Lying just a few kilometres from the coast of Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago are two islands on the south-eastern edge of the Antilles archipelago. Formerly a Spanish Colony they were British-ruled from 1802 until dependence in 1962. Today they have become one of the most developed Caribbean nations, whilst still retaining strong cultural roots and […]

Good-looking, refined and spectacular in spring, Canberra was little more than an aboriginal meeting point at the turn of the century. It wasn’t the obvious choice for Australia’s federal capital; rather, it was born out of compromise between Melbourne and Sydney. An opportunity to start anew, the city came to embody the hopes and aspirations […]

One of Africa’s most dramatic landscapes, Ethiopia packs in spectacular waterfalls nestled amid lush green forests, Martian deserts strewn with jagged boulders, hot volcanic springs and some of the highest mountains on the continent. It’s sprinkled liberally with a healthy dose of the past, too; the rock-hewn churches at Lalibela are enchanting testaments to Medieval […]

Botswana is one of the most developed and successful nations in Sub-Saharan Africa, and one of striking contrasts; deserts, deltas, salt plains and hundreds of kilometres of rolling safari make it a paradise for budding explorers. It is also one of the safest countries in Africa and a great place to start for first-time visitors […]

The Emerald Isle has seen unprecedented levels of growth over the last two decades and much of the processes of industrialisation and modernisation have centred about the nation’s capital. What Dublin lacks in conventional beauty it makes up for in character and the list of city alumni includes such literary giants as Oscar Wilde, while […]

The majestic Atlas Mountains are a fitting backdrop for this impressive Imperial city, whose ancient walls of mud and straw rise like molten gold from the surrounding red plains. Swaying palms line sweeping plazas pulsing with merchants and street performers, while the ancient mosques are as resplendent today as centuries before. There’s a lot to […]

Take one sandy, barren wasteland, and pump full of oil. Leave to simmer for fifty years et voila; one pulsing, modern metropolis of dizzying skyscrapers and thriving city streets. That’s the recipe for Riyadh, a heaving conurbation of nearly five million citizens that was little more than a provincial town of 80,000 as recently as […]

Nestled amid Cuba’s verdant green interior, Trinidad is a World Heritage protected town that oozes old colonial charm, with a stunning natural setting that rich with the tropical grace of the Caribbean. More than that, the lack of real infrastructure and major hotels means that it has escaped much of the tourist circus that similar […]

A popular postcard sold on the streets of Warsaw shows the old town before and after it was razed by the Nazi bombs in the Second World War. On the left is a black and white photograph of pure destruction. But on the right hand side an image depicts the market square in all its […]

Vancouver was little more than a provincial town a century ago and remains young by the standards of many of world’s leading cities. Yet with a population of two million today it frequently tops polls for world’s most liveable city and despite its humble beginnings it is definitely a modern leading light. Perhaps it’s precisely […]

Santa Fe can feel like a world apart from the rest of the US, and for long periods of its history it has been precisely that. Even under previous Spanish and Mexican administrations the citizens had a reputation for being independent, while many travellers wondered that such a dusty, barren land could support a city […]

There’s a Welsh saying, “if you would get ahead, be a bridge”. As a gateway to industrial Wales, Cardiff has certainly done that. It was John Crichton-Stuart, the 2nd Marquess of Bute, who constructed the docks here during the 1830s, is often accredited with the creation of modern Cardiff and being the catalyst for the […]