There’s a particular kind of hotel that doesn’t announce itself, and the Four Seasons Milano is one of them. It sits on Via Gesù, a few steps from the noise of the city’s fashion district, but the entrance is almost deliberately unremarkable - no grand awning, no doorman theatrics, nothing that screams for attention in a neighborhood where everything else seems to be competing for it.

Step inside, though, and the building tells you exactly what it used to be. This was once a convent, built in 1491 and known then as Santa Maria del Gesù. The nuns who lived there weren’t tucked away from the world in the way people usually imagine. They ran the neighborhood pharmacy - growing and cultivating medicinal herbs in the cloistered courtyard at the center of the building, supplying the city with remedies for centuries. It’s a strange thing to picture now, especially with guests in the same courtyard sipping espresso instead of tending herb beds, but the space hasn’t lost that sense of purpose. It still feels like somewhere people go to be looked after.

Walk the corridors and the history keeps surfacing. There’s original Renaissance vaulting overhead in places, and fragments of frescoes that were uncovered during restoration and left exposed rather than painted back over - a decision that says a lot about how the hotel was built, or rather rebuilt. Nothing here feels staged to look old. It simply is.

That contrast becomes especially strange during Milan Fashion Week, when the hotel fills with editors, designers, and buyers moving through on tight schedules, dressed for an industry obsessed with what’s coming next. They cross the same stone floors the nuns once walked, chasing something that, underneath all the noise, probably isn’t so different - a bit of stillness, a place to reset before going back out into it.

The rooms are exactly as considered as you’d expect from a property at this level, but it’s the smaller architectural choices that stay with you longer: the hush in the hallways, the light in the courtyard in the early morning, the sense that the building has seen far more than any one guest passing through it. Milan’s fashion district runs on urgency. This hotel, for whatever reason, was built to withstand it - and, five hundred years on, still seems to be doing exactly that.

Maria Canabal

Photo credits: Maria Canabal

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Dear travelers,

This week we’re staying put on one island - and honestly, we’re not mad about it. Hydra rises like an amphitheatre above the Argosaronic Gulf, shaped by shipping fortunes, no cars allowed, only donkeys and cobbled steps. It’s drawn artists and writers for decades - Leonard Cohen among them - and it still has that same pull today. We put together three guides to help you make the most of it.

First: everything we wish we knew before going. Where to eat, where to swim, where to stay, and the handful of places that make Hydra feel like Hydra - from Techne’s courtyard overlooking Avlakis beach, to the Windmill Bar’s unbeatable sunset, to Orloff, the 1796 mansion turned boutique hotel.

Second: your Hydra shopping guide. No cars, no chain stores, just some of the best little shops in the Saronic Gulf - Elena Votsi’s Olympic-medal jewelry, Rafalias’ century-old pharmacy, Tom Powell’s atelier, and a few more spots worth the extra suitcase space.

And finally: summer reading, Greek style. Because the best trips start with the right book in your bag - our picks for what to read before, during, or after your time on the island.

A full island’s worth of recommendations, in three parts.

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Warm regards,
Maria Canabal

No cars, no chain stores, just some of the best little shops in the Saronic Gulf. Here's what to bring home from Hydra:

ZOE'S

Born in the Peloponnese, just across from Hydra, Zoé has lived on the island since 1997. In her boutique, she carries a curated selection of some of the finest Greek brands, like Ancient Kallos, along with refined jewelry, some pieces her own creations. Elegant and understated, she only stocks pieces she’d wear herself.

Marialena Maramenou

Marialena Maramenou was born in Athens into the Maramenos family, the oldest jewelry-making dynasty in Greece. Growing up surrounded by his father work, Marialena developed an early appreciation for how tradition can shape modern design rather than limit it. She now lives and works on Hydra, where her Byzantine-inspired jewelry and raw stones (like basalt) has become her signature.

SVOURA

Judith was born in the Netherlands and moved to Hydra in 1996 after marrying a Hydriot. In 2014, she opened Svoura (Greek for "spinning top"), a shop specializing in Greek pottery. Her architect daughter designed the space, while her son curates the clothing selection. A Beaux Arts graduate herself, Judith also creates striking papier-mâché sculptures, many of which decorate local restaurants and shops around the island.

Rafalias Pharmacy

Tucked inside a listed mansion in the Old Town, Rafalias Pharmacy is more than a hundred years old, and, without much exaggeration, one of the most storied pharmacies anywhere, still very much open for business today.

It was founded in 1890 by Evangelos Rafalias, then passed down to Kiriaki Yiannoukaou-Rafalia (1914–2011), the wife of Andreas’s son and one of the first female pharmacists of her era. Her son, Evangelos, took over in 1978 and kept the family tradition going. That same care and attention are still evident today: at one point, some of his mother’s old cosmetic recipes turned up in her diary, and rather than let them fade away, he brought them back into production.

These days, the pharmacy makes its own colognes, creams, lotions, soaps, and more, all in beautifully simple packaging, and sold in shops around Hydra as well as here. Our picks: the rose water facial toner and the olive oil soap with goat milk. While you’re there, it’s also worth grabbing the Korres Greek yoghurt serum and the Mastiha toothpaste.

Elena Votsi

Elena Votsi has built a name for herself well beyond Hydra, but the island is where it all started, and where she still lives and works today. Her jewelry is sought after around the world, but she’s perhaps best known for something else entirely: her design has graced the front of the Olympic medals for every Olympic Games since 2004, something she calls the greatest honor of her career.

On Hydra, she runs two shops - one for fine jewelry, gold, and precious stones, the other dedicated to her silver jewelry and ceramics. You’ll find her full collection here, the same one sold in Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Puerto Rico, and South Korea, but also a handful of pieces made exclusively for Hydra, and priced more accessibly. Among them is her very first collection, “Pebble,” started over thirty years ago using actual pebbles from Hydra’s beaches set in silver. It’s still made today, but sold nowhere else. If you’re going to treat yourself to a piece of jewelry, this is the place to do it.

Speak Out

Christina opened Speak Out back in 2003, and the shop's built around a sharp little collection of clothing, vintage jewelry, and accessories. But the real draw is her handmade Greek sandals? the now-famous "Speak Out sandals," beloved by fashion editors around the world and quite possibly the most comfortable sandals you'll ever wear. She also designs traditional Greek wool pom-pom slippers, handmade and 100% wool, perfect for curling up in come winter.

Tom Powell studio

Powell has lived in Hydra for 17 years now, and the island’s rugged, stripped-back landscape clearly shows in his work, he paints using just three colors, echoing that same sense of austerity. He used to own an art gallery on Martha’s Vineyard, and his work has since been shown in exhibitions across Greece, the UK, and France, where he trained with the Compagnons du Devoir. His atelier in Hydra is open by request.

Maria Canabal

Photo Credits: Maria Canabal

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Hydra rises like an amphitheatre from the slopes above the Argosaronic Gulf, and it remains one of Greece’s most magnetic, almost obsessive destinations. Shipping fortunes built this island, and the evidence is everywhere - not in sugar-cube houses, but in ornate doors, colonnades, and the lavish interiors of old admirals’ mansions.

