Feature Destinations
The World at Your Fingertips
This is the place to start planning your dream vacation, whether you want to fly to an exotic location, take your family to a theme park or cruise the world in style.
Feature Cities
Abbotsford , British Columbia
British Columbia | Canada | North America
Abbotsford, located in the Central Fraser Valley, is about 75 km (47 miles) east of Vancouver. Its nicknames - City in the Country and Raspberry Capital of Canada - are a fairly accurate description of the character of this attractive and thriving community. Greater Abbotsford is now approaching a population of 160,000 and is ethnically very diverse.
Acapulco, Baja
Baja | Mexico | North America
For thousands of annual visitors, Acapulco is the ideal holiday destination. This Pacific resort is a Mecca for those who love swimming, shopping, and an exciting nightlife. Acapulco Bay, one of the world’s foremost natural harbors, is the city’s centerpiece. The weather in Acapulco is without parallel, with warm waters, almost constant sunshine, and year-round temperatures in the 80s. In recent years, Acapulco has undergone a remarkable renaissance. Classic hotels have been renovated and areas gentrified. Clean-up efforts have transformed and renewed the entire area.
Anaheim, California
California | United States | North America
Anaheim, California is probably most famous as the home of Disneyland, the first Disney theme park, known around the world as “The Happiest Place on Earth”, but there is much more family fun to be found in and around this city in Orange County, California.
Anchorage, Alaska
Alaska | United States | North America
The atmosphere of Anchorage is relaxed. There is less of a feeling of urgency than in many other metropolitan centers. Perhaps it is the majestic beauty of the mountains, or the profusion of flowers throughout the city or the pink and lavender light that reflects on the winter snow that consistently draw the attention of resident and visitor alike away from the pressure of business at just the right moment and toward the true heart of Anchorage.
Auckland, North Island
North Island | New Zealand | Oceania
New Zealand consists of two main islands, North and South, as well as some small offshore islands. Auckland is located on the North Island. It has a pleasant subtropical climate with mild winters (June, July and August) and warm, humid summers (December, January and February).
Banff, Alberta
Alberta | Canada | North America
Banff and Lake Louise have been welcoming international visitors for more than a century. In 1883 the attempts of three Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) workers to stake a claim to the natural hot springs they had discovered bubbling from the base of Sulphur Mountain led to the establishment of Canada’s first national park. Today, Banff National Park (6,641 square km / 2,564 square miles) is one of four adjoining mountain parks comprising more than 20,235 square km / 7,813 square miles of spectacular Canadian Rocky Mountain landscape.
Brisbane, Queensland
Queensland | Australia | Oceania
By far the largest city in Queensland, BRISBANE is not quite what you’d expect from a state capital with almost one-and-a-half million residents. Although there is urban sprawl, and high-rise buildings, slow-moving traffic, crowded streets and the other trappings of a business and trade centre, there’s little of the pushiness that usually accompanies them. To urbanites used to a more aggressive approach, the atmosphere is slow, even backward (a reputation the city would be pleased to lose), but to others the languid pace is a welcome change and reflects relaxed rather than regressive attitudes.
Calgary, Alberta
Alberta | Canada | North America
Calgary lies in the Bow River Valley between the bold landscape of the Rocky Mountains and the flat prairie lands of the province of Alberta in western Canada. Calgary is a city of skyscrapers, of energy, agriculture, manufacturing, research and development, and of advanced technology. It is a modern, sophisticated city; a center of commerce and of culture; of youth and vitality.
Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia | Canada | North America
Cape Breton Island is Nova Scotia’s northernmost land mass, and a place of unsurpassed natural beauty. One of its main attractions is wildly scenic Cape Breton Highlands National Park, located at the far north edge of the island’s western tip. Others are the authentically restored fort at Louisbourg and scenic Bras d’Or Lake, the inland saltwater lake that almost bisects the island.
