Here’s the ultimate guide on where to eat in Montréal, a Canadian city where generations of immigrants have created an incredibly varied food scene July 5, 2017 This year the largest city in the French-Canadian province of Quebec celebrates its 375th anniversary. Since its founding, successive waves of immigrants have brought their culinary traditions to Montréal, adapting them to suit local tastes and ingredients. The result is a history written in rich, diverse and distinctive flavours. I visited in late March when [...]
Our guide to getting the most out of the remote and uniquely beautiful Pacific island of Samoa July 3, 2017 Samoa has one of the South Pacific’s most beautiful and varied coastlines, complemented by a lush mountainous interior. An ideal island getaway, visitors here can pick and choose between paddling round kiddie pool lagoons of vast breadth but knee-high depth, to catching the spray off gargantuan waves crashing into craggy sea cliffs. Or both, because [...]
Ko Samui has long had a reputation for being a backpackers’ paradise – but it’s got a rather unexpected stylish and grown up side June 30, 2017 The taxi taking me on the ten-minute journey from Ko Samui’s tiny, open-air airport terminal to my hotel on Chaweng beach, one of the island’s most popular resorts, slows to a crawl when it hits Chaweng Road. The main artery into this area, the route comes to life after sunset when a host of raucous [...]
The long weekend: Unwind on the French Golden Island of Porquerolles at the meeting point of Provence and the Cote d’Azur June 26, 2017 We discover the golden island of Porquerolles off the south coast of France. THE WEEKEND: Spend a long weekend on the picture-perfect Isle de Porquerolles, an island little-visited by Brits in a region where the rustic charm of Provence and the cosmopolitan chic of the Cote d’Azur overlap. Cycle through olive orchards, hike along rugged [...]
Taking a tour of Tokyo’s fish markets, karaoke bars and robot restaurants June 19, 2017 The best day I spent in Tokyo was when I woke up, with a start, asleep on my sofa still at 10am after staying out until five doing karaoke, drunk still but with a hangover headache. On the surface level I would not recommend this to anyone – the housekeeping woman was incredibly scared by [...]
For King and Country: As Swaziland celebrates 50 years of independence, the king took to the stage to make an astonishing announcement June 8, 2017 Portraits of the Lion and the Great She Elephant — King Mswati III and his mother — stare down from the wall of the immigration office. The animal print pattern of the king’s tribal dress seems a world away from the border-bureaucracy of entry stamps and customs forms, but it’s part of the dichotomy of [...]
Heading to the America’s Cup? Here’s where to go and what to do in Bermuda June 2, 2017 There are few things more intimidating on the water than suddenly finding yourself in the middle of a practice race for the America’s Cup. The oldest trophy in international sport is being contested in Bermuda for the first time in June 2017, but teams have been based on the Atlantic island for months, training for [...]
The long weekend: Brecon Beacons, South Wales June 2, 2017 We explore Wales’s illustrious and ancient mountains. THE WEEKEND: Spend an inspiring weekend amidst gorgeous rolling countryside and valleys, dramatic mountain ranges, breathtaking waterfalls and forests. The Brecon Beacons National Park is a haven for lovers of the outdoors at every level of exertion, from leisurely strolls along the River Usk, stopping at traditional Welsh [...]
Going off grid: How I spent a week living in an ‘apocalypse dome’ May 30, 2017 The more we learn about the effects of social media on the human psyche, the worse it seems to get. The planet is hooked on dopamine squirts triggered by clever algorithms developed by the world’s finest minds, for the sole purpose of keeping us scrolling. And scrolling, and scrolling. We’re connected to thousands of other humans from the second we wake to the [...]
Long Weekend in a magnesium bath at Princess Yaiza, Lanzarote May 19, 2017 The weekend: If, like most City workers, you spend long hours hunched over a keyboard, punctuated by occasional bursts of exercise that you never properly warm down from, you’ve probably got your share of aches and pains. This is why holidays offering spa “cures” are increasingly attractive. The Princesa Yaiza Resort Hotel in Lanzarote offers [...]