What Has My Attention in 2026
With my first trip in 2026 taking me to Egypt, I look ahead to four more trips that will shape the rest of the year.
Each of the four trips below earned its place for a particular reason, but all of them share the same goal – to best position myself to advise you when designing your next trip. Some, like the Four Seasons Yacht I and the Orient Express Corinthian, are in the newly emerging hotel-branded cruise category, and I want to experience firsthand how they actually deliver. The other two sit deliberately off the mainstream travel circuit. Bhutan is a country most travelers have not been to (it does not appear on most people’s lists, and that is part of what drew me). And a possible week-long Slovenia extension after Venice would take me into a corner of Europe that is only just beginning to register on luxury travelers’ radars. What I most enjoy in my work is identifying places like these, ones quietly worth knowing about, before they become widely talked about so that I can share them with you. As with all of my own travel, I will be going as a regular paying guest, so the feedback I bring back is honest and unfiltered.
A bit more on each, before the longer sections below.
The Four Seasons Yacht I and the Orient Express Corinthian are part of the rapidly growing hotel-branded yacht segment, a space I’ve been watching closely. Last June I sailed aboard the Ritz-Carlton Ilma, the first of the hotel brands to launch a cruising yacht collection. With these two upcoming voyages, I’ll have experienced all three of the major players firsthand and will be able to tell you, ship by ship, exactly which one is right for which kind of traveler.
Now on the hotel side: the Orient Express Venezia is only the second hotel to carry the Orient Express name (the first is in Rome), and it is shaping up to be something genuinely special in luxury hospitality. Slovenia is any easy extension from Venice I am considering and is a quietly remarkable places: lush, walkable, with castle-topped lakes, alpine valleys, and a small but lovely wine country, all without the crowds or the price tags of its better-known neighbors. From Venice, it is a short two-to-three-hour drive.
Then Bhutan, which is a part of the world I’ve never been to, and from everything I’ve read and heard, it offers a kind of stillness and peace that is increasingly hard to find anywhere else and which so many of my clients are seeking. I want to feel that for myself. I love being immersed in extraordinary landscapes, but I also love coming back to a beautiful room and a hot shower at the end of the day. Aman has long been the standard-bearer for luxury lodging in Bhutan, and I’m curious to see how the experience holds up now that more luxury names like Six Senses are entering the Bhutan landscape. I can then advise you on which brand or combination of brands is best for you journey through Bhutan.
A note on value, because it drives every trip I plan for clients. While I’ll be checking every detail of each ship, hotel, and lodge, I’ll also be looking carefully at the value proposition. To me, value means that when you come home, every dollar feels deeply, completely worth it.
Four Seasons Yacht I: Dubrovnik to Venice (Late June / Early July)
The Four Seasons Yacht I launched in March 2026, and in late June I’ll be among the first to sail her on a seven-night voyage from Dubrovnik to Venice. This isn’t a traditional cruise. Think of it as a private yacht experience scaled to a small, intimate number of guests (approximately 200), with the kind of service and culinary standards Four Seasons is known for. At every port of call, I have independently arranged private tours with carefully vetted guides, separate from the ship’s programming, so the time onshore is every bit as considered as the time onboard. I’ll be looking closely at the suites, the food, the pacing of the itinerary, and the onshore experiences to confirm they live up to MTY Luxury Travel’s standards.
Orient Express Venezia: Venice (with a possible Slovenia extension) (July)
After disembarking in Venice, I’ll spend three nights at the newly opened Orient Express Venezia. Venice already feels like a dream, and this property promises to make it feel even more so. But Venice in July rewards careful planning. To experience it the way it was meant to be felt, intimate, unhurried, and quietly magical, you have to work around the crowds rather than through them. I’ll be touring by private mahogany boat, gliding through canals well away from the vaporetto traffic, and exploring some of the city’s less-visited corners. I have also arranged private access to a Murano glass factory to watch master artisans at work, an intimate visit to a traditional lace-making atelier, and after-hours access to the Doge’s Palace, experienced in the kind of silence that makes the history feel alive.
This is also where the Slovenia extension may come in. From Venice, it is a short drive into a part of Europe that still feels a bit like a secret. Lake Bled, the Julian Alps, the Karst wine country, and Ljubljana itself are walkable, warm, and considerably quieter than Italy in summer. Slovenia is also catching up in the luxury category, with stunning new arrivals like Chalet Sofjia, Vila Muhr and Zlata Ladjica. If I do make it to Slovenia, I’ll come back with notes worth sharing.
Orient Express Corinthian: Rome and Capri to Provence (September)
In September, I’ll board the Orient Express Corinthian for a voyage from Rome and Capri to the sun-bleached coast of Provence. The Corinthian launches in June 2026, and from everything I’m hearing, she promises to be something distinct on the water. She is an intimate, refined sailing yacht designed to be the experience itself, not just the vessel that gets you there. With only 110 guests and 170 crew members, Corinthian promises to offer elevated levels of service, beautifully designed suites, extraordinary culinary experiences and sophisticated, onshore experiences exclusive to Corinthian guests. I’ll be looking closely at the suites, the food, the anchorages, and the onshore experiences to see whether they live up to the Orient Express name.
Bhutan: A 12-Night Journey Through All Five Aman Lodges (Late October / Early November)
To close out the year, Bhutan. In late October I’ll begin a 12-night journey through one of the last truly protected destinations on earth, staying at all five Aman lodges along the way. Aman’s properties in Bhutan are intimate, architecturally beautiful, and positioned to give you access to monasteries and landscapes that most travelers never see. Late October is also a particularly lovely moment to be there, when the autumn light and crisp mountain air are at their best. I’ll be reporting back not just on each lodge individually (the service, the food, the guides, the spa) but also on whether the journey as a whole delivers the kind of wonder and quiet transformation Bhutan is uniquely capable of offering.
A Final Thought on Summer in Europe
Yes, three of these journeys land squarely in what is famously the most crowded stretch of the European calendar. I’m not daunted by it, mostly because each of these experiences was chosen, in part, because it offers a way around the crowds rather than through them. A private mahogany boat through Venice’s back canals, after-hours access at the Doge’s Palace, the lesser-known corners of cities everyone thinks they know, a yacht that turns every port into a private arrival, and a quiet drive into Slovenia, all of these make summer in Europe feel intimate again, even when the headlines say otherwise. That balance is something I’ll be paying close attention to, and reporting back on.
More on each of these journeys in the months ahead.
