Search results for

The hike from Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, is one of the best urban paths I have experienced. Although you’re never far from the city, the walk feels quite scenic at times, and the many beaches you come across along the way are all beautiful. Of course, you can always walk from Bondi to Coogee if you find yourself heading in the other direction. Either way, you’ll find yourself at one of Sydney’s top beach destinations. The hike is an easy walk that will include towering cliffs, sandy beaches, public pools, rock formations, parks, and epic vistas along the 6-kilometer trail. You could do the hike in a few hours, but it would be best to allocate at least three hours to fit in a stop at Bronte Beach for lunch or drinks. And if it is a hot day, you’ll want some time for a swim!

I wouldn’t normally visit a hotel restaurant just for the purpose of having a sandwich. But this is the second restaurant by Vitaly Paley, one of Portland‘s most beloved chefs, and I’d been told it was a good place for lunch. I hadn’t guessed that most of the menu would be sandwiches, and I have to admit to feeling a little disappointment when I saw it. I shouldn’t have. The dungeness crab reuben was a flaky fish marvel, while the heirloom tomato salad I had with it was a perfectly pert accompaniment. The homemade cream soda, meanwhile, was as sweet and delicious as anything in an Enid Blyton novel, and it had me suppressing the urge to exclaim “How jolly!” Anyway. That’s just me. If you like a sandwich, I think you’ll probably like these.

Before opening Craving Restaurant in 2013, chef Adam Goetz worked everywhere from the James Beard House to the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. Now, he puts his talents to good use in North Buffalo, combining fresh ingredients with highly skilled technique to make the food diners crave. Open for lunch and dinner six nights a week and brunch on Sundays, Craving serves farm-to-table fare in a cozy setting, complete with a small bar and a patio out front. Dishes can be made vegetarian or gluten-free and the chef butchers all meats in-house to ensure nothing gets wasted. The menu changes constantly to highlight the freshest ingredients possible, but recent dishes included ricotta gnocchi, leg of lamb, and whole-roasted trout with asparagus sauce.

While Lloyd may be best known for its inventive Mexican fare, it’s also one of the most forward-thinking cocktail spots in Buffalo. What started as a food truck catering to the business lunch and weekend festival crowds became a North Buffalo staple when it opened its first brick-and-mortar location on Hertel Avenue in late 2015. Today, it continues to be a go-to for classic cocktails like margaritas and palomas, made with fresh ingredients and quality spirits. The mezcal drinks are delicious, especially the Green Hornet (mezcal, honey simple syrup, spicy tomatillo shrub, lemon, cucumber), but if you’re not into smoky spirits, try the Midsummer’s Daydream (rum, strawberry-peppercorn shrub, aloe liqueur, lemon, pineapple, rosé).

Ferries between St. Vincent and Bequia run frequently, all day and evening. The one-way trip takes about an hour, and the fare is about $10 each way or $17 round-trip. En route, passengers have breathtaking views in all directions, including volcanic St. Vincent and Kingstown Harbour, Young Island, Mustique and Canouan in the distance, and Bequia’s lovely Port Elizabeth. Once on Bequia, take an island tour, have lunch, go for a swim, or explore Port Elizabeth before heading back to St. Vincent at sunset. If you’re traveling in the other direction, spend the day on St. Vincent walking around historic Kingstown, touring the Botanical Gardens, or hiking the Vermont Nature Trail.

If you like piña coladas, make a beeline for this overwater outpost on glittering Palm Beach. Situated on a pier, the open-air bar and grill boasts uninterrupted views of the water—as well as Aruba’s spectacular sunsets. Here, breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served alongside an extensive array of chilled beverages, attracting a friendly crowd. There’s live music every day during happy hour and, on Sundays, the Travel Session band plays from 7 to 10 p.m. If you’d rather sing yourself, be there on Saturday, when karaoke starts at 8:30 p.m. While the restaurant definitely has a party-like setting, children are more than welcome and high chairs are available for little ones.

Day or night, the Lawn is a favorite Canggu hangout. With the grassy expanse and mats to lounge on, a small pool facing the beach, a dining area, and a covered bar, this sunset spot has enough room for everyone. No need to jostle for space. Groups of friends and families enjoy long, lazy brunches, lunches, and dinners, the meals sometimes merging into a fantastically relaxed day. If you’re feeling adventurous, try the Balinese-style babi guling pizzetta, or order a bit of everything from the grazing menu, which offers smaller dishes like crispy lemon squid and fresh rice paper rolls to share. The food is a bit expensive for those traveling on a budget, but the variety of dishes and the fresh ingredients make it splurge-worthy.

Le Chat has an awesome view, it’s just perfect to finish the day or to have a long lunch. You can enjoy the view over the 25th April Bridge and the Tagus River to the other shore and maybe you will see a cruise ship leaving Lisbon and heading towards the ocean. This glass cube of a joint—near the National Museum of Ancient Art—offers seats inside and outside on a terrace. Even in winter the terrace is appealing, with heat lamps and blankets provided. Rather than ordering a full meal, share some appetizers like sweet potato chips, sautéed shrimp, and a traditional Portuguese dish, Peixinhos da Horta (batter-fried green beans), while enjoying the fresh air and expansive views.

