishing biodiversity (in Madidi National Park alone, there are 265 mammal species and more than 1000 types of bird), something Bolivians have woken up to, strengthening protections at nature reserves and national parks as well as creating new ones.

Bolivia is made for thrill-seekers and explorers — trekking in distant mountains, exploring Amazonian rainforest and cycling along chillingly high mountain roads are just some of the many adventures you can have.  With a culinary scene that stretches all the way from fine dining to street food, great coffee and several beautiful wine regions, Bolivia is also a great destination for fans of food and drink.

The city of La Paz

Named one of Lonely Planet’s top 10 cities in 2020, La Paz is busy, gritty, and increasingly hip and arty. The most fashionable place to stay is Atix, a design hotel with a cool cocktail bar, but there are plenty of other good options, including the Stannum Boutique Hotel and Spa, which, according to Fodor’s Travel “makes for a flawless stay.” A new design hotel, Altu Quala is opening this summer.

One of the best places to sample Bolivian cuisine, in La Paz, you can try everything from smoked llama on the menu at Gustu to Andean anticuchos on the streets. The 17-mile-long cable car is a great way to see the whole city from above, and the Mercado de Hechicería (witches’ market), full of mysterious products used for charms, talismans and cures, is not to be missed either.

Beyond La Paz, Bolivia has other cities well worth visiting. Founded in the 16th century, Sucre is full of pretty squares, red-roofed colonial buildings, and interesting museums. Cosmopolitan Santa Cruz is Bolivia’s most modern city, and a good base for traveling to the country’s national parks, including little-visited Kaa Iya, home to jaguars, tapirs and pumas.

Kachi Lodge, in the middle of the Salar de Uyuni salt flat

Away from the cities and towns, Bolivia is full of incredible landscapes. 40,000 years old, 4000 square miles in size, the huge salt flat Salar de Uyuni has captivated travelers and tour operators alike in recent years, and now there is a permanent hotel in the middle of it  — Kachi Lodge, where you can gaze at the stars from your bed in a luxury heated dome, and take sunrise hikes across the glittering salt pan.

With Blink by Black Tomato, you can have your very own personalised camp set up in a unique location on the salf flat. And on Explora‘s journey across Chile and Bolivia, you can gaze at them from your mountain lodge accomodation.
There are also several salt hotels, where everything from the walls and floors to the beds are made by local people from blocks of salt. Palacio de Sal is the oldest and the best.

While there, you might also want to visit Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve where you’ll find Laguna Colorada, a lake tinged red with algae and populated by flamingos. Or the bleakly beautiful Siloi Desert with its bubbling geysers and distant volcanoes.

Bolivia has a multitude of experiences in the great outdoors. The 1200-kilometre-long Cordillera Real range, full of soaring peaks, glacial lakes and Andean tribal villages is a top mountain climbing and trekking destination and free from the crowds of trekkers that flock to Peru.

Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve

North-east of La Paz, the road to Coroico, a stunningly beautiful route that winds its way through forested mountains with vertical 1000-meter drops, is on many a mountain biker’s bucket list. The Coroico River is fantastic for white water rafting and kayaking.
And magical Lake Titicaca, sacred to the Incas and dotted with ruined shrines, temples and traditional Aymara farming communities also has wonderful hiking and kayaking opportunities.

Amboro National Park

Wildlife lovers have many choices, from Amboro National Park, which is home to more than 900 bird species, to the Valley of the Condors, where you can watch the threatened Andean Condor, one of the largest flying birds in the world.

North-west of La Paz, rainforested Madidi National Park is one of the most biodiverse places on earth, home to jaguars, tapirs, monkeys, and 11% of the world’s bird species. On its fringes, the Pampas (Amazonian wetlands), are inhabited by river dolphins, caimans, iguanas, squirrel monkeys, sloths and capybaras.

Bolivia is also becoming known for its beautiful high-altitude vineyards in Tarija, which produce distinctive, award-winning reds. Conde Nast Traveler is just one travel magazine writing about why Bolivia should be the next wine destination you visit in South America.

Just before the coronavirus pandemic, Bolivia hosted the World Travel Awards and won in several categories. COVID-19 dealt a huge blow to the country’s tourism industry, but with pristine national parks, remote landscapes that stir the imagination, a vibrant indigenous culture and a distinct lack of crowds, we think it won’t be long before tourism is booming in Bolivia again.

Tripexpert Announces 2021 Experts’ Choice Award Winners

Tripexpert is excited to announce the winners of the 2021 Experts’ Choice Awards. This year, the award will be received by 5,000 hotels, restaurants and attractions in 126 countries. These are, quite simply, the best of the best places to stay, eat and visit in 2021, according to professional travel reviewers.

What’s new this year

The emergence of COVID-19 halted travelers in their tracks. Over 18 months, as the world went into lockdown after lockdown, it became clear that travel would have to be reinvented for a post-pandemic world. Throughout, businesses have shown amazing resilience and creative thinking. Michelin-starred restaurants became takeaways. Hotels took the opportunity to renovate or extend. Museums, galleries and other attractions went digital and innovated to engage visitors stuck at home.
Because of the pandemic, we decided against awarding Experts’ Choice in 2020. Instead, we used the time to overhaul the site, which is now faster and easier to use. We also improved our coverage of remote destinations that have been especially popular with travelers in the last year, such as national parks and nature reserves.

