Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Da Nang is Vietnam’s third-largest city, a central-coast beach town that hosted APEC 2017 and has since grown into Southeast Asia’s leading digital-nomad hub. It has no UNESCO World Heritage site of its...

Hangzhou is the capital of Zhejiang province, built around West Lake (Xi Hu), the former Southern Song capital known as Lin’an. It’s the home of Longjing (Dragon Well) green tea, Lingyin Temple, the southern terminus of the Grand Canal, and Alibaba. Here’s what to know before you go. Visa: two paths, not a blanket “visa-free” Two separate policies get travelers in...

Heidelberg rewards a simple plan: two days covers the ruined castle, the Altstadt, and the Philosophers’ Walk, and there’s no local airport, so you’ll arrive via Frankfurt (about an hour by train) or Stuttgart. The castle itself is the first thing to get right in your head: it’s a partial ruin, not a restored palace, blown up by French troops in 1689 and 1693 and finished...

Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Izmir is Turkey’s third-largest city, a laid-back, secular Aegean port that most visitors treat as a warm-up act for the Ephesus ruins down the road. That undersells it. Give the Kordon waterfront, the Kemeraltı...

Lucerne is a lakeside medieval town in Central Switzerland, cut through by the Reuss River exactly where it drains Lake Lucerne (the Vierwaldstättersee), with Mount Pilatus and Mount Rigi standing over it as the classic gateway to the Central Swiss Alps. Two corrections save more confusion than anything else here: Lucerne itself carries no UNESCO World Heritage Site designation, and the Chapel...

Melbourne is Victoria’s capital, spread along the Yarra River and Port Phillip Bay, and it markets itself as Australia’s culture, sport and coffee capital. That reputation holds up: laneways full of street art and hidden bars, a genuinely world-class arts scene, the MCG anchoring a packed sporting calendar, and a multicultural food scene that runs from Chinatown yum cha to Lygon...

Melbourne, Victoria’s capital on the Yarra River and Port Phillip Bay, is more than a city break. Cover its laneways, arts and sport in a couple of focused days, and you unlock an unusually rich day-trip radius: coastal cliffs, wine country, wildlife, gold-rush history and hot springs, almost all within one to three hours by car or tour. That’s the case for using Melbourne as a base...

Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Myrtle Beach anchors the Grand Strand, about 60 miles of continuous beach running from the North Carolina line south to Georgetown, a string of separate beach towns rather than one walkable downtown. It genuinely...

Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Before you go: Nairobi’s honest safety picture. Nairobi has a real, well-documented crime problem, opportunistic muggings, phone and bag snatching, and smash-and-grab theft at traffic lights, the old...

Panama City Travel Guide 2026 Stand on the observation deck at Miraflores and watch a container ship the length of three football fields inch through the lock chamber with maybe two feet of clearance on either side, and you get why people plan whole trips around this city. Panama City is the rare capital where a working engineering marvel, a genuinely walkable colonial old town, and a rainforest...

Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Travel advisory: Egypt carries elevated terrorism warnings, and North Sinai is a genuine do-not-travel zone. But Sharm el-Sheikh itself sits in a well-established carve-out: the UK FCDO calls Red Sea resort travel...

Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Shizuoka isn’t a single city you tour end to end, it’s a long, elongated prefecture strung along the Tokaido corridor between Tokyo and Nagoya, and the honest way to see it is to base-hop rather than pick...

Stavanger is Norway’s oil capital, the country’s fourth-largest city, and the gateway to the fjord hikes of Rogaland in the southwest. The city dates its own founding to 1125, the year its cathedral was completed, which makes Stavanger Domkirke the oldest cathedral in Norway still in use as a working church. A 19th-century herring and sardine boom left behind Gamle Stavanger, roughly...

Surabaya’s calendar centers on one solemn civic anniversary, a Hindu offering ceremony inside an active volcano, and an island bull-racing tradition, plus the nationwide Islamic calendar that shapes daily life in this Muslim-majority city. Hari Pahlawan, 10 November Heroes’ Day marks the start of the Battle of Surabaya’s decisive assault in 1945 and is Surabaya’s single...

