Oliver's Travels: 2026 Wrapped

2026 has certainly given us plenty to talk about. Britain enjoyed its hottest summer on record, the world came together for another World Cup, and here at Oliver’s Travels, our guests were busy making a few records of their own.

In the year when our guests impressed us with their annual leave allowances and flaunted the size of their friendship groups, we saw bookings soar in some of your favourite destinations and received a fair share of requests that kept our Concierge team on their toes (more on that later).

So, where did you go, what did you love, and what on earth did you ask our Concierge team? Here’s your Oliver’s Travels 2026, Wrapped.

Your Most-Booked Villa

The Folly at Sandringham

It seems our guests have developed something of a taste for royal life, with The Folly at Sandringham taking the crown as our most-booked villa of 2026. This turreted retreat sits on the Norfolk estate purchased by Queen Victoria in 1862 as a 21^st-birthday present for her son, the future King Edward VII, and has remained a private royal residence ever since.

Originally built as a place for ladies to retire for tea, The Folly has since been restored with William Morris wallpaper and artefacts from Sandringham’s royal collection. A stone staircase leads to its turret, where windows look out across the estate’s ancient woodland, with glimpses of the sea on clear days. There are some 20,000 acres of parkland to explore, although we suspect a few guests have been perfectly content to spend their afternoons taking tea in the drawing room, as originally intended.

Your Most-Loved Destination

France, naturellement

If there’s one thing the British holidaymaker has remained faithful to over the years, it’s France. And in 2026, that affection showed little sign of diminishing, with the country once again claiming the title of our most-booked destination.

The South of France and Dordogne in particular were favourites, and we suspect the prospect of afternoon swims followed by a bottle of rosé may have had something to do with it.

*Chateau Lucien* *in the Dordogne offers a taste of French country life, with a 19th-century château surrounded by 6.5 hectares of parkland.*

In the Dordogne, medieval villages and market towns line the valleys of the Dordogne and Vézère, where canoeists paddle beneath limestone cliffs and past the Château de Castelnaud, which has watched over the river since the 12th century.

*Near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence,* *Water Lily House* *occupies 20 acres of landscaped grounds, including an African Garden where life-sized animal sculptures stand among the planting, and *two* swimming pools.*

Further south, Provence has attracted generations of travellers, including Cézanne and Van Gogh, who found inspiration in its landscapes. More than a century on, it seems our guests are every bit as susceptible to the charms of a French holiday.

Your Destinations on the Rise

Rhône-Alpes: +600%

There must have been something in the mountain air this year, because Rhône-Alpes saw an extraordinary 600% increase in bookings, making it our fastest-growing region of 2026.

Home to Lake Annecy and some of the French Alps’ most celebrated ski resorts, Rhône-Alpes has long attracted visitors throughout the year.

At *Lakehouse Annecy*, a private pontoon stretches into the clear waters of the lake, with terraces overlooking the surrounding mountains. Nine bedrooms make room for the whole family, although on a summer’s afternoon, we suspect you’ll find most of them down by the water.

In summer, swimmers can be found along the shores of Lake Annecy, one of Europe’s cleanest lakes, where the water is framed by the limestone peaks of the Bornes massif. Come winter, the nearby village of La Clusaz becomes a centre for Alpine skiing, with slopes extending across the Aravis mountains and après-ski terraces filling as the lifts close. It seems our guests have been discovering the pleasures of both seasons, with bookings in Rhône-Alpes enjoying quite the ascent.

Fife: +300%

Meanwhile, across the Channel, Scotland’s east coast was attracting considerable attention of its own, with bookings in Fife rising by 300%.

*Fife Castle* has been home to the Earls of Dundee since the 18th century and once counted Prince Philip among its regular visitors. With bedrooms tucked into its towers and a ballroom for celebrations, guests can enjoy a little of the Scottish aristocratic life themselves.

Perhaps it’s the fishing villages along the East Neuk, where colourful houses face little harbours and seafood restaurants make good use of the morning’s catch; or the charming seaside town of St Andrews, with its medieval streets, moody beaches and famed golf courses. Either way, this year our guests have been discovering the pleasures of a Scottish holiday.

