World Traveller April/May 2020

Produced in Dubai Production City 

INSPIRED BY 

ISSUE 144 | APRIL/MAY 2020 | DHS10

Welcome note 

We’ve published World Traveller since 2006. Throughout those 

14 years, global issues have, at one time or another, impacted 

the demand for travel. From the financial collapse through to 

ash clouds and H1N1 (which numbered upwards of 60 million 

Managing Director 

Victoria Thatcher 

Chief Creative Officer 

John Thatcher 

General Manager 

David Wade 

Group Content Director 

Faye Bartle 

faye@hotmedia.me 

Head of Digital 

Siobháin Spear 

Content & Social Editor 

Hayley Kadrou 

Content Writer 

Habiba Azab 

Editorial Assistant 

Ronak Sagar 

Art Director 

Kerri Bennett 

Senior Designer 

Hiral Kapadia 

Production Manager 

Muthu Kumar 

Production Coordinator 

Nagu Subburaman 

cases), our wanderlust has been tempered. That’s 

certainly the case now, as COVID-19 demands 

that we put the health of ourselves, family and 

friends over any thoughts of far-flung beaches. 

However, what’s also certain is that like all of those 

crises, this one will also be confined to history. 

There will be an end point. We will travel again. 

In the meantime, what COVID-19 can’t take from 

us is our desire to dream of the places we will go 

when this latest crisis passes; the people we will 

meet there; the many wonderful things we will 

experience. 

As the home of travel inspiration in the Middle 

East, we will continue to feed those dreams with 

action-packed ideas to fuel your future adventures, 

whether near or far. 

Speaking of what's near, we are fortunate to 

live in a region that’s home to some of the world’s 

finest hotels, hotels that will need our support 

once normal service resumes. So, when the time 

is right, why not take a staycation and celebrate 

the remarkable place we live in and the incredible 

opportunities it affords us. 

Until such time as COVID-19 becomes the past, 

stay safe and keep dreaming of travel. Those 

dreams will be realised. That’s for certain. 

Chief Creative Officer 

John Thatcher 

FIVE THINGS 

WE LEARNED 

THIS ISSUE: 

1 

Dominica is home to 

the only UNESCO World 

Heritage Site in the 

Caribbean – Morne Trois 

Pitons National Park, p9 

2 

Beauty boss Maria 

Hatzistefani's idea of the 

perfect weekend escape 

is unwinding on the 

beach in Mykonos, p18 

3 

Not one hungry diner 

has managed to conquer 

the 25lb (11kg) monster 

burger, the Burgernator, 

at Denny's in Clearfield, 

Pennsylvania... yet! p42 

4 

A whopping 97% of the 

Galápagos' land mass is 

national park, p48 

5 

The historic 

Spiegelkwartier is 

the place to shop for 

art and antiques in 

Amsterdam, p60 

INSPIRED BY 

Photography credits: 

Alamy, Phocal Media and iStock 

by Getty Images 

Reproduction in whole or in part 

without written permission from 

HOT Media is strictly prohibited. 

HOT Media does not accept 

liability for omissions or errors in 

World Traveller. 

Tel: 00971 4 364 2876 

Fax: 00971 4 369 7494 

COVER IMAGE 

The heart-shaped Love Lake at Al Qudra Lakes 

in Dubai, photo courtesy of Dubai Tourism 

Find us at… 

ONLINE worldtravellermagazine.com 

FACEBOOK @WorldTravellerME 

INSTAGRAM @worldtravellerme 

TWITTER @WTravellerME 

worldtravellermagazine.com 5

Contents 

April/May 2020 

Camp Sakira by Amangiri 

17 

HOT HOTELS 

regulars 

08 13 60 64 

OH, THE PLACES 

YOU'LL GO 

The destinations 

topping our list of go-to 

places when the time is 

right, starting with our 

wonderful home. 

GLOBETROTTER 

Maria Hatzistefanis 

reveals her travel habits; 

David Murphy tells us 

how to photograph 

elephants in the wild; 

and five off-grid gems. 

A LONG WEEKEND 

IN AMSTERDAM 

From its captivating 

artworks to its delicious 

local delicacies, Habiba 

Azab shines a light on 

the canal-strewn capital. 

SUITE DREAMS 

We're dreaming of 

opening the door to The 

Dunes, a spectacular 

villa aside the ocean at 

Grace Bay Club, Turks 

& Caicos. 


CONTENTS 

features 

20 34 

THE FAMILY 

WALKABOUT 

HOLIDAY 

Lara Brunt goes wild 

Planning your next on Maria Island in 

family escape? Then Australia and discovers 

you'll need our how-to an unspoilt isle teeming 

guide to tackle it. with unique creatures. 

42 

LIFE IN THE 

FAST LANE 

New York to LA by car. 

Too far to even think 

of trying? Not on this 

route, says Ian Belcher. 

48 

NATURAL WANDER 

Nigel Tisdall puts his 

best foot forward on 

the Galápagos Islands, 

mixing creature 

comforts with luxury. 

54 

TRY SOMEWHERE 

NEW 

New Zealand is the 

epitome of easy-going, 

but seeing it in the right 

order is key. Here's how... 

Carhenge 

42 

NEW YORK TO LA 

7 worldtravellermagazine.com

OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO 

Emily Williams, dnata Travel’s resident globetrotter, 

reveals the places to add to your wish list 

Dubai 

Dubai continues to evolve and innovate and, in 2020, there are lots of new places to experience and areas to rediscover, 

when the time is right. The Al Seef waterfront promenade is bringing new life to the historic Dubai Creek, with a 

combination of contemporary spaces that evoke the rich heritage of the city. La Mer has brought a wealth of dining 

options to one of Dubai’s most prestigious stretches of beachfront, while the new Nakheel Mall is adding more 

to discover on Palm Jumeirah. Combined with a string of new hotel openings in some of the city’s most popular 

neighbourhoods, locals and tourists alike have plenty to look forward to. 

Add to wish list 1 Get your geek on at The Museum of the Future, set to open in 2020, which will propel you to the year 2035 for a 

glimpse of how technology may evolve to enhance our bodies and minds. 2 Join one of the many guided tours into the desert where 

traditional-style Bedouin camps await, offering good food and good conversation in equal measure. 3. Adventure seekers should 

make a beeline for the Hatta Mountains, where you can explore the rugged terrain by mountain biking, hiking, kayaking and more. 


WISH LIST DESTINATIONS 

Dominica 

This Caribbean island is now visa-free for UAE nationals. Dotted with natural hot springs and lush tropical 

rainforests, this isn’t your stereotypical slice of Caribbean paradise. This unspoiled destination is aiming to be the 

world’s first climate-resilient nation by 2030. Due to its volcanic origins, its beaches are characterised by black or 

silvery sands, and its hotels are often rustic in style to suit the wild surrounds. See the colourful timber houses of 

the capital, Roseau, and take advantage of its reputation as a whale watching hotspot. You can access the island via a 

domestic flight or by ferry from neighbouring islands including Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados. 

Add to wish list 1 Nature lovers will be enthralled by Morne Trois Pitons National Park, the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in the 

Caribbean. 2 Sweet plantains, yams and a bounty of fresh fish; the local cuisine is packed full of flavour. Be sure to try Creole style crab 

backs, which is one of the most popular traditional dishes on offer. 3 The island is blessed with picturesque hiking routes and most are 

relatively smooth and easy to navigate, so pull on your sturdiest books and get out and explore. 


Franschhoek 

Known as South Africa’s culinary capital, Franschhoek in the Western Cape is one of the oldest towns in the country. 

An hour’s drive from Cape Town, it is home to award-winning restaurants and centuries-old vineyards. The scenery 

is spectacular here, from the flowers and wildlife that spread across the trails of the Mont Rochelle Nature Reserve, 

to unforgettable mountain views across the Franschhoek Valley. Over the years, Franschhoek has stayed true to its 

French roots. As such, it feels like a slice of Europe in South Africa. Enjoy a stroll along its main street lined with art 

galleries, artisan shops and some of the country’s finest eateries. 

Add to wish list 1 Taste country contemporary cuisine featuring locally-grown, seasonal produce at the highly-rated La Petite Ferme 

Restaurant. 2 Join the guided Village Walking Tour that'll take you on a gentle stroll through the beautiful village, past notable architecture 

and cultural sites, stopping for a gourmet chocolate tasting along the way. 3 The strikingly beautiful landscape is a romantic setting for 

wedding ceremonies, so if you're looking for a picture-perfect place to tie the knot, be sure to check out the venues available here. 


WISH LIST DESTINATIONS 

Tashkent 

Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, is a hotspot for accessing Central Asia’s fascinating Silk Road splendour. The Soviet 

Union rebuilt much of Tashkent in 1966 after a powerful earthquake and, as a result, is evocative of the era with its 

wide streets, plazas and some of the most ornate and extravagant metro stations in the world. The city is also home 

to the domed Chorsu Bazaar, where traditional street food is served in abundance. Newly-built in white marble is the 

incredibly picturesque Minor Mosque. Travel on from the capital to discover incredible mountain scenery, beautiful 

lakes and ancient cities, including Bukhara and its famous blue-tiled mosques. 

Add to wish list 1 Architecture fans can get an up-close look at Tashkent Television Tower, one of the tallest towers in the world, which soars 

375 metres up towards the clouds. 2 Swot up on the history of the country by visiting the State Museum of History of Uzbekistan, which is 

home to about 10,000 exhibits, with each floor dedicated to a different era. 3 Taste the traditional dish of Palov, prepared with rice, meat, 

spices and vegetables and served as a delicious gesture of hospitality. 


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Dubai Marriott Harbour Hotel & Suites 

@marriottharbour

APRIL/MAY 

Globetrotter 

Be informed, be inspired, 

be there 

Champion freediver Umberto Pelizzari 

giving lessons at Soneva Fushi in 2018 

DEEP AND MEANINGFUL 

Seeking a holiday with soul? You can learn from 

daring explorers, best-selling authors, motivational 

speakers, Michelin-starred chefs, leading wellness 

practitioners and more celebrated experts who 

have teamed up with Soneva to deliver oneof-a-kind 

experiences at its luxurious resorts in 

Maldives and Thailand. The year-round line-up 

of enthralling encounters offers plenty to look 

forward to, including Soneva Jani's resident yoga 

practitioner, Pawan Kumar, who draws upon his 

teachings in India’s ashrams and the Himalayas to 

guide you on crafting a more peaceful, blissful life. 


GLOBETROTTER 

How to photograph 

ELEPHANTS IN 

THE WILD 

David Murphy 

(@davidmurphy_notm) tells 

us how to capture the gentle 

giants in all their glory 

Catch the golden hour 

The soft light in the hours 

around dawn and dusk lend 

a beautiful warm glow. Plus, 

it's often the time when the 

animals are most visible. 

Find a unique vantage point 

The most obvious shot isn't 

always the most striking. 

Think outside of the box and 

look for a unique perspective. 

A low vantage point often 

conveys a more intimate 

connection to an animal. 

Get up close 

This isn’t the easiest thing to 

do when shooting wildlife, but 

it makes all the difference. A 

viewing platform in a hidden 

bunker provided a great 

opportunity to get nearer to 

these majestic elephants in 

Botswana. I also recommend 

using a telephoto lens to 

achieve a more intimate shot. 

Double up on shots 

Even if you think you’ve 

already got the perfect shot, 

take more. You might find 

something unique and striking 

later when flicking back 

through your images. 


GLOBETROTTER 

HOT 

HOTELS 

Our pick 

of up-and-coming 

luxury hotels 

Camp Sakira by Amangiri 

FOUR SEASONS 

HOTEL MADRID 

Spain 

With a sun-splashed pool 

terrace, a four-level luxury 

spa and a brilliant rooftop 

dining concept by Michelinstarred 

chef Dani Garcia, 

Four Seasons Hotel Madrid 

brings a dash of golden 

charm to its new Spanish 

address. Bagging an exclusive 

spot in the beating heart 

of the city, the innovative 

Centro Canalejas, the hotel 

comprises of seven 

historical buildings, all 

stunningly restored 

and re-imagined. We 

rate the triangular 

Royal Suite with its 

looming doubleheight 

ceilings 

and historic 

details. 

Reserve now 

for arrivals on 

May 15 (TBC). 

CAMP SARIKA 

BY AMANGIRI 

Utah, USA 

Tucked deep within a 600- 

acre landscape of towering 

mesas, slot canyons and rustcoloured 

sands, this luxury 

resort (opening in April, TBC) 

offers guests the chance to 

experience the Utah desert’s 

wild allure. The camp’s cluster 

of 10 canvas-topped pavilions 

are fabulously designed with 

epic views, as well oversized 

terraces with fire pits and 

heated plunge pools. Start 

your day with a morning yoga 

session atop a monolithic rock 

formation, or a restorative 

spa treatment inspired by 

the holistic traditions of the 

Navajo. In the evening, the 

slot canyons await discovery. 

