Remote luxury is an oxymoron to those who have yet to spoil themselves with a lavish overnight stay, and do so while tucked away from the world in an off-grid hotel.

Luxury Gold travelers, of course, are no strangers to staying in the best city-center hotels in the world, though many will confess that they prefer the particular feeling of escapism that only remote luxury hotels can deliver. 

Whether you’re a nature lover, a thrill seeker, or just desire a break from the crowds on your next vacation, take a peek into the luxurious remote and inaccessible accommodations that globetrotters will stay at during a Luxury Gold tour. 

Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, Canada

 

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Set on the shores of Lac Beauvert, Jasper Park Lodge mixes its backcountry heritage with chalet-style lavishness to create one of the most opulent outdoor retreats in Jasper. Rest your soles after a day hiking with a foot massage at the spa or tighten your cleats and play eighteen at one of Canada’s top-ranked golf resorts. 

Discover the Majesty of the Rockies on this 9-day guided tour. Trek through Alberta and British Columbia, seeing Canada’s best natural playgrounds. From wildlife spotting in Banff National Park to crossing hiking through the canyons of Jasper National Park, this Canadian adventure is unrivaled. 

Te Waonui Forest Retreat, New Zealand

Impeccable eco-luxury surrounded by pristine wilderness, Te Waonui Forest Retreat is remote luxury at its finest. The West Coast of the South Island is your home for the night, but don’t feel limited to just viewing the rainforest from your suite. Explore it. Every step through the lush bush uncovers glaciers, rivers, mountains, lakes — and all of the wildlife that inhabits it.

The Long White Cloud covers 19 cities in just as many days, instantly becoming one of Luxury Gold’s most comprehensive tours of New Zealand. Discover this country from every angle, with curated experiences including an exciting river safari, dinner with a former rugby star, and a private boat tour to the Waitomo Cave.

GHL Hotel Lago Titicaca, Peru

 

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Set adrift on Lake Titicaca, the private island of Esteves hosts an unforgettable overnight experience. GHL Hotel Lago Titicaca stands alone on a rocky bayside hill, surrounded by reed forest. You’re welcome to turn in early after a soak in the jacuzzi or sit in the sauna, but the best way to say goodnight is sitting at the hotel’s sunset viewpoint with a hot chocolate in hand.

Feast your eyes upon the Treasures of the Incas during Luxury Gold’s 12-day otherworldly excursion of Peru. From Lima, through the Sacred Valley, and onto Cusco, this tour showcases the landscape of a country that’s far more rich in beauty than its metallic tokens will ever be.

Sails in the Desert, Ayers Rock Resort, Australia

 

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Leave it to Australia to redefine remote luxury in the desert. Sails in the Desert, Ayers Rock Resort refines the standard five-star experience yet leaves your favorite forms of relaxation untouched. Dine on Indigenous-inspired cuisine paired with regional wines then find a shady spot under a gumtree where only the thick heat of the Northern Territory stands between you and a sparkling pool.

Feel revitalized after 13-days spent exploring Inspiring Australia. Start and end in Sydney, departing only to cruise the Great Barrier Reef, savoring a barbecue in the outback, and drinking in the Hunter Valley wine region.

Hotel Union Geiranger, Norway

 

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It goes without saying that remote luxury in Scandinavia will include a bevy of spa services so allow Hotel Union Geiranger to slide you a menu without a word. The roaring fireplace crackling beside the pool in the Union Spa does the talking: between the sauna, steam bath, Japanese hot bath, and hydra walk, every muscle of yours will unwind in warm relaxation.  

The Timeless Scandinavia tour combines popular city breaks in Stockholm and Copenhagen with a visit to the mythical Geiranger fjords. Once in a lifetime places to travel are hardly as accessible as this tour makes it seem: the ride on the Flåm Railway Scenic Train itself will show you the raw, untouched beauty of Scandinavia that few people other than passengers ever see. 

Ashford Castle

Ireland’s Ashford Castle is far more than a remote luxury hotel in the regal County Mayo. This site has seen nearly a millennia travelers come and go. Follow their footsteps across 350-acres of rolling hills as you engage in falconry, fishing, traditional boating, and archery. And as any good guest should, you’ll pay homage to the Guinness family that once called Ashford Castle home with a pint in the George V dining room.

