[BERLIN] — Several years ago I went to Berlin for a quick Thanksgiving getaway to scope it out for a possible move. I loved it so much I came back the next year over Christmas for a longer stay. I got a chance to stay at three great boutique hotels in Berlin — all were so completely different and in completely different areas, each felt like I was on a completely different vacation. Here are my favorites I found. And here’s a link to a long post I made about how to spend a long weekend in Berlin, with lots to choose from. Feel the Vibe at the Michelberger Hotel What a find. The Michelberger Hotel is up there in the top ten of my
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[VAL GARDENA, ITALIAN DOLOMITES] — Alpe di Siusi (also called Seiser Alm in German) is one of the coolest and easy hikes in the Dolomites. It’s a giant plateau, a big bowl actually, scooped like an amphitheater around the stunning Sassolungo (also called Langkofel) — the big shard of a mountain that shoots up like a shark tooth and central focus and spiritual rock-center for all of Val Gardena. So as your work your way around this big bowl, your hike is like a Disney seat-on-a-swivel that always rotates to face the main stage. What makes hiking here so great is the unrivaled views of Sassolungo and the endless rolling carpet of hay fields that flank this big wide bowl-in-the-sky. You can walk for hours
[VAL DI FUNES, DOLOMITES] — I haven’t spent much time in Val di Funes, but I kept seeing pictures of this rifugio 👆 several times and I was dying to get here, I’d just never been over to that valley. For the longest time, I just couldn’t figure out where it was. Now I know. It’s called Geisleralm and it’s one of the best hikes in Val di Funes. When I started going to the Dolomites in 2015 and on, there just wasn’t much information or guides written in English, most of it was written for people who already knew where everything wass and were already familiar with all the three-way interchangeable naming of things in Italian/German/Ladin. It took me forever to realize that the
[MÜNCHEN, GERMANY] — I stopped in Munich for a quick overnight in the summer to catch a flight the next day and loved it so much I vowed to come back and explore it more. So I did for a week over Christmas in 2022. Amazing how different it is compared to when we backpacked to Oktoberfest in the 80s. 🤣🤣. As if. I combined both of those trips into this single post about the cool architecture and design all over Munich, so you’ll see some summer and winter scenes. I just scratched the surface. So much more I didn’t get to. I can’t wait to go back. Munich is now a powerhouse of a business and cultural city and one of the rockingest economies
[MUNICH, GERMANY] — I’d been in and out of the super cool Munich airport — which in itself, looks like a super clean Apple store — because of direct and lovely Lufthansa flights from Denver. But coming back from the Dolomites, I decided to do a day and a half in Munich during a rainy July weekend. I loved it so much, found so many cool things, I decided to come back over a Christmas break to spend nearly a week. Wow. I was blown away. This is a combined post of both of those trips of all the cool places I found to eat. There were other meals that were just meh, so I didn’t include them here, but these are the great places
[MÜNCHEN] — The Louis Hotel, a fabulous boutique hotel in the perfect Munich location, is my new favorite hotel. And I think the best boutique hotel in Munich. Understated and elegant, the insides are just as calming as a Japanese onsen. Warm woods welcome you in the lobby, with brown-on-brown-on-brown colors covering almost everywhere except for the windows and a stunning painting of the sky. I had no idea this hotel opened in 2009 — when I was last there in 2022 it felt like it had just opened. Everything was sparkling clean, felt brand new and the style, timeless cool. They have 72 rooms, which surprised me because I rarely ran into other guests — probably because the nondescript elevator from a short cove
[LAFAYETTE, LOUISIANA] — We were on a two day shoot to the Louisiana swamps to get some b-roll footage for a client brand video we were making. We were in the middle of a Louisiana swamp, a boat ramp actually, between two roaring bridges, mirror images of each other and straight as an arrow, disappearing into the distance like railroad tracks. The boys were setting up their big cinema camera, attaching giant lenses and splaying a heavy tripod. The rhythmic thumping of trucks and cars over expansion joints made us almost have to shout to each other. I was hypnotized at this place — one I’d found by zooming in on in Google maps — and wanted to get this amazing shot. I took out