About this year’s winners

Many of our Experts’ Choice winners are notable for how they responded to the pandemic. In the restaurant category, the three Michelin-starred 11 Madison Park in New York was not above designing meal kits so diners could recreate their gourmet experience in their own homes. The Crane Resort in Barbados, another Experts’ Choice winner, is allowing guests who test positive for coronavirus to self isolate at the resort for free, rather than paying for a government hotel.

Other winners include the New Acropolis Museum in Athens, an outstanding museum which recently made its entire permanent collection of 2000-plus artefacts available online, and Astrid & Gaston, a pioneering restaurant which helped put Lima on the tourism map.

The New Acropolis Museum in Athens

 

Despite the hardships involved in opening new businesses in the past 18 months, our list of winners includes an impressive 849 places that have not previously received the award.

As in previous years, Europe and the Americas performed very strongly; this year, it’s a virtual tie between the two continents in terms of total number of winners (about 1,900 each). They are followed by Asia (about 900 winners) and Africa and Oceania (about 250 winners each).

Selection criteria

Tripexpert is unique in relying exclusively on professional reviews in determining our award winners. Every place we cover has a Tripexpert Score — the result of aggregating reviews from travel guides, magazines, newspapers and blogs. Our sources include publications like Travel + LeisureFrommer’s, and The New York Times.
Experts’ Choice is awarded to the highest rated places in each destination. In general, no more than 2% of businesses receive the award, making it a distinctive honor.

Next steps

If you’re a winner, we’ll send you an email. You can use our collection of Experts’ Choice badges on your website to show that you are top-rated by experts. Additional resources are available on our Experts’ Choice page, and we’re happy to help you with media outreach — please contact Chris Blume with any queries you may have.
If you’re a traveler, keep an eye out for Experts’ Choice badges on the pages of winning venues on Tripexpert.com and around the internet when you’re planning your next trip. You can also look for winners on our Experts’ Choice page.

Top-rated neighborhood hotels in London

If you’re keen to mix with the locals and see the real London, stay at these top-rated neighborhood hotels. The city comes alive outside Zone One. 

This Italian-owned haven for the well-heeled of Chelsea isn’t cheap, but for a neighborhood hotel, it is something special. The 19 rooms are styled like scenes from the Renaissance, with rag-painted walls and voluminous drapes in vibrant colors. Antique furniture and four poster beds complete the look.

All the shops you could ever want are on the doorstep, as well London’s top museums and the Royal Albert Hall. The Five Fields which critics have tipped as one of London’s top restaurants for 2020, is just around the corner. Frommer’s says this hotel delivers, “divine Italian luxury at its most romantic and English-accented.” In other words – it’s got wow factor.

+44 (0)20 7581 5757, from £250 per room per night, www.sandomenicohouse.com

The Portobello Hotel Notting Hill

At the height of the punk rock era, some legendary showbiz moments happened at the Portobello Hotel. The Beastie Boys were arrested there, the Sex Pistols were thrown out, and Patti Smith was a regular. Later, it was where U2 signed a record deal, and Damon Albarn was a bartender. Despite this, the hotel remains low-key – apart from the décor, which Travel + Leisure describes as, “seventies Marrakesh madness meets faded country-house glamour.”

Located in the heart of Notting Hill, the antique shops and artisan bakeries of Portobello Road are on the doorstep. And you can walk to  Hereford Road a popular neighborhood restaurant where the menu is as intriguing as your accommodation.

+44 (0)20 7727 2777, from £190 per room per night, www.portobellohotel.com

Town Hall Hotel  Bethnal Green

You know your hotel is cooler than you when events – sorry – “happenings” include life drawing classes of… wolves. But don’t let that put you off, because this former Edwardian town hall is a beautiful design hotel, with some fabulous restaurants, and being this far from Central London, feels like a steal.

Explore the arty neighborhood of Bethnal Green, which has character, grit and great nightlife. On a sunny Sunday, walk to Columbia Road, which is full of independent shops, cafes as well as flower market A word of warning – this isn’t the best hotel if you’re seeking peace and quiet. There are frequent hipster weddings and photo shoots and you might also find instagrammers running riot.

 +44 (0)20 7871 0460, from £135 per room per night, www.townhallhotel.com

York and Albany Camden

An eight-room hotel owned by Gordon Ramsey, the York and Albany has tasteful décor – original fireplaces and four poster beds – and a buzzy restaurant. The hotel just pretends to be in Camden – in fact, it’s on a lovely hill (with a Whole Foods, no less) leading directly to Regent’s Park But it’s in easy reach of the grungier side of Camden if you’re keen to explore.

This hotel is a good choice if you have children and animals in tow. Kids eat free in the restaurant, and the park and London Zoo are within strolling distance. For live music-fans, The Blues Kitchen is just down the street, as is, of course, The Jazz Cafe, which everyone should visit at least once.

+44 (0)20 7387 5700, www.gordonramsayrestaurants.com/york-and-albany/hotel/, from £230 per room per night.

Fifteen years ago, Shoreditch was a hinterland. At night, you didn’t stray far from Great Eastern Street. But then, prices shot through the roof, and soon cocktail bars began appearing on every corner. The hugely popular Hoxton Hotel, built out of a converted car park, was one of the first cool places to spring up and it’s still cool, years later.

Considering the Hoxton is located in what the Telegraph calls “the heart of hipster heaven” it’s surprisingly affordable, friendly, and has great perks for travelers like free phone calls all over the world. There are dozens of places to eat nearby, but for a magical lunch or dinner, head to Rochelle Canteen – a restaurant in a converted school bike shed that is worshipped by locals.