Four Seasons Hotel Madrid 

THE LEGIAN SIRE 

Lombok, Indonesia 

Fringed by the soft sands of 

Tanjung Sire beach, between 

the sparkling Gili Islands and 

the sacred Mount Rinjani, The 

Legian Sire (opening 9 May, 

TBC) is a tropical delight. 

In-room spa treatments and 

private plunge pools make 

it the perfect choice for a 

romantic break, while the 

myriad of exciting activities on 

offer, from natural explorations 

to surfing, snorkelling, diving, 

trekking and hiking, offer 

family fun in spades. You 

can also organise a range 

of excursions, from visits 

to waterfalls, to rice-paddy 

adventures and trips to the 

neighbouring Gili Islands 

thanks to the hotel's free 

shuttle boat service. 

The Legian Sire 


GLOBETROTTER 

VIRTUAL VIEWINGS 

10 museums and exhibitions you can visit from your sofa 

Thanks to our digital 

evolvement, you can now 

sit and discover some of the 

world’s most iconic museums 

from home. Here are 10 

museums and exhibitions to 

provide you with some cultural 

and educational stimulus over 

the coming weeks. 

The Louvre 

As one of the world’s 

largest art museums and 

one of Paris’ most iconic 

landmarks, the Louvre 

is a must-visit for those 

visiting the French capital. 

While adhering to social 

distancing precautions, 

you can skip the queues 

and visit the exhibitions 

online instead. Explore 

the Egyptian Antiquities, 

the remains of the Louvre 

Moat and more besides. 

louvre.fr 

The Van Gogh 

Museum 

Home to the largest collection 

of artworks by Vincent 

Van Gogh, the museum in 

Amsterdam is a draw for 

curious art lovers. With over 

200 paintings, 500 drawings 

and 750 personal letters from 

the artist himself, the museum 

offers endless opportunities 

to learn about his life and 

work. vangoghmuseum.com 

National Gallery 

of Art 

Washington is home to one of 

the most popular museums 

in the United States: the 

National Gallery of Art. You 

can view audio and video 

exhibitions via the gallery’s 

website to explore exhibition 

highlights and learn more 

about momentous events. 

nga.gov/exhibitions.html 

NASA 

Based in Ohio, the NASA 

Glenn Research The One Centre Restaurant 

designs and develops 

innovative technology in 

order to further advance 

NASA’s aeronautical and 

space exploration missions. 

Not quite a museum or an 

exhibition, the innovative hub 

still aims to share insights 

into its missions in order to 

educate the wider population. 

You can take an online 

tour of the flight research 

hangar and more. nasa.gov/ 

glennvirtualtours 

National Museum 

of Natural History 

The Smithsonian National 

Museum of Natural history 

tells the history of the planet. 

It stewards a collection of 

145 million specimens and 

artifacts, each reflecting a 

moment in time and space. 

On a mission to understand 

the natural world and our 

place in it, the National 

Museum of Natural History 

allows visitors to take a 

self-guided tour of exhibits. 

naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/ 

virtual-tour 

National Museum 

of Modern & 

Contemporary Art 

Korea’s National Museum 

of Modern & Contemporary 

Art has become one of the 

country’s most popular 

museums since opening in 

1969. Providing you online 

access from anywhere in the 

world, the Google virtual 

tour takes you on a journey 

through Korea’s art history. 

artsandculture.google.com 

Metropolitan Museum 

of Art 

Housing over two million 

works of art, The Metropolitan 

Museum of Art presents 

over 5,000 years of art from 

around the world across three 

iconic sites in New York City. 

Millions of people opt to see 

it on their laptops. 

metmuseum.org 

Rijksmuseum 

Explore world-famous 

artworks from the Dutch 

Golden Age without leaving 

your home. In a couple of 

clicks you can see the likes 

of Vermeer and Rembrandt. 

artsandculture.google.com/ 

partner/rijksmuseum 

The Guggenheim Museum 

The Guggenheim Museum in New York is an internationallyrenowned 

art museum and one of the most significant 

architectural icons of the 20th century. However, you don’t 

have to fly to the United States to view its artistic treasures. 

Works by Pablo Picasso, Edgar Degas and all are among 

highlights of a virtual tour, created to ensure the collections 

and exhibitions can be enjoyed from afar. artsandculture. 

google.com 

The British Museum 

In partnership with the 

Google Cultural Institute, 

the British Museum in 

London has created one of 

the most advanced online 

museum experiences. 

Featuring some of the 

most fascinating objects 

in human history, you can 

jump back in time and 

explore diverse cultures 

while listening to insights 

from British Museum 

curators. britishmuseum. 

withgoogle.com 


5 

OF THE 

BEST 

GLOBETROTTER 

The Roof 

Remote escapes 

If you're dreaming of a digital detox, 

these far-flung resorts could be just the ticket 

1 

TORFHÚS RETREAT, 

ICELAND 

Set in the heart of the 

Golden Circle, this ecoluxury 

resort runs entirely on 

geothermal and hydroelectric 

sustainable energy. Settle 

into one of the cosy cabins 

and enjoy views over volcanic 

plains to snow-capped 

mountains and the Langjökull 

glacier beyond. 

2AMANKORA, BHUTAN 

Comprised of five 

lodges (home to 76 

contemporary rustic suites) 

strategically dotted around 

the valleys and surrounded 

by forests and orchards, 

Amankora calls those seeking 

a complete holistic and cultural 

immersion. Guided activities 

change with the seasons – sign 

up for the herb-infused hot 

stone bath at Paro and the 

meditation in Punakha. 

3JADE MOUNTAIN 

RESORT, ST. LUCIA 

Add a dash of romance 

to your offline hideaway at 

this striking Caribbean retreat. 

With vast suites basking in 

the spellbinding views of 

the Pitons, unobstructed 

ocean vistas, and minimal 

electronics available, it brings 

the disconnect to reconnect 

concept to life. 

4 

MIRAVAL AUSTIN 

A haven for wellness, 

this resort offers 

transformative experiences 

that that'll teach you how to 

restore balance to your life 

through a curated itinerary 

incorporating activities such 

as vasudhara, which combines 

the feeling of being weightless 

in the water with Thai 

massage. You'll find a 'sleeping 

bag' for your mobile phone on 

your bedside table. 

5NIMMO BAY 

WILDERNESS RESORT, 

BRITISH COLUMBIA 

Offering serenity, adventure 

and luxury in equal measure, 

this family-owned resort stands 

amid masses of unblemished 

beauty in the Great Bear 

Rainforest. Cabins are devoid 

of TVs and you can spend your 

days kayaking, paddleboarding 

or keeping an eye out for orca 

and humpback whales. 

Photo: Jade Mountain 


GLOBETROTTER 

HOW I TRAVEL 

THE THING I LOVE MOST 

ABOUT TRAVELLING IS… 

the quiet time on the flight 

when no-one can reach me. 

I KEEP MYSELF 

ENTERTAINED WHILE 

TRAVELLING BY... 

downloading my favourite 

shows on Netflix and binge 

watching them. 

waterfall to shopping for 

handicrafts – I’ve heard the 

ceramics are particularly 

beautiful – its tropical allure 

calls me. 

THE LAST BOOK I READ 

ON HOLIDAY WAS… The 

Secret by Rhonda Byrne. 

I’ve read this 

self-help 

bestseller 

multiple times 

and I always find 

something new to 

relate to. 

Clockwise from left: The Secret by 

Rhonda Byrne published by Atria Books/ 

Beyond Words; Kuang Si Falls in Laos; 

spicy lentil dahl; Rodial Pink Diamond Lip 

and Eye Filler; Santa Marina Mykonos; 

The Bayon temple at Angkor in Cambodia 

MY FAVOURITE 

HOTEL FOR A WEEKEND 

AWAY IS... Santa Marina 

Mykonos for its glamorous 

blend of beach-chic 

interiors, views of the 

glistening Aegean Sea, and 

being able to unwind on the 

sand at Buddha-Bar Beach. 

IF I HAD TO CHOOSE 

BETWEEN THE CITY AND 

THE BEACH, I’D… go to 

both at different times. 

THE BEST WAY TO 

EXPLORE A NEW 

DESTINATION IS… to have 

no plans whatsoever and 

decide what you want to do 

once you’re settled. 

THE STAMP IN MY 

PASSPORT I AM MOST 

PROUD OF IS... India. I 

loved the culture and food. 

MARIA HATZISTEFANIS, founder and CEO of 

beauty brands Rodial and Nip+Fab (@mrsrodial), 

shares the experiences that fuel her wanderlust 

THE ITEMS I ALWAYS 

KEEP IN MY CARRY ON 

ARE... hand sanitiser, 

chewing gum and Rodial 

Pink Diamond Lip and 

Eye Filler. 

THE MOST UNUSUAL 

TRAVEL EXPERIENCE 

I’VE EVER HAD WAS… 

travelling to Búzios in 

Brazil from London 

with a newborn and a 

two-year old. It was a 

30-hour journey door 

to door – challenging, 

but we made it. 

which makes me wonder if 

I missed out on some fun 

along the way. 

THE TRIP THAT CHANGED 

MY LIFE WAS... 

Cambodia. It was a very 

spiritual journey. 

THE TRAVEL EXPERIENCE I 

WISH I’D HAD WHEN I WAS 

YOUNGER IS… backpack. 

I always opted for comfort, 

THE DESTINATION ON 

MY BUCKET LIST IS... 

Laos. From hiking through 

the jungle to a cascading 


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THE FAMILY HOLIDAY 


Want your brood to beam like 

the ones in the brochures? It is 

possible — and no swotting 

needed. Simply turn over for 

our tantrum-proof cheat sheets 

to your favourite cities and trips… 

TYPEOGRAPHY: PANDORA THATCHER, AGE 8 3/4 


Start off on a high 

Who’s every child’s biggest hero and 

hails from Greater London? Harry 

Potter, of course. Go seek out Platform 

9¾ at King’s Cross Station as soon as 

you arrive and the kids will love you 

forever. Or at least until you get to the 

gift shop, a shrine to all things HP. The 

store also sells a few exclusives, such 

as Harry’s Hogwarts school trunk and 

acceptance letter. 

Memorable meal 

They’ll be ravenous by now, but you’re 

itching to see the capital, so jump on 

a B Bakery bus tour (london.b-bakery. 

com; depart either from Victoria Station 

or just off Trafalgar Square). No-one can 

complain about a vintage Routemaster 

bus that clocks the city’s greatest sights 

– Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Royal 

Albert Hall – while serving you high tea. 

Alas: under-5s aren’t allowed – if that 

applies to you, try an Afternoon Tea 

Cruise on the Thames (citycruises.com). 

Secretly educational sight 

The Museum of London is really very 

clever. Parents view it as the national 

curriculum brought to life, but the 

kids only see fun, fun, fun. Watch 

London burn in the Great Fire (and 

wear a 17th-century fireman’s hat), 

then join a garden party in the days of 

Queen Victoria, before sitting inside a 

prison cell, its walls scratched with the 

names of turn-of-the-century debtors 

(museumoflondon.org.uk). 

Blow off steam 

The South Bank is a brilliant legstretcher: 

under-11s can reboot at 

Jubilee Playground and Gardens and 

older kids will get a kick out of Riverside 

Walk (selfies at the London Eye, street 

performers and more) – and no child 

will be able to stop staring at the 

skateboarders at Skate Space. If it’s 

raining, duck into Tate Modern (tate. 

org.uk) and let them run around the 

gargantuan turbine hall. 

Sleeping through 

An underground swimming pool with 

doughnut inflatables, giant cinema 

screens, milk and cookies at bedtime, 

and kiddie certificates that can be 

cashed in for a mocktail in the bar… 

Haymarket Hotel, near Leicester and 

Trafalgar Squares, could have been 

designed by Kevin from Home Alone, 

yet it’s just as pleasing for parents – 

with the buzzy Brumus restaurant and 

chic interiors they don’t have to keep 

tidy. Consider, too, that the sister hotel 

in Soho – Ham Yard – has a bowling 

alley. Handy. 

If only I’d known 

Taxis make most sense for families 

taking short central journeys, even if it 

does feel extravagant. Use the Uber app 

and you’ll pay less to be driven from 

King’s Cross to the Museum of London 

than you would on the Tube when 

travelling with older children or more 

than two people. If you do take public 

transport, use your contactless bank 

card for a 50% discount – you’ll need a 

different card for each person. 



These pages, clockwise 

from left: B Bakery bus tour; 

Platform 9 3/4 


Don’t go too early 

Lapland without the white stuff is snow 

joke, and winters up here are starting 

later these days, so go from the second 

or third weekend in December for a 

guaranteed snowscape. Ample time is 

crucial: do not book one of those 24- 

hour round-trips from another country 

— your child will be so tired and cranky 

you’ll wonder why you bothered. Four 

nights is better, and even then you’ll wish 

you had more. Darkness reigns: daylight 

falls between 10am and 2pm, when an 

eerie green and pink glow illuminates 

the sky. 

