Mountain tips

The road trip is synonymous with American travel culture, and there’s no better place to explore the natural beauty of the United States by car than in the beautiful state of Maine.

If you have any preconceptions about Colombia, leave them at home. This remarkable country will take you by surprise.

Is the traditional role of state fish and wildlife agencies coming to an end? That is increasingly the question as some of the nation’s most important—and often controversial—issues are no longer being decided by wildlife professionals whose charter it is to manage natural resources for the greater good. Instead, animal welfare groups and others have staked a clear strategy to circumvent state agencies through the referendum process. That is, if you want to ban mountain lion hunting or introduce wolves to a state, you have only to collect signatures from a population generally easy to sway with emotional media campaigns and overwhelm your opponents on election day— poor outcomes for people and wildlife be damned.

A time-out-of-mind atmosphere pervades the mountain town of Magome, a centuries-old staging post on the eastern border of Gifu Prefecture. On the main street, stone steps ascend alongside a trickling stream, where a wooden waterwheel ticks around slowly like a sleepy clock, setting the town’s somnolent tempo as it has for some 300 years. Houses line the road, old but beautifully preserved, shuttered with wooden screens and hung with swaying lanterns. Gingko and maple leaves crown the street in a blaze of saffron and cardinal red.

Ecuador offers some of the most incredible outdoor experiences on earth, from surfing on beautiful beaches to treks through the Amazon jungle. The fourth-smallest country in South America offers experiences to rival anything in Brazil, Argentina or Chile, all packed into a small space that's easy to explore by bus, boat or plane.

There’s more to Los Angeles than the glitz and glamor of Hollywood. The City of Angels boasts an array of hiking trails that offer something for everyone from first-timers to experienced hikers.

Central Asia’s biggest showstopper, Uzbekistan promises rich travel experiences on the Silk Road in historic cities but also a vibrant living culture. The nation is alive with bazaars, arts and crafts, sustainable fashion and exciting music festivals.

North Carolina is home to famed landscapes ranging from craggy peaks in the west – popular with advanced hikers – to coastal plains in the east – a popular destination for families. But no matter your skill level, the Tar Heel state is filled with pathways, marshes and densely packed forests to tramp.   

Nestled in the Rocky Mountains in Alberta is a whimsical collection of tiny homes called Charmed Resorts, and it looks like it's straight out of a fairy tale.

With its crystal clear lake and rugged snow-capped mountains, Lucerne has long been one of Switzerland’s most popular destinations for an alpine retreat. Europe’s upper strata were drawn to the alps as early as the 1760s, for mountaineering and hiking. But Lucerne really took off in the 19th century, following the opening of the first hotel in 1835, the expansion of alpine health resorts and Queen Victoria visiting the town for a long summer retreat in 1868 as she mourned the death of her husband.

With its cobbled historic downtown, fascinating museums and lively dining and bar scene, Bogotá can keep you busy for days. After you’ve made the most of the city’s cultural and historical experiences, consider a day trip to Bogotá’s lush and evergreen hinterland, where you’ll find misty cloud forests, quaint towns, striking mountains and lots of outdoor activities. Most of these places can be reached on a bus, but if you rent a car, you might be able to combine a few of them into a one – or two – day trip. 

For six weeks, I went to about a dozen events solo. I barely made it through five minutes before getting asked where my husband, Asher, was. 

A train journey is an ideal way to appreciate fall foliage. Many train lines in the US wind along the same dazzling forests, lakes, and mountains as scenic byways built for cars. But passengers on board a train have the luxury of cozying up and losing themselves completely in the colorful views, without needing to worry about surrounding traffic.

Driving through the dusty plains of Texas, the horizon is endless with views of rolling farmlands, miles of cornstalks, and cattle farms. While there is vast farmland as far as the eye can see, you will be surprised to learn that much of it is owned by only a few families. Many traditionally have kept their land through generations of heirs, but times are changing.

Visitors to Chile have another reason to make a stop in wine country, to visit the freshly renovated and ultra-luxurious new casitas at Clos Apalta - one of Chile’s most highly-awarded world-class wineries.Previously, this French-inspired winery’s collection of four casitas held the title of smallest Relais & Châteaux property in the world; now with the of debut seven new ones and fully reimagined interiors for the original ones they usher in a luxurious new take on luxury and nature.

A merciful evening breeze kicked up, swatting away the Arkansas heat and giving wing to the melodies coming from two of the gazebos in the grassy park. In the larger one, a dozen people were playing the last strains of “Barbry Allen” on fiddles, mandolins, guitars, a stand-up bass, dulcimers, banjos and even a dulci-banjo.

Tackling a via ferrata (Italian for 'iron path') is a bit like joining a circus highwire act or becoming a Hollywood stuntperson for a day. Made up of steel cables, rungs and ladders to arrest the effect of any fall, these bolted climbing routes are an undeniably thrilling, daunting and rewarding way to hike and scramble across a mountain.

Heat domes, droughts, smoky skies, tropical deluges: After a record-breaking summer of extreme weather events, dare we dream of crisp nights, cozy sweaters and the colors of fall?

Many of South America’s greatest hits can be found in Ecuador, from Andean peaks and the Amazon to tropical beaches, Inca ruins and the wonders of the Galápagos Islands. Pretty impressive for a country that's a fraction of the size of its neighbors!

The ethos of the hotel company Our Habitas is sustainable practices in natural settings with a dose of relevant luxury mixed in. So it makes sense that its latest property is Our Habitas Atacama in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile in the pristine, unique Atacama Desert known to be the most arid non-polar landscape on earth but one also with lunar rock formations, salt flats, volcanoes, geysers and hot springs, a cornucopia of dramatic nature. The hotel opened its doors a few days ago.

What could be more exciting for a kid to see than puffing volcanoes, crackling glaciers, dense rainforests and blinding white salt flats?