Five inches of rain in Toronto this morning has me thinking that maybe instead of cool-weather vacations, which I mentioned in this space yesterday, it’s time to look at dry-weather destinations. I don’t normally dream of the desert in summer, but maybe it’s time to look at places where you’re vacation is unlikely to require a heavy-duty umbrella and thick, rubber rain boots. With that in mind, here are some great, dry (not in an alcohol availability sense) vacation places you could think of. The Atacama Desert, Chile There was a pretty good rain here a few years ago, but Read more
Europe
There’s no denying it: this summer is absolutely sizzling. If the only things getting you through the season are chafe sticks and ice in every liquid (even soup), it might be time for a coolcation – or a trip to somewhere temperate. The folks at KAYAK have rounded up our cheapest flights to chiller-than-average cities. So you can dial the temperature down from a boil to a simmer. 1. San Francisco, California ($539) Highest average temperature: 18°C 2. Seattle, Washington ($539) Highest average temperature: 23°C 3. Reykjavík, Iceland ($860) Highest average temperature: 11°C 4. Lima, Peru ($925) Highest average temperature: 18°C 5. Dublin, Ireland ($965) Highest average temperature: 18°C 6. Edinburgh, Scotland ($1089) Read more
A country’s safety and sense of security are often key criteria for international travellers. Using a set of 35 objective indicators, HelloSafe has published for the first time its HelloSafe Index of the safety of countries worldwide, based on 5 categories of criteria: risk of natural disasters, violence in society, involvement in armed conflict, health infrastructure and militarization. The results show that Iceland, Singapore (here’s a story I wrote about Singapore recently) and Denmark are the three safest countries in the world to travel to in 2024. The Philippines, Colombia and Mexico are the three least safe countries in the world in Read more
Canada Day is right around the corner and Expedia data is showing it to be the busiest travel weekend of the summer. Domestically, Toronto (32%), Vancouver (23%), Montréal (25%), Calgary (24%), and Edmonton (17%) are the most sought-after destinations for Canadians, and are also seeing double digit increases, up from Canada Day 2023. For international travel, New York came in as the top city overall (31%), but Cancun and Las Vegas prove to be the fastest growing with increases of 112% and 61% respectively. Canadians looking to celebrate the holiday abroad are also jet-setting to Rome (22%), Athens (25%), Los Read more
A lot has been written about over-tourism of late. With the summer travel season just beginning, we’re likely to see more about crowding in popular parts of the world, especially Europe. The latest story on the matter comes from the legendary Cinque Terre in Italy, the five scenic villages that dot the coast east of Genoa. “Our problem isn’t overtourism but overcrowding, and during certain periods of the year,” Fabrizia Pecunia, the mayor of both Manarola and Riomaggiore, said in a story posted in The Guardian. “The main challenge is how to distribute tourism across the area, and we need Read more