In 1956, Sophia Loren arrived to play a Hydriot sponge diver in “Boy on a Dolphin,” and the film put the small island on the international map. By the 1960s, Hydra had become a favorite retreat for artists and writers, drawn to the same surroundings that still inspire people today. Leonard Cohen, Canadian poet turned songwriter, lived here for years. So did Norwegian novelist Axel Jensen, Australian writers Charmian Clift and George Johnston, American writer Henry Miller, Greek painter Nikos Ghika, and Norwegian writer Marianne Ihlen. Together they helped shape Hydra’s reputation as an artistic haven.

Cars, bikes, and motorbikes are banned on the island, the only transport comes from around 500 donkeys, and that absence of engines has done more than anything to preserve Hydra’s character over time. It’s a thoughtful, creative place: a haven for art, architecture, diving, and hiking, full of unexpected encounters, free of chaos, and laced together by thousands of cobbled steps.

Where to eat

Hydra is dry and rocky, so not much grows there in real abundance - but a few things manage. Olive trees are everywhere, along with sage, both long valued for their healing properties. Thyme grows wild too, and its leaves get pressed into an oil used medicinally and in perfumery. Beyond that, the island just doesn’t produce much - most food actually arrives by boat daily from the mainland. Some restaurants are upfront about it too, noting on the menu when the fish is frozen rather than fresh. The gastronomic tradition is mainly based on fishing catches : squid and cuttelfish with pilaf, red mullet or the venetian-influenced zarganes savoro, octupuses cooked the hydriot way. In some houses and taverns you can try the pie with with sweet mountain greens, snails cooked with red sauce or stew and kapama goat.

Hydra

Omilos works at any hour, from breakfast through late-night cocktails and parties. Set in a former fuel depot near the port entrance, it’s one of Hydra’s smartest addresses, drawing a regular crowd of visiting celebrities and yacht owners.

Techne overlooks Avlakis beach from a converted boat factory, with a lovely courtyard and views across the Aegean. The kitchen turns out modern Greek and Mediterranean dishes in a relaxed setting — it’s our favorite spot on the island.

Xeri Elia, better known as Douskos after the family that’s run it for 200 years, sits beneath a canopy of trees strung with lights in the square. Leonard Cohen was once a regular here. Expect Greek classics done well, especially the lamb.

Psaropoula is a traditional taverna with tables set along the street near the port, specializing in meat and fish grilled over charcoal.

Sunset sits on the old ramparts that once guarded the harbor, and lives up to its name with one of the best views on the island. The specialty is fish, both cooked and raw.

Il Casta serves Neapolitan cooking in a quiet courtyard away from the port bustle, backed by a strong list of Italian wines.

Kai Kremmidi serves the best souvlaki and gyros in town, all made with fresh ingredients in an impressively organized open kitchen. Eat on the lovely patio, or take it away and enjoy it down by the port.

Lulu’s is the island’s oldest taverna, built on fresh, quality ingredients served simply but with real care. The Greek-style meatballs in tomato sauce are not to be missed.

Oraia sits on the harbor promenade, serving home-style Greek cooking for years, a taverna, but a higher-end one. The menu ranges wide: beef stews, baked dishes, fresh fish, ceviche-style plates, and seasonal salads.

Kamini

Pirofani is a small taverna that’s easy to walk past but worth seeking out. They serve Greek homestyle dishes and fresh seafood in a shaded courtyard with blue wooden chairs. The almond-crusted sea bass and fava beans are both good choices, and the house wine pairs well with either. Prices are reasonable for the quality. It’s a solid pick if you want good local food without the tourist markup, a true hidden gem.

Castello Hydra is the upscale pick after a beach day, a restored 18th-century fortress on the water, historic but polished. They serve Mediterranean-Greek dishes: saffron seafood, lamb with pasta, metsovone-cheese sauces, even sushi. Lounge meets fine dining, with sunset views over Kamini Bay and good service. Ideal for a drink as the light fades after the beach next door.

Vlychos

Tables at Marina taverna sit close enough to the water in Vlychos that you could almost dip your feet in while you eat. Marina Lembesi has run the place since 1963, and little about it seems to have changed since, olive trees for shade, classic Greek cooking, fresh seafood, crisp salads, and light meze plates built for lingering. Save room for dessert: the syrupy orange pie and walnut cake are both worth the trip on their own.

Sweet tooth

Tsagkaris Pastry has been making amygdalota, Hydra’s signature almond macaroons, for 91 years, using almonds, rose water, semolina, and sugar. Don’t skip the mastic ice cream either; it’s an unusual flavor you won’t come across in many other places. The baklava selection is extensive, and the pistachios used throughout are top quality.

Wine bars & cocktails

Hydronetta Bar is carefully carved into the cliff just beyond the main harbor, it offers a series of terraced tables under straw umbrellas, perfect for sipping creative cocktails, Greek wines, or a classic freddo cappuccino. The scene shifts effortlessly from daytime lounge to lively sunset bar, occasionally hosting full-moon parties.

The Windmill Bar has the best sundowner spot on the island, perched high above the coast, well above nearby Hydronetta Bar, with sweeping views over the Saronic Gulf and unforgettable sunsets. The cocktails are creative and well made, and the vibe is very chill. There’s history too: the bar is built around an old windmill that appeared in the 1957 Sophia Loren film Boy on a Dolphin.

Visit

Deste Foundation

Since opening in 2009, the DESTE Foundation Project Space has been one of the go-to spots on Hydra for contemporary art. It’s part of the wider DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art, and the setting itself is worth noting - an old slaughterhouse repurposed into an exhibition space. Throughout the season, DESTE hosts rotating exhibitions, giving artists room to take over the whole building with themed shows. Its rooftop tends to steal the spotlight, having featured pieces like a goat statue dressed in a tutu; these days it’s home to a permanent installation by Jeff Koons, a bright yellow sun with a human face. Over the years, the space has also hosted artists like Kiki Smith, Kostis Velonis, David Shrigley, Kara Walker, Roberto Cuoghi, Paul Chan, and Urs Fischer.

Old Carpet Factory

This late 18th-century mansion was originally built for the family of Anastasios Tsamados, a hero of the Greek War of Independence, before later becoming known as Hydra’s most famous carpet weaving factory. Since 2016 it’s taken on a new life as a recording studio and artist residency, drawing musicians and artists from all over the world. Once a year, the building opens up to the public with exhibitions, performances, and talks featuring work made during the residency.

Tom Powell studio

Powell has lived in Hydra for 17 years now, and the island's rugged, stripped-back landscape clearly shows in his work, he paints using just three colors, echoing that same sense of austerity. He used to own an art gallery on Martha's Vineyard, and his work has since been shown in exhibitions across Greece, the UK, and France, where he trained with the Compagnons du Devoir. His atelier in Hydra is open by request.

Classics not to miss

Historical Archives Museum

This museum located in an elegant stone mansion houes manuscripts from the revolutionary period, paintings and ship models, rare books and temporary exhibits.

