As we welcome within the New Year, notable journey media retailers akin to AFAR, National Geographic and Lonely Planet have been curating lists of the most effective locations to go to in 2023. Natural Habitat Adventures operates journeys in 20 of those bucket-list locations, from Australia to Zambia. Our companions Lindblad Expeditions, DuVine Cycling + Adventure and Classic Journeys enterprise to different prime journey spots, together with Egypt and the Loire Valley. Here are 23 entrancing nature journeys to encourage your journey resolutions for the approaching 12 months:
A wombat at Cradle Mountain Lodge in Tasmania © Emily Goodheart
1. Tasmania & Victoria, Australia
AFAR’s Best Places to Travel in 2023, Fodor’s 2023 Go List, Travel + Leisure’s 50 Best Places to Travel in 2023
In December of 2022, I returned residence from one of many best adventures in all my travels: Australia South: Tasmania, Kangaroo Island & the Great Ocean Road. Tasmania stood out particularly for spectacular wildlife encounters, particularly Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park, situated within the coronary heart of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Wombats, echidnas, pademelons and wallabies grazed beside us alongside the boardwalks at our lakeside lodge. On evening walks, we caught sight of ringtail and brushtail possums beneath a sea of stars within the southern sky. We additionally had the uncommon alternative to look at a Tasmanian satan feeding and see each Eastern and spotted-tail quolls at a conservation sanctuary. AFAR’s Krisanne Fordham raves, “If you’re into nature, almost half of Tasmania’s land mass lies in national parks and World Heritage areas, so you’ve got glittering alpine lakes, rivers, incredible snowcapped peaks like Cradle Mountain and Mount Wellington,” which towers over the capital metropolis of Hobart. This lush and secluded island state is a nature lover’s dream. In Hobart, we keep at a sublime Victorian property overlooking the harbor. Sample the most effective of Tasmanian meals and wine earlier than strolling to the Royal Botanical Gardens, which burst to life with multi-hued lupines, rose-clad arbors and pink waterlily ponds. “The waterfront city of Hobart has undergone a renaissance in the last decade, attracting both domestic and overseas tourists. The city offers plenty of opportunities to connect with art, food, nature and architecture,” feedback Fodor’s Katie Dundas.
We fly throughout the Bass Strait to Tasmania from the state of Victoria. Journeying down the Great Ocean Road alongside the south-west coast of Victoria, we cease at scenic overlooks the place fur seals lounge and gaze out on imposing limestone sea stacks, together with the famed Twelve Apostles. On walks via eucalyptus woodlands and large tree fern forests, we spot koalas, emus and excellent fairywrens, and search out kangaroos, potoroos and bandicoots at Cape Otway’s Conservation Ecology Center. A spotlight is a bushwalk with an Aboriginal information, the place we pattern native edible crops and find out about conventional medicines.
2. Torres del Paine National Park, Chile
Fodor’s 2023 Go List
The granite spires of Torres del Paine, bathed in rosy alpenglow, are majestic to behold. Our Patagonia Wilderness & Wildlife Explorer: Special Photo Departure is ideal for these seeking to {photograph} epic landscapes and intriguing wildlife, from guanacos, a wild relative of the llama, to prowling pumas. With an knowledgeable images information and an itinerary designed round serving to you seize excellent nature pictures, this Andean journey is one to not miss. A small group of solely 10 fellow vacationers permits us to maximise picture alternatives in secluded surrounds. You’ll come residence with a treasure trove of images, from glowing blue glacial ice and turquoise lakes to towering massifs. Fodor’s Heather Jasper declares, “Torres del Paine has some of the most spectacular landscapes on Earth…So close to the tip of South America and Antarctica, it’s easy to feel like you’re exploring in the age of Shackleton.” You’ll gaze upon glaciers courting 2.6 million years that are actually quickly retreating as a result of local weather change—see them sooner reasonably than later.
3. The United Kingdom
Travel + Leisure’s 2023 Destination of the Year
“What is truly great in the U.K. right now,” Travel + Leisure’s Fiona Mozley states, are “the innovative chefs, groundbreaking galleries, majestic landscapes, stylish hotels, and cozy pubs that make the nation more inviting than ever. The Cotswolds and the Home Counties, meanwhile, offer the quaint villages and rolling hills of “Old England.” Stroll previous songbirds sheltered in hedgerows, royal estates with rose-clad gardens and wildflower-filled woodlands in The Cotswolds: Exploring English Nature. Dine on sustainable farm-to-table fare in bucolic settings as you find out about artisan agriculture and conservation efforts, and finish the day with a pint at an area pub that dates again centuries.
