Our 23 most popular travel posts of 2023 were the most-searched travel stories, trip itineraries, hotel reviews, and guides to everything from cruising Halong Bay and the Mekong to driving from Perth to Margaret River, from touring the wineries near Barcelona and shopping Cairo’s markets, to spending one day in Phnom Penh or a weekend in Perpignan.
We’re sharing our annual round-ups a little later than we usually do, as I travelled to Australia over the holiday season and am just back at my desk. We could have jumped right into our 2024 schedule but we know our readers enjoy seeing what the most popular posts were as much as we do.
If you missed our last post, I shared a compilation of the 23 most popular recipes of 2023, the most searched-for, most-read and hopefully most-cooked recipes last year. Once again, the list included recipes for everything from my rich and creamy beef Stroganoff to Terence’s deliciously hearty Cape Town tomato bredie, a mix of new recipes and old recipes, dating way back to 2010.
The 23 most popular travel posts of 2023 also included a real mix of new and old travel stories, guides, itineraries, and reviews. While there were a number of old travel guides, hotel round-ups and road trip itineraries among the posts you spent most of your time on last year, know that we’re continually updating our travel content on Grantourismo.
Now before I tell you about our 23 most popular travel posts of 2023, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader-funded. If you’ve found our travel stories and guides inspirational and informative, please consider supporting Grantourismo by using our links to buy something on Amazon, such as these cookbooks for culinary travellers or travel books to inspire wanderlust or browse our Grantourismo store for gifts for travel and food lovers, designed with Terence’s images. Now let’s tell you about our 23 most popular travel posts of 2023.
23 Most Popular Travel Posts of 2023 – Travel Stories, Guides, Itineraries Readers Loved
Our 23 most popular travel posts of 2023 included everything from road trip guides and hotel review round-ups to one-day itineraries and shopping tips.
Driving from Perth to Margaret River
Topping the list of our 23 most popular travel posts of 2023 was our guide to driving from Perth to Margaret River in Southwest Western Australia. It’s an easy drive of around three and a half hours, which is nothing in a state where road trips can take weeks.
What makes the drive from Perth to the Margaret River wine region so enjoyable are the stops on the way for swims on pristine sandy beaches, engaging indigenous experiences, self-guided heritage tours, and the chance to meet the adorable woylies.
You can break up the drive with an overnight stay along the way – we adore the spectacular Pullman Bunker Bay Resort, 10kms northwest of Dunsborough – and there are loads of activities to do en route, from whale watching in season or a wild dolphin cruise.
While you could do a Margaret River wine tour or take a bus, keep in mind that the region of Margaret River covers a whopping 130 kilometres from Capes Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin, making renting a car and self driving the best way to explore the Margaret River region.
Driving from Perth to Margaret River – Where to Stop Along the Way
Best Ubud Resorts with Jungle Views
Next on the list of our 23 most popular travel posts of 2023 was this round-up of the best Ubud resorts with jungle views and jaw dropping swimming pools – hotels set amidst lush tropical gardens, rice terraces and rainforest with sweeping valley or paddy vistas, and stunning swimming pools.
The Indonesian island of Bali has long lured Bali lovers to bask on its wide beaches, surf its superb waves and sip cocktails while sunset watching on its sands. But for this travel and food writer, aside from dining at Bali’s outstanding restaurants, the island’s big appeal has long been the lush jungles and rice terraces of Ubud, Bali’s artistic and cultural heart.
My picks of the best Ubud resorts boast gobsmacking jungle views, gorgeous accommodation with private pools, balconies and terraces, breezy dining and drinking spots, luxuriant gardens, fresh mountain air, forest sounds, nearby rice terraces for walks and hikes, and a range of engaging experiences to get out and enjoy Ubud’s nature and culture.
In this guide I’ve got an Ubud resort for every budget, from affordable to luxurious, with a mix of Ubud resorts, hotels, villas, and a guesthouse in the heart of Ubud and in surrounding villages.
Best Ubud Resorts with Jungle Views and Jaw Dropping Swimming Pools
Italian Lakes Road Trip
Our Italian Lakes road trip guide was the third most popular travel post of 2023. If you love Italy and like to drive, one of the most fun things to do is circumnavigate Northern Italy’s lakes by car, staying in some of the many grand hotels that dot the lakes region.
