여행을 한다는것은 삶의 의미를 더 깊이 느낀다는 뜻이 함축되여있다.
여행사를 통한 구룹여행도 있고, 이여행방법이 가장 보편적이이다. 많은 여행객들이 여행안내자의 지시에 따라 집단으로 움직이기에 때로는 목적지에 도착했다는 의미만을 느낀채 다시 다음 장소로 옮기는 경우도 있다. 구룹여행에서 내경험에 의하면, 한국인들이 운영하는 여행사와 이곳 서구사회의 여행사들이 제공하는 여행 Package사이에는 차이가 있는것을 경험했었다. 북미대륙의 현지인들이 운영하는 Tour Package는 최고 20명까지이지만 보통은 14-16명정도다. 그러나 한국인이 운영하는 구룹여행은 대형뻐스(40인승이상)에 꽉채워서 하기에 간혹 각자 여행자분들에게 부담을 많이 느끼게 하는 경우가 많다. 우선 Tour Guide의 설명을 Missing하는 경우가 많고, 편의 시설이용시 아까운 시간을 많이 낭비하는 결점이 있다.
부부 단둘이서 호젖하게 스케쥴에 구애받지 않고, 가고싶은 곳을 찾아서 탐방하는 방법이 있고, 이럴때는 내가 알아서 교통편과 여행 Schedule, 그리고 숙소를 찾아야 하기때문에 더 많은 시간적 여유를 먼저 생각해야 하는 결점(?)이 있다. 보통 Back Pack 여행을 뜻하는것으로 이해한다.
또 개인 여행이지만, 가고져 하는 나라의 현지 여행사와 Contact해서 계약을 맺고, 여행 Itinerary를 협의 해서 정하고, 여행사에서 제공해 주는 SUV차에 Tour Guide와 운전수가 제공되는 여행으로,우리부부의 경우 약 한달간을 같이 행동하게 되면, 새로운 친구를 사귀는 Extra Fellowship은 물론이고, 때로는 이들과 부자지간의 연을 맺어, 여행후에도 계속 살아가는 얘기를 SNS를 통해 나누는 반사이익을 얻는 경우도 가끔 있다. 또 비용이 더 많이 필요한것으로 이해할수도 있지만, 숙소,교통편, Tour Itinerary을 정하느라 소요되는 시간을 절약할수있어, 결론적으로는 별차이가 없음을 경험에서 터득했었다. 그래서 우리 부부의 경우는 이 Tour Package를 많이 이용한다. 이여행을 하기위해서는 세계공통어인 영어를 구사할수 있어야 하는 단점(?)이 있다.
2020년도에 가볼만한 여행지로 52곳을, NY times에서 탐험후 선정하여 보도한것을 여기에 옮겨놨다.
나라별로 봤을때는 약 절반정도는 이미 탐방했었던 곳이어서 더 정겨웠다.
아랫쪽으로 스크롤다운 시켜서 보면, 좋은 사진들과 그내용들을 자세히 볼수 있다.
1
Washington
In the U.S. capital, new restaurants, historic
theaters and events marking the suffrage movement
One
hundred years ago, on Aug. 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified,
and American women had won the right to vote. In Washington,
institutions like the Library of Congress, the National Museum of American History and the National Archives Museum
have long-running exhibitions either under way or planned to
commemorate the milestone and those whom it left out. (Admission to all
three is free, as it is to most of the city’s museums and monuments.) In
an election year of perhaps unprecedented political angst, some might
find visiting the nation’s capital fraught. But in recent years
Washington has watched its already-rich culture and dining scene
blossom, offering a vast menu of fresh sights and tastes. Away from the
halls of government, Washington presents a diverse identity as a
majority-minority city and a cosmopolitan crossroads where American
society blends with international influences. The U Street area,
sometimes referred to as Black Broadway, is packed with historic theaters and concert halls where jazz flourished and go-go music was pioneered. Beyond a small but growing set of pricier Michelin-starred restaurants, Washington has also seen a younger, forward-thinking crop
of restaurants emerge, with Ethiopian and Laotian food well
represented. Even as a modern, homegrown and ever-changing culture
percolates below the surface, though, Washington holds to its historical
ideal of a city built on a common heritage — a place for all Americans
to reflect on a shared identity, even in a contentious election year.