Denver,
| United States | North America
Its skyscrapers marking the final transition between the Great Plains and the American West, DENVER stands at the threshold of the Rocky Mountains . Despite being known as the ” Mile High City ,” and serving as the obvious point of arrival for travelers heading into the mountains, it is itself uniformly flat. The majestic peaks are clearly visible, but they only begin to rise roughly fifteen miles west of downtown, and Denver has, during the last century, had plenty of room to spread out.
Fairbanks, Alaska
Alaska | United States | North America
FAIRBANKS , 358 miles north of Anchorage, is at the end of the Alaska Highway from Canada and definitely at the end of the road for most tourists. Though flat and somewhat bland, its central location makes a great base for exploring a hinterland of gold mines and hot springs, and a staging point for both the tiny villages scattered around the surrounding wilderness, and for journeys along the Dalton Highway (aka the “Haul Road”) to the Arctic Ocean oil community of Prudhoe Bay .
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia | Canada | North America
HALIFAX , set on a steep and spatulate promontory beside one of the world’s finest harbours, has become the focal point of the Maritimes, the region’s financial, educational and transportation centre, whose metropolitan population of over 500,000 makes it seven times the size of its nearest rival, New Brunswick’s Saint John. This pre-eminence has been achieved since World War II, but long before then Halifax was a naval town par excellence , its harbour defining the character and economy of a city which rarely seemed to look inland.
Honolulu, Hawaii
Hawaii | United States | North America
Until the Europeans came, HONOLULU was insignificant; soon so many foreign ships were frequenting its waters that it had become Kamehameha’s capital, and it remains the economic center of the island. The city covers a long (if narrow) strip of southern Oahu, but downtown is a manageable size, and a lot quieter than its glamorous image might suggest. The tourist hotels, and most of Honolulu’s hustle, are concentrated among the skyscrapers of very distinct WAIKIKI , a couple of miles east.
Jasper, Alberta
Alberta | Canada | North America
JASPER ‘s small-town feel comes as a relief after the razzmatazz of Banff: its streets still have the windswept, open look of a frontier town and, though the mountains don’t ring it with quite the same majesty as Banff, you’ll probably feel the town better suits its wild surroundings.
Juneau, Alaska
Alaska | United States | North America
The sophisticated and vibrant city of JUNEAU is unlike any other state capital in the nation. Accessible only by sea or air, it is exceptionally picturesque, hard against the Gastineau Channel, with steep, narrow roads clawing up into the rainforested hills behind.
Kamloops, British Columbia
British Columbia | Canada | North America
Almost any trip in southern British Columbia brings you sooner or later to KAMLOOPS , a town which has been a transport centre from time immemorial - its name derives from the Shuswap word for “meeting of the rivers” - and which today marks the meeting point of the Trans-Canada and Yellowhead (South) highways, the region’s principal transcontinental roads, as well as the junction of the Canadian Pacific and Canadian National railways.
Kelowna, British Columbia
British Columbia | Canada | North America
That said, the lakefront and beaches, though heavily developed, aren’t too bad, and off-season Kelowna’s undeniably pretty downtown can make a good couple of days’ respite from mountains and forests.
Kingston, Ontario
Ontario | Canada | North America
Kingston, Ontario is a city of elegance and charm. Its 19th century limestone homes and its red brick Victorian style architecture lend appeal to vacationers and prospective residents alike. Kingston is ideally located at the point where Lake Ontario enters the St. Lawrence River. For over three hundred years, marine traffic has passed through Kingston enroute to the Great Lakes. For most of those years, Kingston was a major shipbuilding center. Schooners and steamers built in the area have traveled all over the world.
Lake Louise, Alberta
Alberta | Canada | North America
LAKE LOUISE VILLAGE doesn’t amount to much, but it’s an essential supply stop, with more or less everything you need in terms of food and shelter (at a price). Most of it centres round a single mall, Samson Mall, and car park, with a smart youth hostel and a few outlying motels dotted along the service road to the north.
