Gadling’s favorite destinations for 2011

by Alex Robertson Textor on

We travel a lot, to destinations both well-known and unfamiliar. In our defense, it is our job to travel like mad, to explore the world and then write about our discoveries.

Though most travel writers find something or other of interest in most places we visit, there are always those personal favorites that rise above the rest. This year, we decided to scribble our favorites down for you. Some of these spots we’re tipping for greater coverage in 2011, while others are simply tried-and-true favorites that we can’t stop raving about to our friends and the various publications that allow us to write for them. Over the course of this week, we’ll weigh in on our favorite hotels, airlines, gadgets, apps, and websites.

So, without further ado: Gadling’s favorite destinations for 2011.

Mike Barish. St. Kitts. I genuinely enjoy how locals and visitors frequent the same beach bars and restaurants. During evenings on the strip, I’d recognize staff members from my hotel doing the same thing I was doing: enjoying the ocean breeze with a cocktail and some jerk chicken.

Kraig Becker. Everest Base Camp, Nepal. For adventure travelers, a visit to Everest Base Camp is one of the best treks in the world. The 12-day hike isn’t just about the destination, however, as you walk in the shadow of the Himalaya each day, passing through sleepy mountain villages steeped in Sherpa culture along the way. The scenery, and altitude, is a breathtaking once-in-a-lifetime adventure.
Catherine Bodry: Ko Chang, Thailand and Sayulita, Mexico.

Joel Bullock: My favorite new roller coaster of 2010 is Carowinds’ Intimidator. Carowinds is located on the border of North and South Carolina in Charlotte in the heart of NASCAR country. It was only fitting that the park design a racing-themed roller coaster that bears the nickname of racing legend Dale Earnhadt. Intimidator is an exciting ride. It’s the tallest, fastest, and longest roller coaster in the South East.

David Downie: As a general trend, I revisit places that have fallen off the tourist maps, or that have been taken for granted, and delve deeper into favorite destinations such as Paris and Rome, which are infinitely rich and fascinating and satisfying. Cities: Paris (art, culture, walks, museums, food, wine), Rome (art, culture, walks, museums, food, wine), Genoa (food, wine, scenic beauty, history, magically restored architecture), Bologna (food, food, food and atmosphere and architecture), Helsinki (scenic beauty, atmosphere, seafood). Countryside destinations: Burgundy (wine, food, vineyard and mountain scenery), Massif Central (hikes, scenery), Drome-Provencal (ditto, plus truffles and wine), Tuscany (art, culture, museums, wine, food, vineyard and mountain scenery), Italian Riviera (ditto).

Don George. (1) Peru‘s Sacred Valley. I finally made it there this year and was enchanted by scenery, history, culture, people, cuisine. Machu Picchu is of course life-transformingly amazing but the other untouted ruins all around the valley are equally amazing. (2) Kyoto, Japan. The cobbled back quarters of this ancient city are as enchanting now as they were when I first visited 30 years ago. Tiny temples, impromptu shakuhachi concerts, apprentice geisha in full splendor. (3) Aitutaki, Cook Islands. Incredible island scenery, hospitable people, stunning lagoon, peaceful and laid-back lifestyle, thriving dance, carving, and textile arts scene.

Tom Johansmeyer. If you’re a cigar smoker, nothing beats Esteli, Nicaragua. On just about any budget, you can spend a few days down there. Make a few calls in advance, and you’ll have the opportunity to tour tobacco fields and cigar factories. Even if you aren’t a smoker, it’s amazing to see such craftsmanship in action.

Jeremy Kressmann. Hanoi, Vietnam for its great history and architecture, awesome cuisine, and intriguing Cold War sights. Secondly, Laos. The rugged north of the country has great hikes and the buzzing cultural capital of Luang Prabang is totally worthwhile.

Grant Martin. Bogotá. Forget what you’ve heard about kidnappings, drugs and danger, Bogotá is the new cosmopolitan capital of South America. With quaint, brick streets, a buzzing commercial district and a hip, young population, there’s not much to dislike about this place. Get there before the rest of North America figures it out.

Melanie Nayer. Shanghai. The city of old and new hit a turning point when it hosted the World Expo, and set the stage for Shanghai to become one of the most talked about–and visited–cities in the world.

