Things to Do in Kelowna & Okanagan Valley

With its dramatic topography of tumbling canyons, table mountains, and untamed forests—spliced down the middle by the mighty Elbe River—Saxon Switzerland National Park (Nationalpark Sächsische Schweiz) is a wild playground for adventurers. Straddling the Germany–Czech Republic border, the vast park offers hiking and cycling trails and hundreds of rock climbing locations.

Most travelers explore Saxon Switzerland on a day trip from Dresden or Prague. Many tours include a visit to both Saxon Switzerland on the German side and Bohemian Switzerland National Park (Národní park České Švýcarsko) on the Czech side, with stops at notable points of interest such as the Bastei Bridge (Basteibrücke) and Pravčická Gate (Pravčická brána). Often itineraries also include a cruise through the Kamenice Gorge.

Located about 19 miles (30 kilometers) southeast of Dresden, Saxon Switzerland is about an hour’s drive from the city. Regional trains depart Dresden for the park frequently throughout the day. 

Saxon Switzerland National Park is open throughout the year and tends to be busiest during the summer months. For the best balance of good weather and sparser crowds, plan to visit during the spring or autumn, and plan to arrive first thing in the morning.

An old-fashioned tram passing through the park’s Kirnitzsch Valley from Bad Schandau and Lichtenhain, the Kirnitzsch Valley Tram (Kirnitzschtalbahn) is the only one of its kind in the world operating in a national park. In operation since 1898, the tram continues to take passengers along the 5-mile (8-kilometer) route with seven stops along the way. Today, the tram runs on 40 percent solar energy.

Scarborough is the capital city of Tobago. With around 17,000 people, it is home to nearly one-third of the island’s population. Europeans settled this historic town in the mid-1600s, and the English, Dutch and French battled for its control. In 1769, the English made Scarborough the island’s capital, and their mark can still be seen at Fort King George, an 18th-century garrison that overlooks the settlement. Today the ruins are well worth visiting for the spectacular views, and a small on-site museum offers a glimpse of the island’s history, with weapons, maps and pre-Columbian artifacts on display. While Scarborough does have a newly built deep-water port for cruise ships, the town itself maintains an unpretentious local feel, with wooden ginger-bread houses alongside more functional concrete structures. The Scarborough Mall, across from the harbor, is home to the tourism information office, and the best place to in town to go shopping.

The Science Center NEMO overlooks the Oosterdok and is the perfect antidote to Amsterdam on a rainy day, especially for families as its clever interactive experiments can entertain children for hours. Housed in what appear to be a pale green ship – albeit one designed by Renzo Piano in 1997 – the aim of NEMO is to introduce science and maths to kids and make both subjects educational and entertaining. Through experiments, demonstrations and interactive games, they can learn how rainbows form, search for ETs, follow treasure trails through the galleries and send parcels across the world. NEMO looks forward too, with clear explanations of Big Bang and the future of our planet, discussions on harnessing green energies and experiments on purifying water. 

In summer NEMO’s stepped and sloping roof (currently under renovation) comes into its own for adults as one of the places to hang out, taking in the view of the fast-changing architecture surrounding the IJ waterway while enjoying an espresso or glass of wine on the terrace of Café DEK5. There’s also a small outpost of NEMO at Schiphol airport.

Tackling the mighty peak is a manageable challenge for hikers with a reasonable fitness level and can be completed in a day. The most popular route sets out from Seathwaite and follows the scenic Corridor Route from Sty Head to Lingmell Col, before climbing to the summit of Scafell Pike – an approximately 7-hour round-trip hike. 

In the Orkney Islands between the North Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, Scapa Flow is one of the great natural harbors of the world. Used since Viking times, Scapa Flow saw its fair share of bloodshed in WWI and WWII, when the harbor served as the naval base for the British Grand Fleet. 

 

You can learn more about the naval history of these sheltered waters at the Scapa Flow Information Centre and Museum on the isle of Hoy. In this converted naval pumphouse, you’ll learn more about the Royal Oak disaster, when a German U-boat torpedoed HMS Royal Oak in 1939, killing over 800 men. You can also see wartime photo collections and read the personal stories and sailors’ letters home, making for a touching visit. 

 

Dotted around the island are many bunkers and emplacements as well as Lyness cemetery, which is covered in thousands of graves, many simply reading “Unknown Soldier.” 

 

While looking out at the quiet waters, try to imagine this spot as the scene of the “Grand Scuttle.” This was on June 21, 1919, when more than 50 German warships were sunk at the orders of their own Rear Admiral so that the boats wouldn’t be captured by the British in the post-WWI peacetime negotiations. 

The success of the exhibit “Eldorado – the History, Everyday Life and Culture of Homosexual Women and Men 1850-1950” in 1984 at what was then called the Berlin Museum inspired the creation of the Schwules Museum, or the Gay Museum. The three people who initiated the original exhibition, along with a group of activists, founded the Verein der Freunde eines Schwulen Museums in 1985, and in 1986 they had their first exhibit. The museum has become incredibly successful over the years, and lending requests come from all over the world. 

