See This Summer’s Total Solar Eclipse in Spain with Vestige Collection

Can you reach for the stars when you travel?

There’s a boom in an otherworldly approach to taking a trip, one that focuses as much on what we can see in outer space as from the hotel-room balcony: It’s called astrotourism. If you’ve ever wanted to see the neon ribbons of the northern lights dance through the midnight sky, you’re not alone (and you’re certainly an avid astrotourist); that sole segment of this market was worth more than $800 million in 2023 and has grown since then. Stargazing, likely from one of the 200-plus Dark Sky-certified sites in the world, is predicted to be a multibillion-dollar industry by decade’s end, and trips from Robb Report Travel Master Alex Wix to the wilds of the Sahara are now usually rostered with a private astronomer to help make sense of the stars as you gaze at them from the sandy dunes. The ultimate astrotourist adventure is to hop on a flight as close to outer space as you can manage via the likes of Virgin Galactic. Richard Branson’s space-tourism venture just reopened ticket sales for its spacecraft, which will whisk you away on a suborbital journey above the earth.

Its first voyage, of course, was delayed, but is now expected to take place by the year’s end. If you’d like a once-in-a-lifetime astrotourism experience much sooner than that, consider a journey this summer. On August 12, we’ll experience another total solar eclipse. The most recent of these was just two years ago, when eastern and central swathes of the United States experienced the path of totality, the phenomenon that casts daytime into eerie midnight blackness for unnerving lengths of time. This year’s celestial blackout won’t be visible from North America in the same way, though, but will rather throw shade onto a tranche of Western Europe for up to two minutes and 18 seconds. 

And if you’ve ever stood, squinting slightly, as the sun slipped out of view, you’ll know how unforgettable that majestic moment can be. Of course, since this is The Vault, we’ve secured an exclusive experience anchored entirely around that eclipse. We’ve partnered with a superb new high-end hospitality company in one of the locations where the eclipse will be at its most enduring to offer a unique experience that provides the ultimate luxury perch from which to watch the phenomenon. Read on to learn where and what—and just don’t forget your viewing glasses.