Forget about planning and booking holidays - Anna Leask hands the job over to someone else and climbs on board for a ride of pleasant surprises and new friends.

It's always the perfect time to catch a wave or linger on the sidewalk in this city.

Hot, quirky and sometimes sophisticated, Gertrude is a Fitzroy food hub attracting a lot of attention, writes Jesse Mulligan.

Oahu's big waves and warm waters are a magnet to all types and sizes of mammals, finds Paul Davies.

As Sarah Lang found out the hard way, here's what to do - and what not to do - on holiday in Europe.

In between eating himself to bursting, Greg Bruce enjoys the folksy, smoky blues of Atlanta, Georgia.

Miami, America's subtropical paradise, is awash with surreal but intriguing contradictions - and is all the more enjoyable for it, says Gareth Wyn Davies.

Belfast has not forgotten its troubled history but the city's future is looking brighter, finds David Mercer.

With a little help from a new friend,Wynne Gray makes it to his hotel in Newcastle.

He's reluctant to admit it but Bruce Morris finds British Columbia almost as lovely as his homeland.

With a new air route connecting Auckland to Houston, Kiwi cruisers can head to the Caribbean.

In a town where rumours of Jimi Hendrix remain, Katie Wright finds an easy pace at which to unwind.

To mark 60 years, Disneyland has conjured up spectacular parades and fireworks, writes Peter Mitchell.

An industrial area in Honolulu, Hawaii, has been reinvented as an art, music and food hub.

A dramatic lightning display in northwest Australia is topped by turquoise sea, tumbling waterfalls and hi-def sunsets, writes Pamela Wade.

It's hard to imagine this "park in the sky" was once the domain of thundering freight trains.

Xenia Taliotis spends a day at one of the unhappiest places on Earth.

Discovery of a thought-to-be extinct green crested iguana sends Malolo Island into sustainability overdrive, says Leah McLennan.

Tracey Nearmy doesn't reach Canberra but says it's about the journey, not the destination.

Apia's cyclone-struck grand dame is getting ready to rule again, writes Robyn Yousef.

Andrew Alderson experiences the epicurean delights of the French capital from his fifth-floor house exchange.

Three days isn't long to explore an island, but Andrew Drummond makes the most of them.

India's Hampi offers a visual wealth and allure few can resist, writes Tim Roxborogh.

More than 20 years after hearing a song, Nigel Richardson sees the frontier city that inspired it.

The Texan capital has an outlaw spirit that makes it the perfect place to party, writes Ewan McDonald.

Tim Roxborogh revels in the Victorian outdoors.

Graham Reid leaves claustrophobic Sydney on a road trip.

Andrew Laxon found the best way to convert his teenage children to the delights of travelling in India was to do things, not look at them. Here are some of his highlights.

Donna McIntyre is by turns saddened, unnerved, educated and fascinated on a visit to South Korea's side of the demilitarised zone.