Saturday, July 7, 2012

Top 10 World Heritage Sites for Kids

The kids are all right—as long as they know their heritage. Help them brush up on history and geography, and honor the 40th anniversary of UNESCO’s World Heritage List, by booking a family trip to some of the planet’s most noteworthy places. We combed through the list’s 936 cultural and natural treasures to choose destinations of sublime beauty and historical significance that will inspire travelers young and old. 


The Carnival of Barranquilla, Colombia

Photograph by Ivan Pisarenko, Archivolatino/Redux

Kid Appeal: Four days of choreographed dance, music, and kaleidoscopic costumes make for one of South America’s most eye-popping street festivals.

The Event: Fire-breathers. Floral floats. Masquerade revelers in the guise of monkeys, jaguars, and skeleton spirits. Teams of drummers pounding out entrancing beats. Costumed dancers twirling in a colorful swirl. Glittery face paint and feathery headdresses. Satirical speeches and songs.

The Carnival of Barranquilla is both a raucous pre-Lent party and a multicultural celebration of the indigenous, European, and African roots of Colombia’s Caribbean coast. It's also on UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, a special designation for living traditions and practices that help tell the tale of our shared humanity.

Staged largely on the city’s streets over the four days before Ash Wednesday, the annual event is one of the world’s largest carnivals. Spectators, standing on the sidewalks or seated on grandstands, watch the festival’s coordinated series of events, beginning with Saturday’s Battle of Flowers, which features the carnival queen, floats, and exotically costumed dance troupes; Sunday’s Grand Parade of more traditional cumbia and garabato dancers; Monday’s Fantasy Parade of flamboyant revelers; and Tuesday’s symbolic funeral of Joselito Carnaval, the personification of the festival, who dies from too much fun.

Giant’s Causeway, County Antrim, Northern Ireland

 Photograph by Britain on View, Getty Images

Kid Appeal: Ancient volcanic forces forged this spectacular coastal playground. It’s the perfect place to scramble across a mythical landscape.

The Site: Northern Ireland’s Giant’s Causeway is a volcanic formation of nearly 40,000 mostly hexagonal columns, forged 60 million years ago when molten lava cooled quickly in the ocean water and contracted into crystallized basalt pillars, some more than 35 feet tall.

This geological marvel is interpreted in legend as having been the handiwork of mythical warrior Fionn MacCumhaill (Finn McCool, in English), who conjured his heroic strength and built a bridge across the Irish Sea to attack foes in the Scottish Hebrides.

From the 18th century onward, this land bridge emerged as a popular destination for tourists attracted by the honeycomb-like promontory. The Giant’s Causeway was also immortalized in rock music. The formation appears on the cover of Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy, a 1973 album that concluded fittingly with a song called “The Ocean.”

 

Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia

Photograph by Nigel Pavitt, Alamy

Kid Appeal: Song, dance, high drama, and “Kids at the House” programs turn this architectural icon into one of Australia’s top family attractions.

The Site: Shakespeare wrote that all the world’s a stage, but the architecturally revolutionary Sydney Opera House is a stage for all the world. Situated near the heart of the city’s famed harbor, this structure of vaulted, interlocking concrete “shells” looms large as both a celebrated performing arts center and an iconic urban sculpture.

Conceived by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, the center debuted in 1973 and is today one of the planet’s busiest live arts venues, with more than 1,750 performances a year, attracting millions of visitors.

Built on a platform surrounded on three sides by Sydney Harbor, the Opera House symbolizes the artful merging of form, function, and geography. During the day, the building’s scale-like ceramic tiles glint in the sunlight; at night, the space glows like Neptune’s underwater castle.

 

Wayang Puppet Theater, Java and Bali, Indonesia

 Photograph by Stéphane Lemaire, Hemis/Alamy

 Kid Appeal: A flickering candle and capable storyteller are all these Indonesian shadow puppets need to take on enchanted forms and mystical powers.

The Event: Shadows come to life in the artful hands of an Indonesian dalang (master puppeteer), an expert storyteller who animates flat leather puppets behind a backlit screen to create dazzling dramatizations of secular and religious tales. Pictured here are shadow puppets at the Laras Puppet Theater in Java.

Hundreds of years before the advent of moving images, these wayang kulit scenes—accompanied by ethereal gamelan music, played on xylophones, gendér (bronze xylophones), drums, gongs, bamboo flutes, and strings—brought colorful myths, morality tales, Indian and Persian epics, political commentary, and social satire to center stage in the royal courts and rural areas of Java and Bali.

