A short list in minutes, rather than evenings of browsing.

New on the website

• Holiday Finder. Not sure where to go? Answer a few questions and it narrows the world down to the destinations that suit you best.
• Nile Boat Finder. Answer a few questions and it narrows the choice of Nile boats to the ones that suit your dates, style and budget.
• Maldives Resort Finder. The same idea for the Maldives: a short list of resorts in minutes, rather than evenings of browsing.

A non-stop to Colombo, for the first time since 2015.

New flights

British Airways is back in Colombo. From 23 October, BA flies non-stop between London Gatwick and Colombo three times a week through the winter, on a Boeing 777. It is the airline’s first service on the route since 2015.

The outbound flight (BA 2045) leaves Gatwick at 17:30 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and lands at 09:00 the next morning. The return (BA 2044) leaves Colombo at 11:00 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and lands at 17:00. Cabins are World Traveller, World Traveller Plus and Club World, with return fares from £620 including taxes, subject to availability. For guests who would rather not change planes at a Gulf hub, it is a very useful new option.

Two other changes:

• Swiss starts Zurich to Bengaluru, five flights a week, from the start of the winter season, giving a one-stop route from the UK to South India.
• Air India is withdrawing Amritsar to London Gatwick from 25 October and Delhi to Birmingham from 4 November. If you are booked on either, check with the airline.

Things can change quickly. We keep a close eye on it.

The political picture

The Middle East. Jordan, the UAE and Oman are open, and we are sending guests as normal. But things can change quickly in the region, and airspace and airports can close at short notice, so we keep a close eye on it and will talk you through any booking. Flights routed through the Gulf are the most exposed, so ask us about routings.

If you want your Middle East fix, Morocco and Egypt are the two I would look at first: souks, riads and the Atlas in Morocco, and the Nile valley of Luxor, Aswan and Abu Simbel in Egypt.

Nepal is back in operation, and it would mean a great deal to support it. In August a glacial flood swept down the Bhote Koshi through Rasuwa and the Langtang valley, and more than a thousand people died. That corner of the country will take a long time to rebuild, and the Langtang valley is not an option this season.

Elsewhere, Nepal is working again: Kathmandu, Pokhara, flights to Lukla and the Everest region, the Annapurna region and the Terai are all operating, and the Annapurna Circuit has reopened after the autumn storms. But visitor numbers are well down, and tourism feeds a large share of Nepal’s livelihoods, from guides and porters to lodge owners. If Nepal has ever been on your list, now is a good time to go. We will route you carefully and check conditions before every departure. Politics are steadier too, with a new government under Balendra Shah since March.

Elsewhere, in brief:

• India. Government advice still steers travellers away from the Pakistan border area, Kashmir and Manipur, and we plan around them.
• Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Nothing to report beyond the usual seasonal weather, and both are open as normal.
• The Maldives. From 1 October the Maldives charges a 17% tourism GST on the margin of overseas travel sellers. Ask us how it applies to a booking.
• Myanmar. Still not somewhere we would plan. The government advises against all or most travel, and your insurance may not cover you.

Whatever the destination, check that your travel insurance covers your itinerary.

Book a cabin, not the whole yacht.

New experiences

Things that have reached my desk this autumn:

• Cabins on Silolona, Indonesia. Silolona has launched shared-cabin voyages, so you can book a cabin (for up to two people) instead of the whole yacht, on selected departures: Raja Ampat 23 to 30 November 2026, Komodo 12 to 17 June 2027, and the Banda Spice Islands 23 to 30 April and 24 to 31 October 2027. For families there is a 10-night Komodo, Flores and Alor voyage, and both ships can be chartered together for up to 16 guests. Dates and availability to be confirmed.
• A quieter India, from forest to caves to farms. A route from Warangal (Uma Retreat) to Tipeshwar (Tipai Wildlife Luxuries), Tadoba tiger country (Svasara Jungle Lodge), Ellora (Dhyaana Farms) and Mumbai (The Kin), using four gateways: Hyderabad, Nagpur, Aurangabad and Mumbai. It is an outline rather than a fixed itinerary, and Uma Retreat and Tipai are recent additions.
• Yoga on the Kerala backwaters. Lotus Houseboat now offers complimentary morning yoga on deck as it moves through the Malabar backwaters, and Neeleshwar Hermitage is enlarging its yoga hall, with sea views.
• A private island with the villa, in the Maldives. Gili Lankanfushi’s new Gili Lagoon Retreat pairs a two-bedroom overwater villa with exclusive access to a private island, a secluded beach and a sandbank, plus a rooftop terrace, private steam room and round-the-clock Mr or Ms Friday service.

For the Paro Tshechu, that means now.

