Dive and be amazed: Virgin Islands, Caribbean
Dhe sea is at least 25 degrees warm all year round. Trade winds moderate the tropical temperatures on the white palm-fringed beaches. It is one of the best areas in the world for sailing. In addition, Caribbean nonchalance, pretty colonial buildings, lots of culture! There are good reasons for visiting the Virgin Islands, for Americans and British alike. Which is why the leading travel guide publisher in the USA, Frommer’s, recommends the around 100 islands east of Puerto Rico as “Best Places to Go in 2023”.
After five tough years, during which the Virgin Islands were first devastated by tropical storms and then almost impossible to travel due to Corona, they are now back in the spotlight – above and below the water. Frommer’s experts particularly recommend the waterfront promenade of Charlotte Amalie, the historic capital of the US Virgin Islands on St. Thomas, which has undergone a $146 million makeover to become the newest “Great Waterfront of the Caribbean”.
Neighboring St. Croix, the easternmost point of the United States, is famous for its sugar cane plantations. It’s considered the cultural heart of the US Virgin Islands, “multicultural callaloo” (a Caribbean stew) – thanks to the diverse influences of its residents, who descended from African slaves and European settlers. Today, it has the largest number of organic farms, vegan cafes and juice bars in the Virgin Islands. Things are a little quieter in the British part, where legendary resorts such as Rosewood Little Dix Bay and Saba Rock were rebuilt after the storms.
All Virgin Islands have one thing in common: They offer divers and snorkelers some of the world’s best spots. Coolest attraction: new diving areas, assembled from wrecks – such as the Art Reef in the shape of an octopus off Virgin Gorda. Mike Grunwald
Year-round destination: San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Those warm colors! The house facades are whitewashed in yellow-orange, ochre, and rosé, with green dabs of laurel trees in front of them, and the bright red of the blooming bougainvilleas that twine in thousands of courtyards. San Miguel de Allende in the highlands of the Mexican state of Guanajuato is a gem, protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008.
Wherever you look, it looks like a film set: winding cobblestone streets, a lot of baroque, a bit of neo-gothic, everything spruced up, but not restored to death, but lively with restaurants, bars, galleries. A perfect setting with a high romantic factor. For the experts of the travel magazine “Condé Nast Traveler”, the place is “the heart of Mexico”, which is why they recently named San Miguel de Allende the best city in the world for 2023.
Cultural vacation: San Miguel de Allende in Mexico has been a World Heritage Site since 2008. The tradition of folk dancing is maintained and put on public display
Quelle: Craig Lovell/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
“You could spend hours browsing the galleries and pop-up shops,” writes the magazine. And praises the restaurant scene for its “global mix of delicious cuisines”. Celebrities also love the place. For example, “Emily in Paris” star Lily Collins. She recently jetted off to a friends’ wedding in San Miguel de Allende; her perfectly staged Instagram posts from there were so magical that they immediately ended up in British “Vogue”.
Other plus points: The city is considered one of the safest in Mexico. The highland climate is mild – never below 20 degrees, low humidity, more than 320 days of sunshine a year, an ideal year-round destination. The landmark is the cathedral of San Miguel Arcángel, surrounded by the most beautiful inner-city park in Mexico, the Jardín Allende.
A challenge is the candy called tumbagón, which is unique to San Miguel de Allende. These are delicate loyalty test biscuit rolls that you put on your little finger. Legend has it that anyone who manages to nibble the rolls off their fingers without them falling apart proves that they are loyal to their partner. Kira Hanser
Particularly family-friendly: Ocracoke Beach, USA
It’s the perfect vacation beach for families and the best beach in the USA: Ocracoke Beach on North Carolina’s Outerbanks. This year it was selected from 650 beaches by Stephen P. Leatherman, better known by his nickname Dr. beach to the Beach experts of the USA. The beach doctor, who is also director of the Institute for Coastal Research and the International Hurricane Center in Florida, has been evaluating the coasts of the USA according to 50 criteria since 1991, including the quality of the sand, the cleanliness of the water and the unspoiled environment.
Ocracoke Beach received top marks for being wild and natural, with sand stretching to the horizon, ideal for collecting conch shells and flotsam. It slopes gently towards the sea, making it ideal for children and beginners. The national park administration provides good service: in summer there are lifeguards, parking lots, toilets, outdoor showers; in July and August, the water here warms up to 29 degrees.
Beach vacation: Ocracoke Beach in North Carolina offers sand as far as the horizon and loads of services in the summer season
Quelle: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
For a fee, the provider Ocracoke Beach Fires prepares a campfire on the beach in the evening. He’s got a beach fire permit, sets up chairs, starts the fire—and delivers tons of s’mores that are a must-have for any American cookout: white marshmallows and chocolate chips sandwiched between cracker cookies, skewered over the fire until they melt. After the beach party, the crew takes care of cleaning up.