4. Botswana
Fodor’s 2023 Go List, National Geographic’s 25 Breathtaking Places and Experiences for 2023
Botswana has lengthy been on the forefront of sustainability and conservation journey, and 2023 provides new strides ahead, from anti-poaching digicam sensors to community-based outreach. Nat Hab is as soon as once more redefining sustainable safaris with the creation of an electrical safari car. Gliding throughout the savannah immerses you within the sights, smells and sounds of the wild. Our whisper-quiet, solar-powered car permits for a stealthier strategy to wildlife, enhancing our nature viewing expertise whereas decreasing our total carbon footprint. Emission-free mobility is the way forward for environmentally accountable journey, and we hope to encourage safari operators, and the journey trade extra broadly, to comply with our lead. The final result is an unparalleled wildlife viewing expertise and a greener safari. As the world’s first 100% carbon-neutral journey firm, what could possibly be a greater technique to increase the bar than a zero-emission, carbon-neutral technique to discover the bush?
In the Okavango Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, seek for the Big Five—rhino, leopard, lion, elephant and African buffalo—together with African wild canines, giraffes, zebras and plentiful birdlife. According to Fodor’s Sam Kisika, this “diverse wetland in the desert bursts with wildlife…Visitors to this thrilling region discover ever-transforming natural landscapes as you picnic in the wild and join exhilarating safari drives where sightings of hippos and elephants splashing in the clear waters of the Okavango River are part of the adventure.” Explore the Okavango Delta on our Secluded Botswana Safari, or be a part of our inexperienced season safari, Botswana: Kalahari, the Delta & Beyond, when animal infants abound.
5. New Zealand
Travel + Leisure’s 50 Best Places to Travel in 2023, National Geographic’s 25 Breathtaking Places and Experiences for 2023, Condé Nast Traveler’s 23 Best Places to Go in 2023
New Zealand is able to welcome journey vacationers from all over the world. “After a stringent lockdown, New Zealand has at last dropped all travel restrictions. Happily, the country is becoming more accessible than ever, thanks to the nonstop flights between New York and Auckland that Air New Zealand launched in September,” T+L’s Peter Terzian feedback. And beginning in June 2023, Australian provider Qantas may also supply direct flights from New York. On our New Zealand Nature Explorer expedition, get pleasure from a personal cruise of mythical-looking Milford Sound, one of many essential settings for the movie adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring. Search for kiwis on guided evening walks in Rakiura National Park, whose Maori identify means “Land of Glowing Skies.” Stargaze beneath a number of the darkest skies on Earth at Lake Wanaka and, if fortunate, catch sight of the aurora australis.
6. South Africa
Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2023
“Complementing its internationally known (and loved) vineyards, South Africa’s new generation of chefs is propelling the country’s culinary scene forward making it a destination to visit not just for wine, but food as well,” says Lonely Planet’s Mary Fitzpatrick. On our Cape Town Extension, which you’ll be able to add on to our Secluded South Africa, meals and effective wine are a spotlight. At tastings at two historic estates within the Cape Winelands area, pattern vintages and cheeses. On a guided tour of Cape Dutch farm, established in 1692, you’re invited to select, style, scent and contact an array of the greater than 300 fruit and veggies that develop right here. You’ll additionally take a revolving cable automobile to the highest of famed Table Mountain (a part of the Cape Floral Region UNESCO World Heritage Site), go to Boulders Beach to see African penguins and stroll via Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens previous 9,000 indigenous flowering plant species and a bunch of birdlife.
7. Slovenia
National Geographic’s 25 Breathtaking Places and Experiences for 2023
“Widely recognized as a leader in sustainable tourism, Slovenia has…added a new item to the menu: the Slovenia Green Gourmet Route.” This meals path of green-certified locations highlights the nation’s Michelin-starred eating places, conventional farms and wineries. Slovenia was named the European Region of Gastronomy for 2021, and also you’ll see why on our Wild Nature of Croatia & Slovenia journey. Visiting a 90-year-old apiary, you’ll be taught concerning the sustainable artisan manufacturing of honey and style it in honey liqueur, gingerbread and pastries. Dine at native household houses within the countryside and luxuriate in an Aperol spritz at romantic lodgings overlooking castles and shimmering blue lakes. Stop for a cheese tasting at a Thirteenth-century village nestled amongst lush mountain slopes and pattern wines from the Mediterranean throughout the Alps and the Karst to the Pannonian Plains.