+44 (0) 207 550 1000, from £130 per room per night, https://thehoxton.com

The Milestone Kensington

Opposite Hyde Park and Kensington Palace the Milestone is a traditional English hotel with elegant furnishings, and a quirky horse-racing themed bar. Known for its exceptional service, there are two members of staff for every guest, which says it all really. There is a suite named after Meghan Markle, and if you stay here, expect to be treated like royalty too.

With grand white stucco fronted houses, and more than a dozen imposing embassy buildings, Kensington might feel intimidating at first. But wander down the cobbled streets and you’ll find classic pubs, all peeling paint and chandeliers, and some pretty garden squares. On the street behind the hotel is  Launceston Place a fine dining restaurant loved by well-to-do locals.

+44 (0)207 917 1000, from £350 per room per night, www.milestonehotel.com

40 Winks Stepney Green

This two-room bed and breakfast is owned by flamboyant interior designer David Walker, described by Elle Decor as the “enfant terrible of British design.” As you might expect, staying here is like walking into an exploded jewelery box. The idea is to offer guests a fairy-tale experience. Rooms are filled with  objects and curios (each one has a story) given to the designer by photographers, artists and the like.

Once you’ve recovered from this overdose of English eccentricity, have a wander around Stepney Green. A little rough around the edges, it has some good pubs and Bangladeshi, Turkish and Pakistani restaurants. The Tower of London the City, and Spitalfields Market are all nearby.

single room £115 per night, double £185 per night. Both rooms can be hired together, www.40winks.org

The best national parks and reserves in Sri Lanka

Everyone who visits Sri Lanka dreams of seeing a leopard, but there is so much more to the island’s parks, rainforests and bird sanctuaries. The best way to explore them is to plan – while hiring a guide and a jeep on the day is fine, there are many passionate, knowledgeable guides and budget-friendly tours online.

Wilpattu National Park: jeep safari

Around four hours’ drive from Colombo, Wilpattu National Park is quieter than Yala and many say it is a better experience.  Closed for 25 years during the war, the park was swept for landmines before it reopened in 2010. Dozens of shallow villus filled with rainwater entice elephants, leopards, sloth bears, deer and buffalo. Buy a ticket in advance from the Department of Wildlife Conservation website.
Entry: approx. $25 per person, private excursion with guide (local pick-up) $30-100 per person.
When to go: May to October

Leopard in Wilpattu National Park

 

Yala National Park: jeep safari

Sri Lanka’s most famous national park has been criticised recently for the number of jeeps allowed inside. To get a sense of the problem, on an average day there might be 95 jeeps in Wilpattu, but around 500 in Yala. There are things you can do, such as avoiding weekends, and there are jeep sharing groups on Facebook. The former colonial hunting ground is still the best place to see wildlife in Sri Lanka, especially if you want to see the island’s large mammals. Places to stay nearby include the popular Wild Coast Tented Lodge.
Entry: approx. $25 per person, private excursion with guide (local pick-up) $40-110 per person.
When to go: May to October

Yala National Park

Bundala National Park: jeep safari, birdwatching

Bundala is home to all of Sri Lanka’s large mammals but is better known as a refuge for migratory birds. A mixture of wetland, scrubland, saltmarsh and dunes with a beautiful untouched coastline, visiting Bundala is a very different experience from a trip to Yala or Wilpattu. The most important birds present in the park are the globally threatened Lesser Adjutant and the Black-Necked Stork. Get there in around three hours from Galle or Unawatuna.
Entry: approx. $15 per person, private excursion with guide (local pick-up) $20-90 per person. 
When to go: November to February

Black-necked Stork

Horton Plains National Park: hiking

You don’t need to go on safari to see the island’s wildlife. Horton Plains, a vast plateau of grassland, cloud forest, meandering rivers and waterfalls has plenty, including elk, sambar deer, loris, monkeys and giant squirrels. Even rarely-seen leopards lurk in the grasslands here. Horton Plains can get busy with tourists who come to see the view from World’s End, a cliff with a 4000 ft drop. Do some planning so you can get off the main tourist trail, and take a knowledgeable guide with you. 
Entry: approx. $15 per person, private excursion with guide (local pick-up) $30-50 per person.
When to go: December to April

Horton Plains National Park

Kumana National Park (Yala East): jeep safari

At the eastern corner of Yala, Kumana National Park is a good choice if you want to avoid the crowds. A great place for birdwatching, Kumana’s mangrove swamps and lagoons attract migratory birds such as the pintail snipe which flies thousands of miles from Siberia. There are also herons, pelicans, spoonbills and rare species like the Glossy Ibis and Black-Necked Stork. Kumana is home to all the same mammals as Yala, but as it is a wilder environment, they might not be so easy to spot. 
Entry: approx. $15 per person, private excursion with guide (local pick-up) $35-80 per person.
When to go: May to October

The rare Glossy Ibis

Udawalawe National Park: jeep safari

With a 500-strong herd, Udawalawe is one of the best places on the island to see elephants. At the center of the park is the peaceful Uda Walawe reservoir which attracts all manner of wildlife from crocodiles to water buffalo. Unfortunately, this park is starting to get as busy as Yala during peak times. Nextdoor is the Elephant Transit Home, where orphaned elephant calves are cared for. It is an inspiring place and well worth a visit. 
Entry: approx. $25 per person, private excursion with guide (local pick-up) $40-100 per person
When to go: May to October

