[OMAN] — Such a fascinating place, Oman, with the nicest people I’ve run into, across the board. I spent two weeks crisscrossing northern Oman and this post is all about the best places to go Oman and the best things to do Oman. What to do in Oman. Touring the Great Circle Route in Oman. Including the beautiful Bimmah Sinkhole and the busy Nizwa Goat Market. ______________________________ Oman is an Incredible Country Omanis are known for their gentle souls, peacemaking and equal support of friend and foe. People are so nice that even when I arrived at Passport Control, I walked up to the stern looking passport-checker dude. “From where are you?” “The States” “Really?? We don’t get many Americans here. What is your purpose? Where
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[HAMBURG] — Here’s my overview of where to eat and stay in Hamburg. The best restaurants I found in Hamburg. And a great boutique hotel in Hamburg. Cool things to do in Hamburg. _________________________________ The sun was streaming in through the windows on a cold winter day over Christmas time. It was 1 degree Celsius outside, but in here it was warm. I settled into my six-top booth with the perfect view outside, warming in the rays like a cat. A couple was having a business lunch at a table in front of the windows. Suddenly, it felt like the whole restaurant was moving, but it was really the outside. A ginormous ship was passing by, with a giant bridge castle as tall as a fifteen
[BERLIN] — A review of SO/ Das Stue luxury boutique hotel in Berlin overlooking the Berlin Zoo. The perfect base for a long weekend in Berlin. SO/ Berlin Das Stue best design hotel in Berlin. _______________________________ I’d been working like crazy for the last several months of last year and was itchin’ to go somewhere, like rightnow, over the American Thanksgiving holiday, a perfect time to slip away. Found a cheap flight on Lufthansa five days before leaving and scrambled to find a hotel. I hadn’t had much time to investigate where to stay and scouring Tablet Hotels nearly everything was completely booked by smarter, more forward-thinking people. I’d been seeing great posts from my Instagram peeps about a cool boutique hotel called Das Stue — it claims
[BARCELONA] — I know I’m in the minority in being a steadfast fan of boutique hotels these days, whilst the rest of you are Airbnb’n, but I still am bullish on the whole hotel experience. In fact, I usually book my vacations around the hotel, often traveling far and wide just to visit a special place. These are the best boutique hotels in Barcelona I’ve found, so far. Four great boutique hotels in Barcelona. Barcelona has been almost overrun by Airbnbs, so much so that whole apartment buildings are being converted by investors into full-on apartment rentals — much to the scorn of local residents, pushed out by reasonable growing rents. But just before the HomeAway trend hit BCN, a flurry of boutique hotels were
[COSTA BRAVA, SPAIN] — Here’s a post all about cool things to do Costa Brava. The best things to do Costa Brava Spain. The best boutique hotels in Spain’s Costa Brava. What to do in Costa Brava. And a review Hotel Mas Lazuli. A review of Hotel Castell d’Empordà. ____________________________ This is a big, long post about cool things to do in the Cost Brava region of Spain. But hopefully, a good overview to start planning your trip here. I consolidated several previous posts into one comprehensive post for Costa Brava. I haven’t spent a lot of time on the Costa Brava, but passed through here two different times over the span of three months on the way to other places, each time just for a few
[CATALONIA, SPAIN] — An overview of the best things to do Spanish Pyrenees and Val d’Aran. Where to hike in the Spanish Pyrenees and the Val d’Aran. Exploring the Spanish Pyrenees and driving the N260. Overview of Le Seu d’Urgell. Hiking Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park. _____________________________________ So I was sitting in a cool hotel on the edge of the Sahara one day before I was scheduled to fly back to the States. I’d been on the road for a month in Portugal and Morocco, but I wasn’t ready to go back quite yet. So I cancelled my return flight, flew to Barcelona, walked up to the Hertz desk and asked “Can I rent a car for two months?” “Si! Si, Señor!”
[PORTO, PORTUGAL] — I was only in Porto for two nights, on my way up the Douro River, and one of those nights was in bed with a brutal flu bug, so my time was short. But I did see some cool thing, here are my top sites in Porto. The best things to do in Porto. When I came to Porto in Spring 2015, it was a completely different city than today. Many of the buildings were boarded up or in need of repair. Now nearly everything has been redone and the city is alive and jumping, rivaling Lisbon. When I came to Porto in Spring 2015, it was a completely different city than today (as is all of Portugal). I was just there
[OBIDOS, PORTUGAL] — Here’s an overview of Obidos Portugal a beautiful castle town featured in Game of Thrones. One of the best Portugal hill towns. And one of the best castles in Portugal. About an hour south of Porto is the small castle town of Obidos. If you’re a Game of Thrones fan, which I’ve never really seen, you may recognize this place. But if you’re just a normal castle-loving gypsy, you can stay in the nice pousada inside and get an extra use out of your traveling Glastonbury/Burning Man/Coachella flower bonnet and feel like a queen. Óbidos — The Best Castle in Portugal The castle looks straight out of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. They charge extra for swords, I hear, but available.
