World's Most Romantic Islands

Romantic island getaways from the Caribbean to the South Pacific to help start—or stoke—the flame.

By Emma Sloley

Rangali Island, The Maldives

Courtesy of samyoyobelinda.com

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Whether you’re after all-out luxury or sand-between-the-toes casual, there’s a romantic island for you. And while many of these dream destinations have “remote” and “secluded” as their principle selling points, others are surprisingly close to home. (One you can practically see from the Hollywood sign.)

No matter whether you’re a new couple just getting to know each other or you’re celebrating your golden anniversary, these romantic islands will help you holiday happily ever after.

 

Rangali Island, The Maldives

 

Of the 1,192 islets that make up this island nation in the Indian Ocean, roughly 1,000 are uninhabited. Suffice to say, your chances of finding romantic seclusion are pretty high. Like most of the resorts here, the Conrad Maldives Hotel occupies its own private atoll, called Rangali Island. The romance factor kicks in before you even arrive, thanks to a seaplane ride over the shallow, impossibly clear lagoon. Soon enough, you’re dining in the underwater restaurant and kicking back in the over-water spa.

Molokai, Hawaii

Photo Resource Hawaii / Alamy

 

Molokai, Hawaii

 

A conspicuous absence of international hotel chains is just one reason this idyll—situated east of Oahu in the Hawaiian archipelago—draws romantics from all over. Hike to remote waterfalls, kayak secluded rocky coastlines, and ride donkeys into the lush valleys, or just laze beachside. (Head for the golden sands of secluded three-mile-long Papohaku Beach, at the far-west end of the island.) With just one traffic light on the island, the only gridlock you’ll encounter is caused by colonies of curious sea turtles frolicking in the outrageously clear waters.

Capri, Italy

Jon Arnold Images Ltd / Alamy

 

Capri, Italy

 

Sure, noon in Capri Town can be a tourist swarm, but the bulk of visitors depart on the last ferry back to Naples or Sorrento—leaving the island blissfully free for lovers. And this dramatically craggy outcrop, a Mediterranean Garden of Eden splashed with floral color and perfumed by lemon trees and herb gardens, has remained a magnet for the A-list since antiquity, when Emperor Tiberius set up camp here.

St. Lucia, Caribbean

Courtesy of Jade Mountain

 

St. Lucia, Caribbean

 

If the Caribbean Sea were a catwalk, St. Lucia would be its most bankable supermodel. This 27-mile-long island is lush, mountainous, and blessed with gorgeous beaches and verdant cocoa plantations. The jade-green twin peaks of the Pitons, jungle-swathed volcanic plugs that rise from a silvery ocean on the southwest coast, are the Caribbean’s most striking backdrop.

Bocas del Toro, Panama

Courtesy of Punta Caracol Acqua-Lodge

 

Bocas del Toro, Panama

 

Located in the Caribbean Sea near the border with Costa Rica, this group of islands is all about low-key relaxation with a Latin American flavor, pitch-perfect for sybarites who don’t want to pack a designer bikini. The main island of Colon has a buzzy downtown full of waterfront bars and laid-back nightclubs, while the smaller islands offer deserted beaches, rainforests, mangroves, and coral reefs.

Catalina Island, California

iStock

 

Catalina Island, California

 

Just 22 miles southwest of Los Angeles, Santa Catalina has a certain Mediterranean flavor. Yachts jostle in a glinting harbor, sorbet-colored homes cascade down the hillside, and the secluded coves are ready-made for romance—including the aptly named Lover’s Cove, east of Avalon.

Santorini, Greece

iStock

 

Santorini, Greece

 

Sweeping views over a picture-perfect caldera—the result of a volcanic eruption around 1600 B.C.—is just one factor in Santorini’s romantic charm. Gorgeous, striated cliffs and black-sand beaches don’t hurt, either. Head to the famously picturesque village of Oia (book a room at the 18-suite Mystique) with its classic whitewashed, cliff-edge architecture, blue-domed churches, and stone houses overhung with bougainvillea canopies.