Panagiotis Tetsis House & Atelier

In 2007, nine years before his death, Panagiotis Tetsis gave his home and studio so it could one day become a museum. As one of Hydra’s most beloved artists, the space stands as a lasting tribute to him - not just as a major Greek painter, but as a mentor and friend the island still misses. Inside, his studio remains almost untouched since the day he died, alongside the family home he grew up in. There’s a real warmth to the place, echoing the generous, unpretentious man he was. Originally a family home for generations, with a shop on the ground floor, the building was reshaped by Tetsis to include his studio, and it became a regular gathering spot for artists from Greece and abroad.

Lazaros Kountouriotis Mansion Museum

Built in 1780, this elegant mansion was home to Lazaros Kountouriotis, one of the principal financiers of the Greek War of Independence. Its beautifully preserved rooms still capture the atmosphere of a grand family home and the events that shaped modern Greece.

The collection includes family portraits, furniture, heirlooms, paintings, costumes, jewellery, and ceramics. For the best experience, join a tour with curator Annemarie Rabias, whose storytelling brings the mansion’s history vividly to life.

Cathedral of the Assumption

Right in the heart of the main port stands the Cathedral of the Assumption, Hydra’s Metropolis church, first inaugurated in the 16th century. Today it doubles as a kind of living museum, though it remains the island’s most important church. It’s a three-domed basilica, with rows of columns dividing the aisles. Built entirely of solid white marble, it’s richly decorated with carved crosses, ionic columns, and marble slabs. Inside are icons with ornate silver coverings, many gifted over the years by wealthy Hydriot families and naval captains. The chandeliers and oil lamps still burn the traditional way, candles and oil, no electricity. Two bell towers complete the church: a smaller one from 1806 and a larger one from 1874, both adorned with marble carvings.

Beaches

If you're picturing wide sandy beaches, Hydra isn't really that kind of island, but there's still no shortage of great spots to sunbathe or jump in the sea. A handful of easy-to-reach beaches line the coast right around the port, and a few more scattered further out are only reachable by boat.

Right around the port, there's a run of beaches you can reach on foot, and a few more further out that are only accessible by boat. Water taxis are available on demand, fitting up to eight people for a set price. There are also "beach bus boats" that depart from the port and head out to the more remote spots, cheaper than a water taxi, but running on a fixed schedule, usually out in the morning and back in the afternoon. Most of the beaches here are pebbly rather than sandy, but they all share that same clear, turquoise-blue water.

Kamini beach is located below the restaurant Castello a former 18th century fort. You will find sunbeds and umbrellas in high season. Walking distance from Hydra is 20 minutes. Carry on walking along the coast road from Kamini and the next village you’ll reach is Vlychos, around 35 minutes’ walk or 2.4 km from Hydra’s harbour. Vlychos is a bigger beach, with a mix of pebbles and sand which slopes down gently into the shallow waters of this sheltered bay.

Tucked into a sheltered bay on the west side of the island, Bisti beach is a good bet for families or anyone keen to snorkel, the pebbly shore slopes gently into the water, nothing too steep or sudden. Pine trees behind the beach offer some welcome shade in the summer heat, and you’ll find umbrellas, sunbeds, and a small snack bar on site. Beach bus boats run from Hydra harbour out to Bisti, taking around 20 minutes each way.

A bit further along the coast is Agios Nikolaos, a long stretch of white pebbles backed by rocky mountains, with clear blue water sloping out from the shore. It’s about a 30-minute boat ride from the harbour, and boats run on the same schedule as those heading to Bisti. There’s a snack bar on the beach renting out sunbeds and umbrellas.

Stay

Orloff wasn’t built as a hotel, it became one, after two centuries of a stranger life. Built in 1796 on the ruins of an old convent, the house served as a fortress in the Greek Revolution, later becoming a diplomat’s residence, then the Kladakis family home for eighty years. It only opened as a hotel in 1986, when mathematician Petros Kladakis, alongside Maria Kladakis and Marylise Sauliere, turned the family house into a boutique retreat—keeping its quiet, old-world charm rather than modernizing it away.

That restraint still defines Orloff: thick stone walls, high ceilings, hushed courtyards. In 2023, the Orloff Legacy Suites brought new life to a restored 19th-century mansion nearby, featuring art by Tom Powell, while Orloff Spa extends the hotel’s beauty and perfumery expertise to retreats across Greece and Cyprus. Forty years on, Orloff still feels less like a hotel, and more like a house that simply learned to host people.

What to bring back

Amygdalota from Tsagkaris make for one of the sweetest treats to bring home. Also worth grabbing are the cosmetics made at the Rafalia pharmacy, the rose floral water especially. And if you’re after something a little more special, an iconic piece from Elena Votsi is hard to beat.

Check out our Hydra shopping guide here.

The highlight of the trip

Every summer, the Hydra Cinema Club puts together a season of films screened at Gardenia Cinema. Even if you’ve already seen the movie, there’s something special about watching it again outdoors, under the stars, at Hydra’s open-air cinema. Getting in is free, and there’s a little table between each pair of chairs, so you can pick up drinks and snacks to enjoy during the film. The full July-August lineup is posted on the cinema’s notice board down by the harbour. Most films are in English, French, or other languages, with Greek subtitles, it all adds up to a pretty magical evening.

Maria Canabal

Photo Credits: Maria Canabal (except hotel Orloff)

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Josh Hickey, who founded the Hydra Book Club in 2021, puts it simply: it was never really about selling books. “More than a bookstore, this project is about friendship,” he says - the whole thing grew out of the deep, sometimes spiritual friendships between writers, artists, locals and the visitors who kept coming back. Those relationships are still what hold the island’s literary scene together today.

Hydra has been pulling in writers for the better part of a century now, ever since Henry Miller sailed through in the 1930s and swore the light there didn’t exist anywhere else on earth. Then came the real wave - Leonard Cohen, already a poet before he ever picked up a guitar, alongside Charmian Clift and George Johnston, who built a whole bohemian scene out of nothing but ouzo and ambition. What’s strange is how little the island itself shows up on the page - most of these writers set their books elsewhere, in Athens or the countryside, and saved Hydra for actually living. It became less a subject than a condition, a place you went to become someone who could write, rather than something you wrote about directly. And the scene never really died - it’s still alive today, still pulling people together, with groups like the Hydra Book Club keeping that same literary thread running through the island’s alleys. Decade after decade, somehow, Hydra keeps absorbing writers rather than being absorbed into their work.

The Colossus of Maroussi, Henry Miller’s love letter to Greece, follows him island-hopping through the Aegean just before the war swallowed everything up. Hydra flickers through those pages the way it flickers in real life - bare rock, blinding white, donkeys instead of cars. Miller wasn’t chasing postcards there, he was chasing a kind of light he swore didn’t exist anywhere else on earth. Read it once and you’ll understand why writers and painters kept sailing back to that same small harbor for decades after.

