The freewheeling character of Canada’s largest city is expressed in its home-grown design, bespoke bars and inner-city villages, as Kendall Hill discovers.

Christchurch was crushed by the 2011 earthquake and now the recovery effort is in full swing, writes Max Anderson.

Italian food writer Andrea Petrini describes Ben Shewry as “a pearl of a cook, and of a man”...

Queensland’s most famous beach playground is as glamorous as ever, but a new sophistication and serious food cred are emerging on the Gold Coast, Fiona Donnelly reports.

Wine in the sky is a mixed bag but the highest-flying lists are well worth the long haul.

Eight months after shutting its doors Melbourne’s Adelphi Hotel lives again.

Vienna retains the majesty that befits a former imperial capital but has shed its royal reserve. Helen Anderson meets the characters changing the face of the Austrian capital.

A flotilla of river-cruise vessels will set sail next year with new itineraries to meet record demand.

The Sheraton Noosa’s recent makeover is more than skin deep.

We've scoured the hotels and resorts of the world in search of some of the most striking swimming pools on offer. Here they are.

The unwinding begins in the driveway of Park Hyatt Sydney, where a valet unburdens spa guests of their cars...

Chef and gourmet traveller Christine Manfield is seduced by Seville’s Moorish legacy, ancient architecture and tantalising tapas while there to launch two new coffees for Nespresso.

A Sydney-born wine bar is introducing artisanal Italian drops to Hong Kong.

The island is fabulously hedonistic, but Europe’s favourite party playground is also surprisingly traditional. Christopher English is charmed by Ibiza’s no-menu cafés, barefoot beach bars and laid-back locals.

Some of Indonesia’s more remote islands are accessible in hitherto unimaginable style...

A Kerouac hideaway is among the city’s hippest new lodgings.

No trip to Singapore is complete without a street-food hit...

Just in time for summer, the Art Series Olsen hotel opens the first pool club in inner Melbourne...

A brave new wave of bold and ambitious chefs and restaurateurs is taking Singapore’s fine dining into new territory. Prepare for adventure, writes Pat Nourse, and pack an appetite.

Sitting pretty on Regent Street, the Café Royal is in the heart of London, yet there’s a trace of a French accent here...

Seeking a pied-à-terre in the French capital that’s well located and has charm and style? Pas de problème. Here’s a handful of boutique hotels and apartments with a certain je ne sais quoi.

Restaurants, bars and a hotel are breathing life into The Shard.

French tourism numbers are down, but the capital’s luxury-hotel market is booming.

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

A mysterious cultural island where peppers and pelota rule, the French Basque Country has a personality all its own. Amy Egan celebrates a land like no other.

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.

While Madrid has majesty and Barcelona has Gaudí, Valencia has that famed rice dish and a laid-back Mediterranean attitude.

The style is unmistakably Thai at Anantara Dubai The Palm Resort & Spa, opening this month.

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.

There’s a safari to suit all species, from style hunters to creatures of comfort. Emma Sloley checks in to the hottest openings in Africa and some old favourites.

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.

A perfectly positioned pied-à-terre seamlessly melds old and new.

The city that never sleeps never stops producing great new places to eat. Peter Meehan takes bold fork in hand to find the hottest tables in New York City.

Southern California’s only Relais & Châteaux property puts a fresh face forward.

Wilpena Pound Resort’s new tented retreats bring a dose of safari glamour to the South Australian landmark.

Escaping the winter with a quick trip to Bali is customary for many Aussies. Kendall Hill joins the smart crowd and heads to Seminyak for some sophistication with his endless summer.

What to do when your home is a 1910 Art Nouveau palace on the shores of Lake Como but you're running out of room?

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.

Given that it's one of Sydney's greatest tourist lures, Bondi Beach is surprisingly short of accommodation options...

Here’s yet another reason to fall in love with the City of Water.

