Atlantic Islander
09-17-2013, 07:49 AM
Got wanderlust? We’ve got your ticket. The National Geographic Traveler editors present the new year's 20 must-see places.
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Crimea
Photograph by Caro, Alamy
Playground of the tsars
"Russia needs its paradise,” Prince Grigory Potemkin, Catherine the Great’s general, wrote in 1782 urging the annexation of Crimea, and no wonder.
The Crimean Peninsula, with its voluptuously curved Black Sea coast of sparkling cliffs, is paradise—with Riviera-grade vistas but without Riviera prices. Balmy with 300 days of sun a year (“It is never winter here,” said the writer Anton Chekhov, who had a dacha near Yalta), the place served as the playground of tsars and Politburo fat cats. Russians practically wept when, after the breakup of the Soviet Union, Crimea was pulled out of the orbit of Russian rule and became part of an independent Ukraine.
A trace of Soviet hangover endures in the form of unsmiling babushkas and concrete block architecture. Visitors can tour the once secret nuclear-blast-proof Soviet submarine base in Balaklava, a piece of Cold War history, now a museum. Afterward, retreat to one of the briny health resorts of the west and east coasts for a therapeutic mud bath, or go for a run down to Livadia Palace in Yalta, scene of the 1945 conference that reconfigured postwar Europe.
Summer is high season, crowded with Russian and eastern European tourists (North Americans are still rare). In autumn the air turns soft and it’s harvest time at vineyards like Massandra, built in the 19th century to supply wines for Nicholas II, the last Russian tsar. There you may have the pleasure of tasting a Riesling with the scent of alpine meadows, port the color of rubies, and a nectar called “Seventh Heaven,” of which a recent visitor said: “I could kneel in front of this wine.” —Cathy Newman
Travel Tips
When to Go: May-October
Where to Stay: Newer (opened in 2011) Crimea Breeze Residence is a posh, southern peninsula oasis with low-rise stucco-and-stone luxury villas, seawater pools, and a helpful English-speaking staff.
How to Get Around: Marshrutka (minibus) routes crisscross the region. Private and public bus and train routes connect most cities, and taxis are readily available. Luxury train tour options include the two-week Crimean Express Railway Journey from St. Petersburg to Yalta.
Where to Eat or Drink: Sample traditional Crimean Tatar dishes like lagman (spicy noodle soup), chee-börek (meat turnover), and plov (rice pilaf and lamb) at Harem in Yalta, Kafe Marakand in Simferopol, and, in summer, at the small beach stands and cafes in Koktebel and Sudak.
Cultural Tip: English isn’t spoken widely outside the major tourist areas. Bringing a Russian phrase book and learning a few basic phrases before your trip will make it easier to ask directions, order food, and interact with locals.
What to Read Before You Go: Lady With the Little Dog and Other Stories (1896-1904), by Anton Chekhov (2002). The legendary Russian playwright and modern short story master penned these 11 tales during his final years, spent living in a Yalta villa.
Fun Fact: Joseph Stalin stashed wines confiscated from the tsars’ palaces in the Massandra vineyard cellars, located in underground tunnels. Temporarily relocated during the 1941 Nazi invasion, these rare vintages remain the jewels of Massandra’s estimated million-bottle collection.
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Marseille
Photograph by Ed Kashi, VII/National Geographic
France’s new capital of culture
On a once derelict jetty, opposite the stone ramparts of 17th-century Fort St. Jean, a new glass-and-steel building shimmers behind a lacy spider’s-web facade of finely cast concrete. Poised between lapis sea and Marseille’s sun-drenched hills, the National Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations (MuCEM) stands at the entrance to the Vieux-Port, the city’s historic heart. And when it opens in May 2013, MuCEM will be a bold symbol of Marseille’s reemergence as a flourishing pan-Mediterranean hub.
Cities may rise and fall, but the great ones—and Marseille is among them—always rise again. Founded by ancient Greeks, France’s second largest city was already 500 years old and a bubbling stew of many cultures when Caesar laid siege in 49 B.C. A 20th-century wave of immigrants from Algeria and some other former French colonies led to Marseille’s modern reputation as a city far removed ethnically and psychologically from the rest of France. Despite recent headlines about drug-related crime, Marseille still stands tall as a world-class city.
These days Marseille has every right to act the cagou (slang for a show-off) as it and the surrounding Provence region assume the role of 2013 European Capital of Culture. “There is a new energy in the city, especially in music, theater, and museums,” says MuCEM director Bruno Suzzarelli. Young, multiethnic crowds gather for cutting-edge happenings at La Friche la Belle de Mai, a tobacco factory turned art and performance center. Major renovations have polished up many of the city’s 20-plus museums, including the Musée Cantini, whose trove of Picassos and Mirós is housed in an elegant 1694 town house. For all the new energy, Marseille’s old pleasures remain as alluring as ever: a stroll along the narrow lanes of the Panier Quarter, the lusty aromas of a good bouillabaisse, a boat ride into the fjordlike inlets called calanques. It’s no wonder that visitors are becoming fadas (big fans) of France’s southern gateway. —Christopher Hall
Travel Tips
When to Go: June-August for beaches, April-May and September-October for comfortable temperatures and lighter tourist traffic.
Where to Stay: Walk to the Vieux Port from the sleek and affordable Mama Shelter Marseille or see the boats from your private terrace at the luxurious Sofitel Marseille Vieux Port.
How to Get Around: The Régie des Transports de Marseille public transportation network includes metro, bus, and tramway lines. Consider a tourist City Pass for one or two days’ travel, museum admissions, and tours. March-September, a batobus (water shuttle) runs between the Vieux Port and Pointe Rouge. Kitschy, blue-and-white tourist trains wind through the streets of the oldest districts.
Where to Eat or Drink: Bouillabaisse is the homegrown culinary art form. Try Le Miramar in the Vieux Port or Chez Fonfon or L’Epuisette in Vallon des Auffes.
What to Buy: Wander through the maze of indoor and outdoor stalls at the Marché aux Puces and the daily Prado Market. Shop for santons (clay crèche figures), olive and lavender soap, olive oil, navettes (small, rowboat-shaped orange or lemon cookies), and pétanque balls.
What to Watch Before You Go: The Fanny Trilogy (Marius, Fanny, Cesar), 1948 (DVD 2004). Beloved 1930s French films (English subtitles), adaptations of the plays by Marseille’s preeminent writer, Marcel Pagnol, are considered national cultural treasures.
Fun Fact: France’s newest national park, Parc National des Calanques, is located on the outskirts of Marseille. Created in April 2012, the land (lagoons, cliffs, beaches) and sea (dolphins, turtles, seabirds) preserve is accessible only by foot or boat.
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Raja Ampat
Photograph by Daniela Dirscherl, Getty Images
An emerging island Eden in Indonesia
Raja Ampat has been dubbed the Amazon of the Oceans. Is that hyperbole? Not really. There are single reefs here containing more species than the entire Caribbean. A mini-archipelago of rain-forest-clad islands, cays, mangroves, and pearlescent beaches off the coast of West Papua, Indonesia, this marine frontier brims with life. Expect close encounters with recent discoveries such as Raja Ampat’s walking shark and pygmy seahorse, along with more familiar creatures—manta rays, leatherback turtles, and bumphead parrotfish. Not to mention three-quarters of all known coral species.
