04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 1

Chapter 1 Taking in the Scenery Awesome Vistas . . . 2 Seven Beautiful Bridges . . . 12 Drives . . . 20 Train Rides . . . 32 Boat Rides . . . 41

COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL

Sequoia National Park. 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 2

TAKING IN THE SCENERY

Awesome Vistas 1 Monument Valley The Iconic Wild West Landscape Ages 6 & up • Kayenta, Arizona, USA

WHEN MOST OF US THINK of the American visits backcountry areas that are other- West, this is what clicks into our mental wise off-limits to visitors, including close- Viewmasters: A vast, flat sagebrush plain ups of several natural arches and with huge sandstone spires thrusting to Ancient Puebloan petroglyphs.) the sky like the crabbed fingers of a Sticking to the Valley Drive takes primeval Mother Earth clutching for the you to 11 scenic overlooks, once-in-a- heavens. Ever since movie director John lifetime photo ops with those incredible Ford first started shooting westerns here sandstone buttes for backdrop. Often in the 1930s, this landscape has felt famil- Navajos sell jewelry and other crafts at iar to millions who have never set foot the viewing areas, or even pose on horse- here. We’ve all seen it on the big screen, back to add local color to your snapshots but oh, what a difference to see it in real (a tip will be expected). life. John Wayne—John Ford’s favorite lead- If you possibly can, time your visit to ing cowboy—roamed these scrublands include sunset—as the sheer walls of on horseback, and seeing it from a West- these monoliths capture the light of the ern saddle does seem like the thing to do. setting sun, they truly seem to catch fire. Local outfitters run everything from a There are three ways to tour the area, guided 1-hour trail ride to an overnight which is also a Navajo reservation: driving campout. One of the most comprehen- the 17-mile Valley Drive; hiking with a sive tour companies (jeeps, hikes, horses, guide; or on horseback. Guides are usu- you name it) is Sacred Monument Tours ally local Navajos, born and bred to this (& 435/727-3218; www.monumentvalley. barren landscape. If you drive, you can net), but plenty of other operators can be take your own car; but it is a rocky, rutted booked from the visitor center. Although dirt road, so I personally would opt for a most of the park lies in Arizona, it is right jeep or van tour. (Hold out for one that on the state border, and you enter it from Utah. Just outside the park, Goulding’s Museum and Trading Post is furnished as it was in the 1920s and 1930s when the moviemakers first discovered the area; there are also displays about the many films that were shot here. Be sure to get a map so the kids can learn the eccentric rock formations’ names—imaginative names like The Mittens, Three Sisters, Camel Butte, El- ephant Butte, the Thumb, and Totem Pole. And as you stare at them, take an extra moment to imagine the forces of nature that have sculpted the soft desert stone into these incredible shapes. It’s an only-in-America panorama that the kids Monument Valley. won’t ever forget.

2 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 3

THE REDWOOD FORESTS OF CALIFORNIA

U.S. 163, 30 miles north of Kayenta Nation, U.S. 160, Kayenta, AZ (& 800/ (& 435/727-5870; www.monumentvalley HAMPTON or 928/697-3170; www. online.com). hampton-inn.com). ( Flagstaff Pulliam, 200 miles. WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Just like L $$$ Goulding’s Lodge, Monument the movies—only more so. Valley, UT (& 435/727-3231; www. gouldings.com). $$ Hampton Inn-Navajo

Awesome Vistas 2 The Redwood Forests of California All ages • Crescent City, California, USA

IT’S HARD TO EXPLAIN the feeling you get in Environmentalists bemoan the tacky the old-growth forests of Redwood attractions along this route, but young- National and State Parks. Everything sters love ’em—from south to north, hol- seems big, misty, and primeval—flowering low Chimney Tree, where J. R. R. bushes cover the ground, 10-foot-tall ferns Tolkien’s Hobbit is rumored to live; One- line the creeks, and the smells are rich and Log House, a small dwelling built inside a musty. It’s so Jurassic Park you half expect log; and the Shrine Drive-Thru Tree. to turn the corner and see a dinosaur. More dignified landmarks include The scientific name for these massive Founders Grove, honoring those who conifers is Sequoia sempervirens, cousins started the Save the Redwoods League in of the giant sequoias (see Sequoia 1918; and the 950-year-old Immortal National Park ). Sheathed in rough red- Tree. Don’t settle for looking at all this dish bark, miraculously fire-resistant, their out your car window—from many parking stout straight trunks shoot up 100 feet or areas you can ramble on short loop trails more before a canopy of branches into awesome redwood groves. begins; they often reach a total height of The other cluster of parks begins more than 300 feet. Among the planet’s another 100 miles or so farther north, most ancient individuals—the oldest threaded along U.S. Highway 101. The dated coast redwood is more than 2,200 most scenic drive parallels 101, along the years old—they only grow in temperate Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway, rainforests, meaning nowhere but the passing through redwood groves and U.S. Pacific Coast. In 1968, the federal meadows where Roosevelt elk graze, government created Redwood National and Coastal Drive, which has grand Park (nowadays combined with three views of the Pacific. But again, the truly state redwood parks) to protect what’s spine-tingling experience requires getting left of this seriously endangered species. out and hiking through these soaring The relative isolation of this stretch of perpendicular woods. Pick up a park map coast helped the forests survive intact, to find your way to Tall Trees Trail, a 1 but it also makes for a long drive. 3 ⁄4-mile round-trip to a 600-year-old tree The most spectacular display is along often touted as the world’s tallest (get a the Avenue of the Giants, a 33-mile permit at the Redwood Information Cen- stretch of U.S. 101 through the ter in Orick); the self-guided mile-long Humboldt Redwoods State Park (& 707/ Lady Bird Johnson Grove Loop; the 946-2263; www.humboldtredwoods.org). short, very popular Fern Canyon Trail;

3 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 4

TAKING IN THE SCENERY

or, for the littlest hikers, the quarter-mile- (& 707/464-2137; www.curlyredwood long Big Tree Trail, a paved trail leading lodge.com). $$$ Lost Whale Bed & Break- to—what else?—a big tree. fast, 3452 Patrick’s Point Dr., Trinidad (& 800/677-7859 or 707/677-3425; 1111 Second St. (& 707/464-6101, ext. www.lostwhaleinn.com). 5064; www.nps.gov/redw). WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Seeing the ( Crescent City. redwoods before they’re gone. L $ Curly Redwood Lodge, 701 Red- wood Hwy. S. (U.S. 101), Crescent City

Awesome Vistas 3 Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks Giant Trees of the Sierras All ages • Visalia & Fresno, California, USA

ONLY 200 MILES BY ROAD from often-overrun side trip. The tree has been used for shel- Yosemite National Park , Sequoia and ter for more than 100 years and is tall Kings Canyon national parks still feel like enough inside that you can walk through untrammeled wilderness. Only one road, without bending over. In Giant Forest, the Generals Highway, loops through the awesome General Sherman Tree is the area, and no road traverses the Sierra here. High-altitude hiking and backpacking are what these parks are really all about; some 700 miles of trails traverse this ter- rain of snowcapped Sierra Nevada peaks (including Mount Whitney, which at 14,494 ft. is the highest point in the lower 48 states), high-country lakes, and alpine meadows. For families, though, there’s one main attraction: the largest groves of giant sequoias in the Sierra Nevada. Though they are two separate parks, Sequoia and Kings Canyon are contiguous and managed jointly from the park headquarters at Ash Mountain—you hardly know when you’re leaving one and entering the other. Of the 75 or so groves of giant sequoias in the parks, the two most convenient to visit are Grant Grove (in Kings Canyon near the Big Stump park entrance), and Giant Forest (in Sequoia, 16 miles from the Ash Mountain entrance). In Grant Grove, a 100-foot walk through the hollow trunk of the Sequoia National Park. Fallen Monarch makes a fascinating

4 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 5

THE COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE

considered the largest living thing in the walls rising thousands of feet above the world; single branches of this monster river. are more than 7 feet thick. Other trees in the grove (each of them saddled with Ash Mountain entrance, CA 198 from names like General Lee or Lincoln) are Visalia. Big Stump entrance, 180 from nearly as large, creating an overall effect Fresno, CA (& 559/565-3341; www.nps. of massive majesty. Giant Grove has gov/seki, www.sequoia-kingscanyon.com, or some 40 miles of intersecting footpaths www.visitsequoia.com). to wander; the 6-mile Trail of the ( Fresno-Yosemite, 53 miles. Sequoias will take you to the grove’s far eastern end, where you’ll find some of L $ Dorst Campground, in Sequoia the finest trees. near Giant Forest (& 800/365-2267). While Sequoia’s raison d’être is those $$ Wuksachi Village & Lodge, 64740 incredible trees, Kings Canyon encom- Wuksachi Way, Lodgepole (& 888/252- passes the deepest canyon in the 5757 or 559/565-4070; www.visit United States: Drive to Road’s End on sequoia.com). the Kings Canyon Highway (open late WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: The red- May to early Nov) to stand by the banks of the Kings River and stare up at granite woods’ awesome (and even more endan- gered) cousins.

Awesome Vistas 4 The Columbia River Gorge Mighty Old River All ages • Troutdale to The Dalles, Oregon, USA

GOUGING OUT THE JAGGED BORDER between than 77 in the Gorge—and rise to breath- Washington and Oregon, just east of Port- catching vistas. Stop at Vista House at land the mighty Columbia River bores Crown Point (& 503/695-2230; www. through the Cascade Range in one of the vistahouse.com) for a spectacular view of most beautiful river gorges in the world. Beacon Rock, an 800-foot-tall monolith The Grand Canyon’s stark red-stone across the river in Washington. A few chasms may be more primeval and pow- miles east are the gorge’s tallest falls, the erful looking, but I have a special fond- 620-foot-high Multnomah Falls. When ness for the Columbia River Gorge, where U.S. 30 leaves the river, continue on I-84 the awesome panoramas come carpeted past the Bonneville Lock and Dam (in in lush dark-green forest and spangled by June and Sept you can see migrating crystalline waterfalls. salmon climb a fish ladder to bypass the I-84 runs beside the river on the locks) to the Bridge of the Gods, where Oregon side (WA 14 follows the Washing- Indian oral tradition claims a natural rock ton shore), but it’s well worth getting off bridge once existed. Cross the bridge to I-84 at Troutdale to wind along U.S. 30, Washington to visit the excellent Colum- the Historic Columbia River Highway, for bia Gorge Interpretive Center, 990 SW 22 miles at the west end of the 70-mile- Rock Creek Dr., Stevenson (& 800/991- long Gorge (it also parallels I-84 for 15 2338; www.columbiagorge.org). miles at the east end). You’ll sweep close Showstopper views are great, but the to sheer waterfalls—there are no fewer gorge is even more fascinating as a

5 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 6

TAKING IN THE SCENERY

unique natural phenomenon. At the end Columbia Gorge (& 800/643-1354; of the last Ice Age, huge glacial ice dams www.sternwheeler.com) for a cruise on in Montana (which still has glaciers—see the Columbia; if trains are more your the Going-to-the-Sun Road ) burst and style, hop aboard the Mount Hood Rail- sent 1,000-foot-high floodwaters racing road, 110 Railroad Ave. (& 800/872- along the river toward the ocean, drag- 4661; www.mthoodrr.com) and chug up ging ice chunks and rocks that carved a the Hood River Valley in vintage rail cars. steep-walled gorge. Tributaries that had once meandered down gentle valleys & 541/386-2333; were suddenly plummeting down to the www.fs.fed.us/r6/columbia. river in dramatic cascades. The volcanic ( Portland International, 30 miles. Cascade Range then began to rise around the gorge, making it even more dramatic. L $$ Columbia Gorge Hotel, 4000 Call the kids’ attention to the contrast Westcliff Dr., Hood River, OR (& 800/345- between the rainforest west of the Cas- 1921 or 541/386-5566; www.columbia cades and the sagebrush scrublands to gorgehotel.com). $$$ Dolce Skamania the east, caused by moist air condensing Lodge, 1131 SW Skamania Lodge Way, into rain and snow as it hits the western Stevenson, WA (& 800/221-7117 or slopes, leaving the east side high and dry 509/427-7700; www.skamania.com). in what is called a rain shadow. On the Oregon bank in Cascade WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Marveling Locks you can board the stern-wheeler at each curve in the road.

Awesome Vistas 5 Uluru (Ayers Rock) Australia’s Red Rock Center Ages 6 & up • Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Northern Territory, Australia

IT’S A BIT OF A MYSTERY why people trek from stone draping its sides, with little coves all over the world to gawk at Ayers Rock. hiding water holes and Aboriginal rock For its size? Hardly—nearby Mount Con- art, all of it changing color dramatically ner is three times as big. For its shape? depending on the slant of the sun. The Probably not—most folks agree the peak time is sunset, when oranges, neighboring Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) is more peaches, pinks, reds, and then indigo and picturesque. And yet, undeniably, a faint deep violet creep across its face as if it shiver goes up the spine when you gaze were a giant opal. At sunrise the colors on its serene, hulking mass. are less dramatic, but many folks enjoy People used to believe that Uluru the spectacle of the Rock unveiled by the (Ayers Rock’s proper Aboriginal name) dawn to bird song. was a meteorite, but we now know it was Aborigines refer to tourists as minga— formed by sediments laid millions of years little ants—because that’s what we look ago in an inland sea and thrust above- like crawling up Uluru, which to them is ground by geological forces (there’s twice sacrilege. And yet despite this, and as much again underground, it’s thought). despite ferocious winds, sheer rock faces, On photos it may look like a big smooth and extreme temperatures, visitors still blob, but face to face it’s dappled with feel compelled to scramble up the rock, holes and overhangs, with curtains of taking anywhere from 2 to 4 hours; the

6 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 7

LAKE TITICACA: JEWEL OF THE ANDES

views from the top are amazing, but is it Olgas), 50km (31 miles) west of the Rock. worth it? There are plenty of other Kata Tjuta means “many heads,” an apt options. The paved 9km (5.6-mile) Base name for this monolith of 36 momentous Walk circumnavigates Uluru, with time to red domes bulging out of the earth like explore water holes, caves, folds, and turned clay on a potter’s wheel. The overhangs; an easy kilometer (.6-mile) Olgas are more important in Dreamtime round-trip trail from the Mutitjulu park- legend than Uluru, and many modern visi- ing lot visits a pretty water hole with rock tors find they’re even more spiritual. art near the Rock’s base. On the free daily Good hikers may do the challenging 90-minute Mala Walk, a ranger, who is 7.4km (4.6-mile) Valley of the Winds often an Aborigine, discusses the Dream- walk among the domes; there’s also an time myths behind Uluru and explains the easy 2.6km (1.6-mile) Gorge walk. significance of the rock art and other sites you see. Another peaceful way to Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre see the Rock is on hour-long camelback (& 08/8956 3138). Ayers Rock Resort forays through the red-sand dunes with (see below). & Frontier Camel Tours ( 1800/806 499 ( Ayers Rock (Connellan) airport. in Australia, or 08/8956 2444; www. cameltours.com.au). If it’s aerial views L $$$ Emu Walk Apartments or $$ you want, several local companies do sce- Outback Pioneer Hotel and Lodge, Yulara nic flights by light aircraft or helicopter Dr., Ayers Rock Resort (& 08/8957 7888; over Uluru and other local landmarks. www.voyages.com.au). With a glorious sunset viewing of Uluru WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Getting in your goal, start your day at Kata Tjuta (the touch with Dreamtime.

