National Geographic Traveller (UK)

Each issue is packed with authentic travel experiences and vivid photography, plus insights and tips to inspire would-be explorers to travel widely, ethically and safely. We are passionate about experiencing the world, championing sustainable travel and celebrating journeys from a local or cultural perspective.

Contributors • Take a peek behind the scenes of our latest issue with the writers and photographers who made it happen

National Geographic Traveller

Welcome note

Wildlife in Svalbard • In summer, these Arctic islands become one of the best places in the world to see polar bears and other northern species in the wild

All aboard at a Venice hotel • Newly opened Orient Express Venezia offers a glimpse inside a restored 15th-century palazzo in the Cannaregio district. If your budget doesn’t stretch to a stay, opt instead for a cocktail and cicchetti (savoury snacks) at the Wagon Bar, an art deco space designed to evoke the atmosphere of a luxury train carriage. Rooms from €1,870 (£1,627), B&B. orient-express.com

Wild swimming • From tidal pools to woodland creeks, here’s where to go for an open-air dip in the UK this summer

Wellness in Baden-Baden • Sidling up to Germany’s Black Forest and the Rhine-woven French border, this mountain resort is one of Unesco’s Great Spa Towns of Europe

TABLE TALK • Garlic farmer Natasha Edwards on celebrating the Isle of Wight’s local produce and her top choices for an unforgettable meal

Shetland • A special magic flows through the Scottish archipelago come summer — visit in June for coastal hikes, boat-fresh seafood and flaming twilight skies

Go modernist in Palm Springs • Discover how a desert oasis became a cradle for mid-century style at an art-filled shrine to maximalist interior design

A four-night stay in Messinia, Greece • The winner and their guest will travel to Costa Navarino, one of the most breathtaking landscapes in the Mediterranean

Hong Kong • Sampan boat rides to empty beaches, waterfront strolls along Victoria Harbour and Cantopop nostalgia nights — here’s how Hongkongers are spending the summer

Paris’s designer cafes • Once renowned for the bitterness of its espresso, the French capital’s coffee culture has been revolutionised by the opening of a wave of aesthetic cafes

Backstage pass • Train writer Monisha Rajesh goes behind the scenes to discover how the famed luxury Indian train the Maharajas’ Express keeps everything on track

IN FOCUS • Chimi Dem is one of the last two makers of the signature conical hats worn by women in the village of Laya in Bhutan. She creates roughly 700 each year, weaving them out of bamboo, then stringing them with fine coloured beads and topping them with a painted spike. Every woman in the community has one.

COAST TO COAST • Clinging to Central America’s narrow isthmus, Costa Rica is a place where volcanoes smoulder over the rainforest, scarlet macaws rake the sky and the motto pura vida — pure life — animates daily rhythms. Starting from the capital San José, a journey coast to coast unfolds in a rich patchwork of cultures and ecosystems. Saddle up on the fertile slopes of the Arenal Volcano; taste the east’s Afro-Caribbean legacy; wander the cool cloud forests of San Gerardo de Dota; or discover Corcovado National Park, home to wildlife including jaguars, after dark

HORSE POWER • In the lush farmlands beneath Arenal Volcano, a day in the saddle at a family-run estate reveals the quieter side of the country’s most famous adventure travel destination

A UNIQUE FLAVOUR • In Cahuita on the remote Talamanca Coast, a cooking lesson reveals the fortitude of the local Afro-Caribbean community, whose safeguarding of traditions has become a way of life

ROOT CAUSE • Deep in the Talamanca...