The guide
Places worth going
135 venues · verdicts, not reviews
Towns
Arraial do CaboDon't missTowns · Arraial do CaboThe water here is unreal, properly turquoise, and the whole town is built around getting you out into it. Stay in Arraial rather than Cabo Frio - every boat leaves from Praia dos Anjos and you want to be walking distance from it. Climb the hill behind the town for the view down onto Prainhas do Pontal do Atalaia, all cactus and white sand and boats sitting on their own shadows, and go back up in the evening. Four days felt about right and I would go again tomorrow.BordeauxDon't missTowns · BordeauxOne of the coolest cities I've been to. So much variety of amazing food, all kinds of cuisines, and even the fast food is innovative! Small enough to comfortably walk around and the public transport is great. Worth wandering with no plan, though do make your way to Place de la Bourse and the Miroir d'Eau at some point, the whole facade reflected in the water is the shot everyone comes for. Really loved it!Bormes-les-MimosasDon't missTowns · Bormes-les-MimosasProper hilltop Provençal village: narrow lanes, flowers over everything, views down to the sea. Small enough to do in an hour, and worth stopping for if you're driving the coast.Cap FerretDon't missTowns · Cap FerretThe whole peninsula is worth the drive from Bordeaux. Wooden oyster cabins painted in every colour, the dune on one side and the basin on the other. Go for lunch at one of the shacks and stay for the afternoon. Best oysters in Europe I think!CassisDon't missTowns · CassisGorgeous little port town and the natural base for the calanques. Park above and walk down; the boats for En-Vau and Port-Miou go from the harbour. Give it a full afternoon if you can.Donostia / San SebastiánDon't missTowns · Donostia / San SebastiánBest eating of the whole trip and only about forty-five minutes from Biarritz! Do the old town in the evening - pintxos and a beer/wine per bar, then keep moving. The bay is beautiful but the food is the reason to cross the border.FlorianópolisDon't missTowns · FlorianópolisGet a car. The island is far bigger than it looks on a map and everything worth seeing is at a different end of it, so without one you will spend the whole time on buses. The east side is dunes and long empty beaches you walk in to, the north is flat and shallow enough to stand around in the water for an hour, and the lookout over the city is worth the climb for what the place actually looks like. Eat at the Mercado Público. Three days and I still did not see half of it.GenoaDon't missTowns · GenoaGenoa doesn't get the attention it deserves. I had a bright morning down on the seafront, a promenade above the rocks with a pale church and bell tower behind and the water flat and blue out to a headland. The real thing though is the old town behind it, one of the biggest medieval quarters in Europe, all caruggi - alleys so narrow and tall you lose the sky - and then you pop out into a marble palazzo square. Eat the focaccia, it's a religion here, and this is the region pesto comes from. Would go back and give it longer.HvarDon't missTowns · HvarA long lunch and a wander, which is exactly the right way to do Hvar. I had the grilled meat - ribs, ćevapi, chops and grilled vegetables - and then walked it off in the stepped stone lanes that run down to the waterfront, bougainvillea over the walls and tables set out along the steps. The whole town funnels down to the harbour, so you keep getting these slots of blue between the buildings. Climb up to the Spanish fortress if you've got the legs for it, the view back over the Pakleni islands is the picture everyone comes for.Le PanierDon't missTowns · Le PanierBest hour on foot in Marseille! It's the old quarter above the Vieux-Port, all steep lanes, pastel walls and pale blue shutters, with washing hanging out of the windows. It gets quiet as soon as you climb away from the main drag.LehDon't missTowns · LehLeh is where every Ladakh trip starts and ends, at 3,500 metres, so the first day is for walking the bazaar slowly and drinking water. Prayer flags across the main street, the mosque at the end of it, the old town stacked up the hill behind, and the I ♥ LEH sign everyone photographs. Go back after dark - it's a different place with the lights on.MaresiasDon't missTowns · MaresiasLong beach with the mountains standing right behind it and water warm enough to stay in until you are bored. Stayed at a friend's place on the sand with a pool and a lawn running down to it, which is the way to do this - the sunset from the grass with the palms in front of it was as good as anything on the beach itself. It is a few hours out of São Paulo, so treat it as a weekend rather than a day.North Stradbroke IslandDon't missTowns · North Stradbroke IslandDo the North Gorge Walk and do it slowly. It is a loop of maybe half an hour if you march it and about two hours if you stop at everything worth stopping at, which is most of it - the gorge with the surf pushing straight into the gap, Main Beach going off to the horizon in one direction, and an ocean that is genuinely turquoise rather than the colour people politely call turquoise. We had dolphins under the rocks, an osprey sitting on a dead branch about ten metres away, and kangaroos lying about on the grass at the end like they were waiting for us. Get the early ferry, take a hat, and give yourself the whole day rather than half of it.NubraDon't missTowns · NubraYou come over Khardung La out of bare rock and grey scree, drop for an hour, and Nubra is suddenly green - poplars, running water, birds in the trees, and a dragonfly sitting on a wire while you stand there adjusting. Then you look up and there is a stony desert valley a couple of kilometres wide with snow on the Karakoram closing off the end of it. Both things at once is what makes it. The drive is the attraction as much as anything at the far end, so do not treat it as transit - stop, and give it two nights rather than one so you are not turning round the moment you arrive. Take a day to acclimatise in Leh first.Old Port of MarseilleDon't missTowns · Old Port of MarseilleThe heart of Marseille and where everything else runs off from. Masts and superyachts side by side, the fish market at the top end in the morning, and the whole thing glitters in the afternoon light. Walk the full length of it at least once; you'll end up back here anyway.Saint-ÉmilionDon't missTowns · Saint-ÉmilionWell worth the drive out from Bordeaux for an afternoon. Steep little limestone village and honestly gorgeous. If you see one thing, make it the church carved into the rock. Do a tasting while you're there too, mine was down in a cellar cut into the limestone under the village, which beats a tasting room every time. Go on a weekday if you can, the lanes fill up fast with tour groups.Saint-Jean-de-LuzDon't missTowns · Saint-Jean-de-LuzA working fishing port with one of the best sheltered beaches on this coast inside its sea walls, and a town behind it that still looks Basque rather than built for tourists: red-shuttered hotels, timber balconies, and the church where Louis XIV was married a street back from the front. Come down off La Rhune in the afternoon, walk the Grande Plage at low tide, and eat on the harbour.São PauloDon't missTowns · São PauloThe thing nobody prepares you for is the scale. From a window on the western side at night it is houses and streetlights to the horizon in every direction, and it keeps going long after you expect it to stop - and that is a suburb, not the middle. Flying out is the same story from above: you are over it for ages. It is not a beautiful city and it is not trying to be, but it is the one with the food, the markets and the best night out in the country, and I would rather have a few days here than an afternoon on the way somewhere else. Stay somewhere central for the walking, and go up something tall on a clear evening.São Roque de MinasDon't missTowns · São Roque de MinasA small town that exists as the front door to Serra da Canastra, and worth staying in rather than passing through. The park is the reason - the big waterfall where the São Francisco comes off the top of the chapada (plateau), and then the chapada itself, which is grass, rock and sky for as far as you can see with nothing built on any of it. The best bit for me was not the famous waterfall but the stretches where the river runs flat over bare rock shelves and steps down in a dozen small falls at once. Take a car you do not mind rattling, fill up before you go in, and eat in town afterwards - I had a bowl of feijão with torresmo (pork crackling) that was exactly right after a day in the wind.UrtijëiDon't missTowns · UrtijëiA great base in the Dolomites and a lovely place to spend an afternoon. The centre is pedestrianised, the town is stacked up the hillside in wood and white render, and the mountains are right there at the end of every street.
