With Valentine's Day looming, there are few more romantic cities to contemplate than Venice and Verona. The gondolas and canals of Venice are the ultimate in romance, while in Verona you can visit the streets where Romeo roamed and even stand on Juliet's balcony. Take a trip to Italy and discover these and more.

Set against the backdrop of Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay, the annual St Kilda Festival is on again from February 3-11. So what better time to explore the secrets of this eclectic suburb, beyond the icons of Luna Park and the St Kilda Pier. From the beach to the bars and the famous cake shops of Acland Street, we've got an insider's guide to one of Melbourne's oldest and best loved suburbs.

Levelled by an earthquake in 1931, the New Zealand city of Napier was rebuilt in the fashion of the times - and now has one of the world's best collection of art deco buildings. Take a walking tour to discover the many treasures this coastal city has to offer.

Gushing geysers, steaming streams and bubbling mud pools. All part of the action along New Zealand's Thermal Explorer Highway, which takes you from the North Island's largest city, Auckland, south to the thermal landscapes of Rotorua and Lake Taupo.

While the rest of New Zealand might be famous for its sheep dogs, aboard the catamaran, Akaroa Dolphin, Hector the Cairn Terrier earns his biscuits by spotting dolphins. And not just any dolphins. These are some of the world’s rarest and smallest dolphins, and you'll find them in Akaroa, New Zealand’s only French settlement, around an hour’s drive from Christchurch.

Once a prison island, Phu Quoc is fast becoming one of the most-talked-about "secret" places of Vietnam. Just an hour's flight from Saigon, this large island in the Gulf of Thailand is being eyed by resort developers. Get there fast to discover simple fishing villages, sandy beaches, great snorkelling and more. Phu Quoc is also renowned as the home of Vietnam's famous fish sauce.

Jumping inside a huge plastic ball and rolling down a grassy hill - sound like fun? It is! The latest adventure craze in New Zealand is zorbing, just one of a number of adrenaline-pumping activities to be found in the North Island city of Rotorua. If zorbing doesn't appeal, there's jet-boating, X-treme free-fall, the Swoop and - of course - bungy-jumping. For gentler pursuits, Rotorua is also the thermal heart of New Zealand where you can indulge in hot pools and spas.

Forgotten valley: It’s the valley that time, or at least the developers, forgot.  Hidden away from the outside world, on a tiny spit of land where the river bends and winds its way through a cleft in the towering ridges of sandstone and surrounded by impenetrable bush, the villages of Wisemans Ferry, and nearby St Albans, are a reminder of how life used to be, when settlers, pioneers and emancipated convicts travelled up river to scratch out a living on the river flats and Sydney Town seemed almost as far away as London. It might only be 70km from the centre of Sydney, but it feels much more remote.

World-heritage wilderness, wildlife and world-class art are all just outside your door @ VDL, a beautifully-renovated B&B in the 1843 bluestone Van Diemen's Land Company Store on the waterfront beneath Stanley's iconic Nut in north-west Tassie.

Once a wealthy gold-mining town, the Gippsland ghost town of Walhalla is today one of Victoria's best kept secrets. With a population of only 13, the village is nevertheless a popular weekend retreat for Melbournians, a great detour along the Sydney-Melbourne coastal drive, and the start or finishing spot for the Great Alpine Walk. And there's plenty to do, from a guided tour of the mine to a train ride to nearby Thomson or a bushwalk. At night relax at the wonderful Star Hotel.

One of the most beautiful cities in the world, Florence is always popular with tourists. Summer time queues to get into the Uffizi Gallery and other famous attractions can stretch for hours.

Visit in winter though and you'll have the city all to yourself with no crowds and no tour buses to get in your way. Go in late January and you'll also get the best of the end-of-winter sales. New shoes anyone?

The Welsh village of Hay-on-Wye can quite easily claim the title of bookworm heaven. It has 1500 residents and 41 bookshops stocking more than four million books. Even the castle has been converted for this purpose. Hay is a tiny market town in the Brecon Beacons National Park, known simply as "the book town".

The Hay Literary Festival is a 10-day event held each May, attracting about 50,000 visitors and a long list of celebrity speakers and authors.

The Savannah Way: A few years ago a trip across the top of Australia, through the Gulf country of western Queensland and the rugged Kimberley in the west was a tough and arduous journey, across rough tracks that were impassable to anything other than a heavy duty 4WD. But with the recent upgrading of the trans-continental Savannah Way, the breathtakingly beautiful landscape of the north is now open for all to enjoy, even those without a 4WD.