While elaborately decorated and dressed three-dimensional wooden puppets are also part of a dalang’s repertoire, it’s the mystical movements of shadow puppets that light up the night. Travelers to Bali can seek out traditional performances of wayang kulit and watch as timeless tales take shadowy form in Indonesia’s iconic expression of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

 

Colosseum and Roman Forum, Rome, Italy

 Photograph by Bjorn Holland, Getty Images 

Kid Appeal: To the lions! Long before there was a Super Bowl, there was an imperial stadium where gladiators and beasts fought for the pleasure of one of history’s most powerful empires.

The Site: The Roman Empire’s largest amphitheater set the stage for simulated sea battles and safari hunts and very real chariot races, executions, and gladiatorial death matches. Initiated under Emperor Vespasian and completed in A.D. 80 under the rule of his son, Emperor Titus, the Flavian Amphitheater stands today as a marvel of engineering and a symbol of the gory glory of ancient Rome.
Kid-friendly tours of the Colosseum trace the Eternal City’s history, from the fabled founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus in 753 B.C. to the emergence of the Republic, Empire, and Christian capital of Vatican City.
Though the World Heritage site includes the Forum, Pantheon, mausoleums, columns, and papal structures, it’s the immense stadium in the middle of Rome that most colorfully captures the modern imagination. Built to accommodate an estimated 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum was a freestanding elliptical theater originally covered in white travertine limestone. Beneath the arena’s sand-covered wooden floor is a now visible subterranean maze of tunnels and cages where gladiators and beasts—rhinos, elephants, lions, tigers, crocodiles, and other ferocious fauna—were contained before contests.

Sian Ka’an, Quintana Roo, Mexico

  Photograph by Pete Oxford, Minden Pictures/Corbis

 Kid Appeal: It’s a jungle in the Yucatán Peninsula’s mangrove-covered playground of aquatic action and mysterious Maya ruins.

The Site: Turquoise waters, emerald mangroves, and ivory limestone bedrock are the chromatic components of the largest protected area in the Mexican Caribbean.

Sian Ka’an, which means “Where the Sky Is Born” in Mayan, is a fantastically flat biosphere reserve on the eastern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. But what this wetlands region lacks in dramatic topography, it makes up for in biodiversity, beauty, and a range of kid-friendly activities.

Extending from tropical forests and marshes to coral reefs along the coast, the reserve counts sea turtles, crocodiles, jaguars, spider monkeys, manatees, spiny lobsters, nurse sharks, and flamingos as resident fauna. The 1.3 million acres of Sian Ka’an form a lush ecosystem that supports farmers and fishermen, biologists, anthropologists (some 23 Maya archaeological sites dot the landscape), and tour operators.

Families can rent beachside tent cabins and book kayaking, fly-fishing, cenote snorkeling, and canal tour excursions within the reserve. Kids can let their inner tomb raider run wild at Muyil (or Chunyaxché), a pre-Hispanic settlement featuring a steep walled pyramid built nearly a thousand years ago. “El Castillo,” as the castle is known, towers today over the fringe of Maya Mexico’s conservation crown jewel.



Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Photograph by Paul and Paveena Mckenzie, Getty Images

Kid Appeal: Camp out under African skies, where the world’s most spectacular animal migration crosses this vast protected region of northern Tanzania.

The Site: Zebras, gazelles, and wildebeest (above)—along with the carnivores that track them—are the stars of Serengeti National Park, forming the world’s largest community of migrating ungulates and its greatest concentration of large predators.

Along with its companion Ngorongoro Conservation Area, this 8,000-square-mile contiguous protected region is home base for safari-goers on the prowl for impalas, dik-diks, Cape buffalo, lions, hyenas, elephants, rhinos, jackals, and other beasts. While grazing herds are constantly on the go in these rolling grasslands and acacia-dotted woodlands, the annual May-June migration from the central plains to permanent waterholes in the park’s western end is the moment camera-toting visitors wait for.



Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada

 Photograph by Camille Moirenc, Hemis/Alamy
Kid Appeal: Grab your magnifying glass and hiking boots and head to one of the world’s best dinosaur fossil sites, a Cretaceous marvel southeast of Calgary.
The Site: Leptoceratops, Lambeosaurus, Euoplocephalus, oh my! The Age of Reptiles lives on in the geologically fascinating badlands of Alberta, where Dinosaur Provincial Park gives budding paleontologists a chance to explore landscapes where experts have discovered more than 35 species of dinosaur.
During the Cretaceous period, which ended 65 million years ago, this region looked strikingly different from the arid steppes capped by hoodoos (towers of eroded stone) that visitors see today. Back then, a subtropical climate sustained dense forests, swampy marshes, flowing rivers, and an inland sea, creating ideal habitats for dozens of species of reptiles, fishes, amphibians, mammals, and plants. Many of the skeletons and fossils these organisms left behind are starring attractions in natural history museums around the world.
Scientists keep busy here, excavating bone beds with the hope of identifying surprising finds. Although visitors are not permitted to dig or surface-collect in this fragile environment, the park offers a full schedule of kid-friendly fossil safaris, guided activities, displays of dinosaur skeletons, and interpretive exhibitions. Families can camp out under the stars and dream of the days when Tyrannosauridae (“tyrant lizards”) and Troodontidae (birdlike dinosaurs) inhabited this once fern-filled region.


Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii

 Photograph by Steve and Donna O'Meara, National Geographic  

Kid Appeal: Turn on the heat with a visit to two of the world’s most active volcanoes.
The Site: According to Hawaiian mythology, the Halema‘uma‘u caldera of Kilauea was the fiery home of Pele, the goddess of fire, lightning, wind, and volcanoes. This simmering cauldron atop one of the five shield volcanoes that form the Big Island of Hawaii has inspired ritual and reverence for generations.
Along with Mauna Loa, the world’s most massive mountain—its summit rises to about 56,000 feet above the depressed sea floor, making it more than 27,000 feet higher than Mount Everest—these active and accessible fire-breathers make up one of the best places for observing the churning geological forces that shape our planet.
The park, which covers some 333,000 acres, is a hotbed of family-friendly activity, from ranger-led hikes, interpretive centers, and viewing platforms near active flows to the 11-mile Crater Rim Drive, a gobsmacking car tour of Kilauea with stops at steam vents, sulfur banks, lava tubes, tropical rain forests, arid landscapes, and high volcanic vistas.

 

Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia, Turkey

  Photograph by Flip Franssen, Hollandse Hoogte/Redux

 

Kid Appeal: The Stone Age rocks on in Anatolia, where young geologists can explore time-weathered volcanic landscapes in a culturally rich province.
The Story: It’s a destination fit for every modern stone-age family. Central Turkey’s Göreme Valley is an arid region of eroded volcanic stone that takes fantastic forms, ranging from tall spires and sharp cones to totem pole-like hoodoos, topped with caps of hard rock. Often called fairy chimneys, these whimsical wonders can rise dozens of feet over the chalky soil of an area inhabited long before the fourth century B.C.
Some of the most striking sights within the Cappadocia Plateau are villages carved into the volcanic tuff, rock-hewn churches, and cave homes deep within the sediment. The town of Göreme, in a region first settled during Roman times, emerged as a center of monastic activity in the fourth century when Christian communities created underground communities and subterranean sanctuaries with frescoes that visitors can see today. The Göreme Open Air Museum is pocked with caves and studded with fairy chimneys. Valley hikes, hot air balloon rides, and guided tours hit the high points of this low-lying region. And when night falls, families can check into cave hotels and sleep in stony silence.


Top 10 Food Road Trips

Pumpkin patches are a common sight along the roads of Pennsylvania's Amish country in fall.
Photograph by Joelle Morris, My Shot

From the October 2010 issue of National Geographic Traveler and the National Geographic book Drives of a Lifetime
With everything from the adrenaline rush of a Formula One track to the gritty charms of a remote Alaskan highway, here’s our choice of roads that are pure fun to drive.
  1. Highway 89, Arizona/Utah/Idaho/Wyoming/Montana

    This geological field trip traverses the Sonoran Desert to the Rocky Mountains, passing a volcanic plateau with lava flows and the Great Salt Lake. Take a detour if you want to see the red rocks of Sedona. Open roads rarely come finer. Planning: Visit the 1,250-mile route’s national parks, including Yellowstone. www.untraveledroad.com
  2. Denali Highway, Alaska

