I love a good travel list, so today I’m going OVERBOARD with three fun ones: the top cities in Europe, the best places to visit in Canada, and the best beaches in Australia. I also look at Las Vegas tourism, Air Canada’s plan to increase flights to India, and plans for Hilo, Hawaii.
THE BEST 100 CITIES IN EUROPE
The experts at Resonance Consultancy, who take an exhaustive look at the world’stop cities every year, have come out with a list of the best cities in Europe for 2026.
The company looked at 34 factors, including livability, prosperity and nightlife, to come up with its list, which I think is quite good and has a few surprises. And, in my mind, at least one startling omission.
Here’s their top 25, followed by a few notables. I also have a look at which European countries fared the best.
London’s Millenium Bridge and St. Paul’s Cathedral. JIM BYERS PHOTO
- London (No matter how many times I visit, I always find something new to explore)
- Paris (ditto)
- Berlin (bit of a surprise to me, but I’ve never been there so perhaps I should keep quiet)
- Rome (tough to beat The Eternal City for history, architecture and food. Here’s a blog post about a great vrbo stay in the city in 2024)
- Barcelona (amazing architecture and style)
- Madrid
- Amsterdam (those canals are just so impressive, as are the museums)
- Vienna (a surprisingly hip city, as I discovered a couple years ago)
- Copenhagen
- Stockholm (I’ve only been once, in 1979, but I thought it was truly stunning)
- Oslo
- Munich (here’s a blog I posted from a while back)
- Lisbon (a personal fave, with terrific neighborhoods to explore)
- Budapest
- Prague
- Brussels (perhaps the prettiest main square in all of Europe)
- Warsaw
- Milan
- Dublin
- Hamburg
- Zurich (very much underrated, and not as buttoned-down as you might think)
- Istanbul (here’s a link to a story I wrote two years ago)
- Edinburgh (and another link from a fabulous visit in 2024)
- Frankfurt
- Helsinki
Ljubljana, Slovenia. JIM BYERS PHOTO
I was surprised to see Florence down at 33rd and Venice at 48. I would personally rank Belfast much higher than 89th. But my biggest beef with the list is the absence of Ljubljana, the gorgeous capital of Slovenia. It’s a marvellous, walkable and very attractive city that deserves far more attention.
If you click on the entire list and do the math, you’ll find that Germany has 17 cities on the list, as does the UK (13 England, two Scotland, one Wales and one Northern Ireland). France has 10 cities in the top 100, while Italy has seven and Spain six (sorry, Donald Trump). Scandinavia did quite well, as did Holland and Poland.
ANOTHER LIST: TOP CANADIAN DESTINATIONS
A ride on the Wenonah II on Lake Muskoka. JIM BYERS PHOTO
Writing for Readers Digest and MSN, my friend Tim Johnson has a nice list of the top 10 destinations in Canada that Canadians need to visit.
In no particular order, they were Banff (naturally), Quebec City (the most European city you’ll find outside Europe), The Muskoka Lakes of Ontario (natural beauty less than two hours from Toronto), Cavendish Beach, Prince Edward Island (lovely, tranquil province I just love), Long Beach, Tofino, British Columbia (super natural spot in B.C.), Hopewell Rocks on the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick (you can walk on the ocean floor at low tide), Kluane National Park, Yukon (stark beauty, and hardly a soul in sight at the busiest of times), Churchill, Manitoba (famous for polar bears), Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland and Labrador (primitive beauty in the most welcoming province in Canada), and the CN Tower in Toronto (not my fave place, but I see why people go).
FINAL LIST FOR TODAY: TOP AUSTRALIA BEACHES
A young boy takes in the scenery at Hellfire Bay in Western Australia on a 4×4 beach ride with Fly Esperance. JIM BYERS PHOTO
Tourism Australia recently highlighted a list of the country’s top beaches. They were as follows:
- Bate Bay Beaches, New South Wales
- Pinky Beach, Rottnest Island, Western Australia (fabulous beaches on Rottnest Island, which is a short ferry ride from Fremantle, a suburb of Perth)
- Beachcomber Cove, Queensland
- Tallow Beach, New South Wales
- Hellfire Bay, Western Australia (magical, white sands and cool rock formations. I was hugely impressed by my visit in December of 2024)
- Godfreys Beach – The Nut, Tasmania
- Inskip Point, Queensland
- Mount Martha, Victoria
- Smoky Bay, South Australia
- Ellery Creek Big Hole, Northern Territory
AIR CANADA BOOSTING INDIA SERVICE
New Delh, India. confused_me/Pixabayphoto
My friends at Open Jaw report Air Canada is increasing service to India this month as it temporarily adjusts its long-haul network in response to ongoing Middle East airspace restrictions and safety concerns.
“With the ongoing Middle East situation, from March 7 to 21 we’re adding a frequency for double-daily Toronto-Delhi service and using larger aircraft on select Toronto-London-Mumbai flights to provide routing options,” Air Canada said.
Open Jaw also reports the war in Iran could lead to increased airfares.
HAWAII BIG ISLAND TARGETS HILO IMPROVEMENTS
Liliuokalani Park is a lovely spot in downtown Hilo. JIM BYERS PHOTO
The Hawai’i Tourism Authority has come up with a draft plan of changes/improvements for Hawai’i Island, sometimes known as Hawai’i Big Island. The plan talks about improvements to four areas; Keaukaha on the east coast, historic Kealakekua on the west side, Ka Lae in South Point and the city of Hilo. For Hilo, the authority talks about a range of changes, including strengthening the city “as a place where visitors more meaningfully spend time,” articulating a “clear, community-informed sense of place,” and “elevating agritourism and food-based experiences.”
Readers of this space know I’m a huge fan of Hawaii, and also of Hilo. It’s a funky, relatively undiscovered city/large town that has a cool, relaxed surfer vibe that reminds me of old-time Lahaina or Santa Cruz, California. It’s not a surf spot per se, but it feels very warm and natural to me, and totally unpretentious. If you visit Hawaii Big Island, and you should, it’s well worth spending a couple days in Hilo to check out fun, inexpensive restaurants, thundering waterfalls in the heart of the city, low-key boutiques, and lush, green, waterfront parks.
LAS VEGAS SEES CANADIAN GROWTH
Las Vegas downtown. JIM BYERS PHOTO
Downtown Las Vegas’ Circa Resort & Casino, the D Las Vegas and Golden Gate Hotel & Casino are seeing a surge in Canadian visitation after launching a program that treats the Canadian dollar at par with the U.S. dollar, drawing more than 15,000 visitors in its first month and generating more than 2,700 hotel room bookings. The resorts’ “At Par” commitment will continue through Aug. 31 and applies to select gaming, hotel, beverage and entertainment offerings.
