What on Earth?

editor’s note

Welcome to our annual Best in Travel issue! This is

BEHIND THE SCENES

What Team Lonely Planet has been up to this month

Postcards

Every evening thousands of people assemble at Dashashwamedh Ghat, the

Globetrotter A WORLD OF TRAVEL NEWS AND DISCOVERIE

IT’S BEEN A DECADE IN THE PIPELINE, but the Louvre

Easy Trips

THIS MONTH... camp in the deserts outside Marrakesh, get your skates on at Europe’s best ice rinks, join an olive harvest in Spain and savour seaside sunshine in Cape Verde

HAVE AN ICE DAY

We’re at that time of ice rinks open for the winter season in squares, courtyards and parks across the northern hemisphere. Here are some of our favourite rinks in Europe on which to play at being Torvill and Dean – or else embellish your backside with a giant crimson bruise

LONDON, ENGLAND Northern stars

From the domestic dramas of Coronation Street to the grumpy

EXTRA VIRGIN RECORDS

Spain holds the record for being the world’s largest producer

COUNTYDURHAM, ENGLAND Miner masterpiece

Paintings of the Northeast might bring to mind craggy seaside

DOLOMITES, ITALY Stars and slopes

Early December heralds the start of the new ski season

WARWICKSHIRE, ENGLAND Bower House

Opened by an Australian couple this year, Bower House has

BOAVISTA, CAPE VERDE WHY CAPE VERDE?

For an alternative warm-weather escape to the Canary Islands, head

REVIEW OF THE MONTH YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND Middlethorpe Hall

Yorkshire comes into its own as winter arrives: a season

BEST IN TRAVEL 2018

‘Where should we go next?’ is the most hotly contested

TOP 10 COUNTRIES

Our winning country is a sinewy sliver of a nation,

TOP 10 REGIONS

A city once patrolled by armed troops and dogged by

TOP 10 CITIES

Over the past 10 years, Seville has transformed itself. Once

BEST CULTURE TRIPS FOR FAMILIES

Expand the whole family’s cultural horizons on these inspiring trips

BEST-VALUE DESTINATIONS

Where to go to get the biggest bang for your buck in the year ahead

YOUR OWN ISLAND PARADISE

Need to get away from the world? Here’s where to head for a lo-fi retreat

Great Escape CHILE

Set out on an adventure that covers the length of our Best in Travel 2018 winning nation, from the granite spires of Torres del Paine to poetic, seaside Valparaíso, and from the vineyards and starry skies of the Elqui Valley to the arid canyons, salt lakes and volcanoes of the Atacama Desert

A TALE OF TWO CITIES

There are two sides to every story in Hong Kong. Twenty years after the former British colony was returned to Chinese control, exploring this territory reveals a place that is at once ancient and modern, an urban metropolis with a sprawling rural hinterland

The Beckoning Arctic

Join three centuries of adventurers and fortune-hunters by travelling to Svalbard and, like them, experiencing the Arctic wilderness in its purest form

Get behind the wheel in Orlando and discover there’s so much more to this city than theme parks O-TOWN

For a destination so strongly associated with one type of

American diners

I shot diners on the East Coast and the West

Shopping in London

London’s peak shopping period is about to arrive: look here for characterful stores, local markets and other alternatives to the big chains, plus breaks from shopping in the form of an East End walk and ice-skating

Après-ski in Tyrol

Fleecy white slopes are only half the story in the heart of the Austrian Alps; we have the other part covered with a variety of classic après-ski spots, restaurants and alternative afternoon activities around six top resorts

Winter break in Tallinn

The Estonian capital can expect to see more than 80 snowy days between now and spring. Make the most of a short break amid white-blanketed medieval rooftops and Old Town lanes with this highlights guide

Best of Jamaica

Usain Bolt may be beginning his retirement, but Jamaica can still give other Caribbean islands a run for their money. We’ve picked out some of the top sights and experiences here, and there’s a primer on local cuisine