As a gateway to Venezuela, Caracas is often overlooked in a country so full of other natural riches. Yet while time may stand still in some of the country’s other beauty spots, you rarely have a chance to catch your breath in the city’s capital. There are some genuinely beautiful places in this elevated tropical […]

Almost half of Jordan’s population reside in this sprawling metropolis, where old and new, east and west all combine in a chaos of conflicting city cultures. In one half of the city, centuries of conservative Islamic culture buckles under the weight of thousands of Palestinian and Iraqi refugees; in the other, chic bars and trendy […]

Twenty years after the reunification of Berlin, The Green Line that runs through the world’s ‘last divided capital’ has come in many ways to define it. A symbolic wall on Ledra Street was removed in 2008 and citizens of Nicosia can pass freely from one side to the other on production of their passport, but […]

The setting is spectacular; snow-dusted behemoths line the eastern horizon as the mighty Andes run north to south as far as the eye can see. The city itself can appear both congested and sprawling, with five million residents packed between the twin barriers of mountain and ocean, yet despite it all communities remain clustered around […]

The city of El Dorado eluded generations of Spanish treasure hunters but in Potosi, founded in 1545, they found their very own Silver City. The peak that dominates the horizon is known as the Cerro Rico, or ‘rich mountain’, once said to be made entirely of silver. Even after four centuries there are still miners […]

St George’s Town is the oldest inhabited English colonial settlement in the Americas and a UNESCO protected World Heritage Site. It also boasts a gorgeous Caribbean setting with a beautiful harbour and paradisical climate, making it an enjoyable city even for those who aren’t interested in history. This is no sterile relic; many areas have […]

When Columbus sighted them in 1493, he named them ‘Saint Ursula and her 11,000 virgins’ after the legendary sea goddess. They quickly became a sailor’s paradise; steady trade winds guided seamen to their sheltered channels, where they could relax on tropical beaches sipping rum beneath swaying palms. For some time they were considered purely strategic […]

The most European of South America’s cities, the ‘Southern City of Light’ has taken a bit of a beating in recent years. When the economy of Argentina collapsed in the late 90s, the government was forced to remove the peso peg to the dollar and the currency’s value came crashing down. Buenos Aires took the […]

Argentina is a vast country of rolling pampas, glorious mountains, lively city culture and probably the world’s best steak. From mighty Iguazú Falls in the north to the Antarctic ice of Patagonia in the south, Argentina has it all. It is also a country that rewards patience – don’t expect to rush through business negotiations, […]

The Walloon-Flemish cultural fault-line that runs through Belgium is nowhere more evident than in Brussels, where even the central university was split into French and Dutch speaking halves when the Walloon community gained legislative power. It’s ironic that a city so given to internal division should be seen as a symbol of European Unity; yet […]

Belgium has been called the ‘battleground of Europe’, as successive English, Dutch, French and German armies have all fought each other within its borders; the cemeteries of Ypres, were 300,000 died during WWI, are perhaps the most poignant reminders of follies past. The years of conflict have left a highly multicultural, multilingual country, which has, […]

Named for the German consort of King William IV, Adelaide is a refreshingly open city of wide public boulevards and lush greenery. The open spaces appear to have cultivated a liberal, forward looking populace from the start; early Adelaide was notable for its political progressivism, being the first Australian city to outlaw sexual and racial […]