The scenery proves just as spectacular above the surface. On Wayag, steep limestone karsts drenched in jungle bisect a cobalt lagoon. Tree canopies filled with rare birds offer lofty theater. It’s well worth rising at 3 a.m. to witness the amorous, flamenco-like mating dance of the endemic red bird of paradise.
Remote doesn’t mean rough here. Cruise the region aboard an upscale conversion of a traditional phinisi schooner or stay at a hideaway such as Misool Eco Resort, with its swanky overwater bungalows. Diving is the draw, but kayaking and trekking are picking up. This is nature at its most vivid, above and below the water. —Johnny Langenheim
Travel Tips
When to Go: Late September through early June. Be aware that mid-June through mid-September is monsoon season, with rains typically contained to the afternoon.
Where to Stay: Exclusive Misool Eco Resort is a secluded tropical hideaway on the remote, private island of Batbitim. Book your personal water cottage-on-stilts (veranda stairs lead directly into the translucent lagoon) to snorkel and dive in one of the world’s most biologically diverse marine environments.
How to Get Around: Travel by boat from Sarong to Wasai. Longboats, speedboats, motorboats, and dive boats connect Wasai to other islands. Outside the resorts, on island travel is primarily by foot or ojek (motorcycle taxi).
Where to Eat or Drink: If you’re not staying in an all-inclusive resort or on a dive boat, Raja Ampat dining options are limited to the small stores, outdoor markets, and warungs (family-run cafés/stores) in Wasai, Raja Ampat’s capital. Another option is to stock up in Sarong before traveling to Wasai.
What to Buy: In the established tourism villages Arborek and Sauwandarek local women make and sell wood and orchid bark nokens (string bags), pandan leaf hats and bags, and wood or banana fiber skirts.
What to Read Before You Go: Raja Ampat Through the Lens Of, by the Raja Ampat Research & Conservation Centre (2009).This coffee table hardcover is a 288-photo journey above and through the Realm of the Four Kings. Proceeds support local conservation efforts.
Fun Fact: On Raja Ampat’s Um Island, bats circle the blue skies by day and seagulls take flight at night. The compact island (one lap around takes about 15 minutes) is dotted with caves, home to the diurnal bats that feast on ripe fruit.
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Ravenna
Photograph by Marco Moretti, Anzenberger/Redux
A vibrant historical mosaic in Italy
At first glance, there hardly seems to be any comparison between Ravenna and Rome: Ravenna is smaller, sleepier, and without Rome’s domed skyline or ruins. But back in the fifth century, it was Ravenna that served as capital of the Western Roman Empire. In this burgeoning city, Roman rulers built monuments celebrating both Christianity and their own power—monuments famous, then and now, for their sweeping mosaics.
Seven of Ravenna’s eight buildings from the fifth and sixth centuries are spectacularly decorated with examples of this ancient art. “In the past, many people couldn’t read or write,” says tour guide and Ravenna native Silvia Giogoli. “Mosaics were a way to explain the religion, and the political situation, to the people.”
At the Basilica of San Vitale (above), a bejeweled Empress Theodora stares across the apse at her husband, Justinian. At Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, two rows of larger-than-life saints march toward the apse. But in Ravenna, mosaics aren’t just historical remnants. Visitors admire pieces by contemporary mosaicists including Chagall, Mathieu, and Vedova at the MAR (Museo d’Arte Ravenna) or poke into cluttered bottegas (workshops) where modern artists use the same methods as their Byzantine forebears. At the Parco della Pace, locals relax beside mosaic sculptures; even the city’s street signs glitter with glass fragments. At the 2013 RavennaMosaico, mosaic mania takes hold. Visitors can gawk at new pieces, listen to musicians, and learn to make their own masterpieces. —Amanda Ruggeri
Travel Tips
When to Go: June-October; weather is pleasant in April and May but historic sites can get crowded with school groups.
Relevant Dates: RavennaMosaico, a mosaic festival, next takes place in October-November 2013.
Where to Stay: Walk to historic district sites from Albergo Cappello, a restored, seven-room palazzo, or the more modern Hotel Centrale Byron.
How to Get Around: Take the train from Bologna, and then walk, bike, or use taxis within the city.
Where to Eat or Drink: Housed in a former movie theater, two-story Ristorante Cinema Alexander blends 1940s Hollywood décor with homemade Emilia Romagna pasta courses (tortellini, tagliatelle, passatelli) and attentive service (helpful in translating the menu). For fresh seafood, try Osteria L’Accigua and Da Buco.
What to Buy: Watch the next generation of Emilia Romagna mosaic artisans create contemporary and traditional pieces in local studios like Akomena, Twin Dolphins Mosaics, and Koko Mosaico.
What to Read Before You Go: Ravenna in Late Antiquity, by Deborah Mauskopf Deliyannis (2010), provides a wide-ranging look at the city’s art, architecture, and history.
Fun Fact: Ravenna’s oldest monument is Battistero Neoniano. The surrounding street level has risen nearly ten feet since the octagonal baptistery was built in the fifth century, creating the illusion the building has sunk belowground.
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Great Bear Rainforest
Photograph by Paul Nicklen, National Geographic
Canada’s fragile coastal wilderness
Sometimes you can see both the forest and the trees. The Great Bear Rainforest, the planet’s largest intact coastal temperate rain forest, is an untamed strip of land stretching 250 miles along British Columbia’s coast that harbors extensive tracts of giant hemlock, Sitka spruce, and red cedar. The mighty trees rise high above a moist and ferny forest floor patrolled by coastal wolves, minks, Canada’s largest grizzly bears, and rare white Kermode spirit bears.
This tranquillity has recently been rocked by a proposal to send tar sands crude oil from Alberta to a terminal at Kitimat in the Great Bear Rainforest. The project would entail two pipelines crossing some of the world’s largest salmon-producing watersheds and a steady procession of supertankers plying the narrow channels. The local First Nations and environmental groups are vehemently opposed, fearing the catastrophic effects of an Exxon Valdez–type spill. “This is a wilderness sanctuary, a very spiritual place,” says Ian McAllister, founding director of Pacific Wild. “The pipelines would fundamentally alter the coast forever.” A decision on the pipelines could come by the end of 2013. —Robert Earle Howells
Travel Tips
When to Go: May-September
Where to Stay: At luxurious King Pacific Lodge (accessible only by floatplane), all-inclusive amenities include gourmet meals, whale-watching, and guided kayaking tours. Spirit Bear Lodge, a tour/lodging outfitter in Klemtu, is owned and operated by the local Kitasoo/Xai’xais First Nation community.
How to Get Around: Sail through the rain forest on a guided, multiday tour with experienced outfitters like Maple Leaf Adventures or Bluewater Adventures.
Where to Eat or Drink: Reserve a table (and one of the day’s homemade desserts) at tiny Cow Bay Café, a funky, dockside lunch and dinner hotspot in Prince Rupert.
What to Watch Before You Go: Last Stand of the Great Bear, DVD, National Geographic (2004). Wilderness detectives embark on a 250-mile adventure through the Great Bear Rainforest in search of the rare white spirit bear.
Fun Fact: The rain forest’s most celebrated resident is the Kermode bear, or spirit bear. A recessive genetic mutation causes these black bears to be born with cream-colored fur. One in three black bears on Gribbell Island is white.
