Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia...
Photograph by Bruno Morandi/Getty Images Called the “sacred sea” by locals, Lake Baikal is the world’s deepest and oldest (20 million to 25 million years) existing freshwater lake. For intrepid adventurers equipped for a Siberian deep freeze (air temperatures can plunge to minus 40ºF) Baikal in midwinter is a roughly 12,200-square-mile crystal ice rink. Local outfitters like Baikal Explorer and Green Express lead Jeep, dog-sled, and snowmobiling tours across the glassy surface. There’s also ice diving, rafting (in sections that don’t freeze), skating, and fishing, plus opportunities to volunteer with the Great Baikal Trail, a local conservation group. Environmental threats, including industrial pollution, prompted World Heritage site designation for Baikal in 1996. A pulp-and-paper mill built near the lake in 1966 closed permanently in 2013, but significant ecological threats remain.
When to Go: February and March are when the ice typically is thickest and most ice-related tours are offered.
How to Get Around: Irkutsk is the closest airport to Lake Baikal’s more developed western shore. The most scenic, albeit slower, route to Irkutsk is via a private or regularly scheduled Trans-Siberian train. Book passage through a reputable tour operator like MIR Corporation or Lernidee Trains & Cruises. From Irkutsk, it’s about an hour and a half by marshrutka (fixed-route minibus) to Listvyanka, the lake’s main western shore tourist village.
Where to Stay: Lodge in simple, locally owned homestays and hostels like Baikaler Eco-Hostel. Located on a wooded hillside in Listvyanka about a 20- to 30-minute walk from the lake, the hostel features four bright and airy guest rooms and one dorm room (sleeps eight). The property’s two wood, chalet-style buildings include eco-friendly features like solar panels.
What to Eat: Proshly Vek (Last Century) Cafe in Listvyanka dishes out traditional Siberian fare. Order the local whitefish, Baikal omul, smoked, dried, fresh, or in a creamy soup. The café is on the ground floor, while the dining room and the best view of the lake are upstairs. For snacking, try the Siberian pine nuts and larch-tree tar chewing gum sold at local markets.
What to Buy: In Irkutsk and Listvyanka, shop for handmade soaps and clay whistles; Russian souvenirs, including birch bark art and wooden matryoshka nesting dolls; and traditional Buryat (indigenous Mongol) items like ongons. These shamanist dolls (or small masks) are commonly made from wood, leather, felt, or straw, and are displayed in homes to protect the inhabitants from harm.
Cultural Tip: English isn’t widely spoken in local villages, and information is provided in Russian only at Baikal Limnological Museum (the freshwater science museum and aquarium). For day trips, including the museum tour, consider hiring a local, English-speaking guide service.
What to Read Before You Go: Anton Chekhov’s About Love and Other Stories includes works like “The House With the Mezzanine,” inspired by the author’s 1890 visit to Lake Baikal.
Fun Fact: About two-thirds of the estimated 1,500 animal species living in and around Lake Baikal are found nowhere else on Earth. The best known resident is the nerpa, the world’s only exclusively freshwater seal.
Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy
Photograph by Steven Gillis HD9 Imaging/Alamy Portofino may be the jewel of the Liguria Riviera, but neighboring Santa Margherita Ligure is an equally captivating—and more affordable—gem. Ensconced in a rocky inlet on the Gulf of Tigullio, the small, relaxed resort town enjoys mild winters—ideal for strolling past the gleaming yachts and cruisers moored in the harbor, touring the terraced gardens of 16th-century Villa Durazzo, and hiking the mountain road to Portofino for lunch (and for the spectacular coastal vistas along the way).
When to Go: February and March; February 2, International Half-Marathon of Two Pearls
How to Get Around: The closest airport is in Genoa. Take the shuttle bus or a taxi to the train station. From Genoa, it’s only a 25-minute (high-speed) or 35-minute (regional) train ride to Santa Margherita.
Where to Stay: Built in 1903 and restored to its original splendor, the 84-room Grand Hotel Miramare on the harbor-front promenade is old school Italian Riviera: white stucco; art nouveau facade frescoed with trompe l'oeil and floral decorations; elegantly appointed interiors; and stately, manicured gardens. Walk from here to Portofino (about an hour) or to the train station (about a half mile).
What to Eat or Drink: Sample some of the smaller restaurants off the main square and near the port. La Paranza serves the day’s fresh catch (clams, mussels, squid, sardines) paired with homemade pastas (try the gnocchi) and desserts. At about $40, the three-course set menu is extremely affordable by Riviera standards, and filling, too.
What to Watch Before You Go: Academy Award-nominated Enchanted April (1992) is set on the Italian Riviera and includes several exquisite scenes shot in and around Portofino.
Helpful Links: Santa Margarita Ligure Tourism and Italian Tourism
Fun Fact: Guglielmo Marconi used to moor his yacht l'Elettra (the Electra) in the Santa Margherita harbor, stay in the Grand Hotel Miramare, and conduct short-wave radio experiments between the two. A plaque inside the hotel commemorates Marconi’s first shore-to-ship broadcast of telegraph and radio telephone signals in 1933.