    This largely gravel road offers bracing views of untamed wilderness with few signs of human occupation. The 135-mile road, completed in 1957 to give access to Denali National Park, became largely redundant in 1971 when a newer road, the George Parks Highway, opened. Planning: The highway leads from Paxson Junction to Cantwell Junction, and is closed in winter. www.bellsalaska.com
  3. Ruta 40, Argentina

    Ruta 40 stretches along the length of Argentina from Cabo Virgenes in the south to La Quiaca in the north, extending more than 3,045 miles. It runs parallel to the Andes, crossing 236 bridges and countless rivers, lakes, national parks, and mountain passes. From sea level, it ascends to 16,404 feet in the north around Salta—for many, the journey’s most dramatic leg. Planning: Ruta 40 is largely paved but the southern part crosses mostly barren terrain. www.turismo.gov.ar
  4. Nürburgring, Germany

    Designed to flaunt Germany’s automotive prowess, the original mountain ring track emerged between 1925 and 1927 for Germany’s Grand Prix. A new track was completed in 1984, but the original 12.9-mile Nordschliefe (“northern loop”) regularly opens to the public as a toll road. It’s probably the world’s most challenging purpose-built racetrack, featuring many blind bends. Planning: Check opening times. There’s no speed limit, but German driving laws apply; unlicensed racing is banned. www.nuerburgring.de
  5. Davos to Stelvio via Bormio, Switzerland/Italy

    Etched precariously through the peaks of the eastern Alps, this dizzying zigzag road built in the early 19th century is a hard-core workout for the very best of drivers and automobiles. The 60 hairpin turns transport you 9,042 feet up the mountains in 90 miles. The heady views are mostly yours alone. Planning: The road often closes in winter. Midway along, Bormio offers year-round skiing. www.davos.ch
  6. E6, Norway

    Starting in southern Norway and driving as far north as you can is one way of testing both car and driver’s endurance. This 1,295-mile route starts from the capital, Oslo, and leads into the Arctic Circle, ending up at the bleak headland of Nordkapp at Norway’s—and Europe’s—top. Scenic highlights include fjords, forests, fishing villages, glaciers, mountains, and tundra, as well as the northern lights. Expect little traffic, but watch out for the occasional reindeer. Planning: Allow 36 hours for the drive. In summer expect continual daylight. www.visitnorway.com
  7. Col de Turini, Alpes-Maritimes, France

    With as many hairpin bends as a tightly coiled spring and the skimpiest of barriers, this vertiginous mountain pass (top elevation: 5,200 feet) looks designed for a James Bond movie car chase. It’s a high point of the Monte Carlo rally, held every January, when spectators throw snow on the normally ice-clad track, making the 14.5-mile drive that much more challenging. Planning: Focus on the road and try not to look down. www.frenchriviera-tourism.com
  8. A18 Snaefell Mountain Road, Isle of Man

    The Isle of Man has been a leading motorsport destination since 1904, when racing was legalized on public roads. This 15-mile route between Douglas and Ramsey is the motorcycle-racing circuit used for the Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) and the Manx Grand Prix. The road skirts the peak of Snaefell, the tallest mountain on the island at 2,035 feet. A key attraction for many: The Isle of Man is one of the few British territories with no national speed limit. Planning: The TT runs from late May to mid-June; the Manx Grand Prix starts in late August. Both last 14 days. www.gov.im
  9. B4560, Wales

    Frequently used for test-drives and crossing some of Britain’s loveliest open countryside, this narrow, winding road packs in panoramic views over Brecon Beacons National Park and the Black Mountains—with plenty of challenging mountain corners and dreamy villages. Best rest stop: Llangorse Lake in Brecon Beacons for bird-watching. Planning: The 17-mile B4560 runs north from Beaufort to Talgarth via Llangynidr, Bwlch, and Llangorse, but the prettiest part is between Llangynidr and Bwlch. Ice and snow sometimes close the road. www.breconbeacons.org
  10. Atlas Mountains, Morocco

    From Marrakech, take the N9 southeast toward Ouarzazate across the majestic Atlas Mountains. The road’s twists and turns provide a test of skill and nerves for drivers, while the ascent into the mountains treats passengers to wide-screen pleasures. Planning: Snow may close the road in winter. The 117-mile drive takes about four hours. www.visitmorocco.com

