"YOU'RE CANYONING!" my husband, Emilio, yelled down from the monolith above me. I hadn't realized there was a verb for what I was doing-half hiking, half sliding down to a ravine filled with frigid water on a hot summer afternoon. This was our third day in the Zagorohoria, a group of 46 villages that cling to the edge of the Vikos Gorge, in the Epirus region of northern Greece. And we had already used up most of the sporty verbs I knew, as we rock-climbed, hiked, and rafted our way through half a dozen different fairy-tale settings.
The canyon we were exploring has a series of rock pools, or swimming holes, carved out of the limestone by mountain springs. It wasn't the only spot where we took a dip. The previous morning, in the village of Iliochóri, we hiked 3,000 feet down-yes, down-to waterfalls that ended in three levels of strikingly green natural pools. This hidden paradise was well worth what we considered a strenuous trek. But as we spotted an older woman descending a wooden ladder to the swimming area in pumps and palazzo pants, , leather purse in hand, we realized "strenuous" might not be a sentiment shared by everyone.
On another excursion, Emilio and I rented an inflatable raft and glided down the Voidomatis, said to be one of the cleanest rivers in Europe. The water was so clear we could have counted every pebble at the bottom if we had the time--which, in these timeless surroundings, almost seemed like a possibility.
Denne historien er fra June 2024-utgaven av Travel+Leisure US.
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Denne historien er fra June 2024-utgaven av Travel+Leisure US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Oodles of Noodles
Slurping through a lantern-lit alley in Sapporo, Japan, where miso ramen was born
The Sweet Spot
Just an hour south of Miami, Nora Walsh finds a candyland of tropical fruits ripe for picking.
Freshly Brewed
In the Cederberg Mountains of South Africa, Kendall Hunter discovers the powerful effects of the humble rooibos plant.
SHORE LEAVE
Raw, wild, and mind-bendingly remote, yet peppered with world-class wineries and restaurants-Australia's South West Edge is a study in contrasts.
Of Land and Sea
Savoring French flavors on a gastronomic trail between Marseille and Dijon.
FAMILY-STYLE
Food writer MATT GOULDING couldn't wait to get back to the hushed omakase restaurants of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. But would his young kids love the country-and its cuisine as much as he does?
HAPPY MEAL
Many tascas, the no-frills dining spots in Lisbon, have vanished. But others, Austin Bush discovers, are being lovingly reinvented.
A City Abuzz
In underappreciated Trieste, Taras Grescoe finds some of Italy's most storied-and spectacular-coffee shops.
FJORD FOCUS
Norway in December? Crazy-and crazy beautiful. Indulging a family wish, Akash Kapur discovers a world of icy enchantment.
DESTINATION OF THE YEAR Thailand
Full disclosure: I didn't like Bangkok at first. I didn't get it—the chaos, the traffic, the fact that everything was hard to find. But like all good love affairs, my relationship with Thailand—which deepened when I moved from Vietnam 12 years ago to work at Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia, where I'm now editor in chief—took time to blossom.
