Search results for

When the Catalan capital overwhelms, head for the hills....or mountains, capes and lakes. The diverse landscape surrounding Barcelona offers a wide variety of outdoor activities in a natural setting, not to mention seasonal eats harvested from area forests and farms.

To get to Salzburg, Austria while river cruising on the Danube, dock in Linz, and then head for the hills. Most river cruise companies provide all-day excursions to Salzburg, known as the film location for The Sound of Music. Highlights include: Salzburg’s Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a visit to Mozart’s birthplace, and exploring the Hohensalzburg Fortress just above the city center.

Discovering a hidden eatery will make any Swiss sojourn utterly memorable. Find out here where the locals in Zurich eat. Discover a restaurant down a quiet side street of the Niederdorf that serves up delicious food using seasonal ingredients. Scale the hill in the Wollishofen neighborhood and splurge on Zurich’s best entrecôte steak. Or enjoy the finest catches of the day from Lake Zurich at a fish restaurant located on the city’s only campground.

The Swiss Riviera stretches from Lausanne to Montreux and encompasses the beautiful Lavaux vineyards perched on steep hills with a dramatic view of the lake and the Alps on the other side. Then you reach Vevey and its old town, passing La-Tour-de-Peilz before ending in Montreux, its casino and of course Chillon castle.

A serene respite from the towering urban sprawl nearby, this traditional Tang Dynasty–style landscaped garden is based on the design of the famous Jiangshouju Garden in Shanxi Province. Winding paths lead visitors past pines, cypress, and fragrant flowering trees. Set on Diamond Hill in Kowloon with the vast northern mountain range as the backdrop, the lovely park has been designed with artificial hillocks, ornamental rocks, waterfalls, and koi ponds to encourage quiet walks and reflection. Think of it as an outdoor museum for the soul and a place representing Chinese cultural ideals. A striking gilded pagoda and a pair of arched red wooden bridges are the focal points of a lotus pond and a favorite photo subject. To linger longer, enjoy a meal at the vegetarian café on-site.

Give yourself a break from Barcelona’s noise and traffic and travel to another time and place: life as lived in Catalonia’s smaller villages and historic old towns. Stroll medieval bridges, hike around stone houses that hang onto green hills for dear life, and enjoy a breather from the crowded streets of Barcelona. Foodies can shop in tiny artisan shops for charcuterie, cheeses and bread or eat traditional and nouvelle cuisine made from seasonal and locally sourced ingredients

Located near Dundee’s now-thriving waterfront, the Michelin-starred Castlehill Restaurant serves sophisticated Scottish cuisine made with locally sourced ingredients. In the elegant dining room, guests enjoy a seasonally changing menu of modern dishes, like Scrabster hake with roasted garlic purée, and pork belly with chorizo, butternut squash, and crispy monkfish cheek. A wine list curated by specialist merchants rounds out the offerings, providing the perfect complement to Scotland’s natural larder.

A grand hotel in the Old World tradition, the Peninsula Beverly Hills exudes luxury with its gilded chandeliers and wood-paneled walls. From the moment a white-gloved valet opens the oversize front doors, every guest is treated like royalty. The elegant marble bathrooms—larger than some apartments—feature both soaking tub and shower, plus the softest bathrobes imaginable. Guests can enjoy a leisurely alfresco breakfast on the rooftop alongside wheeling and dealing studio types before moving over to a poolside cabana for a few hours of basking and celebrity-spotting.


Don’t forget to squeeze in a spa treatment—the Peninsula Spa is the beauty and relaxation regimen of more than a few big names. Afternoon tea in the Living Room can’t be missed, thanks to the spread of scones and finger sandwiches, accompanied by live harp music. Even though the hotel is in the heart of Beverly Hills, with trendy shops and restaurants only blocks away, the hotel’s complimentary Rolls-Royce service can drop guests anywhere they need to go in the area.