Awesome Vistas 6 Lake Titicaca: Jewel of the Andes Ages 6 & up • Copacabana, Bolivia & Puno, Peru

FACE IT: The kids will talk a lot about their for its Moorish-style cathedral, with a upcoming trip to Lake Titicaca—they just deeply venerated miracle-working statue won’t be able to resist saying the name. of the Virgin inside.) On Sun Island, you’ll But that’s okay. Once they get there and visit the ruins of Chinkana, a huge stone see this huge deep-blue freshwater lake labyrinth built as a seminary for Inca sitting in its cup of mountain peaks, an priests. The path back to the town of awesome 3,600m (11,811 ft.) above sea Challapampa passes the sacred rock, level, they’ll stop snickering. shaped like a puma, from which Manco To locals, measuring the altitude is Capac and Mama Ocllo first stepped; far- irrelevant: Lake Titicaca is a mysterious ther on, you can look down and see the and sacred place. Here, in the midst of two huge footprints the sun is said to the lake, Manca Capac and Mama Ocllo— have made when it landed on earth to the Adam and Eve of the Incas—were give birth to them. Tours also stop at Isla supposedly born on the Isla del Sol (Sun de la Luna (Moon Island), site of an Island), which you can visit on a day trip ancient convent where the Virgins of the from the picturesque lakeside town of Sun performed ceremonies honoring Copacabana, Bolivia. (A 3-hr. bus ride the sun. from La Paz, Copacabana is also known

7 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 8

TAKING IN THE SCENERY

On the Peruvian shore (several local lighten the dark world. Powerful spirits tour packages include both sides of the still live in this amazing sky-high lake, they lake), the main town of Puno is not nearly say. Gliding over the calm blue surface, as lovely as Copacabana, but the kids will you may find yourself staring down into want to come here to take a boat tour to the water’s cold depths to connect with the Uros islands. Since the time of the them. But you don’t need to believe in Incas, the local Uros Indians have lived on these ancient legends to sense the magic these tiny floating islands built on soft of Lake Titicaca. patches of reeds. Walking on the springy islets is truly a strange sensation. Some Puna tourist information, Plaza de Uros wait for the tour boats to arrive so Armas (& 051/36-5088; www.peru.info). they can hawk their handmade textiles ( Manco Capac, Juliaca, Peru, 45km and reed-crafted items, but many others (28 miles) from Puno. keep to their thatched huts, far from the snapping cameras, fishing and catching L $$ Hotel Rosario del Lago, Rigoberto birds and continually repairing the reed Paredes and Av. Costanera, Copacabana, underpinnings of their islets. Full-day trips Bolivia (& 0102/862-2141; www.hotel also include stops at Taquile and Aman- rosario.com/lago). $$$ Sonesta Posada del tani islands, serene and rustic natural Inca, Sesquicentenario 610, Sector Huaje, islands with Inca ruins to explore. Peru (& 051/364-111; www.sonesta.com). Other Andean peoples subscribe to a WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Gazing different myth: that Viracocha, the crea- up at a star-spangled sky from the stars’ tor deity, called up the sun, moon, and birthplace. stars to rise from icy Lake Titicaca to

Awesome Vistas 7 The Cliffs of Moher Where Ireland Plunges into the Sea All ages • Lahinch, County Clare, Ireland

SOMETHING AS SPECTACULAR as the Cliffs of plenty enough room on the main cliffs, Moher could never go undiscovered by with their well-paved path and lookout the tourist throngs. They are County points; the heights are awesome without Clare’s foremost natural wonder, 213m feeling perilous (and believe me, I’m bor- (700 ft.) high and 8km (5 miles) long, a derline acrophobic). Because the cliffs jut series of sheer rock faces plummeting to out into the sea on a headland, you can the crashing Atlantic surf below. The gaze clearly over the sea to the north, views from here are truly panoramic, west, and south. especially from 19th-century O’Brien’s Talk about the middle of nowhere—the Tower at the northern end. On a clear Irish country road R478 meanders down day you can see the Aran Islands up to from the Burren and Galway, with lit- the north in Galway Bay. It’s a dramatic tle along the roadside and very few cars place, with the roar of the waves crashing in sight. Then suddenly you round a curve below and the call of circling seagulls. and there’s an immense parking lot filled Daredevils might venture onto a forbid- with cars and tour buses and you’ve den area of north-facing cliffs which have arrived at the Cliffs of Moher. Proximity to been half-heartedly fenced off, but there’s Shannon Airport means that this is often

8 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 9

THE GIANT’S CAUSEWAY

per se, although you’ll have to pay to get into the parking lot, and some tacky sou- venir stalls are set up along the footpath to the cliffs. Just shepherd the children past it all and head uphill. And while you’re here, explore further along the craggy Clare coastline, where you’ll find many off-the-beaten-path delights with intriguing names like Pink Cave, Puffing Hole, Intrinsic Bay, Chimney Hill, Elephant’s Teeth, Mutton Island, Loop Head, and Lover’s Leap. The tour buses won’t follow you, that’s for sure.

R478, 7 miles north of Lahinch (& 065/ 708-1171; www.county-clare.com).

Loop Head Lighthouse at the Cliffs of Moher. ( Shannon International, 48km (30 miles). L $$ Aran View House, Doolin (& 065/ a tour group’s first stop upon hitting Ire- 707-4061). Closed Nov–Mar. land, so don’t be surprised if you see a lot WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Nothing of folks staring out to sea with the glazed between you and America but sea. eyes of jet lag. There’s no admission fee

Awesome Vistas 8 The Giant’s Causeway Hero’s Footsteps in Black Rock All ages • Bushmills, Northern Ireland

OFTEN CALLED THE EIGHTH WONDER of the did they get there? Scientists estimate that world, the Giant’s Causeway is a one-of-a- they were formed 60 or 70 million years kind natural rock formation that cap- ago by a series of volcanic eruptions and tures the imagination as few others do. It cooling lava. In the surrounding cliff faces doesn’t take much effort for children to you can see dark stripes of volcanic basalt imagine the striding giant who purport- interrupting the sheer red rock. edly left these immense stone footprints But all that is the scientific explanation; in the sea off of Northern Ireland. the ancients, on the other hand, believed A World Heritage Site, the Causeway the rock formation to be the work of consists of roughly 40,000 tightly packed giants. Another even more romantic leg- basalt columns that extend for 5km (3 end claims that the Causeway isn’t natural miles) along the North Antrim coast. The at all, but the handiwork of Finn MacCool, tops of the columns form a dense honey- the great Ulster warrior and commander comb of stepping stones that sprawl out- of the king of Ulster’s armies, who built it ward from the cliff foot and eventually as a highway over the sea to bring his girl- disappear under the sea. They’re mostly friend from the Isle of Hebrides. hexagonal, about 30cm (12 in.) in diameter, Tourists have come here to marvel over and some are as tall as 12m (40 ft.). How the Causeway since the late 17th century,

9 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 10

TAKING IN THE SCENERY

and there were many years when visitors wooden staircase climbs up Benbane were forbidden to walk out onto the Head and back along the cliff-top walk- stones, or had to pay extra to do so. ing path, where you’ll get spectacular Thankfully today they are open to the views of the North Antrim coast. Or, to public. Watch your footing as you scam- get a bird’s-eye view, book a spectacular per over the uneven surface, traipsing helicopter ride over the coast through from stone to stone. Delicate flowers and The Helicopter Center, Newtownards mosses grow in the crevices, and all sorts Airfield (& 028/9182-0028). of seabirds nest in the nearby cliffs. To reach the causeway, follow the path from Causeway Rd. (& 028/2073-1855; the visitor center’s parking area. Along www.giantscausewayofficialguide.com). the way you’ll pass plenty of other ( Belfast, 121km (75 miles). extraordinary volcanic rock formations, L $$ Marine Hotel, 1 North St., amphitheaters of stone and striated & columns and formations with fanciful Ballycastle ( 028/2076-2222; www.marine names like Honeycomb, Wishing Well, hotel.net). Giant’s Granny, King and His Nobles, and WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Myths Lover’s Leap. From the causeway, a written in monumental stone.

Awesome Vistas 9 Les Calanches: Going Coastal in Corsica Ages 4 & up • Corsica, France

L’ILE DE BEAUTÉ, CORSICA IS CALLED—“island of beyond Piana, you enter an altered real- beauty”—and rightly so. This mountain- ity: The granite landscape to either side of ous Mediterranean island combines the twisting road begins to turn red and rugged landscapes with stunning vistas of become strangely striated and crumpled. the sea, while native herbs and flowers The highway seems hacked out of the perfume the air with an unforgettable fra- mountainside, and it zigs and zags crazily grance. Although Corsica is technically a to cling to the corrugated rock faces. And French possession, the island is in fact so it goes, all the way along the southern much closer to Italy (you can practically end of the Gulf of Porto, from Piana over swim to Sardinia from Corsica), and to Porto. everything here seems to have an Italian Les Calanches remind me of the buttes accent. You’re lulled into thinking it’s sim- of Monument Valley , but smaller and ply a fragment of the Riviera that worked more eccentric, crabbed like the figures of itself loose from the mainland—and then arthritic old crones. And then, of course, you drive through a landscape that looks there’s that dynamite seaside backdrop as though it fell from Mars: Les Calanches. setting it off, the hazy blue of the Mediter- Ferries from Marseilles arrive at Cor- ranean contrasting dramatically with the sica’s main city, Ajaccio, birthplace of sharp-focused red rocks. As you drive Napoleon Bonaparte, a Riviera-like town along, ask the children to try to decide with palm trees and promenades. Up the what these oddly shaped boulders western coast from here, driving or remind them of—a rearing stallion? A cycling along coastal D81, you curve fire-breathing dragon? A stegosaurus? around a headland to the tranquil village Patches of green pine scrub, snarls of of Piana, with its red-tiled roofs rising gray thorn, and bursts of dark red and 440m (1,444 ft.) above the azure sea. But yellow flowering shrubs decorate the

10 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 11

PHANG NGA BAY

creased red-granite spires here and there, I don’t need to tell you that sunset is the and the shoulder of the road drops with most glorious time of all to view Les heart-stopping suddenness to the waters Calanches, especially one of those below. The road bends so sharply you lingering summer sunsets that the can’t see beyond the next curve—honk to Mediterranean does so well. warn oncoming drivers of your presence before you pull around to the next dizzy- D81, between Piana and Porto (www. ing view. corsica.net). Several walking paths have been laid ( Ajaccio, 74km (46 miles). out through this tortured landscape— L $$ Hotel Restaurant Beau Sejour, park your car and get out to take a short & scramble over the rocks. (Trail maps are Quartier Vaita, Porto ( 20-71-08-11-33). available from the Piana tourist office.) $$$ Les Roches Rouges, Piana (& 04-95- From Porto, you can go on a boat tour 27-81-81; www.lesrochesrouges.com). to view the spiky red rocks from the WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Spotting water; contact Nave Va (& 04-95-21- the shapes in the rock piles. 83-97; www.naveva.com). And I’m sure

Awesome Vistas 10 Phang Nga Bay Thailand’s Secret Caverns Ages 8 & up • Phuket, Thailand

THE JAMES BOND MOVIE The Man with the island rocks; you’ll be told to lie flat in the Golden Gun was filmed here, on this gor- boat to slip through tight cave openings. geous bay north of the well-developed Once inside, magnificent chambers open Thai resort island of Phuket. It’s a stun- up above the internal lagoons (called ning backdrop, with limestone karst hongs, which is Thai for “rooms”), where towers jutting precariously from the it’s believed pirates once hid their opera- water’s glassy turquoise surface, creating tions—or, if you’re James Bond, secret more than 120 small islands that look like agents hid their evil devices. something out of a Chinese scroll paint- Touristy as it is, it’s something you’ve ing. Kids, of course, are notorious for not got to do, especially with kids. The day- appreciating beautiful scenery; what they long tours include transport to and from will appreciate is the unique way you get Phuket Town, a cruise to the part of the to explore this craggy seascape—lying bay where the islands cluster, a paddle down in small canoes to slip inside secret guide, a bright-yellow inflatable kayak, and caves. It lives up to every pirate fantasy lunch. Once you’ve finished the tricky they’ve ever had, and then some. maneuvering around the caves, the guide An arm of the Andaman Sea, its warm may even let you paddle a bit yourself. The waters edged with white beaches, red premier operator for these trips is Sea mud banks, and tropical stands of man- Canoe, Box 276, Muang Phuket 83000 grove trees, Phang Nga Bay is a national (& 07621-2252; www.seacanoe.net). 1 park 1 ⁄2 hours’ drive north of Phuket Of course, if you want to do things the Town. Two-passenger kayaks, with an cushy way, you can just cruise around this experienced paddle guide at the helm, lovely tropical bay on a restored Chinese dart around the bay’s distinctive craggy sailing junk, the Bahtra (contact East

11 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 12

TAKING IN THE SCENERY

West Siam in Patong, 119 Rat-U-Thit 2000 Year Rd.; & 07634-0912). You won’t get inside those caves, but you’ll still feel plenty pirate-y.

www.phuket.com/island/phangnga.htm. ( Phuket International. L $$$ Dusit Laguna Resort, 390 Srisoontorn Rd., Cherngtalay District (& 067632-4320; www.dusit.com). $$ Karon Beach Resort, 51 Karon Rd., Tambon Daron (& 07633-0006; www. katagroup.com). WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Hoping to find pirate treasure.

Kayaking in Thailand.

Seven Beautiful Bridges 11 The Ponte Vecchio Where Dante Crossed the Arno All ages • Florence, Italy

FLORENCE, ITALY, owns the bragging rights bands of white, green, and pink marble. as fountainhead of the Renaissance, and Florence’s greatest poet, Dante Alighieri, no landmark is more steeped in its history lived between the Palazzo Vecchio and than the Ponte Vecchio. The name the Duomo and crossed the Ponte Vec- means “old bridge,” and this triple-arched chio often, as he mentions in his 1292 stone bridge, lined with shops in the poem La Vita Nuova. medieval custom, is indeed old, dating Another flood came in 1333; the from 1220. The Arno is prone to devastat- bridge endured, though it was signifi- ing floods, one of which had washed cantly redesigned afterward. The cathe- away the Roman-era wooden bridge at dral continued to take shape through the this crossing point. But the stone bridge 1400s, adding its great red-tiled dome was built to survive, and so it has, against and the sculpted bronze doors of its all odds. Baptistery, while the bridge became the Back then, Florence was just beginning precinct of butcher shops (no doubt it to develop into a great city-state. In 1290, was handy to toss scraps out the window a crenellated stone palace, the Palazzo into the Arno). Vecchio (where today you can visit the A century later, in 1540, with the Uffizi Gallery ), was built near the foot Renaissance in high gear—Michelangelo of the bridge on the north bank, and work had sculpted his David, Leonardo had began on Florence’s famous cathedral, painted the Mona Lisa—the second the Duomo, with its distinctive geometric Cosimo de Medici moved into the Palazzo

12 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 13

THE PONTE VECCHIO

Ponte Vecchio.

