A monarch at the Goleta Butterfly Grove.Credit Goleta Butterfly Grove
Every winter, more than 10,000 monarch butterflies migrate from as far north as Canada to the Goleta Butterfly Grove in California, and the Bacara Resort & Spa nearby helps its guests see them with its “Bike to the Butterflies” program.
Offered every Saturday from Nov. 15 to Feb. 14, the experience costs $59 a person and includes a three-hour bike rental from the property as well as a packed lunch.
Guests bike on their own to the 137-acre grove, which is less than two miles away and one of the largest wintering locations in California. Once there they can see the monarchs gathering on the hundreds of eucalyptus trees and learn more them from docents at the grove. Read more…
As a state capital and a popular college town, Madison, Wis., draws plenty of travelers on political and university business. Now, the Edgewater, a luxury resort, aims to inspire more leisurely visits.
The two-year, $100 million project both restores the original 1948-vintage Edgewater hotel, updated to contemporary standards, and adds a 14-story tower, for a total of 202 rooms. Between the two wings lies a plaza that will stage college football tailgate parties in fall and hold an ice rink in winter.
Five blocks from the Wisconsin state capitol building, on the shore of Lake Mendota, the hotel also has a spa with a yoga studio, gym and seven treatment rooms that overlook the lake.
The Statehouse restaurant, one of three dining options, frames water views through floor-to-ceiling windows. By next summer, management plans to build a series of boat docks and an outdoor cafe on the waterfront, where it will launch dinner cruises. Read more…
A weekly capsule of travel news curated by our writers and editors.
Blackout Windowless airplanes are coming! Well, not really: the idea (and, to be clear, it’s just an idea for now) is to replace windows and walls on planes with huge OLED displays. Could be fun … or terrifying. (Quartz)
North Korea, Ahoy! Despite its recent Ebola-spawned ban on foreign tourists, North Korea is reportedly racing to complete a new airport in Pyongyang to boost tourism. It would replace the current one, which consists only of one small building and receives only a few international flights per day. (USA Today)
Refurbished After years of falling into disrepair, the world’s first Boeing 747 has finally received some much-needed tender love and care. (USA Today)
Low Fares Despite what many say, this columnist suggests that buying an international fare on Sundays yields the best value. (The Wall Street Journal)
Rendering of the screening room at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.Credit Architectural Alliance
At the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, a layover means more than just a long wait between flights. The airport has transformed its C Concourse into an “arts corridor,” culminating next month with the opening of a screening room.
The lounge will include modular and cinema-style seating with multiple high-definition screens; rotating programs highlighting local filmmakers; and a collapsible stage for lectures or small performances.
“It’s all about trying to create a corridor, a first gateway” to the city’s arts and culture, said Robyne Robinson, the arts and culture director of the Airport Foundation MSP. “We want to make sure that when people get off the plane, they know there’s a place they can go to and get to know us and get onto their flight and have a better understanding of what Minneapolis is, so that the next time they come through, they’ll want to see some film, see some art.” Read more…
Yelp, the online user-review and ratings site of everything from restaurants to spas to churches, is entering the hotel-booking game.
On Tuesday, it announced a partnership with Hipmunk, a travel search engine that lets people browse flights and hotels by a combination of factors like pricing, layover duration and amenities. Hipmunk, already in partnerships with direct-booking sites like Getaroom and Hotels.com, now supports a small number of hotels on Yelp. Users will now be able to book hotel rooms through it, without ever leaving Yelp’s site.
Rachel Walker, a Yelp spokeswoman, would not specify the number of hotels this includes, though she said it was small. She added that the this is just a first step.
“Once we we feel confident that our users are happy with the experience,” she said, “we’ll add more listings and eventually roll out booking functionality to tens of thousands of hotels.”
Yelp began its foray into bookings in 2013, forging partnerships with companies like Delivery.com and Booker that have allowed it to process transactions for food delivery and spa appointments. Read more…
Gaja, the well-regarded family-run winery established in 1859 in Barbaresco, in Italy’s Piedmont region, has always been closed to the public, but that policy changed earlier this year with a new charitable-giving initiative.
Travelers who make a 300 euro donation per person to either a charity of their choice or to one of the five the winery supports, like Collina Degli Elfi, a nonprofit helping children affected by cancer and other diseases, are welcomed at the 250-acre estate by Angelo Gaja, 74, or his daughter Gaia Gaja, 35, who both run the company.
One of the Gajas will spend two hours with guests and give them a tour of the cellar and guide them through a tasting of five varieties including the Barbaresco, a red wine made with nebbiolo grapes and the estate’s flagship label. Read more…
The Club Med in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.Credit Club Med
On the cusp of establishing its first permanent production in Mexico in November, Cirque du Soleil has announced its next act: partnering with Club Med resorts to train guests in acrobatics, theater arts and dance.
In June 2015, Club Med Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic will be the site of the partnership’s first Creactive program, including a big-top-style circus tent where guests at the all-inclusive resort can learn the kinds of tricks seen in Cirque shows, including acrobatic bungee, aerial silks, tightrope walking and double trapeze.
For the younger or less daring, the resort will offer juggling, mask painting, unicycling and percussion. Read more…
The nonprofit REEF (Reef Environmental Education Foundation) has opened registration for its 2015 field survey trip to Curaçao, where divers help eradicate invasive Pacific lionfish, a threat to the native fish populations and to the health of the reefs.
During the Aug. 22 to 29 trip, REEF staff members and instructors will lead dives (participants will be trained in lionfish spearing and collection) and hold seminars. The 2014 trip removed almost 600 lionfish from the western reefs of Curaçao.
W Retreat & Spa on Vieques Island in Puerto Rico is offering Energize by Tara Stiles, the first program in the property’s new Fit Retreat initiative for more health-focused getaways.
As part of Ms. Stiles’s partnership with W, the high-profile New York yogi created a program for the resort where guests can practice yoga with Ms. Stiles or other teachers trained in her Strala Yoga style.
The customized three-day or five-day programs incorporate yoga sessions, outdoor activities like kayaking and snorkeling, and healthy meals, many of which were inspired by Ms. Stiles’ cookbook, “Make Your Own Rules Diet,” scheduled to be published next month. Read more…
The Jacaré-Açu, which explores the Rio Negro.Credit Rainforest Cruises
The largest protected area in the Amazon River basin, the Central Amazon Conservation Complex in Brazil covers nearly 15 million acres. Now, one river cruise company will offer passengers more exposure to the Unesco World Heritage site by running longer trips there.
Rainforest Cruises recently began selling seven- and eight-day sailings aboard three ships.
The 18-passenger Tucano now schedules weeklong journeys departing from Manaus, Brazil, and traveling up the Amazon tributary Rio Negro.
Passengers can take small-boat tours into tributaries, where the intrepid can swim in the river and fish for piranha. Rates start at $3,229 per person, double occupancy. Read more…
