Destination

A raucous Queenstown festival ushers in the snow season. Also dropping into town to enjoy the packed powder: heli-skiers.

Unexpected and exotic highlights of a South American ski trip include a moss-covered forest reverie and nighttime flames.

It’s love at first slide for a novice sandboarder, who falls -- again and again -- for the gritty sport while visiting a Peruvian oasis.

A couple pledges to counter the ship’s gourmet fare by walking off calories on wilderness trails along the Inside Passage.

Isolated Tangier Island has little to offer tourists except a peaceful, easy feeling. Maybe that’s why going with the ebb and flow is such a cinch.

Much of the national park’s wilderness is rugged and untamed, but its waterfalls and grandeur are accessible to the less adventurous.

A U.S. tour group on a first-ever visit to the North African country encounters a cache of ancient treasures in a difficult, captivating land.

With the thermometer climbing and explorers wilting, a Libyan desert trip is a combination of adventure and agony.

The Southern state’s coastal outposts are meant for meandering, to the sound of clip-clopping horses or gators slowly sliding into the depths.

A desire for adventure and some sturdy boots are the means to reaching incredible prehistoric petroglyphs.

Cyclists on the White Rim Trail split their attention between the twisting paths and jewel-hued formations.

Between Kyoto and Tokyo, the Nakasendo cuts a swath through ancient towns and into the time of the shogun.

From her base on Ireland’s western shore, Grace O’Malley pillaged ships into her 70s. Four centuries later, her legend grows.

With beauty and charm this beguiling, it’s no wonder that world powers fought over this tiny island and its two sisters for 7,000 years.

Centuries-old St. Martin- in-the-Fields Church has a cafe where visitors can stop for refreshments and atmosphere while in London’s bustling West End.

Grandeur -- magnificent churches, striking architecture -- and gritty reality coexist in the heart of the Ecuadorian capital.

A haunting forest of vertical crags has long drawn backpackers. Now the area in Guangxi province has more visitors and development.

Where Myanmar, Thailand and Laos meet is a trove of jewelry, silks and crafts. Three countries in a single day? No problem.

The Eastern Cape reserve is home to more than 400 elephants, but the trick is spotting them. Visitors can explore on their own.

Emperors built the ancient site on a scale too grand to maintain. What’s left is a tranquil place that echoes and honors its past.

Desert-like Bonaire doesn’t seem like much at first glance, but a visitor finds the island’s true beauty is just waiting to be discovered.

The road to Mandalay isn’t easy -- unless you’re aboard this natty vessel, where access to the past comes with modern comforts.

A father and daughter travel to the Peruvian jungle for a firsthand look at -- and a better appreciation of -- life in an endangered area.

A writer travels down the famed river twice, on budget and high-end trips. Cost sometimes matters, but both ships visit stunning locales.

The ski village in British Columbia is all about the slopes -- until the chair lifts stop. Then it’s all about the nightlife peaks.

Life in Hangzhou, three hours southwest of Shanghai, is steeped in all aspects of West Lake Dragon Well, the area’s legendary curative.

On the trail of eight commanders in chief who resided in this Midwestern cradle of statesmen.

Porto Alegre’s urbane flair gives it a European cachet, yet it’s the blending of local cultural elements that gives it a rapid pulse of its own.

A family on a Beatles pilgrimage to England’s port city discovers plenty to satisfy avid fans -- museums, shops and the Fab Four’s childhood homes.

Winter may not seem like the season for getting back to nature, but igloo camping is gaining popularity as a way to stay warm in the snow.

For amateur astronomers, observatories east of La Serena open up windows to whole new worlds, weather permitting.

Louangphrabang, the former royal capital, has great Southeast Asian cuisine and culture that is still unspoiled by tourist trappings.

Tourists have discovered the frozen allure and furry denizens. But there are signs mankind is treading carefully.

This city of heady contrasts and breathtaking vistas is much like the girl from Ipanema: beautiful, and hinting at much to discover.

The laid-back islands lack night life and are so sparsely populated that visitors may end up with a stingray as a dance partner.

A stay in one of the continent’s most remote corners is enriched by the company of guides who keep timeless links with the land.

Even with the winter winds picking up, simple pleasures abound at Isla Espíritu Santo and Isla Partida in the Gulf of California.

