Incredible Fall Travel Destinations

Fall brings grape harvest in the northern hemisphere, and there’s no better place for an oenophile to spend the season than in Portugal’s Douro Valley. In partnership with neighboring estate Quinta de Pacheca, the area’s Six Senses Spa & Resort invites guests to join the tradition by rolling up their sleeves, donning traditional straw hats and tobacconist scarves, and getting to work. Spend the day picking the year’s bounty and stomping the fruit in stone lagares, with breaks for a typical Portuguese lunch (think caldo verde and feijoada), a winetasting, estate tour, and glass of port.

Back at the hotel’s Wine Library, guests can choose froxwm a series of daily tastings to delve deeper into the region’s diverse flavors, or opt for one of five intensive courses to become an expert in understanding wines beyond the area’s borders. Even the spa integrates the fruit of the vine into their treatments—don’t miss the rejuvenating body exfoliation, wrap, and massage using grape pulp, grapeseed oil, and other vineyard-based concoctions. Harvest experience, from $90; Rooms from $380; Quinta de Vale Abraão; 351-254/660-600; sixsenses.com. —Sasha Levine

November in Nicaragua—the final month of the area’s green season—means both the smallest crowds and the biggest waves of the year. Guests of Mukul Beach, Golf, & Spa can take on the best swells the Emerald Coast has to offer with next-level, bespoke surfing adventures organized by luxury surf school and outfitter Tropicsurf.

Using photo and video analysis, land-based activities, and dedicated programs for deeper assessment and analysis, veterans and newbies alike can improve their skills with personalized attention from some of the industry’s top instructors. Back at the resort, the region’s flora is in full bloom, best witnessed from the property’s gorgeous grounds. Rooms from $500; Km 10, Tola, Las Salinas, Playa Manzanillo, Guacalito de La Isla; 505-2563-7100; mukulresort.com. —SL

American architecture, design, and history buffs get a rare opportunity to snoop around some of the country’s most distinguished historic homes this fall, when Charleston’s choicest residences throw open their doors for one month only. Whether your penchant is for 18th-century Georgian or 20th-century Colonial Revival styles, the city’s Preservation Society offers upwards of 15 tours during their 41st annual fall event season (October 5–29).

Highlights include the Roper House at 9 East Battery, The Cleland Kinloch Huger House at 8 Legare, and 4 Logan Street, once the home of Preservation Society Founder, Susan Pringle Frost. For the full experience, the celebrated Planters Inn from Relais & Chateaux, located in one of the largest and most gorgeous historic districts in the nation, offers as homey and elegant a launching pad as any property you’ll visit. Tours from $50; rooms from $240; 112 N Market St.; 843-722-2345; plantersinn.com. —SL

Hands-on cooking experiences might be a dime a dozen these days, but the Viceroy Snowmass goes above and beyond with a luxe culinary adventure set in the Colorado wilderness. With 28,000 acres of deep canyons, open meadows, and wooded rivers as the backdrop, hotel guests can traverse a world-class upland bird habitat to hunt dove, blue grouse, duck, pheasant, goose, and other seasonal fowl alongside the hotel’s executive chef, Will Nolan, and an expert from the prestigious Aspen Outfitting Company.

Post-hunt, the action continues in the privacy of guests’ rooms, where chef Nolan leads an in-depth butchering and cooking class. The grand finale, of course, is the chance to sit down in the comfort of your own suite to a feast that's sure to top any farm-to-table dining experience in town. From $2,500 per person, plus $100/hour with chef, not including accommodations; rooms from $275; 130 Wood Rd.; 970-923-8000; viceroyhotelsandresorts.com. —SL

The November full moon is no ordinary event in Thailand, evidenced by the country’s slew of spectacular end-of-year fetes timed to the Thai lunar calendar. This year, hotels are making it easier than ever for travelers to join in on various celebrations during the Festival of Light, which falls on November 3.

Guests of the COMO Metropolitan Bangkok can cruise along the Chao Phraya River and dock at the Asiatique mall, where the city congregates to witness spectacular fireworks light up the night sky (27 S. Sathorn Rd.; 66-2/625-3333; comohotels.com). While there, book at least one meal at chef David Thompson’s Nahm. 

Farther north in Chiang Mai, guests of the brand-new Akyra Manor Hotel (22/2 Nimmana Haeminda Rd., Ln. 9; 66-53/216-219; theakyra.com) can learn how to make a krathong (special Thai floating sculpture) in a class led by local artisans on the property’s rooftop; or, for the ultimate immersion, the hotel offers a shuttle service to the spot where more than 3,500 citizens gather to send up their candle-lit wishes in simple lighted lanterns. —SL

There’s more to peep in Tuscany’s woods than the color of the changing leaves. A hunting excursion in Siena encourages guests of Belmond Castello di Casole to shift their gaze downward to look for the area’s most prized treasures: black, white, and muscat truffles. The excursion is available year-round, but the tubers are most abundant in September and October.

