"With its turquoise waters, limestone cliffs, olive groves, and many an old masseria (farmhouse), Puglia—the provincial heel of the boot—is the polar opposite of Italy’s fast-paced fashion capital. And lately, it’s become something of a hotspot between the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. The region has played muse to artists including the Italian photographer Massimo Vitali, who famously captured the leisurely beach scenes from Polignano a Mare to Torre Pali. More recently, the Milan-born sculptor Edoardo Tresoldi “resurrected” the bones of an ancient basilica that was once located in the Archaeological Park of Siponto (it was abandoned after earthquakes ca. 1255). His monumental (and permanent) installation, Basilica di Siponto, was constructed entirely from wire mesh—a contemporary counterpoint to the remaining Romanesque church."

"With its vaulted brick ceilings, the 18th-century dining room (formerly an olive press) within the whitewashed, 40-room Masseria San Domenico serves traditional Puglian dishes such as orecchiette with cime di rapa (broccoli rabe) made using the house’s own olive oil and vegetables grown on site."

"There are a number of smaller, more remote operations that are worth the effort to reach—like Gaada, an artist-led, community-based visual art workshop and exhibition space in a tiny former Methodist chapel on Shetland’s Burra Isle."

"Whiskey aficionados will want to visit Brora, a ca.-1819 “ghost distillery” brought back to life. A victim of Scotland’s 1983 whiskey market crash, it sat closed for nearly four decades on the northeast coast of Sutherland, and its rare, smoky single malts have recently seen skyrocketing prices at auction—a 40-year-old bottle was sold for a record £54,450 ($74,415) at a Sotheby’s in 2019. Following a three-year restoration, the distillery reopened this year."

"Mount Stuart is a quirky art-and-design Mecca on the Isle of Bute. The Neo-Gothic mansion has 300 acres of gardens, the world’s first heated swimming pool (so it’s said), and a Marble Hall with a vaulted ceiling swathed in a crystal-studded star map and stained-glass windows depicting the zodiac signs."

"One of the most interesting hospitality projects in recent years came from Manuela and Iwan Wirth of Hauser and Wirth, who turned a 19th-century coaching inn at the heart of the Cairngorms National Park into the art-filled Fife Arms."

"Art and design lovers should not miss the Hill House, an Art Nouveau landmark in the Victorian resort town of Helensburgh. The late, great Glaswegian architect and artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh designed every aspect of the space—exteriors and interiors, furnishings, fittings, and fixtures. It is a total work of art."

"With her partner Rob, the Noma and Fäviken–trained chef Pam Brunton opened Inver on a secluded stretch along Loch Fyne back in 2015. Their tiny labor of love has since become a destination in its own right, thanks to Brunton’s nostalgic, New Nordic take on classic and forgotten dishes from her homeland (think Orkney barley cake with crab-apple sorbet, dehydrated apple mousse, and marigold petals)."

"The Oetker Collection has been converting period homes for its new range of private, all-inclusive Masterpiece Estates. Among them is Glen Affric, with its Victorian lodge and stables on the shores of Loch Affric, surrounded by 10,000 acres of wilderness."

"With their respective backgrounds in architecture and real estate, Roman brothers Giorgio and Giulio Angella worked with local craftsmen to restore a ca.-1800 masseria and four 16th-century trulli (traditional Puglian huts with conical limestone roofs) following the principles of bio-architecture. The exclusive-use Ostuni Art Resort houses their collection of contemporary art from Italy and abroad, and up to 16 guests."