Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I’ll admit, I’m biased toward lush tropical landscapes, like Tahiti, and rugged stretches of coast, such as Vancouver Island, British Columbia. But there’s something magical about the endless expanse of badlands or a snowcapped mountain reflected in an azure alpine lake. So they made my list of the most beautiful places on earth.

I’ve done a lot of globe-trotting in my decade as a travel journalist. When şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř asked me to consider writing about the most beautiful wild places on earth, I immediately thought of Lagoa das Sete Cidades in the Azores, green-blue twin lakes within a crater, and the Na Pali Coast of Kauai, with emerald cliffs that tumble steeply to the sea.

But these places are already on most people’s radar, and the last thing I want is to contribute to overtourism. Instead, I came up with a list of stunning, lesser-known destinations that are also full of adventure potential. You’re going to be amazed.

I purposely highlighted more sites close to home to make this list accessible.ĚýMy biggest tip is to live in the moment when visiting these places—or any place that bowls you over. You can’t experience it fully if you’re glued behind your camera, shooting images to share. Here are my picks for the most beautiful places on earth.

1. Cedar Breaks National Monument, Utah

Why It Wows: Utah has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to otherworldly rocky landscapes, but the geologic amphitheater that is steals the show (entrance fee from $15). Rich mineral deposits in the cliffs and hoodoos resemble a sweeping sunset of orange, yellow, red, and purple. During July and early August, some 250-plus species of wildflowers bloom, creating a Technicolor landscape.

şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Intel: Tucked in the mountains 20 miles east of Cedar City, this three-mile-long cirque gets a sliver of the foot and vehicle traffic seen at nearby Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks but offers just as many options for outdoor lovers. Because it’s located at an elevation of 10,000 feet, summer temperatures are comfortable, with highs hovering around 70 degrees.

Hikes range from the ADA-compliant, two-mile round-trip , which skirts part of the rim overlooking the amphitheater, to the 12.8-mile Rattlesnake Creek Trail, a two- to three-day hike in the Ashdown Gorge Wilderness that drops into the amphitheater.

Five miles north, is a mountain biker’s dream, with more than 100 miles of downhill singletrack and 100 miles of cross-country trails.

Stargazers know Cedar Breaks as a designated International Dark Sky Park. Every Sunday and Saturday from late May through early October, the monument offers free four-hour astronomy tours at the North View Overlook.

2. Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Alberta

Why It Wows: Often referred to as Banff National Park’s lesser-known sister, this 76,800-acre patch of wilderness in the Canadian Rockies is the epitome of postcard perfection, with its snow-crowned peaks, sparkling alpine lakes, glacial streams, and evergreen valleys. In autumn the park is most dazzling, when larches’ needles turn gold and the trees are reflected in the lakes.

şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Intel: , 85 miles southwest of Calgary, is one of Canada’s most accessible parks, with multiple barrier-free trails wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs (entrance fee from $12).

Stay at , fresh off a $6 million renovation (from $21 for a campsite; from $31 for a cabin). It overlooks Lower Kananaskis Lake, prioritizes people with disabilities and seniors, and features 22 accessible cottages, plus 13 campsites, and 11 miles of accessible trails on-site.

The park is full of hiking and mountain-biking trails, as well as seven miles of paved biking paths. In fall, check out Elephant Rocks and Chester Lake via when it’s positively ablaze with yellow larches. In winter, bring along your cross-country-ski gear and spend a day on the park’s more than 50 miles of groomed trails.

In the area without your outdoor essentials? rents everything from canoes, kayaks, and paddleboards to e-bikes and full-suspension mountain bikes.

3. Lefkada Island, Greece

Why It Wows: Sea and sky meld together in an ombré of blues on this under-the-radar Ionian isle. Chalky cliffs and white-sand and pebble beaches also woo those in the know, but the interior is just as wondrous, filled with a dense forest of ancient oak, dramatic gorges, and tumbling waterfalls.

şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Intel: A five-hour drive west of Athens, Lefkada is one of the few Greek islands that doesn’t require a boat to reach—it’s connected to the mainland by a bridge. A playground for recreationists, you can spend days and biking its trails, or opt for guided or self-guided e-bike excursions with .

Windsurfers and kitesurfers head to Vasiliki, Ai Gianni, and Myli beaches. , in the village of Vasiliki, rents equipment and provides lessons. All of the beaches are stunners, but Egremni, on the southwest coast, is widely considered the prettiest in the country. Surrounded by limestone cliffs, you must hike a steep trail from the parking lot, then descend more than 300 stairs to reach the sand. Trust me, the effort is worth it.

4. Shariqiya Sands, Oman

Why It Wows: Stark and remote, this seemingly endless stretch of rippling, wind-sculpted dunes spans 5,000 square miles of Oman, a small sultunate on the southeastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. The highest dunes—some as tall as 330 feet—are found closest to the coast. But the big reason to see these ever-shifting sands is to witness the mesmerizing way they change color from pale gold in the afternoon to deep amber and copper as the blazing sun cuts across the sky.

şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Intel: A three-hour drive south from the capital city of Muscat, this desert was recently renamed the Sharqiya Sands to reflect its geographic location more accurately (sharqiya comes from the Arabic word for “eastern”), but everybody still refers to the area by its former name, Wahiba Sands, a nod to the region’s Bani Wahiba tribe.

, an Oman adventure specialist with 17 years of experience in the country, sets up mobile camps deep within the desert and can arrange activities like sandboarding, camel safaris, dune driving, and visits with local Bedouin families (from $6,234 per couple for two nights, all-inclusive). Bonus: the lack of light pollution means campers are treated to incredibly clear, diamond-studded night skies.

5. Las Coloradas Lagoon, Yucatán, Mexico

Why It Wows: These glimmering cotton-candy-colored lakes pop against a backdrop of powdery white-sand beaches and pastel blue skies within the protected reserve of the RĂ­a Lagartos Biosphere. The lagoons get their blush tint from the plankton, red algae, and brine shrimp that thrive in the super salty waters.

şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Intel: The biosphere is off the beaten path—around three and a half hours from major tourist hubs like MĂ©rida, CancĂşn, and Playa del Carmen—and area accommodations are limited. Your best bets for an overnight stay are , a four-room, family-run eco-lodge in the reserve that also offers tours (from $95), or the in the sleepy nearby fishing town of RĂ­o Lagartos (from $66).

The biosphere is a birding paradise, home to 380 species, including 30,000 flamingoes that match the water. It’s also possible to spot spider monkeys, coatis, and jaguars, and from April and October, hawksbill and green turtles lay their eggs on the shores. Book a tour at the reserve’s visitor center for a better understanding of this ecosystem, but don’t plan on swimming here; as tempting as it might be to dive into the pink waters, the activity is prohibited, due to the high salinity and because the salt is harvested there for consumption.

6. Rio Sucuri, Brazil

Why It Wows: Eleven miles outside Bonito, the self-declared ecotourism capital of Brazil, you’ll find Rio Sucuri, whose Avatar-blue waters are considered some of the clearest on the planet. Set against the lush jungle, its spring-fed waters glow a surreal electric blue.

şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Intel: Bonito is located in the central-western state of Mato Grosso do Sul. It takes some effort to reach. After an approximate two-hour nonstop flight from SĂŁo Paulo to Campo Grande, it’s a three-and-a-half hour drive to Bonito; from there, the access point to Rio Sucuri is another 12 miles away.

and (from $160 and $160, respectively) are both great boutique stays around 50 minutes away, set on the banks of the Rio Formoso, another pristine, spring-fed waterway.

Rio Sucuri has been developed as an ecotourism project and can only be experienced with a guide. To reach the river’s headwaters, it’s a quarter-mile walk through the forest to a reception area at the São Geraldo ranch, which outfits everyone with a wetsuit and snorkel gear. Then you’ll board a boat for the quick ride upstream, where you’ll jump in and allow the gentle current to drift you back, lazy-river style.

You’ll no doubt spy pacu (a vegetarian piranha) and red-tailed pirapitanga darting between swaying emerald-green grasses. With exceptional visibility, you’ll feel like you’re floating in an aquarium.

7. Pico Ruivo, Madeira, Portugal

Why It Wows: Topping out at nearly 6,110 feet, Pico Ruivo is the third-highest point in Portugal and the tallest peak in the archipelago of Madeira. From the top, you’re rewarded with panoramic vistas of the entire archipelago.

şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Intel: Two trails lead to the summit. (PR 1.2) is the more direct route; it climbs 1.7 miles to the viewpoint. The more scenic path, however, is the 3.3-mile (one-way) (PR 1.1). Many consider this the most spectacular hike in all of Madeira. It crosses the island’s central massif, tunnels through volcanic tufts that once sheltered shepherds, and heads up steep slopes home to colossal urzes trees.

That said, it’s a test-your-mettle trek. Rise early to score parking at the trailhead at Pico Areeiro, the archipelago’s third-highest peak, and catch the sunrise before heading out.

8. Tarkine Rainforest, Tasmania, Australia

Why It Wows: The second-greatest expanse of cool temperate rainforest in the world could easily have been the inspiration for Fern Gully. Filtered light dances through the canopy of massive eucalyptus and leatherwoods, and velvety moss seems to cover everything. Hugging the island’s rugged northwest coast, the 900-plus-square-mile area boasts wild, remote beaches and sand dunes, waterfalls, and numerous sinkholes.

şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Intel: The coastal village of Arthur River is a good jumping-off point for forest and beach adventures, or base yourself at , 67 miles south, for immediate access to river activities (from $176). The hotel has a fleet of 16 canoes and kayaks to rent, and from there it’s a three-hour paddle down Pieman River to 130-foot-tall Lover’s Falls.

Hikes through this 65-million-year-old rainforest are magical. Tackle the 5.5-mile, out-and-back Whyte River and Savage River Trail, keeping an eye out for wallabies, pademelons, and platypuses, which tend to be more active at dawn and dusk. Eco-outfitter runs four-, five-, and six-day hiking and camping expeditions to the region’s most incredible spots.

9. The Sermilik Fjord, Greenland

Why It Wows: This 50-mile-long fjord in eastern Greenland spans is a frozen wonderland of luminous blue crystal cliffs, calving glaciers, and a flotilla of colossal icebergs.

şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Intel: Most visitors explore eastern Greenland by ship, but I like ’ new, climate-friendly, human-powered itinerary ($6,750 for eight days). You’ll explore the region on foot or by kayak, and sleep in tents and cabins. Inuit hunter and guide Jokum Heimer Mikaelsen, along with a guide from the Greenland mountaineering company , lead hikes up small mountains, into ice caves, and across glaciers and offer insight on how Native people forage on the tundra.

Powderhounds can discover the slopes on a ski-tour trip with (from $4,910 for eight days). Dogsleds and local boats are used to access different terrain each day.

10. Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness, New Mexico

Why It Wows: These sprawling badlands look like a high-desert fantasy world dreamt up by Salvador DalĂ­. Shaped by wind and erosion, the hoodoos create a natural sculpture park, with rock formations resembling alien eggs and manta ray wings.

şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Intel: Two trailheads access the area’s 43,420 acres, both located less than an hour’s drive south of Farmington, New Mexico, or 90-minute drive south of Durango, Colorado. The Bisti Trail on the west side is the main portal and most popular, thanks to its moonscape-like terrain.

The De-Na-Zin Trail on the southeast side features less of the classic badlands topography but is still wildly beautiful. It starts out in sagebrush, transitions to juniper and eventually badlands studded with huge petrified logs and eroded cliffs and mesas.

Most visitors head to Instagram-sensation attractions like the Bisti Wings. But Stan Allison, an outdoor-recreation planner at the BLM Farmington Field Office, recommends a more exploratory approach. “Many of the unnamed areas have features that are just as interesting as the named ones,” he says. “I navigate by following the normally dry arroyos and then veering off or up side drainages when I see interesting features.”

Wheeled vehicles are not allowed on BLM land, and there are no designated hiking trails, so be sure to download a topographic map of your route to a well-charged phone ahead of your visit, because cell signals can be spotty. This is an area where packing a paper map and compass is also a smart idea.

Or considered a guided visit. The wilderness boundaries overlap parcels of private Navajo land, and offers five-hour trips that delve into the history of the area and its cultural significance to Indigenous people.

11. Bazaruto Archipelago, Mozambique

Why It Wows: I visited this archipelago of five dune islands almost a decade ago, and from the plane, they lookedĚýlike a white-and-aquamarine swirl-art painting. A designated national park, the marine life in its protected waters is as incredible as the powder-fine beaches. The archipelago lays claim to the second most diverse coral reefs in the world and supports over 2,000 species of fish, and on dive and snorkel excursions IĚýsaweverything from vivid corals and manta rays to reef sharks and even the endangered dugong.

şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Intel: The large coastal town of Vilanculos is the gateway to this cluster of islands, which can be reached by air via or by boat (most hotels provide complimentary boat transfers).

Bazaruto and Benguerra islands offer next-level offshore snorkeling and diving opportunities, as well as hiking/biking toĚý crocodile-filled inland lakes surrounded by towering sand dunes. It’s worth splurging on a stay at or , both barefoot-luxe eco-hotels on Benguerra Island (from $5,744 and $1,108, respectively). The resorts can organize sailing excursions on traditional dhow boats, kitesurfing lessons, kayak trips through mangroves, whale-watching excursions between July and October, and scuba-dive outings to famed sites like Two Mile Reef, accompanied by research scientists.

12. Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan

Why It Wows: Reminiscent of the wild beauty of Hawaii Island, this district in Japan’s southernmost island, Kyushu, has 250 miles of surf-blessed coast, active volcanic craters, and wild horses. More than 75 percent of the mountainous interior is covered with forests dotted with sacred shrines and cascading waterfalls.

şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Intel: Located on the east coast of Kyushu, Miyazaki is about a 90-minute flight from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport or a 60-minute flight from Osaka’s Itami Airport. Legendary waterman Kelly Slater has pilgrimaged here to ride waves, a testament to the area’s surf cred. The guide company offers surf trips led by local pros, and if you’re experienced, they’ll lead you to a secret big-wave spot that breaks from August to October.

A visit to Cape Toi, Miyazaki’s southernmost point, is a must. The scenery is straight out of a fairytale, with a seemingly endless panorama of sapphire ocean, a forest of rare, native sago palms, and 100 wild horses called Misaki-uma, considered a national treasure. Even cooler: you can camp here, at the (from $20).

13. Lake Willoughby, Vermont

Why It Wows: Nicknamed America’s Lucerne, this five-mile-long, glacier-carved lake is sandwiched between the fjord-like peaks of Mounts Pisgah and Hor. The water is remarkably clear, and come fall, it takes on the autumnal hues of the surrounding foliage—a gorgeous sight.

şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Intel: Situated in the heart of Vermont’s rural Northeast Kingdom, Willoughby State Forest encircles the lake’s southern end and is webbed with 12 miles of hiking trails. is a 2.5-mile out-and-back route with fantastic lake views.

Summer is the most popular season for boating, paddleboarding, and kayaking, and public beaches on its north and south ends are popular with swimmers and sun seekers (note that the latter is clothing optional). Willoughby is also a haven for anglers who come to hook jumbo trout and salmon. (Willoughby Lake Store, near Westmore, sells bait.) Visibility is so good some people even scuba dive here.

On the south side of the lake, the family-run has tent sites, RV hookups, and waterfront cabins, plus an on-site café and country store, plus kayak, canoe, and SUP rentals (from $38).

Jen Murphy is şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online’s travel-advice columnist and a frequent contributor to the magazine. She dreams of returning to the Bazaruto Archipelago to dive its clear waters, and a camping trip in the desert of Oman is on her wish list.Ěý

The post The 13 Most Beautiful Places on Earth You’ve Never Heard Of appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

When I had the chance to spend some time in Europe this year, the first thing I wanted to do—well, besides find some really good cheese—was figure out how to visit as many national parks as possible. As the editor in chief of , °żłÜłŮ˛őľ±»ĺ±đ’s sister brand, I spend a lot of time thinking about national parks. Whether it’s figuring out how to pack as much as possible into a weekend in Yellowstone, thinking about the implications of reservation systems, or dreaming about units to visit, I eat, sleep, and breathe America’s best idea.

But narrowing down the European parks to visit proved tougher than I’d imagined. While the 27 EU member countries share a market and (mostly) a currency, each nation’s approach to public lands is vastly different. Some European national parks are all pristine wilderness areas and have strict recreation-use laws. In others, you’ll find trendy bars serving Aperol spritzes, with Vespas parked outside. There’s even a Croatian national park with a zoo, complete with an elephant, ostriches, and zebras. Slovenia has just a single park; Finland has dozens.

While European parks run the gamut, they all have one thing in common. They’ve been set aside as meriting designation, meaning they’re worth a visit to see something meaningful, whether that’s glistening glaciers, spectacular mountain peaks, hanging bridges across thundering rivers, or ancient vineyards clinging to cliffs above the sea.

These are the European national parks that top my travel bucket list. I’ve been to several of them and can’t wait to see the rest.

1. Triglav National Park, Slovenia (Triglavski Narodni Park)

Admission: Free

WHY GO: While Alpine countries like France and Austria get most of the love, many people know almost nothing of one of the Alps’ best destinations: Slovenia. On my first visit to the country I was instantly charmed by the country’s rolling pastures, pretty churches set against the backdrop of mountains and blue lakes, and university-town capital, Ljubljana, which, with its avant-garde metalwork and dragon mascot, has a decidedly punk feel. When I realized that a subrange of the Alps was protected in the northwestern corner of the country as Triglav National Park, I knew I had to return.

Nestled up against the Italian border and nearly touching Austria, Triglav is home to thick forests, rivers, mountain villages, and big peaks that quickly made it one of my favorite national parks. Mount Triglav is the crown jewel at 9,396 feet, but plenty of other impressive summits draw peak baggers from across the world. Vogel Ski Resort can be found here too, offering 14 miles of terrain.

BEST ADVENTURES: Most park visitors flock to the Lake Bohinj region, a nearly 800-acre glacially carved valley filled with deep blue water where you can rent traditional wooden rowboats ($16/hour), among other watercraft. Vogel is in this area, and you can take the gondola and chairlift ($34 roundtrip for adults) partway and hike to the summit. The 6.1-mile trail isn’t technical, but it is steep in places, secured with cables and pegs. Keep your eyes peeled for the ibex and chamois that live here.

Watch the weather for wind gusts that could shut down the lifts, and stay aware of the time, because it’s a long trek back down if the chairs stop running before you reach them (they close at 4 p.m. in the summer). At several traditional huts on the mountain, you can enjoy local cheese and mountain dishes like goulash.

While the Bohinj area is the most popular, venturing further into the park is absolutely worth it. Head up and over the steep and narrow VršiÄŤ Pass to Triglav’s more remote west side (my favorite), where you’re as likely to encounter a herd of sheep blocking the road as cyclists riding on it. Tackle the 15-mile , a hike that can be done in a long day, or at a slower pace, where you spend the night in one of several villages along the way. The beautiful trail follows the river, which is so clear and bright it almost hurts to look at. My husband, dog and I got distracted on our hike and instead spent a pleasant afternoon wadingĚý in the cold snowmelt. Wind your way gradually down valley under larches and across swinging bridges.

If you really want to get away, several long-distance trails, including the Via Alpina red route (1,500 miles) and the Alpe Adria Trail (466 miles), run through Triglav. For less of a commitment than those, head into the Seven Lakes Valley on a multi-day excursion, where you can spend the night in several maintained huts (no camping is allowed in the backcountry).

HOW TO GET THERE: Slovenia has a great public transportation system, making it easy to get from Ljubljana to Bled by train (40 minutes) and then Bled to Bohinj by bus (40 minutes), so you can stay in the capital and still explore the park. Buses run to other parts of Triglav, too, but pay attention to timetables, as they are less frequent and getting a taxi or rideshare won’t be an option in remote parts of the park.

BEST TIME TO GO: June to September is high season for hiking and hut availability, but can also be crowded. Snow melts early in this part of the world, so low elevation hikes can be done in the spring and fall to avoid the crowds. Ěý

WHERE TO STAY: Accommodations, from private hotels and guest houses to campgrounds and mountain huts, abound inside the park. My husband and I like staying in Bohinj on the west side for easy access to Vogel and the pretty town of Bled, or the quiet village of Trenta on the east side. For an alpine experience, book a bed at Tičarjev Dom ($47 per person with breakfast), the mountain hut at the summit of Vršič Pass. You’ll sleep dormitory-style and rise to incredible mountain views the next morning from the patio over a bela kava (coffee with milk).

2. Oulanka National Park, Finland

Admission: Free

WHY GO: If you’re looking to get into some of the most remote wilderness on the continent, head to Oulanka National Park in Finland. The park hugs the Russian border in the far northeastern part of the country above the Arctic Circle and is an experience in solitude. In fact, the wilderness doesn’t stop at state lines. It continues east, bleeding quietly into Russia’s Paanajärvi National Park, with a simple rope forming the border and keeping canoeists in the EU. Last year I visited Levi Ski Resort in Finnish Lapland, four hours to the north, and fell in love with polar night. Getting back is at the top of my list and this time I want to get deeper into the wilderness, specifically at Oulanka.

Planning a trip to this remote land filled with boreal forests, rushing rivers, and limestone gorges isn’t easy, but I promise the hardest part will be picking which season to visit–winter or summer? This far north, the year is capped by eternal night in the deep winter, when you can snowshoe, cross-country ski, and try to spot the Northern Lights, and permanent sun in the height of the warm months, with plenty of daylight for canoeing and hiking trips.

BEST ADVENTURES: Summer visitors have two main choices for exploring: by water or by land. Paddlers can rent canoes and camping gear from to embark on a trip down the Oulankajoki River. The lower section is calm, with a short two-hour option to a takeout or a seven-hour route that makes an excellent overnight trip with a stop at any of several campsites or the first-come, first-served Ansakämppä Wilderness Hut. There are rapids and a portage on the upper section of the river, so skip it unless you’re an experienced boater.

On foot, try the , a loop that crosses some of the park’s famous hanging bridges. In summer months, the trail is one-way (clockwise). Backpackers can head out on the 50-mile Bear’s Ring, aka . Finland’s most popular hike traverses the park from north to south, with each stage ending on a bus route in case you’d prefer to sleep in a real bed, or campsites and huts along the way if you’d rather rough it. Thundering rivers, placid streams, bogs, hanging bridges, and delicate purple orchids await. Look out for traditional Sami herders and their reindeer, who still inhabit the area today.

In the winter, I love how the mercury plunges when Finnish Lapland freezes over, rewarding intrepid and cold-tolerant visitors with a magical landscape. It’s my favorite time of year to be in Finland. Pines and spruces thick with frozen snow stand like fuzzy sentinels over ice-crusted rivers and cross-country ski trails. In December and January, you’ll find a scant three hours of daylight. In late winter, you’ll still experience plenty of darkness for northern lights spotting, but will also be treated to long sunrises and sunsets, turning the landscape into a cotton-candy-colored forest.

Use an app like My Aurora Forecast to monitor northern-lights conditions for your best chance at spotting the undulating colors. Other winter options are to rent snowshoes or cross-country skis in nearby Ruka and set off on the park’s many trails.

HOW TO GET THERE: The closest airport to the park is Kuusamo, which has several flights from Helsinki each day, plus a few other major European cities like Brussels and Frankfurt. While renting a car in Kuusamo is the easiest mode of travel, a bus route from the airport accesses the Karhunkierros Trail, Oulanka National Park Visitor Center, and Ruka, if you’re eager to add downhill skiing to your itinerary. Ruka Ski Resort is Finland’s best known, and has a long season lasting October to May.

BEST TIME TO GO: Peak season for hiking and canoeing, the park’s main attractions, is July through September when the weather is warmest and most predictable (think 50s) and the days are the longest. To see the Northern Lights and get out on snowy trails, December through March are the best season, but be ready for temps from freezing to below zero.

WHERE TO STAY: For the most options, base yourself at Ruka Ski Resort. Ruka offers all sorts of lodging options and the park is a quick 30-minute drive away. Winter visitors who want to go all out should stay at , with glass igloos perfect for aurora spotting (from $347/night with breakfast). If you want to be closer to the park, ’s cozy wilderness hotel borders it (from $109/night for a double room).

3. Cinque Terre National Park, Italy (Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre)

Admission: $21-$35/day for train and trail access

WHY GO: I’d seen the brightly colored Italian houses clinging to cliffs above an azure sea on my Instagram feed, but had no idea that the five villages making up the Cinque Terre (note the article “the,” as you’ll be judged mightily for dropping it) are actually a national park until I visited this past spring. The land here is characterized by its human influence. The steep hills leading straight into the sea have been terraced and cultivated for more than 1,000 years.

BEST ADVENTURES: The most popular hiking route is the Blue Trail (also called the Sentiero Azzuro or SVA), the main path that historically connected all five villages. In 2019, a landslide took out the section of trail between Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore, and maintenance work is ongoing, though the Manarola to Riomaggiore section reopened in July. The sections between Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso al Mare remained open. Whenever you choose to travel, start out as early in the day as possible or plan an evening hike to dinner to avoid the crowded midday hours. Taking the train back is also always an option if the trails get packed (we had to turn around and take the train in April because the pathway was gridlocked).

(grab a focaccia made with the region’s famous pesto for my favorite mid-hike snack) and on to Monterosso is 4.1 miles one way with 2,000 feet of elevation gain. A less popular, but in my opinion even better, hike on the Blue Trail is the . You’ll climb up to the tiny town of Volastra, perched above the Cinque Terre, and then back down to Manarola. Time your hike so that you can grab a glass of wine and bruschetta at Cantina Capellini, a winery producing the Cinque Terre DOP white wine. The simple patio is right on the trail, situated amongst the vines, and overlooks the sea. Make sure you have room in your pack for a bottle to take home.

Heading south from Corniglia and ending in Manarola is 3.6 miles one way, with 1,300 feet of elevation gain. The descent on this route is heinous (you’ll end lower than you began), so you may want to skip this one if your knees are bad.

When you’re not on the trail, take advantage of amazing food (cornettos! pesto! wine! fried anchovies! focaccia!) on a patio, or head down to the water. Each town has sea access for swimming, though you won’t find much of a beach anywhere besides at Monterosso. Spread a towel on the rocks and sunbathe, or ($10.75/hour rentals from Riomaggiore) to explore the coastline.

HOW TO GET THERE: Fly into Florence, Milan, or Rome. Trains run directly from these major hubs to La Spezia Centrale, the closest city to the Cinque Terre, or you can drive to La Spezia Centrale and park your rental car in the large garage at the station. From there, it’s a quick seven-minute train ride to the first village, Riomaggiore. Each additional village is just a few minutes further up the tracks. If you plan on utilizing both the train and the trails, purchase a in advance, which allows unlimited train rides between villages (including La Spezia), access to the trails, and free use of the toilets at each train station ($21-$35/day).

BEST TIME TO GO: Hiking the Cinque Terre is best done in the off-season. Summer crowds are epic, and the trails can get packed by late morning even in the spring and fall.

While it’s a gamble to visit in the colder months (November through March), as the trails can close when weather is bad and you’ll have fewer lodging and dining options, it’s the least busy season. Plan a visit for the fringe months of March or November to capitalize on good weather and to beat the masses.

WHERE TO STAY: You’ll find hotels in Monterosso and Riomaggiore on each end, as well as in the larger city of La Spezia, a quick train ride away. But for the most authentic experience stay in one of the three central villages. Book a vacation rental (Airbnb has plenty of options) in Vernazza, Corniglia, or Manarola, and you’ll get to experience the towns when all the day tourists from the cruise ships have left. Quiet restaurants, empty streets, and coffee with the locals each morning are treats.

My favorite village is Corniglia, for its smaller size and gorgeous view from atop a hill, though the walk from the train station up a long set of stairs to the town makes coming and going a chore. We ended up skipping our dinner reservations one town over in favor of staying put here with a bottle of wine and take-out focaccia.

4. Dolomiti Bellunesi National Park, Italy (Parco Nazionale Dolomiti Bellunesi)

Admission: Free

WHY GO: While each region of Europe’s Alps has its own flavor, the Italian Dolomiti are particularly impressive. Craggy mountains, mist-filled valleys, and sweeping forests provide one of my favorite landscapes in the world.

The range, which encompasses northeastern Italy, is home to the 12 world-renowned ski areas that make up the Ikon Pass destination Dolomiti Superski. It’s also a Unesco World Heritage Site and the location of several incredible regional parks, such as Tre Cime. But you’ll only find one national park, Dolomiti Bellunesi, in the region. I’ve somehow missed this corner of the Dolomiti in all of my adventures here, so I can’t wait to plan a trip back to see it.

Stretching 12-square-miles northwest of Belluno, this somewhat under-the-radar park offers visitors the best of the Dolomiti, with fewer crowds than the area’s better-known and more northerly destinations of Tre Cime, Seceda, and Lago di Braises. Home to via ferratas, two of the famous Alta Via trails, and countless quintessential Italian villages, this is the place where you want to start your Dolomiti adventure.

