The Last Concierge Magazine

At 6:35pm, a Frecciarossa train pulls away from Turin's Porta Nuova station. A little over five hours later, it arrives in Trieste. In between, passengers will cross northern Italy, call at six cities, and pass within easy reach of seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites, more than any other single continental European rail route as identified by researchers at Firebird Tours. It's an impressive statistic, certainly, yet the numbers only tell part of the story.

Following the Mountains The following morning offered an entirely different side of Croatia, and one I’m grateful to have had the chance to encounter. After all, most visitors to this part of the Balkans arrive for the beaches, and yet the mountains – ever present, hulking on the horizons – deserve equal billing. A day with Rajna Outdoor's Velebit Photo Safari carried us inland towards landscapes more commonly associated with Arizona than the Adriatic.

Arbikie's rise has coincided neatly with that shift, as over the past decade, the distillery has built an international reputation through its field-to-bottle philosophy, alongside an ambitious commitment to sustainability. Recognition has followed, including B Corp certification and the title of Sustainable Distillery of the Year at the Icons of Whisky Awards 2026. Most satisfyingly in the case of Arbikie, the product is also excellent enough to speak for itself.

No exploration of Dalarna is complete without a visit to Mora and the legacy of Anders Zorn. Outside Scandinavia, Zorn is perhaps less famous than he deserves to be. However, strike up a conversation with a local within 50 miles of his house, and he’ll be brought up in conversation – so embedded are his works in the region’s culture and sense of identity. I’ll be the first to admit I’d never heard of him, despite being fairly knowledgeable of European art history.

Within minutes we had covered the ancient history of the hotel – built upon land gifted to an illegitimate son of William The Conqueror, no less – as well as the architecture, former residents, restoration work and one particularly irresistible rumour concerning the fire that nearly destroyed the house during the 1960s.

Whisky has spent years shaking off its reputation as an old-fashioned drink. It had to in order to ensure its survival; it was too stuffy, too serious and arguably far too male to remain relevant in the 21st century, and yet it was also far too important and special to be put at any risk of fading into obscurity.

A combination of wide horizons, Mediterranean weather and established tourism infrastructure has made Spain one of the standout destinations for eclipse travellers. The Balearic Islands, in particular, are expected to attract visitors seeking unobstructed sea views and clear summer skies. The fact that this also happens to come with excellent beaches, outstanding seafood and a perfectly acceptable excuse to spend a few days in the sun surely can’t hurt, either.

Where to Eat in Cardiff 2026 Foodies far and wide rave about the creativity found in nearby Bristol, and the elegance and provenance of Edinburgh’s restaurant scene. Even Newport – Cardiff’s slightly grungier sibling just a couple of miles down the estuary – has a spanking new food hall that’s been hogging the headlines for over a year.

This year, I returned to Rajasthan, India for the first time since my early twenties. I’d first come to this part of the world as a slightly scruffy and rather clueless teenager, somehow traversing the Thar Desert with minimal funds, a pocket full of immodium and very little idea of where I’d end each day.

Enough pre-ambling flirtation. The orchestra has been tuned, the curtain has risen and it’s time to strap in and enjoy the show. We begin – as sensible people tend to – with Champagne, and then the first dishes make their way to the table. They come in a trio of Levantine-adjacent dips and arrive with warm flatbreads tossed in za’atar and a superb Cypriot Manahi olive oil.