The dance of hawker and patron endures in the city’s colorful, always-evolving street markets, some of them in business for centuries.

As the endangered primates forage and frolic in a war-plagued corner of eastern Africa, a few humans are allowed to tag along.

Johannesburg undergoes a sparkling change of fortune, from strip mines and crime to first-class entertainment, museums and casinos.

Passengers find rough seas, amazing scenery and exotic wildlife on a two-week cruise from Buenos Aires to Valparaíso, Chile.

Sure, Ebay’s pickings are bigger, but nothing beats the thrill of the hunt at rural auctions scattered around the Lone Star State.

A former football player combines an outdoor adventure with luxury hotels.

The southern Thai coast offers a mix of sea, sand and spires to climb.

A California resident heads to the sunny Southern Hemisphere to learn to surf, and finds having fun, like finding the perfect wave, is hard work, even in laid-back Praia do Rosa, Brazil.

Absorbing history in and around this colonial city, birthplace of independence.

America’s rugged frontier history can still knock you for a loop in the eastern part of the state, a land of lore, ghosts and grandeur.

A pulsating new wave of music imported from far-flung points of the globe is turning up the heat in Paris. And seeking out the scattered venues only adds to the adventure.

Saxons, Vikings and Normans have invaded the ancient city and left reminders of themselves -- some solid and some ghostly. With an intrepid grandma as guide, the city is stormed anew.

In the northwestern state, former palaces and hunting lodges turned hotels give a taste of the rich life without paying a king’s ransom.

From Hanauma Bay to Waikiki, Hawaii is spending millions to polish the gems of the island’s south shore.

The island Eden is home to five public parks that call visitors to serenity among the flowers and bowers.

The stylish Wind Surf, advertised as ‘the largest sailing ship in the world,’ is spacious, casual and fun.

Walk in the footsteps of Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee in the Virginia town that was the setting for the film ‘Gods and Generals.’

Two hours by train from Madrid, the town is a breathtaking panorama of medieval buildings that persevere on their perch along a wild river gorge.

Under Venice’s long shadow, the city is often overlooked by Americans, who miss out on its architectural and artistic treasures.

With its rock outcroppings and walls, the Burren, a 100-square-mile landscape in County Clare, can seem stark. But in this case, looks are deceiving.

A family touring the country takes a refreshing break for a week on a warm, sandy beach, with Rome’s history and culture only a two-hour train ride away.

In the countryside beyond Reykjavik, visitors saddle up hardy purebred horses for a guided expedition into a land of volcanoes and geysers that is unchanged by time.

Once the home of popes, this French town offers diverse architecture, museums and, of course, fine food within easy walking distance.

Visitors to the canal-lined medieval city find it a friendlier, gentler and more picturesque version of anything-goes Amsterdam.

A language program revives rusty skills and brings the food, wine, music and style of France to a weekend at a beautiful retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The architect’s only skyscraper reopens as a hotel in Bartlesville, the emerging heart of a region infused with art and design.

A Salmon River run offers something for the whole family, with berry picking, campfire singing, cave exploring, even pedicures.

Domes 270 miles west of London create exotic environments where visitors can enjoy botanical beauty and learn about the importance of plants.

Backpackers encounter grizzlies and a surreal volcanic landscape in a remote and remarkable national park.

The former capital of Europe offers visitors a pass to the past. The city’s thermal springs and cathedral are still major attractions.

With a woodsy cabin to retire to each night, hikers find their bliss in a sprawling playground of mountain lakes and majestic scenery.

About 750 miles north of Rio de Janeiro, Diamond Highlands, a national park, protects a spectacularly dramatic and ecologically diverse landscape.

With historic castles and sleek modern lodgings, the country’s lake district catapults visitors between the turbulent Middle Ages and the peaceful present.

An easy grade makes the Kettle Valley Railway a bicyclist’s dream ride on forested slopes and past cool lakes.

Father and son soak up history and customs on a low-cost bicycle tour of the peaceful island near London.

After years of typical downtown decline, the city is taking on a lively new look.

The grape harvest season provides the perfect opportunity for drinking in the region’s charms.

A WPA guidebook published in 1941 proves to be an evocative companion for a tour of the Beehive State.

Kauai is called, appropriately, the Garden Isle.