Things to Do in The Whitsundays & Hamilton Island

Antwerp is the coolest city in Belgium, popular with fashionistas, clubbers, art lovers and diamond dealers. It’s also one of the largest ports in Europe. Despite having its roots in Gallo-Roman times of the 2nd century, the city today is quite modern thanks to extensive bombing during the Second World War. But some gems of history remain.

The 16th century guildhouses at the Grote Markt (Market Square) lean wonderfully into each other for support, vying for attention with City Hall. The Gothic Cathedral of our Lady still has the highest spire in the Low Countries (400 ft/123m), plus several radiantly beautiful triptychs by Baroque painter, Peter Paul Rubens.

You can visit the wonderfully restored house and studio of Rubens and he is buried in the ornate Gothic St James’ Church. If you like art, the Royal Museum Antwerp has a great collection, including famous 17th century locals, Rubens and van Dyck, and the Italian, Titian. And then it’s on to the 20th century.

The recently opened Museum Aan de Stroom (MAS) is a 200-foot (60 m) high pile of Indian red sandstone and glass. As you’d expect the displays inside use the latest technology and its exhibits celebrate Antwerp’s life as a port: Metropolis, Power, Life and Death.

The law courts are similarly eye-catchingly modern with a roof line replicating sails. The Mode Museum (MoMu) celebrates the local fashion industry that Antwerp is increasingly known for along with its excellent beers and chocolates. Antwerpse Handjes (Antwerp Hands), almond or chocolate biscuits, are a particular city pride.  Even tastier are the diamonds: watch them being cut at Diamondland, learn their history at the Diamantmusuem, or just dream about buying them along the well-guarded streets Pelikaanstraat, Vestingstraat or Hoveniersstraat.

The bestselling book “Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl” brought to life one of the greatest horrors of the 20th century in a compelling, personal way. In the true story, a young Jewish girl, her family, and some friends are forced into hiding in Amsterdam to escape the Nazis during World War II. The house that served as the Frank family’s hiding place for two years survived the war and is now a moving museum, with the primary site being the achterhuis (rear house), also known as the secret annex. Here the Franks sat in silence during the day and ate food that was secretly brought to them before being mysteriously betrayed and sent to Nazi concentration camps. Otto Frank, the only Frank who survived the war, published Anne’s now-famous diary in 1947.

The Basics

The museum is one of Amsterdam’s top attractions and tickets often sell out—it is strongly recommended that travelers pre-purchase a ticket for a particular time slot. In fact, from 9am to 3:30pm, the museum is open only to visitors with a timed ticket purchased online.

Things to Know Before You Go

• A visit to the Anne Frank House is an emotional experience, and appropriate solemnity should be observed.
  
• You won’t need much time inside—30 minutes should be enough for you to see the interior and pause for a moment of reflection.
  
• If you have time, stop in next door, at Prinsengracht 265-267, to see temporary exhibits.
  

How to Get There

The Anne Frank House is located in the center of Amsterdam, at Prinsengracht 263-267. It takes about 20 minutes to walk from Centraal station to the museum. Trams 13, 14, and 17, and buses 170, 172 and 174, stop nearby, at the Westermarkt stop.

When to Get There

The Anne Frank House is open every day of the year except for Yom Kippur, with extended evening hours during summer. Lines can be long at peak times, especially in the early afternoon, when you may have to wait an hour or more to get in. To avoid the crowds, arrive at the museum entrance either early or late in the day. Keep in mind that last entry is 30 minutes before closing time and the line closes earlier—depending on how busy it is, this can be as early as two hours before closing time.  

Jewish Amsterdam

To get a clearer picture of Anne Frank’s life, both before World War II and during the Netherlands’ occupation by Nazi Germany, consider exploring some of Amsterdam’s other important sites in the Jewish Quarter (Jodenbuurt). A guided walking tour focused on Anne Frank’s life visits her family home and school, while an Amsterdam canal cruise along the Canal Ring (Grachtengordel) gives you a unique perspective from the water and a self-guided audio tour lets you learn about the sights at your own pace.

Largely regarded as one of Jamaica’s best rum distilleries, Appleton Estate has been producing the liquor since 1749, making it the country’s oldest  sugar cane  estate  and distillery.  With its sprawling sugar cane plantations and modern facilities, the estate covers a vast 11,000-acre plot in the  fertile Nassau  Valley, hemmed in by the Santa Cruz Mountains and  the  Black  River.  Today, the historic  estate produces about 10 million liters of rum per year, including a variety of gold, white and aged rums.

Anzac Cove is the small cove on Turkey’s Gallipoli Peninsula where the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) landed during World War I. It then became the primary base for Australian and New Zealand troops during the eight-month Battle of Gallipoli. The landing date, April 25, has since been designated as Anzac Day and serves as a day of commemoration for the 60,000 Australians and 18,000 New Zealanders who were killed during the war.

Today, Anzac Cove is the site of an annual Anzac Day memorial service, held at dawn on April 25 and attended by thousands of Australian and New Zealand tourists every year. Until 1999, the service was held at the Ari Burnu War Cemetery, but has since moved to a new site on North Beach known as the Anzac Commemorative Site. A monolith at the Ari Burnu Cemetery displays the words of peace and reconciliation that Ataturk delivered to the first visitors to the Gallipoli battlefields in 1934.

A visit to Anzac Cove will likely be part of a larger exploration of the Gallipoli Peninsula, including the Kabatepe Information Center and Museum, the Salim Mutlu War Museum and several battlefields, monuments and war cemeteries.

Set 36 miles (58 km) outside the capital city of Beirut, the ancient city of Anjar is literally a Lebanon attraction unlike any other. While many of the ruins in Lebanon existed under a multitude of rulers, the fortified city of Anjar was occupied solely by the Umayyad dynasty during the 8th century AD when it flourished for a mere number of decades. This city's Opulent rulers eventually fell to the Abbasids, but at one point their influence stretched from the valleys of India to the shores of southern France. With the exception of a mosque in nearby Baalbek, Anjar is the only place in Lebanon which provides an example of the Umayyad period.

Located in the fertile Beqaa valley amid the Anti-Lebanon mountains and along a prosperous trade route between Beirut and Damascus, Anjar made a perfect summer retreat for the ruling dynasty. Disrepair and earthquakes eventually took their toll on the city which was once protected by walls over 6 feet thick and filled with over 600 shops. The once bustling town of Anjar was left unexplored until its eventual excavation in 1949.

Today visitors can amble past the partially restored walls of the main palace and gaze at Umayyad graffiti which dates to 741 AD. Wandering the grounds of the sprawling 1.2 million square ft. compound can take a couple of hours, and a bevy of Lebanese and Armenian restaurants are situated around the city grounds. Although there are no accommodation options readily available in Anjar, lodging can be found in the nearby town of Chtaura, or, for those making a day trip from Beirut, a host of tour operators depart directly from the city.

One of Saint Lucia’s most beautiful beaches, Anse Chastanet enjoys a prime location in a sheltered cove within sight of the distinctive peaks of the Pitons. Much of the immediate hinterland is taken up by the Anse Chastanet resort, a development in harmony with its surrounds which still allows public use of the beach.

There are few better places in the world for sipping on something fruity than the beach’s bar, right on the sand. The walk back to your hammock or thatched hut might very well be the only exercise you care to indulge in. But the crystalline waters aren’t just there for resting your eyes on as you recline; you’re just a stone’s throw from a reef known by divers the world over for its superb visibility and huge variety of coral and sea creatures. The dive center at the southern end of the beach is your gateway to this sub-aquatic paradise.