The Elephant Transit Home at Udawalawe National Park

Sinharaja Forest Reserve: hiking

Most of Sri Lanka’s primary rainforest has disappeared, but one patch remains – the Sinharaja Forest Reserve, in the Southern Lowlands. A UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, this ancient forest has 40-meter-tall trees, waterfalls and pools to swim in, and an array of exotic plants, birds, butterflies and reptiles. Hiking is permitted with a guide: you can find one at the entrance or book a private excursion in advance. Get there in around three hours from Galle or the beach resorts of the South Coast.
Private excursion with guide (local pick-up) $50-200 per person.
When to go: August/September to March/April

Green Vine Snake in Sinharaja Forest Reserve

Kalametiya Bird Sanctuary: birdwatching

Kalametiya is a popular bird sanctuary around two hours’ drive from Galle and the southern beach resorts. A vast expanse of tropical wetland, it is home to migratory and water birds including several rare species. Book a tour in advance and spend a relaxing few hours floating through the lagoons and mangrove swamps on a customised birdwatching boat.
Excursion with guide (local pick-up) $28-35 per person.
When to go: November to February

Sri Lankan Grey Heron

Gal Oya National Park: jeep safari, boat safari

Gal Oya is a beautiful park that most tourists have never heard of which means you can spend a day here without seeing another jeep. Safaris often include a boat trip on the reservoir, where you might see the park’s famous swimming elephants crossing to the islands in search of food. All Sri Lanka’s large mammals live in Gal Oya, although because the environment is wilder, they may be harder to spot. The park is a few hours’ drive from Tea Country or Arugam Bay and the Gal Oya Lodge is a good place to stay locally.
Entry: approx. $15 per person, private excursion with guide (local pick-up) $30-95.
When to go: April to September

Gal Oya National Park

Wasgamuwa National Park: jeep safari, volunteering

Wasgamuwa is one of the quieter national parks and ideal if you want a less crowded experience. All the large mammals have been spotted here, and the park is also home to the Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society, an award-winning non-profit that runs volunteer programs. Like many of the national parks in Sri Lanka, Wasgamuwa permits tourists to stay overnight within its boundaries, either in a tent or one of the park’s few bungalows. Get there in three hours from Kandy.
Entry: approx. $15 per person, private excursion with guide (local pick-up) $35-80 per person.
When to go: May to October

Sloth Bear at Wasgamuwa National Park

Chundikkulam National Park: birdwatching

Not many people know that one of Sri Lanka’s oldest national parks is located in the far north of the country. Chundikkulam National Park can be found on the North East coast in an area untouched by development. Made a bird sanctuary in 1938, the park closed when the war began. In 2015 it reopened as a national park. In the winter, Chundikkulam can be filled with migratory birds including Greater Flamingos. Visit on a day trip from Jaffna.
Entry: approx. $15 per person, private excursion with guide (local pick-up) $20-90.
When to go: September to March

Greater Flamingos

The best noise cancelling headphones for travelers

Active noise cancelling technology was developed for military pilots’ headsets in the seventies and eighties. It works by producing a sound wave which neutralizes the unwanted noise. Today, it is a feature of many of the best headphones you can buy in the shops. 
Top-of-the-range noise cancelling headphones are ground-breaking; try a pair on, and you’ll be amazed. But they are not cheap. Budget models don’t reduce noise quite so much, and you might be left wishing you had spent more. Whether you can afford to splurge or are sticking to a budget, we’ve selected some of the best buys.

Sony WH-1000XM3

What Hi-Fi magazine described the Sony WH-1000XM3 as “as close to the perfect pair of noise cancelling headphones as it’s currently possible to find.” The noise cancelling function is outstanding, and listening to music is unadulterated joy. Controlled by touch, with only two buttons, they are beautifully simple to use.

These headphones can be used with with Bluetooth 4.2, and come with an adapter for in-flight entertainment systems. Noise cancelling can be optimized when the cabin pressure changes.
Battery life is 30 hours, and ten minutes of charge gives you five hours of power – fantastic for long journeys. They fold to fit into a small case, taking up very little space. The closed earcups avoid pressure on your ears, keeping you cool. You won’t want to take them off.

Buy them: Sony WH-1000XM3 $278

Bose 700

Bose was one of the pioneers of noise cancelling headphones, designing them for the pilots of the record-breaking Voyager flight in the eighties. They also made the first pair sold to consumers.
Noise cancellation shuts out conversations nearby as well as background noise, and with 11 different levels, you can let in as little or as much sound as you like. Sound quality is so clear it will make you want to get up and dance.

Travelers will love Bose AR, a series of apps that allow you to tune in to hear directions or find places of interest nearby. You can even listen to reviews of the restaurant you’re standing in front of.
Of all the headphones in this list these are the most stylish. The headband is thin and adjusted via an ingenious sliding mechanism. They look great, but perhaps a little too great for a rough and ready backpacking lifestyle.

Buy them: Bose 700 $349

Jabra Elite 85h

Danish brand Jabra launched their Elite 85h headphones in 2019. The noise control works perfectly and can be customized in the Jabra Sound+ app, and the Smart Sound system adapts to your surroundings, which is perfect if you’re on the move. Another stand-out feature is the extraordinary battery life. They can last up to 36 hours, which is ideal if you are taking a lengthy trip.

