TRAVEL WRITING COMPETITION 2020 I THE UK’S #1 TRAVEL MAGAZINE WINNERS ANNOUNCED + Dive into the city’s vibrant neighbourhoods with the locals who know them best In dia Life on the lake: discovering Kerala’s colourful birdlife and lush backwaters S cot lan d Embrace the great outdoors with a wild weekend in the Highlands CAPE TOWN S E V ILLE JAPA N SAN FRANCISCO UK EDITION // NOV/DEC 2020 // £4.95 NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.CO.UK/TRAVEL ALSO: CALGARY // CRETE // HELSINKI // URUGUAY // VIENNA // WALES Gwlad.Gwlad. #CaruCymruCaruBlas gov.wales/foodanddrinkwales This is Wales. #LoveWalesLoveTaste T @FoodDrinkWales Food_Drink_Wales M O R E SEE THE UNSEEN NL PURE ONE WITH NATURE BY APPOINTMENT TO HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II SWAROVSKI OPTIK SUPPLIER OF BINOCULARS Issue 88 Contents Nov/Dec 2020 70 San Francisco Get to know the City by the Bay’s most captivating districts with the people who know it best 90 India Ecological advances in Kerala’s bucolic backwaters are providing a new future for the state 104 Japan Winding through steep, forested landscapes, the Nakasendō is Japan at its most emblematic 120 Helsinki The Finnish capital has become a true Nordic success story, driven by a passion for design Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California IMAGE: Getty 70 I N ATI O N A L G E O G R A PH I C TR AV E LLE R I S TH E U K ’ S #1 TR AV E L M AG A Z I N E BY S U B S C R I P TI O N S Nov/Dec 2020 5 Contents Nov/Dec 2020 50 57 134 SMART TRAVELLER 13 Snapshot Catch of the day in southwest France 14 Big picture An out-of-this-world scene in Iceland 17 Power to the pedal Royally good new cycle routes 18 A world of reimagination The venues doing things differently this year 21 Go wild in the country New, out-there adventures close at home 23 Food A taste of the Cretan summer 25 On the trail Scouting out street food in Jerusalem 27 Rooms Calgary’s best new hotels 28 Family The top treehouses for a lofty escape 30 Inside guide Tuneful traditions old and new in Vienna 33 Stay at home Natural drama in Wales’s Elan Valley 35 The word A photogenic feast inspired by Wes Anderson 39 Author series Nuala Ellwood on Yorkshire 40 Meet the adventurer Explorer Mario Rigby on his intrepid travels 42 Online Highlights from the website INSIDER 44 Weekender: Scotland A breath of fresh air in the Highlands 50 Eat: Montevideo Following our noses in the Uruguayan capital 57 Neighbourhood: Seville Where to get under the Spanish city’s skin 62 Sleep: Cape Town Some of South Africa’s most stylish stays TRAVEL GEEKS 128 Travel Geeks The experts’ travel manual GET IN TOUCH 144 Subscriptions Make the most of our latest offer 145 Inbox Your letters, emails and tweets 146 Your pictures This month’s best travel photos DON’T MISS 134 Travel Writing Competition Read the entries that impressed our judges 141 National Geographic Traveller Food Festival A weekend of globetrotting gastronomy GO ONLINE VISIT NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.COM/TRAVEL FOR NEW TRAVEL FEATURES DAILY 6 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel J O I N U S F O R T H E G R E AT I TA L I A N F O O D J O U R N E Y W I T H A L D O Z I L L I W H E N 19.00-20.00, Tuesday 24 November W H E R E Broadcast live online from Aldo’s home T I C K E T S • Free • VIP* tickets: £25 + J O E H U R D A N D G U E S T S *VIP ticket includes a selection of premium Italian produce and exclusive time with Aldo I N A S S O C I AT I O N W I T H T H E I TA L I A N N AT I O N A L T O U R I S T B O A R D F O R M O R E I N F O & T I C K E T S , H E A D T O N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C . C O . U K / E V E N T S BOOK NOW! ITALIAN PRODUCTS SPONSORED BY: Copyright © 2020 National Geographic Partners, LLC. All Rights Reserved. National Geographic Traveller and the Yellow Border Design are registered trademarks of National Geographic Society and used under license. Printed in the UK. Jamie Laff erty I’m glad I waited until I’d returned from Uruguay to become vegetarian. Although tiny in size compared to Argentina and Brazil, the country more than matches its neighbours’ appetite for slabs of fl ame- seared beef. MONTEVIDEO P.50 Chris Leadbeater This was my fi rst trip to the Finnish capital in seven years and it had changed a lot. The city has always had a quiet charm, but now it has a fresh sophistication — boutiques, design stores, restaurants — that make it a truly thrilling destination. HELSINKI P.120 Julia Buckley San Francisco feels like one of the few cities in America that still has genuinely defi ned character in every area. Forget Alcatraz or Fisherman’s Wharf — while the tourists have been pushed to the city edges, the real fun is going on inside. SAN FRANCISCO P.70 Mario Rigby When travelling in the desert, sometimes it feels like it would be easier to just sit down and die rather than keep going. That’s where you have to be your own best friend. You really need to have perseverance to survive. MEET THE ADVENTURER P.50 Mark Parren Taylor Walking the Nakasendō is a trip I try to do every autumn. Locals are stoking up wood fi res, shingle roofs steam in the warm sunshine and the forest-covered mountains beyond are beginning to turn bronze — this is the Japan I long for. JAPAN P.104 Contributors National Geographic Traveller (UK) is published by APL Media Limited, Unit 310, Highgate Studios, 53-79 Highgate Road, London NW5 1TL nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel Editorial T: 020 7253 9906.