profile

Salt & Wind Travel

5 Summer Trips We'd Book This April

Published 3 months ago • 4 min read

Hi Reader,

Summer is close enough now that we've stopped dreaming about it and started booking. Same for a lot of our clients. April is when the "maybe" trips turn into real ones, and for good reason... after this month, the best lodging tightens up and prices start climbing.

Here are five summer trips we're especially excited about right now.

Big Sur & California’s Central Coast

​Big Sur is open again, and the drive is every bit as dramatic as you remember. We love starting in Los Angeles or Santa Barbara and working north through Cambria, San Simeon, and Big Sur, all the way to Carmel.

Along the way: a private wine tasting with a sommelier in Paso Robles, a morning hot air balloon, Hearst Castle (genuinely worth the stop), and dinner at a clifftop table with the Pacific below. Reach out, and we can match you to the right lodging for your budget and your group.

Switzerland’s Scenic Railways

Summer is the single best season to ride the Glacier Express or the Bernina Express. The alpine meadows are green, wildflowers are everywhere, the mountain towns are fully open, and the long days give you time to actually linger.

These train tickets book out early, especially for July and August. If Switzerland has been a quiet plan in the back of your mind, treat this as the nudge.
​
Pro tip: Many travel clients make this one leg of their trip and combine it with time in the French Alps or the Northern Italian Lakes.

Maui’s Road to Hāna & Upcountry

Summertime in Hawai’i is warm on the coast and refreshingly cool once you climb into Upcountry Maui or wind through Hāna. We love this combination for active couples looking to slow down and truly get a feel for a destination.
​
Do yourself a favor and stay overnight – the day trippers will leave, and you'll be able to enjoy sunrise in relative calm.

Hāna is genuinely remote, lodging is limited, and the Hāna-Maui Resort books fast. If you want to do this right, planning it yourself at the last minute is a recipe for missed opportunities.

Normandy, France

While the south of France bakes in July, Normandy stays cool and relatively uncrowded. This is a trip built around eating: briny oysters at a harbor-side table, farmhouse cheeses, and hard cider poured in a half-timbered bar.

The D-Day beaches draw significant crowds in June around the anniversary, so July is our preferred timing. It can be paired with a visit to Mont Saint-Michel, as well as the cute villages and seaside towns.
​
We have partners who can make the most of your time by combining your transfer to or from Paris with a visit to towns like Honfleur.

Puglia, Italy

​Puglia is made for summer. The Adriatic coast, the whitewashed hill towns, the ceramics workshops in Grottaglie, and mozzarella farms you can visit. Mind you, it is hot, it does get busy, so getting around without planning is genuinely frustrating.

Done well, though, it is one of the most rewarding weeks you can have in Italy right now. History buffs will want to soak up Lecce's culture, while beach lovers will want to look to the coastal spots near Gallipoli or Ostuni.

Five very different trips. One thing in common... they all get harder and more expensive the longer you wait.

​Ready to start planning? Share your summer travel thoughts and we’ll take it from there!

Bon voyage! Aida, Kristen, and Team Salt & Wind Travel

P.S. Know someone who keeps saying they’ll “figure out summer plans soon”? Now is the time! Forward this along.
​
​

You are receiving this email because you expressed interest in Salt & Wind Travel. We are a food-focused travel company specializing in the world’s most delicious destinations.

You may update your profile or unsubscribe from all emails at any time. .

​PO Box 3569, Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546. Copyright © 2025 Salt & Wind Travel. All rights reserved.​

Salt & Wind Travel

We help people travel in good taste, creating memories that outlast the journey.

Join fellow food and culture enthusiasts for insider travel secrets from destinations like Italy, France, and California. Expect curated recommendations, authentic local experiences, expert travel tips, and exclusive access to hidden gems.

Read more from Salt & Wind Travel
Aerial view of Palermo, Sicily at sunrise, showing the city's historic waterfront promenade, lush green coastal park, and busy harbor with Monte Pellegrino rising dramatically in the background against a clear blue sky.

Hi Reader, Travel + Leisure asked a handful of experts to name the best food destination on earth. Every one of us said Italy. But, when they got to me, I didn’t say Rome or Bologna. I said Palermo. Nothing against the rest of Italy but this city always seems to fly under-the-radar. Why I Said Palermo Sicily reminds me as much of Beirut as it does of Naples. It belongs to the Mediterranean more than to any one country, and a city like Palermo, with its millennia of history and layers of food...

6 days ago • 3 min read
A dramatic wide-angle view of K?lauea volcano erupting at dusk, with a bright lava fountain shooting upward from the crater floor and a vast glowing lava lake spreading across the caldera, illuminating billowing volcanic plumes in fiery orange and red hue

Hi Reader, I couldn’t sleep, so at some unholy hour I pulled up the Kīlauea eruption updates. The volcano was just starting to put on a show. We threw on shoes and made it to the lookout right as the lava fountain hit its stride, a column of fire roaring up against a black sky. I’ll be honest, catching a fountaining episode was my not-so-secret second goal for this whole research trip, and I’d half talked myself out of it ever happening. Then it did. Watching that glow climb into the night is...

20 days ago • 4 min read
A gourmet open-faced prosciutto sandwich on a rustic ciabatta roll, layered with goat cheese, prune and shallot jam, fresh peach slices, and basil leaves, served on a wooden cutting board.

Hi Reader, There’s a stretch of June where the calendar quickly fills up. A graduation party one weekend, a backyard cookout the next, the start of summer, and Father’s Day landing on the 21st. The reality is, the food has to be good, and it can’t keep you stuck inside while everyone else is enjoying the sun. These are the recipes we have on our short list and we’re sure will be in rotation all season long. Nearly every piece can be made ahead, which means you actually get to enjoy the party....

27 days ago • 3 min read