Leonard Cohen washed up on Hydra in 1960 with barely any money and a typewriter, and something about that white-and-blue quiet cracked him open as a poet. He bought a house on the hill for a few hundred dollars, no electricity, no running water, just sun and silence and Marianne Ihlen down the road. Poems like “Bird on the Wire” carry that island in them even when Hydra’s never named - the isolation, the salt air, the slow burn of solitude. He kept coming back for years, long after the songs made him famous, because some part of him never really left that rock.

Deepfake follows Michalis Krokos, who’d rather watch the Depp trial than write his next book, until an old friend needs saving from a far-right hit list. He goes undercover as their propagandist, trading lies for secrets in a city gone strange with tourists and gentrification. It spirals into blackmail and backroom paranoia, everyone hiding something, including him. Malafekas writes it cynical and funny, noir with a broken heart underneath.

Ypseli (éditions du Chêne) is Symeon Kamsizoglou’s cookbook, co-written with Josh Hickey - yes, the same one behind the Hydra Book Club - and shot by photographer Stanislaw Boniecki. It traces two years of traveling Greece, Thessaloniki to Athens by way of Corfu, Crete and the Cyclades, hunting down the country’s best producers and winemakers. Part travel guide, part recipe collection, it lands on dishes like eggplant caviar and grilled squid alongside portraits of the tavern owners keeping Greek gastronomy alive. It grew straight out of that same trip into the restaurant Ypseli, which the couple later opened in Paris.

Maria Canabal

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Dear travelers,

This week’s issue is a bit of a mixed bag, quite literally - we’re pairing two very different obsessions with staying put in one very specific place.

First: the fan that outsmarted air conditioning. Long before anyone plugged anything into a wall, people were folding air into their pocket. We went looking through Spain’s oldest workshops in Valencia - some running since 1942 - to find the ones still bending wood, painting silk, and building a baraja by hand. A few new names too, for those who like their fans a little more modern.

Second: the bag that decides how your trip actually goes. Nobody thinks about their wash bag until it fails them - a broken zipper, a leaking cap, lipstick rolling loose in the bottom of a suitcase. We rounded up the ones that have actually earned their spot in ours, trip after trip.

And finally: the room that doesn’t exist anywhere else. In Milan, tucked on the “noble” floor of the Mandarin Oriental, there’s a suite designed entirely with Barnaba Fornasetti - not inspired by him, designed with him. We stepped inside to see what it’s like to sleep in someone else’s imagination for a night.

Fold something, pack something, or just dream about Milan for a minute. Either way, let’s get into it.

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Maria Canabal

There’s one suite in Milan that feels less like a hotel room and more like stepping inside someone’s imagination - the Fornasetti Suite at Mandarin Oriental, Milan.

Tucked away on the hotel’s second floor, historically known as the “noble” floor, this 100-square-metre space is a love letter to Piero Fornasetti, the Milanese artist known for his surreal, playful designs throughout the 20th century. Every corner tells a story: the living room is anchored by a pillar wrapped in his iconic Riflesso wallpaper, dividing the space between a sitting area and a dining nook where his Ultime Notizie table takes centre stage, surrounded by sculptural Capitello chairs.

Walk down the corridor, past an Architettura console table, and you’ll reach the bedroom - wrapped floor to ceiling in Fornasetti’s Chiavi Segrete wallpaper, with mirrors and a desk that feel more like art pieces than furniture. Nothing here is purely decorative, either; guests are meant to actually live in it, not just admire it from a doorway.

The suite includes two bathrooms - a master and a separate guest bath - along with an hour of free access to the hotel’s private Spa Suite, complete with its own jacuzzi and hammam.

What makes it truly special is that this isn’t a replica or a “Fornasetti-inspired” concept dreamed up by an interior team. It was designed in collaboration with Barnaba Fornasetti himself, Piero’s son and the current creative director of the atelier - making it, quite literally, the only place in the world where you can sleep inside the Fornasetti universe.

By the time you leave, you realize the suite was never really about the wallpaper or the furniture. It was about spending one night inside a world someone spent a lifetime building - and walking out slightly changed by it.

Mandarin Oriental Milan

Maria Canabal

Photo Credits: Maria Canabal

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As a journalist constantly jetting across the globe, I’ll admit I’ve developed some pretty firm opinions about how I pack my toiletries. Unlike some of my colleagues, who insist “deodorant and a toothbrush is all I need,” I’m no minimalist. Call it what you want, but I like having my whole bathroom within reach - even on the road.

Over the years, here’s what I’ve learned about myself:

• Hanging wash bags with hooks, which men always seem to love, just don’t work for me.

• I keep one bag for makeup and a separate one for toiletries.

• My makeup bag is usually pretty chic - almost an evening clutch in disguise. In fact, I once landed in Istanbul and realized I’d forgotten my bag for a dinner out. My makeup pouch ended up doubling as my clutch for the night.

• I love a spacious bag with a wide opening for my toiletries - no fumbling around trying to find things.

• For short trips, I stick to clear pouches in my carry-on. I can’t stand using freezer bags for that.

• I never rely on the little kits airlines hand out. They’re often beautifully designed - Gulf carriers especially do this well - but there’s rarely anything useful inside beyond a toothbrush and toothpaste. So I always travel with my own mini toiletry kit, stocked with travel-size products.

I’ve built my own shortlist - the wash bags that have actually earned a permanent spot in my suitcase, trip after trip. Not because they looked good in a store, but because they survived the real test: my chaos of skincare, makeup, and everything in between.

(We remain independent: no commissions are earned on products featured here).

Maria Canabal

Clear toiletry bag by Muji

Travel toiletry bag in premium fabric for men by Lucrin.

OTG wash bag for men by Rains.

Clear train case with top compartment by Calpak.

Leather daily small travel case by Leatherology.

Pippi pouch by La Veste

Portofino cosmetic pouch by Naghedi

The In-Flight cosmetic set by Béis

Large toilet bag born lite cherry by Lonbali

Iphis dusk strand vanity case by Liberty

Signature washbag by Wolf (since 1834)

Bae cosmetic bag by Malene Birger

Woven leather large wash bag by Hammann (since 1864)

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The hand fan is one of humanity’s oldest and simplest inventions, yet its story stretches across nearly every culture on earth. The earliest fans were likely nothing more than large leaves or bundles of feathers, used to stir the air in hot climates. Evidence of fans appears in ancient Egypt as far back as 3000 BC, where they were often large, mounted on long poles, and carried by servants for pharaohs and nobles. Far from being purely functional, these fans were symbols of power and status, frequently depicted in tomb paintings and carvings.

The folding fan, the version most people picture today, has a more specific origin. It’s generally credited to Japan, emerging sometime around the 6th or 7th century, built from thin strips of wood or bamboo covered in paper. From Japan, the design traveled to China, where it was refined and embraced by artists, who painted intricate scenes, poetry, and calligraphy onto the fan’s surface. Merchants along trade routes eventually carried the folding fan westward, and by the 1500s it had reached Europe, quickly becoming a fixture of aristocratic fashion.

In European courts, particularly in Spain, France, and England, the fan became more than a cooling tool. It turned into a fashion statement and even a form of communication. Women developed an entire silent “language of the fan” - the angle it was held, whether it was open or closed, even which hand carried it, could convey flirtation, refusal, or a secret message across a crowded ballroom.

