Take a deep breath, we’re hitting the twisting and turning alleyways of Morocco’s cultural capital, Marrakesh for 48 dizzying hours of souks, tanneries, snake charmers and tagines. Rest assured, your efforts will be rewarded with a mint tea and back massage at one of the city’s best hammams. The best way to kickstart 48 hours … More

Pay-in airport lounges allow us, the non-first-class frequent flyer, to indulge in some pre-departure, layover largesse. So, excuse us, but while you slump miserably at the gate in a stupor, we will be in the nap room with a massage therapist.

Once the explicit dominion of the United States of America, skyline primacy has very much become the ambition of others. The U.A.E., Qatar and Saudi Arabia, yes, but nowhere more so than China. Scan the list of supertall skyscrapers under construction and the People’s Republic dominates, with India a distant second and the U.S. a … More

What do the best airports in the world have in common? Sleek terminals, airy food courts, ample luggage storage and hygienic bathrooms? While all nice-to-haves, the best airports embody a more vital and critical bottom line: logistical bliss. Ace hubs, in other words, reduce the implicit stress and psychological punishment of air travel. On the … More

You can spot it on practically every international flight. Anxious backpackers, eager to hit the ground running, leafing furiously through guidebook after guidebook in order to harness a serviceable grasp of local dialects and customs. Wait a tick – did we just write “leafing furiously through guidebook after guidebook”? Try swiping and tapping furiously at … More

The United Arab Emirates is less dependent on natural gas and petrol exports than ever before. This is the incessant byline on the country that jumpstarts many a scholarly and, indeed, non-scholarly thesis on the federal state cum absolute monarchical patchwork in the shadow of Saudia Arabia and Iran. What follows is the standard description … More