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Malawi
Photograph by AfriPics/Alamy
Africa’s liquid asset
Locals call it the “Lake of Stars,” and it’s easy to see why. After nightfall, paraffin lamps illuminate Lake Malawi with a constellation of firefly-like flickers; fishermen in dugout canoes work the glassy waters as they have since before the era of the Maravi kingdom.
Deep and clear, the teal lake—Africa’s third largest—glimmers in the Great Rift Valley. Bordering Tanzania, Mozambique, and Zambia, Malawi is an increasingly steady presence within a dynamic continent. Last year, a political transition introduced the world to Joyce Banda, a progressive new president and the second female chief of state in sub-Saharan Africa. More than a domestic shift, this turning point presents an invitation to explore Africa’s best kept secret.
“When you make friends with a Malawian, they watch out for you,” says Moses Mphatso Kaufulu, a blogger from the historic British capital of Zomba. “The depth of African experience rests on friendship—this is what makes my country second to none in the world.”
Where better to befriend a local than by the lake? Swimming boys laugh as a kaleidoscope of brightly colored fish glitter to the surface. The only high-rise in sight is a jumble of sunbleached boulders. Malawi offers much more than serene lakes. Dusty roads connect towns, and mountains give way to plains of green maize punctuated by baobab trees. But the nation’s heart is a watery realm where waves lap the sand, leaving streaks of silt. —Andrew Evans
Travel Tips
When to Go: For lake and big game safaris, go in the dry seasons, April/May and October/November. Between January and March more than 200 species of orchids bloom in Nyika National Park, making this prime time for orchid lovers and bird-watchers.
Where to Stay: Guests at the rustic, six-room Red Zebra Lodge at Kambiri Point can join underwater safaris to view Lake Malawi’s diverse aquatic life, including the intensely colorful African cichlid fish. Remote Chiofu Camp, accessible only by a 3.5-hour boat ride east from Kambiri Point, offers bare-bones beach camping in light tents secured under the trees.
Cultural Tips: Comfortable, casual dress is the norm, but reserve beachwear (tank tops, bathing suits, short dresses, and shorts) for vacation resorts.
What to Buy: Handcrafted baskets, intricate wood carvings, and Dedza Pottery including hand-painted tableware and figurines depicting Malawian life.
In-Country Travel Tip: Foreign currency is widely accepted. ATMs dispensing local currency are located in Lilongwe, Blantyre, and Mzuzu.
How to Get Around: U.S. travel companies Wildland Adventures and Jackson’s African Safaris offer Malawi adventure itineraries that include transportation, guides, lodging, and meals.
What to Eat or Drink: Try the traditional staple nsima, a thick cornmeal porridge molded into a ball and served alongside ndiwo, a relish-like meat, bean, or vegetable side dish.
What to Read Before You Go: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope, by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer. It's the inspiring true story of Malawi native Kamkwamba’s extraordinary boyhood quest to transform life in his village by building a windmill.
Fun Fact: In Chichewa, Malawi’s most common indigenous language, the word for Lake Malawi’s brilliantly hued cichlid fish is mbuna. Hundreds of species of the tropical fish (coveted by freshwater aquarium enthusiasts) live in the crystal clear lake.
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Quito
Photograph by Casa Gangotena
The fresh face of Ecuador’s old city
Surrounded by bunches of bright sunflowers and chamomile, Rosa Lagla gently performs soul-cleansing limpia treatments in a market just a few blocks from Plaza de San Francisco, hub of Quito’s restored Old Town. Rubbing handfuls of stinging nettles, sweet herbs, and rose petals into the skin drives out bad energy, she says, working the plants to a pulp. With botanicals brimming from plastic bags, Lagla brings the Andean healing practice to guests of the newly restored Casa Gangotena on the plaza. Healer and hotel span two worlds, the traditional and the modern, both reinvigorating this city of 1.6 million.
For too long, travelers have neglected Ecuador’s capital city en route to the nation’s marquee attraction, the Galápagos Islands. Though its Spanish colonial center has been enshrined as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1978, the area has more recently undergone a renaissance warranting longer stays. In the past decade, city officials have invested nearly $500 million to make improvements to its historic quarter. At Quito’s heart, cobblestoned streets and pastel-colored mansions hem the revitalized San Francisco Church. Many restorers of the landmark learned to apply gold leaf, inlay wood, and chisel statuary in a nearby workshop with a mission to teach skills to impoverished teenagers with an aptitude for art. People are primary in Quito’s new museums. Emphasizing storytelling, Casa del Alabado arranges its pre-Columbian art and artifacts thematically to dramatize the mystery of the ancients. Quito’s historic center is now beginning to cultivate a vibrant nightlife. On Calle La Ronda, music sings out from restaurants and bars. But Lagla lifts spirits the old way. Sweeping up sage post-ritual, she says, “Se fue, el espanto. La energia vuelve—It’s gone, the fright. Energy returns.” She could be speaking of Quito, too. —Elaine Glusac
Travel Tips
When to Go: June-September (dry season, cool temperatures)
Where to Stay: Casa Gangotena combines luxury lodging with numerous cultural immersion opportunities supporting Quito’s Heritage Guardians program.
How to Get Around: The extensive transportation network includes private and public buses, the Trolebus (trolley bus), and trains. On a clear day, take the TelefériQo scenic gondola up the slope of Pichincha Volcano for panoramic views of the city and the Andes.
Where to Eat or Drink: Assemble a group of at least six to book a private, three-course dinner at indigenous community-owned Kallari Café in La Mariscal. The $7.50 per person tab includes a brief Kichwa language and cultural presentation, plus an inside view (and taste) of Kallari’s single-origin artisanal chocolate and coffee production process.
What to Buy: Pick up tchotchkes in the La Mariscal craft stalls, and stroll along Calle La Ronda during the day to soak up the colonial past. For authentic Ecuadorian tapestries, straw fedoras, masks, and tiles, visit the esteemed Olga Fisch Folklore Gallery and Museum.
What to Watch Before You Go: Prometeo Deportado (Prometheus, Deported). This 2009 film from Ecuadorian director Fernando Mieles explores how immigration has affected Ecuadorian society, which counts some three million of its people living and working abroad.
Fun Fact: Sitting 9,350 feet above sea level, Quito is one of the world’s highest capital cities. Its formal name, San Francisco de Quito, reflects both the city’s pre-Inca, indigenous Quitu culture and nearly 300-year (1534-1822) Spanish colonial period.
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Bagan
Photograph by Scott Stulberg, Corbis
A spiritual awakening in Myanmar
The once isolated nation at the culturally rich crossroads of India and China is a land that imbues even the most jaded traveler with a sense of wonder.
In Myanmar, government reforms since 2010 and the election of democracy activist (and Nobel Peace Prize recipient) Aung San Suu Kyi to parliament have propelled a profoundly gracious land, formerly known as Burma, onto the world stage. It’s about time.
Decades of reclusion have preserved a vibrant culture deeply steeped in Buddhism; especially outside the major urban centers of Yangon and Mandalay, daily life has remained largely untouched by Western trends. Rudyard Kipling’s words in Letters From the East still ring true: “This is Burma and it will be quite unlike any land you know about.”