Model and writer Laura Bailey has an ongoing love affair with London. Here she shares her favourite haunts, from old-school Martini bars to the home of the best chocolate-chip cookies in town.

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.

Mathew Macartney of Eleonore’s at Chateau Yering loves to show off the valley’s diversity. He takes us on a personal tour.

They say you can’t please all the people all the time, but tell that to Amsterdam. Kendall Hill explores the Venice of the North and discovers a cultural hotspot for fans of both trend and tradition.

Like many chefs, Stuart Bell of Ten Minutes by Tractor likes to eat out at small, undiscovered places. Here, he spills the beans on the peninsula’s secret gems.

For chef Michael Ryan of Provenance, Beechworth’s abundance of pubs, restaurants and beauty make great grounds for exploring.

Cowboys and honky-tonks have long defined the Tennessee capital, but Music City is in the throes of a hipster revival that now sees its art, food and drink scene get equal billing.

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

From star-gazing to first-class foraging, Daylesford and its surrounds have a lot to offer. Alla Wolf-Tasker of Lake House shares her local knowledge.

Chef Dan Hunter of Dunkeld’s Royal Mail Hotel gives us his insider’s guide to the Grampians’ finest.

Feeling the need to break the cold months with a jaunt elsewhere? Here’s our pick of the latest and greatest places for a winter weekend away.

Meet the west’s newest bed for the night (or longer).

Luxurious new digs in Nitmiluk National Park are opening Katherine Gorge and the culture of its traditional owners, the Jawoyn people, to a new brand of traveller. Rob Ingram explores the escarpment around Cicada Lodge.

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.

Palm Springs, California’s desert resort, has long been the balmy home-away-from-home for the rich and fabulous. Pat Nourse dons his shades and checks out the best of this hedonist’s playground.

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.

Whether you’re travelling in a troop, longing for a personal butler or just loath to share a pool, there’s no better base in Bali than a villa. Kendall Hill uncovers some of the latest and greatest luxury stays on the Island of the Gods.

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.

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.

The pristine environs and unique bounty of South Australia’s Kangaroo Island make the ideal setting for the KI Food Safari. Frances Hibbard packs her appetite and heads into the wild for a culinary adventure.

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.

A boutique lodge on the Chilean altiplano set against a backdrop of mountain ranges and dramatic skies is Emma Sloley’s base for exploring the highest, driest desert in the world, the Atacama.

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 reborn “Falcon route” via the Gulf means that travellers looking to break up their journey are turning afresh to Dubai. George Epaminondas shares his picks for where to eat, drink, stay and play in the UAE’s shimmering megalopolis.

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.

It’s the mode of travel of the moment but what’s the right liner for you? Cruise connoisseur Susan Kurosawa shares her ultimate form guide to everything from ship size and shore excursions to shuffleboard and Spanish lessons.

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.

From a life of privilege onboard Crystal Serenity to majestic St Petersburg in party mode, Kendall Hill finds himself spellbound by the Baltic.

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.

Gin and tonics on the teak verandah, finger sandwiches and millefeuilles for high tea – first-time cruiser Frances Hibbard acquires a taste for the high seas on the MS Marina, the floating queen of cuisine.

From a heli-fishing lodge in a remote Kimberley estuary to a sun-drenched penthouse overlooking Queensland’s most famous strip, Australia’s northern coastlines are long on luxe new accommodation.

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.

The first-ever Margaret River Gourmet Escape drew a gaggle of the world's top chefs, rather a lot of winemakers and a few thousand lovers of good food, good drinks and good times to the wineries and beaches of the mighty Margaret River region of Western Australia. The GT team was there, glass in hand, sand betwixt toes, going drink for drink and snack for snack with some of the nation's most committed eaters.

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.

The timing is surprising but Aman Resorts has thrown its weight behind Greece, opening in its mythical heartland: the Peloponnese. Debbie Pappyn unrolls her beach towel at the brand new Amanzo’e.