Festivals and events

Bhutan’s dates follow the lunar calendar and are tentative, and Ramadan and Eid depend on moon sightings. Please confirm any date with us before you book anything non-refundable.

• Diwali, Sunday 8 November 2026. Lakshmi Puja falls on the 8th, and the five-day festival runs from 6 to 11 November. Pushkar Fair also falls in November.
• Rajasthan and the north, early 2027. The Jaipur Literature Festival and the Bikaner Camel Festival in January, the Jaisalmer Desert Festival in February and Holi in March. Exact dates to be confirmed.
• Bhutan. The Black-necked Crane Festival is on 11 November 2026. In 2027, Punakha Dromchoe is 13 to 15 February, Punakha Tshechu 16 to 18 February and Paro Tshechu 18 to 22 March, with Thimphu Tshechu on 10 to 12 October. Flights into Paro are limited and the best lodges have few rooms, so allow six to eight months to plan. For the Paro Tshechu, that means now.
• Abu Simbel Sun Festival, 22 February 2027. Twice a year, on 22 February and 22 October, the sun reaches the inner sanctuary of Ramesses II’s temple.
• Total solar eclipse, 2 August 2027. Totality of roughly five to more than six minutes is expected over Luxor and Siwa, among the longest anywhere in the world. Nile cruises and Luxor hotels around that date will fill early, and prices will follow.
• Ramadan and Eid, 2027. Ramadan is likely to begin on 8 February, Eid al-Fitr on 9 or 10 March and Eid al-Adha on 16 or 17 May. In Morocco, Oman, Jordan and Egypt that changes opening hours and how busy places are, so we plan around it.

Choose somewhere that has been open for a full season.

Hotels, briefly

Fewer openings than usual, and most of the news is about dates.

Egypt. Mandarin Oriental will reopen the Old Cataract in Aswan and the Winter Palace in Luxor in July 2027, and plans its first Nile cruise ship, with three- and seven-night sailings between Luxor and Aswan. If you are weighing up boats, our Nile Cruise Finder narrows them by trip length, style and budget.

The Maldives: dates to avoid. These were notified in October 2026. If your dates fall in one of these windows, tell us early and we will move you to a comparable resort rather than leave you to find out later. To see which islands suit your dates and style, try our Maldives Island Finder.

• Six Senses Laamu. Water Villa renovation in two phases. Open as normal from December 2026 to 30 April 2027, then closed 1 May to 8 October 2027, reopening 9 October 2027.
• Niva Kuramathi. New Water Bungalow with Pool delayed, and existing bookings are upgraded free. The room category is on stop sale from 1 November 2026 to 14 January 2027.
• You & Me Maldives. Closed for renovation from 1 August to 30 September 2027.

Chitwan, Nepal. The Postcard on the Rapti River is an intimate luxury retreat on the banks of the Rapti, on the edge of Chitwan National Park. Rooms have river or forest views, and there are wellness facilities and carefully curated dining. Days are for jungle safaris, river canoeing, birdwatching and meeting the indigenous Tharu community: understated luxury with personal hospitality, for anyone who wants the Terai’s wildlife done properly.

Elsewhere. Kimpton Marrakech, a 67-room IHG hotel, is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026, and Virgin Limited Edition plans its first 22 suites about 25 minutes from Marrakech for the first quarter of 2027. A Marriott Luxury Collection hotel in Kathmandu is expected this month. Ranthambore has several openings due, including the JW Marriott in the fourth quarter of 2026 and Raffles by mid-2027. Hilton opened three hotels at Barr Al Jissah near Muscat in January 2026.

My rule of thumb: for a honeymoon or an anniversary, choose somewhere that has been open for a full season, and book flights on flexible terms until any new hotel confirms its date.

Indonesia and Japan are next.

What we are working on: Indonesia and Japan

Indonesia and Japan are the two destinations we are developing next. Here is what I am watching on each.

Indonesia. The eastern islands are best seen by boat. Silolona’s new shared-cabin voyages (see New experiences) put Komodo, Raja Ampat and the Banda Islands within reach without chartering a whole yacht. Official advice on Indonesia’s volcanoes was relaxed in September, though exclusion zones set by local authorities still apply.

Japan. Timing comes first. Cherry blossom in Tokyo and Kyoto is expected to begin in late March and peak in early April, though that is an estimate from historical averages, and firmer forecasts arrive around the new year. On flights, Lufthansa (Frankfurt to Narita) and Swiss (Zurich to Narita) start in the summer 2027 schedules, and I have seen no new UK to Tokyo route announced.

If either country is on your list, tell us what you would want from it.

We are ATOL-protected, and we would rather tell you a date is shaky than sell you something that is not ready. Tell us where and when, and we will tell you what is genuinely worth the wait.