Playing—not simply watching—sports activities
Traveling for the love of the sport is reaching a fever pitch in 2026 with the Winter Olympics in Italy, the FIFA World Cup in North America, and Formula 1 in every single place from Monaco to Las Vegas. But followers are not content material to sit within the stands. They need to get off the bench and play too. “Travel isn’t just about relaxation or sightseeing but also about pursuing what lights us up,” says Jacqui Weidman of SmartFlyer, whether or not that is on-field meet-and-greets with gamers on the Super Bowl or getting behind the wheel of a Ferrari and racing across the F1 monitor. A rising variety of accommodations are taking part in into athletic fandom too, says MaryDee Snow of MaryDeeTravel, whose purchasers attended the Rosewood Little Dix Tennis Cup to play with the professionals (and pack in some seaside time).
Clamoring for craft
Culinary experiences have lengthy been among the finest methods to immerse ourselves in a vacation spot: cooking courses in locals’ houses, visits to farms the place the meal you simply had was grown, meet-and-eats with star cooks. These days, advisers are seeing an identical thirst for connecting with a spot and its individuals by its craft traditions. But past the specialness of a one-of-a-kind memento (that monogrammed leather-based satchel from Scuola del Cuoio in Florence, that custom-designed shirt by a tailor in Chiang Mai), vacationers are eager to actually strive their hand at one thing new. Kerry Fee of Fee&Co says her purchasers need to study on journeys the abilities they in any other case would not of their busy lives again dwelling, like weaving in Peru or pottery making in Japan: “Time is a luxury, right? So using that time to engage with what speaks to you about a place is really special.” For Marcello Baglioni of Agave Travel Creative, which presents quick programs and workshop retreats created in partnership with the Accademia di Belle Arti Rosario Gagliardi Siracusa in Sicily, it is all about “sharing heritage expertise, honoring the local culture, and safeguarding knowledge for future generations.”
The journeys our Top Travel Specialists need to plan for purchasers this yr
Ask me to plan: “A private-charter sailing around Svalbard aboard the world’s first solar-sailing polar vessel, operated by an all-female crew, with onboard scientists and experts providing daily briefings on Arctic history, climate, and exploration. You’ll see and learn about everything from polar bears along the shoreline to whales feeding in remote fjords.”—Virgi Schiffino Kennedy, Lux Voyage
Ask me to plan: “A ‘gas-train-omy’ trip. Take the Eurostar from London to Paris for lunch in a tucked-away locals-only bistro; then the two-hour TGV to Bordeaux for dinner and spa treatments at Les Sources de Caudalie, in the vineyards of Château Smith Haut Lafitte; and then a morning train to San Sebastián in Spain for lunch with one of the city’s secretive Basque gastronomic societies.”—Tom Barber, Original Travel
Ask me to plan: “A jet-setting ‘parties and piety’ trip that visits the best pre-Lenten events in the world, from the grand balls of Carnival in Venice to the Fasching parades in Germany, then onward to Brazil for samba and glitter at Carnival in Rio, and then Mardi Gras in New Orleans. After all that indulgence, 40 days of lean living will feel welcome!”—Jeanne Polocheck, Well Traveled Texan
Ask me to plan: “A journey through Chile’s diverse landscapes, starting on remote Easter Island, for the mysterious moai and vibrant marine life. Then to the glaciers of majestic Torres del Paine National Park, the mesmerizing salt flats and clear night skies in Atacama Desert, and ending in the colorful city of Valparaíso for the local artistry.”—April Schmitt, (*5*)