The Jabra Elite 85h feel tighter on your head than either the Sony or the Bose and are perhaps a little clunkier overall, but the difference is marginal. And, the smooth fabric coating feels softer to the touch than hard plastic. With a water-resistant fabric coating, these headphones feel like they could withstand some wear and tear and their warranty guards against rain and dust. A well-made, well-designed product.

Buy them: Jabra Elite 85h $249.99

Sennheiser HD 4.50
Award-winning German company Sennheiser has developed its own active noise canceling technology called NoiseGard. Although effective, it’s not quite in the same league as the tech in the Sony WH-1000XM3 or the Bose 700. But the sound quality is clean and bright and can be customized in the accompanying Captune app.

While the design of the HD 4.50 is quite straightforward, they are small when folded in on themselves and come in a soft travel pouch rather than a hard case, making them easier to pack. Weighing only 238 grams, they are one of the lightest sets of headphones on this list. They have 19 hours of battery life with noise cancelling on. High-quality headphones at a very reasonable price.

Buy them: Sennheiser HD 4.5 $149.98

JBL Tune 600BTNC

American company JBL is famous for making loudspeakers, but has also designed several high-quality sets of headphones. The Tune 600BTNC are inexpensive as far as noise-cancelling headphones go, which means neither the sound quality nor the active noise-cancellation are as good as on more expensive versions. JBL makes a point of mentioning how good the bass sound is – so if you’re a wannabe DJ who loves their hip hop or electronica, these could be the headphones for you.

What makes these headphones attractive to travelers is their weight. At 173 grams, they’re the lightest on this list. However, there isn’t a carry case or pouch, so they may get damaged unless you purchase one. Battery life is 12 hours if you’re using Bluetooth or noise cancelling, so you won’t be able to wear them the whole time on a long flight. They are lighter to wear than some of the other models, and for the fashion-conscious, they come in pink, blue and white.

Buy them: JBL Tune 600BTNC $59.95

Sony WH-CH700N

Sony has cracked active noise cancelling. On these headphones, the noise cancellation function is fantastic – background noise and conversations nearby can be almost completely shut out. The sound quality is also excellent for headphones at such a low price.
The Artificial Intelligence Noise Cancellation (AINC) feature uses AI to optimize itself at the push of a button, perfect if you’re en route through a changing environment such as an airport, as you don’t need to keep readjusting them.

Lightweight and comfortable, they swivel flat for easy storage and can be neatly tucked into an aircraft seat pocket.  With a long battery life too, these are an excellent choice for travelers. And while they lack the design credentials of the top models, they are well made and comfortable to wear.

Buy them: Sony WH-CH700N $179.95

The verdict

The top of the range headphones by Sony and Bose transform the experience of listening to music – and of being out in the world. But, for traveling, our top pick is the Jabra Elite 85h. The water-resistant coating is an innovative feature and means you won’t be worrying about damaging them all the time. The battery life is good, as are the sound quality and noise cancelling function.
The Sony WH-CH700N are another great choice. Sony doesn’t compromise on either noise control or audio quality with these headphones. They are light and comfortable to wear and, importantly, won’t bankrupt you!

Perfect weekend getaways from London

An afternoon of windswept walking, a shopping trip along cobbled streets – however you want to spend the weekend, England’s small towns and villages are perfect for a few lazy days away from the city.

Rye, East Sussex

Rye has an intriguing smuggling history.

With cobbled lanes and old wood-beamed houses, Rye is one of England’s prettiest villages. It is also full of mystery – four hundred years ago, its creaking inns were meeting places for smugglers trafficking goods to and from the continent.
Beyond the village, Romney Marsh was where the smugglers hid, communicating in the dead of night with owl-noises. Today, the marsh is enjoyed by walkers and is a great place to spot birdlife.
Rye’s mix of peculiarity and charm has attracted writers and artists for centuries. Pay a visit to Georgian Lamb House, where Henry James worked on three of his novels.
Located where three rivers meet the sea, Rye is a popular place for water-based activities. Take a sailing or windsurfing lesson, or hire a dinghy, paddleboard, or kayaks.
Sussex is arguably England’s best wine region, and there are more than ten vineyards near Rye alone. Visit Chapel Down, one of England’s top sparkling wine producers, or Sedlescombe, the country’s oldest organic vineyard.
Where to eat: Tuscan Kitchen is a popular Italian restaurant run by a Florentine chef. Book in advance.
Where to stay: The George in Rye is a renovated Georgian house in the center of the town with gorgeous rooms.
How to get there: By car: driving from London takes around two hours via the M20 or A21. By train: depart London St Pancras and change at Ashford International for Rye (www.southeasternrailway.co.uk) or depart London Victoria and change at Hastings (www.southeasternrailway.co.uk).

Southwold, East Suffolk

Southwold has all the elements of an English seaside town, including beach huts.

