‘The fairest Cape we ever saw’ said a sailor aboard the sixteenth-century ship Golden Hind when seeing Cape Town. Almost 450 years later, I have to agree. It’s a city which promises a lot – and delivers. That’s why as a South Africa expert I have no issue with immediately recommending it. Cape Town has everything. …
Sitting about 25 miles northwest of downtown Boston, Littleton is a town with a Colonial history reaching back to 1645. It was here that the Puritan missionary John Eliot established the sixth Praying Village, inhabited by Native American converts. Known as Nashoba, the village was located between Fort Pond and Lake Nagog, much of which is …
Sri Lanka has an allure that few places on the globe can match. A mystical island steeped in verdant rainforests, topped by tea fields, speckled with ancient fortresses, and writhed in enthralling tales of Hindu demons and enlightened Buddhas, it’s a mishmash of cultures and creeds and natural landscapes that always manages to surprise. Then …
On the Assabet River in the MetroWest region, Maynard is an irresistible town, known for its lively downtown and percolating arts scene. Set close together, there’s a local movie theater, an innovative performing arts venue, and the massive ArtSpace studio complex, home to a community of more than 80 artists. Maynard was incorporated in 1871, …
At the head of the river of the same name, Acushnet is an endearing rural town to the north of New Bedford. This is a place of quaint countryside, orchards, old stone walls, cranberry bogs and stands of pine forest. In that spirit, the big annual event is the Apple-Peach Festival in September, held on the …
Costa Rica – the rich coast. The name was first instituted by Spanish conquistadores plundering Central American shorelines for fruits and food and gold back in the 1500s. But it could just as well have been created by the first intrepid surfers of the 50s and 60s, who came this way south of the US …
This historic coastal town is on the bay side of Cape Cod, and was a residence of choice for sea captains in the first half of the 19th century, before becoming a summer hotspot for the wealthy. The water on the bay side is warmer than the ocean side, and the surf is a lot …
This town of just over 11,300 is nestled in the Merrimack Valley, on the banks of the Nashua River, which is a haven for activities like canoeing, kayaking and paddleboarding in summer. Groton was first settled by Europeans in 1655, not long after a trading post had been set up by one John Tinker doing …
Portugal is to Europe what Bali is to Indonesia. It’s the surf haven of the whole continent, offering the most consistent swells across a veritable hodgepodge of breaks, some uber-famous, some totally hidden. You can come here to score peeling beachies that curl into the golden sands of the sunny Algarve. Or you can come …
On the South Shore, this wealthy town is traced by the North River, which runs along the southeastern boundary. That watercourse is considered one of the most beautiful in the region, recognized as a National Natural Landmark, and a Commonwealth of Massachusetts Scenic River. In the 18th century the riverbanks in Norwell were a center …