EsimStore, SYdney, Sydney (2026)

19/10/2026

Austria: the country that produced Mozart, Freud, Klimt, and the Wiener Schnitzel, where the Alps account for 62% of the land area, and where October is w**e harvest season across the most productive w**e regions in Central Europe 🇦🇹

Vienna. The imperial capital of the Habsburg dynasty for six centuries: the Kunsthistorisches Museum (the largest collection of Vermeer outside Amsterdam, the Cellini Salt Cellar, Velázquez portraits of the Spanish Habsburgs), the Belvedere (Klimt's The Kiss, the largest Klimt collection in the world), the Albertina (the largest graphic arts collection in the world — Dürer's Young Hare, Raphael drawings). The Ringstrasse: the 5km boulevard commissioned by Franz Joseph I in 1857, the Staatsoper (the Vienna State Opera, standing room tickets available on the night for AUD $10 — one of the world's great opera houses accessible without booking six months ahead), the Parliament, the Rathaus. The coffee houses: the Café Central (where Trotsky played chess before the revolution and where the torte is still the best in Vienna), the Café Hawelka (opened 1939, the Buchteln on Friday and Saturday evenings), the Café Landtmann (Freud's regular table, the newspapers still on wooden holders, the Melange the correct order). The Naschmarkt: the 1.5km open market along the Wien River on a Saturday morning — the produce from Central and Eastern Europe, the Turkish stalls, the antique dealers at the far end.

Salzburg. The baroque city under the Hohensalzburg fortress: Mozart's birthplace (Getreidegasse 9), the Mirabellgarten and the view back to the fortress used in The Sound of Music, the Festung Hohensalzburg itself (the best-preserved medieval castle in Central Europe), the Hellbrunn Palace with its trick fountains (October: the fountains are not running but the b**r garden and the view are). The Salzburg Festival is July–August — October is the same city without the crowds or the prices.

The Wachau Valley. The 36km stretch of the Danube between Melk and Krems: the UNESCO-listed vineyard terraces producing Grüner Veltliner and Riesling, the October harvest, the Danube cycling path through the vine rows, the Melk Benedictine Abbey (the gilded baroque interiors above the cliff above the river, one of the finest abbey complexes in Europe). The harvest season means the Heurigen (the w**e taverns that open when the new w**e is ready, identifiable by the pine branch hung above the door) are in full swing through October.

The Tyrol. Innsbruck: the Goldenes Dachl (the Gothic oriel window with its gilded copper tiles, commissioned by Maximilian I for watching tournaments), the Nordkette cable car from the city centre to 2,300m, the ski resort infrastructure visible but not yet running in October. The Ötztal: the valley where Ötzi the Iceman was found in 1991 (now in the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano).

ESIMStore Austria eSIM — connected from Vienna to the Tyrol.

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18/10/2026

Kenya: the country where October is the end of the wildebeest river crossings in the Masai Mara — the month when the last of the great herds are still in Kenya before the southward journey to Tanzania, and where the Laikipia Plateau offers safari without the crowds 🇰🇪

The Masai Mara. The northern extension of the Serengeti ecosystem — the 1,500km² national reserve that forms the stage for the wildebeest crossings of the Mara River (the crocodiles have been in position since July, the wildebeest have been crossing since August, and October is the last act before the herds move south). Year-round: the Mara's resident lion prides are among the most studied on earth (the Marsh Pride, the subject of BBC Big Cat Diary for decades, still ranges along the Musiara Marsh). The cheetah population in the Mara Triangle is the most reliably visible in Africa — the open grassland means sightings are long and unobstructed. Balloon safaris at dawn over the Mara: the herds below, the Oloololo Escarpment in the distance.

The Laikipia Plateau. The high-altitude (1,800–2,500m) plateau north of Mount Kenya: privately owned conservancies that run more wildlife per square kilometre than many national parks. The black rhino population of Lewa Conservancy is one of the healthiest in Africa. The Ol Pejeta Conservancy: the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa, the last two northern white rhinos on earth (Najin and Fatu — mother and daughter, unable to reproduce naturally, the subject of a conservation programme involving IVF), and chimpanzees in the only chimp sanctuary in Kenya.