Sean McLachlan. Ethiopia. Friendly people, rugged scenery, historic sites, and great coffee. What more could you want? Beautiful women, good food, adventure travel? Ethiopia has all that too.

Laurel Miller. Ecuador, especially Cotopaxi National Park (see above), because it’s stunningly beautiful, uncrowded, and there are loads of outdoor recreational opportunities. Ecuador is an amazingly diverse country, kind of like a mini-Peru but with very low-key tourism. There’s also great whitewater rafting/kayaking and mountaineering, fascinating indigenous culture, beautiful colonial cities, delicious regional foods, and the people are wonderful. There’s so much more to Ecuador than just the (admittedly spectacular) Galapagos.

Meg Nesterov. Bulgaria is cheap, creative, and easy to explore. Several of my most well-traveled friends already rave about it. Go now before tourism overexposes the country.

Heather Poole. Positano, Italy. It’s just so beautiful and the food is amazing. I’m a flight attendant and I have a four year-old son, as well as a husband who travels over 100,000 miles a year for business. Our life is like a game of tag. So when it comes to vacations all we want to do is relax. I love to be able to sit on a balcony and let the vacation come to me.

McLean Robbins. Telluride. It’s not new, but as ski towns go it feels non-commercial and relatively untouched. You’ll find truly friendly people (and your fair share of under-the-radar celebrities), but also the country’s best extreme skiing. And it looks like heaven when it snows!

Annie Scott. I’m big on Vienna. It’s a magical city that embodies everything I think of when I think of Europe: culture, history, cathedrals and class. I think the Swiss Riviera may be the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. Lake Geneva looks so pristine you could drink it, and the French influence gives everything from the dining to the shopping that elusive je ne sais quoi. Lastly, I had a marvelous trip this year in Zambia where the wildlife was rampant and the scenery was enchanting and unexpectedly dynamic: sweeping plains, dreamlike riverscapes and incredible trees. The thrill of being immersed in the bush is hard to match.

Alex Robertson Textor. Lima, Peru continues to pop. While the Inca Trail is old hat, Lima is emerging as a major destination on its own. Perhaps most notable is the Peruvian capital’s excellent restaurant scene, which is as disarmingly inexpensive as it is top-notch. I also have to mention green, rustic, jaw-droppingly beautiful Dominica as the Caribbean’s top adventure destination. Dominica has a number of fantastic eco-lodges that showcase the island’s natural beauty wonderfully and are priced reasonably.

Karen Walrond. As a diver, I love Cayman. Love it. Very touristy, but the diving is beyond anything I’ve seen, and i’ve been diving all over the world. And I’m partial to Grand Riviere in my homeland of Trinidad, which isn’t touristy at all. Between April and June, you can see Giant Leatherback turtles nesting in Grand Riviere.

[Image: Flickr | alepheli]

Two blogs that inspire travel: l’antipodeuse & Sarah Goldschadt

by Alex Robertson Textor on

Information, to risk stating the baldly obvious, is essential to travel. Timetables, schedules, iPhone apps, hotel review sites and Foursquare check-in updates all deliver very specific information of immediate and inarguable value to travelers. Travel blogs that pursue listings- and information-based missions provide the nitty-gritty details that travelers need, the basic and essential information they require to get their holidays off the ground.

But very often, such blogs do not inspire. The actual work of inspiring people to travel is a different beast, and it materializes in unexpected places. It can be found through all sorts of stimuli: an image; a map; a novel; an overheard conversation; a random Wikipedia dérive. Such sources can help energize broad thinking about places and things and the enticing aesthetics of travel.

Here are two blogs that accomplish just this aim remarkably, by dint of their creators’ strong aesthetics more than anything else.

Exhibit A: l’antipodeuse. New Zealand photographer Mary Gaudin, resident in Montpellier, is the motor behind this blog. Gaudin’s l’antipodeuse showcases all sorts of objects and sites, with a broad eye toward design, interior spaces, and landscape. Many of the images depict Gaudin’s travels. She captures the seasons and food particularly evocatively. Among the places so beautifully captured by her lens are France, London, Finland, Japan, and New Zealand.

