What on Earth?

editor’s note

Three out of five British employees experience some form of

BEHIND THE SCENES

WhatTeam Lonely Planet has been up to this month

Postcards

WHERE YOU’VE BEEN AND WHAT YOU’VE SEEN

Globetrotter

A WORLD OF TRAVEL NEWS AND DISCOVERIES

Easy Trips

THIS MONTH... see coastal Dorset out of season, go skiing in Sicily, find romance in Paris, hit the beach in Florida and feel right at home in Budapest

Snow cone

Sicilian ski enthusiasts face two challenges. First, Mediterranean warmth, which

PARIS

What makes this city our choice for a romantic Valentine’s day break? Here are six little reasons…

Taste of the coast

Outside St Monans (pictured), one of a string of charming

Fiesta in Florida

Florida has few secrets, having long drawn visitors to its

Brody Apartments

Quote ‘Lonely Planet’ when booking a stay at Brody Apartments

The original caravan

On Morocco’s west coast, Atlantic waves break on deserted beaches

GREAT ESCAPE New South Wales

It’s late summer on Australia’s Pacific Coast – the perfect time to take a road trip. Using this updated design for our Great Escape section, find the sights and experiences that will bring this captivating region alive for you, starting in the increasingly creative suburbs of Sydney before you head south for good food and outdoors adventure

WHEN IN ROME

Discover four up-and-coming local neighbourhoods far from the well-trodden tourist trail

ARTISANS OF THE NEW WEST

The artistry of the American West has been celebrated around the world, and though plenty of souvenir-shop cowboy hats are mass-produced, the craftsmanship of the region is alive if you know where to look

The place to be

Whether we go for a weekend or a year, most of us travel to see unforgettable sights and enjoy new experiences. But, ultimately, we travel in search of a feeling. That feeling might be a sense of surprise that we don’t receive in our daily routines, or we might want to find the mental space for thoughtful reflection. Read on to discover the very best places to feel the emotions of joy (p52), adventure (p68), passion (p84) and solitude (p96) most strongly

The place to be… to find your spirit of adventure

‘Adventure,’ says Ed Stafford, the first person to walk the length of the Amazon, ‘is honest, humbling, tough, frustrating and unbelievably addictive.’ Adventure comes in many forms but when it strikes it’s hard to resist. In the early 20th century, Gertrude Bell mapped the Middle East after she had previously climbed Mont Blanc. More recently, Canadian author Will Ferguson hitch-hiked Japan following the cherry blossom sakura for his book Hokkaido Highway Blues. However you are calibrated for adventure, stepping even a little outside your comfort zone is enough to gain confidence in your capabilities

The place to be… to discover passion

Passion, the poster-child of 21st-century emotions, has travelled far from its origins. From the Latin ‘pati’ – to suffer – passion once described the suffering and death of Christ; transformed, it’s now a millennial must-have, a necessity for a successful life. Through history, passion’s dark side – its uncontrollable nature, its tinge of madness – has been respectfully, even fearfully, acknowledged. In classical times, it was regarded with dubiousness. ‘Subdue your passion or it will subdue you,’ warned Roman poet Horace. By Benjamin Franklin’s time (‘if passion drives you, let reason hold the reins’), it was still being handled with care. What happened to passion? Its edges rounded off, its wildness curbed, passion has been tamed for corporate seminars and self-help books. But as we travel the world we can see its mad traces – the romantic excesses, obsessive projects, wild desires, zealous pursuits. Although ‘finding your passion’ has become a cliché, when we travel it’s easier to find ourselves in passion’s path

The place to be… to enjoy solitude

‘I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.’

Elemental forces

Because I live and breathe the cold northern air of

Historic Oxford

Oxford’s history lives not just in its stones (some laid almost a thousand years ago) but also in famous former residents and the literary worlds it has inspired. Find our tips for a short break in this highly walkable city

Amsterdam: three ways

Whether you's a first-time visitor to the dutch capital looking to focus on the famous sights,or you,ve travelled here once or many times before, we have listimgs to fit your needs plus a canaliside neighbourhood walk

Two days in Amman

The Jordanian capital is young in Middle Eastern terms, but there’s a historic core to its 20th-century neighbourhoods. If you’re on your way to Petra or the Red Sea, don’t overlook Amman’s lesser-known charms

Alaska road trip

Vast areas of Alaska lie beyond the reach of any road, but we’ve put together a driving route, best tackled in two weeks, that takes in mountains and glaciers, roadside food stops and more, at the heart of this mighty state