Nairobi. The capital city with Africa's only national park visible from the C*D — lions and giraffes with the Nairobi skyline in the background. The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant orphanage (the 11AM visiting window when the orphan elephants are released into the compound). The Karen Blixen Museum in the suburb named after her (the house from Out of Africa, the Ngong Hills behind it). The restaurant scene in Westlands and Karen that has made Nairobi East Africa's food capital.

The Kenyan Coast. Lamu Island (UNESCO World Heritage, the only town in East Africa that has not changed its form since the 14th century, the narrow lanes and the Swahili architecture, no cars — only donkeys and boats), Watamu (the marine park, the whale sharks from October to February), Diani Beach (the white sand and the colobus monkeys in the coastal forest).

ESIMStore Kenya eSIM — connected from Nairobi to the Mara.

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15/10/2026

Scotland: the country where the Highlands in October are the colour of rust and gold, where the lochs hold the sky in their water, and where the history of a small nation has produced more literary, philosophical, and scientific output per capita than almost any equivalent piece of land 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

The Highlands. The A82 from Glasgow north through Glencoe — the massacre site of 1692, the three mountains (the Three Sisters) rising from the valley floor on a misty morning — and up the western shore of Loch Ness to Inverness is 170 miles and one of the finest drives in Europe. Glencoe in October: the bracken that covers the hillsides has turned deep orange, the waterfalls are running from the autumn rain, the car park at the Kings House Hotel has three cars in it rather than three hundred. The Cairngorms National Park: the largest national park in the UK, the high plateau above 1,000m, the red squirrels in the Caledonian pine forests of Abernethy and Rothiemurchus, the osprey departing for Africa in October.

The Isle of Skye. The Cuillin Ridge (the only true alpine terrain in the British Isles — 12 Munros in 12km), the Quiraing (the collapsed landslip on the Trotternish Peninsula where the rock formations look like a stage set for a film that hasn't been made yet), the Fairy Pools at Glenbrittle (the clarity of the water in October when the tourists have gone), the Old Man of Storr (49m pinnacle above the Sound of Raasay). October on Skye: the island is present in a way it isn't in summer — the light is horizontal and gold at 4PM, the midges are gone (this is significant), and the roads are driveable.

Edinburgh. The Old Town: the Royal Mile from the Castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse (the medieval tenements — the Closes — running perpendicular to the main street, each with a story attached), Greyfriars Kirkyard, the Victoria Street curve that inspired Diagon Alley. The New Town: the Georgian grid designed by James Craig in 1766, the Scottish National Gallery on the Mound, the Stockbridge market on Sunday morning. The food: the brasserie scene that has developed in the last decade, the Scotch wh**ky selection at the Bow Bar.

St Andrews. The town where the rules of golf were written (the Old Course, the 18th hole, the Swilcan Bridge), the University where William and Kate met, the Cathedral ruins on the cliff above the North Sea, the fish and chips from Anstruther on the East Neuk coast 20 minutes south.

ESIMStore Scotland eSIM — connected from Edinburgh to the Outer Hebrides.

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14/10/2026

South Africa: the country at the bottom of Africa that contains two oceans, ten UNESCO World Heritage Sites, a w**e region that rivals Burgundy, and the most accessible Big Five safari experience on earth 🇿🇦

Cape Town. Table Mountain (1,086m) above the city, the Cape Peninsula below it (Chapman's Peak Drive, the Cape of Good Hope, Boulders Beach with the African penguin colony). The Winelands: Stellenbosch and Franschhoek (the Huguenot colony that established the w**e industry in 1688, the 15km of restaurant strip along the main street). October is spring — the wildflowers of the Cape Floral Kingdom (31 of its 33 protea genera found nowhere else on earth) are at their peak.

Kruger National Park. 20,000km² of bushveld, 147 mammal species, 500 bird species, with infrastructure for self-driving. The Big Five all present in good numbers — leopard sightings in Kruger are more reliable than in any other African park. October is end of dry season — vegetation at minimum, animals concentrated around permanent water. The private game reserves (Sabi Sand, Timbavati) offer walking safaris and night drives.

The Garden Route. From Mossel Bay to Storms River: the Knysna Lagoon, the Tsitsikamma National Park, the Boulders section of the Agulhas coast.