2012 Tours of a Lifetime

Top 10 Mediterranean Adventures


Kite surfing in Tarifa, Spain
Photograph by Ben Welsh, Corbis

  1. Cycle the Tour de France

    The world's premier long-distance cycling event is for pros only—but there's nothing stopping you from enjoying some of the world's best bicycle routes by following the Tour de France's annually changing path from dizzying mountain passes to the charms of France's sunny Mediterranean coast. Many outfitters provide logistical support for cyclists who want to ride some or even all of the legendary stages of “Le Tour,” and some packages combine rides with VIP spectator access to the real race. Independent cycling options abound thanks to charming communities and welcoming locals all along the French Riviera.
  2. Windsurf in Turkey

    Turkey's beautiful coastlines and clear waters draw legions of visitors each year, but those looking for reliable winds tend to descend on a scenic, formerly sleepy fishing village called Alacati. Between May and October north winds blow reliably here across a turquoise bay on the Cesme Peninsula. Competitors of the Professional Windsurfers Association hold World Cup events at Alacati, which lend the town a festive flavor, but the area may be best suited to beginners, and the area’s surf schools thrive.
  3. Dive Into Alexandria's Classical Past

    Few dives can match those to the sunken treasures offered in and around Alexandria, Egypt—a glimpse of ancient civilizations from the pharoahs to the Romans. Sites like the sunken City of Cleopatra, in today's harbor, allow divers to explore statues, amphorae, columns, and even ancient buildings. Shipwrecks in the region date from ancient times to World War II. While some dives are “experts only” and visibility can be a problem, even beginners can get their feet wet in this watery corner of the ancient world.
  4. Ski the Abruzzo

    Fun in the Mediterranean sun needn't always include sand and surf—snow sports also thrive not far from the lapping waves. Italy's Abruzzo region, with its long Adriatic coastline, offers great skiing, surprisingly reliable snow, and picturesque villages stocked with topflight eateries. And visitors to Abruzzo will share slopes like Roccaraso and Campo Felice with far more Italians than tourists, who are typically drawn to the more famous Alpine resorts to the north. In fact most of Abruzzo reflects a quieter corner of Italy—a rustic throwback to an earlier era that's also evidenced by far lower prices.
  5. Kite Surf Tarifa, Spain

    Europe's southernmost port town is perched on the Strait of Gibraltar and draws kite surfers to a dozen or so beaches well situated to feast on howling winds funneled through the strait. A wide selection of schools can help even newcomers to the sport get up and running in relatively short order. If the wind dies down travelers can flee Europe via a fast catamaran that reaches Tangier, Morocco, in under an hour.


  6. Hike the Atlas

    For Europeans and North Americans, hiking in the Atlas Mountains offers stunning scenery paired with cultural adventure more akin to treks in Asia's Himalaya than to the more familiar mountain communities on the Med's northern shores. North Africa's dramatic mountains are home to the vibrant culture of the Berbers, an independent-minded indigenous people who took to the hills during ancient Arab invasions. Today the Berbers welcome weary walkers with their famed mint tea.
  7. Sail the Greek Isles

    The Mediterranean is a sailor's paradise, with potential routes as limitless as the enchanting anchorages along these sunny, history-laden shores. Hopping between Greece's thousands of islands allows sailors to create a classical cruise matching their own time frame and tastes—from the archaeological treasures of Delos to the vineyards of Santorini. Commercial cruises of every size, length, and focus—from ancient civilizations to scuba—are available for those who prefer to let others take the tiller.
  8. Sea Kayak Croatia

    Charming, ancient harbors dot Croatia's stunning coastlines and islands, which take a backseat to no other Mediterranean shore, and a wilder side can be found in Kornati National Park, where campers bed down on islands used by herders for 2,000 years. Paddling coastal Croatia's almost unimaginably blue waters leads wanderers through a delightful maze of more than 1,200 islands. Some 70 of them are inhabited, and like Croatia's mainland communities, their culture reflects the country's intriguing location between Central Europe and the Balkans.
  9. Get Wet in Slovenia

    The River Soca is a stunning strand of emerald-green water that rises in Slovenia's majestic Julian Alps and passes by its legendary Triglav Mountain before pouring into the Adriatic Sea across the Italian border. Rafters and boaters happily ply the Soca's course, but the river's valley also gives access to prime canyoning country in gorges like the Sušec, Fratarca, and Mlinarica. These wet and wild canyons invite the well equipped to leap, swim, and slide their way through an idyllic mountain landscape of pools and waterfalls.
  10. Climbing in Corsica

    Sunny Corsica is known as “the mountain in the sea,” and this French island with an independent spirit backs up that boast with prime landscape for boldering, rocky scrambles along the famed GR20 trail, and even ice climbing—all no more than half an hour or so from the warm waters that lap the island's shores. In fact, deep-water soloists regularly test their mettle on cliffs where a fall means a plunge into the sea's briny depths. More than 50 Corsican summits top 6,560 feet (2,000 meters). The rugged beauty of its summits, and the wide diversity of climbs to be found in such a small place, qualify the island as something of a well-kept climbing secret—for now.

