Travel News

Plan sorties to the Côte d’Azur from a chic villa in a medieval village.

In the mountains of southern Yunnan lies a faraway kingdom of tropical forests, tea gardens and idiosyncratic hill tribes. Max Veenhuyzen catches a glimpse of old China in the rugged, tongue-twisting province of Xishuangbanna and likes what he sees.

Hikers on Tasmania’s Bay of Fires Lodge Walk can anticipate a massage or foot bath when the season opens on 1 October...

Luxury cruise line Silversea is adding a third expedition ship to its fleet.

Break out the loud shirts. Australian travellers are heading to Hawaii in record numbers, writes Kendall Hill.

Après-ski in New Zealand's adventure capital just got tastier.

Whether your travel is of the long-haul or armchair variety, our collection of essential travel products will have you planning your next trip in no time.

Drained by Tokyo’s frenetic pace? Recharge in hot springs.

Hampshire's The Pig, set within the New Forest and sister to Lime Wood is having piglets.

It may be Australia’s cultural hub, but beyond Melbourne’s city limits lies a vibrant and flourishing arts scene, where regional Victorian galleries are pulling off big creative coups and nurturing unbridled originality, writes Gabriella Coslovich.

There’s history at every turn at the new Four Seasons Hotel Lion Palace St Petersburg.

A cruise along the river Po reveals the beauty, mystery and, perhaps best of all, culinary specialties of some of Italy’s most beguiling cities, writes Rob Ingram.

It makes sense that the Apple Isle would be the cider capital of Australia. Max Allen tours Tasmania’s finest producers and discovers the resurgence of an industry more than 100 years strong.

A royal family in the Middle East is helping Sir Richard Branson realise a dream.

Santa Monica's impressive hotel choices are bolstered by the arrival of Avi Brosh's hip Palihouse.

Carlton, the Melbourne suburb that brought Italian cuisine and café culture to the masses, is enjoying a revival thanks to a new generation of traders, writes Michael Harden. Little Italy’s back and we say grazie mille.

The concept of boutique hotels has become meaningless, says Ian Schrager, the very man who invented it.

Meet Western Australia’s most unlikely regional food destination: Balingup.

Sydney’s bar scene has come of age, driven by personality and pride in quality work, making for a more potent mix of drinking establishments for locals and travellers alike. Pat Nourse raises a glass to the city’s newcomers.

Historic Dandenong Ranges mansion is part of chef’s grand vision.

It's time to announce our 2013 Australian Gourmet Traveller Travel Awards. Here are our Expert Panel Awards.

The sun has risen on the winners of the 2013 Australian Gourmet Traveller Travel Awards. Here are your favourites, the Readers' Choice Awards.

Consider this: a dessert fashioned in the image of artist Damien Hirst's For the Love of God skull sculpture...

Edible insects, wine labels worth framing, boutique hotels-cum-libraries. Welcome to this year’s Gourmet Traveller Hot 100. Consider this your global hit list (in no particular order), from the most exciting food and drinks trends to the latest and greatest in travel.

Edible insects, wine labels worth framing, boutique hotels-cum-libraries. Welcome to this year’s Gourmet Traveller Hot 100. Consider this your global hit list (in no particular order), from the most exciting food and drinks trends to the latest and greatest in travel.

Edible insects, wine labels worth framing, boutique hotels-cum-libraries. Welcome to this year’s Gourmet Traveller Hot 100. Consider this your global hit list (in no particular order), from the most exciting food and drinks trends to the latest and greatest in travel.

Edible insects, wine labels worth framing, boutique hotels-cum-libraries. Welcome to this year’s Gourmet Traveller Hot 100. Consider this your global hit list (in no particular order), from the most exciting food and drinks trends to the latest and greatest in travel.

Chile is one of the world’s major wine producers, but now the nation is reflecting on its cuisine, with chefs championing its hitherto underexplored native ingredients. Kendall Hill goes dining on the edge.

Thai chef Amy Chanta gives gives Pat Nourse an insider’s guide to Phuket that reveals Thailand’s party central is in fact home to a distinctive regional cuisine all its own.

