The annual Conde Nast Readers’ Choice Awards are out for best travel of 2025, and there’s plenty of great North American and world content to check out, as well as fabulous hotels and cruises. Canada made the top 10 for best countries to visit, while New York City won kudos for its food scene and hotels. Victoria, British Columbia was named best small city in the world, Barbados made the top three for most friendly countries, and Tokyo was named world’s best food city. The top ten hotels list for Canada included 1 Hotel Toronto and, in first place, the Read more
Europe
Canadian travellers have spoken. Air Canada Vacations has announced the winners of its first-ever Travellers’ Top Picks Awards, a celebration of Canadian wanderlust that drew over 100,000 entries and sparked a nationwide conversation about the places Canadians dream of exploring. Travellers voted across 10 categories curated by Air Canada Vacations experts, sending their favourite destinations to the summit of Canadians’ travel wish lists. The choices are mostly excellent, and I was quite pleased to see a few personal faves (Rome, Singapore, New York City and two Hawai’i destinations) make the list. “Canadians love to travel, which is what inspired us Read more
Fall is almost here for folks in the northern hemisphere, which means the summer crowds are pretty much gone from many of the world’s – and North America’s – top destinations. Shoulder season is an ideal time to visit Europe, with the usual hordes having departed cities like Rome and Barcelona but with warm weather still lingering. Not to mention warm Mediterranean water. It’s also a great time to visit Northern California, which often sees it warmest temperature of the year in September and (usually) very little fog. And a fabulous time to visit Hawaii for deals and for Australia Read more
A new report from KAYAK finds domestic destinations are more popular with Canadian travellers for Labour Day Weekend this year than last year, with more than a 19% increase in searches. Top domestic travel spots include Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Halifax, a city I love. Canadians also are looking for trips to Paris and London (the England one). Top trending destinations include Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, Edmonton (an underrated Canadian city) and Dublin, Ireland, KAYAK said. A NEW ATTRACTION FOR NIAGARA FALLS One of Canada’s top destinations – and one of the great vacation spots in the world Read more
One of the world’s best beaches is getting bigger. Much bigger. I recently caught up with Brian Lowack, president and CEO of Visit St. Pete/Clearwater; one of the top destinations in Florida. He told me a beach renewal project that stretches from Sand Key on Clearwater Beach to St. Pete Beach will add 2.5 million cubic yards of sand, with roughly 200 feet of width. “It’s already great, but it’s going to be the most beautiful beach in Florida,” he told me in Toronto, where Visit St. Pete/Clearwater hosted media and travel agents at a Blue Jays-Yankees game. The cost Read more
