This is another installment of my FUTURE OF TRAVEL series. Today I’m looking at a variety of topics, including closed borders. For all the talk of COVID-19 recoveries in some parts of the world, and it IS good news, it doesn’t mean we’ll be jetting off to Australia or Austria any time soon. In the words of The Eagles, “I’m stuck on the border.” The Canada-U.S. border, which is sometimes called the longest, undefended (for now, anyway) border in the world, has been closed since March 21. Only essential goods are allowed to cross, although people can go across if Read more
Greece
A lenswear company called Lensbest has released a new, data-driven list of the best places in the world to watch a sunset. As someone who tries to watch a sunset whenever he can (okay, I’m a romantic), I got a kick out of this. The company surveyed travel journalists (myself included) around the globe and came up with the top 100. Santorini, Greece, was the most nominated place to view a sunset worldwide, followed by the Grand Canyon in Arizona and Mykonos Greece, giving two podium spots to the country that gave us the first Olympics. Some 600 global locations Read more
Hong Kong makes sense. Certainly Tokyo. But Athens? And how does my home city of Toronto end up fifth best for food in Canada? Booking.com today released a list of the top destinations its travellers enjoy for great food. There are some obvious inclusions and some surprising exclusions, if you ask me. (Which you technically didn’t). Here’s what booking.com customers came up with for a ranking of the food scene in Canada: 1. Vancouver 2. Montreal 3. Halifax 4. Winnipeg 5. Toronto I don’t want to get all parochial here, but there’s not a chance Toronto is only the fifth Read more
The kids are almost back in school, and the annual summer tourism crush in Europe is subsiding. It’s also some of the best weather of the year. Which makes this a great time to visit any number of top European destinations. In no particular order, here are 10 great spots both tried and new. BRUSSELS This might be the most under-rated city in Europe. Grand Place is the most beautiful square in Europe; with fantastic, gilded buildings dating back hundreds of years. The square in front of the church of St. Catherine is more of a locals spot and a Read more
I get asked a lot about what destinations to visit. It’s a fun question to answer. I don’t, however, always know the best TIME to book a trip. I know that hotels in New York City and Toronto and other business centres are often cheaper on weekends than during the week when biz folks travel the most. And I’ve always been told it’s best to book tickets for North America travel about four to six weeks ahead, the reasoning being that airlines know if we book a year in advance it’s probably a wedding or something important and that if Read more