Heritage and history are one face of the Barossa Valley. But there’s also a renewed focus, says Max Allen, as one of our oldest wine regions sets a steady course for a bright future.

Qantas’s deal with Emirates could save the Aussie airline or make it a mere sideshow, says aviation writer Clive Dorman.

Welcome to the Maremma, a former wild frontier that’s home to charming medieval villages and restaurants rich in regional tradition. John Irving introduces his favourite corner of Tuscany.

Like the fabled sirens, this enchanted isle has long attracted travellers to its shores. Modern-day star-spotters followed in the wake of the literati and glitterati but, as Kendall Hill discovers, its real charms lie just beyond the boutiques.

The Aztecs may have first cottoned on to cocoa and it has become a calling card for the Swiss and Belgians but Turin is the real chocolate capital of the world, writes John Irving.

Giovanni Bulgari grew up dreaming of creating fine wine, not fine jewellery. The former gem buyer has turned wish into reality with his vineyard and sleek new cellar door in southern Tuscany.

We’ve read the fine print, weighed up the inclusions, checked the shine on the cutlery and the comfort of the beds. Here, in no particular order, are the top 10 luxury cruise companies.

Reluctant cruise-ship passenger Kathy Lette was press-ganged onboard. The newly converted old salt not only found her sea legs, but enjoyed a voyage of discovery.

Could this be the world’s most glamorous shortcut? Debbie Pappyn boards Le Boréal for a trip through the Panama Canal, a maritime marvel on the brink of change.

The curtain of sanctions over Burma is lifting, revealing a land glittering with age-old golden stupas, stained with 20th-century totalitarianism, and cautious in its optimism. It’s a place apart, and it’s changing fast.

A pilgrimage to his parents’ native Cyprus sees George Epaminondas exploring not just his roots but a Mediterranean island where Aphrodite looms large, as do the ruins of once-great cities.

As part of our first-ever summer reading special, AA Gill writes about the pleasures of reading on holiday.

One of London's most abiding stories is its taxis, writes AA Gill. And for him, the ticking of the meter is ever a harbinger of Christmas stockings and plum pudding.

Aspen may be the summit of US ski chic but that’s only half the story. Rob Ingram visits the Colorado town in summer and discovers an arts, music and food scene just as exciting as any black-diamond run.

Travelling to Perth, AA Gill contemplates westerly things: the wild west, the triumph of the West, and the clanking train of Westernness that he pulls around behind him.

It might be driven by the booming mining sector but Perth’s riches aren’t limited to minerals. Max Veenhuyzen takes the pulse of a capital city most definitely on the up.

In the wake of El Bulli’s closure, could Mugaritz be the new keeper of Spain’s flame? Chef Andoni Luis Aduriz talks with Lisa Abend about terroir, creativity and new challenges.

In between doing some filming for MasterChef and a bit of research for an Italian restaurant, chef Neil Perry did some sightseeing in Rome.

Do zoo animals pour a drink, stand up on two legs and play poker when the day-trippers depart? Mark Dapin camps overnight at Dubbo’s Taronga Western Plains to find out.

Everyone from the Beatles to the Beat generation has come to India’s Uttarakhand in search of a special kind of (legal) enlightenment. Kendall Hill decides he needs to inhale to understand.

Rob Ingram joins the “have-yachts” of the world on a voyage of great food, fine wine and life’s other luxuries around South Australia’s Kangaroo Island.

Fergus Henderson’s insider’s guide to Paris reveals the city’s blood and guts, and its heart and soul.

Love saw English writer Michael Sadler move to the Loire Valley, and it’s his love of the French way of life – and for his French wife – that keeps him there.

In the foothills of Mont Lozère, Keith Austin takes time to realise a simple dream: to make a cassoulet replete with duck confit, a pork knuckle, and of course the classic crust.

The 2012 Gourmet Traveller Travel Awards, proudly presented in association with Nespresso, once again give us ample reason to celebrate the exceptional travel experiences waiting in our own backyard.