The Victorian seaside town of Southwold is as English as it comes. Wander down the bunting-clad high street, stop for tea and cake, stroll along the promenade with fish and chips, or head to the beach with its pier and colorful beach huts.
Award-winning Adnams Brewery has been brewing beer in the town since 1872. Now also making gin and vodka, they offer tours and tastings of their brewery and distillery as well as gin-making sessions.
The real highlight of Southwold is the surrounding landscape of marshes and huge, empty skies. Take the ferry across the River Blythe and walk through the Walberswick Nature Reserve. Look out for migrating birds, waders, geese and maybe even the odd reed cutter harvesting reeds for thatch. Seafood shacks and cozy pubs await you.
Where to eat: Down by the harbor, Sole Bay serves up delicious fresh fish, lobster and oysters caught from their own boat.
Where to stay: The Swan is owned by Adnams Brewery and has bright, stylish rooms moments from the sea.
How to get there: By car: the journey takes around two hours 30 minutes via the A12. By train: depart London Liverpool Street and change at Ipswich for Halesworth. At Halesworth, take a bus or taxi to Southwold (www.greateranglia.co.uk).

Whitstable, Kent

Oysters are always on the menu in Whitstable.

Whitstable may seem humble, but in fact, this Kent village is world-famous – for the three million oysters it harvests every year. Oyster-themed things to do (besides eating them, of course) include watching as they are unloaded down at the 200-year-old harbor, cooking them, and seeing where they are farmed.
Away from the harbor, Whitstable’s high street is another place to have a stroll. You’ll find art galleries and shops selling ice cream, stripy Breton tops, coastal-inspired jewellery, and nautical-themed homewares.
The many coastal walks around Whitstable include a 20 KM route to Faversham which takes you along the shoreline with views of sea and sky. There is no shortage of bike trails either – one of the nicest is the Crab and Winkle Way to Canterbury.
Where to eat: Samphire is a bistro with a menu full of fresh seafood and other local produce.
Where to stay: Hotel Continental has beach-chic rooms with views of the sea.
How to get there: By car: driving from London takes around one hour and 30 minutes. By train: take the train for Ramsgate from London Victoria (www.southeasternrailway.co.uk).

Blakeney, North Norfolk

The salt marshes around Blakeney are unspoiled and beautiful.

Blakeney was once a thriving medieval fishing port, until the sea suddenly receded, leaving the salt marshes to the geese and the gulls. Today, this village of Georgian houses is a popular bolthole, with a pretty quay and a stunning natural landscape on the doorstep.
Take a boat from Morston Quay to the shifting sands of Blakeney Point to see England’s largest colony of grey and common seals. Explore Blakeney National Nature Reserve, a patchwork of mudflats and marshes which has some of the best bird watching in England.
North Norfolk is known for fresh local seafood, including Blakeney whitebait, Norfolk mussels and Cromer crab. Find all these and more on the menu at The Moorings in Blakeney and the Red Lion at Stiffkey. Wild samphire also grows here and crops up in many dishes.
For a unique experience, explore the marshes on a mussel flat, a traditional Norfolk fishing boat, specially designed to navigate the shallow creeks and sandbanks.
Where to eat: The Moorings serves modern British food with an emphasis on local seafood and game.
Where to stay: The Blakeney Hotel is a 4 AA star hotel with stylish rooms overlooking the salt marshes
How to get there: By car: driving from London takes around two hours and 40 minutes. By train: take the train from London Liverpool Street or King’s Cross for Norwich and connect to Sheringham. From Sheringham, hop on the coastal ‘hopper’ bus to Blakeney. (www.greateranglia.co.uk).

Frome, Somerset

Catherine Hill is part of Frome’s ‘artisan’s quarter.’

The market town of Frome is a must for history lovers. As well as dozens of historic buildings, the town has even preserved its unique two-hundred-year-old gas streetlamps. Frome’s former textile mill has also been saved and converted into artists’ studios hosting exhibitions and events.
Foodies will enjoy browsing the market and the shops selling cheese, cider and local farm produce. The center of town boasts an artisan’s quarter home to galleries and shops selling jewelry, ceramics and textiles.
Walkers can head out of town to the villages of Mells and Nunney. For a proper hike, follow the East Mendip Way 25 KM through the rolling hills and woodland of Somerset to the old town of Wells.
Where to eat: Bistro Lotte is a popular restaurant sourcing food from local suppliers.
Where to stay: Rook Lane House is a bed and breakfast in a Grade II listed building in the center of town.
How to get there: By car: driving from London takes just over two hours via the M3. By train: depart from London Paddington and change at Westbury. The journey takes around 1 hour and 30 minutes (www.gwr.com).

Lyme Regis, Dorset

Lyme Regis has a sheltered harbor where you can kayak and SUP.

Lyme Regis is most famous as the home of Mary Anning, who dug up dinosaur skeletons and changed what people knew about the origins of the earth. Anning’s story is told in detail in the Lyme Regis Museum. You can also follow the coast to the Charmouth Heritage Coast Center, which has displays about local finds.

Elsewhere Lyme Regis has a lovely seafront promenade, beach and thirteenth-century harbor where you can kayak and SUP. The Town Mill is a restored working flour mill, with buildings converted into a brewery, art gallery and several studios where you can shop for handcrafted jewelry and ceramics.
Hunt for fossils on the beach, walk to Axmouth through the Undercliff National Nature Reserve which is a habitat for rare wildlife, or along the River Char to pretty Dorset villages.
Where to eat: Robin Wylde has a menu full of inventive, seasonal ingredients and local wines, ciders and beers.
Where to stay: The Pilot Boat has bright modern rooms in a Grade II listed building overlooking the sea.
How to get there: By car: driving takes around three hours via the M3. By train: take the train from London Waterloo to Axminster and then take the bus. (www.southwesternrailway.com).