Not all Santa villages are the same 

Lapland spreads across the top end of 

Norway, Finland, Sweden and Russia’s 

Kola Peninsula. However, Finnish Lapland 

is where almost all Santa trips go, and 

Rovaniemi, the provincial capital, is 

the ‘main’ home of Father Christmas 

(santaclausvillage.info): the big guy 

can be visited here every day of the 

year. With this comes a hefty slice of 

commercialism, and if you’re happy with 

that – paying for your photo in a snow 

globe, endless gift shops, a whopping 

great city of Santa – that’s where you 

should go. Children will love it; parents 

may not. For the real deal – and 

endless other wintry activities, such as 

snowmobiling, skiing and reindeer rides – 

head north to the smaller resorts of Levi, 

Yllas or Saariselka. Levi is just 20 minutes 

from the airport, making transfers with 

weary tots superspeedy. Here, Santa’s 

village is way out in the wilderness: a 

huddle of twinkly log cabins hidden 

among snow-laden pines. Kids can 

decorate gingerbread cookies with Mrs 

Claus, make decorations and visit Elf 

school to learn Finnish words such as 

‘Hyvää Joulua’ (Happy Christmas), as 

well as having a private tête-à-tête with 

Santa himself. The focus is firmly on 

wholesome festive fun and, refreshingly, 

souvenir stops are sparse. 

If you only ever take one package 

trip, this is the time to do it 

If you let the experts plan this trip for 

you, the festive fun starts on the plane 

– and children are hooked. Trust us, 

when it’s -20°C outside you’ll want a 

coach-load of elves to collect you from 

the airport, equip you with thermal 

snowsuits and speed you straight to 

your accommodation. And with just 

three or four days on the ground, you 

won’t want to waste precious time at 

the supermarket, so opt for a hotel. The 

expansive buffets will please even the 

most unadventurous of little eaters. 

Go against the flow 

Book your husky ride, snowmobile 

and reindeer safari (all unmissable) 

for the last day or two of your hols. 

The numbers will have petered out by 

then as most people whizz off at high 

speed on the first day or two. Booking 

through the local tourist office or direct 

(laplandsafaris.com) can make it more 

crowd-free. Check your tour company’s 

included excursions carefully – these can 

be just five minutes ‘having a go’ and 

nothing like the longer experience. And 

remember the best fun is free… Some of 

your sweetest memories will be sledging, 

building snowmen or simply rolling 

around on the slopes. In Levi, sleds are 

scattered about, and there’s a nursery 

slope with free button lifts at Kids’ Land, 

so children can have a go at skiing. Pick 

up some sausages and marshmallows 

from the local S-Market en route and 

toast them free of charge over the fire in 

a little Lappish hut at the bottom of the 

slope (levi.ski/en/kidsland); hire ski gear 

a short walk away at Zero Point. 

Maximise your chances of seeing 

the Aurora Borealis 

The Northern Lights are elusive and the 

luckiest time to see them is in spring and 

autumn – here’s how to increase your 

chances. Stay far north of the Arctic 

Circle (in Levi, Inari or Saariselka), out of 

town (less light pollution), and download 

the aurora app (free). It shows the 

likelihood according to your location and 

will send an alert if a sighting is imminent 

– some hotels will even sound an alarm 

to wake you when the aurora is near. Or 

take an after-dark snowmobile safari for 

an atmospheric treat. Even if you don’t 

see it, speeding across a frozen lake at 

60kph is an experience in itself. 




Ferris wheel on Tibidabo 

26 worldtravellermagazine.com 




Forget the Sagrada Família (the kids 

won’t get it) and take bus T2a from 

Plaça de Catalunya to Tibidabo – the 

hill you can see from Passeig de 

Gràcia. On top, there’s a theme park 

with charmingly retro rides and fab 

views (tibidabo.cat). Or, on the other 

side of the city, take the funicular up to 

montjuïc (telefericdemontjuic.cat). The 

highlight here is the Magic Fountain, 

next door to the Poble Espanyol, 

a leftover from the 1929 World 

Exhibition (the equivalent of the Expo), 

where kids can visit attractions from 

the whole of Spain. 


Take the metro to the Plaça d’Españya, 

then nip around the corner to the 

Suarna Bar restaurant on Carrer Llançà. 

Admittedly, from the outside it looks a bit 

like a shopping-mall diner, but the kids – 

like the cops and the locals who dine here 

– will love it. Paella is the house speciality, 

but there’s also a kids' menu, entertaining 

staff and, on the top floor, a play area 

(restaurantesuarna.com). 


You may wish to explore La Ruta del 

Modernisme in a bid to understand 

Gaudí’s internal struggle between God 

and nature, but that won’t cut it with 

the kids – with the exception perhaps of 

the Alice in Wonderland fantasy of La 

Pedrera (lapedrera.com) and crazy Park 

Guell, where they’ll love exploring Gaudí’s 

cartoon-like playground. Otherwise, the 

Museu Maritim (mmb.cat) will easily fill an 

afternoon, with its fascinating collection 

of model ships and a fish-shaped 

submarine. 


Hit the beach. Most visitors head to 

La Barceloneta, but for a more familyfriendly 

vibe take metro line L4 to Selva 

del Mar and the Platja del Bogatell, 

where locals combine competitive 

volleyball with loafing, paddling and long 

lunches. This could also be the spot for 

another memorable meal: try the paella 

at the beachfront Xiringuito Escribà 

(restaurantsescriba. com). And don’t miss 

the magical Parc de la Ciutadella at the 

edge of El Born district. It has a boating 

lake, zoo and playgrounds – perfect for 

hide and seek 


You can find cheaper places to stay, but 

you won’t find a better location than 

the Majestic Residence, one block from 

La Pedrera on Passeig de Gràcia. The 

two-bed apartments come with sitting 

and dining rooms and, on the off-chance 

you’ve got fussy eaters in tow, a fully 

equipped kitchen. Prefer a hotel? The 

Icon BCN is three blocks east of the Plaça 

de Catalunya and 20 minutes from Parc 

de la Ciutadella. 


The Barcelona card saves you so 

much cash, providing free public 

transport and free entry to 25 museums 

(barcelonacard.org).


Brooklyn Bridge 


No NYC attraction will wow your 

kids like the rooftop views from the 

Rockefeller Centre. The 67th/68th floor 

indoor gallery is good, but the open-air 

70th-floor observation deck is better, 

with OMG views of all Manhattan’s 

icons, including the Empire State 

Building, Central Park and the Hudson 

River. Come at night for added sparkle. 


For a classic slice of ’50s Americana in 

Midtown Manhattan, grab brunch in a 

booth at Comfort Diner, notorious for 

its artery-clogging buttermilk pancakes, 

piled high with toasted pecans, bananas 

and berries (comfortdiner.com). Free 

coffee refills, leather banquettes and 

possible sightings of Comfort Diner 

fan Justin Bieber – it’s a cracking find, 

less than 10 minutes’ walk from Grand 

LUX* North Malé Atoll 

Central Station. For dinner, Urbanspace 

Vanderbilt is a food hall with 20 burger, 

taco or pizza vendors and communal 

tables (urbanspacenyc.com). 


Some families will lick their lips at New 

York’s dizzying list of art museums. 

But not all. However, even philistines 

enjoy the fifth-floor gallery at MoMA, 

a perfect 90-minute highlights reel of 

A-List artists, from Picasso and Pollock 

to Mondrian and Monet. There’s no 

charge for under-16s, free wi-fi at the 

excellent cafe by the gift shop, and 

selfie opportunities with Van Gogh’s 

Starry Night to impress even the 

grumpiest teen (moma.org). 


Running for two-and-a-half elevated 

kilometres between Hudson Yards 

and Chelsea, the disused railway 

High Line is an entertaining riot of 

wildflowers, urban art and belting 

views, starting right beside the instantly 

Instagrammable new Vessel landmark 

(thehighline.org). Or make yourselves 

comfortable on a bench in Washington 

Square Park, brimming with buskers 

at weekends, and just next door to the 

cage, aka West Fourth Street courts, 

a famous no-frills breeding ground of 

basketball legends. 


A 15-minute walk from MoMA and the 

Rockefeller Centre, the Roger Smith 

on Lexington has oodles of old New 

York style and family suites that won’t 

blow your holiday budget. It also has 

a bite-sized rooftop bar, so while the 

kids gorge on wi-fi back in the room, 

mums and dads can sip manhattans 

while basking in the city views with 

midtown’s after-work crowd 


The city’s parks are packed with 

free family stuff – and they’re a 

great way to meet New Yorkers. 

Check out nycgovparks.org for free 

events in parks, including theatre 

and piano recitals, yoga and juggling 

classes. The best green space of all is 

Brooklyn Bridge Park, with six piers of 

activities, from kayaking to Pilates. 


Avoid summer holidays 

Balmy Florida is a year-round 

destination, so skip summer, when 

it’s priciest, and nab better deals at 

Christmas and October and February 

half terms. There’s added off-season 

value, too, with festive decorations and 

parades from October (Halloween and 

Thanksgiving), then Mardi Gras from 

February to April. If summer is your only 

option, travel as late as you can – in many 

US states, children are back at school by 

mid-August, so theme-park queues start 

to dissipate then. 

Stay at on-site hotels 

For starters you’ll avoid driving and 

parking headaches with free transport 

to the parks, but the other perks are 

worthwhile, too. Stays at all the Universal 

hotels grant you early park access, 

meaning an hour’s head start on the 

masses to tick off the most popular 

rides – think Simpsons, Revenge of the 

Mummy and anything Harry Potterrelated. 

Bookings at the three premium 

hotels also include an express pass to 

skip the lines – it’s worth calculating 

whether this will actually work out 

cheaper than a less pricey stay plus 

express passes on top (the new Endless 

Summer Resort is the most budgetfriendly 

on site). If you’re planning to 

visit other Orlando parks, too, and want 

to stay offsite, the International Drive 

neighbourhood is the most central. 

Kissimmee, while convenient for Disney, 

is less so for Universal Studios. 

Have a plan of attack 

Fail to plan, plan to fail – a maxim that 

could have been designed for theme 

parks. Don’t head immediately for the 

rides by the entrance – start at the back 

of each park and work your way in. If 

you have small children, make sure to 

intersperse height-limited rollercoasters 

with age-appropriate rides, character 

meet-and-greets and play areas they can 

enjoy, too. Use the Universal app – it’ll 

not only show you live-ride wait times 

Surfside Inn and Suites, Universal Studios 

and schedules, it'll even help you find the 

nearest loos. Disney and Legoland have 

similar apps. Carry swimming cozzies 

every day, just in case you decide to 

head over to Universal’s water park, 

Volcano Bay, where there are pools as 

well as splash rides – a good downtime 

opportunity without returning to your 

hotel/villa. 

Buy a multi-park ticket 

Explorer tickets, which give access to 

either two or all three of the Universal 

parks, are a no-brainer. Even if you 

plan to focus mainly on one park a day, 

without a multi-park ticket you won’t be 

able to ride on the Hogwarts Express, the 

HP-themed train that joins Universal to 

Islands of Adventure (make sure to ride 

in both directions – the return journey is 

totally different). Explorer tickets have 

to be purchased in advance, but this is a 

bonus, as buying on the day just means 

one extra queue to stand in. If you plan 

to visit other Orlando parks, combination 

tickets with access to Disney, Legoland 

et al are available (orlandoattractions. 

com). 

Manage the merchandise 

You are not going to escape without 

souvenirs – branded toys and clothes 

are, as you'd expect, everywhere. So 

negotiate spending limits in advance, and 

consider buying birthday gifts, as much 

of the merchandise is exclusive to the 

parks. If you’re staying in an on-site hotel, 

purchases can be sent directly from the 

till to your room, avoiding the potential 

for immediate loss or damage. But be 

sure to hang on to any interactive wands, 

as they can be used to cast spells at set 

locations around the Wizarding World of 

Harry Potter. 




Nooooooo! Don’t make me do it! 

The idea of going all-inclusive is 

anathema to many parents, especially 

those who pride themselves on their 

intrepid lust for ‘authentic’ travel. But 

we’ve got bad news for you: everyone 

ends up trying it. And the worst news? 

You’ll love it. There’s nothing so blissful 

as being able to say ‘yes’ to your child’s 

third request for an ice cream (because 

there’s a free gelato kiosk by the pool); 

nothing so stress-busting as watching 

them taste – even screw up noses at – 

local cuisine (because no-one’s judging 

you, and there’s pizza if they don’t like 

parmigiana); and nothing so indulgent 

as taking them to the water slides 

for five minutes, before they want to 

try something else. (Who cares? You 

didn’t queue for pricey tickets). If you’re 

happy when your kids are happy, then 

an all-inclusive resort is the best family 

holiday you’ve never had. 

You don’t have to wear a wristband 

The tell-tale neon tag is dying out in 

the world of all-inclusives. They existed 

in resorts where different guests were 

on different meal plans (ie, purple for 

‘premium’ drinks included, ‘orange’ 

not). But hoteliers have cottoned on to 

the fact that people hate this system 

and now everyone is on the same 

basis: all-inclusive, no questions asked. 

