It’s officially spring as of 11:06 p.m. Eastern Time today, a time for new beginnings and new travel destinations. With that in mind, here are some of my fave places from the last few years that would make for a nice spring visit. QUIET CARIBBEAN Bequia, pronounced Beckway, this is a fabulous, laid-back Caribbean island that’s part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It’s about a one-hour ferry ride from Kingstown, St. Vincent, and a pretty ride at that. The Bequia Beach Hotel is a superb place to rest your head. SINGAPORE SHINES This Asian city is a terrific destination, Read more
Scotland
Eastern Canadians are about to get vastly improved service to Europe, while Western Canadians are gaining an easy flight to Iceland. WestJet today said it is bringing back some of its Europe flights from Eastern Canada for next year, including Toronto-Dublin and Halifax to Edinburgh, Dublin and London Gatwick. They’re also instituting flights from Calgary to Reykjavik, Iceland and from St. John’s, Newfoundland to London Gatwick. As WestJet continues to strengthen its presence in Western Canada, the airline said it is also enhancing its 787 Dreamliner hub, increasing frequencies for international routes and adding daily exclusive service to Japan. “Today’s Read more
Easy, relatively quick and surprisingly restful. I recently took the Caledonian Sleeper car from London to Edinburgh and on to Inverness for an overnight trip. I hadn’t slept on a train since, I believe, 1979. I was intrigued by the idea, especially since my 91-year-old father and his 92-year-old lady friend recently slept three nights on a train between California and Buffalo. I was greeted by a company employee outside the train at Euston station in London and headed to my assigned cabin, a Club Room En Suite. I had a comfortable but narrow bed with a bunk bed on Read more
We were lucky enough to spend 24 hours (okay, maybe 22) in Glasgow recently. We had a fine Scottish afternoon tea, enjoyed a wonderful music-themed tour, had drinks at a pub, dined at a nice restaurant and bedded down at the sleek, new Virgin Hotel. Here’s a look at our brief stay. A MARVELOUS MUSIC TOUR We met our Glasgow Music City Tour guide, local music critic Fiona Shepherd, outside the Clutha and Victoria pub in town, one of the city’s oldest. She told us she had reviewed a Shania Twain performance at The OVO Hydro, the city’s splashy arena. Read more
Time Out has just issued its annual list of the world’s 40 coolest neighborhoods. Of course, it’s entirely a judgment call; what I call cool might be considerably different from what you like. Still I enjoy these lists. So here are some highlights that include some of my fave countries and U.S. states to visit. UNITED STATES California impressed with two spots in the top 30. The vibrant and funky Arts District in Los Angeles was 13th overall and second in the U.S. only to the Mid-City district of New Orleans. Here’s a Vancouver Sun story I wrote that talks Read more
