T e Travel Guide - brought to you by APL Media • Wednesday 11 February 2026 HOT AIR BALLOONS FESTIVAL CHATEAU-D’OEXPLEASE/ GETTY


Château d’Oex for a magical hot air balloon ride from CHF299 (£278) per person. Fred Holidays off ers four nights at Hotel Landhaus, in Saanen, from £1,105 per person, B&B, including fl ights and rail transfers. fredholidays.co.uk ballons-du-leman.ch


Swiss snow sports


Switzerland’s mountain resorts off er far more than just downhill skiing, from skijöring to ice skating. Words: Colin Nicholson


Take a winter walk in Laax Laax is known for its freestyle skiing, but for something less hair- raising, try its 100km of beautiful winter trails and the unmissable 1.6km treetop walk. Ski Solutions off ers seven nights self-catering at the Rocks Resort from £1,295 per person, including fl ights and rail transfers. skisolutions.com


Hit the ice around Scuol This little-known resort in the Engadine valley has some 80km of pistes that curve through a wooded landscape. But for a diff erent type of forest adventure, try the Engadine Ice Trail for skaters that winds 3km along the River Inn, with plenty of ups and downs en route. The Swiss Holiday Company off ers four nights


at Hotel Belvedere from £1,298 per person, B&B, including fl ights and rail transfers. swissholidayco.com


Go ballooning over Château d’Oex Just 90 minutes from Geneva, you’ll fi nd a host of top-notch ski spots such as Villars, Les Diablerets and Saas-Fee, all now covered by the new Magic Pass lift pass. Hop off at


Explore Cambridge C


ompact Cambridge has an inordinately high concentration of beauty.


Life centres around its prestigious university, whose 31 colleges — the oldest of which was founded in 1284 — mostly sit cheek-by-jowl in the city’s gloriously unmodernised centre. One way to get a feel for the place is by punting along the Cam, ducking under bridges and admiring The Backs — the green land between the river and the colleges. Captain your own vessel or sit back with a blanket for a guided tour, peppered with insights into the many writers and thinkers who’ve been inspired by their time here. scudamores.com


WHERE TO BEGIN? Swing by the city’s Botanic Garden, near the train station. Its 40 acres feature hothouses fi lled with extraordinary exotics, as well as fairytale fl ora like the weeping katsura tree, the leaves of which smell like toff ee as they decompose. Continue along Trumpington Street, stopping in at the Fitzwilliam Museum, a neoclassical pile known for its Egyptology department, Roman statuary and collection of literary manuscripts.


At the Wren Library, part of


Trinity College, visitors can see AA Milne’s original text for Winnie the Pooh. These hand-written pages are just one example from its archives, housed in a long, high-ceilinged room with a chequerboard fl oor, its tall oak bookshelves illuminated by lofty arched windows. Even more inspiring is the architecture over at King’s College, whose alumni include literary luminaries such as EM Forster and Zadie Smith. A feat of 16th-century engineering, the fan-vaulted ceiling of its namesake chapel is mind-boggling, especially if you happen to be gazing up at it during its choir’s evensong, typically held at 5.30pm, six days a week during term-time. botanic.cam.ac.uk fi tzmuseum.cam.ac.uk trin.cam.ac.uk kings.cam.ac.uk


WHAT ABOUT THE BEST PLACES TO EAT AND DRINK? A Cambridge institution, Fitzbillies cannot be beaten for lunch or afternoon tea. Its sticky, raisin- rich Chelsea buns — described as ‘peerless’ by Queens’ College alumnus Stephen Fry — have been made to the same secret recipe for more than 100 years. There are three


Try skijöring in St Moritz St Moritz is a place to be seen, especially in February when thousands attend the White Turf skijöring races. Try the horse- powered skiing yourself, with sessions taking you across the frozen St Moritzersee lake. From CHF190 (£177) for 90-minutes, including training. Inghams off ers seven nights at Hotel Monopol including half board, fl ights and transfers from £1,809 per person. engadingalopp.ch inghams.co.uk


Go cross country in Davos From the chic town of Davos, you can downhill ski into the maze of pistes in the forests around Klosters. Lesser-known are the cross-country trails that start from town and allow you to glide alongside the Landwasser river, often shrouded in wisps of mist. OTP off ers seven nights at the Alpine Inn, B&B, including rail transfers, from £1,088 per person. otp.co.uk


Try curling in Zermatt For a novel apres-ski experience, head for Resort Hotel Alex to try a curling session — the Olympic sport of sliding stones towards a target across ice. From CHF100 (£93) for


5


groups of up to 10. Crystal Ski off ers four nights at the Schweizerhof Hotel from £1,373 per person, B&B, including fl ights and transfers. hotelalexzermatt.com crystalski.co.uk


Sled-ride through Arosa Arosa’s slopes are particularly popular with snowboarders, but for a diff erent form of riding, take a horse-drawn sleigh. With the coachmen waiting to collect passengers from the train station, it’s a novel way to arrive or leave town. From CHF120 (£112) an hour for up to four people. The Ski Club off ers a week at the Hotel Altein from £2,250 per person, half board, including fl ights, transfers and six days skiing with Ski Club reps. arosalenzerheide.swiss


skiclub.co.uk


Go night skiing in Nendaz Just to the east of Verbier, Nendaz off ers value for money in the middle of the giant 4 Vallées ski area. Don’t miss its monthly moonlit skiing evening, which costs just CHF69 (£64): enjoy an aperitif, dinner and music, then explore the slopes, after which you can ski back to the village led by local guides, or take the gondola down. Iglu Ski off ers seven nights at Hôtel Nendaz 4 Vallées & Spa, half board, from £1,629 per person including fl ights and transfers. igluski.com nendaz.ch


This article fi rst appeared in the Winter Sports 2025/26 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK). nationalgeographic.com/travel


With its exquisite libraries, bookshops and cosy, storied pubs, this charming city is ideal for a literary-themed visit. Words: Orla T omas


central cafe-bakeries to choose from; all have gilded windows made for cosying up with a herbal tea and engaging in some people-watching. Alternatively, join the fray at one


of the city’s many storied pubs. Close to Magdalene Bridge, The Pickerel was a favourite watering hole for writers CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien, while Shakespeare is said to have performed in The Eagle’s tucked-away courtyard. It’s also where Crick and Watson announced they’d discovered ‘the secret of life’ after identifying DNA’s double-helix structure in 1953 — who knows what further revelations are to be found at the bottom of one of the pub’s infamous beer fl ights? Many celebrated intellectuals have


passed through the doors of The Orator, a restaurant and cocktail bar inside The Cambridge Union on Bridge Street. Walls are painted in the city’s signature blue and hung with photographs of former speakers, including Chinese artist Ai Weiwei and renowned actress Pamela Anderson. The menu, similarly, runs the gamut — it features everything from tasty small plates to hearty sirloin steaks. fi tzbillies.com greeneking.co.uk cus.org


PUNT BOATS ON RIVER CAM, CAMBRIDGE/ GETTY


WHERE TO STAY? The city’s oldest hotel, the University Arms is ideal for pretending you’re the protagonist of a period novel. Head to the mahogany-panelled library for a chat with its resident ‘book butler’, who’ll arrange for a curated reading list to be delivered to your room. The spacious upper fl oor suites feature English country house decor and knockout views


over the lawns of Parker’s Piece. Or book in at Wilde Aparthotels, inspired by 19th-century wit Oscar Wilde, a legacy manifested in the property’s buzzy social spaces and abundant use of velvet.


This article fi rst appeared in the January/February 2026 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK). nationalgeographic.com/travel


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28