Maria travel blog

Roku Kyoto, LXR Hotels & Resorts — Japan
$$$ | HOT LIST 2022
More luxury resort than city hotel, Roku Kyoto is a place to stop, slow down, and recharge after the exhausting task of sightseeing in Japan’s ancient capital. The atmosphere treads a finely honed line between contemporary design and traditional Kyoto, with modern echoes of temple aesthetics in the hotel’s minimalist architecture: clean-lined expanses of light woods and external walkways beneath pitched roofs, all connected by cloud-reflecting water pools and gardens of seasonal blooms. The heartbeat of the hotel is restaurant Tenjin (especially the dinner-only Chef’s Table), though the hotel features another veritable head-turner for Kyoto: an outdoor hot-spring thermal swimming pool. Rooms from $847. —Danielle Demetriou

Joali Being — Bodufushi Island, Maldives
$$$ | HOT LIST 2022
The bone-white beaches and crystal-clear lagoons are the ultimate soothing backdrop for self-improvement, and, thankfully, wellness resort Joali Being delivers its sophisticated philosophy with a pampering attitude and no-news, no-shoes barefoot aesthetic. Shaggy thatched roofs ripple like the ocean waves beyond, oversized hand-carved doors resemble tree bark, walls are textured like wind-riffled sand, and the Tiffany-color palette of the 68 villas, each with its own pool, brings the lagoon right into your light-filled sanctuary. The world-class spa is sprinkled with glass-fronted saunas, steam rooms, ice fountains, and hydrotherapy pools. Rooms from $2,035 with a minimum of five nights. —Susan d’Arcy

Antarctica
That’s right, we put an entire continent on here. Although 99 percent of Antarctica is covered with ice, the landscape still manages to be stunningly diverse—surreal blue glaciers, active volcanoes, the rough waterways of the Drake Passage, and 360-degree views of untouched snow. And those views are made even better when an emperor penguin or humpback whale makes an appearance.

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, Japan
Every traveler should experience the ethereal glow and seemingly endless heights of this bamboo grove on the outskirts of Kyoto. The experience even extends beyond the visual realm: In 1996, Japan’s Ministry of the Environment included the sounds here—wood creaking, leaves rustling—as one of the top 100 Soundscapes of Japan.

Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
Africa’s highest peak seems more striking than a lot of other famous mountains, because it’s an ancient stratovolcano that’s not part of any mountain range. That means the 19,000-foot summit drops down to vast, flat plains on all sides, making it a mirage-like blip on Tanzania’s widespread topography. As an added bonus, the peak requires no technical mountaineering skills to summit, so even novice hikers can cross this item off their bucket list.

The Azores, Portugal
Roughly 900 miles off the coast of Lisbon, this Portuguese archipelago can inspire wanderlust with a single photo. The verdant valleys, steep oceanside cliffs, rows of blue hydrangeas, and scattering of waterfalls make the Azores a paradise worth exploring. Just make sure you visit before everyone you know beats you to it.

Nonessential travel “remains strictly controlled to help prevent the spread of COVID-19,” according to officials in Australia—which has kept its coronavirus case count extremely low since mid-2020 through border shutdowns and tight restrictions on leisure travel (both international and domestic). Per the current Australia travel restrictions, anyone visiting must acquire an exemption granted by the government, which only applies to critical workers or those who must travel for emergency purposes related to family (i.e. a death or illness). And even those with an exemption must quarantine upon arrival for 14 days in a government-run facility. The only exception to that rule is quarantine-free flights from New Zealand, which require travelers to have been in the country for at least 14 days.

Rockport, Massachusetts
Population: 6,952

About 40 miles north of Boston, Rockport is a lovely coastal town favorited by lobster fishermen and artists. You can find both industries along Bearskin Neck, a peninsula of old fishing shacks that has been turned into a stretch of shops and galleries. (Main Street is another tourist-friendly option.) Other hot spots include the highly swimmable Front Beach and Halibut Point State Park, a former granite quarry where, on clear days, you can spot Maine in the distance. But if you really want to rack up some Instagram likes, snap a few photos of Motif No. 1, a red, buoy-covered fishing shack known as “the most often-painted building in America.”

Friday Harbor, Washington
Population: 2,406

This beautiful hamlet sits in the farthest northwest reaches of Washington, with a marina at Roche Harbor that serves as a jumping off point for cruising around small, uninhabited islands. Friday Harbor was once a major produce provider for the state, but these days, the economy is centered around tourism—sea kayaking and orca-watching are the biggest draws. Year-round ferries from Anacortes (on the mainland) make it easy to visit in every season.

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