And if your resort is on its own private 

beach (many are – take a look at lovely 

LuxMe Daphnila Bay in Corfu) with a 

secure entrance, they know no-one 

can saunter in uninvited and plunder 

the food and drinks for free. You 

don’t have to eat buffet food, either. 

Some families love buffets (and who 

doesn’t, at breakfast, anyway?) – 

and there are big dining rooms with 

an international spread for those 

guests. However, more and more 

all-inclusives come with à la carte 

Rixos Premium 

Saadiyat Island 

restaurants, often gourmet, where 

every dish and drink happens to 

be free. Ikos Resorts (four hotels in 

Greece, and one in Marbella from 

May 2020) has concocted the ‘ultra’ 

all-inclusive concept, which means 

Michelin-star menus and even the 

ability to visit local, independent 

restaurants (their food is included 

in your stay). If you want to eat a 

simple salad on the beach in your 

kaftan, you can, but if you'd prefer 

to dress up and reserve a table for a 

special meal, you can do that, too. 

You can go all-inclusive and be 

adventurous 

Besides its UAE resorts, Rixos 

operates premium all-inclusive 

resorts in other destinations – 

southern Turkey, Egypt, Croatia, 

even the Swiss Alps. Rixos Abu 

Dhabi is on Saadiyat Island: its 

beach attracts nesting sea turtles; its 

hammam wins awards; and it’s just 

minutes from Louvre Abu Dhabi. Or 

try Lujo Bodrum in Turkey. Yes, it’s 

all-inclusive, but it has the styling 

of an Indian Ocean five-star, with 

overwater beach club and all-glass 

villas, and is within driving distance 

of two of the seven wonders of 

the ancient world (Ephesus and 

Helicarnassus). You can sneak in the 

history curriculum between pool 

days and the teens won’t even notice. 

Beware: not everything is 

thrown in 

Generally speaking, spa treatments 

and motorised water sports aren’t 

included. But fitness classes, gym use, 

and kayaks often are – so be clever 

and get your fill of the free stuff first. 

If the kids’ club is complimentary, take 

your children along to explore on day 

one with no pressure to attend, and 

they’ll pick up on your laissez-faire 

attitude. Kids often love the allinclusive 

versions of kids’ clubs. The 

standard is often higher, too, because 

all-inclusives are famously familyorientated; 

expect soft-play centres, 

splash parks, laser tag, cinemas and 

even sailing and sports schools. Don’t 

assume going all-inclusive costs much 

more than regular hotel stays either. 




The Pantheon temple’s floor is like a 

giant hopscotch, laid out in squares of 

contrasting marble. Head to the slab 

at the very centre and gaze up at the 

Roman dome, open to the sky through a 

perfect circular oculus. Little ones can lie 

down on the cool 1,900-year-old marble 

and try to spot a pigeon flying overhead. 

Arrive 30 minutes before last entry 

(7.15pm; 5.45pm Sundays) and you’ll be 

spared the rush-hour crush. 


There’s no sign outside Villa Medici 

announcing the house cafe, Colbert 

(caffecolbert.it) – just head upstairs 

and you’ll find it. Its towering windows 

offer an exquisite panorama… and a 

mysterious optical illusion. While you 

await your home-cooked meatballs, fix 

your eyes on the dome of San Rocco 

in the distance. Now slowly back away 

from the window. As you reach the far 

corner of the room, the dome appears 

bigger, not smaller. Dig in and discuss. 


You might prefer the rooftop bar or the 

fourth-floor craft gallery at Rinascente 

Tritone department store (rinascente. 

it), but for the kids’ sake, start in the 

basement. Spanning the homeware 

section is a 60-metre stretch of ancient 

Kudadoo Maldives 

aqueduct, lit up with LEDs. Two millennia 

since Augustus’s Romans built the 

Aqua Virgo, it still transports 80,000 

cubic metres of water daily to the Trevi 

Fountain – just three minutes away. 


After school hours, families let their kids 

loose in traffic-free Piazza Navona. Join 

them on the cobblestones, scampering 

between sidewalk artists, buskers and 

charcoal caricaturists. At dusk, out 

come the bouncing, whirring glowin-the-dark 

toys – mesmerising for 

babies and tempting for toddlers. For 

a souvenir they’ll cherish, wander over 

to the Murano glass shop at 170 Via del 

Pellegrino – kids love foraging through 

the crates of adorable animal figurines, 

tiny treasures at a few euros each. 


On sultry days you’ll be grateful for a pad 

on a cool, quiet, convenient street. Hotel 

Navona is a rare budget option sleeping 

up to four in a room. The Roman Forum 

is 15 minutes away on foot, the Pantheon 

just three. Find superlative pizza down 

the road at Baffetto (pizzeriabaffetto. 

it) and stellar coffee at the nearby 

Sant’Eustachio cafe. 


Not only is Rome swarmed by tourists 

in August, but the best restaurants and 

shops are often closed. If you must come 

during summer holidays, make it late 

July or late August. 

PARENTS’ 

TOP 

TRAVEL 

TIPS 

1 

‘Make 

a packing 

list from your first 

family trip, and store 

it on your phone 

– then add to it as the 

kids grow. It means you’ll 

never forget goggles or 

Calpol. Essential packing? 

Earphones (no-one wants 

to listen to the little ’uns’ 

cartoons). What not to 

pack: kids’ wheelie cases – 

overhyped!’ 

2‘Getting a child’s 

first passport 

takes longer than 

normal. Don’t 

book a non-refundable trip 

until it arrives’ 

3‘It’s free to take 

a car seat on 

airlines. And if 

you buy a storage 

bag for yours, it’s not only 

extra protection, but gives 

more packing space, too.’ 

4‘Villas are great 

for families, but 

beware tighter 

check-in/ out 

times: 4pm and 10am. 

There’s no point booking 

an early outbound flight 

if you can’t access the 

property for hours.’ 

5‘Don't just pack a 

change of clothes 

for kids during 

the flights – think 

of yourself, too. Under-2s 

must sit on parents’ laps, 

so you’ll probably get as 

mucky as they do!’ 


XXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Hawke's Bay in Napier 

Photo © Graeme Murray for 

Tourism New Zealand 

Postcards 

Stories from journeys 

far and wide 

TASMANIA p34 

GALÁPAGOS p48 

NEW ZEALAND p54 

ROAD TRIP FROM NEW YORK TO LA p42 


These pages: Taking a stroll along 

Reidle Beach 


TASMANIA 

Lara Brunt goes off-grid on Maria Island in Australia and discovers an 

unspoilt isle teeming with unique wildlife 


TASMANIA 

As we walk along the bush track, the 

air thick with the honey-like scent of 

eucalyptus trees in bloom, a brown ball 

covered in spines waddles across our 

path. Sensing danger, the echidna goes 

to ground, burying his long snout in 

the leaves, reckoning that if he can’t see 

us, we definitely can’t see him. Despite 

growing up in Australia, I can count on 

one hand the number of times I’ve seen 

one of these shy creatures in the wild. 

Encounters like this are commonplace 

on Maria Island (oddly pronounced 

‘Mariah’, as in Carey), a pristine island 

off the east coast of Tasmania that was 

thankfully unaffected by Australia's recent 

bushfire crisis. Declared a national park 

in 1972 and accessible only by ferry, the 

island’s carefully managed conservation 

programme has seen booming numbers 

of weird and wonderful Aussie wildlife, 

including wombats, wallabies, kangaroos, 

pademelons, echidnas and possums. 

Maria Island has also become 

something of a latter-day Noah's Ark, 

with vulnerable species such as Cape 

Barren geese and Forester kangaroos 

shipped here for insurance. Meanwhile, 

‘ 

IT FEELS 

LIKE THE 

PERFECT OFF- 

GRID ESCAPE 

FOR THESE 

TURBULENT 

TIMES 

’ 

the Tasmanian devil, a meat-eating 

marsupial famous for its spine-chilling 

screeches, has been saved from extinction 

after being decimated by a rare facial 

cancer. Over the past eight years, 34 

disease-free devils have been introduced 

to Maria Island, which now boasts a 

healthy population of more than 100. 

With its white-sand beaches, ancient 

eucalypt forests and soaring dolerite 

columns, animals are not the island’s 

only draw. I’d come to do the Maria 

Island Walk, an active but pampered 

four-day adventure led by guides Dan 

and Gemma. Fuelled by gourmet Tassie 

food and staying in glamping cabins, 

the 40km walk from south to north 

is not terribly demanding, even for a 

novice hiker like myself. It feels like 

the perfect off-grid escape for these 

turbulent times; in four days, we stumble 

upon only one other walker (who 

looked pretty surprised to see us too). 

Originally inhabited by the Tyreddeme 

Aboriginal people, Dutch navigator Abel 

Tasman sailed past in 1642 and named 

the island after the wife of his patron. 

The British established a penal colony on 

mainland Australia nearly 150 years later, 

before setting up a convict settlement 

at Darlington at the northern end of 

Maria Island, our ultimate destination, 

in 1825. Abandoned seven years’ later, 

the island was then leased for whaling, 

farming and various ill-fated ventures, 

including a vineyard and cement works, 

dreamt up by a charismatic Italian 

merchant named Diego Bernacchi, 

before it became protected land. 

Departing by boat from Triabunna, a 

tiny town on the east coast of Tasmania, 

we arrive 30 minutes later at Shoal 

Bay. Small rays glide in slow motion 


Clockwise from 

opposite: Darlington 

convict settlement; 

candlelit dining at 

camp; Tasmanian devil; 

the sun sets on the 

rocks © Rob Blahers; 

a wombat comes to 

say hello 


JAPAN 


‘ 

MARIA ISLAND 

HAS ALSO BECOME 

SOMETHING OF 

A LATTER-DAY 

NOAH'S ARK 

’ 


TASMANIA 

through the turquoise shallows as 

we wade ashore and set off down the 

deserted beach, boots in hands and sand 

between our toes. The island is 20km 

long and 13km across at its widest point, 

but we cross the narrow isthmus that 

connects the north and south parts, 

giving Maria Island an hourglass shape. 

After settling into Casuarina Beach 

Camp, a permanent eco-camp hidden 

among the trees with six green canvas 

and wood cabins and a swanky communal 

dining area, our group of ten – Belgians, 

Canadians, Aussies and a Brit – set off 

for an 8km round-trip under towering 

blue gums to Haunted Bay (spotting our 

spiky echidna friend along the way). 

With boulders covered in blood-red 

lichen and a resident penguin colony, 

the bay is incredibly photogenic, despite 

its mournful moniker. “The name is 

said to come from the tortured souls 

of whalers once stationed here, or the 

cries of baby penguins as they wait for 

mum to bring food home,” Dan tells us. 

By the time we stroll back into camp, 

canapés are ready and dinner is well 

under way. We may be on an uninhabited 

island with no mobile phone signal, 

but Dan and Gemma rustle up a topnotch 

meal of bruschetta with vineripened 

tomatoes and goats’ cheese, 

followed by a saffron risotto with 

Spring Bay scallops, and a summer 

berry pudding with King Island cream. 

Time to loosen those trousers. 

We wake to the sound of twittering 

wattlebirds, ready for the longest stretch 

of the walk, covering some 14km over 

flat bush tracks and five sandy beaches. 

Heading north, we stop for morning tea 

at an old farmhouse at French’s Farm, 

with the nearby shearing shed hinting at 

Maria Island’s previous life as a sheepfarming 

outpost for more than 150 years. 

We follow kangaroo tracks along the 

beach, as the clearest waters I’ve ever 

seen lap the shore and dramatic storm 

clouds gather overhead. From the crest 

of the hill at Point Lesueur we spy the 

red-brick ruins of a convict probation 

station that operated from 1842 and 

1850, and marvel at the orange and red 

cliffs that were an important source of 

ochre for the Tyreddeme Aborigines. 

After stopping for lunch, we come 

across a grassy headland dotted with 

dozens of bare-nosed wombats and 

‘ 

WILD AND WINDSWEPT, THE PRISTINE 

COASTLINE OF THE FREYCINET 

PENINSULA STRETCHES OUT BEFORE US 

’ 

carpeted with their distinctive cubeshaped 

dung. Normally nocturnal, the 

tank-like marsupials are happy to graze 

all day long on Maria. And while they 

look dozy, the average wombat could 

out-sprint a human in a 100-metre 

dash. We even catch sight of a “twoheaded” 

wombat, with a baby joey 

sticking out of mum’s pouch at the rear. 

Arriving at another impeccably 

organised camp, I enjoy a wonderfully 

hot bush shower, before sitting down 

to miso soup with wakame seaweed 

and shitake mushrooms, followed 

by a gourmet Aussie barbeque of 

duck-and-wallaby sausages, quail and 

lamb chops with spiced cous cous. 

After the day’s exertion, I feel like 

I’ve earned every bite of the flourless 

chocolate cake smothered in cream. 

Day three takes us past the Painted 

Cliffs, swirling sandstone rock 

formations created by iron oxide-stained 

ground water, tides and wind, before 

arriving at the UNESCO World Heritagelisted 

convict settlement of Darlington. 