Lake Tahoe,
| United States | North America
Lake Tahoe is awesome! Beginning in late autumn and continuing through the winter and spring, the Sierra Nevada mountain region becomes a winter wonderland. Snow is measured in feet, not inches, and a normal winter will see accumulations of 30 to 40 feet in the higher elevations. Winter can last up to six months in the mountains, which is great news for winter sports enthusiasts. The temperatures stay relatively mild, usually above freezing during the day and only dropping into the 20s at night. During most days, the sun shines and adds the perfect finishing touch to the ideal winter vacation.
Las Vegas,
| United States | North America
Shimmering from the desert haze of Nevada like a latter-day El Dorado, Las Vegas is the most dynamic, spectacular city on earth. At the start of the twentieth century, it didn’t even exist; at the start of the twenty-first, it’s home to well over one million people, with enough newcomers arriving to need a new school every month.
London, England
England | |
With a population of just under eight million, London is Europe’s largest city, spreading across an area of more than 620 square miles from its core on the River Thames. Ethnically it’s also Europe’s most diverse metropolis: around two hundred languages are spoken within its confines, and more than thirty percent of the population is made up of first, second- and third-generation immigrants. Despite Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish devolution, London still dominates the national horizon, too: this is where the country’s news and money are made, it’s where the central government resides and, as far as its inhabitants are concerned, provincial life begins beyond the circuit of the city’s orbital motorway. Londoners’ sense of superiority causes enormous resentment in the regions, yet it’s undeniable that the capital has a unique aura of excitement and success - in most walks of British life, if you want to get on you’ve got to do it in London.
London Canada, Ontario
Ontario | Canada | North America
LONDON Canada Canada
300C FEATURE DESTINATION: London, Ontario, Canada
The citizens of LONDON , 125km west of Hamilton, are justifiably proud of their clean streets, efficient transport system and neat suburbs, but to the outsider the main attractions are the leafiness of the centre and the city’s two music festivals in late June and July – the nine-day Royal Canadian Big Band Festival (tel 519/663-9467) and the three-day Home County Folk Music Festival (tel 519/432-4310). London owes its existence to the governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe , who arrived in 1792 determined to develop the wilderness north of Lake Ontario. Because of its river connections to the west and south, he chose the site of London as his new colonial capital and promptly renamed its river the Thames. Unluckily, Simcoe’s headlong approach to his new job irritated his superior, Governor Dorchester, who vetoed his choice with the wry comment that access to London would have to be by hot-air balloon. When York (present-day Toronto), was chosen as the capital instead, Simcoe’s chosen site lay empty until 1826, yet by the 1880s London was firmly established as the economic and administrative centre of a prosperous agricultural area. With a population of some 326,000, it remains so today.
Long Beach, California
California | United States | North America
Long Beach, California’s fifth largest city, is located just 21 miles southwest of Los Angeles County. Long Beach offers all the amenities of a sophisticated, cosmopolitan city, while retaining the charm and tranquility of a seaside community. Visitors seeking the California dream of beach, sun and ocean need not look any furtther.
Los Angeles, California
California | United States | North America
Los Angeles is located in Southern California on the Pacific Coast. This City of Angels was established by the Spaniards in 1781. Los Angeles was merely a ranch town when the US appropriated it from Mexico in 1846 – But by the 20th century the film industry shone a spotlight on L.A.
Los Cabos, Baja
Baja | Mexico | North America
Los Cabos has become one of Mexico’s most popular coastal getaways, with deluxe hotels, championship golf courses, and some of the best sport fishing in the world. The population is growing faster than in any other part of Mexico. Yet, Los Cabos retains an air of mystery and of pristine beauty.
