Check into the enigmatic and historic 800 year old Jagdschloss Hotel of Count Stolberg-Stolberg and discover Kühtai, a tranquil skiing village high in the mountains of Austrian Tyrol. When Franz Joseph I, the former Austrian Emperor and husband of the captivating empress Sisi, came here to hunt deer and chamois, he had no idea that his beloved Kühtai would one day be one of the most charming ski resorts in the Alps. Nevertheless, until now Kühtai has remained a closely guarded secret. Read more »

What was once a family-run guesthouse hidden in a simple building has three years ago been transformed into one of the most talked about design hotels in the Alps. Standing in front of Hotel Wiesergut it seems almost inconceivable that a 14^th century building is hidden inside the tightly modern architecture. It’s also hard to believe that the stylish owners, Martina and Sepp Kröll, were once farmers, and actually still are. Sepp still has his cows alongside the alm high up on the mountain. Read more »

The best way to explore a vast and almost inaccessible national park in Alaska is to hop on a bush plane and fly along. My rendezvous with the wilderness is somewhere in a forgotten corner of Alaska, around six in the evening. That is, as long as the weather holds. It’s the end of June and the sun never sets in the evening. “Park alongside the log cabin and wait, but stay away from the stretch of ground beside the car park.” were the instructions in the email. I am in tiny Chitina, population 150 people. Read more »

What is the result when an Asian country tries to manage the tourism industry by charging a fair amount of entry tax to the adventurous traveller? Plus when it wants to keep far away from the madding backpacking crowds? Take 20.000 visitors a year and mix it with a 100% Buddhist population in a landlocked country with dreamy landscapes that will tantalize every serious travelista. Ok, you have to have a certain budget to get in. But who wouldn’t pay a bit more for a destination where the happiest people in the world live, where chilli peppers are eaten as a vegetable rather than a spice and where the beer, called Red Panda, is devilish tasty? Read more »