Grindelwald is one of the gateway towns to the heart of the Swiss Alps. Grab breakfast at your hotel, wander over to the gondola, take it to the third stop, First Peak, and suddenly you’re at 7100 feet staring at a massive rock wall of 13,000-foot high peaks wearing a crown of fresh snow. Or you can’t see anything, which was the case the moment our
Backroads group arrived at First Peak, completely socked in with clouds. We strolled around the Cliff Walk, a metal bridge created by Tissot that hugs the precipitous cliffs as you look down and are thankful for Swiss engineering. Nearing the end of this little walk, the clouds lifted and we were witness to this magical disrobing, like a curtain opening at the start of a Broadway play. To the east was mighty Wetterhorn wearing a toupee of whipped clouds, while straight across from me was the mighty north face of Eiger. Stunning. Absolutely stunning.
We hiked a little over 6 miles that day on the Bachalpsee Route, often on a muddy narrow path though an emerald valley. Lunch was on picnic tables with glorious vistas at Waldspitz before the steep downhill to the Bort gondola. Legs tired from the hike, we then had to jump on scooter bikes called Trottis. Remarkably, I fit both feet and hiking boots on the contraption (there is no seat), pointed the bike downhill on a Trotti paved path, and cruised. I was nervous at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s like skiing downhill, carving your own line. Once again, you’re peering up at mighty Eiger spewing expletives of joy the whole way. Ya, Trotti, a ride I won’t soon forget.
In yesterday’s blog, I discussed meeting the preeminent sea kayaker, Olaf Malver, who now leads trips for Natural Habitat Adventures to Greenland, Antarctica, and the Galapagos Islands. When not paddling, Malver is back in his native Georgia (the country, not the state), producing award-winning wine from his vineyards. Straddling the border between Europe and Asia, the origins of winemaking can be traced back to this region of the world. Today, oenophiles flock to Kakheti province, the top winemaking region to sample the wares. A fine bottle of wine is just one of the reasons to visit Georgia, which has recently landed on Travel & Leisure and Vogue’s “top places to travel” lists. Olaf’s wife runs Wild Georgia, which leads weeklong guided trekking and horseback riding jaunts into the Caucasus, the striking mountain range that stands taller than the Alps. The capital, Tblisi, has quickly become an exciting center for art, food, and music amidst the art nouveau architecture. Stay at the recently opened Rooms Hotels, dine at a French Laundry alum’s bistro, Le Montrachet, and check out the electronic music scene at Bassiani. Big hoteliers like Le Meridian and Radisson Blu are already busy building new properties in the country, so the time to go is summer or fall 2017 before word spreads. 
On the rugged mountain slopes northwest of Cusco, the Sacred Valley is a beautiful stretch of small villages and ancient ruins spread across a broad plain. The Incas built several of the empire’s greatest estates, temples, and royal palaces between Cusco and Machu Picchu, positioned like great bookends at the south and north ends of the valley. Along with Cusco and Machu Picchu, the Valle Sagrado is one of the highlights of Peru and is really beginning to take off as a destination on its own, rather than just an add-on to Cusco or Machu Picchu. Now it’s home to 
Located in Williamstown in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts, 
We recently spent a night in Manhattan at a client favorite, 
Analysis Paralysis. That’s how one of our latest members described the galling task of going through thousands of pages on the web to decide where to go, where to stay, where to eat on your next vacation. A recent study said that the average traveler spends 29 hours on the web researching his next trip. 29 hours! There’s nothing with doing a little exploration to get yourself excited about your next vacation, but 29 hours definitely sounds like analysis paralysis to me. One of the reasons we started ActiveTravels.com is to give unbiased travel advice on the 80-plus countries I’ve already visited as a travel writer. We can cut through the layer upon layer of unnecessary travel content and pinpoint the exact locale that suits each client based on his or her passions. By all means, research a country to your heart’s content, but please call us to hear our viewpoint long before analysis paralysis sets in! 
New Zealanders are serious about protecting their country and its native birds from introduced predators, with a goal to be predator-free by 2050.