Page 157 - Off The Tourist Trail - 1000 Unexpected Travel Alternatives (Part 2 of 2)

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CITIES

ABOVE Hindus making offerings to the gods in a puja ritual on the banks of Lake Pichola in Udaipur
LEFT Canada, Quebec City, Saint Lawrence River in winter, Château Frontenac in the background

QUEBEC CITY, CANADA History runs deep in Quebec City. The French-speaking town UDAIPUR, INDIA Resplendent with a score of maharajas’ palaces, the “City of Lakes”
on the St. Lawrence River has North America’s only fortified old town outside Mexico, in Rajasthan is one of the most beautiful, tranquil places on the whole subcontinent.
and you can walk its walls. Dominating the old town is the French-style Château Anybody who stays in one of the former palaces that are now hotels is liable to feel like
Frontenac, with its turrets, towers, and steep green copper roof. The hotel’s sumptuous a maharaja, too. City Palace is the largest in Rajasthan and dominates the town. Part
public salons are an excellent place to enjoy an old-fashioned tea. Quebec City has a museum, part hotel, it’s full of artworks and antiques. Lake Palace, made entirely of
Parisian feel, and every tiny street is worth a visit. Conveniently, most of the sights are white marble, has a magical setting on Lake Pichola. The impressive building has been
packed into one corner, above and below the Cap Diamant cliffs. a setting for film shoots, including the James Bond film Octopussy.

AIX-EN-PROVENCE, FRANCE As you MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY “The highest quality of life in South America” is a statement
wander Aix’s fountain-filled streets, you can’t that’s often made about Montevideo, and it’s easy to see why. This is a prosperous,
help but be seduced by the joie de vivre. The sophisticated, and relaxed city, with wide avenues, handsome European-style buildings,
town’s ongoing love affair with art can be and all the trappings of modern life. The beaches are pretty wonderful, too. The best
seen in the cathedral, with treasures such as place for a stroll is the Rambla, the avenue that runs along the city’s waterfront beside
the 15th-century Burning Bush triptych by the Río de la Plata and Montevideo Bay. It’s here that people gather to play, exercise, and
French artist Nicolas Froment. meet up for a maté, the local tea.

ISFAHAN, IRAN It’s hard to think of KANAZAWA, JAPAN Nowhere in Japan SALVADOR, BRAZIL More Caribbean in NANCY, FRANCE Stand in the middle
a city center as beautiful as Isfahan’s can you feel so close to the days of its outlook than most of Brazil, Salvador is a of Nancy’s Place Stanislas and at once
Imam Square (see pp120–21). Nor can feudal lords. Little remains of Kanazawa laid-back town that likes to party. Music you feel an exhilarating sense of style
there be bazaars more exciting nor Castle except a rebuilt gate and walls, follows you wherever you go – on the and space. Around you, the magnificent
mosques more exquisite than the but within its grounds lies the exquisite beautiful palm-backed beaches or around Hôtel de Ville, the theater, and the Musée
brilliantly tiled examples here. A day’s samurai Seisonkaku Villa. Nearby there the old district of Pelourinho, which has des Beaux Arts are as fresh and dazzling
sightseeing is best ended on the are samurai mansions and two geisha some of the finest colonial architecture in as the day they were completed more
two-story Khaju Bridge, where young districts of traditional wooden buildings, South America. This is the third-largest than 250 years ago. This is a lovely place
people meet to enjoy themselves on including a teahouse where you will be city in Brazil, and its carnival is the biggest to sit in a café, and the medieval quarter
warm desert evenings. expertly waited on. street party in the world (see pp50–51). has many delightful shops.

TAOS, NEW MEXICO, USA Surrounded VIENTIANE, LAOS As capital cities go, BRISTOL, UK Set on the Avon River in England’s West Country, Bristol has a real buzz: its
by ski mountains and broad plateaus, Vientiane feels little more than a country docks are tourist honeypots, its galleries and theater are thriving, and the area of Clifton,
Taos is a picturesque town that was a town. A broad, open community beside beside Brunel’s great suspension bridge, is as elegant as ever. Visit Brunel’s SS Great Britain
favorite with artists at the beginning of the Mekong River, it’s largely on the flat for an insight into how passengers used to have to make transatlantic journeys.
the 20th century. They were drawn here and ideal for walking around (though
by the walled adobe Taos Pueblo, which a tuk tuk will help you through the
dates back nearly a thousand years and is traffic). The temples and stupas are the
still inhabited by villagers today. Head for highlights, particularly Wat Si Saket and
the Harwood Museum of Art to see the Pha That Luang. The place to chill is by
work of present-day artists. the river in one of the café kiosks’ gardens.

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