Barbuda, Caribbean

Claire Frank

 

Barbuda, Caribbean

If your idea of Eden is unpaved roads, truly deserted beaches, and nary a nightclub, this 68-square-mile island in the Eastern Caribbean is for you. Barbuda features just a handful of high-end hotels, including Coco Point Lodge, on its own 164-acre peninsula fronting glorious pink-sand beaches. Take a boat trip to the Frigate Bird Sanctuary on a lagoon in the island’s northwest and ogle the 5,000 namesake birds that call it home.

Laucala Island, Fiji

Courtesy of Laucala Island

 

Laucala Island, Fiji

 

The South Pacific fantasy of swaying palm trees and extravagantly lush scenery reaches its fullest expression here. There are just 25 cottages on this privately owned resort, which occupies the entire island, each with a private pool, dining pavilion, and outdoor hot tub and shower. While the resort attracts deep-pocketed travelers, don’t expect glitzy lobbies. The emphasis is on rustic, pared-back luxury; every detail seems crafted to appeal to couples, including the lagoon pool with its man-made “islands” big enough for two.

Pamalican Island, The Philippines

Courtesy of Amanresorts

 

Pamalican Island, The Philippines

 

You’ll find only one resort here—Amanpulo, set on its own private island southwest of Manila with just 40 secluded pitched-roof traditional villas, strung along a pristine beach with sand so white it’s blinding. Beachcombers can navigate the entire island on foot in less than two hours, keeping their eyes out for baby sharks, kingfishers, and sea turtles, which lay their eggs here between March and October.

Source:- http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-36037813

Delights beyond Limit at Malaysia Holidays

Malaysia is a remarkable blend of natural splendours and man made wonders. The place brims with attractions like grand mountains, beautiful rivers and wild forests, as well as amazing temples and mosques, rousing skyscrapers, elegant colonial structures and lush green spaces.

Malaysia is really like two countries rolled into one. Through these very different but very distinctive regions, an extraordinary variety of attractions are portrayed. Be it the high-rise buildings of Kuala Lumpur or the serene and quiet villages of Sarawak or the pristine beaches of Perhentian Islands.

Malaysia Holidays is like an experience of a multiethnic buffet of Malay, Chinese and Indian flavours. The country celebrates its numerous festivals and events with great fervour and zeal. The year brims with vibrant, invigorating and exciting activities. Some of these festivals are religious and sober but others are vivacious and effervescent events.

Food in Malaysia

Malaysia has one of the finest assortments of delicious cuisines in the world. Well, what else can you expect when you blend the finest of the Malay, Chinese and Indian cuisines. The place is truly a gastronomical delight that tantalises and titillates each and every taste bud with its remarkable spicy food. Chinese buffets, Indian curries, spicy Malay food stalls and even the Western food at some places in the region is simply scrumptious and leaves you wanting for more.

Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia, it is a remarkable testimonial of the country’s originality and determination. Kuala Lumpur has emerged as one of the leading tourist destinations in Asia that is dominated by some of the tallest skyscrapers in the world and some of the best hotels in Malaysia.

Malaysia’s strength lies in its multiplicity of ethnicities, religions and landscapes. It is a beautiful country that beckons travellers from all over the world.

Hong Kong Flooded with Shoppers in Golden Week

This past week Hong Kong was flooded with large crowds of shoppers. The city experienced and witnessed a tremendous shopping spree that remains matchless in the recent history. It was the famous Golden Week of Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong Tourism Board has reported that more than 600,000 people arrived from mainland China on the initial six days of Golden Week, which is the highest number in almost five years.

Most of the Hong Kong’s malls were converged with humanity. The popular designer stores such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Chanel saw massive crowd that was managed by security guards and barriers. And all this madness makes sense as there is no sales tax or other taxes in the region which enables people to indulge themselves into a variety of luxury goods.

Most shoppers land up in Hong Kong with huge empty suitcases which they stuff up with their purchases. It is almost a steal for the shoppers given the affordability of some of the most luxurious brands in the world.

The retailers in Hong Kong also do their part by offering exclusive discounts and organising promotional events. Additionally, for the convenience of mainland shoppers, the retailers put up signs in simplified Chinese rather than traditional Chinese used in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is one of the world’s most popular destinations for year round holidays and has also emerged as one of the world’s best places to shop. Shopping, travel and hospitality businesses including Hotels in Hong Kong do brisk business during such events. Founded in 1999 to promote domestic tourism in China, Golden Week occurs twice in a year. Golden Week is one of the times when the country’s tourist destinations see a surge in travel activity and are at their colourful best. Golden week is one of the two 7 days national holiday periods and coincides with the nation’s national day on 1st October.

