Fun and interesting travel stories from Australia and The World
A spirited guide to a city where the pubs are literary, the statues talk back and Oscar Wilde still seems to have the last word. From Georgian squares and Gothic cathedrals to Guinness, gossip and glorious contradiction, Dublin proves that the only thing worse than visiting is not visiting at all.
A guide for the modern traveller with your guide, Mr Oscar Wilde
Dublin is a city in which the past is never dead, merely late for an appointment. It wears history as some men wear a boutonnière conspicuously, charmingly, and with the faint suspicion that it has been borrowed. The Vikings founded it, the English governed it, the Irish reclaimed it and the tourists now photograph it from every possible angle, including several from which it has never looked its best.
From Island Escapes to Casino Ruins
Across Australia, former holiday resorts that once drew families, celebrities and international visitors have been left empty, partially demolished or overtaken by vegetation.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Beyond the shoreline lies one of Thailand’s most fascinating natural attractions, a vast tropical rainforest filled with rare plant life, rich ecology and a botanical story stretching back more than a century.
Looking for the best international cruise destinations from Australia? Whether you’re sailing from Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide or Perth, there are plenty of unforgettable ports within easy reach. For Australian travellers keen to add a few stamps to their passport, the South Pacific and nearby regions continue to offer some of the most popular cruise holidays departing from Australia.
As Thailand’s islands continue to evolve under the pressure of mass tourism and rapid development, finding a property that still feels connected to its environment and culture has become increasingly rare. On Koh Samui’s quieter shores, however, boutique luxury still survives in pockets of calm sophistication, and few places capture that spirit better than The Retreat Koh Chang.
Bali in the Balance
Bali announces itself before it fully appears. The descent into Denpasar reveals a volcanic ridge through cloud, terraces cut into the hillsides, and a coastline that suggests calm. It is an appealing first impression, but the island is not simple. It is shaped by devotion, commerce, and habit, often simultaneously. I arrived expecting beauty and found a place negotiating its identity in public.
