Journeys of a Lifetime

500 of the World’s Greatest Trips, National Geographic, Second Edition, 2018

Beautiful “coffee-table” book describing 500 trips by water, road, rail, foot, culture, gourmet, action, flight, or following historical footsteps. I liked the following:

  • Utah: Driving Route 12 from Bryce Canyon to Capitol Reef, highlight is hiking slot canyons and below red rock spires on the 1.3 mile Navajo Trail in Bryce Canyon. It’s 140 miles and takes about 5 hours to drive this route.
  • California: Driving Pacific Coast Highway 1 through Big Sur. Best to go from south to north, starting at San Simeon and the Hearst Castle north to Carmel-by-the-Sea and Monterrey. Highlights are picnic at Ragged Point overlook, 15 miles north of San Simeon – the view has been called “the most breathtaking coastal vista in America.” Also, highlights include hiking Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and strolling the beach at Carmel.
  • Colonial Virginia: Williamsburg and Jamestowne
  • Illinois: Frank Lloyd Wright in Oak Park bicycle tour–tour by bike as many as 27 houses and 60 other architecturally significant buildings. Website: flwright.org/wrightplus
  • Pennsylvania Amish Country
  • England’s Gardens – “Come in June and smell the roses.” Highlights include a maze in Hampton Court; Polesden Lacey’s walled rose garden at Great Bookham, near Dorking; Sheffield Park; the gardens at Sissinghurst; and Hever Castle.

The page describing Belize’s barrier reef warns of the dangerous depths involved in diving the Blue Hole, but they mistakenly call it ‘Blue Lagoon.’ Makes me wonder how many other typos there might be in the book. It’s a fun book, though.