Vecchio, and it suddenly became essen- in command, though—allegedly Hitler tial to have a classy bridge leading himself—was an art lover, for only the over the Arno to the Medicis’ new Pitti Ponte Vecchio was spared. It was endan- Palace (with kids, you may skip the Pitti’s gered again in 1966, when the flooding extensive art galleries, but don’t miss a Arno swept over it, washing away a for- romp in the hillside Boboli Gardens tune in jewelry from the goldsmiths’ behind it). Cosimo hired the prominent shops. But again the bridge survived. artist Giorgio Vasari to add a private Today the restored Ponte Vecchio is bypass, a windowed corridor over the closed to vehicular traffic but its cramped shops, where the Uffizi Gallery today dis- shops continue to sell expensive Floren- plays portraits by such masters as tine gold and silver. Walking across the Bronzino, Rubens, Rembrandt, and Ponte Vecchio from the Duomo and the Ingres. Half a century later, Ferdinand Uffizi Gallery to the Pitti Palace, stop at the de Medici, still not satisfied, banned arched opening halfway over—and com- butchers, allowing more refined trades- mune with the spirits of Dante, Michelan- men, goldsmiths and jewelers, to move gelo, and those wicked, wicked Medicis. in. (Crossing the bridge, you’ll pass a bust of celebrated goldsmith and sculptor Tourist office, Via Cavour 1r (& 055- Benvenuto Cellini.) 290-832; www.firenzeturismo.it). Fast-forward to 1944, when the Nazis 0 L See Uffizi Gallery . were beating a desperate retreat through Italy. As they came through Florence, they WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: A time planted explosives to blow up the bridges capsule of the Renaissance. and cut off their Allied pursuers. Someone

13 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 14

TAKING IN THE SCENERY

Seven Beautiful Bridges 12 Le Pont Neuf: Spanning the Heart of Paris All ages • Paris, France

AS THE RIVER SEINE winds its way through how many stop to contemplate what a Paris, any number of bridges arch over it, marvelous structure it is. connecting the Right Bank with the Left Erected in 1578 (King Henry IV laid the Bank. My kids demanded we take one of first stone), the Pont Neuf was radical those touristy boat rides just for the fun of when it was built. For one thing, it was gliding under the bridges, whooping not weighed down with houses and shops (like old London Bridge or the underneath each one to hear their voices Ponte Vecchio in Florence); its few echo off the vaulted stone. With a wonder- original shops were removed in a 1606 ful sort of Gallic illogic, the oldest and most reconstruction. For another thing, it fea- venerable is the Pont Neuf—literally, New tured innovative raised pavements for Bridge. At the tip of the Ile de la Cité, just pedestrians—that is, sidewalks—and downstream from Notre Dame , the soon became a favorite spot for leisurely Pont Neuf links the Right Bank’s 1st strolls, especially because its rounded arrondissement (home of the Louvre ) bays, like castellated balconies over the with the Left Bank’s 6th arrondissement river, were perfect for rendezvous. At (home of the Sorbonne and the 28m (92 ft.) wide, it was for a long time Luxembourg Gardens), so just about every the widest bridge in Paris, and it still car- visitor to Paris walks across this historic ries lots of traffic, including automobiles, bridge at one time or another. But I often which had not even been dreamed of wonder how many of them really see it, or when it was designed. A statue of Henry IV on horseback stands mid-bridge on the

Le Pont Neuf. 14 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 15

THE COVERED BRIDGE TOUR

island; the original was torn down and In 1985, the artists Christo and Jeanne- melted in the French Revolution. Claude used the Pont Neuf for a famous For 4 centuries, the Pont Neuf has public art piece, wrapping it in silky withstood all the floods that washed the golden cloth for 2 weeks. That will never older bridges away—an impressive feat, happen again, but you can create your considering that the original wooden own Pont Neuf moment. Look at it from posts still support the foundation. With the quays, especially at night, when it is 12 gracefully proportioned arches, it’s the brilliantly lit and the dark river laps dream- longest bridge in Paris, combining a ily at its arches. Or stand on it in the day- seven-arch section between the Right time, gazing at Notre Dame in one Bank and Ile de la Cité and a five-arch sec- direction, the Eiffel Tower in the other— tion from the island on to the Left Bank. with all of Paris at your command. (Yes, my kids insisted on counting the arches, as well as the pairs of ornate iron For general information on Paris, plus lampposts between them.) Even now, airport and lodging, see . with the Pompidou Expressway roaring WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: An old under its northernmost arch along the bridge called New Bridge that was ahead of Right Bank, the Pont Neuf presides over its time. the river with a majestic, calm elegance.

Seven Beautiful Bridges 13 The Covered Bridge Tour A Vermont Sampler of Classics All ages • Bennington, Vermont, USA

WONDERFUL 19TH-CENTURY RELICS, New Eng- where, when, who, and why of covered land’s covered bridges evoke a rustic era bridges; if the kids get overwhelmed with of horses and buggies, quilting bees, and details, at least they’ll be diverted by the barn raisings. What you may not know is working train layout. Then it’s time to hit that bridges were covered not to shelter the road, beginning on Route 67A across travelers from rain or to give courting from the entrance of Bennington College, couples a place to smooch—although with the Silk Road Bridge over the they certainly did that—but to protect the Wallomsac River. Built about 1840 by bridge’s timbers from weather damage. Benjamin Sears, it’s the shortest bridge Most of them are painted red, for the on this route, 88 ft. long. Sears’s son built simple reason that red paint, colored the next bridge over the Wallomsac, 5 with iron oxide, was cheap to make. In miles west along Route 67A, the Paper southeastern Vermont, an easy and sce- Mill Village Bridge. Originally named for nic half-day drive takes in five covered a 1790 paper mill, this 125 ft. bridge has bridges. Remember: only one car at a good parking nearby if you want to get time can drive through, so watch for out and snap a photo, and there’s a pic- oncoming traffic. turesque waterfall below. Begin in the town of Bennington with Proceed on 67A to Murphy Road for the Vermont Covered Bridge Museum, the next Wallomsac bridge, Henry West Rd. at Gypsy Lane (& 802/442- Bridge, named after Elnathan Henry, who 7158; www.vermontcoveredbridge also built the nearby B&B the Henry museum.org), which explains the what, House. This 117-ft.-long bridge dates

15 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 16

TAKING IN THE SCENERY

from 1840. Go north on Route 7A about Don’t assume that the country’s only 13 miles to the town of Arlington; turn covered bridges are in New England. east on E. Arlington Road and go 2 miles Parke County, Indiana, about an hour’s to the 1870 Chiselville Bridge, named drive east of Indianapolis, has an even for a former chisel factory. It was also greater concentration of them tucked called the Roaring Branch Bridge because away on backcountry roads. For a driving it crosses Roaring Branch Brook, and luck- map, contact the Parke County Tourist ily was built high enough to survive the Information Center, 127 S. Jefferson St., 1927 flood that wiped out many other Rockville, IN (& 765/569-5226). Vermont covered bridges. Go back to Arlington and proceed west on Route 313 www.bennington.com/chamber/Bridges. 4 1/2 miles to the West Arlington ( Boston, 190 miles. Bridge over the Battenkill River, popular L $ Paradise Motor Inn, 141 W. Main with canoeists, kayakers, and fly fisher- & men. This is a real crowd-pleaser to end St., Bennington ( 802/442-8351; the tour with; a white steepled church is www.theparadisemotorinn.com). next door, and the Inn on Covered Bridge WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: A crossing Green B&B, where artist Norman Rockwell that bridges centuries. once lived is also nearby.

Seven Beautiful Bridges 14 The Brooklyn Bridge New York Icon All ages • New York, New York, USA

AS THRILLING A SIGHT as this beautiful river to supervise the workmen laying the brown-hued East River bridge is from pilings. A virtual invalid afterward, Wash- afar, with its Gothic-style towers and lacy ington Roebling watched the bridge going mesh of cables, the view from the bridge up through a telescope from his house in is even more thrilling. A boardwalklike nearby Brooklyn Heights, while his wife pedestrian walkway goes all the way actually supervised much of the comple- across, raised slightly above the car traf- tion of the project. fic. One mile long, it should take about Why has the Brooklyn Bridge captured half an hour to traverse—except you’ll the popular imagination more so than be tempted to stop more than once to other New York City bridges? Well, for one ooh and ahh at the vision of Manhattan’s thing, it was the first steel-wire suspen- skyscrapers thrusting upward, with the sion bridge in the world when it opened great harbor and Verrazano Bridge in 1883. (Until then, the only way to get beyond. from Manhattan to Brooklyn was via The Brooklyn Bridge took 16 years to ferry). Ever since, the Brooklyn Bridge has build, from 1867 to 1883, and for a while, become a byword in New York lore. The it seemed to be cursed—original standard old joke defines a con artist as a designer, John A. Roebling, died from guy trying to sell rubes the deed to the tetanus contracted when his foot was Brooklyn Bridge. Cocky teenage hood- crushed while surveying the site, and his lums have proved their bravado by shin- son, Washington, who took over the job, nying up its cables, and suicides with a fell ill with the bends after diving into the flair for the dramatic have plummeted to

16 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 17

TOWER BRIDGE

their deaths from those same cables into see. Go armed with a map. If your kids the tidal currents below. The bridge has aren’t hardy urban trekkers, walk halfway appeared in countless movies and TV to get the view and then double back to shows, its outline practically synonymous Manhattan. Be aware that things get with New York City. awfully windy once you’re above the From Manhattan, the entrance ramps water! are along Centre Street just south of Chambers Street on Park Row; pedestrian For information on New York City, ramps on the other side empty out into including airport and lodging, see . Brooklyn’s downtown—a bit of a waste- WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: It’s one land on weekends, but not a far walk from thing to see a landmark, another to walk Brooklyn Heights, one of the loveliest across one. brownstone neighborhoods you’ll ever

Seven Beautiful Bridges 15 Tower Bridge Thames Gateway to London Ages 6 & up • London, England

NATURALLY, WHEN THEY GO TO LONDON, the kids The original London Bridge, the one will ask to see London Bridge. But what from the nursery rhyme, was a medieval they’re really thinking of is this, a grand structure loaded with houses and shops drawbridge spanning the Thames with a that tumbled down long ago; the current pair of Gothic-style towers that echo London Bridge, just upriver from this, is an Westminster’s spires. It’s one of the ugly letdown, just like its predecessor, world’s most celebrated landmarks, and which was bought in the 1960s and possibly the most photographed bridge shipped off to Arizona where it disap- on earth. This is the bridge they see in points thousands of tourists every year. all those London establishing shots in However medieval it looks, Tower Bridge movies and on TV—you can was actually built in 1894, next almost hear to the Tower of London , and the match- it was an engineering wonder in ing musi- its time. An exhibition inside cal cue the bridge, well worth the of Rule admission fee, commemorates Britannia. its history with lots of appeal- ing modern gadgetry— animatronic characters, video, and computers. It takes you up the north tower to high-level

Tower Bridge.

17 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 18

TAKING IN THE SCENERY

walkways between the two towers with became the great port that made England spectacular views of St. Paul’s, the a world power. The Thames is narrow Tower of London, and the Houses of Par- enough and shallow enough to be liament. You’re then led down the south spanned by plenty of handsome bridges, tower and on to the bridge’s original which you may have been crossing engine room, with its Victorian boilers and already without knowing their names. steam-pumping engines that used to raise Along one great horseshoe curve heading and lower the bridge (Tower Bridge is Lon- west from here, they are London Bridge, don’s only drawbridge, which is why the Southwark Bridge (by the Globe Theatre), central span is so high, although with Blackfriar’s Bridge (St. Paul’s Cathedral), dwindling river shipping trade it’s only Waterloo Bridge (convenient for West End raised a few times a week now). and South Bank theaters), Westminster From the bridge’s walkways, stop to Bridge (flanking the Houses of Parlia- admire the loopy course of the Thames ment), Lambeth Bridge, and Vauxhall River. London wouldn’t have existed if it Bridge (near the Tate Gallery). hadn’t been for the Thames: Early Saxons settled near a conveniently shallow ford- & 020/7403-3761; ing place near Westminster Bridge; www.towerbridge.org.uk. Roman occupiers built a fort near today’s (L See London . London Bridge; William the Conqueror strategically positioned his White Tower WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Nothing here; and the docklands farther east says London better.

Seven Beautiful Bridges 16 Sydney Harbour Bridge Panorama, Australian-Style Ages 6 & up • Dawes Point to Milson’s Point, Sydney, Australia

AUSTRALIANS, with typical deprecating wit, paid off until 1988. It’s the focal point of call it “The Coathanger,” this mighty steel the classic Sydney postcard view, with its arch soaring over Sydney Harbour. With a high-rise skyline backdrop, the water 503m (1630 ft.) central span, it isn’t the below bustling with ferries, barges, tall longest single-arch bridge in the world ships, and yachts, and the Sydney Opera but it’s the largest, thanks to its 49m-wide House looking like a fleet of white sails (160-ft.) deck bearing eight lanes of car caught mid-billow over Sydney Cove. traffic, two railway lines, a bike lane, and a Call & 02/9250 7250 for guided tours; pedestrian walkway. The bridge is cer- www.sydneyoperahouse.com. Syd- tainly longer than its arch rival, the Tyne neysiders deemed the Opera House a Bridge in Newcastle, England, with its monstrosity when it opened in 1973, 40 strikingly similar design (the Tyne bridge years after the bridge, but today it seems was finished first but its design was sub- like the perfect finishing touch to this mitted later—draw your own conclu- glorious harborscape. sions). Sydney’s opened in 1932, 5 years Surprisingly few tourists do the obvi- before the Golden Gate Bridge , but ous and walk across the Harbour Bridge. like the Golden Gate this was a vital It’s free, it only takes about half an hour Depression-era public works project, cre- from one end to the other (return on a ating jobs for some 1,400 workers over ferry or a CityRail train), and the views are 8 years; construction costs weren’t even breathtaking. Reach the bridge walkway 18 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 19

CROSSING THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE

the main bridge arch, 134m (440 ft.) over the water, with BridgeClimb, 5 Cumber- land St., The Rocks (& 02/9240 1100 or 02/8274 7777; www.bridgeclimb.com). BridgeClimb organizes 3-hour climbs for ages 12 and over, heading out onto the steel catwalks in small groups every 10 minutes, wearing “Bridge Suits” and har- nessed to a line. It’s not cheap, but it’s the sort of vertigo-inducing experience you’ll never forget. Of course, it’s also fun to see the bridge from the water. Just hop on a regular pas- senger ferry from the wharf at Circular Quay to Darling Harbour (where you can visit the Sydney Aquarium and the Powerhouse ), chugging right under the Harbour Bridge. Thrill-hounds can pay more to board a high-speed tour with Harbour Jet (& 1300/887 373; www. harbourjet.com), departing from Darling Harbour, or Oz Jet Boat (& 02/9808 3700; www.ozjetboating.com), from the Eastern Pontoon at Circular Quay.

Sydney Visitor Centre, 106 George St., Walking the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The Rocks (& 02/9240 8788; www.sydney visitorcentre.com). from the Rocks, the historic district west Sydney International. of Circular Quay, by heading down ( Cumberland Street to the stairs under- L $ Bernly Private Hotel, 15 Spring- neath the bridge on your right. Partway field Ave., Potts Point (& 02/9358 3122; across, you can enter the Pylon Lookout www.bernlyprivatehotel.com.au). $$$ The (& 02/9247 3408), one of four massive Stafford, 75 Harrington St., The Rocks support pylons faced with Australian (& 02/9251 6711; www.rendezvous granite. Climb up 200 steps and you’ll be hotels.com). 89m (292 ft.) above the water, with 360- degree views. For the really big thrill, WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Soaring however, go all the way to the summit of over the harbor.

Seven Beautiful Bridges 17 Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge Ages 6 & up • San Francisco, California, USA

WARN THE KIDS ahead of time that the over by this glorious bridge spanning the Golden Gate Bridge is not golden at all, Pacific Ocean where it meets San Fran- but a flaming orange. (As toddlers, my cisco Bay. In all lights it has a magical kids thought it was going to be made of quality—brightening at dawn, glowing at actual gold.) Once past that surprise, sunset, glittering at night, or blazing though, they cannot fail to be bowled proudly through the city’s trademark fog. 19 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 20

TAKING IN THE SCENERY

It’s one of those quintessential U.S. land- features a single long central span, marks, familiar from dozens of movies. designed intentionally to sway in the 3 Cars roll over it, boats cruise under it, and strait’s winds. At 1 ⁄4 miles long, it was for airplanes buzz overhead, but this bridge 27 years the longest suspension bridge in is best experienced while walking. the world; its twin towers soar 746 ft., This deeply gouged strait was named and its two main cables weigh 11,000 the Golden Gate after the area’s golden tons apiece. brown hills, yet it is a triply apt name On its opening day in 1937, some when you also consider San Francisco’s 200,000 pedestrians joined an inaugural boom in the 1849 Gold Rush and its role walk across the bridge. To make your as America’s western gateway for immi- crossing, bundle up against the wind, grants. Though it echoes the East Coast’s then set out from the Roundhouse on Brooklyn Bridge, built 54 years earlier, the the east side of the bridge. Be prepared: West Coast bridge has a streamlined Art The traffic alongside the pedestrian Deco look, with its gracefully swung sin- walkway gets pretty noisy, and the gle span, spidery bracing cables, and sub- bridge vibrates. Even if you only make it tly tapering twin towers. Given the strong halfway, the experience is amazing; walk tides and depth of the strait, skeptics had all the way to Vista Point in Marin claimed for years that a bridge could not County and you’ll be rewarded with one be built here—that it would buckle in a of the most famous cityscape views in gale wind or collapse in an earthquake. the world. Nevertheless, construction began in May 1933, creating jobs for thousands for 4 Hwy. 101 N from San Francisco years at the height of the Depression, and (www.goldengatebridge.org). was completed at the then-colossal cost (L See the Cable Car Hills of of $35 million. (Its East Bay sibling, the San Francisco . 1 8 ⁄4-mile-long Oakland Bay Bridge, was completed the year before.) With only WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: A high- one pier actually planted in the water, it wire walk they’ll never forget.