Midi-Pyrénées: +93%

It seems south-west France has been attracting more than a few admirers this year, with bookings in Midi-Pyrénées rising by 93% in 2026, bringing the region close to doubling its previous total.

*Built in 1874,* *Chateau Des Pyrenees* dates to the Belle Époque, when the nearby spa town of Bagnères-de-Luchon attracted Europe’s fashionable society. Its neo-Gothic architecture and stained-glass windows recall that period, with the Pyrenees rising across the gardens.

Across the Lot Valley, medieval bastide towns overlook the surrounding countryside, while the handsome terracotta rooftops of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie rise above the limestone cliffs.

There is also the serious business of eating, which in the old province of Quercy has been built on generations of farming. Rich duck confit remains a fixture of the table, along with the deep, inky wines of Cahors, and little lovely rounds of funky Rocamadour goat’s cheese.

Judging by this year’s bookings, our guests seem to have developed quite an appetite for this corner of France.

Your Biggest Group Holiday

68 guests

Anyone who has tried to organise a holiday for a sizeable group will know the group chat alone can test the limits of human patience. For every person who replies promptly (thank you), there seems to be another who doesn’t respond at all and another who believes a thumbs-up is sufficient to confirm dates, flights and accommodation?

Now, imagine organising a holiday for 68 people. That’s exactly what one of our guests managed in 2026, making theirs the largest group booking of the year. Getting everyone together under one roof is an achievement in itself, and we can only imagine what a celebration it must have been. Credit where it’s due.

*Should you be considering a gathering of similar proportions,* *Chateau Paradis* *can accommodate up to 91 guests across its Aquitaine estate. With 19 hectares of wooded parkland and a banquet hall seating 120, there should be room for everyone.*

Your Longest Holiday

73 days

For most of us, a week in the sun is a welcome escape, and a fortnight feels like quite the luxury. But one guest took their annual leave ambitions to the max in 2026, booking a stay lasting a whopping 73 days. That’s ten weeks and three days, by the way. Enough time to become a regular at the local café and start recognising the neighbours on your morning walk.

By the time their stay came to an end, we imagine they’d grown quite accustomed to life at the villa, with a favourite spot for morning coffee and a growing reluctance to remember what day of the week it was.

As for the prospect of returning to ten weeks’ worth of emails, we hope they allowed themselves a few extra days to recover.

*We can think of worse places to spend 73 days than* *Villa Serenity*, on the Croatian island of Lošinj, where the garden leads directly to the beach. There’s even a home office with its own sea-facing terrace, for anyone whose annual leave allowance doesn’t quite stretch to ten weeks.

Your Furthest-Ahead Booking

September 2028

Some people have their next holiday booked six months in advance, others are still searching for somewhere to stay a week before departure. And then there’s the guest who, in 2026, was already making plans for September 2028. We admire the foresight, particularly when some of us haven’t quite got round to deciding what we’re having for lunch.

There must be something quite satisfying about having a holiday to look forward to through two British winters, especially on grey February mornings when sunshine feels a long way off. We salute the planning, and perhaps more so, the patience.

*With a 22-acre private lake and its own nine-hole golf course, we can see why* *Chateau Crystal* *is our most-saved villa. We’d suggest getting your dates in the diary before someone else does.*

Your Concierge Requests of the Year

Your wish is our command (within reason)

There are few things our Concierge team enjoys more than helping guests arrange the finishing touches to their holidays. Private chefs for dinner, perhaps a boat trip along the coast, a fridge stocked on arrival.

Every so often, however, an enquiry lands in the inbox that makes even our most experienced team members look twice. And judging by some of the requests we received in 2026, our guests have an impressive capacity for thinking big.

A piano, please

For one guest, the perfect villa holiday required musical accompaniment of the live variety. Their request was simple enough, could a piano be delivered to the villa?

Now, a piano is quite a substantial piece of holiday equipment, especially when you consider the practicalities of getting one through the front door. Still, we appreciate someone who takes their evening entertainment seriously.

At *Villa Boffalora*, the question of piano delivery has already been settled. A grand piano takes pride of place in the living room, positioned before French doors opening onto a terrace with sweeping views across Lake Como and the surrounding mountains.