Best Summer Trips 2012

Just in time for summer, our travel editors present ten trips for nature lovers and urban explorers. Don't see your favorite destination here? Tell us in the comments or submit it to our new online community, Travel Favorites.

Baltimore, Maryland

 

Photograph by Greg Pease, Getty Images

Charm City welcomes the world to its Inner Harbor June 13 to 19 for Star-Spangled Sailabration 2012. The international festival commemorating the bicentennial of the War of 1812 and the national anthem launches with a Flag Day (June 14) celebration welcoming dozens of tall ships (such as those pictured here at the Inner Harbor), and U.S., British, and Canadian naval vessels. Climb aboard ships for free daily public tours. On June 16 and 17, all eyes will be on the skies above Fort McHenry and the harbor for the first Baltimore visit by the Blue Angels demonstration squad. Head to the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall on June 17 for the world premiere of “Overture for 2012,” composed by Baltimore native Philip Glass. Beyond Sailabration, summer events within walking distance of the harbor include concerts at Pier Six Pavillion (June to September); the free Little Italy Open Air Film Fest (Friday nights, July and August); and more than 40 Major League Baseball games (June 8 to August 30) at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2012.

 Barcelona, Spain

 Photograph by Carlos Sanchez Pereyra, JWL/Aurora

To the south and east, Barcelona’s fanciful cityscape—from playful Joan Miró sculptures to Antoni Gaudí’s fantastical architectural swirls—meets the Mediterranean Sea. In summer, the city’s collective focus shifts coastward to eight white-sand beaches and Port Vell, the medieval Catalan harbor transformed into a world-class entertainment district as part of Barcelona’s 1992 Olympics makeover. Pictured here, “The Wounded Star,” a sculpture by Rebecca Horn, looms over Barceloneta Beach (accessible by metro), where you can spend the morning before cruising the harbor aboard a traditional, wooden Las Golondrinas. Back on shore, head inside Aquarium Barcelona where you can walk through the Oceanarium’s transparent tunnel for an underwater view of rays, sharks, and morays. Certified divers (ages 18 and up) can dive into the Oceanarium’s million-gallon waters as part of a shark biology program.

Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada

 Photograph by Ron Erwin, Alamy

 North America’s boneyard, located about three hours southeast of Calgary in the wind-and-water-carved Canadian Badlands, was and is home to dinosaurs. Over 40 species of dinosaurs have been discovered at the Dinosaur Provincial Park UNESCO World Heritage site, and their bones, teeth and fossils are scattered naturally among the eerie hoodoos (lifelike rock pinnacles, pictured here) in the park’s preserved areas. Access to the fossil sites is limited, so make advance reservations during summer for guided tours and educational programs like the hands-on Fossil Safari. Book a fully equipped Comfort Camping canvas tent in the park campground to allow more time for hiking the five self-guided interpretive trails. To join an authentic palaeontological dig, reserve a spot (six-person limit) on one of the Bonebed 30 Two Day Guided Excavations (June 12 to August 25). Participants learn dinosaur excavating techniques and prospect for new fossil finds, contributing to ongoing research at Royal Tyrell Museum, Canada’s only museum dedicated exclusively to the science of paleontology.

St. Petersburg, Russia

 Photograph by Ripani Massimo, SIME

Peter the Great’s stately Baltic city built on 42 Neva Delta islands celebrates “White Nights” (near-round-the-clock summer light) with joyful abandon. Late May to mid-July the skies above St. Petersburg’s Peter and Paul Fortress (resting place of the tsars, pictured here during White Nights) and Nevsky Prospekt (the city’s main thoroughfare) glow pale blue, pink, and peach well after midnight. Cruise the canals and River Neva on Anglotourismo’s guided White Nights boat tour, and then stroll atop the Neva Embankments—elegant granite barriers built to control flooding—to watch the four illuminated Neva drawbridges open (around 2 a.m.). Stars of the White Nights 2012: International Music Festival (May 25-July 15) features some hundred opera, ballet, and symphony performances and concerts at Mariinsky Theatre and the Concert Hall. June 18, join the massive end-of-school festival, Scarlet Sails, for free concerts, a multivessel pirate battle, and the dramatic arrival of an 18th-century tall ship, its red sails illuminated by the city’s biggest summer fireworks show.