Drives 18 The Lighthouse Tour of Maine All ages • Kittery to Castine, Maine, USA

IT’S ONE OF THOSE CLASSIC IMAGES of New end of Long Sands Beach, postcard- England: the stalwart lighthouse, perched perfect Nubble Light sits high on a above crashing waves, sending out its peninsula, with its white Victorian beam to welcome home the fishermen. keeper’s house alongside. On a clear day, And nowhere is the concentration greater if you’ve got binoculars, you may also be than in Maine. It’s only natural—Maine’s able to see slim granite-gray Boon Island jagged coastline is so fringed with inlets Light 10 miles out to sea—New England’s and islands and carved-out bays, if a giant tallest lighthouse, at 13 stories high. Just came along and pulled it straight it would north of Kennebunkport, off Route 1 on be 5,500 miles long. You need a lot of Maine 208, the hamlet of Cape Porpoise lighthouses to navigate a shore that crazy, has a lighthouse offshore on Goat and driving from one to the next is a great Island, which has been used by the connect-the-dots way to enjoy the state. Secret Service detail to protect the Start out north of Kittery, turning off senior President Bush when he’s at his Route 1 to York Beach. At the northern Kennebunkport home. 20 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 21

THE SKYLINE DRIVE & BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY

spine along the heavily indented coast. In Boothbay Harbor, ferries from the pier visit the stout white Burnt Island Light, which you can tour. In Bristol, there’s the whitewashed stone Pemaquid Point Light, which now contains a fishing museum. In Port Clyde, the peaceful Mar- shall Point Light, which also contains a small museum, played a bit part in the movie Forrest Gump. Northeast of here, the Penobscot Bay area has a host of lighthouses, including a pair on either side of Rockland harbor, the quirky Rockland Harbor Southwest Light, North Shore Rd., growing out of a wood- shingle house, and the red-brick Rock- land Breakwater Light on the north side of the harbor. Another 50 miles or so Nubble Light in Cape Neddick. on Route 1 will take you around the top of the bay to Castine, where the privately owned rough, conical Dice Head Light There are no fewer than five lighthouses sits at the end of Route 166. in greater Portland—from south to north: the gracefully proportioned Cape Eliza- Maine Office of Tourism (& 888/624- beth Light at Two Lights State Park, fea- 6345; www.visitmaine.com). tured in the paintings of Edward Hopper; the tapering white Portland Head Light, ( Portland International, 45 miles from Fort Williams Park, 1000 Shore Rd., an Kittery, 140 miles from Castine. active lighthouse since 1794 with a small L $$$ Sebasco Harbor Resort, Rte. 217, museum in its former keeper’s house; the Sebasco Estates, near Brunswick (& 800/ granite-block Ram Island Ledge Light 225-3819 or 207/389-1161; www.sebasco. offshore from Portland Head; the fire- com). $$ Topside, 60 McKown Hill, hydrant-shaped Spring Point Light on a Boothbay Harbor (& 877/486-7466 or breakwater at the end of South Portland’s 207/633-5404). Broadway; and around the same point, the Portland Breakwater Light, nicknamed BEST TIME: Spring, or fall, when you can Bug Light for reasons the kids should be enjoy the foliage. In summer Rte. 1 backs up able to figure out. for miles. Go north on I-95 to Brunswick, where WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Watching Route 1 branches off east, running like a the beacon light wink on and off.

Drives 19 The Skyline Drive & Blue Ridge Parkway Driving the Appalachians All ages • Virginia, North Carolina & Tennessee, USA

ANCHORED AT EITHER END by national parks— the other—this 574-mile stretch of Shenandoah National Park at one end, Appalachian mountain-crest highway Great Smoky Mountains National Park at is stunning any time of year. In May, 21 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 22

TAKING IN THE SCENERY

wildflowers bloom along with dogwood and roll through the Pisgah National For- and mountain laurel, and in summer these est (my kids love that name), reaching mountain reaches stay refreshingly cool higher elevations as you angle west past and green. We drove it in early fall, miss- Asheville to the Great Smoky Mountains ing the vivid foliage of mid- to late October park, which spills west into Tennessee. but experiencing an amazing sight: a bliz- You can take a break at several sites en zard of monarch butterflies stubbornly route: At the Blue Ridge Parkway milepost plowing into oncoming traffic, refusing to 5.8, Humpback Rocks, the Mountain veer off of their hard-wired migration Farm trail meanders through a cluster of route. In the winter, whenever snow and 19th-century farm buildings; at milepost ice close some parts of the parkway, you 85.9, the Peaks of Otter, a loop trail leads can even cross-country ski here. to the rural Johnson Farm; milepost Tell the kids that all those trees releas- 176.2 accesses picturesque Mabry Mill, ing hydrocarbons into the atmosphere along with a blacksmith shop, wheel- creates the mountains’ distinctive haze— wright’s shop, and whiskey still; Puckett blue along the Blue Ridge, slightly grayer Cabin (milepost 189.9) was the home of a (and therefore “smoky”) in the Smoky busy 19th-century mountain midwife; the Mountains. Both parkways are mile- Jesse Brown Farmstead (milepost 272.5) posted, which makes counting down the consists of a cabin, spring house, and a distances fun for kids, and there are walk- Baptist church. At milepost 292, Moses H. ing trails marked continually (look for Cone Memorial Park offers a turn-of-the- signs bearing a rifle-and-powderhorn century manor house. Since your drive symbol). We also played Spot the Scenic should take at least 2 days, overnight in Overlook, keeping watch for the next pull- Boone, North Carolina, where the Hickory off area where we could jump out and Ridge Homestead Museum (& 828/ really drink in those hill-and-valley vistas. 264-6390) is a re-created log cabin fur- Another thing to do is to count the tun- nished in 1780-era style. nels—there’s only one in Virginia but 26 in North Carolina, most of them in the Shenandoah National Park (& 540/ hilly section below Asheville. 999-3500; www.nps.gov/shen). Blue Ridge The 105-mile Skyline Drive, which has Parkway (& 828/298 0398; www.nps. an entry fee, begins at Front Royal, Vir- gove/blri). ginia, and slices southwest through long, L $$ Holiday Inn Express, 1943 Blow- skinny Shenandoah National Park. Around ing Rock Rd., Boone (& 800/HOLIDAY or Waynesboro, the road’s name changes to 828/264-2451; www.ichotelsgroup.com). the Blue Ridge Parkway (469 miles in total), and the surrounding greenery WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Back- becomes the Jefferson National Forest. woods trails and the Daniel Boone vibe. You’ll cross the border into North Carolina

Drives 20 The Cabot Trail North America’s Highland Wilds All ages • Nova Scotia, Canada

NOVA SCOTIA IS LATIN for “New Scotland,” Highlanders who’d rebelled against the and the name really fits blustery, craggy English Crown, and I like to think that they Cape Breton Island. The Scots who set- immediately felt at home on these iso- 22 tled this part of Canada were generally lated uplands. Cape Breton Island 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 23

THE CABOT TRAIL

kids a geographic idea of where they’re going. The Cabot Trail circuit should take 6 to 8 hours to drive. Don’t expect to make good time; the road has lots of brake- testing steep climbs and whooshing descents, and you’ll also want to stop at many pullouts. The most gorgeous stretch is the 44km (27 miles) from Chéti- camp to Pleasant Bay along the western coast. You’ll lose the water views for a time after Pleasant Bay, as you cut across the headlands to Cape North, where Eng- lish explorer John Cabot first set foot on the North American continent (although some Newfoundlanders claim he first landed in Newfoundland). Going down the eastern coast, you’ll pass through a series of towns with Scottish names—Ingonish Centre, Ingonish Ferry, South Ingonish Harbour—and then make a precipitous climb to the promontory of Cape Smokey, where panoramic views explode on every Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. side. Stop and stretch your legs on some of National Park is a starkly beautiful the hiking trails that head inland from the wilderness with a split personality: in the road. The best ones for kids are the half- interior rises a melancholy plateau of mile-long Bog Trail, which follows a wind-stunted evergreens, bogs, and bar- boardwalk into the gnarled bogs of the rens, a fitting home for druids or trolls; tableland, and the half-mile Lone Shiel- around the edges, the mountains tumble ing loop, which enters a verdant hard- suddenly to the sea in a dramatic wood forest that includes 350-year-old coastscape of ravines and ragged, rust- sugar maples; a re-creation of a Scottish colored cliffs. The Scottish Highlands crofter’s hut is a highlight of the trail. An don’t have a scenic coastal highway, but 11km (6.8-mile) trail leads along the bluffs the North American version does: the of Cape Smokey; even if you don’t go all Cabot Trail, a 300km (185-mile) loop built the way to the tip, it’s worth walking part- in 1939 to take advantage of those way just to feel the headland winds and astounding sea views. taste the salt air. You’ll get onto the roadway at Baddeck, a New England-y town where Cape Breton Highlands National Park Alexander Graham Bell spent his sum- (& 888/773-8888; www.pc.gc.ca). mers (there’s a good exhibit on his life ( Halifax 282km (175 miles). and work on Chebucto St.), but things get L $ Cape Breton Highlands Bunga- more rugged as you swing north toward & the park. The gateway to the park is the lows, Cabot Trail, Ingonish Beach ( 902/ Acadian town of Chéticamp, the most 285-2000). $$ Inverary Resort, Shore Rd, French-speaking part of the island— Baddeck (& 800/565-5660 or 902/295- notice the French names on local shops 3500; www.inveraryresort.com). and restaurants—where the visitor center WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Scotland has some good natural history displays via French-speaking Canada. and a large-scale relief map to give the

23 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 24

TAKING IN THE SCENERY

Drives 21 San Juan Skyway: Million-Dollar Highway All ages • Begins & ends in Durango, Colorado, USA

CLOSE TO THE FOUR CORNERS, where Colo- awe-inspiring archaeological site with rado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico thousands of Ancestral Puebloan cliff meet at right angles, this 256-mile loop dwellings that deserves a full day on its of highway is one of the country’s most own. Ten miles past the park, just before spectacular drives, taking in the whole the town of Cortez, turn north on CO panorama of the Southwest—from 145 up the Dolores River Valley, slicing ancient Native American cliff dwellings into mountains thickly forested with to Wild West towns to smart ski resorts, green. Sixty miles past Dolores, the kids all against an incredible backdrop of should be able to spot the startling rock 10,000-foot-high Rocky Mountain spire that earned Lizard Head Pass its passes, canyons, waterfalls, and alpine name. A few miles past here, you can meadows. detour 4 miles east to historic Telluride. I prefer to follow the circuit clockwise This is where Butch Cassidy robbed his from Durango, saving the most breath- first bank, in 1889. The museum at 201 taking scenery for the end. You can drive W. Gregory Ave. (& 970/728-3344) it in 1 day, but there are enough intrigu- displays loads of artifacts from the ing stops en route to make it worth 2 or 3 town’s Wild West Days, and you get a days. For example, the first (and, frankly, distinct late 1800s vibe just from walking least scenic) 45 miles, along U.S. 160 around the landmarked downtown west from Durango, takes you past streets. Mesa Verde National Park , an

Enjoying the Ouray Hot Springs Pool in Ouray, Colorado. 24 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 25

GOING-TO-THE-SUN ROAD

Colorado 145 goes west, following the the Molas Divide and the Coalbank Pass; San Miguel River Valley to Placerville, south of Purgatory, you join the gorgeous where you pick up CO 62 to head north route of the Durango & Silverton Narrow over the Dallas Divide. You’ll come next to Gauge Railroad as you head back to Ridgway, a tiny old railroad town; go Durango. south on U.S. 550 to Ouray, another quaint Old West town to explore (a soak Durango Area tourist office, U.S. 160 in the hot springs here makes a great & E. 8th Ave. (& 800/463-8726; www. break from driving). Past Ouray, you’ll be durango.org). driving the Million Dollar Highway, so ( Durango/La Plata, 14 miles. named because millions of dollars passed over it in the great days of Colorado gold L $$ New Sheridan Hotel, 231 W. Colo- and silver mining. It’s still worth a million rado Ave., Telluride (& 800/200-1891 or dollars just for the views; the next 23 970/728-4351; www.newsheridan.com). $$ miles, over Red Mountain Pass to Silver- The Strater Hotel, 699 Main Ave., Durango ton, are breathtaking, as the road shim- (& 800/247-4431 or 970/247-4431; www. mies up the sheer sides of a gorge, dives strater.com). through tunnels, and passes cascading BEST TIME: Apr–Oct (passes may be waterfalls. On the Red Mountain slopes blocked by snow in winter). around you, look for relics of mining equipment and log cabins. From Silver- WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Million- ton, U.S. 550 climbs over two last passes, dollar mountain vistas.

Drives 22 Going-to-the-Sun Road Soaring through Big Sky Montana All ages • West Glacier, Montana, USA

WHEN THE ICE AGE ENDED millennia ago, of Lake McDonald, the park’s largest receding glaciers revealed a stunning val- lake, with postcardlike panoramas of ley they’d carelessly gouged out of what shimmering water backed by verdant is now the state of Montana and lower mountains. Across from the Avalanche Alberta, Canada. Majestic mountain crags Campground ranger station, look for the loom on either side, their crevices hiding marker for the Trail of the Cedars, a level lakes and ponds that are really just quarter-mile nature boardwalk. Back on melted glacial leftovers. The glaciers are the road, you keep winding up into the still receding, in fact (the effect of global mountains, getting a bird’s-eye view of warming, some say); often in winter, ava- the surrounding peaks—be careful about lanches heap over the scenic 50-mile road looking out the car’s side windows, that bisects this valley. Climbing some because some of those drops are dizzy- 3,400 feet in a mere 32 miles, this breath- ing. There are three landmarks along this taking drive truly lives up to its poetical middle section: The Loop, an excellent name: the Going-to-the-Sun Road. vantage point for Heaven’s Peak; Bird The drive begins at West Glacier, the Woman Falls Overlook, where you park entrance that meets U.S. Highway 2 can gaze across a sweeping valley to a near Columbia Falls, Montana. The first waterfall; and, most kids’ favorite, the stretch of road traces the southeast shore Weeping Wall, a wall of rock that does,

25 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 26

TAKING IN THE SCENERY

in fact, weep groundwater profusely. At through dense forest to a large, noisy the 32-mile mark, Logan Pass has a visitor waterfall. center, open summers only, that sits right The whole loop can be done in 1 day on top of the Continental Divide—which, with plenty of time for picnics, short as you no doubt remember from geogra- hikes, and pulling off-road to enjoy the phy class, is the ridge of the Rockies from jaw-dropping vistas. To get the full effect, which all rivers flow either east or west. journey across the Going-to-the-Sun Road Downhill (east) from here is the turnout before 8:30am; you’ll be astounded by for Jackson Glacier, the most easily the masterful job Mother Nature does of recognizable glacier in the entire park, painting her mountains. followed by trailheads for short wildlife- viewing hikes to Sunrift Gorge and Sun Glacier National Park (& 406/888- Point. At the east end lies the St. Mary 7800; www.nps.gov/glac). visitor center. If you’d rather not retrace ( Kalispell 29 miles. the park road, complete the loop clock- L $$ Glacier Campground, 12070 U.S. wise another 57 miles by following U.S. 2 & south, west, and then north along park 2 ( 888/387-5689 or 406/387-5689). $$$ borders back to West Glacier. Along the Lake McDonald Lodge, on Lake McDonald way, the Two Medicine park entrance (& 406/892-2525; www.glacierparkinc.com). offers another fun short trail, the Running BEST TIME: Early June to mid-Oct. Eagle Falls trail (trailhead 1 mile west of the entrance), a third-of-a-mile stroll WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Straddling the Continental Divide.

