Nantucket Travel Guide Essentially Nantucket is all beach—a boomerang-shape sand spit consisting of detritus left by a glacier that receded millennia ago. Off Cape Cod, some 26 mi out to sea, the island measures 3½ by 14 mi at its widest points, while encompassing—such are the miracles of inlets and bays—about 80 mi of sandy shoreline, all of it open, as a matter of local pride, to absolutely everyone. Nant ...

The Catskills Travel Guide Verdant forests, undulating mountains, swiftly moving streams and rivers, meandering creeks, waterfalls, and abundance of wildlife lure visitors to the Catskills, particularly the northern Catskills. But there is also a deep sense of mystery and spiritual vibrancy that has drawn travelers through the centuries. Henry Hudson felt the pull of these looming, mist-shrouded mountains i ...

The Florida Keys Travel Guide Being a Conch is a condition of the heart, and foreclosure on the soul. Many throughout the Florida Keys wear that label proudly, yet there's anything but a shared lifestyle here. To the south, Key West has a Mardi Gras mood with Fantasy Festivals, Hemingway look-alike contests, and the occasional threat to secede from the Union. It's an island whose melting-pot character allow ...

Galicia and Asturias Travel Guide Spain's most Atlantic region is en route to nowhere, an end in itself. Though Galicia and Asturias are off the beaten track for many foreigners, they are not undiscovered. These magical, remote regions are sure to pull at your heartstrings, so be prepared to fall in love. In Gallego they call the feeling morriña, a powerful longing for a person or place you've left behind. ...

Lake Tahoe Travel Guide Stunning cobalt-blue Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America, famous for its clarity, deep blue water, and surrounding snowcapped peaks. Straddling the state line between California and Nevada, it lies 6,225 feet above sea level in the Sierra Nevada. The border gives this popular resort region a split personality. About half its visitors are intent on low-key sightseei ...

The Panhandle Travel Guide Florida's thin, green northwest corner snuggles up between the Gulf of Mexico and the Alabama and Georgia state lines. The Panhandle is sometimes called "the other Florida," since in addition to palm trees, what thrive here are the magnolias, live oaks, and loblolly pines common in the rest of the Deep South. As South Florida's season is winding down in May, action in the northwes ...

Honolulu and Oahu Travel Guide Traveling to Hawaii is as close as an American can get to visiting another country while staying within the United States. O'ahu—where Honolulu and Waikiki are—is the third largest Hawaiian island and has 75% of the state's population. Honolulu is the perfect place to experience the state's indigenous culture, the hundred years of immigration that resulted in today's blended s ...

Williamsburg and Hampton Roads Travel Guide Perhaps no other region in Virginia contains more variety and options for the traveler than its southeastern coastline. Colonial Williamsburg has evoked the days of America's forefathers since its restoration began during the 1920s. Jamestown and Yorktown make the area one of the most historically significant in the United States. When it's time for pure recreatio ...

Cancun Travel Guide Cancun is a great place to experience 21st-century Mexico. There isn't much that's quaint or historical in this distinctively modern city, many of whose residents have embraced the accoutrements of urban middle-class life—cell phones, cable TV—that are found all over the world. Most locals live on the mainland, in the part of the city known as El Centro, but many work in the posh Zona Ho ...

Normandy Travel Guide Say the name "Normandy," and which Channel-side scenario comes to mind? Are you reminded of the dramatic silhouette of Mont-St-Michel looming above the tidal flats, its cobbles echoing with the footfalls of medieval scholars? You may make a latter-day pilgrimage to the famous island-abbey, one of the most evocative monuments in Europe behind its crow's-nest ramparts. Or do you think of ...