The best Burmese travel experiences require a bit of planning, but the rewards are great—especially in Bagan, the arid, pagoda-studded plain along the Ayeyarwady River in Upper Burma where the first Burmese Buddhist kings, their courtiers, and other merit-seeking patrons built thousands of religious monuments from the 11th to 13th centuries. According to Burma scholar Donald Stadtner, these 16 square miles—despite the misguided restoration of some temples in the 1990s—rank among Southeast Asia’s most significant sacred ancient sites.
Secure an early morning bird’s-eye view of the monuments by booking a Balloons Over Bagan hot-air-balloon-and-sparkling-wine trip; profits fund community service projects on the ground. Spend the afternoon exploring dusty trails by bicycle. At sunset, find a perch and gaze over the panorama of castle-like structures shimmering in the golden light. —Ceil Miller Bouchet
Travel Tips
When to Go: Late October-March (dry season)
Relevant Dates: Balloons Over Bagan operates daily October through March.
Where to Stay: Head north of Old Bagan to Nyaung U for budget-friendly options like Aung Mingalar Hotel. In Bagan, the Hotel at Tharabar Gate is close to the main gate of the ancient east wall. South, in New Bagan, view temples and pagodas from your balcony at Kumudara Hotel.
How to Get Around: Horse-drawn carts and rental bicycles are readily available. For guided tours and small groups, choose an established outfitter like Woodland Travels.
Where to Eat or Drink: Try the grilled fish and fresh baked bread at Star Beans, located near Annanda Temple, and a little bit of everything (Burmese to burgers, plus free Wi-Fi) at Weather Spoon’s on the No. 5 Main Road.
What to Buy: Shop for lacquerware at the small local workshops where artisans use raw thitsi tree lacquer to create decorative and durable bamboo boxes, bowls, trays, and furniture.
Cultural Tip: Dress conservatively (no shorts, short skirts, or ball caps), especially when visiting religious sites.
What to Read Before You Go: Finding George Orwell in Burma, by Emma Larkin (2004), chronicles the year the American writer spent tracing the steps of Orwell, who lived in British-ruled Burma (Myanmar) in the 1920s.
Fun Fact: During Bagan’s golden age, temples were built from kiln-fired red brick, covered with stucco, and then whitewashed with lime. Erosion, vandalism, and some restoration efforts have turned most of the white monuments an earthen, rusty red.
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Cape Breton
Photograph by Christian Heeb, laif/Redux
Nova Scotia’s treasured island
During the 18th and 19th centuries, fishermen and settlers from France and Scotland came to Cape Breton Island, drawn by its rich fisheries, ample timber, and the chance of a better life. Originally settled by the ancient ancestors of the Micmac people, this island off Nova Scotia now lures visitors with its abundant wildlife, natural beauty, and assembly of French, Micmac, and Celtic cultures.
One-fifth of Cape Breton is preserved as a national park, laced by 25 hiking paths and looped by the Cabot Trail, a 186-mile driving route frequently ranked among the world’s most spectacular. “I have seen the Canadian and American Rockies, the Andes, the Alps, and the Highlands of Scotland,” said inventor Alexander Graham Bell, who spent 37 summers here. “But for simple beauty, Cape Breton outrivals them all.”
The mingling of cultures means you can seek a clan tartan at the craft shop at Gaelic College/Colaisde Na Gàidhlig in St. Anns, then explore the French-founded Fortress of Louisbourg on the east coast. In 1745 this garrison withstood a 48-day siege by New Englanders, backed by British naval support, before surrendering. In 2013, the reconstructed fortification celebrates the 300th anniversary of the founding of the French colony of Île Royale (present-day Cape Breton). —John Rosenthal
Travel Tips
When to Go: May-October; Celtic Colours annual international music and cultural festival, early October
Where to Stay: Family-owned Highland Heights Inn combines homey rooms and home-cooked meals (try the traditional Nova Scotia fish cakes) with breathtaking views of the Bras d’Or Lakes. Spend a day immersed in Gaelic culture next door at the 40-acre Highland Village living history museum.
How to Get Around: Drive the Cabot Trail loop counterclockwise beginning in Baddeck.
Where to Eat or Drink: Rusty Anchor Restaurant in Pleasant Bay serves up fresh seafood chowder, fish and chips, and some of the Cabot Trail’s best lobster rolls (pure lump meat and a bit of butter). Watch the ocean, and maybe even a whale, from the outdoor patio. Open May-October.
What to Read Before You Go: Fall On Your Knees, by Ann-Marie MacDonald. This multigenerational tale set on early 20th-century Cape Breton was the Canadian playwright's debut novel, earning her the 1997 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book.
Fun Fact: Most of Nova Scotia’s endangered Canada lynx live in Cape Breton Highlands National Park. The mostly nocturnal cat is built for stealth. Its fur ear tufts act as hearing aids and its large, furry feet function as snowshoes.
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Uganda
Photograph by Joel Sartore, National Geographic
Africa’s new frontier
Uganda, once the cornerstone of Africa’s Grand Tour, is today bypassed by most visitors. The nation and its people have been brutalized by dictators, battered by warlords, and negatively portrayed by viral videos. Safarigoers line up in next-door Kenya and Tanzania, with only a few coming to Uganda to see the famed mountain gorillas.
The land mixes savanna, enormous lakes, rain forests, and the glacier-clad Rwenzori Mountains, one of Africa’s tallest ranges. The headwaters of the Nile originate here, then burst through a cleft in the rocks at Murchison Falls. Uganda’s parade of animals is amazingly diverse. Hippos graze along the shores of Lake Edward in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, while lions lounge in the trees of Ishasha, in Queen Elizabeth National Park. The star in Bwindi is the mountain gorilla, a species down to about 720 animals visible in their tiny habitat.
Uganda has tough decisions ahead. Oil lies beneath the Rift Valley, right inside Murchison Falls National Park. Extraction seems inevitable. But tourism dollars could provide an easier coexistence between banana-loving gorillas and banana farmers in Bwindi. —David Swanson
Travel Tips
When to Go: The best times are during the drier seasons, January-March and June-August.
Where to Stay: Embark on guided boat trips, hikes, and safaris from rustic Jacana Safari Lodge on Lake Nyamusingire (Uganda’s largest crater lake) in Queen Elizabeth National Park, or from thatched-roof Mihingo Lodge on the secluded edge of Lake Mburo National Park.
How to Get Around: Public and private transportation options include minibuses, taxis, luxury coaches, rental cars, and inland ferries. Tour operators can arrange travel for day trips, safaris, and complete itineraries.
Where to Eat or Drink: In Kampala, head to Nalongo in suburban Katwe for traditional luwombo: a mixture of meat, vegetables, and (sometimes) peanut butter steamed in banana leaves. Funky Mish Mash in Kololo serves an all-day breakfast in a laid-back art gallery-tree house-café-garden setting.
What to Buy: Local crafts, including mats and baskets handwoven from elephant grass and palm leaves, are sold along roadsides and at outdoor markets.
What to Watch Before You Go: The Last King of Scotland (2007). The fictionalized chronicle of the rise and fall of brutal dictator Idi Amin was the first feature film completely shot on location in Uganda. Forest Whitaker’s chilling portrayal of Amin earned an Academy Award and Golden Globe.
