Best Winter Trips 2013 #Part1

Get ready to infuse the long winter months with color, carnivals, and adventure. Chosen by our editors, this year's best winter trips span the globe and transcend the season. Find your favorite, then share your winter trip plans with fellow travelers.

1. Harbin Ice Festival, China

Photograph by Andy Wong, AP

Hibernating is not an option in the frosted reaches of northeast China, where brisk Siberian winds keep the average winter temperatures in Harbin barely above zero degrees Fahrenheit. Hardy local artisans in the Russian-influenced "Ice City" celebrate the season by sculpting ice blocks chopped from the Songhua River into colossal crystalline pyramids and palaces, whimsical dragons and fairies, and frozen slides worthy of a water park. The monthlong Harbin Ice and Snow Festival (beginning January 5), showcases the frosty craftsmanship of local carvers and international teams and includes a Snow Sculpture Expo at Sun Island recreational area and the Ice Lantern Garden Party at Zhaolin Park. Daylight activities include figure skating, ice boxing competitions, and, for the daring, a polar plunge into an ice-free section of the frigid Songhua. After dark, bundle up to see the festival’s illuminated ice displays dazzle neon bright against the night sky. Harbin is accessible via train or plane from Beijing or Shanghai.

2. Mesoamerican Reef, Belize

Photograph by Bobby Haas, National Geographic

Central America’s Mesoamerican Reef system stretches more than 600 miles along the coasts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. It’s half the size of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef yet easier to access, with some sections of the underwater reef platform beginning within a few hundred yards of shore. Belize’s three coral atolls—Glover's Reef (36 miles from the mainland), Lighthouse Reef (home to the rare red-footed booby), and Turneffe Islands (the largest and closest at only 25 miles off the coast)—offer exceptional beginner-to-expert sea kayaking and snorkeling along shallow reefs, plus secluded white-sand beaches and unspoiled nature reserves. Belize: Reefs, Rain Forests, and Ruins, a National Geographic Adventures small-group expedition, includes safari-style beach camping on Lighthouse Reef atoll and snorkeling along the perimeter of the Great Blue Hole, the nearly thousand-foot-wide sinkhole first explored by Jacques Cousteau in the 1970s. Or book a private villa at all-inclusive and off-the-grid Turneffe Island Resort, a private island located at the southern tip of Turneffe Atoll.

3. Western Taiwan by Train

Photograph by Nicky Loh, Reuters

Hop a high-speed (186 miles an hour) bullet train in Taipei to zip across western Taiwan’s valleys, plains, and Central Mountain Range foothills. The Taiwan High Speed Rail western route winds through 48 tunnels and over 152 miles of elevated rail from Taipei south to Kaohsiung. The southernmost rail stop serves as the gateway to tropical Dapeng Bay National Scenic Area, Kenting National Park, and Maolin National Scenic Area, home to four indigenous groups—the Rukai, Paiwan, Bunun, and Tsou. A roundtrip western bullet train loop from Taipei and back is an easy day trip, getting travelers back in time to sample crispy salt and pepper chicken or mini soup dumplings at the city’s famous night markets. For a longer train tour, stay overnight at urban station stops like Banciao, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Chiayi, and Tainan. From February 23 to March 10, the neighborhood surrounding the Hsinchu High Speed Rail Station hosts the 2013 Taiwan Lantern Festival, pictured here. During each night of the festival, thousands of soaring and animated lanterns illuminate the night skies of northern Taiwan’s oldest city.

4. Ruaha National Park, Tanzania

Photograph by Pavan Aldo, SIME

Located southwest of Tanzania’s most famous safari destinations—the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater—7,809-square-mile Ruaha National Park is off the beaten adventure tour track, offering a quieter, wilder environment for exceptional game viewing and birding. The Great Rift Valley crosses the park, and the Great Ruaha River, a year-round lifeline for the park’s large mammals, forms the eastern border. In addition to having a high concentration of elephants (thought to be the largest of any East Africa park), as well as resident hippos and buffalo, Ruaha is also known as a birder’s paradise. January to April (the hot, short rainfall season) is considered the best time to view the park’s more than 570 species, including the Ruaha red-billed hornbill. Book one of the eight luxurious tents at secluded Jongomero safari camp to embark on ranger-guided game drives in open four-wheel-drive vehicles and small-group walking safaris and birding tours. The camp is just ten minutes from the nearest airstrip, facilitating a quicker civilization-to-safari transition from Dar es Salaam or Arusha.

5. Cayman Islands

Photograph by Peter Allinson, My Shot

Only an 80-minute direct flight from Miami, the Cayman Islands are close enough to the mainland U.S. for a winter weekend sand-and-snorkel escape. The self-governing British Overseas Territory encompasses three islands in the western Caribbean: 76-square-mile Grand Cayman (the largest and most commercialized), the Brac (12-mile-long Cayman Brac), and unspoiled Little Cayman, home to the must-dive Bloody Bay Wall—a dramatic drop-off plunging more than 5,000 feet. Arrange Bloody Bay Marine Park snorkeling or diving itineraries to match your skill level through Conch Club Divers at Paradise Villas. On Grand Cayman, stroll along coral-sand Seven Mile Beach and swim with yearling green sea turtles in the 1.3-million-gallon saltwater snorkel lagoon at Cayman Turtle Farm. Sign on with a local, licensed dive operator to view the aquatic life flourishing among the decks of the U.S.S. Kittiwake, a former submarine rescue vessel towed offshore and sunken in 2011 to create an artificial reef. For an all-in-one Cayman getaway, make family-owned Brac Reef Beach Resort home base for beachfront lodging, diving, snorkeling, kayaking, and birding. See #Part2

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