Europe

I almost missed Sapa entirely. I had one night in Hanoi, a vague idea that the mountains in the north were worth seeing, and a friend who said — without much explanation — just take the night train. So I did. I boarded at Hanoi station just before 10 PM, fell asleep somewhere in the […]

I have been asked more times than I can count: “How do you actually plan a trip to Bhutan?” It is a fair question, because Bhutan does not work like anywhere else I have travelled to. You cannot book a flight, land, and figure the rest out as you go. Almost every visitor arranges their […]

Punakha is a beautiful valley and one of the most visited tourist destinations in Bhutan. While the Punakha Dzong is a gorgeous piece of architecture, Punakha offers some naturally beautiful places to visit too. I have been to more than 40 countries in the world, and among them, Bhutan is significantly different. It’s a small […]

I went to TMAG expecting an hour, maybe ninety minutes. I left four hours later, and I still had not seen everything. If you take one thing from this post, take that: budget more time than you think you need. The main entrance signage for the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery in Hobart, with an […]

I planned this one for a Saturday on purpose. Salamanca Market only happens once a week, and I did not want to be the person who turns up on a Tuesday and wonders where everyone went. So I built my whole Hobart afternoon around it: market first, then up through Kelly’s Steps into Battery Point, […]

Most guides point you up Mt Wellington for sunset. That is fair advice. But the mountain is a long drive, the weather turns without warning, and if you have only a couple of evenings in Hobart you might want something closer, quieter, and easier to reach. That is where the eastern shore comes in. I […]

Wineglass Bay is the photo that sells Tasmania. That perfect curve of white sand and turquoise water, wrapped around by the pink granite peaks of the Hazards, ends up on every postcard and guidebook cover for a reason. In 2026 it was named one of the World’s 50 Best Beaches, and seeing it in person, […]

You can see it from almost everywhere in Hobart. That great grey-blue wall of rock rising behind the city, often with its top lost in cloud. kunanyi / Mount Wellington is the backdrop to the whole town, and the first thing most visitors decide is that they have to get up there. I am Fuad, […]

Some places you remember for a single view. Bruny gave me a dozen. Sea cliffs dropping straight into the Southern Ocean, a thin ribbon of sand with ocean on both sides, an empty beach curving away into low cloud, and a lighthouse balcony with the whole wild south of the island laid out beneath it. […]

The Seskin viewpoint above Bantry Bay is one of the best free stops on the Wild Atlantic Way, and the perfect way to start a day exploring West Cork. Set on high ground just outside Bantry town, it looks out over a 30-kilometre sweep of bay, scattered islands, and sheep grazing on impossibly green hillsides, […]