Pinnacles National Park is a U.S. National Park in Northern California, south of San Francisco and an hour inland from Monterey Bay. It’s known mostly for its stunning rock-spires formed by an extinct volcano and an abundance of California Condors. Pinnacles was established as the United States’ 59th National Park, elevating it from a National […]
Our 1-day Northern Kyoto Itinerary features temples, an imperial villa, hiking, an onsen in the mountains, a scenic railway journey, and more. This touring plan offers strategy for efficiently having a jam-packed day, and a step by step plan of attack for Northern Kyoto that will be almost entirely crowd-free. I was going to title […]
Fushimi Inari Taisha is popular for its thousands of vermilion torii gates, which draw more tourists than any other temple or shrine in Kyoto, Japan. However, if you go off the beaten path, you can find a secret bamboo forest that rivals the famous Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, and without any crowds. In this post, we’ll share photos […]
It’s been a while since our two months in Japan ended (and since Part 1 of our Kyoto Trip Report), and this recap seems to be losing steam, both on my end and in terms of reader interest. Rather than dragging it out unnecessarily, I’m going to wrap it up with two final installments. I […]
The Fløibanen Funicular to Mount Fløyen is one of Bergen, Norway’s most popular attractions. Located downtown near the fish market and Bryggen Wharf, this should be your top priority when visiting Bergen. Literally, make it the very first thing you do! We were visiting Bergen via a cruise ship, and we had read a lot […]
One of the best things to do in Ålesund, Norway is the Aksla Viewpoint, which is also known as Fjellstua Viewpoint. Not only is this fun and stunning, but it’s free and requires minimum time. That’s probably why it’s the #1 thing to do in Ålesund per TripAdvisor reviews. In this post, we’ll share photos from Aksla […]
Planning a winter trip to a place with cold weather? Wondering what to pack to stay warm for your hike or photography expedition? This post has you covered! Growing up in the snow belt of Michigan where the “Lake Effect Snow Machine,” as our local weatherman typically called it and attending college just south of […]
Hiking to Pulpit Rock (Preikestolen) is one of Norway’s most popular things to do, and is a great experience from Stavanger. In this post, we’ll share photos, our hike report, tips for how to do this hike as a cruise port activity, and much more. The hike to Preikestolen is moderately difficult, with well-marked trails that are […]
Muir Woods National Monument is a 550 acre park filled with old growth coastal redwoods; a humbling place just outside of San Francisco, California in Golden Gate National Recreation Area. In this post, we’ll share some thoughts and photos of these giant trees. If you’ve never seen redwood and sequoia trees, it’s an absolute must-do on any […]
Grinnell Glacier Trail is a 12-mile roundtrip hike in Glacier National Park starting at Swiftcurrent Lake and leading to Upper Grinnell Lake, with some beautiful scenery along the way. In this post, I’ll share photos from the hike and my experience doing it, along with other info so you can prepare for this hike. For […]