Havana’s Costumbristas: The Living Colour of Old Havana

Walk through Old Havana and you’ll soon spot them: women in bright ruffled dresses, towering headwraps, heavy beads and theatrical smiles, often holding an oversized cigar or a basket of flowers. They are commonly known as costumbristas, street performers who dress in traditional or folkloric Cuban-inspired costume and pose for photos with visitors.

Australia's Famous Abandoned Resorts

 From Island Escapes to Casino Ruins

Once promoted as luxury playgrounds, family resorts and high-roller retreats, a string of Australian holiday properties now sit closed, derelict or awaiting redevelopment.

Across Australia, former holiday resorts that once drew families, celebrities and international visitors have been left empty, partially demolished or overtaken by vegetation.

Sofitel Targets Family Travel With Eight Winter Escape Ideas for Australians

As Australian families look for ways to escape the winter chill, Sofitel has highlighted eight family-friendly destinations across Europe, Asia, the Pacific, North America and Australia, showing how luxury hotels are adapting to multigenerational travel.

The collection ranges from no-flight city breaks in Sydney to tropical escapes in Fiji, Bali and Thailand, as well as culture-led stays in Paris, Munich and Montréal. Across participating properties, Sofitel is emphasising practical family features such as interconnecting rooms, family suites, children’s menus, babysitting services, kids’ activities and its Le Petit Prince-inspired family program. At selected hotels, families can also access 50 per cent off a second room for children.

Farina: The Ghost Town That Rises With the Bread

Deep in the Flinders Ranges, about 660 kilometres north of Adelaide, Farina sits where ambition met the hard facts of outback South Australia. For most of the year it is a place of stone walls, empty streets and windblown silence. Then, for eight weeks each winter, someone lights the old underground oven and the ghost town comes briefly, wonderfully, back to life.

Northern Lights in the Northwest Territories: Aurora Borealis by the Numbers

 

Few natural experiences compare with watching the Northern Lights in Canada’s Northwest Territories. Green, purple and blue ribbons sweep across the sky, often seeming close enough to touch. Thanks to its position beneath the Auroral Oval, low light pollution and generally clear skies, the region offers some of the most reliable aurora viewing in the world.

History of Australia's longest river, the Murray River

Forty million years ago, through the forces of water and geophysical uplifting, the valley that cradles Australia's greatest river began to take shape. The Murray is a river whose character encompasses environmental beauty, rich heritage and history, busy townships and major regional centres, with amazing tourism and recreation experiences, and a world class agriculture and wine industry.

Let's go to Canada's Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island may be Canada’s smallest province, but it has the scale and texture of a destination made for slow discovery. 

Set in the Gulf of St. Lawrence off Canada’s east coast, PEI is a compact island of red-sand beaches, rolling farmland, fishing harbours, lighthouses, small towns and a capital city, Charlottetown, that blends history with a lively contemporary food and cultural scene. Tourism PEI positions the island around open roads, coastal views, outdoor activities, food and drink, theatre, festivals and the feeling of an easy, restorative escape.