Isabel Conway | Business Post

Isabel Conway

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Nashville: the grande dame of country won’t leave you lonesome

From blue skies to bluegrass, sizzling stages to spicy food, America’s mecca of music hits all the high notes you could hope for

Second nature: freewheeling through Slovenia

With its green credentials, unspoiled landscapes and high quality local food producers, it’s like Tuscany without the crowds and high prices

Adventure on the high seas

Isabel Conway enjoys the delights of slow travel on Brittany Ferries’ new ship Salamanca from Rosslare to Bilbao in Spain

Travel: Never mind the diamonds, seek out Antwerp’s hidden gems

From the jewel district, bustling street markets, glorious architecture and myriad museums to a spread of fine-dining restaurants and funky cafés, a visit to Belgium’s diamond capitals is a must

Budget breaks and cruise holidays – the travel trends for 2023

The travel fever that began post-pandemic is set to continue this year despite uncertain political and financial landscapes, but we’re becoming more conscious of the cost to the environment as well as the wallet

A walking shadow: Tracing Shakespeare in the Bard’s own country

The playwright may be long gone, but the Warwickshire market town of Stratford-upon-Avon keeps his spirit alive. Isabel Conway indulges in a little luxury and a lot of bardolatry in the 16th-century dramatist’s birthplace

Isabel Conway: Croatia’s rich coastal culture is music to the ears

A deluxe cruise along Croatia’s gorgeous Dalmatian Coast brings Isabel Conway from the city of Zadar where the Sea Organ, a sustainable art installation, riffs on the sounds of the waves, to Split, scene of several Game of Thrones episodes

Centuries-old tradition in Bohemia’s heart of glass

Want to escape the tourist crowds in Prague? Head to the natural beauty of the Crystal Valley in the Czech Republic, where high-quality glass of all kinds – including jewellery – has been made for centuries

Cruising through Southern Queensland: Warm reflections on an Australian Everglade

The Noosa Everglades in Southern Queensland is a 60km stretch of narrow waterways, pristine wilderness, magnificent birds, plants and native animals, but keep an eye out for snakes and sharks

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