Festivals and Events

Jan 7, 2016 • 4 min read

When it comes to adventure, you can’t go wrong in Ecuador. There are towering Andean peaks and volcanoes, vast swaths of Amazonian rain forest, chilled…

Sep 25, 2015 • 5 min read

Sandwiched between tourism giants Argentina and Brazil, Uruguay might suffer from ‘middle child’ syndrome. Lip service is paid to the Portuguese-founded…

Apr 13, 2015 • 5 min read

Every February the infectious sights and sounds of carnaval (carnival) return to Rio de Janeiro. The world’s best known party has taken place in the month…

Mar 11, 2015 • 5 min read

Carnival – a festive season that typically includes parades and public street parties – is serious business in the Caribbean. The saying here goes that…

Feb 25, 2015 • 5 min read

This month, hope swells in the heart of every New Yorker: spring is on the way! It’s a false hope, though, as aside from the springing forward of the…

Feb 17, 2015 • 4 min read

From reggae to dancehall, few countries are so defined by their music as Jamaica. For its size, the country produces more music than any other place on…

Jan 7, 2015 • 5 min read

It’s an engineering marvel, a multibillion-dollar commercial behemoth. The Panama Canal, which joins the Atlantic to the Pacific, is certainly Panama’s…

Dec 11, 2014 • 6 min read

There you are, playing table tennis with a stranger in the middle of a park. All around you loom primeval trees festooned with vines. Around noon, you…

Dec 8, 2014 • 5 min read

There are few places on earth as festive-feeling as Barcelona's chocolate-box medieval heart over the Christmas period (which here runs until Epiphany, or…

Dec 1, 2014 • 7 min read

Central America is one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet but its natural assets are just part of its allure. The “sweet waist of America", as…

Dec 1, 2014 • 4 min read

The run up to Christmas is one of the most charming times to visit Barcelona, its streets hung with twinkling lights and lined with craft and food markets…

Nov 21, 2014 • 5 min read

The Dutch capital is a watery wonderland. Amsterdam's Unesco World Heritage-listed Canal Ring was built during the Golden Age after the seafaring port…

Nov 11, 2014 • 5 min read

All too often, the Caribbean’s default tourist mode is its carefree picture of beaches and rum. Rinse and repeat: it’s a staggeringly successful formula…

Sep 30, 2014 • 6 min read

In October, the weather in New York City turns chilly, and residents start to look indoors for their fun – hence the surge in theater, music and movie…

Sep 22, 2014 • 5 min read

The naughty weekend away in Hobart has become de rigeur for mainland Australians and with 48 hours to play with you’ll get a true taste of this photogenic…

Aug 28, 2014 • 7 min read

Summer may be over, but there's no need for tears. September is one of the best months to be in the city. The weather is still lovely and the heavy crowds…

Aug 22, 2014 • 6 min read

People think they know Los Angeles, even, sometimes especially, if they’ve never been: a land of starstruck dreamers, Tinseltown magic, traffic-numbed…

Jun 24, 2014 • 6 min read

During the First World War, the Western Front became a byword for mud, misery and suffering. From 1914 to 1918, hundreds of thousands of men on both sides…

Feb 13, 2014 • 3 min read

From the all-night shadow-puppet performances to the bold and socially aware graffiti covering many a wall, Yogyakarta, the cultural and spiritual capital…

Oct 31, 2013 • 5 min read

Japan seduces and dazzles travellers with its buzzed-up, sprawling, ultra-convenient big cities. But if you’re weary of crowds and vending-machine-packed…

Aug 3, 2012 • 4 min read

Brazilians know how to throw a party on a mammoth scale and make other festivals look like trainspotting conventions. So charge your caipirinhas, don your…

Jun 10, 2012 • 4 min read

Head to the heel of Italy's boot and discover a region with reasons to celebrate local food all year round. Gourmet heaven, thy name is Puglia!