America's Most Beautiful Coastal Views

From towering Pacific Northwest sea stacks to mile upon mile of mirage-like tidal flats, these 10 littoral landscapes take ocean views to a new level.

By Caroline Kinneberg

Newport Beach, RI

Onne van der Wal

People often talk about how moving the shore is—a place that relaxes, awakens, and recharges.

What is it about ocean shorelines that has such power? They touch every sense: the redolence of fresh sea breeze, the sand underfoot, the sparkling sunsets, and the white noise of crashing waves. Whether you’re reclining on windswept sands or trekking across dizzying bluffs, the ebb and flow of the water is hypnotic, and its sheer expanse grounding. Something as vast as the ocean just puts all of life’s little worries into perspective.

Treasures can be found along all of the United States’ coasts, 95 thousand miles of eastern, western, northern, and southern shoreline that exemplify the diversity our country has to offer. So whether you crave a bracing hike along blustery seaside cliffs or a relaxed afternoon under the fiery sun, the U.S. has a shore to match your every mood—and views that will blow you away.

Newport Beach, RI

America’s wealthiest families started building their “summer cottages” (read: stately mansions) here in the mid 19th century, attracted by Newport Beach’s gorgeous views. Not much has changed since then, except that many of the historic homes—which overlook sweeps of ocean so immense it’s easy to forget that Rhode Island is our smallest state—are now open to the public, thanks largely to the efforts of Doris Duke in the 1950s. Her sprawling, 1887 English manor–style estate, Rough Point, is among the island’s most spectacular buildings—and it has the vistas to match.

Insider Tip: Don’t skip the mostly gentle 3.5-mile cliff walk, atop the beaches’ craggy rocks.

Brewster, Cape Cod, MA

Joanna Vaughan

Brewster, Cape Cod, MA

On the beckoning hook of Massachusetts lies the town of Brewster, with mirage-like tidal flats so vast that a coast in Brazil is said to be their only rival in size. During low tide, you can walk a mile into the ocean on freshly exposed sand, alongside minnow-filled tidal pools, skittering hermit crabs, and bubbles from quahogs breathing underfoot.

Insider Tip: Stock up on penny candy like Boston Baked Beans and nonpareils at The Brewster Store before setting out to the beach. Eating it on the shore while looking up at the wind-beaten, colonial clapboard houses atop the bluff is pure Americana.

Ten Thousand Islands, Everglades National Park, FL

Chauncey Davis

Ten Thousand Islands, Everglades National Park, FL

The nine delicate, endangered ecosystems within this 1.5 million-acre World Heritage–protected sanctuary, located on Florida’s southwest tip, contain a mind-boggling range of flora and fauna. Take in nature’s glory in the Ten Thousand Islands, a chain of mangrove-forested barrier islands bordering Chokoloskee Bay where, on any given day, you’ll spot great blue herons, endangered West Indian manatees, and gargantuan gators and crocs swimming alongside one another—the only place in the world where these toothy reptiles coexist.

Insider Tip: Take an Everglades Island airboat tour to get an overview of the untamed Gulf shore and its many wild animals...with, of course, a safe distance between you and the snapping jaws of those crocs.

Tongass National Forest, AK

Alaska Stock LLC / Alamy

Tongass National Forest, AK

Alaska’s Tongass National Forest—the largest in the U.S.—is a rainforest (albeit a temperate one) on Alaska’s southern coast. All that precipitation makes for a spectacular landscape, with mist-obscured coves, mighty waterfalls, and North Pacific fjords as immense and enchanting as Norway’s. Plus, the extraordinary wildlife (think bald eagles, porcupines, black bears) is exactly what one dreams of in Alaska, and the activities are endless, from fly-fishing to sea kayaking.

Insider Tip: From May through the first week of September, Orvis’s eight-day Cruising Southeast Alaska package will help you access the hard-to-get-to spots on intimate ships, with onboard naturalists who accompany guests during onshore excursions.

