The CINCIN Journal.
Hotel stories, local discoveries and practical guides for your next trip.
Hotels with private pools: four stays and how to choose the right room
Pool size, heating, privacy, season: five questions to ask before you book, and how The Rooster, Meneghetti, Olinto and Es Racó d'Artà answer them.
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Antiparos travel guide: beaches, boat trips and getting there
Getting to Antiparos via Paros, which beach for which day, the cave and a boat trip to Despotiko. Plus where to stay: The Rooster.
Merano and Lana without a car: a weekend by train
Merano and Lana without a car: two hotels with free station pick-ups, three outings, places to eat and the train journey.
Mild winter destinations: São Miguel, Marrakech, Oualidia and Mallorca
São Miguel, Marrakech, Oualidia or Mallorca? Four mild winter destinations compared, with the weather, hand-picked hotels and ideas for days out.
Swedish Lapland in winter: Treehotel or Arctic Bath?
Treehotel or Arctic Bath in Harads? How the two hotels differ in winter, whether December or March suits you better, and when to look for the northern lights.
Anthony Bourdain in Morocco: Tangier, Fez and the Sahara
Explore Bourdain's Morocco through Tangier's fish restaurants and cafés, the medina of Fez and his desert journey. What to visit and how to plan the route.
Anthony Bourdain in Tuscany: wine, meat and cheese
Visit the Chianti stops from Bourdain's 2007 Tuscany episode: Casaloste, Dario Cecchini and Corzano e Paterno. Wine, meat, cheese and practical planning.
Anthony Bourdain in Lisbon: restaurants and fado
Ramiro, O Trevo, Tasca do Chico and more: explore Anthony Bourdain's Lisbon from No Reservations, with filming locations and ideas for a two-day visit.
Anthony Bourdain in Sicily: markets and places to eat
Explore Anthony Bourdain's Sicily, from Palermo's street food to Catania's fish market, with the stories behind his two episodes and tips for a visit.
Anthony Bourdain in Istria: oysters, truffles and fish
Follow Anthony Bourdain through Istria, from oysters on the Lim Channel to truffles at Mondo and seafood at Batelina. Addresses and trip-planning tips.
Wine hotels in Europe: four places to stay, taste and explore
Three wine estates with rooms and one hotel in wine country: Maitz, Meneghetti, Ästad and Schwarzschmied, with tastings, restaurants and autumn tips.
Anthony Bourdain in Porto: where he ate, and which places are still open
Tripe, francesinha, cachorrinho and seafood: the restaurants and the port lodge from Bourdain's two Porto episodes, and which of them are still open.
Szeklerland travel guide: day trips from Zabola
In Szeklerland, carbon dioxide bubbles up through a mud pool in the middle of a spa town, a crater lake lies in the forest of an extinct volcano, and Saxon villages shelter their churches behind high walls. Here is what to see from a base at Zabola, how to get there and when to go.
Oualidia travel guide: oysters, the lagoon and where to stay
Wooden boats crossing a calm lagoon, oysters with lemon at the farmers' huts, and a gentle wave at high tide for learning to surf: Oualidia, on Morocco's Atlantic coast, is a place for slow days by the water. Here is where to eat, how to get out on the lagoon, when to go and where to stay.
An olive farm stay in Greece: Eumelia in Laconia
At Eumelia, an olive oil tasting can start among the trees, and a cooking class begins with ingredients from the garden. Here is when the olives come in, what the farm offers and which day trips are worth the drive.
A quieter Mallorca: Artà or Santanyí?
East of the Serres de Llevant, sheep graze between holm oaks and the coves at the end of the road have no hotels. Further south, Santanyí's market fills the square twice a week, and Mondragó Natural Park is a short drive away. Here is how the two areas differ, where to walk and swim, and when the coast gets busy.
The South Styrian Wine Road in autumn: wine, inns and where to stay
A narrow road over steep vineyard hills between Ehrenhausen and Leutschach, in places the border with Slovenia itself. Where to taste, eat and sleep in autumn, and how to get around without a car.
Where to stay on São Miguel: choosing your base
Ponta Delgada, the north coast, Lagoa or Furnas: which part of São Miguel suits which trip, and two hotels from our selection, one on each coast.