With imposing fortresses lining the countrysides, Great Britain and Ireland have long coveted remote luxury far removed from the town center. Luxury Gold’s Castles & Kingdoms tour affords you 20 days to indulge in regal experiences throughout England, Scotland, Ireland, and Northern Ireland, including a night spent in the five-star hospitality of Ashford Castle. 

Extraordinary hotel stays are just an average travel day with Luxury Gold. Book the trip of a lifetime today and discover a new level of luxury. 

For Dubliner Trevor White, accomplished author and founder and curator of Dublin’s award-winning Little Museum, there’s no place quite like this effervescent and welcoming city. From the generosity of its people to the richness of its history, a visit to Dublin will leave a fond memory etched on your soul. And, just ahead of St Patrick’s Day, this is the perfect reason to throw a spotlight on the Emerald Isle.

Travel with us on our Ultimate Ireland small group journey and enjoy an exclusive VIP invitation to meet with Trevor in Dublin, for a personal after-hours tour of Little Museum, which he founded. Here you will find history, humor and a warm Irish welcome as you learn about the city, his work and what it means to be a Dubliner.

We had the privilege to speak with Trevor to ask him more about The Little Museum, his life as a Dubliner and to get some expert Dublin local tips.

The Little Museum

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Known as the “people’s museum of the capital”, the Little Museum is housed in an 18^th century townhouse in the beautiful setting of Dublin’s St Stephens Green. “The Little Museum is Dublin, bottled,” explains Trevor. “Our work is about building civic pride; documenting the past; making guests feel welcome; kindling memories, tears and laughter; and, ultimately, bringing people to a closer understanding of who they really are.“

When asked what makes the Little Museum so special, he tells us, “Ordinary citizens are responsible for the success of the institution, because our collection was created by public donation. Philanthropists, patrons and the Irish government have also been generous supporters. There are over 5,000 artefacts which have been donated by Dubliners at home and overseas, and together they allow us to tell the stories of the city.”

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Small things tell big stories

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Trevor tells us “In the Little Museum we use small things to tell big stories, such as the shutter with a bullethole from the Easter Rising, or the letter from 20-year-old James Joyce, asking Lady Gregory for money. Some of the highlights are more commonplace. My favorite artefact at the moment is a collection of tennis balls discarded by the dogs of Dún Laoghaire.” It was a rite of passage for many Dublin kids growing up to head to this coastal suburb for a “Teddy’s 99 ice cream (cone with a flake) and a walk on the pier.”

A charming item in the collection is a letter that John F Kennedy wrote in 1963, rather poignantly in the year that he was assassinated. Donated to the Little Museum by its owner, the letter was sent in reply to a little boy who wrote to ask the US President whether fairies only appear to Irish people. President Kennedy took the trouble to write quite a long response to this child to say that fairies appear to all those who believe in them.

“This artefact is a really sweet thing that speaks to political history and also has a very human flavor to it. It shows an intimate side of this very public figure’s personality.” Trevor explains.

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A Dublin welcome for everyone

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We asked Trevor how the idea for the Museum initially came about. “I spent my career writing about Dublin and have a deep love for the city,” he says. “I published a magazine called The Dubliner for many years and sold it in 2008. I spent some time traveling but needed a new challenge.”

“I was in a Dublin pub one night with a friend we fell into conversation with an Australian. We bought him a pint which is a very Irish thing to do, shared stories and told him the best things to do in Dublin. At the end of the evening my friend and I reflected that it was a really positive and rewarding experience.

“That night I bounded home to my wife, woke her up and enthusiastically told her that I was going to set up a greeter programme and open a museum of Dublin and we were going to welcome people from all over the world,” he recounts, “and she simply asked me if I had remembered to put the bins out!””

From that small seed the Little Museum was born. In its first year it had 25,000 visitors and in 2019 it had 120,000. The Museum has grown and has built an extraordinary collection, which Trevor tells us “Is a true reflection of the generosity of the people of this city. Dubliners have a big heart. There’s a huge warmth and generosity and hospitality in this city and we try to embody that in the museum.”