What do ice-cream sandwiches, amphora-fermented wines, hip London hoteliers and cashmere eye-masks have in common? They’re among the new stars in this year’s Gourmet Traveller Hot 100. Consider this (in no particular order) your global hit list, from the latest in travel tips to emerging food and drinks trends.

What do ice-cream sandwiches, amphora-fermented wines, hip London hoteliers and cashmere eye-masks have in common? They’re among the new stars in this year’s Gourmet Traveller Hot 100. Consider this (in no particular order) your global hit list, from the latest in travel tips to emerging food and drinks trends.

What do ice-cream sandwiches, amphora-fermented wines, hip London hoteliers and cashmere eye-masks have in common? They’re among the new stars in this year’s Gourmet Traveller Hot 100. Consider this (in no particular order) your global hit list, from the latest in travel tips to emerging food and drinks trends.

What do ice-cream sandwiches, amphora-fermented wines, hip London hoteliers and cashmere eye-masks have in common? They’re among the new stars in this year’s Gourmet Traveller Hot 100. Consider this (in no particular order) your global hit list, from the latest in travel tips to emerging food and drinks trends.

Song Saa Private Island is the five-star eco-resort that’s leading by example in a country looking for change. Leisa Tyler falls in love.

The Turin megastore with the Slow Food conscience is redefining Italian food consumption across the world – even inspiring a New York counterpart. John Irving takes a tour of Eataly.

Is Penang Asia’s best place to eat street food? Pat Nourse ventures to the Malaysian island and finds a paradise for hungry diners.

New Orleans, with its street music, cocktails and Creole cuisine, is a spicy, sweaty, bouncing metropolis unlike any other in the USA. Shane Mitchell heads south to the Big Easy.

Single-origin cappuccino. Small plates rather than three-course menus. Rosa Jackson chats with a small group of restaurateurs exerting Antipodean influence on Paris’s food scene.

Fergus Henderson returns to India, having left the subcontinent in a bad temper 25 years ago, to fulfil his Bond fantasy and to mingle with the new IT crowd.

As if foraging in Japanese forests and netting your own ducks weren’t challenge enough, the latest Cook It Raw festival threw art into the mix, writes Pat Nourse.

Architectural splendour, isolated locations, islands you’ll wish were yours: Kendall Hill goes in search of Australia’s best beach houses.

Emma Sloley is seduced by St-Barths, the tiny island in the French West Indies that’s every bit as gorgeous and hedonistic as the beautiful people who flock there.

The territory of Réunion is a richly multicultural Indian Ocean idyll with a French twist. Rob Ingram finds himself dazzled by its diversity.

Pat Nourse discovers Laos’s Luang Prabang – a tranquil town where the hours are measured not by the broker’s bell but by the alms march of monks at dawn – and says the time to visit is now.

Kendall Hill travels through the Green North, a magical corner of Spain full of bright spring landscapes and unsung towns, aboard one of Europe’s most luxurious trains, El Transcantábrico Gran Lujo.

Kyneton and Castlemaine were born out of the gold-rush era, but now passion has replaced precious metal as the currency in these parts of central Victoria. Kerryn Burgess meets the people transforming the towns into hubs of good living.

Crete, with its distinctive flavours and renewed respect for tradition, is at the epicentre of Greece’s agro-tourism revolution. Victoria Kyriakopoulos explores the island responsible for rekindling the love affair between the Hellenes and their regional cuisines.

Meet Greece’s boutique winemakers, out to prove that their wines are world-class. After tasting his way from Santorini’s assyrtiko to Naoussa’s xynomavro – with countless mezedes in between – Max Allen needs no convincing.

Are Greece’s financial woes symptomatic of deeper cultural problems? Nick Pappas reflects on the nation’s collective reaction to its current crisis

The isolated bays, ancient mysteries and quiet whitewashed beauty of the island of Astypalea in the Dodecanese and its Cycladic neighbour Amorgos have enchanted Amy Egan and her partner Fergus Stothart.

Fergus Henderson condemns anglicised Greek food, and saves his applause for the feta and raki of Athens.

The Danish capital came under the international culinary spotlight when René Redzepi’s restaurant was named the world’s best. But there’s more to Copenhagen than Noma. Is this the hottest food city on the planet?