With stunning harbour view rooms, the mega shopping of the IFC mall directly below the hotel, a drop-dead gorgeous roof-top infinity edge pool that seems to float above the city, 18-room spa, Vincent Thierry’s stunning Caprice French restaurant and quite possibly one of the best Chinese restaurants in the world, the Lung King Heen, the new Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong is giving perennial favourite, The Peninsula, a run for its money.

If you’re looking for a good country drive that’s not too far out of Sydney then head for the rolling hills and twisting turns of the Bucketts Way between Karuah and Taree.
This is a country road in its truest sense – there are bits that are more like a goat track than a highway, but most of the time there’ll be little traffic and the scenery is some of the prettiest you’ll find in country NSW.

Vancouver Aquarium is the place to get up close and personal with a beluga whale.  These pure white Arctic whales, unfamiliar to most Australians more accustomed to seeing their southern Antarctic cousins, are seriously cute.  The three-hour Beluga encounter teaches you everything you’ve ever wanted to know about the great white whale.

Victoria 's Great Southern Touring Route, which starts and ends in cosmopolitan Melbourne, takes in some of Australia 's most historic, interesting and beautiful places. Places like Geelong, the Otways, Warrnambool, Moonlight Head and Port Fairy, and the gold rush towns of Ballarat and Bendigo.

The boutique fishing lodge of River Birches is just a stone's throw from the Tongariro River in New Zealand's trout fishing capital, Turangi. Don't try it though, or you are likely to hit one of the rubber-clad fishermen wading silently in the trout-laden pools just below the riverbank. The three rooms in this understated luxury lodge are named for some of those pools - Admiral's, Duchess' and Major's, and local guides will show you the secrets of the river.

Day spas are all the rage. Who are we to argue? There's nothing like a bit of escapism, feeding the soul and pampering the skin while the world outside goes by without you. Slip on your bathrobe and slippers and put youself in someone else's soothing hands. And you don't have to be in the city to enjoy one. Here's our guide to some of regional Australia's best spas.

Leave your diet at home if you're planning on spending a night or two at Chapel Hill Gourmet Retreat in McLaren Vale.  As any Adelaide local will tell you, a weekend in McLaren Vale is all about gastronomic indulgence, and any well-intentioned ideas about watching your waistline are quickly forgotten as soon as you arrive in this gourmet capital just 45 minutes drive from Adelaide.

Canberra is more than just Australia's National Capital. It's also our only bush capital: a city surrounded by native bush, including the wild and rugged peaks of the snowy mountains wilderness. All this wild back country on the city's doorstep means there's some great opportunities to jump in your four-wheel drive and get off-road in the national parks and state forests that lie beyond the manicured city suburbs.

The Relais Regina Giovanna is a beautifully-restored farmhouse that has been transformed into a boutique hotel overlooking an olive and lemon grove and the famous Amalfi Coast near Sorrento in Southern Italy. It's just one of a host of beautiful, but affordable, places to stay on an agriturismo holiday in Italy.

Whale Rider is more than just a movie in the tiny village of Whangara in New Zealand's Eastland. The carved figure atop the meeting house has been there for generations, part of the mythology that defines this living culture. Tradition and fiction sit side by side, with props from the movie taking their place alongside the meeting house where you will learn about the Maori legend behind the movie.

When I lived in Orange as a teenager it was your typical Australian country town, where a flash dinner out meant steak and three veg and not much else.  These days Orange has transformed itself into a regional food capital.  We check out what’s being dished up and where.

Victoria 's Great Southern Touring Route is a 780km loop that starts and ends in Melbourne, taking in some of Australia's most historic, interesting and beautiful places, both coastal and country.

In a town famous for blocking resort development the Byron on Byron is a stunning new addition to the accommodation options available in one of Australia's most popular coastal holiday destinations, that had, until now, lacked a five-star resort facility.

New Zealand's Eastland region is the first land in the world to see the rising sun. With its mild temperate climate and plentiful sunshine, the region is well-suited to wine growing. It's no wonder Gisborne has earned the title of New Zealand's "chardonnay capital".

Adelaide’s favourite son was not born in Adelaide, didn’t even grow up in Adelaide, but that doesn’t stop the city of festivals celebrating Australia’s greatest sporting hero, Sir Donald Bradman, at every turn.  Afterall, the Australian cricket legend began his first class career in 1927 in a game at Adelaide Oval and played his last first class game in 1949, also at Adelaide Oval. If you’ve got a cricket tragic at home, a pilgrimage to South Australia's capital to follow the Bradman Trail is a must. 

