THE WORLD AWAITS: THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACES TO DISCOVER IN 2026
From celestial spectacles to cultural revelations and pristine wilderness, the next wave of luxury journeys promises more than beauty; it promises transformation.
7 min
After years of disrupted routines and shifting priorities, 2026 is emerging as the year travel truly matters again.
No longer just a break from routine, the most compelling journeys now offer deeper meaning: connection with place, immersion in culture, and renewal in nature. With global travel re-opening and aspirations realigned, travellers are looking for destinations that deliver not just escape, but resonance.
Working with its worldwide network of destination experts, luxury operator Abercrombie & Kent has identified the places set to define the year ahead. These are journeys built for those who want more than pretty vistas: they want experiences that provoke, renew and endure.
KENYA
Kenya remains the blueprint for luxury safari, where wide-open plains, legendary wildlife and rich cultural layers converge in a way few places can match.
In 2026, focus on the horizons of Amboseli National Park, where Mount Kilimanjaro looms and majestic elephant herds drift across golden savannah.
The mid-year arrival of Kitirua Plains Lodge (an A&K Sanctuary) marks a milestone, arriving six decades after A&K’s founder first pioneered luxury safari here. Set across a private 128-acre concession, its 13 organic standalone suites give guests rare access to wilderness in a polished yet deeply atmospheric setting.
Do it the A&K Way: Combine stays at Olonana in the Maasai Mara and Tambarare Camp in Ol Pejeta for a seamless circuit through Kenya’s wildest ecosystems.
Expert Insight: “Legacy safaris are emerging — multigenerational groups blending meaningful conservation work with classic game drives.”
CHOQUEQUIRAO, PERU
While most travellers are drawn to Machu Picchu, 2026 is the year to head beyond the crowds to the remote Incan stronghold of Choquequirao. Often called the “sister city” of Machu Picchu, this scale-and-solitude site currently attracts far fewer visitors than its legendary neighbour.
With a proposed cable car still in planning phases, now is the moment to explore while it remains unscripted and rare.
Do it the A&K Way: On Peru: Trek to Choquequirao, you’ll undertake a five-day trek to the site, then hike the final stretch of the Inca Trail from KM 104 to the Sun Gate of Machu Picchu.
Expert Insight: “We’re seeing increased bookings for ‘archaeological adventure’ — travellers who want to earn their cultural discoveries through physical challenge.”
EGYPT
In Egypt, the next chapter of luxury travel opens alongside archaeology. With the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) slated to open in late 2025, 2026 becomes the moment to experience ancient wonders as they’ve never been displayed.
The museum will house 100,000 artefacts — including 5,340 of Tutankhamun’s treasures together for the first time. A&K’s newest Nile cruiser, the Nile Seray, launches 2026 with 32 suites and a rooftop pool deck, offering an elevated journey where Egyptology meets refined travel.
Do it the A&K Way: Join Egypt & the Nile, exploring tombs on the West Bank with a resident Egyptologist, or book a private dahabiya sailing for an intimate vintage-style cruise.
Expert Insight: “Egypt is drawing sophisticated travellers seeking cultural immersion — the museum’s opening has created a ‘now-or-never’ moment.”
LAPLAND
2026 is shaping up as the ultimate year for the Arctic. With the solar maximum peaking late in the decade, the Northern Lights are forecasted to flash brighter and more frequently than typical.
In Lapland’s minimalist wilderness, luxury lodges and high-design cabins sit alongside age-old traditions: ice therapy, cold-water plunges, sauna culture. It’s the convergence of celestial spectacle and deep rest.
Do it the A&K Way: Choose Finland & Sweden: Adventures in Lapland or Christmas in Lapland — both deliver tree-house stays, Sami cultural encounters and star-studded skies.
Expert Insight: “Wellness meets wilderness — ice-therapy retreats and aurora-chasing are now major luxury travel drivers.”
ICELAND
Few destinations combine wild terrain, prime solitude and astronomical phenomena like Iceland. In August 2026, the island lies directly in the path of a total solar eclipse — an event aligning neatly with the peak Northern Lights season and dramatic volcanic landscapes. Glacier-lagoon meets boutique hotel, lava field meets Michelin dining.
Do it the A&K Way: Embark on the Diamond Circle itinerary, leaving the Golden Circle crowds behind for Iceland’s northern wilds — think Lake Myvatn, Ásbyrgi Canyon and boutique lodge nights.
Expert Insight: “Iceland is the ultimate phenomenon-destination: eclipse, aurora and adventure all rolled into one.”
MADHYA PRADESH, INDIA
Once overshadowed by India’s blockbuster wildlife parks, Madhya Pradesh is now emerging as the tiger-tourism powerhouse. Home to about 75% of the world’s wild Bengal tigers, the region’s recovery story is profound.
Luxury lodges are multiplying; one example is the newly opened Oberoi Rajgarh Palace near Panna, built to cater to high-end travellers seeking immersive big-cat encounters.
