Unpacked: New York, Greek Islands, Monastero Santa Rosa, Scandinavia & more, with Conde Nast Traveller Digital Director, Sarah Allard

The Travel Diaries

Host Holly Rubenstein and Condé Nast Traveller Digital Director Sarah Allard explore shifting travel trends, highlighting Northern Europe's rise as a summer alternative to

Key takeaways

• Northern Europe (Sweden, Finland, Norway's Lofoten Islands, Denmark's Bornholm) is trending as travelers actively avoid Southern European summer heat and overtourism.
• Sarah Allard celebrated her 40th birthday in New York with a Hudson Valley stay at Inez hotel, followed by bagels from Pop-Up Bagels, brunch at The Commerce Inn, and dinner at Keane's steakhouse.

Main topics

• Northern European travel trends
• Bornholm Denmark

Notable quotes

I feel like ever since COVID, travel behaviours have changed so dramatically.

Conclusion

Listeners receive actionable, off-the-beaten-path travel recommendation

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) Today's episode is supported by Kimpton Los Monteros Marbella. Speaker 1 (0:03) Marbella is one of my favourite places in Europe, especially at this time of year. It has that lovely mix of sunshine, sea, a little bit of glamour, and Kimpton Los Monteros has been part of its story for more than 60 years. Following its renovation, Los Monteros reopened last year with a more contemporary, luxury lifestyle Mediterranean feel while retaining the glamour that made it a Marbella institution. If I was planning my perfect day at Kimpton Los Monteros, I think I'd spend the morning exploring Marbella's old town, I'd come back for a long afternoon by the pool, then head up to Escondido rooftop for a cocktail, some Mexican food. and views across the sea. Or maybe I'd make a day at the hotel itself, play tennis or paddle at the racket club, book a treatment at the spa, and finish with dinner at Jara, where the menu draws on local ingredients and Spanish favourites. If you're an early riser, there's rooftop yoga. If you're not, then you can start the day with a slow breakfast instead. And there's La Cabana by Dolce & Gabbana for a proper Marbella beach club day. You know, that's really the appeal, isn't it? You can fill your days with food, exploring, and a bit of activity or simply find a sunny spot and switch off. Discover Kimpton Los Monteros Marbella and start planning your next Mediterranean escape at kimptonlosmonterosmarbella.com Speaker 1 (1:32) Hello and welcome to The Travel Diaries Unpacked, your weekly weekend dose of wanderlust. I'm Holly Rubenstein and today I'm joined by Sarah Allard, the Digital Director at Condé Nast Traveller, someone whose job involves keeping her finger firmly on the pulse of where we should be travelling next. And she has brought some brilliant recommendations today. We're talking about a Danish island that might just be your next summer holiday, her favourite Greek islands and how to combine a trip to New York with a few days in the beautiful Hudson Valley. We've also got some gorgeous foodie escapes for an autumn weekend here in the UK. And I'm sharing my hotel of the week on the Amalfi Coast, complete with the best swimming pool I've ever swum in. So wherever you're listening, settle in and let's get unpacking with Sarah Allard. Speaker 1 (2:25) Sarah, welcome to the Travel Diaries Unpacked. It's amazing to see you. How are you doing? I'm good. How are you? I'm really well, thank you. I'm actually just packing again, flying off tomorrow morning to Italy, so it's been busy, but I'm good. Fabulous. One thing that I think everyone would be really curious about, I mean, people who are tuning into this podcast have a love of travel and you've like got the dream gig working at Condé Nast Traveler. is there a destination at the moment that everyone is talking about right now that maybe isn't so mainstream yet? Like a hidden gem, essentially. Speaker 2 (3:01) I mean, we have been talking about this quite a lot on the team because we've seen such a, it's been such an interesting summer. Obviously, the heat has been so intense. And I feel like ever since COVID, travel behaviours have changed so dramatically. Every year we're seeing... So many different destinations coming up and, you know, behaviours changing in terms of like when people travel, how people travel because of over tourism, because of the heat, because of costs as well. Speaker 1 (3:32) I Speaker 2 (3:33) think at the moment there's a real buzz around Northern Europe particularly. And I guess probably because, you know, the heat that we've seen more and more people are avoiding South Europe, Southern Europe in the peak summer months. Speaker 1 (3:47) And Speaker 2 (3:47) I think there's so much about Northern Europe that's still there to be explored and to be experienced, particularly, Speaker 1 (3:52) you Speaker 2 (3:53) know, Sweden and all the gorgeous islands