—Zach Montague
2
British Virgin
Islands
An island chain devastated by hurricanes
rebounds with an environmental bent
Robert Rausch for The New York Times
Hit
by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, the British Virgin Islands have
been slow to recover. But this year, a number of resorts will reopen,
including Rosewood Little Dix Bay,
the iconic resort originally developed by the conservation-minded
Laurance Rockefeller in 1964, which was under renovation when the storms
hit; it reopened this month. On Norman Island,
planned developments for 2020 include three hotels, a marina and an
observatory. Offshore, the ship William Thornton, which once housed the
floating bar known as Willy T, was
damaged and is now part of an artificial reef, but a new vessel has
replaced it. Many properties have a new environmental focus. Necker Island,
the private island owned by Richard Branson, will finish rebuilding by
April, and introduce uniforms made from recycled plastic found in the
ocean; in 2019, the resort installed wind turbines that have enabled it
to run on up to 90 percent renewable energy. In summer 2020, the Bitter End Yacht Club
will open a new marina using recycled materials and a market to
provision boat crews; accommodations are scheduled to follow in the
fall. Cooper Island Beach Club
on Cooper Island, a 15-minute water taxi ride from Tortola, plans to
offer packages combining island stays with emissions-free sailing trips
aboard a new electric-powered yacht from Voyage Charters.
—Elaine Glusac
3
Rurrenabaque,
Bolivia
A new protected area invites visitors
to see rare monkeys and pink dolphins
Federico Rios for The New York Times
The
small town of Rurrenabaque is the gateway to a lush and thrillingly
beautiful part of northwestern Bolivia that offers a twofer for tourists
passionate about supporting efforts toward sustainability and
protecting endangered species. Bolivia just won an award for Best Green
Destination from World Travel Awards
for its efforts in making this entire region — packed with roaring
waterfalls and rare wildlife, and home to many Indigenous groups —
sustainable while launching programs for ecotourism. Here visitors will
find Madidi, one of the world’s most biodiverse protected areas, and
Rhukanrhuka, an area of tropical rainforest and natural grasslands
almost as large as Yellowstone. In June 2019, the Reyes municipal
government (in partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society and
the Rainforest Trust) designated Rhukanrhuka a protected area, one that
will conserve endangered titi monkeys, pink river dolphins and other
rare wildlife. Go now to take advantage of this newly inviting area
before other tourists arrive; the Wildlife Conservation Society has a list of operators it recommends.
—Nell McShane Wulfhart
4
Greenland
Like Iceland, only more vast, more remote
and without the crowds — for now
Carsten Egevang
President
Trump’s desire to purchase Greenland, a semiautonomous Danish
territory, unleashed jokes and diplomatic strains — and piqued interest
in this little-visited island (which counted fewer than 50,000 guests during the first half of 2019).
In 2020, new sustainably focused expedition cruises, some with onboard
naturalists and conservationists, are making it easier than ever to
explore the least densely populated territory on earth. Witness the tremendous glacier feeding into the Ilulissat Icefjord, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, from the MS Fridtjof Nansen,
a new hybrid electric-powered ship from Hurtigruten’s cruise fleet,
based out of Norway, that reduces carbon emissions by 20 percent. Set
course for Northeast Greenland National Park, with its glacial lagoons
and shaggy-haired musk oxen, on Lindblad Expeditions’ new ship, the National Geographic Endurance, which won't have any single-use plastic bottles, cups, straws or stirrers on board. And trek on the Greenland Ice Sheet with the famed mountaineer Alex Pancoe off Abercrombie & Kent’s new Ultimate Iceland & Greenland Cruise on Le Boréal, which features an onboard wastewater treatment system. With that mile-thick ice sheet melting fast, and two new international airports slated to open in 2023, the time to explore an untrammeled, intact Greenland is now.
—Ratha Tep
5
Kimberley Region,
Australia
Australia’s last frontier is rich in epic
landscapes and otherworldly corals
Asanka Brendon Ratnayake for The New York Times
The
least touristy part of Australia is now in bloom with an
easier-to-reach bucket list of natural wonders: the Bungle Bungle Range
in the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Purnululu National Park; the waterways of the mighty Ord River and Lake Argyle (one of the largest freshwater lakes in the Southern Hemisphere); and El Questro’s
waterfalls, gorges and epic landscapes. There are new itineraries, too,
including Narlijia Experiences’ history tours highlighting Aboriginal
culture, and Kingfisher Tours’ outings to the unique and soon-to-close
Argyle Diamond Mine. Other options include scenic flights over the
Bungles and Lake Argyle, as well as Indian Ocean cruises to three
untouched coral atolls in the Rowley Shoals Marine Park.