8. Alaska
Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2023, Condé Nast Traveler’s 23 Best Places to Go within the U.S. in 2023
“Along with its spectacular wildlife, gorgeous fjords and glaciers, Alaska is also a great place to learn about native Alaskan culture and an example of Indigenous groups managing authentic tourism experiences that also embrace sustainability,” remarks Lonely Planet’s Richard Perry. In Anchorage, the primary cease on our Ultimate Alaska Wildlife Safari, we deal with Alaska’s wealthy Native heritage with a privately guided tour of the Alaska Native Heritage Center or the Anchorage Museum’s First Peoples of Alaska exhibit. “Wedged between a frigid sea and the towering Chugach Mountains, Anchorage plays basecamp to Alaska’s vast wilderness,” says Condé Nast Traveler’s Jen Rose Smith. From there, many adventures await: a scenic flight and glacier touchdown on Denali, a personal cruise via Kenai Fjords and brown bear encounters in Katmai. We additionally journey a piece of the historic Alaska Railroad, which is celebrating 100 years in 2023.
9. Queensland, Australia
Fodor’s 2023 Go List, Condé Nast Traveler’s 23 Best Places to Go in 2023
Cairns, Queensland, is the gateway to 2 World Heritage Sites: the Great Barrier Reef and Daintree National Park, the oldest rain forest on Earth. On Australia North: Kakadu, Daintree & the Great Barrier Reef, we enter the homeland of the Eastern Kuku Yalanji Aboriginal folks, whose historical past dates again 50,000 years. “Australia is making an effort to return land to its native people, and Queensland has been leading the way, with thousands of acres going back to Indigenous groups over the last two years. For travelers, this shift is yielding new experiences guided by the insight of the original stewards of the land,” observes Condé Nast Traveler’s Devorah Lev-Tov. Daintree National Park was a part of a parcel returned in 2021, and it’s now collectively managed by the Eastern Kuku Yalanji and the state authorities. Surrounding our secluded ecolodge are prehistoric-looking cassowaries and tree kangaroos, whereas lunch on the Daintree Tea House supplies a chance to pattern the myriad tropical fruits discovered the place the rainforest meets the reef.
10. Greenland
© Ralph Lee Hopkins
Travel + Leisure’s 50 Best Places to Travel in 2023, Virtuoso’s 2023 Travel Trends
For the Arctic explorer, Greenland beckons. Notes T+L’s Paul Brady, this Arctic nation guarantees “plenty of beautiful landscapes and seemingly endless horizons.” Dramatic glaciers, large icebergs and circling whales greet you on Zodiac excursions into Sermilik Fjord, an Arctic paradise now threatened by local weather change. In August of 2023, be a part of our particular local weather departure Greenland: The Fate of the Arctic in a Warming World. As you discover distant East Greenland from our luxurious expedition camp, be taught concerning the impression of a warming world on northern wildlife, Indigenous communities and the planet’s second largest ice sheet.
© Melissa Scott
11. British Columbia
Condé Nast Traveler’s 23 Best Places to Go in 2023, Travel + Leisure’s 50 Best Places to Travel in 2023
British Columbia’s wilderness gems are effervescent on Spirit Bears, Humpbacks & Wildlife of BC. Seek out the paranormal white bears that characteristic prominently within the oral traditions of Tsimshian coastal First Nations, cruise by breaching whales and kayak previous sheltered coves and evergreen islands that speckle the coast. “The province of British Columbia is renowned for its pristine natural beauty…and new Indigenous-led experiences are connecting travelers to the cultures most closely tied to the land,” says Condé Nast Traveler’s Chloe Berge. We’ll enter the realm of the spirit bear with an Indigenous Gitga’at information. He’ll share his tradition and tales, and we’ll find out about efforts to guard the Great Bear Rainforest from logging and oil pipeline growth. With a deal with First Nations and conservation, we’ll see firsthand how Indigenous-led ecotourism performs a central function in conserving the most important untouched temperature rain forest on the Pacific Coast.