Fun Fact: Small farms employ four out of every five Ugandans. Using mainly traditional, chemical-free methods, an estimated 200,000 organic farmers produce fresh matooke (plantain), pineapple, apple bananas, and ginger for local use and international export.
source (http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/best-trips-2013/#/nymphaeum-jarash-jordan_61111_600x450.jpg)
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Crimea
Photograph by Caro, Alamy
Playground of the tsars
"Russia needs its paradise,” Prince Grigory Potemkin, Catherine the Great’s general, wrote in 1782 urging the annexation of Crimea, and no wonder.
The Crimean Peninsula, with its voluptuously curved Black Sea coast of sparkling cliffs, is paradise—with Riviera-grade vistas but without Riviera prices. Balmy with 300 days of sun a year (“It is never winter here,” said the writer Anton Chekhov, who had a dacha near Yalta), the place served as the playground of tsars and Politburo fat cats. Russians practically wept when, after the breakup of the Soviet Union, Crimea was pulled out of the orbit of Russian rule and became part of an independent Ukraine.
A trace of Soviet hangover endures in the form of unsmiling babushkas and concrete block architecture. Visitors can tour the once secret nuclear-blast-proof Soviet submarine base in Balaklava, a piece of Cold War history, now a museum. Afterward, retreat to one of the briny health resorts of the west and east coasts for a therapeutic mud bath, or go for a run down to Livadia Palace in Yalta, scene of the 1945 conference that reconfigured postwar Europe.
Summer is high season, crowded with Russian and eastern European tourists (North Americans are still rare). In autumn the air turns soft and it’s harvest time at vineyards like Massandra, built in the 19th century to supply wines for Nicholas II, the last Russian tsar. There you may have the pleasure of tasting a Riesling with the scent of alpine meadows, port the color of rubies, and a nectar called “Seventh Heaven,” of which a recent visitor said: “I could kneel in front of this wine.” —Cathy Newman
Travel Tips
When to Go: May-October
Where to Stay: Newer (opened in 2011) Crimea Breeze Residence is a posh, southern peninsula oasis with low-rise stucco-and-stone luxury villas, seawater pools, and a helpful English-speaking staff.
How to Get Around: Marshrutka (minibus) routes crisscross the region. Private and public bus and train routes connect most cities, and taxis are readily available. Luxury train tour options include the two-week Crimean Express Railway Journey from St. Petersburg to Yalta.
Where to Eat or Drink: Sample traditional Crimean Tatar dishes like lagman (spicy noodle soup), chee-börek (meat turnover), and plov (rice pilaf and lamb) at Harem in Yalta, Kafe Marakand in Simferopol, and, in summer, at the small beach stands and cafes in Koktebel and Sudak.
Cultural Tip: English isn’t spoken widely outside the major tourist areas. Bringing a Russian phrase book and learning a few basic phrases before your trip will make it easier to ask directions, order food, and interact with locals.
What to Read Before You Go: Lady With the Little Dog and Other Stories (1896-1904), by Anton Chekhov (2002). The legendary Russian playwright and modern short story master penned these 11 tales during his final years, spent living in a Yalta villa.
Fun Fact: Joseph Stalin stashed wines confiscated from the tsars’ palaces in the Massandra vineyard cellars, located in underground tunnels. Temporarily relocated during the 1941 Nazi invasion, these rare vintages remain the jewels of Massandra’s estimated million-bottle collection.
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Marseille
Photograph by Ed Kashi, VII/National Geographic
France’s new capital of culture
On a once derelict jetty, opposite the stone ramparts of 17th-century Fort St. Jean, a new glass-and-steel building shimmers behind a lacy spider’s-web facade of finely cast concrete. Poised between lapis sea and Marseille’s sun-drenched hills, the National Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations (MuCEM) stands at the entrance to the Vieux-Port, the city’s historic heart. And when it opens in May 2013, MuCEM will be a bold symbol of Marseille’s reemergence as a flourishing pan-Mediterranean hub.
Cities may rise and fall, but the great ones—and Marseille is among them—always rise again. Founded by ancient Greeks, France’s second largest city was already 500 years old and a bubbling stew of many cultures when Caesar laid siege in 49 B.C. A 20th-century wave of immigrants from Algeria and some other former French colonies led to Marseille’s modern reputation as a city far removed ethnically and psychologically from the rest of France. Despite recent headlines about drug-related crime, Marseille still stands tall as a world-class city.
These days Marseille has every right to act the cagou (slang for a show-off) as it and the surrounding Provence region assume the role of 2013 European Capital of Culture. “There is a new energy in the city, especially in music, theater, and museums,” says MuCEM director Bruno Suzzarelli. Young, multiethnic crowds gather for cutting-edge happenings at La Friche la Belle de Mai, a tobacco factory turned art and performance center. Major renovations have polished up many of the city’s 20-plus museums, including the Musée Cantini, whose trove of Picassos and Mirós is housed in an elegant 1694 town house. For all the new energy, Marseille’s old pleasures remain as alluring as ever: a stroll along the narrow lanes of the Panier Quarter, the lusty aromas of a good bouillabaisse, a boat ride into the fjordlike inlets called calanques. It’s no wonder that visitors are becoming fadas (big fans) of France’s southern gateway. —Christopher Hall
Travel Tips
When to Go: June-August for beaches, April-May and September-October for comfortable temperatures and lighter tourist traffic.
Where to Stay: Walk to the Vieux Port from the sleek and affordable Mama Shelter Marseille or see the boats from your private terrace at the luxurious Sofitel Marseille Vieux Port.
How to Get Around: The Régie des Transports de Marseille public transportation network includes metro, bus, and tramway lines. Consider a tourist City Pass for one or two days’ travel, museum admissions, and tours. March-September, a batobus (water shuttle) runs between the Vieux Port and Pointe Rouge. Kitschy, blue-and-white tourist trains wind through the streets of the oldest districts.
Where to Eat or Drink: Bouillabaisse is the homegrown culinary art form. Try Le Miramar in the Vieux Port or Chez Fonfon or L’Epuisette in Vallon des Auffes.
What to Buy: Wander through the maze of indoor and outdoor stalls at the Marché aux Puces and the daily Prado Market. Shop for santons (clay crèche figures), olive and lavender soap, olive oil, navettes (small, rowboat-shaped orange or lemon cookies), and pétanque balls.
What to Watch Before You Go: The Fanny Trilogy (Marius, Fanny, Cesar), 1948 (DVD 2004). Beloved 1930s French films (English subtitles), adaptations of the plays by Marseille’s preeminent writer, Marcel Pagnol, are considered national cultural treasures.
Fun Fact: France’s newest national park, Parc National des Calanques, is located on the outskirts of Marseille. Created in April 2012, the land (lagoons, cliffs, beaches) and sea (dolphins, turtles, seabirds) preserve is accessible only by foot or boat.
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Raja Ampat
Photograph by Daniela Dirscherl, Getty Images
An emerging island Eden in Indonesia
Raja Ampat has been dubbed the Amazon of the Oceans. Is that hyperbole? Not really. There are single reefs here containing more species than the entire Caribbean. A mini-archipelago of rain-forest-clad islands, cays, mangroves, and pearlescent beaches off the coast of West Papua, Indonesia, this marine frontier brims with life. Expect close encounters with recent discoveries such as Raja Ampat’s walking shark and pygmy seahorse, along with more familiar creatures—manta rays, leatherback turtles, and bumphead parrotfish. Not to mention three-quarters of all known coral species.