Nosara Beaches, Costa Rica
Photograph by Rob Francis/Robert Harding World Imagery/Corbis Surfers and expats have discovered Costa Rica’s Pacific Nicoya Peninsula, yet the Nosara beaches—Playa Guiones, Playa Pelada, and Playa Nosara—remain relatively undeveloped and uncrowded. Each beach has its own personality. Low-key Guiones is an expat community and surfing hub. Rocky Pelada is a favorite with locals. Black-sand Nosara is isolated, accessible only by fording a river. Sign up for a weeklong Nosara Paddlesurf SUP (stand-up paddle) Camp to explore this idyllic section of the Costa Rican coastline.
When to Go: December-April is dry season, which typically means little or no rain. SUP Camp weeks are offered monthly (more weeks may be added), December-April and July.
How to Get Around: From Liberia International Airport it’s about a 2.5- to 3-hour drive to Nosara. Nosara Paddlesurf SUP Camp rates include round-trip airport transfers. Car rentals are available at the airport.
Where to Stay: Sustainable surfboards, made using green chemistry and renewable materials, are the newest guest amenity at eco-friendly Harmony Hotel. The 24-room Playa Guiones retreat (10 rooms, 13 bungalows, and 1 two-bedroom suite) includes the hotel's Healing Centre with outdoor yoga studio. Bungalow 15 and the suite are closest to the ocean, or book bungalow 12 for an up-close look at the local monkeys that hang out in the pochote tree on the private deck.
Where to Eat: After yoga or a SUP excursion, recharge with a banana nut butter smoothie at the Harmony Hotel Juice Bar. The hotel incorporates ingredients grown at its farm into many menu items (try the arugula avocado roll in the main restaurant) and plans to open an al fresco Sushi Lounge in 2014. At lunch, pair a healthy veggie wrap with a scoop of homemade “coffee to wake the dead” ice cream at Robin’s Café & Ice Cream in Playa Guiones. For sunset views and fresh fish tacos, head to the beachside La Luna restaurant in Playa Pelada.
Cultural Tip: Most restaurants and shops in Nosara will accept both U.S. dollars and Costa Rican colones. Prepare to pay in cash since some restaurants don’t accept credit cards or add on a usage fee.
What to Read Before You Go: Leading Costa Rican writers are showcased in Costa Rica: A Traveler’s Literary Companion, a collection of 26 stories organized by region.
Helpful Links: Visit Nosara and Experience Nosara
Fun Fact: Ostional National Wildlife Refuge is one of the world’s primary nesting sites for the olive ridley sea turtle and the only Costa Rica location where it’s possible to observe sea turtles nesting year-round.
Winter Wolf Viewing, Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park
Photograph by Henry H. Holdsworth When snow blankets the nearly treeless Lamar Valley, it’s easier to spot Yellowstone’s elusive wolves—and their bison and elk prey. Watchful winter visitors to this remote wolf territory typically are rewarded with multiple wildlife sightings. A pending proposal to remove the gray wolf from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife, however, could impact future winter wildlife viewing. Observe and learn about the wolves this season during a multiday tour like the Yellowstone Association Institute’s Winter Wolf Discovery or Natural Habitat Adventures’ Yellowstone Wolf Quest.
When to Go: Winter Wolf Discovery trips depart December 22 and 29; January 5, 12, 19, and 26; and February 2, 9, 16, and 23. Yellowstone Wolf Quest, March 1-6, 5-12, and 13-20.
How to Get Around: In winter, the North Entrance (near Gardiner, Montana) is the only way into the park by wheeled vehicle. Car travel is permitted on the park road from the North Entrance to the Northeast Entrance (closest to the Lamar Valley), but mud or snow tires or tire chains may be required. A limited number of guided commercial snowcoach and snowmobile tours operate within the park. Winter Wolf Discovery and Yellowstone Wolf Quest viewing tours include in-park transportation.
Where to Stay: Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel is the only in-park winter lodging accessible by car and is only open December 20-March 3. A new winter shuttle service is available from Bozeman-Yellowstone International Airport to the hotel.
Where to Eat or Drink: In Bozeman, taste locally sourced fare at Montana Ale Works, housed in a restored railroad freight house. Menu items include bison pot stickers, Kobe burgers made with Montana Wagyu Cattle Company beef, and an extensive selection of regional craft brews like Big Sky Brewing Company’s Moose Drool brown ale and Trout Slayer wheat ale.
What to Read Before You Go: Revised and updated in 2012, the Decade of the Wolf: Returning the Wild to Yellowstone, by Douglas Smith and Gary Ferguson (Lyons Press), examines the years since the wolves’ 1995 reintroduction to Yellowstone.
Cultural Tip: Use binoculars or a camera with telephoto lens to view wildlife from a safe distance for both you and the animals. Getting within a hundred yards of a wolf or bear is prohibited in the park, and doing anything to willfully disturb or displace any wildlife (from any distance) is illegal.
Helpful Links: Yellowstone National Park and Yellowstone Association Institute
Fun Fact: Northern Rocky Mountain wolves are indigenous to Yellowstone, and packs existed here when the park was created in 1872. By the 1940s, wolf packs were a rarity due, in part, to a government-subsidized wolf eradication program launched in 1915. Wolves were successfully reintroduced to Yellowstone in 1995 and 1996.
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