Drives 23 The Pacific Coast Highway California’s Oceanside Spectacle All ages • Los Angeles to San Francisco, California, USA

BEGINNING NEAR the old mission town of San as California Highway 1 (which sometimes Juan Capistrano, state highway 1 hugs the overlaps with U.S. 101). At various points, California coast all the way up to Leggett, this winding two-lane road may be called in northern California—and I mean it hugs the Cabrillo Highway, after the Spanish the coast, darting around coves and cling- explorer, or El Camino Real, the old ing to steeply shelving cliffs, with the Spanish road linking a chain of early Pacific Ocean almost always out your settlements (see The Mission Trail ). side window. It’s not the most efficient What really matters is its proximity to route to take from southern to northern the Pacific. California (or vice versa). Travelers intent We tend to skip the southern section, on getting there fast opt for inland I-5, or avoiding L.A.’s congestion, and start at least U.S. 101. No, if you’re driving the alongside the bleached sands of Santa Pacific Coast Highway, you’re looking Monica Beach . We usually break up for scenery—and some of the most spec- the drive into 3 days so we can stop en tacular coastal scenery in the world it is. route to walk on beaches, explore small While some consider the PCH the towns, and so on. Along the way—say, whole series of connected highways from around Cambria, near Hearst Castle — the Mexican border to Canada, I define it suddenly we’re no longer in Southern

26 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 27

THE PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY

Wildlife along the Pacific Coast Highway.

California, and things get more rugged. on the other. Surfers bob on their boards Up near Half Moon Bay , there’s a offshore—or are those seals?—and steep downward plunge of the road hawks coast dreamily overhead. It’s beau- called Devil’s Slide that the kids love. tiful at noon, with blue skies and bright Past San Francisco, we cruise a lonelier sun; it’s beautiful in a haunting fog; it’s stretch of Northern California coast, beautiful glowing at sunset; it’s even where we make a pilgrimage to the giant beautiful in a wistful gray rain. It’s just redwoods—depending on time, we may plain beautiful. make it as far as Muir Woods or Red- I’ve driven the Pacific Coast Highway wood National Park . twice with my kids, both times going south The most dramatic stretches of the to north. Next time I plan to drive it north drive occur where the mountains crowd to south, which I suspect is even more close to the ocean’s edge—for instance, thrilling. Maybe in a red convertible, with just north of Santa Barbara, where the the Beach Boys’ “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” blast- Santa Inez peaks tumble precipitously to ing from the car radio . . . ah, California. the beach, or the entire section from Morro Bay north to Carmel, where the http://gocalif.ca.gov; www.us-101.com. sea nips at the toes of the Santa Lucia ( Los Angeles International. San Francisco mountains. Each curve you whip around International. reveals another jaw-dropping vista, nar- row strips of white foam-edged sand purl- L See Hearst Castle . ing below you on one side, furrowed WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Riding the brown mountainsides beetling over you curves, watching the surf.

27 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 28

TAKING IN THE SCENERY

Drives 24 Haleakala Crater Road Volcano Touring in Hawaii All ages • Maui, Hawaii, USA

IF YOU REALLY WANT TO BE DULL, it’s called first full panorama of the crater above. Highway 378, and on the map it’s such a When the clouds are low and the sun’s in wiggly line that you wonder what the the right place, you can see your own road engineers were smoking when they shadows, ringed with a rainbow, reflected laid it out. But when you drive the on the surface of the clouds below—a Haleakala Crater Road, you understand rare phenomenon indeed. Shortly before immediately: Every wiggle in that road is the summit, the Haleakala Visitor another steep switchback curve climbing Center has great views of the moonlike up, up, up, right to the summit of the volcanic landscape. But it’s still a few world’s largest dormant volcano. It may miles to Puu Ulaula Overlook, where take you over an hour to cover these 20 the Haleakala Observatories are miles, with the weather changing every located, 10,023 feet high. Often you can few miles as you pass through different see all the way to the Big Island from here climate zones. You’ll run into patches of (look for the snowcapped peak of Mauna fog that turn out to be not fog at all, Kea ). On your way back down, stop at but drive-through cumulus clouds. Look the Kalahaku Overlook to admire the out the window and you may see rare only-in-Hawaii silversword plant, with its black-faced Hawaiian geese on the wing, spiky silver spears and tiny purple flowers. right beside you. By the time you get to If your kids are older, several local the top, the crater—a black hole so big it operators will take you up the volcano in could hold Manhattan—is almost beside a van and then give you mountain bikes the point. to coast down the winding road; try And then you get to drive back down Maui Downhill (& 800/535/BIKE, (in low gear, please!). www.mauidownhill.com) or Maui Many visitors time their visit to Mountain Cruisers (& 800/232-6284; Haleakala for sunrise or sunset, when the www.mauimountaincruisers.com). sun gilds the lunarlike landscape with colors so fiery, you can almost imagine Haleakala National Park, Hwy. 37 to that the lava beds have heated up again. 377 to 378 (& 808/572-4400; www.nps. Haleakala does mean House of the Sun, gov/hale). after all, and when you see the sun rise up ( Kahului, 37 miles. out of the ocean, it’s awe inspiring. With L $$ Banyan Tree House, 3265 Baldwin kids in the car, though, I hesitate to drive & those curves in predawn or postdusk Ave., Makawao ( 808/572-9021; www. darkness. Besides, daylight lets them hawaiimauirentals.com). $$ Olinda Country enjoy the views along the way, which can Cottages, 2660 Olinda Rd., Makawao extend as far as 100 miles on a clear day. (& 800/932-3435 or 808/572-1453; There are three scenic overlooks en route www.mauibnbcottages.com). to the summit, essential stops not only for WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Driving the views but to let the kids pop their ears through the clouds. and adjust to the thin air. At Leleiwi Overlook, about halfway up, you get your

28 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 29

THE RING OF KERRY

Drives 25 The Ring of Kerry Ireland’s Wide Green West All ages • County Kerry, Ireland

IRELAND’S GREATEST TOURISM CLICHÉ is the Ring was built around 1000 B.C. of unmortared of Kerry, a 177km (110-mile) route around rough stones, big enough to shelter an the Iveragh Peninsula where scores of entire Iron Age clan. At the western end tour buses thunder every day in summer. of the peninsula, Waterville is an improb- But taking your own car makes all the dif- ably Mediterranean-looking resort town, ference: Follow the road clockwise (the where Charlie Chaplin often summered; buses go counterclockwise) and you’ll there’s a super beach here, a good (if have the road less traveled, with room to windy) spot for a picnic. Detour from the enjoy the postcard-perfect seacoast main road to Portmagee, where a bridge views that made the Ring a tourist draw in leads to Valentia Island and The Skellig the first place. Experience (& 066/947-6306; Without stops, the circuit takes 4 www.skelligexperience.com). Its displays hours; plan for twice that so you can stop and audiovisuals delve into local birds and explore, not just snap photos out and plant life, in particular those of the your window. Driving south from tourist- two tiny offshore islands known as the choked Killarney on N71, you’ll enter Skellig Rocks. These are Skellig Michael, a spectacular Killarney National Park, rock pinnacle towering over the sea where the mountain scenery has an where medieval monks built an isolated almost Wild West grandeur. From the monastery; and neighboring Little Skellig, road you gaze north over the memorably where vast flocks of gannets and other named range of Macgillycuddy’s Reeks; seabirds nest in summer. Cruises out to Ireland’s tallest mountain, Carrantuohill, the Skelligs are available from Valentia. at 1,041m (3,415 ft.), crops up in the dis- Continue on N70, with Dingle Bay on tance. Stop to savor it at Ladies View, a your right. On this north side of the penin- scenic overlook where Queen Victoria’s sula, open bog land constantly comes ladies-in-waiting raved about the into view, a terrain formed thousands of panorama on a royal vacation (thus years ago from decayed trees. Local resi- launching Kerry’s tourism industry). dents dig up the turf to burn in their fire- Detour south to Kenmare, a neat little places. The atmospheric Kerry Bog town on Kenmare Bay, where a Bronze Village Museum in Ballycleave (& 066/ Age stone circle stands intact around a 976-9184) was our favorite stop: a cluster dolmen tomb. At Kenmare Pier from May of thatched-roof cottages showing what to October, Sea-Fari Cruises, Kenmare life was like in Kerry in the early 1800s, Pier (& 064/83171; www.seafariireland. from the blacksmith’s forge to the turf- com), runs 2-hour excursions to spot dol- cutter’s house to the roof-thatcher’s phins, sea otters, gray seals, and herons. dwelling. The life behind the postcard Wind on down the coast to charming views—that’s what we were after, and Sneem, its houses painted in vibrant we got it. shades of blue, pink, yellow, purple, and orange. A few miles past Sneem, signs Ring of Kerry (www.kerrytourist.com). 3 Killarney Tourist Office, Beech Rd., point to Staigue Fort, 3km (1 ⁄4 miles) off N70 on a narrow one-track road. A huge Killarney (& 064/31633; www.killarney hit with my youngsters, this circular fort town.com).

29 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 30

TAKING IN THE SCENERY

( Kerry County Airport. Killarney Great Southern, Railway Rd., & 0 Killarney Railway Station. Killarney ( 800/44-UTELL in the U.S., or 064/31262; www.gsh.ie). L $$ Derrynane Hotel, off N71, Caherdaniel (& 800/528-1234 or WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: 066/947-5136; www.derrynane.com). $$ Kodachrome views, Celtic history.

Drives 26 The Fairy-Tale Road In the Bootsteps of the Brothers Grimm All ages • Hanau to Hameln, Germany

CHILDREN HAVE LOVED the aptly named where Rapunzel could have let down her Grimm’s fairy tales ever since these real- golden tresses. A good stop for the night life brothers first published their chil- is Kassel, where the Grimms lived from dren’s stories in 1812. Central Germany is 1798 to 1830; the Bruder Grimm Grimm country, and the so-called Fairy- Museum at Schone Aussicht 2 contains Tale Road (Märchenstrasse) rolls right letters, portraits, and mementos. through it, past half-timbered villages, After Kassel, go north on B3 and Route towered castles, and gnarled forests 80, following signs to Sababurg, where where many a poor woodcutter toiled. Dornröschenschloss Sababurg, in From Hanau to Hameln, it’s a 400km (250- Hofgeismar (& 05671/8080), was the set- mile) drive. While a few sites are worth a ting of the Sleeping Beauty legend. Briar stop, the main thing is to gaze out the roses still bloom in the courtyard of this window at the Shrek-like landscape where turreted Italianate castle, which is set in an Snow White or Rumpelstiltskin could old zoological garden and encircled by a dance out into the road at any moment. wilderness of ancient oak and beech trees. The official starting point is a monu- North on Route 80 then 83, Bodenwerder ment to the Grimms at Neustadter Markt- was the birthplace of Lügen Baron von platz in Hanau, a suburb 20km (12 miles) Münchhausen (1720–97), known as the east of Frankfurt. Jakob Grimm was born “Liar Baron” because he told the biggest here in 1785, his brother Wilhelm a year whoppers in Germany; his tall tales later, but there’s little 18th-century charm became a popular children’s book. In the left in Hanau; for that, head north on B43 Rathaus, or town hall, the Münchhausen- to Steinau an der Strasse, where the Erinnerungszimmer (Münchhausen Grimm brothers spent their youth. A Memorial Room) displays mementos of memorial fountain honors them in the his life (closed Nov–Mar). main cobblestone square, and on week- Then it’s northwest on Route 83 to pic- ends puppet shows enact fairy tales at turesque Hameln, site of the Pied Piper the Steinauer Marionettentheater, legend. When the stingy citizens refused Kumpen 2 (& 06663/245). Continue to pay an itinerant rat-catcher who rid the north on B40, then B254 and along the town of rats, in revenge he played a Schwalm River, which the Germans call bewitching tune on his flute and lured Rotkäppchenland, or Little Red Riding Hameln’s children out of town, never to Hood country. Quaint towns like Fulda, be seen again. Frescoes in the restaurant Lauterbach, and Alsberg set the fairy-tale of Rattenfängerhaus (Rat-Catcher’s scene; Neustadt has a circular tower House), Osterstrasse 28 (& 05151/3888),

30 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 31

THE GREAT OCEAN ROAD

illustrate the legend; Hameln shops sell www.dorint.com). $$ Schloss Hotel rat figures of every conceivable material, Wilhelmshöhe, Schlosspark 8, Kassel including candy. (& 0561/30880 or 0561/3088428). Hameln tourist office, Deisterallee1 WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Rapunzel’s (& 05151/957823; www.hameln.com). tower, Sleeping Beauty’s castle, and a rat for ( Frankfurt. the Pied Piper. L $$$ Mercure Hotel Hameln, 164er Ring 3, Hameln (& 05151/7920;

Drives 27 The Great Ocean Road Awesome Aussie Wonder All ages • Torquay to Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia

THERE’S NO QUESTION that coastal roads pack Apollo Bay is a thrilling stretch of road, a scenic wallop, but even among coastal as the pavement narrows and twists roads, the Great Ocean Road stands along a cliff edge. The Angahook-Lorne out. If you want the kids to understand State Park along here has many marked Australia’s raw power, this drive is rainforest walks; about 13km (8 miles) essential. Running along the southern past Apollo Bay, just off the main road, coast for 106km (66 miles), it offers the you can stroll on the Maits Rest Rainfor- expected sheer cliffs, sea vistas, and est Boardwalk. The road cuts inland beaches, but then there’s the Aussie dif- through the Otway National Forest; past ference: patches of lush rainforest and Beauchamp Falls, head south on an 1 some incredible rock formations created unpaved road for 15km (9 ⁄3 miles) to the by the pounding seas of the Southern windswept headland and the historic Ocean. Cape Otway Lighthouse, built by con- Some tour operators offer 1-day loops victs in 1848. Five kilometers (3 miles) from Melbourne, but it makes a lot more southwest of the old timber town of sense to rent your own car and take a Lavers Hill, small Melba Gully State Park leisurely 2 days. Where you stop, of lets you walk on trails through rainforest course, depends on the kids’ special ferns to find one of the last giant gum interests. We associate Australia with trees, some 27m (89 ft.) in circumference; surfers, and the eastern section of the it’s thought to be over 300 years old. By drive, starting with Torquay, home of now you’re on the Shipwreck Coast, so world-famous Bells Beach, is called the named because there were some 80 Surf Coast. The Surfworld Museum, wrecks along here in just 40 years. You’ll Beach Road, West Torquay (& 03/5261 reach the water’s edge again just past 4606) has interactive exhibits on surf- Princetown, where you can see what a board design and surfing history and treacherous shore this is: Along a 27km video of the world’s best surfers. In Lorne, (17-mile) stretch through Port Campbell another surfing town, stop at the Ozone National Park are the Twelve Apostles, Milk Bar on Mount Joy Parade, a classic a series of rock pillars standing just off- Australian milk bar—a kind of down-mar- shore; the Blowhole, which throws up ket cafe that sells everything from shakes huge sprays of water; the Grotto, intri- and pies to newspapers. From Lorne to cately carved by the waves; London

31 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 32

TAKING IN THE SCENERY

Australia’s Great Ocean Road.

Bridge, which looked like the real thing ( Melbourne, 93km (58 miles). until the center crashed into the sea in $$ Great Ocean Road Cottages, 1990; and the Loch Ard Gorge. The sce- L Great Ocean Rd., Lorne (& 03/5289 1070; nic road ends in Warrnambool, another of www.greatoceanroadcottages.com). $ those evocative Australian names. There’s Macka’s Farm, Princetown Rd., Princetown a faster road back to Melbourne from & here—faster, but not nearly so much fun. ( 03/5598 8261; www.mackasfarm. com.au). Great Ocean Road Visitors Centre, WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Surfing Stead Park, Geelong (& 03/5275 5797; and shipwrecks. www.greatoceanrd.org.au).

