As the sun sets over an azure Mediterranean sea, a Spanish guitar samples the flawless acoustics under a balcony in Gaudi’s gorgeous Park Guell. Downtown, the party is just getting started; Barcelona comes alive at night, when the ultra-hip populace emerge to dine, drink and dance into the early hours of the morning. The capital […]

Though it is consistently rated as one of the world’s most liveable cities, Montreal has a strange relationship with those beyond its borders. The inherently Gallic heart accounts for a little over half of the population, but the historical British influences and large multicultural population have always set it slightly apart from the rest of […]

The area around the head of the Nile Delta has been populated for millennia; this is perhaps the most fertile land in Africa and the cradle for the great civilisation of the ancient Egyptians. Modern day Cairo, however, is a world apart from this long and glorious history; congested, confusing, chaotic, it can take time […]

Perth is one of the most isolated metropolitan areas on the planet – geographically, it’s closer to Singapore than Sydney and the nearest big city is over 2,000km away. It’s the capital of Western Australia and despite the state covering a third of the landmass, 85 percent of its population is crammed into this oasis […]

Summer in Finland is a golden season full of optimism, when the towns are alive with good cheer and festivals and the gentle warmth of the sun makes the national parks and tranquil lakes most accessible. Yet much of Finland remains remote and the harsh, icy winters loom just as large in the national consciousness. […]

Think of Brazil and think of the hedonistic festivals, samba bands marching in the street and the world’s best footballers playing keep-up on the beach. Brazil is carnival country, full of exotic flair. Certainly, it lives up to its reputation in many ways; but there are many other sides to this enchanting country. Business travellers […]

With an ominous yet otherworldly presence, Edinburgh castle stands sentinel on its volcanic crag, peering over the twin medieval and Georgian influences of the Old and New Towns below. To find this city in the midst of the harsh and rugged Scottish landscape is something of a surprise; breathtakingly beautiful by both day and night, […]

Famed for its coffee houses and red light district, Amsterdam’s not-so-well-kept secret is also one of the most picturesque capitals in Europe. Laced with peaceful canals lined with leafy greenery and elegant terraces, there’s a great deal of joy to be had just wandering through its cosy, cobbled streets. Even better, hire a bike – […]

Notorious for the famous Bermuda Triangle, where countless ships have disappeared over the centuries, Bermuda was once known as ‘Devil’s Island’ by the sailors who knew its treacherous waters. Yet it is blessed with a gorgeous Caribbean climate, long strips of white beaches and sparkling blue oceans that make it a hedonistic paradise and a […]

On an isolated rock constantly contorting between ice and fire, Reykjavik appears to thrive against the odds with weird and wonderful citizens that have one foot in the ancient Viking sagas and the other in the cities trendy clubs and bars. Indeed, the Friday night runtur – a wild pub crawl around the compact city […]

The founding of the Ford Motor Company in 1904 changed the course of history, as far as Detroit was concerned. Already a prominent manufacturing base, it was to become a boom-town that doubled in size over the next two decades, with tens of thousands of immigrant workers flocking to fill the factories of the new […]

For more than a millennium, the ancient Hohokam tribe tended the desert in which Phoenix now sits, irrigating it with a series of canals bringing water from the rivers running from the White Tank Mountains. Then, in the centuries preceding Columbus, they vanished, leaving their ruined waterways as their only legacy. Phoenix was born out […]