Mexico City, Federal District
Federal District | Mexico | North America
Set over 2400m up in its shallow mountain bowl and crammed with over 20 million people (from fewer than five million in 1960), MEXICO CITY is one of the world’s most densely populated urban areas, said to receive a thousand immigrants each day from the rest of the country. At times frustrating, the longer you spend there the more rewarding it can become, with unstructured wandering throwing up all sorts of surprises, and in a few days you can get around the main sights and soak up a good deal of the vibrant atmosphere. Despite a certain seediness found amidst the elegance of the new quarters and the genteel decay of the older parts of the city, the capital is nowhere near as intimidating as you might expect. Nonetheless, you may still prefer to take in the city a couple of days at a time, taking off in between to the smaller neighbouring colonial cities to recharge. You’ll also find the city easier still if you acclimatize to the country first - if at all possible try not to spend too long here when you first arrive.
Miami, Florida
Florida | United States | North America
Far and away the most exciting city in Florida, MIAMI is a stunning and often intoxicatingly beautiful place. Awash with sunlight-intensified natural colors, there are moments – when the neon-flashed South Beach skyline glows in the warm night and the palm trees sway in the breeze – when a better-looking city is hard to imagine. Even so, people, not climate or landscape, are what make Miami unique. Half of the two million population is Hispanic, the vast majority Cubans. Spanish is the predominant language almost everywhere – in many places it’s the only language you’ll hear, and you’ll be expected to speak at least a few words – and news from Havana, Caracas or Managua frequently gets more attention than the latest word from Washington, DC.
Mississauga, Ontario
Ontario | Canada | North America
Formed in 1974, Mississauga is now recognized as one of Canada’s largest and fastest growing cities with a population of over 600,000 representing cultures from around the world. It is located on the shores of Lake Ontario.
Montreal , Québec
Québec | Canada | North America
MONTRÉAL , Canada’s second-largest city, is geographically as close to the European coast as to Vancouver, and in look and feel it combines some of the finest aspects of the two continents. Its North American skyline of glass and concrete rises above churches and monuments in a melange of European styles as varied as Montréal’s social mix. This is also the second-largest French-speaking metropolis after Paris, but only two-thirds of the city’s three and a half million people are of French extraction, the other third being a cosmopolitan mishmash of les autres - including British, Eastern Europeans, Chinese, Italians, Greeks, Jews, South Americans and West Indians. The result is a truly multidimensional city, with a global variety of eateries, bars and clubs, matched by a calendar of festivals that makes this the most vibrant place in Canada.
Palm Springs, California
California | United States | North America
Sitting in lush farming land, replete with manicured golf courses, condominiums and millionaires, PALM SPRINGS does not conform to any typical image of the desert, embodying a strange mix of Spanish Colonial and mid-century modern styling. The massive bulk of Mount San Jacinto looms over its low-slung buildings, casting a welcome shadow over the town in the late afternoon. Ever since Hollywood stars first came here in the 1930s, laying claim to ranch-style estates and holing up in elite hotels, the clean dry air and sunshine, just 120 miles east of LA, have made Palm Springs irresistible. For years, high-school kids arrived in their thousands for Spring Break, until civic zeal ran them out of town, while others come specifically to sober up: the Betty Ford Center in nearby Rancho Mirage draws a star-studded patient list to its booze- and drug-free environment, attempting to undo a lifetime’s worth of behavioral disorders in an $11,000 28-day stay.
Palm Springs wasn’t always like this. Once it was the domain of the Cahuillan Indians ; they were allocated this land in the 1890s, but exact zoning wasn’t settled until the 1940s, by which time the development of hotels and leisure complexes was well under way. Under an odd checkerboard system, every other square mile of Palm Springs forms part of the Agua Caliente (Spanish for “hot water”) Indian Reservation , and high rents have made this the second richest tribe in America, worth more than $2 billion wealth that’s been increasing with the new Casino Morongo, right in the heart of town.
