A Hudson Valley Spot That Channels Japanese Listening Bars

From #BookTok to celebrity book clubs to high-profile literary film adaptations, it's safe to say that reading hasn't been this cool in years. So it's not a big surprise that our favorite nerdy pastime has also begun to seep into the world of nightlife.

There’s never a wrong time of year to visit the Berkshires, the mountainous stretch of western Massachusetts located just 140 miles north of New York City. You can thank the fall’s vibrant display of foliage, summer’s Tanglewood music festival that draws crowds from all over the world, and a steady tide of new hotel openings to take advantage of as cozy winter getaways and for ski season. The region also has strong roots as an artists community, with a robust community of galleries, independent boutiques, and museums. And for city dwellers looking to stretch their legs, the Berkshires is also home to scenic hiking trails and winter slopes for every activity and ability level.

Whether you're looking to escape the winter blues or hoping to experience the ultimate snowy Christmas vacation, there are so many beautiful places in the world to pick from for your next winter vacation. Winter in general tends to be a less crowded time to travel than summer, but there are still a fair number of tourists that can fill up some of your favorite cities. If you're looking for an off-the-beaten-path trip that excels in views, vibes, and value but isn't yet so overrun with other travelers that you'll have trouble walking down the street, we've found some of the best options for you. Here are 11 underrated winter vacation spots to visit this upcoming season, with trips for beach bums who want to leave the cold weather behind, as well as wintertime-lovers who can't wait to hop on the slopes or peruse a Christmas market.

In May 2022, I rode the Rocky Mountaineer — one of the world's most luxurious trains. The Canadian train company operates four routes, and I was on its US route heading to Moab, Utah, from Denver.

There’s a refreshing fluidity and freeness to the best wine bars of New York City, which can appear in many forms—a sleek power-lunch hotspot, a cozy bar on the Lower East Side, or a tranquil backyard in Brooklyn. “To me, a wine bar serves limited food and is more focused on the beverage at hand,” explains Chase Sinzer, owner of wine bar Claud and Penny in the East Village. “It might feel more ‘casual’ in that it invites guests to maybe peruse the bottles on the wall or pour their own wine from an ice bucket.”

When the Van Cortlandt family acquired their sprawling Hudson Valley estate in the late 1600s, they couldn't have imagined that it would one day host a jack-o'-lantern festival with pumpkin sculptures including a Kraken, moving windmill, and Statue of Liberty.

Luxury hospitality company Four Seasons is wowing travelers with a brand-new around-the-world private jet trip from California back to Canada, touching on three different continents.

If you’re looking for a cruise but don’t like the sound of a mega-ship, river cruises offer more intimate, handcrafted experiences, taking guests to parts of the world inaccessible to larger vessels. There’s a bunch of luxury river cruise companies providing five-star service, dining, and accommodation. One of the better in Europe is Scenic Luxury Cruises and Tours. With nearly 40 years of experience, Scenic’s routes range from an architectural journey through the Douro Valley in Portugal to the French vineyards and romantic towns in Budapest. They offer a range of routes, but one of the most popular is the 15-day Romantic Rhine and Moselle itinerary. It explores two of Europe’s most enchanting river valleys, lesser-known historical sites, and includes a classical concert in a UNESCO-listed church in Trier, Germany.

Stepping into The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch in Beaver Creek, Colorado, just outside of Vail, feels like entering a cozy alpine oasis. This year-round resort destination is tucked into the mountain up on a perch among the majestic Rocky Mountains, peering down to showcase the scenic beauty of the Vail Valley. The property, with rooms from around $1,000 during ski season and far less during shoulder seasons, looks – and feels – like something straight out of a sophisticated Swiss postcard, albeit with Colorado’s rugged Wild West spirit.

Hyatt Hotels Corporation continues its expansion. The lodging giant will have more than 20 recent or planned openings through 2025, including in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean.

While there are countless ways to cook eggs, chefs currently seem fixated on the most hedonistic option: hard boiling and then coating them in a layer of ground meat before breading and frying them. Known as Scotch eggs, the treats are said to have been pioneered by the London epicurean shop Fortnum & Mason in 1738, after which they quickly became a fixture of British pub cuisine. The chef Ed Szymanski, 31, of Lord’s in New York recalls the Scotch eggs he encountered growing up in London as both ubiquitous and “quite bad.” His version features Madras-style spiced lamb in place of the usual pork sausage. “It’s like a supercharged croquette with an egg in the middle,” he says. In Seattle, the chef Sean Arakaki, 30, is also seeking to elevate the flavors of his childhood. Born and raised in Hawaii, he grew up eating loco moco: a hamburger patty served over gravy-drenched white rice with a sunny-side-up egg. At Itsumono, his restaurant in Seattle’s Japantown, his loco moco Scotch egg arrives atop rice and gravy with a side of macaroni salad. “You cut through the crumb to get to a runny yolk,” he says. For his Portland, Ore., food cart Tokyo Sando, the owner Taiki Nakajima, 36, makes a rendition with ajitama — soy-marinated boiled eggs — enveloped in a gyoza-inspired mix of ground pork and chicken with ginger and soy. Encrusted with panko and deep-fried, the eggs are sandwiched between slices of Japanese bread with mayo, roasted black garlic and cabbage. And in Mumbai, India, the chef Hussain Shahzad, 37, of O Pedro wraps his version in chile- and vinegar-laced ground lamb, drizzling on vindaloo sauce when the egg comes out of the fryer. “It’s not a monotonous dish,” he says. “You get crisp crust, juiciness from the meat and the runny yolk … playing on the palate at the same time. There are so many layers to it.” —

Singapore has risen to the top of a ranking of the world’s strongest passports, knocking Spain off the top spot.