Travel in county Valley

The world's elite had a busy year of jet-setting in 2023, spending thousands of dollars to fly private to events like Burning Man, the Super Bowl, and Sun Valley, Idaho's annual "summer camp for billionaires."

Lovers of luxury and wellness, get ready: Six Senses is headed to the Lowcountry.

WHEN I WAS growing up in Stockton, Calif., in the 1970s and ’80s, there were only two special-occasion restaurants acceptable to my family. They were both on the south side of the city, in the barrio. My Mexican-born liked Mi Ranchito, and for my dad it was Arroyo’s Cafe. No matter which one we went to, my order was always the same: rib steak ranchero with rice, refried beans and leaves of undressed iceberg lettuce wilted by soupy salsa. I’d pinch torn pieces of machine-pressed flour tortillas around the slices of steak and mix in all the sides. It was a celebratory meal if there ever was one.

If you’re a foodie or an oenophile, Napa Valley is a vacation to treasure. The region is home to some of the world’s most delicious wines. The gastronomy is constantly leveling up to keep pace with the champagne and caviar tastes of Napa’s world travelers who vacation to Napa for curated experiences, fine wine and incredible food. Caviar is a staple for wine lovers, and there’s a new twist on fine dining—rather, fine snacking—at the Solage, Auberge Resorts Collection in Napa.

An accordion rests in the foyer of the 1926 bungalow. A short walk from the Napa Valley Wine Train—a tourist draw that beckons travelers to career through the California wine country’s vineyards by boxcar—the comfortable confines of Jeff Durham and Joey Wolosz’s single story home welcome travelers to a different kind of journey through wine country.

Brazos Valley, located in central Texas where the Southwest meets the Southeast, covers seven counties over 5,000 square miles. About 380,000 people call the region home. While Texas A&M University in College Station is the biggest name in the area, Brazos Valley is most defined by the small towns that dot the landscape. It’s here where you’ll find Navasota, the Blues Capital of Texas, as well as another side of Texas wine country east of the better-known Hill Country wineries.

What ski culture in the US has historically lacked is the idea of community-based après-ski activities. In the US, après-ski is usually no more than grabbing a drink in the ski lodge bar, and lacks the kind of scale and excitement that makes it a vital part of the ski day, as you’d find in the Alps.

Forget crossing bridges to get across the Bay – San Francisco locals are notorious for not wanting to leave the city.

When the Ranch at Malibu opened in 2010 as a luxury health resort on 200 acres in California’s Santa Monica Mountains, its approach was somewhat radical: Guests signed up for a full week of group hikes, fitness classes, spa treatments, nutrition consults and communal, organic meals without caffeine, gluten, soy or dairy. The goal, says its founder Alex Glasscock, was “for people to mentally and physically reset and recharge.” On April 15, a second location, the Ranch at Hudson Valley, is scheduled to open near Tuxedo Park, N.Y., in a slate-and-stone lakefront mansion surrounded by state parks. Glasscock hopes the 25-room property, which he describes as “like a big, luxury dorm,” will facilitate connections between those who stay. Guests will do yoga under the ornate plaster ceiling of the former ballroom and, in Glasscock’s ideal world, come to dinner in their pajamas and robes. This new outpost offers a few additional treatments including colonics and energy healings — which incorporate techniques such as hypnosis and sound therapy. In winter, guests can sled or snowshoe, and in summer there’s paddleboarding on the lake. The Ranch has also relaxed a few of the restrictions: You can book three nights at the Hudson Valley property instead of the seven required in Malibu, and, in concession to the most common request of all, caffeine is no longer taboo — organic Nicaraguan coffee is served at breakfast in both locations.

Following the announcement of this year’s Forbes Travel Guide Star Award-winning hotels, spas, restaurants and cruise ships, there is much to celebrate.

I was deep in the folds of the mountain of Tryfan when it first happened. When time seemed to stop ticking at the breakneck pace it always does when I’m sitting at laptop, working on a deadline. Instead of blue light from a screen, I was sitting at my tent door, basking in the purple glow of dusk as it crept into the Ogwen Valley, in Eryri/Snowdonia national park. The luscious green of the grass on the mountainside had turned a more muted shade and the blue of the Menai Strait in the distance had become barely distinguishable from the twilight sky.