Sitting at the edge of Kenya’s capital city is Nairobi National Park. Kenya’s first national park is home to a huge range of wildlife, including buffalo, rhino, zebra, and lions. You can drive on your own around the park, or book a game drive with the Kenya Wildlife Service in advance. The best times to view the animals are at dawn or dusk; while away some of the time in between by heading to Ololo Lodge for lunch and a swim, or stay the night at Nairobi Tented Camp. Helping fund the park with tourism is more important now than ever: It is under pressure from developers, and there have been a number of incidents involving wildlife straying into nearby farmland, due to the encroachment of humans on the animals’ habitats in recent years.

My favorite way to start a day in Tianzifang is with a hearty breakfast at Kommune. With a notably large courtyard, it’s a fabulous place to kick off a warm-weathered day and even if you’re a little chilly, the coffee comes in bowl sized mugs that will warm you right up. Open from 7am-1am daily. (They also have a great wraps at lunch and a happy hour from 5pm-7pm.)

Rest your tired legs, read a book, engage in discussions with world travelers, sip your coffee or simply admire the art without anyone waiting for you to vacate the table. Kashi Art Café feels like an airy tropical garden that doubles as a hip and relaxed meeting place with an interesting gallery showcasing the works of talented artists. If you want to know what’s happening in Fort Cochin, chances are you’ll see all the information you need on posters in the café! As far as the food goes, breakfast is served through the day. If you’re hungry try a variety of sandwiches, salads, and soups for lunch, or snack on their freshly made cakes and pies with, of course, a cup of coffee or tea!

The Grounds café—run out of a former pie factory in the warehouse district of Alexandria—makes coffee, juices, smoothies, baked goods, and rustic breakfast and lunch dishes with equal care. Order a flat white (a cross between a cappuccino and a latte) or a piccolo (a mini latte)—there’s also a coffee tasting board and a deconstructed iced coffee—to pair with your seasonal porridge or Big Brekkie (spicy chorizo and serrano ham with braised white beans, smoked peppers, halloumi, avocado, poached eggs, and thick slabs of house-baked toast). After brekkie, peek into the roastery and Potting Shed restaurant next door, and admire the enchanting garden and event space, complete with a coffee cart, barbecue joint, plant stall, and petting zoo.

Overlooking the Coal River Valley, Barilla Bay, and the vineyards that produce the winery’s award-winning rieslings, sauvignon blancs, and other cool-climate varietals, Frogmore Creek is also home to a restaurant you can write home about, open daily for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Here you can pair the star of the most recent wine harvest with colorful dishes such as beef tataki with horseradish gnocchi or cured yellowtail kingfish sweetened by seaweed and soy caramel, apple, and pomegranate. Edible flowers and bright sauce droplets create art on the plate. But the real masterpieces are the desserts. If “chess mate” and “lemon basil legos” are on the menu, order both. In late 2017, Frogmore Creek opened a second restaurant inside the MACq 01 building on the Hobart waterfront.

A stay at this resort offers the best of many worlds: easy access to San Antonio and its airport, proximity to scenic Hill Country and its wineries, and plenty of on-site amenities to encourage you to hang around. Spread over 600 acres, the property includes an 18-hole golf course, a nine-acre water park (with a winding lazy river and 650-foot rapid river ride), hiking trails, and a 30-room spa, where treatments incorporate Texas-grown ingredients like lavender and sassafras. The facilities fan out from the LEED-certified main building, which houses 1,000 warm, comfortable guestrooms, many of which look out onto the main pool. There are also enough restaurants to warrant a multi-day stay, from an organic-focused spa bistro and a sports bar with local brews, to a Texas-inspired main restaurant and a fine-dining steakhouse set among the golf greens. Each spot uses ingredients sourced within a 150-mile radius of the hotel, and aims to highlight Texas wine and beer. While the kids are off enjoying the water park or video game arcade, adults can take a tequila tasting class or settle into a rocking chair with a good book—then everyone can meet around the indoor or outdoor fireplaces to trade stories.

Sure, the Hotel Vintage is classic (it was built in 1894 as the Hotel Imperial, one of Portland’s most iconic grande dames, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places), but its name references another kind of vintage: the many renowned wines of the surrounding Willamette Valley. When the hotel reopened in 2015 after an extensive renovation, it announced partnerships with 117 local wineries (one for each guestroom), each of which sends a representative at least once a quarter to pour at the guest-only wine hour held every evening. Rooms feature original artwork made from recycled corks, and the trendy lobby bar (named for Bacchus, the god of wine) and local landmark of a restaurant offer an impressive list of some of the best local and Italian wines.

Even those who don’t share the hotel’s passion for vino will find plenty to love, from the famously superlative Kimpton service to the private outdoor hot tubs and custom Public bicycles available to borrow. Also on-site is a game room—an extension of the lobby bar where guests and in-the-know locals mingle over retro video game consoles (Atari, anyone?), shuffleboard, and pool. We’ll raise a glass to that.