Room for two more?

When a guest requested two additional beds, the villa owner confirmed that, unfortunately, this wouldn’t be possible.

Undeterred, the guest took matters into his own hands and arranged for an external bed company to deliver them anyway. One cannot help but admire the determination.

*Anyone travelling with a sizeable party might consider* *Rosebrae House, where 20 bedrooms accommodate up to 38 guests in the Scottish Highlands.*

A Halloween transformation

For most people, Halloween decorations tend to start and end with a pumpkin on the doorstep. One of our guests, however, had a more elaborate production in mind and requested that the entire villa be decorated for the festivities.

And we can see the appeal. A country house with a sweeping staircase is practically begging for a cobweb, while an old stone corridor could accommodate a well-placed skeleton with considerable effect.

We only hope everyone remembered the decorations before venturing downstairs in the middle of the night.

*With its Gothic arches and Victorian architecture,* *Windermere Gothic Mansion* *could have been designed with Halloween in mind. A few cobwebs across those arched windows may be all that’s required.*

An (almost) Royal appointment

And finally, a request that takes us back to Sandringham, where one guest staying on the estate asked our Concierge team to arrange a meeting with the Royal Family.

Now, don’t think we don’t appreciate the reasoning. You’re staying on the King’s private estate, the royal residence is practically on your doorstep, and it seems only polite to introduce yourself to the neighbours.

An audience with His Majesty, unfortunately, does fall just outside the usual remit of villa holiday planning. Still, marks for ambition.

*We *can* make a few introductions on the* *Sandringham Estate, including its newest arrival to our collection. Built in 1877 to supply water to the royal residence,* *The Water Tower* *has been restored as a retreat for two, with views across the Norfolk countryside. We must warn you, however, that an audience with the King cannot be guaranteed.*

Something to Celebrate

40 weddings confirmed

Love was certainly in the air this year, with 40 weddings confirmed through Oliver’s Travels in 2026. Planning a wedding is quite the undertaking at the best of times, and we imagine transporting the celebrations abroad introduces a few additional considerations, not least how to get the wedding dress there in one piece. Still, the prospect of exchanging vows in the grounds of a French château must make a persuasive case for a destination wedding.

Chateau Des Marquis in the Loire Valley is a magnificent 16th-century château where couples can marry in the private chapel or on the formal lawns. There’s a grand banquet hall seating 150 guests, while the chapel can even be transformed into a dance floor later in the evening. We suspect a wedding here would be quite the occasion.

1,159 new villas

We had a few new arrivals of our own this year, welcoming 1,159 new villas to the Oliver’s Travels collection. That’s 1,159 more places to make holiday memories, and just as many reasons to start planning your next escape.

Among them is Casa dels Camps in the Costa Brava, a beautifully restored six-bedroom country house surrounded by the farmland of the Baix Empordà. A professional chef designed the kitchen, while outside there’s a second cooking area complete with a pizza oven. There’s also a swimming pool framed by olive trees, which we suspect is a particularly tempting place to spend the afternoon.

Almost 8,000 trees planted

And finally, a figure we’re especially proud to share. Through our partnership with Tree-Nation, almost 8,000 trees were planted in 2026, supporting reforestation projects around the world.

For every villa booked with Oliver’s Travels, we plant a tree as part of our wider commitment to reducing our environmental impact. So, while the holidays themselves may last a week or two, the trees planted through our partnership will continue growing for years to come.

You can read more about our efforts and follow our growing forest through our tree planting initiative.

That’s a Wrap

And there we have it – a year in which France retained your affections, Rhône-Alpes climbed the charts and one particularly organised traveller booked their holiday more than two years in advance.

What all these bookings have in common, of course, is that behind every number is a holiday someone has been looking forward to, with its own stories to tell once everyone gets home.

So, to everyone who booked with Oliver’s Travels in 2026, thank you. We know how important holidays are, and we never take it for granted that you choose to spend yours with us.

Has all this talk of holidays got anyone else thinking about 2027? There are still destinations to discover, extraordinary villas waiting to be booked, and requests our Concierge has yet to hear. Whatever you have in mind, we’d love to be part of it.

Oliver’s Travels: 2026, Wrapped