At low tide, we are knee-deep in the water, buckets of fish at the ready. Gingerly, my hand slips into the water and the fish is taken by the giant stingray circling at my feet. It's just one of a number of soft adventures to be experienced in New Zealand, many of them based around nature's wonders. Try kayaking - in the dark - into glow-worm caverns, or walking on a live volcano.

No visit to Macau is complete without trying one of Lord Stowe’s famous egg tarts, all creamy custard and flaky pastry.  It’s just one of the culinary delights we uncover on the island of Taipa, where the waterfront is lined with historic houses now transformed into museums and the winding backstreets are home to fabulous Portuguese and Macanese restaurants. It's a world away from the high-rise high-neon gambling strip.

Sustainability is the watchword at Phu Chaisai Resort & Spa, in the mountains near Chiang Rai, in northern Thailand. A labour of love by owner and designer Sudavdee Kriangkrai, the resort is built of natural materials (bamboo and mudbrick), the food is delivered straight from the garden, and the views from the Mountain of Clear Heart, Phu Chaisai, are breathtaking.

Chasing cows with our chardonnay was not quite what we had in mind when we decided to spend the weekend exploring the Macleay Valley and Coast, but it kind of sums up what you’ll find in this largely undeveloped part of the NSW north coast – city-smart sophistication with a down-to-earth attitude. Story includes reviews of three very different places to stay: a 120-year-old beachfront guesthouse, an historic lighthouse with killer views and a charming hinterland rural retreat.

There was more to Australian artist Norman Lindsay than his famous nudes, as visitors soon discover at Springwood, his lovely estate at Faulconbridge in the Blue Mountains. The National Trust property is home to a gallery housing Norman's many paintings, etchings, sculptures, ship models, books and furniture. The creative energy which drove him is as evident in the wonderful 20ha garden as it is in the house and studio.

For the first time in 80 years the Banrock Station lagoon is dry, and, according to the ranger that looks after the RAMSAR listed wetland it’s the best thing to happen since 1925. More well known for its wine than its wetland, Banrock Station in the South Australian riverlands area is one of the fastest growing wine brands in the world.  But it is in the area of conservation and wetland management that the wine company is really making a splash, creating what has to be one of the world’s first truly eco-friendly wines. It just one of many discoveries on a drive following the mighty Murray River from Mildura to the sea at Goolwa.

Everybody's doing it! Doesn't seem to matter how old, or how young, surfing is no longer just for bleached dudes and blonde chicks. Lee Atkinson signs up for a surfing lesson with Pines Surfing Academy at Shellharbour of the NSW south coast to see why this sport is riding a wave of new found popularity with first-timers of all ages.

Sorrento and the nearby Amalfi Coast are one of Italy's most famous and popular destinations. In summer the beaches are crowded, accommodation is super expensive and the famous coast road is more like a car park than the world’s most beautiful coastal drive. Go in winter though and the traffic is light and accommodation cheap – and while not warm enough to swim (who cares, Australians don’t go to Italy for the beaches!), the weather is mild. Includes a stay at a beautiful boutique hotel in an olive and lemon grove and day trips to Pompeii and Capri. 

Think Port Macquarie and most people think sun, sand and sea.  Long a favourite summer holiday destination, the area around Port Macquarie is fast becoming a new wine and food region. We follow the the north coast wine trail on a gourmet getaway just four hours drive north of Sydney.

Long a favourite with holidaying families, Victoria's Phillip Island is now looking to lure international tourists. And there's more on offer than just the fairy penguins, with the brand new Silverwater Resort just across the bridge, and the reopening of The Nobbies Centre near Seal Rocks. Add to that the Koala Conservation Centre, Churchill Island Heritage Farm and an amazing coastline and it's easy to see why Phillip Island is a perennial favourite.

Tucked away in the hinterland behind Taree, Wingham has quietly avoided the rush of coastal development of most other NSW mid-north coast towns. It’s a sleepy time-stands-still type of place, where, on first glance, it seems like nothing new might have happened in the past 50 years or so. But stop and take a closer look, because thanks to a smart renovation of an old bank into a city-sleek guesthouse and restaurant, a new café-cum-food store and innovative new cooking school now means there are plenty of reasons to go out of your way to get to Wingham, and stay for a day or two.