The best approach is to book a rental car from Milan airport, and head for the westernmost lago, Lake Maggiore and its tiny neighbour, Lake Orta, spend time exploring both lakes, then drive eastward to Lake Como, spend some time there, finishing at Lake Garda and Lake Iseo.
Start your journey with a stay at Villa Crespi on Lake Orta, a magical Moorish-style villa, built in 1879, with just fourteen ornate rooms. It’s home to the Michelin starred cuisine of chef Antonino Cannavacciuolo whose creativity outshines the whimsicality of the accommodation.
There are so many things to do on Lake Como, from a private speed boat tour of the Italian Lakes to visiting the many splendid villas with luxuriant gardens open to the public that Lake Como is probably where you’ll spend most of your time.
Another highlight is a stay at the Grand Hotel des Iles Borromées at Stresa, an exquisitely restored Belle Époque masterpiece on a massive lakeside property with sprawling gardens and sumptuous rooms with lake views. See our Northern Italian itineraries for more ideas and inspiration.
Italian Lakes Road Trip – Circumnavigating Northern Italy’s Romantic Lakes
Cruising Halong Bay in Northern Vietnam
Halong Bay in northeast Vietnam is a dazzling unspoilt seascape distinguished by clusters of verdant islands, craggy islets, limestone karsts, and schist outcrops that dramatically rise out of jade coloured waters. Cruising Halong Bay is a must when you’re in Vietnam and our guide to Halong Bay cruises was another of our 23 most popular travel posts of 2023.
Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994 and located in Quang Ninh province, Halong Bay – and its adjoining yet more off-the-beaten-track Bái Tử Long Bay, with which it shares geographical and geological characteristics – extends along 120 kilometres of Vietnam’s coastline, from the Chinese border in the north to the Gulf of Tonkin to the southeast, and Cát Bà island in the southwest.
Halong Bay is often compared to two similar areas also stunningly sculpted by nature, Guilin in China and the Krabi area in Thailand. But Halong Bay is more stupendous and vast. The whole area covers a massive 1,553 km² with around 2,000 islands and islets, although the actual area designated by UNESCO stretches only some 434 km² and contains some 1,600 islands, islets and karsts. Local guides claim it is more like 3,000.
Since our first Halong Bay cruise in 2013, we’ve cruised Halong Bay and neighbouring Lan Ha Bay a dozen times and yet I’d return again in a heartbeat. If you’re considering a Halong Bay cruise, see our guides to the best Halong Bay cruise boats, how to choose a Halong Bay cruise, and the best things to do on Halong Bay.
Cruising Halong Bay in Northern Vietnam, a Beguiling Seascape of Limestone Karsts
Mekong River Cruises from Thailand to Laos
Our very practical guide to Mekong River cruises between Thailand and Luang Prabang in Laos was another one of our 23 most popular travel posts of 2023. A must-do experience if you’re travelling South East Asia, the question is not if you should do it, but how – by slow boat or fast boat?
Slow boats cruise and speedboats bounce along the Mekong River for the 300 kilometre-long journey from the Thailand-Laos border at Chiang Khong-Houei Say (Huay Xai) to Luang Prabang in Laos. If you’re on a tight budget then your two options are the fast boat or the budget-priced slow boat.
If you like a certain level of comfort, then a Mekong River cruise on the luxury slow boat is the best option, with comfort and space, guided village visits, and meals, wine and beer served on board, leaving you to worry about little more than where you’re going to sprawl out, what book to read, and when to take a nap. Our guide covers the nuts and bolts of doing a Mekong River cruise from Thailand to Laos.
Mekong River Cruises from Thailand to Laos – Here’s How to Do Them
Driving from Darwin to Kakadu National Park
Driving from Darwin to Kakadu National Park in the Top End of Australia’s Northern Territory to do some of the country’s best indigenous guided experiences, absorb ancient Aboriginal rock art, and swim in serene waterholes, will form some of the most meaningful memories of your Australia trip.