Train Rides 28 Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Classic Steam Train All ages • Durango, Colorado, USA

EVER SINCE IT WAS BUILT IN 1882, this little train in 1893, the price of silver dropped dra- has been puffing along the Rio de las Ani- matically, throwing this region’s economy mas Perdidas (that’s Spanish for the River into a tailspin. Many local railroads went of Lost Souls, a haunting name indeed), belly up, but this one survived because of traveling 45 miles through the mountains its incredible scenic views. Nowadays it’s and San Juan National Forest to the town tourists that trundle along those tracks, in of Silverton and back. When it was first strings of restored gold-colored Victorian- built, Silverton was, as its name suggests, era coaches. a silver-mining town, and the train’s busi- Traveling at around 18 mph, you’ll ness was to bring precious ore back down climb 3,000 feet, past relics of the area’s to the railroad hub of Durango. When the mining and railroading activities; eleva- United States went on the gold standard tions en route range from 8,000 feet at 32 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 33

THE CUMBRES & TOLTEC SCENIC RAILROAD

the passes to 14,000 feet on the peaks Old Hundred Gold Mine (& 800/872- you’ll see from the train windows. White 3009 or 970/387-5444; www.minetour. puffs of smoke trail from its coal-powered com) in Cunningham Pass, just outside of steam locomotives—a fireman shovels Silverton (this only works with the 9:30am about 6 tons of coal per day to power train departure). The tour takes you a these locomotives. If you look at the third of a mile deep into Galena Mountain tracks, they’re only 3 feet apart (standard on an electric mine car, where miners 1 train tracks are 4 ft. 8 ⁄2 in. wide), which demonstrate historic mining equipment makes it easier to navigate sharp moun- and techniques. There’s also gold pan- tain curves. In this train’s case, the nar- ning, and box lunches are included in rower tracks also meant workers had the deal. fewer inches to cut out of the sheer Before getting on the train in Durango, granite cliff face of the Animas Gorge. It spend half an hour or so in the Durango was such a risky job that the railroad’s & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad president, William Palmer, constructed Museum, right beside the train depot the route in secret so that his board of (& 970/247-2733). Even if you have no directors at the Denver & Rio Grande train fanatics in the family (we do), the Railroad wouldn’t veto the plan before exhibits on the steam-train era will help he’d safely completed it. set the scene for you, and kids enjoy 1 This is a full-day excursion—it takes 3 ⁄2 climbing onto the restored locomotive hours to ride from Durango to Silverton, and railroad cars. you’re given 2 hours to poke around pic- turesque Victorian-era Silverton, and then 479 Main Ave. (& 888/872-4607; 1 it’s another 3 ⁄2 hours back down to www.durangotrain.com). Durango. The best thing to do with your L See the San Juan Skyway . time in Silverton is to tour an actual mine; you can buy a combination ticket with the WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Clinging railroad ride that includes a visit to the to the cliff face.

Train Rides 29 The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad Mountain Train of the Wild West All ages • Cumbres, Arizona, to Antonito, New Mexico, USA

BACKINTHE1880S, the Rocky Mountains over 100-foot-high trestles, and along were laced with little railroad lines, laid the magnificent Toltec Gorge of the Rio down to haul precious metal ore out of de los Pinos. And when it crests at the remote mines. Weaving through the San 10,015-foot Cumbres Pass, you’re riding Juan Mountains, zigzagging along the higher than any other passenger train in New Mexico–Colorado border, the Cum- the States. bres & Toltec narrow-gauge railroad is the The Cumbres & Toltec began service in most classic example of these vintage 1880, making it 2 years older than its sis- lines. Along its 64 miles, it passes through ter Denver and Rio Grande branch line, a postcard-perfect mountain landscape of the Durango & Silverton Railroad . wildflower meadows, rustling stands of Although the route doesn’t climb quite as pine and aspen, and bristling rocky out- steeply as the Durango-Silverton line, its crops. It rumbles through two tunnels, entire course is high country—beginning

33 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 34

TAKING IN THE SCENERY

at nearly 8,000 feet, about as high as the There are two ways to do the route: Durango train gets at its top passes. Nar- You can ride the full 64 miles, changing row-gauge lines were better suited to trains halfway through the route at Osier, mountain terrain, but there was one Colorado, or you can do a day round-trip glitch: They couldn’t interchange trains from either end, returning by train to your with standard-gauge lines. Finally the starting point. Either way, you’re given Denver and Rio Grande began the expen- time to stretch your legs and enjoy a buf- sive job of converting its narrow-gauge fet lunch beside Osier’s old water tank routes in the 1890s. This branch line sim- and stock pens. If you do the through trip, ply wasn’t a candidate for conversion— van service is available to complete the the silver mines it served had shut down loop. You can pay extra to ride in a luxuri- with the collapse of silver’s value, and the ous parlor car; all passengers can sample area was otherwise remote and unpopu- sitting in the open-air gondola, which lated. Traffic dwindled to a trickle by the the kids shouldn’t miss—it’s the quintes- 1920s, chugging along behind archaic sential wind-in-your-face experience. coal-fired steam locomotives, the only engines that still fit on narrow-gauge rails. & 888/CUMBRES or 505/756-2151; In 1969 the D&RG abandoned the route www.cumbresandtoltec.com and began to rip up its tracks. A band of ( Albuquerque, 160 miles. Santa Fe, railroad preservationists scrambled to 91 miles. stop the demolition before the route’s most scenic stretch, between Chama, L $$ River Bend Lodge, 2625 U.S. New Mexico, and Antonito, Colorado, was 64/285, Chama, NM (& 800/288-1371 or lost forever, and the two states cooper- 505/765-2264; www.chamariverbend ated to open it as a tourist attraction (not lodge.com). to mention a bit of a movie star—it’s BEST TIME: Late May to mid-Oct. appeared in films from The Missouri Breaks to Indiana Jones and the Last WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: When the Crusade). whistle blows to shoo a high-country steer off the tracks.

Train Rides 30 The Rocky Mountaineer Canada’s Train of Wonders All ages • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

WHEN THE OPERATORS of this luxury train above, but there’s something to be said through the Canadian Rockies call it “the for modern luxury coaches and upscale most spectacular train trip in the world,” onboard dining. And while I for one love the marketing hyperbole for once turns the romance of snuggling into a sleeping out to be true. This sleek blue-and-white berth overnight, there’s just too much train has an incredibly panoramic itiner- unmissable scenery along this route to ary, clicketyclacking past churning water- risk sleeping through any of it—the train falls, shimmering glaciers, craggy tours make overnight stops at proper snowcapped peaks, and galloping moun- hotels, where you can get rested up for tain streams. You won’t have the vintage tomorrow’s jaw-dropping sights. cars you’d get on the more historic trains There’s no question these tours are pricey, though many meals are included, 34 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 35

THE ROCKY MOUNTAINEER

The Canadian Rockies.

and you can tweak the price by choosing park, where family float trips and short different levels of luxury, both on the train day hikes make it a snap to get into the and in your overnight hotels. The com- great outdoors. The town of Banff has pany offers several vacation packages of more ski-resort chic than Jasper, with different lengths and destinations, but the boutiques and trendy cafes lining its turn- triangle from Vancouver to Jasper to of-the-century streets; as a tourist, you’re Banff and back again is the one I’d opt practically obligated to take the 8-minute for. The first leg goes from Vancouver to gondola ride to the top of Sulphur Moun- the picturesque resort town of Jasper, tain, and to cruise Lake Minnewanka in a Alberta, angling north through the glassed-in motor launch—the scenic vistas Yellowhead Pass, along scenic valleys make it worth the long lines. Reboarding rich in wildlife, including elk, bears, and the train in Banff, you’ll glide in style back scrappy mountain goats. Jasper to Vancouver over the Kicking Horse National Park is rugged and back- Pass, following the original transcontinen- woodsy, with activities like hiking and tal rail line that united the vastness of river rafting to get you into the wilder- Canada from east to west. There’s no bet- ness. Motorcoaches then take you on the ter way to appreciate how big—and how 285km (177-mile) trip from Banff to Jasper beautiful—North America is. along the incredibly scenic Icefields Parkway (see The Columbia Icefields ), 1150 Mountain St. (& 877/460-3200; along the way stopping at the jewel-like www.rockymountaineer.com). resort town of Lake Louise, set on a vivid ( Vancouver International. turquoise lake cupped in a dramatic bowl of glaciers (the greenish color of the lake L See Vancouver Aquarium . results from sunlight refracted off the WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: The minerals deposited by glacier melt). From pampered traveler’s way to explore the then it’s a short drive down to Banff, the mountain wilderness. Canadian Rockies’s other great national

35 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 36

TAKING IN THE SCENERY

Train Rides 31 Chihuahua al Pacífico Railway Climbing through the Copper Canyon Ages 8 & up • Los Mochis to Chihuahua, Mexico

3 CROSSING MEXICO’S RUGGED Sierra Madre Barrancas and then, 3km (1 ⁄4 miles) far- range, the Chihuahua al Pacífico Railway ther, El Divisadero, the same Continental climbs from coastal Los Mochis, near the Divide you can straddle up in Montana (see Sea of Cortez, up nearly 2,425m (7,956 Going-to-the-Sun Road ). A 20-minute ft.) northeast along the rim of the fabled stop allows passengers to walk to a look- Copper Canyon before descending to the out to gape at the most breathtaking city of Chihuahua. If you just rode the panorama of the canyon along the whole train straight through, it would take 15 train route. The next-to-last stop is at hours to cover 644km (400 miles), rattling Creel (rhymes with “feel”), a rustic log- through 86 tunnels and across 39 bridges ging town with access to lots of fabulous through some of Mexico’s most magnifi- side trips. cent scenery—thick pine forests, jagged You must buy tickets for a particular peaks, and shadowy canyons. And it date, point of departure, and destination, would all be a blur to the kids. so design an itinerary to book in advance Instead, spread the trip out over 5 or sign up for a packaged tour (several days; stay overnight in various towns en leave from El Paso or Tucson; Sierra route, where your hotels can arrange side Madre Express in Tucson [& 800/666- trips—horseback riding, hiking, or jeep 0346] does a 1-week tour that runs its rides to caves, waterfalls, old missions, own deluxe trains through the canyon). Tarahumara Indian settlements, or quaint Just don’t expect trains to stick to the offi- mining towns hidden in the many tribu- cial timetable—they won’t. Take it in tary canyons. The Copper Canyon is so stride and the kids will too. big, it could engulf four Grand Canyons— why whiz through it in a single day? www.mexicoscoppercanyon.com. I recommend starting at the western ( Los Mochis and Chihuahua. end, Los Mochis, which the train leaves at $$$ Hotel Posada Barrancas the eyelid-propping hour of 6am. Take a L Mirador, El Divisadero (& 800/896-8196 snooze until the first stop, cobblestoned in the U.S, or 635/578-3020). $$ Hotel colonial El Fuerte, on the coastal plain before the foothills of the Sierra Madre. Posada del Hidalgo, Hidalgo 101, El Fuerte Beyond El Fuerte, you enter the most dra- (& 800/896-8196 in the U.S., or 698/893- matic part of the train ride, snaking steeply 1194 in El Fuerte). $ Motel Parador de la up the Pacific Palisade to Bahuichivo, the Montaña, Av. López Mateos s/n, Creel first stop in canyon country. If you (& 614/410-4580 or 635/456-0023; overnight here, you’ll stay in Cerocahui, www.hotelparadorcreel.com). $$$ Paraíso built around a sweet-looking mission del Oso, Cerocahui (& 800/884-3107 in church. It’s little more than unpaved the U.S., or 614/421-3372 in Chihuahua; streets and 100 or so houses, but it has www.mexicohorse.com). a stunning view of the mountains; and several excursions make this a good WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Going overnight choice. Take the train onward to deep into the canyons.

36 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 37

THE MOUNTAIN RAILWAYS OF NORTH WALES

Train Rides 32 The Mountain Railways of North Wales Vintage Excursions up the Welsh Peaks All ages • Llanberis & Porthmadog, North Wales

LACING AROUND THE MOUNTAIN FASTNESSES of lines in North Wales, so many regular pas- Snowdonia National Park in North sengers use it, not just tourists. Its end- Wales are a number of intriguing little point is Blaenau Ffestiniog, a gloomy 19th-century railways, built by ingenious slate-mining village up in the mountains, its engineers to haul the “gray gold”— surrounding rock face dramatically ravaged slate—out of that rugged terrain for ship- by mining. From the coastal town of ping all over the world. All of them are Caenarfon, where there are a splendid delightful, but what’s really amazing is castle ruin and an excavated Roman fort, a the number of them in a compact area. In narrow-gauge railway runs 13km (8 miles) 2 or 3 days your family can take no fewer or so uphill into Rhyd Ddu, where walkers than six different train rides, each of can reach hiking trails up Snowdon. them different. And if those haven’t quenched your One starting point is Llanberis, nestling thirst for narrow-gauge railways, the Bala between Lake Padarn and Lake Peris. Lake Railway (& 01678/540666; www. 1 The Snowdon Mountain Railway bala-lake-railway.co.uk) is a 7km (4 ⁄3-mile) (& 0870/458-0033; www.snowdon stretch along Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake), a gla- railway.co.uk) runs 8km (5 miles) from cial lake mirroring the mountains in the Llanberis to within a few yards of the top inland town of Bala. From the coastal vil- of the Snowdon peak at about 1,085m lage of Tywyn, yet another train steams 3 (3,560 ft.). The only rack-and-pinion train 11km (6 ⁄4 miles) up to Abergynolwyn, in Britain, it is also the steepest train ride with five stations en route leading to (lasting 1 hr. each way), and the view waterfalls and mountain walking trails. from the top platform, where the train Contact the Talyllyn Railway (& 01654/ stops, is one of the most panoramic in the 710472; www.talyllyn.co.uk). country—it’s possible to see some 160km (100 miles) into Ireland, spying the Lllanberis Tourist Information Office, Wicklow peaks on a clear day. The much 41B High St. (& 01286/870765). 3 tamer Llanberis Lake Railway chugs 0 Bangor, 14km (8 ⁄4 miles) north of 8km (5 miles) along the dreamy shore of Llanberis. Lake Padarn (1 hr. round-trip). L Royal Victoria Hotel, Llanberis Down on the coast, the town of & Porthmadog offers the Ffestiniog Railway ( 01286/870253). (& 01766/516024; www.festrail.co.uk), a BEST TIME: Trains run May–Oct. steep and twisting 22km-long (14-mile) nar- WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: The thrill row-gauge railway with steam locomotives. of puffing up sheer mountainsides. It’s the only link between the two main train

37 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 38

TAKING IN THE SCENERY

Train Rides 33 Zermatt to St. Moritz: The Glacier Express All ages • Switzerland

THE NAME “EXPRESS” IS A BIT MISLEADING—it kids are game, try a day out on the 1 takes 7 ⁄2 hours for the Glacier Express to Gornergrat, the highest open-air railway get from Zermatt, in the southwestern in Europe. Swiss Alps, over the Oberalp Pass to St. St. Moritz, on the other hand, is prob- Moritz in the southeast. Along the way ably the most fashionable ski resort in the you’ll cross 291 bridges, many trestled world, a magnet for jet-setters, movie high above gorges, and duck through 91 stars, tycoons, and aristocrats. It became tunnels. But every bit of that time, you’ll a winter destination in the mid–19th cen- have your noses pressed to the glass, tury, when the first skiers ventured onto gaping at the panoramas of hazy blue its slopes (locals thought they were nuts). peaks and deep valleys around you, Today there are five ski complexes, a bob- whether mantled in sparkling snow or sled run, curling rinks, even winter golf carpeted in wildflowers. Seven-and-a-half and horse racing on the frozen lake. In hours may seem too short—even nor- summer, golf and windsurfing are popu- mally restless youngsters will be lar, and of course the spas still operate entranced. year-round. Expect chic shopping, posh Zermatt, at the base of the Matterhorn restaurants, and sky-high prices. (in French, Mont Cervin), still has the When this track was first laid in 1928, atmosphere of a village. Though originally some of the mountain bridges had to be better known for mountain climbing (the dismantled for blizzards every winter, but Alpine Museum in town details the race in 1982 a new tunnel through the Furka to climb the Matterhorn, scaled first in mountain enabled the route to stay in 1865 by Edward Whymper), today it’s a operation year-round. There’s at least one full-bore ski resort. In fact, Zermatt gets so train a day, with a second one added in much snow every winter that high-altitude summer. Coaches are comfortably uphol- skiing continues through the spring and stered, with dining cars and panoramic early summer. A bewildering number of observation coaches; both first- and sec- cable cars, gondolas, and cog railways ond-class service is available, and though ascend various peaks around town; if the it’s a pricey trip, substantial discounts are

The Glacier Express. 38 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 39

EL TELEFÉRICO

offered for children. Advance reservations are essential. L $$ Hotel Riffelberg, Zermatt- Umgebung (& 027/966-65-00; www. The Matterhorn-Gotthard Railway zermatt.ch/riffelberg). $$$ Hotel Waldhaus (www.glacierexpress.ch). Rail Europe am See, Via Dimlej 6, St. Moritz (& 081/ (& 800/438-7245; www.raileurope.com). 836-60-00; www.waldhaus-am-see.ch). 0 Zermatt, narrow-gauge from Visp or WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Counting Brig, 4 hr. from Geneva. St. Moritz, 2 hr. the tunnels and bridges. from Chur.