But there’s more: The city of Broome’s Chinatown area is now
revitalized, and the Western Australia Gourmet Escape food festival is
extending its reach to the wine and foodie favorites Swan Valley and
Margaret River. The area’s new accommodations are Call of The
Kimberley’s outback glamping at Yeeda Cattle Station and the refurbished Kimberley Sands Resort and Spa,
which is now for adults only. New air service from the region, which is
far from the bushfires in eastern Australia, includes direct flights
from Melbourne and Darwin to Kununurra.
—Daniel Scheffler
6
Paso Robles, Calif.
The Central Coast does its best Tuscany
A series of still photographs, faded from one to the next, shows the lights' slowly undulating colors.Beth Coller for The New York Times
California’s
Central Coast has been known as California’s other wine country since
the actor Paul Giamatti went on a road trip and swore off merlot in
“Sideways” 16 years ago. But while Paso Robles in particular is
undoubtedly an accomplished wine terroir with more than 300 wineries
(L’Aventure and Adelaida wineries recently expanded), to assume it is a
string of tasting rooms would be to underestimate it. Last fall, the
artist Bruce Munro created “Field of Light,” a show of 60,000
illuminated glass orbs spread over 15 acres that has turned Paso Robles
into an art destination (until June 30, when the show ends). Meanwhile,
the city has turned the good life — of wine, olive oil, cheese and
boutique hotels — into an identity. The star hotel here, Hotel Cheval, is adding 20 guest rooms, a luxury spa and an infinity pool in 2020, while the new Hotel Piccolo has
brought exposed brick walls, a rooftop bar and a hipster crowd to
downtown. Two blocks away, chef Julien Asseo (of Guy Savoy in Las Vegas)
just opened Les Petites Canailles, a buzzy new farm-to-table restaurant, in November. And Paso Market Walk,
a 16,000-square-foot marketplace, is expected to open this year —
bringing a bakery, microbrewery, gelateria, vegan cheese shop, olive oil
tasting room, coffee roasters and artisanal, local specialties to Paso.
—Danielle Pergament
7
Sicily
Sustainable rebirth and culinary heritage on a volcanic island
Susan Wright for The New York Times
There’s
some rumbling on Sicily, and it’s not just Mount Etna, which began
erupting again in 2019. A new wave of green tourism is washing over the
Mediterranean island, where nonprofit grassroots groups have begun to
spearhead sustainable volunteer tourism initiatives like EtnAmbiente,
which launched an app in 2019 to help locals and tourists photograph
and report pollution, increasingly an islandwide problem. These
initiatives grew from five concerned individuals in 2018 to a powerful
network to help reduce plastics and preserve the unique landscapes and
marine habitats. Sicily’s Tasca d’Almerita
wine family have converted a derelict farmhouse into a winery on the
lower slopes of Etna to open in 2020, offering workshops and wine
tastings. The family’s Anna Tasca Lanza Cooking School is also launching the Food Heritage Association, a nonprofit group celebrating Sicilian ingredients. Last year saw the opening of Historic Trains of Taste, a series of scenic rail excursions that recently partnered with Slow Food Sicily to take visitors on trips to lesser-known food and wine spots. Among them is Zash,
a hotel and restaurant in the heart of a local citrus grove at Etna’s
base that received its first Michelin star in the 2020 guidebook. Uncovr
Travel, a small-group tour operator (up to eight guests) specializing
in Sicily, launches electric-car tours to local food producers and
artists in 2020. Palermo will see more lodging accommodations, including
Rocco Forte’s Villa Igiea,
which has committed to plastic-free amenities like straw flip-flops and
boxed water, while the NH Hotel Group, a chain devoted to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, will give its Palermo property a significant refurbishment.
—Adam Harney Graham
8
Salzburg, Austria
Mozart, maestros and sweet soufflés during
the centennial of a renowned music festival
Andreas Meichsner for The New York Times
The hills are still alive with you-know-what. Salzburg, Austria, draws hordes each year to the bright yellow townhouse where Mozart was born and to the Mirabell Gardens, where Julie Andrews taught a troupe of ersatz von Trapp children their do-re-mi's in “The Sound of Music.” But it’s worth the pilgrimage this year for another reason: The Salzburg Festival, the Davos or Disneyland of classical music, will celebrate its centennial this summer. There will be diva turns by Anna Netrebko and Cecilia Bartoli and performances by some of the finest maestros and soloists in the world; the house band, as ever, will be the incomparable Vienna Philharmonic. The charming Salzburg Marionette Theater
offers smaller scale (and prices). And the tone-deaf can enjoy the
Baroque splendor of the Old Town; the sublime Wiener schnitzel at Herzl; and the addictive local street food, bosna sausages. A nearby alpine peak, Untersberg,
is reachable by city bus and cable car. A different kind of summit can
be enjoyed in its grand cafes: the Salzburger nockerl, a sweet soufflé
whose sugar-dusted peaks suggest nearby snow-capped hills.
