Las Vegas, Nevada
Sin City provides ample opportunity to let your fun-loving self run wild, my dear Sagittarius! You can test your luck at one of the major casinos like the MGM Grand or Treasure Island. You can also catch one of the many shows on the Vegas Strip — like Cirque du Soleil — or one of the free fountain shows — like the ones featured outside Caesars Palace and or the exploding volcano at the Mirage (but make sure you go before the volcano gets torn down by its new owners!).
While the casinos are a major draw, there are plenty of other activities around the city to keep you entertained. With all the different hotels to explore, Las Vegas is a Sagittarius’ wonderland! And the best part? Casinos in Las Vegas are free to visit (until you sit down to play!). In fact, you’re encouraged to see all the different venues the Strip has to offer.
The Silverton Hotel hosts a free aquarium and mermaid show! The aquarium is over 100,000 gallons and features 1,500 of the mermaids’ closest fish friends. Or wander over to the Flamingo Hotel to admire the majestic creatures the hotel is named for in their Wildlife habitat. You’ll enjoy a view of Chilean Flamingos, Brown Pelicans, and exotic waterfowl, and in the water, you’ll see Sturgeon, Koi, Albino Catfish, and turtles! Another choice, the Venetian Hotel offers gondola rides through its canals — who hasn’t ever wanted to window shop from a boat? Each gondola sits four, so you can pile in with all your besties to enjoy a relaxing ride.
Satisfy your inner thrill-seeker by visiting the STRAT Hotel’s SkyPod — a 1,149-foot-tall tower, AKA, the tallest tower west of the Mississippi. The X-Scream, Insanity, and Big Shot are this tower’s three major “tame-ish” attractions. You can purchase an unlimited pass in advance to ride any of them as many times as you desire, or get single tickets when you get there. For those who are real adrenaline junkies, you can also make reservations to do the SkyJump, where you’ll leap from the tower and plummet 829 feet to the Strip below (well, almost to the Strip!). This is a Guinness World Record holder facility for the highest commercial decelerator descent! This is an amazing opportunity for a lot of fun!
You could also take some time away from the neon lights by taking one of the many daytrips from the city to explore the desert landscape surrounding it — and many of them include hotel pickup! Wild West Horseback Adventures allows you to saddle up and take a sunrise or sunset ride through the wild west, featuring scenic desert views and lots of friendly horses. Afterwards, you can refuel with a hearty, homestyle cowboy breakfast or dinner. You can also book kayaking tours through Emerald Cove or the Black Canyon, or even an all-inclusive ATV or UTV (side by side) adventure tour through the extremely rugged terrain of the El Dorado Canyon and over the original gold prospectors’ mining trails at the spooky Techatticup gold mine!
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
With its breathtaking mountainous views, extensive wildlife, and plethora of activities to enjoy, it’s no wonder the Great Smoky Mountains is the most visited national park in the country!
Cades Cove is one of the most popular destinations in this most popular park. It’s a historic 11-mile loop that features some of the best views of the surrounding mountains — vistas that look straight out of a painting. You can take it by car, hike along a few of the major trails, or even go horseback riding! On summer Wednesdays, you can enjoy hiking Cades Cove Loop Road while its completely vehicle free! Along with white-tailed deer, coyotes, ground hogs, turkeys, raccoons, and skunk, this is also a place where black bear sightings are common. Of course, you never want to approach these majestic animals, but you can admire them from a safe distance as they go about their daily lives amongst the trees.
Clingman’s Dome is the highest point of elevation in all of Tennessee, coming it at a whopping 6,643 feet. On a clear day from the observation deck, you can see as far as 100 miles in all directions. Be warned, however, temperatures at the dome can range anywhere from 10 – 20 degrees cooler than surrounding areas, and the half-mile hike up to the observation deck is steep. The view is definitely worth it, but come prepared in lots of layers, and don’t underestimate the severity of that paved path!
Plus, if you stop by Clingman’s Dome, you have the opportunity to check off a major bucket list item by hiking a few miles along the Appalachian Trail! There’s an opening located along the pathway up to the dome — this is also the highest point along the entire Appalachian Trail — and you can experience the trail first-hand without having to make the intense commitment of hiking all the way from Georgia to Maine.
If you ever need more stimulation than a National Park can provide, Pigeon Forge (affectionately dubbed the “Redneck Disneyland”) sits at the base of the mountains and is chalk-full of southern hospitality and quality entertainment. You can visit Dollywood (voted Tripadvisor’s #1 theme park in the USA for 2022), the famous Titanic Museum, Ripley’s Believe It or Not Odditorium, and many other quirky attractions and delicious eateries like the Old Mill Pottery House Cafe & Grille. The area is also home base for some of the best zip-lining tours around, with the majestic Great Smoky Mountains for a backdrop. If speeding down the line doesn’t take your breath away, the spectacular views of the mountains certainly will!
Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy
One of the biggest reasons you must visit Cortina d’Ampezzo, my adventuring Sagittarius, is so you can partake in one of the many multi-day hut-to-hut hiking trips through the magnificent Dolomite Alps!
A vagabond’s dream, you can immerse yourself in true Italian culture by trekking through this spectacular countryside — straight out of a storybook — and lodging in traditional Italian rifugios (mountain lodges). These mountains are some of the most beautiful in the world and have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2009. This is a soul-connecting journey you can traverse alone or with friends, and it provides the perfect respite from the static day-to-day of city-life.
The best part? These traditional rifugios provide all the delicious hearty Italian cooking your soul desires, paired with delectable wines, so you don’t have to weigh yourself down with extra provisions. The price for these meals is often included with your stay, so it’s a win-win!
The hut-to-hut hiking season runs from late June to late September, and there are lots of different ways to plan your trip. This route is quite famous among the backpacking community (and for good reason), so there are plenty of companies that have pre-planned itineraries and book everything for you to make your trip as seamless and stress-free as possible.
One of the most recommended is the Alpenventures UNGUIDED company. Their packages run from four to thirteen days, giving you as much time as you need to lose yourself in the snowcapped peaks and lush alpine meadows. They offer classic, budget, and luxury programs with optional add-ons to help with traveling to and from the Venice airport. They offer detailed guide books to help you along your trek, and they will book all your accommodations, which can include a majority of your meals.
If you’d prefer to go with a guide, the Dolomite Mountains company offers both guided and self-guided tours. They feature a variety of different itineraries that range from five to nine days. The Hut-to-Hut Getaway package itself runs for five days and includes all your accommodations, breakfasts, and most of your dinners. While it’s a hefty cost up-front, it can save you a lot of headaches later on if you aren’t a more experienced traveler — and the more people in your group, the cheaper the cost will be per person! They also offer an opportunity to upgrade your stay to include more luxurious hotels (as opposed to the traditional rifugio).
However, if you don’t want to be restricted by an itinerary, you can always book the trip yourself! You’ll have to make your reservations with each rifugio well in advance, because they often sell-out quickly. A lot of them only accept cash, so you’ll want to be sure you bring enough. Prices vary by hut, but you’ll generally want to budget about $85 – 105 per day.
No matter how you plan your trip, once you see those towering snowcaps and luscious carpets of wildflowers, it’ll be worth it. You may never want to leave!