Rhinestones, tassels, boots so pointy they’d make toes bleed...what more could you expect from Nashville‘s monument to the music that made it famous? Well, plenty more, as it turns out. The Hall of Fame contains some seriously impressive artifacts from musical history, from Bill Monroe’s Loar F5 mandolin and Johnny Cash’s iconic black suit to Webb Pierce’s car, pimped-out with silver guns for door handles and steer horns mounted on the front grille. Sprawled across several floors, the Hall of Fame misses few details as it tells the story of “hillbilly” music (although the expansive exhibit about Hank Williams is notably sketchy on the particulars of his early death). Big, bold, and shameless, this is one heck of a celebration of country music.

For luxury accommodations near some of the buzziest parts of L.A., book a room at the chic Four Seasons L.A. at Beverly Hills (ask for one with an eastern view so you can see the gorgeous skyline at sunset). Schedule a wellness treatment at the spa, which offers spot-on massages and, for the hippy-inclined, reiki sessions. And don’t miss Sunday’s brunch, a smorgasbord of options ranging from fine cheeses, made-to-order omelets, and vegan chocolate chip cookies that could pass a blind taste test.

In my opinion there is one event in Tulsa that is by far the most entertaining thing to do in our city. Each summer cyclists from all over the globe come to Tulsa, OK for the Tulsa Tough Bicycle Races. The event lasts three days and is host to children’s activities and concerts in addition to the races. The pinnacle and highlight of the weekend is Sunday’s races on Riverside drive. The course runs alongside the Arkansas River and then winds through hilly residential areas. A hill named " Cry Baby Hill” is the scene for one massive block party. Freaks of all shapes and sizes line the street on both sides(which is not barricaded) while riders whiz through the ensuing anarchy. In between laps the party keeps pace with the riders. Impromptu jam bands and Djs’ keep the party going throughout the day until the last race of the day (with a purse of over $10,000 dollars) is finished and the winning riders join the crowd, PBR in hand.

Artists and poets like Paul Gauguin and Jacques Brel chose to live in the volcanic islands of French Polynesia for more than the turquoise waters, white sand beaches, coral atolls, and dramatic, green carpeted hills, you know. The fresh ingredients available in the Windward Islands—both the fruits and vegetables growing in the fertile black soil and the abundant seafood and fish in the surrounding Pacific—coupled with the culinary genius of the French colonists make this a paradise for food-lovers, too.

On a hillside, just north of Antigua, stands this stone cross. From the top of Cerro de la Cruz (Hill of the Cross), you have sweeping views south over the city of Antigua with the magnificent Volcán de Agua, towering over the landscape. I would recommend going up to Cerro de la Cruz only after you have already spent time in Antigua. That way, when you get up to the hill and look over the city, you can try and find all the landmarks that you visited. That is what we did when were there – trying to spot the Arco de Santa Catalina, Iglesia La Merced, Parque Central, Fernando’s (our favorite place for coffee) etc.

Propped up on stilts, each of Jungle Bay’s 35 cottages feels like a private tree house, complete with an open-air shower. Overlooking Point Mulatre Bay, the hillside resort offers a full schedule of outdoor activities, from walking along the White River to swimming at the base of roaring Victoria Falls.

Luxury yoga retreats are one of the hottest trends in travel—experience it firsthand at Jungle Bay. This award-winning boutique wellness resort seamlessly blends adventure, relaxation, and creature comforts, like a pampering foot massage at the Spa du Soleil—an ideal way to unwind after a day of hiking. Practice yoga in two expansive outdoor studios overlooking the Caribbean Sea, dine on local specialties made with freshly caught fish and organic ingredients, and stay in one of 30 eco-villas outfitted with bamboo furnishings, hand-painted beddings, and jungle spa bathrooms.

—This appeared in the November/December 2010 issue.

Drive just over an hour outside of Cape Town and you’ll find yourself in the middle of the Cape Winelands. Here, farms established by Dutch colonists and French Huguenots in the late 1600s now function as South African wine estates, with tree-lined driveways leading to impeccably manicured gardens and gentle hills covered in vines. When visiting, be sure to taste the full-bodied cabernet sauvignons and pinot noirs; the lighter chenin blancs and chardonnays; and unique varietals like pinotage (an earthy red wine) and méthode cap classique (South Africa’s version of Champagne).