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ActiveTravels March Newsletter Now Available

Tuscany is a destination often found on people’s bucket lists. Dreams of the unspoiled, authentic Italy where medieval hill towns, vineyards, olive oil and truffles abound. We’ve paired up with a wonderful Italian tour operator who can offer accommodations in farm houses, villas, apartments, or B&Bs in the region with activities that range from taking cooking classes to guided bike rides on the rolling hills past vineyards, Medieval homesteads, and Etruscan tombs. Also in this month’s newsletter, we disclose our 5 favorite off-the-beaten-path National Parks, lodging clients have enjoyed in Jackson Hole, why you should download the app, Yonder, and a gem of a renovated inn that we came across on a recent trip to Stowe. Enjoy!

 
I’m off to Tanzania tonight for an epic trip with Epic Private Journeys to check out Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater. We’ll also be visiting more remote parts of the country like the Grumeti Reserves, home to two lavish lodges, a tented camp, and a mobile camp under the design and management of South Africa’s pioneering Singita tourism group. Another private wildlife reserve, Mwiba, is where you’ll find the latest upscale lodging in the country, the Mwiba Lodge, which opened last June and is already gaining acclaim for its 8 canvas-sided suites. I’ll be checking it all out and sending photos on my Twitter account @ActiveTravels. When I’ll return on March 23rd, you’ll be hearing all about it on this page. So stay tuned and stay active! 
 

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Single Malt Whisky Tasting At Cape Breton’s Glenora Distillery

It’s wonderful to be back in Cape Breton, especially on a hot cloudless sunny day. After crossing Canso Causeway and following Route 19 on Ceilidh Trail, we picnicked on the rocks of the Celtic Shores Coastal Trail, a hard-packed gravel trail which snakes along the western shores of Cape Breton from Port Hastings all the way north 92 kilometers to Inverness. In Glenville, we stopped at the Glenora Distillery to sample the single malt whisky (can’t call it Scotch since we’re not in Scotland). We stepped into the bar and listened to the live Celtic music from local fiddlers and singers while sampling a flight of five whisky choices. The Glen Breton 10 year-old whisky was smooth, but we loved the 19 year-old cask strength whisky finished in a barrel used for ice wine to add a hint of sweetness at the end. Then we took a tour around the distillery to see how they produced 150 barrels of whisky this past year. Built in 1990, Glenora is the first distillery in North America to attempt to make single malt scotch. The water stems from the shimmering McClellan’s Brook which runs through the bucolic property, while the malted barley comes from Saskatchewan and the fast-acting yeast from South Africa. The finished product is aged in oak barrels from the Buffalo Trace bourbon distillery in Kentucky.  The result is award-winning single malt whisky, worthy of a stop. 

 
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Fantasy Islands Week: Fiji

Picture yourself on a South Pacific island where the hum of cars and TVs is replaced by the sounds of waves tumbling ashore and the sporadic plunk of almonds dropping from trees. Envision a private island resort catering to only 14 couples. This is Matangi Island, built with romantics in mind.  Each of the 11 thatched-roof bures is accented with Fijian tapa cloths, tribal artifacts, and a bed draped with mosquito netting. You’ll have to book months in advance if you want the three popular treehouse bures—30 feet up a la Swiss Family Robinson.  A stone’s throw away from the lodging, the beach sweeps around a bay shaded by chestnut trees and banana ferns. The surrounding waters are home to the renowned Rainbow Reef. Matangi has its own dive operation to take you out to see the kaleidoscopic coral and the abundant sea life. There’s also saltwater fly-fishing and sailing, but most visitors simply lounge on the beach watching the waters of the Tasman Strait float by as the sun passes overhead.
 
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Memorable Spring Bike Rides, Giverny, France

Not surprising, my two favorite seasons for biking are spring and fall. I’m gearing up for a charity ride this Sunday by taking a ride past the farms and estates of Dover and Sherborn this morning, the first sunny day we’ve had in Boston in more than a week. So it’s a good opportunity to reminisce about my favorite spring rides over the years. First up, biking to Giverny.

 
Those of you with a love of art history know Giverny as the home of Claude Monet. Less than an hour by train from Paris, you can make the pilgrimage to Monet’s home and his spectacular Japanese water garden inundated with day lilies, the inspiration for many of the works that hang on the walls of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and other impressive collections of Impressionism around the globe. Fat Tire Bike Tours escorts riders from Paris’ St. Lazare train station to the quaint village of Vernon. Once you arrive, you head to an outdoor market to stock up on picnic food–soft, creamy Reblochon cheese, slices of yummy Rosette de Lyon sausage, duck liver pate, warm baguettes from the neighborhood boulangerie, juicy strawberries and apricots, and a bottle of wine to wash it down. After passing out bikes, our guide Andrew led us to the banks of the Seine River where we watched a family of swans swim as we dug into our goodies. Then we were off on an easy bike trail that connects Vernon with Giverny. We entered the picturesque hamlet and were soon walking over that Japanese bridge seen in many of Monet’s works. The whole trip took about 8 hours and cost 99 Euros per biker, a perfect day trip from Paris. 
 
 
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Spending All Next Week with The Trustees of Reservations

While Crane Beach is still the best-known Trustees of Reservations site in Massachusetts, the group maintains more than 112 locales in the state, from Field Farm in Williamstown to the recently acquired Dunes Edge Campground in Provincetown. The William Cullen Bryant Homestead in Cummington is a pastoral landscape of pastures and fields of wildflowers, largely unchanged for more than 150 years. Slocum’s River Reserve in Dartmouth is a 47-acre coastal farm on the shores of Buzzards Bay, an ideal place to view warblers during the spring and fall migration. All next week, I’ll be traveling around the state introducing readers to at least 20 Trustees sites—research for a story I’m writing for The Boston Globe on my personal favorites. So please check back! 

 
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Nova Scotia to Restart Ferry Service from Maine Next Summer

Great news out of Nova Scotia yesterday with the announcement that the province of Nova Scotia has signed an agreement with Nova Star Cruises to re-establish round-trip ferry service between Portland, Maine, and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, starting May 2014. The ferry service ended in 2009, forcing New Englanders to drive through New Brunswick to reach Nova Scotia, making the trip far more arduous. As part of the agreement, the Province of Nova Scotia will provide Nova Star Cruises with up to CDN $21 million of financial support over seven years to assist the company with re-establishing the ferry service. Nova Star will leave Portland each evening at 8 pm EST and arrive in Yarmouth at 7 am AST the next morning. The ship will depart two hours later and arrive back in Portland at 5 p.m. local time. If you’re considering visiting Nova Scotia, PEI, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland, this might be the summer. 

 
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Walking Through Venice and Veneto with the Wayfarers

Named by National Geographic Adventure as one of the “Best Hiking Companies,” The Wayfarers offers an eco-sensitive “walking” holiday that merges fitness with culture in 15 countries across the globe.  Now in its 28th year, founder Michael West is particularly excited about the upcoming Venice and The Veneto trip. Averaging 7 to 10 miles a day of walking, the weeklong journey will take you to Asiago to sample the famous cow’s milk cheese, visit the birthplace of grappa in Bassano del Grappa, and view two of Palladio’s magnificent villas, including the Renaissance architect’s masterwork, La Rotonda. “The highlight,” says West, “is when we arrive in Venice at the finale of the trip on a private launch directly from the mainland. I have never experienced (in almost fifty years in the business) a thrill like arriving at the steps of our hotel having cruised in celebrity style through one of the most famous skylines in the world!” The farewell dinner is in a restaurant known only by locals on the quayside watching the sun set over the city. “Magic!” says West.
 

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