Bucket List Travel, Slice of Europe

Amalfi Coast First-time visitors to ActiveTravels often ask us what’s our expertise? That’s not an easy question to answer, because we delight in sending you to the most remote corners of the globe, whether it’s the chance to see the orangutans of Sumatra or hiking the W Trek in Chilean Patagonia’s Torres del Paine National Park. Yes, we know New England like the back of our hand. But we also know Europe exceptionally well and wow, do we love our local suppliers, especially TFL in Italy, Madrid and Beyond in Spain, Celebrated in Scotland, Ireland, and the UK, and Original Senses in Greece. It’s easy for us to design itineraries in major cities like London, Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Rome. Yet, if you want to get a real taste of Europe away from the masses, please give us the chance to show you Puglia, Provence, and Paros, where the Europeans go on vacation. Whether you want to bike to Monet’s house in Giverny, go out on a tasty tapas tour in Madrid, hike the Dolomites, or sail to Greek’s undiscovered islands, we’ll create those lasting memories! Also consider slowing down on two wheels with Backroads, DuVine, VBT and Ciclismo Classico, biking and hiking outfitters, who know how to get you off-the-beaten-track to more isolated and scenic locales.

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Norwegian Airlines to Offer Low-Cost Flights from Logan

Great news out of Boston where Norwegian Airlines announced this week that they will be offering reasonably priced flights to London’s Gatwick Airport, Oslo, and Copenhagen, starting May 2016. Flights are already up for next summer and costs are as low as $545 round-trip to London, including all taxes. Also under the radar is the fact that they’re offering direct flights from Logan to Martinique and Guadeloupe, starting this winter. I checked this morning and was delighted to find the price to Guadeloupe over popular Christmas Week is $517 per person direct. Flights on JetBlue and other carriers that fly direct to the Caribbean from Boston during that same time period are already well over $1200 per person. So this is great news for travelers. The competition will hopefully result in other carriers lowering their costs. 
 
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Tradewind Aviation Now Offering Flights Between Westchester and Boston

Tradewind Aviation, the private charter service, best known for their flights from White Plains to Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard in the summer, has now expanded their service to Boston’s Logan Airport. The 40-minute flight to and from the White Plains Airport is offered 8 times daily. Shuttle flights depart from private charter FBO terminals with no TSA delays. Arrive just 30 minutes before departure and relax in the FBO lounge. The flights are operated in Swiss-built Pilatus PC-12 jet-prop aircraft flown by two pilots with air-conditioning, a pressurized cabin and plenty of room for luggage. Skiers will want to know that Tradewind Aviation will also begin flights between Westchester and Stowe, Vermont, starting December 11th. 

 
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Excited to Announce the Launch of Yogaway Retreats

It all started as the best things in life often do….pure serendipity. I was sitting in our yard near the water, in Quincy, MA, in the summer of 2011. My neighbor Barbara kayaked as close as she could to my chair and said, “I’ve been thinking about you. You’d really like yoga. I go to Healing Tree, and you should too.” I said, “Well, I’ve actually thought about that over time, maybe with your urging, I’ll go.” I had been a dancer as a kid, and fluid movement that’s about grace, flexibility, and strength has always appealed to me. I had long ago given up dance, and yearned for something to fill the void. Barbara had an answer! I walked into Healing Tree, and my yoga habit began. But a very special person – other than Barbara – made it truly possible. Checka Antifonario was one of my first yoga teachers, and I lucked out. Checka is amazing. She made my 50th birthday ultra-memorable (we together organized a weekend yoga retreat in Western MA for ~15 of my nearest and dearest friends, including Lisa and Steve). And, can I say, Checka’s yoga retreats also rock. I’ve been on several of them. 
 
That’s why I’m so excited to announce Checka’s latest venture, Yogaway Retreats. Going on a yoga retreat with the right leader is a wonderful way to travel. It isn’t “all yoga all the time.” It’s exploring an area, hiking, swimming, eating, drinking, talking, and bonding with new people, sometimes over s’mores around a campfire. Checka has upcoming retreats this October in Vermont (I’ve been to that location with her, it’s superb), the Azores late next September (been there, with Checka, absolutely fantastic!), and more including Aspen, Martinique, and Alaska. I love Checka’s picks for lodging and for adventures outside of yoga time, her wonderful personality, and her excellent yoga classes. ActiveTravels would be more than happy to arrange a trip with Checka for you. 
 
Guest Post and Photo by Amy Perry Basseches 
(Amy in the air, Checka on the mat) 
 
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Day One, Backroads Danube River Cruise Full Ship Celebration

Biking the Danube RiverFor the start of our weeklong cruise with Backroads along the Danube River, we woke up early in Prague and drove 3 ½ hours through Czech’s Bohemian region to Germany’s Bavaria. After lunch at a country farmhouse, we got fitted for our bikes. We were surprised to learn that 38 of the 53 passengers aboard our cruise were using e-bikes. Our family of four went the old-fashioned route, having trained all summer for this week of riding. That would come in handy within the first 15 minutes, when we had a good mile uphill climb. Soon we were high in the hills, past rolling green fields dotted with cows, rows of corn, and large patches of yellow canola. We would ride the first of many bike trails, connecting to narrow quiet country roads that only Backroads could find after scouring the countryside. Then another trail deep into the Bavarian forest before entering small farming communities with their large wooden houses and triangular roofs, not unlike a chalet.

After a brief stop for the first of many radlers that week, a satisfying combination of beer and lemonade that quenched our thirst, we had another killer hill before riding alongside a creek and the velvety green fields beyond. Finally, we reached the broad bend of the Danube River and pedaled the last 5 miles alongside the water until we reached our home for the week, the AmaLea. The perfect introductory ride to get us excited for the trip ahead, 40 miles with over 2300 feet of elevation. Our reward was pints of pilsner and live Bavarian music straight out of an Oktoberfest celebration at Hofbrauhaus, our welcome to Vilshofen, Germany.

New Direct Flight from Boston to Asheville, North Carolina

SkylineStarting May 8th, Allegiant Airlines will be flying direct from Boston to Asheville. I’m really excited about the opportunity for clients to visit this town on a direct flight and to see the expansive Biltmore Estate and its resplendent gardens, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. From beginning to late spring, the gardens come to life with the tulip bloom followed by multi-colored azaleas, rhododendrons, and come May, roses in the rose garden. Another joy is the 80-mile stretch of roadway between Asheville and Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway. There are numerous opportunities to stretch your legs and stroll to lonely mountain streams and waterfalls. Back in Asheville, a celebrated foodie destination, grab tapas like squid ink paella at Curate. Luella’s Bar-B-Que (just north of downtown) serves ribs, pulled pork, smoked chicken wings, even barbecued tempeh.

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!

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