Where to Travel Next | MORAL COMPASS: Great Places to Go Where the Going Does Good

Melk Abbey, the size of a city and a cultural and spiritual center, is one of the fascinating attractions visited on a Passau-Vienna Danube Trail self-guided bike tour, booked through biketours.com. Bike tours are a leading trend, based on Pinterest pins © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Taking clues from Pinterest’s most popular searches, top travel trends for 2019 are bike tours (my favorite), out-of-the-way towns, less-traveled islands and divine, derelict and dilapidated castles. Here are 11 trips that will help you turn these oft-pinned ideas into reality.

Bike the Orient Express: Cycle in the tracks of Europe’s iconic long-distance train connecting Paris and Istanbul on TDA Global Cycling’s Orient Express tour. Follow the Danube Cycleway from Germany to Hungary and climb into Romania’s Carpathian Mountains along the way. (https://tdaglobalcycling.com/orient-express)
Hot Springs and Huts: Trek from hut to hut, past hot springs and through colorful rhyolite mountains on Iceland’s Laugavegar trail with Adventure Life. Guides will lead guests through one of the largest geothermal zones in the world on the way from Landmannalaugar to the glacial valley of Thorsmork. (https://www.adventure-life.com/iceland/tours/12214/iceland-trek-landmannalaugar-to-torsmoerk)
Three Islands Ride: Ride & Seek’s 3 Islands tour hops from the mountains and fishing villages of Corsica to the cliffs and coves of Sardinia to the farmland and volcanoes of Sicily, taking in cultural and culinary traditions by bike. (https://rideandseek.com/tour/3-islands-corsica-sardinia-and-sicily/)
Relaxing Andes Springs: Explore awe-inspiring landmarks in the Ecuadorean Andes like the Mojanda Lakes, Cotopaxi National Park and Quilotoa Crater with SurTrek and spend a night at a resort with pools heated by volcanic hot springs.(https://www.surtrek.com/andes-tours/discovering-the-ecuadorian-andes-tour.html)
Sip and Cycle Spain: Ride through rolling vineyards, an ancient fortress town and colorful fishing villages on a new tour of Spain’s Basque Country and Rioja wine region from Sojourn Bicycling & Active Vacations. Off the bike, there’s time to taste wine, savor bite-size pintxos and explore sunny beaches. (https://gosojourn.com/bicycle-tours/rioja-basque-country-spain-bike-tour/)
Remote Island Catch: More than 500 nautical miles from the Seychelles’ main island, find remarkable saltwater fly fishing with at the Astove Island Lodge with Frontiers. Cast for big GT’s that rule the island, as well as bonefish, permit, barracuda, triggerfish, tuna, wahoo, sailfish and marlin. (https://www.frontierstravel.com/astove-island-lodge)
Big Sky Skiing: Big Sky, Montana, has one of the largest ski resorts in the country, but the town of less than 3,000 on the edge of Yellowstone still has few lift lines. Rent a slopeside home at Moonlight Basin for easy access to 5,800 acres of terrain. (https://www.moonlightbasin.com/)
Hot Springs Biking: Join Grasshopper Adventures’ Stunning Shikoku tour in Japan and ride through a land where Shinto shrines and Buddhist monasteries overlap with modern wonders, soaking tired legs in traditional onsens along the way. (https://www.grasshopperadventures.com/en/scheduled-tours/stunning-shikoku.html)
Riverside Castles: Travel down the Rhine and Danube Rivers on Riviera River Cruises’ Cruise the Heart of Europe itinerary and see castles in ruins atop towering valley sides and still standing, overlooking cities and towns such as Nuremberg, Melk, Bratislava and Budapest. (https://www.rivierarivercruises.com/cruise-the-heart-of-europe)
Small-Town Cowboys: Outside the small town of Ten Sleep, Wyoming, play cowboy at Red Reflet Ranch, spending the day riding horses, shooting, herding cattle and learning the ropes, then sitting down to a gourmet meal before retiring to a luxury chalet. (https://red-reflet-ranch.net/)
Chef-Led Cycling: Cycle through rolling hills with endless vineyards and past ancient castles and hilltop hamlets in Italy’s Piedmont with Tourissimo and learn about local cuisine with guest chef Mary Sue Milliken, a Julia Child Award winner. (https://www.tourissimo.travel/chef-tours/piedmont)