—Michael Cooper
9
Tokyo
The Summer Games are just the beginning
Andrew Faulk for The New York Times
All
eyes will be on Tokyo this summer as the city hosts the 2020 Summer
Olympics from July 24 to Aug. 9. In addition to the games — with all the
new hotels, sporting venues,
transport upgrades and general excitement they confer — the Japanese
capital is a top pick for travelers hungry for a taste of its unmatched
food scene, rich cultural heritage, cutting-edge architecture and
see-it-here-first fashion. In this ultramodern metropolis, endless
adventures await: Watch the tuna auction at the new Toyosu fish market, wait in line for Japanese soufflé pancakes at Flipper’s, try the chocolaty coffee at the cult roastery Bear Pond Espresso and browse one-of-a-kind clothing at the eclectic Kitakore complex. You can satisfy your pop-culture predilections at Nakano Broadway, walk through a bygone era in the traditional Yanaka district, and admire the futuristic facade (and excellent reading selection) at a bookstore called Daikanyama T-Site. And don’t miss slurping Michelin-starred ramen at Tsuta. To get the big picture, check out the view from 1,480 feet at the Skytree. Then drink craft beer in a treehouse at Nakano Beer Kobo, unwind at the discreet record bar Track, or simply forge your own path. The options are endless.
—Ingrid K. Williams
10
Caesarea, Israel
“Pompeii by the beach” becomes one of the
world’s most impressive archaeological complexes
Andreas Meichsner for The New York Times
Herod
the Great named this ancient port city Caesarea in honor of Caesar
Augustus more than 2,000 years ago. Today it preserves many of the
world’s most impressive Roman ruins, including an amphitheater, an
aqueduct that runs parallel to the Mediterranean Sea and a hippodrome
with an Egyptian obelisk. A flurry of recent restoration work —
spearheaded mainly by Ariane de Rothschild — has now made the city a
leading historical tourism destination on par with the Acropolis in
Athens. Visitors to Caesarea National Park
can walk atop a fortress built in the 13th century and view the newly
restored ruins of one of the world’s oldest synagogues. A visitor center
unveiled last June, in four 26-foot-tall vaults dating to the first
century B.C., includes a theater and a room filled with antiquities,
like a cache of gold coins divers found in Caesarea’s underwater
archaeological park. This summer archaeologists plan to unveil eight
more vaults, a vast platform containing the ruins of a temple devoted to
Emperor Augustus and a monumental staircase. After exploring, travelers
can stay at the nearby Dan Caesarea, a midcentury hotel that recently reopened with contemporary art installations and a poolside Greek taverna.
—Casey Hatfield-Chiotti
11
National
Parks, China
China ramps up conservation efforts
with a new system of national parks
Marcus Westberg
Despite China’s major problems with air pollution and as a driver of the illegal wildlife trade,
the country appears to be attempting to safeguard its fragile
ecosystems and natural beauty, in part by establishing a new unified
system of national parks. In 2020, the 47,500-square-mile Sanjiangyuan
National Park will open to visitors in the Tibetan Plateau, a region
famous for its headwaters and high density of elusive snow leopards. To
protect the animals and maintain the park, more than 17,000 local
herdsmen have been enlisted as salaried rangers. In the western
provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu, the Giant Panda National Park
will connect 67 panda reserves across 10,500 square miles. While it is
difficult to observe the black-and-white bears in the wild, travelers
can spot other endemic species like antelope, muntjac and Tibetan
macaque, as well as volunteer as panda keepers at the Dujiangyan Panda Base. In Sichuan Province in southwest China, the UNESCO-listed Jiuzhaigou National Park
suffered a devastating earthquake in 2017, but the park is expected to
fully reopen this year and showcase the scenic valley’s Tibetan
villages, electric-turquoise lakes, waterfalls, alpine forests and
snow-capped peaks.
—Nora Walsh
12
Lesotho
A quiet mountainous country is a wonderland for adventurers
Joao Silva/The New York Times
The
tiny country of Lesotho — a picturesque enclave of jagged desert
mountains fully surrounded by South Africa — has been lost to most
African itineraries. But things are changing in landlocked Lesotho,
known as the “mountain kingdom,” where most residents, dressed in
colorful traditional wool blankets, live in remote rural villages. Over
the past decade the number of visitors has nearly doubled as the country has begun promoting tourism to grow its economy. A newly launched e-visa platform is making visiting easier than it was before.