BEST ADVENTURES: You’ll want to experience this national park by foot–miles of trails cross the mountains, including two of the Alta Via, or “high routes.” Alta Via 1 is a classic and one of the least technical of the routes, running 75 miles from Lago di Braies to La Pissa. The final four stages, which are often the least crowded, wind through the park. Alta Via 2 also includes three stages in the national park, from Passo Cereda to Passo Croce d’Aune. This route is more technical, with via ferratas required along the way. A climbing harness, helmet, and gloves are needed to tackle this option ( in Cortina d’Ampezzo for $23/day).

Whether or not you embark on one of the park’s through-hikes, you should definitely experience a via ferrata while in the Dolomiti. Popularized during WWI in the region to help troops navigate vertical terrain, these “iron paths” use ladders, rungs, pegs and steel cables affixed to rocks to help people move across the cliffs. The park’s highest peak, Schiara, has three via ferratas ringing it: Zacchi, Berti, and Piero Rossi, which, linked up, make for a long but doable day in the mountains if you stay at ($74/night for half board). These routes lean toward being difficult, so hiring a guide is advisable. I found to be excellent on my most recent via ferrata adventure, on the Punto Anna route in Cortina d’Ampezzo, an hour and a half north.

Cyclists can test their mettle on the grueling stage 20 of the 2022 Giro d’Italia route, which runs 104 miles (168 kilometers) from Belluno to Marmolada, crossing through the park on SR203. Whatever activities you choose to get up to, make sure to include some time on either end of your trip for a quick detour to the so-called Prosecco Road between Valdobbiadene and Conegliano, where the prestigious DOCG (the highest quality designation) sparkling wine is produced in the hills. My favorite producer, Adami, is one of the oldest in the region and has an excellent tour and tasting experience.

HOW TO GET THERE: Venice offers the closest major airport, and train service to Belluno takes approximately two hours. From there, the Dolomiti bus services many of the roads within the park, but note timetables, as service can be limited. Unless you’re planning a through-hike, the best way to explore the Dolomiti is by renting a car in Venice or Belluno, then driving to trailheads.

BEST TIME TO GO: Most staffed rifugios (mountain huts) away from the ski resorts are only open to hikers in summer, so June through September are the best months to visit if you’re planning an overnight adventure. The weather often stays pleasant through October, though, and travel then is a great way to skip out on some of the crowds if you’re prepared for the possibility of an early season snow storm.

WHERE TO STAY: Hiking the Alta Vias, even just a few linked stages, takes forethought, as many of the rifugios along the route fill up early in summer. Start planning in January or February when availability opens. Otherwise, you’ll find accommodation options—including hotels, guesthouses, rifugios, and vacation rentals—in and around the park, but book early as options can be limited. Belluno, with 36,000 inhabitants, is the closest major town.

For a unique experience, plan a stay at an agriturismo, a working farm where you’ll be treated to meals with homemade products like cheese and salumi. Mountain pasture cheesemaking has become a somewhat lost art in the Dolomiti, but this park has worked hard to restore five of these “malga” operations. If you don’t stop at an agriturismo, watch for latterias (like Latteria Perenzin in San Pietro di Feletto) where you can buy the locally made cheese alongside salumi and other products perfect for a picnic.

5. Samaria National Park, Greece

Admission $5.50

WHY GO: Encompassing the longest gorge in Europe, Samaria National Park showcases the best of the Mediterranean, from towering cliffs to fragrant cypress trees, and from white limestone riverbeds to the sparkling sea itself. Since the park is comprised almost solely of one long, steep , you can experience the place in its entirety, from the White Mountains to the Mediterranean, in one day. Samaria Gorge is located on the western side of Crete, Greece’s biggest island. I haven’t gotten to Greece yet, but a friend and colleague promises me that it’s the first place I’ll want to go.

BEST ADVENTURES: The park is open, weather permitting, from May through October. Entry begins at 7 a.m., and it’s an excellent idea to start out then, before the heat of the day. Much of the trail is exposed and sunbaked, so going the first or last month of the season is wise to avoid the mid-summer heat. The park closes down during excessively hot stretches, or if flooding is possible in the shoulder season. Pay attention to the heat and hold off if the temperatures are dangerous. It’s usually a five- to seven-hour hike without services, so pack plenty of water and snacks; bring sun protection, a hat and a neck gaiter to help stay cool; and wear hiking footwear. Water from springs is often available along the route, but don’t count on it.

You’ll start hiking steeply downhill, taking in the views of the surrounding White Mountains, before continuing through a pine and cypress forest and reaching the church of St. Nikolas inside the ruins of an ancient temple. Look around for kri kri, wild Cretan goats. Cross a few streams and you’ll find yourself in the ancient village of Samaria, which is now solely inhabited by park staff.

The gorge gradually narrows as you cross through a (hopefully) dry riverbed, alongside striped rock walls, into the skinniest point in the canyon, where the walls are just under 10 feet apart. The park closes at 6 p.m., so make sure you’re through the exit by then. Either walk another 1.5 miles or hop on a cheap shuttle to get to the village of Agia Rouméli, where you can grab a late lunch or early dinner at one of several restaurants and, if time allows, take a well-earned dip in the Mediterranean.

The single ferry leaves the village at 5:30 p.m., only once per day, so don’t miss it or you’ll have to arrange a taxi boat or stay in the village. Depart at Chora Sfakion or Sougia and take the bus back to your car or lodge. If arranging your own transportation stresses you out, many tour companies offer guided excursions in the park.

HOW TO GET THERE: From Athens, fly into Chania International Airport for the closest access to the park. In Chania, you can either rent a car and drive to the gorge, or purchase a bus ticket to Xyloscalo, at the start of the trail. The full hike is one way, and at the end you’ll take a ferry to Sougia ($16/person) and then the bus either back to your car at the trailhead or your hotel in Chania. Be sure to reserve your return tickets in advance to avoid getting stranded.

BEST TIME TO GO: Samaria Gorge is open May through October, with the beginning and end of the season providing the coolest temperatures.

WHERE TO STAY: Most visitors base in the city of Chania and do the trip to Samaria Gorge in one long day, but if you, like me, would prefer a slower pace and to experience the secluded village of Agia Rouméli without the crowds, you can stay at one of the few hotels or vacation rentals in town. offers rooms, breakfast and beach loungers starting at $79 per night. You can spend the entire next day enjoying the beach before catching the ferry back.

6. Écrins National Park, France (Parc National des Écrins)

ADMISSION: Free

WHY GO: Écrins National Park, a glacier-filled alpine paradise with more than 150 peaks topping 3,000 meters, sits near the Italian border in eastern France. The Alps are one of my favorite landscapes in the world and, after visiting them in Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Lichtenstein, I put this French national park squarely on my to-do list. Barre des Écrins is the tallest summit here, towering 13,458 feet above the park, the most southerly 4,000-meter peak in the Alps. Here, amongst the chamois you’ll almost certainly spot, you’ll feel like you’re at the top of the world.

BEST ADVENTURES: You could hike the park’s many trails, including a section of the Grand Écrins, but this is also a space known for its alpine climbing. If you’re looking for adventure, a three-day mountaineering- and glacier-skills course with will help you tag the summit of Barre des Écrins, staying in remote mountain huts ($1,645).

Within the boundaries of Écrins are two ski areas, and two others just bordering the park might be the area’s most famous, especially for cyclists. Les Deux Alpes bike park is one of the biggest in the Alps and is home to beginner- to competition-level courses in everything from downhill to enduro with pristine alpine views. Alpe d’Huez offers one of the Tour de France’s most iconic climbs in addition to the wild Megavalanche, a mass-start mountain-bike race on a glacier. Ride into the national park, which has around 100 miles of marked bike trails.

HOW TO GET THERE: The closest major city is Grenoble, France. Fly into Lyon, Geneva, Marseille, or even Paris and take a high-speed train to Grenoble. From there, if you plan on some serious exploring, it’s best to rent a car, but bus service is also available to Les Deux Alpes if you will stick to the resorts or hire a guide to get into the mountains.

BEST TIME TO GO: July through September are the months to visit to avoid snow in this mountain environment.Ěý

WHERE TO STAY: The ski resorts and villages in and around Écrins provide ample lodging, but to really get away from it all, book a stay in one of the 40 throughout the park. While some of these mountain huts simply serve as basic overnight shelters for mountaineers, others are staffed in the summer, offering hot dinner and breakfast and often a lovely patio on which to take in the setting sun in a gorgeous high-alpine setting.

Refuges almost always require a hike to reach, so choose your trail, do your research and book ahead to ensure you have a bed waiting at the end of your day.

Mikaela Ruland is the editor in chief of National Park Trips. She lives for the outdoors, and you can usually find her hiking, skiing, or mountain biking. She’s been to national parks on three continents, including 23 of the 63 U.S. national parks. Her favorite is whichever one she’s traveling to next.

The post Top 6 National Parks in Europe—And the Best şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍřs in Them appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

For the past two decades, Dan BuettnerĚýhas traveled the world gathering the wisdom of the world’s longest-living centenarians. The result is seven books for National Geographic on longevity and happiness, the most recent, The Blue Zones Secrets for Living Longer, published in 2023; the Netflix documentary Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones, which claimed the number three spot shortly after its debut in August; and the Blue Zones diet, whose guidelines have inspired millions of people to eat more beans.

Before he became an oracle, Buettner, who is 63, rode his bike from Alaska to Argentina, around the planet, and across Africa, setting three Guinness World Records. Then he became my boss. In September 2000, Buettner convinced eight of us, including archaeologists, biologists, photographers, videographers, and writers, to cross the Australian outback on bicycles while on a mission to solve the mystery behind theĚý, which Australia’s Indigenous people believe are routes, or land markers, to their ancestors. We interviewed knowledgeable experts and tasted staple foods like witchetty grubs, and beamed our discoveries via satellite to schoolkids following our adventure in real time.

During that six-week quest, however, our lifestyle was the antithesis of one that would ensure a long life. We ate gas station junk food, stayed up until dawn squinting at computer screens, and downed shots of tequila to soothe frayed nerves and celebrate milestones. Months later our team drove through Mexico and Guatemala for another six weeks, this time trying to solve the mystery behind the collapse of the Maya civilization. Had Buettner not shifted his focus to finding the world’s longest-living people, our hard-charging life might have killed us all. But it sure was fun.

In 2009, I wrote a story for şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř as his Blue Zones project started gathering steam worldwide. Buettner is on an ever-evolving quest, but today his lifestyle habits are comparatively monk-like, aligning more closely with his Blue Zones findings. “When you marinate in this stuff, you start to taste like it,” he joked when I spoke with him recently, adding that he abides by 90 percent of what he’s learned (although the Blue Zones diet frowns upon over-imbibing, he did confess to ringing in the New Year with one shot of very fine tequila).

As the result of the Blue Zones and books like , by Peter Attia with Bill Gifford, and , by David Sinclair, more and more travelers are seeking the fountain of youth. Wellness tourism reached $651 billion in 2022, according to the , and international wellness tourists spent $1,746 per trip that same year—41 percent more than a typical international tourist.

For those who want to travel to the original Blue Zones instead of couching it through the Netflix series, we tapped Buettner’s experience on how to soak up the centuries of health and wellness wisdom found in these five places. ThenĚýwe added our own adventurous şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř twist for each destination.

Why Are the Blue Zones So Healthy?

In the early 2000s, the awarded Buettner a grant to identify the world’s longest-living populations and learn their lessons. Independent from Buettner’s work, demographer Michel Poulain and medical statistician Gianni Pes identified Sardinia, Italy, as the region with the highest concentrations of male centenarians. In 2004,Ěýthey published in the Journal of Experimental GerontologyĚýidentifying the region as a “blue zone.” (Pes used blue ink to denote villages of exceptional longevity, hence the name.)Ěý Buettner eventually partnered with Poulain and Pes, and extended the Blue Zones attribution to four additional longevity epicenters around the globe, eventually identifying nine common lifestyle habits found in every one.Ěý He calls these lessons the (outlined below).

“People in the Blue Zones don’t do any of the stuff that is relentlessly marketed to Americans,” such as eating junk food and going to a gym or a spa, says Buettner. It’s not that people in Blue Zones have better genes, he adds, “it’s that their day-to-day unconscious decisions are appreciably better.” And that adds up over decades to more than eight years of additional life expectancy. “Blue Zones has become a movement to change our environment, so we mindlessly make better decisions about our health, and that’s what works,” says Buettner.

Blue Zones Map: Where in the World Are They?

As you can see from the Blue Zones on this map, all five fall in middle latitudes with temperate climates. Additionally, says Buettner, “Blue Zones are always hill people. They are not coastal. These cultures “grew beans and grains and garden greens and tubers, and brilliant women over the course of 100 generations got really good at making this food taste gorgeously delicious.”

The Five Blue Zones are:

The Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica: The residents of some of the mountainous villages of this Pacific coastal peninsula are twice as likely as Americans to reach a healthy age of 90.
Okinawa, Japan: Located 400 miles south of the Kyushu (the country’s southwesternmost main island), this 463-sqare-mile destination is home to the oldest women in the world.
Ikaria, Greece: Less than 100 square miles, residents of this tiny north Aegean island live eight years longer than Americans, have half the rate of heart disease of Americans, and almost no dementia.
Loma Linda, California: This bedroom community of Los Angeles is a bedrock for many Seventh Day Adventists who view their health as an integral part of their faith.
Sardinia, Italy: The island’s eastern Ogliastra and Nuoro provinces have the greatest concentration of male centenarians in the world.

The 9 Healthy-Living Principles of the Blue Zones

“Only 25 percent of how long you live is dictated by genes. The other 75 percent is something else,” says Buettner. Given that information, Buettner reasoned that if he could isolate the places where people lived the longest without disease, and then find common denominators between each place, that “ought to be something to pay attention to.” The following are the commonalities he’s coined the Power 9.

• Move Naturally: The world’s longest-living people don’t pump iron or go to a gym. They live in environments that constantly nudge them to move naturally, as in working in a garden or walking uphill to visit a neighbor.
• Purpose: Whether it’s called ikigai in Okinawa or plan de vida in Nicoya, Blue Zones residents have a reason to wake up every morning.
• Downshift: Each Blue Zone has a daily routine that diminishes stress; in Sardinia, one such option is happy hour, and in Ikaria that may mean an afternoon nap.
• 80 Percent Rule: Okinawans recite a 2,500-year-old Confucian mantra before mealtimes, “Hara hachi bu,” reminding them to stop eating when their stomach feels 80 percent full. Also, in the Blue Zones, people eat their smallest meal in the early evening and then stop eating until the next day.
• Plant Slant: Beans are the foundation of most centenarian diets. Meat—mostly pork in the Blue Zones—is eaten only five times per month on average, and one portion is three to four ounces, about the size of a deck of cards.
• Wine at Five: People in every Blue Zone except Loma Linda drink alcohol moderately and regularly, which means one to two glasses per day, consumed with friends and food. Sardinian Cannonnau (known elsewhere as grenache), a robust regional red varietal, has three to four times the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory flavonoids of other wines.
• Belong: All but five of the 263 centenarians Buettner and his team interviewed belonged to a faith-based community. Denomination doesn’t seem to matter.
• Loved Ones First: Successful centenarians in Blue Zones put their families first. They keep their aging parents or grandparents nearby or at home, commit to a life partner, and invest in their children with time and love.
• Right Tribe: Blue Zones centenarians were born into or choose social circles that support healthy behaviors. In Okinawa, they create moais, a group of five friends committed to each other for life.

şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř’s Ultimate TravelĚýGuide to the Blue Zones

Some Blue Zones are more amenable to mainstream travelers than others, says Buettner. In the two decades since he began to research these five destinations, some have changed dramatically. In Okinawa, for example, U.S. military bases have brought increasing numbers of fast-food restaurants to the island, and many of the original centenarians Buettner interviewed have died. But there are still idyllic pockets in each place where travelers can glean the wisdom and lifestyle of its residents.

Before you book plane tickets, heed Buettner’s advice: “If you’re the type of traveler who likes to meet the locals, are not in a hurry, are intellectually curious, and don’t mind staying in a rustic place to really absorb the culture, the Blue Zones are nice places to go. But if you’d rather party, get a massage, and order room service, go elsewhere.”

Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica

“The gateway destination for the Blue Zones is the Nicoya Peninsula,” says Buettner. “It’s an easy place to start, because you can book a nice hotel, do a yoga class, eat good food, and meet health-minded people.”

Although it’s an hour away from the nearest official Blue Zone, Buettner recommends staying in Nosara.Ěý The resort town is lined with five idyllic beaches and outdoor activitiesĚýthat spiral out in every direction. The real Blue Zones, where the centenarians live, however, are the small villages in the mountains above the ocean, like Hojancha and Nicoya, less than 40 miles northeast by road.

Where to şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř: Nosara is the perfect oasis for beginner and intermediate surfers, thanks to consistent year-round waves with clean breaks. You can also enjoy mountain biking and hiking in the tropical forest, Pacific fishing charters, and yoga everywhere.

Where to Stay: Buettner recommends the brand-new , which opened January 25 steps from four-mile-long Playa Guiones, one of the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica. Each of its nine plush private residences has a fully equipped kitchen and other amenities like private barrel saunas. Above is a rooftop bar lining an infinity pool. Buettner will be speaking at the hotel on February 2, but if you miss him, there are plenty of other distractions. Silvestre also offers a studio with a range of wellness classes including yoga, boxing, breath work, tai chi, and movement options for kids and teens.Ěý Three-night minimum stay, from $960 per night

The has been a family-run community hub for the past 40 years. More recently it added a surf school, guided hiking and mountain-biking outings. Additionally, the hotel can arrange a custom tour of the nearby Blue Zones with local Spanish-speaking guides—because the centenarians don’t speak English. Airy rooms accommodate two to six people. From $276 per night in the low season (May, and September through October) and from $480 per night in the high season (November 1 to December 19, and January 6 to March 31)

Where to Eat: Buettner recommends heading to one of the original Blue Zone villages to eat a casado breakfast, a word that translates to a “marriage,” in this case between fresh corn tortillas and beans. “Until the year 2000 or so, that was 80 percent of these villages’ caloric intake,” says Buettner. He also recommends stopping at a roadside fruit stand to stock up on mangoes, papayas, guavas, “and all these wonderful fruits that grow in their gardens like weeds.” In Nosara, Soda Rosie’s also serves casados. Expats hang out at the Destiny Café, known for its smoothie bowls, avocado toast, and organic roasted “cloud” coffee with fresh coconut milk.

Ikaria, Greece

“Ikaria is my personal favorite, because I know and love the people,” Buettner told me, adding that rooms in the guest house where he always stays are still affordable, there’s great hiking on the island, and you’re still likely to meet a longevity all-star. “When I started coming here, it wasn’t known, but today you will sit down with people from Israel, Australia, Italy—all over the world.”

Where to şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř: ThisĚý island in the Aegean Sea has been off the beaten path since it was first inhabited in the sixth century B.C. There are rugged mountain paths for hiking—you’ll be sharing them with goat and sheep herders—a growing sport-climbing and bouldering scene, and incredible beaches that require not insignificant descents. On Messakti Beach, which beckons with a sandy-bottom break and gentle waves, is a one-stop shop offering daily surf and SUP lessons, as well asĚý rentals and yoga on the beach. For an insiders’ view of the interior, sign up for a trek with , whose local guides who know the inland paths like the back of their hand.

Where to Stay: Buettner always boards at , in the northwestern village of Nas. The owners, Thea and Ilias Parikos, are dear friends of his. The inn “has a gorgeous deck overlooking the Aegean, and the family gets most of their food from an enormous garden right next door.” Plus, notes Buettner, “Thea herself will always sit down and talk to you.” Beyond the familial vibe and incredible food (some of her recipes can be found in the Blue Zone Solution cookbook), the property is directly above one of the island’s best beaches. Choose from one of five rustic rooms, each with personal bathrooms and French doors that open to a private balcony overlooking the sea, plus a small refrigerator for storing fresh herbs foraged on a hike. Time your visit for Thea’s cultural-immersion retreat, designed to teach guests how to incorporate the Blue Zones’ Power 9 habits into their daily lives. From $33

Where to Eat: It will be difficult to find better meals and views than the restaurant terrace of Thea’s Inn. She and her staff serve Ikarian specialties like soufiko and bean stew, a version of ratatouille, the vegetables of which “will likely have been in the garden five hours earlier,” says Buettner. Another beautiful spot Buettner recommends is , run by George and Eleni Karimalis, who work with grapes from a revived 500-year-old vineyard. “They have great cooking classes and make a very satisfactory wine,” says Buettner.

Sardinia, Italy

Sardinia’s Ogliastra and Nuoro provinces are worth the travel time. “It’s a road trip to get there,” says Buettner, but the cluster of five villages—Arzana, Talana, Baunei, Urzulei, and Triei are the most picturesque. Seulo, farther south, is home to the highest concentration of centenarians.

Where to şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř: Test yourself on the 33-mile Selvaggio Blu route, seen in the video below. It starts near the coastal town of Santa Maria Navaresse, involves sketchy scrambling and via ferratas, has jaw-dropping views of the cliffs and Tyrrhenian Sea, and is dubbed the toughest trek in Italy. offers a less extreme option with its seven-day Wild Blue Zone Trek (not affiliated with Buettner’s Blue Zones), where you’ll explore the 25-mile-long Orosei coastline, hiking to unexplored beaches, on narrow rocky trails along white sea cliffs, and spending two nights on a private boat anchored in cerulean waters. The tough limestone in Nuoro also makes it one of the premier sport-climbing destinations in Italy, with slabs, steep walls, and wicked overhangs.

Where to Stay: Santa Maria Navaresse, while not in the official Blue Zone, is a “nice seaside town with decent restaurants,” says Buettner. Base yourself there and you’re less than 20 miles from the nearest Blue Zone of Arzana. , a family-run, 12-room hotel, sits 150 feet from the beach and near an 11th-century church next to a thousand-year-old grove of olive trees. With free beach towels and umbrellas and sunbeds available, the beach of Santa Maria Navarrese is an extension of the hotel. From $178

Where to Eat: According to Buettner, to experience a true Blue Zones meal, you’ll need to be invited into the home of a local, because restaurants in these villages cater to special events like birthday parties and, as a result, “the menu looks like a roasted petting zoo, with goat and piglet”—more celebratory foods than staples. The Nascar hotel’s restaurant menu is more seafood heavy than a traditional Blue Zones diet, but the red prawns are freshly caught.

Okinawa, Japan

“Okinawa as a Blue Zone is gone. The only vestiges of it are the oldest people. You have to be a committed traveler to find them and also need to hire a guide, because nobody speaks English,” says Buettner. Sadly, the island now has the highest rate of obesity in Japan, largely due to the fast food introduced with the creation of the U.S. military bases. It may be lost as a Blue Zone, but Okinawa still has pockets of beauty, with stunning waterfalls, white-sand beaches, and dreamy resorts on the outer islands.

Where to şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř: The Yanbaru region, which includes on the main island of Okinawa, was designated a Unesco World Natural Heritage site in 2021. Its name translates to “densely forested mountains,” andĚý its lush forests and limestone peaks make for incredible sightseeing. Hike to 75-foot-high Hiji waterfall, the highest on the island, paddle the Gesashi Bay Mango Forest, and camp near off-the-beaten-path beaches. There’s also an incredible undersea world off some of Okinawa’s satellite islands, like Ishigaki, where you can snorkel among healthy coral reefs, dive with manta rays, and soak up some vitamin D.

Where to Stay: In Yanbaru, the whimsical accommodations at the boast 360-degree views of the sub-tropical evergreens, and offer a symphony of bird sounds along with a sauna for increased relaxation. (From $826 per night for up to six people.) On Ishigaki, the lines a half-mile long, sugar-sand beach. With 17 room and villa types surrounded by subtropical gardens, and activities on offer from resort diving courses to swimming off remote islands, there’s plenty of space to find privacy. From $147Ěý

Where to Eat: Buettner recommends in the seaside village of Ogimi, which relies on the same seasonal vegetables that have been harvested from nearby fields for centuries. Because of its popularity and authenticity, reservations are required.

Loma Linda, California

“Loma Linda is a very hard Blue Zone to see, because it’s about residents’ Adventist lifestyle—no drinking, no smoking, a 24-hour Sabbath, and church on Saturday morning,” says Buettner of the 9,000 Seventh Day Adventists who live here. But it’s possible to live the Loma Linda lifestyle for at least a day, then retire to nearby Palm Springs, 50 miles southeast on I-10, for further adventure.

Where to şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř: Do as the Loma Lindans do and spend a day at the University of Loma Linda’s , a one-stop shop for fitness classes, aquatics, nutrition classes, and, of course, a wicked game of pickleball.

Where to Stay: , in Palm Springs, offers a respite from the world. Set on 1.5 acres, two historic villas were combined to create a lush Mediterranean-and-Moroccan-themed oasis of bungalows, guesthouses, gardens and pools. Wake up with a yoga class, head to the Tahquitz Canyon for a short, rigorous, sweaty hike to a 60-foot waterfall, then return to lounge poolsidethe rest of the day. From $220

Where to Eat: Being in one of the world’s five Blue Zones, claims to have the largest vegan and vegetarian meat selections in Southern California. It also has treats like gluten-free, vegan, chocolate peanut butter cupcakes.

şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř contributing editor and 2023 National Geographic Explorer Stephanie Pearson lives in northern Minnesota and gives herself a solid B average when it comes to maintaining the Power 9.

The post Why Your Next Trip Should Be to a Blue Zone appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

Health and wellness is highly personal. Sometimes our bodies want a challenging mountain trek and a big dose of carbs. Or, after I’ve adventured hard, I might crave a nourishing week of yoga or a few days of planted-based meals and mindfulness sessions, preferably on a beach somewhere. Other times, I long for the support of a like-minded community while exploring a new place.

Whatever your needs, what you’ll find below aren’t your typical . They’re for active people who like to travel in some of the most beautiful places in the world. I chose spots with a variety of price ranges that meet a number of different goals, from hiking in spectacular mountains to surfing perfect swells to chilling out at a zen center. Better yet, I’ve been to many of them and share my personal take on why they’re the best places to recharge. Here’s to your health. Now get planning.

Aro Ha Wellness Retreat, Glenorchy, New Zealand

Best For: Hikers who want to explore the Southern Alps

The Experience: The Tolkien-worthy views are breathtakingĚýat this 21-acre, just outside of Queenstown on the South Island. Sparkling Lake Wakatipu and the snow-capped peaks of New Zealand’s Southern Alps are on full display from the 20 suites, yoga deck, and outdoor plunge pool of its minimalist lodge. Daily, guided hikes immerse guests in the beauty of the mountains. There are treks for all fitness levels, from mindful walks through towering beech and medicinal Manuka trees to quad-burning climbs of up to 10 miles, including a portion of the famed Routeburn Track. Six-to-eight-day retreats are designed around the concept of rewilding mind, body, and spirit.

A typical day starts with a sunrise vinyasa flow class, followed by a bowl of fennel coconut muesli, then a three- to-four hour hike and a well-earned plant-based lunch like veggie Pad Thai. Free time allows for a therapeutic massage or kayak outing before an afternoon workshop in fermentation or journaling. Dinner might be accompanied by a tart cherry and magnesium shot (alcohol and caffeine aren’t allowed) and all the fresh air and physical exercise guarantees you won’t have any trouble falling asleep. Aro-Hā bills itself as a mind-body reboot, but it’s also great conditioning if you want to extend your stay three days and tackle the full 20-mile Routeburn Track.

The Cost: All-inclusive six-day retreats from $4,320

Ojo Caliente Spa and Resort, Ojo Caliente, New Mexico

Best For: Hot spring devotees who love the southwest

The Experience: This located halfway between Abiquiu and Taos is steeped in history and healing. For thousands of years, Northern Pueblo communities made pilgrimages to the area’s restorative thermal waters. When Ojo Caliente opened in 1868, it was considered the country’s first health spa. Today, the resort includes a farm-to-table restaurant, suites with kiva fireplaces and vintage trailers, and a spa. But the sulfur-free, therapeutic hot springs are why people come. You can devise a soaking circuit to soothe whatever ails you. A pool of iron-rich water provides an immune boost, while the arsenic spring may help achy muscles. The soda pool promises digestive relief and if you’re feeling down, the lithia pool is purportedly a natural mood enhancer. There’s also a mud pool where you can cover your body in purifying clay and new bathhouses with saunas and steam rooms. Drop in for a day soak or create a DIY wellness weekend and join vinyasa flow sessions in the yoga yurt and bike and hike the high-elevation trails right at the resort’s doorstep. The trailhead for the cottonwood-lined 1.8-mile Bosque Loop is steps from the lobby. Nearby, the Abiquiu Lake Vista Trail system offers sensational views of the 5,200-acre reservoir, Cerro Pedernal mesa, and Georgia O’Keeffe’s beloved summer home, Ghost Ranch.