The Grand Canyon, the Napa Valley, New Orleans — the United States' biggest draws need little in the way of introduction, having long captured imaginations across the globe. But in some ways, big isn't always best, at least where carbon footprints are concerned — and there are ways to take in the country's greatest hits without the correspondingly great environmental cost. From kayaking the Everglades to going electric in Washington, DC, here's how you can tread lightly while still enjoying the very best of the US.

More Americans are taking up golf than ever, according to the Professional Golf Association. During the pandemic, interest in solo outdoor pursuits flourished. And thanks to the popularity of shows like Netflix’s behind-the-scenes Full Swing and the rise of places like Topgolf, the sport is surging.

We’re living in a leap year, which means one extra day to factor into upcoming vacation plans. With a little planning, you can put that day to use and still save money, thanks to a host of late winter and early spring sales now in full effect. Through President’s Day, leap day, and beyond, you’ll find last-minute flight deals, once-in-a-lifetime tour itineraries, and all sorts of sunny destinations to escape to while we wait out winter.

West Virginia’s Blue Ridge peaks, dramatic gorges, and rushing rivers put it on the map for hikers, rafters, and rock climbers. But the Mountain State isn’t just an adventure destination—it’s also home to historic Civil War sites, old-time music venues, and some of the best stargazing in the United States. We consulted local artists, chefs, and Nat Geo staffers from the region to plot your course in the place that the classic country song calls “almost heaven.”

The gateway to Atlantic Canada and only a 6-hour flight from the UK, Nova Scotia is filled to the brim with stunning natural beauty and diverse cultures. The province is home to a myriad of small, independent accommodations from cozy, off-grid cabins and luxurious waterfront glomes to an exclusive vineyard farmhouse and wilderness yurts. Check out our top picks to experience Nova Scotia’s nature and local flavours this year: Nalu Retreat: Perched on a granite cliff, overlooking Porter’s Lake only 30 minutes from the capital, Halifax this retreat offers solitude with all the conveniences of the city. Soak in the views from your private outdoor hot tub, immerse yourself in nature on the nearby trails at Crowbar Lake Wilderness Area, relax by the fireplace or in the stargazing Zen loft, and indulge in delicious local farm-to-table meals. Relax and rejuvenate, surrounded by nature with all the luxuries of a boutique hotel!  Click here for more information.

United Airlines is bringing more adventure to travelers, with an additional 100+ flights being added to the summer flight schedule. Flyers can visit more destinations across the United States and Canada, with plenty of opportunities to enjoy a picturesque outdoor adventure.

If you’re on the lookout for a food-centered vacation this spring or summer, check out some of these upcoming culinary collaborations and food festivals around the globe that should be on your foodie bucket list.

Towering mountains. Rushing rivers ideal for white-water rafting (one of National Geographic’s top 20 Best of the World travel adventures for 2024). America’s newest national park. Appalachian cuisine and folk music.

The memories of my first encounter with the California desert are so clear and intense that sometimes I wonder if I invented them, but I don’t believe so. I was hitchhiking across the States — it was the 1970s — and I was a young Englishman ‘on the road’, having read too much Jack Kerouac. My lift dropped me at a gas station near Barstow, a city in the Mojave Desert, in the south of the state. The car was air-conditioned and as I got out, I was hit by a wall of heat as strange and thrilling as anything I’d ever experienced. 

When we talk about traveling to upstate New York, with its fall foliage and shimmering lakes, the land above and beyond New York City is never called what it was known as for a thousand years—the homeland of the Haudenosaunee, ‘the people of the longhouse.’ The Haudenosaunee were a confederation of five (and later six) nations known to colonizers as “the Iroquois Confederacy"—the Mohawk, Seneca, Onondaga, Cayuga, Oneida, and Tuscarora—who lost much of their land after the Revolutionary War.