Playa del Carmen, Yucatan
Yucatan | Mexico | North America
For anyone who has dreamed of finding the perfect powdery white, sandy beach stretching along miles of turquoise blue water, Playa is the place to be! The accommodations are known for being reasonably priced, and the standard is high. The restaurants are beautifully decorated and offer good service. From Playa del Carmen it is easy to take the ferry to Cozumel. It is also a convenient location from which to take one of the tours to visit the various ruins in the area such as Chitchen Itza and Tulum. These are only a few of the reasons that this sun-splashed resort area has become one of the worlds top tourist destinations!
Québec City, Québec
Québec | Canada | North America
Spread over Cap Diamant and the banks of the St Lawrence, QUÉBEC CITY is Canada’s most beautifully located and most historic city. Vieux-Québec, surrounded by solid fortifications, is the only walled city in North America, a fact that prompted UNESCO to classify it as a World Heritage Site in 1985.
Richmond, British Columbia
British Columbia | Canada | North America
On an island at the mouth of the Fraser River, Richmond first was settled in 1879. The town grew and prospered with its farming, fishing and waterborne trade industries. Today, Richmond’s major industries include aviation, berry farming, high technology and manufacturing.
San Diego, California
California | United States | North America
With its world-famous zoo and aquarium to its bountiful beaches, San Diego’s vibrant and exciting lifestyle has plenty to offer visitors and their whole families. It is the kind of city where every day is beach day, and where everyone is busy having as much fun as possible. A relaxed atmosphere permeates the city, probably one of the main reasons to draw more than 30 million visitors a year to San Diego. Given the beautiful weather, outdoor activities abound. San Diego is probably one of the most pedestrian friendly cities in America. Families walk, skate and bike their way over 70 miles of beaches or any one of San Diego’s abundant attractions.
San Francisco, California
California | United States | North America
SAN FRANCISCO proper occupies just 48 hilly square miles at the tip of a slender peninsula, almost perfectly centered along the California coast. Arguably the most beautiful, certainly the most liberal city in the US, it remains true to itself: a funky, individualistic, surprisingly small city whose people pride themselves on being the cultured counterparts to their cousins in LA the last bastion of civilization on the lunatic fringe of America.
Seattle, Washington
Washington | United States | North America
Curved around the shore of Elliott Bay, with Lake Washington behind and the snowy peak of Mount Rainier hovering faintly in the distance, SEATTLE has a magnificent setting. The insistently modern skyline of glass skyscrapers gleams across the bay, an emblem of three decades of aggressive urban renewal.
Sitka, Alaska
Alaska | United States | North America
One of the highlights of an Inland Passage ferry ride is negotiating the 46 tight turns of the 22-mile-long Wrangell Narrows between Wrangell and the “Norwegian” fishing town of Petersburg on the route north. At times it feels like you can reach out and touch the steep-walled shore, and at night the ferry has to negotiate a slalom course of navigation lights.
Sydney, New South Wales
New South Wales | Australia | Oceania
Brash and beautiful, Sydney sits nestled in the sandstone cliffs overlooking Sydney Harbor, basking in its role as a gateway for travelers, a mecca of culture and a playground for tourists and its 5 million residents alike. Host to the 2000 Summer Olympic Games, the city is feverishly sprucing up, renovating its infrastructure and repairing its image as a rough-and-tumble town.
Vancouver, British Columbia
British Columbia | Canada | North America
300C FEATURE DESTINATION: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
World Class City by many standards. Has been declared for several years in a row as one of the most liveable cities on the globe. Global focus will be on Vancouver and premier ski resort Whistler in 2010.
Victoria, British Columbia
British Columbia | Canada | North America
VICTORIA has a lot to live up to. Leading US travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler has voted it one of the world’s top-ten cities to visit, and world number one for ambience and environment. And it’s not named after a queen and an era for nothing.
Whistler, British Columbia
British Columbia | Canada | North America
WHISTLER , 56km beyond Squamish, is Canada’s finest four-season resort, and frequently ranks among most people’s world top-five winter ski resorts. In 1996, for the first time ever, Ski , Snow Country and Skiing magazines were unanimous in voting it North America’s top skiing destination.