The Cost: Rooms from $239 + communal soaking from $45

Euphoria Retreat, Peloponnese, Greece

Best For: History buffs who want to sightsee while they sweat

The Experience: Programs at Euphoria combine the physical training of ancient Spartan warriors and the wellness wisdom of Hippocrates, with influences of Taoist philosophy, traditional Chinese medicine, and the latest science-based therapies mixed in. The resembles a medieval village on 90 acres of hills in Mystras, a 13th-century town outside of Sparta in the Peloponnese region of southern Greece. A sprawling four-story spa complex is built around a heated, sphere-shaped pool with an underwater soundtrack of whale songs. All guests have access to the Byzantine hammam (a type of steam bath), salt therapy room, infrared sauna, sensory deprivation pool, and gym. You can also customize your vacation with a la carte treatments, like a detox cupping massage or sign up for a retreat, like the Spartan Spirit of şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř. This multi-sport program doubles as a sightseeing tour over three, five, or seven days. Every day you’ll be challenged with two to three hours of physical exercise. You might trek to the 7,890-foot peak of Mount Taygetus mountain or go rock climbing at Lagada, one of the best sports crags in Greece. Meals are customized for each guest based on a test that looks at metabolic markers such as glucose and glutathione, and can feel, well, a bit spartan. We won’t tell if you hit up one of the nearby tavernas.

The Cost: From $284 per night, including group activities

Blackberry Mountain, Walland, Tennessee

Best For: Active people who like good food and a tipple of whiskey after a hike

The Experience: Blackberry Mountain’s deep selection of Pappy Van Winkle bourbon was my first hint that this wasn’t your typical wellness retreat. The second: I was encouraged to work up an appetite. The spectacular setting makes that easy. Situated 20 minutes from the entrance of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, this Ěýfeels like a private playground, laced with 36 miles of hiking trails and 8 miles of singletrack. You can get after it trail running, bouldering, and mountain biking, then revive your muscles with fascial flossing (a technique that simultaneously elongates and contracts the fascia) at the recovery lab.

Or slow things down with aerial forest yoga followed by spa treatments like candlelight sound bathing and crystal reiki. An on-site art studio encourages guests to flex their creative side with pottery and watercolors. Blackberry Mountain puts a lighter spin on the decadent seasonal Southern cooking of its sister property, culinary mecca Blackberry Farm. I fueled my days with sweet potato oatmeal cakes topped with honey creme fraiche, then rewarded my efforts at night with dishes like hanger steak, smoked carrots and oyster mushrooms, and a sip of whisky. I left feeling like I’d just spent an energizing weekend at adult summer camp.

The Cost: Rates start at $1,595 per night based on double occupancy and includes meals and unlimited morning fitness classes

Kamalaya, Koh Samui, Thailand

Best For: Ayurvedic-focussed healing on a stunning island

The Experience: Founded by a former yogi monk and a master of traditional Chinese medicine and Indian Ayurvedic philosophy, this sits on a dreamy slice of jungle shrouded sand. You could come to the island for a beach vacation and book a la carte therapies. But the majority of guests are drawn to the 20-plus programs Kamalaya offers that range from three to 21 days and address everything from gut health to burnout. A team of in-house experts—including osteopaths and naturopaths, as well as visiting practitioners— administer treatments like Chi Nei Tsang, a Taoist abdominal massage, in treehouse-inspired rooms.

If you’ve come for the signature detox program, you’ll dine on ​​flavorful, yet portion-controlled plant-based, low-inflammatory, low-allergenic, and low-glycemic food. Otherwise you can indulge in Thai specialties, like thom kha gai (chicken and coconut soup). All programs have downtime to take advantage of activities, like a half-day cruise aboard a wooden Turkish Ketch along the southern coast.

The Cost: Three-night minimum. Three-night programs start at $1,400, including meals and treatments

Root şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍřs, Peru + Puget Sound + Banff

Best For: Those seeking outdoor adventure and community

The Experience: A lot of wellness retreats cultivate mindfulness and push us physically, but also emphasizes the importance of being part of a diverse, inclusive community. Domestic and international itineraries combine the knowledge of local guides with the expertise of Root şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍřs’ tour leaders, who include yoga instructors, wilderness therapists, justice advocates, and body positivity coaches. Most trips are capped at 12 people and pre-trip Zoom calls allow participants to bond while post-trip calls keep new friends connected and help reinforce new habits with supportive coaching.

Itinerary highlights for 2024 include:

• A four-day kayak and low-impact camping expedition around Puget Sound ($2,995) with daily yoga and meditation, locally-sourced food, and possible orca sightings.
• A challenging nine-day trek in the Andes of Peru ($4,595) that involves five to eight hours of hiking a day, journaling sessions, and camping in local communities.
• And a six-day backpacking and camping adventure in the rugged Canadian Rockies around Banff ($3,595), where you’ll wild swim and forest bathe.

Mountain Trek Health Reset Retreat, Nelson, British Columbia

Best For: Mountain lovers who want to recharge in the Canadian Rockies

The Experience: A good wilderness ­ramble can do wonders for our health. Ěýamplifies the benefits by complementing rigorous hikes with holistic healing therapies, lifestyle workshops, and a diet free of processed foods, caffeine, sugar, and alcohol. A team of 40 experts, including nutritionists, naturopaths, and certified forest bathing guides, take care of 15 guests each week. Based out of a timber lodge in B.C.’s gorgeous Kootenay Range, the daily schedule starts with sunrise yoga, followed by three to four hours of nordic hiking with a break for a picnic lunch. Groups are broken up based on fitness levels and depending on the season, you might trek past meadows of alpine wildflowers or patches of golden larch, and spot bear, moose, or marmots. Back at the lodge, you’ll attend lectures on topics like the art of goal setting and have down time to soak in the hot tub or the natural mineral hot springs just a five-minute walk away. Dinner is at 5:15 p.m. and might feature cedar plank grilled salmon and baby spinach and arugula salad. A post-meal crystal singing bowl session ensures you’ll wind down for a deep sleep.

The Cost: $6,700 a week, all-inclusive

Crestone Mountain Zen Center, Crestone, Colorado

Best For: Those craving solitude and quiet

The Experience: When life gets overwhelming, this Zen Buddhist tucked sixty miles south of Salida between the jagged Sangre de Cristo Mountains and Colorado’s vast San Luis Valley, is the ultimate escape to still the mind and reset. And a visit doesn’t resign you to a monastic life of 4:30 a.m. wake up calls and marathon meditation sessions. You can create a custom retreat from four days to three months, be it solitude in the wilderness or a quiet, distraction-free space to read, breathe, hike, or regroup. Accommodation options range from a 10-site campground and a yurt to simple cabins and a five-room guest house. Stays include three garden-grown vegetarian meals per day and guests are welcome to join residents in group meditation. It’s also a great base if you’re craving some contemplative solo adventure time. The campus is surrounded by 240 trail-laced acres of piñon pine and juniper forest and is at the doorstep of some of Colorado’s most majestic hikes, like the Spanish Peak Trail and Kit Carson Peak, as well as natural hot springs.

The Cost: Starting at $75 a day for camping

SHA Wellness Clinic, Alicante, Spain + Riviera Maya, Mexico

Best For: Those looking for a total reboot

The Experience: This is in the middle of Spain’s Sierra Helada Natural Park. Of every 100 guests who arrive, more than half are repeat visitors who consider this a health check up that doubles as a vacation. SHA’s sleek, white-washed design and cabana-lined, rooftop infinity pool could be mistaken for a fancy seaside resort in the Mediterranean. But the real draw is a tried-and-true holistic approach to biomedicine backed by a team of 30-some full-time doctors and specialists who work in partnership with Harvard Medical School and NASA. Personalized health programs range from four to 21 days and address nine areas, including nutrition, cognitive stimulation, and physical performance. Diagnostic tests measure everything from nervous system activity to melatonin biorhythms. Based on results, you’re prescribed a routine that might include sound therapy with Tibetan singing bowls, a photobiomodulation session where you wear a helmet of LED infrared lights to stimulate cell repair, and a daily visit to the hydrotherapy circuit where you’ll rotate through the sauna, cold plunge, Roman and Turkish baths, and therapeutic water jets. Customized meals are inspired by Japanese and Mediterranean culinary traditions, and SHA’s Healthy Living Academy offers cooking classes, as well as workshops on meditation and fitness coaching, to send you home with healthy habits. On January 26th, SHA will open its second outpost in the beach town of Costa Mujeres, Mexico, with a sea-to-table culinary concept and activities like swimming in cenotes and scuba diving in the large coral reef in the Americas.

The Cost: Four-day program, all-inclusive at SHA Wellness Clinic Spain from $7,796 and at SHA Wellness Mexico from $5,770

Eleven Deplar Farm Live Well Retreat, Troll Peninsula, Iceland

Best For: A bucket list splurge packed with adventure and relaxation

The Experience: şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř collective Eleven is known for its high-thrill experiences. But the company’s new Ěýbring your body back to baseline with a float tank and yoga nidra sessions after the adrenaline. Deplar Farm, a remote 13-room lodge with floor-to-ceiling windows framing craggy peaks, is the perfect setting for transformation. At a visit here last winter, I braved the extreme elements on Icelandic horseback expeditions, Arctic surf missions, and cross-country ski outings to a silent lunch in a cozy cabin.

Back in the comfort of the lodge, I reset my nervous system with guided breathwork, sound baths, and a Viking sauna ritual that involved alternating between sweating in what looked like a hobbit house, then dunking in the cold plunge. Nourishing meals highlighted Icelandic ingredients in dishes like wolf fish with braised cauliflower puree and deconstructed skyr cake with almond crumble. At night, I’d watch for the Northern Lights from the geothermally-heated saltwater pool and would lull myself into a meditative state.

The Cost: Four-night retreat from $11,000

The Ultimate Costa Rica Wellness Retreats

A hotspot for wellness and longevity—the country’s Nicoya Peninsula is one of the world’s blue zones, a place people regularly live past the age of 100—I couldn’t leave Costa Rica off this list. Here are four more incredible trips that will leave you re-energized.

Surf Synergy

Best For: Surfers who crave personal instruction

The Experience: This in the beach town of Jacó was co-founded by Marcel Oliveira, Costa Rica’s reigning national SUP champ. Week-long one-on-one surf and SUP immersions include twice-weekly massages, ice baths, daily yoga, breathwork training, and healthy meals featuring ingredients from the on-site permaculture garden. With six beaches within easy reach, programs can be tailored to all experience levels and coaches provide video analysis that breaks down your technique.

The Cost: Seven nights, all-inclusive from $2,765

Hike Coast to Coast Along el Camino de Costa Rica

Best For: Hikers who like to explore

The Experience: I thought all of Costa Rica had been discovered until I trekked el Camino de Costa Rica, a 174-mile trail stretching between the Caribbean and the Pacific. Its 16 stages highlight rural communities, an Indigenous territory, and rarely visited parks and nature reserves. During my hike with I spotted an insane amount of wildlife, from glass-winged butterflies to two-toed sloth and racoon-like coati, dined in the homes of welcoming locals, and overnighted at simple hot springs hotels and low-frills eco-resorts. Be warned, this isn’t a walk in the park. Each stage averages four to 24 miles and the trail contains some serious elevation gain and requires a few river crossings.

The Cost: 16-day trips on the Camino de Costa Rica with Urri Trek from $1,950

Blue Osa Yoga Retreat, Osa Peninsula

Best For: Yogis who love the beach

This solar-powered in the southwest province of Punta Arenas is steps from a quiet stretch of sand. You can customize your own wellness vacation (beach yoga, a coconut body scrub at the spa, a day-trip to Corcovado National Park) or book a structured retreat. The Best of Costa Rica program is packed with yoga sessions but also takes groups off property on mangrove kayak tours, hikes to waterfalls, and birdwatching. Communal meals are a highlight (there’s even a Blue Osa cookbook) and showcase produce from the lodge’s on-site organic garden and local farmers. Start the day with Costa Rican coffee and tropical fruits, midday, refuel with a vegan chimichurri sweet potato bowl, and at night, feast on house-made rosemary focaccia and pesto pasta.

The Cost:Ěý$1,440 for a four-night, all-inclusive retreat

Surf with Amigas

Best For: Solo surfers looking to make new friends

The Experience: This founded by former pro Holly Beck runs trips around the globe, but Costa Rica is hands down the most popular destination thanks to the variety of surf and pura vida vibes. The week-long, women’s-only Northern Costa Rica Surf & Yoga itinerary is perfect for both beginners and shortboard shredders. Your hotel, located 40 minutes outside of Tamarindo, sits on a long sandy beach known for super consistent waves that break both right and left. Daily yoga classes help revive paddle-weary muscles and if the surf isn’t up, you’ll tour local farms, go on horseback rides, and visit national parks.

The Cost: From $2,400, all-inclusive

şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř correspondent Jen Murphy is constantly on the road finding the best places to adventure. Her next stop? Surf Synergy in Costa Rica to work on her surfing skills.Ěý

The post The 14 Best Wellness Retreats in the World for Active Travelers appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

In the late 1970s, my parents took my brother and me to a cabin on Little Cobb Island, an uninhabited dollop of beach and seashells on the Atlantic side of Virginia’s Eastern Shore. The cabin was only accessible by boat, and things could get sketchy if the fog rolled in and you drifted too close to the surf. It was November, and the lodge was cold and drafty, so all four of us slept that first night stacked like cordwood in a single musty bed.

I was only four or five years old, but four decades later I can still recall with full clarity the smell when I woke up the next morning. Bud Taylor, a local roofer who doubled as the cabin’s caretaker, was cooking sausage in a cast-iron pan atop a stove fired by driftwood. “Here, boy,” my father said, handing me a link. It was small and gray and wet with fat. Every bite sent delicious bolts of grease sizzling around my scrawny body. “Everything tastes better when you’re roughing it,” my father said, sensing my astonishment and handing me another link. “Don’t eat ’em all.”

There was nothing even remotely special about that sausage. It was just a pack of Jimmy Dean that Bud had picked up at the local Meatland market before we launched from the town of Oyster. But consuming those lumpy treasures out there, with the wind bullying the windows and the tide marching in, had transformed every single bite into a culinary masterpiece.

That’s the beauty of food and adventure, that something as simple as saucy grits can be downright magical on Oregon’s John Day River. Lentils at home are just wrong—convince me otherwise—but when spooned over rice in a remote Nepalese teahouse, with the Himalayas shimmering in the purple moonlight, you’ll be crying for more, too.

Food has given me so many great reasons to travel, to be curious, to try something new. I spent the bulk of a Swiss vacation hunting for a particular cheese, learned to make pickles from an Estonian lady who exacted her payment in kisses, delighted a friend by picking her pomegranates while hiking in Albania, and gave my tongue a fungus eating so many fermented things on a ski trip to South Korea. One great bite can change your entire perception of a place. If you want to fall in love with North Dakota, go run through the grasslands with a bag of Dot’s pretzel sticks.

That’s what I did. And of course I ate ’em all. Here are some of my other favorite meals from around the world.

