Wanderlust Issue 163 (February 2016) 57 Best Trips 2016 ♦ East Iceland ♦ Secret Chile ♦ Mozambique ♦ Sri Lanka ♦ Pocket guides: St John’s (Canada), Palma (Mallorca) & Notre Dame (Paris)
Iceland
Is this the new Golden Circle?
t r av e l m ag a z i n e
Secret Chile
Discover Patagonia’s wild archipelago
www.wanderlust.co.uk February 2016
W i n!
57 Best trips 2016
A trip to Lap lan or Italy for d two people.. See page 4 .
Including: Cuba · Alaska · Costa Rica · Namibia Burma · Canada · Japan · Mexico · India · Madagascar Greece · Guatemala · Spain · Iran · Turkey · China Russia · Vietnam · Brazil and more...
£3.99
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Mozambique, Sri Lanka, Canada, Paris, Mallorca
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Contents
Issue 163 February 2016
360˚ – Need to Know
6 Viewfinder to know this month... 12GoNeed 14 Drinknowthis... 165 minutes with... Levison Wood 18 Books & UK events 19 Know your... Buenos Aires 20
Swimming gazelles, lanterned light-fests and climbing sherpas... Inside the selfie stick controversy Explore Porto’s twisting streets filled with Baroque churches and bell towers Fancy a cuppa? A global celebration of the humble tea leaf The TV trekker on Walking the Himalayas The best new releases and happenings this month The capital celebrates its 480th year
▲ Cover story
26 57 best trips 2016
Struggling for travel inspiration? Then look no further. Whether you’re into active adventures, wonderful wildlife, fantastic festivals or simply a new corner of the planet, we’ve sifted through the tour brochures for 2016’s best trips
▲ Special feature
22 New Year, new experiences
WIN! A foodie trip to Sicily worth £8,000 p24
Travel Masterclass
The masterclass 68Instant 71 expert: Crocodile Dundee Q&A 72Take travel photos 74Travelbetter clinic 76Traveller’s 79waterproofsguide to... winter Reach for the sky! Best places to stargaze on your travels
How the classic 80s flick revolutionised Australian tourism 30 years ago How do you get an upgrade, and other crucial travel questions answered? Snapper Paul Goldstein shares the art of patience Dr Jane explains why not to fear the worst if you fall ill while away We test eight of the best jackets on the market that’ll help keep you dry
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A three-night break in Swedish Lapland p66
From stand-up paddleboarding to sleeping under the stars, we look at the freshest activities and experiences to help enhance your trips throughout 2016
“You will find a beguiling mix of North America meets Europe, pioneering outpost meets vibrant modern culture.” Lyn Hughes
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St John’s, p137
“You’d be forgiven for thinking you were in Arabia rather than Spain, a feeling enhanced by a visit to the medina-esque maze of backstreets.” Phoebe Smith
94 “The grazing cows and expanses of yellow broom gave Chiloé the feel of the Outer Hebrides or Ireland’s west coast, but the birdlife indicated we were somewhere more exotic.” Lyn Hughes
Buenos Aires, p20 Chile, p94
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“That’s not a trip...” Mick Dundee’s Australia, p71 Features
From the road
54Iceland
Access to Iceland’s east fjords – a wild landscape of glaciers, waterfalls and wetlands – will soon be easier, could this be the new Golden Circle? We find out... Mozambique Peace has returned to Gorongosa National Park, meaning you can check out its biodiverse wonders and flourishing wildlife once more Chile See penguins, Chilean culture and historic churches in the arty Patagonian archipelago of Chiloé Sri Lanka Experience the big cats, curries and ecolodges creating a buzz in previously off-limits northern Sri Lanka
82 94 116
pocket guides
108Your Story
Travelling along the UK’s arteries may be the best way to see the country, says reader Suzy Pope, who took a canal boat along Britain’s waterways Letters In our mailbag: Looking to take on the Appalachian Trail, encountering camera-shy cattle, turning favourite novels into real-life experiences and visiting Europe’s non-countries
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24 Hours: 137 First St John’s, Canada
Less than six hours flight from the UK, Newfoundland’s historic capital is brimming with fine seafood and Celtic-influences
139Short Break: Palma, Mallorca
So much more than just a fly-and-flop for sun-seekers, the Balearic Isle’s capital is worth exploring for gastro goodness and mazy streets
113This Month You Have Been... 141 Travel Icon: Paris Cooking like a Roman; penning a travel novel; heading to the Antarctic; learning the ups and downs of travel; championing quake-hit Nepal; and much more...