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For the love of entertainment

“It is such a privilege to be able to extend hospitality to Luxury Gold guests,” he continues, “to join over a glass of wine or bubbles and have the opportunity to tell people about our work. Guests look forward to a warm welcome when they come to Ireland. The museums home was designed in the 18th century to enable its owner to host and entertain guests. We are very proud to have brought our townhouse back to its original purpose. These magnificent drawing rooms are not designed for intimate conversations, they are designed for entertaining on a grand scale and as such it is such a pleasure to be able to share such a building with visitors from all over the world.”

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History, hospitality and humor

“There are three themes to our work in the museum” Trevor elaborates. “History, that is our subject, the history of Dublin and Dubliners. Hospitality, which is such a hugely important part of what we are doing on the museum and why it is such an honor to welcome guests from over the world. And thirdly, humor. When you ask what is it that makes the Irish Irish, conversation is a big part of our character and way of life. We try to embody that within the museum which is why all of our visitors are able capture the salty humor of Dublin itself,” he explains with a laugh.

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In the footsteps of literary greats

 

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Trevor is a former restaurant critic, publisher of The Dubliner, and author of five books, including The Dubliner Diaries. Of being a Dublin writer, he tells us “I am certainly conscious of the great literary tradition of the city.” Dublin boasts James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker and W B Yeats amongst its esteemed stable of authors. “Anyone who writes anything in this town feels the weight of history on their shoulders,” Trevor admits. “In one sense it is a burden, but it is also a privilege to have grown up in a society where literature is taken seriously.”

“I am just finishing a concise history of Dublin to be published in the spring of 2023, hopefully to be ready in time to share with Luxury Gold guests,” he shares with us. “The whole purpose of this book is to provide a very lithe overview of the history of Dublin for visitors. So somebody coming to Dublin who knows nothing about it, a curious visitor, could sit down for a couple of hours and ingest the whole story.”

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Europe’s biggest village

Renowned for its vibrant, friendly atmosphere and rich history, Dublin is a city with much to offer every traveler. Described by Dubliner Trevor as “Europe’s biggest village,” we asked him to elaborate on this.  He tells us “What I am really talking about is the intimacy of this city.”

“Dublin is a small, easily navigable city. You can explore Dublin in a couple of hours, and that intimacy is part of its charm. The phrase Europe’s biggest village also references the gift for conversation that Irish people, an intimacy that visitors will experience first-hand.”

“When people come to Dublin, the first thing I tell them to do is go to a local pub. You will meet Irish people, and what will inevitably happen is that you will find yourself in conversation with a really good storyteller. That is one of the most distinctive and likable aspects of life in this city. And the city is full of gorgeous pubs.”

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A cultural haven

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As well as a visit to the pub, Trevor advises any visitor to Dublin to spend time at the city’s national cultural institutions, of which there are many. “The National Gallery of Ireland, recently refurbished, in the center of the city, offers treasures galore, with everyone from W.B. Yeats to Pablo Picasso represented in their extraordinary collection” he says. A visit to the National Library is also one of the memorable things to do in Dublin.”

“Dublin is big on theatre and is blessed with two world class institutions,” Trevor enthuses. “Our national theatre, the Abbey Theatre was set up by William B Yeats, the great Nobel prize winning poet and you are guaranteed to see a memorable production. And the Gate Theatre, where Orson Wells started his career as an actor before he went on to make Citizen Kane. It has a very storied history and offers world class theater for a fraction of the price of Broadway and the West End.”

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Delicious cuisine

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As a former restaurant critic, we just had to ask Trevor for his best places to eat in Dublin and he suggested four great ways to taste the city:

Etto – an excellent Italian European restaurant which serves wonderful food with a great, fun atmosphere.

Glovers Alley – fine dining in a spectacular setting overlooking St Stephens Green.

Chapter One – Michelin starred dining offering real Irish hospitality and an extremely accomplished chef.

Roly’s Bistro – very buzzy with a delicious menu.

To experience this exclusive VIP after-hours meeting with Dubliner Trevor White at The Little Museum, book onto our Ultimate Ireland luxury guided tour.

As Shakespeare had it, “that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” ‒ but this flower and its name are inextricably bound up in ideas of Englishness, beauty and love.

