Melanie is always looking for her next adventure, whether it's hiking 1,000 kilometers on a Spanish pilgrimage trail or warming her hands over a space heater with Muslim guards at the Dome of the Rock. Melanie has written for publications such as CNN.com, Cooking Light, National Geographic Traveler, the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Runner's World, among dozens of other outlets, and authored two travel apps. In 2015, she was named Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist of the Year, honorable mention. She has been regularly writing about Wisconsin Dells since 1994, and the Camino since 2009.
Wisconsin Dells is all about the outdoors. Long before tourists came here to zip down waterslides, they were drawn to the area’s natural beauty. Top on the list: the intricately carved dells rimming the Wisconsin River. Today, after decades of ignoring the outdoors in favor of waterparks, visitors are turning back to nature. With good reason. Wisconsin Dells: Outside in the Parks...
Wisconsin Dells is a tiny town with an insane number of waterparks. There are more than 20, both indoor and outdoor, massive and pint-sized. This is one of the reasons the Dells is one of the Midwest‘s top tourist destinations. Noah’s Ark, one of the larger waterparks, has some of the nation’s most unique rides. One is the Scorpion’s Tail, the...
Discover Wisconsin Dells for adults. For decades, the Dells was seen as a family destination. A land of mini-golf and go-karts, storybook characters and waterslides, it wasn’t sophisticated or chic, and didn’t try to be. Hungry? Grab a hot dog or slice of pizza. Want a souvenir? Duck into a t-shirt shop and go at it. Today, though, things are...
Families with young kids have been heading to Wisconsin Dells for decades. Here are some of the most kid-friendly places, especially for the 8-and-under set. Kid-friendly Places to Stay Book a room in a resort with a small waterpark. The kids will still have plenty of fun, and you won’t have to worry about lots of big kids racing around....
You can easily spend a lot of dough in the Dells, but you can also experience Wisconsin Dells on the cheap. Here’s how. Wisconsin Dells on the Cheap: Lodging Nix staying at a large waterpark resort in lieu of a smaller one. Motels like the Alakai offer clean, inexpensive rooms and small waterparks. They also typically offer free tickets to...
Wisconsin Dells, a major tourist destination since the the 19th century, has many great attractions. That’s plenty of time for some of its experiences to become iconic. If you want to experience the classic Wisconsin Dells, these are the places to see. Must-See Classic Wisconsin Dells Attractions One of the most classic Wisconsin Dells activities is taking a ride on...
Some pilgrims don’t have the time, or desire, to hike the entire 1,000-kilometer VDLP. And that’s fine. Many opt instead to hike the final 100 kilometers of the Vía de la Plata from Ourense to Santiago. That’s all you need to do to qualify for a coveted Compostela, or official pilgrim certificate. (If you’re biking or on horseback, it’s the...
The most difficult part of the trek to Ourense comes immediately: leaving Puebla de Sanabria. The arrows guide you into the city’s business district, then abruptly stop. From Plaza Mayor, with the church at your back, head straight onto the little side street off to the right. It will become C/San Bernardo. At the T-intersection, take a right on C/Florida,...
Get ready to enjoy a little bit of everything when you hike from Zamora to Puebla de Sanabria. You’ll be treated to beautiful views, an old Roman bridge, a modern bridge atop a hydroelectric bridge, scenic singletrack trails and the splitting of the VDLP, which offers you two different routes to Santiago de Compostela. Choose your route carefully The trail...
The stretch from Salamanca to Zamora isn’t very long — just over 40 miles (about 70 km) — but features some of the prettiest scenery along the VDLP. A tricky start You begin with a hike out of Salamanca that can be a bit tricky. There aren’t many markers, for one. And as the path out of town is along some...
You need to plan carefully for the start of Stage 3, Cáceres to Salamanca. The first town out of Cáceres, Casar de Cáceres, lies a mere 7 miles (11 km) north. But it’s a full 20.5 miles (33 km) between Casar de Cáceres and the following town, Cañaveral. The only place you can find water on the trek between Casar de...
Stage 2 from Mérida to Cáceres is pleasant, although there is no exceptional site like the ruins in Mérida. Heading out of town, the park-like Embalse de Proserpina (dam/reservoir) makes a nice stop to rest a bit or have a snack. When you reach Aljucén after passing through pint-sized El Carrascalejo, stop at the Roman thermal baths at Aqua Libera. The...
The VDLP is not the über-popular Camino Francés. And Sevilla is not St.-Jean-Pied-de-Port or Roncesvalles. When you begin hiking from Sevilla to Mérida, you won’t see evidence of the Camino everywhere you go. And a lot of the locals may not have any idea where the Camino runs. You also won’t find a lot of shops selling Camino-related items. But that’s part of...
The Vía de la Plata (Silver Way) is a UNESCO World Heritage Route and one of five main pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela. Santiago is said to be the resting place of St. James the Great, one of Jesus’ apostles. The Silver Route stretches from Sevilla in southern Spain north to Granja de Moreruela, where it splits. Pilgrims can continue...
My two feet. You can explore a place on an intimate basis this way.
Yes. I stayed at a terrible bed-and-breakfast inn once. The room wasn’t filthy, but rather unkempt. But the worse part were the owners, who dominated the breakfast conversation and said totally inappropriate things, making fun of people from other cultures, for example.
In America, it’s the Midwest. People from the Coasts deride it as “flyover country,” but it contains an amazing array of activities and experiences, from high-brow to earthy.
Be flexible. Things will go wrong, but sometimes that’s when you have the most fun.