The cable cars run up to Seceda on one side and the Alpe di Siusi on the other, and those are the real reason to come.
Everything is signed in three languages and the town has a name in each - Urtijëi, St. Ulrich, Ortisei. Leave the car in one of the garages, the streets themselves are closed to traffic. Would go back!Altstadt SalzburgWorth a stopTowns · Altstadt SalzburgAn afternoon in the old town on a wet grey day, the big cafe umbrellas up over rows of empty wooden chairs, market stalls at one end of the square and the smart shops down the other. Salzburg wears Mozart heavily - he was born on Getreidegasse and you will not be allowed to forget it - but the setting does the work regardless, with the fortress sitting up on its rock above everything. Rain suited it, honestly. Get up to the Hohensalzburg for the view over the rooftops to the mountains.BrotasWorth a stopTowns · BrotasWent out for the waterfalls and got them at full volume and completely brown, which is what the rain does to that river in January rather than the clear green you see in everyone else's photographs. Still worth the trip, and the town is entirely set up for this sort of thing - rafting, abseiling, all of it. Ask what the river has been doing for the last week before you commit to anything on it.CologneWorth a stopTowns · CologneI got up high on the far bank for the view back over the river, and it's the one that sticks: the Dom's two black spires in the middle of everything, the Hohenzollern bridge crossing the Rhine below and the arched station roof tucked in beside it. Cologne is a rebuilt city and doesn't pretend otherwise, which I liked. Cross the bridge on foot through the love locks, then go and drink Kölsch properly in a brauhaus, where it comes in little 200ml glasses and the waiter keeps replacing it until you put the mat on top.MarseilleWorth a stopTowns · MarseilleRougher round the edges than the rest of the south and much more interesting for it! Give it a couple of days rather than a stop. The Vieux-Port, Le Panier and Notre-Dame de la Garde are the obvious three, and the calanques start where the city ends. Driving here is insane though: narrow streets, scooters everywhere and nobody indicating. Park it and walk, or use the metro.MilanWorth a stopTowns · MilanMilan gets called a business city with one good cathedral, which is unfair but not entirely wrong. The Castello Sforzesco is brick and enormous with the park running out behind it, and then out by Cadorna there's a giant needle threading a knot of red, yellow and green up out of the pavement, which is wonderfully daft and my favourite thing I saw. Walk the Galleria even if you buy nothing, and do aperitivo properly in the early evening - you order a drink and the food arrives with it.Place de la VictoireWorth a stopTowns · Place de la VictoireThe Porte d'Aquitaine on one side and a tram stop on the other, so you'll pass through here plenty. It's one of the main junctions in the city. Ringed with bars and it gets going in the evening with the student crowd. Handy base as well as a good spot in its own right.Rue Sainte-CatherineWorth a stopTowns · Rue Sainte-CatherineThe longest pedestrian street in Europe and the spine of the city. I ended up walking it on many different days. The shops are the shops, but look up: it's all honey-coloured stone, wrought-iron balconies and bunting strung across the street. Good for getting your bearings, and the lanes either side are where the best of Bordeaux is hiding.SplitWorth a stopTowns · SplitSplit is the one that surprised me most. The old town isn't near a Roman palace, it IS one - Diocletian built it to retire into and people simply never left, so there are flats and bars and washing lines built into fourth-century walls. Go and stand under the vestibule and look straight up: an open circle in the brick dome with the sky through it, and usually someone singing klapa underneath because the acoustics are ridiculous. Get lost in the lanes, come out on the Riva for a coffee and watch the ferries. Wonderful place.SrinagarWorth a stopTowns · SrinagarGreen after Ladakh, which is a shock in itself. Four days is right: the lake by shikara, the Mughal gardens in a morning, the old city's timber-and-brick lanes, and the view from Shankaracharya before the haze comes up. Eat the wazwan, and stay on the water if you can.GulmargSkipTowns · GulmargA green bowl of meadow at 2,650 metres with pine forest round it, and on paper the best thing in Kashmir. In person it is run down: litter in the grass, half-built and half-abandoned huts, the place looking like nobody has cared for it in a long while. The drive up through the forest and the goats on the road were the good part. Hard to recommend the hour it takes to get there.