Types of Hand Fans and Their Materials

Hand fans come in far more variety than people usually realize, and much of that variety comes down to two things: how the fan folds (or doesn’t), and what it’s made of.

Folding fans are the most iconic style, especially in Spanish and Japanese tradition. The structure is called the baraja in Spanish - this refers to the full set of sticks (varillas) that make up the fan’s skeleton, fanning out from a central rivet (clavillo). The fabric or paper stretched across the sticks is the país, and it’s often where the real artistry happens - hand-painted florals, lace overlays, or embroidered scenes.

Rigid or fixed fans, sometimes called “screen fans,” don’t fold at all. They keep one flat shape, often round or leaf-shaped, mounted on a single handle. These are common in China (the classic round silk fan) and in ceremonial or decorative fans found in Africa and the Pacific Islands.

Brisé fans are a folding style without any covering fabric at all - just the sticks themselves, wider and shaped so they overlap to form the fan’s surface when open. These are often made entirely of ivory, wood, or horn, prized for their craftsmanship rather than any painted decoration.

So a fan isn’t just “a fan” - it’s a small piece of engineering and craftsmanship, where the choice of baraja, fabric, and finish says as much about culture and status as it does about staying cool.

To make things easier, we've put together a selection of the best hand-made Spanish fans.

(We remain independent: no commissions are earned on products featured here).

Maria Canabal

Ventagli Camurati has been making fans since 1948, a small Italian house, still doing it by hand. Cotton, silk, lace, hand-painted designs - each one carries a little bit of that old craft. Nice men’s collection.

Abanicos Burriel, also from Valencia, has been making fans since 1964. Their designs are colorful and playful, though they also offer hand-painted fans and their wedding collection is particularly lovely.

Ràfega is a new company founded by a young couple who design contemporary fans, working closely with artisans from Valencia. Their país is made only in cotton, and the wood they use is sustainably sourced. They offer a unisex range, as well as tiny 15 cm fans.

José Blay, founded in 1950, has been handmade across four generations and offers one of the largest selections of fans in Spain. They also have a collection for kids, and you can order your bespoke fan.

The Viana Fan has developed a baraja with only 4 sticks, and the país is made of linen. They offer 2 sizes, with a great design.

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There’s a particular kind of person who keeps a can of sardines the way other people keep a bottle of wine. They write the date on it in marker, tuck it in a cupboard, and wait. Sometimes for years.

This isn’t eccentricity, it’s tradition. French canneries have been dating their sardines by vintage, or millésime, since the early twentieth century, the same way a winemaker labels a great harvest. To qualify as millésimée, the fish generally need a fat content above 10%, which means they’re caught late in the season, end of August through October/November in Brittany, when the sardines have had time to fatten up. The best producers still stamp each tin with the year and sometimes the name of the boat. Most recommend aging the tins 6–8 years, turning them every six months so the oil moves through the flesh evenly, working its way slowly into the flesh until it’s meltingly tender.

That last part is what’s suddenly having a moment. What used to be a quiet habit among a handful of French collectors and old-school épiceries has turned into something closer to a movement: people now buy multiples of the same batch on purpose, opening one right away and setting the rest aside, then comparing a two-year tin to a ten-year one the way you’d taste vintages side by side. The idea that a can of fish could improve with age still catches people off guard. But once you understand what’s happening inside it, the logic starts to make sense.

If you want to try it yourself, stick to tins packed in extra virgin olive oil, it’s what holds up best over years in the cellar, and it’s what keeps working its way into the fish. Check the label carefully, though: some producers sell the same millésime in sunflower or plain olive oil too, and it’s the EVOO tins specifically that are worth setting aside and forgetting about for a few years. Below, we’ve put together a selection worth aging yourself.

La Perle des Dieux, Millésime, Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie. Their signature vintage range, each year illustrated by artist Delphine Cossais, packed in EVOO and built specifically for aging.

La Quiberonnaise, Sardines à l’huile d’olive extra vierge, a Quiberon classic, hand-packed, and one of the most consistent producers for cellar-aging.

Pointe de Penmarc’h, Millésimées, Le Guilvinec. EVOO, artist-labeled tins aimed at collectors, with each vintage year clearly stamped on the box.

Compagnie Bretonne du Poisson, Millésimées, small-batch, EVOO, a different Breton artist commissioned each year for the label.

Rödel, Millésimées, (since 1824), smaller, more artisanal Breton house, EVOO, well regarded among collectors for its restraint and consistency.

Maria Canabal

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Dear travelers,

This week’s issue pairs two very different things that both, in their own way, define summer - one you drink outdoors the moment the sun shows up, and one you’re better off not touching for a few years.

First: the drink that convinced an entire nation it’s summer. Pimm’s is, technically, mostly lemonade. And yet the moment the jug comes out - fruit floating everywhere, a slice of cucumber nobody will admit to eating - everyone within reach genuinely believes summer has arrived, rain or no rain. We look at the very British logic behind Britain’s most optimistic drink, and why it works every single time.

Second: the sardine that ages like a great wine. In France, and especially in Brittany, a handful of canneries have spent a century doing something almost nobody else bothers with anymore - dating their sardines by vintage, the way a winemaker labels a harvest. Left in their tin for six, eight, sometimes twenty years, turned by hand every few months, the fish slowly turn tender, confit, extraordinary. We go inside the tradition of millésime sardines, and why collectors are suddenly paying attention again.

Pour yourself something cold, and let's get into it.

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Warm Regards,

Maria Canabal

The first time someone handed me a Pimm’s, I was eighteen, fresh off the plane for a summer in London, standing in a garden in Kensington with people I’d known for about six hours. I remember staring into the jug for a solid ten seconds trying to work out what I was looking at. There was cucumber in it. Actual cucumber. I’m French, I take drinks fairly seriously, and my honest first thought, jet-lagged and four days into the country, was: did someone make a mistake with the salad?

Nobody else seemed concerned. This, I’ve learned, is the first rule of Pimm’s - the British will put fruit, herbs, and at least one vegetable into a jug of gin-adjacent liqueur and lemonade, hand it to you with total confidence, and dare you to say anything about it. So I didn’t. I drank it. It was, infuriatingly, quite good.

What really got me, though, was the commitment to the idea of summer rather than the actual weather. It was a light drizzle, everyone in sunglasses, someone insisting the sun was “about to come out,” and Pimm’s being poured like this was the south of France and not, in fact, a Kensington garden that would be mud by 4pm. In France, we wait for summer to actually arrive before we celebrate it. The British, I understood that afternoon, simply vote on it. And Pimm’s is the ballot.

Nobody could agree on what it tasted like, either, which I found almost charming in its dishonesty. I heard “fruity,” “herby,” and, from one very earnest girl standing near the drinks table, “like nostalgia.” I wanted to ask nostalgia for what, exactly - I’d landed four days earlier and had none to speak of yet - but she’d already wandered off to find more cucumber.

