Winter Is Calling

From cities at their most atmospheric to remote landscapes transformed by the season, these are the ten places currently occupying our winter travel wish list

Winter is perhaps the most interesting season in which to travel because it refuses to mean the same thing everywhere. In Antarctica, it marks the beginning of a brief window into one of the planet’s least accessible landscapes. In Hokkaido, snow transforms forests and mountains into something almost cinematic, while farther south, Sri Lanka’s coast settles into its most inviting season. Patagonia moves towards long summer days just as Finnish Lapland disappears beneath snow.

For Atlas, the appeal lies in travelling at the moment when a destination becomes most itself. This winter, our radar stretches from private Antarctic camps and Patagonian wilderness to Dolomite ski slopes, Bhutanese valleys and the Pacific coast of Mexico. Some journeys promise snow, others sun, and several require travelling halfway around the world. All ten offer a compelling reason to go now.

ANTARCTICA

THE WHITE CONTINENT

There are remote destinations, and then there is Antarctica. The scale is difficult to comprehend until everything familiar has disappeared: no towns, roads or permanent population, only ice fields, mountains, glaciers and wildlife occupying a landscape that seems almost detached from the rest of Earth.

For the luxury traveller, Antarctica has also evolved beyond the traditional expedition ship. White Desert operates small camps on the continent itself, allowing guests to fly into Antarctica and sleep on the ice in heated accommodation rather than experiencing the landscape exclusively from offshore. Whichaway Camp sits beside freshwater lakes and exposed rock, while the futuristic Echo Base takes its cues from space exploration.

The experience: We would travel early in the Antarctic season for White Desert’s Baby Penguins & Blue Tunnels journey. The itinerary combines visits to an Emperor penguin colony while chicks are still young with exploration of extraordinary blue ice formations, turning the journey into something considerably more intimate than ticking off a seventh continent.

Atlas would stay: White Desert Whichaway Camp. This is expedition travel with the logistical machinery largely hidden from the guest, leaving the privilege of waking up in Antarctica itself.

PATAGONIA, CHILE

AT THE EDGE

Patagonia is dramatic at almost any time of year, but the Southern Hemisphere summer makes December through February particularly compelling. Longer days provide more time outdoors, and the landscape around Torres del Paine becomes the reason for the journey rather than scenery admired from a hotel window.

The luxury here is access. Awasi Patagonia occupies a private reserve overlooking Torres del Paine and Lake Sarmiento, with only 16 standalone villas sheltered among native forest. Each villa is paired with a private guide and 4x4, meaning excursions can be shaped around the guest rather than a lodge timetable.

The experience: Spend a day tracking pumas across the Patagonian landscape with a private naturalist. Guanacos, condors and foxes inhabit the reserve too, but encountering Patagonia’s elusive apex predator against the immense backdrop of Torres del Paine is the experience we would cross continents for.

Atlas would stay: Awasi Patagonia. The private guide and vehicle model changes the nature of a stay here. Patagonia becomes yours to explore according to weather, wildlife and curiosity rather than the clock.

THE DOLOMITES, ITALY

ALPINE THEATRE

There are mountains that are beautiful and mountains that appear designed for drama. The Dolomites belong firmly to the latter, their pale limestone towers rising above valleys that become exceptionally glamorous once winter arrives.

Our destination would be San Cassiano in Alta Badia, where skiing is only part of the attraction. The wider Dolomiti Superski network offers more than 1,200 kilometres of pistes, but Alta Badia combines access to the mountains with the particular pleasures that Italy brings to skiing: long lunches, excellent wine, serious food and villages where the day does not end with the final descent.

The arrival of the fully transformed Aman Rosa Alpina gives San Cassiano another reason to return. Following an extensive renovation, the historic property has emerged as a 51 room Aman, with Jean Michel Gathy interiors, an expansive spa, three pools, ski butler service and helicopter transfers available from cities including Venice and Milan.

The experience: Take a private guide into the Dolomites for a day on the snow before disappearing into the Aman Spa as the mountains turn pink in the late afternoon light. For those who want something beyond downhill skiing, the hotel also offers access to more than 25 kilometres of cross country trails around San Cassiano.

Atlas would stay: Aman Rosa Alpina. Few openings make a familiar European winter destination feel new again. This one does.

HOKKAIDO, JAPAN

POWDER AND ONSEN

Japan deserves far more than a single entry on any travel list, but for winter we are heading north.