We dump our packs at Bernacchi House, 

an elegant 19th-century cottage where 

we’ll spend our last night, before the 

more adventurous of us head out to scale 

the twin peaks of Bishop and Clerk. 

Following the cliff edge, the track 

begins to narrow and climb as we 

make our way into the bush. We slowly 

zigzag up a steep field of fallen rocks, 

before scrambling up to the summit. 

Wild and windswept, the pristine 

coastline of the Freycinet Peninsula 

stretches out before us to the north, 

while massive dolerite columns plunge 

into the Tasman Sea as we look east. 

On our final day, we explore the wellpreserved 

buildings of the old convict 

settlement that was once home to 627 

convicts, ever-watchful for a Tassie 

devil that has been known to sun itself 

around these parts. It doesn’t make 

an appearance, but as we sit on the 

verandah of a rustic cottage enjoying 

one last meal of freshly shucked 

oysters, it hardly seems to matter. 

The four-day Maria Island Walk 

operates from October to April, while a 

three-day walk operates in the winter 

months from June to August. 

To book a future trip, call 

800 DNATA or visit dnatatravel.com 


This page: Soft, 

colourful TASMANIA 

corals around 

Lizard Island 

Previous pages, left to 

right: On top of Bishop 

and Clerk; kangaroos 

at play 

These pages, left to 

right: Painted cliffs; a 

couple enjoy the views 

at Skipping Ridge 


XXXXXXXXXXXXX 

This page: Peggy Sue’s 

roadside diner near Barstow 

Right: On the open road 

through Utah 


USA 

Life in 

the 

FAST LANE 

New York to LA – it’s the ultimate American road 

trip. But surely it takes forever to complete? Not on 

this route, says Ian Belcher. You just need a week 

off work and a motor with oomph 


What divine timing. As I burn along a 

rattlesnake speedway in the Utah desert, 

a single cloud drifts above Monument 

Valley’s iconic buttes as if let loose from a 

Hollywood studio; red-tailed hawks wheel 

overhead and the iPad shuffle releases 

the high-octane opening chords of Born 

to Run, Bruce Springsteen’s paean to the 

open road. Surely such synchronicity isn’t 

mere coincidence? I’ve no idea if God’s a 

DJ, but I’m reliably informed he’s running 

the show. Just three days before, while 

driving through Nebraska, I heard Dr 

Erwin W Lutzer declare that I ‘will face 

the wrath and judgment of the Lord’. 

From Bible-bashing pastors to heavenly 

landscapes to rock ’n’ roll salvation, there’s 

nothing that brings the intoxicating, 

movie-set and occasionally alien world 

of America to life like a road trip – and 

there’s no road trip better than New 

York to LA, the El Classico of drives. 

Under cyan skies we’re chasing a 

route that offers warm sun without 

the relentless sizzle of the Deep South 

(come summer, Route 66 just melts). 

And ours is the greedy ‘fast food’ option, 

allowing us to gorge on everything we 

desire from a trans-America journey – 

‘ 

ROCKS MIMIC A 

VAST TIRAMISU, 

CHOCOLATE 

TRUFFLES 

AND BLOBS 

OF WHIPPED 

CREAM 

’ 

hip-as-hell big cities, small-town kitsch, 

mind-bending western wilderness 

– and still take only a week off work. 

Arrowing out of the Big Apple towards 

the Great Lakes and Midwestern flatlands 

provides a blend of kitsch Americana, 

intriguing roadside culture and refuels 

in mom-&-pop diners before we vault 

over the Rockies into movie territory, 

navigating dramatic cowboy deserts to 

take the chequered flag on LA’s Manhattan 

Beach. It also means eight days and 

6,500km in a confined space. So pick 

your travelling companions carefully. I 

chose familiarity over joy, recruiting two 

old travelling buddies: Doug, a grouchy 

Canadian photographer, and Gareth, a 

grouchier Welsh accountant, who’ll both 

lighten the driving load if not the mood. 

Our starting line is a hip Downtown 

hotel, chosen as an opening blast of 

Manhattan sophistication. After a dawn 

check-out, departing through the lobby 

beneath a glass-bottomed swimming 

pool – you won’t find that in a roadside 

motel – we set off with a fresh sun 

winking in our rear-view mirror. And 

90 minutes later New York’s concrete 

canyons morph into New Jersey’s verdant 

hills, then, remarkably quickly, into 

our first mountains: Pennsylvania’s 

Appalachians, with their forested valleys 

and ridges. It’s not just the scenery 

that’s expanding. There are huge 

trucks, enormous road kills – and epic 

hamburgers. Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub in 

Clearfield has the biggest on the planet. 

It’s our first taste of the unique, 

sometimes bizarre attractions kissing 

the highway and I’m not sure my arteries 

can handle many more. No-one has 

conquered the 25lb (11kg) Burgernator, 

but Brad Sciullo scoffed the 15lb (7kg) 

Belly Buster in two hours and 33 minutes, 

and hundreds have devoured the 2lb (1kg) 

Challenger, earning plaques in Denny’s 

These pages, clockwise from 

above: Carhenge; the sun 

comes down on Manhattan 

Beach; tackling the burgernator 

at Denny's Beer Barrel Pub; 

vintage signs at a roadside 

gas station 


USA 

Hall of Fame. We won’t be joining them. 

Our three-strong team surrenders meekly 

to the 30cm-wide patty that, with bun 

and cascading garnish, hits 3.5lbs (1.5kg). 

Silent with indigestion, we head west 

to Ohio, completing a day’s high-calibre 

nutrition with sacks of cheese and caramel 

kernels at Chagrin Falls’s renowned 

68-year-old popcorn shop. The peachy 

small town (imagine It’s A Wonderful Life) 

typifies the quirky Americana we’d hoped 

for. Nearby Cleveland chips in with two 

bizarre world records: the biggest rubber 

stamp (doubling as a celebration of the 

end of slavery) and the largest outdoor 

chandelier: a six-metre-high behemoth. 

And the heartland idiosyncracy 

doesn’t let up. Two hours into next 

day’s drive, as Ohio flattens into farms 

and barns, I discover, alongside the fast 

food, fast religion: at Interstate 80’s 

Toledo rest stop, next to Burger King 

and Taco Bell, a stationary truck sports 

a supersized logo – Mobile Chapel. Its 

carpeted container holds an organ, pulpit 

and seats for a truckers’ congregation. 

Sadly its glass doors are locked. 

Perhaps it’s for the best. The clock’s 

ticking. Our relatively speedy trans- 

America adventure mostly allows time 

for only minor detours, demanding long 

drives with late finishes. But today is 

different. We reach Chicago, 1,400km 

under our belts, before sunset – in time 

for another of the ‘urban cool’ hits that 

distinguish this cross-country route 

from its southern equivalents. This 

time it’s a chic blend of Art Deco and 

Neo-Classical architecture as we mingle 

with the Young Things on the London 

House hotel’s rooftop bar and lap up its 

views of the surrounding skyscrapers. 

Were this On the Road, Dean Moriarty 

would charm a dame and find a sweaty 

jazz dive. Instead, Gareth sips his beer 

and explains VAT changes for the selfemployed. 

Jack Kerouac would weep. 

He’d also hate our car. We’d considered a 

convertible, imagining blue horizons, soft 

breezes and mirrored shades reflecting 

roadside cactuses, but were told the reality 

is a rear passenger deafened by wind and 

crippled by minimal legroom. So we hired 

a bulky Dodge Journey instead. Youthful 

abandon trampled by middle-aged 

pragmatism: good call. Big wheels are de 

rigueur next day, though. We’ve reached 

Iowa 80, the world’s largest truck stop. 


A kerbside city that hasn’t closed 

in 53 years, that has served more 

than three million coffees, 18 million 

eggs and, best not to visualise this, 

got through 56,000km of loo roll. It 

boasts a barber, chiropractor, cinema 

and Dogomat pet wash, and even 

hosts its own Trucker’s Olympics (the 

women’s strong pull is a highlight). 

I boost my testosterone behind the 

wheel of its showroom’s mammoth 

chrome-covered cab and buy my wife a 

pair of vast elasticated shorts frescoed 

with three ducks and the words ‘Butt 

Quack’. I spoil her, I really do. 

If Iowa 80 is big and brash, Grinnell, 

reached by a short detour, is petite and 

understated. It’s small-town gold dust. 

Just behind the near-deserted Main Street, 

where I’m passed by a pensioner on a 

motorised lawnmower, the magnificent 

Merchant’s National Bank sports golden 

winged lions, glistening Greek columns 

and striking stained glass. One of the 

Midwest’s jewelbox banks, its architect, 

Louis Sullivan, was the father of the 

modern skyscraper. (Louis would adore 

tonight’s accommodation: a red-brick 

mansion in Lincoln, with ballroom, library 

and creaky floors that were once part of 

a University of Nebraska frat house.) 

We’ve now penetrated the Great Plains. 

Coming up to halfway, it’s time to swap 

I-80, the interstate that has dominated 

the journey, for gently rolling prairies. 

Our pace slows. At a local bakery, our 

waitress, Michelle, demands I repeat 

my breakfast order: ‘Your accent makes 

everything sound so intellectual.’ 

‘Even toast?’ 

‘Yep, even toast.’ 

I’m not sure Michelle’s right, but 

either way, there’s plenty of time for 

conversation on this trip. As Doug, 

Gareth and I meander through Nebraska’s 

rippling ocean of sandhills, serenaded 

by the mournful wail of goods trains, 

talk turns to health concerns, career 

openings that closed, roads not travelled. 

Nebraska, it seems, is the perfect 

spot for a Midwest mid-life crisis. 

Perhaps that’s what inspired Jim 

Reinders to plant 39 Caddies, Chevvies 

and Buicks in a circle outside Alliance 

city, replicating Stonehenge. The 

offspring of the US automobile industry 

and British druids, Carhenge is one 

of the world’s great works of folk art. 

Red Canyon Drive 

Americana doesn’t get more classic, 

but it’s a last slice of ‘hokey’ before 

things take a turn for the ‘epic’. We drop 

south to Colorado and, reinvigorated 

by a night in Denver, rise up the wall of 

the Rockies along 1-70. Temperatures 

plummet, forests replace corn, the air 

reeks of pine. After the Eisenhower 

Tunnel, at 3,400 metres, we emerge 

into a light, bright expansive world of 

snow-kissed peaks and ski-brochure 

names: Vail, Aspen, Breckenridge. The 

horizontal Midwest’s already a distant 

memory. Glenwood Canyon’s vertiginous 

walls almost blot out the sky above the 

seething Colorado River and we begin an 

exhilarating hour-long descent through 

enormous rocks. The scenery’s now 

centre stage. Driving’s a 24-carat joy. 

And it gets even more dramatic. 

We slink beneath the cappuccinocoloured 

Grand Mesa, the world’s 

largest flat-topped mountain, and it 

turns out to be a mere starter for the 

main course of the Colorado National 

Monument. The massive rock’s spires, 

Credit: The Sunday Times Travel 

Magazine/News Licensing 


USA 

‘ 

TEMPERATURES PLUMMET, 

FORESTS REPLACE CORN, THE 

AIR REEKS OF PINES 

’ 

monoliths and canyons soar above the 

surrounding plains. Its scenic drive, 

snaking along the vertiginous cliff 

edge, is the very antithesis of I-80. 

As the mercury hits 39C, we turn south 

towards Utah’s Capitol Reef National 

Park and Salvador Dalí takes over 

landscaping duties. About 270 million 

years of sedimentation have been lifted 

into a shale and sandstone landscape 

that’s not merely lunar – it’s Mars, 

Jupiter and Neptune on heavyweight 

hallucinogens. Towering ochre walls 

resemble Rajasthan forts, their fiefdoms 

protected by thousand-strong battalions 

of columns, while orange temples 

spike out of sun-scorched plains. 

Rocks mimic a vast tiramisu, chocolate 

truffles and blobs of whipped cream. All 

that’s missing is the melting watch. 

Linear progress is abandoned. Utah’s 

too tempting. A night in a wilderness 

lodge prepares us for a mazy geological 

tour from Glen Canyon’s watery 

majesty to Monument Valley’s High 

Noon drama to Zion’s golden cliffs. It’s 

incredible, but we overindulge. Scenic 

fatigue sets in. Awe becomes snore. 

We need stimulation. And the route that 

has ticked so many boxes has one more 

trick up its generous sleeve: Vegas, baby! 

We recharge our adrenaline next morning 

by playing basketball with mechanical 

diggers – Vegas is nothing if not creative 

with its charms – before rejoining the 

open road. California is calling. So is 

Hollywood. We devour a Marlon Brando 

Mushroom Burger beneath portraits of 

James Dean and Marilyn at Peggy Sue’s, a 

’50s roadside diner near Barstow, before a 

night in the revamped Pioneertown Motel. 

