Design Hotels
Search Destination
Check-in - Check-out
Guests
Show search capsule Menu Close

Destinations

Seven Autumn Destinations to Fall For

Guide

01 Culture Blogpost Fall Foliage

Words Vidula KotianDate 28 September 2022

When autumn announces itself in nature’s brilliant symphony of colors, it offers us a training ground for finding beauty in impermanence.

“Autumn poses the question we all have to live with,” says the celebrated cultural essayist Pico Iyer. “How to hold on to the things we love even though we know that we and they are dying. How to see the world as it is, yet find light within that truth.” Here are seven destinations (and hotels) that will help you to tend your inner garden.

03 Culture Blogpost Fall Foliage
02 Culture Blogpost Fall Foliage

Upstate New York, U.S.A

Cooler temperatures spell apple picking and fantastic foliage in the Catskill region. From mountaintops to rolling hills, this unique landscape is perfect for experiencing the changing leaves. In its midst, on Hunter Mountain, is Scribner’s Catskill Lodge, a sophisticated luxury retreat that embraces a serene wonderland and offers over 20 acres of mountainside to explore. For an immersive experience, stay in a room with wallpaper by textile print artist Alexandra Reboul who created two designs, Winter Forest and Catskill Ferns, inspired by the mountains that surround the lodge and its seasons.

04 Culture Blogpost Fall Foliage

Scribner’s Catskill Lodge Set on the side of a mountain with sweeping views

05 Culture Blogpost Fall Foliage

Private decks Most rooms have terraces overlooking the Catskills

Umbria, Italy

In Umbria, Eremito lets you savor a slowness and silence thanks to its monastic aesthetic and its surrounding 3,000 rolling hectares of forested Italian countryside. While this rich part of Italy is beautiful at any time of year, autumn is when the region’s seasonal bounty is at its peak. The otherwise tranquil countryside is a buzz of activity with wine, oil, and saffron harvests in full swing, and truffle and mushroom hunting in high gear.

06 Culture Blogpost Fall Foliage

Eremito Here guests are encouraged to partake in a silent dinner

07 Culture Blogpost Fall Foliage

Majestic isolation Surrounded by an UNESCO biosphere reserve

08 Culture Blogpost Fall Foliage

Monastic Mediterranean tradition Follows a healthy and moderate diet

Masuria, Poland

For lakeside transcendence, the Masurian Lake District in northeastern Poland is an area of exotic natural beauty and up to 2,000 lakes. One of the best places to experience the great outdoors, the district lends itself well to cycling through thick forests, kayaking along the picturesque Krutynia River, or fishing in one of the area’s big lakes. The stylish Hotel Galery69 makes for an adults-only design retreat by the water where nature plays an instrumental role and you may well see no one during your stroll through the forest.

09 Culture Blogpost Fall Foliage

Hotel Galery69 Hidden along the shores of Lake Wulpińskie

10 Culture Blogpost Fall Foliage

Handcrafted The owners made all the furniture using natural materials

Basel, Switzerland

It’s hard to beat Switzerland when it comes to gorgeous natural landscapes, but Basel with its many well-kept parks, tree-lined avenues, and botanical gardens is a good contender for urban-nature prettiness. While there are many options to choose from, Kannenfeldpark—a short ride from the creative contemporary gem Art House Basel—with its 34 species of maple trees is especially colorful this season. What’s more, changing art and exhibitions ensure that no stay at Art House Basel is the same.

11 Culture Blogpost Fall Foliage

Street art A work by graffiti artist Tika in Basel

12 Culture Blogpost Fall Foliage
13 Culture Blogpost Fall Foliage

A work of art The interiors are resplendent in natural woods, stone and marble

Fujian, China

Fragrant clouds of incense mix with the mist-scented air in this mystical part of southeastern China, where traditional earthen-brick buildings known as “tulou” rise up against a backdrop of lush emerald-green hills ridged with oolong tea plantations and persimmon trees. At Tsingpu Tulou Retreat, guests are offered an immersive program of cultural activities, such as bamboo foraging in the hills around in Fujian. 

14 Culture Blogpost Fall Foliage

A wonderland The stunning landscape of the hills in Nanjing

15 Culture Blogpost Fall Foliage

Tsingpu Tulou Retreat An ambitious adaptive-reuse project

16 Culture Blogpost Fall Foliage

Trace Architecture Office Tsingpu Tulou took a year to complete

Burgundy, France

Surrounding Château de la Resle is one of the more bucolic swaths of countryside in France—a landscape of wooded hills, rolling vineyards, and quaint old towns. Less than two hours from Paris, this well-preserved part of Burgundy lures you at this time of year to get lost in its flame-colored vineyards, savor gourmet recipes (paired with the region’s famous Chablis wines), and ponder life by a lake or riverside. On top of that, fall is the mating season for deer in Burgundy, and so stags, fallow, and roe deer are at their most visible.

17 Culture Blogpost Fall Foliage

Château de la Resle The 17th-century mansion sits amid two hectares of gardens

18 Culture Blogpost Fall Foliage
18B Culture Blogpost Fall Foliage
18C Culture Blogpost Fall Foliage

Mallorca, Spain

Fall in the hidden valley of Sóller in the northwest of Mallorca is spellbinding with a painterly quality of light basking over the mountains. The spectacular sunrises and the flocks of birds preparing for migration south provide a never-ending supply of things to contemplate or capture. Your idyllic window to an authentic Mallorca, the Bikini Island & Mountain Hotel Port de Sóller, with its bohemian spirit and come-as-you-are attitude, is just the place to find your bliss.

19 Culture Blogpost Fall Foliage

Bikini Island & Mountain Hotel Inspired by laidback Balearic living and Mallorca’s natural splendor

20 Culture Blogpost Fall Foliage

A lush escape Spectacular trees canopy the Tramuntana Mountains

Featured Hotels

T Generic 02 Scribners Catskill Lodge Hunter Mountain Usa

Scribner’s Catskill Lodge

New York, Hunter Mountain, USA
T Art House Basel Switzerland

Art House Basel

Basel, Switzerland
HotelGallery69-Masuria-Poland-T.jpg

Hotel Galery69

Stawiguda, Masuria, Poland
ChateauDeLaResle-Burgundy-France-T.jpg

Château de la Resle

Montigny la Resle, Burgundy, France
Eremito-Parrano-Umbria-Italy-T.jpg

Eremito

Umbria, Parrano, Italy

Featured Hotels

T Generic 02 Scribners Catskill Lodge Hunter Mountain Usa

Scribner’s Catskill Lodge

USA, Hunter Mountain, New York
T Art House Basel Switzerland

Art House Basel

Switzerland, Basel
HotelGallery69-Masuria-Poland-T.jpg

Hotel Galery69

Poland, Stawiguda, Masuria
ChateauDeLaResle-Burgundy-France-T.jpg

Château de la Resle

France, Montigny la Resle, Burgundy
Eremito-Parrano-Umbria-Italy-T.jpg

Eremito

Italy, Parrano, Umbria
Categories
Next article