Boating tips

For many wealthy boat owners, a private spa is a must-have on board. A sauna is a nice touch. A Jet Ski or two makes days at sea way more fun. And if you don't have someone on board who can whip up a Michelin-star-worthy meal, you might as well stay on land.

It's been just about a year since Koru, Jeff Bezos' $500 million megayacht, set sail from the Oceanco shipyard in the Netherlands, capturing the attention of yachting insiders and land dwellers alike.

Washington, DC, is a city with endless appeal.

For generations, visitors to Maine have flocked east to the rocky coastline, with its lobster boats and crashing waves, or west to ski resorts, peaceful lakes and mountains. Few ever set foot in Aroostook County, a remote northern expanse where residents are prone to suspect — not without reason — that no one south of Bangor even knows that they exist.

Florida is the Sunshine State, a place to relax in the sun or party at Spring Break. But the state also has a surprising history of aviation firsts.

Sitting pretty between Spain, Tunisia, the French Riviera and the Italian mainland, Sardinia is one of Europe's most alluring Mediterranean getaways. With its splendid white sands and translucent turquoise waters, the island is justifiably famed as a beach holiday destination – but it's well worth digging deeper to discover Sardinia's walking trails, urban attractions and unique cultural heritage. 

The Palm Beach International Boat Show — the yacht world's flashiest event stateside — is returning this year with over 800 boats for both deep-pocked potential owners and window shoppers to peruse.

The 19th-century chestnut ‘The journey is the destination: really doesn’t do justice to the epic-scaled scenery that accompanies every trip in Sicily, big or small. This Italian island straddling three seas might be modest in size, but its varied landscapes are larger than life. Bus, boat, car, train or two wheels: however you get around, Sicily throws up stupendous coastline, mountain and volcano scenery in spades. Going slow is key – but even then, you’ll struggle to ingest a fraction of the natural grandeur en route.

As I dangle my feet in the cool, clear waters off northern Corsica, I have only a yacht moored 100 metres away for company. Sailing would have been the more glamorous way to arrive at the port of Centuri, a small fishing harbour on the far north-west tip of Cap Corse, but instead I have the thrill of the drive.

At first glance, the pastel-walled towns, scented lemon groves and dizzying cliffs of the Amalfi Coast seem meant for couples – and only couples. Yet upon closer inspection, the coast’s beaches, boat trips and simple yet virtuoso cuisine can make for a thrilling family trip.  

I'm a bit of a whale-watching addict. So when I saw a TikTok of people hanging over the side of tiny boats to pet a gray whale on the head, I knew I had to find a way to experience it for myself.

The Faroe Islands offer superlative hiking, bird-watching and awe-filled experiences, with shard-like moss-covered mountains and roads snaking around fjords that will take your breath away.  A trip to this relatively off-the-beaten-track archipelago takes you under the sea – via the world’s first subsea roundabout – over it, on a range of ferries and boat trips, and around it, seeking seabird-filled cliffs, wild beaches and idyllic hiking trails. 

As fleeting as they are beautiful, sakura season is upon us. Here’s what hotels across Japan are doing to rise to the occasion.

Let’s get one thing straight: Not all atolls were created equal. But on the plus side, the Maldives has thousands of sun-drenched islands, and discovering the perfect one for your trip is all part of the fun.

The National Cherry Blossom Festival brings hordes of visitors from around the world to the nation’s capital as the town gets bathed in pink. This year’s festival will take place in Washington, DC, between March 20 and April 14, 2024.

As one of the oldest cities founded in the USA and considered by many to be the cradle of the American Revolution, Boston is a gift to history buffs.

When Britain occupied the Faroe Islands during WWII, they nicknamed it the Land of Maybe: maybe you can do it, maybe you can’t. The ever-changing weather controlled all possibilities and it’s still the same today.

My husband and I are seasoned travelers and have been on a mission to visit all seven continents. In early 2023, we still had one left to cross off our bucket lists: Antarctica.

“Once upon a time, not so very many years ago, it was possible to travel all over England, north, south, east and west, by river and canal; there was not a county you could not visit, hardly a town you could not reach by water, if you liked and if you were not (and what lover of boats and rivers ever was or will be?) in any particular hurry to get there.” William Bliss , The Heart of England by Waterway ( 1933 )

Norwegian Cruise Line is saying arrivederci to Venice, cutting the canal city from its cruise itineraries in 2024 and 2025.

All travel is by definition quixotic — the most seasoned globetrotters can be led on wild goose chases, deceived, and/or just plain make huge mistakes all by themselves about what's around that next corner. Trekking up to the Scottish highlands to look for "Nessie," aka, the Loch Ness "monster," allegedly "sighted" — perhaps even several times — a half-century ago in the Highlands' breathtakingly gorgeous 23-mile-long freshwater lake just south of Inverness, is an epic, decades-long wild goose chase.