You’ve Just Been Through A Major Life Change

There’s no doubt that being able to travel the world is the ultimate luxury. But sometimes getting there can be surprisingly stressful. Co-ordinating schedules, managing budgets, catering to different interests…when your to-do list is already heaving, sometimes figuring out where to go can feel overwhelming.

And so we introduce our brand-new travel series, Where To Go When...Every month WTGW will help tackle all those tricky travel scenarios, one dilemma at a time, with destinations that only the insiders know about. That’s one less thing on your to-do list. Passports ready.

Where to go when… you’ve just been through a major life change

FLORENCE, ITALY

Creative inspiration amid the cultural pocket rocket that is Florence

Florence is a city of rebirth. It’s been demolished, flooded, incinerated. And it’s been rebuilt, over and over. One of the most famous art movements in the world, which originated here, literally means ‘rebirth’. Yet the Renaissance city feels increasingly solid underfoot: remarkable in its resilience, unrelenting in its beauty and brimming full of current activity and action.

One of its freshest hotel landings is on Montughi hill, where a handful of historic buildings dating back to the 15th century have been carefully restored and reimagined for guests at Borgo Pignano Florence. Set just outside Florence’s city centre, the hotel is close enough to all the piazzas and pontes which are so perfect for wandering and ruminating. But also far enough that you can also retreat into a cocoon. Albeit a 84 square meter cocoon: the Signature Suites here have two bedrooms, ensuites, and a private outdoor terrace; there are also five acres of private gardens and one of the city’s largest swimming pools.

Borgo Pignano’s pedigree – the original hotel opened in Volterra in 2014 – brings Tuscan touches throughout, such as the divine smell of Bosco Fiorito, which is produced by the brand’s in-house herbalist using flowers and herbs collected on the Volterra estate. Plus – and these are really worth focusing in on for a circuit break – there’s a roster of creative workshops including flower-arranging and calligraphy classes, fresco-painting and jewellery design. The hotel can also provide behind-the-scenes access to landmarks like the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. No reinvention needed: but a rather irresistible timeless but fresh reset all the same.

To book: borgopignano.com/en/florence

Photos: Borgo Pignano

BHUTAN

Slow living and big nature in Bhutan before the travel rules have a switch-up

Hemmed in by the Himalayas, Bhutan is thought to be the most mountainous country in the world. Fresh perspectives and natural highs come with every hairpin bend and high-altitude hike, whilst the warmth of Buddhist culture makes for a soft landing.

The country is carbon negative, and fiercely protective of its landscape and lifestyle. Having worked hard to prevent overtourism, it charges a ‘Sustainable Development Fee’, or tourist tax of $100 per person, per day. But in August 2027, that fee is due to double, making now the best time to visit. Not ready to take the plunge solo? Join Intrepid Travel’s new women-only Bhutan expedition, which involves traditional hot-stone baths, cooking classes laced with local chillies, heart-racing hikes to monasteries, and tea with nuns at a Buddhist temple.

Or, plot an independent adventure that maxes out those spirit-lifting views: there are new openings, for example, at Taj Gangtey Resort & Spa overlooking the serene Phobjikha Valley, where endangered black-necked cranes spend their winter.  But a 15 minute drive north is Gangtey Lodge, a total one-off where staff slip into your room to light the fire in the morning and leave Bhutanese bedtime stories on your pillow at night. Bhutan inspires big shifts. There’s nowhere quite like it.

To book: gangteylodge.com

Photos: Gangtey Lodge and Ken Spence