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Top 5 Wine Regions for Bicyclists, Stellenbosch, South Africa

Sitting at the southernmost tip of South Africa, Capetown can certainly match Sydney and San Francisco as the most beautiful city in the world. Table Mountain, often draped in its tablecloth of clouds, forms a spectacular backdrop. A nice little warm up ride will bring you from the city to the exquisite beach of Camps Bay and the mountains rising behind Hout Bay. Serious bikers can then continue on to the Cape Peninsula and the Cape of Good Hope, where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean. Just be on the lookout for baboons that often cross the road. Once you’ve properly explored Capetown, drive one hour to the west and start your tour of Stellenbosch and its award-winning wineries. Bikes N’ Wines offers a 2-day guided bike ride through the region, where you learn about the rich heritage of the area and most importantly, taste the wares. The two day tour includes breakfast, a light braai lunch on one of the days and accommodation at on one of the wine estates. Cost of the 2-day jaunt is $1950 Rand or $127 US. By all means, continue your tour of the region on the famous Garden Route, a drive amidst forest, lagoons, and coastal towns, including the surfing mecca of Plettenberg Bay, another stunning locale to bike along the Western Cape or mountain bike the forests of Knysna. 

 

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Free Transportation Within 200 Miles of The Balsams in New Hampshire




Eyes widen and mouths gape as soon as you spot Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, and catch your first glimpse of The Balsams Hotel. The excitement builds on the long driveway up to this immense white edifice, created in an era when grand hotels were as common as one-room schoolhouses in the White Mountains. It’s a multi-tiered wedding cake topped with scarlet frosting and ringed by granite peaks. Turning 145 in 2011, the Balsams prides itself as one of the last beacons of civility in a world that spins far too fast on its axis. Come winter, the resort offers 95 km of cross-country trails and 15 downhill trails with a vertical of 1,000 feet. Expect a small ski area that’s ideal for young families or those who clamor for ego-boosting intermediate terrain.

To get new visitors to experience the Balsams, the hotel is offering to pick you up at your house if you’re within 200 miles of the resort. The offer is only available for first-time guests who stay at least five nights. For $149 per person, per night, guests receive free transportation, skiing each day, a ski lesson, equipment rental, lodging, breakfast and dinner.


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Greece Week with Heritage Tours: Boating to Delos and Paros

The main town in Mykonos can be swarming with people in the daytime when thousands of passengers from cruise ships disembark. The reason why we recommend clients staying on the island visit the town at night for dinner and shopping. All the stores are open late and the cruise ship passengers have departed. It’s best to hit one of the majestic Mykonos beaches during the day or take a private boat like we did with Heritage Tours to the neighboring islands of Delos and Paros. The birthplace of Apollo and Artemis, Delos was a thriving community in ancient Greece. You can still walk the narrow cobblestone passageways (not unlike Mykonos today) and see the remnants of homes, temples of worship, even a synagogue. 

We continued on to the island of Paros, a highlight of the week. Unlike Mykonos and Santorini, which can be swarming with travelers due to its justified popularity, Paros has no cruise ships descending on the island and retains that authentic Greek charm. Fishermen return from their morning at sea to dry their octopus and fish on the docks. We tasted their wares at Barbarossa restaurant near the docks for lunch before roaming around the towns of Naoussa and Parikia to look at the artisanal shops and whitewashed homes. Parakia is also home to a wonderful church, The Monastery of Panagia Ekatontapiliani, first built by Constantine in 4th century AD before being updated by Emperor Justinian in the 6th century. It has a similar dome to Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia, which was built during the same time period. Evidently Constantine’s mother was shipwrecked in Paros on her way to Israel so her devoted son decided to build her mother a church in her name. I’d like to be shipwrecked in Paros for several weeks, preferably in a villa with my extended family. These are the Greek islands you dream about.
 
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Honesty Leads to the Best Travel Writing

Pressured by travel editors to write flowery prose about a destination so that publications can secure those necessary advertising dollars, most travel writing is a bore. Even worse are travel writers who pen stories in return for a free press trip. Their writing is often indistinguishable from a publicist’s press release. Take it from a travel expert. Rarely have I ever encountered a perfect trip, where the travel, accommodations, and destinations are all stellar during the same jaunt. There is always some adventure you’re thrust into willingly or not, some bizarre local you meet that helps define the place, and a slew of mishaps. Place those anecdotes into the article and you have a great read, not unlike the writings of Bruce Chatwin or Paul Theroux. 
 
Rarely do I see a scathing review of a destination, so when I came across this little gem from a writer at the Sydney Morning Herald, I was thrilled. I was researching a trip to northern Sumatra for a client who wants to see the orangutans at Gunung Leuser National Park. Unfortunately, they have to fly in and out of Medan, the third largest city in Indonesia and the focus of this story. 
 
All week, I’ll be sharing with you some of my least favorite misadventures in print. Enjoy. 
 
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Kimpton Opens First International Hotel on Grand Cayman

Lovers of the Kimpton Hotels brand will want to know that they opened their first international property on Grand Cayman’s Seven Mile Beach this week. Called the Seafire Resort, it’s the first new hotel to make its debut on Grand Cayman in more than a decade. The 266-room resort is home to an 8,500 square-foot spa, oceanfront bungalows, mega-sized pool, and the restaurant, Avecita, which is already starting to garner attention on an island known for its dining. Expect tapas-style small plates with local fish and vegetables, flavored on a wood grill. 

 
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Austin-Lehman Adventures Offers a Yoga Retreat in Mexico

I had the privilege of traveling with Austin-Lehman Adventures last summer on a family trip to the Canadian Rockies and loved every minute of it. For 2012, founder Dan Austin is rolling out some exciting new adventures including a six-day biking trip through Burgundy and three trips in February heading to Yellowstone National Park in the quiet winter months. Yet, the trip that I’m most enthusiastic about is ALA’s first foray into yoga. From March 19-24, 2012, ALA will be heading to a private coffee plantation in Chiapas, Mexico. Wake up to sunrise yoga accompanied by the sounds of the tropical forest and a steaming mug of the plantation’s own coffee. Then head out to explore the Mayan ruins of Izapa, kayak through mangrove swamps on the Pacific Coast, hike to hidden waterfalls, and rest your weary body in a temazcal, an indigenous sauna bath, before digging into a dinner of local Mexican favorites. To a Boston boy who hates the month of March more than any other time in New England, this is the ideal warm-weather retreat.

 

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Time for a Much Needed Break

Just returned from the Mount Auburn Hospital Travel Clinic to get necessary shots and a malaria pill prescription for an upcoming family trip to the Ecuadorean Amazon and the Galapagos Islands. Before we leave next Sunday, I have two stories to write, itineraries to design for clientele traveling to Scandinavia, Costa Rica, Iceland, and the UK, and two days of R&R with high school buddies at a lake in upstate New York. So I’m taking a break from blogging. I’ll be back the week of August 4th with 5 highlights from our trip to Ecuador. Enjoy the summer!

 

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