around there and Finland and Norway's Lofoten Islands. We actually also recently did a piece on Bornholm in Denmark. So I think a lot of those destinations, I think there's just so much to explore there. So I'm sure that we're going to see a lot more of that over the next. you know, few years as people figure out how to kind of avoid that really intense heat and those really crazy crowds that you're seeing so much. So yeah, I'd say Northern Europe for sure. But Speaker 1 (4:27) I don't know that place in Denmark that you mentioned. Tell me a bit more about that. Bornholm Speaker 2 (4:32) is, it's actually funny because we had someone pitch it to us as a piece a couple of, a few weeks ago. So we've recently ran something on it, but... It's actually a place that is quite close to my heart because my sister and her wife got married there. And this is a while ago now. No way, they got married there? They got married there, yeah. My sister's wife is, she's Norwegian, but her family, her parents live on Bornholm for most of the year. So they go there every single summer. And it's an incredibly special place for them and their family. So we got to go there for their wedding, which was just amazing. And it's just really beautiful, very peaceful, gorgeous beaches. And the people are just so friendly. And it's just so nice to go somewhere a little bit different, you know, just to kind of, it's somewhere we'd never been before. But you can kind of get everything there. It feels very outdoorsy. You can have just this amazing, amazing kind of seaside type trip or you can you can go hiking. And it's just it's just lovely. It's very picturesque. I have a few weeks there every summer and it's just so pretty. I would definitely recommend taking a look at that if you're ever interested in. And trying somewhere a little bit different is gorgeous. That is Speaker 1 (5:53) such a hidden gem. That is such a hidden gem. How did you spend your days when you were there? Or how do they spend their days as well? Speaker 2 (5:59) They will go and they usually take the kids for like a cycle ride. They'll go down to the beach. They'll just, they probably spend most of their days at the beach, to be honest. You know, in and out of the sea, getting ice creams. My sister's father-in-law has a speedboat, so they'll be out and about on the speedboat. And they just, it's all very... It's very picturesque and it's just so lovely. Very wholesome, very wholesome Scandi vibes. So yeah, it's lovely. So we just, yeah, we recently did a piece on Born Home and it did so well. So yeah, if anyone's wanting to have all, to investigate more, head to Traveller and check it out because yeah, it just, it is such a hidden gem. I feel like not many people know about it, but it's well worth a look. Speaker 1 (6:43) That's an amazing one. Speaker 2 (6:46) Where else have Speaker 1 (6:48) you been to recently, Speaker 2 (6:50) Sarah? I turned 40 in June and I really wanted to do a special trip to that. Happy birthday. I didn't realise that. Thank you. And yeah, I'm a bit of a birthday brat and I just wanted to do, you know, I was trying to think, where do I want to wake up on my birthday? I don't want to be in London. You know, I want to be somewhere that's kind of special and fun and meaningful. So I just, I landed on New York because I just couldn't think of. a more appropriate place to wake up on my 40th. So that's what we did. So we did, we actually went upstate for a few nights first, and then we drove down into the city and that's where I was for my actual birthday. So we were there, we were in and around New York for a week in June. And yeah, it was great. It was so much fun. So where did you go upstate? So we stayed in Hudson Valley. We actually stayed at a hotel called Inez. They're in a place called Accord. And yeah, it was really, really lovely. It's this kind of modern farmhouse, I would describe it as. So you kind of, you can have rooms inside the actual farmhouse building or they have all these lovely cabins dotted around. And it's kind of this really beautiful combination of Scandinavian chic meets kind of rustic Americana. But you can kind of just, yeah. spend your day doing whatever you like really you can explore around all the little towns and villages nearby you can come back and just sit by the fire pits with a cocktail I just thought they have these amazing views over the valley so you can just sit with your cocktail and the fire going um and it's yeah it was it was very relaxing it was it was so chilled I loved it I Speaker 1 (8:28) do think that the Hudson Valley is a bit of a hidden gem for UK travellers. I mean, obviously, New York City is such a popular destination, but both the Catskills and the Hudson Valley allow you to go and have both a city break and then a completely contrasting experience. And there's so much character and so much creativity. just a couple of