The scenery proves just as spectacular above the surface. On Wayag, steep limestone karsts drenched in jungle bisect a cobalt lagoon. Tree canopies filled with rare birds offer lofty theater. It’s well worth rising at 3 a.m. to witness the amorous, flamenco-like mating dance of the endemic red bird of paradise.
Remote doesn’t mean rough here. Cruise the region aboard an upscale conversion of a traditional phinisi schooner or stay at a hideaway such as Misool Eco Resort, with its swanky overwater bungalows. Diving is the draw, but kayaking and trekking are picking up. This is nature at its most vivid, above and below the water. —Johnny Langenheim
Travel Tips
When to Go: Late September through early June. Be aware that mid-June through mid-September is monsoon season, with rains typically contained to the afternoon.
Where to Stay: Exclusive Misool Eco Resort is a secluded tropical hideaway on the remote, private island of Batbitim. Book your personal water cottage-on-stilts (veranda stairs lead directly into the translucent lagoon) to snorkel and dive in one of the world’s most biologically diverse marine environments.
How to Get Around: Travel by boat from Sarong to Wasai. Longboats, speedboats, motorboats, and dive boats connect Wasai to other islands. Outside the resorts, on island travel is primarily by foot or ojek (motorcycle taxi).
Where to Eat or Drink: If you’re not staying in an all-inclusive resort or on a dive boat, Raja Ampat dining options are limited to the small stores, outdoor markets, and warungs (family-run cafés/stores) in Wasai, Raja Ampat’s capital. Another option is to stock up in Sarong before traveling to Wasai.
What to Buy: In the established tourism villages Arborek and Sauwandarek local women make and sell wood and orchid bark nokens (string bags), pandan leaf hats and bags, and wood or banana fiber skirts.
What to Read Before You Go: Raja Ampat Through the Lens Of, by the Raja Ampat Research & Conservation Centre (2009).This coffee table hardcover is a 288-photo journey above and through the Realm of the Four Kings. Proceeds support local conservation efforts.
Fun Fact: On Raja Ampat’s Um Island, bats circle the blue skies by day and seagulls take flight at night. The compact island (one lap around takes about 15 minutes) is dotted with caves, home to the diurnal bats that feast on ripe fruit.
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Ravenna
Photograph by Marco Moretti, Anzenberger/Redux
A vibrant historical mosaic in Italy
At first glance, there hardly seems to be any comparison between Ravenna and Rome: Ravenna is smaller, sleepier, and without Rome’s domed skyline or ruins. But back in the fifth century, it was Ravenna that served as capital of the Western Roman Empire. In this burgeoning city, Roman rulers built monuments celebrating both Christianity and their own power—monuments famous, then and now, for their sweeping mosaics.
Seven of Ravenna’s eight buildings from the fifth and sixth centuries are spectacularly decorated with examples of this ancient art. “In the past, many people couldn’t read or write,” says tour guide and Ravenna native Silvia Giogoli. “Mosaics were a way to explain the religion, and the political situation, to the people.”
At the Basilica of San Vitale (above), a bejeweled Empress Theodora stares across the apse at her husband, Justinian. At Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, two rows of larger-than-life saints march toward the apse. But in Ravenna, mosaics aren’t just historical remnants. Visitors admire pieces by contemporary mosaicists including Chagall, Mathieu, and Vedova at the MAR (Museo d’Arte Ravenna) or poke into cluttered bottegas (workshops) where modern artists use the same methods as their Byzantine forebears. At the Parco della Pace, locals relax beside mosaic sculptures; even the city’s street signs glitter with glass fragments. At the 2013 RavennaMosaico, mosaic mania takes hold. Visitors can gawk at new pieces, listen to musicians, and learn to make their own masterpieces. —Amanda Ruggeri
Travel Tips
When to Go: June-October; weather is pleasant in April and May but historic sites can get crowded with school groups.
Relevant Dates: RavennaMosaico, a mosaic festival, next takes place in October-November 2013.
Where to Stay: Walk to historic district sites from Albergo Cappello, a restored, seven-room palazzo, or the more modern Hotel Centrale Byron.
How to Get Around: Take the train from Bologna, and then walk, bike, or use taxis within the city.
Where to Eat or Drink: Housed in a former movie theater, two-story Ristorante Cinema Alexander blends 1940s Hollywood décor with homemade Emilia Romagna pasta courses (tortellini, tagliatelle, passatelli) and attentive service (helpful in translating the menu). For fresh seafood, try Osteria L’Accigua and Da Buco.
What to Buy: Watch the next generation of Emilia Romagna mosaic artisans create contemporary and traditional pieces in local studios like Akomena, Twin Dolphins Mosaics, and Koko Mosaico.
What to Read Before You Go: Ravenna in Late Antiquity, by Deborah Mauskopf Deliyannis (2010), provides a wide-ranging look at the city’s art, architecture, and history.
Fun Fact: Ravenna’s oldest monument is Battistero Neoniano. The surrounding street level has risen nearly ten feet since the octagonal baptistery was built in the fifth century, creating the illusion the building has sunk belowground.
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Great Bear Rainforest
Photograph by Paul Nicklen, National Geographic
Canada’s fragile coastal wilderness
Sometimes you can see both the forest and the trees. The Great Bear Rainforest, the planet’s largest intact coastal temperate rain forest, is an untamed strip of land stretching 250 miles along British Columbia’s coast that harbors extensive tracts of giant hemlock, Sitka spruce, and red cedar. The mighty trees rise high above a moist and ferny forest floor patrolled by coastal wolves, minks, Canada’s largest grizzly bears, and rare white Kermode spirit bears.
This tranquillity has recently been rocked by a proposal to send tar sands crude oil from Alberta to a terminal at Kitimat in the Great Bear Rainforest. The project would entail two pipelines crossing some of the world’s largest salmon-producing watersheds and a steady procession of supertankers plying the narrow channels. The local First Nations and environmental groups are vehemently opposed, fearing the catastrophic effects of an Exxon Valdez–type spill. “This is a wilderness sanctuary, a very spiritual place,” says Ian McAllister, founding director of Pacific Wild. “The pipelines would fundamentally alter the coast forever.” A decision on the pipelines could come by the end of 2013. —Robert Earle Howells
Travel Tips
When to Go: May-September
Where to Stay: At luxurious King Pacific Lodge (accessible only by floatplane), all-inclusive amenities include gourmet meals, whale-watching, and guided kayaking tours. Spirit Bear Lodge, a tour/lodging outfitter in Klemtu, is owned and operated by the local Kitasoo/Xai’xais First Nation community.
How to Get Around: Sail through the rain forest on a guided, multiday tour with experienced outfitters like Maple Leaf Adventures or Bluewater Adventures.
Where to Eat or Drink: Reserve a table (and one of the day’s homemade desserts) at tiny Cow Bay Café, a funky, dockside lunch and dinner hotspot in Prince Rupert.
What to Watch Before You Go: Last Stand of the Great Bear, DVD, National Geographic (2004). Wilderness detectives embark on a 250-mile adventure through the Great Bear Rainforest in search of the rare white spirit bear.
Fun Fact: The rain forest’s most celebrated resident is the Kermode bear, or spirit bear. A recessive genetic mutation causes these black bears to be born with cream-colored fur. One in three black bears on Gribbell Island is white.