12. Bhutan
Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2023, Travel + Leisure’s 50 Best Places to Travel in 2023
Bhutan has lengthy intrigued vacationers searching for solace in nature. Retreat to a Himalayan kingdom and take time to wander throughout lush valleys and mountains blanketed in emerald forests. Lonely Planet’s Bradley Mayhew proclaims, “Its golden-roofed temples, magnificent fortress-like monasteries and timeless rural villages are as close to a Shangri-La as you can find in the modern world.” Bhutan has lengthy championed conservation, preserving 60% of its land beneath forest cowl, as mandated within the structure. In this carbon-negative nation, customer presence continues to be mild, and a Sustainable Development Fee for incoming vacationers helps fund cultural and conservation initiatives. Journey to the “Land of the Thunder Dragon” on Wild & Ancient Himalaya: Nepal & Bhutan.
13. From Zanzibar to the Lower Zambezi: Custom Africa Adventures
Fodor’s 2023 Go List (Zanzibar), Travel + Leisure’s 50 Best Places to Travel in 2023 (Lower Zambezi National Park), AFAR’s Best Places to Travel in 2023 (Ruaha National Park), Town & Country’s Best Places to Travel in 2023 (Private Villas)
Our Adventure Specialists are Africa specialists who may help you craft your dream safari. “Custom safaris are considered independent adventures,” says Megan Bryant, Nat Hab’s Director of Custom Africa Travel. “You can select your own travel dates, go to the locations and stay at the lodgings that best suit you, and travel free of a larger group. There are what we call ‘private bush homes’ where your party has exclusive use of the entire camp or lodge, complete with your own housekeeping staff, private chef and safari guide.” Town & Country recommends reserving a personal villa in Africa, “because, let’s face it, having the bush all to yourself is better.”
“For travelers returning to Africa for a second, third, or maybe even fifth(!) trip,” says Bryant, “we can get really creative.” While first-time guests to Tanzania flock to the Serengeti, Ruaha National Park’s distant location sees few vacationers, guaranteeing an unique safari expertise. “Low visitation rates make biodiverse Ruaha a wildlife enthusiast’s dream: This vast landscape of habitats, ranging from savannas to wetlands, feels like a private game reserve, and travelers can go days without seeing another vehicle,” elaborates AFAR’s Jennifer Flowers.
The potentialities when planning a customized safari are limitless. View hippos and elephants out of your personal camp overlooking Zambia’s Zambezi River or plan a getaway to Zanzibar, Tanzania, to swim with sea turtles, marvel at crimson colobus monkeys and feast on Swahili delicacies. “Zambia is a destination so many people miss,” says Leora Rothschild in Travel + Leisure. “The country’s Lower Zambezi National Park is one of my favorite destinations anywhere. Having a safari on a river adds a dynamic element,” providing a special perspective of wildlife from the water. Fodor’s Mwende Mutuli Musau notes that Zanzibar’s “ethereal scenery draws travelers to this tropical archipelago. It’s an oasis on the Indian Ocean heralding pristine white beaches, it’s home to thick luscious forests, and it boasts an abundance of marine wildlife. This is one of the most unique travel destinations in Africa.” Our Custom African Safaris span throughout Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
14. Uttar Pradesh, India
Travel + Leisure’s 50 Best Places to Travel in 2023
“India’s fourth-largest state is home to classic attractions including the Taj Mahal, in Agra, and the Ganges River ghats of Varanasi, the nation’s holiest city,” notes T+L’s Alisha Prakash. Capture ethereal photographs of the Taj Mahal at dawn and sundown on our India Tiger Safari: A Photo Pro Expedition, and tour Agra Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A sizzling air balloon journey over the Pink City of Jaipur provides extra alternatives for beautiful aerial pictures. Our main focus is photographing the big regal cats that prowl the jungle—Bengal tigers. You’ll safari in Ranthambore National Park at the most effective time of 12 months for tiger sightings and {photograph} different wildlife alongside the way in which, together with sloth bear, leopard, caracal, jungle cat, jackal, striped hyena, serpent eagle and marsh crocodile. Your Expedition Leader is an achieved images skilled and tiger knowledgeable, serving to you benefit from your epic picture journey.
15. Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park
Fodor’s 2023 Go List
More than 500 large sequoias are present in Mariposa Grove, together with the three,000-year-old Grizzly Giant and drive-through Tunnel Tree, which vacationers can view on An Insider’s Journey into Yosemite. Observes Fodor’s Bunny McMadden, “The ancient ones who live in Mariposa Grove are so stunning that American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted said no photograph or painting could ever prepare a visitor for the magic of seeing them. These sequoias are no stranger to fire, which has long been an Indigenous tool for stewarding the land. But as wildfire consequences have grown more severe, seeing this majestic grove is at once more precious and urgent.”
16. Banff National Park & Athabasca Glacier, Alberta
National Geographic’s 25 Breathtaking Places and Experiences for 2023, Forbes 23 Best Places to Travel in 2023
Lakes like sapphire jewels dot the fir forests, gleaming under putting mountains that rise into the clouds. On our Remote Peaks & Meadows of the Canadian Rockies journey, you’ll discover the numerous wonders of Banff, Canada’s first nationwide park, together with turquoise Lake Louise. “Lake Louise enjoys a prime postcard backdrop against a hanging glacier and Mount Victoria,” states Stacy Kristynik in Forbes. You’ll head to Jasper and Yoho nationwide parks from there earlier than heli-hiking within the Bugaboos. The Canadian province of Alberta, the place these pure wonders lie, is a frontrunner in Indigenous tourism. Travelers “who seek us out want to reconnect and refocus,” imparts Brenda Holder, a Cree/Iroquois information, in National Geographic. At Athabasca Glacier, our Nat Hab group hikes with an area Indigenous information who provides wealthy perception into the pure and cultural historical past of the icefield area.
17. Tanzania
Travel + Leisure’s 50 Best Places to Travel in 2023
On our Tanzania’s Great Migration & Ngorongoro Crater safari, you’ll head to the Serengeti to witness stampeding wildebeest herds and enterprise into the most important unbroken caldera on Earth, residence to the densest focus of wildlife in Africa. Conservation journey—journey that has the facility to guard nature, profit communities and protect cultural heritage—is the guts of what we do at Nat Hab, and thrilling developments are forward as a brand new period dawns in Tanzania. “The leader of the country’s changing face is President Samia Suluhu Hassan, the first woman of color and the first Muslim to lead this country…she’s devoted herself to strengthening infrastructure, women’s businesses, education, health care…and sustainable travel,” T+L’s Samantha Falewée feedback.
18. Scotland
National Geographic’s 25 Breathtaking Places and Experiences for 2023, Town & Country’s Best Places to Travel in 2023, Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2023
The austere fantastic thing about Scotland’s Wild Highlands & Islands is putting to behold, and a greener future lies in retailer because of new conservation initiatives. After centuries of logging and overgrazing, “a move to return the Highlands to its original woodlands, by reintroducing former flora and fauna in a process called “rewilding,” is gathering steam… The nonprofit group Trees for Life is opening a middle in Dundreggan to coach the general public on the idea of rewilding…and most ambitiously, the Affric Highlands mission will begin restoring 500,000 acres stretching from Loch Ness to the west coast in a 30-year initiative that would make Scotland the planet’s first rewilded nation,” declares National Geographic. Rewilding efforts vary from planting pine, rowan and oak timber to efforts to reintroduce native species akin to pine marten, crimson deer, otter and the uncommon Scottish wildcat. Nat Hab visits the Scottish Wildcat Breeding Conservation Program on the Aigas Field Center, the place we be taught concerning the United Kingdom’s most endangered mammal. We additionally get pleasure from a particular presentation at Trees for Life, which seeks to revive the Caledonian forest that after coated a lot of inside Scotland.
19. The Everglades
Condé Nast Traveler’s 23 Best Places to Go within the U.S. in 2023
Explore Everglades National Park, which celebrates its seventy fifth anniversary in 2023, by personal airboat on our Florida Nature Safari. A World Heritage Site, International Biosphere Reserve and Wetland of International Importance, this subtropical wilderness spans 1.5 million acres. “The Everglades now faces its own unique set of environmental concerns, especially due to climate change and non-native and invasive species,” states Condé Nast Traveler’s Caroline Eubanks. During an interpretive expertise on the park customer heart and hike, we be taught why defending this extremely biodiverse wetland is so essential.
