Real cool kid
November 2016
'Fancy a ride?' 'Sure,' I said. Duilio pointed at the mahogany Riva Jetto tied to the dock.
'That's the pretty one,' he said, tossing me the keys. 'You don't need a boat licence. Have fun.'
'Do you need to have it back by a certain time?' I asked, pretending it was no big deal.
'No. It's all yours.'

Condé Nast Traveller's pick of the best new hotels in the world
July-August 2016
This megawatt, all-American powerhouse is shaking up the way we experience one of Europe's greatest and most overcrowded cities. It's all about dipping in and out: overdose on gelato then retreat to the peaceful private island Isola delle Rose, 20 minutes from St Mark's Square by motorboat. [...]

Reinhold Messner’s MMM Corones: Man meets the mountains
September 5, 2015
From the top of Mount Kronplatz, I gaze at the rugged range of peaks around me. To the north are the Zillertal Alps; in the other direction, Marmolada glacier; the Lienz Dolomites lie east and the Ortler to the west. A crown of summits and spires, pinnacles and towers, and below, dark-green pine forests and meadows of wildflowers. [...]

Where man meets mountain
August 1, 2015
From the top of Mount Kronplatz, I gaze at the rugged range of peaks around me. To the north are the Zillertal Alps; in the other direction, Marmolada glacier; the Lienz Dolomites lie east and the Ortler to the west. A crown of summits and spires, pinnacles and towers, and below, dark-green pine forests and meadows of wildflowers. [...]

St Mark’s? Get Set, Go
July 2015
A gull soars overhead; the curve of its wings spans the blue sky. There is a repertoire of seabird calls and the faint whiff of salt in the air. This is Venice, too. I am lying on a sunbed by a rooftop infinity-edge pool. Down below, mahogany motoscafi, the city’s glamorous water-taxis, glide past fishing boats, a flotilla of sailboats, kayaks. [...]

The smartest time to visit Europe’s hotspots? The off-season
Winter 2014
Europe’s busiest tourist destinations? We prefer the off-season.
January: Venice. Before Carnevale, Italy’s waterside city has fewer crowds jostling on its streets and bridges. It also has a melancholy beauty in this misty month and, on January 5, hosts hosts the traditional Regata delle Befane, a boat race for over-fifties [...]

The Highs of Climbing Mont Blanc
October 31, 2014
It's just after midnight but the snow is glistening in the light of a harvest moon—and our headlamps. I look up, enchanted, at the silhouettes of jagged Alpine peaks and processions of fellow climbers. Despite the physical task ahead—and against my guide’s wishes—I pull out my camera to capture some video. [...]

King of the Hill
May 2013
The renaissance of an entire village in one of the most beautiful parts of the country is an Italian masterstroke, says Michelle Jana Chan.
“It all began with the Origos seventy-five years ago,” says Italian-American lawyer Michael Cioffi, who has taken on the restoration of a near-entire village in the Val d’Orcia region. [...]

We’re all explorers now
Spring 2011
A week under a palm tree doing nothing? Very last century – unless you’re recovering from a trip down the Congo or a trek across the Sahara. In a world where the extreme has become the ordinary, Michelle Jana Chan attempts three famous peaks in Tanzania, Kenya and the Alps.

Pick the world's new wonders
June 16, 2007
An ancient list is being updated, through a modern worldwide poll. Michelle Jana Chan looks at the 21 contenders. On July 7, there will be a new version of the Seven Wonders of the World, a list that has always captured the imagination of travellers. [...]

Lost worlds become virtual heritage
May 8, 2007
LONDON, England -- Six of the seven Ancient Wonders of the World have vanished into history, like the Lighthouse of Alexandria, which crumbled into the sea after an earthquake, and the Statue of Zeus, destroyed by fire thousands of years ago. [...]