[SANTA CRUZ, PORTUGAL] — Here’s my hotel review of Areias do Seixo boutique design hotel, one of the coolest design hotels in Portugal. And I would say the best design hotel in Portugal. When looking for a cool boutique hotel outside Lisbon during my second first tour of Portugal, I saw an article on Areias do Seixo, full of pictures of crazy looking, organic rooms with stained stone, wooden log furniture, swings, and just amazing details. Every room was a revelation. That’s when I had to go to Areias do Seixo. _________________________________ After pulling into a sparse car park, no sign of life. You walk up to the huge, heavy wood doors — all big and Asian-y and intimidating, makes you feel like a bible
[TOURRETTES-SUR-LOUP, FRANCE] — Here’s an overview of the best things to do in Tourrettes-sur-Loup, a stunning hilltop village over the Côte d’Azur in France, and one of the best villages Alpes-Maritimes. And a review of the delightful Histoires de Bastide guesthouse. ______________________________ I was on my way back from nine blissful days in Greece and heading toward the southwest of France. Having already done most of the coast, I wanted to find a new place to explore. I opened a new travel website I kept hearing about i-escape.com and started scouring pictures for something that grabbed my eye. And then BOOM. I saw a the picture above. That was all it took. This is in France? Looks more like Italy, or maybe Corsica. An ancient
[FOLEGANDROS, GREECE] — A review of Anemomilos Boutique Hotel the best hotel on Folegandros, Greece. An amazing cliffside hotel on Folegandros island Greece. ___________________________ 20 hours, three planes, long layovers and a zippy ferry straight from Santorini, I arrived in the port of Folegandros after 9pm, in the pitchdark. The owner of my hotel, Dimitris was waiting for me at the port and drove me the short 3kms up to the town of Chora in his Jeep Cherokee. In minutes we were zig-zagging through the crooked streets of Chora, headed for my home for the next couple of days — the Anemomilos Boutique Hotel. A slow cool breeze, a couple of Mythos and music from the local tavernas conked me out for twelve straight hours. Set the
[FOLEGANDROS, GREECE] — The naturally-formed port on Folegandros is pretty and humble at the same. It’s pretty sleepy, with just a handful of restaurants serving fresh fish and smiles. There are a couple of cheap hotels, one really nice one (Anemi Hotel, shown below) and many rooms to let. But it’s great base to take dayboat tours around the island. Not to mention getting all busybody as you succumb to the rhythms of the arriving ferries, like a Greek cat, and saunter on down to see what mice get on and off. It’s that peaceful. Like a Greek cat, you succumb to the rhythms of the arriving ferries and saunter on down to see what mice get on and off. The Mellow Folegandros Port What makes this
[FOLEGANDROS, GREECE] — I spent an amazing week on the Greek island of Folegandros, here’s my post of the best things to do on Folegandros, an under-the-radar Greek island. 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 a
[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. The best things to do 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.
[CORSICA, FRANCE] — Here’s my overview of the best things to do in central Corsica mountains. The best things to do central Corsica. The best things to do in the gorges of Corsica. Canyoning in Corsica, Gorges de la Restonica. Where to stay in central Corsica. __________________________________ “Emmm, Monsieur Dan, please be careful. The water is deep enough, but there ees a big rock down there. So you must jump out from the cliff to not hit it, but not too far. Or you will hit the beeg rock.“ That was my super-cute young French guide, shouting above the roar. I was canyoning in Corsica for the first time. We were standing on top of a huge stack of elephant rocks, a swift stream was zooming under
[GÈDRE, FRANCE] — This is an overview of three great hikes in the French Pyrénées with details on three of the best cirques in the Hautes-Pyrénées: Cirque de Troumouse, Cirque d’Estaube and Cirque de Gavarnie. Here’s everything good I found. _______________________________ I always wanted to go on some great hikes in the French Pyrénées, but I could never figure out where. As I finally figured out after all these years, the Pyrénées aren’t just a single group of mountains, but a bunch of groups of Pyrénées spread all along the French/Spanish border. So when you think, as I stupidly did, “Oh I’ll just go hike in the Pyrénées” you’re instantly in over your head when you finally try to Google it and figure out where to go.
[EUGENIE-LES-BAINS, FRANCE] — A review of Les Prés d’Eugénie, the late Chef Michel Guérard’s amazing healthy living hotel, spa and three Michelin-starred restaurant in the countryside of Gascony. It’s one of the France’s best luxury hotels. And one of the 50 Best Restaurants in the World. Here’s my review of Michel Guérard’s fantastic Les Prés d’Eugénie hotel. _______________________________ I had the best intensions… Looking to break up my random drive across France in the summer of 2015, I decided to sneak in to the famed Les Prés d’Eugénie hotel for a taste of what made Michel Guérard world famous — one of the pioneers of Nouvelle Cuisine who changed French cooking forever. Chef and his wife Christine built this magical spa hotel in the country
[MOLTIG-LES-BAINS, FRANCE] — Here’s a review of the beautiful Chateau de Riell a beautiful boutique hotel and spa in the mountains of French Catalonia and the best boutique Relais & Chateaux hotels in the region. Château de Riell is the best boutique hotel French Catalonia. _________________________________ So, here I was last April sitting in Skoura, an oasis town in Morocco, and I had to make a choice. Fed up with my stupid job, I’d quit and left for a little sabbatical for a month in Portugal and Morocco. My plane to the States left the next day, but I wasn’t ready to go back. So I cancelled it. I flew back to Barcelona, walked up to the Hertz desk and asked “Can I rent a car
[PRAGUE] — This is going to be a pretty easy post for you, more of a postcard travelogue. I think I am the last guy to visit Prague, but I slapped it on to an over-Christmas trip to Brussels just to see what it’s like and have some beer. Pretty city. Too many tourists for me. Granted, it was a holiday, but I feel sorry that it was so overrun. But it definitely is a beautiful city. These are the best things I’ve found to do over a winter weekend in Prague. Especially during a Christmas holiday weekend in Prague. Click to open the slideshow and follow along. There are other, better, already-done guides to Prague, a million of them. Just think of this post