Train Rides 34 El Teleférico Venezuela’s Cable Car to the Skies Ages 6 & up • Mérida, Venezuela

SET BETWEEN TWO SNOWCAPPED RIDGES OF THE The tramway consists of four individual Andes, the picturesque colonial town of stages. At each intermediate station, you Mérida is a lot like college towns every- have a brief break to walk around and where, with cafes and bookstores and enjoy the views before heading up the crowds of students roaming its narrow next one. Not everyone makes it all the streets, thanks to the Universidad de los way to the top—fourth-stage tickets are Andes. The Sierra Nevada National only sold up at Loma Redonda, the end of Park is next door, so there’s always a the third section. Up until then you ride in crew of backpackers tramping around canary-yellow enclosed cars, but for the too. But one thing Mérida has that other final stage, the cars are fire-engine red. college towns don’t: the world’s highest The whole trip takes about an hour; you and longest cable car, running for 13km won’t wear out children’s attention spans. (8 miles) to the top of Pico Espejo. The trip begins with a quick and high The cable car begins in Plaza Las crossing over the Río Chama, a mountain Heroínas, on the edge of downtown near river, then a steep ascent over lush the border of Sierra Nevada National forests. On the second stage, you’ll Park. It’s incredibly popular, so buy your notice the montane forest turning to tickets in advance and come early in the cloud forest as you gain altitude, with day (coming early may also mean clearer forests supplanted by the scrub pines and skies, though this high, there are no guar- distinctive velvety-leafed frailejones of the antees). Cars depart for the top only in paramo. By the final stage, you’ve left the the mornings; you’ll be back down by paramo and are above the tree line, midafternoon. The cable car usually runs swinging over barren mountainside with Wednesday through Saturday, and maybe traces of snow on the highest peaks fewer days of the week in low season, so around you. At the top, a serenely beauti- be sure to check ahead. Don’t forget to ful white statue of the Virgen de las dress warmly in layers, as the tempera- Nieves (Virgin of the Snows) presides ture will change several degrees on the over the peak. If the clouds permit, you way up. Remember, too, that the air is can get a great view of Pico Bolívar, the thinner up here—you’ll really feel it, so highest mountain in Venezuela, crowned don’t overexert yourself. with a statue of its namesake hero.

39 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 40

TAKING IN THE SCENERY

Another popular option is to get off at ( Mérida. Loma Redonda and hire a mule for the 4- to 5-hour round-trip ride to Los Nevados, L $$$ Hotel & Spa La Sevillana, a tiny, isolated Andean mountain village. Sector Pedregosa Alta (& 0274/266-3227; Mule-packing in the Andes—how many of www.andes.net/lasevillana). $ Posada Luz their friends have done that? Caraballo, in front of Plaza Milla (& 0274/ 252-5441). Plaza las Heroínas (& 0274/252-5050; www.telefericodemerida.com). WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Switching from the yellow cars to the special red ones.

Train Rides 35 Kuranda’s Scenic Skyways Ages 4 & up • Cairns to Kuranda & back, Australia

2 THE QUEENSLAND COAST OF AUSTRALIA has not 90-minute climb 7.5km (4 ⁄3 miles) upwards one but two world-class natural wonders: in six-person gondolas. Get an early start the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet and you’ll have fine morning light for pho- Tropics Rainforest. From a base at Cairns, tographs, but don’t cancel if it’s raining—a one day you can go snorkeling on the silvery layer of mist only adds haunting coral cays, and the next head inland to beauty to the panorama. From the Skyrail the mountain village of Kuranda, an exotic terminal, in the northern Cairns suburbs retreat of cool mountain air and mist- (Captain Cook Hwy. at Kamerunga Rd., Car- wrapped rainforest. Some people drive avonica Lakes), the view of the coast as up the winding 25km (16-mile) mountain you ascend is breathtaking. Rising over the road, but why remain earthbound when foothills of the coastal range, watch the you can glide with the kids over the rain- lush green of the rainforest take over forest canopy in a cable car? beneath you; as the foliage gets thicker, The Skyrail Rainforest Cableway is you can spot ferns and orchids and the the world’s longest gondola cableway, a brilliant blue butterflies of the region.

Seeing Queensland by rail. 40 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 41

THE SEATTLE-VICTORIA FERRY

There are two stops, at Red Peak and Bar- In the afternoon (2pm or 3:30pm), ron Falls, where you must change gondo- hustle back to the fern-draped Kuranda las; take the time to stroll around the railroad station and get on the Kuranda boardwalks at the intermediate stations Scenic Railway, which snakes 34km for ground-level views of the rainforest. (21 miles) through the magnificent vistas Once you’re in Kuranda, getting close to of the Barron Gorge National Park, past nature is very easy. You can walk through gorges and waterfalls, and through 15 either of two aviaries—Birdworld, behind tunnels back down to Cairns Central rail the Heritage markets off Rob Veivers station. Two spectacular rides in 1 day— Drive (& 07/4093 9188), or The Aviary, what lucky children! & 8 Thongon St. ( 07/4093 7411)—or the outstanding Australian Butterfly Sanc- Skyrail Rainforest Cableway (& 07/ tuary, 8 Rob Veivers Dr. (& 07/4093 7575; 4038 1555; www.skyrail.com.au). Kuranda www.australianbutterflies.com). The Scenic Railway (& 07/4036 9249; www. butterflies will land on you if you wear ksr.com.au). pink, red, and other bright colors. If you L $$$ Hotel Sofitel Reef Casino, have time, the 40-hectare (99-acre) 35–41 Wharf St., Cairns (& 1800/808 883 Rainforestation Nature Park, Kennedy in Australia, 800/221-4542 in the U.S. and Highway (& 07/4085 5008; www.rain Canada, 020/8283 4500 in the U.K., or forest.com.au), offers visitors a 45-minute narrated ride into the rainforest on a World 07/4030 8888; www.accorhotels.com). $$ War II amphibious Army Duck; you can The Reef Retreat, 10–14 Harpa St., Palm also see a performance by Aboriginal Cove, Cairns (& 07/4059 1744; dancers, throw a boomerang on the www.reefretreat.com.au). Dreamtime Walk, or have a photo taken WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Seeing the cuddling a koala in the wildlife park. rainforest canopy from above.

Boat Rides 36 The Seattle-Victoria Ferry Sailing the High-Speed Puget Cats All ages • Seattle, Washington, USA, to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

CROSSING THE U.S.-CANADA BORDER is gener- You leave from Seattle’s busy ferry ally a fairly routine experience—but not port, Pier 69, with the futuristic Space if you sail across it on a high-speed Needle lifting its curious head over the catamaran from Seattle, Washington, to downtown Seattle skyline and majestic Victoria, British Columbia. The trip takes Mount Rainier visible to the south, snow- only 3 hours, just enough time for the capped even in summer. Working your kids to roam around the boat, get a bite way past Seattle harbor’s sailboat and to eat, and stare out the windows at the kayak traffic, you’ll enter convoluted gorgeous northwest coast. Exciting as Puget Sound, with the mountains of the open water is, it soon gets monotonous Olympic Peninsula gradually rearing their for children; one of the glories of this trip peaks on your left. Coming out of Puget for kids is that most of the ride is on gla- Sound near Port Townsend, you’ll see the cier-carved Puget Sound, where land lovely San Juan Islands on the right (the can be viewed on either side, the rugged same company runs ferries to the San conifer-mantled highlands of the Olympic Juans, including some whale-watching Peninsula on one side and the rural Skagit excursions). Then it’s across the Strait of Valley on the other. 41 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 42

TAKING IN THE SCENERY

Victoria’s pride and joy is its rose gar- dens, particularly the spectacular Butchart Gardens, 800 Benvenuto Ave., Brentwood Bay (& 250/652-4422; www.butchartgardens.com). If you can’t sell your kids on visiting a garden, there’s plenty to see around the charmingly restored Inner Harbour: Miniature World in the Fairmont Empress Hotel, 649 Humboldt St. (& 250/385-9731), with loads of small-scale dioramas from history and literature, the glass-enclosed views of harbor creatures in the Pacific Undersea Gardens, 490 Belleville St. (& 250/382-5717), and the Victoria Butterfly Gardens, 1461 Benvenuto Ave., Brentwood Bay (& 250/652-3822), The Seattle-Victoria ferries. which are exactly what the name says. Juan de Fuca, the first stretch of open & 800/888-2535 or 206/448-5000 or water on your voyage so far. 250/382-8100; www.victoriaclipper.com. On the far side of that strait lies ( Seattle-Tacoma International, 23km Vancouver—Vancouver Island, that is, (14 miles). Victoria International, 26km which is not the same thing as the (16 miles). mainland city of Vancouver. What is on Vancouver Island is British Columbia’s L $$ Admiral Inn, 257 Belleville St., capital, Victoria, which is like a little slice Victoria (& 888/823-6472; www.admiral. of Victorian England served up on the bc.ca). $$$ The Edgewater, Pier 67, 2411 northwest coast of North America. Ferry Alaskan Way, Seattle (& 800/624-0670; schedules are organized to make a day www.edgewaterhotel.com). trip perfectly doable, with plenty of time WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Gliding up to explore Victoria before heading back the fjord in time for tea and scones. to Seattle. The mild Pacific climate is beautifully suited to horticulture, and

Boat Rides 37 Cruising the Mighty Mississippi A River Ride through the Heart of America All ages • Various locations along the Mississippi River, USA

THE NATIVE AMERICANS LIVING ON ITS SHORES I vividly remember the thrill of crossing it called it the Messipi, or “big river,” but in for the first time, at age 13, on a nighttime American lore the Mississippi River is so train, with a momentous feeling of Head- much more. Yes, it is long—at 2,350 miles, ing West. To ride its majestic brown it’s the third-longest river in the world— waters, for whatever stretch of the river, is but as it surges north to south down the to feel connected to West and East and middle of America, it gives this continent a North and South all at once. And if you’re heartbeat that is essentially, uniquely ours. going to do it, do it the right way, on a 42 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:57 PM Page 43

SCOUTING ALASKA’S INSIDE PASSAGE

steam-powered paddle boat with lacy reaches New Orleans, the Mississippi has white fretwork and fluted smokestacks and really been somewhere. the whole banjo-strumming shebang. The Delta Steamboat Company Several river towns offer 1- or 2-hour rules the river when it comes to these paddle-wheel cruises to give you a taste extended journeys: It has three vintage of what it feels like to be out on that great paddle-wheelers with sleeping cabins, river—St. Paul, Minnesota; La Crosse, theaters, dining rooms, and even a swim- Wisconsin; St. Louis, Missouri; Tunica ming pool; a “riverlorian” on board tells Resort, Mississippi; and New Orleans, stories of the river, and young passengers Louisiana all have sightseeing paddle- can hang out in the pilothouse and earn a wheelers. From LeClaire, Iowa, you can cub pilot’s license. Itineraries vary accord- even book a 2-day cruise on the Riverboat ing to which river ports you choose, from Twilight along the Upper Mississippi to Minneapolis to St. Louis to Memphis to Dubuque and back (& 800/331-1467; New Orleans. The boats dock at charming www.riverboattwilight.com). To really give river towns along the way, with guided the kids that old-timey thrill, though, a tours arranged; between ports, take along longer trip is the way to go, to see how a copy of Huckleberry Finn or Life on the the river changes character over its Mississippi and plunk yourself down in a course. The headwaters begin up in deck chair while the kids scamper around Minnesota at Lake Itasca, but the the ship. A week on the river—it’s a great Mississippi is merely a small stream at way to see America in microcosm, explor- that point; after it meets the Minnesota ing it at the pace of another century. River at St. Anthony Falls, it widens signifi- cantly, with steep bluffs on either side. & 800/338-4962; www.mississippiriver Just above St. Louis it joins up with the Illi- cruises.com. nois and then the Missouri rivers, becom- ( Depends on port of embarkation. ing truly huge and fast-moving. As it rolls down into Arkansas and Louisiana, the L Onboard. softer soil of the Delta creates a mazy, WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Rolling loopy river course, with many islands and down the river. a lazy majesty all its own. By the time it

Boat Rides 38 Scouting Alaska’s Inside Passage Ferries to the Glacier All ages • Juneau, Alaska, USA

EVERY SUMMER, boatloads of tourists crowd Washington, out to the Aleutian Islands. A onto luxury cruise ships to be pampered fleet of sleek blue-hulled ferries steams its on their way through Alaska. But that’s not entire length, but I think the most inter- my idea of a rugged wilderness experi- esting segments are those of the Inside ence—not when you can still travel in Passage, that crazy network of inlets and comfort on the swift, well-outfitted ferries channels around the countless islands of of the Alaska Marine Highway System, the Alaskan Panhandle. Squeezed with the option of planning your own itin- between the Canadian Yukon and the Gulf erary to suit your family’s interests. of Alaska, this little strip of southeast Officially designated an All-American Alaska—a breathtaking mix of dense Road, the Alaska Marine Highway covers green northwest rainforest and pristine 3,500 nautical miles from Bellingham, 43 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:58 PM Page 44

TAKING IN THE SCENERY

white glaciers—stretches 500 miles from on board, not to mention solariums and Ketchikan to Yakutat. observation lounges where you can park In the middle is Juneau, Alaska’s capital yourselves to watch the scenic coast roll city and where you’ll probably arrive by past. Naturalists often come along for the plane. Before leaving Juneau, trundle the ride to talk about Alaska’s wildlife and kids off to see the Mendenhall Glacier, geology with passengers; some ships Glacier Spur Road (& 907/789-0097), have small video arcades or play areas for where you can stand in front of a wall of toddlers. For overnight journeys, you can blue ice and feel its chilly breath. The two reserve two- to four-berth cabins (book destinations that most interest my kids several months in advance for summer are in opposite directions from Juneau: voyages), although you are also free to Ketchikan, a spruced-up logging town roll out your sleeping bags on the comfy with the world’s largest collection of reclining seats in the lounges. Hey, that totem poles that’s 17 hours south by counts as roughing it in my book. ferry; and Sitka, an exotic mix of Russian 3 6858 Glacier Hwy. (& 800/642-0066 and Tlingit cultures that’s 8 ⁄4 hours north of Juneau by ferry. The beauty of taking or 907/465-3941; www.ferryalaska.com). the ferries? Using Juneau as a base and ( Juneau International. making separate excursions to Ketchikan L $$ The Driftwood Lodge, 435 and Sitka just takes planning. If you & schedule it right, you may even be able to Willoughby Ave., Juneau ( 800/544- hit every town at an hour when the cruise 2239; www.driftwoodalaska.com). $$$ mobs are gone and the locals relaxed. Goldbelt Hotel Juneau, 51 E. Egan Dr., Spending several hours on these fer- Juneau (& 888/478-6909; www.goldbelt ries is no problem. These are handsome tours.com). modern craft, with restaurants, gift shops, WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Waking up and in some cases even movie theaters to see a glacier slide past your window.

