Travel

The grand tour 2.0

A classic European rite of passage gets a contemporary makeover

Deepali Dhingra

The idea of the Grand Tour—once the finishing touch to a young titled Englishman’s education—returns in a distinctly modern form with Anantara Hotels & Resorts’ curated journey across Europe. The journey opens in Amsterdam at Anantara Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky, where guests move between private screenings at the storied Art Deco Tuschinski Theatre and masterclasses in the centuries-old craft of diamond polishing.

From there, the tour travels west to Dublin. At Anantara The Marker, Irish culinary experiences and behind-the-scenes visits to elite equestrian studs reveal a different side of the capital. In Budapest, the Anantara New York Palace channels imperial splendour, pairing the region’s historic spa culture with high-adrenaline aerobatic flights over the Danube. Vienna follows with quieter grandeur at the Anantara Palais Hansen, where guests step inside the historic AE Köchert atelier, once jewellers to the Habsburg court.

As the journey moves south at the Anantara Plaza Nice Hotel, the Mediterranean becomes the stage for guided freediving sessions in the Baie des Anges. The tour concludes in Rome at the Anantara Palazzo Naiadi, where the experience evolves into a full expression of Italian lifestyle. Here, the highlight is the Anantara Concorso Roma—a celebration of Italian automotive design that captures the effortless glamour of the contemporary dolce vita.

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