https://www.scmp.com/rss/324850/feed John Brunton is a writer and photographer, today based in Paris and Venice after spending five years in Kuala Lumpur covering Southeast Asia. He contributes regularly to The Guardian and Lonely Planet theme books like World Wine Trails. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com John Brunton John Brunton A global spotlight will soon be illuminating the largest metropolis in North America, with Mexico City set to host the inaugural game of the 2026 Fifa World Cup in its Azteca Stadium. On June 11, the home nation – nicknamed El Tri from the country’s tricolour flag – will kick off the tournament by taking on South Africa. The teeming, vibrant Mexican capital already offered the traveller pre-Columbian ruins, opulent Baroque churches, world-renowned museums, cutting-edge modern architecture,... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3351806/what-do-mexico-city-between-fifa-world-cup-games?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3351806/what-do-mexico-city-between-fifa-world-cup-games?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 May 2026 00:00:12 +0000 John Brunton John Brunton Bordeaux and bio – the French term for “organic” – are not words that are often seen in the same sentence. The world-renowned wines from the 7,000 or so chateaux that define this part of southwest France have an image of quality that is based on tradition rather than trends. So it is not surprising to learn that even today, official figures from the Bordeaux Wine Council reveal that only about 25 per cent of Bordeaux wines come from vineyards that are certified organic. Nevertheless, as I... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3317813/bordeaux-embracing-organic-different-class-red?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3317813/bordeaux-embracing-organic-different-class-red?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Jul 2025 00:15:12 +0000 John Brunton John Brunton B&B Hotel Milano – Cenisio Garibaldi While the dining scene in Milan’s Chinatown offers plenty of choice, the situation for travellers looking for somewhere to stay in the neighbourhood is different. The best of the limited options is a cheap and cheerful room in this ultra-modern budget hotel, a short walk from Via Paolo Sarpi. Rooms are available from €70 (US$79) a night. Rosa Grand Milano A four-star hotel located in the heart of the Fashion District, overlooking Piazza Fontana and just a... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3312068/where-stay-while-visiting-milans-chinatown?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3312068/where-stay-while-visiting-milans-chinatown?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 May 2025 10:15:08 +0000 John Brunton John Brunton Europe’s unrivalled capital of chic, Milan is primarily a glamour destination. But there is an alternative to the classic dolce vita; a hotspot to which young, savvy Milanese flock for weekends of cross-cultural enjoyment. I jump on autobus 94 heading north from the exclusive Quadrilatero della Moda district, where Via Monte Napoleone and Via della Spiga are lined by the opulent showrooms of Gucci, Prada, Versace and Armani. Ten minutes later it arrives by the bustling Porta Garibaldi station,... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3311333/milan-neighborhood-where-east-meets-west?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3311333/milan-neighborhood-where-east-meets-west?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 May 2025 22:30:07 +0000 Langkawi is Malaysia’s ultimate paradise getaway, a 320 sq km main island with sandy beaches, some of the world’s oldest rainforest and an eclectic mix of luxurious bolt-holes, backpacker inns and glamping locales. To uncover the best that remarkably unspoilt Langkawi has to offer, we asked for tips from three islanders: Liz Tajuddin, who advises local start-ups and organises cultural events such as the annual Langkawi Writers’ Festival, and who moved from Kuala Lumpur nine years ago; Hussein... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3295505/insiders-guide-malaysias-island-paradise-langkawi-sandy-beaches-stunning-mountain-views-and-vibrant?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3295505/insiders-guide-malaysias-island-paradise-langkawi-sandy-beaches-stunning-mountain-views-and-vibrant?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Jan 2025 08:15:07 +0000 Since George Town achieved Unesco World Heritage recognition in 2008, the capital of Malaysia’s state of Penang has blossomed into one of Southeast Asia’s most popular weekend getaways, a seductive combination of culture and food, with Chinese and colonial mansions alike transformed into designer hotels, cutting-edge restaurants, hidden boutiques and speakeasy bars. With so much to enjoy, it helps to have a little insider knowledge to uncover the latest and best spots, so we talked to three... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3288219/penangs-capital-george-town-full-atmospheric-hotels-great-eats-and-cool-arts-and-crafts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3288219/penangs-capital-george-town-full-atmospheric-hotels-great-eats-and-cool-arts-and-crafts?