Food & drink
BertakotekaDon't missFood & drink · BertakotekaHad the octopus, the chistorra, a ham pintxo, the fried squid, and more! Everything local, everything good, and the fried calamari with aioli was the pick of it. A few pintxos and a beer then move on: that's how the old town works. Amazing food in San Sebastián, though get used to not understanding what's going on!BicheDon't missFood & drink · BicheHad the grilled octopus, mashed potatoes, fries, the chateaubriand with pepper sauce, and a bourbon-vanilla crème brûlée. The octopus was the standout, properly charred and sitting on a red pepper sauce, and the steak was perfect. Most places are stingy with the sauce, but this came with loads of it and it was delicious. The room is lovely too: exposed brick, low pleated lamps and big white flower arrangements. Not cheap, but it's the Faubourg Saint-Honoré and it earns it. Amazing food, amazing wine and amazing vibe!Bouillon PigalleDon't missFood & drink · Bouillon PigalleHad the snails, the bone marrow and the beef bourguignon - went in wanting to try things I hadn't had before. Really glad I tried the bone marrow, and the snails in their garlic butter were better than I expected. The bourguignon was good without being amazing. Classic bouillon prices too, huge portions and paper tablecloths for not much money. If you don't book, turn up early or expect to queue down the boulevard. Will definitely be back to work through more of the menu!CONNOR’S - Australian Sports BarDon't missFood & drink · CONNOR’S - Australian Sports BarGreat Aussie bar in Bordeaux and my default when I wanted an easy night, so I ended up going multiple times. The staff are brilliant, which is half of why I kept going back. Good selection on tap, and a soft landing if your French isn't up to much yet. Will be back again!Death and TaxesDon't missFood & drink · Death and TaxesDown a laneway off the Queen Street end, with a hooded skeleton painted on the wall so you know you have found it. The whole back wall is bottles, floor to ceiling, hundreds of them, and the point is that you tell them roughly what you feel like and let them make it rather than reading a list. Small, dark and busy, so go early or be prepared to stand. Best bar of the trip and the walk in through the lanes is half the fun.Guinguette BikainaDon't missFood & drink · Guinguette BikainaGorgeous place. A proper Basque guinguette right on the water, with tables under the trees looking over the river. Amazing range of food and drinks, and a lovely spot as the light goes. Will be back!La baraque à huitresDon't missFood & drink · La baraque à huitresHad the oysters, prawns, bread with salted butter and a couple of pâtés, with white wine. Great wine, great oysters - honestly on par with NZ oysters, some of the best in the world! It's right in among the oyster huts with the water at the end of the lane and the beds out in the bassin in front of you, which is a big part of why it's so good. Will be back.Les Chantiers de la GaronneDon't missFood & drink · Les Chantiers de la GaronneSand underfoot, low crate tables and rope swings hanging from the plane trees, right on the bank of the Garonne. Lovely for a late afternoon drink and a snack; I had oysters and wine and it was super. Would go back.Les Drôles BORDEAUXDon't missFood & drink · Les Drôles BORDEAUXHad the foie gras with cannelé toasts and onion compote, then grilled meat with baby potatoes. One 27€ menu, all made in house, and one of the best value meals I had! The foie gras with cannelé is such a Bordeaux idea and it really works. Small room on rue Saint-Rémi so book.Les Halles BacalanDon't missFood & drink · Les Halles BacalanCovered food hall directly across from the Cité du Vin, so pair the two: do the museum, then come here to eat. Around twenty stalls under one roof, with oysters from the basin, charcuterie, cheese, Basque food, and wine by the glass from people who know it. You order from whichever counter you like and sit at the shared tables in the middle, which is the best bit, because you end up eating a bit of everything instead of committing to one menu. Busy and loud in a good way.Mercado Municipal de São PauloDon't missFood & drink · Mercado Municipal de São PauloGo for the mortadella sandwich and do not pretend you are there for anything else. It is a genuinely stupid amount of meat in a bread roll, you will not want dinner, and it is famous for a reason. Eat it standing up at the counter upstairs where everyone else is, and get a pastel de bacalhau too if you can still move afterwards.Oporto Harbour TownDon't missFood & drink · Oporto Harbour TownHad the chicken with the chilli sauce, and it was every bit as good as I remembered. Oporto was my favourite fast food place of all time until every New Zealand one closed down, so getting to eat it again after years was just amazing - succulent chicken, the best chilli sauce ever made, divine! It sits in the middle of the Harbour Town outlets, so make it lunch on a shopping morning rather than a drive of its own, and get extra chilli sauce.OstradamusDon't missFood & drink · OstradamusEveryone comes here for the oysters and I ended up ordering the seafood pan, which arrived still spitting - prawns, a scallop the size of the potatoes, white fish, all of it in the same dish. It is a drive out to Ribeirão da Ilha and worth booking before you go. Best meal of the whole trip and I am not sure it was close.PEPPE PIZZERIA Etienne MarcelDon't missFood & drink · PEPPE PIZZERIA Etienne MarcelHad the burrata with pesto, the focaccia and a pizza with ricotta, slow-roasted datterini tomatoes, aubergine and basil. Neapolitan done properly, with the puffed, blistered crust to prove it, and the burrata was so much better than it needed to be! There's usually a queue out onto Étienne Marcel but it moves quickly, so join it, or book!Restaurant La CabaneDon't missFood & drink · Restaurant La CabaneHad the razor clams in parsley butter with a chorizo crumb, the linguine in truffle cream with burrata and a parmesan crumble, and the fillet of sea bream in an aioli crust with crushed potatoes, with a rosé. The razor clams with chorizo were excellent, the linguine was the one I kept going back to - truffle cream, a whole burrata melting into it, the crumble for crunch - and the dorade under an aioli crust was better than it sounds. Outside tables, rosé, right by the water - exactly what you want in Hyères.ROCKWOOD - Good place & good tasteDon't missFood & drink · ROCKWOOD - Good place & good tasteRight on the quay by the Quinconces, so it is an easy one to fall into after walking the riverfront. Grab a table outside and watch the trams go past. Good spot to end up rather than plan for!Rôtisserie Poulettes Fernand LafargueDon't missFood & drink · Rôtisserie Poulettes Fernand LafargueHad the crispy chicken, the wrap and the Caesar salad across a few visits, because I kept going back. The gratin dauphinois is the side to order, and whatever is in their curry sauce, it is amazing. Quick, cheap and a good lunch stop on Place Fernand Lafargue. Will be back!SailsDon't missFood & drink · SailsA deck built out over the water with white tables on it and nothing between you and the lagoon. Lunch with your feet more or less in the sea. Book a table at the front or it is not the same thing. Highly recommend this restaurant!SandalsDon't missFood & drink · SandalsTables on the sand with the whole of Muri lagoon in front of them and a motu sitting in the middle of the view. The food was good and the view was doing most of the work, which on Rarotonga is a fair deal. Go at lunch when the lagoon is at its brightest.TA SushiDon't missFood & drink · TA SushiHad the salmon nigiri, the avocado maki, salmon and cream cheese rolls under a crisp onion crumb, and a donburi with salmon and a whole fanned avocado over the rice, with pickled cabbage and cucumber alongside. Everything came out fresh and the boards kept arriving - far more food than I expected, and great value with it.
