NEW YORK-
Looking for inspiration or practical advice for planning your 2007 vacations?
Travel + Leisure magazine has just published “100 Greatest Trips,” with sections on the U.S. and Canada; Bermuda, the Caribbean and the Bahamas; Mexico, Central and South America; Western Europe; Eastern Europe; Africa and the Middle East; Asia; and Australia and New Zealand.
The $35 hardcover starts with “Down East Feasts: A culinary drive through Maine,” with recommendations for restaurants like Fore Street in Portland, Primo in Rockland and Francine Bistro in Camden.
In South America, T+L suggests, among other locales, Punta del Este in Uruguay, a once-sleepy fishing village that was a hotspot in the 1950s and has lately “gotten its glamorous groove back.” Places to stay include the Conrad Punta del Este Resort & Casino, a Vegas-style mega-hotel, and the Serena, a 32-room boutique hotel.
In Western Europe, consider a literary pilgrimage and road trip in homage to the Brothers Grimm. Drive the 375 miles between Frankfurt and Bremen, with stops at Steinau an der Strasse at the House of the Brothers Grimm; Sleeping Beauty’s castle, now the Dornroschenschloss hotel in Sababurg; Rapunzel’s 13th century tower, now a hotel in Trendelburg; and a ruin of Cinderella’s castle in Polle.
Music-lovers should head to Bamako, the capital of Mali, where T+L says “numerous clubs hop till 3 a.m. most days of the week,” and street performers are ubiquitous. In India, you’ll find healing at the Aryuvedic spas of Kochi, a southern coastal city in the state of Kerala. Medical tours for Westerners are all the rage there, according to “100 Greatest Trips,” and your treatments might involve anything from a massage to a steam cabinet to potions or lotions made from coconut oil or goat’s milk.