Opened in 1946 by Roy Rodgers and Gene 

Autry for fellow stars filming on next 

door’s Wild West set, it’s now a weekend 

retreat beloved of Orange County hipsters. 

Its clientele suggests the end’s in sight. 

A sprint past the spiky Medusas of 

Joshua Tree National Park delivers an 

elegy-inducing view across the San 

Andreas Fault to Mount San Jacinto, 

then a 1,500-metre slaloming descent 

into Coachella Valley. We’re clearly 

demob-happy. In Palm Springs we swap 

our Dodge for a Mustang convertible. 

It’s bright red, of course, as is Gareth 

after a back-seat snooze under a 43C 

sun: a small price for the exhilarating 

cruise into LA along 14-lane highways. 

All that’s left is a Pacific dip. But the 

last morning brings low bruised clouds. 

Surely it won’t end like this, not in 

California? As we drive to Manhattan 

Beach the gloom shatters, the sun enters 

stage left and a soft breeze tickles the 

tall palms: final proof that this is the 

US road trip that does it all – and proof 

of a beneficent deity who, this being 

Tinseltown, just adores a happy ending. 




The remote Pikaia Lodge 

Most visitors see the Galápagos on a live-aboard 

cruise, but there’s another way: mix the creature 

comforts of a luxury lodge with animal-magic 

ambles. Nigel Tisdall puts his best foot forward 


GALÁPAGOS ISLANDS 

y first encounter with 

the celebrated wildlife 

of the Galápagos 

Islands is a near 

disaster. Fresh off 

the plane after the 

two-hour flight west 

from the Ecuadorean capital, Quito, 

I’m thrilled to find that my hotel – the 

immaculately designed Pikaia Lodge, on 

Santa Cruz Island – has complimentary 

mountain bikes. I jump on one, aiming 

to get a little exercise in before a sunset 

swim in its inviting infinity pool. 

Soon I’m freewheeling through a 

savannah-like landscape sketched with 

wriggly branches of Palo Santo trees, 

chuffed to have made it to this bucketlist 

volcanic archipelago. After all, 

these islands "reveal in microcosm the 

processes that have shaped all life on 

Earth." So says Sir David Attenborough 

in his three-part documentary 

Galápagos 3D, screened on demand at 

Pikaia Lodge, in a plush lounge with 

mini-cinema-screen-sized TV. 

Suddenly, rounding a corner at speed, I 

happen upon a large and solid specimen 

of this evolutionary process crouching 

motionless in the middle of the track. 

It’s all I can do not to flip over the 

handlebars. The giant tortoise springs 

back into its shell with an almighty hiss, 

like a burst tyre. I think we’re both as 

shocked as each other. An ancient eye 

stares out at me with a look that seems to 

say ‘idiot!’ It’s a fair cop – from a tortoise’s 

perspective the world must always be 

going too damn fast. Still, that’s one 

true Galápagos highlight ticked off. 

Tortoises’ longevity is extraordinary. 

When Charles Darwin visited in 1835 

aboard HMS Beagle, he shipped three 

back to England. Waggishly, they were 

called Tom, Dick and Harry, only the 

last turned out to be a Harriet and lived 

to be 175, eventually passing away in 

a Queensland zoo as recently as 2006. 

The next morning, visiting the island’s 

Charles Darwin Research Station, I find 

myself peering down at a corral full of 

sweet baby tortoises milling around with 

yellow numbers painted on their backs 

as if about to compete in some hilarious 

race. Then I join a queue for the other 

end of the timeline: the reverential death 

chamber of Lonesome George, so called 

for his inability to mate. The creature’s 



demise in 2012 meant extinction for 

the Pinta Island species: a dark day for 

conservationists. First, visitors have 

to enter an acclimatising room, after 

which we get a few solemn minutes with 

the corpse before being moved along. 

Forget Tutankhamen’s Tomb or Lenin’s 

Mausoleum. You’ve not seen the world 

until you’ve stared into the lifeless glassy 

eye of a century-old stuffed tortoise. 

The Galápagos Islands soon reveal 

themselves as a fine place to slow 

down. With its uniquely evolved flora 

and wildlife, I’d assumed this volcanic 

adventure park was only for seriousminded 

types clutching field guides 

and binoculars. Sure, there’s earnest 

stuff to contemplate: discovering how 

the 18 main islands vary in age from 

3.2 to 0.7 million years; and how the 

pollinating carpenter bee found its 

way here (on driftwood). But it turns 

out you can have a relaxing holiday, 

too. I find Seychelles-white beaches, 

well-marked walking trails, friendly 

restaurants serving fresh tuna for $7 

and some very indulgent hotels. 

On the lip of an extinct volcano’s crater, 

with spacious balcony rooms, Pikaia 

Lodge is a blissfully isolated design 

hotel, testament to the notion that you 

can learn about the story of our planet 

while residing in the lap of luxury. What 

drew me (and, it seems, most guests) 

was a horror of spending days on end 

in confined spaces with strangers on a 

regimented itinerary. In other words, no 

week-long cruises. That said, the lodge 

strikes a happy balance, with day-trips 

on its boat, Pikaia 1, which has room for 

16 guests (conventional cruise vessels 

take up to 100), and has private cabins 

and a sundeck. After each exhilarating 

outing, it was a joy to return to a leisurely 

dinner of, say, grilled octopus with 

chimichurri, followed by a tranquil 

night’s sleep in a big bed that didn’t sway. 

True, some sightings are only possible 

on longer voyages to outlying islands – 

the red-footed boobies on Genovesa, for 

instance, and the waved albatrosses of 

Española. But any fear of missing out 

as a ‘landlubber’ dissipates the minute 

I step onto tiny North Seymour Island 

after a 45-minute trip aboard Pikaia 1 

after breakfast on Santa Cruz. We draw 

up beside what looks like just another 

guano-splashed bird sanctuary – under 

‘ 

ATHE ISLANDS AREN’T JUST FOR 

FOLK WITH BINOCULARS. I FIND 

SEYCHELLES-WHITE BEACHES, 

FRIENDLY RESTAURANTS AND SOME 

VERY INDULGENT HOTELS 

’ 

full-beam sunshine (the Galápagos 

sit right on the equator). Suddenly, 

everything explodes into life. Flameorange 

Sally Lightfoot crabs scuttle over 

the black rocks. A sea lion slips into the 

cobalt waves. What was that splash? 

‘Marble rays mating,’ explains our guide, 

Mario, as he leads us ashore and along 

winding paths. ‘Look – love is in the air!’ 

Scores of male frigate birds perch in the 

trees, their bright-red throat pouches 

puffed up like Valentine’s Day balloons. 

High above, the females wheel past, 

sizing up the suitors. Further on we meet 

blue-footed boobies nursing their eggs, 

as other would-be couples perform their 

comic courtship dance. They bow low, 

then raise each leg with an exaggerated 

step, like a man with chewing gum 

stuck to the sole of his shoe. 

These are plenty more surprises to 

come. The following day, we cruise 

northwest for 90 minutes to Santiago 

Island. We’re here to walk across 

the gargantuan swirls of pahoehoe 

lava at Sullivan Bay, like a petrified 

cowpat the size of a football pitch. The 

untouched beach is heavenly, and I 

can’t wait to dive into the bewitchingly 

turquoise sea. Warm enough to swim 

in, it is still sufficiently cool to please 

the penguins that made their way up 

from Antarctica on the Humboldt 

Current many moons ago and, 

understandably, never went back. 

They’re smaller, more solitary 

than their snow-zone counterparts. 

Progressing to neighbouring Bartolomé 

Island for a snorkelling session, we spy 

a dozen of them on the rocks like a row 

of black-and-white skittles, cooling their 

wings in the breeze as we breaststroke 

past. Abruptly, as if they’d heard a 

collective cry of ‘That’s enough, guys!’, 

they dive in with us, darting around 

with an urgency that seems a mix of 

playfulness and territorial defence. 

‘Wow, I’ve just been swimming 

with penguins!’ a fellow traveller 

reflects as we head for home, 

sunbathing on the top deck. 

‘What else is there to do here 

after that?’ she wonders. 

In my case, the answer is an onward 

journey to my next hotel, on Isabela, 

the largest of the Galápagos islands. 

As I wait at Puerto Ayora to transfer 

from Santa Cruz, I encounter hulking 

sea lions fast asleep on a bench 

surrounded by gaggles of tourists. It’s a 

delightful snapshot of how refreshingly 

indifferent nature remains to the 

Credit: The Sunday Times Travel Magazine/ News Licensing 



left: a free-roaming tortoise; 

looking out from a Balcony Room 

at Pikaia Lodge; colourful red rock 

crabs; a curious sea lion 

Opening pages: grilled 

prawn salad; climbing a 

tree against the backdrop 

of a fiery sunset 

This page: Petit Piton 

above Margretoute Bay 



inset: the infinity pool at Pikaia 

Lodge; Pool Suite at Pikaia Lodge; 

Amarican flamingos 

islands’ 275,000 annual visitors. 

In just under two hours, after a bumpy 

high-speed ride, I reach Puerto Villamil. 

My welcome committee: a posse of 

marine iguanas hanging around the 

jetty like toughs in black biker leathers. 

These ‘imps of darkness’, as Darwin 

called them, have a mean-as-hell look, 

with their spiked spines, scaly armour 

and ‘Reptiles Rule OK’ arrogance. I 

guess they’re here to scavenge on scraps 

of dropped baguette – in fact, in an 

evolutionary plot-twist typical of the 

Galápagos, they have adapted from land 

to sea, fine-tuned to dine on seaweed and 

algae and hold their breath underwater 

for up to 30 minutes in the process. 

A little bigger than Mallorca, Isabela 

has just one 30km road that runs from 

the port northwest to the mighty 

Sierra Negra volcano. Among the many 

miracles of the Galápagos is just how 

protected it is: 97% of its land mass is 

national park and I get a distinct feeling 

we lucky visitors are merely clinging 

to its edges, like kids peeping through 

‘ 

JUST ABOUT 

EVERYTHING YOU 

ENCOUNTER IS SO 

FASCINATINGLY 

DIFFERENT TO 

THE REST OF 

THE WORLD 

’ 

a window at something they know is 

wonderful, but can’t fully comprehend. 

A 20-minute drive along this road 

lies Scalesia Lodge, the only place you 

can stay outside the small port village 

of Puerto Villamil. For nature-seekers, 

it’s a dream – guests sleep in handsome 

safari tents shipped in from South Africa. 

They’re fronted with raised decking 

shaded by fruit trees. A profusion of 

stars fills a night sky unpolluted by 

artificial light, and I sit listening to the 

nightly frog chorus prior to dinner: an 

agreeable affair featuring swordfish 

with passionfruit sauce. Heading back 

to bed, I find a cushion with a warning: 

‘There have been around 13 volcanic 

eruptions in the Galápagos in the last 

100 years’. A good piece of trivia, if hardly 

conducive to a peaceful night’s sleep. 

The dramatic results of such 

subterranean turbulence are in plain 

view when I take a tour up to Sierra 

Negra, which erupted as recently as 2018. 

Its vast caldera, which is almost 10km 

wide, is now a barren lava field that 

resembles a massive accident involving 

a hundred lorries loaded with instant 

coffee granules. Alfredo, my genial guide, 

who gave up a promising soccer career 

to live in this eco-paradise, was up here 

when the volcano kicked off spectacularly 

in 2005. ‘I told my clients not to worry,’ 

he chuckled. ‘I explained we get 400 

tremors a year. Then there was a second 

big shake and it was clearly time to go!’ 

Walking around the rim, admiring 

the magnificent views, it hits me how 

immensely rewarding hiking in the 

Galápagos is – and surely always will be. 

Just about everything you encounter is 



so fascinatingly different to the rest of 

the world. Why are there mostly only 

white and yellow native flowers here? 

Apparently because the majority are 

self-pollinators, so there’s no need to 

show off to insects. How did spiders 

get here from the mainland? Flying on 

parachutes of silk, or so the story goes. 

As Alfredo and I yomp along, our 

conversation turns to his distaste for the 

cruise ships that treat Isabela Island ‘as a 

place to drop their garbage’. Passengers 

might come up for a panoramic view 

of the caldera, he explains, but they 

rarely have the time to explore as we 

do. Cruise life is in sharp contrast to 

my experience, travelling group-free, 

at my own land-based pace, stimulated 

by thrills, insights and mellow times 

that leave me relaxed and enriched. 

On my final day, I wind up as I 

began: on a bike, cycling off alongside 

Alfredo to explore Puerto Villamil, an 

agreeably sleepy place, with a sandstrewn 

main street and a lagoon of 

pink flamingoes striking elegant poses. 

Heading west beside its dazzling beach, 

we pass families picnicking next to the 

mangroves and birdwatchers climbing 

a tower for a far-reaching view along 

the coast. It all seems Edenic, but 

there’s a sting in the tail. Or tale… 

At the end is a cairn-like row of heavy 

grey rocks, piled high above us. ‘Here 

they made hell in paradise,’ Alfredo 

explains as we contemplate the grim, 

colossal Muro de las Lágrimas – Wall of 

Tears. Its construction, by the inmates 

of a penal camp established in 1946, 

was ordered with the sole purpose of 

exhausting and punishing its labourers, 

whose crimes might be as mundane 

as stealing a calf. The prison was here 

for 13 years, and only closed after the 

convicts made an unsuccessful attempt 

to murder its governor by pushing a 

section of the wall onto him, which 

alerted the government to its iniquities. 