You can cruise through mangroves teeming with wildlife, go birdwatching or barramundi fishing, and hike up stone escarpments to savour sunsets over spectacular landscapes. It’s one of the best road trips in Australia and our guide was another of our 23 most popular travel posts of 2023.
Loads of companies offer small-group 3-day, 4-day and 5-day 4WD camping safaris from Darwin to Kakadu and Arnhem Land, which include the Mary River Region and Litchfield National Park.
You can also rent a 4WD or hire a campervan or motorhome to do the drive, breaking up the journey with stops on the way at Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve, Windows on the Wetlands, Adelaide River Jumping Crocodile Cruises, and Mary River National Park. See our top tips to doing road trips in Australia to learn more about why a 4WD vehicle will be your best option for road tripping Australia.
Driving from Darwin to Kakadu National Park – Where to Stop Along the Way
Northern Italian Wines to Taste in Northern Italy
Northern Italian wines are always a good idea, they’re outstanding by world standards, and they taste even better when you’re in Northern Italy. Our guide covers the wines you need to try in Northern Italy and it was one of our 23 most popular travel posts of 2023.
No matter what time of year you’re in Northern Italy or what the weather, there’s always somewhere to stop to enjoy some Northern Italian wines, whether it’s to linger over a bottle of white in the sunshine on a restaurant terrace on one of the Italian Lakes or wash down some cicchetti (Venetian snacks) by a fireplace in a cosy bar in Venice on a cool evening.
If you’re planning a wine trip by train or road across Northern Italy, see our Northern Italy itineraries. Travelling by car is the best way to explore Northern Italy if you want to drop into wineries and you’re not planning on much time in cities.
Also see our guide to the Veneto cities of Treviso, Vicenza and Padova for what to see and do, and where to stay and eat, and this guide to tasting Veneto wines. The best tip we can give you to drinking Northern Italian wines in Northern Italy is when you’re dining always match local wines with the local dishes of the region.
Northern Italian Wines You Need to Taste When Travelling in Northern Italy
Surfing the Gold Coast, Australia
Terence’s guide to surfing Australia’s Gold Coast, just south of Brisbane, Queensland, a northern tropical state of Australia, was another one of our 23 most popular travel posts of 2023. Terence grew up in Brisbane – we met on the Sunshine Coast north of the Queensland capital – and Terence spent time surfing the Gold Coast in his early twenties.
Terence writes in the post: “When the big swells were approaching, a group of us would jump in the biggest car we had between us and head down to the Gold Coast around midnight to be ensure we were at Kirra or Snapper Rocks before dawn.”
Terence reckons that the Gold Coast really is a surfer’s paradise and while you’d think that the most likely place on the coast to have the best surf would be Surfers Paradise, surfing on the Gold Coast really has its home further down the coast with the legendary point breaks at Burleigh, Currumbin, Kirra, and Snapper Rocks.
Best Bangkok Riverside Hotels on Chao Phraya River
Our guide to the best Bangkok riverside hotels on the Chao Phraya River include a variety of lovely waterfront lodgings, from one of Bangkok’s oldest hotels, the Mandarin Oriental, to the city’s most luxurious, The Siam, and everything in between, from riverside resorts with swimming pools and sleek boutique hotels offering spectacular temple views.
Over the last decade, a Bangkok riverside renaissance has seen new hotels and resorts – along with restaurants, cafés, bars, and even malls – sprout up on the banks of the Thai capital’s Chao Phraya River, luring locals and expats as much as tourists to Thailand’s ‘River of Kings’.
We lived in Bangkok before moving to Cambodia, writing stories on the city and updating Thailand guidebooks. As far as we’re concerned a stay at one of the best Bangkok riverside hotels on the Chao Phraya River is a must for first-time visitors to Bangkok, as well as repeat travellers seeking respite from Sukhumvit’s traffic chaos and car fumes and Silom’s bright lights and bustling streets.
There are few things as relaxing and as restorative as a few days spent by the water, and a few days of slow travel exploring Bangkok’s riverside will reduce stress levels. But if you’re looking for action rather than relaxation, there are also plenty of things to do on Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River. Our hotel guide was another of our 23 most popular travel posts of 2023.