Visitors can explore ancient rock paintings at UNESCO-listed Maloti-Drakensberg Park, or take multiday pony treks to stay in remote thatch-hut villages. (Outfitters such as solar-powered Malealea Lodge
arrange trips.) And in 2020, the capital, Maseru, is scheduled to open a
new National Museum and Art Gallery in a three-story building shaped
like a spiral aloe, an endemic plant. It will feature exhibits on
Basotho culture, its handicrafts tradition and the nation’s first-ever
digitized archives.
—Kim I. Mott
13
Colorado Springs
The new Olympics museum is only one draw
Benjamin Rasmussen for The New York Times
A
gateway to alpine vacationlands since trains first arrived in 1871,
Colorado Springs springs anew in 2020. In April, the $90 million U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum
opens, with a design by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the architects
behind the reinvention of the Museum of Modern Art. Another opening,
this one in autumn, will be up on 14,115-foot Pikes Peak, where the new
zero-energy Pikes Peak Summit Complex,
sheathed in weathering steel and sandstone quarried in New Mexico, will
give travelers a ptarmigan’s-eye view of the panorama from 30-foot-high
windows. Hungry? The city’s emergent locavore food scene is another
draw: Bakers at Nightingale Bread
mill their own organic heirloom grain (much of it from Colorado’s San
Luis Valley) at Lincoln Center, a new market hall tucked into a 1948
former elementary school. At Four by Brother Luck
— whose namesake chef has appeared on “Chopped” and “Top Chef” — dishes
are inspired by the indigenous foods of the Four Corners region,
including Ute tribe blue cornbread with wojapi (berry sauce). You’ll
find trout from Front Range streams on the menus at the recently
renovated Broadmoor, a pink stucco Italian Renaissance-style resort that looms over the landscape like a fever dream of Gold Rush-era miners.
—Kathryn O’Shea-Evans
14
Krakow, Poland
A city with a rich past focuses on
new parks and curbing pollution
Andreas Meichsner for The New York Times
Largely
spared from the destruction of World War II, Poland’s second largest
city has an intact medieval town center that is one of the largest in
Europe. It is known for its cathedrals, Jewish history, cafe culture and
rich university life, as well as oddities such as the Wieliczka salt mine,
a 13th-century underground labyrinth of rooms, passageways, chapels and
statues, all carved from salt. Unfortunately, Krakow has suffered from
some of Europe’s worst air pollution. The Nowa Huta (New Steel Mill)
district in Krakow, built in 1949 as a model Socialist settlement, once
produced seven million tons of steel a year. For years, acid rain from
the burning of fossil fuels and wood damaged the city’s medieval
stonework. Recently, Krakow has begun to make changes to improve air
quality for residents and tourists alike. In 2019, it became the first
city in Poland to implement a ban on burning coal and wood. By the end
of 2020, it will have deployed a fleet of electric buses throughout the
most heavily polluted parts of the city. It is also opening a series of
parks along tributaries of the Vistula River, like Reduta Park, Krakow’s first resident-designed communal space. Other greening initiatives, like an urban forest, are planned.
—Peter Kujawinski
15
Jodhpur, India
Song, dance and royal grandeur in Rajasthan's “Blue City”
Poras Chaudhary for The New York Times
Jodhpur,
in the northwestern state of Rajasthan, remains a rustic, rough-hewn
hub of art and culture at a time when many of India’s cities have been
transformed by the tech industry. In February, the World Sacred Spirit Festival will descend on Jodhpur’s Mehrangarh Fort,
a 15th-century fortification, museum and UNESCO World Heritage Site,
bringing with it more than 200 musicians from around the world. If you
can’t make it by then, don’t fret: Every fall, the Mehrangarh Fort plays
host to a folk music festival
where patrons have included Mick Jagger. An immersion into an India
that existed before skyscrapers and call centers continues among the
city’s many cobalt-blue houses (painted to reflect the rays of the sun,
to signify the dweller’s superior status, to repel insects or for
aesthetic appeal, depending on whom you ask) and at Umaid Bhawan Palace,
an Art Deco compound that still houses the former royal family but also
functions as a luxury hotel. The palace’s nightly performances of song
and dance pay tribute to the Marwari people of this desert-dappled
region. In July, the budget airline IndiGo announced daily nonstop flights to Jodhpur from Delhi and Ahmedabad, making the city more accessible than ever.
—Sheila Marikar
16
Western Sweden
Hike a new trail, eat a new meal, then
work it off, all (or mostly) carbon free
James Silverman for The New York Times
It’s
hard to talk about sustainability without talking about Scandinavia.
