Great Escapes Most Viewed

Vibrant culture, serene spaces in L.A.'s Little Tokyo

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 00:00:00 MST

Fire was a major threat in the villages of old Japan, so many of them had yaguras -- tall towers from which lookouts could warn the populace of an outbreak, ringing a gigantic bell. When a revitalization project was launched in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo in the late 1970s, designers of the Japanese Village Plaza decided to anchor the shopping enclave with one of these nostalgic symbols of the homeland. So a three-story covered tower was constructed on First Street and painted a deep red.

How to save a few bucks on your next ski trip

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:00:00 MDT

It's been rough sledding for the economy - unless your name is Bill Gates. So what's a budget-minded skier or snowboarder to do?

In search of the ultimate San Diego fish taco

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:00:00 MST

SAN DIEGO - It is a humble assemblage of ingredients: a lump of fried or grilled fish, shredded cabbage, salsa fresca and white sauce in a corn tortilla, with a wedge of lime perched on top.

A Grand Canyon hike from rim to rim

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 00:00:00 MST

Hikers compare notes about stretches of trail with omnious-sounding names: the Devil's Corkscrew, Jacob's Ladder, Heartbreak Hill, the Box. They converse in hushed tones about sightings of black-and-yellow helicopters. Those weren't sightseeing tours they were medical evacuations. At the risk of tempting fate, they might even invoke the name of Margaret Bradley, a supremely fit young woman who lay down in the depths of the canyon last summer and put her head on her pack. She died of dehydration.

A navigation of Norway's fjords

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 00:00:00 MST

ABOARD THE KONG HARALD - The ship threaded its way among barren islands, forest-rimmed fjords and strings of snow-frosted mountains.

Cycling and sipping on a Napa Valley tour

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:00:00 MDT

CALISTOGA -- The route to Vincent Arroyo Winery wasn't nearly as convoluted as it might sound: over a wood-slat bridge that clattered beneath our tires, through the parking lot of the Home Plate Cafe, alongside a golf course, across a one-lane stone bridge built in 1904, and down a dirt lane flanked by leafy green grape vines.

Cast away on the island of Lanai

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 00:00:00 MDT

LANAI CITY, Hawaii -- The old barge still perches forlornly on the reef, rusted to a hulk and assaulted by waves that send great plumes of froth up its prow. On a four-mile, round-trip hike along aptly named Shipwreck Beach to see it, we encountered all of six other people.

Thailand bounces back from tsunami

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 00:00:00 MST

Two years after the devastating tsunami ravaged Thailand's coastline and claimed more than 5,000 lives there, the majestic Andaman coast is once again ready for its close-up.

El Tovar is nearly as grand as the canyon

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:00:00 MST

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. - As a staffer loaded wood into the lobby fireplace at El Tovar Hotel one morning, an elderly new arrival approached and asked about the Grand Canyon: "Is there any transportation down to the bottom?"