Travelandleisure

Japan's cherry blossom viewing parties: The history of chasing the fleeting beauty of sakura

Each spring, cherry blossoms grace Japan with colour for a brief and beautiful moment. Such is the fleeting nature of this eagerly anticipated yearly phenomenon that most Japanese news channels cover the flowering.

As trekkers return to Uttarakhand post-lockdown, COVID-19 caution makes for a quiet season in the mountains

Trekking companies have reduced group sizes to a maximum of six to eight; most have also limited points of contact with other people on the route. Though Uttarakhand has now relaxed the rule on getting a COVID-19 negative report within the last 72 hours, adventure companies are still continuing with the condition.

On being a traveller versus a tourist: Intrinsic motives rather than ends distinguish one from the other

The ubiquity of ever-expanding tourism has robbed much of the world of such joys, driving the traveller ever further from the marauding selfie hordes, but there is still the occasional moment of felicity in a moment of discovery in some distant land

A summer within, a summer without: Thoughts on watching a beach in Italy's Boccadasse

In a 'cruel summer', watching days and nights unfold on Boccadasse's beach

In Germany, lockdown to contain coronavirus outbreak has meant a summer without...summer itself

Starting with the opening of biergartens in spring and bookended with the drunken bedlam of Oktoberfest, German summers are a call for the outdoors for a population battered and bruised by long-drawn winters with gray skies and short days.

New York City is not just epicentre of coronavirus pandemic, but of fashion history and women’s rights

Oh New York, New York. A city so incredible you say its name twice like a prayer.

From Bonn to Vienna: In Search of Ludwig van Beethoven on his 250th birthday

As the world gears up for the 250th birth anniversary of Beethoven, a pilgrimage from Bonn to Vienna in search of the man offers new insight into the composer's life and art.

Zanzibar in the rains: On a waterlogged trip, discovering a different side to the island getaway

You have to be careful, when writing about a place like Zanzibar, to not reduce it to a series of prosaic meditations on brilliantly sunny skies, blindingly white beaches and beguilingly azure waters. But a soggy week on the Tanzanian archipelago led to a mysterious curio shop, a taste of Zanzibar pizza, conversations with locals and a bit of spice lore | via @nytimes

A Jimi Hendrix experience in London: On the musician's trail in city he thought of as 'home'

Thanks to surviving landmarks and an impressive museum exhibit that recreates one of his old flats, London offers a lot to Jimi Hendrix fans, 50 years since the performer last called it home. | via @nytimes

In Mexico, a riotous celebration of food, drink, sport, culture — and death

The idea of Mexico comes with certain stock images — tacos and guacamole; a wild night out fuelled by tequila; the ancient Aztec pyramids — accumulated over the years from media and pop culture