You won’t find luxury hotels on this unspoilt beach, but Ocracoke Campground is just a walk from the beach. However, it only has 136 pitches, so booking well in advance is advisable, especially after the beach was voted number one and a rush is expected in 2023. If you hear neighing in the mobile home or tent at night: then the wild Ocracoke banker ponies are loose. They like to gallop along the beach when it’s deserted. Kira Hanser
On the electric bus to the pharaohs: Cairo and Giza, Egypt
The timing could hardly be better: the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, not far from the pyramids, will open in early 2023, after a delay of several years. It is the world’s largest archaeological exhibition complex for exhibits from the time of the pharaohs – above all for Tutankhamun, the child king discovered in 1922.
The 3,200-year-old granite statue of King Ramses II is a highlight at the new Grand Egyptian Museum. The spectacular building has a triangular floor plan and will open in 2023
Quelle: picture alliance/abaca/Balkis Press
And around 100 years after the spectacular find, there is increasing hope of finding the resting place of Egypt’s last pharaoh: Cleopatra. Since 2008 there has been excavation in the ancient temple city of Taposiris Magna (Abu Sir); there are many indications that lead archaeologist Kathleen Martinez has a good nose. On November 3, the Cairo State Ministry for Antiquities Affairs announced “an exciting find” via Facebook: It is a huge tunnel system that probably stretches from Cleopatra’s palace in Alexandria to Taposiris Magna, where Martinez found the mummies of Cleopatra and her suspected lover Mark Antony.
But if the “greatest discovery of the 21st century”, as Egypt’s most famous archaeologist Zahi Hawass explained in anticipation, needs a little more time: no problem. Experts regularly discover ancient artefacts in the desert sand. Hawass’ last excavation success was two years ago: in 2020 he probably found the “lost golden city” of Amenhotep III, Tutankhamun’s grandfather, near Luxor.
The astonishingly well-preserved 3,400-year-old remains of the building are “an Egyptian version of Pompeii,” the magazine “National Geographic” quoted archaeologists involved at the time as saying. However, the discovery did not bring Egypt the high number of visitors that had been hoped for – Corona prevented that. Cairo is now all the more relying on the new museum, in which around 50,000 objects are on display; many have slumbered in the depots for decades and are being shown for the first time in the new building.
The tourism infrastructure has also been improved: in Giseh, for example, a visitor center, restaurants, and Bedouin-style lodges have been built – and recently electric buses have been taking tourists from Cairo to the pyramids. Conclusion: A trip to Cairo has never been more exciting than today, says “National Geographic” and recommends the city and surrounding area as the “Best of the World” destination for 2023. Bettina Seipp
Even Goethe was enthusiastic: Bozen, South Tyrol
Mountains and valleys, wine cellars and shopping streets, old-Austrian charm and Italian grandeur – hardly any city in the Alps offers more variety than Bolzano. And although South Tyrol’s capital is surrounded by snow-covered peaks in winter, thanks to the basin on the warm southern side of the Alps, it never gets freezing cold for long. From spring to autumn, Bolzano is so pleasantly warm that you almost feel like you are in the Mediterranean. The Waltherplatz in the city center is therefore already packed with chairs and tables in March, where locals and tourists are sitting, enjoying the sun and sipping an espresso or an aperitivo.
City vacation: South Tyrol’s capital Bozen, surrounded by picturesque mountains, is worthwhile in winter and in summer
What: Nora Bo/Getty Images
Word has gotten around about Bolzano’s attractiveness. Which is why the city of 107,000 inhabitants occupies the top spot in the current analysis by the booking platform Booking.com among the trendiest travel destinations for 2023 – no other Central European city has done so well. Above all, guests appreciate the varied gastronomy: In the rustic inns of the winding old town, for example in the “Vögele”, traditional dumpling cuisine is served, while the “In Viaggio” offers a culinary world tour and is the only Bolzano restaurant from the “Michelin Guide” with one star was awarded.
At the fruit market you can try all kinds of local delicacies every day except Sunday, from Stelvio mountain cheese and South Tyrolean bacon to plump peaches, which the great poet Goethe already praised in 1786 in his “Italian Journey”.
He also highlighted Bolzano as a wine town: “The hills at the foot of the mountains are cultivated with vines. The sticks are stretched over long, low arbors, the blue grapes hang delicately from the ceiling and ripen in the warmth of the nearby ground.” They still do that today; Almost 500 hectares in the city area are used for viticulture, mainly for the light Vernatsch and the characterful Lagrein, both local red varieties.
The most famous corpse in the Alps should also be on the program. It was found in 1991 as a deep-frozen, 5,300-year-old mummy from the Copper Age in the Ötztal Alps. A glazed ice chamber was built for her in the Bolzano Archeology Museum, and “Ötzi” has been on display there since 1998. Sonke Krueger