A rickety train ride away from the Bay of the Somme, Abbeville is a historic city whose beauty is undimmed by the litany of conflicts that have swept the region down the ages. The UNESCO belfry and extraordinary collegiate church are the top sights and make the headlines. But there are lots of smaller monuments …
In Saint-Pierre on Reunion’s south coast you’re within touching distance of places that need to be seen to be believed. You can venture to a volcanic caldera, natural amphitheatres with enormous basalt cliffs, waterfalls, ravines, lava tubes and an otherworldly plain that could be on Mars. Such is the weight of awesome scenery in the …
If you want the real Provence in a town that isn’t overrun with tourists, Draguignan could be just the place for you. All of the trademarks of the region are here: Rocky hills, vineyards and olive groves and perched villages. But the town’s isolation from the big sights keeps it off the itineraries of most …
The capital of Reunion is exactly the place to get a handle on this island’s unique culture. On just one street you’ll see a Buddhist pagoda, Mosque, Hindu Temple and Cathedral, and if you think that’s multicultural, wait until you visit the Grand Marché or tuck into some Creole cuisine. The city has museums and …
On both banks of its namesake river, Villeneuve-sur-Lot started life as a medieval bastide town. It was built quickly and fortified in the 13th century under the orders of Alphonse de Poitiers. And a lot of this heritage survives in small packages: You can ponder the gates, the old stone bridge and central Place de …
In the ancient Bigorre province in southwest France, Tarbes is an old garrison town with views of the snow-capped peaks of the Pyrenees in the distance. The army put horses and horse-breeding at centre stage in Tarbes, and France’s light cavalry was stationed here right up to the Second World War. The National Stud continues …
In central France’s Indre Department, Châteauroux is a town that was founded in the 10th century around a castle that is still there today. You might know a few of the famous people born in Châteauroux, like the actor Gérard Depardieu and one of Napoleon’s most trusted generals, Henri Gatien Bertrand. The latter spent a …
On the slopes above the Douro Estuary, Porto is a historic mercantile city with business and trade written into its very name. The centre is a World Heritage site, and you’ll be struck by how rich and varied this heritage can be: There are medieval walls, gleaming Baroque churches, the compact streets of the Ribeira …
Nestled in the far north of the Northern Territory (NT), Darwin is literally a tropical paradise: it’s the only Australian state capital with a tropical climate, making it a perfect getaway spot for travellers from cities like Sydney and Melbourne to escape from the chill and enjoy an average winter temperature of 30°C (that said, …
A soft climate tempered by the Atlantic, soft sandy beaches, mouth-watering cuisine, exhilarating coastal scenery; it’s no wonder that Portugal’s Algarve is one of Europe’s favourite holiday destinations. We’ll run our finger over the best things to do in the Algarve, from unwinding on dreamlike beaches to exploring coastal caves, teeing off at some of …