On South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula, Kendall Hill revels in old-fashioned hospitality, seriously charismatic places to stay, a growing food scene and a relaxed coastal vibe.

Queen Elizabeth’s visit to the Republic of Ireland earlier this year is a telling sign that Northern Ireland has found its feet. Paul Daley explores Belfast, a vibrant city that’s accepting of its past and embracing its future.

One of Pakistan’s most famous daughters, Fatima Bhutto, says her country’s best food is found at the road-side stalls of her home town.

Art, architecture, the food of Provence and the wines of Burgundy are among the highlights of a Rhône river cruise. Rob Ingram reports from the top deck of MS River Royale.

Kendall Hill congratulates the winners of the 2011 Travel Awards – a rollcall of the best travel destinations, services and experiences Australia has to offer.

Standing knee-deep in a river between Thailand and Myanmar, surrounded by bathing elephants, is the definition of joy, writes Kendall Hill.

Leaning towards a group trip? With the whistlestop grand tour back in fashion, Rob Ingram boards a bus for an itinerary taking in Italy’s best-loved attractions.

A colossal undertaking is set to transform Italy’s most popular monument, writes Josephine McKenna.

Food that levitates? Check. Arabian luxury digs in the Abu Dhabi desert? Check. Planking and cold-smoking? Check. It must be the Gourmet Traveller Hot 100. Restaurants of the moment, exciting new talent, emerging trends, savvy travel tips… consider this your new global hit list.

Food that levitates? Check. Arabian luxury digs in the Abu Dhabi desert? Check. Planking and cold-smoking? Check. It must be the Gourmet Traveller Hot 100. Restaurants of the moment, exciting new talent, emerging trends, savvy travel tips… consider this your new global hit list.

Food that levitates? Check. Arabian luxury digs in the Abu Dhabi desert? Check. Planking and cold-smoking? Check. It must be the Gourmet Traveller Hot 100. Restaurants of the moment, exciting new talent, emerging trends, savvy travel tips… consider this your new global hit list.

Food that levitates? Check. Arabian luxury digs in the Abu Dhabi desert? Check. Planking and cold-smoking? Check. It must be the Gourmet Traveller Hot 100. Restaurants of the moment, exciting new talent, emerging trends, savvy travel tips… consider this your new global hit list.

Food that levitates? Check. Arabian luxury digs in the Abu Dhabi desert? Check. Planking and cold-smoking? Check. It must be the Gourmet Traveller Hot 100. Restaurants of the moment, exciting new talent, emerging trends, savvy travel tips… consider this your new global hit list.

Personal butlers, virgin jungle, mansion-like villas: welcome to the other world that is Soneva Kiri by Six Senses, where every indulgence is covered, writes Anthea Loucas.

Assessing the impact of the summer’s disasters on food and Queensland's tourism industry.

Camping needn’t be down and dirty. Kerryn Burgess pops the cork on Victoria’s flash wilderness retreats.

In the world of luxury cruising, few do it with the class of Silversea. Leo Schofield soaks up five-star life on the ocean aboard the sublime Silver Shadow.

Oprah may have only just discovered it, but we’ve always revered the unique treasure that is the Sydney Opera House. With major changes now afoot, there’s no better time to get up close and personal with our very own cultural icon.

If your stress levels are peaking but there’s no time for an overseas jaunt, check out our pick of Australian short breaks, long on luxury yet short on travel time. You’ll be unwound before your BlackBerry knows you’re gone.

History can be difficult to come by in China’s most cosmopolitan metropolis. In a bid to reimagine the city’s golden age, Kendall Hill goes in search of its last art deco treasures.

Rum, rumba and revolution. What’s not to like about the hottest city in the Caribbean? Leo Schofield is seduced by the faded glamour and glory of Havana, a time-warped city with one foot in the past and a tentative toehold on the future.

The legendary El Bulli chef has given the world far more than just foams and spheres, writes Colman Andrews.

On vacation in the Blue Mountains, Frank Moorhouse risks ordering a martini – and is amply rewarded.