Dream Day Itineraries Ideally Suited for 2021: Atlantic Maritimes, Canada

Skyline Trail, Nova ScotiaAnother part of the world I know exceptionally well are the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, where I try to return at least once a year. Drive Cape Breton and you feel like you’re in the Scottish Highlands, cruising atop scenic bluffs, taking hikes with moose, visiting whiskey distilleries, and listening to fantastic foot-stomping live Celtic music. But there’s so much more! In New Brunswick, visit the charming seaside village of St. Andrews and then go whale watching, stroll the stunning Hopewell Rocks formation, sea kayak on the greatest tidal shift in the world at Fundy National Park, and search for chanterelle mushrooms with a French chef on the Acadian route to create a memorable seafood meal that evening. PEI offers incredible biking on the 449-kilometer Confederation Trail that runs from one end of the island to the other, a chance to visit the town of Cavendish, best known as the home of Anne of Green Gables, and is known for its gluttonous seafood feasts called lobster suppers. Please let ActiveTravels know the number of days you want to travel to the Atlantic Maritimes and we’ll happily come up with an exciting itinerary.

Dream Day Itineraries Ideally Suited for 2021: First Stop, New England

Dream Day Itinerary to New EnglandMany of you already have first-hand knowledge of what we like to call the Dream Day Itinerary. From a weekend away in the Berkshires to a 4-month sabbatical in South America, these detailed day-to-day itineraries include every aspect of your vacation, from hotels to guided tours to reserved restaurants to best places to stop along your drive. At first, many of these recommended activities stemmed from my own research based on years of being a travel writer. But as more and more ActiveTravels clientele took similar routes, we were able to get feedback directly from you, refining these routes so they’re as close to perfection as can be. We’ve also aligned ourselves with the AXUS app, so all information is now within easy reach on your smart phone.

As we write this, one of our clients is traveling cross-country on a Dream Day Itinerary with stops in DC, Charleston, Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, Austin, Santa Fe, Taos, Grand Canyon, Sedona, Phoenix, and finally La Jolla. We’ve created itineraries around the world, from a month in Peru to a month in Australia. But as we slowly get back to traveling again in 2021, these tried-and-true 7 to 10-day North American routes are well suited for getting you back on the road again.

By far our most popular Dream Day Itinerary is New England, where we’ve designed over 100 itineraries. Depending on the time of year, we can guide you along the coast from Mystic to Bar Harbor, with possible stops in Newport, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Portsmouth, Portland, Camden, and Bar Harbor. Or we head inland to the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the Green Mountains of Vermont, and the Berkshires in Massachusetts to see the foliage. Some of our favorite activities we organized over the years are hot air ballooning over Lake Champlain, finding moose with a guide in Greenville, Maine, having a clambake on a quiet Nantucket beach, and going lobstering with a genuine lobsterman off Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Want more? How about visiting the Museum of Fine Arts with a curator, biking to the 5 lighthouses outside Portland, or sailing on an original America’s Cup sailboat in Newport. Best of all, having written about this region for half my life, I know the most scenic backcountry routes to find foliage and the apple cider mill without the crowds.

A Millennium-Old Castle Now a Resort in Umbria, Italy

Millennium-Old Resort in Umbria, ItalyWhen a castle dating from 1050 transforms into a magical 36-room hotel in the Umbrian hillside, it gets our stamp of approval. The ancient farmhouses that dot the 3,700 acres of pastoral countryside at Reschio have already been transformed into luxurious private homes by three generations of the Bolza family. But by the end of April 2021, the property’s crown jewel, Castello di Reschio, will finally debut. Glass-enclosed lounges and hidden libraries are all part of the upscale mystique of this estate. An added plus is the onsite Equestrian Center. Interested in traveling to Italy in 2021? Let ActiveTravels design an exciting route using our fantastic contacts in the country.

