Isabel Conway | Business Post

Isabel Conway

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Bucket and spade list: In search of our dream holidays

In search of a once-in-a-lifetime holiday experience? Veteran travel writer Isabel Conway takes us on a whirlwind tour of some of the fanciest options for luxury vacations across the globe

Gdansk to the music of time in an historic Polish city

Renowned as the centre of Solidarity’s resistance against Poland’s communist authorities in the early 1980s, Gdansk is today a scenic and beguiling place suffused with youthful energy

The queen of the French waterways: Isabel Conway takes a cruise on the Canal du Midi

Anna Francesca Cradock, who undertook her grand tour of France 230 years ago, would be delighted to discover that the ‘magnificent poplars, elms and landscapes’ of her trip are still found alongside the Canal du Midi in the south of France

Positively Baltic: Riga has been somewhat ignored as a tourist destination, but it’s friendlier and more welcoming than its Scandinavian neighbours

Why isn’t Riga better known abroad? It’s a puzzle, because the so-called Pearl of the Baltics compares favourably with many other European cities in terms of culture and style.

Travel: Beguiling Barbados remains an enduring Caribbean paradise

Spectacular views, enchanting markets and nautical adventures are all part of the package on the island that R&B superstar Rihanna calls home

Travel: To visit Memphis is to be absorbed by its rich musical lore, its vivid political history and its marvellous cuisine

Domestic visits to Memphis ended up being 10 per cent above the US national average last year. It was also named one of the world’s greatest places by Time magazine

Travel: High adventure finds its natural home in the Swiss Alps

Isabel Conway experiences an idyllic and ski-free Swiss adventure holiday perfect for the slope-shy, from e-biking to deer-spotting to making your own paté

Travel: Delightful Dubrovnik still the jewel in Croatia’s crown

Having weathered the pandemic, the antique Adriatic resort is welcoming tourists back to its charming cobbled streets and medieval sights

Travel: Taking a philosophical view on life

Greece has been battered by the whims of fate more than most countries in the past decade or so, but Athens remains one of the jewels in European tourism’s crown

Flights of the imagination: Business Post writers recall their last trip abroad, and dream about their next one

This staycation summer, our writers invite you on their journeys abroad, real and imagined

What next for the travel industry?

Restrictions are beginning to relax, but across Europe holiday destinations face a long hard fight to get back on their feet. Isabel Conway reports

Travel inspiration: Savouring South Africa’s rugged splendour

When the pandemic eventually ends and travel is a going concern again, take time to sample some of South Africa’s many idyllic sides

Travel: Finding a medieval Manhattan in Flanders

Isabel Conway is enchanted by Ghent, the art-steeped Belgian city that Victor Hugo called ‘the Venice of the north’

Savour the unseen side of South Africa

Isabel Conway takes an intoxicating tour of the lesser-spotted South African Cape

Murphy's lore

Dervla Murphy, Ireland's most intrepid globetrotter, celebrates her 88th birthday next week. Isabel Conway met her for a chat about her extraordinary life and adventures

Uncovering Uzbekistan

Remote terrain, mountain treks, vodka at the dead of night and Tashkent’s magnificent metro are just some of the wonders of one of the world’s newest tourist attractions. Just don’t try talking politics in Uzbekistan

Travel: Natural highs in the Swiss Alps

You don’t have to be a thrillseeker to find fun high in the Swiss Alps, as Isabel Conway discovers while hiking, foraging and eating her way around Verbier

Bucking trends: Alberta's Calgary Stampede

Harking back to the Wild West, ‘bull n bronc’ riders demonstrate a hardcore attitude to their own health and safety as they take on angry bulls, wrestle steers and ride bareback

Southern comforts: The charms of Charleston

Isabel Conway visits the South Carolina city of Charleston, where the Irish-linked traditions are long-enduring and the history hangs heavy in the air

Get your kicks on Portugal’s Route 66

Isabel Conway takes the slow road through the enchanting Alentejo region, whose charms are often missed by tourists in the race to the sunbeds of built up coastal resorts