Brats and Bikes: Hermann, Missouri

Back in the early 19th century, German immigrants left their homes in Philadelphia and set out west looking for land to build their own community. They settled along the Missouri River, where the hills and sunshine reminded them of the Rhineland, and the town of Hermann was born. Today you’ll still find families named Oelschaelger, streets like Goethe and Gutenberg, and, of course, heaps of wunderbar food and drink. Biking is one of the best ways to experience that legacy, too. The Katy Trail runs for 240 carless miles over rolling hills between Clinton and Machens and is the country’s longest rail-to-trail path. You will spin over mostly limestone gravel through farmland and along the Missouri River, then past wineries and into small towns like Rocheport, where the welcomes diners and riders alike with a fleet of rentals, and Hermann, a town worthy of a layover. Start things off at the on East First Street, where wurstmeister Mike Sloan peddles classics like knockwurst, weisswurst, and bockwurst, as well as creative, American-influenced versions like the Bloody Mary brat, a hickory-smoked iteration with celery, tomato, and horseradish. You won’t go thirsty, either. The whole riverfront region between Saint Louis and Jefferson City is known as the Missouri Rhineland for its scores of wineries. Hermann’s own Stone Hill is also home to the restaurant Vintage 1847, serving various wursts, krauts, and kartoffelpuffer, a potato pancake that’s a delight to say as well as eat. Forty miles east, the area around Augusta became America’s first federally recognized wine region in 1980, beating California’s Napa Valley by eight months. At the end of the line—or anywhere along it, for that matter—getting back is easy. Amtrak trains zip along the opposite bank, with special cars that can accommodate your bike.

Fondue Redux: Obwalden, Switzerland

It doesn’t take a culinary Sherlock to figure out what happens when a country famous for cheese shares a border with one famous for pasta—you get world-beating mac and cheese. And the Swiss version is excuse enough for an ocean crossing. Called ä±ô±č±ô±đ°ůłľ˛ą˛µ°ů´Ç˛Ô±đ˛Ô, or herdsman macaroni, it’s richer and smokier than the American stuff, made with bacon, butter, wine, and supremely stinky cheese melted in pools of heavy cream in a cast-iron cauldron over an open fire. Pour it over macaroni or penne and the result is exactly what you want after a long day in the Alps. You can find this dish throughout the country, but for the most authentic experience head to the central canton of Obwalden, where several small mountain farms double as restaurants come summer. Once, while cycling over the 5,285-foot Glaubenbielen Pass, I happened upon one where the matriarch, a boisterous woman named Rita Enz, served me a mound with a side of applesauce and stiff stone-fruit brandy. The Enzes have since retired, but their farm was located along the Ă„lplermagronen Trail, which lives on today. Its little-known network of well-marked footpaths and dirt roads lead to a handful of farms that create the namesake dish using ingredients produced on-site. To explore, keep your objective simple, with a two-mile out-and-back hike along the Obwaldner Höhenweg Trail, starting from a parking area just west of Glaubenbielen Pass; you can stop at the Glaubenbielen Alpine Farm, near the 5,860-foot Rotspitz, or wander a few miles west to the Alp Arni-Schwand farm. For an overnight trip, hike about 4.5 miles one way south on the Bärgmandlipfad Giswil Trail, also called Trail 576, to reach the Fluonalp farm, where the dairy cranks out 29,000 pounds of cheese each summer, some of which ends up in ä±ô±č±ô±đ°ůłľ˛ą˛µ°ů´Ç˛Ô±đ˛Ô. You can stay there, too (from $70).

Food Finds

Camp Chef

Three outdoor schools take backcountry cooking to a whole new level

Want to blow your friends away with a hearty stew or a freshly baked pie on your next river trip? The near Philipsburg, Montana, offers a four-day class that will see you mastering the art of Dutch-oven cooking (from $800). Or learn to barbecue better with four-time world-champion pitmaster and bestselling cookbook author Myron Mixon, whose in Unadilla, Georgia, will bolster your confidence preparing everything from pork butts and shoulders to chicken, beef, and ribs (you know, all the food groups) during a three-day course at his home (from $895). And if you’ve simply got to perfect pasta, Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region is the premier place to start. Make it a weeklong adventure with a van-supported, 156-mile bike tour from Parma to Bologna with (from $1,500). You’ll stop in towns along the way for tutorials on balsamic vinegar, gelato, and, naturalmente, handmade pasta.

Breakfast Club: Lone Pine, California

Last summer, photographers Dan and Janine Patitucci spent months mapping remote trails in California’s Sierra Nevada, looking for the best 36 paths to highlight in a new trail-running guidebook, to be published later this year. Their most rewarding discovery? Breakfast at the . And by breakfast we mean pie. The diner has perfected the art of the light, flaky crust, and it loads them up with the freshest fruit available. The triple-berry pie sells out fast, but the Patituccis also recommend the peach and blackberry, which you can order in a six-inch round just for yourself. The café is located just 12 miles from Whitney Portal, the jumping-off point for climbing (or running) 14,494-foot Mount Whitney, the highest point in the lower 48. It’s also about 120 miles from Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park, at 282 feet below sea level the country’s lowest point. Summiting Whitney is a big day by any measure, with about 21 miles and 6,600 vertical feet to cover. If that’s your goal, order the Iron Man Scramble—an eggy hodgepodge of spinach, avocado, mushrooms, and tomato slathered in hollandaise sauce—and get your pie to go. If you’re spending the night, grab a slice in the morning.

First-Reds Frenzy: Cordova, Alaska

Each spring, a craze begins to cloud the minds of Alaskans, and it has nothing to do with the approach of summer and, with it, of long stretches of actual daylight. Spring is when the first Copper River reds, a highly coveted and especially tasty sockeye salmon, begin arriving on the docks of Cordova, located at the mouth of the river, about 145 miles southeast of Anchorage. The fish, which can easily go for $50 a pound, are prized by chefs for the additional fat they pack on to complete their 300-mile journey, which makes for richer and more decadent eating. While you could order a fillet from Sarah Ecolano, a commercial fisherwoman and founder of the sustainable , why not head deep into the Last Frontier to witness the madness firsthand? First book a room in Cordova at the (from $140) overlooking the inlet, then set out on any of the 40 streams and rivers guides have access to. You can sportfish for salmon in the salt water, or head up to the Eyak River to throw big streamer flies at reds and Dolly Varden trout. At the end of your trip, the lodge will process up to 50 pounds of fish per person per day at no additional charge, flash freeze it, and store it for you until you’re ready to head home.

Food Finds

Hunt, Gather, Eat

A series of courses teach the value—and ethics—of holistic harvesting

You’ve probably heard that one of the best things you can do for the planet is give up meat, but that kind of misses the point. It’s not the burger that’s the bogeyman but the industrial, methane-spewing, water-polluting complex behind mass-produced meat. Enter Bruce McGlenn and his . Based in Kettle Falls, Washington, McGlenn teaches students who have never held a rifle or harvested a wild oyster how to hunt and gather. “Hunting is really about strengthening our connection to nature so that we feel we’re a part of it,” he says. “It’s about being human.” From May through June, McGlenn holds a series of four-day Awaken the Hunter courses, designed to brief you on how to prepare for and carry out a “holistic, ethical hunt.” It covers everything from regulations and strategy to choosing the right rifle or bow. In the field, you’ll learn how to dress and butcher your kill, as well as proper ways to cook it. McGlenn also offers half-day shellfish-foraging lessons on Hood Canal, where you’ll learn how to identify Manila clams and shuck a wild oyster. The session ends with a three-course feast right on the beach. Foraging from $195; hunting from $2,400 for four days

Eater on Belay: Kalymnos, Greece

The Greek island of Kalymnos sits just off the coast of Turkey, about 150 miles southeast of Athens, and counts as the closest thing to Elysium on earth. Whitewashed villages ring a ragged coast of limestone cliffs facing the Sea of Crete. While climbers know this 42-square-mile paradise for its thousands of sport routes, which ascend spectacular sun-fired arches and walls, you should come to meet George Pizanias, quite possibly the island’s best cook, judging by the crowds that flock to his restaurant, the , in the town of Massouri. Pizanias runs the establishment with his wife and three daughters, and prepares traditional Greek recipes with “an extra touch,” as he says, like adding homemade fruit chutneys that set the meal apart. Grab a table on the patio that overlooks the island of Telendos and let gluttony rule. Should you start with the stuffed grape leaves or the “ancient” salad? (The latter is a mix of wild vegetables the islanders have been eating for millennia, something Pizanias’s culinary research uncovered.) The whole leg of lamb, roasted to perfection, is hard to pass up, but it’s the tuna that’s exceptional; caught that day, it’s pan-seared with sesame seeds and served with marinated beets, red cabbage, olive oil, lemon, and fig chutney. If that doesn’t seal the deal, dessert probably will. Pizanias makes his own ice cream and serves it atop little fried dough balls called loukoumades, which he then drizzles with Kalymnos’s most famous ingredient: a golden, naturally herbal-tasting honey made by bees drawn to the island’s large swaths of wild thyme and oregano. Try not to think about that when it’s your turn to belay.

The Meat and Three: From Oxford to Hattiesburg, Mississippi

Chef Robert St. John knows a thing or two about awesome southern food. As the author of 11 cookbooks, the owner of seven restaurants, and the producer of the foodie show , the 60-year-old from Mississippi has spent a lifetime refining family recipes that have defined the region for centuries: Fried chicken. Dumplings. Black-eyed peas. For him, the greatest way to experience the South is to taste it, and to do that, he suggests a 250-mile road trip from Oxford in the north down to Hattiesburg via the capital city of Jackson. The itinerary links some of the most memorable community cafés in the state offering the traditional “meat and three” lunch special: a choice of protein with three sides, like collard greens, butter beans, and rice with gravy. The main at in Oxford is southern-fried catfish, while Bully’s in Jackson does everything from pigs’ feet to beef tips, all served on a wonderfully lowbrow cafeteria tray. The highlight might be the in Hattiesburg, run by St. John. “Best fried chicken of your life,” he says. Bring a paddleboard or a kayak to explore the northern recreational playgrounds of Grenada Lake and Sardis Lake, the latter also popular with mountain bikers, who enjoy 13.5 miles of singletrack at Clear Creek. End your trip in the Gulf town of Biloxi; from there you can quickly paddle to Deer Island Coastal Preserve, a four-mile undeveloped stretch of white sand where you can pitch a tent for free.

Food Finds

Back to Their Roots

A new Minneapolis restaurant is serving up gourmet Native American cuisine

There’s a growing movement of Native American chefs exploring their traditional food cultures, and it’s only getting tastier. In July, Sean Sherman, better known as the and lauded for his bestselling cookbooks, and Dana Thompson, executive director of the , opened , a restaurant in downtown Minneapolis on the banks of the Haha Wakpa, or Mississippi River, that’s dedicated to Native cuisine. You’ll find no dairy, chicken, or pork on the menu—or any other ingredients that aren’t indigenous to North America. Instead, chefs whip up delectables like native-corn tacos with grilled mushrooms, bowls of tepary beans with wild rice and wojape (a chokecherry sauce), and plates of braised bison. Even the cricket salad looks irresistible.

Big Sky, Big Steak: Hatch, Utah

If you could survey the legions of visitors who come to southern Utah every year to explore the national parks and monuments that pepper this beautiful part of the country, chances are good they would say these three things impressed them most: the rocks, the sky, and the steak in Hatch. Tucked in a rather boring brown building in this dusty hamlet, a mere 15 miles from the gates of Bryce Canyon, the on Main Street is an institution worthy of your attention. It’s a classic western joint, with a taxidermied bear on its stage and a bar where passersby can belly up for a spiked sarsaparilla on an actual saddle for a seat. But it’s the giant, open-flame grill in the room that makes this place unique. That’s where you go to cook your own steak. This is cattle country, and the beef is as good as you’d expect—local, grass-fed, mouthwatering cuts. Most folks aren’t from around these parts, so they opt for something hard to mess up like a New York strip. The more dedicated, however, should set their sights on the Tomahawk, a 24-ounce rib eye that covers the entire plate. The grill has meat probes to help you get that perfectly pink middle, or you can spend an extra three dollars to have the staff grill it up for you. If steak isn’t your thing, the chef smokes a batch of baby back ribs daily with hickory and other hardwoods until the meat falls off the bone. Also, sorry, families; no one under 21 is allowed inside, because Utah. As for working all those calories off, it just so happens that the nation’s newest long-distance hut-to-hut mountain-bike route runs right past the saloon. The Aquarius Trail stretches for 190 miles from Brian Head to Escalante and includes rollicking descents on solid singletrack like the 12-mile Bunker Creek Trail, which you’ll ride on day one into Hatch; from there, the first hut is just a few merciful miles away.

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Mom leans her head back against the wheelchair’s headrest to gaze up toward the tops of the redwoods. These forests are a kind of sanctuary for her, having lived amid such massive treesĚýfor more than 20 years. It’s an October afternoon in Samuel P. Taylor Park just north of San Francisco, and as I push her down the roughly paved path windingĚýalongside Lagunitas Creek, home to spawning salmon, trees tower on either side. Ferns coverĚýthe shadowed ground, interrupted by lower sweepsĚýof redwood sorrel that blanket the earth with theirĚýsmall, heart-shaped leaves. When sunlight touches the sorrel, the leaves fold downward to protect themselves, then right themselves once direct sunlight has passed. Amazingly adaptive, this species. Able to change when changing is required.

Once, my momĚýgot our minivan stuck inside one of those redwoods you can drive through.ĚýWe tried pushingĚýand pulling it, floored the gas, but nothing worked. Finally, with no options left, we deflated all the tires and strangers helped us propel it forward and out. I startĚýto remind her of theĚýstory, but a quick intake of her breath makes me stop. I listen, on high alert for any sign of pain orĚýdistress.Ěý

This is the first time I’m taking my mother somewhereĚýremote by myself, and I’m scared. We are deep inĚýthe forest, far from help. My mom throws an arm—the good one—out to the side then, a surprising gesture. She tilts her head back, and I tenseĚýup. We are outside cell-phone range, so an emergency—of which we’ve had many in the past couple years—would be a disaster. She isn’t wearing her helmet these days, even though the part of her skull that was removed to get at the bleeding in her brainĚýwas never successfully replaced. But we are wild women. We are risk-takers. Or rather, she is.

But instead of yelling out in pain, she begins to sing. She can no longer speak, but it doesn’t seem to matter. She repeats the one sound she can make—na—and weaves it into a tune of her own making.

Two years earlier, my mom had a massive stroke. She was 64. It left the right half of her bodyĚýparalyzedĚýand with full expressive aphasia, which means she has lost the ability toĚýcommunicate usingĚýany form of language—verbal, written, orĚýmanual, like signing or gesturing. After more than a year in hospitals and rehab facilities, she came home.Ěý

I was worried—no, I wasĚýterrified—that her physical and cognitive changes would render any kind of future adventure impossible. Gone were her days of performing stunts on surfers’ shoulders, orĚýmending fishing nets on turbulent Oregon ships, or simply traveling through the world with ease.

