Photo: Rachel Geveden
How to Spend the Perfect Weekend on Mackinac Island
Step off the ferry onto Mackinac Island and you've stepped back in time: horse-drawn carriages, no cars, no traffic lights, no billboards or neon fast-food signs. Cars have been banned here since 1898, after carriage drivers complained the vehicles were spooking their horses, so biking, walking, and carriages still get you everywhere on this 8-mile loop of an island. It's a snapshot of a simpler time, and a welcome escape from the pace of the modern world.
Here's everything you need to know to visit, from what to do to the best times to go and where to eat.
T R A I N
7 California Weekend Train Trips to Take This Summer and Fall
Photo: Oak City Drone/Shutterstock
Flying's having a rough year between shutdown delays, safety scares, and rising fares, but California's train network is quietly picking up the slack. Amtrak's regional routes link the state's cities, parks, and beach towns with more legroom, no middle seats, and none of the airport chaos.
O U T D O O R
How to Bike the Fruit and Wine Byway in Palisade, Colorado
Photo: Phillip Rubino/Shutterstock
Colorado's only real wine region packs two dozen-plus vineyards into the Grand Valley, framed by the Grand Mesa and Bookcliffs, all still flying under the radar. Bike the Fruit and Wine Byway now, before word gets out.
N E W S
New European Trail that Connects Six Countries
There's a brand-new long-distance hiking route in Europe, and it's massive. The Wolf Trail runs nearly 3,500 kilometers from the Polish coast all the way to the Italian seaside, threading through Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and the Dolomites along the way.
T I P S
A Helpful Tool to Skip the Guesswork on Travel Safety
Photo: Travel Off Path
A government advisory can't tell you what a place actually feels like once you're there, but this tool can. It pulls live, on-the-ground reports from thousands of real travelers across 380+ destinations, so you get the honest take on a place before you book.
S T A Y S
Where Moroccan Design Meets Caribbean Flavor: Stay at Sana Tulum
Photo: Booking.com
Sana Tulum swaps the hotel zone's usual beachfront sameness for a Moroccan riad, complete with a Hand of Fatima entrance, courtyard pool, and shisha lounge.
Follow the path past the garden and pond, and you're standing on the Caribbean.
G E A R
The Top Travel Gear Matador’s Editors are Actually Using on Their Trips Right Now
Matador's editors tested this gear on everything from Himalayan switchbacks to midnight train hops across Eastern Europe.
These are the picks that survived the trip and made the cut.
Travel Well
The Matador Editorial Team
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