Mountain City's Travel Blog

On some islands, they like to tell you how many beaches they have, or days of sunshine. On Nevis, it’s how many different varieties of mangoes they have. The answer? Officially, nearly four dozen – and unofficially, it’s estimated nearly 200 different varieties of mangoes grow on this tiny Caribbean island.Nevis makes up the other part of the twin-island nation...

 In Japan, it’s called the ‘Castle in the Sky’, but international travelers who’ve discovered historic Takeda Castle have compared it to another mountain-top historic ruin half a world away in South America. Peru’s Machu Picchu has made most intrepid travelers’ bucket lists of adventures. But Japan’s Takeda Castle (pronounced: ‘tah-kay-dah’) - that's about the same age as Peru's Machu Picchu...

The pleasures of this past years’ travelling has largely been via Netflix, YouTube and other online video sources. We’ve seen some darn spectacular corners of planet earth. Please join Martin Aldrich, John Houston and myself onboard an a-day-in-the-life-of expedition cruise to the breathtaking Canadian High Arctic.We’ll also take a glimpse into the life, the culture, dance and the timeless art...

It’s been quite a couple of years!

Are your heartstrings pulled by a deep curiosity to immerse in a faraway culture? Do you have a desire to learn about your Ancestry and family roots? Has the past year found you dreaming of taking your children and grandchildren on a memory-making adventure? Maybe your reason to travel is to improve on a language whilst cooking with locals in...

This is something we can get on board with! A few years ago, Spain declared the third Thursday of June ‘World Tapas Day,’ which in 2021 falls on June 10. Tapas comes from the Spanish verb ‘tapar’ or to ‘cover’, and story goes that back in the day, ‘tapas’ was simply the piece of bread or maybe meat that you used...

The leaders of the world’s seven biggest democratic economies are meeting in Cornwall, England, and it’s putting the Southwest region of the country under a spotlight. Maybe you’ve heard of ‘bleisure’ travel? It’s about tacking on a leisure vacation to a business trip. We’re not sure if the leaders of the Western World have the time for a little independent...

If you’ve never put the words ‘luxury’ and ‘water park’ together in a sentence before - let alone a vacation - now’s your chance. Baha Mar is a thousand acres of Bahamian paradise on world-famous Cable Beach near Nassau. The exquisite white sands are home to not one, but three luxury beach resorts: Rosewood, SLS and Grand Hyatt. Now, in...

I LOVE surround-sound mountains and peaks against clear blue skies. I LOVE tiny-teeny hummingbirds whose wings never stop, peony’s in full bloom, riding my bike and a lovely glass of rose on the front porch as day settles into early evening.I LOVE Kootenay summers.This morning wasn’t quite what I’d describe as a summertime start to the day. The brisk 2-degree...

Planning travel is fun, and it even gives us a mental health boost by giving us the pleasant anticipation of experiences we love. As the world begins to open again, it’s easy to lose ourselves in the inspiration, novelty, beauty, charm, and excitement of looking forward to travel. The last year has taught us a couple of things about planning travel.First,...

As travel restarts, for many travelers, Europe is calling. We have a lot of catching up to do, and to celebrate the true spirit of travel, luxury hotel chain Four Seasons has developed six new “Scenic Route with Four Seasons” road trips that connect 13 of its landmark European hotels in uniquely curated routes, with castles and wineries, caves and...

Three new resort destinations for the vacation of your dreams in paradise are coming to life in Jamaica. Groundbreaking has begun on a nearly half-billion dollar project that will put Ocho Rios on your ‘ultimate beach holiday’ list beginning late 2022 whether you’re looking for a getaway for grownups, or an island vacation for the family. The famous, Jamaica-based, family-owned...

My tactic to the often asked question, “You must really be missing travelling?” was avoidance. I wasn’t prepared to share how I felt last summer. I was firmly planted and comfortable at home. Spring and summer of 2020 were spent on my front porch. The truth be known, my internal dialogue went something like this: “Gosh Diane, you’ve had grand...

What’s not to love about May 13th? World Cocktail day has two of my favorite words: world, and cocktail. For those of us who love to travel… and love to get into the ‘spirit’ of the moment with a locally-sourced beverage, cocktail recipes can be some of our most cherished travel souvenirs. And drinks at a smart bar can be...

Colombia is reborn. Named after the 15th-century explorer of the Americas, Colombia stands out as the only nation in South America with coastlines on both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean, as well as being the leading source of coffee and emeralds in the world.  Colombia has found new followers among savvy global travellers, who, in survey after survey cited the...

If you missed your dose of exotic scenery and culture – or even winter sports adrenaline this year, one country’s desert can feed your travel imagination. The Qatar peninsula juts a hundred miles out from the Arabian Peninsula into the Persian Gulf. Most travellers to the region focus on the thrilling, ultra-modern capital city of Doha. But most of the...

There’s a phrase in travel: ‘Multi-modal’. Think of ‘planes, trains and automobiles,’ where you complete your trip via a number of different types of transportation. Multi-modal travel is not new. But one version – larger-than-life journeys combining the romance of both cruise and rail - is picking up steam. Ships and trains are a natural fit, even mirror images of each other:...

Many modern holiday celebrations put an irreverent twist on their historic – and often more solemn -traditions. Thailand’s Songkran may be one of the most extreme examples of that phenomenon. Ancient Thai culture marked the New Year in what we now call April. The word is Sanskrit, meaning ‘astrological passage’, and it coincides with the rising of Aries and the...

'Spring flowers’ takes on new meaning in the tropics. With Costa Rica’s epic biodiversity and commitment to conservation, lush, green landscapes are a given any time you visit. But some of the Central American country’s botanical gems are best discovered not in the wilderness, but in gardens crafted by human hands. Here are five gardens to add ‘color’ to your...

Spring brings longer days, warmer weather… and the thunder of hooves as horse racing begins in North America and Europe. On this side of the pond, there’s no better way to get your heart racing than to be in the stands for the legendary Kentucky Derby. Held on the first Saturday of May, the epic race gets the serious horse racing...