Varanasi, also called Benares and Kashi, is a pilgrimage destination in India. According to ancient texts, the city was founded by the Hindu deity Shiva, making it one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the country. Varanasi is also considered one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world and is the home of many prominent Indian writers, musicians, artists and poets.
As a cultural and religious center of North India, Varanasi welcomes over …
Thirty miles south of London, and halfway to England’s South coast, lies the Weald — an area of outstanding natural beauty dating back to the Saxons of 900 AD. Visiting the Seven Wonders of the Weald, I started my journey in the gorgeous Kentish village of Penshurst, where one of England’s most outstanding stately homes can be found — Penshurst Place.
Built in the 1300s, Penshurst has been home to Kings and Noblemen for 650 …
“What do you think of Colombia?” my husband asked. Colombia? We were searching for a way to get to South America from the States, and round-trip flights to the most popular destinations — Argentina, Peru, Chile — were surprisingly expensive. Colombia, on the other hand, was half the cost of those routes, and schedules typically involve a stop in Miami before heading to Bogota, an easy three-and-a-half-hour flight. “Sure!” I quickly agreed.
We spent one …
The fact that I missed my early morning Eurostar from London to Paris may be down to the fact that, through use of the plagued Eastern European, African and South American railways, I’ve conditioned myself to expect train travel to be functionally disorganized. But it also may be down to the fact that I have poor time management, a lacking sense of urgency and a faulty alarm clock. Whatever the case, this is exactly what …
Adventurers have found many ways of conquering the legendary Cape to Cairo route – by pedal bike, motorbike, battered Land Rover or fragile aircraft. But if you really want to travel this fabled journey in style, climb aboard the Rovos Rail.
This South African train bills itself as the most luxurious in the world, and for once it isn’t over-the-top hyperbole. The exquisitely restored carriages cocoon you in a world far removed from reality, in …
It’s called the “Route of The Hiawatha,” after the legendary luxury train that rolled from the Idaho mountains to the Midwest in the first half of the Twentieth-Century, on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad.
The last train on this stretch of railroad left the station in 1961. But “The Milwaukee Line” left us a living legacy – some 46 miles of railroad track/bed running through the 8,000-foot peaks of the Bitterroot Mountains on …
In a tranquil Belgian town, some 75km south-east of Brussels, set in a landscape of quilted willow green and sage and threaded with a broad aquamarine coloured river, lies historic Dinant, famed for being the birthplace of Adolphe Sax, the inventor of the saxophone. Dinant is a pretty little town slung along the river Meuse beneath craggy green cliffs in the centre of the Meuse Valley, about 30km south of Namur – a handy base …
You’ve probably never heard of Sandpoint, Idaho.
But the readers of USA Today/Rand McNally’s “Most Beautiful Small Town in America” survey have heard of it. They recently bestowed this honor on Sandpoint, a classic Old Northwest village in the Idaho Panhandle, just forty miles from the Canadian border.
It doesn’t take long to see why. As you cross the two-mile-long bridge over Lake Pend Oreille (pronounced “pond-a-ray”), surrounded by the snow-capped Selkirk Mountains, a village …
Johnstone Strait, a deep glacier carved passage running between the east coast of Vancouver Island and the west coast of British Columbia mainland, is one of the best places in the world to spot killer whales (also known as orcas). The deep waters of Johnstone Strait are home to the world’s largest resident pod of orcas, numbering around 200, who are attracted to the region by the thousands of salmon who frequent the waters every …
The sun was still asleep behind some distant peaks when I clomped out of the tiny town heading for the mountains. Soon it would be a blazing 35 degrees Celsius, and I didn’t want to be halfway up a mountain in that heat. Halfway down a mountain would be fine — but we were still on the upward trajectory.
The cunning plan was to complete the ascent in the shade, then take the sun-baked downhill …
Until the 2010 Olympic Games brought it to the attention of the world, Vancouver was a quiet British Columbia city that was often forgotten when planning vacations. The renovations and revitalization of city for the world’s biggest sporting event has left a region with great food, wine, culture and activities, all between the Pacific Ocean and the snowcapped mountains.
Granville Island
As you cross into Granville Island, the world changes quickly as you no longer …
Brazil is on a roll, and its star city of Rio de Janeiro is the hub of all the action.
Rio may be the world’s most misunderstood city. Ask someone who has never been and they basically know Carnaval, an iconic statue of Christ, bikinis bursting with attitude and that the town is ringed by favalas. But there is so much more to Rio and the world is about to discover the energy of a …
The origins of its name are shrouded in some mystery: Delray Beach is said by some to derive from Spanish colonial times, while others suggest an even wider range of possible roots. What there is no doubt of nowadays is that this once sleepy southeastern-Florida coastal town has emerged to make its mark as a regional destination with its own distinct highlights. How it has managed to do so reveals a dedication to preserving the …
As the summertime approaches, the Spanish find reason to celebrate. Mark these festive dates for the best bashes on the Iberian Peninsula:
June – Welcome Summer in Mediterranean Spain
June 21, or thereabouts, is generally considered to be the summer solstice in the western world. In Spain, the official spring-to-summer jump is the 23rd of June on Sant Joan’s Day (San Juan in Spanish). The change of the season is celebrated with wild all-night shindigs …