Few destinations offer as many new opportunities to witness how the
region’s green goals are playing out as Sweden, which seeks to free
itself of fossil fuels by 2050. Western Sweden feels like ground zero. A
44-mile-long trail
recently opened between Gothenburg and the small town of Alingsas,
focusing on sustainability. Train stations along the way allow you to
hike it in sections, without a car. You can stop by the “zero waste”
restaurant Garveriet, and have coffee and cake, or “fika,” as part of a “meet the locals” initiative. Up the coast, Ramsvik Stugby and Camping
now has the Swedish travel industry’s largest solar-power generating
facility, making it an emissions-free camping and cabin area. Spend your
days running or hiking around the Ramsvikslandet Nature Reserve or at
an “edible country table”: an outdoor dining experience in which groups
forage for ingredients like wild garlic and raspberries and cook them
together following a chef’s recipe (without the chef).
—Tim Neville
17
Egypt
Fancy new digs for King Tut and company
Getty Images
The Egyptians are building like the pharaohs to finish the massive and much-anticipated Grand Egyptian Museum
in time for its scheduled gala opening later this year. The project,
which is reported to cost $1 billion, has involved thousands of workers
and nearly two decades of labor. The soaring space will be situated just
over a mile from the Pyramids of Giza and contain around 100,000
objects, including more than 5,000 related to King Tutankhamun. It will
join other recently inaugurated archaeological troves, including the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization
and an ancient tomb of colorful frescoes in the Saqqara Necropolis. And
visiting Cairo will be easier than ever, courtesy of the new Sphinx
International Airport and hotels like the 366-room St. Regis Cairo, set to open in June.
—Seth Sherwood
18
La Paz, Mexico
In Baja, a reimagined waterfront and a sustainable sensibility
Beth Coller for The New York Times
Just
up the coast from Cabo San Lucas is La Paz, the 250,000-person capital
of Baja California Sur state and one of the region’s oldest and most
dynamic cities. But unlike many of Mexico’s better-known beach towns,
the La Paz area has resisted large-scale resort-style development and
remained comparatively unknown to outsiders. Decades ago, local
environmentalists pushed for the creation of what eventually became the
expansive UNESCO Marine World Heritage protected area,
a designation that aimed to preserve the coast and offshore areas, home
to such rich biodiversity that the Sea of Cortez is known as the
“Aquarium of the World.” Last year, La Paz passed one of the strictest
single-use plastic bans in Mexico, which will begin going into effect
this year. At the same time, the city has undergone a massive, multiyear
renovation of its waterfront malecón, or boardwalk, which extended its
length by three miles, created bike lanes and added a skate park,
fountains and sculptures by prominent Mexican artists illustrating local
marine life. Later this year, Grupo Habita,
Mexico’s stylish boutique hotel operator, is opening its first southern
Baja property, the 32-room La Casa de las Perlas, or House of Pearls,
in La Paz. The hotel, which incorporates a building from the 1910s, will
have a pool, spa, restaurant and “sunset bar” overlooking the malecón
and sea.
—Freda Moon
19
Grand Isle, La.
Hauntingly beautiful, a barrier island may soon vanish
Robert Rausch for The New York Times
Louisiana’s last inhabited barrier island, Grand Isle
begs an unsettling question: Does a place appear more hauntingly
beautiful when you know it’s disappearing? A longtime sport and
commercial fishing hub two hours south of New Orleans, this pancake-flat
wisp of land seven miles long and on average a half-mile wide faces one
of the world’s highest rates of relative sea level rise, and uncertain
survival. Now is the time to go, while the Gulf of Mexico still washes
the sands of Grand Isle State Park
under blue skies dotted with cotton-puff clouds, and roseate spoonbills
still take flight in a flash of pink plumage in hushed bayous and
marshes best experienced by kayak. Wind-twisted trees populate the
unique live oak forests known as cheniers, and in the spring —
especially around April’s migratory bird festival
— masses of songbirds from Central and South America as well as Mexico
can drop almost literally from the sky, exhausted after their epic gulf
crossing. Bottlenose dolphins often frolic alongside the boat tours
offered by Calmwater Charters,
which highlight the isle’s human and natural history and include a
cruise-by of a vital pelican rookery, Queen Bess Island, where major
habitat restoration wraps up in February 2020.
