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My happy place

Chengdu has transformed, though it remains slower-paced than some other Chinese cities.

Three years in this city changed my life and my view of the world

When I arrived in Chengdu to teach English, I couldn’t speak Chinese. I’d never even tried Chinese food.

  • Brian Johnston
Arriving in Venice feels like stepping into a dream.

This ‘impossible’ city doesn’t make sense, but it makes my heart soar

The first time I arrived here, it felt like I’d stepped into a film set – or, perhaps, a dream.

  • Lee Tulloch
A snow-covered hutte in Switzerland’s Graubunden region.

Staying here is my favourite thing in the world

Beaches are beautiful but to me, they take second place to the alps. The steadfast, majestic beauty of the mountains does something to me that I can’t explain.

  • Justine Costigan
Turquoise shores at Four Mile Beach, Port Douglas.

Why this tiny town on the edge of Australia has our hearts

We said we’d stop going when we ran out of things to do. We never have.

  • Lindy Alexander
Ben Groundwater’s heart belongs to San Sebastian.

I lived in this joyful European city for a year. In my heart, I never left

I’ve been visiting this wonderful European city for almost 25 years. I love it so much, in fact, that I decided to live there.

  • Ben Groundwater
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Bermuda has attracted celebrities and the well-to-do since the 1930s.

Despite not visiting for 50 years, I still find this island is my favourite place

A new job took my grandfather to paradise. Joining him there was the highlight of my childhood.

  • Mark Chipperfield
Giraffes in the Kruger National Park.

This world-famous national park is my cure for modern stresses

One of the world’s greatest national parks turns 100 this year. I’ve been visiting it for almost half its life.

  • Catherine Marshall
A beach in Chumphon: Not a lounge chair, umbrella or backpacker in sight.

My beach paradise is somewhere most tourists ignore as they pass through

I didn’t intend to come to this Thai town, but I missed my ferry. I discovered an incredible place most tourists never experience.

  • Paul Marshall
Noosa has transformed over the past few decades.

My happy place

Traveller’s writers reflect on the holiday destinations in Australia and around the world that they cherish the most.

Milawa offers the simple life city dwellers dream about.

We found a dream escape during COVID. Five years on, we keep going back

After eight months of inner-city lockdown, home-schooling and curfews, an escape to rural Victoria was a breath of fresh country air.

  • Penny Watson