Johannesburg. The Apartheid Museum (the most effective museum of a political atrocity I have encountered — the design puts you through the experience). The Soweto township: the Hector Pieterson Museum, the Mandela House.

ESIMStore South Africa eSIM — connected from Cape Town to the Kruger.

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13/10/2026

Taiwan: the island that managed to preserve classical Chinese culture while building one of the most modern democracies in Asia, where the night markets are a serious culinary institution, and where the interior mountain ranges have peaks higher than the Alps 🇹🇼

Taipei. The National Palace Museum: 700,000 objects of Chinese imperial art, the largest such collection in the world, moved to Taiwan in 1949. The Taipei 101: the building that was the tallest in the world from 2004 to 2010 (508m), the world's largest wind damper (a 660-tonne gold sphere suspended inside the building) visible from the indoor deck. The night markets: Shilin (the largest — the oyster omelette, the stinky tofu, the bubble tea from its city of origin), Raohe (smaller, better quality, the pepper pork buns from the stall outside the Ciyou Temple).

The East Coast and Taroko Gorge. The Taroko Gorge — a 19km marble gorge carved by the Liwu River through the Central Mountain Range: walls of white and grey marble rising 1,000m from the river, the Swallow Grotto section where the trail cuts through the cliff face. The East Coast Highway runs along the Pacific — the cliffs dropping directly to the ocean — one of the most dramatic coastal drives in Asia.

The Sun Moon Lake. The largest lake in Taiwan at 1,748m elevation, the cycling trail that circumnavigates the lake (34km, through cypress forests and tea plantations). October: the typhoon season has ended, the skies are clear, 20–25°C.

Tainan. The oldest city in Taiwan and where Taiwanese cuisine was established: the milkfish congee, the coffin bread, the dan zai noodles. Tainan food is a serious subject.

ESIMStore Taiwan eSIM — connected from Taipei to the Pacific coast.

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12/10/2026

Norway: the country where the fjords drop 1,300m from cliff to water, where October marks the beginning of the Northern Lights season, and where the darkness of the far north is not an obstacle but the entire point 🇳🇴

The fjords. The UNESCO-listed Nærøyfjord (the narrowest fjord in Europe, 250m wide at its narrowest point) and Geirangerfjord (the Seven Sisters waterfall cascading 250m from the plateau above). The Flåm Railway drops 900m in 20km from Myrdal to Flåm on the Aurlandsfjord — one of the world's most dramatic rail journeys. The Hardangerfjord in October: the apple orchards in the last of the harvest, the waterfalls at peak flow, the birch trees that have turned yellow.

The Northern Lights. The aurora borealis is visible in Norway from late September to late March. The prime locations are north of the Arctic Circle: Tromsø (the unofficial Northern Lights capital, a city of 75,000 at 69°N), the Lofoten Islands (the fishing villages on a spine of mountains rising from the sea, the lights visible above the red wooden rorbuer on the water), and Svalbard (78°N). October in Tromsø: the lights appear on average 3–4 nights per week during active periods.

Bergen. The gateway to the western fjords: the Bryggen wharf (UNESCO), the Fløibanen funicular to the mountain above the city, the Fish Market on the harbour.

Oslo. The Vigeland Park: 212 sculptures by Gustav Vigeland. The Munch Museum: the full collection of Edvard Munch's work, including multiple versions of The Scream.

ESIMStore Norway eSIM — connected from Oslo to the Lofoten Islands.

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11/10/2026

Tanzania: the country with the highest mountain in Africa, the largest wildlife migration on earth, a Spice Island in the Indian Ocean, and a coastline that trades in dhows and coral reefs rather than package holidays 🇹🇿

Kilimanjaro. The highest free-standing mountain on earth — 5,895m — and technically climbable without technical equipment. Seven routes to the summit; the Lemosho Route (8 days) gives the best acclimatisation profile and the highest success rate. Summit night begins at midnight from High Camp (4,690m): arriving at the crater rim as dawn breaks over the Kibo caldera, the glaciers below, the shadow of the mountain stretching west across the savannah. October is one of the optimal months: the dry season, good trail conditions, clear summit views.