Spend the Night at Versailles

Spend the night at Versailles If you ever wanted to have a good night’s sleep like Louis XIV, you’ll have that chance this spring when the only hotel located within the Palace of Versailles will open its stately doors. Chateau de Versailles Le Grand Contrôle will feature 14 suites, a restaurant by Alain Ducasse, and an indoor pool and wellness center, where guests will enjoy unrestricted access to the Orangery and the Lake of the Swiss Guard. Live in the lap of luxury for a night or two on your next trip to Paris. Please let ActiveTravels know your dates and we’ll check pricing and availability.

Chatwal Lodge to Debut in the Catskills

Chatwal Lodge in the CatskillsWe’re big fans of the location, service, and comfort at the historic Chatwal property in Times Square. So we know we’ll adore the Chatwal’s sister property set to open in the Catskills in April. Located on 60 acres along the wooded shores of Toronto Reservoir, the retreat will feature hand-hewn timbers, huge stone fireplaces and mighty trunks of 40-foot white pine trees towering from floor to ceiling. All 10 suites will have private patios overlooking the lake. Some of the accommodations will also have soaking tubs, outdoor showers, and full kitchens. There’s also 1,000-square-feet treehouse 25 feet above the ground, featuring a fireplace and outdoor deck. Outdoor activities include flyfishing, kayaking, hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, and badminton. Indoor activities comprise of yoga, meditation, cooking classes and music lessons. Please let ActiveTravels know your dates and we’ll check availability and pricing.

Celebrated Experiences Launch Private Homes Division

Private home rentals in the UKThose of you who had the good fortune to travel with Celebrated Experiences to Scotland, Ireland, Britain, or Wales know firsthand how exceptional they are as a tour operator. At least twice a year, they visit every hotel they recommend, and include a special Celebrated perk like a spa treatment or bottle of wine at dinner. They also hire fantastic guides that add unparalleled insider knowledge like the gardener to Prince Charles or a 9th-generation cheesemaker. In the latter half of 2020, they added Celebrated Homes, a collection of 200 private homes they personally vetted across the UK. So now you can stay at the Spring Cottage, a historic 3-bedroom house on the Thames River outside London, and still get the same stellar concierge service including private guides, tours, and drivers with Celebrated. The Celebrated Homes collection includes some remarkable estates including Borthwick Castle in Scotland, where Mary Queen of Scots slept, and the 12th-century Roch Castle in Wales. If interested, please let ActiveTravels know and we’ll help create an exciting itinerary with Celebrated.

Rocky Mountaineer Comes to Colorado

Rocky Mountaineer Return to ColoradoRocky Mountaineer, known for its upscale rail service in Vancouver and the Canadian Rockies, will be entering the American market this coming summer. The Rockies to the Red Rocks route will be a two-day rail journey between Denver and Moab, Utah, with an overnight stay in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. The train will voyage along the Colorado River, passing through steep rock canyons and breathtaking desert scenes along the way. Like the existing Canadian routes, Rocky Mountaineer’s U.S. option will offer passengers a similar onboard experience, including regional cuisine, entertaining storytelling, jaw-dropping scenery, and high-end, service in their custom-designed glass-dome coaches. The route will launch with 40 departures across 10 weeks from August 15 to October 23, 2021. If interested, please let ActiveTravels know and we’ll check pricing and availability.

Top Travel Days of 2020, Visiting Miraval Berkshires

Fall foliage on hike at Miraval Berkshires Lisa and I spent two nights in the Berkshires in mid-October checking out the new Miraval property in Lenox that made its debut in early August. The Miraval brand is already well known in the travel world for its two wellness properties in Tucson and Austin, so we were excited to see what they had in store for New England. They took over the former Cranwell property and expanded across Route 20, where they now house a horse farm, chicken coop, gardens, and space for archery, hatchet throwing, and pottery classes. Arriving in the rain, we were happy to see that all rooms are connected indoors via a long corridor with classes, restaurants, and lounge area. This comes in handy during these winter months when you don’t have to venture outdoors unless you choose to snowshoe or hike.