Here’s the part that changed my whole opinion of it: it’s mostly lemonade. I spent that whole afternoon feeling terribly refined, jug in hand, mint leaf perched just so, and I was basically drinking a soft drink with a splash of something stronger - which, I’ll admit, might be the most French thing about the entire tradition. Look sophisticated, drink responsibly-ish, judge no one.

All these years later, verdict from across the Channel hasn’t changed: ridiculous fruit content, questionable weather logic, genuinely delicious. I’ll allow it.

Ingredients

• 2 handfuls ice

• 240ml/8¾fl oz Pimm’s No.1 Cup

• 600ml/20fl oz lemonade or ginger ale

• 4 strawberries, sliced

• cucumber wheels, to garnish

• fresh mint sprigs, to garnish

Method

• Fill a jug with ice, then pour over the Pimm’s.

• Top with the lemonade or ginger ale and stir carefully to combine.

• Garnish the Pimm’s with the sliced strawberries, cucumber wheels and mint sprigs.

Maria Canabal

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Dear travelers,

Two stories in this issue, and they couldn’t be more different from one another.

First: what to bring when you’re invited this summer. Whether it’s a long lunch on someone’s terrace or a weekend by the coast, summer is full of invitations - and we’re sharing nine gift ideas that are easy to pack, easy to give, and never put your host on the spot. No vases to hunt for, nothing requiring urgent refrigeration. Just thoughtful, simple gestures for whoever opens the door for you this season.

Second: a visit to Maison Bonnet, in the heart of Paris. Away from the noise of mass-market eyewear, a small atelier in the 1st arrondissement has spent four generations doing something almost nobody else does anymore: crafting fully bespoke glasses by hand, some in genuine tortoiseshell, sourced from a stock the house assembled decades before the material was restricted internationally. We go inside the house’s approach to its craft - twelve measurements per frame, a process built more like tailoring than optics, and the reason clients describe putting on their glasses for the first time as suddenly seeing in HD.

Two unrelated worlds, one issue. Read on for both.

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Warm Regards,

Maria Canabal

Summer is the season of open doors. Long lunches that turn into long dinners, weekends at someone’s house by the water, last-minute invitations to “just come over, we’ll figure out food.” It’s easygoing by nature - which is exactly why it’s nice to put a little thought into what you bring along. Nothing fussy, nothing that needs refrigerating the second you walk in. Just a small something that says thank you for having me.

Here are nine ideas that always feel right for the season.

A beautiful box of tea. It sounds simple, but a well-chosen tea box is one of those gifts that quietly delights. Look for something with a mix of blends - a few herbal, a few black, maybe one iced-tea-friendly option for summer afternoons. It sits nicely in a cupboard until your host is ready for it, no urgency required.

A scented candle, but a good one. Skip anything too strong or too sweet. Go for something with a lighter, more neutral scent - fig, sea salt, white tea, that sort of thing. A candle is one of those gifts that works in almost any home, and it gives off a little “I thought of your space” feeling without being too personal.

A piece of crystal or fine glassware. A set of crystal tumblers, a single beautiful cristal candy dish, or even one elegant glass for serving rosé - this is the kind of gift that feels a touch more special, perfect for a host who’s put real effort into the evening. It doesn’t need to be used that night, which makes it an easy one to bring.

A bottle of something with no expectations attached. Wine, a nice rosé, a craft cocktail mixer - whatever you choose, just say clearly that it’s “for another time.” That one sentence takes all the pressure off your host to serve it that same evening.

A jar of really good honey or jam. Local, artisanal, a little unexpected - this kind of gift feels generous without being heavy-handed. It also has the advantage of lasting well past your visit, so the thank-you lingers.

Linen napkins or a tablecloth. Summer entertaining is full of table settings - outdoor lunches, late dinners, casual brunches. A set of nice linen napkins in a soft, neutral color is genuinely useful and feels a little luxurious without trying too hard.

A small olive oil or vinegar from a trip. If you’ve traveled recently, this is a lovely way to bring a bit of that place to someone else’s kitchen. Even if you haven’t traveled, a beautifully bottled, good-quality oil works just as well.

A beautiful tray, the kind that earns its keep. It sounds almost too simple, but a beautiful tray is one of those gifts that quietly becomes essential - coffee carried out to the garden, a few glasses of rosé before dinner, the catch-all for keys and sunglasses by the door. Look for one with a bit of substance to it - lacquer, woven rattan, a thin brass edge - something built to be used daily, not admired once and put away.

A book that matches the mood of summer. Something light, something beautifully designed, something they’d actually want to read by the pool or on a balcony. This one takes a bit more thought, but it tends to be remembered the longest.

A final thought: none of these need to be expensive to feel generous. The nicest gifts are the ones that show you paid attention - to the season, to the host, to the kind of evening they were trying to create. That’s really all a good host gift needs to do.

Maria Canabal

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Summer has a way of making us dream of escape.

This week, we’re taking you to Copenhagen through the eyes of one of its most beloved culinary voices, Trine Hahnemann. From neighbourhood bakeries and canal-side wine bars to the cafés, gardens and hidden corners she returns to time and again, we’ve gathered her favourite addresses into a guide designed to help you experience the city like a local.

Whether you’re planning a Scandinavian getaway or simply collecting inspiration for future travels, consider it your invitation to slow down and discover Copenhagen at its most authentic.

You’ll also find our edit of the dry oils we’re reaching for this season. Lightweight, nourishing and beautifully sensorial, they’re the summer essentials that leave skin luminous, hair soft and holiday beauty routines effortlessly simple.

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We hope you enjoy this read, and because there is no true joy in owning something that isn’t shared, why not send this newsletter to your friends?

We wish you a happy summer!

Warm Regards,

Maria Canabal

Trine Hahnemann is a Danish cheffe, cookbook author, entrepreneur, and food writer known for her modern approach to Scandinavian home cooking.

Born and raised in Copenhagen, she is a food activist and a strong advocate for sustainability and female leadership in the culinary world. She also serves on the board of the Basque Culinary Center, a leading international institution for culinary education and research.

Her work focuses on seasonal ingredients, traditional Nordic recipes, and the idea that food should be simple, meaningful, and shared. She is sharing below her most beloved addresses in her hometown of Copenhagen.

Maria Canabal

Copenhagen is a vibrant city - there is always something going on, and I never get tired of it. I like to wander through the parks, walk along the harbour, or hire a bike and cycle out to the outer boroughs, just to see what I find.

What to see

The Hirschsprung Collection
This is a small art museum tucked away in Øster Anlæg, and one of my favourites. It has a beautiful collection of Danish painters, and there is a particular calm to the place. I love walking through the rooms and looking into the past.

Louisiana
I think this is one of the best modern art museums in the world, and it is well worth the journey - about forty-five minutes by train along the coast. I always have lunch in their lovely café, take a walk in the park, and sit for a while looking out towards Sweden.

What to do

One of my favourite things is simply walking around the lakes. Along the way, you will find good coffee, organic gelato from Isoteket, and some lovely spots to stop for a glass of wine or a cold beer.

