[FOLEGANDROS, GREECE] — I spent an amazing week on the Greek island of Folegandros, here’s my post of the best things to do on the under-the-radar Greek island of Folegandros. I think it’s the best Greek island. Where to eat on Folegandros. What to do on Folegandros and where to stay on Folegandros. And an overview of the best beaches on Folegandros. __________________________ On the quiet island of Folegandros, there are no cruise ships. There’s no airport. No big hotels. No hoards of tourists. They only got electricity a about 30 years ago. It wasn’t until the last 20 years that the island’s one road was paved — all 18 kilometers of it — and the first gas station arrived. There’s only one bus driver. Only
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[FOLEGANDROS, GREECE] — A video and music overview of the best beaches, hotels and restaurants of the under-the-radar island of Folegandros. For more details, visit the Folegandros page on my website.
[SARTÈNE, CORSICA] — Here’s my overview of Domaine de Murtoli a luxurious secret hideaway on the French island of Corsica. The best luxury hotel in Corsica. The best luxury villas in Corscia. ______________________________ I was having dinner by myself the first night in Corsica at Domaine de Murtoli — one of the most exclusive resorts in France — and sitting back and grinning at all the natural wonder before me in this candle-lit treehouse of a restaurant hidden under the maquis trees. Barefoot waitresses in linen frocks darted under the leaves, bringing drinks, appetizers and cute smiles. Around the corner came a vision, the most perfectly tanned specimen on this planet. Valérie, the proprietress of this magical haven (and a former model and mother to four
[CORSICA, FRANCE] — Here’s my driving tour of the best hilltop villages of Northern Corsica. What to do in Northern Corsica, where to eat in Northern Corsica, best boutique hotel in north Corsica and driving all around the famed Cap Corse. ____________________________________ You know when you’re in a rental car in a foreign land and you’re on a steep impossible skinny one lane road with dropoffs of hundreds of feet and wondering “what the hell am going to do if another car comes the other way???” I was in exactly in that situation, on a steep rocky road, barely wider than my car, pointing downdowndown on my way to the a sleepy fishing village I was told was a gem. The crazy road was a bunch of
[CORSICA, FRANCE] — Here’s my overview of the best beaches of Southern Corsica. What to do in southern Corsica. The best things to do Southern Corsica. Smack in the middle of the deep blue Mediterranean Sea are two big islands, Sardinia and Corsica. Almost like twins, ripped apart, both jut out of the sea like breaching whales, with huge mountains in the middle and some of the best beaches in all of Europe ringing their rocking shores. Corsica, known as Corse in French, is a magical adventure land, with an infinite amount of sporty things to do. Hiking. Climbing. Canyoning. Snorkeling. Sailing. Boating. Or just sit on the beach. The middle is spiked with enormous shark-toothed mountains, some as high as the Alps, often dotted
[SPLIT, CROATIA] — I knew she would be big. I had no idea she’d be THIS big. It was the pictures that got me first. Our awesome travel agent Ginny had been sending me pics of boats all over. “We want something cool” I’d said, these are my best friends. “Can you find a Turkish gulet in Croatia?” I’d seen gulets while on a regular sailboat in Greece, they’re so much better than a typical sailboat. I had space-envy. I made a note in my book: “Rent Turkish gulet one day.” I liked how they’re all built around a big broad dining table straddling across the back, not everyone scrunched in a tight sailing cockpit all the time. My travel agent could only find a
[MAREMMA, TUSCANY] — Maremma is the hidden gem of Tuscany on the southern coastal edge of Tuscany and goes from the hilly and ferrous inland to the varyingly wild-horse-roaming, swampy and rocky coast. Here are some of the best things to do in Maremma and what to do in Maremma over a couple of days. After four days in Bologna — two and half of them in bed with a violent flu — I was ready to come here and just sit in the sun by the pool at Il Pellicano and just eat my way back to health. But after a couple days of restoration, I couldn’t help but explore the famous area in and around Monte Argentario. I only had time for a daytrip
[LOS CABOS, MEXICO] — Here’s my review of Esperanza luxury resort Los Cabos, an Auberge resort. One of the best luxury resorts in Los Cabos. Cabo is crazy with Spring Breakers, bachelorette parties and some budget accommodations, but a few coves over is the super luxurious Esperanza resort, far enough away from the maddening crowds, but close enough to benefit from the convenience of getting in/out of town. Esperanza is an Auberge resort, so you know it’s top of the line. Esperanza is part of the Auberge Resort Collection, so you know it’s gonna be top notch. You get your own personal concierge who pretty much looks after to you round the clock and arranges everything for you. The good thing about the
[POSITANO, ITALY] — If you’ve never been to Le Sirenuse in Positano, put it on your list. Le Sirenuse is the best hotel on the Amalfi Coast and one of the best hotels in Italy. It’s also one of World’s 50 Best Hotels. Nothing compares to sitting in the grandstands (the pool) overlooking one of the prettiest views in the world. A cascade of villas, hotels and restaurants tumbling down to the sea. Le Sirenuse — The Best Hotel in Positano One of the most pristine, elegantly designed and not-over-the-top luxury hotels. Spotless and shiny Vietri tile all over in a mint-condition building that was a private summer house until it was turned into a hotel in 1951. Now stuffed with all the Sersale family’s antiques and
[BAHIA, BRAZIL] — Here’s my overview of Trancoso, the former fishing village, then turned international hippie community in the 70s, then Trancoso turned into an international bohemian beach town on the coast of Bahia in Northeast Brazil. Trancoso sits above some of the best beaches in Bahia and all of Brazil. ____________________________ Trancoso–a Former Fishing Village, Now an International Destination I’d read about Trancoso for some time, it just kept popping up in the right places. But when I was in a small Uruguayan hotel and met a photographer from Wallpaper who had just come from a week-long shoot there, he said it was one of the coolest places he’d been, I knew I had to go. So I did. A once-isolated fishing village in
[JALISCO, MEXICO] — Here’s an overview of a weekend spent at Careyes one of the coolest, most exclusive and eccentric resorts in Mexico. High above a nearly deserted Costaalegre coastline, Costa Careyes is a remarkable compound of a several dozen villas (each with their own architectural theme), a cluster of casitas and small hotel and other layers of habitation. And information on Casa Altiplano and Sol de Oriente private villas at Careyes. Careyes is Unlike Any Other Resort It was created and owned by a one-eyed Italian count and designed by a several out-there Italian and Mexican architects, this place looks like a bizarre movie set — think Planet of the Apes (in a good Italian way) a little MadMax combined in five star luxury