Hokkaido has become synonymous with extraordinary powder, and Niseko's international reputation means its slopes are hardly a secret. The more seductive version of the journey combines days in that snow with something distinctly Japanese: returning from the mountain, removing the ski boots and sinking into a private outdoor onsen while snow falls into the surrounding forest.

Our base would be Zaborin, a contemporary ryokan hidden in the birch woods of Hanazono. Its 15 villas each have two private hot spring baths, one indoors and one open air, fed by natural volcanic spring water. Dinner is equally integral to the experience, with chef Yoshihiro Seno serving a northern interpretation of kaiseki built around Hokkaido's seasonal ingredients.

The experience: Ski Niseko's celebrated powder by day, then retreat entirely from the resort scene. An outdoor onsen surrounded by deep Hokkaido snow followed by a long multi course kita kaiseki dinner is precisely the contrast that makes Japanese winter travel so compelling. Zaborin is approximately seven minutes by car from Hanazono's ski area.

Atlas would stay: Zaborin. Japan's winter luxury is at its most convincing when it feels Japanese rather than like an Alpine resort transported east.

BHUTAN

VALLEY OF CRANES

Bhutan in winter rewards travellers willing to choose atmosphere over obvious seasonality. Skies tend to be clearer, visitor numbers lower and the Himalayan landscape sharper, while one particular valley receives some very special seasonal guests.

The Phobjikha Valley is the winter home of endangered black necked cranes, which migrate into the glacial valley each year. Forests rise around open grassland dotted with farms, monasteries and grazing animals, giving Phobjikha a sense of geographical isolation even by Bhutanese standards.

Six Senses Gangtey overlooks this landscape from what the property calls its Birdwatching Bridge. It is tiny, with only eight suites and one two bedroom villa, and constructed from local stone and hemlock wood with enormous windows facing the valley.

The experience: Wake before breakfast and watch black necked cranes moving across the valley, then spend the day walking through Phobjikha before returning to a fire at the lodge. This is wildlife watching stripped of safari vehicles and spectacle.

Atlas would stay: Six Senses Gangtey. Pair it with Six Senses Punakha, where the lower altitude creates a warmer winter climate and the lodge floats dramatically above rice fields.

SOUTH AFRICA

SUMMER SAFARI

While Europe pulls on cashmere, South Africa moves into summer.

Rather than treating the country as a winter sun escape built around Cape Town alone, we would head into the Sabi Sand Nature Reserve, adjoining Kruger National Park. This is one of the places where luxury safari has been refined into something remarkably sophisticated without allowing the accommodation to become more important than the wildlife.

The reserve is particularly celebrated for leopard sightings, but the attraction is the density and variety of wildlife across the wider ecosystem. &Beyond includes Sabi Sand alongside its Phinda and Ngala reserves in its most exclusive South African itineraries, with days shaped around private game viewing and highly personalised lodge stays.

The experience: Follow leopard tracks along the Sand River with an expert ranger and tracker, returning after dark as the reserve changes shift and nocturnal wildlife begins to emerge. Safari remains one of luxury travel's rare experiences where no amount of money can determine what happens next.

Atlas would stay: In Sabi Sand, in a private pool suite or exclusive use villa with a dedicated vehicle wherever possible. This is one destination where privacy in the lodge matters less than privacy once the game drive begins.

FINNISH LAPLAND

PRIVATE ARCTIC

Lapland can easily tip into Christmas theme park territory. Our version goes considerably farther into the wilderness.

Outside Rovaniemi, Octola Private Wilderness occupies its own secluded Arctic landscape, with a lodge influenced by traditional Lapp laavu shelters and a deliberately private approach to experiencing Finnish Lapland. Dedicated chefs, wood burning saunas and huge windows looking into the wilderness provide the cocoon; snowmobiles, huskies, reindeer and snowshoes provide the reason to leave it.

This is where we would bring a family for the magic of Lapland without surrendering to queues, crowds or mass tourism.

The experience: Spend the afternoon crossing the wilderness by husky sled, return for a private sauna and dinner, then head back outside after dark in search of the Northern Lights. Octola can also arrange ice driving, reindeer sledding, skiing and other private Arctic activities.

Atlas would stay: Octola Private Wilderness. It sits only around 20 minutes from Rovaniemi International Airport, yet its private setting creates the feeling of travelling much farther north.