As I survey this monument to misery 

and folly, it’s obvious that we humans 

haven’t evolved anywhere near as 

gracefully as these fabulous creatures 

now merrily swimming and sunbathing 

their days away in the Galápagos 

Islands. Hopefully, we still have time 

to get it right, but, meanwhile, I’m 

taking my cue from its loveable giant 

tortoises. If you want a long happy 

life, keep your head down and take 

things slow. Obviously, it’d help to not 

fall asleep in the middle of the road. 



Erimitis beach on the west coast 

of Paxos; a plate of fried calamari; 

an elderly local surveys the 


NEW ZEALAND 

Try somewhere New 

New Zealand is the epitome of easy-going, but tackling it in the 

right order is key. Thankfully, NZ expert David Whitley has packed the best 

bits of both islands into one seamless, four-week itinerary 

New Zealand’s triumph is to 

cram unparalleled amounts 

of one-off experiences into 

a single epic trip. You can’t 

cover the whole country in a three- to 

four-week self-drive adventure, but 

you can give it a darned good shot 

and pile up top-tier memories in the 

process. Here’s a route that fits in as 

much as possible, with the journey 

broken down into easy chunks – minus 

the odd tourist trap that’s simply 

not worth your time or money. 

Days 1-3: Bay of Islands 

(and beyond) 

After what will have felt like an eternity 

in the air, it might come as a blow to 

know that the best place to properly 

start your New Zealand adventure 

is not in Auckland – where you’ll fly 

into – but another 227km north, in the 

Bay of Islands. But it’s worth it – for 

baize-green hills, stone-walled sheep 

farms and bountiful sunny beaches. 

It’s a short, $100-ish hop on an internal 

flight or a three-and-a-half-hour drive 

(you can pick up a hire car on landing). 

If doing the latter, you’ll want to 

overnight in Auckland first, picking 

up a hire car the following morning. 

Several cruises flit lazily around the 

Bay of Islands’ jewel-like archipelago, 

the novelty among them the full-day 

Cream Trip (dolphincruises.co.nz), 

which doubles as the local mail 

run. Dolphin-watching, lounging in 

the boat’s netting above the waves, 

and beach-lazing on lush green 

Urupukupuka Island are thrown 

in. There’s spiritual nourishment, 

too, at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds 


These pages from left: Dusk 

descends on Auckland, photo 

by Chris McLennan; Redwoods 

Treewalk at Rotorua 


(waitangi.org.nz), which cover Maori 

culture and the often rocky relationship 

with European settlers. Soul-searchers 

should try Cape Reinga, further north, 

at the country’s tip, where the Maori 

believe the spirits of the deceased 

depart. Day tours – such as with 

GreatSights (great sights.co.nz) – take 

in sacred kauri forests, sandboarding 

on Sahara-steep dunes and fourwheeldriving 

along Ninety Mile Beach. 

Days 4–5: Auckland beckons 

From the Bay of Islands, the next stop 

lies back the way you came – south 

again to Auckland. But first, divert 

west to the Waitakere Ranges, for 

walks among native rainforest, before 

taking the winding roads down to the 

brooding black-sand surf beaches at 

Piha and Karekare. Should the buzzy 

restaurants, museums and volcanoes 

listed in Auckland not sound sufficiently 

thrilling, sign up to jump from a 

192-metre-high platform on the city’s 

Sky Tower (skyjump.co.nz), your descent 

slowed only by wires and a harness. 

Days 6–8: Rotorua 

Just over a three-hour drive south 

‘ 

SPLASHING SEAL PUPS, COVE 

BEACHES AND DAINTY ROCK 

ISLANDS LINE UP TO BE GENTLY 

PADDLED AROUND 

’ 

of Auckland, Rotorua is adventure 

central. But there are two popular 

detours to weigh up on the drive down: 

the Lord of the Rings set at Hobbiton 

(hobbitontours.com), is, frankly, 

underwhelming and overpriced. But the 

Waitomo Caves (waitomo.com), lit by 

millions of tiny glow-worms, are well 

worth it. The 45-minute boat tours cater 

to the timid, while the five-hour, Black 

Abyss adventure – including abseiling 

and tubing on the underground river 

– will appeal to adrenaline junkies. 

Rotorua stinks – the sulphurous whiff 

comes from geothermal activity beneath 

the town. But there’s a massive menu 

of fun stuff to hold your nose for: 

everything from Zorbing down hills 

in giant hamster balls (zorb.com) to 

tackling terrifyingly high waterfalls on 

the Kaituna River. Kaitiaki Adventures 

(kaitiaki.co.nz) runs the hardcore 

white-water rafting nerve-shredder. 

Day 9: Hiking in Taupo 

Your next – considerably less whiffy 

– base is lakeside Taupo, which is also 

the jumping-off point for NZ’s greatest 

walk, the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. 

Over the 19km day-long route, rustcoloured 

streams, vast lava fields, a 

gaping crater in the shadow of soaring 

Ngauruhoe (better known as Mount 

Doom from the Lord of the Rings movies) 

and near-luminous-green lakes all 

make appearances. It’s not circular, so 

park at the end point – Ketehahi – and 

take the shuttle (tongariroexpeditions. 

com) to the start. Some operators go the 

opposite way, but that leaves you either 

rushing to complete the hike or hanging 

around for a bus when you’ve finished. 

Credit: Alicia Miller / The Sunday Times Travel Magazine / News Licensing 


NEW ZEALAND 

This page, clockwise from far left: 

Waiheke Island; zorbing in Rotorua; a 

vintage car parked outside an Art Deco 

style cinema in Napier; Hawke's Bay in 

Napier, photo by Graeme Murray; Sky 

Tower, Auckland, photo by Mark Downey 

Day 10: Art Deco Napier 

From destruction comes beauty. 

Napier, about two hours southeast of 

Taupo, responded to a city-wrecking 

1931 earthquake by conjuring up what 

is claimed to be the world’s greatest 

concentration of Art Deco buildings. 

The Art Deco Trust (artdeconapier. 

com) runs several tours. Pick the hourlong 

walk at 10am and you’ve got an 

afternoon free to indulge in the Hawke’s 

Bay region’s other draw – Bay Tours 

(baytours.co.nz) runs an afternoon jaunt 

stopping at a few wineries for tastings. 

Days 11–13: Wellington 

Trick someone else into being the 

designated driver on the four-hour 

drive from Napier to Wellington – 

there’s more vino to slurp, and the 

Martinborough region has rock-solid 

Pinot Noir credentials. Once in the 

capital create room for daytime cafehopping 

and museum stops by visiting 

Zealandia (visitzealandia.com) at 

dusk. This is when the resident kiwis 

inside the giant conservation project 

tend to come out, making for a far 

better chance of up-close sightings. 


Arresting architecture of 

the The Alcázar of Seville 

These pages, clockwise from inset: 

Mount Cook in Lake Matheson; yelloweyed 

penguins; Swing bridge crossing to 

Hokitika Gorge 

Days 14–15: South Island 

crossing 

Change of island means a change of 

cars. Most hire arrangements mean 

dropping yours off at the Wellington 

ferry terminal prior to the often-choppy 

voyage to Picton at the top of South 

Island, where you rent a replacement. 

You’ve landed in the Marlborough 

wine region – world famous for its 

Sauvignon Blancs. But the real star in 

these parts is the craggily coastlined, 

forest-shrouded Abel Tasman National 

Park. Sea caves, cormorant-nesting 

sites, splashing seal pups, cove beaches 

and dainty rock islands line up to be 

gently paddled around, with Kahu 

Kayaks (kahukayaks. co.nz) running 

full-day tours and half-day jaunts. 

Days 16–18: Wild west coast 

Even by Kiwi standards, the west coast 

of South Island feels remote, detached, 

weather-beaten and enigmatically 

doughty. But many highlights can be 

combined in a mini road trip. Kick off 

90 minutes southwest of Nelson with a 

stroll in the Nelson Lakes National Park. 

The 90-minute Braeburn Walk at Lake 

Rotoroa passes shimmery waterfalls and 

the world’s largest fuchsia trees. Bird life 

is diverse. Now, swing west for a pit stop 

at Punakaiki’s Pancake Rocks, where the 

sea mashes away at the weird, pancake 

stack-like formations and explodes up 

through blowholes. Forty minutes south, 

Greymouth counts as a big town in these 

parts and has an arty streak – check out 

the Left Bank Art Gallery (bankarts.com) 

for greenstone carvings and ceramics. 

The seemingly supernatural turquoise 

waters of Hokitika Gorge make a good 

stop on the way, two hours further south, 

to glacier country. Then, at the Franz 

Josef and Fox glaciers, the experiences 

are similar – a short helicopter flight 

on to the ice, followed by a few hours’ 

fully kitted-out hiking through eerie 

blue crevasses and ice caves. But Franz 

Josef has more to do around it – horseriding, 

rafting – so makes a better base. 

Days 19–20: Queenstown thrills 

Queenstown bounces like a student 

on energy drinks, but its setting – on 

a splintered lake surrounded by ski 

fields – is so impressive that the 

resort town’s enthusiasm becomes 

endearingly infectious. It’s a four-hour 

45-minute drive down from Franz 

Josef – stop at Monro Beach and check 

out roadside waterfalls along the Haast 

Pass highway en route. And, once there, 

decide how you want to scare yourself. 

Commercial bungee-jumping was born 

in Queenstown, but white-water rafting, 

sky dives and lurching 300-metre swings 

into a canyon feature on a lengthy whiteknuckle 

menu. These work out cheaper 

when packaged up, which Queenstown 

Combos (combos.co.nz) specialises 

in. Daintier options include taking the 

TSS Earnslaw steamship (realjourneys. 

co.nz), for a cruise on Lake Wakatipu, 

and 4WD tours (nomadsafaris.co.nz) 

to Lord of the Rings filming locations. 

Days 21-22: Milford Sound 

and Te Anau 

Whatever you do, don’t use 

Queenstown as a base for visiting the 


NEW ZEALAND 

‘ 

HOKITIKA 

GORGE HAS 

SEEMINGLY 

SUPERNATURAL 

TURQUOISE 

WATERS 

’ 

in 

fiord that launched a million photos: 

Milford Sound. Rather than enduring 

the almost eight-hour round-trip, 

drive two hours the day before to 

Te Anau, where you’ll have time to 

cram in a cruise across Lake Te Anau 

(realjourneys.co.nz) into Fiordland 

National Park to explore glow wormcovered 

caves. Start early the next 

day north towards Milford Sound and 

you’ll have the chance to stop at the 

numerous waterfalls on the precipitous 

road down, then get on the water 

when it’s relatively quiet before all the 

tour buses from Queenstown arrive. 

Cruises are fairly interchangeable 

– most allow for plentiful gawping 

at seals, dolphins and seemingly 

vertical rock walls. But Mitre Peak’s 

small boat jaunt (mitrepeak.com) 

is less crowded and permits a stop 

at the Underwater Observatory to 

wonder at the aquatic life and coral. 

Days 23–24: Destination 

Dunedin 

The Scottish streak is strong and the 

student population decidedly lively 

Dunedin, a three-hour 20-minute 

drive through bucolic sleepiness from 

Te Anau. The look is distinctive, too, 

with a rich line-up of Victorian and 

Edwardian buildings made from the 

local bluestone. The railway station is 

the standout photo-op in this regard, 

but you’ve come here to explore by 

boat, not train – that’s the best way to 

spot the teeming variety of wildlife. 

Monarch Wildlife Cruises (wildlife. 

co.nz) chugs down the coast of the 

Otago Peninsula, taking in feeding sea 

birds and galumphing seals. Various 

combos are available, but the full-day 

Otago Peninsula Wildlife Tour stops at 

the two most magical sites. The Royal 

Albatross Centre is where the giants 

with three-metre wingspans nest 

– it’s the only place in the world to see 

them, as otherwise they hang out on 

tiny mid-ocean rock islands. And the 

Penguin Place Conservation Reserve 

provides a refuge for the comical, 

waddling yellow-eyed penguins. 

Days 25–26: Alpine adventure 

The drive inland to New Zealand’s 

highest point, the 4,000-metre Aoraki/ 

Mount Cook, is a startlingly beautiful 

journey (three hours 45 minutes) past 

tussock-grass foothills and milkyblue-white 

lakes. You’ll not get to the 

summit without mountaineering in 

your blood, but you can learn about 

those who have – who went on to 

top Everest – at the engrossing 

Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre. 