Exhibit B: Sarah Goldschadt. American Sarah Goldschadt, born and now resident in Denmark, follows a craftsier impulse in her blog. There are plenty of DIY projects detailed here. What really sets her blog apart from so many others is her well-honed eye for culturally and geographically specific sorts of objects: Danish cake, the shade of red seen on buildings in Sweden; a line of small flags overhead; the milky waters off Møn; London’s chimneys. I especially love her narration of a journey to Köpstadsö, Sweden.

(Image: Sarah Goldschadt)

Four lesser-known Eurozone islands

by Alex Robertson Textor on

With the euro continuing its crash against the US dollar, Europe is shaping us this summer and fall to be relatively inexpensive for Americans on the ground. Here are four islands that get little media or guidebook coverage yet offer volumes of quaint, picturesque charm. All use the euro as official currency, and are thus all markedly cheaper for Americans than they were last summer.

To entice your budget-minded enthusiasm, a mid-range accommodation option is paired with each destination.

1. Porquerolles, France.

The dreamily quiet Porquerolles, with its bouquet of aquamarine inlets, can be reached by ferry from the town of Hyères, near Toulon. The largest of the three islands of the Hyères archipelago, Porquerolles is largely protected as a national park. There are a number of very expensive hotels on the island, to which the mid-range Hotel Le Méditerranée, with double rooms starting at €98 per night in high season, provides a fairly-priced alternative.

2. Fasta Åland, Finland.

The semi-autonomous Swedish-speaking Åland islands, located between mainland Sweden and mainland Finland in the Gulf of Bothnia, are part of Finland. Fasta Åland, the largest island in the group, can be reached by ferry and air from Helsinki, Stockholm, and Turku. Mariehamn, the island’s capital, has cute lanes and museums to offer. Reasonably-priced accommodations can be found at Hotell Esplanad in Mariehamn, with high-season double rooms from €73.

3. San Domino, Italy.

The largest tourist attraction within Italy’s Tremiti archipelago, San Domino is a picturesque island covered with pine trees and studded with beautiful coves. San Domino is located about two-thirds of the way down the Adriatic coast and can be reached by ferry from the coastal port town of Tremoli. Albergo La Pineta charges between €45 and €75 per person for room and half-board between now and the end of September. Avoid the first three weeks of August and you won’t pay more than €65 per person per night.

4. Vlieland, Netherlands.

Wind-whipped Vlieland, one of the Netherlands’ atmospheric Frisian islands, can be reached by ferry from the city of Harlingen on the mainland. The island restricts car ownership to residents, and the streets are accordingly full of pedestrians and bicyclists. The island is one of the least densely-populated municipalities in the country, and there are forests, sand dunes, and beaches to explore. The Hotelletje de Veerman offers a sea-facing double room with terrace or balcony for €50 per person per night.

(Image of Porquerolles: Flickr/sgustin78)

Ten Finnish festivals to finish the year

by Tom Johansmeyer on

We’re into the home stretch on 2009, with only three months left to enjoy. Then, the calendar page flips over, and we take on 2010. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways left to make the rest of this year memorable. In Finland, home to some of the strangest celebrations on the planet, you can find a few interesting distractions – and they’ll make for great stories when you get home. Of course, there are a few mixed in that aren’t so strange but could still be pretty interesting.

1. Rovaniemi Design Week
Head up to the capital of Lapland to enjoy its first ever design week. On its own, this seems pretty mundane … until you get a sense of what’s scheduled to happen. The event will host the 24th Design Challenge, which involves competing to develop the Arctic Circle: Santa’s home base.
September 28-October 4, 2009

2. Baltic Herring Fair
This festival dates back to 1743 in Helsinki and is the oldest event dedicated to Finland’s most important marine product fish. Look for it in the Old Market Square.
October 4-10, 2009

3. Carnival of Light at Linnamäki Amusement Park
The Carnival of Light involves fire acrobats and the Pumpkin Fest parade, not to mention an array of ghosts and witches. A laser show and Harry Potter-themed skating rink tie it all together.
October 8-19, 2009

