Guides for the journeys worth planning properly

Maldives

Maldives First-Timer's Guide: Which Atoll, Which Villa

The Maldives is deceptively simple to get wrong: pick the wrong resort and you'll spend your honeymoon on a speedboat transfer, or realise too late that your "beach villa" doesn't actually front a swimmable lagoon. The good news is that once you know what to look for, planning gets a lot easier.

Water villa or beach villa?

Water villas are the postcard image — stilted over the lagoon, direct steps into the sea, total privacy. They cost more and are worth it for a honeymoon or anniversary. Beach villas are more affordable, sit right on the sand, and are usually the better pick for families or anyone who wants easy access to the main island's restaurants and activities without a long walk.

North Malé, South Malé, or a remote atoll?

Resorts closer to Malé (North/South Malé Atoll) mean a shorter speedboat transfer — usually 20–45 minutes — which matters if you're landing late or travelling with young kids. Remote atolls like Meemu often mean a seaplane transfer, which is scenic but adds cost and daylight-hours restrictions, since seaplanes don't fly after dark.

Best time to visit

• November to April — dry season, calm seas, the classic postcard weather.
• May to October — more rain and wind, but noticeably lower resort rates and thinner crowds.

What catches first-timers out

Meal plans matter more here than almost anywhere else — there's nowhere to walk to for a cheaper dinner, so an all-inclusive or full-board plan is usually the more predictable choice once you factor in resort restaurant prices. Also budget separately for water sports and excursions; most snorkelling trips and dolphin cruises aren't included in standard packages.

Mauritius

Mauritius Beyond the Resort: A Practical Guide

Mauritius gets bracketed with the Maldives as an "all-inclusive resort island," but that undersells it. It's a real island with mountains, waterfalls, coloured earth dunes, and a genuinely good food scene shaped by Indian, Creole, French and Chinese influences. The best trips mix resort time with at least a couple of days actually seeing the island.

Where to base yourself

The west coast (Flic en Flac, Black River) has the calmest lagoons and best sunsets, and puts you close to Le Morne. The east coast (Belle Mare, Trou d'Eau Douce) has the classic turquoise-lagoon look and easy access to Île aux Cerfs. The north (Grand Baie) is livelier, with more restaurants and nightlife nearby.

Don't skip these

• Le Morne Brabant — the dramatic mountain on the southwest tip, also home to the famous "underwater waterfall" optical illusion, best seen from a helicopter or drone shot.
• Chamarel — the Seven Coloured Earths and a good rum distillery, easily combined in a half-day trip.
• Île aux Cerfs — a boat-trip island with the best swimming beach on the east coast.

Best time to visit

May to December is the dry season and generally the better window, with warm, less humid days. January to March is cyclone season — not a dealbreaker, but worth checking forecasts before booking non-refundable excursions.

Bali

Bali in One Week: Ubud, the Coast, and the Islands

Bali's biggest planning mistake is basing yourself in one place for the whole trip. The island has genuinely different personalities depending on where you are — Ubud's jungle calm has almost nothing in common with Uluwatu's cliff-top beach clubs — and a week is enough to see more than one side of it if you split your stay.

A sensible week

• Days 1–3, Ubud — rice terraces at Tegalalang, the Monkey Forest, Kintamani's volcano views, and a slower pace to recover from the flight.
• Day 4, Nusa Penida — a long day trip (or overnight) for Kelingking Beach and Broken Beach; the boat crossing can be rough, so this is one to book with a reputable operator.
• Days 5–7, Uluwatu / Seminyak — beach clubs, the clifftop Uluwatu Temple at sunset, and better food and nightlife than Ubud.

Best time to visit

April to October is the dry season and the most reliable window for beach days and the Nusa Penida boat crossing. The wet season (November–March) still has plenty of sun between short, heavy afternoon showers, and hotel rates drop.

One thing to plan around

If your trip lands on Nyepi (Bali's Day of Silence, a lunar-calendar date each March), the entire island shuts down for 24 hours — no flights, no shops, no leaving your hotel. It's a fascinating thing to experience once, but worth knowing in advance rather than discovering on arrival.

Vietnam

Vietnam North to South: Is It Too Much for One Trip?

Vietnam is long and narrow — over 1,600km from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City — and trying to see all of it in a short trip usually means more time in transit than in each place. The better approach is to pick a region and go deep, or accept that a north-to-south trip needs at least 8–9 days to not feel rushed.

The classic north-to-south route

• Hanoi — Old Quarter, street food, the Temple of Literature.
• Halong Bay — an overnight cruise among the limestone karsts is worth the detour from Hanoi.
• Hoi An — the lantern-lit ancient town, best experienced on foot in the evening.
• Ho Chi Minh City — end here for the energy, the Mekong Delta day trips, and better international flight connections home.

Best time to visit

Vietnam's climate varies enough between north and south that there's no single perfect month. February to April is generally the safest window for a north-to-south trip — past the cold northern winter, before the central/southern rainy season picks up.

A practical tip

Internal flights between Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City are cheap and frequent — don't feel obligated to do the whole route overland. A short flight can save you a full day versus an overnight train.

Europe

Planning a Multi-Country Europe Trip Without Burning Out

The most common mistake in first-time Europe itineraries is trying to fit six countries into ten days. You'll spend more of the trip in train stations and airport queues than actually seeing anything, and you'll come home needing a holiday from your holiday. A better rule: one new base every 2–3 nights, minimum.

How many stops is realistic?

For a 7–9 night trip, two to three cities is the sweet spot — for example Paris, Switzerland and Venice, or Rome, Florence and Venice. For a longer 12–13 night trip, four cities across two or three countries works, provided you're not backtracking geographically.

Getting between countries

Within Western Europe, high-speed trains are usually faster door-to-door than flying once you account for airport time — Paris to Zurich, for example, is a comfortable direct train rather than a flight. Save flights for longer hops, like into Athens or Santorini.

Visas

Most Western and Central European countries fall under the Schengen Area, so a single Schengen visa covers travel across all of them on one trip — you don't need a separate visa per country. Apply at least 4–6 weeks ahead of travel, and via the consulate of whichever country you'll spend the most nights in, or enter first.

Best time to visit

May–June and September are the sweet spot — warm enough for sightseeing, without the peak-July crowds and prices at spots like Santorini or the Cinque Terre.