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Top 5 Dream Days of 2018, Biking Italy’s Adriatic Coast with DuVine Cycling

All it takes is one ride along the Adriatic Sea to appreciate the splendor of Puglia, the region of southern Italy close to the heel of the boot. We biked up and down sweeping hills with the blue expanse of water always by our side. The sweet smell of honeysuckle the best form of aromatherapy as we cruised past seaside villages, old stone walls, peering down in awe at the greenish/blue waters hundreds of feet below. We stopped in Santa Maria di Leuca to gaze at the lighthouse, church, and large plaza before making our way back to the port of Tricase where a fresh seafood feast was waiting for us. According to my trusty Strava app, we had biked 43 miles with an elevation gain of over 3,000 feet, so I was definitely ready for a break and the chance to dig into fresh calamari, mussels, grilled aubergines, tomatoes, and the creamy burrata cheese the region is known for. 
We were on Day Two of a 6-day bike ride through Puglia with DuVine Cycling. The trip would continue northeast to the town of Locorotondo, where we would begin blissful days of riding through the heart of the countryside. I savored the riding here, rolling hillsides dotted with centuries-old gnarly olive trees, vineyards, and the distinctive mushroom-shaped houses called trullis. All on country roads with little or no traffic. But if I had to choose one dream day on that memorable trip with good friends in October, I would choose the first day’s ride along the Adriatic. 
 

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Your Flight is Cancelled: What To Do Next

We arrived around 10 am at the Bangkok Airport with more than enough time to catch our first flight that day to Hong Kong, which would then connect to our Boston flight home. We checked the Cathay Pacific website before we left the hotel and our first flight was on time, as scheduled. But unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. We were told at airport check-in that our first flight had technical problems and would be delayed. There was no way we could make the connecting flight in Hong Kong and the next flight from Hong Kong to Boston would be exactly 24 hours later. Uggh.

Travel overseas, especially on a connecting flight and this same scenario is very likely to happen to you. You can jump up and down, pout, and say life’s not fair, or you can take a deep breath, pause, and try to get yourself home as quickly as possible in a relatively comfortable manner. We were lucky to have a great person at the Cathay Pacific desk in Bangkok working on our behalf. First and foremost, when an airline cancels or delays a flight due to technical problems, they are under contract to get you to your destination on any airline, not just the airline you booked. Cathay Pacific understood this and led us over to the British Airways check-in to try and catch the flight to Heathrow and on to Logan, but it was too late to get on the flight. He then brought up two other options, fly Lufthansa 11 hours later that day, connecting in Frankfurt, or fly Emirates through Dubai at 8 pm, arriving in Dubai at 1 am. We would then wait at the Dubai Airport until the 8 am flight to Boston the next morning. Neither was particularly appealing. 
 
This is when you consult Google Flights or Kayak to ensure they are offering all options. Our son, Jake, found a 4 pm flight to Dubai on Emirates, which would get us into Dubai at 9 pm. Could they put us up in a hotel in Dubai that night so we could get a good night’s sleep before the 8 am flight to Boston the next morning? At first, the Cathay Pacific rep hemmed and hawed, but then agreed to get us on this flight and purchase the hotel room for the night. When we arrived in Dubai later that day, we realized he went one step further. An escort met us upon arrival and led us to an in-transit hotel located smack dab inside the Dubai airport. We didn’t need to go through Customs or even go through security again the next morning. All we did was wake up and walk to our gate. But none of this would have happened unless we first did our research, found the earlier flight, and asked for the night’s hotel. So if you’re ever in this same situation, remember to relax, do the flight research quickly, and be assertive.
 
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Cliff House on the Maine Coast Enters Its Golden Age

I spent the weekend on the Maine coast researching a story for Yankee Magazine on the latest inns and hotels to make their debuts in New England. Our last stop was the Cliff House, a 5-minute drive from Perkins Cove and the Marginal Way in Ogunquit. First opened in 1872, the property is not exactly new, but you would have a hard time recognizing this upscale property now that Destination Hotels has poured millions of dollars into a complete makeover. The resort now takes full advantage of its stunning setting atop a precipitous cliff that drops straight down into the Atlantic. The vista from our room’s balcony was sheer ocean water and the granite-strewn coastline. Walk into the 2-story lobby where floor to ceiling windows offer the same exquisite view and have dinner at Tiller, only to peer down at the pounding surf lit up at night. Phase one of the rebuild is now complete, featuring 132 rooms with a nautical theme (portholes on each door), a new indoor lap pool, spa, and a second casual restaurant, Nubb’s Lobster Shack, all opened in this past month. Construction continues atop the bluff to add an additional 100 rooms by next summer. In the meantime, come spend a night and have dinner at the Cliff House, only 90 minutes up the road from Boston, and you’ll understand why I’m so thrilled that Maine has another world-class resort. 