—Christopher Hall
20
Chow Kit, Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia
An underappreciated neighborhood
receives a dose of fresh style and energy
Lauryn Ishak for The New York Times
As
Malaysia’s financial and political hub, Kuala Lumpur attracts
international travelers on many fronts. There are the Islamic-inspired,
César Pelli-designed Petronas Twin Towers,
the hypnotically bloody Hindu festival Thaipusam (where devotees pierce
their flesh to honor the deity Murugan) and the just-opened, multiuse Exchange 106,
the tallest building in Southeast Asia. This year, however, visitors
might focus on the neighborhood of Chow Kit, as the recent opening of
two hotels delivers a fresh dose of style and energy to the gritty,
underappreciated red-light district. The 113-room Chow Kit hotel, designed by the Brooklyn-based Studio Tack
in its first project in Asia, welcomes guests with hand-textured walls,
deep-tufted banquettes and layered rugs. Its handsome Chow Kit Kitchen
& Bar, with reeded-glass windows, pulls in the local and
international crowd with a modern Malaysian menu. Next door, its
wallet-friendly sister property MoMo’s
has a pared-back look: unfussy micro-rooms have concrete and
combed-plaster walls and plenty of wood, while a social space called the
Playground replaces the traditional lobby. Beyond, the district is home
to the country’s largest fresh-produce market, Southeast Asia’s biggest
Sikh temple and eclectic new restaurants like the Caribbean-influenced Joloko.
Along Jalan Doraisamy, a one-way street that runs off the district’s
main artery and was once a popular nightclub strip, reimagined
shophouses have become The Row, an enclave of hip stores, art spaces and places to eat and drink.
—Sanjay Surana
21
Jevnaker, Norway
Twisted architecture is the draw at a
sleepy village with a major sculpture park
Laurian Ghinitoiu
About
50 miles north of Oslo, Jevnaker is a sleepy village on the southern
shore of the Rands Fjord that is also home to one of the largest
sculpture parks in northern Europe. Founded by a wealthy Norwegian art
collector, Kistefos Museum and Sculpture Park occupies a former wood
pulp mill complex that today showcases 46 sculptures from contemporary
artists such as Anish Kapoor, Olafur Eliasson and Yayoi Kusama, among
many others. What makes it a must-see cultural destination is “The
Twist,” a new 15,000-square-foot structure spanning a river in the
middle of the sculpture park. Opened in September, the show-stopping
bridge was designed by the Bjarke Ingels Group with a streamlined
aluminum facade that twists like a stack of cards. Both a bridge and a
sculpture in its own right, this topsy-turvy structure will also serve
as a gallery space for temporary exhibitions.
—Ingrid K. Williams
22
The Bahamas
Much of a pristine archipelago was untouched
by Hurricane Dorian and awaits visitors
Danita Delmont/Shutterstock.com
The
hundreds of islands that make up the Bahamas are so pristine that the
astronaut Scott Kelly deemed them Earth’s most easily recognizable place
from space – and one of its most beautiful. About 6.6 million people
visited the Bahamas in 2018, but in the wake of Hurricane Dorian, the
Category 5 monster that slammed into the archipelago in September, that
number took a nosedive. Four months later, only Great Abaco remains too
damaged to visit; many islands, including the 120-mile-long Exumas
chain – home of the famous swimming pigs – were not hit by the storm. And the Bahamas, where close to half the economy depends on tourism, needs visitors’ dollars
to shore up critical rebuilding efforts. Grand Bahama Island, which was
also hard hit, has already bounced back, with cruise ships once again
docking in Freeport and several hotels reopening. In 2020, nonstop
flights to Nassau from Denver will begin, opening up the Bahamas to the
western United States. In June, one of Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville
resorts is scheduled to open
in Nassau’s downtown, offering a much-needed injection of energy to the
city center nightlife. On New Providence Island, Baha Mar, a 2,300-room
luxury resort on Cable Beach, has a new children's center opening in
January that will make the destination, which has the largest casino in
the region, more family-friendly.
—Frances Robles
23
Kampot, Cambodia
A tranquil, riverside escape adds a dedicated food street
Poras Chaudhary for The New York Times
Kampot,
a laid-back riverside enclave of French colonial buildings, pepper
plantations and a giant sculpture of Southeast Asia’s famously pungent
fruit, the durian,
has long been southern Cambodia’s under-the-radar destination. Getting
there in 2020 will be considerably easier: a road-widening project (on
the route from the capital, Phnom Penh)
is nearing completion, and a new port is opening this spring, with
ferries to Phu Quoc in Vietnam and to other islands in the Gulf of
Thailand. When you arrive, Kampot’s charms will be amplified, too. The
low-slung town center, accented with arches, shutters and colonnades, is
adding trendy eateries like the Hotel Old Cinema,
a recent remake of an Art Deco theater. And on the promenade along the
Praek Tuek Chhu River — picture-perfect for sunsets and the launching
point for neon party boats and firefly tours — a new food street is
opening, with dozens of local cooks setting up stalls each night. Fairs
with handicrafts, live music and carts piled with trays of fried bugs
are popping up almost monthly. For the best perspective, head up nearby
Bokor Mountain, a former colonial hill station with waterfalls, an
elaborate Buddhist temple and an abandoned stone church overlooking
forests and the sea.