Makalawena Beach, Kekaha Kai State Park, HI

Bryan Lowry / Alamy

Makalawena Beach, Kekaha Kai State Park, HI

The Big Island’s west Kona Coast may be renowned for its coffee beans, but its best hidden treasure is a beach called Makalawena. To get there, park at Mahaiula and head north on the dirt path for a sweaty third-of-a-mile hike—part of it across a jagged dried lava bed. You’ll be surprised to emerge at a heavenly, triple-crescented, white sand beach so isolated that, if you even encounter another soul, it’s likely to be a flippered, friendly-looking green turtle, which for decades has teetered on the verge of extinction.

Insider Tip: Pick up a boogie board ($5/day) or surfboard ($15/day) at Pacific Vibrations before you test out the waves. Afterward, rinse off in the freshwater pond concealed by palm trees just beyond the sand dunes.

Pacific Coast Highway, Santa Monica, CA

iStock

Pacific Coast Highway, Santa Monica, CA

Winding 130 miles from Oxnard to Dana Point, past some of America’s most famous beaches, this scenic southern stretch of California’s Route One is the perfect setting for a classic American road trip. The best stretch may be the four-mile, palm-lined portion that overlooks the golden sands and white-tipped surf of Will Rogers and Santa Monica state beaches from atop grassy cliffs—it’s the stuff of California dreaming. To best enjoy the area’s near constant sunny days (more than 300 per year), keep that convertible top down.

Insider Tip: Evoke the glamour of a 1920s Hollywood getaway with a night (or a meal) fit for a movie star at Mediterranean-style Casa del Mar, a T+L World’s Best Hotel. You’ll find it by detouring off Highway One at the end of the route.

Ogunquit, ME

Danita Delimont / Alamy

Ogunquit, ME

It’s no wonder the Algonquin Indians named this idyllic spot—now a quaint village packed with antique shops and galleries—Ogunquit, or “beautiful place by the sea”: the 3.5-mile stretch of windswept muslin-colored sand ringed by stone outcroppings is especially striking when compared to Maine’s characteristically craggy shore. Known for an art colony established in 1898, the town continues to inspire painters and photographers today.

Insider Tip: Ogunquit’s Marginal Way—an easy one-and-a-quarter-mile stroll—starts downtown, meanders along craggy cliffs (which drop straight into cormorant- and duck-dotted waters), and ends at Perkins Cove, with two not-to-miss attractions: an iconic 19th-century footbridge and Footbridge Lobster, where the signature lobster roll is stuffed with five ounces of the day’s freshest catch—hauled in by the owner himself—and served with a side of chips or homemade potato salad.

Shackleford Banks, NC

Bill Russ / Courtesy of NC Tourism

Shackleford Banks, NC

You don’t have to be starring in a Clint Eastwood western to camp amid wild horses: on the Outer Banks of North Carolina—a string of spaghetti-skinny barrier islands skirting the state’s east coast—that’s just your standard vacation. The best place to pitch your tent is on the golden sands of secluded Shackleford Banks, on the Cape Lookout National Seashore, where more than 100 ponies roam among the dunes, snacking on seagrass and lazing in the surf. Legend has it they’re descendants of Spanish mustangs that escaped a shipwreck.

Insider Tip: Take the 15- to 20-minute ferry from Morehead City ($15 round-trip; portsidemarina.com), Beaufort ($15; islandferryadventures.com), or Harkers Island ($15; lordecksatcalicojacks.com) to reach the uninhabited 2,500-acre island, part of Cape Lookout National Seashore’s Crystal Coast.

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, Big Sur, CA

Mark Conlin / Alamy

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, Big Sur, CA

Some of the earth’s tallest and oldest trees, coastal redwoods can soar nearly 400 feet into the air and live more than 3,500 years. Our favorite place to sit and contemplate among this impressive species—native to certain areas of California and southwest Oregon—is Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. It’s smaller than other protected areas in central California’s Big Sur region and undeservedly (but blessedly) overlooked.

Insider Tip: The best view in the whole place is of McWay Falls, California’s only coastal waterfall. Climb 10 minutes from the Julia Pfeiffer Burns parking lot (following the signs for the upper trail) to see its torrent plunge 80 feet from a vertiginous mountainside straight into the turquoise Pacific.

