Wanderlust

Asia's Best Beaches - with extra thrills There are loads of lovely places to flop on the sand - but where's the fun in that? Discover our pick of the 22 best South-East Asian beaches that offer a bucket load of adventure including: Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia and more... Explore Yosemite We show you how to celebrate this Californian National Park turning 125 in style - using catered camping in the beautiful backcountry Bryson on Britain Read our exclusive extract from Bill Bryson's brand new travel book – The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes from a Small Island - and catch our interview with the man himself Amazon Join us as we head for the biodiversity of Brazil to discover the food, the people and the wildlife that are connected by this great river Iran With travel restrictions easing there's never been a better time to discover travel's hottest new destination PLUS: Booking Air BnB? Read this first; first 24 hours in Sao Paulo; take a short break to the Isle of Skye; Gran Canaria away from the holiday resorts; and much, much more...

Welcome…

4 things we learnt this month...

Behind the scenes this month...

Contributors • Wanderlust is brought to life by people from all over the planet. Here are some of the writers and guides who’ve helped us to create this new issue – plus their encounters with kind strangers

This month on wanderlust.co.uk

The Wanderlust Philosophy

Wanderlust

VIEWFINDER

Your letters • Your mail and missives, whether garden-chair emails or your first post-lockdown postcards: wonderful webcams, winning the quizzes, loving the local wildlife and much more...

SOCIAL TALK

#wanderlustmag • So, where have you been recently? Send us pictures from your latest adventures, whether near or far – tag us at #wanderlustmag on Instagram or email them to fromtheroad@wanderlust.co.uk

The Grapevine • What’s getting us talking at Wanderlust Towers

The Reza’s edge • A gripping cycle journey and an old favourite are entertaining us during the longer nights... but a legend’s also here to give us a timely kick up the backsides

Read this! • Here’s the recent books putting an itch in our walking socks

THE DESTINATION: AMSTERDAM • The Dutch capital is reopen for business, and this time without the crowds. Add in the new Eurostar return train to London, and there’s never been a better time to go…

Getting there

EXPLORE DE PLANTAGE

IF YOU ONLY DO THREE THINGS • A trio of offbeat outings in Amsterdam

THE NUMBERS

The Conscious Traveller Is it difficult to travel vegan? • Being culturally sensitive while travelling can be difficult if you’re vegan. Mark Stratton shares his experience of finding an ethical balance

Head to Head Cyprus VERSUS Crete • These islands in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea are both blessed with mountain ranges, intriguing wildlife and beautiful vineyards. But if you had to pick just one to explore, which would it be?

AT A GLANCE

TOP TIP

TRAVEL WRITING COMPETITION WINNERS • Our lockdown travel writing competition – on the ‘kindness of strangers’ – attracted hundreds of entries. After much deliberation, here are your joint winners. Congratulations to both Alison and Matthew!

Angela McManus On the road to Palmyra • James McManus’s journey across 1920s Syria has been gathering dust for nearly a century – until a lockdown tidy-up uncovered them. Here, we print James’s thoughts as he crossed the desert...

JAPAN • There’s a reason Japan’s a constant on readers’ wish lists. Here are five itineraries to dig deep into the country’s...