Vancouver: A City on the Move
Granville Island in Vancouver (Al Harvey/courtesy, Tourism Vancouver)
Okay, a show of hands: Is there anyone out there who hasn't witnessed how beautiful Vancouver is? If you’ve never been there, go. Take the kids. Show them an extraordinary place.
This way-cool city on Canada’s raw West Coast is pretty much Ground Zero for X-Gamers. Every way-out-there-sport has a venue in this city—from kayaking alongside whales to scare-your-mother mountain biking on the infamous North Shore. Next February, Vancouver hosts the Winter Olympic Games. But the time to visit Vancouver is summer.
From seemingly endless sandy beaches to salmon-spawning streams flowing from tree-lined Olympic ski slopes, Vancouver is a foaming double-espresso of wild nature sprinkled with vibrant city. This is the poster child for the Pacific Northwest. Make that the YouTube clip of the Pacific Northwest, because this is a city on the move. Everyone is cycling, sailing, running, kayaking, swimming, cliff-jumping, golfing, or just plain old paragliding. Life doesn’t get much richer for vacationing families who can't wait to Just Do It.
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June 05, 2009
Top Ten Summer Music Festivals
VENUE WITH A VIEW: Ben Harper performs at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival (Benko Photographics/courtesy, Telluride Bluegrass Festival)
One of the greatest things about summer (along with the barbecues, pool parties, and beach bumming, of course) is the open-air music festival. Music fans—from die-hard groupies to casual listeners who just like the idea of an outdoor music fest—will come out in droves if you've got the right mix of bands and fun. And why not? Music festivals offer the perfect reason to hit the road and travel. Whether you like rock 'n' roll, pop, hip hop, blues, or electronica, you'll find something to get you moving (or crowd surfing) at our picks for the Top Ten Summer Music Festivals, in order below from the beginning of the season to the end. Grab your blankets and sunscreen—and plenty of water—and prepare yourself to jam out and rock hard to several days worth of good tunes. And be sure to tell us if you've been to any of these festivals!
1. Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California
2. Sasquatch! Music Festival at the Gorge in Washington
4. Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Tennessee
5. Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado
6. Rothbury Music Festival in Michigan
7. 10,000 Lakes Festival in Minnesota
9. All Points West Music and Arts Festival in New Jersey
10. Austin City Limits in Texas
Like top ten travel lists? So do we. Find more of Away.com's Top Ten Trip Ideas here.
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Bulk of California State Parks May Close
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California (Robert Holmes/CalTour)
In an effort to narrow the massive California state deficit, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed, among other cuts, the closure of 220 of the 279 state parks and beaches to save about $213 million over the next two years. The state's famed park system attracts nearly 80 million visitors a year.
Parks on the chopping block include Point Lobos near Carmel; Lake Tahoe's Emerald Bay; Bodie State Historic Park, one of the best-preserved Old West ghost towns; Anza-Borrego Desert State Park; Will Rogers' Southern California ranch; the Governor's Mansion in Sacramento; Big Basin Redwoods, the oldest state park; and Humboldt Redwoods State Park, home to the world's tallest tree.
The 59 parks that will remain open are said to be the only ones that generate more revenue than they cost to operate. These include Old Town San Diego, William Randolph Hearst's Castle, and many popular San Diego County beach campgrounds. Opponents of the plan, however, argue that this analysis is incomplete and short-sighted, not considering the effects of job loss and tax revenue loss from businesses near the parks.
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June 03, 2009
National Parks to Be Fee-Free This Summer
IN THE LAP OF THE GODS: View from Angels Landing in Zion National Park, Utah (Nathan Borchelt)
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today that the National Park Service will offer three fee-free weekends this summer at 147 of its park units (a further 244 of the country's parks are already free). Parks affected by this announcement include blockbuster names like Grand Canyon National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and Yosemite National Park (the full list is available here). Speaking at a press conference in Ohio's Cuyahoga National Park, Salazar announced that admission fees will be waived on the weekends of June 20-21, July 18-19, and August 15-16, 2009. The Department of Interior anticipates that the increase in park tourism—and the direct benefits to sagging local economies—will offset the estimated half-million-dollar loss each day in entrance fees.