Or, if I fancy something different, I head to Torvehallerne and pick up cheese, pâté, bread, and smørrebrød from Hallernes Smørrebrød, then take it all to Ørstedsparken or Kongens Have for a picnic.

Visiting Copenhagen in Summer
If you come in spring or summer, you really must go swimming in the harbour. One of my favourite mornings starts with a coffee and a croissant, then cycling out for a swim - there are spots where it is legal, and I always feel lucky living in a city where that is even possible. I like the quieter stretch behind Fisketorvet at Havnemolen, or cycling further out to Svanemøllen Strand.
byoghavn.dk

I love combining a swim in Nordhavn harbour with a stop at the wine bar there afterwards - more on that below.

Food & Drink

Breakfast
For me, breakfast the Danish way is simple: a bun with cheese, and a good coffee.

In the city centre, I go to Coffee Collective or Original Coffee. They both have several branches and their own bakeries, so the bread is just as good as the coffee. They are chains, yes, but run by people who genuinely care about what they make.

Bakeries
In Nørrebro, my go-to is Bageriet B - they also make the best croissant in town. Flere Fugle is a wonderful outdoor spot with always something happening, and in Østerbro, I love Skipper Bageri for its bread and pastries. In Vesterbro, I pick up something from BRØD, which is takeaway only, and either sit on the square or cycle down to the water with it.

Lunch
In Copenhagen, lunch means smørrebrød. My favourite place is Møntergade, and I always order fiskefilet med rejer - fried plaice with prawns - or, in summer, kartoffelmad, which is potatoes on rye.

For the best sandwich in town, I go to Abrikos.

Dinner
VIE in Nordhavn is a firm favourite of mine - modern Danish food made with produce from the best suppliers in Denmark. Mikkel Mårbjerg cooks without fuss, building his dishes around seasonal vegetables.

When I want something vegetarian, I go to Baka d’Busk. bakabistro.dk

Wine Bar
Viebar in Nordhavn is where I go for great snacks and a wine list I really trust. Combine with a swim in Nordhavn Harbour.

Cocktails
For cocktails, K-Bar is a favourite of mine - lovely outdoor seating, with a view across to the parliament.

Shopping

Illums Bolighus is, to me, the epicentre of Scandinavian lifestyle and Danish design.

But my favourite design shop is BAK, in Frederiksberg.

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Summer has its own beauty rules, and the first one is this: skip anything heavy. The minute the temperature climbs, thick creams start to feel like a chore, sitting on the skin instead of sinking into it. That’s exactly why dry oils become the season’s quiet hero. They give skin everything it needs - nourishment, glow, softness - without the weight, the shine, or the sticky aftermath.

What makes a dry oil different is the finish. Unlike traditional oils, they absorb almost instantly, leaving nothing behind but a soft, satin veil. No grease, no residue, just skin that looks healthier and feels better. And the best part? Most of them aren’t limited to your face. Many double - or triple - as a treatment for body and hair, which makes them the kind of product you actually reach for when you’re rushing out the door to catch the last of the sun.

There’s also something about the ritual of it. Smoothing a dry oil over sun-warmed skin after a day at the beach, or running a few drops through salt-dried hair, feels less like a skincare step and more like a small moment of indulgence. It’s quick, it’s sensory, and it leaves you with that lit-from-within glow that no highlighter can quite replicate.

To make things easier, we’ve curated a selection of the best dry oils for summer - each one chosen for its texture, finish and versatility, so you can find the one that fits effortlessly into your routine.

(We remain independent: no commissions are earned on products you buy.)

Huile Prodigieuse by Nuxe: To create its Huile Prodigieuse, NUXE selected 7 precious 100% botanical origin oils: Tsubaki, Argan, Macadamia, Borage, Camellia, Hazelnut, Sweet Almond. Works on hair & dody.

Creme de Corps Nourishing Dry Body Oil by Kiehl’s: Key ingredients: grape seed oil to replenish skin, and squalane to keep the skin barrier soft, supple and moisturized.

Fluide 14 by Carita: A lightweight dry oil for face, body and hair. Formulated with 14 precious biomimetic oils, Fluide 14 Substantific absorbs instantly, leaving a weightless, non-greasy veil. Skin looks more radiant, hair appears silkier — for all skin and hair types, even the most demanding.

Aegean Bronze Shimmering Dry Oil by Korres: A lightweight multi-use dry oil for face, body and hair, enriched with 5 natural nourishing oils to enhance your tan and nourish your skin. Non-sticky texture absorbs effortlessly. Infused with vanilla Aegean Bronze scent. For all skin types, dermatologically tested.

Skin Food Ultra-Light Dry Oil by Weleda: A bi-phase oil mist combining vitamin-rich oils with pansy, chamomile and calendula extracts for glowing skin and intensive moisture. The ultra-lightweight formula dries instantly for a dry-to-the-touch finish. Made with vegan-friendly ingredients.

Huile Absolue by Patyka: A versatile care blending 12 essential and vegetable oils for face, body and hair. On the face, it tones, nourishes and restores radiance. On the body, it works as a regenerating and detoxifying massage oil. On hair, it nourishes and revitalises damaged strands. Dry touch, silky smooth, non-greasy finish.

Maria Canabal

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Dear travelers,

Art Basel opens its doors next Thursday, and if you’re heading to Switzerland’s most quietly brilliant city, we’ve got you covered.

Beyond the fair itself - 290 galleries, 4,000 artists, and the unmissable Unlimited section - Basel rewards those who wander. The Fondation Beyeler is showing a major Pierre Huyghe exhibition, the Rhine is perfect for a summer swim, and Bar Derrière, hidden behind the door of a historic old-town building, is where the art crowd ends up after dark.

Before you go, read our full Basel city guide. And don’t leave without a box of Läckerli!

Also next week, with the first day of summer just around the corner, we’re talking sun sticks - the compact, clean, no-white-cast essential that has quietly earned its place in every bag this season. We’ve rounded up the best formulas on the market right now: broad-spectrum protection, plant-based ingredients, nothing you don’t need.

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We hope you enjoy this read, and because there is no true joy in owning something that isn’t shared, why not send this newsletter to your friends?

Share

Warm Regards,

Maria Canabal

Sun sticks have become an essential - whether you’re on the slopes or the shore. Their compact, no-fuss format slips just as easily into a beach bag, nestled between a towel and a paperback, as it does into a ski kit. Unlike traditional sun creams, they leave no white cast and nothing sticky behind.

But are sun sticks as effective as a classic SPF?

Absolutely. In fact, their precision makes them rather brilliant: they reach the spots we so often forget - ears, the bridge of the nose, the delicate skin around the eyes - and allow you to build up coverage on more vulnerable areas, such as scars or tattoos. The one golden rule, still widely ignored, remains the same regardless of format: reapply every two hours, without fail.

Designed to make sun protection feel less like a chore and more like a ritual, sun sticks have quietly cemented their place in the beauty canon - and the market has responded accordingly, with new launches appearing every season. But behind the sleek, travel-friendly packaging, not all formulas are created equal. Some contain controversial UV filters, questionable preservatives or allergenic fragrances - applied, no less, to some of the skin’s most delicate areas.