It is tucked in the lanes behind Forum des Halles, so it is easy to get to and a great stop in the middle of a day walking the city. Would go back!Le Michel'sWorth a stopFood & drink · Le Michel'sHad the steak and fries and the onion soup. Best French onion soup I've ever had, even if I wasn't sure how to eat it at first! Nice steak, great vibe.Le MolinaWorth a stopFood & drink · Le MolinaHad the frogs' legs, the râpées and a green salad. I don't know if this is ever on the way, it's out at La Talaudière just outside Saint-Étienne, but what a place! Amazing vibe, lovely team and great food. The râpées are the local speciality so have them here, and the plates are generous. Grab a table outside if the weather is good. First time eating frogs and I thoroughly enjoyed it!Marché municipal du Cap FerretWorth a stopFood & drink · Marché municipal du Cap FerretProper oyster market. Crates of Spéciales and Traditions straight off the basin, sold by the dozen with lemons and a knife for a few euros, and a counter where you can just stand and eat them. There's a Basque pintxos stall too, ham and padrón peppers on bread, if oysters at ten in the morning is a step too far. Go in the morning while it's all still out.The Grizzly PubWorth a stopFood & drink · The Grizzly PubA pub on Place de la Victoire, which is the student end of town and a good square to sit on. I had a cheap AND delicious mojito on the terrace in the rain and watched the buses go round; nothing about the pub itself you would cross the city for, but if you are at the Victoire it does the job.V.I.Pizz HyèresWorth a stopFood & drink · V.I.Pizz HyèresHad a pizza, the chicken Caesar and a bowl of hand-cut fries. The pizza was amazing, and the Caesar was really good too - proper chips and a good sized salad. Exactly what you want on a night you don't feel like going out. Handy if you're staying nearby in Hyères.
Outdoors
Aroa beachDon't missOutdoors · Aroa beachThe west coast is where the sun goes down and Aroa is where I kept ending up to watch it. Shallow, calm, coral rubble underfoot rather than pure sand, and a reef line close enough in that the water inside it barely moves. I have eleven photographs of one sunset here and I am not sorry about any of them. Bring reef shoes and go about an hour before it drops.Canyon de FurnasDon't missOutdoors · Canyon de FurnasWhat you are looking down into is a reservoir, so the water sits deep green between pale sheer walls and the whole thing is much bigger than any one photograph of it. I did it from the viewpoints along the top rather than from a boat, and that turned out to be the right way round - you get the shape of the canyon from up there, and you can walk between four or five of them in a morning. Go before midday. By the time the sun is overhead the water goes flat and loses the colour completely. There is a waterfall on the way in that drops into a pool so green it looks lit from underneath, and the lake on the drive back at sunset was worth stopping the car for.Giens PeninsulaDon't missOutdoors · Giens PeninsulaThe drive out to Giens is lovely on its own, salt flats one side, sea the other. It's also where the Porquerolles boats go from, so you'll probably end up here anyway. Windy, always!Lake BledDon't missOutdoors · Lake BledGo down to the shore in the evening. The lake was still enough to hold the reflection of the whole far shore, the castle up on its cliff off to one side and the island church small in the middle distance, with a thin crescent moon already up. It's the postcard and it absolutely earns it. Take a pletna out to the island if you've got a morning - they're rowed by hand, standing up - and eat a kremšnita, the cream cake the town is known for, which is far better than a tourist cake has any right to be.Lake BraiesDon't missOutdoors · Lake BraiesDeep green-blue water with a pale gravel shore running into it, cliffs and pines down the far side and the old wooden boathouse at the head of the lake. Genuinely as good as it looks, which I wasn't expecting given how photographed it is. The loop round the edge takes about an hour and gets you away from the crowd at the near end within about five minutes. It's also where the Alta Via 1 starts, if you ever fancy walking to Belluno.Nishat GardenDon't missOutdoors · Nishat GardenThe big one: a long central water channel between beds of flowers, running straight down twelve terraces to the lake with the mountains across it. Walk it top to bottom. Busy, and rightly.Pangong TsoDon't missOutdoors · Pangong TsoThe reason most people come to Ladakh, and it earns it. A strip of water in three blues between bare brown mountains at 4,300 metres, with nothing green anywhere. First sight of it from the road above is the one that stays; then the shore with the tricolour flying and the 3 Idiots props. Stay the night - the dawn light is the best of it.Parc national des CalanquesDon't missOutdoors · Parc national des CalanquesI chose not to hike it and took a boat trip instead. Seeing five or six calanques for not much money was so worth it! From the water you get the full height of the white cliffs with the pines somehow growing straight out of them, and right at the head of En-Vau there's a little beach you can see the swimmers on. If you do the walk, pack plenty of water and food, because there's nothing but nature when you get there.Plitvice Lakes National ParkDon't missOutdoors · Plitvice Lakes National ParkGive it a full day, and go early. Sixteen lakes stacked down a valley, each one spilling into the next over travertine barriers that are still growing, so the whole thing is a staircase of water. It's boardwalks most of the way with one flat electric boat across the big lake, and the water is an opaque green that goes properly turquoise wherever it shallows over the limestone. It was grey all day when I went and it didn't dull the colour one bit. Gets very busy in the middle of the day, so the early start is the whole game.PorquerollesDon't missOutdoors · PorquerollesI saw it from the water rather than landing, out on the catamaran with Passion Med, anchored off the beaches to swim. Even from the boat it's stunning: pine right down to the sand, and water that really is that colour. Worth knowing the boat timetables are awkward if you want to go ashore. The last one back leaves before sunset, so for an evening there you'd need to stay the night.Praia BravaDon't missOutdoors · Praia BravaA walk over the headland from town and then nothing - white sand, turquoise water, and on the morning I went about six other people on the whole beach. The trail starts up by the road and drops down through the scrub, and it is worth doing slowly because the view along the coast on the way down is half of it. There is no kiosk, no shade and no anything, so take water. Easily the best hour I had in Arraial.Praia das ToninhasDon't missOutdoors · Praia das ToninhasWhere I stayed in Ubatuba, and the evening I remember is not the beach at all - it is standing around the churrasqueira (barbecue) in the dark waiting for the meat to come off. Toninhas is a long curve with green hills coming right down to it and it is calm enough to swim without thinking about it, which after the surf beaches further up the coast is the appeal. Come out of season if you can. Ubatuba is a São Paulo weekend town and the whole road down fills up in summer and at New Year. Get the churrasco going before it gets dark.Praia do FarolDon't missOutdoors · Praia do FarolYou can only get here by boat and that turns out to be the best part. The trip runs around Ilha do Farol under the granite, into the cave, past the lighthouse on top, and the water goes from deep navy to a turquoise I did not really believe until I was in it. The beach at the end is white sand and shallow and busy in the way a good beach is busy. Do not try to be clever about the boats, just take the one from Praia dos Anjos with everyone else.PrainhaDon't missOutdoors · PrainhaWell out west of the city and worth the drive on its own - the coast road gets better the further you go and people keep stopping to look at it. The beach is small, in a horseshoe of green, with surf and a fraction of the crowd you get anywhere near Copacabana. Time it so you are driving back at sunset.Sumoor Sand Dunes and Wet LandDon't missOutdoors · Sumoor Sand Dunes and Wet LandSand dunes at 3,000 metres with snow peaks behind them, which makes no sense until you're standing on them. Go at the end of the day: the sand goes gold, the Karakoram goes pink, and I had dinner laid out on a table in the middle of it with nobody else in sight.Canal Saint MartinWorth a stopOutdoors · Canal Saint MartinIf it's on the way, have a look - the green iron footbridges and the lock gates are pretty enough. Nothing spectacular though, and maybe the grey weather didn't help. I wouldn't make a detour for it.Char Chinar Dal lakeWorth a stopOutdoors · Char Chinar Dal lakeThe little island with four chinar trees in the middle of the lake. You don't go to it so much as past it, and the sunset from the water beside it, with Hari Parbat fort in silhouette across the lake, is a good reason to be in a shikara at six.Chashme Shahi GardenWorth a stopOutdoors · Chashme Shahi GardenThe smallest of the Mughal gardens, built around a spring, and in September full of dahlias the size of dinner plates. Twenty minutes of flower beds and terraces with the hills behind, and the mynas working the lawns. Do it on the way up to Pari Mahal.Coogee BeachWorth a stopOutdoors · Coogee BeachSkip the sand and walk up to the north end. There is a natural pool cut into the rock shelf - Giles Baths - where the swell comes straight over the edge and fills it, so you are swimming in flat water with the surf going off a couple of metres away. Brilliant thing to find at the end of a beach.
It was grey and blowing the afternoon we went and it was still full of people. No lifeguard, so have a look at the swell before you get in. Best near high tide, when the waves are washing over the rim.Dal LakeWorth a stopOutdoors · Dal LakeThe postcard version is real for about an hour at sunset, when the shikaras go to silhouettes and the herons work the reeds. The rest of the time it is hard to look past: weed choking the channels, rubbish along the banks, houseboats that haven't been painted in years. If you're in Srinagar you'll end up on it anyway, so go late in the day and keep your expectations where the light is.Jardin Botanique de BordeauxWorth a stopOutdoors · Jardin Botanique de BordeauxLovely quiet spot on the right bank and a nice change of pace from the city. Proper tall palms, glasshouses, and plenty of shade. Good for half an hour after walking over the Pont de Pierre, and it's free.New Farm RiverwalkWorth a stopOutdoors · New Farm RiverwalkWalk it at night. The Story Bridge is lit up and the whole city is sitting in the water underneath it, and the path takes you right along the edge of the river so you get it from every angle without trying. Twenty minutes, flat, free, and better after dark than before it.Praia de IpanemaWorth a stopOutdoors · Praia de IpanemaGrey and blowing the morning I got there and it had not put a single person off. Dois Irmaos at the end of the sand is the shot everyone comes for, and the beach works whatever the sky is doing - chairs, umbrellas, and someone offering you something every couple of minutes. Go, but you do not need to build a day around it.
Landmarks
Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de MontmartreDon't missLandmarks · Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de MontmartreBeautiful basilica, and if you don't go you're missing out! It sits at the top of Montmartre so you get all of Paris laid out from the steps, which is half the reason to climb up. Wander the streets behind it while you're there. Gets crowded though, so go early or late.Bled CastleDon't missLandmarks · Bled CastleWorth the climb for the view rather than the castle itself. From the walls the whole lake opens out below you with the island and its church sitting almost dead centre, forested hills all the way round and, the day I was there, heavy grey cloud sitting over the top of it. It's supposed to be the oldest castle in Slovenia, first written down in 1011, though what you're really paying for is that view.Blue LagoonDon't missLandmarks · Blue LagoonStandard stop on the island run, and the water really is that colour - shallow over a pale sand bar, so you can stand up a long way out. Plenty of other boats moored up doing exactly the same thing, so don't expect it to yourself. Still worth the swim.Cristo RedentorDon't missLandmarks · Cristo RedentorYou go, and you should, and then you spend most of it looking at the back of other people's phones. Get there as early as you can manage - by mid-morning the platform is shoulder to shoulder and everybody is lying on the floor trying to fit the whole thing in one frame. The statue itself is worth it from directly underneath, which is the angle nobody puts on a postcard: enormous, plain concrete up close, and much more impressive for it. Give it half a day by the time you have queued at both ends.Diskit MonasteryDon't missLandmarks · Diskit MonasteryThe big monastery of the valley, stacked up its cliff with the whole of Nubra and the braided Shyok below it. The view from the road is the photograph; go up for the chapels and the giant Maitreya Buddha on the ridge opposite if you have the legs for the steps.Eiffel TowerDon't missLandmarks · Eiffel TowerGo up, and time it for sunset. The very top was shut on my night because of high winds, so I only got one level up - and I took the stairs, which as someone scared of heights I did not love! Completely worth it though: the Champ de Mars straight below you, then the sky going orange and pink and the whole city switching its lights on. I came back to see it from Trocadéro and Bir-Hakeim too, and it's different every time.KarerseeDon't missLandmarks · KarerseeWorth going out of your way for, and worth staying until