Travel in county Valley

“Going over the top” to impress a special someone every February 14 is a relative concept. Jet-setters know the world’s top luxury tourist destinations strive to offer unique experiences, but chasing the coolest place someone else has never visited requires a discerning palate whenever a dash of romance is involved.

Dinner begins at Gori, the tasting menu chef’s counter that opened this month above Anto, a high end Korean steakhouse in New York’s Midtown East, with the presentation of ingredients in a lavish Cartier chest. How to take this: a bit showy, too quintessential East Side? But once the ten courses start to appear, the luxe introduction makes sense. Chef Jeong Muk Kim, formerly of Myomi in Seoul, the youngest chef to earn a Michelin star in Korea, joined this nearly year old restaurant in November and uses strictly elite ingredients such as the caviar, uni and Wagyu in the chest. Even more important: the creations he produces from them for the ten seat counter have flavors so fully developed and enticing that they immediately set up anticipation for the next course.

The number of seniors on the slopes has reached epic proportions. In 2020-21 seniors accounted for 16.1% of skier visits, totaling 59 million, while a record 10.5 million seniors participated in the sport according to the National Ski Areas Association. Contrary to popular belief, not all seniors are snowbirds who fly south at the first sign of winter.

After the travel frenzy of 2023, all signs point to increasing interest in far-flung destinations, villa rentals, private jet bookings and personal pilgrimages in 2024.

On the heels of Metropolitan Washington Restaurant Week—which takes place in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia from January 15–21, 2024—there are two other Restaurant Week events happening this month throughout Northern Virginia.

Although skiers, snowboarders and other outdoor enthusiasts enjoy all that the winter has to offer, there are scores of people who prefer sipping a Pina Colada while relaxing on a sun-drenched beach. These “snowbirds” flee the cold weather as soon as the first snowflake falls from the sky.

Perhaps no other sport rolls out the red carpet for festive activities more than skiing. After all, skiers as a whole are an active group who enjoy spending time outdoors either by being part of the action or as spectators watching spirited competitions and special events take place. As such, ski resorts present a wide variety of activities designed to thrill and entertain. The following ski resort events and activities are sure to draw large and enthusiastic crowds.

Tucked into the northwestern tip of Italy and surrounded by towering peaks such as Mont Blanc, Matterhorn and Monte Rosa, the autonomous Aosta Valley region packs a serious Alpine punch. Despite being the smallest and least populous of Italy’s regions, the area is a haven for lovers of winter sports. The regional capital, Aosta, is a well-connected hub that’s the perfect base from which to explore a total of 19 ski resorts in the surrounding area. 

A winter storm is preparing to pelt the East Coast with snow, ice, and rain this weekend, and airlines are preparing by issuing travel alerts.

Known for its dual identity as a Caribbean and Latin American nation, Belize holds a world of wonders that will delight even the littlest of travelers.

Travel is always top of mind in the New Year. Brimming with possibility as 2024 is, it's easy to drift off into daydreams about the adventures to come. Whether you’ve already planned this year's big trip a year in advance and have nothing left to do but twiddle your thumbs, or your next vacation is but a twinkle in your eye, travel is always on our minds.

This is not just a big year for Aspen—by historical standards, it is huge.

“I feel like we’re at the house of rich friends with impeccable taste…and they’ve given us run of the place,” I said to my partner during our stay at Inn the Ground, which opened in Oregon’s Willamette Valley this year. We were seated around a sleek concrete fire bowl on the patio, wearing plush white robes on loan from the Inn. Sipping pinot from glasses we grabbed after being told we could help ourselves to anything in the ultra-modern kitchen, we relished the quiet, and watched the last of that day’s light disappear from the profile of Mt. Hood.

In the U.S. state of California, the northern valley named Napa includes a wine scene under constant transformation. Establishments change ownership, new talent arrives and well known names depart. During 2023, for example, Rombauer Vineyards sold their brand (as well as many of their facilities and more than a square mile of vineyards—located not only in Napa Valley but at other northern California regions) to E&J Gallo’s Luxury Wine Group; Miljenko (Mike) Grgich, who crafted the iconic Chardonnay that brought fame to Chateau Montelena in the 1970’s, passed away; the Napa Valley Wine Train celebrated its 30th anniversary, while the Napa Valley Wine Trolley (a replica of a tram car from San Francisco) reopened at Castello di Amorosa after years of Covid-19 related closure. Also in 2023, the county approved the first ever proposed ‘micro-winery’ (Goel Estate Vineyards) with criteria that include that it not produce more than 5,000 gallons of wine per year and that the owners grow 75% of grapes used for fermentation onsite.

Sun Valley, Idaho is practically synonymous with skiing and winter snow sports—and for good reason. Interest in skiing surged in the decades after the first Winter Olympics in 1924. Sun Valley Resort opened in 1936 with the goal of becoming America’s premier ski resort—debuting the world’s first chairlift, adapted from a system used to haul bananas onto ships in Panama.

The principals of the innovative London and New York-based travel company Black Tomato made their name by assembling detail-oriented and sometimes very out of the way travel plans for exceedingly curious, adventurous clients. Having surveyed the market to ascertain what their clients are interested in now and the changes they see in the travel landscape, they’ve come up with the ways they see that travel happening in the next year and in what parts of the world those ambitious travelers could be.

From Napa Valley to Piedmont, Italy, sommeliers from around the U.S. teamed up to take you on a sensory journey to lands near and far.

If they can grow tea in England, why not Scotland? So pondered Susie Walker-Munro after hearing about Cornwall’s Tregothnan Estate. An idea took root, but her plan wouldn’t be without challenges — not least Scotland’s short growing season and harsh winters. 

Palm Springs is a beautiful, relaxed city nestled in the California desert, about 110 miles east of Los Angeles.

Nova Scotia is a landscape of a thousand views—from the dramatic tides in the Bay of Fundy to the rolling vineyards of Annapolis Valley—you’ll see it all. Here, over one million shore birds migrate through every summer along with some of the rarest whales in the world. While nature tends to steal the show don’t let that distract you from Nova Scotia’s vibrant locally infused culinary scene, fueled in large part by this island’s naturally abundant provender. Farmer’s markets feature bins piled high with brussel sprouts, broccoli, apples and squash while distilleries and breweries deliver on the local libations. And, while fresh and local are just part of the experience, it is also worth noting that most every restaurant, winery and coffee shop is a boutique family-owned and operated affair.

Motor Valley Fest, the free event celebrating Italian motoring excellence, will return to Emilia Romagna from 2-5 May, 2024. The sixth edition of the festival will once again take place in Modena, the capital of the most famous Motor Valley in the world. This event, which has attracted thousands of classic car and motor enthusiasts since its first edition, allows attendees to discover where the fastest cars and motorbikes in the world are “born” and to experience Italian motoring excellence first-hand through a series of dedicated events for the public and professionals.