Toulouse-Matabiau puts two UNESCO sites, a 17th-century canal, and the Pyrenees all within a couple of hours by train, so a rental car isn’t required for any of the trips below. Here’s what each one is actually worth, and how to get there. Albi: 1 hour by train Albi sits about 85km northeast of Toulouse on the Toulouse-Rodez line, roughly 1 hour direct. It’s a UNESCO World...

Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Read this before anything else. The US State Department currently rates Russia Level 4, “Do Not Travel,” its maximum warning, last reissued around 29 December 2025. The UK FCDO “advises against all...

Bled and Postojna are famous for good reason, but they are also the busiest things in the country (Slovenia, not Slovakia). Base in Ljubljana and you can point a car at the quieter versions instead, places that trade the tour buses for space. Most of these need a car, since public transport between them is thin. Distances are from Ljubljana; verify opening times on the official sites before you...

Two days built for a first-timer: Day 1 covers the Grote Markt and the Cathedral of Our Lady’s Rubens altarpieces, Day 2 covers the MAS museum’s free rooftop and the diamond district. That’s the real spine of Antwerp in a tight weekend, and it extends cleanly if you decide to stay longer (see our 3 and 7 day versions). Book these before you go Hotel near Centraal or the old town:...

A handful of small things make a Nice trip smoother, and a couple of them save real money. Here is what to know before you go. The airport tram fare trick Tram Line 2 runs from both airport terminals into the centre in 20 to 30 minutes. A standard single is 1.70 EUR, but the airport ticket machines only sell a 10 EUR round-trip fare. To get the cheap single, use the Lignes d’Azur app or buy...

Carnaval de Quebec (Winter Carnival) Held nearly every year since 1894 and annually since 1955, the Carnaval de Quebec runs February 6-15, 2026, and is the largest winter carnival in the Western Hemisphere, drawing crowds that once topped a million in a single edition. The festival’s mascot, Bonhomme, a snowman in a red tuque and traditional ceinture flechee sash, has led it since 1955; each...

A short, practical list for a first Antwerp trip in 2026, covering the things that actually change how the visit goes. Getting there Antwerp has no major airport of its own. Fly into Brussels Airport (BRU) and take a direct train, roughly 25 to 40 minutes into Antwerpen-Centraal. Budget-carrier Charleroi (CRL) needs a shuttle into Brussels plus a train, closer to two hours. Arrive a few minutes...

Norway is genuinely safe and easy for visitors, so the practical adjustments in Trondheim are mostly about cost, weather, and a handful of local rules rather than any real risk. Here are the 10 that matter most. 1. Bring a card, not cash Norway is near-cashless: over 98% of the population pays digitally, and contactless covers roughly 86% of point-of-sale transactions. A card or the Vipps...

Melbourne is an easy, low-friction city for first-timers, but a handful of things surprise visitors more than they should. Sort your visa before you fly Australia has no visa-free entry for anyone. Most passports, including the US, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, need an ETA (subclass 601), about AUD $20 through the Australian ETA app. EU and UK passports use the...

Nice is compact and walkable, so the neighborhood you pick matters more than the exact hotel. The core, Vieux Nice, the Carre d’Or, the Promenade and Place Massena, is entirely on foot, and Tram Line 2 links the airport straight into it. Here is how the main areas compare. Vieux Nice (Old Town) Closest to the market, the socca, and the nightlife, with narrow-lane character and pastel...

Surabaya eats like the halal-majority port city it is: bold, petis-heavy, and built around a few genuinely famous local dishes rather than imported cuisine. Here’s what to actually order. Rawon: the signature, rated the world’s best soup Rawon is a beef soup blackened by ground keluak (kluwek) nut, built with garlic, shallots, candlenut, turmeric, and galangal, and served over rice...

Most visitors do the castle, the bridges, and the market and call it Ljubljana. The city rewards a second layer of walking, and because it is small and flat (Slovenia’s capital, not Slovakia’s), the quieter spots are all within reach on foot or a short bus. Here are the overlooked corners worth your extra hours, most of them free. Plecnik’s National and University Library (NUK)....