Wanting to take advantage of the two nights/three days we spent on property, we signed up for a busy regimen weeks before arrival that included classes in fitness, yoga, mindfulness/meditation, farming, and nutrition. We ended up taking three walks outdoors, along the shoreline of Stockbridge Bowl and beside a rolling brook in October Mountain State Forest, all glorious during the peak of fall foliage. We also took four meditation courses with Will, known as Chill Will, including an introduction to Qigong and Forest Bathing; a fantastic cardio drumming class with Tariq; a visit to the farm to feed the horses and chickens with Jen; a fun flow yoga class with Mark; and an informative lecture on keeping a healthy gut with Annie. We would quickly learn that all of the instructors are excellent and that most have devoted their lives to their particular passion. Will has taught meditation to people in drug rehabs the past two decades; Annie led the nutrition department at nearby Kripalu; Jen not only owns a farm, but was involved in education at Sturbridge Village. Miraval had to know the wealth of talent they would find in the Berkshires, a hub in the northeast for wellness and yoga thanks to Kripalu and Canyon Ranch.

Thanks for checking in with ActiveTravels during a year when we could barely travel. Like most of you, we had to cancel trips, including Croatia, France, China, and most disappointing of all, our daughter’s college graduation at Bloomington, Indiana. With the vaccine starting to roll out, we’re hoping for a far more adventurous year of travel ahead.

Wishing you all a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous 2021!

Steve and Lisa

Top Travel Days of 2020, Every Day on Cape Cod

Lobster Rolls at Arnold's on Cape CodPent up for months due to the pandemic lockdown, come mid-July, we were ready to leave the house and head to Eastham on the Cape for a week. We rented a cottage down the block from the bayside Thumpertown Beach, where we would spend most afternoons and evenings swimming in the calm surf and watching the sunset. In the mornings we would bike to Nauset Light Beach and on the up-and-down Province Lands Bike Trail, walk the Fort Hill Trail and beaches of Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, and swim in the surrounding kettle ponds. We had our requisite lobster rolls and tasty onion rings at Arnold’s, but also were content barbecuing in the backyard and spending time outdoors with the family. Another highlight was a guided tour with Art’s Dune Tours in Provincetown. You must be doing something right if you’re still in business since 1946. We spent an hour in a Suburban as our driver and guide cruised over the sand dunes on Provincetown’s Cape Cod National Seashore, telling us about the unique topography and the history behind the longstanding dune houses that still cling precariously to the shoreline. We ended at Race Point Beach to watch another glorious sunset. Breathing in that salty air and viewing the serene seascape was the best form of pandemic therapy.

Top Travel Days of 2020, Biking to the Missions in San Antonio

Biking to the Missions in San AntonioBefore heading to a wedding in Austin this past March, Lisa and I returned to San Antonio. Every time I visit this city I think about renting an apartment here in winter, especially in February and March, when the temperature often reaches 70 degrees. The city offers two world class art museums, San Antonio Museum of Art and the McNay, sublime dining at the Pearl, great neighborhoods to roam like King William, and, of course, all the restaurants and bars that line the renowned River Walk. But the reason I really love San Antonio is that it’s one of the best biking cities in America.

We rented bikes from the Blue Star Bike Shop near the boutique shops and galleries of the Blue Star Contemporary Art Center (great for checking out after the bike ride) and pedaled on the 10-mile long bike trail called the Mission Reach. It’s not uncommon to find herons, egrets, families of ducks, and turtles lounging in the waters, and colorful wildflowers in full bloom. At Mission Road, we turned right and visited the first of two Spanish colonial missions, Concepción. These early 18th-century Spanish colonial missions are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and part of a national historic park. I always bring my camera to poke around these impressive buildings and get great shots of the light and shadows reflecting off the walls. We continued on Mission Road another 3 miles to reach the largest mission, San José, known for its popular Mariachi Mass each Sunday. Inside the stone walls, overlooking the green and the church, the setting is serene. When we had our fill, we simply retraced our steps back to the Mission Reach and headed to Rosario’s in Southtown for authentic Mexican fare.