1	Escape An almanac of five not-to-be-missed summer destinations in Latin America. read more...
2	Spice The personalities behind the boldest experiments in cuisine. read more...
3	Driver’s Seat Two new models square off in the hip entry-level segment. read more...

Summer Escapes

Escape to five Latin American destinations. They’re just the ticket to perk up the dog days of summer.

It’s no surprise that the sun-bathed beaches and costal resorts of Mexico, the Caribbean and other points south, from Guatemala to Chile, are especially appealing during the cold and dreary months of wintertime in the U.S. During summer here, when there’s little incentive to travel abroad in search of seaside pleasures, there are still attractions aplenty throughout the region to tempt visitors who thirst for distinctive cultural and adventure travel experiences. Our top five picks are guaranteed to make you rethink your summer vacation plans.

The Dominican Alps
While its lavish, all-inclusive beachside resorts and world class golf courses have made the Dominican Republic one of the most popular destinations in the Caribbean, one of the country’s most distinctive attractions remains largely unknown and seldom visited. Smack in the middle of Hispañola, the island the DR shares with Haiti, the tallest mountain in all of the Caribbean rises grandly to an elevation of over 10,000 feet above sea level.
Pico Duarte, the craggy crown of the country’s Cordillera Central mountain range, towers higher than any mountain to be found in 38 of the U.S. states. It overshadows by far the loftiest peaks of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and other neighboring island nations.
Pico Duarte is surrounded by the Armando Bermúdez National Park, one of several large protected areas in the country that have made the DR a regional leader in environmental conservation. Hikes to the summit, which can take up to three days round-trip, are demanding and require advance planning. Jarabacoa, the major town in the area, helps set the mood with its abundance of Swiss-style cabins. Along the way, visitors can experience rushing mountain streams, three ecological zones each with their own distinct varieties of flora and fauna, and that most atypical Caribbean experience, an occasional hint of frost and ice.

Morelia, Mexico
Located on a high plateau equidistant from Mexico City and Guadalajara, the inland city of Morelia has never rivaled such fabled destinations as Acapulco, Cancun and Puerto Vallarta as an international tourist attraction. It has, however, long been of interest to connoisseurs of traditional Mexican culture and lovers of colonial architecture. The capital of the state of Michoacán, this city of about 700,000 people is small by Mexican standards but large in terms of what it has to offer the visitor. Perhaps more than any Mexican municipality, Morelia reflects its Spanish heritage at every turn, from the presence of an aqueduct that wouldn’t be out of place in Andalusia to regal plazas and narrow, cobblestone streets bordered by balcony-adorned mansions and monasteries.
Two decades ago, UNESCO recognized the city as a World Heritage Site, certifying the cultural importance of hundreds of structures in Morelia’s 150-block historic center and the significance of its wide array of neoclassical, Renaissance and Baroque architecture. A recommended side trip is to Patzcuaro, the preserved colonial village and nearby lake of the same name, just 45 minutes away. Not to be missed is a visit to Mexico’s largest zoo, one of many highlights that will make a Morelia visit truly memorable.

Lake Titicaca
When it comes to describing one of the undisputed marvels of the natural world, superlatives are just a starting point for Lake Titicaca. Yes, this enormous expanse of water high in the Andes sprawls across the border of Peru and Bolivia and is by far the largest lake in Latin America—about the size of the states of Rhode Island and Delaware combined. And, at 12,500 feet above sea level, it is the highest navigable lake in the world.
But Titicaca is much more than just an oddity for the record books. For thousands of years, it nurtured Peru’s Inca culture. Today, the lake is equally important to the Aymara people who populate its shores and maintain the region’s distinctive traditions.
Visitors to Titicaca will experience history come to life as they explore ancient Incan sites on the islands of the Sun and Moon and take in the harmonious melding of indigenous and Spanish cultures in Copacabana, Bolivia’s major lake city. From Puno, the Peruvian port that is Titicaca’s largest city, you can make a trip to the nearby Uru village, where hundreds of natives live in thatched huts that float on a mat of reeds. Tours of the aging steamships that once plied the lake on long distance voyages are another of many Titicaca adventures to relish.

Brazil’s Estrada Real
Four centuries ago, Portuguese engineers created The Royal Road to transport gold from the mines of the Mantiqueira Mountains west of Rio de Janeiro over hundreds of miles of harsh terrain to the Atlantic coast for shipment to the king’s coffers in Lisbon. Today, the gold is long gone, but what remains is just as valuable—a circuit of bejeweled colonial towns that await the occasional visitor with an infinite treasure of cultural riches.
The Estrada Real program is an effort to highlight the distinctive qualities of these destinations. The best-known of these former mining towns is Ouro Preto, literally a living museum of 18th Century Baroque architecture.
Just an hour and a half from Brazil’s fourth largest city, Belo Horizonte, Ouro Preto dazzles visitors with its endless plazas, maze of curvaceous byways and elaborately decorated churches.
Mariana, a close neighbor just an hour away via a historic railway, is equally magical, albeit on a smaller scale, with a more relaxed pace of life and far fewer tourists.
Two others that beg special consideration are São João del Rey, a bustling city with an imperial air that is home to Brazil’s pewter industry, and the nearby Tiradentes, a relaxing, whitewashed reflection of its colonial era origins that is a mecca for artists. A 30-minute trip on a steam locomotive-powered 100-year-old train is a passage back in time. The Estrada Real is indeed a royal experience.

Bariloche, Argentina
For those who want to experience a total reversal of seasons, South America’s answer to Vail and Telluride awaits in the heart of Argentina’s remote Patagonia region.
San Carlos de Bariloche, Latin America’s premier ski resort, was founded and developed over a century ago by immigrants who knew something about Alpine diversions—hearty settlers from Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Northern Italy. Framed by the towering Andean peaks and the expansive, crystalline waters of Lake Nahuel Huapi, Bariloche complements its privileged location in this natural wonderland with visually harmonious chalet-style buildings crafted from massive timbers and stone.
Located 1,200 miles southwest of Buenos Aires, Bariloche boasts the continent’s largest and most traditional ski resort, Cerro Catedral, a magnificent combination of human-crafted and natural features that have been attracting international visitors for decades. Cerro Otto, a smaller yet fully developed ski run that’s closer to the city, is perfect for novice skiers as well as those who just want to enjoy a cognac-laced cup of steaming hot cocoa while taking in a stunning view of the lake and surrounding mountain ranges.
After a day on the slopes, Bariloche itself offers an impressive array of shopping, fine dining and dance-until-dawn experiences. One not-to-miss Bariloche treat is to wander in to any of the town’s several candy shops, where chocolatiers in neat uniforms concoct what is surely the best hand-dipped chocolate to be found anywhere in the Americas.