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Despite being one of the world’s most travelled-to cities, Paris and its many sites needs you more than ever before following the devastating terrorist attacks of November 2015
“Taking a shortcut through a lotus-fringed lake, the park revealed some of its many delights: skittish deer, stalking jackals and serpent eagles.” Sarah Gilbert
Iceland p54
Paris, p141 Porto, p14
“Each gust tore at the falls, flinging it against our hunched backs. Clouds smudged out the peaks above while a few sheep stood and stared as we lurched past.” William Gray
Palma, p139
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Angkor Wat, p12 Sri Lanka, p116
“Standing on the floodplains at sunset, with a cool beer helping to alleviate the heat, the romance of Gorongosa beguiled me once again.” Sue Watt
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talking heads Levison Wood, p18 “Most people think the Himalaya is just snowy peaks but actually I was going through jungles, swamps, deserts – the whole spectrum really. We had things like avalanches, landslides and earthquakes to deal with as well as political issues. ”
Wanderlust February 2016
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Beautiful Burma
Like temples? Put Bagan on your wishlist for the coming year
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57 New trips 2016
Not sure where to go or what to do this year? Then be inspired by our hotlist – the 57 adventures that are stoking our wanderlust!
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active adventures Looking to explore and get to the places the tour buses can’t go? Try these exciting escapades
IRAN
Climb Asia’s tallest volcano
£50 Summit a classic snow-capped peak off on Exodus’ Iran: Mt Damavand
with Journey Latin America. Scuba into some of the Yucatán Peninsula’s limestone cenotes, a vast freshwater cave system. Plunge into Belize’s iconic Blue Hole; swim among moray eels and turtles in the coral reef off Roatán; while on land, visit the Mayan ruins of Copán and Tulum, and explore the UNESCO-listed Guatemalan city of Antigua. WHO: Journey Latin America (020 8600 1881, journeylatinamerica.co.uk) WHEN: 30 Apr 2016 HOW LONG: 15 days HOW MUCH: From £3,696 (incl flights)
Ascent trip. The domineering 5,671m volcano, which can be seen from the SPAIN nearby capital of Tehran, is a compelling Walk on Tenerife’s wild side challenge for fit trekkers. Assisted by porters, you’ll hike through rocky terrain, £50 Leave the sun-seekers behind to off traverse the Spanish isle from east to along icy paths and over volcanic scree west with KE Adventure Travel’s ascending up to reach the snow-filled Undiscovered Tenerife and Pico crater at the summit. After £50 Teide trip. Tread the Masca descending, enjoy a wander off Look out for this sign Gorge and the lunar landscaped round Tehran’s bazaars and and if you’re a subscriber Teide NP before enjoying quirky museums. use your £50 voucher towards the cost of the trip. a sunrise summit of 3,718m WHO: Exodus (0845 805 0277, Not a Subscriber? sign up Mount Teide, Spain’s highest. exodus.co.uk) now on page 52 and get six months Then head to the lush forests WHEN: 9 & 30 Jul 2016 for just £5? and deep ravines of the Anaga HOW LONG: 9 days region, and discover fine food, HOW MUCH: From £2,299 (incl flights) cracking coastlines and pirate legends. MEXICO, BELIZE, WHO: KE Adventure Travel (01768 773966, HONDURAS & keadventure.com) GUATEMALA WHEN: 30 Jan, 27 Feb, 2 Apr, 3 & 24 Sept, Dive into Central America 15 Oct 2016 Discover wonders deep below the HOW LONG: 8 days £50 off surface on a Group Diving Tour HOW MUCH: From £695 (excl flights) ⊲ Into the blue
Previous spread Dreamstime This spread Alamy; Dreamstime
Belize’s most iconic diving spot was much beloved by Jacques Cousteau
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57
New trips 2016 Treading Tenerife
The volcanic landscape of Teide National Park offers intrepid hikers a rugged proposition
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Wanderlust Issue 163 (February 2016) 57 Best Trips 2016 ♦ East Iceland ♦ Secret Chile ♦ Mozambique ♦ Sri Lanka ♦ Pocket guides: St John’s (Canada), Palma (Mallorca) & Notre Dame (Paris)
Iceland
Is this the new Golden Circle?
T R AV E L M AG A Z I N E
Discover Patagonia’s wild archipelago
www.wanderlust.co.uk February 2016
W i n!
57 BEST TRIPS 2016
A trip to Lapl an or Italy for d two people.. See page 4 .
Including: Cuba � Alaska � Costa Rica � Namibia Burma � Canada � Japan � Mexico � India � Madagascar Greece � Guatemala � Spain � Iran � Turkey � China Russia � Vietnam � Brazil and more...
£3.99
+
Mozambique, Sri Lanka, Canada, Paris, Mallorca
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Secret Chile
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Sri Lanka
out of the dark
Civil war rendered Sri Lanka’s north-west off limits. Now the leopards and pioneering ecolodges of the original home of the Sinhalese ‘lion people’ are creating a buzz words & PHOTOGRAPHS sarah gilbert
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Re-emerging majesty A leopard stalks out of the grass at Wilpattu National Park
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is this iceland’s new golden circle?
Accessing Iceland’s wild Eastern Fjords has always required a long drive, internal flight or long sea voyage. But, with new direct flights from the UK, this wild realm will soon be within easy reach words & photographs william gray
Eastern promise
The rugged south-east coast is now within much easier reach for travellers
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East Iceland
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Rising up
An inselberg bursts out of Gorongosa’s midlands forest
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Mozambique
recall of the wild
Gorongosa National Park has been variously beloved of A-listers and decimated by Civil War. But now peace has been restored – again – this beguiling biodiversity hotspot is resurging once more Words sue watt
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