The half-day hike to Hooker Lake 

– through alpine meadows, over 

dainty wooden bridges crossing 

frigid streams – isn’t in quite the 

same league, but it’s a fine way to 

get lungfuls of mountain air. For 

something more spectacular, there’s 

kayaking on Tasman Lake around eerie 

blue icebergs, watching ice calve off 

the glacier; mtcook.com runs tours. 

Lake Tekapo, a 90-minute drive away 

on the road to Christchurch, twinkles 

with near-fluorescence, but there’s 

plenty of twinkling overhead, too. It’s 

part of a dark sky reserve, and the Dark 

Sky Project lays on stargazing sessions 

at the Mount John Observatory 

that show just how different the 

heavens look in the southern 

hemisphere (dark skyproject.co.nz). 

Days 27–28: Christchurch 

and home 

Your journey’s end – Christchurch 

airport – is just under three hours’ 

away. But there’s a choice to be made 

for the last two days: city or chilled? 

Christchurch will show you postearthquake 

transformation hipness, 

but the town of Akaroa, on the 

neighbouring Banks Peninsula, has 

craters, coastline and more than a little 

Gallic flair – imbued by its original 

French settlers. And snorkelling with 

the rare, adorable Hector’s dolphin – 

Black Cat Cruises (blackcat.co.nz) will 

take you to swim with them – feels like 

a mighty fine farewell to the country. 




long 

the 

weekend 

Amsterdam 

From its blooming natural beauty to its 

artistic treasures, we get under the skin of 

this creative city's enduring appeal 

This page: A carpet of colourful tulips 

Opposite from top: Charming buildings 

line the canal; Pulitzer Amsterdam 


THE LONG WEEKEND 

Compelling at any time of year, Amsterdam invites you to 

spend hours wandering through its weave of waterways 

lined by gabled houses, letting the energy of the creative 

city wash over you. With museums brimming with 

captivating artworks by the Dutch greats, a delicious 

line-up of local delicacies to taste (you won't be able to 

refuse a crunchy, caramel-filled Stroopwafel), and lush 

outdoor spaces to unwind in, it's a treat for all the senses. 

Spend your days shopping the edgy boutiques in the 

criss-crossing alleys of The Nine Streets, seek out a future 

masterpiece at the up-and-coming galleries in trendy 

Jordaan, and immerse yourself in the lively nightlife 

around the Southern Canal Ring. All you need to do is 

hop on a bicycle and let the adventure unfold... 

DRIFT INTO 

TRANQUILLITY 

From art-filled abodes to 

canal-side views, these 

stylish hotels get our vote 

Overlooking Amsterdam’s 

historic central canal belt 

(a UNESCO World Heritage 

Site, no less), the Pulitzer 

Amsterdam is set within a 

cluster of 25 restored 17th 

and 18th century houses 

in the effervescent The 

Nine Streets (De Negen 

Straatjes) neighbourhood. 

Keeping the building's 

original feel, but with a 

fresh, sleek atmosphere, 

rooms come in all shapes 

and sizes, with modern art 

on the walls. Courteous 

service, delightful garden 

courtyards and delectable 

food adds to the charm. 

Close by, Hotel Seven 

one Seven is as magical as 

it gets. The award-winning 

boutique hotel has named all 

nine of its guestrooms after 

legendary literary figures and 

artists, lending an exclusive 

ambience to its distinctive 

brand of old-world romance. 

We rate the two Executive 

Suites, which have premier 

views over the 17th century 

Prinsengracht canal. 

With an elegant interior, 

mosaic of fine artworks and 

a proud history of hosting 

celebrated 19th century 

Dutch artists, it’s easy to 

mistake Breitner House for 

a museum. Rise and 

shine to a luxurious 

breakfast served in the 

period dining room, while 

looking out over the 

flower-laden park. 

At the heart of the city, 

Soho House Amsterdam 

puts a contemporary 

stamp on a grand 

19th century building. 

With rooms ranging in 

size, from Tiny to XL 

Monumental, this hip 

hotel has a home from 

home feel complete 

with a glistening rooftop 

pool, private cinema and 

Cowshed Spa. 

Get set, shop 

Retail therapy is easy to 

come by in the city. If 

you're an avid collector 

of art and antiques 

then you'll be in your 

element at the historic 

Spiegelkwartier (which 

translates to the 'Mirror 

Quarter'.) This buzzing 

district is home to more 

than 70 shops and 

galleries bursting with 

treasures you'll want to 

bring home with you. 

Next, seek out some 

notable homegrown 

designers, such as 

Dutch design duo 

Viktor Horsting and 

Rolf Snoeren (of Viktor 

& Rolf fame), who have 

their headquarters in the 

city. You can check out 

their concept store at 

Danzigerkade 55. 

There's an exciting 

vintage shopping 

scene to discover, 

too. The brainchild 

of entrepreneurial 

sisters, Jutka & Riska 

[Haarlemmerdijk 143] 

is the place to go for 

coveted pieces from the 

likes of Jil Sander and 

Gucci. In addition, The 

Nine Streets historic 

canal district is a gem for 

vintage stores. 


Nature’s way 

Get outdoors and discover 

the city’s natural bounty 

Hortus Botanicus 

Amsterdam 

Established in 1638, this 

lush attraction is one of the 

oldest botanical gardens 

in Europe. Showcasing a 

treasure trove of rare flora 

and fauna, there’s a lot for 

budding botanists to admire 

here, including ancient 

varieties of tulips, and wide 

range of cycads. 

Artis Royal Zoo 

Laid out in grand style 

in 1838, one of Europe's 

oldest zoos has something 

to delight all ages. Watch 

giraffes, zebras, and 

springboks mingling on the 

Savannah, see butterflies 

flutter in the dedicated 

Pavilion, and gaze at the 

tropical fish swimming in 

the vast Aquarium. The 

zoo is also home to ARTIS- 

Micropia, the world's only 

microbe museum, where 

you can take a peek at the 

tiniest organisms. 

Lange Bretten 

Known as 'the last city 

wilderness of Amsterdam', 

this verdant park is home to 

buzzards and falcons, which 

hunt in the area, while the 

waters are brimming with 

frogs, toads and fish. Take 

the (usually) muddy nature 

trail for an energetic hike, 

spotting animals as you go. 

TOP TABLES 

Bord’Eau, 

De L'Europe Amsterdam 

Located on the bank of 

the Amstel River, this one- 

Michelin-star restaurant 

– easily one of the best 

tables in town – is sure to 

impress with its inventive 

dishes crafted by head 

chef Bas van Kranen. 

For an extra memorable 

meal, book the Bord’Eau 

sur L’Eau experience – an 

intimate lunch or dinner 

on the luxurious Dyos 

boat so you can soak up 

spellbinding views of the 

city's historic centre as 

you cruise 

along its 

famous canals. 

bordeau.nl 

Vinkeles, 

The Dylan Amsterdam 

Period charm meets 

modern French cuisine 

at this one-Michelin-star 

restaurant in the hip 

Dylan hotel. Situated 

in an 18th century 

bakery, the interiors 

reflect the history of the 

venue, complete with 

rustic brickwork and 

cast-iron ovens. The 

A stroke of genius 

Feast your eyes on iconic works of art 

signature menu, which 

is the work of chef de 

cuisine Jurgen van der 

Zalm and executive 

chef Dennis Kuipers, 

features tantalising 

French delicacies that 

flirt between classic 

and contemporary, with 

highlights including the 

mackerel with hibiscus, 

Dutch oyster, goat 

yoghurt and shiso 

flower. vinkeles.com 

Ciel Bleu, 

Hotel Okura 

Amsterdam 

Soaring above 

Amsterdam’s 

rooftops, this 

culinary hotspot 

blends spectacular city 

views with sublime cuisine 

served in an elegant 

setting that pairs muted 

tones with contemporary 

flourishes. The creative 

menu, led by chefs Onno 

Kokmeijer and Arjan 

Speelman, certainly lives 

up to its two-Michelin-star 

status. Immerse yourself 

in the exciting ambience 

by reserving a seat at the 

chef’s table in the bustling 

heart of the kitchen. 

cielbleu.nl 

As you may expect from a country that gave the 

world some of its greatest art luminaries, Amsterdam 

is home to breathtakingly magnificent art. At the 

Van Gogh Museum, you can find the world's largest 

collection of works by the post-impressionist painter, 

from mesmerising self-portraits to the uplifting 

Sunflowers. A few blocks away, Rijksmuseum hangs 

Vermeer’s The Milkmaid alongside Rembrandts' The 

Night Watch. If you can’t get enough of Rembrandts' 

artistic gems, Rembrandt House Museum offers a 

glimpse of the artist’s etching-packed studio. Stedelijk 

Museum Amsterdam is the place to go for modern and 

contemporary art and design, with major pieces by 

Mondrian, Kandinsky and Malevich in its armoury. 


THE LONG WEEKEND 

This page: Royal Palace 

Amsterdam; cyclist by the 

Prinsengracht canal, photo by 

Koen Smilde © 2020 I amsterdam 

Opposite from top: Hortus 

Botanicus Amsterdam; Ciel Bleu; 

a dish from the Eau season menu 

at Bord'Eau, a self portrait by 

Vincent Van Gogh 

at Rijksmuseum 

DESIGNS ON LIFE 

The devil's in the details at these architectural marvels 

ROYAL PALACE AMSTERDAM 

This dazzling palace embodies Amsterdam's 17th century power and 

wealth in a way that rivalled the grandest European buildings of the time. 

Inside, interiors gleam and Golden Age grandeur shines through the 

marble-encrusted main hall, with sculptures and paintings narrating its 

story at every turn. 

CANAL HOUSES 

Set off on a stroll along the canalways and admire the charming waterside 

houses that were built during the height of the Dutch Golden Age. Beyond 

the historic facades are several museums, including FOAM [Keizersgracht 

609], which is dedicated to contemporary photography. 

MUSEUM HET SCHIP 

One of the most prominent buildings showcasing the Amsterdam School 

style of architecture, this captivating apartment block features a postoffice-turned-museum 

where you can learn more about the design 

movement. From here, you can also join a walking tour of other notable 

buildings in the city. 

Words: Habiba Azab 

Ask a local 

Amsterdam 

native Iris den 

Hartog shares 

her favourite 

under the 

radar spots in 

the city 

“Admire the beautiful houses of Ringdijk 

in Watergraafsmeer. This part of the 

city was drained in 1629 and the dike 

that surrounded it is still preserved. End 

your stroll with a Dutch cheese platter at 

Vergulden Eenhoorn; a farm established 

in 1702, which has since been transformed 

into a restaurant and boutique hotel. 

“The resident cat Sammie is waiting 

to welcome you at Café Hermes 

[Ceintuurbaan 55]. One of my favourite 

haunts, in the De Pijp neighbourhood, it is 

decorated from top to toe with curiosities, 

such as old instruments, street signs and 

vintage advertisement posters. 

“I also highly recommend Restaurant 

Sjefietshe [Van Ostadestraat 1]. This 

cevicheria serves the classic South 

American dish with a local touch. My 

personal favourites are the hake ceviche, 

the pulpo ceviche, the waffle topped with 

crème fraîche and trout caviar and the 

fermented fries." 

FAMILY TIME 

Fun-packed activities 

to suit all ages 

Feel the sand 

between your toes at 

Amsterdam Beach 

For a change of scenery, 

why not swap the 

cobblestone city streets 

for the soft sand along 

the coast? Around half 

an hour from the city 

centre, Amsterdam 

Beach offers plenty of 

space to unwind while 

topping up on vitamin 

D. You can even test 

your skills at some of the 

adventurous activities on 

offer, such as blokarting. 

Set off on a cycling tour 

Strap the kiddies into 

their bike seats and join 

one of the many cycling 

tours of the city. Yellow 

Bike operates daily 

and can guide you on 

a journey of discovery 

of some of the city's 

best sights. From the 

introductory 90-minute 

city tour, which you 

can take as soon as 

you arrive (they'll hold 

onto your luggage for 

you), to discovering the 

picturesque Waterland 

district in the north 

– it's fun, affordable, 

and a brilliant way to 

get some fresh air and 

exercise while finding 

your bearings. 

Cruise along the canals 

You simply haven't had 

the full Amsterdam 

experience until you've 

cruised the historic 

waterways in a canal 

boat. All you need 

to do is buy a Canal 

Cruise Ticket and hop 

on a boat at any one of 

14 locations across the 

city. Each cruise lasts 

around an hour and 

they depart every 30 

minutes so there's no 

excuse to miss it. 


Suite dreams 

Our monthly finish with a flourish, delving into a suite 

that has a character and style all of its own 

VILLA FRANGIPANI 

Grace Bay Club, Turks & Caicos Islands 

With ocean views you can sit and stare at for hours, this four-bedroom Private Beach Front 

Residence invites you to throw open the doors to the vast private deck and lap up the balmy 

tropical breeze from the comfort of your oversized sofa. An eight-minute drive from Grace Bay 

Club, this stand-alone villa, designed by Edinburgh-based Coast Architects, has an infinity pool 

and master bathrooms with freestanding tubs – an idyllic retreat for up to eight guests. 


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World Traveller April/May 2020

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