Best Bangkok Riverside Hotels on Chao Phraya River from Heritage Hotels to Resorts
One Day in Ubud Itinerary
Our guide to how to spend One Day in Ubud, Bali, was another of our 23 most popular travel posts of 2023. Of course, one day in Ubud isn’t nearly enough, but that’s all many Bali visitors with the beach on their mind dedicate to this relaxed town set amidst lush jungle.
Do our one day in Ubud itinerary, taking in verdant rice terraces and feasting on farm-to-table cuisine and you might just find yourself looking into extend your stay. Our perfect day in Ubud begins with a stroll through the sacred Ubud Monkey Forest in the village of Padangtegal.
The itinerary also includes a Balinese cooking class in a village, where you can shop for ingredients at a local fresh food market, visit a rice plantation, and explore a traditional village, before learning the secrets of Balinese cooking. It ends with a meal at Locavore, one of Asia’s best restaurants.
One Day in Ubud, an Itinerary for a Perfect Day in Bali’s Lush Heart
Our Guide to Siem Reap Markets
Our guide to Siem Reap markets was another one of our 23 most popular travel posts of 2023. The post covers the liveliest local markets, from Siem Reap’s main produce markets to petite neighbourhood markets, as well as the Made in Cambodia market, where responsible travellers can shop for sustainable gifts and souvenirs.
Unfortunately the Asana organic farmers markets is no longer held, but there’s another organic farmers market that we’ll add to an imminent update. We also provide responsible travel advice in the post on shopping Siem Reap‘s night markets. Should you or shouldn’t you?
As responsible travel advocates it’s hard to recommend some markets, as products are often of dubious origins and could be made in factories that may or may not employ under-age and/or enslaved workers. Our guide offers tips on how you can shop ethically, responsibly and sustainably in Cambodia and beyond.
Our Guide to the Best Siem Reap Markets – When to Go and What to Buy
One Day in Phnom Penh Itinerary
One day in Phnom Penh obviously isn’t enough time in the Cambodian capital either. Is it enough time anywhere?! However, 24 hours in Phnom Penh is all many travellers allocate to this compelling city, treating it simply as a stopover – especially after a long haul flight, and especially if they’re en route to Siem Reap, Angkor Wat and Angkor Archaeological Park.
It’s a shame that one day in Phnom Penh is all that most visitors can schedule as there’s enough to do in Cambodia’s capital to fill a week, or at the very least a few days. But not everyone has the luxury of time. If you do, we also have a weekend in Phnom Penh itinerary.
With only one day in Phnom Penh, you want to focus on the most compelling must-do sights and museums, which offer some of the most enriching albeit sobering experiences, because they will well-prepare you for your time in Siem Reap and Angkor Archaeological Park.
One Day in Phnom Penh Itinerary for an Enriching Day in Cambodia’s Capital
Calabria is the New Puglia
We’ve been saying Calabria is the new Puglia and you need to get there before everyone else does, since our first trip to the Southern Italian region way back in 2008, when we became smitten with Calabria while crisscrossing the region by car, researching and writing the first English travel guidebook to Calabria.
Maybe 2024 will finally be the year you get to Calabria, as this guide to Calabria was another one of our 23 most popular travel posts of 2023. If you’re heading to Europe this year and Calabria is not on your Italy itinerary, then you need to revisit that.
Calabria boasts brilliant beaches, atmospheric hilltop towns, pristine national parks, and fantastic food and wine, and it’s brilliant all year around. We highly recommend you hire a car and plan a series of Calabria road trips with breaks in between staying at some of Calabria’s most beautiful villages.
A highlight are Calabria’s pristine national parks, such as Aspromonte National Park. It may only be a short drive from the regional capital Reggio di Calabria, but this beautiful mountain area with its thick wooded forests seems world’s away.
Calabria is the New Puglia – Italy’s Last Frontier for Travellers
Best Bangkok Hotel Swimming Pools
The best Bangkok hotel swimming pools range from rooftop infinity pools atop luxury towers boasting dazzling panoramic vistas of the Bangkok skyline to garden swimming pools in the grounds of historic Chao Phraya riverside hotels offering waterfront views from your sun-bed.