[PARIS] — I’ve been to Paris a bunch of times over the last several decades, sometimes for a week, sometimes just a couple of days in/out. Several times over a quick Thanksgiving or Christmas bop-over. Sometimes I didn’t take any pictures, other times I just roamed around shooting everything. There are lots and lots of Paris guides, so I won’t go into much detail here, just think of this post like an old postcard rack at the train station, look for places that look good, then go find them. These are all my favorite places in Paris. I won’t go into much detail here, just think of this post like a cluttered old postcard rack at the train station. Look for places that look good
[TORRES DEL PAINE, CHILE] — If you’re going to Patagonia the Tierra Hotel is the perfect base to explore Torres del Paine national park. It’s one of the best adventure hotels in the park. It’s actually inside the park, with stunning views of the steep granite mountains called The Towers. Okay, here’s the deal: the Tierra Hotels have an awesome setup, there are several in all the cool places of Chile, all built around the adventure side of travel. One is in the Atacama Desert in the north, another on the coast near Chiloé and this beautiful hotel, Tierra Patagonia, inside the incredible Torres del Paine national park on the Chilean side of Patagonia. They often pair them together in a package deal so you can
[SCANDOLA NATURE RESERVE, CORSICA] — Okay, who’s been to the Scandola Nature Reserve in Corsica? Non? Strap in. You’re about to see something really amazing. You gotta gotta go do this. A huge natural preserve in the northwest of Corsica, with the most dramatic rock formations, canyons and wildly shaped rocks you’ve ever seen, plunging right into the sea. Dwarfing everything in their midst, namely you. Scandola is like being in a one-armed Grand Canyon, with the deep blue Mediterranean sea on the right side, and every color and shape of rock you’ve ever seen on the left. The Scandola peninsula was created from a collapsed volcano that fell into the sea, so you feel the earth opening up before you. This is a protected nature reserve, both
Brantôme is a sleepy little village in Périgord. A gorgeous little town on a u-turn bend of the river, originally built on an island, surrounded on all sides by the calm rolling waters of the river Dronne — which is why it’s called “Venice of Périgord”. This would be a great fort. It’s a great central base to explore Dordogne. Here’s a giant related post I made on exploring Dordogne. It really is one of the cutest list villages in France, I loved it. There’s only about two thousand people that live here and the immediate surroundings. Just loved walking into town in the morning to pick up the International Herald Tribune and a cafe au lait and sit by the river. It has all
[DORDOGNE & PERIGORD, FRANCE] — You don’t read much about Dordogne in the U.S. travel press. But the French & English know about it, almost keep it all to themselves. In fact, this was one of the great battlegrounds of the Hundred Year’s War between the nobles of France and England. Now wealthy Brits have snapped up a lot of the incredible houses and chateaus. I spent a week there several years ago and these are what I found to be the best things to do in Dordogne. Are there other places? Certainly. But this what I found in a little less than a week in an early June. I just want to give you a taste of what it looks, feels and tastes like. I
[MOUSTIERS-SAINTE-MARIE, FRANCE] — Moustiers in eastern Provence is the gateway to the great Gorges du Verdon, The Grand Canyon of France. (see my post on the Gorges du Verdon here). It’s an Adventureland of fun, with trekking, boating, canyoning, climbing and just plain gawking at all the natural beauty. Here’s my review of Alain Ducasse’s incredible gourmet Michelin-starred hideaway La Bastide de Moustiers in the beautiful town of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, high in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. Bathe in Lavender on the Valensole Plateau Driving up from southern Provence, you first drive over the high and flat Valensole plateau, home to some of the largest and most stunning lavender fields in France. Miles and miles of sweet purple flowers, as far as the eye can see. If you’re in Provence
[MILAN, ITALY] — When I was going to school in Rome, I was obsessed with Old Things. We zoomed all over Europe every weekend, compartments loaded up with beer, on our unlimited Eurail Pass looking for cool old stuff. The only thing I knew about Milan was our midnight stop at the train station, jolted awake from a drunk sleep each time by the same old man hawker each time, with a raspy smoker’s voice outside our drawn shades: “Birrrrrra. Acqua Mineraaaaale. Chocccolaaato. Orangiiiiiina. Aranciatttt-a. Coca Cooolaaaa.” repeated over and over until the train departed. Then again the next time we flew through. Anyone who passed by Milano Centrale in the 80s knew that voice. When someone would ask “Should we go to Milan?” “Why?
