👨‍✈️ The Briefing Room:

Notes and open topics from the editor’s desk.

Welcome Departures. The place to be for where to go and what to see. After lots of input from the community last week, I am moving the publishing date from Friday to Tuesday as it overwhelmingly seemed to be the preferred delivery date for most. It has also historically proven to be one of the best days of the week to land good deals on flights. So for the time being, Tuesday it will continue to be. And now without further ado, let’s take it away!

Japho

📰 This Week in Travel:

A TLDR approach to some of the week’s most important headlines.

• Air France, Lufthansa, Swiss, Aerowings and Austrian Airlines suspend flights to Kyiv and Odessa in what they are calling “precautionary” measures as the threat of invasion from Moscow continues to grow. Who can really blame them. It was as recently as 2014 when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shutdown in the region by a surface to air missile while on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur killing all 298 people on board.

• Spain’s tourism unemployment rate dropped to 10.1%. According to Turespaña, this puts the sector 2 points below the 12.1% pre pandemic unemployment levels of the same period in 2019. This is great news for a country that implemented very aggressive mitigation measures for the last 2 years and saw its tourism come to a screeching halt.

• Beginning in 2023, US citizens along with others from 58 countries will need to apply for a European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) waiver to enter Europe. Similar to ESTA in the United States, the EU will require the multiple entry, 3 year authorization for stays under 90 days anywhere in the Schengen zone. There will be an application fee of €7 for anyone between 18 to 70 years old. So if Europe is in your bucket list for next year, make sure you take all that into account in your travel plans.

📸 Destination Deep Dive:

Comprehensive multipart series on a single destination.

France Part 02

“Oui! Ça sent le printemps!” - The smell of spring is definitely in the air! Last week we kicked off our Destination Deep Dive: France Part 01. In it I laid out some of the format of this series and introduced the map and the region I would be covering for the next several editions. We also touched on Notre Damme and Point Zero. This week, we explore the oldest restaurant in Paris: La Tour d’Argent.

There are two places in the world I will always have duck whenever I go. Xin Rong Ji in Beijing, and la Tour d’Argent in Paris. Without giving away any spoilers they each, in their very own unique way serve what I consider by far the best take on the waterfowl. Established in 1582 as a hostel by the river named “L’Hôstellerie de La Tour d’Argent”, it is one of the few establishments to introduce forks for the first time to the French dinner table. The restaurant is said to have been frequented by Henry IV.

Today the Michelin Star recipient serves a lot of its timeless dishes in the same luxurious, dimly lit room with spectacular view overlooking the Seine river and Notre-Dame Cathedral.

La Tour d'Argent 15 Quai de la Tournelle, 75005 Paris

Next week on Destination Deep Dive: France Part 03 we will continue exploring the rest of the area and I will share my new favorite department store.

🗺 Bucket List:

Short highlight of a dream destination.

Best Sunset in Budapest

Out of all the mayor European cities, Budapest has to be one of the most beautifully lit. Every important building and monument along the Danube river is adequately accentuated and makes for quite the spectacle as the day turns into night. One of the best places to gaze at the panoramic skyline is from Citadela at Gellert Hill on the Buda side of the Danube. Here’s the quick 411.

How to get there:

The are 2 main ways to get there. The first one is by taking a 20-30 hike up the side the mountain via the paved wooded trail. There are several trails you can take up but my favorite one is here right across from Gellert Thermal Baths. If hiking up a couple hundred steps is not for you, there is also Bus 27 that goes from Moricz Zsigmond Square and take about 10 minute to the Busulo Juhasz stop. From there it will be about another 10 minutes through a lot flatter ground as you will already be almost at the top of the hill.

There can be quite a bit to do once you arrive at the top. There’s plenty of viewpoints to see the city, several food and drink stalls and a full bar with a terrace right by Liberty Statue. The entire area can get quite busy in the afternoons. Specially if the weather is nice. So do not be surprised if you run into crowds. The main Citadel viewpoint where I took all these photographs is here.

🧳 Carry-on Only:

Travel experience, tech and accessory reviews.

Panasonic

This one is more for the professionals or serious enthusiasts and one of the most anticipated mirrorless camera releases in a long while. The GH6 follows the venerable GH5mkII and GH5s in Panasonic’s video centric camera lineup. I have personally been using their ENG camcorders for many years and was an early adopter of the micro four thirds format they introduced so many years ago with the GH/GX series. I would not be able to travel as light as I do today, if it wasn’t for it. To see why, check out Sebastian Linda’s travel video featuring the new GH6 bellow:

panasonic.com

💰 Deal of the Week:

Special sales and offers from all over the web.

Ultra low cost Canadian airline and Westjet subsidiary Swoop, announced this week it was expanding non stop service to New York, Chicago, Nashville, San Francisco and Los Angeles (via Burbank).

It will also be expanding its current service to Vegas, San Diego, Palm Springs, Clearwater, Orlando and Mesa in Phoenix. With oneway cross country fares starting at $99CAD / $80USD, it seems like an amazing way for my Canadian friends to finally spread their wings and migrate south for the weekend.

flyswoop.com

🛠 Hack of the Week:

Tips and tricks for better travel quality of life.

This week’s hack is more a toss of the dice or a gamble than an actual hack but still very worth the try if you are flying in pairs or your significant other. Whenever you book your flights on a plane with 3 seat rows, select the seats on both ends of the row (isle & window) and leave the middle seat unselected. If the flight is not completely full, there is a very good chance no one will intentionally select that single middle seat so it is very likely you will get to enjoy the entire row for yourselves. If it turns out the flight is full, the middle seat is always a VERY easy trade with whoever gets it as it works out in everyone’s benefit, so the chances flying separate are extremely low.

🛫 About Us:

Departures is a free newsletter about photography, travel & lifestyle. To find out more about what this is, who I am and why should you be here, visit our dedicated about page here:

About Departures