Daytrip Comes to America
Since Daytrip debuted in 2015, we’ve worked with them to book a number of drives for clients around the European continent. They’re a fantastic alternative to train or plane travel, especially when you want to stop along the way to visit an off-the-beaten track town or sight. For example, Lisa and I used the company in Spain on a 3-hour drive from Granada to Seville. We stopped for lunch in Ronda and toured the picturesque town and bullring that Hemingway made famous with the driver/guide before continuing on to Seville. It was one of the most relaxing days of the trip, lounging in the back of a comfortable Mercedes sedan while taking in the scenic Spanish countryside. We were happy to see that Daytrip finally made it to American shores, offering their private services on the East and West coast. I plugged in Boston to New York and saw that they’re offering a chance to break up the trip by hiking in Purgatory Chasm outside of Worcester or visiting the Mark Twain House in Hartford. Let ActiveTravels know when you want to leave the driving to someone else and we’ll go over the options from Daytrip.
First-time visitors to 
Only an hour drive north of San Francisco, expect the vineyard-draped hillside of Napa Valley to be tinted with crimson and gold come autumn. But the real reason to head here this time of year is to participate in one of the harvest season’s crush parties, where you get to stomp on the grapes. Some of the biggest names in American wine, from Opus One to Stag’s Leap, line Highway 29 north of Napa and the
It actually hit 55 degrees in Boston on Saturday. After the hellish winter of arctic temperatures and far too much snow, that’s a miracle. Even better now that we have one more hour of daylight now that Daylight Savings Time is underway. Needless to say, most of America is ready to say goodbye to Polar Vortex and hello to Spring Fever. The five phenomenal drives I describe this week should get you in the mood.
An hour west of Austin lies the Balcones Escarpment, a long geologic fault zone that divides Texas in half. Balcones is Spanish for “balconies,” an apt way to describe how the Texas Hill Country suddenly thrusts up from the gently rolling prairie to create limestone canyons. On lonely backcountry roads, you’ll be driving under tall cypress trees past large cattle ranches and fields of bluebonnets that are in bloom come April. Take US 290 west from Austin to 
2017 marks the 150th birthday of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. There’s no better way to celebrate his life than to head to Iowa, home to the only remaining hotel designed by the famed architect, 
Sandwiched between the far better known travel destinations of Newport and Cape Cod is a little slice of heaven reserved for New Englanders in the know. Head an hour southeast of Boston past the gritty ports of New Bedford and Fall River and you’ll reach a sylvan stretch of Massachusetts and Rhode Island where farmland rolls to the ocean and long inlets are bordered by historic towns settled as far back as 1616. This drive (or bike ride) on backcountry roads is only 38 miles, but you’ll want to give yourself a day to explore.