Choose Charming Small Hotels Italy guide to discover your dream place to stay. With this Charming Small Hotels Italy guide, you'll discover dream places to stay that are worth planning your visit around. Here you'll discover a huge selection of truly special places to stay with character, charm and the personal touch from budget to luxury. Charming Small Hotels Italy offers a calm, reasoned evaluation. We go to great pains to try to get under the skin of each hotel; to draw a word-sketch of what the hotel really is and we're not afraid to offer the negative as well as the positive points! Inside our hotel guide you'll find: *Colour photographs and a thoughtful description for each entry. *A genuinely independent review - no hotel pays to be included in our guide. *A unique focus on places with charm and character. We favour places that can offer a genuinely personal welcome. *Every entry is more than just a bed for the night: it's an experience worth going out of your way for. From chic stylish city hotels to contemporary inns, from outstanding B&Bs to captivating country houses we're sure you'll find just the place you're looking for. With each hotel hand-picked by Fiona Duncan, arguably Britain's most respected hotel critic, your visit starts here.

Amid the rock spires and red-rock canyons west of Grand Junction near the Utah state line, a young man with a checkered past single-handedly built trails at a salary of $1 a month. John Otto brought the beauty of the canyons to the attention of the local chambers of commerce and eventually the National Park Service. With the stroke of a pen, Pres. William Taft added the Colorado National Monument to the park system in 1911. Ottoas eccentricities toward bureaucrats and businessmen caused him to abandon a quarter-century of trail building in the mid-1930s. His legacy was then picked up by hundreds of young men from the Civilian Conservation Corps prior to World War II. Today their combined efforts bring thousands of hikers, bicyclists, and motorists to the same trails Otto first used to introduce people to the canyon lands a century ago and the odd rock monoliths that seem to rise hundreds of feet out of the canyon floor. Scenic vistas of the Little Bookcliffs mountain range and the great Grand Mesa complete the beautiful panorama.

The real stories behind the scenery of America's national parks For twelve years, Andrea Lankford lived in the biggest, most impressive national parks in the world, working a job she loved. She chaperoned baby sea turtles on their journey to sea. She pursued bad guys on her galloping patrol horse. She jumped into rescue helicopters bound for the heart of the Grand Canyon. She won arguments with bears. She slept with a few too many rattlesnakes. Hell yeah, it was the best job in the world Fortunately, Andrea survived it. In this graphic and yet surprisingly funny account of her and others' extraordinary careers, Lankford unveils a world in which park rangers struggle to maintain their idealism in the face of death, disillusionment, and the loss of a comrade killed while holding that thin green line between protecting the park from the people, the people from the park, and the people from each other. Ranger Confidential is the story behind the scenery of the nation's crown jewels--Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Great Smokies, Denali. In these iconic landscapes, where nature and humanity constantly collide, scenery can be as cruel as it is redemptive.

To journey through South Africa is to step into a world where beauty is woven into every horizon. This is a country whose landscapes defy description: from the golden savannahs of the Highveld and the emerald vineyards of the Cape to the untamed wilds of Kruger and the dramatic meeting of two oceans at the continent’s edge. South Africa’s uniqueness lies not only in its breathtaking scenery, but in the vibrant tapestry of cultures, languages, and traditions that infuse every encounter with meaning. Here, luxury is found in the stillness of dawn as elephants roam free, in the exquisite comfort of lodges designed to honour the land, and in the knowledge that each experience is anchored in a deep respect for nature and community. The country’s commitment to conservation and sustainability is a way of life – one that invites visitors to become stewards of its wild beauty. To explore South Africa is to be changed by it: to witness a place where grandeur and spirituality coexist, where adventure and serenity are never far apart, and where every moment is a celebration of life’s richness and possibility.
 
The warmth and resilience of South Africa’s people and their deep connection to the land creates encounters that resonate long after departure. Ubuntu, the unique philosophy that ‘we are because of others,’ shapes not only human relationships, but also the approach to conservation and sustainable tourism that defines the country’s finest establishments.
 
The lodges, hotels, and retreats featured in ‘South Africa’s Best’ represent more than luxury accommodation; they all embody a commitment to environmental stewardship and community empowerment by demonstrating how exceptional hospitality can coexist with conservation efforts. Here, solar-powered suites overlook pristine wilderness, organic gardens supply world-class kitchens, and tourism revenue directly supports local communities and wildlife protection initiatives. These properties are bastions of hope, demonstrating that luxury and purpose can flourish together, and that travel can be a force for good.
 
This edition has been enriched through our collaboration with Ardmore, South Africa’s celebrated design studio, whose distinctive ceramics, textiles, and homeware are inspired by the country’s flora, fauna, and folklore. Ardmore reflects a commitment to artistic excellence and social upliftment, embodying the philosophy of Ubuntu. Their work has transformed local talent into internationally recognised artistry while supporting conservation efforts.
 