But my stepdad refused to let her remaining time resemble a typical sick person’s life. “We’re not gonna sit around, smelling like urine,”Ěýhe said. He boughtĚýher an off-roading wheelchair, with big bike tires in the rearĚýand oversized, inflated wheels on the front so they wouldn’tĚýget stuck in the kinds of divots that snag her regular chair. He added to it, modifying for her comfort and ease of adventure.ĚýWe decided that, as much as was possible while she was alive, we would do whatever we could to help her really live.

Mom is sitting in the adventure wheelchair during our redwoods trip. The extra-big tires roll smoothly over branches. I allow her song to steady me. In our new arrangement, I try to gainĚýsome of her adventurousness:ĚýI push the chair a little faster, veer off the path and into the forest. HereĚýthe ground is soft, with layers of bark and needles and the debris of long-dead things recycling themselves into soil. Two black-tailed deer hold still up the hill to our left. A new redwood tree shoots up out of a fallen log, creating life where none seemed possible.

Together my familyĚýcreatedĚýadventures where none seemed possible. A year after our trip to the woods, my stepdad set out with my mom on a journey over land and sea—a person can’t fly when missing a piece of the protective skull around the brain.ĚýThey arrived in Italy to kick off the world travel they’d always dreamed of but had never been able to do. Up to this point, my momĚýhad endured dozens of complications, including brain surgeries, infections, regressions, sepsis. Nobody, my brother and I especially, thought they could make it work. It was too physically impossible. Too exhausting. Too risky.

But they did, and my mom became obsessed with gelato.

Three years after that, challenging the limits of which trips could be undertaken, and how, and by whom, they took another journey to Greece, where my brother and I met them for a week on the island of Rhodes. ThereĚýwe pushed my mom up and down the cobblestone streets of the ancient cityĚýand carried her up castle steps.

Mom had always loved swimming in the oceanĚýbut hadn’t been able to since her stroke. On our last day together in Greece, we took the adventure wheelchair and swapped out the back bike tires for enormous inflated inner tubes almost the size of small car tires. We called this version of the chair Bubbles, firstĚýwheelingĚýher smoothly onto the sand, then cruisingĚýdown the beach, before slowly, carefullyĚýturningĚýinto the water. With my stepdad in front and my brother and I steadying either side, we took the chair into the sea as far as it could go and then began to ease her body out, supporting her on all sides. She floated on her back, all of our hands beneath her. Then, blinkingĚýup into the clear blue sky, she smiledĚýand sang her song. It was the happiest I’d seen her in years.Ěý

All of that is coming soon. Right nowĚýmom and I areĚýweaving in and out of the redwood shadows, pressing our hands against its bark, wheeling into tree holes big enough for the both ofĚýus. In theĚýwheelchair, we go slower. There’s no urgent need to cover much ground. Instead, she examines all the details that make up her immediate surroundings. She closes her eyes and listens to the changing sound of the creek as we walk alongside it. And with her, through her, alongside her, I do the same.Ěý

Not far from where we are walking, at another point we’d often visited before her stroke, a peninsula of landĚýjutsĚýout just past PointĚýReyes. In this place, for reasons that aren’t entirely clear to scientists, seabirds who become lost as they fly along the coast, or across the ocean,Ěýcongregate. They are called vagrants. Trees fill with species rarelyĚýseen in the area, a collection of birds who have lostĚýtheir way.

I feel like that with my mother sometimes. The journey we’d been on became lost to us, but we didn’tĚýfall into the sea. We found a new peninsula. Regrouped in the trees. And set off again, changed, but taking wing toward something new.

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In a thousand-year-old Himalayan folk tale, a king and queen, followed by their attendants, trek into the mountains of northern IndiaĚýto the shrine of Nanda Devi, the mountain goddess. But on the way, the goddess strikes the pilgrims down for their celebratory and inappropriate behavior, and they fall into small, glacial Roopkund Lake.Ěý

In 1942, a British forest rangerĚýassigned to patrol the Indian Himalayas during the Second World WarĚýcame across the lake and found the skeletal remains of hundreds of people. News spread, and Roopkund Lake, in the present-day Indian state Uttarakhand,ĚýwasĚýrechristenedĚýSkeleton Lake.Ěý

Thus began a now 77-year-old mystery about who these humans were, what brought them to the isolated, often frozen lake, and how they died.

The Nanda Devi tale could help explain the bodies. The pilgrimage they attempted, the Nanda Devi Raj Jat, is a three-week journey still undertakenĚýtoday to worship the goddess. Some hypothesize that the bodies could be evidence of a fatal 19th-century military expedition, but when many women’s bodies were found in the lake, this idea fell out of favor. Based on evidence of compression fractures on a few of the humans’ skulls, the most common belief isĚýthat a hailstorm sometime between 830 and 850 A.D. Ěýpublished Tuesday in Nature Communications, however, contradicts thisĚýtheory.Ěý

In the study, researchersĚýradiocarbon-dated and genetically analyzed the skeletal remains of 38 bodies found in the lake to find out how old the bones are and the individuals’ ancestry. They also analyzed the stable isotopes in the samples to learn more about what they ate. What the researchersĚýfound surprised them.Ěý

“The assumption was that all the skeletons dated to around the eighth century, but it became clear that this is not what happened,” says Éadaoin Harney, the lead author ofĚýthe paper and a doctoral candidate atĚýHarvard University’s department of organismic and evolutionary biology.ĚýThe bodies in the lake, instead of dying in a single catastrophic event, range from a few hundred to a thousand years old.Ěý

The authors also assumed that the individuals were all from the Indian subcontinent, as this is what . But once they had theĚýancient DNA samples, “it was clear this was definitely not the case,” says Harney.Ěý

Genetically, the remainsĚýfall into three distinctĚýgroups, ranging from 1,000-year-old populations fromĚýSouth AsiaĚýto 200-year-old populations from Greece and Crete, along with one individual from East Asia. Twenty-three of the bodies analyzed were from South Asia, whereas 14 were of Mediterranean origins.ĚýEven those individuals from South Asia “have ancestry that’s really diverse,” says Harney. “It’s not a single population coming from somewhere within India.ĚýInstead it’s people from all over the subcontinent.” Ěý

The results of the isotope analysis also show diverse diets within and among each subgroup, adding to the mystery.Ěý

As forĚýhow they died there and why, Harney says:Ěý“The only hint that we have is that Roopkund Lake is located along the pilgrimage routeĚýthat may have been used for the last 1,000 years.” And yet, for Harney, it is difficult to imagine this as the sole reason for such a genetically and culturally diverseĚýset of people to die inĚýthe same remote lake.Ěý

“We’re still pretty puzzled,” she says,Ěýand more research is needed to determine the exact nature of these deaths. A massive hailstorm still can’t be ruled out, but the scientists wonder if the hailstorm was the fatal blow or if it occuredĚýafter the people died.

And compared to other archeological sites, Roopkund is challenging to study. “It’s been subject to so much disturbance, both from the natural environment, like rockslides,” says Harney, and from hikers on the nearby trail going down to retrieve bones or look at the site.Ěý

The study does highlightĚýthe ways in which humans have traveledĚýto far-off placesĚýfor hundreds, if not thousands,Ěýof years.Ěý“We knew that there were long-distance connections,”Ěýsays Harney,Ěýbut the new knowledge demonstrates “how important migration and connections between different parts of the world have been throughout history.”

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My wife, my nine-year-old daughter, and I had been swimming for nearly an hour, circumnavigating a reef off a Bahamian island with the rest of our ten-person group, when our guide, Mia Russell, treading water, waved us over. “Guys,” she said in her singsong South African accent, “there’s a bunch of barracuda following us. Maybe twenty.”

I dipped my head underwater, and sure enough there was a line of the silvery, torpedolike fish stretching back into the shimmering aquamarine curtain of liquid as far as I could see through my goggles. “If they get too close, I just give them a bop on the nose,” Russell said cheerfully.

I wondered how I felt about this. I had seen plenty of barracuda before, but not in such numbers. In my rational brain, they weren’t threatening; barracuda often trail divers and snorkelers out of simple interest. My wife and daughter’s presence, however, had put me in a state of man-dad hypervigilance, with my limbic system on primordial high alert. Only later, while trawling through the internet, would I see words like “rarely” and “loss of tissue” crop up in conversations about whether a barracuda might mistakenly insert you into its food chain.

The battery of barracuda (yes, en masse they are called that) soon shifted course, and we were left to our languid strokes. Scrolling below us was a mesmerizing, diaphanous panorama of rainbow parrotfish and blue angelfish darting in and out of the reef. A sea turtle munching sea grass on the ocean floor put us at ease again.

Later, swimming close to shore, our lone little swim-capped group—we never saw any other swimmers—passed a low-slung yacht bobbing peacefully in the afternoon breeze. A woman in a Lilly Pulitzer dress, roused from cocktail-hour serenity by our presence, sauntered to the deck and asked, “What on earth are you doing?” It seemed a not unreasonable inquiry.

A year or so ago, I was looking to break what had become a sort of household impasse. These days my idea of a good trip is one where I collapse on the floor of a hot shower in my sweat-stained cycling jersey, beer in hand, after a punishing day on the bike. My wife would rather collapse into the chair of an art-museum café, petits fours in hand. My daughter splits the difference: she seems equally tempted by a spa visit with mom as a surfing lesson with dad.

What unites us is that we all prefer an active holiday. We like to come home feeling not rested but in need of rest. I wondered if there was a way to avoid the often inevitable feeling that a family vacation is a series of desires curtailed and compromises made, in which everyone wins by somehow simultaneously losing. (“Why yes, honey, I would love to take you to that fetid microbial sump that you call a water park, as long as you agree to go with us to this fascinating exhibit of post-Soviet conceptual art.”)

I wondered if I could get the satisfaction of accomplishment that came with my bike trips without the guilt of taking a vacation from the family. But cycling was out. My wife and daughter weren’t ready to go whizzing down Tuscan roads in a peloton.

I tried to think of something we could all do and enjoy doing. One afternoon, as I waited for my daughter to finish her weekly swim class, it dawned on me: swimming. My daughter, trained by her anxious parents since the age of three, was clearly competent. My wife seemed to enjoy churning out breaststroke laps whenever we found a pool. And I relished being in the water, although in the past few years this had mostly been on a surfboard. But you don’t forget how to swim, do you?

For a while, I had been vaguely aware of the growing popularity, largely in England, of what’s called “wild swimming.” Boosted in part by books like naturalist Roger Deakin’s iconic and a flood of subsequent swimming-changed-my-life memoirs—from to to —Britons were increasingly returning to long-neglected lakes and rivers, partly for a spot of exercise but mostly just for the unmediated joy of the experience. Meanwhile a growing number of swim-specific tour operators had emerged, offering trips in places like Croatia and the Maldives. These are like bike tours but in the water, with daily swims of varying distances (often depending on winds and other conditions) broken up by meals and supported by a safety boat, there to replenish swimmers with sugar (gummy sharks were popular in the Bahamas) and keep an eye out for watercraft that might cross our path.

I got in touch with , an operator based in the UK, and after making sure that everyone was cool with our daughter being there, we soon found ourselves on , one of the small Diapontian Islands off Corfu, Greece, in a myth-tinged corner of the Ionian Sea. (Odysseus was said to have been held captive by Calypso nearby.) The island’s tiny population seemed to consist almost entirely of old Greek guys wearing New York Yankees caps. Many Mathrakians, it turned out, had made their own odysseys—to Queens—before returning to live out their dotage on this quiet, pine-scented outcropping.

The trip was a revelation. Whatever uncertainty I’d had about the water—you will find “Corfu and sharks” in my browser history—or my desire to swim through great swaths of it immediately evaporated as we entered the warm, clear, ultra-buoyant sea, watched over by Russell. We would swim twice a day, sometimes hugging the shore, sometimes embarking on crossings of deeper, rougher channels. One day we swam two miles to our hotel from a tall, barren slab of rock our guides called Tooth Island that beckoned mysteriously on the horizon. Sometimes we would swim in and out of coves, looking for colorful fish or elusive crustaceans, exploring tiny, secluded beaches. Midday we would repair to the taverna for a Greek salad. At night we ate fresh fish, drank bottles of Mythos lager, and played Bananagrams.

Nothing you can do in nature is as immersive as ocean swimming. “You are in nature, part and parcel of it,” wrote Deakin, “in a far more complete and intense way than on dry land, and your sense of the present is overwhelming.” Our affinity for water is natural, Lynn Sherr writes in Swim: “We were fish ourselves hundreds of millions of years ago.” Our bodies are mostly water; our blood courses with salt.

Pool-trained swimmers, writes Leanne Shapton in , can find open water discomfiting. You can rule the pool, but your dominion does not extend to the sea. Winds slow progress, while the pitch and yaw of waves can wreak havoc with a swimmer’s stroke, even making them seasick. There is a need to constantly orient yourself. Looking down, you sometimes lose the contours of the known world. “I’m used to seeing four sides and a bottom,” Shapton writes. “I get spooked by the open-ended horizon, the cloudy blue thought of that sheer drop—the continental shelf.” Not to mention what one source in her book calls the “What the hell is down there?” factor.

SwimQuest’s founder, John Coningham-Rolls, says his company’s job is defined by what he calls the leap-and-be-caught principle. Generally, his clients are people who have dipped a toe in swimming and are interested in a larger challenge, but they’re unsure of how to go about it. “It’s ordinary people doing extraordinary things, safe in the knowledge that they are looked after in the elements,” he says.

In this other world, freed from the weight of gravity and the normal sense of time, people let go in more ways than one. “For some people, it’s a huge emotional breakthrough,” Russell told me. “Especially if you’ve had a trauma—it all comes out in the water.” Some people are simply trying to meet athletic goals, but for others something more transcendent happens. “It’s therapy, emotional release. I’ve cried into my goggles,” she says. “It’s this peace that overcomes you in the water, because it’s quiet. You’re floating. It’s comforting. It’s womblike.”

We were hooked. Which is why, less than a year later, we were in the Bahamas for another swim.

Our group’s base of operations this time was a large, tastefully decorated modern rental house on Great Guana Cay, a long, narrow islet in the Abaco island chain. It is known mostly for a golf-course community on one side of the island, which was built despite concerted opposition from locals and environmentalists and for being originally settled by loyalists—i.e., 18th-century Americans allied with England.

The ten-person group consisted entirely of women, with the exception of me and Guy Metcalf, a British swim coach who, along with Russell, was our guide for the week. This gender skew is common, according to Coningham-Rolls, who reminded me that “most swimming distance records are held by women.”

