Funviralpark Travel is back.
After two years of a pandemic winter, we couldn’t be more excited to see the world again in 2022. We ate through Tasca in Lisbon.
Find your next travel tip with the 10 best travel experiences of 2022.
Rome, Italy: Cinematic Vespa Tour
(Courtesy of @vespasidecartour)
As a travel aficionado and skeptical tourist, this fall, when I signed up for the Vespa sidecar tour of Rome through Anantara’s new Palazzo Naiadi Hotel, I knew what I was doing. I didn’t understand what you were trying to do.But the moment I saw a bespoke scooter with a bubbly retro-style sidecar and a clean coat of periwinkle paint, I became Audrey Hepburn Roman holiday, wide-eyed and obsessed with novelty. From Piazza della Repubblica to the Trevi Fountain, cappuccino at the Pantheon café, and Vespa at his open-air market where you can eat oysters in Trastevere, locals and tourists alike take pictures as we stroll the cobbled streets of narrow Roman streets. gave me Perfect for getting the Eternal City. Small and agile, we kept pace with her energy. We were one with her timeless bustle. —chloe hennen
Cotopaxi, Ecuador: Volcano Boulevard Trek
Cotopaxi volcano, Ecuador
(Courtesy of Pixabay/CC)
Ecuador’s second-largest volcano, Cotopaxi and the national park that surrounds it, is an incredible yet relatively tourist-free destination of densely overgrown valleys and angular peaks just 90 minutes from the capital, Quito. Little scenery. A four-day lodge-to-lodge trek along the ‘volcano street’ takes us around craggy bluffs, and every night we find soft beds, cozy wood-burning stoves and welcoming canelaso ( We finished at a charming hacienda with a drink similar to a traditional spiked drink). hot spiced cider). —Shoshi Park
Belize, Placencia: Sea Turtles and Snorkeling
Endangered sea turtles swim near Placencia, Belize
(Courtesy of Pixabay/CC)
Coral reef devastation has changed the snorkeling game around the world. But off Plasencia in southern Belize, the underwater forests of the Caribbean are still teeming with fluorescent fish. We’ve been fortunate to see them on beach vacations in the past, but this time we were lucky enough to swim with nurse sharks, rays, and most of all, the graceful and gorgeous endangered loggerhead turtles. It’s the only place where . . —Shoshi Park
Tunis, Tunisia: Aromatic Day in Ancient Medina
Exquisite tiled rooftop patio in the Medina of Tunis.
(Chloe Hennen)
If you only have one day to taste the Tunisian capital (like I did), the Tunis Medina is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a North African dream at its most mellow. Its ancient alleyways stretch into an endless maze of souks, cafés where men smoke shisha, and historic palaces and mosques with architectural influences from Andalusia to Arabia. A short walk from our hotel, the monumental Eze his Jituna Mosque is breathtaking, with buttery leather babush slippers, Berber textiles and colorfully woven poufs, So did the many shops crammed with amber and silver jewelry and handcrafted pottery. Dinner at the hotel’s gorgeously designed eponymous restaurant literally feasted on traditional mezze and whole grilled fish, set to a vibrant soundtrack of tunes by a charming Canaanite player. If you’ve never been to Tunisia, start discovering it at Anantara Sahara Tozeur Resort. — Chloe Hennen
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah: Canyoneering
Canyoning in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah
(Willa Scantlebury)
One of the country’s most underrated national parks, the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is home to a very unique and expansive slot canyon that attracts canyoners from all over the world. We tied up our harnesses, joined them, and belayed deep into the red rocks of Utah, venturing through winding, winding tunnels. —Shoshi Park
London, England: Eat Everything + Drink
Sessions Art Club, London
(Courtesy of @sessionsartsclub)
London’s restaurant and bar scene is still one of the best in the world, with so many innovative chefs and cocktail gurus making a name for themselves that it would take a lifetime to visit them all. But that doesn’t mean we don’t like trying again and again. —Shoshi Park
Jalisco, Mexico: Tequila Country Tasting Tour
Jalisco, Mexico
(Courtesy of Pixabay/CC)
The state of Jalisco, home to the town of Tequila, is one of Mexico’s largest producers of agave spirits. Clearly we had to try as much as we could on our visit to the state capital, Guadalajara. A tequila distillery tour ended the day with a taste of the countryside, drunken dancing and living mariachi with your new best friend. —Shoshi Park
Lisbon, Portugal: Food + Wine Lovers Tour
Day 2: City Exploration, Cocktails + Seafood Feast
The most striking feature of this gorgeous San Francisco look-alike was the food. The perfect starting point for your first taste of pastel de nada, a tart. Lunch or dinner at chaotic Cervejaria Ramiro is a must for a feast of fresh seafood (don’t miss the scarlet shrimp). Plate tapas style and inexpensive. O Velho Eurico and Taberna Sal Grosso (get the pork belly) were the highlights. —Jess Lander
Paris, France: Exploring the Catacombs
Catacombs, Paris
(Courtesy of Rijin/CC)
More than 6 million bodies are buried in an underground labyrinth that stretches 200 miles beneath the city of Paris. Less than a mile of them are open to visitors, and the corridors are lined with skulls and bones arranged in floor-to-ceiling religious motifs. The catacombs are so creepy it’s hard to wrap your brain around. —Shoshi Park
New York, New York: The Hudson River Conundrum
Hudson River Park.
(Nick Zapp)
Manhattan has a way of changing terrain and energy as you move through it, which tends to create memories of a discrete and episodic nature. A walk through Hudson River Park, a spectacular promenade that runs from Hell’s Kitchen to Tribeca. Water As he was walking south along the front, he noticed something strange and stepped to the end of the pier for a closer look at the river, which seemed to flow backwards towards Albany. I later learned that 153 miles downstream of the Hudson River is actually a tidal estuary where brackish water from the Atlantic Ocean is pushed upstream by rising tides. When the Mohicans settled in Hudson’s Valley, they called themselves the Muhuhekoneok, the People of the Water That Never Stands Still. —Nick Zapp
