Recommended places to travel outside of the US
Dreaming of escaping to a remote jungle lodge in Costa Rica or unwinding at a secluded private-island villa in Panama? We can make it happen. Our trusted team of specialists, led by co-owners Henrietta Loyd and Christopher Wilmot-Sitwell – both selected as 2022 Top Travel Specialists by Condé Nast Traveler – will arrange everything for you from start to finish, so you can just relax and enjoy your vacation in the best places to travel outside of the US.
Below are just a handful of amazing places in the Americas and the Caribbean to travel to now. It’s time to get travelling again to enjoy and support these sensational destinations, so get in touch with one of our experts and book your next extraordinary trip now.
Turks + Caicos Islands
If you’re looking to get away to some of the world’s most stunning beaches, these islands will provide a blissful setting to sit back and relax. With their impressive marine life and superb places to stay, these beautiful isles are ideal for couples, families or groups of friends. Amanyara, on the north coast of Providenciales, or COMO Parrot Cay, set on its own private island, are two of our favourite retreats, from where you can go island-hopping, snorkelling, scuba-diving or stand-up paddleboarding.
Costa Rica
Home to more than half a million species residing in lush jungles and cloud forests teeming with tropical plants and exotic flowers, Costa Rica is a nature lover’s paradise. It is also a wonderful destination for jungle adventures, lazing on palm-fringed beaches and wildlife spotting. We know the best places to stay and some of our favourite boltholes are offering fantastic value at the moment, such as ORIGINS Luxury Lodge in the mountains of the Pueblo Nuevo Valley, Pacuare Lodge beside the Pacuare River and Lapa Rios on the Osa Peninsula.
Mexico
With its magnificent Mayan temples, Aztec pyramids and characterful hacienda hotels, inland Mexico is full of splendid treasures and cultural allure, another one of the top places to travel outside of the US. We love the bustling colonial cities of Puebla and Oaxaca as well as the former silver-mining towns of Querétaro, San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato. Finish your trip with some rest and recuperation on the beach. We have the inside track on the best hotels, such as Hotel Esencia on the Mayan Riviera, and have access to a selection of carefully handpicked private houses and villas on both the Pacific and Caribbean coasts, so you can have a sublime Mexican home from home all to yourselves.
Belize
This tiny, underrated country is home to Mayan ruins, mountains covered in lush jungle and diverse wildlife, as well as laid-back Caribbean cays, chalk-white beaches and azure waters that harbour a phenomenal marine ecosystem. In fact, the Belize Barrier Reef is the world’s second largest coral reef, offering some of the best scuba-diving on earth. We recommend dividing your time in Belize between the mountainous rainforests and the spectacular coast. Some of our favourite boltholes include Copal Tree Lodge in the southern Toledo District, Blancaneaux Lodge in the western Cayo District and Turtle Inn, a heavenly beachside hideaway on the south-eastern Placencia Peninsula.
Panama
For another small Central American country, Panama offers a vast range of dramatic landscapes, from dense rainforests, rugged mountains and white-sand beaches to hundreds of untouched islands. Its size makes it easy to explore in a shorter amount of time and we can craft the perfect itinerary to reflect your interests. Enjoy a tasty lunch beside the Panama Canal, an incredible feat of engineering, go birding or hiking in the verdant coffee plantations in the highlands in and around Boquete or retreat to your own private-island villa, arguably Panama’s best-kept secret.
Nicaragua
Nicaragua‘s fabulous beaches, awe-inspiring volcanoes and pristine rainforest are relatively undiscovered, so it is wonderfully unspoilt and has retained its local culture and charm. We have access to an excellent selection of private houses dotted around the country, making it perfect for a vacation in COVID times. One of our favourite spots in Nicaragua is the colonial, cobble-stoned town of Granada, which, situated on the shores of Lake Nicaragua, has a glorious setting. We recommend staying at the lovely Jicaro Island Lodge, a short drive from Granada, from where you can enjoy kayaking or stand-up paddleboarding on the lake. We also recommend horse riding in the foothills of the Mombacho Volcano or sandboarding down the black slopes of the active Cerro Negro Volcano. After these exhilarating adventures, there’s nowhere better to relax on an isolated beach than at Morgan’s Rock, our favourite Nicaraguan eco-lodge, which lies in a private protected reserve overlooking the Pacific Ocean.