Lana, South Tyrol: hotels, restaurants and the Vigiljoch
Lana, between Merano and Bolzano, is small enough to walk. Three hotels from our selection, places to eat, the cable car up to the car-free Vigiljoch and how to get there without a car.
Zabola: An Estate That Is Lived In
Confiscated in 1949 and restored by the family since the early 2000s: at Zabola in Transylvania, guests stay in the historic buildings of the Mikes family estate.
Southern Sweden: Maryhill Estate and Ästad Vingård
A lively resort above the Öresund and an organic vineyard with a spa in the beech forests of Halland: two very different stays on Sweden’s west coast.
Styria: Glasshouse and Vineyard
North of Graz, Steirereck am Pogusch has guests sleeping in a glasshouse and in tree houses. South of Graz, the Maitz family runs a winery, tavern and wine hotel on the South Styrian Wine Road.
Slovenia: Nebesa Chalets and Grad Otočec
Four chalets for two, almost 1,000 metres up above the Soča Valley, and a castle hotel on an island in the Krka in the south-east: two very different places to stay in Slovenia.
Oaxaca: City and Coast
Two Grupo Habita hotels in Oaxaca: Otro Oaxaca, behind a historic façade opposite Santo Domingo, and Hotel Terrestre, built of brick and run on solar power, on the Pacific coast.
Morocco in Three Hotels
From an olive grove outside Marrakech into the High Atlas and on to the lagoon at Oualidia: Berber Lodge, Olinto and La Sultana Oualidia.
Mallorca in Three Hotels, and a Farm on Menorca
A 17th-century mansion in Santanyí, a farm estate near Artà, a hotel on the coast at Peguera, and on Menorca a restored farmhouse near Alaior.
Harads: Two Hotels, One River
Two hotels in Harads take their shape from the landscape: Treehotel among the pines, Arctic Bath on the Lule River.
Azores: Two Coasts, One Island
Santa Bárbara gives you a beach below the hotel and more space for families. WHITE sits above Lagoa’s rocky shore, with nine suites and a villa on the main grounds.
Eating in Asturias: Casa Marcial, Narbasu and Monte
Three restaurants for a few days of eating in Asturias: the Manzano family's Casa Marcial and Narbasu, twenty minutes apart, and Xune Andrade's Monte, an hour west in the mountains of Lena.
The Other Mallorca: A Finca That Farms Again
Near Artà in Mallorca's north-east, the owners of Es Racó d'Artà brought an old estate's fields back into use before they opened it as a hotel.
Where the Wine Came First
Parkhotel Mondschein and the Art of Restraint
How Parkhotel Mondschein in Bolzano refurnished a medieval building without covering it up.
1477 Reichhalter: dinner downstairs, a room upstairs
An old inn in the centre of Lana with a café and restaurant on the ground floor and eight rooms above.
Arctic Bath: a cold plunge on the Lule River
Sauna, hot bath, cold river: how the floating spa near Harads works, and how winter and summer change it.
A Hotel You Cannot Reach by Car
Leaving the car in Lana, the cable car up, and what a stay at vigilius on the Vigiljoch looks like once you arrive.
The Rooster: sixteen houses above Livadia Bay
How the houses are laid out on the hills above Livadia, what they are built from, and what a day there involves.
When the Hotel Is Also a Farm
What changes when your hotel is also a working farm? Craveiral in the Alentejo and Son Blanc on Menorca answer it in quite different ways.
What makes a small hotel feel personal?
Hosts you can name, rooms shared with the village and service arranged in person: what a small hotel can do differently, with examples from Lana, the Mani, the Chiemgau and Sils Maria.
How to plan a slower holiday
One base instead of three, fewer transfers, days left empty and dinner within walking distance: practical choices for a slower trip, with examples from hotels in our selection.
South Tyrol Beyond the Peaks: Lana, Merano and Bolzano
Three places in the Adige valley, each with its own character: Lana among the orchards, Merano with its promenades, and Bolzano as the regional capital. How they differ, and how to combine them in one trip.
Hotels For Long Breakfasts
Some hotels are remembered for their pools. Others for their breakfast. On Son Blanc, Schwarzschmied, São Lourenço do Barrocal, Giardino Ascona and 1477 Reichhalter.