The Serengeti. The 1.5-million km² ecosystem that hosts the Great Migration — 1.5 million wildebeest, 400,000 zebra, and 200,000 gazelle. October sees the migration in the central Serengeti beginning the southward journey toward the Ndutu plains. Year-round residents: the lion prides of the central plains, the cheetahs of the Seronera, the elephant families crossing the Grumeti, the hippo pools.

Ngorongoro Crater. The world's largest intact caldera — 600m deep, 20km wide — home to 25,000 large animals including one of Africa's last black rhino populations.

Zanzibar. Stone Town (UNESCO World Heritage), the northern beaches at Nungwi and Kendwa, the diving at Mnemba Atoll. October: the first two weeks are excellent before the short rains arrive.

ESIMStore Tanzania eSIM — connected from Dar es Salaam to the Serengeti.

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08/10/2026

Nepal: the country where October is not peak season in the tourist brochure sense but peak season in the "this is objectively the best time to be here" sense 🇳🇵

October in the Himalaya is the clearest month of the year. The monsoon has ended. The skies are open. The views from every ridge, every pass, every teahouse window are the ones that end up on the covers of mountaineering books. The Annapurna Circuit — 160–230km around the Annapurna massif, crossing the Thorong La Pass at 5,416m — is one of the great long-distance walks on earth, not because it is technically demanding (it isn't, by Himalayan standards) but because of what it passes through: the subtropical forests at the low end, the rhododendron forests above them, the high-altitude desert of the Mustang region, the Buddhist villages of Manang and Braga where the whitewashed monasteries and the chortens are unchanged from photographs taken a century ago.

Everest Base Camp. The 12-day trek from Lukla to Base Camp (5,364m) follows the Dudh Kosi valley north through Namche Bazaar — the trading capital of the Khumbu region, with its Saturday market where Tibetan goods and climbing equipment share the same stalls — and through the Sherpa villages of Tengboche (the monastery, at 3,867m, with Ama Dablam visible from the front gate), Dingboche, and Lobuche. The first sight of Everest comes at Kala Patthar (5,644m), a side peak above Base Camp where the summit of the mountain appears above the Khumbu Icefall at dawn.

Kathmandu Valley. Three cities, each a UNESCO site: Kathmandu (the Durbar Square, the Swayambhunath stupa on the hill above the city, the Pashupatinath Temple on the Bagmati River), Patan (the finest Newari architecture in Nepal, the Patan Museum in the old palace), and Bhaktapur (the 55-window palace, the Nyatapola temple — five storeys, built in 1702).

Pokhara. The base for Annapurna treks: the Phewa Lake, the Annapurna South face visible from the shore at dawn, the Sarangkot viewpoint where the sunrise paints the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri ranges orange each morning. The paragliding from Sarangkot — one of the finest paragliding sites in the world.

ESIMStore Nepal eSIM — connected from Kathmandu to the high passes.

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07/10/2026

Egypt: the country where the oldest wonder of the ancient world is still standing, where the Nile has organized human civilization for six thousand years, and where the density of extraordinary things per day of travel remains unmatched in the world 🇪🇬

The Pyramids of Giza. The Great Pyramid of Khufu — completed around 2560 BC, originally 146.5m tall, constructed from approximately 2.3 million stone blocks — is not a ruin and was never intended to be admired from a distance. You can go inside: two interior passages, the Grand Gallery, the King's Chamber with the empty red granite sarcophagus. The Sphinx, damaged by centuries of erosion and Mamluk target practice. The Solar Boat Museum beside the Great Pyramid: a 4,600-year-old cedar boat, 43 metres long, reconstructed from 1,224 pieces sealed in a pit alongside the pyramid. Dawn is the correct time to go — before the camel touts arrive, with the light hitting the western face of Khafre's pyramid first.

Luxor. The Valley of the Kings: 63 royal tombs carved into the limestone cliffs on the West Bank, the walls covered in the Book of the Dead, the paintings still vivid 3,400 years after they were sealed. The better tombs are Seti I (the finest painted walls in the valley) and Ramesses II — Tutankhamun's is the smallest and most crowded. The Karnak Temple Complex: the largest religious building ever constructed, begun in the 16th century BC and expanded for 1,300 years, the Hypostyle Hall with its 134 columns 24m high, the Avenue of Sphinxes connecting it to Luxor Temple 3km to the south. The Luxor Temple is lit at night and can be seen from the corniche after dark.

