MSN has a fun (maybe not to him) look at European travel expert Rick Steves’ fave places – and not so fave – places in Europe. Rick (I dealt with him briefly when I was travel editor at the Toronto Star) doesn’t hate anyplace in Europe as far as I can tell, but there do seem to be places he recommends more highly than others. Here’s what MSN Travel and xxx published in a story about Steves’ personal faves – and not so faves. RICK’S FAVES Bruges, Belgium Istanbul, Turkiye Rome, Italy Prague, Czechia Mosel River Valley, Germany Norway NOT Read more
Yosemite
U.S. News has a nice roundup of top places in the world to explore in the coming year. They also listed top destinations in the U.S.A. and Canada, as well as Europe and the Caribbean. Here’s a look at some of their findings. BEST WORLD DESTINATIONS FOR 2026 Rome (hard to argue with The Eternal City) Tokyo (amazing food and ancient temples) Prague Swiss Alps (so beautiful) Mauritius Iguazu Falls, South America Amsterdam (fab museums and atmospheric pubs) Machu Picchu Palawan (Philippines) Santorini (still never been) Bora Bora (perhaps the most beautiful island on the planet) Tanzania Sydney Paris (not Read more
Brand USA, the people in charge of marketing the U.S. to the world, have a new campaign called “America the Beautiful.” The announcement, made today at the U.S. Travel Association’s IPW event in Chicago, includes the launch of a new global tourism campaign, America the Beautiful, and the introduction of a dedicated digital hub, AmericaTheBeautiful.com. The campaign aims to showcase the diversity and richness of U.S. destinations and encourage international travel to the United States in 2025 and beyond. Brand USA also outlined key milestones shaping the coming decade — including America250 (celebrating the 250th anniversary of the U.S.), the Read more
Time Magazine (remember them?) is out with a list of its top 50 destinations for 2023. Some of my fave places made the list, including Vancouver, Vienna, surprising Tampa and the Caribbean island of Dominica, where I spent five days in January. Also making the list on the Canadian side of the ledger was Churchill, Manitoba, which I haven’t had the pleasure of visiting. For Australia, placements went to Kangaroo Island in South Australia and Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. There are six U.S. places on the list but none from the United Kingdom or Ireland, which is a little Read more
California remains the top choice for Canadians travelling to the U.S., Visit California officials say. “We’re the number one travel destination in the U.S.,” Andrew Levine of Development Counsellors International, a media relations firm that represents the state, said at a Visit California event in Toronto on Monday, April 4. A January 2022 study found that the likelihood of Canadians visiting the Golden State was up 46.6%. “The engine of travel is restarting,” Levine said. Air Canada and WestJet fly from Canadian cities to California, as does Swoop and Flair. Canada Jetlines is expected to arrive soon, as is Air Read more