Today the Schwules Museum is one of the world's largest and most significant institutions for archiving, researching and communicating the history and culture of LGBTQI communities. Changing exhibits examine different themes and concepts in history, art and culture. Exhibits have included themes such as drag queens, gender issues and AIDS, while some exhibitions are film. The museum hosts lectures and events throughout the year, including scheduled guided tours of certain exhibits from time to time. 

On the upper floor of the building is a reference library with more than 16,000 volumes, plus over 1,500 magazines, over 4,000 films and a variety of other media.

In 1828, the Austrian composer Franz Schubert spent the last few weeks of his life at his brother’s apartment near Vienna. Although Schubert was dying of either typhoid fever or syphilis, he continued to compose during this time, completing a series of piano sonatas and his last work, ‘Der Hirt auf dem Felsen’ (The Shepherd on the Rock). The two-room apartment where Schubert spent his last days (40, to be exact) is now a poignant museum that documents the final weeks of his life, his funeral, and his grave – he was buried next to Beethoven in the local cemetery at Wahring, although both composers have since been exhumed and reburied in Vienna’s central graveyard. Schubert was a keen admirer and contemporary of Beethoven, and even carried a torch at Beethoven’s funeral (little knowing he would only outlive the great composer by a year or so). Although the Schubert Sterbewohnung (‘Schubert’s Death Apartment’) doesn’t have many of the composer’s personal effects, there are many touching letters to and from his family that were written around the time Schubert discovered he was dying, and visitors to the museum may also listen to some of Schubert’s music there.

With its drawbridge entrance over a medieval moat, the 13th-century Scaliger Castle, set on the southern shore of Lake Garda, looks like something out of a fairytale. Climb the ramparts and main tower for sweeping views, and visit the collection of artifacts at the nearby Roman Grottoes of Catullus.

The Scaliger Castle (Castello Scaligero or Rocca Scaligera) guards the entrance to the medieval town of Sirmione, which is set on the tiny Sirmione peninsula that juts out into Lake Garda and has been a popular resort town since the first century BC, thanks to its natural hot springs. Today, the Scaliger Castle is one of the most popular sights on Lake Garda; it’s a highlight of day trips from Milan or Florence, which often include stops at the Church of San Pietro in Mavino and the Grottoes of Catullus Roman ruins. A particularly picturesque way to see the castle is by boat on a Lake Garda mini-cruise or sunset cruise. 

Sirmione is located in the province of Brescia, about halfway between Milan and Venice. The train stops in the lakeside town of Desenzano del Garda; from there, take a local bus that stops on Piazza Castello, right near the castle. The easiest way to visit, however, is by joining a tour that includes transportation.

Northern Italy's lakes, including Garda, Como, and Maggiore, are particularly crowded in summer, so the best time to visit is in the spring and fall when the weather is mild but sights like the Scaliger Castle are less crowded.

Verona's powerful Scaliger (also known as Della Scala) dynasty had the fortress built to protect the town from attack, and its crenelated towers and fortified walls dominate the sheltered harbor once used by the Scaliger fleets. The castle changed hands over the centuries, but was still used as a garrison until the 19th century; it lost its strategic importance only after the unification of Italy.

Containing 28 steps in total, the Scala Santa (which translates to Holy Steps) are believed to have been carried from Jerusalem to Rome by St. Helena in the year 326. Many make religious pilgrimages to this site, as the white marble steps are said to be those walked upon by Jesus Christ during the Passion.

It is believed that the steps of Scala Santa once led to the Praetorium of the palace of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem, where Jesus was condemned. St. Helena brought them to Rome to her son, the emperor Constantine, who was building a basilica. The stairs were installed and still lead to the Sancta Sanctorum or Chapel of San Lorenzo, the private chapel of early popes. The interior of the chapel is richly decorated with frescoes depicting both the Old and New Testament.

Today the steps are protected by a wooden boards in the old Lateran palace and by tradition must be ascended on the knees. Over the centuries, several popes have participated in this devotion.

Franz Schubert was unique in that he was one of the few composers able to make a living from the music he wrote during his lifetime. Schubert was born in 1797 in the kitchen of a small apartment near Vienna, and lived there with his family for the first five years of his life. Today the apartment has been converted to a museum that documents and illustrates most of the composer’s biography including: his training, his musical development, his friends, and his family. Objects on display at the Schubert Geburthaus (‘Schubert’s birth­home’) include famous contemporary portraits of Schubert by Moritz von Schwind, Wilhelm August Rieder, and Leopold Kupelwieser. The composer’s trademark spectacles are also on display, and visitors may listen to works composed by Schubert while sitting at his desk. Though the museum is small and simple, with a little imagination the visitor can transport themselves back 200 years and imagine what life might have been like in Austria at that time.