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Nov 2024 10:30:11 +0000 This summer, Hideaki Sato closed his fine-dining restaurant Ta Vie in Hong Kong, which received its third Michelin star in 2023, for several weeks, reopening it only at the beginning of September. While done primarily for renovations and redecoration following nine years of almost non-stop operation, another reason for the pause was for the chef to embark on a gourmet adventure on the other side of the globe, in the grand cathedral town of Reims, in France’s Champagne region. We are talking in... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3285709/how-japanese-chef-3-michelin-star-restaurant-ta-vie-hong-kong-fell-french-food?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3285709/how-japanese-chef-3-michelin-star-restaurant-ta-vie-hong-kong-fell-french-food?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 Nov 2024 05:15:07 +0000 Mexico City excites and exhilarates but is never a destination for the faint-hearted. The Latin American metropolis, teeming with people and traffic jams, dazzles and intoxicates with pre-Columbian ruins, sumptuous colonial baroque churches and palaces, cutting-edge museums and modern architecture. And a unique gastronomy that is finally taking the spotlight on the global stage. But on a recent trip back, the highlight of a non-stop schedule of cultural sightseeing, wining and dining, was... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3283703/why-mexicos-lucha-libre-more-just-masked-wrestling-spectacle-its-also-steeped-tradition?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3283703/why-mexicos-lucha-libre-more-just-masked-wrestling-spectacle-its-also-steeped-tradition?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Oct 2024 03:00:10 +0000 Venice tempts travellers from across the globe with its gondolas gliding along romantic canals; sumptuous Baroque and Gothic palaces; and museums filled with masterpieces by Canaletto, Titian and Tintoretto. But now there is an added, perhaps surprising, reason to plan a holiday to the Italian city: the chance to see the superstars of Serie A. More used to battling relegation or bankruptcy, Venezia Football Club managed to gain promotion to the top Italian league in April, and with the 2024/25... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3278186/what-venezia-fcs-promotion-serie-means-tourism-italys-sinking-city?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3278186/what-venezia-fcs-promotion-serie-means-tourism-italys-sinking-city?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Sep 2024 04:45:08 +0000 For years, Kuala Lumpur’s run-down Chinatown was defined by its prime attraction, Jalan Petaling, the seething main street piled high with every counterfeit imaginable, from fake Lacoste T-shirts and Hermès handbags to Rolex watches and Ray Ban shades. Heritage Chinese shophouses were left to crumble or had been converted into scruffy backpacker hostels, gambling dens and secretive mahjong clubs. Not today, though. In just a few years, the neighbourhood has been transformed into arguably the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3259867/kuala-lumpurs-chinatown-what-eat-drink-and-do-buzzing-reborn-area-full-new-restaurants-shops-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3259867/kuala-lumpurs-chinatown-what-eat-drink-and-do-buzzing-reborn-area-full-new-restaurants-shops-and?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Apr 2024 04:42:25 +0000 The scene resembles the awesome contests held 2,000 years ago in Rome’s Colosseum. Fifty-four modern gladiators enter a sandy arena, most stripped to the waist to display bulging muscles, fearsome scars and warlike tattoos. They are prepared for a no-holds-barred, 50-minute skirmish that combines the sports of football and rugby with the darker arts of wrestling, bare-knuckle street fighting and MMA combat. But rather than ancient Rome, this is present-day Florence, and the day is June 24, a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3258186/worlds-most-violent-sport-italys-brutal-54-man-game-football-calcio-storico-fiorentino?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3258186/worlds-most-violent-sport-italys-brutal-54-man-game-football-calcio-storico-fiorentino?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Apr 2024 08:15:12 +0000 Halfway between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, Malacca was once one of the richest ports on the East-West spice routes. Today its small historic centre presents a kaleidoscope of 600 years of culture and architecture, courtesy of Malay sultans, Chinese settlers, Indian traders and colonial rulers from Portugal, the Netherlands and Britain. Unsurprisingly, the Malaysian town, also called Melaka, came to the attention of Unesco, which bestowed World Heritage status on it in 2008, tripling its number... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3254929/malacca-without-crowds-come-historic-malaysian-towns-spicy-peranakan-cuisine-and-stay-its-rich-mix?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3254929/malacca-without-crowds-come-historic-malaysian-towns-spicy-peranakan-cuisine-and-stay-its-rich-mix?