Havar is the most luxurious beach destination in Croatia. You’ve got the glitzy harbour with super yachts and world-class beach bars, a variety of adrenaline pumping lash centres in Havar Town coupled with more chilled out spots all around the island, and places like the Blue and Green caves to be explored by boat all around the island. Definitely one of the highlights of Croatia and the whole Balkans.
Tag: Caves
Luxor, Valley of the Kings and the Temple of Hatshepsut
Luxor was the highlight of my Egypt trip, and it’s criminally underplayed compared to the pyramids. The sheer scale of Karnak is genuinely awe-inducing, the Valley of the Kings feels like a proper mini-adventure despite the crowds, and the Temple of Hatshepsut is one of the most striking and underrated ancient sites I’ve ever seen. Add in a sunset felucca on the Nile and the ability to move between world-class sights with relative ease, and Luxor delivers a concentration of history, beauty and atmosphere that few places can match. A wonderful few days and smashes the Wow factor with the maximum score.
Vietnam 3 Week Itinerary – North to South Highlights
Vietnam is one of the best countries in the world to travel (see where it ranks – Best countries to visit in the world), with a huge variety of landscapes, cultures and experiences packed into a relatively narrow country that naturally lends itself to a north-to-south journey. Over the course of a few weeks, you can go from misty mountains and rice terraces in the north, to limestone karsts in Ha Long Bay, to historic towns like Hoi An, and finally down to the tropical Mekong Delta in the south.
What makes Vietnam particularly special is not just the individual highlights, but the overall journey. It’s a country where the experience of travelling through it – the changing scenery, the food, the energy of the cities and the contrast between regions — is as much a part of the trip as the destinations themselves.
The country works best as a 2–3 week itinerary travelling either north to south or the reverse, combining a handful of standout highlights with a few shorter stops along the way. Some places are genuinely world-class, while others are more about adding variety to the route rather than being must-see destinations in their own right.
Is Vietnam worth visiting? Yes – it’s one of the most rewarding countries to travel in, especially if you enjoy varied scenery, great food and trips that feel like a journey rather than a series of isolated stops.
In a nutshell:
- One of the best countries in the world for a multi-week trip
- Natural north-to-south route with huge variety
- Ha Long Bay, Mai Chau and Hoi An are standout highlights
- Nah Trang and Hue are overrated
- Can be done super cheap from US$1500 using the excellent bus network
Trip to the Jenolan Caves
I saw the Jenolan Caves listed as one of the highlights of the Blue Mountains area, but found them to be a little underwhelming.
Perhaps it comes down to which caves you visit on the day, but I found them far behind the stunning views around Katoomba and, what doesn’t help, an hour further away from the main attractions and relatively busy / crammed in when you get there. Pretty surrounding countryside though.
Checking out Coober Pedy
If making the drive through Australia’s Red centre from Adelaide to Darwin, there is a lot of nothing on the way and you’re kind of keen for any place to stop at and have a look around.
For the Adelaide to Alice Springs / Ayers Rock section, once you get past the Flinders Ranges, the only realistic stopping option is Coober Pedy, an opal mining town made famous for its locals living in caves to avoid the scorching summer heat.
In truly backhand complement style, its worth stopping an hour at the Old Timers Mine to see the excavated tunnels if you’re driving through on your 12 hour drive to Alice Springs.
Climbing the Frans Josef Glacier
As part of the trip up the stunning west coast of New Zealand, one of the must-do activities is to see one of the fastest moving accessible glaciers in the world, and, even better, to climb through it
5 tips:
- Climbing – climbing through the glacier with the crampons on and the ice axe at the ready was what made this such a great experience, so be sure to give yourself the day to include this. The only issue is the price. A few years ago you were able to simply rock up to the glacier and climb through it (NZ$250), whereas unfortunately now you often need to take a helicopter further up the glacier and explore from there (NZ$795). On the plus side, you’ll get some amazing views of the glacier from the helicopter
- Climbing can get a bit hairy! – when climbing, be prepared for it to be a little scary at times. We thought it would just be a walk but, depending on your guide, you may be climbing up sheer slopes and starring down into the ice abyss below – you’ve been warned!
- Fans Joseph or Fox? – both are similar, but their nearby towns make it a choice between bigger with wider facilities but a bit busier (Frans Jospeh) and smaller with few facilities but quieter (Fox). When I visited, I went for Frans Jospeh and it was a great experience. It also has Glacier Hot Pools which would be great to enjoy after the climbing
- Hiking – if you don’t want to climb, one activity that you simple must do is a hike to get a feel for the scale of the glaciers. The Glacier Valley walk for Frans Jospeh is fantastic as its gives you a nice walk past the small lakes and view out across the glacier. 6km / 3.7miles return and will take around 1.5hours
- Two things we wish we’d done – we left thinking that we would have loved to have taken a scenic flight to see the glaciers from the sky (you can cover this now with the helicopter trip) and also kayaked in the more tranquil nearby Lake Mapourika, with the “Classic Trip” taking 3 hours in the early morning