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Malawi
Photograph by AfriPics/Alamy
Africa’s liquid asset
Locals call it the “Lake of Stars,” and it’s easy to see why. After nightfall, paraffin lamps illuminate Lake Malawi with a constellation of firefly-like flickers; fishermen in dugout canoes work the glassy waters as they have since before the era of the Maravi kingdom.
Deep and clear, the teal lake—Africa’s third largest—glimmers in the Great Rift Valley. Bordering Tanzania, Mozambique, and Zambia, Malawi is an increasingly steady presence within a dynamic continent. Last year, a political transition introduced the world to Joyce Banda, a progressive new president and the second female chief of state in sub-Saharan Africa. More than a domestic shift, this turning point presents an invitation to explore Africa’s best kept secret.
“When you make friends with a Malawian, they watch out for you,” says Moses Mphatso Kaufulu, a blogger from the historic British capital of Zomba. “The depth of African experience rests on friendship—this is what makes my country second to none in the world.”
Where better to befriend a local than by the lake? Swimming boys laugh as a kaleidoscope of brightly colored fish glitter to the surface. The only high-rise in sight is a jumble of sunbleached boulders. Malawi offers much more than serene lakes. Dusty roads connect towns, and mountains give way to plains of green maize punctuated by baobab trees. But the nation’s heart is a watery realm where waves lap the sand, leaving streaks of silt. —Andrew Evans
Travel Tips
When to Go: For lake and big game safaris, go in the dry seasons, April/May and October/November. Between January and March more than 200 species of orchids bloom in Nyika National Park, making this prime time for orchid lovers and bird-watchers.
Where to Stay: Guests at the rustic, six-room Red Zebra Lodge at Kambiri Point can join underwater safaris to view Lake Malawi’s diverse aquatic life, including the intensely colorful African cichlid fish. Remote Chiofu Camp, accessible only by a 3.5-hour boat ride east from Kambiri Point, offers bare-bones beach camping in light tents secured under the trees.
Cultural Tips: Comfortable, casual dress is the norm, but reserve beachwear (tank tops, bathing suits, short dresses, and shorts) for vacation resorts.
What to Buy: Handcrafted baskets, intricate wood carvings, and Dedza Pottery including hand-painted tableware and figurines depicting Malawian life.
In-Country Travel Tip: Foreign currency is widely accepted. ATMs dispensing local currency are located in Lilongwe, Blantyre, and Mzuzu.
How to Get Around: U.S. travel companies Wildland Adventures and Jackson’s African Safaris offer Malawi adventure itineraries that include transportation, guides, lodging, and meals.
What to Eat or Drink: Try the traditional staple nsima, a thick cornmeal porridge molded into a ball and served alongside ndiwo, a relish-like meat, bean, or vegetable side dish.
What to Read Before You Go: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope, by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer. It's the inspiring true story of Malawi native Kamkwamba’s extraordinary boyhood quest to transform life in his village by building a windmill.
Fun Fact: In Chichewa, Malawi’s most common indigenous language, the word for Lake Malawi’s brilliantly hued cichlid fish is mbuna. Hundreds of species of the tropical fish (coveted by freshwater aquarium enthusiasts) live in the crystal clear lake.
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Quito
Photograph by Casa Gangotena
The fresh face of Ecuador’s old city
Surrounded by bunches of bright sunflowers and chamomile, Rosa Lagla gently performs soul-cleansing limpia treatments in a market just a few blocks from Plaza de San Francisco, hub of Quito’s restored Old Town. Rubbing handfuls of stinging nettles, sweet herbs, and rose petals into the skin drives out bad energy, she says, working the plants to a pulp. With botanicals brimming from plastic bags, Lagla brings the Andean healing practice to guests of the newly restored Casa Gangotena on the plaza. Healer and hotel span two worlds, the traditional and the modern, both reinvigorating this city of 1.6 million.
For too long, travelers have neglected Ecuador’s capital city en route to the nation’s marquee attraction, the Galápagos Islands. Though its Spanish colonial center has been enshrined as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1978, the area has more recently undergone a renaissance warranting longer stays. In the past decade, city officials have invested nearly $500 million to make improvements to its historic quarter. At Quito’s heart, cobblestoned streets and pastel-colored mansions hem the revitalized San Francisco Church. Many restorers of the landmark learned to apply gold leaf, inlay wood, and chisel statuary in a nearby workshop with a mission to teach skills to impoverished teenagers with an aptitude for art. People are primary in Quito’s new museums. Emphasizing storytelling, Casa del Alabado arranges its pre-Columbian art and artifacts thematically to dramatize the mystery of the ancients. Quito’s historic center is now beginning to cultivate a vibrant nightlife. On Calle La Ronda, music sings out from restaurants and bars. But Lagla lifts spirits the old way. Sweeping up sage post-ritual, she says, “Se fue, el espanto. La energia vuelve—It’s gone, the fright. Energy returns.” She could be speaking of Quito, too. —Elaine Glusac
Travel Tips
When to Go: June-September (dry season, cool temperatures)
Where to Stay: Casa Gangotena combines luxury lodging with numerous cultural immersion opportunities supporting Quito’s Heritage Guardians program.
How to Get Around: The extensive transportation network includes private and public buses, the Trolebus (trolley bus), and trains. On a clear day, take the TelefériQo scenic gondola up the slope of Pichincha Volcano for panoramic views of the city and the Andes.
Where to Eat or Drink: Assemble a group of at least six to book a private, three-course dinner at indigenous community-owned Kallari Café in La Mariscal. The $7.50 per person tab includes a brief Kichwa language and cultural presentation, plus an inside view (and taste) of Kallari’s single-origin artisanal chocolate and coffee production process.
What to Buy: Pick up tchotchkes in the La Mariscal craft stalls, and stroll along Calle La Ronda during the day to soak up the colonial past. For authentic Ecuadorian tapestries, straw fedoras, masks, and tiles, visit the esteemed Olga Fisch Folklore Gallery and Museum.
What to Watch Before You Go: Prometeo Deportado (Prometheus, Deported). This 2009 film from Ecuadorian director Fernando Mieles explores how immigration has affected Ecuadorian society, which counts some three million of its people living and working abroad.
Fun Fact: Sitting 9,350 feet above sea level, Quito is one of the world’s highest capital cities. Its formal name, San Francisco de Quito, reflects both the city’s pre-Inca, indigenous Quitu culture and nearly 300-year (1534-1822) Spanish colonial period.
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Bagan
Photograph by Scott Stulberg, Corbis
A spiritual awakening in Myanmar
The once isolated nation at the culturally rich crossroads of India and China is a land that imbues even the most jaded traveler with a sense of wonder.
In Myanmar, government reforms since 2010 and the election of democracy activist (and Nobel Peace Prize recipient) Aung San Suu Kyi to parliament have propelled a profoundly gracious land, formerly known as Burma, onto the world stage. It’s about time.
Decades of reclusion have preserved a vibrant culture deeply steeped in Buddhism; especially outside the major urban centers of Yangon and Mandalay, daily life has remained largely untouched by Western trends. Rudyard Kipling’s words in Letters From the East still ring true: “This is Burma and it will be quite unlike any land you know about.”