the light goes. The lake sits in the trees with the Latemar's spires standing up behind it, and it's so still that the whole forest and half the mountain come back at you off the surface. The water is an extraordinary green - they call it the rainbow lake, and the story goes a wizard shattered a rainbow into it. I stayed on for the sunset and got the spires lit orange, then a last silhouette with one tall spruce against the sky.Notre-Dame Cathedral of ParisDon't missLandmarks · Notre-Dame Cathedral of ParisI didn't go inside this time, but it's magnificent from the outside - the west front, the rose window and all that carving over the doors. I did go in back in 2007 and it's absolutely worth it, so make time if you can: it's free now it's reopened, but book a slot ahead or you'll be queueing for an hour.Notre-Dame de la GardeDon't missLandmarks · Notre-Dame de la GardeGo for the view. The whole city is laid out below you, with the Frioul islands and the Château d'If out in the bay and the coast running off both ways. I didn't go inside the basilica, didn't need to. Fair warning: I drove up and it's a set of very narrow, very steep switchbacks, so take the bus if you'd rather not deal with that.Pari MahalDon't missLandmarks · Pari MahalStone terraces stepping down the hillside under arches, with lawns and clipped trees between them and the lake spread out below. The best-placed of all the gardens, and the one to keep for last light if you can manage it.Parque Olímpico do RioDon't missLandmarks · Parque Olímpico do RioI went for the Paralympics, which is not something you can go back and do. Sitting volleyball one evening and another session the next morning, both of them full, both of them louder than I expected, and the tickets cheap enough that you could just turn up and pick something. Walking around the park after dark with all of it lit up was worth an hour on its own. Whether the place is worth anything now that everyone has gone home I genuinely do not know.Pont de Bir-HakeimDon't missLandmarks · Pont de Bir-HakeimBest view of the Eiffel Tower in Paris and hardly anyone on it compared to the Trocadéro. Go at golden hour and walk the middle deck between the pillars.Predjama CastleDon't missLandmarks · Predjama CastleA properly strange thing to stand in front of. The castle is wedged right into the mouth of a cave in a grey limestone cliff, pale walls and a shingled roof under a huge overhang, and it's reckoned to be the largest cave castle in the world. The story goes that a robber baron held out a siege here for a year because a passage through the rock let him keep sneaking out for supplies. From inside, a gap in the raw rock frames the village roofs and the wet road far below.Arc de TriompheWorth a stopLandmarks · Arc de TriompheI only looked from the outside this time, and it's worth it for that alone. Much bigger up close than you expect, and the carving around the base is extraordinary. I went up back in 2007 and it was amazing: the twelve avenues spreading out from it is the best way to understand how Paris is put together, so go up if you have time. Use the underpass, and do not try to cross the roundabout!Blue CaveWorth a stopLandmarks · Blue CaveThe trip out to Biševo, and then a wait offshore with a line of other boats for your turn. You transfer into a little boat that ducks through a low opening, and inside the light comes up through the water from underneath so the whole cave glows blue. Ten minutes and you're back out, and the wait is long, so go knowing that.Castle of Châteauneuf-du-PapeWorth a stopLandmarks · Castle of Châteauneuf-du-PapeI went purely for the name! It's the ruin of the popes' summer castle and there's not much left of it, but you're up above the vineyards with the Rhône valley spread out below, and on a clear day you can see for miles. Really nice if you like a good red. If it's on the way, definitely stop by.Catedral da SéWorth a stopLandmarks · Catedral da SéEnormous, neo-Gothic, with the palms lined up in front of it and the square always full of people. Ten minutes is enough unless you go inside, and you should - it is a lot cooler and a lot quieter in there than the front steps suggest. Worth folding into a morning in the centre rather than going out of your way for.Duomo di MilanoWorth a stopLandmarks · Duomo di MilanoStand in the square a good while before you go anywhere near the door. Pale marble and a whole forest of spires - there are around 135 of them - against a hard blue sky, and it's far bigger than any photograph makes it look. They started it in 1386 and were still finishing details into the twentieth century, which you can feel. Go up onto the roof if you do one thing: you walk out among the spires themselves, which is completely unlike looking at it from below.Fort de SocoaWorth a stopLandmarks · Fort de SocoaThe old fort sits out on its own breakwater at the western end of the bay, with a small curve of sand beside it and La Rhune standing up behind the town. Ten minutes on the way is all it needs: walk out along the wall, look back at Saint-Jean-de-Luz across the water, and carry on.Place des QuinconcesWorth a stopLandmarks · Place des QuinconcesOne of the biggest squares in Europe and the Monument aux Girondins at the end of it is genuinely impressive. This is also where the markets and the funfair set up, so it's worth a look to see what's on.Shri Shankaracharya Temple SrinagarWorth a stopLandmarks · Shri Shankaracharya Temple SrinagarThe temple sits on the hill above the lake and the climb is sold on the view. The morning I was there, the haze and the pollution were so thick you could barely make out the city below, let alone the mountains, and the photographs show it. Phones and cameras stay at the checkpoint. Go only on a clear day, first thing, and treat it as a temple visit rather than a viewpoint.
Viewpoints
Mirante do Pontal do AtalaiaDon't missViewpoints · Mirante do Pontal do AtalaiaDrive up for the sunset and nothing else. The cliff faces the right way, the sun drops into the sea behind the islands, and you can see the whole coast from up there. It is ten minutes out of town and everyone has the same idea, so go early enough to park.Pão de AçúcarDon't missViewpoints · Pão de AçúcarGo up for sunset and then do not leave. Almost everyone rides the cable car back down as soon as the sun is gone, and the twenty minutes after that is the best part of it - the whole bay going navy, the boats still out on it, and Rio switching its lights on underneath you one district at a time. Buy the ticket for late afternoon so you get both, take something warm because it comes up off the water, and let the first two cable cars down go without you.PeitlerkofelDon't missViewpoints · PeitlerkofelYou can drive to this one. The pass road brings you out onto open meadow and Peitlerkofel is straight ahead - twin summits and a great pale wall of rock, with hay barns and spruce scattered across the green in front of it. I pulled over and just stood there for a while.
