Mountain City's Travel Blog

Beer Musings by Jim Maletta from Cranbrook, BC

I can’t overstate it: 2022 is special for European travel. If you don’t visit in 2022, you’ll be kicking yourself forever. Have it all to yourselfLeading up to the pandemic, the most popular cities were getting a bit overrun. Before the crowds return in full force, early 2022 may be the best year of your lifetime to visit Venice, Barcelona,...

Orlando’s claim to fame is its extraordinary collection of family-friendly theme parks standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the balmy weather of the Sunshine State. But the warmth of the holiday season in Orlando outshines even the Florida sun.From Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary celebration, to re-imagined Christmas and New Year’s Eve experiences at the theme parks and beyond, it’s a great way to get into the Christmas or Hanukkah spirit...

Looking at travel through five lenses: nature, adventure, sustainability, culture and history, and family, NatGeo’s experts have narrowed a world of travel riches into a list of 25 can’t-miss journeys next year.

The gift-giving season is close at hand, and this year, more than ever before, travel may be the very best present you can place for someone under the tree. Lynn Elmhirst, producer and host of BestTrip TV, explains:Experiences vs. ThingsStudy after study shows it, and we know it instinctively ourselves. Our best memories, the best of times, are about experiences,...

11/11 is Single's Day, highlighting the solo lifestyle that applies to more and more uncoupled people. The decision to travel solo is among the biggest decisions a singleton makes. This year will mark the first time many people decide to travel solo. They'll be deciding whether they should stay home or go it alone. Janice Waugh of Solo Travelers explains...

If a picture speaks a thousand words, then a video is running commentary. That's why we wanted to share with you exactly what the health protocols on board an Avalon Waterways river cruise in France are in the Fall of 2021. We know some people have already begun traveling again - but others are still hesitant. Maybe you wonder if...

Edvard Munch’s 'The Scream' is one of the most famously eery pieces of art in history, and it continues to disturb admirers today. Now, MUNCH, a new museum and landmark architectural masterpiece on Oslo’s waterfront, has opened, with the world’s largest collection of works by the famed Norwegian artist. That includes several versions of Munch’s iconic work, The Scream, including...

Over 200 years ago, a trail-blazing female author penned the novel that brought one of the first tales of the horror genre to life. This year, Mary Shelley’s House of Frankenstein opened to commemorate the life of the novelist and her legendary, terrorizing creature.In 1816, at just 19 years old, Mary Shelley wrote much of her novel Frankenstein in the...

If you’re like most of us, your holiday season last year fell a little bit short on the fa-la-la’s. This year, it’s not too late to double down on , and make up for lost time with 'peak Christmas' at the Christmas markets of Europe.Lynn Elmhirst, producer and host of BestTrip TV, shares this video with some of the highlights of...

This small French Caribbean island is known as the Isle of Flowers, the Rum Capital of the World, and now, its land mass, along with the marine zone around it, has become an over 12-million acre globally recognized eco-reserve. Martinique has been inducted into UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Program, so now over 5% of the Earth’s landmass is recognized for...

Austria’s capital city is famous as a cradle of classical music and high culture, for its skyline shaped by Hapsburg palaces, the Opera House and city symbol Giant Ferris Wheel, for tastes and experiences like chocolate/apricot Sacher Torte and coffee house culture, and even the renowned, high-performing and high-stepping, gleaming white Lipizzaner horses. You may have been to Vienna before, but...

This holiday season will be the brightest ever in the most popular tourist attraction in Canada – and one that conveniently spans the border with the U.S. - just as the land border between the neighboring countries is set to be open in both directions.  Beginning in mid-November and running 101 nights all the way to late February 2022, Canada’s...

Slow-moving, sweet-faced and gentle sloths have taken the world by storm, becoming one of the most beloved creatures in popular culture in the last few years. Formerly a synonym for laziness, sloths have become cultural darlings, with their famously adorable countenances that always seem to be smiling sweetly, 270-degree, slow head rotations, ability to hold their breath underwater for over...

The secret about river cruising was out, even before the pandemic. Like all cruise travel, it's the ‘easy button’ way to ‘sample’ multiple destinations and get an overview of a region. You unpack once, really settling in to your ship environment like a home away from home in a floating boutique hotel that winds its way through marquee cities as...

Montreal is a year-round global capital of celebration. The world’s second-largest French-speaking city (after only Paris) is famous for its cosmopolitan flair, cuisine, fashion, as a UNESCO City of Design, the birthplace of Cirque du Soleil - and a full calendar of top-shelf festivals that wrap the city in energy anytime you visit. A famously active winter city, Montreal’s star...

To celebrate the release of the long-awaited new James Bond film, No Time to Die, the Jamaica Tourist Board is releasing some exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage. It showcases cast and crew from the movie, as well as some of the locations shot in Jamaica. The country has been part of the Bond legacy from the very beginning. Author Ian Fleming created the...

It’s Oktoberfest time again. The festival traditionally held annually in Bavaria’s capital of Munich, with similar events throughout the entire region, is one of the world’s most epic celebrations. Name notwithstanding, Oktoberfest actually runs for just over two weeks from mid-late September to the first Sunday in October. It’s been cancelled again in 2021, but that gives you time to brush...

Recently someone asked me how my ‘Stolen Summer’ was.WOW, did they hit the nail on the head! Stolen Summer described perfectly how I felt about the heat dome and oppressive smoke. Throw in a dash of a pandemic for good measure and the term ‘Stolen Summer’ perfectly described the summer of 2021.Looking back though, there certainly were bright spots...By sheer...

Sunken wrecks aren’t just fascinating destinations for underwater exploration or fantasies of pirate ‘days of yore’. Properly and carefully submerged, wrecks enhance natural reef ecosystems and provide new homes for marine plants and creatures. A new submerged ship is about to become a prime diving attraction in the 2nd-largest barrier reef in the world. It will also contribute to sustainability in a...