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Mar 2024 04:45:11 +0000 Belleville is already bustling at 10 in the morning on this, the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday, as noisy firecrackers explode outside the Ty Cake shop and crowds surround a lion dance troupe heralding the Year of the Dragon. The 26-year-old owner of the cake shop, Shuying Gao, is one of many from Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, who have made their home here, in Paris’ foremost Chinatown (or Quartier Chinois), and feeding a red lai see envelope into the lion’s gaping mouth, she admits that,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3253806/how-paris-chinese-chinatown-belleville-aka-rebelville-has-lot-offer-tourists-attracted-2024-olympics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3253806/how-paris-chinese-chinatown-belleville-aka-rebelville-has-lot-offer-tourists-attracted-2024-olympics?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Mar 2024 07:15:14 +0000 December is a tempting month in which to visit Marrakech, with its mild temperatures and blue skies. Sitting on the rooftop terrace of the Café de France – the history of which stretches back to 1912, when Morocco was a French protectorate – I take in the scene as the sun sets over the ancient city’s immense square, Jemaa el-Fna. Tourists and locals form circles around bands of musicians, dancers, snake charmers and storytellers, while waiters shuttle between evening-only food stalls and rickety... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3245004/morocco-tourism-hotspot-marrakech-makes-quick-recovery-september-2023-earthquake-damaged-buildings?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3245004/morocco-tourism-hotspot-marrakech-makes-quick-recovery-september-2023-earthquake-damaged-buildings?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Dec 2023 05:15:19 +0000 The Belgian beach resort of Oostduinkerke resembles a Victorian seaside postcard, with striped windbreakers, sunbathers snoozing in deckchairs outside retro bathing huts, children building sandcastles, and families playing mini-golf. But this is also the last place in the world where the tradition of shrimp fishing on horseback is practised. All activity suddenly stops when a parade of half-a-dozen giant Brabant dray horses appears, pulling rickety carts as they trot across the sand towards the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3234110/unesco-intangible-cultural-heritage-horse-riding-shrimp-fishermen-belgium-who-are-last-their-kind?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3234110/unesco-intangible-cultural-heritage-horse-riding-shrimp-fishermen-belgium-who-are-last-their-kind?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Sep 2023 11:45:13 +0000 The Somme conjures up visions of World War I battlefields. People from around the world are drawn to this part of northern France for what has become known as remembrance tourism, and visiting the immense cemeteries, memorials and museums that honour the fallen of the Western Front is an intensely emotional experience. But this tranquil corner of the country is also worth discovering for other reasons. A narrow road from the grand medieval town of Abbeville accompanies the sleepy river Somme... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3226868/what-do-along-somme-world-war-i-french-battle-site-picturesque-region-offers-wealth-attractions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3226868/what-do-along-somme-world-war-i-french-battle-site-picturesque-region-offers-wealth-attractions?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Jul 2023 10:15:12 +0000 It’s easy to get off France’s jammed autoroutes and head down winding lanes to discover what is still very much a bucolic, rural nation. While tourists may be drawn to the glamour resorts and golden beaches of the Cote d’Azur, the French them­selves will more likely be heading for a family trip into what everyone calls La France profonde. Few destinations symbolise such rustic escapes better than sleepy Vesoul, in the rolling hills of the agricultural Haute-Saône region. A three-hour drive from... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3214720/asian-film-festival-rural-france-few-have-heard-cinema-greats-visit-not-just-cosy-event-also?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3214720/asian-film-festival-rural-france-few-have-heard-cinema-greats-visit-not-just-cosy-event-also?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Mar 2023 08:15:09 +0000 Inside the ancient medieval walls that surround the bustling Italian hill town of Marostica, the sun is beginning to set on a scene that takes place in September once every two years. This month’s event is extra special because the Covid-19 pandemic has meant it has been four long years since these proud citizens were able to stage their legendary La Partita di Scacchi. A chess game like no other, La Partita is acted out by real people, who play the 32 pieces. The game is the centrepiece in a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3193017/italys-famous-chess-game-human-pieces-centrepiece-600?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3193017/italys-famous-chess-game-human-pieces-centrepiece-600?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Sep 2022 08:07:34 +0000 The Shang Palace restaurant is what the French like to refer to as a temple to gastronomy. Dedicated to exquisite Cantonese cuisine, it is located in the Shangri-La’s Parisian hotel, an opulent palace opposite the Eiffel Tower that was once owned by the descendants of Napoléon Bonaparte. Samuel Lee Sum, the young executive chef at the Shang Palace, is the only Hongkonger in charge of a restaurant possessing a precious Michelin star in Paris, arguably the gourmet capital of a country whose... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3182929/chef-samuel-lee-sum-being-hongkonger-paris-passing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3182929/chef-samuel-lee-sum-being-hongkonger-paris-passing?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Jun 2022 05:15:08 +0000 Most tourists flying in to Venice Marco Polo Airport head straight for the canals and gondolas of one of the world’s most popular destinations. But for those looking to leave the crowds behind, just an hour’s drive in the other direction lies Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of the most unspoiled, refreshing and surprising parts of Italy. This semi-autonomous region has its own language, distinctive cuisine, dramatic castles and scenic hills covered with vineyards. Cosmopolitan Friuli is more... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3177590/asian-celebrities-visit-udine-east-asian-film?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3177590/asian-celebrities-visit-udine-east-asian-film?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 May 2022 08:00:19 +0000 Champagne may rank as one of life’s ultimate luxuries but the choice for many buyers outside France is often limited to the renowned brands, which are known as the grandes maisons: Dom Pérignon, Ruinart, Moët & Chandon, Bollinger, Perrier-Jouët. Yet for the French, there is a strong tradition of discovering your own champagne producer; an independent vigneron that you may have visited while touring Champagne’s vineyards or discovered at a winemaker stand at a seasonal gourmet fair, perhaps while... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3156487/five-independent-champagne-producers-show-theres?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3156487/five-independent-champagne-producers-show-theres?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 20 Nov 2021 09:15:09 +0000 As the vaporetto water bus slowly steams past majestic palaces, it is evident life has not yet returned to normal in Venice. Italy may be slowly coming out of its latest lockdown but the waters of the Grand Canal remain eerily calm, and the vaporetto does not have to weave through a flotilla of gondolas and water taxis full of tourists. La Serenissima is still anxiously awaiting their return. Having passed beneath the Rialto Bridge, my eye is drawn by a poster on a wall of the ancient Fondaco... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3133214/venice-2021-hong-kongs-ambition-show-architecture?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3133214/venice-2021-hong-kongs-ambition-show-architecture?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 May 2021 04:15:14 +0000 Many of the world’s cities, Hong Kong included, have long had love-hate relationships with al fresco dining; diners would like to see more of it, while motorists and others who benefit from restaurants remaining indoors usually get the backing of the authorities. As one particularly bold city emerges from Covid-19 lockdown, however, its residents are getting a taste of what a more outdoor dining scene feels like. Should Hong Kong diners dare to dream? From Montmartre to Saint-Germain, the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3090663/first-paris-soon-london-what-hong-kong-outdoor-dining?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3090663/first-paris-soon-london-what-hong-kong-outdoor-dining?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Jun 2020 05:45:11 +0000 My tiny apartment sits in a narrow alleyway between two canals, just off the Fondamenta Ormesini, a mile-long waterside promenade that is a popular rendezvous for Venice’s partygoers, its bars, trattorie and osterie packed till the early hours with teeming crowds enjoying bubbly prosecco and lethal spritz cocktails. Today, though, as I walk through the city that has been my second home for 25 years, the only soul on the silent Fondamenta is a neighbour allowed out to walk his dog. The bars have... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3085251/italy-prepares-reopen-last-look-venice-lockdown?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3085251/italy-prepares-reopen-last-look-venice-lockdown?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 24 May 2020 07:00:12 +0000 My Borneo jungle adventure begins in civilised Kuala Lumpur. It’s late and I am sipping a negroni at the bar in No Black Tie, a state-of-the-art jazz club crowded with excited musicians, the talk all about the upcoming Borneo Jazz Festival. “Each year, we bring everyone together in the tiny town of Miri, just on the border with Brunei,” says Evelyn Hii, the club’s owner, who organises the festival in her native Sarawak, one of the two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. “Jazz artists from... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3044267/jazz-caves-and-jungles-borneo-music-festival?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3044267/jazz-caves-and-jungles-borneo-music-festival?