[BERGAMO, ITALY] — If you’re flying Ryan Air or other discount airline to Milan, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve noticed the name Bergamo only after landing in Bergamo, the airport deceptively named Milan Bergamo Airport. Most airport arrivals people spend their time just trying to actually get to Milan, but the old city of Bergamo is gorgeous, beautifully-preserved, cultural and manufacturing hub about an hour northeast of Milano. It’s worth spending a day exploring, or even overnight. Bergamo and Lugano. Just an hour or so from Milano. Here’s the lay of the land of the two cities I’m suggesting for out-and-back day trips from Milano, or to slip into on your way to or from that amazing city. Bergamo and Lugano. Just an hour
Turin (also called Torino in Italian, everyone seems to use it interchangeably, even Italians) is a city I’ve always heard italophiles rave about, but I’d never been. After spending a week tasting tons of Barolo and Nebbiolo in Monforte d’Alba, I added on a couple extra nights inn Torino before flying out to scope it out for future visits. I didn’t have any time to do any advance time to do much research and was short of time, so I just spent a couple of days walking its endless piazzas and colonnades, Wandering Around Until Stumbling On Something Cool (WAUSOSC™️). There are lots of great guides available, many I’ve linked at the bottom of this post, so I won’t go into too much detail, just
[AMALFI COAST, ITALY] — The whole Amalfi Coast is a string of towns south of Naples, roughly starting from Sorrento on down. Each town has its own charm and personality. Not a big fan of Sorrento, more of a modern city that cruise ships and tour buses visit and it’s the last train stop, so that’s as far as most people go. Keep going down farther, starting at Positano. This is my guide to Positano and the Amalfi Coast and why you should go here in Positano and and all the best things to do in Positano. You Should Go Here In Positano — I consolidated several posts into one comprehensive guide in one place, so it’s a giant post and dense with information. I’ve
[PORTO ERCOLE, TUSCANY] — Driving through the hills and ravines of western Tuscany, you find yourself in the little known coastal area of wild and woolly Maremma. The road rolls down to the sea, you drive across a causeway and lagoon to Monte Argentario, a hump of an island and now basically a peninsula connected by two bridges. Looking out at fishing boats and people bobbing along the shore, you wind through tiny Porto Ercole, pop up and over a hill, see the tiny pelican logo and pull into an ivy covered parking area. As the bellman grabs your things you glide through the lobby and head towards the sun on the terrace. It’s the view that hits you in the gut. Gah! Down a tumbling
[ROME, ITALY] — The Pantheon, one of the great wonders of the world and certainly my favorite building of all time. Every time I come back to Rome, the first thing I have to do is to go and see and touch this magical place. I’ve been inside The Pantheon at least fifty times and it never gets old. Even though… you know… it’s really old. Started by my friend Emperor Augustus and rebuilt after a fire by Big Builder Hadrian in 126AD. Most other big domes are actually made of stacked stone, using gravity to hold them in place, like on a Roman bridge, or supported by metal or other reinforcements. This is like poured concrete, way ahead of its time and continues to
[VERONA, ITALY] — Verona was never on at the top of my list, I always heard it was just a place where bus tours stop to all stand under the Romeo and Juliet balcony. Boy was I wrong. When my buddies were flying out of the Verona airport we spent a day and a half checking it out. I loved it so much, I came back by myself the following week. I was blown away how gorgeous, clean and manageable this Italian city is. Here are all my best things to do in Verona. The city has so much history beyond Romeo & Juliet. From Dante to the big Veronese families to the football team. It’s also a UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the whole city,
This is from a trip I took several years ago for an overnight in Athens. My sisters and brother just went through Athens after a Greek Islands charter sailboat trip and I realized I never made a post so I could share my tips. So here it is, my tips for a quick trip to Athens, including when is the best time avoid the crowds at the Acropolis and a review of the New Hotel. Whether on purpose (smart) or randomness, most flights and ferries coming back from the the Greek Islands invariably end up with a forced overnight in Athens. On my last trip coming back from the beautiful island of Folegandros (my posts on that trip are here), this stop was shorter than
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