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
Rome
There’s an old saying that all roads lead to Rome. It appears the same goes for airplanes and Internet travel searches. With the funeral for Pope Francis taking place this weekend, and the election of a new pope coming in a few weeks at the Vatican, Expedia says global flight searches for Rome are up 125% for travel this week versus the same period last year. US residents are seemingly looking to make it to Rome soon, as flight searches are up 250% on Expedia.com and lodging searches up 35%. For Canada, flight searches to The Eternal City on Read more
World’sBestCities.com has unveiled its list of, well, the world’s top cities. To no one’s surprise, London, New York and Paris take the podium spots, followed by Tokyo and Singapore. Rounding out the top 10 were Rome, Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin and Sydney. That’s six European cities in the top 10, which tells you something. In fact, I count 28 European cities in the top 100. The website says they considered a variety of factors, both the “performance and perception of cities around the world. I can’t say I fully understand the methodology, but I think they’ve missed the mark on a Read more
A new study reveals the best cities for budget travelers, and Rome ranks first for offering the most free tourist attractions. Bangkok offers the lowest average hotel price at just $8 (all figures USD) and the most affordable meal price of $3.14. Lisbon stands out with the highest weather index of 98.6, which allows visitors to enjoy outdoor activities year-round. A recent study by DIPNDIVE revealed the top ten best cities for budget travelers based on a comprehensive analysis of various key factors. The data used in this study included the number of free tourist attractions, average cost of living, meal prices at inexpensive Read more
Today marks World Tourism Day around the globe. With that in mind, here are a few of my fave trips from the over the years. Here’s to more travel in the coming years! EASTER ISLAND I was attending a travel conference in Chile maybe 10 years ago, and was given the chance for a pre-trip to Easter Island, the incredibly isolated dot of rock also known as Rapa Nui and Isla de Pascua. I first saw those famous Easter Island moai statues in a magazine when I was a kid and have been fascinated by tales of Polynesian sea voyages Read more