A guide will meet you at the hotel and escort you through the countryside to search for truffles, aided by a highly trained Lagotto Romagnolo dog. Afterwards, you'll be invited to sample your bounty, with the option of pairing your truffle dishes with great wines. Località Querceto; 800-237-1236; belmond.com. —SL

For a visceral experience that beats even the most up-close-and-personal moments captured in Planet Earth, book a front-row seat to The Great Migration in October and November, when more than one million wildebeest head north across Kenya's muddy, crocodile-covered Mara River. Only a short drive from an optimal viewing site on the banks, &Beyond’s Bateleur Camp—a private concession that borders the Mara conservancy—makes a perfect home base. Designed with a nostalgic 1920s-'30s aesthetic in mind, each of the lodge's 18 glamorous tents comes with its own private butler, views over the Plains, and elegant accommodations, including an en-suite stone shower, hardwood floors, and silver and crystal accents.

Before the wildebeest take off, guests can view the bustling Mara at sunrise from a hot air balloon; back on land, rangers—experts in the area’s flora and fauna and how to capture them on camera—escort guests to their place along the river to witness the spectacular event. $1,235 per person per night; Kichwa Tembo Concession; 877-421-2905; andbeyond.com. —SL

The Northeast isn’t the only place in the United States to catch the fall colors; the Ozark Mountains might be offering the very best vantage point for leaf peepers this season. Situated on more than 4,600 acres of southern wilderness, Big Cedar Lodge is smack-dab in the middle of the changing leaves. Spread across a range of lodges, cottages, and cabins—book the massive Western chalet-style Governor’s Suite for an over-the-top stay—the rustic-chic accommodations provide vistas of the colorfully wooded hills from both above and below.

Enjoy hikes through Dogwood Canyon Nature Park, adventures through the Lost Canyon Cave and Nature Trail, scenic drives to various lookout points, and sunset cruises on the adjacent Table Rock Lake, where guests can take in the crisp, colorful atmosphere from the deck of a custom-built 62-foot luxury yacht. Cruises are offered Wednesday and Saturdays, from September 1–October 31; Governor’s Suite, from $1,500; 190 Top of the Rock Rd.; bigcedar.com. —SL

Next July would have been the 100th birthday of South African activist and former president Nelson Mandela; and this fall, ahead of this milestone, Cape Town’s recently renovated Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel is offering a new package to honor his legacy.

Guests will be able to immerse themselves in both educational and experiential opportunities, like getting their hands on a complimentary copy of “Dare Not Linger: The Presidential Years,” a newly-released Mandela memoir unfinished at the time of his death (South African writer Mandla Langa continued where Mandela left off, reporting on the leader’s years in office from 1994-1999); a three-course meal inspired by Mandela’s favorite dishes, like oxtail soup; and an opportunity to speak with Christo Brand, one of the guards who looked after Mandela when he was incarcerated on the nearby Robben Island.

Guests can also reserve a two-hour guided walking tour to some of Mandela’s key historic sites, and have their portrait painted by Mandela’s portraitist (and Belmond Mount Nelson’s artist-in-residence) Cyril Coetzee.

Package (including a two-night stay, breakfast, a three-course dinner of Mandela’s favorite dishes, and a copy of “Dare Not Linger”) from $910; 76 Orange St., Gardens, Cape Town; 27-21/483-1000; belmond.com. —Avery Stone

Winter is considered the prime time to visit St. Bart’s, but the island also makes for a sumptuous fall getaway—especially for the culinary enthusiast. From November 2 - 5, a slew of top chefs take over the island for the annual Saint Barth Gourmet Festival.

This year’s theme is French gastronomy; its patron chef is Eric Frechon (of the Michelin three-starred restaurant Epicure at Le Bristol Hotel in Paris). Six more acclaimed French chefs will take up residence at six of the island’s most opulent hotels (Hotel Cheval Blanc St-Barth Isle de France, Hotel Christopher, Le Guanahani, Le Sereno, Le Barthélemy Hotel & Spa, and the Eden Rock Hotel).

Each will create three multi-course dinners at their respective properties for festival guests. Stay at the chic Hotel Cheval Blanc St-Barth Isle de France, located right on the pristine Flamands Beach—it will have just reopened after an end-of-summer refresh.

Rooms from $850; Baie des Flamands; 590-590/27-6181; chevalblanc.com; stbarthgourmetfestival.com. —AS