RIVIERA NAYARIT, MEXICO

PACIFIC WILD

For winter sun, we are looking beyond the predictable Caribbean resort circuit towards Mexico's Pacific coast.

Riviera Nayarit combines jungle, mountains and ocean along a coastline north of Puerto Vallarta. At Mandarina, rainforest descends towards swimmable beaches, creating a destination where a winter escape can move between the sea and the jungle rather than remaining within the boundaries of a conventional beach resort.

One&Only Mandarina has standalone treehouses and villas woven into the landscape, many with private pools and expansive outdoor living spaces. Days can involve horseback riding, polo, jungle zip lines, surfing and spa rituals, while Carao brings chef Enrique Olvera's cooking to the clifftop.

The experience: Take a private boat onto the Pacific during humpback whale season, which the resort identifies as December through March, then return for sunset above the rainforest.

Atlas would stay: One&Only Mandarina, preferably in a Treehouse or one of the larger villas where the rainforest becomes part of the room rather than something viewed through glass.

HONG KONG

CITY ELECTRIC

Not every winter journey needs snow or a beach.

Hong Kong is one of those cities that becomes easier to love once the humidity drops. Winter brings cooler conditions for walking, eating, shopping and moving between neighbourhoods, and the city's density means a long weekend can contain an extraordinary amount of life.

Our Hong Kong would begin on the harbour but quickly move beyond it. Take the Star Ferry, disappear into Sham Shui Po, wander through Sheung Wan, eat extremely well, spend an afternoon around the galleries and cultural institutions of West Kowloon, then return to Tsim Sha Tsui as the skyline illuminates across Victoria Harbour.

For 2026 there is an additional reason to look at the city through a luxury lens. Rosewood Hong Kong has just been named No. 1 in The World's 50 Best Hotels for a second consecutive year, giving the city one of contemporary hospitality's most talked about addresses.

The experience: Charter a yacht late in the afternoon and see Hong Kong from the water. Cruise through Victoria Harbour as daylight disappears, then continue towards the islands before returning to the skyline after dark. It is difficult to understand Hong Kong's geography until you see how much of the city is shaped by water.

Atlas would stay: Rosewood Hong Kong, high above Victoria Harbour. Suites can include personal butler service and access to the Manor Club on level 40, while Asaya provides the kind of urban retreat that becomes particularly attractive after a day spent covering Hong Kong on foot.

SRI LANKA

SOUTHERN COAST

Sri Lanka is tempting precisely because a winter journey can contain so much without requiring weeks away. Tea country, wildlife, ancient cities and the coast can all belong to the same trip, but between November and April our attention turns south.

The Weligama and Galle coast enters its more favourable season as conditions on the south and west settle. Weligama provides the ocean, while Galle Fort introduces architecture, restaurants, galleries and shops behind its historic ramparts. The two can be combined without turning the holiday into a constant sequence of transfers.

Cape Weligama makes an appropriately dramatic base. The resort occupies a headland above the Indian Ocean, with expansive suites and villas, clifftop pools and a small cove below.

The experience: Head onto the Indian Ocean by private boat in search of blue whales. The southern coast's principal whale watching season generally runs from November to April, when calmer conditions make this one of Sri Lanka's great winter wildlife experiences.

Follow it with a completely different afternoon inside Galle Fort, ideally timed so you reach the ramparts as the sun begins to drop over the sea.

Atlas would stay: Cape Weligama. Its position allows the southern coast to feel like a destination in its own right rather than the obligatory beach ending tacked onto a tour of Sri Lanka.

THE WINTER WE WANT

There is no single formula connecting these ten places, which is precisely why they are on our radar. Antarctica and Patagonia reward the journey itself. The Dolomites and Hokkaido make winter something to embrace rather than escape. Bhutan and South Africa place wildlife at the centre, while Lapland turns the Arctic into a private playground. Mexico and Sri Lanka offer warmth without reducing the trip to a sun lounger, and Hong Kong reminds us that sometimes the most exciting winter escape is simply a great city at exactly the right moment.

The common denominator is access to something exceptional. A penguin colony at the edge of the world, a puma moving through Patagonia, an outdoor onsen beneath falling snow, cranes descending into a Himalayan valley or blue whales passing Sri Lanka's southern coast all provide the kind of experience that makes the hotel, however beautiful, only part of the story.

That is the winter Atlas has on its mind.