Our partnership with Steadfast Africa further enhances this collection. As a boutique luxury travel company, Steadfast Africa curates bespoke journeys within South Africa that showcase the country’s most exceptional destinations. Their expertise ensures seamless access to the world-class lodges, exclusive reserves, and immersive cultural experiences featured in this edition. Steadfast Africa ensures that travellers are able to become active participants in preserving the country’s natural heritage and supporting the communities that call these landscapes home.
 
Whether tracking rhino on foot with expert guides, dining on farm-to-table cuisine under the stars, or participating in meaningful cultural exchanges, each featured destination invites guests to engage deeply and mindfully with both nature and heritage. What sets these luxury destinations apart is their shared ethos: a dedication to preserving the country’s wild beauty and uplifting its people, ensuring that South Africa’s wonders will endure for generations to come.
 
‘South Africa’s Best’ gives readers the opportunity to embark on a journey where every page is infused with purpose, gratitude, and the promise of lasting change. In compiling this edition, our hope is to unite travellers who share a love for this remarkable country and a desire to make a meaningful impact. This book is both a tribute and a call to action: to honour and protect the land, people, and wildlife that make South Africa truly extraordinary.

One woman's enlightening trek through the natural histories, cultural stories, and present perils of thirteen national monuments, from Maine to Hawaii This land is your land. When it comes to national monuments, the sentiment could hardly be more fraught. Gold Butte in Nevada, Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks in New Mexico, Katahdin Woods and Waters in Maine, Cascade-Siskiyou in Oregon and California: these are among the thirteen natural sites McKenzie Long visits in This Contested Land, an eye-opening exploration of the stories these national monuments tell, the passions they stir, and the controversies surrounding them today. Starting amid the fragrant sagebrush and red dirt of Bears Ears National Monument on the eve of the Trump Administration's decision to reduce the site by 85 percent, Long climbs sandstone cliffs, is awed by Ancestral Pueblo cliff dwellings and is intrigued by 4,000-year-old petroglyphs. She hikes through remote pink canyons recently removed from the boundary of Grand Staircase-Escalante, skis to a backcountry hut in Maine to view a truly dark night sky, snorkels in warm Hawaiian waters to plumb the meaning of marine preserves, volunteers near the most contaminated nuclear site in the United States, and witnesses firsthand the diverse forms of devotion evoked by the Rio Grande. In essays both contemplative and resonant, This Contested Land confronts an unjust past and imagines a collaborative future that bears witness to these regions' enduring Indigenous connections. From hazardous climate change realities to volatile tensions between economic development and environmental conservation, practical and philosophical issues arise as Long seeks the complicated and often overlooked-or suppressed-stories of these incomparable places. Her journey, mindfully undertaken and movingly described, emphasizes in clear and urgent terms the unique significance of, and grave threats to, these contested lands.

This fourth edition of Best Easy Day Hikes Olympic National Park features concise descriptions and easy-to-follow maps for thirty-one short, manageable hikes. Veteran author and hiker Erik Molvar describes the best routes for those who have limited time or abilities, without missing out on the area's scenic splendors: majestic spires, Pacific coast beaches, and a rare temperate rain forest ecosystem. Look inside for: Half-hour strolls to full-day adventures Hikes for everyone, including families Hikes ranked from easiest to most challenging Easy-to-use trail maps GPS coordinates

Fully revised and updated, this comprehensive guidebook gives detailed descriptions of more than 300 public campgrounds throughout Wyoming and the Black Hills of South Dakota. The listings include campsites managed by national, state, city, and country park services, the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Easy-to-use maps and charts simplify your search for the perfect campground. Look inside to find vital information on: Campground locations Fees and reservations Facilities and hookups Recreational activities Weather and geography Local attractions

This fully updated and revised guide to more than 300 public campgrounds in the state of Washington is perfect for tent and RV campers alike. Within each of the campground listings is vital information on location, road conditions, fees, reservations, available facilities, and recreational activities. The listings are organized by geographic area, and thorough site maps help simplify the search for the perfect campground. In addition, Camping Washington suggests best campgrounds in six categories: families with small children and families with teenagers, campers who seek solitude, anglers, hikers, and wildlife viewers. Look inside to find: * Campground locations * Facilities and hookups * Fees and reservations * GPS coordinates for each campground

There's nowhere quite as cosy or as welcoming as the British pub, and with so many places reinventing themselves as contemporary inns there's never been a better time to stay in one. In conjunction with UK accommodation website Cool Places, this guide features the country's very best pubs where you can stay overnight - friendly, independently run places that serve great food and offer comfortable bedrooms to topple into at the end of the evening. Compiled by Rough Guides founder Martin Dunford and the Cool Places team of regional writers, each featured place has an incisive first-hand review and all the information you need for a comfortable stay - including suggestions for the best things to see and do nearby.