Passo delle Erbe is a lovely drive in its own right and there is parking at the top, so you get the whole view without having to walk for it. If you have longer there is a loop trail that goes right around the base of the mountain.
Late morning was good - the face was still catching the sun when I was there. Gorgeous.SchoberDon't missViewpoints · SchoberAbout an hour up through the trees and you come out on a rocky spine with the whole Salzkammergut in front of you: the Fuschlsee straight below, more lakes stacked away behind it and the peaks along the horizon. Steep in the trees and then suddenly not, which is the best kind of walk. Worth the climb for that view alone.SecedaDon't missViewpoints · SecedaOne of the best things I did. The cable car does the work from Ortisei and then you walk out onto the ridge at about 2,500m and the Odle just rears up out of the meadow in front of you, a great tilted blade of rock that doesn't look like it should be standing. Turn around and the whole range is opposite: the Sella flat-topped and enormous, the Sassolungo's towers off to the side, and Val Gardena and its villages a long way down between them. There's a viewing ring up there with the distances to cities all over the world on it, which is a nice touch.Sella TowersDon't missViewpoints · Sella TowersWorth being out for the hour before dark. The rock goes to one long wall running the width of the sky, towers standing off the end of it, scree fanning out below and dark pines along the meadow, and the light comes off it pink for a few minutes before everything goes flat.The StarDon't missViewpoints · The StarGo up for the sunset. The view from the top has the river bending right through the middle of it, South Bank and the bridges below you and the hills going purple behind, and it is the one place in Brisbane that shows you the shape of the city rather than the inside of it. Get there an hour before the sun goes so you see it in daylight and then in colour. The building itself is worth ten minutes on the way in - the atrium with the plants hanging down through it is a proper piece of showing off.Vista ChinesaDon't missViewpoints · Vista ChinesaWent up the first afternoon and could not see the railing in front of me, the whole mountain was sitting inside a cloud. Went back the next day and it was the best view I got of the entire city - the lagoon, Ipanema and Leblon behind it, Dois Irmaos, the sea going on past all of it, and almost nobody else up there. If it is in cloud when you go, just go back another day. It is worth the second trip.Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-HöheWorth a stopViewpoints · Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-HöheDrive all the way to the end of the road for this. You look straight down onto the Pasterze, Austria's longest glacier, and its meltwater lake, a pale grey-green, with waterfalls coming off the rock walls opposite. What stays with you is how far the ice has pulled back - there's bare rock and outwash everywhere it used to sit, and markers on the path showing where the glacier reached in living memory. Sobering, and worth seeing while it's still there.Marjan viewpointWorth a stopViewpoints · Marjan viewpointWorth the climb for this. The whole of Split is laid out below you - the old town under its terracotta roofs, the Riva curving round to the harbour, and the islands sitting out across the water. There was a cruise ship in when I was up there, which gives you the scale of the place better than anything else does.
I went up twice, once in the evening and once in the middle of the day, and it was worth both. Pines and cypresses frame the view so you get a slightly different picture depending on where along the path you stop.
It is a proper set of steps up rather than a stroll, so take water in summer. Would go back!Monte TitanoWorth a stopViewpoints · Monte TitanoWorth the climb up just for the daftness of it - San Marino claims to be the oldest surviving republic in the world, going back to 301 AD, and it's a whole country stacked up one rock. Stone walls and stepped lanes, a footbridge over the path, geraniums banked along the terraces and signs pointing you up to the first tower. The three towers along the ridge are the thing, and the view off the edge on a clear day runs all the way to the Adriatic.Moonland LamayuruWorth a stopViewpoints · Moonland LamayuruPale yellow hills eroded into ribs and folds that really do look like the moon, with the road hairpinning down through them. Pull over at the viewpoint at the top and again at the bottom - it's a different landscape from each end. Lamayuru monastery is just beyond if you have time.Sangam Point Leh LadakhWorth a stopViewpoints · Sangam Point Leh LadakhWhere the Zanskar meets the Indus, thirty minutes out of Leh on the road west. The two rivers arrive in different colours and run side by side before they mix, and there's a viewpoint above the junction with the I ♥ BRO sign to pose with. Ten minutes, on the way to somewhere else.
Activities
AvaavaroaDon't missActivities · AvaavaroaThis is a dive site rather than somewhere you walk to, out past the passage on the south side where the lagoon drains out to the open sea. Big coral heads with sand between them, blue water going dark below, and enough current that you go when the boat says to go rather than when you feel like it. Two dives in a morning and I would have done a third.Cabo FrioDon't missActivities · Cabo FrioThis is the dive, and it is the only reason I have any photographs of Cabo Frio. Green water rather than the blue you get on the boat trips, maybe ten metres of visibility, rock and weed rather than coral - and then a green turtle that hung around long enough for everyone to get their picture. It is colder than you expect for Brazil, so take the thicker suit if they offer you one.Disneyland ParisDon't missActivities · Disneyland ParisI went from opening to close, and did both parks, Disneyland and Walt Disney Studios. A full day, not a half, and you'll walk a very long way! Main Street first thing before the crowds build, the Studios in the afternoon, then back over for Hyperspace Mountain at dusk when the whole place lights up. It rained on and off all day and it honestly didn't matter, but take a jacket rather than an umbrella, your hands will thank you. Looong day but a great experience!Passion Med - Catamaran Var - Excursion et privatisation bateau vers PorquerollesDon't missActivities · Passion Med - Catamaran Var - Excursion et privatisation bateau vers PorquerollesBest day of the Provence leg! Half a day out of Giens on the catamaran, anchoring off Porquerolles to swim and snorkel, and the crew were great company. You see the island from the water rather than going ashore, which honestly was the better way to do it - would absolutely do it again.Symbio Wildlife ParkDon't missActivities · Symbio Wildlife ParkLoved this place. About three hours and we had seen the whole park.
Cockatoos were sitting on the picnic tables before we had properly got through the gate. Kangaroos asleep in the shade, wallabies come right up and eat out of your hand. There is a cheetah as well, and cotton-top tamarins, and echidnas including a pale one sharing with a normal dark one.
Best bit by a mile was getting to hold a Tasmanian devil. Wrapped up in a fleece blanket, wide awake, looking straight up at me and completely unbothered by any of it. I did not expect to be allowed anywhere near one.