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Jan 2020 03:30:10 +0000 I last visited Tunisia after the 2010-11 jasmine revolution, the peaceful insurrection that ended decades of totalitarian rule and lit the touchpaper of the wider Arab spring. The euphoria of freedom was palpable. I was invited to, of all things, a Miss Tunisia competition, a symbol of liberty after years of repression. I found a free press, anarchic graffiti and provocative rappers. While Tunisia remains a rare tolerant democracy in the Arab world, all that optimism was blown away in 2015 by... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3021747/tunisias-terror-attacks-killed-package-tourism-now?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3021747/tunisias-terror-attacks-killed-package-tourism-now?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Aug 2019 11:00:09 +0000 What is it? Behind the iconic crystal bear­ing the name Lalique was a revolutionary designer, René, whose art-deco creations remain symbols of luxury. In 1920, the Frenchman chose to build his pioneer­ing glass factory and furnace in the Alsace region of northeastern France, along with a grand, timber-frame mansion to live in. The villa has been transformed into a chic hide­away hotel with just six suites. Staying here is like visiting a genuine home, sepia photo­graphs of the resident family... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3002873/villa-renee-lalique-sumptuous-retreat-natural-beauty?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3002873/villa-renee-lalique-sumptuous-retreat-natural-beauty?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 24 Mar 2019 08:30:08 +0000 How should you respond when a striking Native American woman asks you to attend her pow-wow? Leah Ann Walker invited me to the ritual gathering of her tribe, the Ho-Chunk, during the Venice Biennale of Art, where avant-garde Native American artists present an alternative pavilion to the official United States one. Her offer of what sounded like a genuine adventure was one I could not refuse. Forgotten photographer’s images of Native Americans Six months later, and I am driving out of Chicago... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/2172986/native-american-pow-wow-wisconsin-once-oppressed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/2172986/native-american-pow-wow-wisconsin-once-oppressed?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Nov 2018 22:30:15 +0000 So what is Taliesin? Taliesin was the home and architecture school of the late Frank Lloyd Wright, America’s most revered architect. He began to build the sprawling estate in 1909 in the farming valleys in which his Welsh grandparents had settled in the early 1800s. Wright is known for his influence on everything from residential public housing and sumptuous private residences to open-plan offices and his last great edifice, the unique Guggenheim Museum, in New York, completed just after he died... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/2165824/frank-lloyd-wrights-taliesin-estate-survived-fire-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/2165824/frank-lloyd-wrights-taliesin-estate-survived-fire-and?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Sep 2018 17:03:19 +0000 What is it?Quite simply the “hottest” hotel in Africa right now, The Silo can be found in the heart of Cape Town’s harbour area, atop the Zeitz MOCAA, a world-class museum dedicated to contemporary African art and opened to international acclaim last October. Both the hotel and museum are housed in a grain silo that was the tallest building in Sub-Saharan Africa when it was built, in 1924. Grain storing operations ceased in 2001, when the long process of transforming the building into a unique... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/2139506/cape-towns-hottest-new-hotel-elevates-industrial-chic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/2139506/cape-towns-hottest-new-hotel-elevates-industrial-chic?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Mar 2018 12:18:53 +0000 Driving from the bustling centre of Bordeaux, it takes barely half an hour to break through the shopping malls, factories and fast-food drive-ins – the gritty urban landscape that encircles most French towns – and find myself on a quiet country lane, part of a labyrinth that weaves around the vineyards along the left bank of the Garonne river. I was tempted to sign up for a guided day trip until I discovered that many of the dynamic, mostly family-owned chateaux that line the Graves and... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/2131407/best-bordeaux-take-graves-and-sauternes-wine-route?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/2131407/best-bordeaux-take-graves-and-sauternes-wine-route?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Feb 2018 09:33:25 +0000 What is it? Venissa is an unusual concept in one of the world’s most popular destinations, Venice. Some 30,000 tourists stream into the not-so-Serenissima each day, but this resort is located on a peaceful island, Mazzorbo, with just 300 inhabitants, in the middle of a magi­cal lagoon. Venice’s Piazza San Marco and Doge’s Palace are just a 30-minute boat ride away, and even closer are the popular islands of Burano; Murano, and its glass-blowing workshops; and Torcello, with its Byzantine... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/2104156/get-away-it-all-venice-luxury-vineyard-refuge-venissa?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/2104156/get-away-it-all-venice-luxury-vineyard-refuge-venissa?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Jul 2017 05:16:19 +0000