What follows is a curated selection of sun sticks formulated without ingredients that compromise your health or the planet's.

(We remain independent: no commissions are earned on products you buy.)

Vinosun Protect SPF 50 - Caudalie : Boasting one of the shortest ingredient lists in our selection, this stick pairs organic UV filters - delivering broad-spectrum protection - with plant-based waxes and grapeseed oil.

Ultra Stick Invisible SPF 50 - Avène : This sun stick combines UVB and UVA filters with antioxidant ingredients, such as vitamin E, and plant-based oils, including castor and sunflower. Suitable for sensitive skin, in both children and adults.

Sun Secure Easy Stick SPF 50+ - SVR: Fragrance-free, this stick has been formulated with hypersensitive skin in mind. Its formula combines broad-spectrum UV filters with vitamin E and sunflower oil.

Stick Invisible Visage et Lèvres SPF50+ - Vichy Laboratoires: This sun stick shields the skin from both UVA and UVB rays while delivering lasting hydration through squalane, a plant-derived ingredient. The formula is further enriched with vitamin E and algae extracts.

Stick Solaire SPF 50 - La Rosée: This sun stick combines several UV filters with plant-based oils, including apricot and jojoba. Lightly scented with notes of coconut and vanilla, it suits all skin types.

Maria Canabal

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Nestled at the crossroads of France and Germany, Basel casts a spell all of its own - a city where medieval alleyways brush shoulders with bold contemporary architecture. Home to more than 40 museums and an extraordinary concentration of architectural studios, it beats to the rhythm of contemporary art.

Art here is simply part of the fabric of daily life. You move effortlessly from cobbled lanes and half-timbered houses to sleek modern galleries and landmark institutions such as the Kunstmuseum and the Fondation Beyeler. Around every corner, an independent boutique, a beautifully designed café or an unexpected art installation appears - the city feels, at times, like an open-air gallery. Then there are the banks of the Rhine, perfect for an afternoon stroll: colourful façades, swimmers letting the current carry them downstream in summer, and bridges always alive with people. Basel is a city that hums with creativity - quietly, confidently, without making a fuss about it.

Art

In Basel, art reveals itself at every turn, from storied museums to contemporary galleries scattered throughout the city. As Katharina Grosse once said, “art is the place where there is no boundary between reality and imagination” - and nowhere does that feel more true. For over 50 years, Art Basel has drawn the international art world to this corner of Switzerland, and the 2026 edition (18–21 June) promises to be nothing short of extraordinary: more than 290 galleries and 4,000 artists will take part, including Unlimited, which presents monumental installations, live performances and site-specific works for a truly immersive experience. The main fair is complemented by VOLTA Art Fair (17–21 June 2026), which, for two decades now, has championed emerging contemporary art through international galleries, unseen works and daring installations.

On the museum front, the Fondation Beyeler is currently devoting a major exhibition to Pierre Huyghe (24 May – 13 September 2026). Conceived exclusively for the Foundation, it brings together new commissions alongside landmark works from recent years. Huyghe’s practice sits at the intersection of fiction and reality, probing the limits of perception through film, technology, biology and digital elements to create living, ever-evolving situations where new sensibilities come into being.

Meanwhile, the Kunstmuseum Basel is presenting a landmark retrospective of Helen Frankenthaler (18 April – 23 August 2026), a defining figure of American post-war abstraction. Bringing together more than 50 works - many of them on a monumental scale - it stands as the most comprehensive presentation of the artist ever staged in Europe.

Food & Drink

After dark, Basel reveals another side of itself entirely - one that has earned it a quiet reputation as Switzerland’s cocktail capital. Sip impeccably crafted cocktails in the refined surroundings of the Grand Hôtel Les Trois Rois bar, or head to Werk 8, where natural wines are poured in a wonderfully industrial former warehouse. Charming, mysterious and utterly singular, Bar Derrière is concealed within a historic old-town building - once a brothel - where you ring a bell to be admitted into an intimate lounge serving inventive long drinks. For those with a creative palate, Herz Bar is the most awarded address in town, with much of its spirits sourced from the distillery next door.

Coffee lovers should seek out Moment, which doubles as a library and meditation space - a genuinely holistic experience. For dinner, the two essential tables are Kunsthalle (with 3 different rooms : White, Panton and Schluuch) and Chez Donati: the atmosphere crackles with energy, the rooms filled with artists, collectors, gallerists and curators. And for a view over the rooftops, the B1 Rooftop Bistro - designed by Swiss architectural duo Herzog & de Meuron - is unmissable, its bar presided over by a luminous installation by artist James Turrell.

Classics not to miss

For a first visit, the essential itinerary begins in the old town, a labyrinth of narrow alleyways and hidden squares adorned with over 200 fountains and centuries-old buildings. The Cathedral, with its striking red sandstone walls, colourful roof tiles and twin towers, dominates the Basel skyline like no other structure in the city. Nearby, the magnificent Town Hall (17th century), overlooking the Marktplatz, has been home to the Basel government and parliament for centuries. Don’t miss the Tinguely Fountain (1977), conceived by the Swiss artist Jean Tinguely - nine figures spouting water in every direction make for an endlessly amusing scene.

For families travelling with children, Basel has plenty to offer. Aquabasilea is a vast, mostly indoor water park with a toddler pool, a wave pool, seven themed slides, two swimming rapids and much more. The Basel Paper Mill, the national museum for paper, typography and writing, is set within the walls of a medieval mill, where visitors discover the bookmaking process from handmade paper to the finished book - with hands-on experiences in papermaking, printing, marbling and typesetting, children and adults alike come away with a real sense of achievement.

In summer, the Rhine itself becomes the city’s favourite playground: grab a waterproof “Wickelfisch bag”, tuck in your clothes and let the current carry you downstream - entirely free, with ladders along the banks to climb out at your leisure.

And for a truly singular detour, seek out the Hoosesagg Museum - quite possibly the world’s smallest museum. Tucked into a two-foot-by-two-foot window in the door of a 600-year-old private house on the pedestrian alley Imbergässlein, it has been delighting passers-by since 1995 with rotating collections of everyday objects small enough to fit in a pocket. Free, open around the clock, and just a two-minute walk from the Marktplatz - an unexpected highlight that children absolutely love.

Where to Stay

Part hotel, part cultural centre, part theatre, the Teufelhof Basel occupies two joined 18th-century townhouses in the heart of the city. Every room is unique, decorated as a tribute to the artist whose name it bears. We particularly recommend the Mickry3 - a room in perpetual evolution.

What to Bring Home

Art books, exhibition prints and beautifully designed objects from the Kunstmuseum Basel Shop - quite simply the finest museum shop in the city. Thoughtful lifestyle gifts and accessories from JOYNE, a wonderfully curated concept store and café in the old town, with an Instagram-ready aesthetic that never feels forced. And, of course, Läckerli from the historic shop on Gerbergasse 57 - Basel’s beloved spiced biscuits, made here since the Middle Ages, presented in elegant gift boxes alongside caramels and chocolates. An absolute must.

Maria Canabal

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