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Brian Johnston

Brian Johnston

Travel writer

Brian Johnston seemed destined to become a travel writer: he is an Irishman born in Nigeria and raised in Switzerland, who has lived in Britain and China and now calls Australia home.

Seven Seas Splendor’s pool.

Travel can’t get any closer to flawless than on board this ship

“Unrivalled at sea” is the bold claim of this cruise company. So how good can a cruise ship get? We put it to the test.

  • Brian Johnston
The busy port city of Kobe.

Port guide: Kobe, Japan

This mid-sized port gets overlooked thanks to neighbours Kyoto, Nara and Osaka but is one of Japan’s most energetic and attractive urban destinations.

  • Brian Johnston
A grill master at work.

Vegetarians, look away: This is the best barbecue meal in the world

In South America you can gorge on magnificent barbecue meals – and accompanying Malbec – at half the price you would pay in Australia.

  • Brian Johnston
Spain offers the most opportunity to get off tramped trails … Albarracin in east-central Spain.

The 25 new must-do highlights of Europe

The second-smallest continent is not just about castles, cathedrals and baroque palaces. It’s time to discover the hidden Europe.

  • Brian Johnston
Crowds at a section of the Great Wall of China during Golden Week.

Ten things travellers will never understand about China

Everyone holidays at the same time, there’s an obsession with giant, bizarre buildings, and it’s very different to how it’s portrayed in the Western media.

  • Brian Johnston
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Zagreb’s main square and cathedral.

Europe’s most underrated capital has everything, except crowds

Here you can feel absorbed into the fabric of a growing, rapidly changing city that goes about its own business, rather than a place that feels like Disneyland.

  • Brian Johnston
Silversea in Antarctica.

There’s only one way to get to the ultimate bucket-list destination

Unless you’re a research scientist, you’ll only ever be able to land in Antarctica off a small expedition cruise ship.

  • Brian Johnston
Lisbon, Portugal… no end of sights and good things to eat and drink.

Port guide: Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon is an Atlantic city but, thanks to a sparkling climate, orange trees and penchant for pastel paint and strong coffee, feels Mediterranean in its charms.

  • Brian Johnston
The mesmerising prettiness of the Rhine.

How rivers can take you to some of the greatest places on Earth

These historical trade arteries connect cities and castles, palaces and pagodas and they provide easy transport routes through gorges and across deserts.

  • Brian Johnston
The Elbe and its sandstone massif.

Beyond the Rhine and the Danube: Alternative European rivers to cruise

Think you’ve done river cruising in Europe? It’s time to look beyond mainstream rivers at the marvellous range of alternative cruise destinations.

  • Brian Johnston

Original URL: https://www.theage.com.au/traveller/by/brian-johnston-hvf4e