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Fafa Island Resort, Tonga
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Its protected channels and coral reefs make Tonga’s Vava’u group one of the Pacific’s best kayaking destinations. Vava’u’s fifty some reef-encircled, bush-clad islands boast secluded coves and sugar-white sand beaches, making them an ideal place to unwind after a day on the water.
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Zion National Park, Utah, USA
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When Mormon settlers saw the vertical monoliths, precipitous 3,000-foot canyon walls, and sculptured rocks, they decided this corner of Utah was the promised land and so they named it Zion. If that sounds like hyperbole, wait until you the vistas of red, pink, purple, yellow, and orange sandstone that gave Zion National Park its nickname “the land of rainbow canyons.”
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Antigua, Lesser Antilles
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Antigua’s coasts, with their trade winds and many harbors, are ideal for yacht cruising and racing. Each spring, the island hosts Sailing Week, one of the world’s top regattas.
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Anse Lazio Beach, Praslin Seychelles
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Arguably one of the most perfect beaches in the world, with soft white sands, gentle waves, several picturesque rounded granite boulders, and a sheltered area at one end, ideal for snorkeling.
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Peak Tram, Hong Kong
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When you board the historic Peak Tram in Hong Kong, grab a seat on your right for the best views of the city and Victoria Harbour, one of the world’s busiest.
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Finger Lakes Region, New York, USA
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The eleven parallel Finger Lakes cover an area no more than 100 miles across in a bucolic corner of New York State where farm stands still work on the honor system and sleepy main streets invite strolling. Sightseeing boats crisscross the lakes, and travel the Seneca Cayuga Canal, which links the Finger Lakes with the Erie Canal.
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Petit St. Vincent, Grenadines
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Imagine a Caribbean paradise with no cars, empty beaches, and home to just one luxury hotel. Then make the dream a reality by reserving a room at one of these single-resort islands.
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Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota, USA
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It took the obsessed Danish-American sculptor Gutzon Borglum, his son Lincoln, and some 400 workers fourteen years to carve and blast the 6-story faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln out of Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. A little trivia: Mr. Lincoln’s mole measures 16 inches across.
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Palace Hotel, Gstaad, Switzerland
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Gstaad’s altitude is lower than many European alpine resorts and that can mean less snow and a shorter season. Fortunately, the Swiss resort town has shopping and culinary diversions to keep visitors occupied regardless of the slope conditions.
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Block Island, Rhode Island, USA
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Block Island, off the coast of Rhode Island, sees its population multiply almost tenfold each summer, yet it’s still possible to find a quiet corner on the small island. There are few historic sites to see, but there are 365 freshwater ponds, five wildlife refuges, 32 miles of hiking trails, and 17 miles of beaches, many of them empty.
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Canyon De Chelly. Arizona, USA
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Arizona’s Canyon de Chelly serves as a showcase for 2,000 years of
Native American history with a quiet magic and spirituality. Sheer
sandstone walls tower 600 feet and more above the 130-square-mile
canyon, whose shapes and colors change in degree of breathtaking beauty
according to the day’s light. |
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Wakaya Club, Fiji
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Entrepreneur David Gilmour was so taken with the beauty of Wakaya, part
of Fiji, that he bought the entire island in the 1970s. This 2,200-acre
slice of paradise can now be shared by a select few, with nine thatched
bures comprising one of the world’s poshest single-resort islands. |
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Chateau Eza, Eze, France
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Als you approach Eze, sitting 1,300 feet above the cobalt-blue
Mediterranean in the French region of Provence, you may forget that
this scrupulously restored medieval town was designed for military
defense, not tourists. Clinging to a cone of sky-born rock, Eze’s
flower-decked passageways are home to artisans and antique dealers. |
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Palenque, in the Mexican state of Chiapas
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The Mayan culture that constructed the city of Palenque, in the Mexican
state of Chiapas, did so from roughly C.E. 600 to 900 without metal
tools, wheels, or horses. |
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Horseshoe Bay Beach, Fiji
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The gorgeous, horseshoe-shaped, 240-acre island of Matangi in Fiji is
all that remains of an ancient volcano that fell into the sea, leaving
behind one of the islands’ finest beaches. The only accommodations are
the fourteen thatched buresat the Matangi Island Resort. |
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Anse Chastanet, Soufriere, St. Lucia
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Located on a 600-acre estate in the southwestern corner of the lush
Caribbean island of St. Lucia, Anse Chastanet is way beyond romantic.
The octagonal hillside gazebos hidden amid verdant foliage offer
amazing views of Gros Piton and Petit Piton, twin peaks rising from the
surf. |
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Monument Valley, Arizona And Utah, USA
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Most visitors to Monument Valley come to see the dramatic buttes and
outcroppings, but the park is located in Navajo territory and is also a
good place to pick up traditional handcrafted Navajo rugs, baskets, and
silver work. |
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Whistler-Blackcomb Ski Resort, British Columbia, Canada
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The giant twin peaks of Whistler and Blackcomb, linked at their base by
the European-style, pedestrian-only Whistler Village, are not only
North America’s biggest ski destinations but are regularly ranked as
the best. There are countless superlatives here: the greatest vertical
drop (more than 5,000 feet) of any ski resort on the continent, 7,000
acres of skiable terrain, more than 200 marked trails, twelve massive
alpine bowls, and an unfathomable 30 feet of snowfall per year. |
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Galapagos Island, Ecuador
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One of the highlights of a visit to the Galápagos Islands off South
America is snorkeling with sea lions who welcome human visitors to the
fifty-eight islands and cays that make up the archipelago. Each island
is remarkably individual in its topography, flora, and fauna, together
they are home to the highest proportion of endemic species in the world
today. |
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El Nido Resort, Miniloc Island, Philippines
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“If there be any paradise upon earth, it is in that country. Sitting
under a tree, you shall have such sweet smells, with such great content
and pleasure, that you shall remember nothing.” |
