Big Sur’s parking lots fill by 9am. McWay Falls viewpoint holds 12 cars. Bixby Bridge charges $40 to park on summer weekends. Highway 1 closed three times between 2021 and 2023 for mudslides. Four million visitors arrived in 2024, most aiming for the same five Instagram spots. Mendocino sits 150 miles north. Population 880. The … Lire plus
The ferry from Sandnessjøen cuts through Norwegian Sea swells for two hours before Lovund appears. Green slopes rise behind a cluster of red and yellow houses. April 14 arrives the same way every year here. So do 200,000 puffins. This island sits 40 miles south of Lofoten on the Helgeland coast. Population hovers around 400. … Lire plus
“`html The ferry from Chiquilá takes 20 minutes. You step onto Holbox and the first thing you notice is sand under your feet where pavement should be. No car engines. No asphalt. Just sandy streets the color of pale wheat running between buildings painted Caribbean blue and coral pink. The second thing you notice is … Lire plus
Paris hotels average $275 per night in February 2026. Amsterdam charges $310. Barcelona asks $240. Meanwhile, 500 miles east in Bulgaria, Plovdiv offers Roman theaters and cobblestone wine bars for $65 nightly. Bratislava delivers Danube castle views for $55. These nine cities preserve medieval architecture, outdoor cafe culture, and walkable historic centers at 40-70% lower … Lire plus
Big Corn Island receives three daily flights from Managua. Paved roads circle the 6-square-mile island. Golf carts and taxis wait at the airstrip. Picnic Beach and Long Beach fill with day-trippers by 10am. Twenty miles offshore by panga boat, Little Corn Island operates differently. No motors allowed. One village of 1,000 residents. Beaches earned by … Lire plus
Salto del Nervión draws 200,000 hikers yearly to its 222-meter drop in Basque mountains. Parking fills by 9am on weekends. The 3-hour mountain trail closes November through March when snow blocks access. And from July through September, the waterfall often runs dry. 45 miles west on Cantabria’s coast, a different kind of cascade exists. El … Lire plus
Anaconda sits 25 minutes northwest of Butte, population 9,400, where a 585-foot brick smokestack rises against the Pintler Mountains. The town processes copper no more. Winter now brings cross-country skiers to a golf course built on smelter ruins, ice fishermen to Georgetown Lake, downhill runs at Discovery Ski Area for one-third what Big Sky charges. … Lire plus
Dzilam de Bravo sits 62 miles from Mérida on the Yucatán coast where freshwater bubbles into turquoise Gulf shallows. The ocean cenote Ojo de Agua Xbuya-Ha pushes enough volume per minute that swimming through the current proves nearly impossible. Local cooperatives cap daily visitors to protect 170,500 acres of mangrove channels and virgin beaches. February … Lire plus
“`html Punalu’u Black Sand Beach draws tour buses by the dozen. Parking lots fill by 9am. Vendors line the entrance. Lifeguards whistle at crowds wading too close to basking turtles. The black sand is real, the experience manufactured. Thirty miles north on Highway 19, Kiholo Black Sand Beach sits behind a mile of dirt road … Lire plus
The ferry from Paros pulls into Antiparos harbor in seven minutes. Most passengers stay on Paros, where hotels charge $165 a night and Naoussa’s waterfront restaurants pack tourists elbow to elbow. The few who cross find whitewashed lanes empty at 8am, tavernas serving grilled octopus for $15, and beaches where you count visitors on one … Lire plus