Looking to escape? Here are two recent trips local readers took to explore artists’ studios in Cuba and the Northern Lights in Norway. Check them out, then find more reader travel inspiration at www.mercurynews.com/tag/wish-you-were-here/.
CUBA: San Jose’s Noelle Gillies joined Authentic Cuba Tours to travel to Cuba earlier this year and celebrated the Havana Biennale. “They arranged all hotels, an antique car tour of Havana, most meals, a Cuban tour guide, a bus and bus driver,” Gillies said. “We visited artists in their studios and in galleries. We were greeted with cola and lime, with an optional shot of rum. Then we had a delicious family-style lunch with fresh fish, coffee and guava pastry. We also traveled to the Caribbean coast and visited UNESCO World Heritage sites in the old towns of Cienfuegos and Trinidad de Cuba.”
TRAVEL TIPS: “We stayed in a beachside resort hotel called Melia Trinidad Peninsula, which was spectacular,” Gillies said. “Cuba is definitely worth visiting in February, the weather is great that time of year. Authentic Cuba Tours has a huge amount of different kinds of tours for all interests.”
NORWAY: The Northern Lights have been a hot destination for our readers, but they continue to be surprised by the other fun activities they’ve discovered along the way. Mill Valley residents Holly Hadlock and Ned Black recently took a trip to the Arctic Circle in Norway. They found the Northern Lights to be spectacular, but “we were pleased at how much else there was to do,” Hadlock said. “We went snowshoeing, dog sledding, cross-country skiing and visited several very good museums. I had planned on being miserably cold but was quite surprised at how ‘warm’ it was. Even though it lightly snowed on and off every day, it never got below 28 degrees.”
TRAVEL TIPS: “Plan on at least a week because a cloudy night means no visible Northern Lights,” Hadlock said. “Don’t rent a car. Leave driving on unfamiliar, snowy roads to the tour companies. They know the microclimates and where to go. Some even provide warm snowsuits, hot soup and cocoa so you can be comfortable in the middle of the winter night. And yes, plan on eating a lot of fish.”
Mill Valley residents Ned Black and Holly Hadlock recently returned from Norway, where they saw the Northern Lights. (Courtesy Holly Hadlock)
Join the fun! Send a photo of yourself on your latest adventures — local, domestic or international — to [email protected]. Tell us where you are, who everyone is and where they’re from, and share a travel tip or two to help fellow readers go there, too.