Do it the A&K Way: On Tailormade Tiger Tracking in India, traverse three national parks, meet local tribes and witness wildlife preservation in action.
Expert Insight: “Impact-safaris have moved beyond spotting big cats — travellers now want ecosystem insight and lodging that invests in conservation.”
MONGOLIA
Mongolia stands out as one of the last great wilderness frontiers. For 2026, it brings increasing accessibility — direct flights from Tokyo/Narita now make it reachable in a shorter window.
Here, nomadic culture still thrives: gers under open skies, ancient equestrian traditions, stars by the million. For the curious luxury traveller, it’s as raw as it is refined.
Do it the A&K Way: On Mongolia: Naadam Festival & Gobi Desert Adventure, follow traditional contests of horse racing, wrestling and archery, then retreat into the Gobi’s dunes in style.
Expert Insight: “Mongolia is the frontier of cultural immersion — guests who’ve ‘done’ it all are turning to nomadic experience for real perspective.”
OKAVANGO DELTA, BOTSWANA
Luxury today isn’t just about price — it’s about isolation, responsiveness and rarefied access. The Okavango Delta offers just that: private-concession lodges where you might see more elephants than people. At Baines’ Lodge (an A&K Sanctuary) with only six suites, honeymooners slide into Star Baths and watch water buffalo from private decks.
It’s untouched luxury at its finest.
Do it the A&K Way: Stay at Baines’ Lodge, retrace your path on guided walks and night drives, wake under an African sky in suite-level solitude.
Expert Insight: “The Okavango represents ultra-private luxury — couples seek destinations where fewer people = more privilege.”
OSA PENINSULA, COSTA RICA
Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula remains one of the world’s most biodiverse rainforests — home to nearly 3% of the planet’s species. Accessible only by boat, it’s held a low-profile despite its eco-luxury potential.
In 2026 the trend to remote-luxury means the Osa is ideally placed: wild, wealthy in nature and now serviced by high-end boats and charter options.
Do it the A&K Way: On Cruising & Wildlife in Costa Rica, board a nine-cabin luxury yacht, cruise to Corcovado, dive into jungle hikes by day and spa-soak by evening.
Expert Insight: “The Osa Peninsula captures the ‘last-frontier luxury’ trend — sophisticated comfort deep in the wild.”
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
Asia’s luxury travel gaze has long been on Japan, but 2026 puts South Korea firmly in the spotlight. From cutting-edge design and K-culture to the ancient hanoks and royal palaces of Seoul, this is a city where heritage and futurism collude. For luxury travellers wanting food, fashion, wellness and history in one place, it ticks every box.
Do it the A&K Way: With South Korea: Temples & Seoul Food, you’ll balance temple stays with DJ-led nightlife, traditional hanbok portraits with street-style shopping.
Expert Insight: “Seoul is riding K-culture’s global wave — travellers want the city’s genuine face, not just the hype.”
DOLOMITES, ITALY
The 2026 Winter Olympics near Cortina d’Ampezzo may grab headlines this year, but the smart luxury traveller will visit after the crowds depart. The Dolomites’ grand landscapes, alpine chic and recent luxury reopening offer premium mountain stays without the peak-season crush.
Hotel Ancora’s reimagination, the opening of Mandarin Oriental Cortina and Aman Rosa Alpina’s refresh are all part of the rise.
Do it the A&K Way: On Venice & the Dolomites, begin amid Venetian canals, then ride jeeps and hike the Cinque Torri, sip local cheeses and wines in design-led lodges high in the peaks.
Expert Insight: “The Dolomites are the ideal post-Olympic opportunity — dramatic scenery, Italian sophistication and fewer crowds.”
SLOVENIA
Seeking European elegance without the runaway crowds? Slovenia offers alpine lakes, wine valleys, sustainable luxury and next-gen design hotels. From Lake Bled’s fairy-tale charm to Ljubljana’s culinary innovation at Hiša Franko, 2026 is Slovenia’s breakout moment as an insider’s European destination.
Do it the A&K Way: With Tailormade Slovenia, row Lake Bled with an Olympic champion, sip boutique wines in Vipava Valley and stay at design-forward lodges scattered across the hills.
Expert Insight: “Slovenia embodies the ‘anti-overtourism’ movement — intimate luxury, local authenticity and serious style.”
MALLORCA, SPAIN
Once a summer hotspot, Mallorca is morphing into a true year-round luxury destination. With new openings from Four Seasons (2025) and Mandarin Oriental (2026), and the island in the path of a total solar eclipse on 12 August 2026, the mix of Mediterranean sunshine, mountain charm and astronomical spectacle makes it irresistible.
Do it the A&K Way: On Spain: Madrid, Valencia & Mallorca, explore art-rich Madrid, Valencia’s culinary scene and then unwind in Mallorca’s coastal villa-style resorts as the eclipse draws near.
Expert Insight: “Mallorca has matured into Europe’s ultimate year-round luxury escape — refined infrastructure, elite hospitality and a rare celestial event on the calendar.”