—Patrick Scott
24
Christchurch,
New Zealand
An earthquake and a terrorist attack turn
a city into a global symbol of resilience
Lauryn Ishak for The New York Times
Ten
years after the 2010 Canterbury earthquake, and not quite a year after
the March 2019 terrorist attack on two mosques, Christchurch, where 23
million New Zealand dollars (about $15 million) has been raised to
support the Muslim community, continues to prove itself as a global
symbol of resilience. While earthquake destruction remains visible,
downtown has been animated by recent building and restoration, including
the Turanga, or Central Library, designed in modernist style by the
Danish firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen. Expected to open this year, the
nearby Puari Village, a Maori cultural center, will offer exhibitions,
Maori food and waka (canoe) tours on the Avon River. The new Riverside Market
offers produce and prepared food from the surrounding Canterbury
region, the breadbasket of New Zealand, in 40 stalls adjacent to a lane
of new boutiques. Besides a strong public art program, which has installed sculptures across the city, recent highlights include the food hall Little High Eatery, its neighboring wine bar Not Without You, and Eco Villa,
an eight-room inn reconstructed from a 1910-vintage, earthquake-damaged
house across the street from the architect Shigeru Ban’s Cardboard
Cathedral. Christchurch will also soon be easier to reach: American
Airlines recently announced direct service from Los Angeles beginning in fall 2020.
—Elaine Glusac
25
Asturias, Spain
An under-the-radar retreat for Spaniards
to embrace nature and get away from it all
Emilio Parra Doiztua for The New York Times
With
emerald hillsides dropping down to sapphire seas lapping
crescent-shaped beaches, Asturias has long been the summer refuge of
Spaniards who shun the masses crowding Mediterranean shores. Today the
region that launched the Reconquista of Spain starting in the eighth
century is known for abundant hospitality, but doesn’t get much
attention from abroad, perhaps because of its rainy reputation. More
visitors are inevitable by 2021, once Spain’s high-speed AVE rail system
crosses the Picos de Europa mountains, making the province easier to
reach from Madrid and other parts of Spain. Visitors will find hiking
and cycling routes like the Bear's Trail and the Cares Gorge; Spain’s oldest national park; ancient Celtic hilltop settlements known as Castros; Roman gold mines; and a cultural center designed by Oscar Niemeyer.
Now, about that famous hospitality: Asturias is known as Spain’s
dairyland, so it’s only fitting that its capital, Oviedo, is the 2020
Capital of Cheese. If you want to combine ecotourism with high-end
gastronomy, check out the PuebloAstur Hotel. For traditional fare, try El Llar de Viri; the best of surf and turf is at Michelin-starred Casa Marcial, or newcomers Güeyu Mar and Gunea. The only complaint visitors have is that they ate too much.
—Andrew Ferren
26
Haida Gwaii,
British Columbia
A remote group of islands celebrates
its First Nations heritage. You can, too
Ema Peter for The New York Times
On
this isolated archipelago off the coast of British Columbia, you’ll see
more bald eagles than people on hiking trails and experience powerful
Indigenous sites in near solitude. That’s by design: The Haida First
Nations people who live here fiercely protect their natural and cultural
resources with sustainable, small-group tourism. Visitors are rewarded
with a deep connection to place and people, especially at SGang Gwaay (Ninstints), an extraordinary UNESCO site in Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site,
accessible only by boat. Here, Haida descendants called Watchmen take a
maximum of 12 people at a time into an abandoned 19th-century Haida
village whose memorial poles and cedar longhouses are being slowly
reclaimed by the earth. Getting there is equally memorable: Haida-owned
Haida Style Expeditions runs daylong Zodiac tours with whale watching enroute; Inland Air organizes splurge-worthy floatplane-and-Zodiac combo trips. In June 2020, Intrepid Travel will launch its first Haida Gwaii Islands Expedition, an eight-day trip from mainland British Columbia with four nights in Haida Gwaii and a Watchmen-led visit to K’uuna Llnagaay (Skedans), another deserted village with Haida poles overgrown by moss and grass. Alternatively, the Haida House offers immersive three- to seven-night packages led throughout by Haida guides; clan matriarchs teach onsite weaving classes.
—Arabella Bowen
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