The best Burmese travel experiences require a bit of planning, but the rewards are great—especially in Bagan, the arid, pagoda-studded plain along the Ayeyarwady River in Upper Burma where the first Burmese Buddhist kings, their courtiers, and other merit-seeking patrons built thousands of religious monuments from the 11th to 13th centuries. According to Burma scholar Donald Stadtner, these 16 square miles—despite the misguided restoration of some temples in the 1990s—rank among Southeast Asia’s most significant sacred ancient sites.
Secure an early morning bird’s-eye view of the monuments by booking a Balloons Over Bagan hot-air-balloon-and-sparkling-wine trip; profits fund community service projects on the ground. Spend the afternoon exploring dusty trails by bicycle. At sunset, find a perch and gaze over the panorama of castle-like structures shimmering in the golden light. —Ceil Miller Bouchet
Travel Tips
When to Go: Late October-March (dry season)
Relevant Dates: Balloons Over Bagan operates daily October through March.
Where to Stay: Head north of Old Bagan to Nyaung U for budget-friendly options like Aung Mingalar Hotel. In Bagan, the Hotel at Tharabar Gate is close to the main gate of the ancient east wall. South, in New Bagan, view temples and pagodas from your balcony at Kumudara Hotel.
How to Get Around: Horse-drawn carts and rental bicycles are readily available. For guided tours and small groups, choose an established outfitter like Woodland Travels.
Where to Eat or Drink: Try the grilled fish and fresh baked bread at Star Beans, located near Annanda Temple, and a little bit of everything (Burmese to burgers, plus free Wi-Fi) at Weather Spoon’s on the No. 5 Main Road.
What to Buy: Shop for lacquerware at the small local workshops where artisans use raw thitsi tree lacquer to create decorative and durable bamboo boxes, bowls, trays, and furniture.
Cultural Tip: Dress conservatively (no shorts, short skirts, or ball caps), especially when visiting religious sites.
What to Read Before You Go: Finding George Orwell in Burma, by Emma Larkin (2004), chronicles the year the American writer spent tracing the steps of Orwell, who lived in British-ruled Burma (Myanmar) in the 1920s.
Fun Fact: During Bagan’s golden age, temples were built from kiln-fired red brick, covered with stucco, and then whitewashed with lime. Erosion, vandalism, and some restoration efforts have turned most of the white monuments an earthen, rusty red.
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Cape Breton
Photograph by Christian Heeb, laif/Redux
Nova Scotia’s treasured island
During the 18th and 19th centuries, fishermen and settlers from France and Scotland came to Cape Breton Island, drawn by its rich fisheries, ample timber, and the chance of a better life. Originally settled by the ancient ancestors of the Micmac people, this island off Nova Scotia now lures visitors with its abundant wildlife, natural beauty, and assembly of French, Micmac, and Celtic cultures.
One-fifth of Cape Breton is preserved as a national park, laced by 25 hiking paths and looped by the Cabot Trail, a 186-mile driving route frequently ranked among the world’s most spectacular. “I have seen the Canadian and American Rockies, the Andes, the Alps, and the Highlands of Scotland,” said inventor Alexander Graham Bell, who spent 37 summers here. “But for simple beauty, Cape Breton outrivals them all.”
The mingling of cultures means you can seek a clan tartan at the craft shop at Gaelic College/Colaisde Na Gàidhlig in St. Anns, then explore the French-founded Fortress of Louisbourg on the east coast. In 1745 this garrison withstood a 48-day siege by New Englanders, backed by British naval support, before surrendering. In 2013, the reconstructed fortification celebrates the 300th anniversary of the founding of the French colony of Île Royale (present-day Cape Breton). —John Rosenthal
Travel Tips
When to Go: May-October; Celtic Colours annual international music and cultural festival, early October
Where to Stay: Family-owned Highland Heights Inn combines homey rooms and home-cooked meals (try the traditional Nova Scotia fish cakes) with breathtaking views of the Bras d’Or Lakes. Spend a day immersed in Gaelic culture next door at the 40-acre Highland Village living history museum.
How to Get Around: Drive the Cabot Trail loop counterclockwise beginning in Baddeck.
Where to Eat or Drink: Rusty Anchor Restaurant in Pleasant Bay serves up fresh seafood chowder, fish and chips, and some of the Cabot Trail’s best lobster rolls (pure lump meat and a bit of butter). Watch the ocean, and maybe even a whale, from the outdoor patio. Open May-October.
What to Read Before You Go: Fall On Your Knees, by Ann-Marie MacDonald. This multigenerational tale set on early 20th-century Cape Breton was the Canadian playwright's debut novel, earning her the 1997 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book.
Fun Fact: Most of Nova Scotia’s endangered Canada lynx live in Cape Breton Highlands National Park. The mostly nocturnal cat is built for stealth. Its fur ear tufts act as hearing aids and its large, furry feet function as snowshoes.
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Uganda
Photograph by Joel Sartore, National Geographic
Africa’s new frontier
Uganda, once the cornerstone of Africa’s Grand Tour, is today bypassed by most visitors. The nation and its people have been brutalized by dictators, battered by warlords, and negatively portrayed by viral videos. Safarigoers line up in next-door Kenya and Tanzania, with only a few coming to Uganda to see the famed mountain gorillas.
The land mixes savanna, enormous lakes, rain forests, and the glacier-clad Rwenzori Mountains, one of Africa’s tallest ranges. The headwaters of the Nile originate here, then burst through a cleft in the rocks at Murchison Falls. Uganda’s parade of animals is amazingly diverse. Hippos graze along the shores of Lake Edward in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, while lions lounge in the trees of Ishasha, in Queen Elizabeth National Park. The star in Bwindi is the mountain gorilla, a species down to about 720 animals visible in their tiny habitat.
Uganda has tough decisions ahead. Oil lies beneath the Rift Valley, right inside Murchison Falls National Park. Extraction seems inevitable. But tourism dollars could provide an easier coexistence between banana-loving gorillas and banana farmers in Bwindi. —David Swanson
Travel Tips
When to Go: The best times are during the drier seasons, January-March and June-August.
Where to Stay: Embark on guided boat trips, hikes, and safaris from rustic Jacana Safari Lodge on Lake Nyamusingire (Uganda’s largest crater lake) in Queen Elizabeth National Park, or from thatched-roof Mihingo Lodge on the secluded edge of Lake Mburo National Park.
How to Get Around: Public and private transportation options include minibuses, taxis, luxury coaches, rental cars, and inland ferries. Tour operators can arrange travel for day trips, safaris, and complete itineraries.
Where to Eat or Drink: In Kampala, head to Nalongo in suburban Katwe for traditional luwombo: a mixture of meat, vegetables, and (sometimes) peanut butter steamed in banana leaves. Funky Mish Mash in Kololo serves an all-day breakfast in a laid-back art gallery-tree house-café-garden setting.
What to Buy: Local crafts, including mats and baskets handwoven from elephant grass and palm leaves, are sold along roadsides and at outdoor markets.
What to Watch Before You Go: The Last King of Scotland (2007). The fictionalized chronicle of the rise and fall of brutal dictator Idi Amin was the first feature film completely shot on location in Uganda. Forest Whitaker’s chilling portrayal of Amin earned an Academy Award and Golden Globe.
Fun Fact: Small farms employ four out of every five Ugandans. Using mainly traditional, chemical-free methods, an estimated 200,000 organic farmers produce fresh matooke (plantain), pineapple, apple bananas, and ginger for local use and international export.
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