Top Travel Days of 2025, Beach Day in Bermuda

If you live on the East Coast, you know that Bermuda is only a two-hour flight from Boston, New York, Philly, and DC. But it’s not until you step off the plane on this island located 600 miles due east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, that you fully understand the allure. Plant your feet into the soft pink sand on one of the renowned South Shore beaches like Horseshoe Bay and you can feel your body de-stress with every footprint. The shoreline is exquisite. Beaches are buttressed by jagged cliffs to create sheltered bays ideal for a dip. This was certainly true of the private beach the Hamilton Princess shuttled our family to in late May on a blissful 4-night getaway to the island. Just down the road from Horseshoe Bay, the pink sands provided the perfect welcome mat and the ocean water was already warm for the summer season.

It had been over a dozen years since I stayed at the Hamilton Princess, the grand dame of Bermuda, which first opened its doors in 1898. And wow did it change! The new owners are avid art collectors, and their impressive bounty of works cover the walls of the resort and lead to massive sculptures outside including a bronze gourd by Yayoi Kusama and a two-story high Mickey Mouse work by KAS. We did a docent-led hour-long tour of the collection and saw works by Picasso, Magritte, Julian Opie, Banksy, Ai Weiwei, numerous Warhol’s, and many others.

The resort also added a heavenly infinity pool overlooking the Hamilton Harbor, and two wonderful restaurants on either side of the resort. It’s hard to tear yourself away from the infinity pool, but you’ll be justly rewarded if you take the free shuttle to their private beach about 20 minutes away. An added bonus is that the beach has waiter service and food options, which makes relaxing that much more effortless.

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Get Lost on the Lost Coast

Six miles south of Benbow, in Leggett, California, Pacific Coast Highway or Hwy 1 comes to an abrupt end. Highway 101 will pick up the slack and hug the shoreline north of Arcata on a picturesque drive of headlands rising from the Pacific as you drive to Orick. But that still leaves 80 miles of wilderness shoreline, not easily accessible from any highway. Called the Lost Coast, it is the longest undeveloped coastline in the continental United States. Yesterday, we took the twisting and turning Bryceland-Thorn Road from Redway to the remote village of Shelter Cove. At this small coastal community, houses hug the shoreline backed by flanks of forest and high headlands that make up the King Range National Conservation Area. Backpackers can take the rugged 25-mile Lost Coast Trail, while day-trippers should head to the crescent-shaped black sand beach. Fishing trawlers were docked in the bay, also popular with stand-up paddleboarders and several surfers. If you want to leave behind the woes of modernity and de-stress on a serene stretch of Californian coast, consider spending some time at the Inn of the Lost Coast. 
 

Top Travel Days of 2021, Every Day in Jamaica

Good Times in JamaicaIt was wonderful to return to the warmth of Jamaica with the family in December after a 3-year absence. Having been to the island over a dozen times, I don’t feel the need to walk up Dunn’s River Falls, see Bob Marley’s boyhood home in Nine Mile, watch the cliff divers jump off the rocks near Rick’s, or raft down the many rivers. Because I’ve already done that many times. No, all I wanted to do was spend time with the family, swimming in the soothing Caribbean waters, walking the beach to spot pelicans, reading the latest Amor Towles novel, playing and usually losing in Rummikub, eating my daily lunch of spicy jerk chicken, and certainly drinking my fair share of rum. It was well-deserved rest and rejuvenation for my weary body and soul.

Thanks for tuning in this week to our annual line-up of favorite travels during the previous year. If you want to see what ActiveTravels is excited about in 2022, please have a look at our latest newsletter.

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The Best Swimming Hole on Cape Cod

Last summer, I wrote a story for The Boston Globe on my ten favorite swimming holes on Cape Cod and never received so much mail. Hate mail, that is, from locals who were irate that I would divulge their favorite pond. Considering there are more than 300 ponds on the Cape, almost one swimming hole per day of the year, I was shocked that locals had such a devout loyalty to one particular locale. There are more than a dozen freshwater swimming holes on the Cape that I would happily take a dip, with much warmer waters than the nearby ocean. In Wellfleet, three ponds are connected by narrow water passages cut through the land called sluiceways. These were supposedly created by Native Americans to catch herring during their seasonal run. Rent canoes at Jack’s Boat Rental on Gull Pond and continue onward into Higgins and serene Williams Pond. This is the place where Henry David Thoreau met a Wellfleet oysterman he would write about in his book, Cape Cod. It’s also where architect and furniture designer Marcel Breur built his house on the shores, camouflaged by the trees. One swim here and you’ll return often, much to the dismay of locals.

Directions: Take Route 6 into Wellfleet and turn right onto Gross Hill Road. A sharp left onto Gull Pond Road and Schoolhouse Hill Road will lead you to the parking lot.
 

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Virtuoso Travel Week Highlights, Yucatan’s Chable Resorts

Chable YucatanOn one of the most glorious stretches of beach in the Yucatan sits the relatively new Chable Maroma and its 70 standalone villas. All villas have private entrance, plunge pools, outdoor showers, within easy walking distance to the beach and restaurants. As much as we love Chable Maroma, its sister property outside Merida, Chable Yucatan, is a very special wellness retreat, featuring one of the best spas in the region. Chable is now offering a special deal when you combine the two properties. Visit for 6 nights and they’ll give you two nights free. They’ll even provide transportation with a stop at the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza.

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Seek out the Secrets of the Algarve

Most people associate the Portuguese Algarve with Spain’s Costa del Sol, an area with far too many high-rise hotels and far too many tour groups. This is certainly true in the popular British resort town of Albufeira. Yet, there’s a simpler side to the Algarve, where small fishing communities like Carvoeiro hide coveted crescent beaches ideally suited for folks who want to leave behind the hectic pace of modernity. There are nine beaches in this small town, all backed by cliffs, and most of them are exquisite. Just ask my parents.  After following my advice and heading to this quiet town, they didn’t leave for a month. Reserve one of the spacious suites at the Alba Resort & Spa. All rooms come with a buffet breakfast every morning. 

 
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The Best Beach on Cape Cod

I like to arrive at Longnook Beach in Truro in the early morning when the fog still casts a hazy glaze over the water. I walk down the sand path to the soft white beach, joined by surfers and dog walkers. Then I take my first glance back at the towering tan and red-colored dunes, realizing instantly why JFK wanted this landscape to be preserved as a National Seashore. Looking to the left as the beach curves toward Provincetown, the dunes meld with sand, sea, and sky, as if the land is going to plummet into the water. Listen to the waves, watch the surfers glide atop the ocean, walk the beach to find an errant lobster trap run ashore, and savor the scene before families start to pour in around 11 am.