Throughout history it has been a symbol of royal clans, goddesses of love, passion, purity and even socialism. Meanwhile, with literary appearances from Lewis Carroll’s Queen of Hearts to Anne Brontë’s poetic warnings about its thorns, England’s storytellers have been inspired by this classic British flower for generations.

Valentine’s Day may have passed, but that doesn’t mean the appreciation of this most lovely of flowers has to end, too. Immerse yourself in its distinctive scent on a stroll through one of England’s most abundant rose gardens, often attached to storied stately homes. Here are just a few of them.

Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire

 

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This Jacobean manor house, 20 minutes’ drive from Cambridge, is most famous for having a still-working watermill, its parts dating back to the 18th century. But Anglesey’s most fragrant nook is its rose garden, with an impressive 40 varieties of bloom on display. Lord Fairhaven bought the estate in the 1920s, and the Rose Garden was one of his first labours of love; today you’ll see plump candy-pink, sunshine yellow and true scarlet booms filling its walls. Flowering from early June to October, there’s a generous chunk of the year you can visit, too.

Alnwick Castle, Northumberland

 

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Not only is there an Alnwick Castle, there’s an Alnwick Rose, one of 200 species bred by one of Britain’s most famous horticulturalists, David Austin. You’ll see its dense, blush-pink petals on display at Northumberland’s Alnwick rose garden, part of the Alnwick Castle estate, which is home to a staggering 3,000 roses ‒ making it one of the biggest of its kind in the world. Count up to 300 different varieties, then move on to the Ornamental Variety which has around 30 more. Luxury Gold clients will enjoy a leisurely visit to Alnwick on our 10-day British Royale tour, one of our luxury holidays in England.

Mottisfont Abbey, Hampshire

 

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Bursting with blooms trained around genteel old trail walls, pergolas and arches, the walled garden at this lovely 18th-century Hampshire pile is a romantic setting. The older, pre-1900 species of rose grown there tend to flower just once a year, unlike modern varieties, so most people visit in the peak flowering month of June. The garden was the brainchild of Graham Stuart Thomas, a collector or rare and historic roses in the 1960s and 70s; at its peak you’ll see 500 varieties in bloom, including the damask “Quatre Saisons” rose, first grown by the Romans, and clouds of the thornless, white Lykkefund rambling rose.

Cliveden, Buckinghamshire

 

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Among 376 acres of gardens at this 400-year-old aristocratic estate, the tucked-away rose garden is a highlight. Sitting alongside a zig-zagging Parterre garden, an Asian-influenced Water Garden and a war memorial garden, the rose garden’s flowers are climbers trained over romantic arches and shrubs nestled beneath pensive statues. Over 900 roses in total adorn the garden, in shades from buttercup to coral and deep lipstick pinks; they’re encircled by tall trees giving a sense of hushed privacy. Stop by the gardens’ gift shop to pick up your own David Austin rose variety to take home.

Castle Howard Walled Garden, Yorkshire

 

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On the outskirts of the handsome, historic city of York, to the south of North York Moors National Park, is this grade-I-listed stately home with 1,000 acres of gardens. One of the loveliest patches is the rose garden, made up of three enclosures swathed in low shrubs, with trailing boughs of rambling roses and tree roses to admire. The end of June to the beginning of July is when you’ll see and smell them in all their splendour. Guests on Luxury Gold’s lavish British Royale tour enjoy a stop at Castle Howard while visiting York.

Chartwell, Kent

 

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Winston Churchill’s home from the 1920s to the 1960s has long had an association with roses. The former British prime minister and his wife Clementine were said to have first courted in the rose garden at Blenheim Palace, and dedicated plenty of space in Chartwell’s gardens to her favourite flower. You can still visit Golden Rose Avenue (built in honour of their golden wedding anniversary) and Lady Clementine’s Rose Garden, where the roses are at their most impressive from mid-June and through the summer.

The Savill Garden, Berkshire

 

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Deep in Windsor Great Park, this colourful ornamental garden contains its own circular rose garden with a sculptural viewing platform in the middle. Opened by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2010, it has low beds of different-hued rose shrubs, ranging from bright white to pale pinks and deep reds, plus sunlit benches for a pause among the scented flowers. Take a guided tour of the wider gardens (Monday-Friday, year round), where a volunteer will point out seasonal highlights; the best months for roses are June and July.