Shi Shi Beach, Olympic National Park, WA

Sean Gwizdak

Shi Shi Beach, Olympic National Park, WA

When most people conjure the Pacific Northwest, specific images spring to mind—and Shi Shi (pronounced “shai shai”) Beach has it all: sea stacks towering above the ocean, Sitka spruce forests, and soaring herons. It’s 2.5 miles along remote, driftwood-strewn sands from the beach’s entrance to the iconic Point of Arches, a chain of enormous arched, piled, and pointed rocks—but we promise it’s well worth the walk.

Insider Tip: The muddy, three-mile trail from the parking lot to the beach crosses gorgeously forested Makah Indian Reservation lands. Before heading out, pick up a Makah recreational permit ($10; valid for one year), some picnic-ready snacks, and galoshes at Washburn’s General Store, located in town.

Source:- http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-35617389

DIRAR SET FOR DUBAI TRIP - By Press Association Sport Staff

Gordon Elliott is planning an exotic campaign for Dirar after the diminutive stayer provided the Irishman with his biggest success on the Flat in the totesport Ebor at York.

Elliott is far better known as a jumps trainer - becoming the youngest man to win the Grand National back in 2007 - and he has coaxed incredible improvement out of Dirar (14-1), who was running in modest hurdle races just a year ago but progressed enough to finish third in the Galway Hurdle a few days before this.

Jamie Spencer was initially one of the victims of the predictable traffic problems on Dirar but squeezed between Rosika and Bridge Of Gold with about a furlong to run and ended up claiming the first prize of over £150,000 by a length and a quarter.

"The Grand National was brilliant but I probably didn't appreciate it as I was young at the time. We'll make sure we enjoy this one," said Elliott.

"The plan was to run in the Galway Hurdle, where he ran well behind Overturn, then to come here and then look at going to Dubai before having another go at the Galway Hurdle.

"He was a cheap buy but he has been improving all the way."

Spencer added: "This is the second time I've won this race, but I should have won about nine.

"This Festival is named after the Ebor, not the Nunthorpe or Yorkshire Oaks and that's why it's so important."

William Haggas' Approve (8-1) bounced back to his best to win the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Gimcrack Stakes.

The Norfolk Stakes winner has been below par since his Ascot win but reunited with Eddie Ahern, he swooped fast and late to beat Crown Prosecutor by three-quarters of a length.

"It's fantastic to win this race again. As a Yorkshireman, to win it once was great but obviously twice is even better," said Haggas, who took the 2006 renewal with Conquest.

"It's no mean performance to win it with a penalty.

"He lost his way in France a bit but today he was a Group winner and the rest had only won maidens and there was the Super Sprint winner too."

Frankie Dettori treated the crowd to a flying dismount after Opinion Poll wore down Samuel in the Weatherbys Insurance Lonsdale Cup.

Michael Jarvis' youngster could have a fruitful autumn if the rain finally arrives.

"You dont want too many of these in one day. He was quite lazy half-way through the race," said Dettori.

"We had to knuckle down deep in the last two, but I knew there was plenty in the locker.

"He is a much better horse on soft ground but he showed great guts today.

"All those staying races at the end of the season will be under consideration I would have thought, but there's not too many of them."

Kieren Fallon continued his red-hot streak as he brought home The Fonz (10-1) and New Planet (17-2) to victory.

He teamed up with Sir Michael Stoute to win the totesport.com Stakes on The Fonz.

"He's a nice little horse and the only blip with him was at Haydock," said Stoute.

"That race came a little quick after his run at Windsor so we freshened him up.

"He's just a game and honest handicapper."

New Planet maintained his unbeaten record for John Quinn in the Listed Julia Graves Roses Stakes.

"He did a piece of work the other day and I said to my son that if he didn't run a massive race, we were in trouble," said Quinn.

"He'll be staying at five furlongs for now and something like the Flying Childers would look suitable for him next."

Rae Guest's Conciliatory (8-1) followed up a recent Kempton win in the closing EBF totepool Fillies' Stakes under Martin Dwyer and the aim is likely to be some black type in the future.

Source:- http://www.sportinglife.com/racing/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=racing/10/08/19/RACING_York.html