Boat Rides 39 Pirate Cruising in the Caribbean Ages 6 & up • The Bahamas or the Cayman Islands

EVER SINCE DISNEY’S Pirates of the islands and secret coves, the Bahamas Caribbean movie came out (yar, that was a hornet’s nest of pirate action back Johnny Depp), the pirate franchise has in the day. While at sea, the crew teach gotten a new lease on life; I know several passengers sword fighting; pirate movies 6-year-olds who won’t leave the house are projected onto the ship’s big white without their eye patches and cutlasses. sails; buried treasure is dug up on a Entrepreneurs from Clearwater, Florida, deserted island; and a general goofy ship- to Bath, Maine, have launched pirate- board atmosphere reigns. Once you themed harbor tours, but if you’re going arrive in Nassau, there’s a dinner at the to do it, do it the right way: in the warm interactive Pirates of Nassau, Bay Street blue waters of the Caribbean. (& 242/356-3759; www.pirates-of- The most elaborate outing is Beyond nassau.com), and a sightseeing tour of Boundaries’s 4-day pirate cruise, on a Nassau led by a pirate storyteller. (Even if Windjammer tall ship departing from you don’t do the cruise, these Nassau Miami and ending up in Nassau, The attractions are good for pirate parents to Bahamas. After all, with its scattered know about.) Book ahead to get the right

44 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:58 PM Page 45

PUNTING ON THE CAM

cabin configuration, before other families holds a weeklong Pirate Heritage Festi- snap up the big cabins. There’s a 9-day val that’s tons of swashbuckling fun— option if you want to continue on to though, with most kids in school that time Jamaica, where the pirate activities are of year, it degenerates into a rum-soaked more historic and less interactive. adult party, quite in keeping with the In the Cayman Islands, a shorter option moral character of pirates. is a 2-hour coastal cruise out of Grand Cayman on the Jolly Roger, a rakishly Beyond Borders Adventure Travel decorated blue boat that is a two-thirds (& 800/487-1136; www.potcfantrips.com). replica of Christopher Columbus’s flag- The Jolly Roger (& 345/945-SAIL; www. ship, the Nina. The troupe of buccaneer jollyrogercayman.com). actors on board perform all the standard ( Miami International. Grand Cayman. pirate shtick, conscripting kids to haul the mainsail and swab the deck; there’s also a L $$ Harbour Heights, W. Bay Rd., swim stop for some snorkeling and splash- Grand Cayman (& 809/947-4660). $$$ ing about. This colorful outing feeds on Ramada Treasure Island Resort, W. Bay the Caymans’s history as a Caribbean Rd., Grand Cayman (& 809/949-777; pirate hideout—many present-day Cay- www.ramada.com). manites are descendants of the original WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Scrambling pirates. Every October, Grand Cayman like monkeys up the rigging.

Boat Rides 40 Punting on the Cam Ages 6 & up • Cambridge, East Anglia, England

PUNTING ON THE RIVER CAM in a wood-built, Lord Byron; King’s College, founded 1441, flat-bottomed boat (which looks some- with its exquisite medieval Chapel (be what like a Venetian gondola) is a tradi- sure to go visit it on foot after punting); tional pursuit of students and visitors to and the lovely Queen’s College, dating Cambridge University, one of England’s from 1448, just before the river splits at two venerable universities (see also Sheep’s Green. Oxford ). Wafting your way down- People sprawl along the banks of the stream, you pass along the ivy-covered Cam on a summer day to judge and tease “Backs” of the colleges, their lush gar- you as you maneuver your punt with a dens sweeping down to the Cam. It’s one pole about 4.5m (15 ft.) long. The river’s of the best ways an outsider can glimpse floor is muddy, and many a student has student life at this university, where the lost his pole in the riverbed shaded by the illustrious graduates include everyone willows. If your pole gets stuck, it’s better from Isaac Newton to Charles Darwin to to leave it sticking in the mud instead of Stephen Hawking. risking a plunge into the river. 3 Cambridge, founded in the early 13th About 3km (1 ⁄4 miles) upriver lie the century, is a conglomeration of some 31 meadows of Grantchester, immortalized colleges. The most famous of them you’ll by poet Rupert Brooke (the town lies pass as you head downstream are St. about a mile from the meadows). When John’s, founded 1511, with its Bridge of the town clock stopped for repairs in Sighs arching over the river; Trinity Col- 1985, its hands were left frozen “for all lege, founded by King Henry VIII in 1546 time” at 10 minutes to 3, in honor of and the alma mater of Isaac Newton and Brooke’s famed sonnet “The Soldier.” 45 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:58 PM Page 46

TAKING IN THE SCENERY

Scudamore’s Boatyards, Granta Cambridge Tourist Information Place (& 01223/359750), by the Anchor Centre, Wheeler St. (& 01223/457577). Pub, has been in business since 1910. 0 Cambridge, 1 hr. from London. You rent boats by the hour, and there’s a maximum of six persons per punt; the L $$$ Cambridge Garden House Moat place is open year-round, although March House, Granta Place, Mill Lane (& 01223/ through October is the high season. If 259988; www.moathousehotels.com). you’d rather not attempt punting yourself, WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Rolling, you can hire a “chauffeur” for a (hefty) rolling, rolling on the river. additional fee.

Boat Rides 41 Cruising the Fjords Ages 6 & up • Norway

IT TOOK, OH, 3 MILLION YEARS OR SO to carve Bødo, the first port north of the Arctic out the dramatic furrows and fissures Circle; Tromsø, site of the world’s north- that make the Norwegian coast look like ernmost planetarium (see Tromsø ); the nowhere else on earth. At some points fishing port of Hammerfest, where you these deeply indented fjords become may see local Lapps with their reindeer; so narrow that a boat can hardly wedge and Honningsvåg, the world’s northern- between the steep mountainsides. Water- most village and terminus of the Midnight falls spill down their cliffs, brightly painted storybook villages nestle in their creases, rags of mist trail around rocky coves. To glide up these crystal-clear waters by ship is an unforgettable experience. The scenic city of Bergen, a quarter of the way up Norway’s coast, is often called the gateway to the fjords; north of here, the coast suddenly fragments and crum- bles dramatically into scattered archipela- goes and inlets. Elegantly appointed steamers travel north from Bergen along this breathtaking coast, taking 5 or 6 days to round Scandinavia’s northern tip and reach Kirkenes. The round-trip journey cir- cles around and sails back south, timing things so that you’ll see in the daytime anything you missed while sleeping in your berth on the way up. Though these are luxury cruise vessels—and you’ll pay cruise prices to travel on them—the ships are also transport for locals, stopping at 34 ports en route, with enough time for passengers to hop off for shopping and shore excursions. Among the major stops are Trondheim, a city with a remarkably One of Norway’s dramatic fjords. well-preserved timbered medieval district; 46 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:58 PM Page 47

CRISSCROSSING LAKE COMO

Sun Road, where you can take an excur- ( Bergen. sion to the stark Nordskapp plateau, the “top of Europe,” with its dark cliffs drop- L Sleeping quarters provided onboard. $ ping precipitously into the Arctic Ocean. Minotel Dreggen, Sandbrugaten 3, Bergen But it’s not the sights onshore that the (& 55-31-61-55; www.hotel-dreggen.no). kids will remember in the end—it’s the $$ Quality Edvard Grieg Hotel and Suites, day after day of those stunning fjord Sandsliåsen 50, Bergen (& 55-98-00-00; views, with the northern light sparkling off www.choicehotels.com). the waters and each new turn revealing BEST TIME: Summer June–July, when the another dramatic forested chasm. sun barely sets. Bergen Line (& 800/323-7436 or WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: When you 212/319-1300). Norwegian Costal Voyages cross the Arctic Circle—and keep on going. (& 800/334-6544; www.cruisenorway.com).

Boat Rides 42 Crisscrossing Lake Como All ages • Como, Italy

BACK AND FORTH WE WENT, trying to decide stone. And even though we had a rental which of northern Italy’s romantic lakes to car, we soon realized the best way to visit: Garda? Maggiore? Como? We finally enjoy Lake Como is to crisscross it on fer- chose Lake Como because it’s the small- ries, sitting in the balmy open air with 1 est, only 4km (2 ⁄2 miles) across at its other travelers instead of enclosed in a widest point, with the far shore always steel cocoon. visible, and therefore easier for our tod- Lake Como is incredibly long and dler son to scope out. (It’s also closest to skinny, with its most charming towns Milan, about 48km/30 miles away). I’ve clustered mid-lake. Starting from the heard the other two are spectacular, but I town of Como at the southwest tip, we don’t see how they could out-enchant headed north along the western shore Lake Como, its shimmering deep-blue 5km (3 miles) to Cernobbio, a chic haven waters bordered with flowery gardens dominated by the celebrated Villa d’Este and aristocratic villas of soft golden (see the hotel recommendation below),

Lake Como. 47 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:58 PM Page 48

TAKING IN THE SCENERY

originally built in the 16th century. After a to Cadenabbia to see 19th-century Villa stroll in its lush gardens, it was north Carlotta (& 0344-40405), or at least its another half-hour to Tremezzo, where gardens, with exotic flowers and banks of the landscaping is surprisingly tropical— rhododendrons and azaleas. (There’s a fine citrus trees, palms, cypresses, and mag- art museum, too, but we had a toddler to nolias—and as we stood on its panoramic amuse.) A mile south and we were back at lakeshore we felt our urban anxieties Tremezzo to reclaim our car. begin to dissolve. Leaving the car behind, Lake Como is definitely a summertime we hopped a ferry to Bellagio, a tony destination—the boat service operates resort town as gracious as its Vegas only Easter to September, and many hotels namesake is garish. Clinging to a promon- close November to March. But under a tory at the lake’s fork, Bellagio has steep blue sky, when the sun shines and the cobblestone streets to climb, as well as flowers bloom, it’s like heaven on earth. arcaded shops, smart cafes, and a blos- soming lakeside promenade. Società Navigazione Lago di Como, Our next ferry took us to picturesque Lungo Lario (& 031-304060 or 031- Varenna, which still has a certain fishing- 579211). Como tourist office, Piazza Cavour village quaintness despite a stock of 17 (& 031-269712; www.lakecomo.org). resort hotels. Here we investigated Italy’s 0 Como, 40 min. from Milan. shortest river, the Fiumelatte, a mere 250m (820 ft.) long. It only appears in sum- L $$$ Grand Hotel Villa d’Este, Via mer, rushing frothy and milk-white down a Regina 40, Cernobbio (& 031-3481; rock face to crash into the lake. Leonardo www.villadeste.it). $$ Hotel Du Lac, Piazza da Vinci once tried to determine the Mazzini 32, Bellagio (& 031-950320; water’s source, but neither he—nor any- www.bellagiohoteldulac.com). one else—has ever found it. We boarded WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Hopping a another ferry (by this time it was like a ferry like it was the local bus. game to our son) and crossed back west

Boat Rides 43 Gliding down the Danube From Vienna to Budapest in Style All ages • Vienna, Austria, to Budapest, Hungary

VIENNA AND BUDAPEST are two of Europe’s Vienna and Budapest make a natural most romantic cities, and two of my per- pairing: Both have a 19th-century look sonal favorites, so the idea of linking and pace, great for strolling aimlessly, lin- them with a boat trip up the beautiful gering in coffeehouses (where the pas- blue Danube was impossible to resist. tries are fabulous!), and listening to Though the Danube doesn’t have the schmaltzy music. Their grandest majestic Wagnerian chasms and castles churches are both dedicated to St. of the Rhine, I love the way it waltzes Stephen—Vienna’s Gothic Domkirche sweetly through green forests and farm- St. Stephan and Budapest’s domed St. lands, through eastern Austria, past Stephen’s Basilica. Vienna has the Bratislava and along the Slovakia/Hungary Prater (home of the Ferris Wheel ); border, and then down through the lush Budapest, the zoo and amusement rides Hungarian lowlands. The water may be in City Park. Budapest has medieval more brown than blue these days, but the Buda Palace , Vienna the baroque 48 Danube is still beautiful. Habsburg palace of Schönbrunn. 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:58 PM Page 49

RIVERBOATING UP THE AMAZON

Budapest still bears traces of its years Budapest. This particularly scenic stretch under Communist rule, but less so than of the river, called the Danube Bend, is other former Iron Curtain capitals. overlooked by tall forested hills; there’s a River steamers make a day of this dramatic horseshoe bend at Visegrád, journey, leaving Vienna at 6am and mak- known as the Elbow of the Danube, and ing stops in Komaron, site of a famous stops can be made at several charming Austro-Hungarian fortress, and Eszter- riverside towns. Leisurely boat rides up gom, with its massive neoclassical cathe- the Danube bend are run April through dral. You’ll arrive in Budapest late that September by MAHART, the state ship- night, ready to find your hotel and set off ping company (& 1/318-1704; sightseeing the next morning. To make a www.mahartpassnave.hu). From round-trip in 1 day, you can travel via Budapest to Esztergom takes 5 hours. 1 hydrofoil, which takes only 5 ⁄2 hours to get from Vienna to Budapest or vice DDSG Blue Danube Shipping Co., versa; you can opt to take the train back Friedrichstrasse 7, Vienna (& 01/588800; that night, which gives you an extra 3 www.ddsg-blue-danube.at). hours for sightseeing in Budapest. There ( Vienna International. Ferihegy Budapest. are three downsides to the hydrofoil option: The spray raised by the boat’s jets L $$ Hotel Erzsébet, V. Károlyi Mihály obscures some details of the scenery, u. 11-15, Budapest (& 1/889-3700; www. there are no sightseeing stops along danubiusgroup.com). $$ Hotel-Pension the way, and it runs only April through Suzanne, Walfischgasse 4, Vienna (& 01/ October. But still. 5132507). Another (considerably cheaper) option WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: A dreamy is just to do the Hungarian section of the glide into Europe’s old-fashioned heart. river, departing from and returning to

Boat Rides 44 Riverboating up the Amazon Songs of the Rainforest Ages 8 & up • from Manaus, Brazil

IF YOUR KIDS ARE LIKE MINE, they’ve raised point for visiting the Amazon basin is money in school for saving the rainforest— Manaus, the largest city in the region, but do they really know what it is that located on the shores of the Rio Negro. they’re saving? Before they grow up, at Numerous operators run boat trips out of least once they should encounter the Manaus, usually on a double-decked river- world’s biggest forest, this amazing tropical boat that serves as your home base. wilderness that accompanies the world’s These package tours generally include largest river on its mighty course through certain common elements: nature-spot- Brazil to the Atlantic Ocean. Indeed it is ting excursions in canoes up the smaller endangered, indeed we ought to save channels, sunset and sunrise tours, it—and, properly inspired, your children wildlife-watching walks under the leafy and mine can do it. canopy of the rainforest, caiman spotting, Thanks to the rise in eco-tourism, rain- piranha fishing, and a visit to a caboclo forest outings are much more accessible (river peasant) settlement with houses than they used to be. The usual starting built on stilts. But when you’re not on an

49 04_595881 ch01.qxd 6/28/06 9:58 PM Page 50

TAKING IN THE SCENERY

excursion, you’re moving on the wide Solimões. Because of differences in veloc- brown river, its green shores slipping ity, temperature, and salinity, the two away to either side. There is always some- rivers don’t immediately blend but carry thing to see, even if it’s just the vastness on side by side for miles. If the boat trip of the river itself. Viverde (& 092/248- you’re signed up for doesn’t pass through 9988; www.viverde.com.br), a local travel this phenomenal juncture, try booking a company, handles a range of tours; Ama- flight-seeing tour over it—and actually, zon Clipper Cruises (& 092/656-1246; come to think of it, that’s the best way to www.amazonclipper.com.br) has three see how its contrasting colors gradually old-style Amazon riverboats which make mix and mingle, from up on high. regular 3- and 4-day trips; Swallows and Amazons (& 092/622-1246; www. Manaus Tourist Center Tourist Service swallowsandamazonstours.com) runs a Center (& 092 3231-1998; www.amazon variety of adventure-tour itineraries on astur.am.gov.br). traditional wooden riverboats. ( Eduardo Gomes in Manaus 16km The most amazing thing to see around (10 miles). Manaus is the Meeting of the Waters (Encontra das Aguas), where the dark, L Included in boat tours. slow waters of the Rio Negro meet the WHY THEY’LL THANK YOU: Either the fast, muddy brown waters of the Rio piranhas or the parrots—depends on the kid.

50