4. Skiexpo
This is the largest winter sports fair in the Nordic corner of the world and includes downhill skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing and other bone-chilling experiences.
October 30- November 1, 2009

5. Etnosoi! Festival
Listen to Hungarian Gypsy music groups Romengo, Nadara (from Transylvania) and Dobet Gnahoré from Ivory Coast thanks to the Global Music Centre and Centre for Romany Art.
November 4-8, 2009

6. Moving in November
Like to dance? Or, just watch? The Moving in November festival brings contemporary dance acts from across Europe. This year, enjoy two Finnish premieres: riffy by Tommi Kitti (love the name) and Moe by Heli Meklin and Michael Laub.
November 3-8, 2009

7. Helsinki Motor Show
This is the only annual auto exhibition in Scandinavia! Go to the Helsinki Fair Center where you’ll see the work of Finnish importers and manufacturers from around the world. Look for a few concept cars while you’re there.
November 26-29, 2009

8. Ladies’ Christmas Market
Load up on locally made products from the women of Finland at The Christmas Market at Wanha Satama. On the shelves, you’ll find plenty of jewelry, ceramics, leather, woodwork, clothing, baked goods and Christmas goodies.
December 2-6, 2009

9. The Declaration of Christmas Peace
Spend Christmas Eve participating in a tradition seven centuries old: the declaring Christmas peace in the Turku Cathedral.
December 24, 2009

10. New Year at the Senate Square
Ring in the new year at Senate Square, where you’ll be treated to professional firework displays and all the liquor you can store in your pockets.
December 31, 2009

Seven vintage fashion stores at the Helsinki Vintage Fair

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The Helsinki Vintage Fair happens twice a year in Finland, and the next one is right around the corner. On September 27, 2009, nearly 50 vintage and second-hand clothing and décor stores will get together at Kaapelitehdas to sell there goods, and visitors will get to watch a fashion show, live retro music and an exhibition of vintage arcade games. So, whether you’re looking for furniture, clothing, accessories or anything else that’s stylish and bargain-priced, this is worth a gander.

1. Vintage Babushka
New to Helsinki’s secondhand world, Vintage Babushka is the creation of three friends who have a jones for used apparel and accessories. Located in the Punavuori neighborhood, the owners choose wisely and are trying to take Finland “back to black” this fall.
Address: Iso Roobertinkatu 42, Wed-Fri 2-7pm, Sat 12-4pm

2. Green Dress
Green Dress is another new vintage shop, having opened this past spring. In addition to vintage clothing, you can pick up custom-designed clothing, crated from recycled materials. Stylist and handbag rental services are available, as well.
Address: Laivurinkatu 41, Tue-Fri 11am-7pm Sat 11am-4pm

3. Ansa
Ansa specializes in second-hand children’s clothing and boasts a well-decorated boutique.
Address: Fleminginkatu 8, Mon-Fri 12-7pm, Sat 12-4pm

4. Helsinki 10
You can pick up new and used designer duds at Helsinki 10, which caters to both men and women. You’ll find everything from leather jackets to floral dresses on the racks there.
Address: Eerikinkatu 3, Mon-Fri 11am-8pm, Sat 11am-6pm

5. Mekkomania
Look for dresses at Mekkomania – hell, it’s in the name (mekka = dresses). But, you can always go “off menu” and shop for jewelry, shoes, gloves and bags – not to mention wedding dresses from the 1970s.
Address: Mannerheimintie 31, Tue 11am-4pm, Wed-Thu 11am-7pm, Fri 11am-3pm

6. Play it again, Sam
Sam’s been plain’ it for 32 years in Helsinki, with evening gows, accessories, clothes, corsets and even wigs! Some of the goods go back to the nineteenth century.
Address: Rauhankatu 2, Mon-Fri 10.30am-6pm, Sat 11am-3pm

7. Penny Lane Boutique
If you need any reason to go to Penny Lane Boutique, how about the fact that a former Miss Finland owns and runs it? She was a flight attendant for more than 40 years, which means she’ll blend with the Gadling crowd’s travel-savvy audience, and lovers of vintage goods will find plenty to occupy them.
Address: Runeberginkatu 37, Mon-Fri 12-5pm, Sat 12-3pm