Start planning your fee-free weekend now with Away.com's Parks & Outdoors Travel Guide, including destination guides, expert advice, photos, trail descriptions, and more.
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June 01, 2009
Top Beach Vacations for Adventure Seekers
Paddleboarders in Hawaii (courtesy, Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA)/Tor Johnson)
Looking to turn your beach vacation into something a little more memorable this year? Cruise on over to the Orbitz Travel Blog for a rundown of the best beach vacations for adventure seekers. The action-packed menu of options includes paddleboarding in Hawaii or Turks and Caicos, deep-sea fishing in Mexico's Sea of Cortez, or kiteboarding and hang-gliding in the Carolinas. For more ideas on ways to get way off your beach towel, check out our guide to the top beach destinations for water sports including scuba, sailing, surfing, and kiteboarding.
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May 29, 2009
Mountain-Bike Scotland for Fun—and a Good Cause
RIDING HIGH: On the trail in Glencoe, Scotland (courtesy, Trailbrakes)
How's this for immersive tourism? Ride an adventurous S-shaped route from the southwestern tip of Scotland through the main cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow and on up past Loch Lomond, Ben Nevis (the United Kingdom's highest point), and Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. The 500-mile route is part of an ambitious ten-day itinerary being offered by Trailbrakes, a Scotland-based mountain-biking outfitter. Covering over 50 miles each day, over 80 percent of the ride is off-road on a network of single- and doubletrack trails that is fast gaining world acclaim among mountain-biking aficionados. (Look below the jump for a Google map illustrating the approximate route.)
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May 22, 2009
Video: Freediving World Record Set at 288 Feet!
In April of 2009 an astounding mark was set at the Vertical Blue freediving competition in the Bahamas. Will Trubridge established a new world record for constant-weight, no-fin freediving at 288 feet. Check out this video of the dive in its eerie, utterly inhuman entirety here:
As Trubridge explains in the YouTube comments, the reason he starts to sink at the 1:20 mark is because, at a depth of around 60 meters, the body becomes negatively buoyant, letting him free fall the rest of the way. But, Trubridge explains, "This obviously works against you in the ascent, as you feel heavy after the turn at the bottom and have to swim all the way back to the surface." He also wears nose plugs and liquid-filled goggles to reduce the degree of equalization needed as he descends.
The deepest I've ever been is 110 feet—and that was with a full scuba tank. This guy, he's just amazing.
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May 18, 2009
Greater Outdoors Project—Cast Your Vote!
Redwood Creek vineyards (pioneers of the fantastic annual campfire cooking contest) and Planet Green have partnered up to fork over a $50,000 grant toward an outdoor restoration project. After legions of potential contestants, they've narrowed the finalists down to five potential winners, and the victor will be selected by you, either by logging on to Redwood Creek's website, or texting a vote to 39668 with the appropriate text codes.
The finalists are:
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May 15, 2009
Safe Hiking in the Spring
A hiker at Mount Rainier, Washington (Photodisc)
Ah, spring! Time to get out the hiking gear, lace up the boots, and hit the trail! Right?
Well, sort of.
After a long winter like the one we had in the Pacific Northwest, who wouldn’t want to get out and do some hiking when the sun comes out? But spring and early summer also demand caution. Here’s why:
- Weather. Here it is mid-May, and we had snow in the mountain passes a few days ago. As I write this it is 33 degrees and raining at 4,000 feet of elevation. Prime hypothermia conditions. Spring weather is fickle and changeable; never assume things will stay as they are when you leave the car. Carry more clothes than you think you will need.
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April 21, 2009
Manuel Antonio National Park, Costa Rica
The Manuel Antonio National Park sign (Liz Wright)
When I was planning my trip to Costa Rica, some naysayers warned me that the town of Manuel Antonio was overdeveloped and uber-touristy and that its namesake park could be very crowded. But luckily, I didn’t heed their warnings. The park wasn’t crowded at all—even though it was high season, tourism was way down because of the recession. The town was indeed touristy, but not in a way that bothered me. I have no idea what the town was like before the area was declared a park in 1972, but I have a feeling that not much was there. The one bit of living history seems to be the bar/restaurant that’s popular for watching the sunset, Barba Roja, which opened in 1975, back when there wasn’t even a road between Manuel Antonio and Quepos, a fishing port a few miles away.
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