The 1860s Darlinghurst mansion Stoneleigh could become Sydney’s most expensive home ever sold under the hammer when it goes to auction. Clint Ballard is giving buyers a $28 million guide for the heritage-listed mansion on Darley Street, opposite Iona, the former home of Hollywood royalty Baz Luhrmann. Stoneleigh is being offered for sale for the …
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As AI productivity trackers reshape workplace evaluations, employees are learning how to manage calendars, activity levels and AI usage to ensure their contributions are recognized.
4 min
What’s more important than being a good employee right now? Looking like a good employee in the eyes of AI productivity trackers that more managers are using to evaluate their teams.
Employee-monitoring systems are especially popular at tech companies and are also used by other white-collar firms that want to probe how people spend company time. The scary thing: You might not even know you’re being watched because many states don’t require disclosure.
Metrics can include performance data that is undoubtedly relevant, such as sales results. But it also can employ dubious proxies like keyboard strokes and how often your computer screen goes into sleep mode.
We generally accepted, or at least understood, heightened surveillance during the work-from-home era. Back then it seemed reasonable for bosses to keep tabs on employees they couldn’t see.
Yet the oversight has only escalated, and tensions are rising, too.
A group of former Meta Platforms employees alleges in a lawsuit that the company used a “constellation of internal artificial-intelligence systems” when it began laying off about 10% of its workforce in May. Meta says humans make termination calls.
However that case shakes out, a couple of things are clear. Companies eager to gauge which employees are locked in now have sophisticated AI monitoring systems at their disposal. And they believe they have leverage in a tepid labor market.
So while we may chafe at having our worth reduced to numbers on the boss’s productivity dashboard, we have to play the game as it’s being played. Here are some tips, based on conversations with people who make employee monitoring systems—and others who game the systems.
Be meticulous about your calendar
Calendar integration is one way that productivity trackers have gotten more advanced and, ostensibly, fairer.
Let’s say you make an old-fashioned phone call or attend an in-person meeting. Your Outlook or Slack status may switch to “away,” making you appear as inactive as if you were taking an extended coffee break.
Employee monitors like one made by a company called Insightful cross-check your online status with your calendar to see whether there is a valid reason for your apparent inactivity. If that call or meeting is on your schedule, then the system will recognize that you are busy offline. If nothing is on the books, it could look like you’re slacking off.
Hit the activity sweet spot, around 80%
Let’s not go any further without addressing the underlying question: How much downtime is permissible during the workday? After all, people have been scared to let managers see anything non-work-related on their screens since personal computers first arrived in offices.
No one knows this better than Roger Wagner, who is widely credited with creating the first “boss button” in the early 1980s. He designed a keyboard shortcut to instantly display a spreadsheet if the boss walked by your cubicle while you were playing a computer game. Boss buttons have been features of countless diversions since. (I confess to using one built into a March Madness streaming app.)
Wagner, the founder of computer-education company 1010 Technologies, says his original design was a joke—more of a commentary on overbearing managers than a cover for lazy employees. Good bosses understand workers need mental breaks throughout the day, he says.
This matches what I heard from Insightful Chief Executive Ivan Petrovic. He says customers that use his company’s workforce-management platform don’t expect employees to stay on task 100% of the time.
“On average companies are aiming for 60% to 80% of your time being utilized for work during the day,” he says.
Go ahead and exhale. It’s probably OK to watch an occasional YouTube video at your desk.
And if you’re going to artificially inflate your activity level, be careful. Hitting 90% could look suspicious.
Get physical
So don’t leave your mouse jiggler on all day. Choose the right one if you must resort to shenanigans.
There are lots of software applications that mimic the movements of a computer mouse, so you can appear to be working while away from your desk. There are also devices that plug into computer ports and do the same thing.
Corporate cybersecurity systems increasingly block these apps and devices, and productivity trackers claim to be able to detect them. But some workers swear by mouse docks, like one made by Tech8 USA, that keep cursors moving. The company originally made mouse-moving software but now focuses on physical jigglers.
“People are drawn to mechanical solutions because they’re so simple and don’t require software,” says Tech8 Marketing Director Sam Matthews. “As monitoring technology becomes more sophisticated, that distinction has become even more relevant.”
Use AI, but not too much
Another popular metric for employee-monitoring systems is AI usage. Companies want to know who is embracing new tools, and it can be tempting to think more is better.
“There’s a performative aspect where employees overblow their usage of AI so that they appear relevant in the organization,” says Andrea Derler, principal researcher at Visier, which helps companies track and analyze employee work habits.
In a recent Visier survey of 1,000 U.S. workers, 48% admitted to exaggerating their AI usage.
This is already an outdated strategy. Using AI for everything used to score points for experimentation. Now it can seem wasteful because many companies are watching AI token spending more carefully.
Look, productivity theater has always been part of work. Most of us aren’t trying to cheat the system, but expectations are changing so quickly that we need to be savvy about what the latest employee trackers are looking for.
Sometimes it takes a little gamesmanship to get full credit for our contributions.
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