Tourism
There may never be a better (or cheaper) time to visit South Africa
There are plenty of places to fly to for winter sun, but only one place that offers five-star hotels for…
The Luangwa is far from being a happy valley
Simon Barnes opens with a presumably true idea, that we are all in search of our own versions of paradise…
Next time I go to India, I want imperialism 2.0
When in India, I always appal my highly educated tour guides. They despair of me, as they drag me round…
The world is about to discover the wonders of Lake Iseo
If you’ve never heard of Lake Iseo, you’re not alone. Nestling shyly between chocolate-box Como and glamorous Garda, the smallest…
The micro-businesses that give me hope for Belfast
At Stormont on Saturday, we observed a minute’s silence for the dead of Paris. Our conference group of Brits and…
Islamic State is making its threats a reality
Isis could be on the brink of creating a terrifying new world order
Max Hastings’s diary: How sporting tourists play into Nicola Sturgeon’s hands
During our annual odyssey around the Scottish Highlands, I read Tears of the Rajas, Ferdinand Mount’s eloquent indictment of imperial…
Tristram Hunt’s diary: The rainy glories of Devon – and a cold political climate
‘Devon, Devon, Devon/ Where it rains six days out of seven.’ Nothing beats a British seaside holiday. And north Devon…
Escape Antigua’s tourists (but be ready to confront some grim secrets)
‘Tourism, tourism and tourism,’ said my Antiguan cab driver, when I asked what the country’s main industries were. Still, it’s…
Prue Leith’s diary: When did weddings stop being for parents?
My Cambodian daughter and her husband have just got married again. Wedding One was a Buddhist affair in our drawing…
The wonders of the Muslim world that my children will never get to see
I celebrated Eid in a sandy bay in Sri Lanka, watching from the warm, shallow sea as gaggles of local…
The first things you should do in Florence
The British have always been in love with Florence. First visits cannot disappoint. One friend recalls being herded around as…
Venetian restaurants know I’m English from the back
The Gatto Nero — or ‘Black Cat’ — is in Burano, a tiny island in the Venetian lagoon. It is…
Would Betjeman recognise anything about today’s north Cornwall?
In a documentary filmed at the end of his life, Sir John Betjeman, who lived in the village of Trebetherick…
Calling all British tourists — Ukraine needs you!
Kiev ‘What the hell’s going to happen to your poor country?’ I ask the man in the flea market not…
Antwerp: the compact, charming capital of a country that doesn’t quite exist yet
Napoleon didn’t think much of Antwerp. ‘Scarcely a European city at all,’ he scoffed. If only he could see it…
The swankier the hotel, the sulkier the tourists
Unusually, I didn’t leave the British Isles until I was 35, when I went to the Maldives for a fortnight.…
The Portrait restaurant: a secret glade of stone and brick, suspended above Trafalgar Square
The Portrait Restaurant lives at the top of the National Portrait Gallery, London. It is fiercely modern, but likeable. You…
English cities don’t have quarters – whatever the executives say
‘No quarter given,’ yelled my husband as he stabbed at a cushion with his stick, spoiling the cavalier effect a…
Introducing the first Spectator readers’ cruise
It’s a complete recipe for disaster of course. By which I mean being trapped at sea with The Spectator’s ‘Low…
Letter from Cuba: The tourists are coming – but don’t expect Walmart just yet
Sloppy Joe’s — which starred in the film of Graham Greene’s Our Man in Havana — was always likely to…
Tourists are trickling back to Egypt – to beat the crowds, go now
Egypt’s revolution of 2011 didn’t just get rid of President Mubarak: it did a pretty good job of clearing out…
A cemetery with cocktails: La Coupole and the spirit of the brasserie
La Coupole, Montparnasse, is the grandest and most famous of the old pre-war Parisian brasseries; that is, if you have…
Rise early to see the Vatican at its best
The sun has only just risen in Rome and we are standing bleary-eyed in a short queue outside the Vatican.…
How to walk along canals in Venice without feeling like a tourist
I arrived in Venice believing it would reek of sewage. It didn’t. The walk into the centre went through cobbled…