Under an hour south of the city. Give it a whole morning at least.DreamworldWorth a stopActivities · DreamworldWent for the rides and the wildlife, which I loved! Dingoes asleep in the shade, a crocodile that looked terrifying, koalas doing what koalas do, and a kangaroo that walked straight up and ate out of my hand while I crouched there grinning like an idiot. If you have kids or you actually want the coasters then it is a full day; if you are there for the animals you can do that part in a morning.Parque de Atracciones Monte IgueldoWorth a stopActivities · Parque de Atracciones Monte IgueldoTake the old funicular up if you can - but set your GPS to the funicular station at the bottom, not to Monte Igueldo itself, or you'll end up driving all the way to the car park at the top like I did and miss it entirely! Either way the view is the best in the city, the whole of La Concha curving round with Santa Clara island in the middle of it. There's a vintage funfair up there too and I went on the rides, which are properly creaky!
Journeys
Grossglockner High Alpine RoadDon't missJourneys · Grossglockner High Alpine RoadOne of the great drives, and worth building a whole day around rather than just crossing over. Thirty-odd hairpins climbing to about 2,500m under Austria's highest mountain, the road stacking up the valley below you, a couple of little tarns and a hut at the turn, and cloud sitting right down on the ridges at the top. Lower down it opened out into blue sky and big white cloud. You stop constantly, because every corner opens onto something new. It's a toll road and it's not cheap, and I'd pay it again tomorrow.Khardung LaDon't missJourneys · Khardung LaThe road to Nubra goes over it, so you do it whether you plan to or not, and it's worth stopping for. Switchbacks up from South Pullu with the Stok range across the valley, fresh snow on the rock at the top the morning I crossed, and a sky that goes nearly black. Don't hang about at the pass - take the photos and drop down the other side.Le Train de La RhuneDon't missJourneys · Le Train de La RhuneAbsolutely recommend taking the little wooden rack train up La Rhune, a unique experience not far from the Spanish border. It's been running since the 1920s and grinds up at walking pace for about half an hour, with ponies and sheep wandering across the track. The ride is spectacular and the view from the top is gorgeous: the whole Basque coast laid out below you, Saint-Jean-de-Luz and Biarritz and the beaches running north into the haze. Go for the view, and stay for it. Take water and snacks: the café at the top won't refill your bottle and it's pricey.Ancona PortWorth a stopJourneys · Ancona PortOff the overnight ferry from Split, in at first light. It's a working port - cranes, ferries, a little red lighthouse on the end - and the town stacked up the headland behind it. Nothing to stay for, but arriving by sea beats another morning on a motorway.Hvar to Split crossingWorth a stopJourneys · Hvar to Split crossingTime this one for the evening if you can. Coming back into Split with the sun dropping behind the Marjan hill, the whole waterfront went to silhouette and the light laid out flat across the water. Nicest hour of the day to be on a boat, and it costs nothing extra to book the late one.Split to Biševo crossingWorth a stopJourneys · Split to Biševo crossingOut of Split early on a fast boat, open blue water most of the way with the islands sitting low off to one side. A good way to start a day, though it's a long way out and you feel it in a small boat.Wari LaWorth a stopJourneys · Wari LaThe back way from Nubra to Pangong, over a 5,300-metre pass with nobody on it. Fresh snow on the road and not a building from one side to the other. Only if it's open, and only if you like your roads empty - otherwise it's back through Leh and over Chang La.
Wine
Château LauducDon't missWine · Château LauducGorgeous venue, with tables out on the grass right at the edge of the vines, about twenty minutes from Bordeaux. Amazing wines and great food, and you can sit there while the sun goes down over the rows. Evening is absolutely the right time for it. Will be back!Cité du VinDon't missWine · Cité du VinAn immersive wine experience more than a museum! The building alone is worth seeing: it's meant to look like wine swirling in a glass. Your ticket includes a tasting up in the Belvédère at the top, which also gives you the best view over Bordeaux and the Garonne, and the pours aren't only Bordeaux either, I had a Corsican white and a Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Easily half a day, and you can't go to Bordeaux without coming here!La cabane dans les vignesDon't missWine · La cabane dans les vignesHad the Château de Fontenille, Les Demoiselles, the "Je suis Gris", a charcuterie board and a cheese plate. Gorgeous place, worth the drive! Great food, great wine, and a great way to end the trip. Would go back.Château Grand MayneWorth a stopWine · Château Grand MayneDefinitely do the tasting. You get walked through the barrel cellar with the barrels stacked up, then sit out in the garden with a glass - there's a swing under the trees, which is a lovely way to drink Saint-Émilion. Grab a bottle on the way out, it's cheaper here than in town.ETABLISSEMENTS GALHAUDWorth a stopWine · ETABLISSEMENTS GALHAUDThe tasting is down in the limestone cellars carved under the village, which is half the point. Cool, quiet and candle-lit, and you sit at a table down there with the bottles. Lovely people and good wine. Do this instead of tasting in a shop at street level!OLALA BORDEAUX - Wine tours & tastingsWorth a stopWine · OLALA BORDEAUX - Wine tours & tastingsAn hour with a sommelier and three Bordeaux - a dry white, a red and a sweet - each paired with something local: sturgeon rillettes with caviar, cured duck, a farmhouse blue. 35€ and I learned more about Bordeaux wine here than anywhere else! Do it early in your stay so the rest of the week makes more sense.
Stays
The Kyagar, NubraDon't missStays · The Kyagar, NubraTwo nights in Nubra, and the best place I stayed on the trip. A garden with the Karakoram across the valley, a fire pit that got lit both nights, a calf that had the run of the car park, and birds in the trees all afternoon. Book it for the view from the lawn as much as anything.CHOSPA HOTELWorth a stopStays · CHOSPA HOTELA Ladakhi-style hotel in stone and timber a short walk from the bazaar. Dosas for breakfast, a quiet terrace, and an oxygen cylinder in the room when the altitude caught up with me on the last night - which is the thing to know about staying in Leh.Misty Hills Cabins, PangongWorth a stopStays · Misty Hills Cabins, PangongWooden cabins on the shore, a goat at the gate, and the lake right there when you step out at five in the morning. Basic, cold after dark, and exactly where you want to be for the sunrise. Bring a proper jacket.