 

Top Travel Days of 2025, Biking to Santenay in Burgundy

When I ran into Andy Levine, owner of DuVine Cycling, after a Grateful Dead show at the Sphere in Las Vegas, I told him I’d love to go on another Duvine trip, but not sure where. That’s when he sold me on Burgundy, where he first fell in love with the idea of creating a bike company that took you on the best rides in the region and wined and dined you at exemplary local restaurants before spending the night at a top-shelf property not usually known by the masses. For me, Burgundy always felt too much about the wine and not enough about the biking. Wow, was I wrong

On our first full day of biking in Burgundy this past August, we departed from the former 12th-century abbey, Abbaye de la Bussiere which is now a Relais and Chateaux hotel replete with a small pond, rose garden, ponies walking the grounds, and monastery turned restaurant where we had a gluttonous 5-course feast the night prior. Soon we were on a slow climb, cresting a hill that at the top opened to a vast vista of meadows dotted with dairy cows and horses. Then we were sweeping downhill on a run through small villages and its requisite stone farmhouse, thickets of forest, and glorious fields of sunflowers, several weeks past its prime. As the backcountry road leveled off, we got our first sight of the legendary Grand Cru Burgundy vineyards. The last part of the ride was on a bike trail next to a canal where we followed the flight of herons and the occasional barge going through the locks. All and all, it was a 45-mile ride with some 3800 feet of elevation gain, worthy of a refreshing swim in a nearby river.

Our ride two days later from the heart of Burgundy, Beaune, was another gem and arguably my favorite day. We biked through the nearby vineyards and ascended the Cote d’Or hillside, standing atop a cliff wall that looked down at the villages below. We were soon riding past one of those towns, Orches, which clung to the hillside and was recently named the most charming village in France. We were biking through the white burgundy region, places like Meursault, where pickers already started to harvest the grapes. We stopped for a memorable wine tasting at Domaine Evenstad, (so good that I bought six bottles to be sent home) before biking a little bit further to the best meal of the trip, a restaurant called Le Terroir in the town of Santenay.

My typical lunch is a slice of turkey breast on one slice of Dave’s Killer Bread. Here we started with escargot, where I dipped the heavenly bread into the hot butter. That was followed with fois gras and the best coq au vin I’ve ever tasted, all washed down with exceptional white and red wine. Then we went outside in the hot sun to bike back to Beaune. If I was riding my regular Trek bike back at home, I would have found the next ten miles to be a challenge. But since I was riding a spanking new Specialized E-bike, I simply turned on the Sport button and zipped back to my home for the night, the lovely Cedre Hotel in Beaune. I actually fell in love with the E-bike on this trip, biking on the lowest speed, Eco, for most of my rides to give me a great workout over the week. Then boosting to Sport after our wine-soaked lunches when I needed the extra push. That’s a vacation!

Backroads Announces New 2022 Trips Available for Booking

Backroads New Trips in 2022Hiking from Italy’s Gran Paradiso to the Matterhorn, a multisport African safari in Namibia, Rhine River Cruise bike tour, and hiking in Oman are just a few of the trips Backroads will debut in 2022. The travel company also announced that they are expanding their Dolce Tempo segment with more than 100 new trips. These easygoing trips are becoming quite popular. New destinations will include the Canadian Rockies, England’s Cotswolds, as well as a Danube River Cruise E-bike tour. Please let ActiveTravels know your dates and level of activity and we’ll find the ideal trip for you!

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Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge Still a Classic Retreat in the Canadian Rockies

Staying at the classic Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge was like being placed in an advertisement for Canada. The rustic log cabins, adorned with the latest comforts and technology including an indoor kit to make s’mores in the fireplace, overlooked Lake Beauvert and the jagged snowtopped ridge of Mount Edith Covell, which reflected off the clear as gin water. For the two days that we spent here, all of our adventures took place on the grounds. My wife and daughter went horseback riding while Jake and I mountain biked through a forest of lodgepole pines, white spruce, trembling aspens, and Douglas firs, spotting osprey atop their sprawling nest, the lone loon gliding over a pristine lake, and more than our fair share of elk. We walked around the shoreline, staring in awe at the towering peaks, before paddling on the chilled water. Having had our full of adventure after a week of rock climbing, rafting, hiking, biking, canoeing, and horseback riding, we spent the last day simply lounging in the heated pool. A perfect way to end our week of active travels in the Canadian Rockies.
 

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Play Outdoors with the AMC This Winter

It might be getting a bit nippy this time of year in Maine, but that shouldn’t stop you from being immersed in the spectacular mountain beauty of the 100-Mile Wilderness Trail. The Appalachian Mountain Club is fortunate to house three of their backcountry lodges in this section of the state, all classic sporting camps that have been revamped and are rearing up for a busy winter season of cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Choose to do a self-guided ski trip between the lodges or sign up for one of their guided excursions, like the lodge-to-lodge cross-country ski jaunt from Little Lyford to Gorman Chairback the weekend of January 22-24. There’s also a guided snowshoe lodge-to-lodge the following weekend and a winter sampler over MLK Weekend. 
 

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