Nice photographs well because the light is soft and the palette is consistent, ochre and pastel against a blue bay. The trick is less about finding secret spots than about timing the obvious ones. Here is where to shoot and when. Castle Hill viewpoint (golden hour) The definitive Nice shot: the whole sweep of Vieux Nice’s roofline, the curve of the Baie des Anges, and the port, all from one...

Melbourne’s neighborhoods each suit a different kind of trip, and where you base yourself changes how much you rely on trams versus walking. Here are the seven worth choosing between. CBD Inside the Free Tram Zone, so short hops cost nothing, and everything from the laneways to Queen Victoria Market is walkable. This is the easiest base for a first visit. The historic Hotel Windsor and QT...

Antwerp is relaxed and English-friendly, but a few local customs are worth knowing so you read as a considerate visitor rather than a clueless one. Here is what matters. Speak Dutch, not French The single most important point: Antwerp is in Flanders, and the local language is Dutch (Flemish), not French. Greet people with “dag” or “hallo,” say “dank je” for...

Quebec City’s food identity leans hard into French-Canadian comfort cooking: poutine (fries, cheese curds, gravy), tourtiere (a spiced meat pie), cretons (a pork spread), and pea soup traditionally flavored with a ham hock and a touch of maple. Expect to see all four on menus across Old Quebec and well beyond it. Aux Anciens Canadiens For a meal inside real history, Aux Anciens Canadiens...

Twenty-five minutes from Venice by train sits one of the most tightly gatekept rooms in Italy. Padua’s Scrovegni Chapel holds Giotto’s 1305 fresco cycle, a full ceiling and walls of blue-ground scenes that changed how Western painting handled space and human feeling, and getting inside takes real planning: there is no same-day daytime ticket, full stop. Book ahead, show up early, and...

Melbourne mixes street art, water and a genuine skyline, which makes for a varied photo list without leaving the city core, from a historic pier at one end to an 88-floor skydeck at the other. St Kilda Pier Sunrise or sunset both work here, with the pier, the beach and Luna Park’s old-world skyline all in one frame; the little penguins that come ashore on the nearby breakwater at dusk need a...

You do not have to leave the city to find green space and open water in Nice. Between the hillside parks, a couple of formal gardens, and 7km of coast, the outdoors is woven through the centre. Here are the calm, low-effort spots, for the proper trails see the companion hiking guide. The park on Castle Hill The Colline du Chateau is more than a viewpoint. It is a full hilltop park with shaded...

A full week from a Venice base covers the entire Veneto day trip circuit. This plan takes the 6-day route through Padua, Verona, Vicenza, Lake Garda, the Dolomites and the Prosecco road and adds the toughest, furthest trip of all: Ravenna’s Byzantine mosaics. Have fewer days? The 2 through 6 day versions cover shorter slices of this same spine. Book these before you go: Padua’s...

Using Antwerp as a base for Belgian day trips is easy, but a few logistics are worth knowing before you start buying tickets. Here is the practical side of ranging out from Antwerpen-Centraal. Everything leaves from one station Every train to Mechelen, Ghent, Brussels, Bruges, the coast, and Lille departs from Antwerpen-Centraal, so stay near it and each morning is a short walk rather than a tram...

Melbourne’s green spaces sit inside and just around the city itself, no day trip required. These ten are worth the detour on a city-focused visit. Royal Botanic Gardens Free to enter and home to thousands of plant species around a central lake, with a separate Aboriginal Heritage Walk offering a different way to see the same grounds. Shrine of Remembrance grounds Next door to the Botanic...

Six days adds a car to the mix. This plan builds on the 5-day rail-and-bus route through Padua, Verona, Vicenza, Lake Garda and the Dolomites with a self-drive day through the Prosecco hills, the one trip on this list where public transit genuinely will not get you there. Shorter trip? Back up to 2 through 5 days. Have a full week? See the 7-day version with Ravenna added. Book these before you...

Nice is flat along the seafront but hemmed in by hills, so you can go from a level coastal stroll to a real climb without ever renting a car. These are the walks worth lacing up for, from easiest to most ambitious. Castle Hill (Colline du Chateau): the easy win The obvious first walk. A short, steady climb from Vieux Nice, or the free public lift if the heat has beaten you, gets you to a hilltop...