How to spend 48 hours in Beirut

For years, Beirut was defined by the devastating war that raged in its streets, but people are finally waking up to this excellent under-the-radar destination, which has a fascinating history, welcoming locals and fabulous food.

Day One

Make sense of the city

To get a sense of Beirut’s complex history and incredible diversity, stand on the small, unnamed street between Martyrs’ Square and the Place de L’Etoile. You can see the striking blue-domed Mohammad al-Amin mosque, financed by Prime Minister Rafic Hariri before his murder, along with his stark concrete tomb. Next to this is the Maronite Cathedral of Saint George. At least two other churches and two more mosques stand nearby.
In the middle of everything is an excavation of five-thousand-year-old Roman ruins, found in the rubble of the war. There is a plan to turn this whole area into a national monument, but in typical Beirut fashion, there’s no sense of when it might be completed.

Mohammad al-Amin mosque

From here it’s a short walk to downtown. Almost flattened during the war, this area of the city is currently a desert of overpriced shops and cafes. But the Beaux Arts parliament building and clock tower on Place de L’Etoile are worth a look.
Nearby are the Roman Baths – more of Beirut’s well-maintained Roman ruins, and the imposing Ottoman palace that functions as the Prime Minister’s headquarters. Behind the palace is the city’s only synagogue, which serves a minuscule number of Jews – most left during the civil war, when they started to be kidnapped and ‘disappeared.’

Form an opinion

After the war, Solidaire, the company tasked with rebuilding the city, created a district of luxury apartments with astronomical rents. Evicting local people and demolishing old buildings was deemed necessary to get the city back on its feet, but many Beirutis were, and still are, appalled by the company’s actions.

Beirut Terraces

To see pre and post-Solidaire Beirut together, stand on Omar Daouk Road. From here you can see the scarred, burnt Holiday Inn hotel, and nearby, the gleaming Beirut Terraces, where an apartment can cost $4 million.

If you walk down to the sea, you’ll come to the St Georges hotel with its enormous ‘STOP SOLIDAIRE’ banner. The hotel first opened in 1929, and owner Fadi Al Khoury refuses to let it go the way of others. It’s the city’s symbol of resistance.

Lunch by the sea

Downtown has few authentic restaurants, so walk or get a taxi to Al Falamanki Raouche at the far end of the Corniche. The menu is based on Lebanese home-cooking and includes traditional dishes like wild thyme salad, sujok, meze, salads and grilled meats. Tables outside have nice views of the sparkling Mediterranean.

Al Falamanki Raouche

Relax in style

Although you’ll see plenty of kids leaping off the Corniche and sun-wrinkled beirutis bobbing about, the sea is really too polluted for swimming. You can still enjoy the gorgeous coastline though – do as the locals do, and head to a private beach club.  Madame Bleu and the Saint-Georges Yacht Club both have swimming pools, bars and a relaxed vibe.

As the sun goes down, find a spot where you can enjoy a cocktail and take in the view. The  Four Seasons boasts the highest, most glamourous rooftop in the city and  Le Gray also has a chic terrace. Hardcore partiers can carry on into the night at Garten, an open-air club hosting international DJs.

Day Two

Explore the neighborhoods

Away from downtown, Beirut bursts exuberantly to life. Start your day with a coffee on Gouraud Street, and then spend some time exploring the neighborhoods of Gemmayze and Mar Mikhael. Many of the city’s historic buildings have been pulled down (Solidaire again), but around here there is a handful of restored Ottoman mansions and turn of the century villas.
Lively Gouraud Street is lined with coffee shops, art galleries and boutiques selling jewellery, homewares and handicrafts. Stop at Art on 56th, which exhibits work by local artists in an exquisitely restored building.

Restored building on Gourad Street

Climb the St Nicholas Stairs to Sursock Street, named after the wealthy, influential Sursock family who own most of it. Spend a while in the Sursock Museum – the elegant building is an interesting contrast to the contemporary and sometimes provocative exhibitions that are shown there.

Enjoy the food

Descend the stairs and hail a taxi to take you up Armenia Street to Bourj Hammoud for lunch. Beirut’s Armenian enclave is a fascinating place to explore. There are bakeries selling manakish and tiny restaurants where you can try sou boreg, a dish resembling a pie filled with cured pastrami, and manti, tiny parcels of meat with tomato sauce, yoghurt and sumac. It will all be served with a glass of Lebanon’s national drink, arak.

Armenian manti

Reflect on the war

When you’re done feasting head back into the city to Damascus Road. During the war, the infamous Green Line ran straight along here cleaving the city into East and West. You’ll come across many bullet-ridden houses belonging to ordinary people who were at the centre of the conflict. 

At the junction with Independent Street is what looks like a heavily shelled building. In fact, it is Beit Beirut, a museum of the civil war that has yet to get off the ground. Walk north along Damascus, and just before the dual carriageway, the Green Line can still be seen – look for a small inconspicuous section of greenery surrounded by metal railings. 

War-damaged building in Beirut

Delve into history, or head for the hills

At this point, history lovers can make a beeline for Beirut’s National Museum at the south end of Damascus, which is well worth a visit. But my choice would be to get into a taxi and head for the mountains. The town of Beit ed-Dine is an hour’s drive from the city and is a serene escape from the traffic and heat.
Visit the Beiteddine Palace, an architectural gem which took 300 years to build and is full of exquisite mosaics. A handful of restaurants are dotted about the hills, including one at the Mir Amin Palace hotel which has a view of the valley below. You’ll get a snapshot of Lebanon’s countryside at its most beautiful in the early evening – an enchanting way to end your trip.