 

Traverse City, Michigan

 Photograph by Carlos Osorio, AP

Traverse City is the biggest little beach town on the “Third Coast”—the U.S. shores of the eight-state Great Lakes coastline. The region’s 180 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline basically trace the upper left edge of Michigan’s “mitten.” Add another 149 inland lakes that are 10 acres or larger and you get a rambling Cape Cod-on-freshwater summer playground: quaint port villages, sandy beaches, historic lighthouses, rolling orchards, family-friendly festivals (including the National Cherry Festival, July 7-14), and summer-only Traverse City Beach Bums pro baseball games (team members bunk with local families). Head northwest from Cherry Capital Airport to the Leelanau Peninsula and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (pictured here). Michigan’s monumental sandbox is best known for its 150-foot Dune Climb (or roll), but there’s also 35 miles of pristine Lake Michigan beach. Take the 7.4-mile Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive loop in time to watch the sunset from Lake Michigan Overlook observation deck, perched 450 feet above the water.

Spencer Glacier, Alaska

 
Photograph by Matt Hage, Alamy

Spencer Glacier is easy to see from the Glacier Discovery Train that winds through Chugach National Forest south of the Portage Valley, but it’s a bit harder to reach. No roads lead to the glacier, named for railroad employee Bill Spencer, who disappeared “out there somewhere” in 1914. Thanks to a partnership between Alaska Railroad Corporation and the U.S. Forest Service, day visitors can hop off the train at the Spencer Whistle Stop for a narrated ranger hike to Spencer Lake and unguided treks to the glacier. June to September, small group outfitter Ascending Path leads Spencer Glacier ice-climbing treks, combining train travel from Anchorage, Girdwood, or Portage with top-rope climbing on blue ice walls. The hiking terrain is flat and the scenery is pure Alaska—floating crystal icebergs, snowcapped Kenai Mountains, and aquamarine ice caves.

Channel Islands, California

 Photograph by Kevin Steele, Alamy

Southern California’s Channel Islands National Park and surrounding National Marine Sanctuary (extending for six nautical miles around each island) harbor rich biological diversity, including more than 150 endemic species and a vast, undersea kelp “forest.” The park’s abundant marine life—seals, sea otters, whales, dolphins, and the only breeding colony of fur seals south of Alaska—is best viewed via sea kayak (pictured here near Santa Cruz Island). Strict regulations limit travel around and on the five (rather remote) islands, making this one of the least-visited national parks. To safely and legally navigate through the challenging waters, book a kayak tour with an authorized park outfitter. Santa Cruz, the park’s (and California’s) largest island, encompasses a hundred-plus sea caves, including one of the world’s largest and deepest—hundred-foot-wide Painted Cave. Paddle and picnic on a Santa Cruz day trip that includes food (there are no concessions on the islands), and follows the 3.8-mile route from Potato Harbor to Cavern Point, passing through the Surging T, a 354-foot-long tunnel.

 Pawleys Island, South Carolina

 Photograph by Alamy

 White sand, weathered cottages, and low-tech diversions like crabbing and cornhole (bean bag toss) have made “arrogantly shabby” Pawleys a favorite family beach destination since the 1800s. Hurricanes (and subsequent rebuilding) have altered the landscape since rice planters built summer places here to escape the heat and mosquitoes, but the laid-back, low-country vibe endures. There’s no commercial development this side of the salt marsh, so rent a beach house (preferably one with a traditional rope hammock) from Pawleys Island Realty Company. The island is compact (four miles long and a quarter-mile wide), making it easy to walk or bike to the beach, and convenient to cross the North or South Causeway for mainland golfing and grocery shopping, or rainy day entertainment in Myrtle Beach (about 25 miles north). At nearbyHuntington State Beach Park in Murrells Inlet, tour Atalaya, the palatial Moorish summer residence of sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington and look (from a safe distance) for alligators in the freshwater lake.