Trondheim is small enough that almost anywhere in the center puts you within walking distance of the cathedral, but the 3 main options each have a slightly different character. Midtbyen: the classic first-timer base Midtbyen, the historic center on its river peninsula, is where most first-time visitors end up, and for good reason. Nidaros Cathedral, the Torvet main square, museums, and shops are...

Seven Days: The Full Coastal Circuit, Nice as Home Base A week in Nice is the itinerary where you stop rationing train tickets. You get a real day in the city, four coastal escapes each bolder than the last, Nice’s own hillside culture stop, and a genuine bonus day, Menton or a scenic run into the Alps, that most trips never get around to. By day seven you’ll have used pretty much...

Five days takes the 4-day rail loop through Padua, Verona, Vicenza and Lake Garda and adds the biggest single day in this whole itinerary: a bus run to the Dolomites. This is also where the trip switches hubs, day 5 leaves from Piazzale Roma, not the train station. Only have a couple of days? See the 2 or 3 day version. Want the Prosecco road and Ravenna too? Keep going to 6 or 7 days.

Six Days: This Is Where Nice Really Proves Itself Six days is the point where basing yourself in Nice stops being a nice idea and starts being obviously correct. You get a full day in the city, four increasingly bold coastal train rides, real time in Monaco, a combined Cannes-and-Antibes day, and still land back on Nice’s own hillside for the culture stop most itineraries front-load too...

Melbourne itself is flat and built for walking rather than hiking, but the surrounding hour or two of Victoria has real trails, from easy forest paths to a genuine mountain range. Only the Dandenong Ranges are reachable by public transport, on the Metro line to Belgrave; everything else needs a car or an organised tour. None of these need technical gear, but check the weather and carry water...

Most visitors do the Promenade, the old town, and one museum, then leave. Nice rewards going one layer deeper. Here are the corners that stay quiet even in a busy summer. Rauba-Capeu, the viewpoint everyone walks past Between Port Lympia and Vieux Nice, a clifftop terrace holds a 32m WWI memorial carved straight into the rock and one of the best free views in the city, back toward Castle Hill and...

If you are basing in Ljubljana and heading out across Slovenia (the country bordering Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia, not Slovakia), the season matters more than any single festival. What is open, swimmable, or skiable changes month to month across the lakes, caves, coast, and Alps. Here is the country’s calendar as it affects day trips, with the genuine seasonal traditions worth timing...

Antwerp is compact, so no neighbourhood leaves you stranded, but the area you pick does change the trip. Here is how the main options compare, and what to weigh before booking. Compare current rooms on Booking.com . The historic centre and Grote Markt The most atmospheric base, and walking distance to almost everything worth seeing: the cathedral, Het Steen, the Scheldt quays, and the restaurants...

Four Days: Nice, Two Trains Out, and a Full Day in Another Country Four days is where this itinerary really starts to sing. You get a real day in Nice itself, two increasingly ambitious coastal train rides, and then a full day in Monaco, a genuinely separate sovereign country you reach in about as much time as a bus ride across most cities. This is the version of Nice where the phrase...

Four days lets you add a lake to the 3-day Padua, Verona and Vicenza plan . Day 4 pushes on to Lake Garda’s Sirmione, reached with a change at Verona, so this whole itinerary still runs on trains alone. Shorter on time? Try the 2 or 3 day version. Want the Dolomites or the Prosecco road too? Jump to 5 , 6 or 7 days. Book these before you go:

Old Quebec’s walls Start on top: walk a stretch of the ramparts that still ring Old Quebec, first inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, and pass through one of the four surviving gates, Saint-Louis, Saint-Jean, Kent, or Prescott. This is the only fortified city north of Mexico with its walls intact, roughly 4.6 km end to end. Chateau Frontenac and Dufferin Terrace The Chateau...

Three Days: One City, Two Train Rides Out Give Nice three days and the whole calculation changes. Day one is the city itself, and days two and three belong to the coast, because the entire reason you base yourself in Nice instead of somewhere quieter is the train line running along it. This itinerary spends its extra day getting you further out, not deeper into museums you can visit anytime.