As someone who’s been going to Maui’s Ka’anapali Beach for 50-something years, I was pretty happy to see Trip Advisor name it as the best beach in the U.S. in this year’s Travelers’ Choice Awards. It’s a fabulous, three-mile stretch of sand with great snorkeling, paddleboarding, boogie boarding and swimming. It’s also fronted by a long foot path lined with towering palm trees, and has some of the island’s best hotels and resorts, as well as the delightful, open-air Whalers Village Shopping Center. Among my fave hotels on Ka’anapali are the Ka’anapali Beach Hotel, the Sheraton Maui Resort and Spa Read more
lists
U.S. cities cleaned up in the latest ranking of the world’s top 100 urban places. New York City scored highest, with a number three ranking for the world. Los Angeles was 12th and San Francisco 14th, while San Diego finished in the 32nd spot and San Jose 74th. Texas has three cities in the top 50: Houston (42), Austin (43) and Dallas (47), while Florida has two (Orlando at 40 and Miami at 52). Resonance Consultancy has been tracking world cities for years. They rank them on many factors, including culture, restaurants and shopping and also look at user-generated reviews Read more
Canada has dropped a spot, but we’re still on the podium. The Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands Index (NBI) is an annual study that has been conducted since 2008, gathering perceptions of countries around the world and ranking them from top to bottom. The latest index puts Germany in first place for the sixth year in a row. Japan was second (it was also second in 2018), while Canada fell from second last year to third this year. The U.S. remains in eighth place this year, same as in 2021. Other notable changes include the UK, which was second in 2002 but Read more
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I know. But sometimes I can’t help but get riled up about silly travel lists. For example, there’s this that I found today on a website called mentalfloss.com. The story says a group called Online Mortgage Advisor looked at something called the Golden Ratio (yeah, I’ve never heard of it, either), which measures shapes and building sizes that are pleasing to the eye, and then ranked world cities based on that. It’s interesting, and there are some worthy candidates on the list. But simply focusing on pleasing architectural shapes warps things so Read more
Allianz Partners has published its top summer destinations for Americans for 2022. Allianz officials said “revenge” travel appears to going to an entirely new level as people seek experiences they missed out during the pandemic. It’s also notable that big cities such as Los Angeles, New York and Boston are back on travelers’ radar. Additionally, Allianz research showed that 75 per cent of Americans will travel domestically this summer, up 16 per cent from last year. Here are the top 10 domestic choices, followed by top international destinations and European destinations. Alas, no mention of Canada. DOMESTIC ORLANDO SEATTLE HONOLULU/OAHU Read more
