The year 2022 was when we got to really stretch our travel muscles again. For some Condé Nast Traveler editors, that meant gathering with friends and family for reunions and weddings around the U.S., or discovering corners of the country they’d always dreamed of visiting. Others ventured much further afield: a skiing assignment in Switzerland, a cultural immersion in Venice, or a once-in-a-lifetime safari in Kenya. But regardless of where we went, each trip was unforgettable. Read on for some of the best trips our editors took this year.
-
Lars Pillman/Badrutt’s Palace Hotel
Switzerland
Soaking in a plein-air hot tub above Zurich at the legendary Dolder Grand hotel; riding the Glacier Express train through the snowy Alps, and being deposited directly into the Old World elegance of Badrutt’s Palace Hotel; learning how to ski in what is arguably the most majestic resort in the world. Without question, the best trip I took this past year was to Switzerland, where I spent the week of my 30th birthday. So memorable was it that upon returning home, my first stop wasn’t my apartment, but rather, my local framer: I wanted to memorialize the menu served on the night of my big birthday, which I celebrated well into the wee hours at Badrutt’s own in-house nightclub, courtesy of a DJ and some Daft Punk mask-wearing, sparklers-wielding staff members. —Betsy Blumenthal, editor, features and franchises
-
Courtesy andBeyond
Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya
This was the year when I finally got to experience safari for the first time, courtesy of a trip to Kenya‘s Maasai Mara National Reserve as part of a story assignment. I knew the experience would be something else, of course, but nothing could have prepared me for the moment when we stopped to watch two cheetah brothers on the hunt together, peered over the top of a cliff edge to observe hippos basking in a river, or when a lion strode calmly passed our truck at dusk. None of those experiences would have been possible without andBeyond Bateleur Camp guide, Sammy Ocheng Akatch, whose depth of knowledge and empathy towards the animals that call the Maasai Mara home was what made the experience so special—not to mention his ability to magically produce G&T fixings during a torrential downpour. —Lale Arikoglu, articles director
-
Francesco Riccardo Iacomino/Getty
Italy
I can’t stop thinking about our family trip to Italy this past summer. We put off Europe with the kids for years (they won’t appreciate the culture, too much walking, those late dinners). Then we had a wake up call that they’d be out of the house before we had shown them our favorite Euro spots. We only had a week. We planned late and everyone said Italy was going to be an absolute nightmare this summer—overbooked and overly expensive. But we ignored them. We went for it and it was glorious! As Italy always is. We had two days in Naples where we ate our faces off, saw almost every church, and took a day trip to Procida. We hit Pompeii on our way to Ravello where we did little more than swim and eat gelato and then we charged Rome for three days. It was pushing 100 most days, it was crowded, we ate dinner around 11 p.m. every night and, to date, it was the best family trip we’ve taken. —Rebecca Misner, senior features editor
-
Pchoui/Getty
New Mexico
I was fortunate to take a number of big shiny trips this year—a summery week in Sicily, an Antarctica expedition by way of Argentina, stays at the new Rosewood in São Paulo and Enrique Olvera’s Airbnb in Oaxaca—but the trip I can’t stop thinking about is a recent weekend in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I met up with four of my best friends from childhood there, and was reminded that, even as the world reopens and begs us to travel further and further, there is so much to appreciate close to home, including loved ones we’re still catching up on time with. My friends and I ate enchiladas smothered in red and green chiles at Tia Sophia’s, we climbed into ancient cave dwellings at Bandelier National Monument, and walked the streets of old Santa Fe howling in laughter at jokes I don’t even remember. It was perfect. —Megan Spurrell, senior editor