Innehållsförteckning för Spring 2025 från AFAR

AMY ALIPIO WRITER Great American Cities: Washington, D.C., page 86 IG @amyalipio Amy Alipio’s first job in journalism was working as an editor at the English-language newspaper Budapest Week while living in Hungary. There, she “learned how to look at one destination from all sorts of angles to find a diversity of stories.” For her piece on the U.S. capital, Alipio used her knowledge as a D.C. native “to share the everyday cultural awesomeness that gets overshadowed by monumental, federal Washington.” Her best bit of travel advice? “Stay rigidly flexible.” BETHANY MOLLENKOF PHOTOGRAPHER Down in the Valley, page 94 IG @fancybethany Bethany Mollenkof first fell in love with Valle de Guadalupe in Mexico during a visit in 2017. She was excited to return—for the third time—to photograph this feature, using…

“We HAVE MEXICO’S BEST wine and restaurants—and its worst roads!” declares Fernando Pérez Castro, the 47-year-old proprietor of Lomita and Finca La Carrodilla wineries in Valle de Guadalupe, as we jostle along a maze of dirt lanes, past fields and boulder-strewn hillslopes. “And GPS can be funny aquí,” adds Sheyla Alvarado, chef at Lunario, Lomita’s acclaimed restaurant. Coming to pick up me and Barry, my partner, at our hotel from only a few miles away, they got lost. “Happens even to people who live here!” she laughs. Situated in the northern Baja California Peninsula just under two hours from San Diego, Valle de Guadalupe is Mexico’s premier viticultural region, producing more than 70 percent of the wine in a country still mostly associated with beer and tequila. As viticultural regions…

MY FAMILY CALLS ME the screen police. But they’ll thank me someday, I’m sure of it. My husband, Jonathan, and our two kids (Catalina, 5, and Niko, 8) weren’t complaining when my latest effort to get us off our devices resulted in a weeklong, hiking-focused road trip through the extraterrestrial beauty of Bryce Canyon and Zion national parks in southern Utah last fall. We rented a car in Las Vegas and drove three hours through desert landscapes to AutoCamp Zion, an Airstream-filled glamping site on the outskirts of the park. Our trailer was a perfect mix of ever-so-slightly roughing it with welcome comforts, such as a surprisingly spacious bathroom and a Tempur-Pedic mattress (and sofa bed for the kids). The next day we hiked the three-mile Upper Emerald Pools Trail,…

IN JANUARY I TRAVELED to Mexico City—a place I’ve visited often and love deeply—for a business trip. And while I did have meetings focused on long-term goals and strategic objectives, I also used the four days as an excuse to explore. (Though the term “bleisure” boils my grammarian blood, it is apt.) With several Afar colleagues, I ate tuna tostadas at Contramar and sipped natural wine at Ticuchi; gazed at David Alfaro Siqueiros murals at Chapultepec Castle; and soaked up the dynamic and intangible spirit of the sprawling city. Afar readers yearn to experience culture wherever they are in the world. A country’s art, architecture, museums, music, design, food, and wine are rooted in history and heritage—and speak to its national identity. In this issue devoted to culture, we focus…

Is it even possible to travel unplugged in 2025? Since Afar ran a campaign to encourage travelers to explore device-free in 2018, smartphones have gotten smarter and more omnipresent in our lives. Americans spend an average of 4.5 hours per day on them, up from just under three hours in 2022. It’s harder than ever to power down, but it’s worth trying. Multiple studies have shown that less screen time can improve your mental health, which, in turn, can provide more space for big-picture ideas and help you travel more deeply. Disconnecting “resets your nervous system and allows you to be more present with your thoughts,” says Chip Conley, founder of the Joie de Vivre hotel chain and the Modern Elder Academy, which offers midlife retreats aimed at helping people…

WHERE TO STAY Renovated in 2021, the Ritz-Carlton is steps from the Pearl River, and all 351 rooms and suites—complete with marble bathrooms, feather beds, and walk-in closets—feature views of either the water or the bustling cityscape below. The spa, including a fitness center and heated outdoor pool, covers an entire 43,000-square-foot hotel floor. Conveniently located in the center of downtown, the Mandarin Oriental debuted in 2013 with 263 rooms that are some of the largest in the city. Jiang by Chef Fei is one of three restaurants with two Michelin stars in Guangzhou; for a more casual treat, sit for a while in the lobby’s very Instagrammable cake shop, where intricate confections, available with coffee and tea, are displayed in elegant glass cases. WHERE TO EAT Nanxin Milk Desserts…

IT MAY COME AS A SURPRISE to learn that the largest Shakespeare collection in the world resides not in London or Stratford-upon-Avon but in Washington, D.C., at the Folger Shakespeare Library. Or that the only Leonardo da Vinci painting in the Americas can be found at the National Gallery of Art. Or that go-go music was invented in D.C., born out of the city’s vibrant funk scene. As all eyes turn to Washington once again at the start of a new administration, these and other superlatives prove that it isn’t just a political capital but a cultural one as well. Travelers head to the National Mall to find marble memorials, Smithsonian museums (housing everything from spacecraft to Dorothy’s ruby slippers), and global gatherings (like WorldPride 2025, taking place May 17…