Cambodia has Angkor Wat, Jordan has Petra and Unesco may soon add the slate landscape of Snowdonia to its heritage list. We walk its old miners’ trails ‘It’s a new Machu Picchu!” I cried to my companion as we crested a high pass and gazed down. In a secret mountain fastness lay the remains of…
Transformed but not gentrified since its year as Capital of Culture in 2013, France’s second city remains a vibrant cultural, ethnic and gastronomic melting pot Alexandre is a modernist chef who I admire a lot, and his restaurant is worth a gourmet splash out, especially at lunchtime (midday tasting menus from €39-92). He opened AM…
Don’t be seduced by the new hipster pop-ups: ‘bares notables’ that survive – just – in the barrios serve up history, tango and real Buenos Aires life Last month, as part of Buenos Aires’ annual Día del Café Notable, a two-day festival called Feca – backslang for “cafe” – saw tastings, barista training sessions and…
Follow in the footsteps of George Orwell and nine other celebrated writers to the places that inspired their work Sitting in the pretty walled garden of Montague House on Southwold High Street, it’s as if the clock has stopped. There is the same slope of pretty 19th-century roofs and tiles over the wall, the same…
With the peso dropping 50% against the dollar, Argentina is affordable again, including characterful hotels and hostels in Mendoza, Patagonia, Buenos Aires and other hotspots This 17th-century former governor’s residence is a comfortable stop-off on Ruta 40 through the Calchaquí valley in the rugged north-west. The hotel is reached via an archway opposite San Nicolás…
Not all Argentinian wine comes from Mendoza. Little-known San Juan province has wines of equal quality, plus outdoor adventure, grand canyons and millions of years of pre-history Agustín’s face is a picture of pride and glee as he points to the trophy his vineyard won in 2012 for the best malbec in the world. “We…
China will be the world’s top tourist destination by 2030, by which time a vast network of high-speed rail services will link the country. We take the first bullet train out of Hong Kong The identikit apartment blocks and mousy-brown fields were as unremarkable as the pale scrubland. It should have made for an unremarkable…
With influences ranging from Van Gogh to Asia, these vegan venues serve up arty as well as delicious food – on beaches, buses … and in an underpass Bundobust is fast becoming a Leeds institution for food lovers of all persuasions. Everything is veggie, and a large proportion of the menu is vegan, with an…
Tells us about engaging, amusing and knowledgeable tour guides the world over whose services you have enjoyed A good guide or local contact can make a crucial difference to your enjoyment of a trip, bringing a destination to life with their passion, storytelling and wit. We’d like to hear about the best independent guide (not…
I sympathise with the Japanese man too scared to charge visitors. I’ve worked in a museum, it’s one great impatient jostle I felt a terrible pang reading about the employee of Shinjuku Gyoen garden who was so scared to charge tourists the entry fee that he lost the attraction about $220,000. It sounds a rather…