The ultimate travel wardrobe for women

Two things are revolutionizing what clothes travelers pack. One is that technical fabrics have entered the mainstream. They are lightweight, creating extra space in your carry-on. They are moisture-wicking, keeping you cool and saving you from time-consuming laundry. And, their UV protection is helpful if you’re walking around in the hot sun.

The second thing is the demise of fast fashion. Many new brands are steering away from cheap clothing and instead, designing long-lasting, versatile pieces that can be worn in different settings: think, a dress that can be worn at work and in the evening, or shorts that can be worn to work out in and then to lunch.

The days of frumpy ‘travel clothing’ are gone, and instead, there are plenty of comfortable, functional and stylish pieces to choose from. Here are some of our favourites.

Top

Iconic clothing brand and environmental campaigner Patagonia started out making gear for climbers. This tank-top is made from organic cotton and Tencel, a fabric made from wood pulp cellulose. Tencel absorbs moisture inside the fabric, rather than on the surface, making it odor resistant, which means less washing. With less moisture on the surface, you’ll feel cool and dry in a hot climate. The pretty print and strappy design make it versatile enough to wear in the evening as well as on a hiking trip.
Buy it: Alpine Valley Tank Top $45

Sweatshirt

When the founders of Seagale considered the design of their swimming shorts, they thought they could do better, so they created their own company, making clothes from technical fabrics like Supplex and Tencel that you can wear every day. Their performance sweatshirt is made from merino wool. Breathable and antimicrobial, it needs less washing and is light, giving you more space in your suitcase or carry-on. The fabric regulates body temperature so you can wear it in warm or cool weather. 
Buy it: Merino Performance Sweatshirt €110

Shirt

Raj and Akhil Shah of Seattle-based Ably wanted to find a way to enhance natural fabrics, so they pioneered Filium technology, an eco-friendly process which makes fabrics like cotton and linen repel liquid. Their Aloe shirt is water-repelling, stain-resistant and fast drying. Because the fabric repels water, sweat isn’t absorbed, so you’ll wash it less during a trip. Plus, it dries faster than an ordinary shirt – convenient if you do need to wash it. Bloggers and journalists are fans of the technology.
Buy it: Aloe Shirt $120

Trousers

Anatomie has made a name for itself creating stylish, functional clothes that suit travelers. Their Skyler Travel Pants can be dressed up or down and worn on a hike, in the airport or in a bar. Slim, with a straight leg, they are made from lightweight, quick-drying and wrinkle-resistant material. These particular trousers are beloved of fashion and travel bloggers, and you can read one of the many glowing reviews here.
Buy it: Skyler Travel Pant $225

Jacket

A popular British brand from Penzance in Cornwall, Seasalt started out making hard-wearing outerwear for farmers, sailors and fishermen. Today it produces stylish, practical clothes that function well in unpredictable weather. Their Sail Maker Jacket is made from their own lightweight fabric Tincloth, inspired by the original ‘tin cloth’ oilskin. It is light enough to be worn on a dry sunny day but will protect you from the rain in an unplanned-for downpour. 
Buy it: Sail Maker Jacket £39.95

Backpack

Named after a volcano in Ecuador, US company Cotopaxi creates bright backpacks and apparel. With its distinctive design the Allpa backpack will stand out on a hike but equally won’t look out of place while exploring a new city. The 28L version is small enough to take in the cabin, and has mesh pockets for sunglasses and passports, a laptop compartment, and a rain cover, in case you get stuck in a downpour. 
Buy it: Allpa backpack $170

Skirt

San Francisco based Everlane is one of the most popular clothing brands around right now, and has been made even more popular by Meghan Markle. Their philosophy is to create clothing that lasts – perfect if you’re seeking a hard-wearing travel piece. Their Japanese Swing Skirt is made of triacetate, a natural fabric produced from cellulose. The fabric is easy to wash, quick drying and doesn’t wrinkle. Wear this skirt, and you’ll look polished even after the most cramped plane or train journey.
Buy it: Japanese Swing Skirt £69

Sandals

Adored by fashionistas the world over, California based Taos creates stylish footwear that pays attention to comfort. Their Trulie sandals can be adjusted at several different points to give the best fit and the cork footbed is shock absorbing – ideal for exploring a city on foot. They weigh only 7 oz each, so you won’t even notice them in your suitcase. The popularity of this particular design prompted one fashion blogger to call them a ‘wonder sandal’  – read their review here.
Buy it: Trulie sandals $160

Dress

American brand Epoque Evolution is run by two friends who wanted clothes that would serve their active lifestyles. Their Non-Stop Tee Dress has a host of useful features for travelers; it is wrinkle-resistant, UV ray-blocking, and antimicrobial, so you can wear it multiple times. Made from merino wool, it will keep you warm or cool depending on the temperature. The style is versatile too and works with sneakers in the daytime and heels in the evening.
Buy it: Non-stop Tee Dress $178

Shoes

New Zealand start-up Allbirds has received heaps of praise for its comfortable and sustainable shoes. Suitable for the beach and the city, their Tree Runners are made from Eucalyptus pulp – a breathable fabric that wicks away moisture, making them ideal for walking around in a hot and/or rainy climate. The company has received plenty of positive reviews in the media, including this glowing review from one Buzzfeed journalist.
Buy it: Tree Runners $160