© Richard de Gouveia
20. Kenya
Condé Nast Traveler’s 23 Best Places to Go in 2023
”Kenya has lengthy been an enormous draw for safari vacationers,” states Condé Nast Traveler’s Sarah Khan, and it’s simple to see why. On The Great Kenya Migration Safari, you’ll witness hundreds of thundering wildebeest and zebra as they cross the Mara River. Experience the most effective of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda on our Ultimate East Africa Safari. You’ll go to Ol Pejeta Conservancy, residence to the final two northern white rhinos. On each journeys, you’re in for an opulent keep at Nat Hab’s Private Mobile Camp bordering the Maasai Mara National Reserve, one in all Africa’s most legendary wildlife realms.
21. Egypt
National Geographic’s 25 Breathtaking Places and Experiences for 2023, Condé Nast Traveler’s 23 Best Places to Go in 2023, Travel + Leisure’s 50 Best Places to Travel in 2023
On Lindblad’s Passage Through Egypt, you’ll sail aboard the privately chartered Oberoi Philae, one of many grandest ships on the Nile, with Egyptologist guides and an authorized picture teacher. You’ll be enraptured by the traditional Valley of the Kings, from the good Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx to the elaborately adorned royal tombs of Seti I and Nefertari. 2022 “marked the centennial of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb—and in November 2022, Egypt hosted the United Nations Climate Summit, COP 27,” states Condé Nast Travelers Gilly Hopper. The world’s largest archaeological museum, the Grand Egyptian Museum, is ready to open in 2023 and can show a wealth of treasures, from Tutankhamun’s tomb to a 40-foot-high statue of Ramses II. “Further touristic draws, Egyptology-wise, stem from the relocation of the nation’s vast collection of royal mummies to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo,” notes Hopper.
22. Vienna, Austria
Condé Nast Traveler’s 23 Best Places to Go in 2023, Travel + Leisure’s 50 Best Places to Travel in 2023, National Geographic’s 25 Breathtaking Places and Experiences for 2023, Town & Country’s Best Places to Travel in 2023
“After a two-year hiatus, the 2023 Viennese ball season promises lush nights of live orchestral music and dancing in black-tie. Two of the year’s sparkliest, the Vienna Opera Ball and the Vienna Philharmonic Ball, are also marking their 65th and 80th anniversaries, respectively,” remarks Condé Nast Traveler’s Matt Ortile. Join the occasion and go to Vienna’s royal palaces, vacation markets and luxurious music on Classic Journeys’ Christmas Markets Cultural Walking Adventure. Nibble on sizzling roasted chestnuts or an Austrian pastry as you stroll via a number of the 25 conventional Viennese Christmas markets discovered within the Imperial capital. After a personal tour of Schönbrunn Palace, the opulent baroque residence of Emperor Franz Joseph, get pleasure from a classical live performance by Schönbrunn Palace Orchestra and Ensemble within the metropolis the place Mozart himself carried out. “Austria’s capital city may be old — like, Holy Roman Empire old — but 2023 will see neue life in this historic destination. The year ahead is the 150th anniversary of Vienna’s World’s Fair, and the celebrations include 12 months of cultural events. It’s also the 300th anniversary of the opening of the Belvedere,” proclaims T+L’s Maya Kachroo-Levine. Consisting of two Baroque palaces, the Orangery and the Palace Stables, this world-famous museum complicated may have new reveals to peruse—and don’t miss Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss. Recently opened museums that includes modern works embrace the Albertina Modern and the Heidi Horten Collection on the Palais Goëss-Horten.
23. The Loire Valley, France
Condé Nast Traveler’s 23 Best Places to Go in 2023
The Loire Valley provides pure enchantment. Visit this lush chateau-filled area on DuVine’s Loire Valley Bike Tour and Classic Journeys’ Loire & Burgundy Cultural Walking Adventure (Burgundy can be highlighted as a celebrated wine vacation spot in Town & Country’s Best Places to Travel in 2023). “Thanks to the initiative of hoteliers, creatives and chefs…the region [has] sought to go beyond its picturesque historical marvels to establish new reasons to visit. That effort began in 2020, with the gastronomic and nature-inspired getaways offered at Loire Valley Lodges and Les Sources de Cheverny, and has shown no signs of stopping,” observes Condé Nast Traveler’s Lindsey Tramuta. On DuVine’s biking journey, you’ll get pleasure from a Michelin-starred meal on the beautiful Les Sources de Cheverny chateau, your own home for the evening. And on each excursions, you’ll stroll via fairytale castles and gardens, and admire sketches, letters and innovations on the residence of Leonardo da Vinci at Chateau du Clos Lucé.
Here’s to fascinating new adventures within the New Year!
© Lianne Thompson