One of our most memorable magazine assignments as travel writers was a ten day trip in Thailand’s capital for a story on Bangkok restaurants, during which we got to at 137 Pillars Suites and Residences, pictured above. The luxury hotel has not one but two of the best Bangkok hotel swimming pools – both stunning infinity pools offering sweeping city views.
A hotel with a swimming pool is mandatory when you’re on holidays in steamy Bangkok. Even if you’re planning to be out and about most of the time, eating, sightseeing and shopping, there’s nothing like a cooling dip after a sweaty day on Bangkok’s muggy streets.
Travellers from Europe and North America, in particular, seem to struggle with Bangkok’s heat. Although Europe and parts of the USA have temperatures in summer as high as we do in Southeast Asia, it’s Bangkok’s humidity that visitors find challenging. So book a hotel with a pool. You’ll thank me later.
Best Bangkok Hotel Swimming Pools from Rooftop Infinity Pools to Riverview Pools
Best Cava Wineries Near Barcelona
The Penedès wine region is just 40 minutes or 50 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, the capital of Catalunya in Spain. The region is famous for the Spanish sparkling wine called Cava and Cava wineries are peppered around the Penedès.
We explored the Penedès over a five-day road trip some years ago with a group of wine writer friends to get a taste of what makes Cava so special. While they were there for the wine, we were keen to find out if what Catalan Cava makers we’d met on a previous trip to Barcelona had told us was true: that Cava matches so well with food, it goes with absolutely anything.
As we discovered by the end of the trip, Cava is the perfect accompaniment to everything, even the most quintessential of Catalan rituals, the calçotada, the act of barbecuing, peeling and eating the first of the season’s calçots. We even got to learn how to eat calçots like the locals, an experience we highly recommend.
While you could easily fill a week discovering the Penedès region by car, you can also experience a lot of the Penedès on a day-long cava tour from Barcelona.
Best Cava Wineries Near Barcelona – A Penedès Wine Region Road Trip
Hilltop Towns of Calabria in Southern Italy
The hilltop towns of Calabria are a highlight of this southern Italian region and they seem to pop up everywhere. Typically topped by a sturdy castle and handsome church, their tiled-roof houses appear to tumble down the hillsides. Strolling the narrow alleyways behind them and climbing the steep stairs to their citadels is one of the delights of travelling Calabria.
Discovering the atmospheric hilltop towns of Calabria in southern Italy almost became the theme of our road trips around Calabria for our travel guidebook to Calabria years ago. I used to get so excited studying the map, looking for familiar patterns, squinting my eyes to see if I could see a mountaintop village ahead in the distance, eagerly anticipating when one might pop up next.
“Perhaps it’s over the next rise?” I’d ask Terence excitedly. “Or after we turn this bend?” I loved approaching the towns that sprawled over and around camel-humped mountains, each turn revealing more of these enigmatic villages and hamlets that spilled down steep slopes into deep valleys.
This guide covers our favourite hilltop towns of Calabria that I recommend you explore on your trip there. A tip: if you’re planning a driving holiday in Calabria, see our Calabria itineraries which take in many of these hilltop towns.
Hilltop Towns of Calabria – Atmospheric Mountain Villages in Southern Italy
Mallorca Road Trip Along the West Coast
For many, Mediterranean travel is all about the beach. For us, one of the best things to do on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca is a road trip – or rather, a series of road trips. It seems many of our readers agreed as our guide to driving the Tramuntana Mountains and spectacular west coast of Mallorca was another of our 23 most popular travel posts of 2023.
Dramatic craggy coasts, shimmering salt pans, dry plains dotted with windmills – the landscapes of the Spanish Balearic island of Mallorca (or Majorca as the British call it) are as varied as those of Spain itself offering countless possibilities for road trips. But a beach-themed road trip is hard to beat.
Mallorca’s best beaches are stunners and the best way of getting to the island’s finest stretches of sand is by car. Many are located on the west coast of Mallorca, making this road trip rewarding. We spent the most part of one European summer, crisscrossing the Balearic island by car, updating a Mallorca travel guidebook, which Terence had to shoot, and this road trip was one of our favourites.