The Nile journey. Between Aswan and Luxor — 215km by river — a felucca (traditional Egyptian sailboat) can be hired for 3 days, sleeping on mattresses on deck, stopping at the banks, the wind doing the navigating. The Nile cruise ships (4–7 nights, all-inclusive) are the more comfortable alternative.

Aswan. The Nubian villages on the West Bank: painted facades, Nubian cuisine, a culture distinct from Arab Egypt. The Philae Temple, dedicated to Isis, relocated to its current island by UNESCO when the Aswan High Dam flooded its original site — one of the great archaeological rescue operations. The Unfinished Obelisk in the granite quarry: abandoned when a crack appeared, now the only surviving evidence of the cutting technique.

The Western Desert. The White Desert: chalk formations weathered into surreal shapes, best at full moon. The Bahariya Oasis: the Golden Mummies (Greco-Roman burials, some with gold leaf masks). Siwa Oasis: where Alexander the Great consulted the oracle of Amun in 331 BC, the salt lakes, the Shali fortress.

The Red Sea. The Ras Mohamed National Park at Sharm el-Sheikh: coral walls dropping to 80m, visibility of 30m, one of the finest diving locations in the world. Dahab: the Blue Hole, the Canyon dive site, the freediving community that has established itself here.

ESIMStore Egypt eSIM — connected from Cairo to the Red Sea.

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06/10/2026

Peru: the country where the Andes drop into the Amazon, where the greatest engineering achievement of a pre-Columbian civilization is accessible by hiking trail, and where the restaurant that has topped the Latin America's 50 Best list multiple times is a 45-minute flight from one of the new seven wonders of the world 🇵🇪

Lima. The food capital of South America. Ceviche is the national dish: fish cured in lime juice, sliced red onion, ají amarillo chilli, served with choclo corn and sweet potato. At La Mar in Miraflores you eat it looking at the Pacific. At Mercado Central you eat it at 11AM. Central, the restaurant by chef Virgilio Martínez on the Miraflores cliffside, structures its tasting menu around altitude — each course corresponds to a different Peruvian ecosystem, from deep ocean to Amazonian jungle to Andean highlands above 4,000m. The Huaca Pucllana: a 3rd-century adobe pyramid in the middle of a residential suburb, lit at night, the result of a preservation decision that surprises most visitors.

Cusco and the Sacred Valley. Cusco was the capital of the Inca Empire and the altitude (3,400m) announces it immediately — spend the first 24 hours walking slowly and drinking coca tea. The Qorikancha, the most important Inca temple (dedicated to Inti, the sun god), now has the Convento de Santo Domingo built on top of it — the Spanish colonial walls rising directly from the perfectly fitted Inca stone. The Sacsayhuamán fortress above the city: the interlocking stones weighing up to 200 tonnes, fitted without mortar to tolerances of less than 1mm. The Sacred Valley: the Pisac market (Sunday, the largest in the region), the Ollantaytambo fortress (the only Inca town still lived in by the original families), the salt pans at Maras.

Machu Picchu. The 15th-century citadel sits at 2,430m on a ridge between two mountains. Access options: the Inca Trail (4-day hike, limited to 500 people per day including guides, permits sell out months ahead), the Salkantay Trek (5 days, more challenging, better scenery in the high passes), or the Vistadome train from Cusco to Aguas Calientes and then bus to the site. The Sun Gate (Inti Punku) rewards the 4-day walk with the first view of the citadel from above at dawn. October sits in the transition after the wet season — the surrounding cloud forest is intensely green, the orchids are flowering.

The Colca Canyon: twice the depth of the Grand Canyon, the Andean condors riding thermals at the Cruz del Condor viewpoint at dawn — the largest flying bird in the world on the thermal directly in front of you. Lake Titicaca: the Uros floating islands of totora reeds, the Taquile islanders who weave at UNESCO-recognised quality.

ESIMStore Peru eSIM — connected from Lima to the Andes.

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