Apart from Russell, our guide from Mathraki, the group included Katie, an English pediatrician who lost her husband several years ago. She told me that he’d always sort of been the expedition leader in the family, and in trying to find her own path, she had come to the water. There was Patricia, a Frenchwoman in her sixties who lived in Chamonix and had taught herself to swim by watching YouTube videos. She exuded effortless glamour, had only recently given up smoking, and seemed to have a lengthy list of companies (H&M, Monsanto) that she was currently boycotting for various reasons. And there were Sarah and Ellen, a mother-daughter pair from the UK who had come to the Bahamas from another wild swimming expedition, a cold-water plunge in Sweden. Ellen, a student at the University of Cambridge, had set herself the goal of swimming somewhere other than a pool every day for a year.

Manning the sag wagon—a basic 26-foot fishing boat—was Troy Albury, the co-owner of Dive Guana, who normally takes visitors diving or snorkeling. He was jovial and sun creased, with a joke-riddled patter as smoothly worn as sea glass. As tends to happen in a small community, Troy had various roles on the island. One morning he was late because a tourist had flipped a golf cart and needed to be taken to a hospital. Another day, when someone struck my golf cart (long story), he suddenly materialized to sort things out. Like many people who live on islands, he wasn’t much interested in swimming, but he quickly grabbed a mask and speargun one afternoon when one of our group spotted a lionfish. He was out of the boat and back aboard, with dinner, in a flash.

As we headed out for our first swim, I tried to size up the group. SwimQuest does have training camps focused on competitive swimming—Coningham-Rolls had phoned me from Croatia, where he was leading a group of 13 swimmers on six-hour outings in 60-degree water. (They were preparing to tackle the English Channel.) But our week was billed as a holiday. You could push as much as you wanted, but the distance and pace weren’t meant to be punishing. Still, as someone who prides himself on a certain fitness, I like to know what I’m up against. Looking around at the present company, I decided I had nothing to worry about.

I soon realized my mistake, that I was making assumptions from my experiences with cycling and running that didn’t apply here. The polite older women, upon entering the water, transformed into powerful engines of hydrodynamic efficiency. I found myself falling behind, and not at all for lack of effort. To my surprise, my daughter, who I’d worried wouldn’t be able to keep up, was actually passing me. “Technique, technique, technique,” Coningham-Rolls had told me. Fitness only gets you so far in the water.

Unfortunately, my new passion for open-water swimming coincided with the fact that I actually did not know how to swim. The lessons I got at the Y as a kid were intended, as one swim coach told me, to keep me from drowning, not to help me move effortlessly through the water.

There were fundamental problems with my form that I didn’t even recognize as problems: I didn’t even know what I didn’t know. I often wondered, for example, why swimming laps left me more out of breath than my level of effort suggested it should. My problem—a common one—was that I was holding my breath underwater and attempting to both inhale and exhale when my head broke the surface. This is a recipe for hyperventilation. As the noted swim coach Terry Laughlin, author of , has observed: “One of the major differences between swimming and land-based sports is that breathing in the water is a skill, and a fairly advanced one at that.”

I had been trying to work out some of my issues before the Bahamas, but a lifetime of neurons firing in a specific pattern had left a serious imprint. Also, the lack of decent, uncrowded pools near me had been an issue. Russell asked how much I had been swimming since Mathraki. I said you could count the number of occasions on one hand. She shook her head.

As we gathered for a video review of my stroke, it was clear I had a way to go. My arms were not so bad, mostly because I had internalized the trick of dragging your fingertips along the surface as your arm prepares to enter the water. “Your right-arm recovery is really beautiful with that high elbow,” Metcalf said. Some lessons I had taken too literally. A long reach is generally prized in swimming, but I was overextending, my hand landing on top of the water, like a seaplane, rather than cutting into it at an angle, like a jumping dolphin.

The main problem was my legs. I had thought I could overcome other deficiencies by simply pounding the water on the strength of a lifetime of soccer conditioning. But I was kicking from my knees, not my hips. As my knees bent, my churning legs dropped down, creating serious drag—for a moment, Russell thought the video was playing in fast motion. All that frenetic motion was, as Metcalf noted, “pretty useless.” My spastic kick, Russell said, was not pushing the water back but down. “If you did the bend kick really fast,” she said, “you could actually go backward.”

Which is how I often felt I was going.

The days assumed a pattern: My daughter, who I had heard—with a mixture of admiration and envy—praised by the coaches for her “powerful kick” and “flexible ankles,” was typically up front with the faster swimmers during the four to five hours we were in the water. I would keep pace for a while but eventually find myself flagging. With incompetence masquerading as chivalry, I would swim near my wife, with her slower, steady breaststroke.

After the day’s swims were over and the others in our group flopped into chairs to read, I tried to regain my dignity by going running in the punishing, humid heat. On the fourth day this backfired. After a seaside lunch in Hope Town, I started feeling light-headed. What I thought might be food poisoning was actually sunstroke. Chastened, I lay in the boat drinking Cokes as Troy played me a selection of Bahamian rake-and-scrape songs and watched everyone else swim.

My travails in the water, paradoxically, were what I loved about the trip. For one thing, it seemed useful that my daughter saw her father—usually the authoritative figure giving her feedback on her running technique or answering all the questions in a trivia game—struggle to try and get better at something. For another, she got to hang with an intergenerational group of women united by a common passion. She had a genuine role model in the globe-trotting, acrobatic Russell, who had designated my daughter her apprentice “mermaid,” praising her for retrieving plastic from the water (“Ocean warrior!”) and coaching her on how to safely tickle a stingray on the chin, if you can call it a chin.

I also appreciated that the ocean was, for me, a big blank slate. On a bike, I had a precisely calibrated sense of my performance metrics (and a feeling of obligation to meet or exceed them). With swimming I not only had no sense of what good swimming times were, but I found that I didn’t care. I had no answer to the inevitable question, “What are you training for?” I simply wanted to get from one point to another, on my own steam, in a series of little quests that my wife and daughter and I could do together and commiserate about later. I wanted to see the beauty of the ocean while it was still there to be seen. I wanted not to sit on a beach but to swim to one. And when we did this—to visit the swimming pigs at No Name Cay—we caused nearly as much gawking as the aquatic swine themselves.

We’re already arguing about where to swim next year.

Contributing editor Tom Vanderbilt () profiled Jesse Itzler in ­December 2018.

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SureĚýyou can get stacks of toilet paper and massive bags of dried mango at Costco. But your vacations? That’s not something you usually pick up in an oversizeĚýshopping cart.ĚýStill, hear us out: of the giant retailer has been around since 2000, and unlike other travel agencies, it can get trips to coveted destinations at even lower costs due to itsĚýmassive customer base.ĚýAnd thanks to an increase in off-the-beaten-path destinations and luxury packages, you might want to consider the wholesalerĚýfor your next getaway. For instance, deluxeĚýseven-day safaris in South Africa can start at around $5,500, but Costco’sĚýexcursion, below, runs just $4,000Ěýand, better yet,Ěýcovers your international airfare as well.

You’ll need a Costco membership ($60 a year)Ěýto be eligible, and then you can startĚýscoring deals on rental cars, hotels, cruises, and all-inclusive tripsĚýwhere expert travel agents handcraft the itineraries and perks include massage and excursion credits. After doing a deep dive through itsĚýofferings, we’ve rounded up six of the most epicĚýtrips the company hasĚýon deck.

Rarotonga, Cook Islands

Spend six days in a private villaĚýin the Cook Islands, a nation of 15 isles in the South Pacific, where you’ll scuba-dive coral reefs, kitesurf calm waters, paddleboard secluded lagoons, and hike volcanic peaks that tower above white-sand beaches. The includes round-trip airfare from Los Angeles, a rental car, daily breakfast, a bottle of wine as a welcome gift, and five nights atĚý (from $1,749). There’s also an extended 12-night deal where you get the 12th night free.

Punta Mita, Mexico

You’ll stay at the swankyĚý in the laid-back surf town of Punta Mita, 30 minutes south of bustlingĚýSayulita. With cabanas on the beach, well-appointed private rooms set into the jungle, and a surf shop with free daily clinics, you might never want to leave the hotel grounds. Prices vary depending on length of stay and departure city, but if you book through Costco, yourĚý includes the hotel, airfare, ground transportation to and from the airport, breakfast, and kids’ club access, plus a $100 resort credit.

Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica

Explore the jungles and beaches of Costa Rica during thisĚý (from $1,285), which includes lodging at the boutique, oceanside and a private bungalow neighboring thermal hot springs at theĚý. Spend your time hikingĚýto waterfalls, stargazing in telescopes, mountain biking rainforest singletrack, kayaking through mangrove forests, or floating in an inner tube down Rio Blanco Canyon below the Miravalles stratovolcano. Guided outings,Ěýindulgences like a volcanic-mud skin cleanser, and a $25 massage credit are included in the trip.

Athens, Santorini, and Mykonos, Greece

You’ll start in the heart of Athens with a stay at the ultramodernĚý before heading to the stunning island of Santorini. The picturesqueĚýĚýhas 40 vaulted rooms overlooking the Aegean Sea, each with its own private pool. Finish your with three nights on the island of Mykonos, staying at the 17-roomĚý, where you’ll drink cocktails while watching the sun set over the water. The package includes airfare, ground transportation, hotels, a ferry between the islands, and food and drink specials. (Prices vary based on dates andĚýairfare.)

Cape Town, South Africa

Stay four nights at Cape Town’s five-starĚý, right on the edge of Table Mountain National Park, where you’ll tour the Cape Peninsula and its local wine scene. NextĚýit’s off to three nights in a luxe safari tent within the 61,779-acre Shamwari Private Game Reserve at theĚý,Ěýwhere rangers lead daily outings in search of the Big Five—lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants, and Cape buffalo—as well as bird watching and guided nature walks. ThisĚý includes airfare from New York’s JFK Airport, lodging, guiding, ground transportation, and many of your meals. (From $3,999)

Kapalua, Maui

EnjoyĚý for the price of four at Maui’s beachfrontĚý, located in Kapalua in one of the island state’s largest nature preserves. The trip includes airfare, a rental car, daily breakfast for two, and $500 in resort credit for indulging yourself with spa treatmentsĚýand sushi dinners. You’ll find miles of hiking trails through the rainforest, paddleboards and snorkeling gear for rent, and a guided 28-mile bike ride down the 10,023-footĚýHaleakala volcano. (Prices vary based on dates and airfare.)

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We get it. You’ve avoided cruises because the idea of being held captive on a crowded boat with piles of unhealthy food, cranky retirees, and a bad DJ doesn’t sound all that appetizing. But you’re missing out. These days, there are plenty of smaller ships with the ability to travel where cars, trains, and planes can’t, acting as mobile base camps with unparalleled access to mountain biking, backcountry skiing, surfing, and more.

Sri Noa Noa

Indonesia

The best surf breaks in the world are often the hardest to reach. Enter theĚý, a sailboat that hosts small, customized tours to empty breaks around Indonesia’s East Indian Archipelago. The Sri Noa Noa fits up to six people in airy teak cabins, and you can either book the whole boat or join an open cruise. When you’re not surfing, you can hike through national parks, snorkel ultramarine waters, or catch fish right from the boat. The daily rate includes three meals a day. For an extra fee, an onboard pro photographer will capture your adventures. (From $200 per person per night.)

Ice Axe Expeditions

Antarctica

On the 13-day Antarctic Peninsula şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Cruise, taking place this November, you’ll snowshoe among penguins, sea kayak with whales, and backcountry ski rarely visited peaks with the help of certified guides and a Zodiac boat to shuttle you ashore. The ship’s two decks of cabins fit 132 guests. Along the way, you’ll learn from onboard experts about the history, biology, and geology of the snow-covered southern continent. (From $10,995 per person.)

Austin şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍřs

Australia, Baja, Botswana

Small-ship cruises with carry just a few dozen guests, meaning the empty beaches of Western Australia’s Kimberley Coast stay mostly empty. For eight days, you’ll hike to the top of waterfalls, go mud crabbing, and swim in isolated ponds before catching the sunset from the observation deck, glass of Australian wine in hand. Other destinations include island hopping in Bali or game spotting in the deltas of Botswana. (Trips start at $2,990 per person.)

Aqua Expeditions

Peru, Cambodia, Vietnam

Want to avoid seasickness on the open ocean? is for you. The cruise company offers three-to-seven-night adventures on two of the world’s most iconic waterways: the Amazon River through Peru and the Mekong River in Cambodia and Vietnam. Skiffs take passengers ashore for off-road biking excursions and jungle hikes. But with suites featuring floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the water, plus amenities like an outdoor hot tub, fitness room, and locally sourced meals, no one will blame you if you stay aboard. (From $3,825 per person for three nights.)

UnCruise şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍřs

Alaska, Panama, Costa Rica, Hawaii

The size of the small ships in the fleet is key: The 120-to-232-foot vessels can travel narrow passages that large vessels can’t, and they anchor in small bays so you can explore scenic spots via kayak or paddleboard. Destinations include southeast Alaska and Glacier Bay National Park, the rainforests of Panama and Costa Rica, and Hawaii’s emerald isles. Onboard, view wildlife or the night sky from observation decks, participate in a topside yoga session, and dine on healthy meals. (From $2,995 per person for seven nights.)

BC Ferries

British Columbia

BC Ferries isn’t a cruise ship operator—the company provides transportation to coastal communities around British Columbia. But these same boats also offer multiday vacation packages. The eight-day starts in Vancouver and visits small fishing villages on Vancouver Island before heading up the famed Inside Passage to the secluded port of Prince Rupert. You’ll spend each night in onshore hotels, so there’s no sleeping in small cabins. By day, you’ll choose your own adventures, from photographing grizzlies to watching for whales. (From $1,176 per person for seven nights.)

The Rider Experience

The Grenadines

If you’re a kitesurfer, check out the . Its eight-night tour of the Grenadines aboard a 45-foot sailing catamaran includes daily kitesurfing sessions off remote Caribbean islands like Canouan, Tobago Cays, and Mayrea. Newbies can take lessons, and other activities include paddleboarding and snorkeling through turquoise waters. Or go farther afield with the Rider Experience’s trips in Greece, Egypt, and other exotic locations. (From $2,650 per person for eight nights.)

Islandhopping

Croatia, Italy, Greece

Imagine a guided cycling tour combined with a small-ship excursion, and you’ll have the idea behind . On its cruises, you bring your bike aboard and disembark to ride flowing singletrack, buff downhill trails, and winding dirt roads around Mediterranean islands in Croatia, Italy, and Greece. If you don’t have a bicycle, the boat will provide a full-suspension loaner for a small fee. The cabins aren’t lavish, but they’re cozy enough for a great night’s sleep after a long day in the saddle. (From $1,155 per person for seven nights.)

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