A couple of tips: book a rental car that is small but powerful to navigate narrow lanes but climb steep mountain roads and pick it up on arrival at Palma de Mallorca airport. After you book your flights and car, book your Mallorca accommodation, as the island is one of Europe’s most popular – and with good reason.
Mallorca Road Trip – Driving the Tramuntana Mountains and Dramatic West Coast
Climbing Up to Kotor’s Castle of San Giovanni
This guide to climbing up to Kotor‘s Castle Of San Giovanni in Montenegro was another of our top travel posts on Grantourismo in 2023. These formidable fortress walls date back to medieval times, constructed on and off between the 9th and 19th centuries, and were built by everyone from the Byzantines to the Venetians.
The hike up to Tvrđave Kotora or the Castle of St John is best done after strolling Kotor’s Stari Grad, which offers a nice warm-up to the ascent of approximately 1,350 stairs to a height of 1,200 metres. Once up the top you’ll be rewarded with stupendous vistas of the fjord and a spectacular birds-eye-view of the Old Town of Kotor, Montenegro.
For many travellers, climbing up to Kotor’s Castle Of San Giovanni becomes a highlight of their visit. When illuminated at night, it’s absolutely magical. See Terence’s time-lapse sequence to see what I mean. You might also find our Weekend in Kotor itinerary inspiring and helpful.
Dalat Coffee Tours
Dalat coffee tours are becoming increasingly popular, among foreign travellers as much as local visitors, and it should be no surprise seeing Vietnam is the world’s second largest coffee producing country and the Vietnamese are keen coffee drinkers.
I’ll never forget noticing on our first trip to Saigon years ago how there seemed to be a small tea or coffee stall on every block where locals sat on tiny stools sipping black tea or coffee. The coffee, served in glass mugs or tumblers, was more often than not, a ca phe sua da (cà phê sua đa), a syrupy coffee with condensed milk.
While the old coffee houses and stalls made their filtered coffee with Robusta beans, which comprise 95% of Vietnam’s production, the newer breed of cafés offer pour-over and cold-brew using superb Vietnamese Arabica beans.
As most of Vietnam’s coffee is grown in and around Dalat it was only a matter of time before Dalat coffee tours began to be offered. We tried these coffee experiences on our last trip to Vietnam. If you’re heading to Dalat, see our one day itinerary which includes our Dalat accommodation tips and our post on Dalat’s best street food tour.
Dalat Coffee Tours – How to Savour Dalat’s Growing Coffee Culture
Where to Eat in Chiang Mai
Our guide to where to eat in Chiang Mai for the best Northern Thai Lanna cuisine was another of our 23 most popular posts in 2023. With its distinctive Lanna cuisine, Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand is heaven for food lovers.
Urban development and all that goes with it, from traffic gridlock to pollution, may have turned Chiang Mai, a city surrounded by forested mountains, lush jungle and deep valleys into a mini-Bangkok, but Chiang Mai’s food is reason enough to linger here.
The Lanna capital is home to some of Thailand’s best food. While most visitors don’t stray far from Chiang Mai’s Old City, after a sticky day traipsing around the temples and pagodas, if you can muster up the energy to head beyond the walls, you’ll find even better eating and the finest Northern Thai food.
Where to Eat in Chiang Mai for the Best Northern Thai Lanna Cuisine
Things to Buy in Cairo
My guide to things to buy in Cairo and tips for shopping the Khan el Khalili Bazaar was another one of our 23 most popular travel posts of 2023. When we lived in the Middle East and used to write on Egypt, this bustling Cairo bazaar was one of my favourite places to shop, after the Damascus souks.
Great buys include intricately engraved, hand-beaten copper and brass trays, coffee pots and urns, and exquisite mother-of-pearl inlaid wooden boxes and handmade furniture, which have been crafted by artisans using centuries-old traditions. Sheesha pipes and incense also make memorable souvenirs.
Forget the framed papyrus prints, scarab beetles and sphinx fridge magnets made in China that will probably end up in the back of a cupboard or at a future yard sale.
Things to Buy in Cairo and Tips for Shopping Khan el Khalili Bazaar
