Portugal is already a top destination for Canadians. But one region is hungry for more. Representatives from the Albufeira and Lagos districts in the Algarve region descended on Toronto yesterday for a media lunch and an evening event with travel trade. The sunny Algarve region has 12% of all the hotel and resort beds in Portugal, with everything from five-star luxury and boutique places to villas and budget hotels. With 300 days of sunshine a year, it’s an area of Portugal that draws a good deal of Canadians already. “Canada is a strategic market for us,” Read more
Caribbean
The Michelin Guide people are famous for their restaurant ratings, but they also have been doing hotel ratings for a few years. They recently granted Michelin keys (restaurants get stars, hotels get keys) to 42 Canadian properties. Two Canadian hotels received three keys for superb service and quality, those being the remarkable Fogo Island Inn in Newfoundland and Labrador, and also Clayuquot Wilderness Lodge in British Columbia. Another eight hotels received two Michelin keys: The Hazelton Hotel Toronto, Manoir Hovey in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Auberge Saint-Antoine in Quebec City, Four Seasons Resort and Residences, Whistler, Four Seasons Hotel Read more
Sometimes I have to pinch myself. I’ve been a full-time travel writer since 2008, and that has allowed me to stay the night in some of the finest hotels the world has to offer. Just for fun, because I’m in Mexico as I write this and it’s raining, here are ten of the most luxurious places I’ve bedded down for the night. Hotel Hassler Roma, Rome. My daughter and I stayed here in, oh, 2012 or 2013 and had a room that looked down on the Spanish Steps. We had a small balcony and bought a bottle of wine and Read more
I love the mountains, and I love a quiet lake in a woodsy spot. But I’m definitely a summer person and a water person, so when people ask me about the best places I’ve travelled I almost always answer with an island destination, such as isolated Lord Howe Island in Australia. With that in mind, and given it’s the time of year when people start thinking about their top places to travel for the next year, here are some top islands to visit in 2027, with no particular order or ranking in mind. JIM’S TOP TEN ISLANDS TO VISIT PONZA, Read more
It’s always interesting to see what destinations travellers are looking for when thinking about their vacations or visits. Here are the top 10 destinations with the biggest year-on-year increase in Skyscanner searches by Canadians: Cardiff, Wales: +1,0456% Grenada: +156% Tivat, Montenegro: +149% Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia: +139% Penticton, British Columbia: +137% Salzburg, Austria: +119% Bergen, Norway: +119% Olbia, Italy: +117% Podgorica, Montenegro: +116% Tofino, British Columbia: +83% Skyscanner also has a new report on the cheapest destinations for Canadian travellers in November: Nassau, Bahamas: Roundtrip flights starting from $321 Saint Lucia: Roundtrip flights starting from $335 Montego Bay, Jamaica: Roundtrip flights Read more