Opened in 1881 in London’s West End, the Savoy Theatre sits on the site of the old Savoy Palace and adjacent to the Savoy Hotel. The original auditorium was demolished in 1929 and a new one was completed within just six months. Decorated in red and gold and often described as dazzling or gleaming, it is considered one of the most beautiful theaters in London. Built as a showcase for the works of Gilbert and Sullivan, the theater today seats more than 1100 over four levels. It was also the first public building in the world to feature incandescent electric lighting, with lights once being powered by a 120-horsepower generator. After being ravaged by a fire in 1990, its reopening in 1993 attracted worldwide media coverage.

Recent shows at the Savoy Theatre have included Legally Blonde, Cabaret, Guys and Dolls and, currently, Funny Girl.

A warren of cave dwellings and caverns carved into the hillside of Matera’s old town, the Sassi di Matera are one of Italy’s most unique, yet still off-the-beaten-track sights. The labyrinth of troglodyte dwellings date back to prehistoric times and were lived in until the 1950s when the new city was built. Today, the site is a UNESCO World Heritage site and has served as a backdrop for a number of films, including Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ.

The Sassi di Matera are divided into two distinct districts—Sasso Caveoso, where the older dwellings give an authentic taste of cave life, and Sasso Barisano, where many of the caves have been repurposed as hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops. The best way to explore is on foot, weaving your way through the narrow alleyways, and highlights include a series of cave churches with beautiful preserved frescos; the Casa Grotta di Vico Solitaro, an 18th-century house museum; and the MUSMA art museum, housed in an atmospheric cave. 

The city of Scicli is the ideal destination for travelers who want to escape Italy’s more traditional tourist attractions in favor of ancient wonders located a bit further from the beaten path. With deep roots in Christianity, some of Scicli’s major landmarks are those with religious ties, including the Church of San Matteo, the church of Santa Maria la Nova, and the Mother Church of Saint Ignatz. The Plazzo Fava, an iconic Baroque palace, is also not to be missed.

The streets of Scicli are lined with wrought iron balconies, historic sculptures, quiet cafes and delicious restaurants, making it the perfect place for visitors to explore on foot. Those who want to venture beyond the city limits will find easy access to bus and train services from this popular destination.

Set in the Dominican Republic’s Cap Cana Resort, the Scape Park ecoadventure site draws thrill-seekers and families who come to enjoy the property’s varied outdoor activities. You’ll find more than 247 acres (100 hectares) of limestone topography and jungle, including an active marina and the popular Juanillo Beach.

 

With a variety of available tours, you can focus on just one way of exploring Scape Park, or pack your day with different activities. Go ziplining over the treetops, horseback riding along the beach, or off-roading in an adventure buggy. Scuba diving and snorkeling tours allow you to discover the Caribbean island’s underwater flora and fauna, while catamaran and yacht tours showcase the landscape above sea level, including the scenic Juanillo coastline. Swim in the otherworldly turquoise water of the Hoyo Azul cenote (an underground limestone sinkhole), or opt for kayaking, windsurfing, paddleboarding, fishing, or sailing. Try a cave expedition or lagoon tour for extra adventure. Many combination tours from Punta Cana pair adventurous activities with cultural tours or ecotours, most with transportation included. 

 

 

Centrally located just seven miles from the Punta Cana airport, Scape Park is located below Farallon Cliff in Cap Cana. If you’re staying at one of the many resorts in Punta Cana, Bavaro, or Bayahibe, you can arrange for a complimentary tour bus to pick you up from your resort.

 

Scape Park is open daily from 8am to 6pm. The busiest times to visit the Dominican Republic are from mid-February to mid-June, when many visitors from the northern United States book trips to escape freezing temperatures. The rainy hurricane season lasts from June to November. 

One of the most popular attractions in Scape Park is the Hoyo Azul. Meaning “blue hole,” Hoyo Azul is a sinkhole resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposed groundwater underneath. The Hoyo Azul eco tour involves a descent into the cave where you can walk on boardwalks above the water. Guided commentary talks about the formation of the water feature, plus the flora and fauna that flourish there.

These scenic ancient limestone caves are located on Sawa-i-Lau Island in the Yasawa island group, the home of the famous Blue Lagoon. An adventure in their own right, the caves have been carved from continuous wave action and are known as the resting place of the ancient Fijian god Ulutini. 

 

Today they can be visited for a unique swimming experience. The first cavern is filled with natural light and a deep pool with a water temperature only a few degrees cooler than that of the Pacific Ocean water outside. Take a dip in the cave’s clear waters to see otherworldly limestone formations. 

 

The second cave, depending on the tide, can only be accessed by swimming through an underground tunnel. The caves are known to Fijians as the “heart of the Yasawa” for their beauty and significance. 

Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna is the former summer residence of the royal family. The gardens at Schönbrunn Palace were opened to the public at the end of the 1700s and since then have been a popular recreational area, both with the Viennese population and international visitors alike. 

The palace and its immaculate grounds made it onto the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites in 1996. Spanning some 1.2 kilometers from east to west and approximately one kilometre from north to south, these are no ordinary gardens; they house a spectacular iron and glass palm house, a maze, and a viewing terrace. The original Baroque-style layout, along with the additions made during the last decade of Queen Maria Theresa’s life, has more or less been retained.