Canadian cities scored highly in this year’s Condé Nast Traveller Readers’ Choice Awards. And Chicago was named best U.S. big city for the tenth year in a row. Victoria was named the world’s best small city for the fourth year in a row, which is quite the accomplishment. Here is what the magazine had to say: A popular day trip from Vancouver, British Columbia’s capital city deserves a standalone visit. Arrive via one of the world’s most scenic ferry rides across Swartz Bay and check in to the bucket list-worthy Fairmont Empress, where the Fairmont Gold rooms include access to Read more
Tokyo
More than nine in 10 visitors to the FIFA World Cup 2026 Toronto said they are likely to return to Ontario for a leisure trip within the next two years, according to a visitor intercept study released today (Sept. 2) by Destination Ontario. Conducted in partnership with Destination Toronto and Context Research Group Inc., the study surveyed visitors during the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Toronto and found high visitor satisfaction, positive perceptions of Ontario and strong intent to return. It remains to be seen if those opinions translate into actual visits, but it’s quite encouraging to see numbers like Read more
MSN Travel has come up with a list of the world’s safest cities. Each city was looked at for a variety of factors and given a numerical ranking. The United Arab Emirates cleaned up, notching the top three spots and five of the top six. The Netherlands had four cities in the top 20, while Switzerland, Norway and Croatia each had two in the top 30. The only North American cities in the top 30 were Merida, Mexico and Quebec City, Canada. No U.S. cities made the cut. Here’s the full top 30. Abu Dhabi, UAE, 88.9 Ras-al-Khaimah, UAE, 86.6 Read more
Barbados is celebrating its 60th anniversary as an independent nation. I first visited in 2009 or so, and have been at least four or five times since. It’s one of my fave places in the world; beautiful and safe and relaxed, but with many elegant places to stay. This list is mostly about food and drinks, so here’s a link to a story I wrote after a great food tour of the island a few years ago. Barbados Food & Rum Festival – One of the Caribbean’s premier culinary festivals brings together renowned local and international chefs each year. Meet Award-Winning Read more
Both Skyscanner and Hotels.com have come out with handy suggestions for travel this summer, as well as information on where Canadians are heading for their vacations. HOW TO SAVE ON HOTELS: TRAVEL TIPS FROM HOTELS.COM As travellers watch their wallets, new data from the Hotels.com 2026 Hotel Price Index reveals travel lovers don’t have to sacrifice luxury to save this summer. New data shows savvy travellers are redefining high-end travel and saving big while doing it. Here are the top three takeaways for Canadian travellers: Booking last-minute pays off: Reserving less than a week in advance nets Canadians an average Read more
